In a world full of tiny labels, it takes a lot to stand out, whether it's some amazing and mysterious sounds or super unique and hand made packaging. And if anything RuralFaune as shined in both respects, a crazy collection of some of the weirdest noisemakers in the world, and some seriously amazing, and in many cases, fragrant, packaging. Hand printed, painted, folded, pasted, held together with string or wire, often filled with branches or flowers, scraps of paper, seeds or bits of plant matter, many of them very strong smelling, all of them amazing.
Well, Bruno, the man behind RuralFaune, was really getting into heavy music, and decided that maybe RuralFaune was not the place for such musics, so he started FaunSabbatha, a new label dedicated to heavy, creepy, dark music, metal, metallic, or just plain evil. Four new releases, each one outrageously limited, gorgeously hand packaged, and gone before you know it.
Sorc'Henn are from France, and their particular brand of heaviness, as the title of their disc suggests is all about the harmonium, the piano, and lots and lots of drones. The opening track is a thick cloud of piano overtones, lots of sustain and reverb, a single funereal chord, struck over and over and over, the tones blending into each other, the overtones building up until it's some sort of doomy sonata. The second track, is a bleary buzzy blur, very Tim Hecker-ish or Oval-like, but with vocals that sound like the growls of some wild beast, a gurgling rumbling grrr. A bit like a pride of lions fronting Lustmord, very haunting and very very weird. But at the same time, strangely pretty.
The next two tracks are thick layered drones, the first dreamy and blissy, lots of soft melody and dreamlike drift, the second is a blurred black metal, buzzing riffage doused in effects and overloaded, until the riff melts into its surroundings with the overall effect being a throbbing pulsing blackened swell.
The awesomely titled "Where Does The Breath Of The Dead Pianist Come From ?" ironically enough features no piano at all (as far as we can tell), instead sprawling into some grinding Wolf Eyes-ian industrial plodscape, with plenty of dirge-y whir and distorted crunch. The second to last track "Grand-Harmonium Du Diable" is just that, a creepy lo-fi harmonium drift, the instrument wheezing demonically, haunting minor key melodies escaping like a demon's heavy breathing, an evilized version of the harmonium work of Gurdjieff or Nitsch.
Finally, the disc finishes with "Huelgoat And The Droning Stones", a 10+ minute underwater dirgescape assembled from swooping backwards notes, murky and warbly and hypnotic, that fades to silence, before returning as a minimal muddy grinding low end melody that unfurls until the very end...
SUPER LIMITED!! ONLY 66 COPIES!!!! In a spray painted cardboard sleeve, housed in a printed oversized paper jacket, all in a plastic sleeve with little bits of branches!
One of our favorite Heavy Metal bands from the '70s and '80s, the underrated British outfit Spinal Tap, were surprisingly enough the subject of a documentary film, or 'rockumentary' if you will, back in 1984, entitled This Is Spinal Tap, when their career was, let us say, not at its zenith. If you can find a VHS copy, and a VHS player, it's worth checking out. Kind of like the more recent Anvil: The Story Of Anvil documentary you may have seen.
A little while ago, we discovered that the soundtrack to that Spinal Tap documentary had been reissued on vinyl, and ever since, it's been a steady seller in the shop - perhaps there's more Spinal Tap fans out there than we supposed. Also, the soundtrack, which serves as a 'best of' the band, is the ONLY way you can get any of Spinal Tap's music these days, as their actual albums are inexplicably out of print and seemingly impossible to find - even on the internets. Thankfully, this soundtrack lp contains the most essential of their greatest 'hits', as well as a smattering of rarities going back to the late sixties when they were more of a twee flower power psych rock band than the metal juggernaut they later became.
This album goes to 11 - that's how many tracks are on it. You get such Tap classics as "Big Bottom", "Tonight I'm Gonna To Rock You Tonight", "Heavy Duty"," Sex Farm", and "Hell Hole", that originally appeared on, respectively, the albums Brainhammer (1970), Intravenus De Milo (1974), Bent For The Rent (1976), Shark Sandwich (1980), and Smell The Glove (1982). But then, for the deep cuts, this collection delves way back to 1967 to dig up the title track of the band's debut single, "(Listen To The) Flower People". And there's also a great garagey freakbeat nugget, "Gimme Some Money", too. Oh, and who can forget Spinal Tap's almost parodic prog rock epic "Stonehenge"?
Yeah, for some strange reason, this band is often considered a joke. Ok, so some of their lyrics aren't exactly Shakespeare, and can even be construed as sexist (not to be confused with sexy!). And musically too, Spinal Tap sometimes stumbles across the fine line between clever and stupid. But we maintain that they're in fact good songwriters. These tracks, with all their heavier than thou bluster or portentous proggy synthiness, are also full of catchy hooks that will stick in your ear, big riffs and majestic melodies. They deserve recognition alongside some better known bands of their era, like Zeppelin and Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult and KISS� indeed, you can almost hear their influence on those acts and others. Or perhaps it was the other way around.
Seriously - this not only is this one of our favorite soundtracks, to one of our favorite movies (and one of the funniest movies), of all time, but it really IS also one of our favorite heavy metal albums, of all time, too!!
First time on vinyl since 1984, comes in deluxe gatefold package in black on black cover (echoing the "none more black" graphic design of Smell The Glove), with original liner notes from the authoritative Rocklopedia Brittanicus. (By the way, it's also still available on cd too, with their "Christmas With The Devil" single as a bonus.)
The This Is Spinal Tap soundtrack album now reissued and remastered, with 2 versions of "Christmas With The Devil" added as bonus tracks! An all-time classic, we don't have to tell you that. "Tonight I'm Going To Rock You Tonight", "Big Bottom", "Sex Farm" and all the rest never sounded better!
As if we didn't know it already 'cause of this being on the up'n'coming stoner rock label RidingEasy (formerly EasyRider), a glance at the fine print in the thanks list here gives the game away, with Spiral Shades vocalist/songwriter Khushal Bhadra offering special thanks to "Black Sabbath, Scott 'Wino' Weinrich, and Pentagram". Yep, Spiral Shades are another heavy psychedelic stoner doom band doing the '70s sounding Sabbathy thing, and like a bunch of other recent entries in the field (including several on the same label) they do it damn well. All the more impressive, 'cause the two members of this band live far apart, on separate continents - Bhadra dwells in Mumbai, India, while Filip Petersen, who handles guitar, bass and drums, hails from Norway. Via the magic of the internet, we assume, they made a love-of-Sabbath connection. Yep, it says here they got acquainted on YouTube! But listening to this, you'd never think communications technology had progressed past whatever it was they used back in the early '70s (rotary dial telephones? air mail letters? pot smoke signals?). The nine tracks of swinging, wah-and-fuzz infused heaviness on here sound stuck in the '70s for sure, Spiral Shades sounding VERY Sabbathy as we mentioned, a la a more esoteric, less-plagiaristic Orchid (though, it must be said, we do hear the chug of "Childen Of The Sea" borrowed by one of the tracks here). Providing a lot of verisimilitude are Bahdra's vocals, a nasal, very Ozzy-ish wail indeed. Goes great with the lumbering riffage and spiraling (that's right) distorto-delic soloing - yeah, the guitarwork can get pretty darn tripped out and atmospheric, there's a reason they called this FX-laden record the Hypnosis Sessions! Heavy head music, maaannn.
Notch another one up for the current retro-doom-psych renaissance. If you dig the recently listed likes of Electric Citizen, Salem's Pot, Sons Of Huns, Admiral Sir Cloudsley Shovell, and Ovvl, or such bands as Cathedral, Witchcraft, Lord Vicar, Kadavar, and Sleep (plus of course the old guard of Pentagram and Sabbath too), you oughtta check this out! Compact disc or double colored (red) vinyl.
Not long after their excellent debut album Jug Fulla Sun, ex-Saint Vitus/The Obsessed frontman Wino and his new band (a.k.a. Shine) of stoner rock doomsters return with this equally smokin' 5-song ep. Great stuff. However, could the cover art be any worse?
Here's the eagerly-awaited second full-length slab of doom-groove from legendary guitarist and vocalist Wino (aka Scott Weinrich) and his band of stoner rock saviors/survivors Spirit Caravan. Like their 1999 debut "Jug Fulla Sun", this builds on the sound of Wino's previous downer-metal outfit The Obsessed (and his experience singing for psychedelic-punk doom-lords Saint Vitus back in
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Scott "Wino" Weinrich (ex-Saint Vitus, The Obsessed) returns with his new stoner rock power trio (until recently, known as Shine). This, their debut full-length, was made possible by Joe "Wino's biggest fan" Lally of Fugazi's new label Tolotta. Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal. On Allan's top ten for the year so far.
Two new tracks from these stoner metal heroes. The A-side's "So Mortal Be" is typical rockin' Spirit Caravan fare, while on B-side "Undone Mind" bassist Dave Sherman takes over on vocals from Wino, his rougher, more wretched pipes fitting well with the song's doomier vibe. White vinyl by the way.
Joe Lally's Tolatta label sadly seems to have shuffled off this mortal coil (that's why we can't get those first two Dead Meadow albums anymore, too bad for new fans who came to that band via their debut on Matador this year) and Tolotta's flagship stoner rock outfit Spirit Caravan did the same, as well, with leader Scott "Wino" Weinrich moving on to new projects The Hidden Hand and Place Of Skulls, notching more bands on a resume that also includes The Obsessed and Saint Vitus. But demand remains for Spirit Caravan's two Tolotta albums so Meteor City has stepped in with this double cd that combines 'em into one neat package -- plus bonus material that makes this essential for completists even if they've already got the original albums. Perhaps Meteor City will arrange to do the same with the Dead Meadow discs? Hint hint. Anyway, if you're a Wino/Spirit Caravan fan who missed either Jug Fulla Sun or Elusive Truth, now you've got another chance. And in case you're unfamilar with Wino & co., but stoner-curious, here's a quote from our review of Jug Fulla Sun, which was definitely one of the top stoner rock releases of the past ten years: "Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal." In addition to the two whole Tolotta albums, these cds include three totally unreleased songs, plus five 7" and comp tracks, and three demo tracks recorded by the band back when they were known as Shine.
The latest groove rock offering from ex-Carcass guitarist Michael Amott. No Carcass-y grind here, just swampy, grindy, bluesy stoner rock. But still heavy as fuck, with heaping helpings of Hammond organ ladled all over it.
'70s lovin', long-haired n' heavy (musically speaking, that is -- they look kinda skinny, actually) Swedes the Spiritual Beggars, whom you know as the "stoner rock" band of ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six-string wizard Mike Amott, introduce a new singer (the guy from Grand Magus, another one of what must be millions of Swedish stoner rock bands) with "On Fire". It's going to take a few more listens than we've had the chance to experience to determine if this new album is any kind of step up for a band we already like quite a bit, or just more of the same -- but so far, anyway, it seems pretty cool! The Hammond organ still throbs mightily, as they run through rockin' riff-fests and mellow, spacey psychedelic excursions. And the new guy's vocals are just fine, if a little cliched (their old singer Spice wasn't Spiritual Beggar's drawing card anyway). In the mood for a loud n' proud, modern-day take on Deep Purple and the like? This ought to fit the bill.
The rare first album by Swedish stoner rockers Spiritual Beggars finally reissued on cd with four bonus tracks! Not to be confused with fellow stoner rockers Spirit Caravan, Spiritual Beggars is the band in which ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six stringer
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Two excellent stoner rock groups go head to head on this split single: Mike Amott's much-loved Spiritual Beggars and newcomers Grand Magus.
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ATTENTION CIRCLE OBSESSIVES! And Finnish underground rock freaks, heck we might as well include Hydra Head nerds and Isis nuts, this one is for all of you. Well, seventeen of you at least. That's as many copies as we could get of the debut single from this new band featuring Jussi from Finnish hypnorockers Circle (among others) as well as Aaron Turner from Isis / Hydra Head Records, as well as one of the guys from Steel Mammoth. And considering that pedigree it sounds pretty much like you'd imagine. Or at least how you wished it would sound. Cranium splitting heaviness for sure. Pounding drums, kick ass riffs, massive HEAVY production, some seriously crusty punk blowouts woven into more metallic chug and crunch, peppered with wild squiggly metal shred freakouts, and bizarre echo drenched vocals, that make this sound very Circle-like indeed. Epic and melodic, a little like Turbonegro gone NWOFHM (that's New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal btw). A killer teaser for the upcoming full length.
The flipside finds the A side reworked by none other than noise maestro Daniel Menche, who takes all the punk and metal and blurs it and stretches it into smeared gristly walls of pulsing drone-noise, the various elements still present, but looped and layered and all tangled up into thick undulating sheets of white noise drenched rhythmic chaos, droned out and mesmerizing, the vocals in particular transformed into a haunting keening high end tone, woven into a hazy grey soft focus blurpunk drift. Super rad! And again SUPER LIMITED, not sure how many were pressed, but we got SEVENTEEN of them, and that's all we'll ever get, so get yourself one before they're gone!
A few weeks ago we listed the debut, limited edition 7" single from Finnish/American hardcore hypno-punk supergroup Split Cranium. That was the teaser for this here Hydra Head full length, which includes that single's A side (the B side was a Daniel Menche remix) "Scepters To Rust", along with seven other (mostly) short sharp shocks of this band's noisy, gnarly, D-beat driven loud/fast attack. Featuring our pals Aaron Turner (Mamiffer, Isis, House Of Low Culture, etc.) and Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle, Pharoah Overlord, Steel Mammoth, etc. etc.) along with another of the guys who plays with Jussi in Steel Mammoth. Here's what we said about that track on the single: "Cranium splitting heaviness for sure. Pounding drums, kick ass riffs, massive HEAVY production, some seriously crusty punk blowouts woven into more metallic chug and crunch, peppered with wild squiggly metal shred freakouts, and bizarre echo drenched vocals, that make this sound very Circle-like indeed." Well, a Circle-like version of aggro crusty HC punk anyway (if you've got Circle's Panic cd from a while back, you've had a taste of this). And that pretty much goes for this whole album, starting from the 1:47 blast of "Little Brother", Split Cranium cranking out the raw distorted punkrock in race-to-the-finish, fist-in-your-face fashion. None of the first three tracks break the 2 minute mark, in fact, they get shorter and shorter. But then, with "Blossoms From Boils", the band starts to groove a little more, that's where the Turbonegro-doing-NWOFHM comparison we made in our 7" review comes in. They stretch that one out to almost 5 minutes, and as cranium-splitting headaches go, it's a darn catchy one. A couple tracks further along, we come to "Black Blinding Plague", a track that's about 50 percent just feedback, before the crush and churn and sore throat vokills come in and the party really starts. No wonder they got noisician/droneologist Daniel Menche to do that remix! (Though we wonder, was Merzbow not available?). And then a song called "Yellow Mountain" gets to gallopin', upping the "New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal" quotient while also bringing in some soaring, clean, chant-like vocals (mixed under/above the gruff shouty ones). Beginning to hear some early Circle here, circa Meronia, but more punked out for sure. That awesome headbanger is followed by the album's grand finale, the 8+ minute "Retrace The Circle". It takes the sound of "Yellow Mountain" and gets more epic and Isis-y with it, building into grand spaced out drone heaviness and ending with a totally distorted noise flourish. Wow. We're sold.
For a project such as this, with key members living many time zones apart, who probably spend more time emailing each other than they ever get to spend jamming together in the same practice space, it's damn convincing. But then, we'd expect nothing less from Jussi and Aaron, et. al. And while Circle and Isis fans should of course be interested in this, we feel Split Cranium is good enough to garner fans on their own merits. If we'd never heard of Circle or Isis or Steel Mammoth, we'd still be digging Split Cranium's freaked out HC.
Cd version comes in a nice oversized digipack sleeve, & there's also vinyl but we weren't able to get enough to list this week, hopefully more will show up soon...
Hmmm. Don't know exactly what to make of this. It's a sorta sci-fi themed mish mash of frantic beats, scratches, spacey fx and heavy guitars credited to the odd pairing of uber-intellectual DJ Spooky and Slayer/Fantomas drummer Dave Lombardo, with such equally unlikely guests as Chuck D, Dalek, Meredith Monk, Meat Beat Manifesto's Jack Dangers and Living Colour's Vernon Reid. Maybe the only question to ask is: how come Buckethead's not on this too? ...or Bill Laswell? Or Anthrax?? There's something very early '90s about this, and the trio of updated, electro-metallized PE raps that Chuck D contributes -- "Brother's Gonna Work It Out (2005)", "B-Side Wins Again (2005)", "Public Enemy #1 (2005)"-- just add to the deja vu. We mainly ordered this in 'cause the last unlikey Dave Lombardo collaboration (the one where he plays Vivaldi!) we encountered was actually weirdly cool. But this... not sure why it exists, exactly. Some parts are all right in and of themselves, but it doesn't seem to add up to anything other than a demonstration of the range of Spooky's Rolodex.
German power metal that's just a little rougher, heavier, and ballsier than your general run of Helloween/Hammerfall clones. True, they've got catchy choruses and can write a great "pop" song, but they haven't forgotten that they're a heavy METAL band first and foremost. That said, just like on their previous album, they do a great Depeche Mode cover ("People Are People")! Like Iron Fire,
Veteran German metal band Squealer (great name, huh?) are not too well known, but here at Aquarius Andee and Allan have somehow become fans of their unpretentious, solid speed metal. They're melodic and muscular, with a fairly tough sounding singer and a
We've had records from some hateful, extreme, heavy and truly black bands in the past but Stallagh definitely out-hate and out-black them all. Named for WWII concentration camps (the extra 'g' and 'h' stand for 'global holocaust'), this Dutch blackdoom industrialnoise horde, are often compared to Abruptum, for their extreme and ultra personal approcach to music making, but they take it even a step farther. Not content with harsh hateful vocals, Stalaggh actively set out to recruit mental patients and convicted murders, by using connections working in mental hospitals and carefully planning their recording sessions to coincide with the two days a month patients are allowed to leave the hospital. Woah. The main vocalist featured on the first 30+ minute track (originally released as Projekt: Nihil) is a convicted murderer who stabbed his mother 30 times when he was 16 years old, and subsequently spent the next 11 years in prisons, juvenile detention facilities and mental hospitals. Apparently he suffered from an extreme aggresion disorder, anorexia nervosa and a host of other mental problems. During the recording sessions he indulged in very excessive self-mutilation while howling and wailing through all his hate and pain and fury. Sadly, he killed himself mere months after the recordings were made. The second half hour track (originally released as Project: Terrror) features vocals from three different mental patients, one female. Wow. That's some seriously intense and messed up shit for sure. A rare and maybe problematic instance of music that straddles that blurry line barely dividing art and exploitation, a stretching of the boundaries, an exploration of how far one can go to tap into primal emotions and create music that is emotionally pure, no matter how hard it is to listen to or understand. But the results do definitely convey that hate and despair and misery, which probably can only actually be attained by going to such great lengths. This stuff is so bizarre and so fucked up but somehow strangely beautiful as well. The sheets of noise smear and shift, occasionally attaining an almost drone like quality (albeit an extremely harsh one) .
Nihilistik Terrror is a massive, mind frying, soul shattering, freaked out, slab of droning, fuzzy, buzzy, whitenoise brutality, not black metal, not even metal really, more a sort of industrial noisescape, most definitely black, and bleak and harsh, but these are not songs, they are slow shifting sonic fields of squealing shrieking distortion, grinding ear shredding ambience, crunchy and gritty and NOISY! Definitely one for the extreme noise fanatics and lovers of the harsh and brutal, but black metallers who dug later Abruptum might check this out as well. There might be riffs here, maybe even songs, but if there are, they are buried under an impossibly dense ocean of sound, layer after layer of white hot noise and sonic sludge, all swirling maniacally around the terrified, vitriolic, angry, hateful, freaked out howls and screams of real human beings with truly damaged psyches. So intense!
Includes both original releases, remastered and sonically even more harsh and aggressive, with a previously unreleased bonus track.
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Second disc from this Dutch black ambient doom outfit and it's just as harrowing and horrific as the first. For more on the band and their strange ways, see the review of the last record Nihilistik Terrror elsewhere on the website.
But, in a nutshell, these guys are brutal, harsh, extreme and really fucking scary. Musically as well as in their modus operandi. Not content with coaxing the harshest of sounds from their instruments (there are instruments?) and emitting harsh demonic howls and hysterical maniacal shrieks themselves, these guys managed (through some dubious connections) to recruit a handful of inmates, in local psychiatric hospitals, to supply the 'vocals' and much of the artwork. And it sounds like it. Stalaggh's sound is a harsh swirling drone drenched freaked out noise, raw and hissy, loads of buzz and shriek and industrial whir, all whipped up into a dense stormcloud of sound, but it's the vocals that truly disturb, and this time they're everywhere, male, female, howling, moaning, weeping, wailing, sometimes barely audible, sometimes ferociously way up in the mix, always completely freaked out and brutally intense. This is like wandering through some old school mental institution, wandering the halls, all set to the sounds of SPK or Throbbing Gristle. This is the sound of human suffering, not just musically, but in every way, this is hate and confusion and misery and loneliness and sadness and despair and depression all channelled into a single 35 minute track. This record is sad and scary, and thus pretty fucking amazing.
It definitely takes a strong stomach, and a lot of mental resolve, and some seriously iron clad ears, but it ends up being worth it. Very little music is this raw and intimate and frightening and seriously scary. It's really pretty fascinating, as well as a little bit repugnant, definitely hard to listen to, but almost equally hard not to.
Limited to 100 copies, each one hand numbered and the inside features a reproduction of a piece of artwork drawn by one of the mental patients.
[The digipaks are all a little worn on the edges, but that's how they all came...]
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'80s retro sci-fi sexiness from these would-be Teutonic (actually Texan) clubgoin' droids known as Starchaser Network... two thirds of whom (Equitant and Proscriptor) are also key members of cult black metal thrash masters Absu!!! Actually that's not so strange, really, since we're already familiar with other Absu side projects that displayed far-from-black-metal tendencies. Absu drummer Proscriptor's solo recordings had their art-rock and new wave elements -- he even did covers of both Flock Of Seagulls and the Art Bears! There also has been two unusual offerings of Electro pastiche from Absu guitarist Equitant. Definitely if you dug those Equitant discs, you should check out Starchaser Network, whose influences are similar: Eno, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Egyptian Lover, Detroit Techno, etc.... yeah, apparently these guys were listening to more than just thrash back in the '80s. Thus all the darkly poppy, spacey-synthy, computer-grooved stuff here, with its decadent/deviant discotheque vibe.
We'd recommend skipping track one, "Sintro", though, as it is by far the weakest, mainly due to some unfortunately cringeworthy vocals. They should have left it off, rather than putting it first! The rest of the disc is better, and while much of this may quite well be a bit tongue-in-cheek, only on that first track does it seem like "the joke's on them". We wish that they would have included instead their rumored cover version of the theme from the the '80s TV show Knight Rider (which should give you some idea about where they're coming from conceptually!).
Another killer, baffling brilliant chunk of bizarre blackened death metal from Australia courtesy of Profound Lore, and as we've mentioned before, we're especially picky when it comes to death metal, so for us the more twisted and complex, damaged and demented the better, which is probably why we're digging this Stargazer record so much, probably helps to put it in perspective knowing that Stargazer just so happens to feature several ex-members of twisted costumed Aussie death metal weirdos Portal. Granted this is not nearly as noisy or twisted, but it does share a similarly off kilter approach to death metal.
The first track along manages to neatly summarize the Stargazer sound in less than 6 minutes, a flurry of frantic riffing, a burst of murky blasting chug, some tangled convoluted stop/start dynamics, howled vox, squalls of dizzying confusional death metal freakout, some wild squiggly leads, little bits of NWOBHM melody, some cool stuttery chugs, and wild frenzied drumming, weird bits of doomy half time plod, weird stretches of really loud rubbery bass, like crazy rapid bass solo style basslines, a cool classic metal breakdown that quickly gets all weird and twisted and tangly, laced with some surprising melody, and finally a weirdly industrial sounding finale, all low slung bass throb, peppered with wild bursts of drum/guitar dervish, that grinds to a halt, only to spit out one more surprise blast right before the finish. Holy shit. How can you not love this stuff?
The rest of the record follows suit, a super complex, but still melodic onslaught of furious grinding metal, of muddy murky blurred heaviness, pounding mathy proggy drumming, tangled warped melodies, very Eastern sounding at times, bits of classic metal, and of course bass, lots of bass, way up in the mix, woozy and busy, and adding a distinctly off kilter and atypical edge to the groups already twisted death metal sound...
Seriously kick ass stuff, we can't get enough, and we find ourselves listening to this over and over like crazy non stop, definite new metal favorite for sure...
Some of you may laugh at the mention of an "Australian sound" in music, but when you take a look at the continent's musical output since the '60s, it's pretty clear that after taking cues from the rest of the world and putting their own spin on things, Australians have no doubt arrived at a pretty unique and insular sound, especially in the metal department. You have dISEMBOWELMENT, Portal, Grey Daturas, Halo, Vorak, Paramecium, and then the bands represented on this asskicking split full length, a reissue of a cd from way back in 1999: StarGazer and Invocation (featuring members who went on to play in the aforementioned Portal). Both bands whip up a frenzy of blackened death metal that is mindbogglingly technical and totally fucked, but never too weird for its own good, and it's hard to imagine any self-respecting metalhead not losing it over this split.
StarGazer start things off with their strangely esoteric blend of black and death metal. The music and "lyrix" to their side of the split date back to the early '90s, giving the band some years to flesh out their evil ideas into songs that sound, at times, IMPOSSIBLE. The guitars are thick and burly as fuck, the bass is dirty and distorted, and man do the drums sound great - no triggers here, just a dude who obviously knows his way around a drumkit. Super distorted punkish guitars, insane blasts and phlegmy growls all merge into a thick stew of relentlessly concentrated EVIL that also rocks pretty damn hard. The intense riffs and song structures here are pretty much incomprehensible, and if you needed any proof that there's more going on here than your average metal band, just listen to the "Outroduction" that concludes StarGazer's side, a melancholy, spacey ambient piece played in reverse. Killer stuff here.
Next up is Invocation's contribution, accompanied by the information that "Invocation has no political/racial views, WE HATE ALL LIFE!!!" Nice. The band, three dudes with crazy looks in their eyes and the intent to kill, definitely deliver the goods. Not quite as bizarre as Portal, Invocation nonetheless create insane blasts of avant garde death metal with tons of weird changes and totally skewed instrumentation that you might expect to find on a prog record. Not that you will be mistaking Invocation for Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, as the thrashing intensity and ridiculously tight playing will throttle you violently and put you in the shithouse with your neighbors for sure. Best of all is how "real" it all sounds, with guys who certainly know what it takes to ascend to the next level of metallic awesomeness without the need to succumb to any overproduced bullshit. Oh, and for the curious, H.A.S.T.U.R stands for "Horrific Ancient Sumerian Traditional Usurpurs [sic] Remembered". Something we can definitely get behind.
We can thank the folks at the awesomely named Bird Of Ill Omen Recordings for rescuing this one from the darkened vaults of time and unleashing it upon an unsuspecting world ten years after the fact. HAIL!
You were warned. We reviewed this Circle side project's insane debut ep a couple weeks ago. Now, here's the full-length follow-up. The battletoads are back!
Not Sacred Steel, Steel Attack, Ritual Steel, or Steel Assassin. Not Wooly Mammoth. Or Mammatus. Or Mastodon. Or Pelican's "Pink Mammoth". Not Titan Steele, or Virgin Steele, or Steeler. It's STEEL MAMMOTH!! A metal band, presumably? Well, no, not quite. It IS another example of the many flirtations our favorite Finnish prog-psych band (Circle, including offshoots like Pharaoh Overlord and Krypt Axeripper) has always had with the elements of heavy metal (sonic, visual, lyrical). But the high-concept of "Circle does '80s metal" that you might expect from the band name and cover graphics and band pics with spikes and leather isn't quite what you actually get here, these guys being too clever and creative and crazy to do the obvious thing. Really, if you want to hear Circle-goes-metal, they come a lot closer on certain songs from Circle albums like Sunrise and Tulikora, and the recent, ever so slightly black metal bewitched Katapult. Not to mention, way back on their debut Meronia, with all its Helmet-style heaviness. And probably the most metal they've ever been is on Pharaoh Overlord #4.
So no, Steel Mammoth isn't a metal band, or even a joke metal band (though there's definitely some tongue in cheek joking going on). It's pure WTF? weirdness in the guise of a metal band. More catchy than crushing, it's a hitherto unheard hybrid of Circle's trademark hypnotic pulsations, a relaxed pop sensibility, tossed off hard rock riffing, moody tension, and sensitive vocals delivering ridiculous lyrics. Lyrics that are so ridiculous they're genius, lyrics that would make Monster Magnet or Manowar laugh and crumple up their notebook page if they'd written them. For instance, lines like: "barbarian lords/we ride alone/until we're just a pile of bones", or "lonely banzai rhino blackout leather/volcano hideout of the mountain owl/masterplan suicide war machine/lady death on the steering wheel", or "black diamond thunder dragon/beast of vampire torture/silver locusts on the desert sky/acid rain wasteland"! We also hear about a "multiheaded lion", "switchblade messiahs of hate", "midnight witches", a "metal infant", and the "powersweat of the demonwolf" to pick some other gems at random. Wow. Death and destruction and kicking ass seem to be the themes... yet there's some thought and depth to it all, extending to a self-constructed cosmology for these "nuclear barbarians" on their journey to the center of the "atomic mountain", that's depicted in a schematic in the cd booklet. We even detect a sincere sentimentality to some of this -- when album closer and title track "Atomic Mountain" finds the band sweetly crooning "Down, down, down I go" you FEEL it on some meaningful level, really.
As for the music, most of the songs share a skeletal Judas Priest vibe, stripped down and mellowed out and infused with effects. The opener, "Black Team", reminds us more of a handicapped Rolling Stones, fronted maybe by Danzig, but odder even than that would be. Several tracks later, "Nuclear Barbarians" is reprised from the ep, not really sure why they did that, though it is a cool song -- love how they pronounce nuclear, "nuck-leeyer". But it's followed by something completely different, the 11 and a half minute "Commando Leopard", an instrumental that starts off with primitive krauty rhythms before entering into a long beatless stretch of atmospheric, electronic spookiness. Like we said, WTF? Or should we say, NWOFWTF?
Ohh yeahhh. All the Krypt Axeripper fans here have been waiting for this. Circle fans too. Same thing, sorta. Krypt Axeripper, you know, that was the very entertaining, brilliantly stupid, supposed "heavy metal" side project of our Finnish friends Circle, enshrined on a four song ep earlier this year. After Krypt Axeripper could the NWOFHM get any more ridiculous?? You be the judge, they certainly tried: ta dah, STEEL MAMMOTH!! Seemingly a similar high concept (that being, Circle's metal obsession goes too far?) but actually more confusional than you'd think. Sure the cd booklet is filled with awesome D&Dish artwork and pisstake photos of the truly chuffed band members posing in full leather and studs regalia. But then, check out the music. As with Krypt Axeripper, there's a quota of crotch-rock riffs but it's also so oddly poppy, more like some sort of twisted rock n' roll alternative to the alternative than anything really made of molten metal. English-language lyrics (about Satan and radiation, "metal blade warriors" and "scorpion wizards", and suchlike metallic subjects, 'tis true) are weirdly crooned over shuffling beats and guitars that whilst fully fuzzed aren't exactly wielded by Hanneman/King. It's absurd, and absurdly catchy. When they sing something about how "battletoads explode in stereo" you'll be humming along (if not quite headbanging) and won't even bat an eye.
Looks like the Steel Mammoth trio of Garfield Steel, Rema 7000, and Juicyifer (hmm) and their pal Krypt (all pseudonyms for Circle folks) have invented a new cartoony subgenre all their own, jokingly initiated perhaps but inadvertently (?) awesome. Extra dimensional, post apocalyptic, astral travelling silliness that's part pop, part metal, and yes, part Circle ('specially on "Slow Death" with its unmistakable motorik drumming). This first attack from Steel Mammoth clocks in at 5 tracks, 18 minutes. But get this, future members of the Steel Mammoth Army: there's a Steel Mammoth full-length album in the works now, too! Look out, the battletoads have only begun to explode in stereo...
Following close on the heels (hooves? no that's not right either, what do you call mammoth feets anyway?) of Steel Mammoth's Radiation Funeral lp from earlier this year, comes another vinyl-only slab of "New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal" madness from this Circle side project. On Nuclear Rebirth, as with their previous lp, Steel Mammoth are indeed a bona fide metal mutation, not merely a poppier Circle in old school leather 'n' spikes drag. "Punkmetal nightmare" is what they claim to conjure on this album, and they're quite accurate in that self-assessment! Nihilistic, nonsensical, noisy, "nuck-leeyr" thrashing and bashing is what you get here, along with more awesome comic bookish cover art featuring their horned and helmeted mascot, and the usual confusional album credits.
It's irradiated '80s speed trash-thrash action at its bizarre best, twelve trax with such OTT titles as "The Dark Behind The Dark", "Hate Medicine Lucifer", and "Undead Facts, Now". Wha? Well, one can debate if Steel Mammoth's non sequitur laden NWOFHM style is parody or not, but if you are banging your head (and we think you will be) then they've won the debate regardless.
However, we should point out that elsewhere on this very list, we've got the Alternative Tentacles reissue of Voivod's 1984 demo, and we respectfully submit that anyone buying Nuclear Rebirth should think about also purchasing To The Death 84 as well. We're pretty sure the Steel Mammoth guys would be super stoked to see both items in your cart...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
This being Circle side-project Steel Mammoth's 4th disc, its mere existence pretty much answers the question about how serious they are, or not. Or maybe just creates new questions. If they're entirely tongue-in-cheek, then it's a really elaborate joke. If it's not a joke, then they're insane. Either way, we love Steel Mammoth! As always, they claim to be crusaders of the New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal, it says NWOFHM in big letters in the cd booklet. Where you'll also find some remarkable photos of the band cavorting around a campfire, or at least we think it's the band, though we're pretty sure that this makes 'em the first ever metal act to include a proudly pregnant lady in their ranks, decked out in what appears to be black leather heavy metal maternity wear! Meanwhile, one of the men is posing in a horned helm, massive and metal, apparently handcrafted, that looks very (ridiculously) medieval indeed.
So, Steel Mammoth are certainly bizarre. And silly, and Finnish, and, yeah, metal. Metal but not quite HEAVY metal. Steel Mammoth have a lighter touch for the most part. Sure, there's some distortion - but not always. The vocals are hardly ever, maybe never screamed, usually delivered in a weird rolling-r drawl, lazy and sinister. Heck half the time it sounds more like some kind of indie-rock pop, but all the awesome and not so subtle metal signifiers that infest the music and lyrics make it so much BETTER. But we probably don't need to tell you all this, if you're like us you have all their other discs already.
Nuclear Ritual, not to be confused with their debut ep Nuclear Barbarians, or for that matter their first album Atomic Mountain, is another killer set of tunes all right, catchy and confusional, from rousing opener "The Shakall" onwards. Some -titles- could be "ordinary" metal songs ("Sacred Death", "Cerebral Acid", "King Of The Damned", sure) but others would obviously be unacceptable to most metal bands ("Gargantuan Boom Boom" being the worse offender). And when one listens, none are ordinary. Some aren't even at all metal (the bulk of title track "Nuclear Ritual" is a meandering murky psych instrumental sorta in the mode of "Commando Leopard" from Atomic Mountain). Most of the tracks are kind of a hybrid of metal/not metal, like "Mammoth Sun Bacteria", which is sunny all right, in that it sounds like Iron Maiden gone bubblegum, bright and bouncy. Elsewhere, though, there is some convincingly authentic metal guitar soloing, and the distorted vocals on "Sacred Death" are almost scary. And that's the genius of Steel Mammoth, those vocals fit there just a perfectly as do the Doorsy Jim Morrison stylings that pop up on the track "Atomic Chainsaws".
Oh, and we've got to mention the last song, "Extinction", 8+ minutes long, boasting a lumbering stoner doom riff a la Witchcraft or Jex Thoth. The song eventually morphs into an extended lysergic jam worthy of Circle in its krautiness, with a bassline that Rick Rubin woulda loved on Bloodsugarsexmagic, that never seems like it will end and when it does you'll want to start it again... With results like this, Steel Mammoth are doing something right, even if they're playing metal "wrong". And anyway, when Japan's Metalucifer can make albums wherein every single song title includes the words "Heavy Metal", and still be taken (sort of) seriously, what is and what isn't a joke?
All in all, another highly entertaining, highly radioactive, album from the truly unique entity (well, along with all the other incestuous NWOFHM acts) that is Steel Mammoth!!
While these guys started out as a Circle side project (and not such a serious one, at that, judging by their name), by now they've definitely become their own entity indeed, with their own following. Whether they're "serious" or not remains an open question, but with our Finnish friends, such things are almost impossible to determine anyway. They're all pretty crazy up there in Finland. What IS possible to determine is, that Steel Mammoth rules. This is their fourth full-length (vinyl-only this time, sorry cd folks) and it's another unique slab of Steel Mammoth's "New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal" stylings... which, of course, isn't always all that heavy metal, actually. Well, ok, it LOOKS metal, in the most awesomely cartoonish way possible. And metal is part of their sound, sure. But so is some sort of weird alt pop. Well you know that already 'cause if you're an AQ customer, you're probably already a Steel Mammoth fan.
However, this new album, Radiation Funeral, might just be Steel Mammoth's most metal attack yet. PUNKmetal at any rate. Two sides, nine songs, 1/2 hour, utter "nuck-leeyr" mayhem, a record filled with "unglued screaming, harrowing guitars, violent drumfire and apocalyptic bass pollution" as they say. And yeah, it IS pretty thrashy and trashy, Steel Mammoth finally letting their helmeted skullface mascot rage with the likes of Motorhead's Snaggletooth. The vocals are shouty, mean, gargled. The songs rumble with heavy riffing, the guitars dirty and distorted, drums bashing away with abandon. You could probably play this for your most 'truest' metal buds, the ones with band backpatches on their faded denim jackets, and convince 'em it's something dragged from the depths of the European underground circa '86, some sub-Sodom speed metal German budget band or something. Maybe. Anyway it's cool to hear Steel Mammoth (aka Circle, mostly) really, really indulge their most metallic urges here. It's a headbanger, all right. Fans of the likes of Speedwolf, and heck maybe even Kvelertak, should really dig this.
And we give 'em props for one of their best more metal-than-thou song titles yet, "Deck Of Wild Cards". Another good one is "Endless Wolf". We figure they get drunk and try to come up with ridiculous/awesome metal titles like those, then write the songs. Who knows? It works. Check out their disturbing/amusing video for the catchy/chaotic "Torture" here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmhIa-AcFdo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
The Steel Mammoth is back! Clanking across the frozen Finnish tundra, bellowing mightily... well no, not quite. This 'New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal' project from members of AQ faves Circle is not exactly what you might expect (unless you've heard them before). Despite the Satanic/Barbaric cover graphics, with cartoon death's heads grimacing in horned helmets in front of a glowing pentagram, and the various other oh-so-metal signifiers like the lyrics, song titles, stage names, etc., Steel Mammoth's unique brand of "metal" doesn't sound all that metal, though it sure is strange. These guys call it NWOFHM. In our review of their first full-length, we coined the term NWOFWTF? to describe 'em. Maybe it is a parody, but if so they take their joke pretty seriously (this is their 2nd full-length after all).
Ok, if you haven't heard 'em, but have heard Circle, imagine that band in leather and spikes (which they are known to wear anyway), having been exposed to strange drugs and radiation, as well as repeated spins of records by The Cult, Manilla Road, Voivod, uh, Dire Straits, the new Darkthrone, and Judas Priest's earliest, more psychedelic stuff (Rocka Rolla!). Then imagine something totally different as well. Right from the start they are deliberately NOT particularly heavy, playing boogie-metal riffs, yes, but in such a laid back, mellowed out fashion it's ridiculous, and ridiculously catchy. They do rock out a bit more on track two, "Black Gold Tyrant", picking up the pace further on the likes of "Steel Factor" and "Nuclear Gyration" (the latter really kicking up some heavily-effected dust), but those tracks are pretty poppy too.
Meanwhile, Steel Mammoth's "radiation rock" is adorned with drawled vocals, delivering amazing absurd lyrics that must be tongue in cheek - informing us that "flesh is weak, metal is forever" and singing lines like "crystal daybreak in the valley of blood/bone and steel crash forever non-stop/heads keep on rollin', battlecries die/corpses keep rottin', vultures take the sky". Yet even when you think the lyrics aren't serious, Steel Mammoth's music will take a turn into emotive, introspective moodiness that can't be funny, and you realize the singer is in fact crooning quite earnestly. Maybe. But there's definitely a method to their madness, one that involves a complex mythology of their own making, about atomic eggs and other cryptic mysteries. The moments of true beauty (like the lovely, sleepy "Waiting For The Goat") don't seem intentionally bathetic at all, even though grins and giggles are never far away. Let's face it, we're happily confused by Steel Mammoth, moreso even than by other NWOFHM efforts from Krypt Axeripper, Motorspandex, and related acts.
While we wish we could take it all completely seriously (or think that it was supposed to be taken completely seriously), knowing the Circle guys we also appreciate their strange humor... Heck it even says ON THE CD TRAY that this is their "disappointing second album". But we must disagree. No disappointment at all. We're lovin' it, from the moment we saw the cover art, through each of many, many spins.
Attention fans of '70s heavy hippie rock!! Another primo proto-metal reissue from the fine folks at Rise Above Relics, who brought us the fantastic Bang boxset we listed not long ago. 'Tis a band/album well deserving of the deluxe treatment given here, especially welcome since only other Steel Mill reissue we've seen in the past was somewhat shoddy looking. THIS, though, is really nice, packaged with an elaborate illustrated 32 page booklet, in a slipcover adorned with new art (while the original, quite effective, surreal cover painting remains preserved within). They've renamed it too, the original lp from 1971 (there it is again, brothers and sisters, Nineteen Seventy Freaking One!!) was called Green Eyed God, this gets a new title of Jewels Of The Forest (Green Eyed God Plus) on account of all the bonus tracks included, and the remastering job, and other improvements.
So, with a name like Steel Mill, you'd expect this British band to be industrial-strength HEAVY, maybe even coming close to Black Sabbath territory. Well they do... and they don't... heavy, yeah, but opting for artier, more progressive atmospheres a lot of the time. Opener "Blood Runs Deep" is a good example, combining big, loping, rather urgent guitar riffage with passages of much mellower, jazz-inflected psychedelia via languid saxophone. Give that one a listen, and if you're like us, you'll know you want this right away. That "jazz" element, represented by what sometimes seems like pagan riot of horns, gives Steel Mill a vibe of mystic, exotic grooviness, putting 'em rite in there with underground tribes like Comus and Cromagnon. Some of these songs sound like rock rituals, like "Treadmill", with its fuzz and (literal) grunt.
Ultimately, they're an excellent, eccentric "heavy progressive" outfit, a la early King Crimson (you can be sure they loved "21st Century Schizoid Man"), Gnidrolog, Gravy Train, Tucky Buzzard, Wild Turkey, Sweet Slag, Steamhammer, East Of Eden, Murphy Blend, Amon Duul II, Culpeper's Orchard, Blackwater Park, Necromandus, etc.
Their acid rock guitar solos and lumbering riffs lean towards the Sabbath, but there's also gentle ballads ("Turn The Page Over") and fluttering flute (featured on the moody "Black Jewel Of The Forest", and elsewhere). Not that, as we've pointed out before, Sabbath themselves didn't indulge in some of their own flute flutter now and then! Steel Mill balance the light and heavy with aplomb, often in the same song. Darkly dreamlike and outre, yes, but also heavy enough for any proto-metal head. If someone were crazy enough to try and compile a collection of 1971's heaviest riffs, they'd definitely have to give Steel Mill some attention. (Er, although technically, some might quibble, as while this was recorded in '71 and the "Green Eyed God" released as a single then, the lp itself was apparently not released until 1972, and then just in Germany, with a UK release only appearing in '75.)
The original album is great all by itself, but we're also digging the bonus tracks. There's 9 of 'em, including songs from a 1972 single, as well as five unreleased studio demos of garagey popsike recorded in 1970. And, one last song - a new one, recorded by a reunited Steel Mill in 2010, "A Forgotten Future, A Future Past". And you know what, it's pretty good! Better than you might expect, actually, fitting in remarkably well. Nice how a lovingly done reissue like this can give an long lost band a new lease on life.
Most aQ customers, when they think of Finland, probably associate it musically with the weird foresty freak folk of groups like Avarus and Kemialliset Ystavat. Or, just as likely, you think of the hypnotic, occasionally metallic space rock of Circle and their various offshoots. But, among geeky metalheads, Finland is probably best known for their underground death metal scene, back in the day. Of course, nearby Sweden is king when it comes to that stuff - there's a whole huge book about it we sell called Swedish Death Metal. But a book could be written about Finnish Death Metal too. Early '90s acts like Amorphis, Demilich, Convulse, and Xysma are up there in the cult death/grind pantheon.
So, when none other than Jussi from Circle told us he was doing an archival cd release on his label Ektro by a Finnish death metal band called Stench Of Decay, we assumed they were a obscure demo band from the '90s... and the cd sure sounds (and looks) like that. Turns out though that Stench Of Decay are much more recent torchbearers for the tradition of Finnish death metal, having formed in 2004 (as fairly young kids, judging from the photo in the cd booklet). The ten tracks collected here come from the band's 2005 debut demo cd-r, a 4-song cassette/12" ep release that came out in 2009, and a 7" single released in 2011. All find SoD ably doing the old school thing, bringing back memories of Entombed, Grave, Bolt Thrower, classic Morbid Angel, etc. One track is a cover of a song from a 1990 demo tape by Finnish death metal pioneers Abhorrence, so Stench Of Decay know their stuff.
And yes, they ARE pretty killer. Press play and you'll be instantly bulldozered by guttural vox, blasting beats, divebombing guitar solos, and churning fuzz - fuzz that somehow seems to consist of serrated sonic saw blades. The tones are THICK, the vibe is SICK, yes what more could you ask for from a death metal album? But, brutal as it is, there's much musical nuance underneath, even melody. SoD have a knack for composing stuff that sounds "classically evil", hummable hellish little ditties you could imagine a being played with less volume and distortion by some sort of sinister chamber quartet...
To reiterate, this is NOT the sort of leather and codpiece clad, Thor-muscled '80s metal that usually inform the antics of Circle's tongue in cheek 'NWOFHM' side projects like Steel Mammoth. No, this is the pure grinding metal of death stuff. It remains to be seen if Jussi's interest in death metal heralds a harsh new direction that Circle and the NWOFHM might take, hmm? And while they sure don't sound like Circle (yet), in their own way, Stench Of Decay are quite brutally hypnotic, with repetitive riffs pulverizing repeatedly...
The thing that usually makes a band stand out. REALLY stand out. Is the vocalist. It can make or break a band. A mediocre band can become great the minute a singer opens his mouth. But that same moment can just as easily send us diving for the eject button. In black metal vocals rarely make or break the band, as the sonic breadth is quite narrow, growling monster like grunts or shrill demonic shrieks. Or maybe somewhere in between. But a black metal vocalist CAN send a band spiralling into bizarre baffling outsider metal territory, and those are often the bands that we find ourselves digging the most. There's the Ethel Merman like croon of Urfaust, the atonal tuneless Jandekian warble of Circle Of Ouroborus, the anguished shriek of Weakling, the sorrowful over the top wailing of Silencer or early Bethlehem. ALl of these bands are great, but what makes them REALLY great is their abstract off kilter demented approach to the vocals. Thus we have Sterbend. The music is awesome, a blurry Burzumic buzz, midtempo, a moody black blur, relentless simple drumming, huge washes of melancholic keyboards, buzz and buzz and more buzz all over everything. But it's the vocalists that push this WAY into the world of damaged demented whatthefuck black metal. A howling anguished agonized scream, squeal, shriek, hard to know what to call it, take the high pitched wail of Weakling, mix it with the over the top caterwaul of early Bethlehem mix in some shrieking terrified teenager a la Bathtub Shitter, and then up the hysterical level a hundred fold, and now we're talking. Wild and insane and so creepy and fucked up sounding. It's so completely over the top it almost sounds truly terrifying. Track three is the ultimate demonstration of the vocals dedication, opening with a symphony of screams, the vocalist's multi-tracked shrieks of anguish colliding and mixing and swirling into an ear splitting head spinning frightful cacophony before the dirgey black metal buzz kicks in. Woah. Pam thinks it sounds like some fucked up county fair Haunted House, and it sort of does, but the sort of haunted house you never come out of alive!!!! Weird and wacked. And really amazing.
For a limited time we have the super limited, hand numbered (500 copies) silver silkscreened solid black jewel case version. Once those are gone it's back to the rregular jewel case version with you!
Man do we love Russian black metal, Old Wainds, Nav, Ithdabquth Qliphoth, Meti Bhuvah, Blackdeath, Forest... A few years back we discovered this one man band and lost our shit, it definitely sounded Russian, but at the same time it sounded like none of those other bands, we were so blown away. That record, Vadrer, from 2007, became our unequivocal black metal record of the year. In the last three years, all we've heard from Stielas Storhett was a couple tracks on a three way split, that if anything just made us more anxious for a new full length, and while this is not it, it IS two new songs, two new long songs, two parts of a single longer song, and it RULES, if anything, Stielas Storhett have only gotten better since we last heard from them.
So what's the big deal? Haunting cinematic strings, soaring and dramatic, give way to dense, blasting, sorrowful black metal buzz, thick and gnarled and utterly frosty and epic, the main melody totally majestic, trancelike and mesmerizing, we could listen to 10 seconds of this on a loop FOREVER. Not sure what it is about it that makes it so special, but it's definitely magical, the usual black buzz blast is laced with woozy arpeggiated melodies, the vocals are appropriately harsh and hellish, but seem infused with extra pathos, super emotional and intense, and the song itself, the arrangement, loping, midtempo, depressive and melancholic, lurching and lumbering with a cool little stuttery chug, and a washed out seasick breakdown that sends the guitar into high end ur-drone skree, before slipping back, before it begins to slow down, the vocals getting more and more intense and hysterical, the guitar soaring, cool harmonics and melodies drifting above the now doomy crawl, finally fading out.
The second 'movement' begins with weird high end guitar filigree, and some mysterious voices speaking in Russian, and then the song lurches into action, a weary depressive plod, with more gorgeous soaring harmonies, almost like a way blacker Opeth or Katatonia, the song stays moody and moving until about 5 minutes in and the song bursts into full on blast mode, frenzied and frantic, quickly slipping back into a more melodic chug, with some amazing harmonized guitar leads, total classic metal, so epic, finishing off with more of the cinematic strings from the beginning.
Holy shit. This guy is amazing, this record is incredible, it may be only 17 minutes long, but it accomplishes more in that time than most other BM bands can pull off in a career. Let's just call it BLACK METAL EP OF THE YEAR!
Instead of leaving it for the end of the review like we usually do, we'll come right out and say it right at the beginning.
BLACK METAL RECORD OF THE YEAR.
Without a doubt, the debut release from Russian one man band Stielas Storhett, has stormed past all the other black hordes, and secured the number one spot on our best metal records of the year list. Even though technically it came out last year, we only just discovered it a few weeks ago, so as far as we're concerned this is IT. List rules be damned! And it seems very unlikely that any record will be able to top it.
What is it exactly, that makes Vandrer... so amazing then? At first, we thought it was one of those BM records AQ seems to love so much, you know, the sort of damaged and demented, stumbling and fucked up, weirdo outsider black metal. But the more we listened, the less 'weird' it sounded, and the more it seemed to transcend the usual descriptors. In many ways it is fucked up and demented, but instead of being blatantly weird or experimental, the weirdness was part and parcel of a super personal, carefully crafted sound. A blown out wintry buzz, furious and fuzzy, relentless and over the top, but infused with mournful melodies and strange sonic layers. Lots of killer guitar harmonies, but buried in seas of sizzling cymbals, in the red drums, and some of the most gloriously distorted guitars EVER.
The opener is a majestic epic, as sorrowful and melancholy as it is frosty and grim, with sweeping guitar melodies, and a loping, sort of stumbling rhythm, complete with long stretches of gorgeously bleak clean guitars over simple shuffling drumming. The second track counters with some of the most intense and furiously fuzzed out blackness ever set to tape. A killer riff that is immediately swallowed up by a swirling cloud of black buzz and chaotic drum damage. But even within this dense squall of mayhemic fury, lurk all sorts of haunting melodies and unlikely sounds, an army of ghostly shapes and sonic spectres, the musical version of wandering through bleak landscapes and fog enshrouded graveyards...
The rest of the record veers between those two sonic sides, the blown out buzz, and the lilting depressive moodiness, from the weird depressive Katatonia like dirge of the instrumental "Nymane" (instrumental that is, except for some strange buried-in-the-mix, moaning and heavy breathing) that reminds us of a super tense emotional scene from some Dario Argento film, to the closing number "Dieses Eis Wird Niemals Schmelzen", which begins like some SUNNO))) style downtuned guitar buzzscape, before the drums kick in and the guitar splinters into strange syncopated chugging, while over the top drifts a gorgeous creepy guitar melody, eventually coalescing into a midtempo Burzumic trawl through some miserable sonic world of lost souls and damned spirits, to the epic seasick lurch of "Stille Weisse Wildnis", with its swords being unsheathed sound (a la Satyricon), its strange Fripp-like guitar interlude, and its stumbling stop start arrangement, and all blackened points in between.
There are even a couple of covers, Darkthrone's "Unholy Black Metal", which is pretty true to the original but supercharged and doused with even more grim buzz than the original, and Burzum's "Erblicket Die Tochter Des Firmaments" which is an all time classic, but given Stielas Storhett's sonic makeover, insanely distorted and heavily affected vocals, and a million more layers of buzz, and a production that noises it up so much that minus the drums, it could be some killer Merzbow black metal track.
We went pretty crazy for Stielas Storhett's Vandrer... record, reviewed way back in 2007, unabashedly proclaiming it BLACK METAL RECORD OF THE YEAR. We recently revisited it, and fuck, it still destroys, so much so that it's hard to imagine it wouldn't be black metal of the record of the year no matter what year it came out and no matter what records it was up against. We've been hankering for more ever since. And finally, the Dark Lord has answered out prayers.
Two tracks, both unreleased, both completely amazing and like the full length before, pretty fucked up and freaky. The weirdness here though is more the strange almost major key melodies that swirl around the loping blackened dirge. The guitars are angular, buzzy, the drums pounding, the vocals more a sort of drawled howl, but here they're set amidst some strangely poppy and melodic guitar leads, the two parts mesh seamlessly. but still it's hard to wrap our ears around it. Like a Stielas Storhett pop jam, a Khold like groove, still black, but damn is it catchy and poppy. Later the track gets a little darker, and chuggier, but still the sound is strangely epic and majestic, and black hearts be damned, weirdly happy sounding. Which in itself is bizarre, but beyond that, it's a pretty stellar slab of melodic blackness.
The other Stielas track is more buzzy and frenetic, but still strangely major key, even some bad ass almost Iron Maiden sounding guitar harmonies. The track veers back and forth between more traditionally grim blasts, and as if SS mainman Damian T.G. is struggling sonically, a musical battle between good and evil, pop and metal, depression and misery, effusive positivity and happiness, who knows, maybe he got a girlfriend since last time we heard from SS. Either way, it's a strange development but, man do we like it. Been listening to these two tracks nonstop!
While two new tracks from Stielas Storhett is more than enough reason to pick this up, this three way split does actually feature two other Russian bands we had never heard before. Liholesie, whose sound is a sort of Pagan folk, percussive and dramatic and a bit Renn Faire sounding, but pretty intense and emotional nonetheless, and Mor, whose sound is a strange blend of melodic post rock, and abstract black metal, leaning more toward the former most of the time, we hear bits of Katatonia's epic doom pop. maybe a little Lifelover (although nowhere near as strange), heavy, super well produced, darkly dramatic, even at it's blastiest and buzziest, their sound is still rife with pop and gloom and a gloriously dark tension, although their final track manages to be pretty black metal indeed.
A truly weird comp, but a winner for sure, more Stielas Storhett obviously, and two more cool obscure Russian bands to quite possibly obsess over....
High-adrenaline, deliriously complex, hard-hittingly heavy multidimensional power trio music that's part metal, part jazz, part punk, part prog. Gorgeous stuff played with supreme power and passion. Telepathic precision, improv awareness, and hella guitar heroics. They've been around forever and just get better and better. But they started off pretty good in the first place, as you'll hear here!!
That's right, one of our favorite bands, the ever-touring, ever-incredible Stinking Lizaveta (name taken from Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov), have themselves reissued their first album of f'n amazing drums/standup electric bass/electric guitar instrumental action. Post rock, metal, jazz, hardcore -- these terms don't matter, it's Stinking Lizaveta from Philadelphia and they rule. One of the best live bands we've EVER seen. They've done two AQ instore performances in the past, two of the best. And when they played in SF and Oakland last year, they destroyed. Don't fail to see them if you get the chance. If you like Gone, King Crimson, AC/DC, Mahavishnu, The Fucking Champs, Don Cab, Melvins, Gore, Breadwinner, Ruins, etc. get with the program and get anything and everything you can find by Stinking Liz. Especially including this, the new reish of their debut disc. It looks pretty much the same as the original release on Compulsiv, but it's got an unlisted, hidden bunch of previously unreleased tracks tacked on!! Five songs from the same Steve Albini overseen sessions as the album proper. They got left off the album's original release back in '96, but now the band can't figure out why (and we can't either, they're prime Stinking Liz awesomeness), so they've been added on for your extra listenin' pleasure.
Is there any other band that's SO GOOD live that I (Allan) would actually plan a trip somewhere thousands of miles away almost entirely on the basis of getting to see 'em play? 'Cause that's what I'm doing for Halloween -- flying to New Orleans, which would be fun anyways but is gonna be extra-awesome 'cause this Philly-based, all-instrumental power trio will be tearing down the house at Checkpoint Charlie's on the edge of the French Quarter, as they apparently do every Halloween. And as if to pile on the excitement, what shows up at Aquarius this week but a brand new Stinking Lizaveta opus? Yay! Their fourth album finds 'em doing what they do best, adhering to their math rock + jazz + exotic flourishes + sheer rock and roll exuberance formula, with perhaps a little bit more stoner rock added to the equation this time around. Imagine an instrumental Spirit Caravan melded with The Fucking Champs and Gone...something like that. Heavy, sinuous, emotive, grandiose, intimate, anguished, epic, melodic, HEAVY. It's not a perfect album, though -- the drum sound could be better (or at least the drums could be not so loud) sez Andee, and it suffers as all Stinking Lizaveta records do in comparison to their spectacular live performances. Basically, they are SUCH a good live band that it's just hard for them to ever make an album that's nearly as good as they are in person. I love their records, but they really don't compare to the band on stage. Their intense playing, telepathic interplay, and sheer energy are all there...but not as much as you get live. That they're such a formidable proposition live works against their recordings in another way: they probably just assume that if they just go in the studio and kick ass like they do on stage, they'll make the best album ever. Of course, it's not quite that easy. Still, Caught Between Worlds is worlds above almost everything else in the post/math/instro/stoner rock realm... Recommended -- get this and also don't miss 'em if you get the chance, they're on tour right now!
We've been waiting for this for a loooong time, the new, third (duh) album from one of our favorite bands, the amazing Philadelphian power trio Stinking Lizaveta. The first thing to say is that we like how the front cover shows band members seated
For those who need to know more, let's give you the basics: This is ROCK. Goddamn. An instrumental trio of godly Les Paul guitar, hard-hitting mathrock drums, and virtuoso upright electric bass. It's not exactly metal, it's not jazz, but it's heavy and tight and blows away most other rock outfits on the planet, live especially. And "III", with somewhat fuller production than past efforts, reminds us that Stinking Liz kick ass in the studio too. Imagine Black Flag/Gone mixed with King Crimson, or AC/DC playing Mahavishnu instrumentals, or The Champs falling in love with each other, moving to the country, and practicing yoga. Those are woefully inadequate comparisons, of course, but that's cause this band is its own incredible thing. With "III", they've added some synth and violin to the mix -- and even some half-buried vocals on the very first song -- but primarily what you're going to hear is the basic guitar/bass/drums trio, simply cookin'. With gas. Fuckin' huge propane tanks of it, exploding left and right. Whoops, but then let's not forget the moments of delicate, Eastern-tinged post-rock bliss to be found here as well. Lizaveta's multi-genre rock synthesis results in a unique and varied album, from the tension-buildup of a slowburning track like "Tenuous" to the Frippian ambience of "Diana" to the psychedelic soulshiver of "Naked And Alone" with its doomy Black Sabbath bassline and Yanni's lengthy Fushitsusha style blues-psych guitar blowout. The brothers Papadopoulos (Yanni, guitar and Alexi, bass) and drummer Cheshire Agusta do all this and more, with sincerity, passion and might.
Joe Lally (Fugazi) released this on his label Tolotta, best known as the home of stoner rock heroes Spirit Caravan. I'd really like to see both SC and SL go on tour together, that would be something...
For a band that's proudly "always on tour" (and have been for the better part of the past 15 years!), the band of Philadelphians known as Stinking Lizaveta don't make it out here to San Francisco nearly often enough, in our opinion! (And when they do, we always request they play an instore here at AQ, just so we get to see 'em twice.) So, not having had the pleasure of attending a Stinking Liz show for far too long, getting in this brand new album is, well, the next best thing. It also might be the best Stinking Liz recording yet. Steve Albini (no slouch) was behind the board for the first five of their albums, but this time 'round they've switched things up production-wise and recorded with heaviness guru du jour Sanford Parker (Pelican, Indian, Buried At Sea, Samothrace, Minsk, Bible Of The Devil, etc.). With more overdubs and a thicker sound, or something, this just immediately impressed sonically. While it's by now commonplace to remark that any studio album from this all-instrumental, more and more metallic "doom-jazz" trio can't quite capture the sweaty, gleeful intensity and exuberance of their live performances (how could they?), this one still certainly excels as an at-home, loud listening experience, revealing subtle nuance of light and shade while also pulverizing massively when they tilt towards the heavier side of that so-called doom-jazz thing. (Really, what are they? They've been rightly welcomed into the metal realm, specifically the stoner/doom scene, but the upright electric bass points to jazz, and they display signifiers of mathrock, postrock, prog, fusion, and crustyhippiepunk as well... let's just say Stinking Lizaveta ROCK and be done with it.)
And even though it's their sixth album, they have no problems conjuring the usual Stinking Liz magic in the songwriting dep't. The feel and finesse of SL's style of tightly wound jams is in full effect, these ten tracks packed with all the power and prettiness we expect: Menacing, calm-before-the-storm moodiness. Surging grooves. Eruptions of exotic, trebly guitar god soloing. Ripping riffage. Dynamic stops and starts. Sheer beauty and sudden complexities.... You get plenty of what we might (confusingly?) term 'Earthless-condensed-and-gone-classical' geetar wailin', wired through the choppy chunky chuggery of song structures that sound like Confessor on SST.
Fans of the band will be seriously chuffed, and if you haven't heard 'em before this would be a fine introduction as any (short of seeing 'em live of course - but heck WE got into them in the first place from hearing their debut cd, not at a show). Sacrifice And Bliss currently stands as the authoritative album from this band about whom we've waxed rhapsodic so much before, that all we can say is if you haven't gotten into 'em yet, please do so now. Of course, we don't expect EVERYONE to like 'em, though we do feel sorry for you if you don't...
