What?! Aquarius picked a No Doubt release as a Record Of The Week? And it's a best-of type thing? What gives?
We're sure that's what a lot of you out there are thinking. Others, maybe, already are aware of what most 14-year old girls know -- No Doubt actually are pretty great. Some songs of theirs anyway. Heck, even some of my 34 year old friends into psych-folk and minimal electronic improv and black metal or whatnot will admit that No Doubt have some good songs. Which of course you'll find here, this being a singles collection after all! But it's the non-believers to whom this review is dedicated, those of you know don't know Gwen Stefani from ____________ [insert name of tennis pro or microorganism or something], and/or think that a 'best of' No Doubt is a concept not unlike a serious book devoted to the wit and wisdom of George W. Bush. So that's why we're recommending this brand new greatest hits type disc for you all. See, we're not trying to make you buy an actual No Doubt album, with all the filler that such top 40 products usually contain -- I don't have one of those either. But, after being around for like 17 years, they've got enough great singles to make one hell of an album, and this is it right here. You get the goodies from their last elpee Rock Steady (the irresistable "Hey Baby" produced by reggae legends Sly And Robbie, featuring the amazing Bounty Killer toasting over the break! and the just as catchy "Hella Good" produced by Nellee Hooper), plus of course their anthem "Just A Girl" from their star-making 1995 album Tragic Kingdom, Andee's favorite No Doubt song "Spiderwebs" with it's loping almost ballady verse and bouncing rollicking double time chorus, and their latest hit "It's My Life" (a Talk Talk cover! but re-done with fuzzed out bassbin rattling low end synth lines that make the song sound even better). And more, 15 tracks in all, many of them #1 hits. And for good reason. These songs fucking rule. If you can get past the aversion we all have to MTV fodder and Entertainment Weekly gossip and focus on just the music, No Doubt are pretty kick ass. So, even if you never thought you'd own a No Doubt album, or even an album by *any* band with a ska-punk background, just stop pretending and admit you like 'em and get this. You'll feel better (we did). And yes, there's the total teen heartache emotional button-pushing and an abundance of sleek candy apple pouts, but beneath the high gloss finish they've retained plenty of personality and a will of their own to make some damn infectious, well-crafted, smartly detailed pop songs. At the root of it all though, one of the best things about them is that they still burst with youthful exuberance, and this is more than evident in each of these singles. So c'mon, stop being snotty, you know you were secretly psyched when "Hey Baby" would come on in the supermarket, And if you were alone in the car, you know you cranked up "Hella Good" and sang along until the dude in the next car caught you. Oh. You didn't? Well you should! We do!
Woah. Witchcraft fans, listen up!! There's gotta be something supernatural in the water over there in Sweden, 'cause they've somehow conjured up ANOTHER band that channels the swinging riffage and occultic vibe of early '70s Sabbath (and Pentagram) so perfectly, a la Witchcraft. We had thought that Burning Saviours (RIP) were Witchcraft's closest doppelgangers, but these young guys do a damn good job of it too. Other bands in this vein include Graveyard, Horisont, Troubled Horse (well they're mostly all Witchcraft members, that one), and Dead Man... now add Noctum to that list and put 'em at the top! Not what we were expecting, with its cover art and logo, this looks a bit more like black metal, but these Swedes are definitely practicing an earlier form of witchcraft for this seance of theirs... Quite a nice surprise, if something that sounds so familiar can be called a surprise.
Probably if the singer didn't have that particular Swedish-accented lilt to his voice (all songs but one, "Den Onda Trollpackan", are sung in English), and did more of an overt Ozzy, we'd be calling 'em Sabbath clones (first 3 albums!) rather than Witchcraft ones, but the combination of Pentagram/Sabbath stylings and the emotive, melodic, sincere-sounding vocals definitely spell Witchcraft. (Though "Lucifer's Way" also reminds us of a song by heavy progressive krautrockers Dies Irae!).
We thought of trying to review this without playing up the Witchcraft-iness of it, but really, if you like Witchcraft (and who doesn't?) you'll find this a pleasure - and if you aren't yet into Witchcraft, you should probably start with one of their own albums anyway. Though this would do in a pinch! Sabbath fans, too, queue up. Noctum possess a very Iommi-ish guitar tone for sure. Goes great with their undeniably catchy, and heavy, riffs. Throw in crashing cymbals, bellbottomed lope, and urgent-sounding songwriting infused with portents of doom, and you've got something that's more authentically 1971 proto-metal than most things from 1971!
LIMITED to 500 numbered copies.
We've listed Noctum's The Seance previously, when it came out domestically on the Stormspell label, in 2010. Subsequently, the band put out a vinyl-only 12" ep on the High Roller label called The Fiddler, with two new songs and a Pentagram cover.
Unfortunately, we never were able to pick up any of those eps, but now the Swedish psych/prog label Transubstans has put out an import edition of The Seance that includes 2 of the 3 tracks from The Fiddler as a bonus! (They left off the Pentagram song.) So, if you missed this before, here's a bigger better version, and if you're a big fan, now's your chance to upgrade to this expanded edition...
What we said about the original limited edition Stormspell pressing:
Woah. Witchcraft fans, listen up!! There's gotta be something supernatural in the water over there in Sweden, 'cause they've somehow conjured up ANOTHER band that channels the swinging riffage and occultic vibe of early '70s Sabbath (and Pentagram) so perfectly, a la Witchcraft. We had thought that Burning Saviours (RIP) were Witchcraft's closest doppelgangers, but these young guys do a damn good job of it too. Other bands in this vein include Graveyard, Horisont, Troubled Horse (well they're mostly all Witchcraft members, that one), and Dead Man... now add Noctum to that list and put 'em at the top! Not what we were expecting, with its cover art and logo, this looks a bit more like black metal, but these Swedes are definitely practicing an earlier form of witchcraft for this seance of theirs... Quite a nice surprise, if something that sounds so familiar can be called a surprise.
Probably if the singer didn't have that particular Swedish-accented lilt to his voice (all songs but one, "Den Onda Trollpackan", are sung in English), and did more of an overt Ozzy, we'd be calling 'em Sabbath clones (first 3 albums!) rather than Witchcraft ones, but the combination of Pentagram/Sabbath stylings and the emotive, melodic, sincere-sounding vocals definitely spell Witchcraft. (Though "Lucifer's Way" also reminds us of a song by heavy progressive krautrockers Dies Irae!).
We thought of trying to review this without playing up the Witchcraft-iness of it, but really, if you like Witchcraft (and who doesn't?) you'll find this a pleasure - and if you aren't yet into Witchcraft, you should probably start with one of their own albums anyway. Though this would do in a pinch! Sabbath fans, too, queue up. Noctum possess a very Iommi-ish guitar tone for sure. Goes great with their undeniably catchy, and heavy, riffs. Throw in crashing cymbals, bellbottomed lope, and urgent-sounding songwriting infused with portents of doom, and you've got something that's more authentically 1971 proto-metal than most things from 1971!
...So, pretty awesome, and now even better, with bonus tracks "The Fiddler" and "The Serpent Bride" both pretty groovy, bringing the cowbell and sounding like Led Zep was as much an influence as Sabbath.
Imagine the Charlie Daniels Band jammin' with Emperor. Or rather, playing at the same time in adjoining practice rooms -- out in the forest. The ancient forests of the Ukraine, to be precise. That's where Nokturnal Mortum hail from. This is their third album. You may remember the big fuss we made over the amazing Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra disc last year? Well, Mr. Varggoth is the main guy in this band Nokturnal Mortum. With "NeChrist", he and his comrades have created a unique sound, one that combines a raw, roaring black metal attack with the pipes and fiddles and "yee-haws" of folk/country music, Ukrainian style. And, to make us AQ-ers enjoy this EVEN MORE, all of a sudden all the music will stop and the middle part of a track will be occupied by the croaking of frogs! And you know we like frogs and the noises they make. Similarily, the final song on the disc is preceded by 78 short (3 sec.) tracks of twittering birdsounds and forest ambience. Therefore, if you play the disc in "shuffle" mode, you get lots of cut-up bird calls mixed with the occasional actual fantastic Nokturnal Mortum song! The unanimous AQ black metal pick of this lunar month!! Brilliant. Yee-haw! (Recommended.)
When reviewing a record you've had and treasured and loved for years, or decades, the pressure to do it justice is immense, so much so, that it seems almost impossible. But once in a while you gotta try. So here we go. Two of the MOST essential punk rock / post punk records ever, recently remastered and reissued, which gives us the opportunity to not only gush about records that have been on constant rotation since we were in our early twenties, records that totally changed the way we listened to music, but to also hopefully turn on the few folks who may have missed out, or who may not have even been alive when these records came out.
Nomeansno, from Canada, most folks know the name, but not everyone has actually heard these guys, but almost every single person we know who has, was never the same. The sound is super rhythmic and mathy, punk rock, but totally proggy as well, the focal point is on the bass and drums, manned by two brothers, Rob and John Wright, one of, if not THEE, tightest rhythm sections ever, the bass lines thick and throbbing and distorted, the drums chaotic but so tight and precise, the guitar, handled by a member who always remained unnamed - "Someone (but we're not sure who)" credited with "other things" on one record, or "none of your fucking business" on another - which is ironic cuz the guitar playing besides being BAD ASS was also so integral to the sound, they were a punk rock band after all. And the vocals, super high in the mix, dramatic, howled, crooned and yelped, melodic but raw and rough, sometimes sort of spoken, but always sharp tongued, spewing some of the best and funniest and intense lyrics. And as always, none of that would mean shit if the songs weren't great, and these songs are GREAT, so hooky and heavy and weird, a testament to these guys is that even the most obtuse tangled whatthefuck jam will stay lodged in your head forever.
Then there's the funky aspect, which we had planned to discuss at length, but listening to this again, the funkiness is implied, subtle, based entirely on the fact that almost all the songs are bass driven, and some are weirdly stripped down to just bass and drums and vocals, but this is not bullshit funky, this is elements of funk used the way they were meant to be, mixed into a churning, super complex, angular, jagged set of songs that manage to be both heavy and crushing and confusionally complex while still being poppy and hook filled and so goddamn catchy.
We tried to pick just one of these reissues to focus on, but eventually could only get it down to two, so both seemed like ideal candidates for Record Of The Week, especially considering that at least half of the folks here freaked the fuck out when we got these back in. We'll talk about each separately, but we have to suggest just buying both, you won't regret it, they're equally classic and timeless and heavy and catchy and far out and freaking awesome!
The Day Everything Became Isolated And Destroyed is a compilation of sorts, collecting the album Small Parts Isolated And Destroyed from 1988 and The Day Everything Became Nothing 12" from that same year, but for most of us, these two have always been bundled together so The Day Everything Became Isolated And Destroyed plays like one long, surprisingly cohesive record. And right out of the gate it's a killer, with the manic bass heavy groove of "The Day Everything Became Nothing", with crunchy guitar and over the top vocals, and a dense super tangled arrangement, and seconds after hearing it for the first time, we knew these guys were gonna be our new favorite band, and other punk rock bands were gonna have to step it up a notch. We could seriously go track by track, it's been long enough now that every single track here is seared into our brains, the kind of record where even the spaces between songs are part of the flow of the album, but we can definitely pick out a few highlights.
"Dark Ages" might just be one of our favorite songs ever, from its super mathy freaked out intro, to the loping hooky bass groove, the minimal guitar flourishes, the killer chorus, the super weird drum part, it's like some insane progged out punk rock opera crammed down into 5 minutes, just listen to the sound sample, if you're not smitten after this one, we might just have to give up on you! "And That's Sad" is a looping super complex rhythmic workout, with some cool, moody minor key breaks, that all gradually build right back up to the frenetic freakout that opened the track. If you slowed down "Small Parts Isolated And Destroyed", it would probably sound like Harvey Milk, a super spare, sludge-y stop start work out, that sounds like no other band at the time, or hell even now. "Victory" is a brooding drift of low slung bass, and muted tribal drumming, but as with all NMN, these long passages are separated by unbearably catchy choruses and here too, some tangled mathiness, that never seems showy or flashy or unreasonably complex, it's how these songs needed to sound, every part, no matter how weird or superfluous seeming, is perfectly places, and a few listens in no one could disagree. "Teresa, Give Me That Knife" is about as punk as these guys get, furious, frenetic, blasting drums, frantic guitars, with an insanely technical chorus, and a haunting creeped out prechorus, that is just as catchy as any other part of the track. And then there's "Real Love", most folks' favorite, a weird sort of heavy punk rock doom ballad, big crunchy guitars, long sprawling breakdowns, some crushing drumming, the chorus a lumbering almost waltz, with dramatic howled vox, which switch to a spoken croon in the 'verses', finishing off with a massive blown out super heavy sprawling outro, and again, the song, as unlikely as it maybe sounds on the surface, or with a glancing listen, is impossibly catchy, and somehow having heard it maybe hundreds of times, we're still not anywhere close to being sick of it.
Easily an all time, lifetime, desert island top 10 favorite for sure. And thus, just about as recommended as a record can be!
When reviewing a record you've had and treasured and loved for years, or decades, the pressure to do it justice is immense, so much so, that it seems almost impossible. But once in a while you gotta try. So here we go. Two of the MOST essential punk rock / post punk records ever, recently remastered and reissued, which gives us the opportunity to not only gush about records that have been on constant rotation since we were in our early twenties, records that totally changed the way we listened to music, but to also hopefully turn on the few folks who may have missed out, or who may not have even been alive when these records came out.
Nomeansno, from Canada, most folks know the name, but not everyone has actually heard these guys, but almost every single person we know who has, was never the same. The sound is super rhythmic and mathy, punk rock, but totally proggy as well, the focal point is on the bass and drums, manned by two brothers, Rob and John Wright, one of, if not THEE, tightest rhythm sections ever, the bass lines thick and throbbing and distorted, the drums chaotic but so tight and precise, the guitar, handled by a member who always remained unnamed - "Someone (but we're not sure who)" credited with "other things" on one record, or "none of your fucking business" on another - which is ironic cuz the guitar playing besides being BAD ASS was also so integral to the sound, they were a punk rock band after all. And the vocals, super high in the mix, dramatic, howled, crooned and yelped, melodic but raw and rough, sometimes sort of spoken, but always sharp tongued, spewing some of the best and funniest and intense lyrics. And as always, none of that would mean shit if the songs weren't great, and these songs are GREAT, so hooky and heavy and weird, a testament to these guys is that even the most obtuse tangled whatthefuck jam will stay lodged in your head forever.
Then there's the funky aspect, which we had planned to discuss at length, but listening to this again, the funkiness is implied, subtle, based entirely on the fact that almost all the songs are bass driven, and some are weirdly stripped down to just bass and drums and vocals, but this is not bullshit funky, this is elements of funk used the way they were meant to be, mixed into a churning, super complex, angular, jagged set of songs that manage to be both heavy and crushing and confusionally complex while still being poppy and hook filled and so goddamn catchy.
We tried to pick just one of these reissues to focus on, but eventually could only get it down to two, so both seemed like ideal candidates for Record Of The Week, especially considering that at least half of the folks here freaked the fuck out when we got these back in. We'll talk about each separately, but we have to suggest just buying both, you won't regret it, they're equally classic and timeless and heavy and catchy and far out and freaking awesome!
Wrong, from 1989, was the follow up to the life changing Small Parts album and The Day Everything 12" from the year before, and guess what, it too was life changing, managing to take the sounds and songs from the records before and make them heavier, more complex, more intense. The opener "It's Catching Up" is just so heavy and intense and brutal, the bass about as thick and distorted as it can get and still nail the flurry of rapid fire notes, the drums are devastating, not sure why this guy wasn't a drum god to all the aspiring drummers out there (although he was to Andee, who did get his autograph way back in the day), the guitars sharp and jagged, all wrapped around an insanely catchy hook, and somehow they manage to make it sound punk as fuck at the same time. "The Tower" might be our favorite here (amongst a record full of favorites), with its dirgey Black Flag vibe, more impossibly thick and distorted bass, and a weird staccato chorus, with one of the strangest and most anguished vocal parts ever, but so hooky, which leads right into a killer tangle of head spinning mathiness. Another favorite (like we said, they ALL rule), is "Rags And Bones", with easily one of the best bass lines ever, and some tangled complex drumming to go with it, some bizarre lyrics and a total pure pop chorus, of course doused in distortion and punked up a bit. "Brainless Wonder" is impossibly dense and heavy, like a skipping Black Flag record, before it slips into something a bit more groovy. "Two Lips, Two Lungs And One Tongue" is a short sharp blast of weird vocal / instrumental tangle, with the band locked into the repeated titular phrase. And then there's "All Lies" which is sort of the "Real Love" of Wrong, an epic punk rock prog rock sort-of-ballad, long sprawling moody breakdowns set between dense tribal math rock workouts, moving and emotional and dramatic, all building slowly to a killer super catchy stop start chorus.
Phew, we're just about gushed out. If you can't tell, we love this record A LOT, and The Day Everything Became Isolated And Destroyed, both are easily all time favorites, desert island discs for you list making nerds, essential listening for anyone into punk rock, post punk, pop punk, heaviness, hookiness, great music... as we were listening to this again, Allan asked me why bands weren't good anymore, and I couldn't really think of an answer. Absolutely and totally and utterly recommended.
This remastered reissued has two bonus tracks from a 7" released by Mr Wrong, aka NMN bassist Rob Wright, which sound a whole lot like the record proper!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
"Entertainment for Maniacs". Indeed. Here's the latest issue of Norway's slickest black-metal scene-zine. A must for all fans of the genre, also for fans of the totally ridiculous prose in their by now notorious review section (due not only to the English-as-a-second-language problem, but also to general weirdness on the part of the writers. A sample: "They went to Romania to record this record, when in reality they should have travelled to Mongoland. Extremely non-action music without highlights, just again and again showing us how little creativity the band have in each of two many songs." And that's one that actually makes a lot of sense...) This issue features interviews with Darkthrone, Satyricon, Angelcorpse, Dark Funeral, and more. The interviews with Norwegian bands like Darkthrone are always great 'cause the Nordic Vision guys are buddies with them and thus have some other-than-usual questions to ask. A final warning: the cheesecake "Sex & Satan" photo section is too dumb for words. Readers are invited to write in with suggestions about how the model should pose...Andee already emailed a request for her to dress up like a "Hot Dog On A Stick" girl. So if anyone wants to pre-order issue #16, let us know.
Back in stock!
Doom/psych fans: a few of you might remember this eccentric, underground French band from their second album entitled Masters of Magic that we reviewed a few years back. And anyone intrigued by the rather weird and melodic psychedelic-doom-metal-folk hybrid crafted by 'em on that disc ought to be interested in hearing their out-of-print first album Great God Pan from 1998, which we intimated was the superior record. Well, maybe it got repressed or someone found a stash of 'em in a closet or crypt or somewhere, but lo and behold, we've managed to get our hands on, like, ten copies of Northwinds' debut! So, if you're both a fan of Sabbathy doom metal and '60s/'70s styled heavy progressive psychedelia, you might want to grab this now. Assuredly not to everyone's taste, as Allan (who loves 'em) will freely admit and Andee (who can't deal with the French accented vocals) will attest...as we've said previously, Northwinds might be one of the most "twee" heavy bands ever what with the folky flutes, acoustic guitars, and those French vocals...yet the unique blend of proggy Paganism, soft '60s sike-pop balladry, and of course massive Iommi-worthy doom metal guitar riffage that intermix in these looong songs could also really make this a favorite find for a freaky few of you out there! With so much feeling, solid songwriting, and unexpected elements (wiggy studio effects and tape manipulations) they truly capture the spirit of pre-metal, pro-prog Black Sabbath (in fact, they cover the Sabs "A National Acrobat" on here) and others in that vein, not far from a warped version of early Cathedral, obsessed with Sabbath *and* Comus... If you dug the two other Sabbathy bands we reviewed recently, Witchcraft and Dragonauta, there's definitely a chance you could be a Northwinds fan too!
Finally available again, one of our favorite slabs of doomy black buzz. Remastered, reissued and on a new label! Here's the review from when we first got this in:
Our doomiest customer, "Rick from Thrasher", came in the other day to ask about an album he saw on www.doom-metal.com, some band called Nortt who were supposed to be amazing; so good in fact that according to that website, Nortt's label was almost justified in charging about thirty euros for their cd (an astronomical amount, like US$40)! We didn't of course have that absurdly-expensive opus, but we actually did have this, Nortt's previous album released for a much more reasonable price on a different label. And it is pretty darn good, if you're in the mood for some "Pure Depressive Black Funeral Doom Metal" as it says on the back cover. Nortt are a one-man band from Denmark in the black metal tradition (complete with corpse paint and everything), but their fuzzing, buzzing music is sloooowww and full of despairing piano intonations and distorted minor-key laments. The vocals and the guitars both sound like last breaths, dying gasps, exhalant spirits... It's a drone-hiss of massive, gothic proportions. Nortt definitely inhabit the same gloomy petrified forest as AQ-faves Skepticism!! Perhaps if you get this and it succeeds in bringing your most suicidal thoughts to the fore, you can make it through life a little longer by trying to search out that other incredibly expensive Nortt album... (By the way, that www.doom-metal.com website is pretty cool one, for doom-fans only of course, with info on hundreds of doom acts!)
Fresh off their killer split release with Xasthur last year, Danish black metal funereal doom lords (or lord, really, since it's just one guy) Nortt offer up a full length for your pleasure...if you can deal with the depression!! If you haven't heard Nortt before, they're a bit like Skepticism meets Burzum. SOOOO doomy and atmospheric. Ligfaerd is a sinister expanse of spooky soundtrack ambience bombarded (at relaxed intervals) with boulders... No, not boulders -- fuzz-distortion depth charges, dropped deep and echoing in the abyss, wherein dwell the cave-blind creatures that make Nortt's music... or so it would seem from this disc's raspy, weary vocal exhalations and monstrous awakenings. The thudding percussion could be gigantic footfalls amidst the droning, morose melodies, that insinuate themselves slowly into your consciousness, as there are lots of quiet passages on this depressive, lethargic record. We bet Bohren and Der Club Of Gore would love this band! We sure do. Definitely one of the exclusive several doom and/or black metal acts that we think non-habitual listeners to such musics might appreciate, if such extremes of feeling and weirdness as described above are more than tolerated.
This went out of print almost as soon as we got the original Total Holocaust import version in four or five months ago but has now been resurrected and re-pressed domestically thanks to the dark souls at Southern Lord, who apparently like this stuff as much as we do. Here's what we had to say about it first time around:
We barely even have to review this. Just the names of the two artists should be enough. Nortt, whose "Pure Depressive Black Funeral Doom Metal" was a massive favorite around here, and of course Xasthur, who rivals Leviathan as perhaps the most brilliant and important of the modern USBM hordes. Nortt offer up four tracks of miserable drone dirge, with mournful piano over a swirling abyss of black riffs and simple drumming, each chord slowly dissipating into nothingness before the next chord hits. Depressingly gorgeous and wrist slittingly sorrowful. Reminiscent of Corrupted's Llenandose, albeit way more grim and dismal!
Xasthur gives us three tracks, equally depressive, but here, instead of tarpit tempos and drone-like dirges, the depression and misery is communicated through creepy minor key riffing, mournful melodies and what sounds like clean chant-like singing, almost choral, but buried so low in the mix it almost sounds like just another instrument. Xasthur has totally perfected the swaying seasickly black metal waltz, with relentless double kicks, anguished vocals struggling to communicate from beyond, and warm and woozy, arpeggiated guitars. So good.
Absolutely one of our new favorite "black metal" bands! One of two recent full-length releases (the other being a Xmas album!). Masterminded by Snowy Shaw (ex-King Diamond, Memento Mori, etc.) with female vocalist/dancer "Vampirella" as well as the De Sade brothers (Jean Pierre and Mannequin). Yes, it's silly. But it's also weird, surprising, catchy, and really well-executed, right down to the horror comix artwork and clever graphic design. The music is best likened to an even more over the top, operatic Cradle of Filth, with influences from '70s Italian prog-horror bands like Devil Doll and Goblin. And, I suppose, a touch of White Zombie. If the Addams Family were a metal band, they'd be Notre Dame! We're not usually a fan of metal that's so obviously tongue in cheek, but this is so genuinely great we can't help but love it.
"Featuring The Cateroeternally Live Sound" it says, whatever that means...well, it means it's from the psychedelic '60s of course! Yep, the '60s psych pop reissues never seem to stop coming. Obscure bands with one collectable LP to their name having their tunes dug up and put out on cd at long last. In trying to keep up with the constant deluge, we've of course learned that not every reissue shoulda been -- but this 1967 album IS a good example of a worthwhile reish!
Dunno much about 'em, and being a Radioactive disc there ain't much in the way of liner notes, but we know The Nova Local were an American band (from Chapel Hill, NC), who seem equally influenced by both Hendrix and the Beatles. Their songs feature lovely vocal harmonies alongside heavy organ and psych fuzz guitar work, and range from garagey, Nuggetsy fare a la the Electric Prunes to more orchestrated lite-psych, with some trippy interludes of surreal '60s silliness. The first track on side one, "$5 A Ticket" deserves minor hit status, we think (and no, of course it's not a song about going to a Fugazi show!). And they do a really great, uniquely laid-back and lengthy version of the oft-covered "Tobacco Road".
One thing that makes this band something special is the voice of rhythm guitarist Randy Winburn, who sings lead on a lot of these tracks. Randy is indeed a fella, but his voice is high, almost weirdly womanly, contributing to the band's nice blend of dark and light here.
Now domestically available, another cool Krautrock reish from Revisited! Their recent cd-ifications of Eroc, Klaus Schulze, Embryo, and Amon Duul II, among others, have been in heavy rotation here at AQ, and this one joins the gang. Revisited appear to be reissuing titles from the legendary & collectable green-labelled 1000-series by the seminal krautrock label Brain, and this too is one of those "green Brain" records. Produced by AQ fave Achim Reichel, Novalis' 1975 self-titled release was the 2nd album from these keyboard-dominated, synthed-out "romantic" space rockers from Hamburg, and is a proggy, groovy, classical gas indeed. Imagine a krauty mixture of E.L.P., and Trans Am, perhaps.
Keyboard whiz Lutz Rahn doesn't stint on the symphonic synths, and Novalis seem to specialize in taking both folk and classical motifs from the past and using them in a "futuristic" rock context. There's also plenty of guitar here too (with two guitarists in the band). The very first track, the sprightly "Sonnengefecht", starts things off with something of a '70s TV cop-show vibe, but one that fans of Zombi should dig. Further cuts reveal Novalis to be flamboyant, yet moody. Energetic, epic, erudite. Some of their lyrics were derived from the 18th century poetry of Karl Friedrich von Hardenberg, better known as Novalis, the band's namesake. Others are their own, as on one of this album's highlights, "Impressionen", which makes good use of themes borrowed from the 5th Symphony of Anton Bruckner.
Like many of the other Revisited reissues, this includes bonus material not found on the original vinyl. Here you get a ten and a half minute, live in '75 version of "Impressionen". As usual as well, this is nicely presented in a digipack, with color photos in the cd booklet, and liner notes in both German and English. Keep 'em coming, Revisited -- there's quite a few other "Green Brain" albums we'd like to have on cd!!
We hate to say it, or maybe we don't really hate to say it, but it seems like, well, you could pass a (rather draconian) law that no new music is allowed to be recorded or released, EVER, and even then, just by virtue of folks digging up and reissuing old obscure recordings from the '60s, '70s, etc., there'd still be enough awesome releases for Aquarius at least to still have a kick ass New Arrivals list of reviews every two weeks, right?? The cool reissues that keep on coming seem like proof of this. Here's the latest great example.
Long forgotten, private press, early '70s American psych-prog, rather pastoral (it's dedicated to the pagan Greek god Pan after all), masterminded by some earnest, bearded prog nerd doing his musicianly best to emulate his English/European heroes of the day, shades of Pink Floyd and King Crimson. That sorta sums up this all-instrumental album, recorded by composer William Nowik with a little help from his friends somewhere in upstate New York back in 1974. Except, that doesn't quite convey quite how fantastic and unusual Pan Symphony In E Minor really is! Possibly Nowik was into krautrock too, and we do know that the Master Musicians Of Joujouka had some influence on his musical vision of Pan.
Nowik's meticulously crafted, moody song-suites flow gorgeously, making precise sudden shifts as well. There'll be mellow rustic folkiness one moment, then -wham- it starts rockin' out with some fairly heavy guitar riffing, but then things wend and wind along further, and it's back to all-acoustic folk or jazzy bliss, but wyrd y'know, and then wyrder, with parts that are downright experimental, such as the passage towards the end of the disc which sounds like people climbing stairs while a church organ plays, followed by the sounds of a ticking clock, then plinking thumb piano...
There's just something ELSE to Nowik's music, an x-factor (the -actual- influence of Pan, perhaps?) that's hard to define but makes it more than just another obscure '70s prog effort. He takes things further, the music goes places other than where you'd expect, and dwells there longer, before heading off in another surprising direction (acoustic folky groove morphing into disjointed funk, ferinstance, at one point). But in all cases it really pulls you naturally there along with it. And it's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Much will appeal to fans of Six Organs of Admittance, among other acts (Citay too?), we think.
The cd booklet is filled with enthused liner notes & lots of vintage b&w photos, giving a glimpse into the album's creation and the subsequent career of its creator. Since only a mere handful of copies were originally pressed in '74, and it was barely distributed to boot, thank Pan that it's been reissued and more folks can enjoy this today.
We will note one oddity of the cd reissue: though there's 14 tracks listed, the actual disc is only indexed into 3 tracks (one very short, two quite long). Doesn't really matter though, as you should listen to the whole thing all the way through every time anyway...
NSU's record taught me (Allan) a little lesson. I came across a cd reissue of the lone LP by this obscure Scottish sixties psych band a couple years ago, and picked it up for its heaviness potential (it had been described as being really heavy by an overseas dealer). At first hearing, though, the heaviness I wanted wasn't really there. I had been hoping for a proto-metal album like, say, Toad or Leaf Hound, and so was disappointed and set the NSU aside. But then, some weeks later, I gave it another chance and, as so often happens when you aren't judging something by your wishful expectations but instead taking it on its own terms, I ended up really really liking it. I realized, this was a pretty nifty album with some marvelous songs and vibe from a pretty cool band, that while not quite competition for Black Sabbath or Blue Cheer, still operates on the cusp of proto-metal heavy, sixties style, and surely provides lots of wailing guitar! So now we're quite happy to have this in stock, a new nice digipack cd reissue of what we've come to regard as a bit of a gem, if you have any sort of a soft spot for Cream-y British '60s guitar blues psychedelia! Originally released in 1969 on Stable, the same label (and year) as the record by Lemmy's old band Sam Gopal that we love so much, and that this reminds us of just a bit, especially the more mellow and laid back parts, and they also share a penchant for lyrical subject matter that tends towards the dark and/or druggy! One song is even simply titled "Stoned".
So again, a lesson, give stuff more than one listen! You never know what you might like better then second time... We're still wondering, though: N.S.U.? What's it stand for?
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Incredible improvising rock/funk/freejazz combo - "club music of the 21st century." Members of Ground Zero, Ruins, Omoide Hatoba, Children Coup d'Etat participate. With turntables and psychedelic rock guitar. The live tracks are absolutely killer. One of Allan's top ten for 1995.
The same people who have been going on and on about the death of the record store, have also been heralding the end of print media. But you know what, screw them. Who wants to spend their whole life sitting in front of a computer? Listen to music at your desk, shop for mp3's, read that article on the laptop... whatever. Sure that stuff is convenient, and we all partake a bit, but nothing will ever replace your local record store, thumbing through bins of lps or digging through stacks of cds, just like a gorgeously designed and laid out magazine will never be�replaced by a website. Especially a magazine as gorgeous and jam packed with black metal weirdness as Oaken Throne.�
Beginning life as a super strange, WAY oversized zine, impossible to ship, and difficult to display, but brilliant in its obstinacy, Oaken Throne has just gotten better and better, easily the best magazine devoted to underground black metal and strange heavy musicks. With amazing writing, great art, and some of the most stylish, but subtle layout and design of any magazine we can think of. The cover is always metallic silver on black, inside, the ads are often as striking as the illustrations accompanying the articles (which makes sense considering one of the two OT head honchos designs many of the ads as well). But Oaken Throne is not just another pretty corpse painted face. Nope, it's packed with articles and interviews on and with some of the most infamous artists in the black metal (and generally heavy) underground.�
This time around, a bunch of AQ faves: Asunder (featuring John from Weakling), Harvey Milk, Wold, Portal, Moss, Coffins, Caina, as well as some other amazing groups who have yet to get reviewed on the AQ site:�Acrimonious, Adorior, Archgoat, Blacklodge, Cult Of Daath, Dapnom and Necromorbus...
Tons of killer photos and yet another amazing illustration from AQ pal Justin Bartlett (whose art has also adorned a bunch of SUNNO))) and SUNNO))) related records). In addition to all that, there are a bunch of record reviews too... easily one of the best mags, metal or otherwise going today...
This is the first issue that includes comes with a cd, containing tracks from each of the bands featured in the magazine, none of them exclusive or rare really (except maybe the Asunder track, recorded live on KFJC) but a pretty killer metal mixtape (er... cd) for sure... As always, totally recommended and essential.�
It's finally here, the latest issue of one of the best magazines going, Oaken Throne, specializing in the grim black metal underground, but gradually expanding their scope to cover all things dark and heavy and droney, definitely our kind of rag, and yours too judging from how many we sell, and how many emails we've been getting asking about this new issue.
The latest issue has indeed arrived, and is mindblowing as always, bigger than ever, now a perfect bound 7" x 7" book style mag, the covers printed silver metallic ink on black cardstock, as always, a gorgeous tUMULt ad on the back cover (designed by OT designer Ben West) and inside tons of aQ faves and then some.
Canadian black metallers Akitsa, French metallic post rockers Aluk Todolo (featuring members of Gunslingers and Diamatregon), Swedish black metal duo Avsky, long time aQ favorite, Dialing In, weird black doomscapers Gnaw Their Tongues, Polish black metal folk freak Dead Raven Choir, legendary death metallers Immolation, Swedish black metal supergroup IXXI (featuring members of Ondskapt, Lifelover, Dimhymn and Zavorash), Dutch brown metal weirdos Lugubrum, Nordvargr's black metal incarnation Vargr, legendary Polish black metallers Throneum, German blackened death metallers Necros Christos and Swedish death metallers Necrovation. The layout and design is fantastic, with illustrations by Justin Bartlett, Ben West, Adam Watson, Scott Langlais, Chris Parry, as well as tons of striking photography, plenty of reviews, and loads of ads for stuff you need. Pretty much ace all the way through. And as if the magazine on its own wasn't enough, it also comes with a cd featuring a track by every single band covered in this issue, two of 'em (for now at least) exclusive to this comp.
The price of OT has gone up slightly, but holy shit is it ever worth it. This is the kind of magazine you'll save forever, that will sit on your bookshelf with the BOOKS, not in a pile with the rest of the magazines, OT is something you'll read over and over, and odds are, eventually you'll need to at least check out all the artists covered. So totally recommended. We're already looking forward to the next issue!
If you've been reading this week's New Arrivals list in alphabetical order, you've already come across many interesting items, lots of cool stuff to sate your drone jones, get your indie pop fix, etc., right?? But, you might also want sumthin' that just simply kicks out the jams, in a badass heavy rock n' roll / metal kind of way. Of course you do. Like, the list before last's Danava for instance, or Children Of Doom not long before that. This time 'round, a record we discovered recently and immediately knew we just HAD to order in and review, that's just the thing for all you denim clad longhaired Satan worshipping beer swillers (or at least for your INNER denim clad longhaired Satan worshipping beer swiller, as the case may be).
Mortui Vivos Docent is the debut from Swedish stoner/doom outfit Obrero (and as an aside, we're beginning to wonder if the international community is gonna have to consider placing musical export restrictions on Sweden, as it's unfair to other countries how many amazing bands they produce, though of course we're not complaining!!!).
It offers up eight awesome trax of ripping, rollicking riffage, doomed-out atmospheres, and fists-clenched vox. The singer's ballsy, rough wail is one major component of this band's appeal, he's got a shrill edge that, in combination with the music, makes us think of Trouble (the band) some of the time, maybe Metal Church too. Meanwhile, the riffs are up there with those on the first Witch album, which we think you know we like a lot. So, yeah, Sabbath inspired sonics for sure, also early Judas Priest is probably an influence. To mention some of them Swedish bands who this is at least as cultishly cool as, well, imagine a combo of Graveyard and Grand Magus, perhaps. But with more umlautish umph even than that. Americans Ogre could be another comparison, as would Pharaoh Overlord with their recent Out Of Darkness lp.
This is one of those albums wherein every component moment contributes to the baddassitude of the whole, and will have you throwing the horns the whole time it's on. We're finding it hard to pick the tracks to mention in particular 'cause we're digging 'em ALL, but definitely "Son Of Tutankhamun" is an utter epic rockin' classic, and we're partial to the good time groove and stoner stomp of "Santovit". Reverend Bizarre fans will be happy with the hammering metal of "Charles The Hammer". And how can you not love a song, "Exterminate", that's about Daleks!?!? (And comes to a rather transcendent, musically uplifting conclusion, too).
Basically, one of the best heavy metal bands writing actual rock n' roll songs we're heard in a long while... Damn catchy, weird in a cool geeky way (heck they're into Dr. Who), with plenty of proggy light and shade amidst the out 'n' out headbanging material, of which there's plenty. Probably not for everybody, but what on our list is? If this is something you "get" though, you'll be glad you got it!!
Though we spend a lot of time toiling over our carefully worded, expertly-informed, well-thought out (ahem) reviews, we realize that a lot of folks probably just scan 'em looking for a few keywords that might jump out, and to see whether we are giving something the thumbs up or not (and furthermore, if we seem particularly enthusiastic in doing so, by like, using all-caps or something). So... here's some keywords for you: CELESTIIAL, FOLK-METAL, AWESOME. Working those terms into sentences, results in the following: this blackened but not necessarily black metal (they say "melodic dark metal") band from Minnesota, who started back in the '90s as a demo-only band under the moniker Autumnal Winds, is a duo featuring guitarist/vocalist Blondel de Nesle, aka Tanner Reed Anderson of fellow Bindrune recording artists Celestiial. Suspended In The Brume Of Eros is Obsequiae's debut full-length, and while we don't know what Obsequiae means (help, Heavy Latin blog!) nor are we sure what a "brume" is, let alone just who or what "Eos" might be, we do know we like this. A lot. And we didn't even know they were related to AQ frosty, forest-y funeral doom faves Celestiial when we first heard this and dug it, though we did know it was on Bindrune, almost always a sign of quality pagan metal with a weird or avant garde bent.
We said Obsequiae play folk-metal, that's right, it's real medieval /madrigal sounding for sure, but with the emphasis on METAL, despite an assortment of minstrel-like acoustic interludes. So the melodic, intertwined twin guitars are heavy with fuzz, and their harmonies more twisted than twee. Likewise, the vocals are harsh, and rhythmically the band gallops like true metal ought to, propelled by the other half of the Obsequiae duo, drummer/bassist/guitarist "Neidhardt von Reuental".
In other words, it's something that even those of us a bit burned out on "another grim black metal band" found quite compelling. Lots of (autumnal) atmosphere, lots of actual music, Obsequiae doing justice to both halves of the folk-metal equation, mixing acoustic guitars in with weird, killer riffage and soloing for an album that's epic and interesting and, as we said, AWESOME.
There, 'nuff said?
More rad psych rock reissue action here, courtesy of the Shadoks label. Their latest batch of cds delve into the prog rock past of a place known for interesting music (and volcanoes, and fairies), Iceland! Svanfridur, Trubrot, and this one, Odmenn, which we're reviewing first 'cause it's one we'd heard before, we already knew we loved it, and it's possibly the heaviest of the bunch. Poppy too, though, these songs are syncopated, swinging ear candy for those into what DJ Andy Votel over at Finders Keepers likes to call "hairy funk". The band formed in 1966, and after several years spent perfecting their groovy and rather heavy progressive blues rock, this record was to be their only full-length release. A double album, 15 tracks, originally released in 1970. All but one of the songs sung in their native Icelandic.
It's a joy, full of irresistibly loping grooves, fuzzy riffage, gentle folky parts, wild guitar solos, and lyrics pertinent to political protest and hippy ideals (so we're told, not understanding Icelandic), yeaaah! There's beautiful, blissed out melodies ("Kaerleikur") and sheer freaked out acid rock excess (the 20 minute, side-long album-ender "Frelsi") and lots of groovy stuff in between. Well, not in between those particular two tracks, as they follow one another, but in between those extremes, across the whole disc, we mean.
We'd recommend Odmenn to fans of other killer Scandinavian psychedelia such as Moses (another recent Shadoks reish), Baby Grandmothers, Mecki Mark Men, and, latterly, Dungen. And it comes with extensive liner notes, as well as vintage photos and graphics, in the thick cd booklet. Very cool.
Yeah we know, here at Aquarius Records it's always Jewelled Antler this, Jewelled Antler that. They're our friends, we're big fans, and we wax enthusastic about all the great music they make all the time (heck there's at least one other Jewelled Antler item on this very list). And we know a lot of you out there are equally enamoured of the Jewelled Antler thing. If that's you -- and like us, make sure to get EVERY Jewelled Antler related release that comes out -- then you can pretty much stop reading this right now and just buy this darn disc, you need it / want it / must buy it. But if you're more of the casual Jewelled Antler fan, or not yet familiar with their stuff but curious, then, well, we'll say pretty much the same thing, just buy it! Yep, that's because this new Of opus is one that we'll be pointing Jewelled Antler novices to as a true JA essential (and not just 'cause its in print and on cd, as opposed to being one of their many out of print cd-rs, although that helps). Of is the "instrumental" solo project of JA linchpin Loren Chasse, whom you may also know from such sonic congregates as Thuja, Blithe Sons, Child Readers, Coelecanth, and Id Battery among others. He's done other solo recordings under the L.Chasse name but as Of he takes his textural, field recording approach and makes it into something more overtly, hauntingly musical, something like a one-man Thuja, his ear exploring both the wilds of the woods and the sounds he could conjure on his own with an array of instruments and objects. Allan immediately recognized (with nostalgia) the field recordings of Pennsylvanian night-time buzzings incorporated in the track "Glowing Prints". Such sounds of nature merge perfectly with Chasse's own darkened drones, percussive textures, distorted strum, shimmering tones from bells and bowls, wheezing harmonium, etc. It's music to drift off to sleep to, to dream strange dreams and then awake immersed in sound, wondering where and what you are. Utterly utterly beautiful. What a darn great second Of album! (fyi: the first, The Infant Paths, originally a cd-r, is to be reissued soon on cd as well!)
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Not only did Thuja's Loren Chasse so very recently grace us with a phenomenal full-length cd from his solo project Of (reviewed last list), he has also now just brought in a handful of these Of cd-rs he originally produced to sell on Thuja's December jaunt to a festival in Scotland. Maybe 12 bucks might seem just a little pricey for a 25 minute cd-r, but Loren's made 'em look really nice (each one with an individual leaf-rubbing and handwritten credits) and more importantly, the music makes it well worth it. The first, five minute track begins with some pleasantly harsh distortion before settling into a soothing drone, Chasse weaving together both field recordings and his own instrumental improvisations into one seamless, organic whole. This is but the warm-up for the other, twenty-minute track on here that's an exquisite late-night humid dreamscape that you won't want to wake up from, which makes hypnotic use of what I think could be frog croakings but also sound a lot like a ticking clock... Needless to say, any and all Of fans need this, and as well it's recommended to all of you into nocturnal, eternal nature-boy drone!
Loren Chasse, one of the chief swamis of the collective Jewelled Antler sound through such projects as Thuja, Blithe Sons, Child Readers, Franciscan Hobbies, Ov, and too many more to list (boy, they used to crank out those cd-rs!), records solo under the moniker Of (the similarly named Ov being the duo of Chasse with his wife and AQ-employee Christine, full disclosure). Simply put, we love Of (and Ov), of course... and are always happy when Chasse takes some time away from his other activities (the somewhat less musical of which being his day job as a public school teacher) to craft a new Of album, a phantom tendril from his own personal dreamworld reaching through our shared reality to caress our ears and cause imaginary crystals to glow softly somewhere within that part of our minds attuned to such blissful vibrations. Not to make this sound like any sort of New Age fluff though, as while as ethereal and meditative as this is, Chasse always incorporates some primitive grit into his work, his music full of feedback hiss, quiet distortion, ambient elemental field recordings of nature, the magnified rubbings of rocks and plants, objects close to the ground, part of the earth, illuminated (and given shadow too) by the radiation of a far-off, flaming star.
The music of The Sun and Earth Together is akin to a slowly turning mobile, as if it were giving off drones and tones as well as glinting with color and the reflections of light. As light shimmers, so does this music. As light dims, it dims too. The abstract sculptural shapes of this imagined mobile move in beautiful indeterminate patterns, much as the sounds Chasse conjures from disparate sources* as cymbalom and stones, autoharp and voice, bells and bowls, guitar and zither all drift delicately, and droningly, in phosphorescent clouds and constellations. This disc clocks in at 51 minutes, consisting of four tracks, each one longer than the last, from the three minute opener "Ignimbrites" to the 26 minute closing title track. All composed of tingling, whispered layers of lo-fi loveliness, gentle and graceful and ultimately glorious.
*we're guessing on some of these...
Christian Vander's post-Magma "jazz" project, along the lines of Alice Coltrane's or Pharoah Sanders' 70s stuff mixed with his drumming in Magma. Fantastic. Vander comments: "3rd album of Offering and a decisive new step in my evolution. For the very first time, I apply my theories: don't dream, be aware of reality, don't lose yourself in the maze of intellectual endless sentences; Dig profoundly to learn how to go higher but with your feet still on the ground. It's a key-album, which announces what will be my next albums."
Over the top, '70s worshipping B-movie sci-fi stoner rock? Yes indeedy. You gotta give 'em props for this. Whacked out heavies Ogre from up in Maine - who we already liked for their riff rockin' retro-proto-doom-metal on such previous albums as Dawn Of The Proto-man and Seven Hells - have upped the ante with this new release, totally progging it up with a concept album consisting of just one long song (that's right, one track, but it's over 37 minutes long)! Although it's programmed as one track on the cd, it consists of eleven seamlessly segueing parts, including "II: End-Days", "IV: Queen Of Gasoline", "VIII: Battle At Doom Capital", and "XI: Dawn Of The Proto-man". To be sure, after a few listens, we're still not quite ready or able to summarize the narrative here, but we get the idea that it has something to do with a post-apocalyptic scenario involving environmental catastrophy, gasoline rationing and rampaging dog-men? It's all very Flash Gordon, campy and comic book-y (hence the Kirby-esqe cover artwork) with an underground comix '70s Heavy Metal magazine vibe.
Musically, at various points, and for various reasons, this reminds us of King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Jesus Christ Superstar, and, let's see, Steamhammer's Speech (at about the 27 minute mark). Among other things... The storytelling aspect also might appeal to fans of Hammers Of Misfortune's The Bastard and Slough Feg's Traveller (which also features dog-men), though Ogre isn't at all power metal.
Vocally, Ogre are as always eccentric and expressive, the singer sounding sorta Ozzy-ish, but really dramatic, rising into unhinged screams. He's a bit Mike Patton-y, too (circa The Real Thing?). Once again, we have to say that the vocals here will make it or break it for a lot of folks. Well, that and the whole uber-prog concept deal. Yup, Plague Of The Planet is a love it or hate it proposition for sure. We happen to love it, and say kudos to them for going for it like this. And there's no question that the rollicking riffage on offer is gonna be a positive for anybody who likes, you know, heavy music. (Heavy this is, several members of Ogre also now having joined the new lineup of cult doomsters Blood Farmers by the way.)
This was originally released last year on the Japanese stoner/doom label Leaf Hound, who have unfortunately since folded. Thankfully, Shadow Kingdom in the USA has picked up this disc for domestic reissue.
Here's one of the latest two releases from Japan's super stoner Leaf Hound label (home to the likes of Church Of Misery and Sonic Flower). Orange Sunshine (also reviewed this list) are Dutch, and these guys, Ogre, are Americans (hailing from Portland, Maine to be precise). Leaf Hound apparently appreciated the promise of Ogre's self-released debut from a few years ago and made a good bet in putting out this even better sophomore effort. The guitars are thick and heavy, the rhythms rollicking. This is a heavy duty, '70s influenced steamroller stoner riff-rock righteousness. Damn. We can't imagine too many objections to this from those who love kick ass retro-proto-metal... except that the wildly expressive vocals might take some getting used to. They can be slightly pinched and definitely over-the-top, like a camp(ier) version of Ozzy Osbourne, sometimes breaking into a twang or dipping into a growl, but we think that works just great and personality-wise gives these guys just a bit more of lock on the "weird" which we're pretty sure is OK with them.
Clearly, their influences are doom metal classics like Sabbath and Saint Vitus, with hints of cult acts like Manilla Road and Blood Farmers (whose Eli Brown mastered this album). And a dash of Monster Magnet too. That means loads of psychedelic metal heaviness, played with a rabid sense of abandon but also plenty of sure-handed finesse. We're loving it. What else to say? Well we should also mention that they do a killer cover of Pentagram's "Review Your Choices". And that the track "Sperm Whale" includes a full-on drum solo. And oh yeah, Andee's especially thrilled that Ogre wrote a song here based on his favorite "adult" sci-fi novel, The Gas by Charles Platt, a notoriously violent and pornographic book first published in 1968. Sweet. Now that's rock and roll.
These outrageous '70s-sounding stoner rockers from up in Maine are back at last, after like a six year absence, with an excellent new opus of their over the top, hard riffing retro-rock. As we had expected, it's a doomy, proggy concoction, lots of Sabbath goin' on (the wailing, nasal vocals sound a bit like Mike Patton doing an Ozzy impression). Ogre don't hold anything back, this is a wild ride of unabashed old school heaviness with a theatrical flair, and lots of fuzz and wah.
Lyrically, the songs concern themselves with a range of subjects: the science-fantasy works of Roger Zelazny, Greek myth, the French and Indian Wars, drugs, madness. And then there's one mellow instrumental named after an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons module.
Of further note, the song "Soulless Woman" is a cover, originally by an even more obscure band also named Ogre, who were actually from the '70s, and its sure seems to be a lost garage psych classic, giving this album a bit of a detour into more of an Uncle Acid or Satan's Satyrs direction, not that they were too far removed to begin with.
Italian import, on the label best known as the home of cult doomster Paul Chain. Gatefold miniature-lp style jacket.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Awesome. Simply awesome. Subtitled "A Sound Wave Replication Dissertation On Alien Simian Technology in 13 Chapters", Old Man Gloom's album is a schizophonic album with ultra-heavy post-hardcore/grinding metal in the tradition of Cave-In or Cavity interspersed with deep dronological investigations that could have easily been an Organum or Jonathan Coleclough record. Hydrahead couldn't make this fit with the rest of their catalogue, but released it on their Tortuga subsidiary. Drones, metal, and monkeys... everything that Andee could ask for in an album.
That crude & spooky, black & white linocut (?) cover art looks like some cult black metal cassette or floorcore noisepsych lp from nowadays. But it actually heralds an album of '80s Italian underground metal weirdness, which is basically one of those obscure microgenres that we here at Aquarius might just be getting a bit obsessed with (other examples: Scandinavian skweee, field recordings of frogs, Sheffield black psychedelia, singing saw music, and the New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal). Well, at any rate we're into a few weird '80s underground Italian metal bands, previously having written about Black Hole and Dark Quarterer... We'd put Flames Of Hell in there too but they were from Iceland, not Italy, though somehow seem like they'd belong. There's also the likes of Death SS and Bulldozer, and going way back Jacula, but it's Old Yron that we should be talking about right now!
That's the band responsible for this record, originally released in quite limited fashion in 1989, though it sounds somewhat older than that (Old Yron actually having their beginnings back in 1974). Six tracks suffused with traditional metallic atmosphere and amateur charm. Being Italian, it's got a classically influenced, proggy bent to it, but that's filtered through an extremely budget DIY production, enhanced perhaps by what may be the crackle of the vinyl from which this (fully legit however) cd reissue was probably transferred.
Old Yron deliver the goods in the form of high pitched screams and Yngwiesque guitar shred, on such songs as "Old Yron", "Crazy Lady", and "Strange Vision"... strange vision indeed, as OY seem to be all about taking their mundane existence and finding something dreamlike and weird about it, particularly involving women if at all possible, in which case they are voluntarily "Slave To Dream"! Speaking of women, their regular singer's histrionic, operatic stylings are joined by the atypical "jazzy" singing of a guest female vocalist on "Window In The Dark" which is probably our favorite track here, for sheer eccentricity.
The album ends with the Paganini inspired instrumental "Up-Start", which sets us up for this cd's two bonus tracks, modern (circa 2003) recordings of classical guitar by OY mainman Antonio "Tony" Ferrari. While much slicker than the original Old Yron album itself, they can be seen as a progression from it, and/or perhaps can be considered a palate cleanser after all the very metal, lo-fi, yet cultured wailing of the album proper.
The cd booklet includes thorough liner notes by Ferrari, presented in both English and Italian. Thanks for Shadow Kingdom for digging this up, how they discovered it we don't know, but it's a unique find and we're glad to have it, it'll certainly serve as our '80s Italian underground metal weirdness fix for a little while!
Whoohoo! Another Bjorn Olsson album, that always makes us happy here at Aquarius. So far the Swedish composer/multi-instrumentalist has yet to disappoint. This is his fourth album, the third in what seems to be a seafood-themed series, this one with a crab on the cover. Like his previous discs, this one begs the question: what would Bjorn Olsson do without spaghetti westerns? I don't know if we'll ever find out and that's ok. However, while the spaghetti western style whistling that was so prominent on his last album (one of the best whistling records EVER) is still present, it takes a back seat to Bjorn's guitar. This is his most guitar-centric disc to date, and it means that the melodies with which he's so marvellous seem here seem to possess a definite rock lineage. Certain tracks will seemingly contain echoes of some Beatles, Stones or Stooges song into which it seems Bjorn's guitar strum will soon coalesce, but instead his instrumentals always drift off into a looser, more droned-out zone. Yet the tunes seem so totally familiar, that's his knack. You think you kinda know these songs already, but can't quite place your finger on 'em. Brilliant, 'cause he obviously owes so much to certain other composers (Ennio Morricone!!) yet makes something that you can't really hear anywhere else than on a Bjorn Olsson album. Though, listening to this we can make tenuous connections to such disparate artists as the Sun City Girls (hints of their more garagey folk style), the desert instrumentals of Calexico, and the drone ragas of Henry Flynt. A lot of that has to do with the grimy, dusty quality of the recording. We suspect that Bjorn's tape recorder slowly falling apart, as each album he makes gets more and more lo fi -- which is a good thing! This one's got all kinds of hiss and hum and drop outs and grit that make his music all the more dream-like. Wonderful!
Sweden's Bjorn Olsson (a member of The Soundtrack Of Our Lives) returns with yet another album of nostalgic soundtrack-sounding stuff that'll have you asking yourself "where have I heard this before"? Of course, that may be because, when you get through the whole album, you'll have heard many of the songs twice! (Yep, for the same obscure reason he did so on his last album "UPA", ol' Bjorn put the same songs twice on one disc, though the second time around they're definitely different mixes at least.)
Anyway, after hearing these tracks a couple times (that is, after one spin of the disc, heh) we found ourselves -- store employees and customers alike -- fairly whistling along, mostly because Olsson's catchy melodies are quite irresistible, but also partly 'cuz several of the best tracks here indeed feature whistling as the melodic lead (think Morricone's "Giu La Testa"). Yep again, as with his previous two albums Bjorn continues to emulate Ennio Morricone, to the point where he's nearly out Heroded Herod. Along with his knack for melody -- super catchy and incredibly reminiscent of specific tunes that will rest on the tip of your tongue -- Olsson's arrangements are increasingly more brilliant to boot. Like a spaghetti western that takes place in a sunny, pastoral meadow or something. A very lovely album, that at first we thought might be a bit too "Hallmark card" pretty, but really really grew on us. Windy's new favorite album, and Byram likes it too!
Here it finally is. Oneida's loooooong promised TRIPLE album, itself part two in a trilogy of releases that appear to chronicle the long and epic history of Oneida itself. We're still trying to piece together a narrative, but judging by song titles like "Story Of O" and "O", not to mention the album title, the fact that the previous record was called Preteen Weaponry, and artwork that seems to imply the chronicling of said long and epic history, we're just going with our gut on this one. Either way, with a decade plus of mostly ups, Oneida have delivered what is arguably their best record yet, or at least since 2001's psychedelic mind fuck Anthem Of The Moon, and it's really one of the most challenging, out there, and overwhelmingly rad albums of the year. The greatest thing about this band is how they use psychedelia as a blueprint, reinterpreting it in the process, and twisting their tunes into something beyond simple classification. There's heaps of krauty goodness, ominous electro groove, strange dubbed out hellscapes, and bluesy psychedelic squall, but in the end Oneida sound unlike anyone else, not even themselves on their other records (though we won't neglect to mention that anyone digging the recent works of groups like Circle and Cave will find plenty to go crazy for with this one).
One of the most noteworthy things about Rated O is the truly astounding precision playing that keeps everything in place. Everyone in the band (now augmented by Shahin Motia of Ex-Models and long time collaborator Barry London) is an ace performer, but GODDAMN is drummer Kid Millions' sense of pure rhythm mind boggling. The patterns Kid creates are essential to holding it all together, and his cyclical drumbeats are definitely the kind of next level shit that we should all aspire to. Coupled with literally some of the best fuzzed out organ tones ever committed to tape (EVER) and plenty of amazing psych guitar work, Rated O rocks and sways in all kinds of different directions, and it goes without saying that over the course of almost two hours, Oneida have given themselves plenty of time to seer their super repetitive jams deep into every nook and cranny of your brain. Throughout it all, they never cease to surprise, amaze, and with one song in particular, completely terrify (more on that in a bit).
Rated O plays out like a long journey, with each disc representing specific elements of the diverse sound Oneida has forged over the years. The album begins with the uncharacteristic yet somehow totally appropriate "Brownout In Lagos," an electro-dub sort of number with a constant sub bass presence providing much of the movement as atmospheric noises swoosh about. When the awesome guest vocalist comes in you have to remind yourself that you are listening to Oneida as your eardrums are pounded into supplication. "What's Up Jackal?" sounds more like what you might expect from these guys, with feral, distorted howls and a bubbling, percussive organ accompanied by all kinds of synthy ambience and what sounds like an electric sitar. While they have no difficulty pounding out expansive drugged out numbers, this song perfectly displays Oneida's unique talent at creating tense, claustrophobic psych pieces that seem much more focused than anything that could be produced with mindless jamming. No doubt, the big surprise here is "The Human Factor," which pretty much succeeds at redefining "heavy". We almost couldn't believe what or who we were listening to, since this number is more what you might expect from Khanate of Fleshpress. The song begins with an impossibly slow, yet super tight drum pattern, which remains throughout the 13 minute song. The only other sound is provided by an electronic hum, and eventually creepy siren noises and the most HELLISH, completely out of control screaming we have heard in ages. We're still trying to figure out just how Oneida managed to create such an unsettling and awesome piece with so little, making most doom bands sound like Dan Fogelberg in comparison. This song obviously tested the limits of many folks, but if you are able to sit back and focus, you will find yourself marveling at the almost comedic yet totally fucked up intensity of it all.
Disc 2 is the most typically Oneida-sounding of the three, starting with the epic jam "The River." This song is very much in the vein of the material from "Each One Teach One," with awesome repetitive organ pulses and fuzzy guitars that are both heavy and beautiful. Things really take off with this song, as the majestic sustained guitar chords and somewhat mournful vocals add a good amount of emotion. "I Will Haunt You" follows into similar psychedelic territory with big MC5 guitars and a generally mountainous sound.
The final disc is the loosest and seemingly most improvised of the album, its three songs venturing farthest into the drug zone with their lumbering improvisational feel. Closing number "Folk Wisdom" is a huge 20 minute piece, perfectly sounding like the culmination of the entire record with its epic, growing intensity before ending with a queasy organ blip. If you've gone about things the right way, you will have listened to all of Rated O straight through, and you will wonder just what the hell hit you.
Double albums are often enough to scare the shit out of any discerning music fan, and triple albums are generally unheard of. But Oneida cannot be generalized in terms of what is going on now or in the past. They are one of the few bands that truly has found its own unique voice and has taken things into realms most bands would never consider. Rated O is a serious piece of work, maybe a little too intimidating for the casual listener, but enough to keep Oneida's rabid fanbase jonesing for part three of the trilogy.
Certainly one of the best things about working at a record store is coming across new bands that give you that undefinable, but very real feeling in your stomach where you can't imagine having ever gone on without THIS band. Even better is discovering something from the distant past (not too distant in this case), something whose existence could have eluded you forever had good fortune not smiled down in the form of a reissue.
Onna were the Japanese duo of Keizou Miyanishi and Mafuyu Hiroki, whose 1983 7" has thankfully been rescued from obscurity by the mighty Holy Mountain label, and has been blowing minds left and right here at aQ. One of the coolest things about this record is just how surprising and unexpected it all was, the whole "1983" part in particular. With a nod to the past but no doubt out of place in the early 80s, Onna were without question inhabiting a world of their own. The most obvious point of reference soundwise would be legendary psych/noise enigma Les Rallizes Denudes, especially in the vocal department. This is a very good thing for anyone who loves those somewhat lazy, partially detached, Japanese sung vocals of groups like LRD and LSD-March.
The use of a drum machine keeps these two songs pulsing like a mechanical heartbeat, which when combined with the fairly free form guitars, definitely gives this record its own vibe. Side 1 begins with a meditative two chord lament before noisy, white hot guitar squalls begin creeping about in the distance as simple and repetitive bass lines keep the foundation strong and focused. The second track introduces catchy psych guitar chords with a machine modified quasi-girl group drumbeat, the bass again holding things down nice and steady. The heavily reverberated strummed guitars bubble about as fake cymbal explosions recede and return over and over again, until a prolonged fadeout is replaced by a locked groove note that keeps this record spinning endlessly, just as it should.
The lack of information on Onna only adds to the mystery (and just a note, they are not affiliated with those other Japanese psych monsters Christine 23 Onna). PSF has issued an album by the group called Katawa, which we will definitely be paying close attention to after this 7". Until then, the only things we have to judge the duo by are the perplexing ugly/beautiful cover featuring an androgynous female figure lying naked on a bed (is she sick and decaying? is she just hanging out in bed? waiting for a lover?), and more importantly, their music, which we cannot recommend highly enough. Seriously, how many 7" singles would receive this much of a write up? You know this one is a winner.
PS for the non-turntable-havin' folks, apparently these tracks are also to appear on an upcoming cd collection Holy Mountain's putting out with other Onna stuff...
Reissued yet again! This time with an extra disc, featuring 2 previously unreleased tracks and a video! Not sure if it's worth buying again (although it probably is for Allan and Andee) but if you haven't got this yet (WHY NOT?!?!?) then now's the time. And you can also get yourself all psyched up for the fall release of not one, but TWO brand new Opeth albums (Use Your Illusion style!). The bonus tracks are cool, but we're not sure they're essential, both are gorgeous and simple, finger picked acoustic guitar workouts with plaintive vocals. Really nice but definitely NOT HEAVY. The video is cool though, lots of Opeth-in-the-studio footage. But here's what we had to say about the disc last time:
Opeth are GODS. The Swedish gods of progressive death/black metal, that is. And by progessive, yes, we mean full on '70s style prog-rock, mixed with the heaviest, most crushing metal attack you can imagine. The many many local SF fans of Weakling should be aware: this band was one of the big influences on Weakling's trance-inducing compositions. Opeth's songs can be equally epic and hypnotic, but of course incorporate a wider, dare we say lovlier array of musical elements. In Opeth's arsenal, there's vocals both growled and clean, acoustic guitar, an incredible sense of dynamics, and inspired melodicism. Blackwater Park (inexplicably named after an obscure krautrock boogie band? we can't figure it out) follows their awesome Still Life album, making for the fifth entry in the Opeth pantheon. While it would be hard to be much better than that album (and that's what we thought about Still Life's predecessor, My Arms Your Hearse too), Opeth continue to perfect perfection, I guess. While the nine-minute plus song lengths found here don't push past earlier excesses, Blackwater Park does see Opeth progressing into even more, uh, progressive areas. Being Pink Floyd fans, they even got Steve Wilson of UK young Floyd proggers Porcupine Tree to produce! So, the mellow parts are mellower, the metal parts cleaner and more precise. If you've never heard them before, we might suggest starting with their more psychedelically murky masterpiece My Arms Your Hearse, but Blackwater Park should also be on your list. Pure art from the masters. All that drool was justified.
Third & perhaps best (yet) album from this Swedish band worshipped the world over for its combination of heavy death/black metal and epic progrock (i.e. they're no strangers to ten-minute plus song lengths). Note title derived from a Comus lyric!
People have been waiting for this record like it was the new Star Wars movie or something. And, why not? After all, their last record, 'My Arms, Your Hearse', was a masterpiece. Probably the best mix of black metal, '70s progrock, and just plain awesome songwriting; riffs, melodies, power, that record had it all. Now the new album is finally here, and it too seems destined for similar acclaim. The basic formula remains, a complex, oh-so-skilled mixture of might and beauty. Like all Opeth releases to date, this one will take a little time to digest! Impressive. And, needless to say, definitely better than that lame Star Wars movie!
A nice reissue of this cult classic Swedish black metal album, another one of those things that it seems that we should have reviewed when it first came out, but didn't, probably 'cause back in 1995 the AQ "list" was just getting started. And we were also only just then getting into the black metal as well, come to think of it. But we did love this album, and still do. It's especially majestic, melodic, quite unusual black metal, on the slower side, with epic progressive atmospheres reminding us of early Opeth perhaps, and also Dissection, with which this band has some connection. The winding guitar lines are what stands out for us, as played by none other than the infamous "It", also a key member of Abruptum, Vondur, and War. Unlike those other band of Its, this isn't so primitive and noisy. It's more about the guitar, which weeps melancholically over martial but sorta jazzy drumming, playing insidiously catchy, sorta folky riffs that are woven into doomy, sorrowful, and sinuous compositions. What we really like is when it gets kind of frantic, as in the middle of "Slowly Passing The Frostlands/A Winterland's Tear" (all the songs have the two-part names, by the way), all twisted and tangled, and the song starts to sound a heck of a lot like a Black Flag instrumental or something from one of Greg Ginn's first two Gone albums!!
Raspy vokills and weird whispers factor into the mix as well, along with a "practice space" production vibe, making this sound more black metal than it might otherwise, given that the herky-jerky, never ending guitar riffage also sounds more like rollicking '70s heavy rock on occasion. Making sure there's no question about it (and It) being black metal, though, if the band's medieval/gothic/ridiculous painted portraits weren't enough, along with their pedigrees in other bands (Abruptum, Marduk, Pan-Thy-Monium, Swordmaster, etc.) this ends with a bonus track (as did the original cd), that's a cover of the great "Deathcrush" by Mayhem.
Ophthalamia made several albums, but this - their second, strangest, and we think most memorable - is our favorite, and also one of our favorites among Its entire discography. Glad it's back in print, a great reminder of all the fantastic, original albums we were discovering back in the '90s coming from the Scandinavian metal scene...
3rd album from this aQ fave band with perhaps the best "truth in advertising" name in the realm of psychedelic doomy druggy heaviness. They also have some of the strangest album titles too. A project of Sami "Albert Witchfinder" Hynninen, of Reverend Bizarre (R.I.P.) and The Puritan fame, Opium Warlords' brand of doom metal is often on the minimalist, avantgarde ambient side of things, and oddly prog-inflected. Sprawling Finnish weird-ass doom dirgery at its best!
These slo-mo riffscapes meld the sombre Sabbathy-ness of Reverend Bizarre with the more experimental, extreme likes of early Earth (Extra-Capsular Extraction era), some of the tracks being stripped down to just guitar only, others accompanied by the plodding of a live drummer, or the even more precise plodding of a drum machine. They can range from the somnolently super-sludged to the curiously acoustic, always massively moody in any case, simple and effective. Several are purely instrumental, while some feature Sami's deep voiced vocals ponderously intoning melancholic lyrics, like on the morose, majestic organ-laced 12 minute epic "The Self-Made Man" (which concludes with a noodling, jamming outro that Orthodox might do in one of their more Greg Ginn-ish moments). Sami also occasionally unleashes some wretched black metal style anguish in the vokill dep't. as well, as on the quietly despairing "The God In Ruins".
Depressive and dreary, but strangely comforting and beautifully mesmeric at the same time, Opium Warlords have again come up with a hard to describe, quite original slab of less-is-more, confusion-infused doom (or doom-infused confusion). Scratch your heads and bow down, as they doom on!
We just did an order directly with Japanese avant-garde rock/jazz label God Mountain (sorry, those first two Hundred Sights of Koenji cds are still out of print, for now) and picked up some old favorites, this being one of 'em. Optical*8 is (was?) the
Now this is the kind of DJ mix cd we like! Optimo (a pair of Glaswegian DJs, though only one of 'em is responsible for this release) have already proved, with mixes like last year's Psyche Out, that they can throw down some proto-industrial or psychedelic rock tracks into a seamless set of mainly modern electronic dance stuff and make it work just fine, perking our ears up for sure. On this disc, Optimo start off with some vintage Throbbing Gristle from TG's 1979 debut LP, then skipping years (but not changing gears, that much) follow it with a recent cut by Kompakt artist Grungerman (aka Wolfgang Voigt). And so it goes. An eclectic, eccentric mix indeed. Other artists on here include: Suicide, Herbert, Black Dice, Marc Houle, Like A Tim, Godsy, Databrain, Leny Dee & Nicolai Vorkapich, 6K, Shane Berry, and Eventell and Metaboman. And Finland is represented by both Pan Sonic and Philius. At about the halfway point, Optimo even manage to include something by Japanese psych-heavies Boris! "My Machine" off of Pink, which though fuzzed-out and beat-less, somehow segues smoothly betwixt the much more dance-friendly tracks found to either end of it. Maybe the only unintentional glitch in the program is the track by Thomas Brinkmann -- though y'know we love him, his "Momomexico" included here is a bit of a party-pooper, unless a voice intoning "Mexico... Mexico... Mexico..." is your idea of a dancefloor filler. But once past that repetitious voice bit, it's a good 'un. And really, the idea isn't really that you're gonna put this on to dance to, is it? That's the question with a lot of electronic "dance" music we sell I suppose. Maybe drive, work out, jog, something like that though.
And as techno-y and house-y as a lot of this is, there's a healthy amount of grinding droning experimental bzzzz everywhere on here too. We imagine that at an Optimo night in Glasgow, there's probably people dancing, but just as many sitting there nodding their heads, spacing out. If you're like us, you might pick this up 'cause of the names you know and as a result get introduced to some cool stuff you wouldn't otherwise have heard. Recommended.
Fantastic! One of our all-time obscure proto-metal, heavy psych faves has now been reissued on vinyl. Long, long ago we had a cd version, but that's long gone and this is definitely a nicer, more definitive reissue, done totally legit (for the first time we're now told) with the cooperation of the original band members. Here's more or less what we said about it before:
Here's good 'un for you Seventies proto-metal lovin' brothers and sisters out there, being another reissue of a vintage slab of heavy psych rock from way back when, in the vein of Captain Beyond, Dust, Bang, Leaf Hound, Jerusalem and the like... We don't know much about Orang-Utan other than that this was probably their only release, a self-titled album from 1971, and they hailed from England (we think). Certainly this is a bit Zeppish in spots. A minor lost classic? This rocks hard and melodic with a melancholic emotional edge to many of the songs, not just the mellower ones. Great vocals and riffage!
This new vinyl reissue enlightens us a bit, we've learned that Orang-Utan were indeed from London, England, but operated there under the name Hunter. But their sole album was issued only in the USA, under the name Orang-Utan, unbeknownst to the band themselves (sneaky management shenanigans afoot!). Comes with insert featuring rare photos as well as liner notes, by Ugly Things writer Jeremy Cargill, explaining the whole weird story. Also we found out that the singer was previously in cult popsyke band Jason Crest.
VERY RECOMMENDED HEAVY PSYCH PROTO-METAL!!
In a word, wow. That's how our review of the debut, 2012 Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere release wrapped up, after several gushing paragraphs. Let's cut to the chase and simply open this review the same way; in a word, wow!
This 2nd Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere double cd set is their 2nd Aquarius Record Of The Week, and that was an easy decision to make. Nobody else out there sounds like this, 'cause nobody else out there thinks this BIG, and combines all these elements so perfectly - experimental electronics, improv jazz, avant-classical choral music, chamber rock, modern minimalism, pulsating krautrock beats, progressive symphonics, ambient drone, and much more� Possibly you could liken the OUA to a 'big band' version of Norway's Supersilent, just possibly, to get started. Aptly named, this Orchestra is a large scale project, and it's no wonder, so far, that they always make fully-packed double disc sets.
Led by Martin Archer (who appeared on another recent aQ list with the latest from the avant-industrial Combat Astronomy project, of which he is part) and Chris Bywater, the UK's Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere is indeed a large ensemble, the multi-instrumental Archer/Bywater duo (organ, electronics, electric piano, saxophones, clarinet, synthesizers, samples, percussion, voice, electric violin, etc., etc.) joined by a half dozen additional musicians bringing in everything from electric bass to flutes to glockenspiel, that core unit then further augmented by the participation of various satellite groups with which there is some overlap of personnel: the 20-person Juxtavoices chorus, the La Garotte String Quartet, and The Divine Winds.
While the first OUA album took several years to complete, this one came together in a shorter span of time, constructed from edits of live improvisations, and is no less impressive for that. It's mysterious and moody, as well as active and dramatic - when the Juxtavoices get involved, look out!
The first disc begins with "Dominant Growth Direction" - a powerful intro that zooms and whooshes with such physical heft, heck it should be used for the Dolby THX they play in the movie theater before the movie starts. That's followed by the beautiful, haunting grooves of "Paratacamite"; more atmospheric even is the next track, "Bilateral Coordination Activities Are Calming", featuring field recordings (birds, water) woven in among the drones and woodwinds and percussive sounds. Next, "Modus" is a glitchy avant-funk fusion jam, like some sort of electric Miles meets This Heat hybrid, with a definite David Shire "Taking Of Pelham 1-2-3" suspense soundtrack vibe as well. Want some even more out there 'band math' from this review? Skip ahead to disc one's blissfully grooving 14+ minute finale, which we're thinkin' sounds like a spaced out Oren Ambarchi/Augustus Pablo collaboration!!
Ok, but we can't go on describing this track by track, even briefly. That's not even all of the first disc we've covered. You want to read an even lengthier OUA review, look at our last one (and we do have a few of those sets back in stock, by the way). There's a lot here, and all of it is awesome, you get the idea.
And the thing is, for as vast and sprawling as these discs (and each track on 'em) are, there are no missteps. It's tight like that. So tastefully, cleverly crafted. It's compelling, intriguing, and evocative; ambitious but never over indulgent, never taking any wrong turns. Always on point. Or at least, that's what we think, what can we say, this just brings together a lot of sounds we like, we're hearing echoes of everything from Circle to Alice Coltrane, from Supersilent to Lumerians, from 3 Leafs to Terry Riley (just to drop a few names) and does it so dang well, and uniquely. Can we say wow, again?!
As soon as we heard this the massive and mesmeric sounds found here on the debut from the Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, we knew it was Record Of The Week material! And while it's the record of our week (and many weeks to come, we imagine), it was three years in the making, a grandiose accomplishment involving the efforts of around 40 musicians and singers.
The British new music ensemble responsible for this sprawling double cd has an appropriately evocative name, they are in the business of generating clouds of sound from on high, and they are indeed a sort of Orchestra, certainly a lot of musicians on a lot of intruments making a BIG sound, the actual core group of the UOA itself comprising only five folks, but they're augmented by a string quartet (the La Garotte String Quartet), a woodwinds ensemble (The Divine Winds), and a 25 person avant-garde choral group (Juxtavoices).
Together, the UOA and friends create a hybrid akin to 20th century classical chamber music meets propulsive krautrock meets '70s cosmic jazz (some parts, like the ten minute track "Coherent Backscattering" that closes the first disc, remind us of the wonderful Alice Coltrane With Strings album World Galaxy, complete with what sounds like varispeed tape manipulation)� But it's probably most heavily influenced by the work of modern minimalist master Terry Riley in particular - imagine portions of the Riley/Cale album Church Of Anthrax heavied up by a psychedelic stage band, with tons of synth and electronics amidst the strings and horns and percussive skitter. Other comparisons we could cite include the Swedish sixties psych groups Parson Sound/International Harvester (also big Riley fans), some large prog jazz rock ensembles of the '70s, like Keith Tippett's Canterbury based Centipede, and krautrockers Out Of Focus (circa Four Letter Monday Afternoon), as well as various underground free drone ensembles of more recent vintage.
The two part, twenty-plus-minute "Seen From Above" early in the first disc is really worth the price of admission alone, a tour de force that sums up the glories of the OUA without revealing quite all the secrets that you'll encounter elsewhere on these two densely-packed discs (77+ minutes disc 1, 76+ minutes disc 2, no wasted space in other words, you get your money's worth!). The piece is full of droning deep rumbles that resolve into strong bass pulsations, graced with gorgeous organ tones, and dramatic drum rolls and cymbal crashes.
But the next track, the 10 minute plus "The Opposition Effect" is equally impressive, getting even heavier with the krautROCK elements, and brings the Juxtavoices to bear as well, with some intense vocal chant that reminds us of the aforementioned International Harvester.
And so it goes, and goes, the UOA at times bombastic and heavy, at others more hauntingly subtle and murmuring, with squeaks and mumbles, like an orchestra tuning up, in a murky sonic miasma. Much of this is stirring & cinematic, with parts that remind us of Godspeed! You Black Emperor and experimental Norwegian "death-jazzers" Supersilent too. The latter especially on disc two, which opens in an even, ah, moodier mood, the sound ever more abstract and ambient on "An Open Vista Is Revealed", followed by "He Died Before I Could Get My Revenge", which begins with shimmering jittering electronics and stumbling drums. Towards the end of that track, the Juxtavoices ensemble is employed to provide a bed of buried, layered and effected vocal snippets on the subject of the track's disturbing title (giving both a "hearing creepy voices in your head" and "overheard noisy cocktail party conversation" vibe at once). On both discs, the Juxtavoices talents are used judiciously in ways that really put this over the top in the sheer weirdness dep't., really letting it all out in feral, primal form amidst the murk of disc two's closer "Their Dark Presence Stretches Through The Void".
Oh, and eventually of course the krauty drum propulsion kicks in on this disc as well.
Essentially, the UOA take krautrock derived, pounding rhythmic hypnosis a la Circle, and combines it with the symphonic majesty of something like another recent aQ Record Of The Week, the reissue of William Sheller's glorious Lux Aeterna, if you can imagine that, or (if you've ever heard it) Richard Youngs' pseudo prog-rock Ilk project taken to Magma-like orchestral extremes.
At the core of the UOA, is English composer/improviser Martin Archer, also a member of The Divine Winds, and organizer of Juxtavoices. He's a quite prolific musician, who runs the Discus label that put this out, and we should really review more of his releases in future. Previously, Archer's name HAS appeared on the aQ list as a key member of crushing industrial doom/free jazz prog outfit Combat Astronomy, much loved by us; he's also the fellow responsible for the Saint Agnes Fountain album from about ten years ago, a clever hoax that purported to be an early '70s recording from a fictional female Japanese minimalist composer named Masayo Asahara (and if you liked that Martin Archer alter-ego as much as we did, you'll totally dig the UOA, they seem to share a lot of the same sonic inspirations).
Martin, we're impressed. And this couldn't be more up our alley, as you can perhaps judge by the artists we've attempted to compare this to. In a word, wow.
We haven't listed 'em all (yet), but here's one of the more outstanding recent entries in the Stormspell label's ongoing "Red White and Heavy" series of obscure '80s metal demo anthologies (previous faves of ours in the series include Max Plank, Aerian Rage, and Detest). Ordained Fate were an American band, from the Midwest (Wisconsin/Illinois), and this collects their early demo tape tracks, circa 1986-1990. Press play on track one and almost immediately you'll sit up and take notice, that singer has some pipes! Super high pitched screams, and guess what, the singer's a girl! Female-fronted underground '80s speed metal shreddery, kicking ass on so much of the female-fronted "occult rock" making the rounds today. Hell yeah! Whoops, sorry, we should say heck yeah. 'Cause Ordained Fate were in fact an anti-occult, CHRISTIAN metal band. ("Our vision is to be used by the Lord at His timing and in His will only, using the talents given by Him to glorify Him and sharing our hope to the unsaved, entertaining people as that is what the Lord has gifted us with.") Gifted and talented is right. Ordained Fate, or Cryptic Axe as they were originally known, back in the earliest of these demo days, were a powerful sounding band, both musically and in the sheer sincerity of their delivery. They MEAN it, when they sing it. One thing you can't knock Christian metal bands for, the best of 'em anyway. Their convictions make for some impassioned listening, that even the atheistically inclined can appreciate, we think.
And, further setting Ordained Fate/Cryptic Axe apart, not only was their singer female, but also the guitarist and bassist, too! The only guy in the band the was drummer (married to the guitarist, by the way). How often do you hear a mostly all female Christian metal band? Probably not very often! More importantly, they're really good.
The cd booklet includes rare photos and detailed liner notes - which explain, that, strangely enough, the band formed before the members became Christians, then one by one they found the Lord and turned into a Christian band.
For fans of Powers Court (especially Powers Court!!), Sacred Warrior, Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, and other arcane '80s acts both secular and saved...
This brutal Brooklyn boy-girl two-piece unleashes their second full length, also vinyl-only like their debut (too bad for those of us who like cds). Once again, Orphan are UBER heavy, with thudding thunderous drums and destructive distorted bass, laying down total metal riffery, decapitatin' lovers left and right... but also, there's an undeniable "pop" streak in these songs, which can get quite bouncy-catchy, and can even remind us a bit at moments of an evil Nirvana, stripped down and buffed up, bathed in extreme amp buzz and fuzz. Or if not Nirvana, then Unsane. Also, the bassist's shredded throat-torn vokills are varied enough to manage a fair amount of memorability and character (the song "Soda Pressing" is in fact almost sung cleanly, though still meanly, making us think of Dan Higgs in Lungfish, actually). Orphan's arty/weird side is also on display, most obviously via some rather atypical track titles for a metal record, like "Love Is A Stealthy Hitman (Love Is A Healthy Stuntman)", "Mister Sensitive", and "Thug Luv (Gun Oil)". Also, probably less for punk cred than just 'cause they figured it would slay, they do a Born Against cover, "Well Fed Fuck".
As we've said before, those who lament the late great godheadSilo should check out Orphan. Another heavy two-piece they could be compared to is Black Cobra, and as much as we like BC, we have to say Orphan do it better! So, fans of grinding bass heavy distorted-to-hell art metal duos, you really oughtta take this Orphan home! Hmm, but be careful... while being orphaned is an unfortunate plight, you get the idea that THIS Orphan might be so by choice. They probably killed their parents and the rest of their family!
Numbered, limited to 500 copies. Oh, and stay tuned for another Orphan release soon, a split with a Baltimore band called Dope Body being released by Black Tent Press...
We're probably not the first to say it, but doom metal band Orthodox are *anything but* orthodox on their second offering for the Southern Lord label. Spanish sludge lords with a psychedelic bent, Orthodox's 2006 debut album Gran Poder was a major sensation among connoisseurs of the heavy, being selected as an Album Of The Month on Julian Cope's Head Heritage website, in part for its pagan-Catholic imagery, in part for its monolithic heaviness. What about eagerly anticipated album number two? Though we think it's great, and most likely Mr. Cope does too, this new one will no doubt cause some consternation among the less open minded of doom fanatics, as it's got a lot more going on that sheer sludge-ry. Not that Gran Poder wasn't an eccentric effort either, but this one's extremely so. Extremely eccentric, and eclectic, indeed.
The first track, "Con Sangre De Quien Te Ofenda" could easily be mistaken for a moody piece of instrumental avant-jazz, with that wide-open-desert-spaces feel of Hex-era Earth, baroquely adorned with a shuffling, dramatic drum solo and an almost-joyous improv-blowing session for trumpet and other horns. It actually brings back fond memories of the late great metallic math-rockers Engine Kid, the band that SUNNO))) member and Southern Lord label boss Greg Anderson used to play in back in the day, like when they would get jazzy like Iceburn and cover Coltrane... Minus the horns, that disjointed, free-jazz vibe continues on the second track, the nine-minute "Mesto, Rigido E Ceremoniale", though they heavy it up quite a bit. Imagine a slowed-down, fractured Black Flag instrumental, like something from The Process Of Weeding Out made more abstract, slower and heavier. Entering into the territory of defunct Dutch instro-metallers Gore here! With the third song, though, vocals finally enter the mix, weirdly distressed and wailing chant-like, and the riffing gets more intensely metallic, rigidly clawing through a miasma of chaotic, psychedelic, paranoid jamming. That one, "Solemne Triduo", makes us think of Om mixed with Los Natas at their strangest. And then, just when things are getting loudest and most insane, the album takes an abrupt shift into the quietly windswept, acoustically strummed "Amancer En Puerta Oscura" which flows immediately into the ominous "Puerta Osario", with stark repeated chords, and cruelly plinking piano keys. Though just two minutes minutes long, this is no brief detour like the piano interlude heard in the middle of Gran Poder, as it seamlessly segues into the sedated, suspenseful "Templos" that pulsates for 15 minutes in an darkened dreamworld of eerie clarinet, shimmering cymbals, slow-paced percussion, sparsely echoing bass, sheer moody atmosphere... It's a kind of creeping chamber music, that could be the score from some Italian horror soundtrack, or the sinister cousin to the epic tracks on Circle's mellow and mesmeric Miljard, mixed maybe with the 20th Century style stuff Ghost was experimenting with on their last album, In Stormy Nights.
The seventh and final track, "Parte II. Apogeum", then hits like a ton of bricks, massive doom-riff guitars smashing all before it, as if to say, you want ye olde DOOOOOOM? You got it! This song should shut up any complainers who didn't entirely get what was going on before, it's a doozy of a doom number all right, complete with even frenzied, metallic, acid-fried guitar soloing, and insanely effected alien Ozzy vocals. Closest comparisons would be to Thrones, and Yob and/or Middian, at their most claustrophobically crushing. It's like Orthodox wanted to wrap the album up with one song that in 7 minutes, 54 seconds would utterly satisfy anyone wanting Gran Poder Part II, for whom some of the more mystifying, weirdly proggy stuff elsewhere on this album could just be a bonus. Of course for us it's all good.
Recommended to all unorthodox doom lovers! Art and design by Seldon Hunt, by the way, and as long as we're dropping his name, here's some other names that we should have worked into the review somehow, as we think fans of the following might quite like this: Boris, Comets On Fire, Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, Ennio Morricone, Dragonauta...
At last!! It's been a while since we last caught up with entirely UN-orthodox Spanish dooooooooooom mongers Orthodox. Yeah, doom with so many o's that we're surprised they had any left for the 3 in their name. But also doom that takes a lot of strange twists and turns into the furthest far out zones of the genre.
This band's first two outstanding albums, Gran Poder and Amanecer En Puerta Oscura, were issued stateside by Southern Lord back in 2007. Now, six years later, we have the Spanish release of the their fourth opus, Baal. (Their third album, 2009's Sentencia was MIA at aQ, but maybe we'll be able to get some now that we tracked down an import supplier for this new one.) Billed as a return to their heavy doom Gran Poder roots, after the psychedelic, almost jazz-like experimentation of the last couple, this IS hellishly heavy, though still quite avant-garde, as well.
Lead off instrumental track "Alto Padre", despite its deep distorted low-end, is definitely more psych than doom, in fact... skittering percussive pitter-patter and chiming guitars conjure a hazy, mellow mood. It's a woozy ritual that could easily appeal to Six Organs Of Admittance fans, for instance. But then the band brings the doom hammer down, big time, on the next song, "Taurus", quite a surprise for some of us here who didn't know what we were listening to... Crushing, crashing chords and peals of feedback begin the jagged death march that continues over Baal's remaining four tracks. You don't listen to this for conventional "songishness", nor really even for riffs (though there are RIFFS), more for the totality of the experience of Orthodox's tectonic rumble and psychedelic sickness... It's a combo of lumbering sludge bulldozing, twisted gnarled leads, and alien, underwatery atmospheres. And vocals - with a weird, wavering effect on 'em, very much like OM meets YOB, intoning grim and desperate chant. With those vocals, one starts to think about the band inhaling from a balloon filled with, not helium, but some other, psychotropic gas... actually maybe not sucking on the balloon, but being sucked INTO it, the entire band inhabiting some impossible, drug-filled inner space. Which also sounds like it could be deep under the earth. Soon you'll be trapped there too, possessed by the churning metallic attacks, spacious drones, and proggy freakouts found throughout the demonic Baal...
The grande finale, 14 minute "Abrase Le Tierra" sums it up, explosions of distortion detonating over drum clatter and organ drone, then the guitarist goes offffff and it's a doomed out Earthless... before a wild, heavily effected finish. Imagine a mix of Yob, Gallhammer, Earth, and even Comets On Fire, here!
If the well-used terms psychedelic and heavy, which have been cited umpteen thousand times on this list alone, have any relevance to your listening habits, especially at their extremes, then we suggest you get this Orthodox album (and The Wounded Kings also this list, and the Elder reviewed last time, too, for that matter, if you haven't already), you'll be happy you did!
