I'm Still Deaf

I can't hear anything right now for, I think, two reasons: a) my allergies have corrupted all my internal functions, and b) I didn't have my earplugs in last night for one of the best shows I've seen in recent memory. Most of the shows I've been to lately have been larger venue affairs for Converge/Baroness and Neurosis/Mastodon. Not last night. Last night I finally got back out to a house show at the Silent Barn, hosted by the ubiquitous Todd P. To save my ailing, sinus-troubled brain from overwork, here's the rundown (in set order):

Maw: These three fellas are good friends of ours and play some sort of chunky, thrashy math rock. It's super fun and they played what may have been their tightest set ever. Keep your eye out for these guys, I think they're gonna be recording with Colin Marston soon.

Animal: Another local instrumental group, this duo is in a similar vein to Hella or Lightning Bolt, but far more listenable than the latter. This is a band that anybody can get into and they still rock. Girls and guys were dancing (in a good way, too, not some cheap ironic shit) and rocking out and it ruled.

Dead Child: Surprise guests of the night featuring members of Slint and Lords, they played throwback thrash from the 80s. I was wasted at this point and thought it was pretty good. The smoke added flair, too. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything they did worthy of actually purchasing their album. So...um, maybe next try?

Krallice: Having missed their last show (which may have been their first? dunno), I had no idea what to expect from a 'black metal' project featuring Mick Barr and Colin Marston. Well, there was little to be found in the shred/noodling department, but man, this was fucking relentless, bleak, tortured, melodic black metal. I don't know what it is (besides the Colt 45 I was enjoying), but great black metal puts a huge, goofy grin on my face. I don't know how long they played, but time pretty much stopped. Enjoyed every second of it.

Behold...The Arctopus: I've been seeing these guys since I was introduced in 2003(ish) and my unprintable galaxy they are possibly the most talented and most underappreciated band on the planet. If there was any fairness in this universe these guys would be billionaires and have just over 6 billion adoring fans. Unfortunately, the world is full of idiots with no taste, so these guys press on making obscenely complex, jaw-dropping metal fury for those of us who care way too much. For pete's sake buy their new album and get yr brain melted.

This is for Satan!...or Odin!...or someone...

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground - Michael Moynihan & Didrik Søderlind



I had been eyeing this book at work for some time now and finally picked it up this past week. As far as any book on "metal" is concerned, this is surely one of the best and most thoroughly researched. Black Metal is a subgenre whose reputation far outsizes its reach. I would bet most people know little about it and the scene itself isn't particularly large, but
it has a prominent (short) history of murder and destruction. I'm not aware if author Michael Moynihan has a direct connection to the scene itself, but I do know that he moved in some odd musical circles and may have far-right connections that go unacknowledged in the book. Søderlind is apparently a former music writer from Norway and doesn't have any such connections it seems.
In terms of the content of this book, the history is exhaustive with profiles of the major personalities involved with black metal since its inception. The material, though probably shocking to many, is presented quite even-handedly and the major figures aren't spared critique. Reading this is worthwhile for just the history of the fledgling Norwegian scene and the subsequent terror waged through church-burnings, a few murders and right-wing political action.
It is this latter story, though, that is most open to critique here. While there is no doubt that many figures in black metal have rightist views there is no profiling of characters who do not espouse such views. Whether this is a conscious move on the part of the authors to exclude such remains unknown. There may just not be anyone vociferously leftist within the scene's ranks to bother reporting (and let's face it, BM is too extreme for moderate personalities). It is true that the martial/medieval aesthetic and raw power of the music excites those with affinities towards power and violence. Thus, there is a natural fascistic connection that can be made.
As well, some of the folks discussed in Lords of Chaos are claimed to be "intelligent", I can't help but object as many of their ideas are clearly nonsensical and betray an incredible sociological ignorance. For some, an adolescent "satanism" matured into political doctrines based on pagan/heathen Nordic legends imposed on modern circumstances. Clearly some of these men (as most of them are) have difficulty discerning reality from fantasy. I think the authors could (and should) have been more critical of some of these views, (though I'm sure the book would have ended up much longer if they had followed through with this) and their failure to do so has led some to wonder if this is a veiled or subtle attempt to sway readers to rightist opinions.While I would not say that far right opinions are necessarily glorified, they certainly could have been more effectively critiqued. It is the lack of critique in this regard that betrays possible rightist sentiments of (one of) the author(s).
On a whole, however, I'd say that this book is definitely worth checking out for anyone interested in metal, in Nordic mythology or in rightist politics as a movement.

Enslaved is so good

Alright, I feel really ignorant sometimes when there's a fantastic band out there that I really should know about, but just don't. This is how I feel about Enslaved right now. They've been around for 16 years now and have released 9 full albums. I didn't really know anything about them, but their latest album, Ruun made so many people's "Best of 2006" lists that I had to pick it up. Of course, I'm broke 80% of the time, so I got it a good year after its release date (May 2, 2006). But whatever, Ruun is so ridiculously fantastic (except for track 2, which I haven't warmed up to at all yet) that I can't stop listening to it. When I first heard the term "progressive black metal" I wasn't quite sure how to imagine it, but wow, it's right up my alley. And by alley I mean a glorious enema of buzzing guitars, squealy/screechy vocals, melodically dark keys passages and wonderfully varied drumming. I love great black metal drumming in all its blastiness, but here there's plenty of change in terms of style and structure that it opens up beautiful new black metal paths. Man, I have a wicked boner for these guys right now, it's bordering on embarrassing. Fuck it. I know exactly why this made so many lists for last year. I also have to dive into their back catalog and boner up on my Enslaved history. This is gonna be fun.

In other news, my little affair with Enslaved got in the way of my big crush on the new Dinosaur Jr album, so a full review of that will have to wait. However, since Dino is playing here in NYC next week, I can do some big awesome thing to celebrate. I also finally just got my hands on the final Bucket Full of Teeth installment, IV. I'll be writing about that soon, too, because it also rules. What a good fucking haul this week.

"All of these goats are retarded."

I'm not the slightest bit kvlt and I hate to admit that I do find "true" black metal culture more than a little bit campy. However, the idea of an ironic, neo-black metal band to me is simply abhorrent. A brutal, fast, grimy black metal record is, plain and simple, a true pleasure. So when I get "black metal" records like Striborg (see my recent review) it really, really pisses me off. Black metal is supposed to make me want to drink blood, sodomize creatures and smash brittle things. I don't want to hear some weak, experimental garbage from some talentless misanthrope in a basement somewhere. Now I'm all for keeping alive the DIY spirit, but just because a record is poorly recorded and hateful doesn't make it "black metal," it just makes it a bunch of unlistenable crap.
If you want a unhealthy dose of negativity and bloody satan worship then I seriously suggest Urgehal's Goatcraft Torment. This is the first I've heard of these guys, though they've been around since the early '90s (I told you I wasn't kvlt), so I have 4 other albums and other demo stuff to track down now. Carpal-tunnel guitars and battering-ram drums; lyrics in English and Norwegian; sentiments of death and ritual sacrifice. Hell, they start the album by proclaiming, "This is satanic black metal!" Urgehal understands the the basic elements of a great black metal record, only with the added bonus of listenable production. Gee, what a concept! I absolutely hate overproduced albums (particularly metal albums) that strip the songs of their raw energy and emotion. But I also hate poorly produced works that fail to demonstrate the full potential of a band. Goatcraft Torment is a great example of an face-knifing black metal record that actually sounds amazing. It's another one from Southern Lord, so go find it. I might have to do that because my promo copy is fucked up, though the headache stutter would probably be appreciated by the artists.

8 year olds, dude

I'm currently listening to one of the worst "albums" I've ever heard: Nefaria/A Tragic Journey Towards the Light by Australia's Striborg--a one-man black-metal ambient project. The temptation to turn it off is haranguing me, yet I'm oddly enthralled by sheer terribleness. I got this in the mail during my "I don't feel like posting" phase and it's really the epitome of why I chose not to post for a while. Most of what I was receiving to review was sub-par at best and dangerously unlistenable at worst. Striborg falls completely within the latter camp. And "camp" is a good word for what this sort of black-metal is these days. Forget "kvlt". This shit sounds like a petulant pre-teen was learning how to use a 4-track and let his younger brother fuck around with some of the instruments. I'm baffled by how somebody okay-ed this and let it go to press with international distribution. My crappy high school hardcore band was 1000 times better than this.
Shame on everyone involved with making this album a reality.

Long, long overdue

Alright, I'm back with more musical goodies. A little while back I mentioned some pagan/folk/black metal and now I've finally done a full write up. The new place is coming along and I no longer have to steal a spotty internet connection. I guess that means I don't have much excuse for not post more often. I've got a whole box of cds I've gotta go through, though, so have a bit of patience.

Skyforger - Kauja Pie Saules
Paragon Records
4 stars

Okay, I should have written about Skyforger months ago, but I just couldn't find a way to describe it that did any justice. I still can't really, but too much time has gone by without enough folks knowing about this band. A few questions, then:
1) Can you speak Latvian?
2) How extensive is your knowledge of pre-Christian Latvian history?
3) Do you like pagan folk metal?

You have no idea where I'm going with this, right? Okay. Kauja Pie Saules is the first full length from Latvian folk metal maestros Skyforger. This album is actually from 1998, but due to longstanding label issues, it has been unavailable for years. Thanks to Paragon Records, you can now find it again and make up for your inadequate knowledge of the oft-overlooked Baltic nation.
These guys don't fuck around. They possess extensive knowledge of their native folk traditions and incorporate them into their aesthetic. While the lyrics are all in Latvian, translations are provided and there is a short primer on the inspiration behind the album: namely, the battles waged by the early pagan Latvian tribes to resist the spread of Christianity in their lands. So while the folk influence is strong (there are two straight up folk tracks!), no doubt will be left that Skyforger know how to bring the black metal. The power displayed within is comparable to Destroyer 666 and would have made a fitting warmup for battle against Teutonic Knights. Search this album out to get some quality skull-crushing metal and a history lesson that you sorely need.

I'm so prolific this week

I've been sitting here all afternoon with my eyes all over soccernet.com waiting for any good news from the Toon 'cos it's the summer transfer deadline. It's not looking so hot for the Black & White. Anyway, remember my review of the latest sunn0))) record and my mention of the guy in the casket screaming bloody murder? Well, his fifth album comes out soon. Make up yr own mind whether it's worth it. On the other hand, I was introduced to Latvian pagan/folk/black metal legends Skyforger and I need to get my hands on more of their stuff. It's like a Baltic version of Destroyer 666 with traditional costumes and flutes and whatnot. Don't laugh, it's really fucking good (and this from a guy who thinks LOTR is stupid!).

Xasthur - Subliminal Genocide
Hydra Head Industries
12 Sept 2006
2 stars

Xasthur is the solo project of black metal practitioner Malefic (aka, the dude in the casket on the latest sunn0))) release). I say "practitioner" because Malefic is, according to the press sheet I received with the CD, "one of the most innovative black metal practitioners of the isolationist sub-underground." Subliminal Genocide is Xasthur's fifth album, and, though I'm not sure what else is going on in the rest of the isolationist sub-underground, maybe some of these guys should go outside for a little while and get some fresh air. I caught myself laughing a few times at the extraordinary melodramatics presented here. Yes, I do understand that saying these things could get me ritually slaughtered--if guys like this are serious about what they do, that is.

Now I'll freely admit that there are some interesting passages on this album (tracks 4, 6 and 10 particularly), but overall it's a bit self-indulgent and claustrophobic--though one might presume this stems from a certain level of agoraphobia on Malefic's part. While I generally dig on scratchy, low-fi black metal vocals, here there is only yelling and screaming (presumably in a very tiny room, eh?) with a shitload of echo and very little reverb, given the overall vocal dryness. The drum parts, while not that interesting to begin with, are generally very low in the mix and poorly recorded. My gut tells me that this album could be about a thousand times better with some solid drumming to support the intricate guitar and key work, but it seems that's the last thing on Malefic's mind.

Anyway, Subliminal Genocide is sub-par in my mind. It goes on forever and goes practically nowhere in that span. If you want a proper taste of what it must have been like to endure the psychological trauma of solitary confinement in a medieval dungeon, this is probably as close as you'll get.

It's been so, so long

Yeah, it's been a while since I posted. I was gonna do running reports on the world cup, but then decided against it (though I may have some commentary/conversation in the upcoming issue of Binge & Purge). So basically between that and starting a new job I haven't had much time to write reviews. Oh, and I've been lazy and had to review some crap that's not worth posting here. But finally I've got some stuff for you. And, time permitting, will have more soon since some great records were picked up recently. Anyway, here's to football (the real kind) and bicycles!!

Nachtmystium - Instinct : Decay
Battle Kommand Records
30 May 2006
4 stars

I am by no means a Black Metal specialist and I won't claim that I am even that particularly knowledgeable about the genre. However, I almost always dig it as well as material that was influenced by it. Particularly I'm a fan of black metal vocals and guitar tones. On these accounts Nachtmystium's latest release definitely does it for me. From what I've gathered (from reputable sources, of course) Instinct:Decay is their strongest effort and, as far as I'm concerned, they've taken black metal to a new place.

Actually, I should say Nachtmystium have brought a new sort of black metal from a completely different place (as in, not Scandinavia). To put it bluntly, they're an American band, but it sounds like they made this album somewhere beyond Alpha Centauri. Okay, I think that sometimes black metal keyboards can be a little hokey, and that was my initial impression on a few of the tracks here. I think, though, that I wasn't paying close enough attention, because on subsequent listens the cheeze factor was totally absent and I realized that this was just music imported from some far edge of the galaxy. Seriously, I mean, like traditional black metal this has guitars raw and dirty with thick, grating distortion alongside vocals that will scrape the wax out of your ears, but it also possesses keys and electronics straight out of a shuttle cockpit. The best part is that it totally works.

I liked Instinct:Decay when I first put it on, but it has continued to grow on me over the past week or so. Good signs that this album will stand up over time.

Straddlerod & The Capital City Fuckups

To really get this thing started right, I'm gonna repost a few of my recent BurningAngel reviews, so that just in case anybody stumbles onto this right away, they'll get something decent to read.

Watchmaker - Erased From the Memory of Man
Willowtip Records
25 October 2005
5 Stars

Erased From the Memory of Man, by Boston's Watchmaker, is a complete 26 minute aural evisceration. Building on their last effort, Kill.Fucking.Everyone., this album reveals increased focus on structure and songwriting. I don't think there's ever been a doubt as to their talent, but some of their earlier material sounded thrown together. Here, Watchmaker has channeled their energy so that instead of just being left with lacerated eardrums, you'll have body parts shorn clean off. From the guitar tones, to the explosive and unrelenting rhythm section, to the terrifying screams from the depths of living hell, Watchmaker will overload your synapses.

Quite fitting, then, that vocalist Brian Livoti is the proud owner of a sawblade microphone. Probably one of the only fortunate aspects of them seldom playing live is that nobody will die by his hand. Brian didn't have it with him at their recent NYC show, which is good, because he probably would have maimed the venue staff (which shall remain nameless) for the way things were run that night. But back to the point...

A good deal of Erased... reminds me of another band I love, Bucket Full of Teeth. Watchmaker follows a more narrow path, eschewing the forays into stoner groove and ambient noise that made BFOT stand out. This is not a bad thing, though, as Watchmaker have become so adept at what they do, they don't need to experiment. Grindcore, power violence, thrash? I don't know what the hell to call it, which is nice because they definitely defy any normal categorization. So go pick this up, get your fists ready to pound on something (yeah, I know this is a porn site, but I don't mean that...) and please, for the love of everything good, stay away from the knives.