The fantastic folks at Colloquial Sound Recordings (Aksumite, A Pregnant Light) have recently released a four CS box set of all four Field of Spears recordings. The first three (The Drunk and the Endless, Serpent & Sodom, and Pale Eulogies) have all been featured on this blog before, while the final chapter, Cairns for the Lost, is specific to this set.
Another one of my projects, NEG HOLE is hardcore punk/crust with a blackened sheen. Hard and fast.
A couple months of hectic bullshit will set our updates back, but I'm gonna get some of these motherfucking submissions banged out.
Barrowlands are from Portland, Oregon, and they definitely have a PNW sound to their tunes. There are moments here that wouldn't sound out of place at all on Diadem of 12 Stars. However a big element of Barrowlands' sound is their cellist, rather than relying on MIDI or a Synth player. Also setting them apart is their solos, which remind me more of Woods of Ypres than anything else. I like it. It's different enough to stand out to me, the composition is solid, and, aside from a couple of missteps that stand out, competently performed.
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New Black Chalice stuff for you. We went a little more to the doom and black metal sides with this release, pushing the death metal influence towards the back.
Wow. I have never hated to give a band a mixed review as much as this. Twilight Fauna play what they dub as Appalachian Atmospheric metal, very much in a similar vein as Panopticon. The majority of the music is clean picked and strummed, evoking the sound of the southern Appalachians run through an Agallochian filter. If TF had created a record of just that, this would be a hugely positive, albeit out of place, review. Where our issue comes into play is the parts of the songs, or the songs that are wholly black metal. Whereas the previously mentioned Panopticon and Agalloch inject the same level of devotion and talent into their metal sections, Twilight Fauna falls way short. Poorly programmed drums sit so far back in the mix, serving no rythmic or dynamic function, just existing as an annoyance. His vocals sound like a coke-addled muppet with laryngitis. To top it off, those sections just seem like they were thrown together to say that they play metal too, with no sense of cohesion or reason. Twilight Fauna has given us two records: a very good atmospheric interpretation of appalachia, and a really bad black metal record. Either practice your ass off, learn your programming/get a real drummer, and work on making your songwriting more cohesive, or just drop the black metal. That seems like the riskier path, but I could see the rewards being worth that risk.
New Avulse EP. This is an experiment, to see how far I could stray from black metal while simultaniously crafting something that was more black metal than anything else I've recorded. I smoked a fuckton of weed and drank quite a bit of Brother Thelonious, in addition to my usual intake of Maker's, while I wrote and recorded this. I hope you love it or you hate it more than you've ever hated anything before. Broken Limbs Recordings is gonna put out a 7" for this in the fall/winter
Another instrumental band. Sayer just plays full speed ahead black metal that sways to the experimental side. Pretty cool.
There are bands who can make due with a drum machine and there are bands who can't. Obviously the level of skill with programming and the quality of the program or physical machine you use has some degree of influence in that, as well as the quality of the mix, the way the song is written, and the style of music being played. Night performs "instrumental music that draws heavily from Doom, Ambient, Postrock, Blackmetal & Noise music." A few thoughts for Night: If you are going to continue playing this style of music either A) get a real drummer. They are kind of a pain, due to the taking up the most space, and their incessant whining about how little trim they get. Or B) practice your programming and mixing. It just sounds like doo-doo. The music could be. If you are going to not continue on with this style mixture, just stick with the ambient/post-rock sound, you do it much more convincingly than the black metal/doom stuff. Its not all bad news though. There are some really interesting ideas and some songs are pretty dece, just the bad drums overwhelm it.
Rocking split from two great USBM acts. Cara Neir blend post-rock with black metal, neo-crust, and punk in a non-traditional sense and come out with a concise and urgent sound. Ramlord fucking riffs and D-beats their way across their cut on the split, destroying hymens and minds.
Instrumental Romanian DSBM. As pointless as it sounds, you can appreciate the music a little better without some idiot shrieking about his razor's embrace (full disclosure, guilty of that same activity. The shrieking, not the contrived lyrics). It has some decent moments. Check it out.
Holy fucking mix issues batman! Thank sweet Jesus cum that this is a demo, because this mix is fucked. This is a bad thing, as besides the drum programming (which is far from the best I've heard), the music isn't half bad, and is actually quite interesting. The bits of it I could hear, that is. The titular song is the standout for me here.
A black metal band from Brooklyn that keeps the butt diddling at a minimum? Sacrilege! Anicon are pretty sweet, playing a brand of bass driven black metal that owes more to Immortal and Mayhem than Liturgy. There are moments of other styles that weave in and out, just to keep things interesting. I like these guys and can't wait to hear more.
Anicon - S/T (download, mediafire)
To start, this is not black metal, but whereas it came from my brain, its definitely under the black influence. Like I said with the last Wholy Failure album, this is a further study in suicide pop, mixed with traditional singer-songwriter stylings, post rock, and the occasional bluegrassy moment. Listen if that sounds good, if not, skip it and find something you'd rather listen to.
"To describe my music:
Easily the most personal record I have put out under any project, this record was the result of a severe loss, too much Maker's, and a completely hopeless attitude. On this one, the post-punk side shines through more than on the prior records. The B-side of this album is the beginnings of what I have dubbed Suicide Pop, which I'm exploring more with my new recordings under my own name. Broken Limbs Recordings was supposed to release this on tape as well, but the asshole who runs Like Glue Records/tape production fucked them over (and if you are reading this you fuck, I'm still debating coming to VA and hitting your smug face with a splitting maul), so we've put it on temporary hold.
Weirdo who loves plants? Check. Black metal-ish music made without an electric guitar? Check. A fucking hammered dulcimer? Check. This is a little person with a big black strap-on and a bucket of fried chicken that tastes like Maker's Mark and gets you drunk away from being my greatest/worst dream. Weird fucking shit. It's actually kinda well done. And I love dulcimers.
Another band from Pennsylvania. This is yet another post-something/black metal/yadda yadda band, albeit in the upper 10% as far as talent, songwriting, and execution goes. There are moments here that remind me more of post-hardcore act Taken and their superb final EP "Between Two Unseens", than most modern blackgayz. This record also sounds spectacular from a mixing and production standpoint, so kudos on that too.
Horde of the Eclipse have a really fucking goofy name. However that is tempered by their well-crafted melodic black metal, showing nods to the blackened death of Dissection's heyday and Wolves in the Throne Room (during the Diadem of 12 Stars-era). This Pennsylvania foursome can play their instruments quite well, and they can write a pretty decent song.
Yes, I've been gone a while. Suck my dick.
This four way fuck fest is one of the last releases from the undisputed best black metal band from Massachusetts (and our good friend), Sangre Y Tierra. He once again steals the show here, playing his brand of Hispanic black metal with a level of passion and conviction that none of the other bands are able to match. This doesn't mean that the other bands aren't good. They all are influenced by black metal, but none are wholly as such.
Two bands, two tracks each, two covers total. I went in a different direction than usual with Auspicium, you'll either hate it or hate it more. One new track and a cover of The Cure. Earthenwomb gives us a new noise based track, as well as a My Bloody Valentine cover.
Third Avulse full length. Closer to I Am The Liquor than that was to Granted but Grace, We Are All Code takes black metal, d beat, and punk and mixes them to form a new whole. Whereas IATL was nihilistic and very abrupt on the state of a life, WAAC is rather themed by the slipping away of the norm, and the scrambling and grasping to retain some sense of sanity. Hard sci-fi fans will note the M. John Harrison reference.
I posted Vaniardur's space themed Rhea Before Titan a little while back. I liked the spacy-dark ambient-cum-instrumental black metal that it presented. Now Vaniardur is taking on Tolkien. At best, this sounds like a interlude on a symphonic LotR black metal band. At worst, it sounds like Rakoth. The synth guitars are the icing on the weird ass cake. Now, just because I don't like this release does it mean that I don't appreciate Vaniardur. Their talent is apparent, and they have a great ear for melody. I just think in the context, I appreciate less organic music when it deals with a less organic medium like space. I've just heard this record before many times, some worse, some better.
First thing, I see this cover with the text in what appears to be the Harry Potter font. Bad feeling right away. Fortunately, the music doesn't remind me of teenaged wizards. Prison of Mirrors plays a variation on the atmospheric black metal/post black (not blackgaze) that every one and their grim and frostbitten grandmother seems to be playing today. The things that set them apart are their extremely well crafted songs, their intensity, and not treating the black metal parts of their songs as afterthoughts. I enjoy this. You might, you might not. Do what thou wilt...
As opposed to the Cityscape Drawn in Black Ink EP I just posted. I am damn sure this is not a joke. Vuota also blends post punk with black metal but with a steadier hand and much more terrifying results. Drop a whole shit load of LSD and listen to this, then record your reaction. I need samples for the next WF record. This record is not your usual BM beast so if you want bullet belts stay away.
Where the fuck did the term "depressive rock" come from? And why the fuck does it refer to bands like Lifelover and CDiBI, who are DSBM/post punk combined for the most part, and not to bands that are depressive rock n' roll like Band of Horses, Carissa's Wierd, or Sinners and Saints? I just don't know. I've seen the name Cityscape thrown around very recently and have seen songs from his first EP get quite a few plays on last.fm and youtube. That first EP was more directly black metal, almost overwhemingly DSBM. This new EP is a different beast. He has talent, that's apparent. However, the Line 0 EP seems like someone tried to marry suicidal black metal and post punk, much like lifelover was able to, but much more harsh and jarring. I'm not 100% convinced this isn't a huge Kaufmaneque joke, the last track is their version of elevator muzak (entitled Hellevator) and their is a section in the third track with a person saying "Fuck youuu" in a childlike inflection which caused me to spit out my drink and laugh my ass off. Joke or not, at least the first track is good for what it is.
Vox Clamantis are an atmospheric black metal band. The atmosphere they are trying to present to us however is being stuck in the middle of a swarm of killer bees. You are really stoned and the bees are stoned too. So it sounds like a constant warbling buzzing. If you couldn't follow me in that rambling shit, let me break it down for you. I love the songwriting that Vox Clam is putting forth here (it actually reminds me a little of Lurker of Chalice), but this record has the worst high end I have ever heard. Its like they high shelfed everything but the drums at an extra 10dB, threw a reverb on it, a very fast chorus onto that, and then another reverb. They even suggest using the bass boost when listening to it. Again, this is far from a bad record, just a bad sounding one. I wanna see what Vox Clam can do with a solid low end and no oscillation above 10kHz.
The first demo of a brand new band. Of themselves, Aerugo says,
"Split between New York (E – all instruments) and Indiana (X – vocals), Aerugo are a mixed breed of black metal and doom with some ambient influence. Formed in 2012, this is their first demo.Split between New York (E – all instruments) and Indiana (X – vocals), Aerugo are a mixed breed of black metal and doom with some ambient influence. Formed in 2012, this is their first demo."
I'd have to say they are a very raw brand of doomy black metal, and they need more bass in the mix. The second track here is the stronger of the two. These guys just need to hone their craft a little bit more and I can see them putting out some really interesting stuff soon.
http://www.facebook.com/BlackMetalOwnsYou
I'll make a twitter for it when Fear of Eternity gives up their Casios.
I have a lot of your submissions backed up guys, and I'm gonna try to get to them soon. I'm starting with this project, Vaniardur. My interest was piqued when I read the title. The music is pretty much exactly what I thought it would be: layers of keyboards over instrumental black metal. Usually I hate keyboard black metal, but the mixing of dark ambient and/or space themes always gets me. This music goes perfectly with the state of mind I've been in recently. If you enjoy space themed DA like Undiscovered Moons of Saturn or SFE, you'll probably enjoy this.
My fourth LP as Auspicium. I'd like to think its the best one yet, but judge for yourself. Atmospheric black metal. 6 songs.
New slab of black metal-cum-extra doomy death metal via Black Chalice. The songs are on a whole longer than Years of Flame, with more riffing for stoned headbanging, and enough dark melody and decaying atmosphere to satiate the black metal palate.
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Post rock influenced black metal, but in a way you haven't heard it before. Simply amazing, I can only hope for more. One man act from one of the dudes in Fell Voices (the drummer I think).
