DAVID GRAY GOES DARTH VADER GOES LEGO GOES AKERCOCKE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Jul 142014
 

Here’s just a short little something something that may make you smile, as it did me.

Akercocke may sadly be no more, but the spirit of the band lives on… in Legos. What you’re about to see is an animated video made by Akercocke fan “LegonardoDaFinci“, using Legos. It stars Darth Vader (aka Blast Vader) in the role of Akercocke’s drummer David Gray in a “drum play-through” of part of the song “Eyes of the Dawn” from Akercocke’s Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone (2005). LegonardoDaFinci did something like this before, in a Lego-ized tribute to Cryptopsy (here).

David Gray, of course, is still alive and well and performing in the UK black metal band Voices along with former Akercocke members Peter Benjamin and Sam Loynes. Their debut album From the Human Forest Create a Fugue of Imaginary Rain was released in March 2013 by Candlelight — and, what the hell, I might as well embed the player for that album right after the video. Continue reading »

DOOM QUIZ PART 3: ALTAR OF OBLIVION, BARABBAS, BONEWORM, MATUS, EVOKE THY LORDS

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Jul 142014
 


Altar of Oblivion

(Today our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks brings us Part 3 of a six-part series in which he puts the same five questions to doom bands from around the world, and introduces us to their music at the same time.)

Sometimes I use this unpopular “quiz” format because there are too many interesting bands that I would like to bring to light, and in my opinion it’s a good way to spread some news and to get new points of view on a few issues (including even some political questions). The list of questions I put to the bands is below:

1. What is the band’s latest news and what are your plans for the near future?

2. What do we get (in the broadest sense) from the release of your last album?

3. What is the best response that your band has ever received?

4. What role does the church (or any other religious organization) play in your life or (let’s take it wider) in the life of the heavy scene? Is there any spiritual, religious, or antireligious component in your songs?

5. What does the Media in your country tell about the situation in Ukraine? And how do you see that situation? Some people from other countries have asked me strange questions about Russia’s policy, and let me say that I have a few friends in Ukraine and my colleagues have relatives there, and believe me, there’s no media in ANY country that is showing the problem as it really is. We can watch as the Cold War turns into real warfare.

Today, we bring the answers to these questions from Altar Of Oblivion (Denmark), Barabbas (France), Boneworm (USA), Matus (formerly Don Juan Matus) (Peru), and Evoke Thy Lords (Russia). Continue reading »

LISTEN TO THIS NEW ENTOMBED SONG (AGAIN): “VULTURE AND THE TRAITOR”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  12 Responses »
Jul 142014
 

 

Sweden’s Entombed A.D. have recorded a new album named Back To the Front, and it’s finally due for release by Century Media on August 4 in Europe and August 5 in NorthAm. As you can see, it features a great piece of cover art by Zbigniew Bielak. It also features the talents of L-G Petrov, Nico Elgstrand, Victor Brandt, and Olle Dahlstedt. Why this group are calling themselves Entombed A.D. instead of Entombed is a long story that you can read about somewhere else. What I want you to do is listen to this new song “Vulture and the Traitor” from the album.

Actually, you may be listening to it a second time, because it briefly appeared on YouTube last November. That turned out to be an unauthorized posting because it was removed after I wrote about the track back then. If you missed that clip, don’t miss this one. It has a definite old-school feel in its sludgy riff tone and in its mix of d-beat, punk, and hardcore rhythms. L-G Petrov’s completely distinctive throaty vocals are in great form, and the song also boasts a hot-as-hell guitar solo. I really am enjoying the song (again).

You can also bang your fuckin’ head to a previously released single from the album named “Bedlam Attack”, which appeared in late May; it includes some very cool off-speed sections in addition to all the curb stomping — and holy shit, those vocals… Both tracks come right after the jump. Continue reading »

JUMP-START YOUR MONDAY WITH TEMPLE OF VOID, DAJJAL, MUTILATION PROCESS, AND ZOMBIEFICATION

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 142014
 

If you’re like me, you have a hard time getting your game face on for the work week when Monday mornings roll around. But assorted friends of mine pointed me to two new songs yesterday that seem tailor-made to juice up all those sluggish Monday-morning brains out there, and I’ve also included a review of a murderous two-song EP plus one phenomenally good new Zombiefication track I found on my own that will finish the job nicely. Death fucking metal.

TEMPLE OF VOID

In June 2013 I praised a three-song demo by Detroit’s Temple of Void, which included some truly staggering, mega-weight riffs and a blanket of indigo melodies, usually delivered at a lumbering pace, along with elements of viscera-draped death metal a la Autopsy, a pummeling of Bolt-Thrower-style hammer blows, and some inspired psychedelic guitar solos. Now these dudes have finished a full-length album (Of Terror and the Supernatural), and yesterday an advance track became available for listening.

“Savage Howl” is a fitting name for this thing. The big gear-grinding guitar chords are savage, the gruesome deep-throated vocals are savage, the morbid melodies are savage, and when the band start rolling out a repeating cycle of enormous, stomping riffs, you will headbang savagely. This is top-shelf supernatural death/doom and a really enticing teaser for the album to come. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: SERPENTS ATHIRST, KNIFE OF MELQART, UNAUSSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  3 Responses »
Jul 132014
 

This is a small collection of new songs I discovered yesterday that explore the dark in very different ways. Two of the bands are newcomers, while the last is on the verge of releasing its third album.

SERPENTS ATHIRST

Serpents Athirst are a Sri Lankan black metal band whose discography consists of a 2011 split and a 2012 demo named Prevail. They have a new three-song EP coming out later this year entitled Heralding Ceremonial Mass Obliteration, and one of the new songs is now up on YouTube. I’m assuming that the image on the YouTube clip (above) will appear on the cover of the EP, because I really like it. I really like the song, too.

It’s appropriately named “Ritual Vomitting”, and I’ve listened to it a half dozen times since finding it yesterday afternoon via a link from a Facebook friend. The sound is utterly filthy, with a thoroughly grit-caked and grime-coated production, and for most of its putrid length the riffs and drums just roll forward in a repeating rampage of hammer blows, accented by the tick and shimmer of cymbals — but it’s electrifying. And the echoing vocals are fantastically horrific, ranging from rancid roars to something that sounds like the vocalist is being forcibly turned inside out. I’ll probably listen to it another half dozen times today. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: OUBLIETTE AND ZOM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 112014
 

I’ve been distracted over the last couple of days and haven’t kept up as well as I’d like with the appearance of new songs and videos. I have a long list, and with luck I’ll have a big Saturday catch-up post to share more of what I’ve found. For today, I want to throw you some recommended music from two bands who together have been dismantling my sanity quite effectively.

OUBLIETTE

Oubliette are a Tennessee-based melodic black metal band whose members include guitarist Mike Low of Inferi — whose latest album DGR reviewed here — and his wife Emily Low (vocals), plus bassist Vincent Jones (Æther Realm) and drummer Doug Mesich. Apart from the fact that I’m a fan of Inferi and Æther Realm, I was attracted to Oubliette after I had the chance to hear an unmastered version of a song named “Creatures of the Endless Slumber”. Yesterday the band released their debut album on Bandcamp, where the final version of that song and 7 others are now available for streaming and download.

I’m still really high on “Creatures of the Endless Slumber”, and although I’ve only started making my way through the rest of the album, it’s sounding really good, too. “Creatures” beautifully integrates sensations of the ethereal and the physically savage. The effectiveness of this combination is due in no small part to Emily Low’s remarkably versatile vocal talents, which range from ghostly clean song to bestial snarls, as well as to the juxtaposition of soft acoustic melodies with storming riff and blast assaults. Continue reading »

DOOM QUIZ PART 2: DOOMED, ETHEREAL RIFFIAN, FRAILTY, MOURNFUL GUST, MY SHAMEFUL

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Jul 102014
 


Doomed

(Today our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks brings us Part 2 of a six-part series in which he puts the same five questions to doom bands from around the world, and introduces us to their music at the same time.)

Sometimes I use this unpopular “quiz” format because there are too many interesting bands that I would like to bring to light, and in my opinion it’s a good way to spread some news and to get new points of view on a few issues (including even some political questions). The list of questions I put to the bands is below:

1. What is the band’s latest news and what are your plans for the near future?

2. What do we get (in the broadest sense) from the release of your last album?

3. What is the best response that your band has ever received?

4. What role does the church (or any other religious organization) play in your life or (let’s take it wider) in the life of the heavy scene? Is there any spiritual, religious, or antireligious component in your songs?

5. What does the Media in your country tell about the situation in Ukraine? And how do you see that situation? Some people from other countries have asked me strange questions about Russia’s policy, and let me say that I have a few friends in Ukraine and my colleagues have relatives there, and believe me, there’s no media in ANY country that is showing the problem as it really is. We can watch as the Cold War turns into real warfare.

Today, we bring the answers to these questions from Doomed (Germany), Ethereal Riffian (Ukraine), Frailty (Latvia),  Mournful Gust (Ukraine), and My Shameful (Finland). Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DECAPITATED, GORMATHON, SINMARA

 Eye-Catchers, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 092014
 

For your entertainment and edification I bring you a small group of news items and new music that I enjoyed over the last 24 hours. All of them involve especially enticing pieces of album art that you may view as larger images by clicking on them.

DECAPITATED

Thanks to a tip from my friend Vonlughlio, I just saw the news that the sixth album by Poland’s Decapitated will be released by Nuclear Blast and Mystic Production (Poland) on September 26, 2014. It was recorded, as usual, at Hertz Studio in Białystok, Poland, by the Wiesławski brothers. The album cover was created by Polish artist Lukasz Jaszak, who also made the cover of the band’s last album, Carnival Is Forever.

This announcement was accompanied by a statement from Vogg (Waclaw Kieltyka) that the new music is “totally crushing and huge” and that Blood Mantra is “the most heavy and mature album” the band have ever recorded.

Such statements must always be taken with a grain of salt, but even if the album is only “about the same level of crushing and huge” as what Decapitated have delivered in the past, sign me the fuck up.

https://www.facebook.com/decapitated Continue reading »

DOOM QUIZ PART 1: ABSENT/MINDED, ARC OF ASCENT, BEVAR SEA, BYL ZAMECHEN, CONAN

 Interviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Jul 092014
 

Jurgen of Absent/Minded

(Today our Russian contributor Comrade Aleks begins a six-part series in which he puts the same five questions to doom bands from around the world, and introduces us to their music at the same time.)

Sometimes I use this unpopular “quiz” format because there are too many interesting bands that I would like to bring to light, and in my opinion it’s a good way to spread some news and to get new points of view on a few issues (including even some political questions). So here’s the first part of our Doom Quiz, and the list of questions I put to the bands is below:

1. What is the band’s latest news and what are your plans for the near future?

2. What do we get (in the broadest sense) from the release of your last album?

3. What is the best response that your band has ever received?

4. What role does the church (or any other religious organization) play in your life or (let’s take it wider) in the life of the heavy scene? Is there any spiritual, religious, or antireligious component in your songs?

5. What does the Media in your country tell about the situation in Ukraine? And how do you view that situation? Some people from other countries have asked me strange questions about Russia’s policy, and let me say that I have a few friends in Ukraine and my colleagues have relatives there, and believe me, there’s no media in ANY country that is showing the problem as it really is. We can watch as the Cold War turns into real warfare.

Today, we bring the answers to these questions from Absent / Minded (Germany), Arc Of Ascent (New Zealand), Bevar Sea (India), Byl Zamechen (Ukraine), and Conan (Great Britain). Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ABIGOR, NIGHTBRINGER, SLAGMAUR, KULT OF TAURUS, BARBELITH

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  10 Responses »
Jul 082014
 

This is a collection of news and new music I discovered last night and this morning. When I use the “Shades of Black” title, it doesn’t always mean that everything in the post will be black metal, but it does today. On the other hand, most of the music in this post isn’t likely to conform to any preconceptions that most casual listeners may have about the sound of black metal. If one were to construct a bell curve of the genre, almost everything in here would be out on the edges.

ABIGOR

Austria’s Abigor have finished recording their tenth studio album, entitled Leitmotif Luzifer — The 7 Temptations of Man. It will be released by Avantgarde Music on July 11. Despite Abigor’s long history, I’ve never listened to any of their previous releases from start to finish, and I’m not even certain I’ve ever listened to any individual songs. So this new album will be my first proper introduction to the band — and from what I’ve heard so far, it will be a very happy meeting.

Abigor have created a Bandcamp page on which they’ve uploaded two different teaser tracks, each of which contains excerpts from songs on the new album. They emphasize on that page that “no synthetic elements have been used” in the recording of the album — “the guitars are completely free of any effects, neither reverb nor any special effects edit were allowed to touch the string instruments on this album”, and “for vocals only reverb and delay has been used, no pitch or chorus or any other effect stained the purity and directness”.

The teaser clips collectively include nearly 18 minutes of music, though no complete songs. To say the least, the music displayed by these teasers is esoteric and eccentric, but it’s also fascinating and rich in its diversity. Continue reading »

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