Still in Texas, still working my ass off (but not on NCS), still not able to listen to much metal — but I did have time for a quick swim through the effluent of the interhole, and these things caught my eye (and ears).
AMORPHIS
Thanks to my NCS comrade Andy Synn, I saw the striking cover art above, by Valnoir Mortasonge, which Finland’s Amorphis posted on their Facebook wall, along with this announcement: Continue reading »
(KevinP brings us another installment in his ongoing series of short interviews, talking this time with drummer Sergio Ponti of and Dordeduh and Sunset In the 12th House, whose debut album was released earlier this month.)
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K: With everyone else in the band from/living in Romania, how did you hook up with them?
S: In the spring of 2007 I was on tour with Ephel Duath. We played about 12 gigs in the UK with Negura Bunget opening all of those gigs for us. We didn’t get to share too much time together back then, but we remained in contact. They invited me to Timisoara, Romania, in the fall of 2009.
I was initially asked to be part of Dordeduh, but scheduling conflicts on my side made it impossible. I did record the drums for the debut EP Valea Omului though. We started collaborating soon after on Sunset in the 12th House around 2011. Then in 2013, I was asked again to be in Dordeduh and circumstances made it possible for me to join full time. Continue reading »
Ten days ago, during one of my MISCELLANY excursions, I came across a just-released EP entitled Mysterivm Magnvm by a one-man project from Serbia named Temple of Gnosis. At that point I only wrote about one song from the album — its title track — and not long after, the stream of the EP disappeared into the mists. But today we’ve got the pleasure of bringing you the resurrection of that stream as we premiere the entire EP.
Temple of Gnosis is the creation of someone who calls himself H.M.T., and Mysterivm Magnvm is the project’s debut EP. It’s being released by Goathorned Productions and it’s described as a concept work based on the “alchemical process of Enlightenment”, and specifically on the initial step of “deconstruction” along the path toward “transformation of mind and spirit”: Continue reading »
About a week ago I explained that I was leaving Seattle for Texas, where I’d be buried in chores for my fucking day job for the next two weeks. It turned out that the first week wasn’t too bad, and things around the site were pretty much par for the course. But beginning today and continuing through Friday I really am going to have to bear down, day and night, and my blog time is going to be cut to the bone.
For my last hurrah before running the gauntlet, I’ve collected some new and newly discovered music that I hope you’ll check out, plus one new piece of album art and related news.
VALDUR
The mammoth Valdur from Mammoth Lakes, California, have a new album on the way entitled Pathetic Scum. Today the band released a sample from one of the new songs, named “Blessings of the Goat”. It’s a massive, grisly, gruesome death metal monster, with a thoroughly morbid and diseased atmosphere. Continue reading »
(In this post Wil Cifer reviews the new album by High On Fire.)
I caught these guys back in 2004ish when Planesmistakenforstars opened for them, and I grew to appreciate this band more as their musicianship and songwriting have matured over the years. The opener reminds me of “Leave No Cross Unturned” by Darkthrone. Matt Pike seems to be singing more than roaring, but this is marginal. The song hammers like a freight train.
There is more a sludge groove to the second track that is more rock ‘n’ roll, in the same sense Clutch is rock ‘n’ roll — thick, stoned distortion too up-tempo to be doom. On their last album they reminded me of a mix of Motörhead and Venom. Here it is more like old Mastodon without any of the guitar tricks. Continue reading »
(Father Synn returns after a brief hiatus, ready once again to listen to your filthy confessions after first making his own, and then to inflict the penance.)
Truly my shame is deep my brethren. It has been two weeks now since our last confessional together. And without my firm hand (piercing eyes, flowing leonine mane, washboard abs… sorry, getting sidetracked there) to guide you, who knows what terrible acts you may have committed?
Dear god, what have I wrought?
So I beg you… come forth and let me cleanse you, let me wash you, let me bathe you and…
Ahem… Continue reading »
The massive earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation of Nepal on April 25 of this year was the worst natural disaster to hit the country in more than 80 years, killing more than 8,000 people and injuring more than 23,000. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, two more major quakes occurred on May 12, killing more than a hundred other people and injuring thousands more.
Those of us like me who live many thousands of miles away may not have personally known anyone affected by this almost unimaginable disaster. One of my few acquaintances in the region is Aabeg Gautam, the co-founder, vocalist, and bass-player of Dying Out Flame, whose 2014 debut album Shiva Rudrastakam I reviewed here (it’s wondrously good, and if you haven’t already discovered it, you should — at this location). Continue reading »
[For those who came here for a review of Megiddo’s The Holocaust Messiah, I suggest you read THIS ONE, since it’s a revised review of the entire album; the one below was based on a listen that omitted three of the album’s tracks.]
Roughly 13 years have passed since Toronto’s Megiddo put out an album, and aside from a trio of splits in 2003, I don’t think there’s been any new music from the band at all since then — until Barbarian Wrath released The Holocaust Messiah about 10 days ago. It consists of seven tracks, plus an intro and outro — and it’s a gem.
I have to note at the outset that I’ve only heard six of the tracks so far, because the title track and the intro and outro music haven’t yet been posted for streaming — but I’ve forged ahead with this review instead of waiting for my CD to arrive, because I’m more enthusiastic than patient.
There’s nothing fancy about the music. The songs are remarkably simple, with an organic sound, and almost all of them are fairly short. Each one has just one or two riffs (and some well-timed variations) that the band drive home through repetition, and equally uncomplicated, no-frills drum and bass rhythms. But the riffs are so ingeniously crafted and so damned catchy that this primal music proves to be highly addictive. Continue reading »
(Andy Synn reviews the latest EP by Victorian Whore Dogs, from Guildford in the UK.)
Let’s make this quick, shall we? I’m sure we’ve all got things to do, and places to be.
In short, Hobo Chic is awesome.
Those of you who have to leave may now do so. Anyone interested in a bit more detail… click on. Continue reading »
(Grant Skelton turns in this review of the new album by the Swiss band Necroblation.)
“Man is spirit. But what is spirit? Spirit is the self. But what is the self? The self is a relation which relates itself to its own self, or it is that in the relation [which accounts for it] that the relation relates itself to its own self; the self is not the relation but [consists in the fact] that the relation relates itself to its own self. Man is a synthesis of the infinite and the finite, of the temporal and the eternal, of freedom and necessity, in short it is a synthesis. A synthesis is a relation between two factors. So regarded, man is not yet a self.” – Søren Kierkegaard, “The Sickness Unto Death”
To ask about the exact nature and essence of “the self” would yield answers too numerous to count. Freudian psychology might label the id as the true self. A psychic apparatus driven by whim and avarice, whose only goal is the satiety of its desires. Continue reading »