BONUSES!

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  16 Responses »
May 112014
 

(DGR brings you this collection of bonuses, because he loves you. Well, maybe not you in particular, but the idea of you.)

Don’t worry, I know ninety percent of the time whenever my name pops up it’s because I’ve got another long review written up, and believe me, I’ve got three of those in the works. I’ve found myself stricken with a bit of writer’s block at the moment, though, so I began to distract myself by starting this article that you see here, and since then have found myself expanding upon it more and more. Now I am generally interested in potentially digging up rarer tracks and doing a series on them.

One of the things that has always aggravated the completionist side of my mind has been the release of limited editions and the inclusion of bonus tracks. I know I’m not the only one, but when it comes to content I tend to be one of those people who absolutely devours it and I need every single piece of it when it comes to albums that I have enjoyed and loved over the years. Of course, this often means there are always one or two songs that I discover later, recorded around the same time and included on some odd Japanese or rare edition, and oftentimes those songs are also great. But a lot of people may not even be aware that those tunes exist.

So what I found myself doing recently was starting to record my thoughts on bonus tracks in my regular reviews of albums here. However, there have been occasions when I really wish I had gotten the chance to go more in depth with those songs, or wound up neglecting them for many a reason — the review copy didn’t have them, general forgetfulness, or just no way to add another paragraph to the already ridiculously long tome of a review I had written. However, I still had those thoughts half-recorded or germinating, and I figured I’d finally take the time to expand upon them and let people know about some of the recent extra songs they may have missed and whether they’re worth hunting down. Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” — BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 88)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  13 Responses »
May 112014
 

Welcome to another (long-delayed) edition of THAT’S METAL!, in which I present images, videos, and occasional news items about events that I think are metal, even though they having nothing to do with metal music. For this installment I’ve collected a whopping 10 items.

ITEM ONE

As usual, I begin with an image, the one you see at the top of this post. It’s a drawing entitled “Single Note” made with pen and ink by an American artist named Ben Sack. The diameter of the original is 4 feet and the circumference is 12.5 feet.

Clicking on the image will allow you to see a larger version, but even that won’t reveal the astonishing degree of detail that Sack meticulously created, incorporating a variety of architectural styles both ancient and modern (and some that have never existed except in the imagination). Perhaps equally humbling is the fact that Sack is only three years out of college. Here are a couple of enlarged details from “Single Note”: Continue reading »

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: PLANNING FOR BURIAL, KING DUDE, STRIGASKÓR NR. 42

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  11 Responses »
May 102014
 

Well, here we are at another Saturday, an unusual one for me because I was a good lad last night and did not celebrate the end of the work week by getting thoroughly shit-faced (you know, the whole “where did I leave my pants?” and “Is that my blood?” thing). It is therefore likely that I will welcome the dawn of the new day.

I say “likely” because I am writing this on Friday night, though it will be posted automatically on Saturday morning, and I can’t rule out the possibility that before I crawl out of bed on Saturn’s Day, a septic-tank pumper truck will lose control, do a barrel roll into my yard, and leave a load of raw sewage on my doorstep. I hate when that happens.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, I have some new music for you. And because Saturday morning promises to be an unusual one (barring a tragic sewage mishap), I thought I’d package together some out-of-the-ordinary songs. To be clear, they’re out of the ordinary under almost all circumstances, but they’re mainly out of the ordinary at this site because they’re different from the usual fare. But I hope you’ll still give ’em a spin. I’m sober, so trust me. Continue reading »

NEW NASTINESS FROM AUROCH, DE PROFUNDIS, AND CREST OF DARKNESS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
May 092014
 

I’m in a tug of war with my fucking day job, but I pulled it into the slop long enough to throw together this small collection of nasty new songs and a video. Now it’s my turn to get pulled into the slop — see you on Saturday when we will have… something… probably something covered in slop.

AUROCH

As previously reported, Vancouver’s Auroch have a new album named Taman Shud that will be released on June 24 by Profound Lore, with vinyl coming via Dark Descent. I’ve been very high on this band based on their past efforts, and the new song that debuted yesterday is a strong sign that Taman Shud will be a worthy successor. “Noxious Plume” is the name of this ode to all things poisonous and wantonly destructive. Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JANI KEKARAINEN (SKEPTICISM)

 Interviews  1 Response »
May 092014
 

(Saint-Petersburg-based guest writer Comrade Aleks has delivered to us the following interview with Jani Kekarainen of the seminal Finnish funeral doom band Skepticism.)

Skepticism (Riihimaki, Finland) is one of most ancient funeral doom bands on Earth. The band did appear in far off 1991 and since then have slowly paced into the Hall of Doom Myths and Legends, even though they have only four full-length albums in their stock. The last grand work Alloy was released six years ago, and it seems that Skepticism are now waking from their slumbers and returning to active creative life. We got in touch with Jani Kekarainen (guitars) to learn some details about the forthcoming visit of Skepticism to Moscow and ask a question or two about the new album as well.

 

First of all I’d like to ask you about one big deal: It’s said that Skepticism started composing music for a new album about a year ago. How does your progress go?

Pretty well, I would say. It’s always a long process for us. We have been creating the new songs and basic structures and 80% of the songs are ready for the new album. Our target is to do the first demo recordings for our internal use during this summer. It will be used for fine-tuning the arrangement of the songs. I hope we will be able to record the new album around the end of 2014.

 

It would be interesting to know some details about the new stuff, considering that your last album Alloy was released 6 years ago. Will you reveal any secrets?

It’s still the same old Skepticism, but however, we have been trying some new methods and ideas. We have been focusing on the atmospheres of the songs, even more than earlier. Currently we are doing a song where there is less drumming and vocals than usually in our music. I’m pretty curious to see the final result of that particular song. A new “march song” has been written again and most probably there will be a new record label releasing the album. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: SERPENTINE PATH, WO FAT, BONEMECHANICS, ANOPHELI

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
May 082014
 

This is a small collection of new songs and videos that I found today. I thought you might enjoy them. I sure did.

SERPENTINE PATH

The few songs I’ve heard from Serpentine Path’s new album Emanations have been flattening — including the one that Invisible Oranges debuted today. It’s the opening track, “House of Worship”. There’s so much tar in the song that you’ll be trying to peel it off your skin with a razor blade for the next month. It’s suffused with thick, viscous, riffs; a trudging pace; and a black, congealing atmosphere. Wretched howling and cobra-like soloing are the icing on this poisonous cake.

If you’re unfamiliar with Serpentine Path, the membership includes the three former members of Unearthly Trance, ex-Electric Wizard/ex-Ramesses performer Tim Bagshaw, and Winter’s Stephen Flam. The album comes out May 27 on Relapse. Continue reading »

REALMBUILDER — CHARGE OF THE BLUE FRAME BRIGADE

 Interviews  2 Responses »
May 082014
 

(Our Russian correspondent Comrade Aleks returns to our hallowed halls with an interview of Jeff Halberd of the band Realmbuilder, whose music you’ll get a chance to hear in this post.)

Realmbuilder (New York) is a well-balanced creation of two exclusively artistic persons. “Czar” Craig Zahler (vocals, drums) is known as a pretty productive writer and screenwriter, and Jeff H. Halberd (guitars, bass, keyboards, and additional miscellaneous instruments) is a music professor. It’s always exciting to find men with such backgrounds in the heavy scene.

This duo creates their own worlds based on fundamentals of old school heavy and traditional doom metal, somehow keeping its raw and restless spirit, a thing which is rare nowadays. The project released its third full-length album Blue Flame Cavalry a few months ago through I Hate Records, and it provided a good opportunity to ask Jeff Halberd himself a few questions about it.

 

Hail Jeff! Thanks for your time; I believe that you’re busy as always so it’s much appreciated! As we speak about Realmbuilder I have to remind our readers of the fact that I Hate records has released your third full-length Blue Flame Cavalry in December of 2013. How does your creative life go since then? 

Hail Aleks! Here’s J.H. Halberd. Czar is mired deep in the writing of his latest novel (he’s had at least two more published since we last communicated, including his spectacular horror-western Wraiths of the Broken Land).  My creative life is a little less rich than Czar’s, if only because I make most of my income as a professor instead of through the sale of my creative things, but I’ve had a pretty full last couple of years myself, writing a few new chamber works in addition to some recordings with my sleepy rock band bell monks and a lot of laptop improv performances. Czar and I are ramping up preparations for our next Realmbuilder sessions now, which are already about a year overdue because of a lot of the other work we’ve had going on. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: HUMAN BODIES

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
May 082014
 

I have poor impulse control.  Many people with poor impulse control die young. In my case, over many years, impulsive decisions have worked out to be good decisions. I know this is nothing more than being lucky in my dice rolls with an uncaring universe, but the experience hasn’t exactly motivated me to stop being impulsive.

Take last night for example. I have many partially written NCS pieces that are beginning to grow moss because they’ve been neglected for so long, not to mention a variety of interviews and reviews I told various people I would do but have not yet started. But did I make headway on any of those things-to-do? No I did not.

Instead, I impulsively checked out a link to a song posted on Facebook by someone whose taste has proven to be congruent with my own. And that song turned into five, and now I’m writing this — because it all worked out, yet again.

I think the soil of my mind had already been furrowed and fertilized and made ready for the seeds sewn by Human Bodies after listening to a song by the band Dripback whose album Andy Synn reviewed for us yesterday. Which is to say, I was already hammered by pissed-off music and was in the mood to receive more. Continue reading »

SCHAMMASCH: “CONTRADICTION”

 Album Reviews  17 Responses »
May 082014
 

(Andy Synn reviews the second album, released late last month in Europe, by the Swiss band Schammasch.)

Oh how I have fallen in love with this album. All 85 fantastic minutes of it. Over the course of nine songs, straddling two cds, the music on Contradiction combines elements drawn from some of my all-time favourite artists – the primal riffage of Keep of Kalessin, the pained rhythms of Deathspell Omega, the brooding darkness of Secrets Of The Moon, the impious grandeur of Behemoth – into, something utterly spellbinding.

Yet despite the references I’ve made above, Contradiction is still very much its own distinct entity, the culmination of an ambitious vision, far greater than the mere sum of its parts. Although the band’s underlying DNA shares many strands in common with the Black Metal genre, the music they produce interbreeds and interweaves elements from across the metallic spectrum, a natural synthesis of dissonant sounds and disparate styles all combined in one bold, enlightened display of unbound creativity. Continue reading »

JUST BEFORE DAWN: “COUNTERBATTERY”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
May 072014
 

Early last month we were stoked to break a bunch of news (here) about the new album (The Aftermath) by Sweden’s Just Before Dawn and to bring you sample music from two of the album’s songs. Today, we’re equally stoked to introduce your ears to a new free single that JBD are introducing to tide fans over until The Aftermath becomes available. The new song is named “Counterbattery”.

In case you’re just hearing about JBD despite how often I’ve written about them, this is the project of musician Anders Biazzi (Blood Mortized), who in addition to being a talented songwriter, guitarist, and bass-player, must also have a silver tongue — because he always seems to succeed in assembling a stellar line-up of vocalists and guitar soloists for JBD’s albums. He’s succeeded again on “Counterbattery”. Continue reading »

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