AN NCS PREMIERE: THOS ÆLLA — “BACKWARDS AFTERBIRTH FLOWS UNTO DREAMING TEMPLES”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 062022
 

 

I, Voidhanger Records continues to prove that its owner’s musical interests are wide-ranging but persistently idiosyncratic. The releases usually don’t sound quite like anything else, because the artists almost always march to the beat of their own unusual drummers. And thus the label has become a home for adventurers, both those who make the music and those who listen.

The latest proof of this is Sempiternal Mobocracies, the forthcoming second album by Thos Ælla, which is the solo project of guitarist Derrik “Ghoul” Goulding from Father Befouled (who released a new album of their own just a couple weeks ago). And it truly is a head-spinning adventure, as you’ll discover for yourselves through the two songs we’re streaming for you today — one of them the first advance track from the album and the other a song we’re now premiering. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD ON A SATURDAY: EXCERPTS FROM FIVE NEW ALBUMS JUST SET FOR RELEASE BY I, VOIDHANGER RECORDS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Mar 122022
 

I spent hours yesterday (no exaggeration) assembling a list of new songs and videos that surfaced just since Monday. I kept at it, even knowing full well that as the list grew I was just making it harder on myself in deciding what to include in this Saturday round-up.

And then I remembered the legend of Alexander the Great and how he solved the seemingly insurmountable problem of untying a knot in the palace of the former kings of Phrygia at Gordium, a feat that was prophesied to make the knot-solver the eventual ruler of all Asia: He cut the knot in half with a single stroke of his sword.

I cut my own Gordian knot by deciding to focus on advance songs (all of which were revealed just yesterday) from just one label’s forthcoming releases. It’s a special label, as anyone knows who has indulged in its many past releases. In December its future became clouded with uncertainty when the label owner (Luciano) fell prey to covid and was hospitalized in intensive care, with his life hanging by a thread. Continue reading »