NINE SONGS I LIKED THIS WEEK IN LIST FORM – JUL 14 – JUL 20
Is it ego, the self-appointed hero of our psyche, the knight in fake armor that splashes through the world with intent of making something, feeling something, being worth something, is it that element of our person that hurts us the most? Is the sound we hate the most is the deflation – imagine a bouncy castle slowly collapsing with the dying light of another birthday gone – of not what is actually happening but what you had built in your head as happening? Or is it some objective – I should say maybe so-called objective – facts of life – the pressure, the money, the loneliness the war? Keep safe.
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1. Saäs – "S.H.D.O.D.R.E.M.I.X," from Bodyheartminding (Screamo – Independent). I could have honestly picked this track or any other track from this simply stunning debut from the Tel Aviv-based Saäs. The reason for that being that it's not only one the best screamo albums I've hear so far this year, but actually one of the best of the few recent years. Emotion, musicality, atmosphere, and power. Power sourced from emotion, power sourced from instrumentation, whatever "power" you have in mind, it's all here. Unbelievable album and a wonderful surprise. FFO: Frail Hands, Life.
2. Gråt Strigoi – Remembrance from The Prophetic Silence (Black Metal – Independent). One of the great new-school black metal bands on this stupid earth is finally back with a full album in sight and a whole lot of shrieking for your mind/soul/chemicals. Crooked riffs, distorted minds, an almost Ulcerate-like backdrop, onto which the wonderful Scotsmen paint with the darkest charcoal of the soul mixed with some organic blood. Fucking love this band, and this might might be the best I've heard them. FFO: Deathspell Omega.
3. Horns & Hooves – "Waiting for Creation," from Spectral Voyeurism (Black Metal – Stygian Black Hand). A new EP from the Stygian gang, which includes the likes of Spite (who had a new album coming out via Invictus, btw), and the lovely Impure. Thrashy/speedy/medieval black metal that feels raw and weird but also raw and inspiring. Fantastic shit that sounds like it was an unreleased Cradle of Filth demo from 1990. FFO: Negative Plane.
4. Sick/Tired- "A Dinner of Onions," from Whip Hand Paranoia (Grindcore – Nerve Altar). I was going to put a different track out of this truly remarkable grindcore album, but then I remember my own wise words I had said to myself all those years ago: "Ron, the best track on any grindcore album is the longest one." And so I practiced what I preached, and here we are. But, still, the whole thing just brims with violence and unchecked anger. The best shit. FFO: Deterioration, Flouride.
5. Dark Citadel – "The Conqueror Larvae" (Death Doom/Drone – Independent). This is just one of those things, man. I mean, man. It's just one of those things. What the hell even is it? It's, I would say, one of those things. If an abyssal album was super stripped down of everything, slowed down and changed completely and then fed to a Frank Zappa machine, I guess that would then be a good start. Wild, weird, and strangely beautiful. Also, fun fact: Last time I wrote about this wild project was almost exactly one year ago! SO WEIRD! FFO: Eating pretzels with chocolate.
6. Mißträu – "In Den Häusern," from Gegendemonstration (Post Punk/Black Metal – Cirsium Kollektivet). There are several things we have too much of in life. People, is one, wars and the constant threat of death to you and your loved ones combined with the fear of never finishing whatever it is that you started in this life, and also spam bot calls. But there's one big thing we don't have enough of, which is a black metal band with a post-punk attitude that sounds like if Urfaust decided to be influenced by Bauhaus. There is a real market need to such a product, and I'm happy Mißträu came through for the win. One of the most original and beautiful albums of the who damn year. FFO: Depeche Mode playing The Ruins of Beverast.
7. Lepra – "Olde Growth," from Devil's Blood in Her Tongue (Black Metal/Punk – Fiadh Productions). This one's a little older by "brand-spanking-new" standards, but it's wonderful so who cares. A project I was woefully unaware of doing some kind of unholy and brilliant amalgam of black metal, punk (that bass!), and goth/deathrock that fucking sounds amazing and feels amazing, my GOD! I'm a new man! Anyhow, spooky, driving, original music. Not something you get to say every day. FFO: Black Metal Siouxsie and the Banshees.
8. Nekrotik Servitor – "לעזוב את הגוף," from התגשמות המוות (Death Metal/Death Doom – Independent). The man behind some of nastiest riffs/drums (Venomous Skeleton, Bilar, et al) and designs (Aberration,Sacrificial Vein, et al) is back with a new one-men project of astral death doom that sounds like the somewhat more ritualistic (think Saturnalia Temple) cousin of bands like Cabinet or Sxuperion. Roomy, spacey, and somehow still suffocating and claustrophobic. Cool shit. FFO: Suffocating in space?
9. Chat Pile – "I am Dog Now," from Cool World (Noise Rock/Metal – The Flenser). I guess I will mention this fact in every discussion of Chat Pile, but I am I registered big fan of their first EPs (proof) as well a their various splits and a renowned hater for their debut full length. I thought it felt like it was the kind of album that if it met the EPs in the street they would probably mock and yell and throw eggs at. And I have since both really tried to like that album and have acquiesced to my role as the dude who doesn't get it. And yet the first track off of the upcoming album has me all fan-boy-ing again. It sounds urgent, it sounds pissed, it sounds heavy, and I love it. I'm back, boys! I knew you missed me. FFO: Intercourse, Portrayal of Guilt
FIVE MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ONE: If you're in the market for chilling Chilean death/black, the wonderful Invocation are coming with a new album.
TWO: That amazing Maudissez demo/album I wrote about late last year? It's coming out on vinyl via the always-wise Sentient Ruin. Get it. I hope you appreciate me! PLEASE APPRECIATE ME!
THREE: The amazing ambient/noise project Kashaiof is coming out with a new album via Orthodox records. Get it.
FOUR: I had this thought lately – What if your best performance as an artist, the one you are most rewarded for by your audience, is a moment of you actually breaking down? What do you do with that information?
FIVE: The weirdo duo of improv/weirdo Killing Spree are coming with an amazing new album in September, more on that soon. But in the meantime I guess here's them doing Morbid Angel's "Rapture" on drums and sax.
ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: Some more electronic weirdness (apropos Kashaiof), this time in techno/electronic form from TGM.
BONUS TIP: Don't sleep on Ceremony of Silence, folks.
