A FEW SONGS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE EXISTED THIS WEEK OCT 27 – NOV 2
Hello there. Not the greatest week, and one in which I was told that my writing was in fact part of an ongoing project to talk about myself without any apparent value to the "community" or, actually, I think the word was lack of "nourishment." I get that get to me for a couple of days, to be honest, because when you make the "decision"* to write about your own shit as opposed to about from some objective standpoint then you're always half-suspecting that what you're doing isn't where it's at. But then, kind of getting up from the mattress as it were (mixed boxing metaphor) I thought the best I can do is the best I can do. Had I tried anything else this blog would never have been started, nor would it have evolved to the place it is now. It isn't perfect, obviously, and I myself struggle with how stagnant things might be for me and you, but I'm doing my best. And if someone else's version of doing their best is not mine well, that's OK I guess.
Hope everyone had a splendid or better week, and keep safe.
If you're new to this metal blog of bones you can also check out the various interview projects I have going on as well as the weekly recommendation posts. And if you'd like to keep abreast of the latest, most pressing developments follow us wherever I may roam (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Bluesky, etc), and listen to my, I guess, active? (no) podcast (YouTube, Spotify, Apple), and to check out our amazing compilation albums. You could also possibly support my unholy work here (Patreon), if you feel like it. Early access to our bigger projects, weekly exclusive recommendations and playlists, and that wonderful feeling that you're encouraging a life-consuming habit. It's probably a bad idea, but to each their own. ON TO THE LIST.
Ærkenbrand – "Nattens Konge," from Hedenfarne Æventyr (Prog Metal – I, Voidhanger Records). Rarely do I go full prog or full folk for that matter, and this beguiling release is a bit of both. But there's something so beautiful about this etherial melodies as they rise from the mud of life forming clouds of many-colored awesomeness and there's something so charming and, I don't know, "authentic" (?) about how they come across that it becomes a musical experience that is almost impossible to resist. Like drug-laced candy, in a non-creepy way.
夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) – "Jupiterian Convulse Tremor," from Delirium Pathomutageno Adductum (Experimental Heavy Metal – Independent). Sleepwalker are back with another album, and yet it doesn't feel like just any new Sleepwalker album. It is that because, well, it is, and because it has all the hallmark Sleepwalker atmospheres and weird parallel guitar lines and over disorientation that we have come to expect from our favorite band that's basically a devouring of every genre of difficult music and then vomiting up gold. But it also isn't just another Sleepwalker album, for several reason. I think for me it's their most magical, most disturbing album, and weirdly also their most immediate. It feels right there when you're listening to it, which, again, is kind of a Sleepwalker thing, but even more there. But above all it manages to hit a kind of apex of all things – an apex of metal, of experimental music, of world music, of prog, of hard rock even – all while making music that sounds like it never existed. Sleepwalker were always great at making convoluted-seeming music that ended up entering your brain as simple music, that was, to me, if I may speak in the first person, what set them apart from basically everyone. But they've never sounded this alien and this home-y ever, almost like a musical demonstration of concepts like unheimlich¹ and defamiliarization². And it rules. It's catchy. How is that even possible? Btw, I could have chosen any of the tracks, they're all great, but I chose this one because I love Samael.
Hierarchies – "Dimension," from Hierarchies (Weirdo Black/Death Metal – Transcending Obscurities Records). It's really been a crazy year for "hey man don't call my band dissonant" dissonant death metal, or at least the thin veneer of dissonance that prompts simpletons such as myself to write that word, I won't write it (dissonant), and throw the debut from this new project, composed, unsurprisingly I guess, by members of Dwelling Below and Acausal Intrusion. Twisty, temporally weird black/death with interesting moments and a very welcomed overall "unbaked" feeling. Pretty cool.
Aethyrvorous – "III," from Akephalic Palingenesis (Death Metal – Wrought Material). Coming out of literal nowhere, a debut album for the Australian project Aethyrvorous that sounds like it was spewed from the same soul swamp that produced Portal, Grave Upheaval, and Impetuous Ritual, and, you know what? It was. Apparently there was a demo/EP LONG AGO, and they have just now released this dark, twisted thing via the great Wrought Material, who I have I think championed here before vis-a-vis some of their release (Grave Avis, Trepanation, etc). If you're into music that makes you feel ill (Abyssal comes to mind), then check this out.
Discern – "Persona," from So Much Could Be Different (Death Metal – Independent). It's not often that I have the time to just roam Bandcamp like the musical miscreant that I am, but when I do I'm very happy because sometimes I find nice things. This split between American death metal projects Discern and God Shell is absolutely stellar – great, organic-sounding death metal done with pace and care and that sounds familiar while kind of giving enough original ideas to chew on as you headbang near your laptop. The God Shell track is also great, and the collaborative last track is awesome, but I think I like this one the best.
Biesy – "Fuck No I Split (feat. Otay:onii)," from Golem (Avant-garde Black Metal – Pest Productions). I was very much looking forward to the release of the new Biesy, because Biesy fucking rule, and their previous album, Transsatanizm, was even on my dumb the-decade-so-far-list. I didn't know, however, how and in what way Golem would be great. It's jagged edges seemingly run parallel to themselves, collapsing into what sounds like violence and at times IDM spurts or, as in this track, almost a carnival atmosphere and 90s alt rock. Just mind-boggingly creative, as always, and a high watermark for the whole year.
Wackelkontakt – "Shaar," from Change the Process (Industrial/Experimental – Orthodox and Jaune Orange). A new release from the inspiring, weirdo project Wackelkontakt that combines harsh noise, industrial music, and *check notes* Jewish spiritual music. Existing on the threshold between music and performance art, the tracks here feel as physical as the corporeal cover art, not via sheer brutality but through emotional brutality. Shades of Lingua Ignota merged with Kruzenshtern & Parohod.
Thunraz – "Compactor," from Incineration Day (Avant-garde Death Metal – Independent). I was kind of down with the first single emitted by this Estonian slippery entity, but decided to reserve judgement. Well, the second track is out and my judgement has arrived. The combined effect of as harsh as an aural attack possible, coupled with some pretty twisting and intersting ideas and I don't know if this is the era of clean vocals in harsh metal but the clean vocals here really drive home the overall sense of alienation and dispassion. Now I am no longer reserving judgment but eagerly awaiting the album to come out.
Aabode – "Ayre," from Neo-Age (Industrial/Avant-Garde Death Metal – Godz ov War Productions). Very much in keeping with the unintended theme of this post, another left-of-field slab of dark metal that, in a way, combines the suffocating darkness of a project like the above-mentioned Aethyrvorous (vis-a-vis the Portal influence) and the industrial chill, if not outright frost, of some of the other entries here. Though, an industrial approach much closer, to me, to 80s industrial metal like Ministry or Throbbing Gristle. Add to that yet another beautiful cover by the legendary Stéfan Thanneur and you can't really go wrong here.
Living Gate – "A Unified Soul," from Suffer As One (Death Metal – Relapse Records). Taking a bit of a break from this post's experimental spirit via the very un-experimental and very awesome debut from death metal project/kinda-sorta-supergroup Living Gate. I wrote in this humble and self-centered abode about their debut EP (which was also on my 2020 list), but I think it's safe to say the album is everything hinted at in that EP only bigger and better. It's quite easy to be judgmental about modern death metal, especially of the OS variety, but this album seems to be punching well over its weight in terms of creativity and originality, making it one of the better releases of this style so far this year.
Sholeh Asgary – "5," from آبـان (Aban) (Experimental/Drone – Crystalline Morphologies). I wrote about the excellent from Leila Abdul-Rauf last week, and my love for that album has only increased with repeated listens. Just a whole masterpiece. As a result of said enthusiasm I also noticed Abdul-Rauf was slated to perform along with Sholeh Asgary, whom I did not know, and decided to check out her latest. I was not disappointed. If you love that alienating sphere that stretches from modern classical masters of negativity like Ligety and all the way to modern drone, this is so up your alley you might dissipate into droning dust. Distant and feeling at the same time, the soundtrack to a world being sucked of meaning holding on to whatever light there is left.
Emasculator – "Thesmophoric Rites," from The Disfigured and the Divine (Brutal Death Metal – New Standard Elite). I could have/should have (?) ended this post with the newly announced Sun Worship album, but I might attend to that next week. What did grab my attention was this excellently written and executed piece of brutal delight. Can't say if this triggered thoughts about mortality and the meaning of life, but it did make me feel good. And in a shitty week, that's more than something. Also, what a fucking cover.
SHORT FACTS ABOUT THINGS
Fact #1: As foretold, a new Sun Worship album.
Fact #2: Ithaca (the band) is done.
Fact #3: Grind greats Wormrot released a compilation of rarities.
Fact #4: Disillusion released an instrumental version of their 2022 album Ayam, which, I think, I like better than the original.
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NOTES
¹ Sigmund Freud, "The Uncanny"
² Victor Shklovsky, "Art as Technique"
