Some Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent JUL 20 – JUL 26
Really living through a real nightmare, and really also realizing in real time never to judge people who don't/can't/won't leave their country in the midst of a world-ending shitstorm. Aging parents, fear of immigration, kids. Makes we wonder – not to be fatalistic here, but it's the mood right now – how many people were just casually swept off this earth because they wanted to take care of the people they loved. Take care of the people you love. And keep safe.
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Holzerhurd – "In den Schlagen," from Wunderland (Experimental/Atmospheric Black Metal – Independent). Sometimes the song with which I choose to open these posts is quite random. Often, in fact. My note taking and general attention span is shit. But not this week. This is my (**fanfare**) iron-clad, hands-down album of the week. Not only because it's – to me – a completely out-of-the-blue artist, and not only because of the stunning artwork, but because of the fucking music. A punky, bass-driven, almost Gang of Four-y version of bands like Turia or Fluisteraars, which means snowstorms of human emotion being funneled through a transistor radio. The creativity is there, the musicianship is there, all of which lead me to believe there might be some dangerous, lovely agent in Swiss drinking water (I'm thinking here of the fabulous demo by scene brethren Radon, of which I had written a while ago). Essential music for people who like the music I like.
Gosudar – "Sgustok," from Split with Tsygun (Black Metal/Death Doom – Supposed to Rot). Glacial sounds to peel off the essence of life from your face that's somehow still beautifully creative and beautifully crafted. If you're OK with taking a slow descend into hell – Esoteric anyone? – this is your jam.
Kamra – "Of Pillars, Walls and Mutilation," from Unending Confluence (Avant-Garde Black Metal – Avantgarde Music). Kamra keep getter clearer, more pointed, and, perhaps better. Have been following these Slovenian crazies (if I may) since the EP they did for Onism a few years ago, and so was very happy to see new stuff from them and boy did it not disappoint. An undergirding of slapping riffs that is covered in a perpetuum mobile of melodies, vocals, rapid-fire drumming and just an overall carnival of ideas, feelings, and bizarre music. Fantastic.
Scalp – "Shacklerot," from Not Worthy of Human Compassion (Hardcore/Grindcore – Closed Casket Activities). It's been a whole while since we've gotten some Scalp injected into our cerebral cortex, and not only "here we are" but "here we are and the whole damn thing is out" which, really, is the best kind of "here we are." Here we have Scalp on a decidedly more hardcore side of things, without really losing any of the punch that made them one of the best new grind/core bands of the decade. It is, I should say, interesting to experience this level of intensity fall on my quite jaded/fed-up mood of the past few days. Like a rock getting a massage from the waves. Anyhow, always a fan.
Haunter – "Exorcism of the Holy Spirit," from Black Magick Metal Punk (Black Metal – Fiadh Productions). No, not a new album from the Texas everything-metal Haunter (though, must admit, that would have been nice), but a new split featuring the California ghost-fueled-punky-black metal Haunter and Cape of Bats. Now, I'm not going to act cool like I even knew this other Haunter, I'm not cool, we know this. But hot diggity damn am I happy I know them now, and have already delved deeper into their past stuff, and it's all glorious. Spicy, reverb-dreched, Chilean-adjacent wacko-magic black metal that reeks of unwashed leather jackets with riffs and vibes for many days.
Kartika 55 – "A New Dawn for Our Kind," from A Just Barrage (Death Metal – Independent). I don't know these people, I don't know what this actually is. And if, after writing these lines, it will be revealed that this is in fact a known Slovakian death metal band from 1994, or, conversely, that this is AI made to sound like 1994 death metal, I would believe that. This is such late-late-later capitalism, anything could be the case. But it's sick. And it reminds me of listening to death metal in, ah, around 1994 and being scared by it. Not that this is that BRUTAL or whatever, just the vibe, it almost smells like 90s death metal. And it's so good, I'm say that too. It's so fucking good.
Dephosphorus – "Hunting for Dyson Spheres," from Planetoktonos (Death Metal/Grindcore – Nerve Altar). We all knew Dephosphorus was good, right? We knew this. I wrote it! But I think they've outdone themselves with this absolutely banging new album. I don't know if there's a new Wake album coming anytime soon, and actually I hope there is one coming and that it's good (didn't feel the most recent one, but still great), but until that happens I'm happy to live with Planetoktonos. Maybe that's an unfair comparison, but there are so few bands that absolutely nail this vibe, that it just popped into my mind immediately. I will say this, however, no whatever what your band is named (I already detest the syntax of of this statement), and I don't care what album you've released this year, this one is WAY up there. WAY up there.
Strigoi – "Deathstrike to Cenotaph," from Black Magic Fumes (Black Metal – Apocalyptic Productions). This is a late 2024 release that I just now got to because I was thinking "Hey, what about Strigoi, that awesome band I wrote about a couple of years ago?" The answer to that question is, well, apparently releasing one of the most banging black metal albums in a whole while. It's fun, it's infectious, it makes you want to run naked through a haunted cemetary, and I can't stop spinning it (by "spinning" I mean clicking Bandcamp links of course). Amazing.
Rothadás – "Urnaszellem… szentek csontpora," from Töviskert… a kísértés örök érzete… Lidércharang (Death Metal/Death Doom – Pulverised Records). I was about to do another slapping black metal release (this time from Malicious Torment, check it out), but decided to end on the somber note that is indeed my reality and not my ghost-filled fantasy. My reality sounds a lot more like this, afraid to say. Add the trivia of the band being from my grandmother's neck of the Hungarian woods and we have the perfect mix of sadness, riffs that rip, and family. A good summation of this empty-shell of a place.
FIVE MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ONE: Ozzy's voice, and the fact that it was that voice that kickstarted a whole revolution in music, is one of the through-lines in my love of weird music. That voice should never work, in almost any other context. He's a singer, but he's mostly a weird person with a weird sound coming out of his mouth. And that uncomfortable strangeness is there in most everything I've ever loved about music – from Dave Mustaine's voice and Chuck Schuldiner's solos all the way to Krallice's weird tempos and Lingua Ignota's shrieks of pain. He was much more than a singer, he was a musical element, a presence. Whether or not he's dead makes little difference to me, other than being sad for his family and those who loved him. But who he was on those albums is off-kilter made flesh, and there's nothing more important than that.
TWO: New hard/grind core outfit populated by very cool people and they have a skull on the cover. What more? The name's Mahluta.
THREE: Tombs released a new single, and it's the best they've sounded in a while. Might go in deeper next week.
FOUR: Somehow missed the fact that the great Sepulcher released an EP last year. Here it is (thrasy death metal).
FIVE: Death/doom/noise discomfort from Gorthon.
ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: Unreal death metal from Mortual. Might get to this next week too.
