Very interesting mail day. Akitsa/Ash Pool split + New Found Glory Ramones cover EP.  They sent me the Record Store Day color of yellow/orange!

Locrian - “Greyfield Shrines” (Diophantine Discs 2008)

I forgot I even had this record, I bought it during the flurry of record purchasing that was A389’s 9th anniversary bash weekend and just threw it into the to be listened to pile.  This morning I happened upon it and realized it was in the mood for some black drone soundscapes, and hooo boy, this is hitting the spot right now.  Basically this is one track spread out across two sides of this 12”, and its a spastic meditation of frenzied, delay-soaked guitar freakouts, and lush, thick droning synths.  The two play off each other like they aren’t in the same room, but at the same time it all works.  I’m pretty sure this is almost totally improvised, but it has a feeling of weeks of preparation.  I’m in love with this right now. 

-Log.

Aluk Todolo - “Occult Rock” (Norma Evangelium Diaboli/Ajna Offensive 2012)

So tonight there is supposed to be Aurora Borealis aka The Northern Lights, visible in my part of the world.  In anticipation for such an amazing phenomena, I put on this record, something I’ve been putting off for some time now, waiting for the perfect opportunity, and northern lights in my part of the world is quite the opportunity.  

Of course no lights have yet to be seen, but this record is totally filling the void in my mind with what I would call sonic metal northern lights.  Aluk Tolodo summon henceforth a bleak instrumental epic spread out over for sides of black vinyl.  Concepts and phrases of different metal and psychedelic rock influences repeats and gradually shift for a constant brain melting listen.  There are many peaks and or valleys, but my favorite has to be the sick doom riff at the end of side four, that closes out the song, making any hope for a happy ending pounded into oblivion.  

Buy.

-Log.

Happy mail day to me! 

Reviews again soon.  Me so busy.  

Horders - “Fimbulvetr” (Prairie Fire Tapes 2012)

As I continue to thin out my pile of tapes to listen to, I happened upon this gem, after I forgot I had bought it.  That’s been happening a lot lately, My to be listened to pile is so big that I’ll flip through it and forget that I own something.  Unless record fairies are sneaking into my house and depositing records in my pile, perfectly alphabetized.  Or I just have a serious problem.

Anyway, this little plastic machine contains magnetized tape.  That tape has audio information written onto it by a band called Horders.  Horders produce a large mixture of sounds, creating evil and foreboding soundscapes, using the evil and foreboding sounds of black metal as a starting point.  Hell there are even some black metal tracks on here, but most of the record is sample heavy, dark ambience.  I assume what Horders what you to experience while listening is a major bum out; and if I’m correct, then they did their job.  Wonderfully.  This is a depressing listen, complementing this late March upstate New York weather perfectly.  I bet you are expecting me to say shit like, “this is the perfect soundtrack for suicide” or some other bullshit like that.  No way.  If I was going to kill myself to music, it would be something really dumb, like OMC’s “How Bizarre” on loop at an Earth shattering volume as I hung myself.  

Anyway, this record is so fucking good that while I was listening to it, I sought out, and purchased this album on vinyl, as well as Horders split 7” with Rot In Hell.  Go me. 

-Log. 

Uranus - “Disaster By Design” (The Great American Steak Religion 1995)

Spinning this for the first time tonight.  All I can say is, where have you been all my life?  For those not in the know, this is a pre-His Hero Is Gone/Tragedy band, and for official record, this shit is bonkers.  Like I hear black metal, screamo, and of course hardcore, on these two little slabs of plastic.  Music boner right now.

-Log. 

Anonymous Artist (Rhinocervs 2012)

For those of you unfamiliar with the Rinocervs label, they are a primarily tape label that specializes in obscure and new black metal acts.  When I say obscure, I fucking mean it.  More than half of their releases have been by anonymous artists usually going by some sort of symbol.  See that round thing above the reels on the tape? That is this bands “name.”  So rather than referring to a release by the band name, people have just been going by what release it is.  This is Rhinocervs’s seventh release or Rhinocervs 7 or RH7 whatever.  

For the most part, the Rhinocervs catalogue is quite impressive musically. It’s all top notch black metal that’s well written, played and delivered.  Number 7 here, kind of missed the boat.  

It’s not bad per se, it’s just kind of uneven.  At some points it wants to be doom metal, and some points there is melodic viking metal parts, and then black ambience.  The individual tracks are well done, but the pacing overall is quite uneven, and the songs don’t seem like they are from the same band.  Normally variety in genres is a great thing, but when you are an anonymous band, how the fuck do I know this isn’t just a compilation or something?  I don’t know.  

This isn’t bad, but I’d go for some of the other anonymous Rhinocervs tapes before this one.  

-Log. 

Altars - “Live On Pure Hate” (King Of The Monsters/How Much Art Can You Take 2011)

I really wanted to dislike this coming into it.  Like it all seemed so typical.  Obscure art, lots of black, photo copied cover etc.  But fuck (hee hee butfuck), this record is awesome. 

Altars mix a lot of out there styles of music into one palatable blend of fury.  Like if I was going to get the laymen into harsh black noise metal, this would be the record I would use to do so.  The record opens with a desolate black noise soundscape which is kind of a reoccurring theme on the record.  Then a sweet ass lead riff kicks in and we are treated to three brutal noisy black metal jams in a row, in the vein of Ildjarn and like Leviathan mixed together.  All the tracks are dripping with feedback and are totally blown out.  My favorite way of enjoying black metal.  Then as a final fuck you to anything typical, the noise soundscape comes back and then we have a super depressing (and crystal clear recorded) acoustic song played over it.  It’s totally genius in this humble reviewers opinion.  Dig it.

-Log.  

now playing.  

Abhorer - “Zygotical Sabbatory Anabapt” (Hell’s Headbangers 2012)

I don’t know guys, maybe it’s the acid currently destroying my esophagus, maybe because it’s so cold in my record room that my fingers are numb, maybe it’s because this is a picture disc, but I’m totally not into this record right now.  Abhorer, coming to my ears from Singapore, play furious black metal in the vein of bands like Blasphemy and other chaotic acts that that group inspired.   This was originally released in 1996, which means its a legit record, not something that is trying to bank on the current popularity of black metal; and don’t get me wrong this isn’t a bad record, it has all the makings of a brutal as fuck record, I’m just completely bored by it.  

One day I’ll give it another try, but for tonight, during Snowtorious B.I.G., this will have to take it’s place between my Abattoir and Abigail records.  

-Log. 

SO MANY RECORDS TO LISTEN TO. 

Rotting Christ - “Apokoathilosis” (Nuclear War Now 2012)

Man, if there is anything I dislike more than double or triple LP’s, it’s any quantity of 7 inches beyond the first (in the same release).  Like seriously, it would be cheaper to just do a 1 sided LP.  Or a whole LP.  I hate having to flip so many fucking records.  

I’ll admit it, this is the first time I’ve ever listened to Rotting Christ, but it’s kind of cool, this box set collects their first three releases, so it’s kind of like I’m hearing them as they came out.  Or something.  Also the fact that this is a 3x7” is cool because it’s each separate release on each 7 inch.  So if I wanted to listen to each one about a year apart, it would be like listening to the releases as they were released! But that would be dumb.

So I listened to each of the records, and it’s pretty awesome to hear how the band evolved their style of Greek black metal, in both production quality and song writing.  The best tracks are the two from the “Apokoathilosis” EP, probably why they decided to name this compilation after it.  That shit is awesome, it’s got all sorts of variation in tempo and arrangement from the normal black metal formula; which they perfected on the earlier EP ” Ade’s Winds.”  I don’t know.  Now I’m going to have to track down the LP that came out after this stuff, because I’m totally into this.  

Crappy review.  My mind is elsewhere, particularly on the fact that I’m going to the A389 9th anniversary shows tomorrow.  

-Log.