7 posts tagged “black metal”
Soup wrote this:
Since I just posted a review of a Velvet
Cacoon album, I figured I should review something on the exact opposite
end of the black metal spectrum. Unlike the drugged-out droning of
Velvet Cacoon, this band plays fast, melodic black metal with a strong
folk-ish slant.
Darkestrah, proud owners of one of the
most hilariously awful band names ever (sorry, but I simply can't
let that one slide), are a black metal band hailing from, of all
places, Kyrgyzstan, and currently based out of Germany.
Despite the really weak band name, this band plays some of the best pagan black metal I've heard in a long time. The band combines a black metal sound with the use of a number of highly uncommon folk instruments and techniques (especially for black metal) including the kyl-kyjak (a type of fiddle), the temir komuz (also known as a Jew's harp), and the use of sygyt (a style of throat singing), among others.
And speaking of things that are unusual in black metal bands, this is one of the rare female-fronted black metal bands. The singer, going by the name of Kriegtalith holds her own with the best metal vocalists out there. There is nothing for people who like fake metal bands with whiny mallgoth girls fronting them (you know who I'm talking about) here, and for that, I am incredibly thankful. Honestly, she sounds more or less androgynous to me. I wouldn't have even known if I hadn't been told. The point is, she makes Dani Filth sound like a eunuch.
Of course, all of that wouldn't mean much of anything if the music was bad, and the unusual elements sounded cheesy and tacked on, but the standard guitars, drums, bass, and vocals are all here, and there is lots of suitably brutal drumming and awesome enough riffs and melodies to silence all doubters, and the folk instruments are not only well-integrated into the band's arrangements (along with a number of other instruments that unfortunately were unnamed in the press kit), but they're also an essential melodic part of them. This is a well-composed black metal album that will not only satisfy the hordes that are already out there, but might even be tolerable to people who've never listened to a black metal album in their life.
More information can be found at their official website.
Wrote by Soup
Receiving a copy of Genevieve by Velvet Cacoon from Southern Lord was somewhat of a surprise to me. I've had the vinyl edition for almost a year, I'd guess, and to be honest, I just assumed the CD version had been out for about as long.
I'm not complaining, though. Writing about a band (the names Josh and Angela are the only clues given as to who they actually are – and there's speculation that Angela doesn't exist) as utterly absurd as Velvet Cacoon is something I've wanted to do for quite a while, and honestly, I was actually considering just writing a review of it earlier based on the vinyl edition. For those who don't know the story, Velvet Cacoon is a Portland based ambient black metal band that extols the virtues of DXM, the active ingredient in Robitussin. They made a name for themselves spreading rumors about the band's supposed ecofascist activism, the death of a band member in the Cascades, and accounts of incredibly violent live shows. On the album I'm reviewing now, they allegedly used a homemade invention called a “diesel harp” - a guitar with diesel-powered pickups amplified through aquariums. Of course, all of these things were later revealed to probably be completely untrue (except the diesel harp thing; in case your common sense hadn't tipped you off as you were reading it, Josh openly admitted it was after the album's release). Eventually they put recordings of Portland-based dream pop artist, Korouva (listen to this stuff; it's good) on their MySpace page as their own and faced further controversy after the plagiarism accusations. The band's response: to admit that everything about them is a joke, that they're horrible people and an excellent example of what too many drugs will do to a person, and announce a still-unreleased new album. Of course, this presented a hell of a lot more questions than it answered, and the band's intentions are even more unclear at this point than they were before.
Recently,
Southern Lord picked up a couple of the recordings that were
theirs to reissue. Northsuite,
an earlier recording, and Genevieve,
which is their actual debut album. And for a “joke” band, this is
a really great, really powerful album.
At the core of the sound here is fuzzed-out, noisy black metal. Droning ambient passages hide surprising melodies and drugged out, distant vocals. A thick, distorted haze surrounds everything, from the drugged out lullabies presented on “P.S. Nautical” and “Avalon Polo” to the sleepy clockwork guitars of “Laudanum” that fade out for a vocal break and then again for an ambient passage toward the end of the track. The title track probably sounds the most like traditional black metal, with fast drumming and buzzsaw guitars providing the backdrop for tortured raspy vocals and subtle keyboard holding down the melody. The last track, “Bete Noir” takes up a good third of the playing time of the album. This track is the album's comedown, a slowly building ambient track that exercises considerable restraint, consisting mostly of ambient noise and layered keyboard melodies, all hanging in the background for 17 minutes, getting noticeably louder and then disappearing completely in the last 30 seconds.
As for finding further information on this band, you're essentially limited to what Wikipedia and Google searches turn up. They haven't really maintained an official website (their current site features nothing more than an e-mail link and a picture of a lady on a bike) in quite some time, and they will probably never tour. Still, they're responsible for some of the most oddly atmospheric black metal in recent memory, and I have to highly recommend it to anyone who's into that sort of thing.
)There seems to be a trend in music submitted to me lately: Asians!
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10/01/08 Northcote Social Club Melbourne, Victoria*
10/02/08 The Palace and the Mystic Valley Band Melbourne, Victoria** 10/03/08 The Tivoli Brisbane, Queensland** 10/04/08 The Enmore Sydney, New South Wales** 10/05/08 Spectrum Sydney, New South Wales*** 11/15/08 Coolongatta Hotel Coolongatta, Queensland * with Fearless Vampire Killers ** with Conor Oberst *** with The Atrocities and Warhorse |
ihearthiroshima.com ♥ myspace.com
Before I begin, I have to say that I love that name, "I Heart Hiroshima". Maybe it's the heart-thing, you know? Well I♥Hiroshima is three-piece indie pop band from Brisbane, Australia. Although I couldn't find where they got their name from, I am assuming it's in reference to Hiroshima, Japan. If you think it has anything to do with atomic bombs, I don't think that's the case here: this group is positive and fun.
I think all three band members sings, although I couldn't tell you which boy member dominate the other. For sure, fans of boy-girl vox should really appreciate I♥Hiroshima, as Susie Patten and either Matthew Somers or Cameron Hawes have banter-like singing. And forgive me for say that their singing style comes off as sounding very DIY and amateurish. However, I get the feeling that they don't really care what I have to say - just as long as they and you are having a great time.
So, Tuff Teef was released late last year in Australia. I don't believe it's actually available in the US, at least not physically on CD. The single that they liked and released is "Punks", which sounds like a dialogue between Patten and Somers. I will admit, I liked the bit about "Don't lock your doors, I have these punks on the ropes".
Speaking of lyrics, here are some of the best one I heard from this album you should watch for:
- "you got cold hands, like an honest man" ("Stop That")
- "I've got teef, you've got none" ("Teef")
- "I don't care what your daughter said (we keep it within the family/she started the fight!)" ("Electric Lake")
So anyway! If you like boy/girl indie sound (they sound so cute) with some quirky lyrics, and hate bass, then you'll love I Heart Hiroshima.
And guess what? Mister Conor "Bright Eyes" Oberst have personally asked them to tour with him on his upcoming Australian tour in October. You can purchase Tuff Teef from Valve Records.
mightyimpiety.com ♥ myspace.com
We never get anything from Singapore, so I was pretty happy to see Singapore's Impiety's latest EP, Dominator. It was quickly recorded and cut from earlier this year (April) from Studio 27, and available now (?) from Pulverised Records. By the way, just a note, but these guys have been busy, with 18 Atomic Years Satanniversary, a 2-CD greatest hits, which was just released this year. That's right, this band have been around for 18 years, since January 1990.
Anyway, starting off with the striking skeleton Ghengis Khan-like army, the album paints a mood of destruction and domination. The majority of the EP is guitar and fast-drumming and I did enjoy the horse galloping and sword clashing on the intro track, "Introbliteration".
I usually have a poor ear when it comes to understanding lyrics for black metal, but surprisingly, I was able to pick up a few words here and there. The words you do hear is pretty typically death metal ("Satan", "Jesus", "Christ", "terror", etc).
There is one interesting cover song on this EP, "The Black Vomit". This song is originally by the Brazilian black metal band Sarcofago (you can hear their version on their myspace).
If black metal is your thing, Impiety offers some great guitar thrashing and superfast drumming and they demonstrate why they've been around for nearly 20 years and going strong.
meeble.com ♥ myspace.com
My initial reaction to Never Trust The Chinese was kind of borderline offensive. I the more I thought about it, I thought this might be in reference to a joke about how people just blindly trust the Chinese when it comes to fortune cookies (which admittedly, I thought "that's so true..."). But once I got past the title, this Phoenix-based band intrigued me because they are a band, but utilize guest vocals, like electronic artists like Tricky and the Chemical Brothers.
I have always known that I was going to use their opening track, "Fine" as the song of choice when I first heard it. It's quite lush and melodic, features an uncredited woman singer. That song represent Mr Meeble's sound, but my favorite song is "It All Came To Pass", which comes off like a trippy acid jazz. The vocals on this track is by Monique Blue, is absolutely seductively gorgeous.
"Raindrops" is another good one. It felt like a three-part song, with Devin Fleenor starting it off and Yasmine Iliya came in with "raindrops keep falling on my head", while the third part is by an uncredited poetry-type singing. There's something for everyone on this song.
Never Trust the Chinese have been out since July, and can be purchased in a variety of format on their website. Fans of electronica should definitely check out Meeble.
Links:
www.weheartmusic.com
news.weheartmusic.com
lastfm.com
twitter.com/weheartmusic
Posted by Soup
Living on a farm outside Olympia, Washington, Wolves in the Throne Room are, in this writers opinion, one of the two best black metal bands on Earth right now (the other being Nachtmystium; more on them later, maybe). Combining progressive leanings with a message of humility before nature, the band, made up of brothers, Aaron and Nathan Weaver and Richard Dahlen is standing out in a genre that's not exactly known for its variation. Their newest album, Two Hunters, was recently released on vinyl, and I have to say, “f*cking majestic” is a description that doesn't even begin to do it justice. I saw these guys live last year, and even that couldn't have prepared me for how good this record is.
Already
you know you're in for something special on the opening track, “Dea
Actio,” which basically serves as an ambient intro to the album as
a whole. This “ambient intro” probably has more feeling and power
behind it than a lot of “proper” songs by most bands. “Vastness
and Sorrow,” on the other hand, starts out more straight-up black
metal, with incredibly fast, busy drumming and Richard Dahlen's
rather “old-school,” but effective vocal delivery. As the song
goes on, it starts meandering a bit and showing the band's non-black
metal influences, but in a very black metal way, before giving way to
punk rock rhythms and an almost danceable beat before breaking down
again and laying on the grim and the frostbitten in epic form.
“Cleansing” features an extended ambient intro on the vinyl edition, and also guest vocals from Jessica Kinney on either edition. The result is something that is not nearly as corny as that first sentence makes it sound. The vocals are mixed low, under a minimal reverb-drenched keyboard. Eventually it fades out and builds back up. A bass drum beat comes in, and the vocals move up in the mix with slightly distorted guitars to add flair. Then out of nowhere, it's the most jarring and graceful transition to some fast, straightforward black metal madness that subtly breaks down and builds up, ending on a two chord drone.
The best track on the album is “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots” (also maybe one of the best song titles ever). The clean guitar intro is suddenly overpowered by a black metal based guitar and drum thing, which breaks down into a progressive section before the vocals even come in. The chord progressions on this show evoke a faint glimmer of hope, which is something rare for black metal. This track pretty much sums up what this band is all about. Meandering post-rock and ambient undertones, never explicit, applied to a black metal framework. The section right before the outro is like a summary of the song as a whole, breaking down into another acoustic interlude before going right back to where it was as if nothing had ever broken it up. Jessica Kinney returns on vocals on the outro in a section reminiscent of “Cleansing” and the side ends with the sound of chirping birds. This is the end of the CD release.
The
vinyl edition, has an extra track. “To Reveal” opens with a gauzy
droning guitar sort of reminiscent of the guitar sound (oh, excuse
me, “diesel harp”) on Velvet Cacoon's Genevieve.
The drumming is busy and the rhythm is really strange on this one,
and the guitars and keyboards work well together to create an
atmospheric piece that's as intense as it is “pretty.” It ends on
a long drone of just a few chords. The drums are mixed maybe a bit
high in some places, and to be honest, I can see why it was left off
the original release of the album. It's definitely an excellent
track, and if you haven't picked up the CD edition, I'd definitely
recommend picking the vinyl up instead for it, but it works better as
bonus material than part of the album as a whole.
They've got one listed show coming up, on August 16th at El Corazon in Seattle with Book of Black Earth and Himsa. If you live in that area, you've probably already heard of them. If you haven't seen them, you're missing out. The vinyl is out now on Southern Lord Records. The CD's been out since last year. Check it out! More information can be found at the band's MySpace page.
Candlelight Records has been busy, this summer. Vu sent me a bunch of new-ish (sorry for taking so long with them!) releases a while back, and I guess that means I should talk about them.
First one I want to talk about is Urban Cancer by Nefastus Dies, out of Montreal. This isn't so much a new release, since the band has been selling it at shows since 2006. But what we have here is black metal, with a bit of a grind edge to it. What really stands out to me about this release are the vocals, which jump around all over the spectrum of metal, from black metal style screaming to death metal style grunting and pigsqueals. The production is pretty clean and clear, which is also pretty unique for black metal. The album is a technically great release, with lots of time changes and awesome technical drumming, along with Emperor-style keyboards. These guys are definitely doing their own thing, and in the black metal scene of recent years, that's something respectable. My favorite tracks on here are “Primal Chaos,” “Hate Vector,” and “Spawns of Illegitimacy.” These guys are best when they keep it short and sweet, although they're not bad on the longer tracks, either. They have a few shows coming up. June 27th, they'll be playing at the Kathedral in Toronto. The next night they'll be at the 69 Pick-Ups in Cambridge, Ontario. July 6th, they'll be playing at Club Lambi in Montreal, and on August 2nd, they'll be playing at Wie Gehts Amigo’s in New Castle, Ontario.
The next one I'd like to talk about, is Raleigh, North Carolina's similarly named Daylight Dies, and their album, Lost to the Living, their third album, and second for Candlelight. These guys have been around since 1996, although their first album wasn't officially released until 2002 on Relapse, and appropriately, this album has sort of a classic “goth metal” vibe, kind of along the lines of Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride. To be honest, this kind of metal probably isn't for everyone. These guys are pretty good at it, though, seamlessly blending the heavy, but expansive instrumental passages with the even heavier, chunkier parts, with heavy vocals (mostly growled, but a couple tracks are sung) that manage to sound both angry and kind of sad at the same time. Surprisingly, for this kind of band, not a single track on this album breaks the eight minute mark. My favorite tracks here are “A Portrait in White,” “And a Slow Surrender,” “Woke Up Lost,” and “The Morning Light.” These guys just got off tour with Candlemass not too long ago, which must've been an awesome tour. There's only one show coming up, and it's in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on July 12th at Local 506. It's free to the public, and it's the CD release show for this very album!
Third, and most exciting for me, personally, is the new album, angL, by ex-Emperor vocalist Ihsahn. On this album, he's playing guitars and keyboards, as well as doing the vocals. This is more a straight-up metal release than a lot of his other post-Emperor stuff. In fact, after listening to this, I can forgive him for Peccatum, as long as I never have to hear them again. His vocals still sound good, although he sounds nothing like he did in Emperor. “Scarab” has an awesome guitar solo, and thankfully doesn't go overboard with any “Egyptian” vibe the title might suggest (while there's definitely that vibe, going overboard with it is something that should be left to bands like Nile). “Unhealer” is a collaboration with Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt. It kind of sticks out for being more of an Opeth-y (well, yeah...) prog thing than a black metal thing. The crisp production sounds fitting for it, and it's a damn fine collaboration of two modern metal legends. He continues abandoning the “black metal” framework on “Emancipation,” which features some of the most impressive vocals on the album. Half-sung, half screamed in that classic “Emperor” way. “Malediction,” on the other hand, is more of a return to his black metal roots. It basically sounds like Emperor, but in a kind of updated way. It's awesome, is what matters. “Alchemist” is more of a modern metal thing, opening with chunky, huge riffing reminiscent of bands like Mastodon, with sung vocals on the verses, and screamed choruses. The solo on this track is seriously epic. The next track, “Elevator,” sounds like it was named for how the guitar goes up and down the scales repeatedly. The vocals are more in the black metal vein again, here, and a cool, discordant flourish on the keyboards (I think it's the keyboards, anyway) is jarring in the best possible way. “Threnody” is a slow song, that builds slowly into a heavy slow song. The sung parts sound really good. Occasionally the melodies sound almost “grunge” on it. The last track is also the longest, and is a black metal mini-epic in itself. The sung vocals are a nice touch, but oddly, it still seems like the most straightforward track on this disc. It serves as a fitting end to this album, though. I'd definitely recommend checking this one out. I can't find any tour dates for him, so I assume he's not on tour. Bummer.
Anyway,
that's what Candlelight USA is up to lately. And these are all pretty
solid releases for fans of the styles being represented. The Ihsahn
album in particular is just good metal in general. Definitely worth
checking out, even if you don't like black metal.
You can find more info on all these bands at their official websites:
So go check 'em out!
-Soup
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Discography
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Formed in Seattle from the ashes of Thorr's Hammer by guitarists Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson, with Jamie Sykes on drums, Burning Witch would go on to produce some of the finest doom metal of the 90's. Greg Anderson left soon after the band's formation to form Goatsnake, and vocalist, Edgy 59 and bassist G. Stuart Dahlquist were added to round out the line-up.
With this line-up, the band recorded a raw, aggressive, incredibly stoned, 12” EP with Steve Albini, entitled Towers..., which, at the time, remained unreleased. The album featured very distinct, alternately screamed/sung vocals, and a sludgy guitar and bass sound. The band played slow, with as much emphasis on the space between the notes as on the notes themselves. Soon after the sessions with Steve Albini, Jamie Sykes left the band and was replaced by drummer, B.R.A.D. with whom they recorded another 12” EP in 1997, entitled Rift. Canyon. Dreams, which saw release on Merciless Records that year, and which, while not a terribly radical departure, featured a slightly more melodic, less aggressive take on their established doom metal sound. Around this time, they started shopping a cassette around to labels, one of which ended up in the hands of Chris Dodge, who owned a struggling hardcore label called Slap-a-Ham. Although he was initially unable to release the record due to financial troubles, along with an already-packed release schedule (not to mention that, at the time, releasing a record of eight minute sludge anthems was a pretty risky thing for a hardcore label to do), six months later (after playing the cassette so many times it broke), he contacted the band, and, though the band had decided to release their CD compilation, Crippled Lucifer, on Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson's own label, Southern Lord, they allowed him to release the b-side of the tape. And so, the Towers... 12” was given a formal release in 1998.
After the band's breakup in 1998, Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson formed Sunn o))) together, originally as a tribute band to Earth. Eventually, Sunn o))) started making waves with their own highly unique drone-doom sound, and interest in Burning Witch skyrocketed, leading to Southern Lord reissuing an expanded edition of Crippled Lucifer in January, 2008. It's a limited edition of 2,000 copies, and, of course, it's essential for any fan of doom metal that doesn't already have the original 12” EP's.
02/09/2008 23:31:18
soup
my♥posts
southernlord.com
myspace.com
Maybe it's less than momentous to debut as a guest blogger with a group as well known as Clutch, but having been a longtime reader, it seemed to me that we were lacking in the angry metal department. The trouble with that plan, however, is that most metal sounds more or less like this to me:
And, as a reward for making it to the end of this post, here's some snotty art rock and a novelty song, both about black metal. See, it's a theme!
xoxo
W. B. Mook
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