Depression and Sea Creatures

Giant Squid - The Ichthyologist

I was going to post this right when it leaked, but in the weak since I downloaded it I have given myself a chance to discover just how great this album is. Giant Squid is a doomy, sludgy metal band from Austin, Texas. They use aquatic imagery to convey a sense of despair and hopelessness. Consider:

I befriended deepest fathoms
and returned stronger still
starving for your praise at the crest of every swell
I find dissuasion of tides
I find dissuasion of tides

Their latest release, The Ichthyologist, is apparently a concept album about a man who turns to the sea to escape personal tragedy, only to see his feelings reflected in that which he surveys. And boy, does it sound like it. Heavy, crushing riffs and dark, depressing lyrics. Whether you're a flaky, obnoxious hipster looking for the next cleancut "post-metal" band or someone who actually has an appreciation of music, this is very worth your time.

Reason to listen: you love extended nautical metaphors.

Recommended tracks: All of them!
My favorites right now are:
#6 Sevengill (Notorynchus Cepedianus)
#8 Blue Linckia (Linckia Laevigata)

Enjoy!

Bitter, Sarastic, Brutal

The Meads of Asphodel - Damascus Steel

What do you get when you combine Biblical apocrypha, militant secular humanism, medieval English armor, and a hefty dose of misanthropy? Mix them together and you find yourself with one of England’s best-kept secrets: The Meads of Asphodel. Surfacing from the depths in 1998, they are anything but standard fare in the world of metal. They bill themselves as “English Fucking Black Metal”, and never fail to live up to and surpass the standards set out by a country from which emerged so many great bands in the past.

Like many of the better contemporary black metal bands, the Meads occupy the niche of ’experimental’ music. They can play more traditional, ’grim and frostbitten’ black - their 2000 debut The Excommunication of Christ was based largely around this style - but even then it was evident that the Meads were something different. Metatron’s voice is dry and raspy but he doesn’t growl or scream, making for some unique vocals which have been likened to “someone with throat cancer who really would like to sing, but coughs up intestines every time he tries“#. Don’t worry, his voice isn’t as ugly as that might lead you to believe, but it is unique. While The Excommunication… featured the more stripped-down instrumental section of traditional ‘cold‘ black metal, by the following album Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua guitarist and the drummer at the time Jaldaboath had begun flexing his muscles. And lest your preconceptions about black metal get the best of you, know that Metatron and company have produced a techno song - the remake of the demo “Book of Dreams” on Exhuming… - and covered Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” (the latter, of course, with their signature sense of cynical humor).

It is this sense of cynicism, along with a good degree of humor, which pervades this music. For example, a verse from their Armstrong cover states: “I see ethnic cleansing / pain beyond belief / whole nations murdered / sorrow and grief / and I think to myself…”. Their latest EP, In the Name of God Welcome to Planet Genocide, contains songs such as “My Beautiful Genocide” and “A Baptism in the Warm Piss of Slaughtered Children”. They also have a taste for impressively long song titles on their tracks over 10 minutes, naming the last track on 2005’s Damascus Steel “Behold The Kindred Battle Carcasses Strewn Across The Bloodied Dunes Of Gilgamesh Mute In The Frenzied Clamour Of Death's Rolling Tongue And Ravenous Bursting Steel”. Life’s a joke, and it’s deadly serious.

If there is an issue with the Meads, it is their perceived anti-religion and especially anti-Islamic stance. The latter has gained them an unfortunate following among racists, xenophobes, and Muslim haters of all stripes in their native England as well as here. And indeed, a shallow reading of the band’s songs can lead to the conclusion that the Meads do indeed hate Islam. Their split with Mayhem, entitled Jihad, has songs entitled “Jihad - the Gristly Din of Killing Steel” and “Assassins of Allah”. At the beginning of “Behold the Bloodied Dunes…” on Damascus Steel, the muezzin’s call to prayer precedes the crash of thunder. Christianity too comes under fire, as there is a general tendency in their music (especially their earlier work) to criticize the divinity of Jesus as well as the Church of Rome. Yet if one simply examines their website, one will find the motto "The Meads of Asphodel believe in all peoples' right to live in peace, free from the shackles of inflicted dogma and servitude". What the Meads are critiquing, it appears, is not any specific religion so much as fundamentalist interpretations of such which lead to violent conflict and the deaths of innocents.

So, if you can appreciate excellent music and insightful social commentary conveyed through a mushroom-induced haze by men in medieval English armor, this band’s for you!

MOAR music? No wai!

Yes wai. I may be a lazy blogger, but the eventuality of a really awesome post is a good feeling.

Today I bring you an album I have no particular attachment to, but is worth listening to nonetheless.


Infidel - Bloody Horns of Wrath
pass: cirithgorgor

Grim and frostbitten black metal FTW! Infidel is a band from Wrocław, Poland, where they slither amongst the hordes of Pope-hatin', Bible-desecratin' masses of black metal bands in the area. Poland has a great metal scene which extends far beyond Behemoth and its many worshippers, so I'm more inclined to pick up the odd EP from said masses when the opportunity presents itself. I was not disappointed, and neither will you. This is generic BM in all its glory:

Poorly-drawn cover? check
Juvenile attacks on religion? check
Hilarious lyrics? check
A sound that's the aural equivalent of wading through a swamp? check

Reason to listen: there's a song called "Godtormenting Black Metal" - 'nuff said.

Enjoy y'all

Romanian Black Metal

Between the vampires and the castles in which they dwell, Romania
seems like a pretty metal place. That being said I have heard only one
band from that country, but it's a good one. Negură Bunget is an
"atmospheric" black metal band from Timişoara that produces excellent
music. To quote the description on last.fm, they "combine Romanian
history and folklore into a mystical sonic adventure, quite literally
inspired by their homeland of Transylvania". If the term 'mystical
sonic adventure' strikes you as pretentious, consider the drummer's
description of the band's name:

Negură Bunget is a black fog coming from a deep dark dense forest.
The name tries to picture somehow the kind of atmosphere, both
musical and spiritual we'd want to create through our music. It has
also an esoteric nature, standing for the inexpressible parts of our
ideology. The two words are also from the Tracic substrate of the
Romanian language (the oldest one, containing about 90 words) as the
interest for our local history and spirituality is something of
crucial importance and meanings for us as a band

Despite (or perhaps because of) the band taking itself so seriously it
manages to produce a unique blend of black metal, traditional
instruments, and experimental atmospheric elements. This is best
displayed on Om, their fourth full-length release. This is not an album I listen to often but rather a favorite that I drag into my playlist once in a while when I wish to enjoy a great piece of music
in its entirety. The album is a rich tapestry of sounds - the band makes much use of keyboards to provide an ambiance which suits the guitar, drums and traditional instruments well. Each track bleeds into the next as we are transported into a higher realm. I highly recommend listening to this album through in one sitting in order to experience it to its fullest.

Highlight tracks: it's all great, but Țesarul de Lumini (track 2) might be my favorite.

Enjoy!



Download

So I had a dilemma when considering what to post in this blog: do I
make a point to post accessible music or not? As much as I would love
to post an album that everyone downloads and loves (and there will be
those, hopefully), in the interest of full disclosure I will be making
balls-out, uncompromising posts. To kick this off, here's something
that no-one will enjoy.

Today I present to you Skinless, a brutal death metal band out of
Glens Falls, NY. Death metal is (generally speaking) ugly music, and
"brutal" death metal takes the genre's misanthropic lyrical themes and
technical, driving sound to an extreme. Guttural vocals, blast beats,
and tremolo picking are all distinguishing sound of brutal death
metal. All of this can be found on Skinless's fourth full-length
release, Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead. While their sound
is fairly standard in many ways, there are a number of things about
this album that make it worth your attention. First, while brutal
death metal is notorious for lyrical themes centered around sexual
violence and gore, Skinless falls among the small but sizable number
of bands which use the genre for political commentary. From its title
to song names like "A Unilateral Disgust" and "Deviation Will Not Be
Tolerated", Trample the Weak... demonstrates a critical stance
on society. However, similar to many of their fellow artists, their
views appear to be grounded in nihilism and disgust with humanity -
essentially, war and destruction are disgusting but logical outcomes
of the human condition which will eventually and hopefully destroy us
all.

Another notable characteristic of this album is how high-energy it is.
"Overlord" begins the album with an effective use of sampling which
leads into an excellent and heavily guitar riff. The guitar,
vocals,and drums drive this album, which unfortunately leaves the base
buried and barely audible. Skinless will be playing the New England
Death Metal Fest in August, and if their live act is anything like
their recorded stuff it's going to be a very rowdy show.

What makes this album stand out to me? I'd never listened to Skinless
before, and upon downloading them enjoyed the sound and progression of
the album. It's fairly short, so if you do check it out it's only a
little over half an hour in its entirety. It's a fun album and
entertaining if you don't take it seriously or expect too much from
it.

Outstanding tracks: Overlord, A Unilateral Disgust, Trample the Weak,
Hurdle the Dead


Enjoy!

Next time: something very different