Lines In Wax

TWELVE YEARS OF UNWANTED OPINION

Month: June 2019

Akercocke – Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene (1999)
death metal

Akercocke – Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene (1999)

There is something just so inherently evil about Akercocke’s early work, particularly on the first two records. Perhaps its the air of elegance that the band bring to a genre that is often delivered with the subtly of a war hammer to the face, or perhaps its the smattering of terrifying noises and soundscapes that the band use to decorate their macabre, sexually-charged satanic hymns. Rape… is a dirty, dismal maw, taking heavy inspiration from the equally-sordid recounting of the tale of Faust, by Robert Nye. I initially wanted to say that this album isn’t as progressive as later records, but coming back to it now after all these years, I see how very, very wrong I am. This is genius.

Mushroomhead ‎– M3 (1999)
avant-garde metal

Mushroomhead ‎– M3 (1999)

For a long time, M3 was the only OG Mushroomhead album that I didn’t own. Hunting down an OG MRH INC Records version proved nearly impossible before the days of Discogs, and when they did crop up, the discs went for a pretty penny. I ended up getting the 2002 re-issue with the massively improved artwork (this being said I would prefer the OG purely because its the OG, guess I’m a sucker for that shit). M3, despite being entirely solid from start to finish, is a weird record that seems to have been released when the band was in a state of flux. Who the fuck was this Scott Edgell guy? Why is he on two tracks here? M3 is also seemingly overshadowed with the band’s signing to Eclipse and then Universal, but some of the tracks that didn’t make the cut to XX are phenomenal. Earlier mixes of “Before I Die” or “Solitaire / Unravelling” leave a bit to be desired, but tracks such as “Inevitable”, “Exploiting Your Weakness” and “Conflict – The Argument Goes On…” are some of the best tracks Mushroomhead ever laid down. Its coming up to 16 years since Mushroomhead made anything remotely worth listening to. If you’ve not heard this old school gem, please give it a whirl.

Blind Guardian – Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)
metal

Blind Guardian – Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)

I remember downloading this when I was a teenager and absolutely fucking hating it, so it was nice coming back 13 years later with a bit more appreciation for anything that isn’t Napalm Death. I was reading a Wikipedia article about Tolkien’s The Silmarillion (night shifts for you) and that eventually led me to this concept album. I can’t say I’m much of a fan of those vocals (to be fair power metal isn’t my strong point in general) but I was massively impressed by the dexterity and execution of the riffs, the drumming, and the general all-round pompous-as-f songwriting. Blind Guardian will always be on the pass less travelled, for me at least, but for what its worth, I enjoyed my journey back to Middle-Earth a lot more than I did the first time around.

The Angels Of Light – How I Loved You (2001)
folk, neofolk & acoustic

The Angels Of Light – How I Loved You (2001)

How I Loved You is beautiful, stunning, eery and lush. A cut of morose sadness dashes the otherwise bright and sun-kissed veins of sparkling instrumentation and twinkling percussion. This was the album that made me fall in love with Angels Of Light; after a few unsuccessful listens elsewhere, everything clicked. “Evangeline” and “New York Girls” have to be two of the greatest songs ever written.

A Flock Of Seagulls – A Flock Of Seagulls (1982)
pop

A Flock Of Seagulls – A Flock Of Seagulls (1982)

I was inspired to listen to this by my mate Gareth, who has recently caught the group live in concert. Honestly, this record was way better than I expected. Some of the synth sounds are very unique, and the bass sound is fantastic. It is a bit poppy for my taste, but has a dark streak running through it. All in all, a decent listen.

40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room (2011)
doom metal

40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room (2011)

There is just something so very special about the music of Patrick Walker. Whilst less metallic in its heaviness than his previous work with Warning, 40 Watt Sun’s debut album possesses its own kind of dense, head-melting fuzz. The way it wraps around the bare bones songs, weaving its way into all of the gaps between the glacial riffs and sparse drumming, is absolutely sublime. On top of all this, the vocals and songwriting are absolutely second to none. A phenomenal record. 

Dark Ages – A Chronicle Of The Plague (2006)
dungeon synth

Dark Ages – A Chronicle Of The Plague (2006)

It has been a good while since a record has instilled such a physical level of claustrophobic distress within me. Sitting, writing, in a fucking Asda cafe of all places (I was waiting for my car to be MOT’ed), Dark Ages’ ominous journeys through a plague-riddled world crept up and wrapped me in a blanket of suffocating dread. Yeah. Sounds a bit much, but it was fucking great. By the time I decided to get up and go back outside, fog had drifted in across the mountain, and I set out into the incessant drizzle with this blasting in my ears. Glorious.

Jarboe – Anhedoniac (2004)
avant-garde rock

Jarboe – Anhedoniac (1998)

Jarboe is just a treasure, having offered so much to Swans in countering the sheer terrifying impact of their music with her lush and iconic vocals and keyboard melodies. In light of this, I suppose, I’ve also found the unhinged lunacy of her solo stuff a bit intimidating in comparison. Anhedoniac is a meandering, hour long trip through hell. It begins with these fantastic Middle Eastern elements to the first few tracks, and trials off through a myriad of bizarre and unsettling instrumentation from there; be it analogue or synthetic. There is a lot of familiarity here with the equally-as-unsettling Soundtracks For The Blind by Swans, which didn’t come out that long before this. However, where Soundtracks… had a glimmer of hope twinkling underneath its complex atmospheres, Anhedoniac is much more bleak and hopeless. This is a tortured record. I guess the name says it all. 

The Rolling Stones – Blue & Lonesome (2016)
rock

The Rolling Stones – Blue & Lonesome (2016)

This is probably the best Rolling Stones record to come out in known modern history. For a band that constantly re-hashes ‘best of’s over and over and over, hearing an album full of blues covers was very unexpected, for me at least. The record lurches into life, and at first seems a bit clumsy, with the Stones showing their age in comparison to the energy of their earlier efforts. After the initial adjustment however, the record is incredibly enjoyable and is very well constructed. Perfect soundtrack for a beer and a cigar in the sun.

Dropdead – Dropdead (1993)
grindcore

Dropdead – Dropdead (1993)

This is a sonic whirlwind of ripping grindcore savagery, to be honest. One of the early purveyors of the powerviolence tag, Dropdead manage to retain that unhinged edge that a lot of later, more polished powerviolence productions miss completely. Pissed off, venomous grind for the thinking man. 

Anathema – The Crestfallen / Pentacost III (1992/1994)
doom metal

Anathema – The Crestfallen / Pentacost III (1992/1994)

Every so often I just gotta come back to early Anathema. Most often, it used to be to Serenades, but as time has gone on, I find myself revisiting this compilation rather than the debut album. Despite the engine of pure brilliance that modern Anathema has become, I do genuinely miss the old doomy Anathema. Honestly, this comp always gets looked over by me, but lets be frank here: as awesome as Serenades is, the production on both of these sessions is much more rounded and level. There is a haunting hollowness to Serenades (comparisons can be made to early My Dying Bride and even the first Cradle Of Filth album), but Crestfallen in particular is a lot dryer and clean. The songwriting is on point, the delivery flawless, and the vocals savage as fuck.

Fief – I (2016)
dungeon synth

Fief – I (2016)

Man, I absolutely fucking love dungeon synth. If anything makes me wanna re-download TES:III plus a fuckton of custom mods, or start writing a 220,000 word fantasy epic, then one suspects that this is the exact record. Fief is particularly magic, employing a range of instruments that seem authentic to the olde worlde. Yeah, it might be VSTs (or maybe not, I dunno haha), but it sounds absolutely fantastic. There is so much dungeon synth out there these days, but Fief is easily amongst the best on offer.

More Than Life – Love Let Me Go (2010)
punk & hardcore

More Than Life – Love Let Me Go (2010)

More Than Life play that kinda hardcore that has so much youthful energy coursing through its veins. Throw in a splash of something altogether more emo or post- and you should get a good idea of where we’re coming from. The riffs are something else; channeling all sorts of influences (even sounds a bit like black metal in parts) into these morose yet rabid tunes. Love Let Me Go is the band’s debut record from 2010. It was re-issued in 2016 by the excellent Holy Roar Records. 

Dr. AIDS – Drive Me To Kill You (2011)
grindcore

Dr. AIDS – Drive Me To Kill You (2011)

Drive Me To Kill You is a fun hardcore punk tinged journey through the sloppy pits of grindcore, brought to you by the guy who runs agzdaredz.blogspot.com, which I got a shitload of noise / grind stuff from back in the day, so kudos to you, my friend. The best part is that I have no fucking clue where I got this CD from, no doubt in one of my trips north, but I’m usually pretty good in remembering where I picked stuff up. Anyway, coming across as a venomous mix of Agathocles and The Exploited, Drive Me To Kill You is an awesome first demo and well worth checking out. The band split up in 2013 and all their shit is available on their Bandcamp page, so go and check it out.

Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle (1979)
electronic pop

Gary Numan – The Pleasure Principle (1979)

There is something unusually uplifting about the rock band / synthesizer combination this record. I guess this is also what makes the album so enduring; the physical – or analog – world meeting the clinical and mechanical world of computers. Couple this with Numan’s bizarre but now trademark delivery and you have an all-round winning combination, that in all realities and existences, needs no introduction.  

Judas Cradle / Fetus Christ – Split CDr (2017)
grindcore

Judas Cradle / Fetus Christ – Split CDr (2017)

(June 2019 edit: this should have been posted years ago, so please excuse the promotional tone in which it is written!) Okay, so here it is, the first release on the new Lines In Wax “label”, the glorious split EP between thrashing Newport grinders and Hereford powerviolence trio Fetus Christ. We’ve been toying with the idea of doing a split for quite some time, so it fit perfectly with the intention to start my label, and considering we are supposed to be touring together at some point too. Both sets on this disc were recorded live at the excellent FHED Halloween weekender in October 2016 by the promoter and all round good egg James Payne. A full release of all the recordings from the event can be found at fhed.bandcamp.com. The run is limited to 50 and gave me a chance to “try out” a number of suppliers, including The Duplication Service who did a great job on the CDs, and Disc Jugglers who have done a bang up job on printing the covers. The inserts I did on my super wicked awesome new Brother laser printer (just wait and see the tape inserts this thing has been printing). Quick shout out to t’lads in Judas Cradle (RIP) for their patience with my strange ideas, Fetus Christ for being on the ball and generally just being awesome, and of course Mr. Payne for the recordings.

Merzbow / Xiu Xiu – Merzxiu (2015)
avant-garde noise & power electronics

Merzbow / Xiu Xiu – Merzxiu (2015)

Merzxiu is two back to back 20-minute slabs of experimental noise (are you surprised?) from two of the most experimental and well-respected artists in the entire left field of music. Merzbow, by now surely, needs no introduction. Xiu Xiu on the other hand, play a very unusual blend of styles, but have forayed into the noise world in the past. The two tracks here, simply titled “A” and “B”, are slow, brooding, bubbling, crackling atmospheric soundscapes. As I grow older I prefer my harsh noise to show a bit of restraint alongside the sonic annihilation, and this release is the perfect, creeping balance. This could be a soundtrack to a very sinister movie. Highly recommended.

Korn – The Path Of Totality (2011)
electronic metal

Korn – The Path Of Totality (2011)

So, Korn invented dubstep. Oh, didn’t you hear? I wasn’t informed either, but its okay, there hasn’t been any great cultural upheaval; the only thing that the world has missed out on is several more crappy albums like this, where straight-outta-the-box Native Instruments Massive oscillating bass riffs jar awkwardly with mediocre Korn tracks. Y’know what, sometimes…. just sometimes…. it works, but most of the time it really, really doesn’t. Fieldy’s low-hanging bass strings clank horribly alongside the clinical dubstep bass executions. Oh, and Pendulum called, they want their fucking awful snare sound back.

Agathocles – Grind Is Protest (2009)
grindcore

Agathocles – Grind Is Protest (2009)

Take it from Agathocles, my friends; grind is indeed protest. Well, not all of it is, maybe just some of it. The protest against over-produced, tired, non-DIY methods seems to come from the punk / crust side of the coin, and that is, perhaps not at all coincidentally, the side of the “Grind Coin” (I might Trademark that) from which the revered Agathocles hail. This is more of what is to be expected of our beloved mince-grinders. 

Sextrash – Sexual Carnage (1990)
metal thrash metal

Sextrash – Sexual Carnage (1990)

Sextrash play raunchy, messy thrash metal that verges on the edges of insanity. Think Sacrilege, or Hirax, with the “attitude” of Motley Crue and the production approach of a 90s death metal cassette demo. It is honestly, a weird mix. It is almost as if the style of music does not match the cover art that the band have chosen, which I cannot decide is either one of the coolest sleeves I’ve seen or one of the cringiest things on the planet. What a dilemma. Anyways, if you like the scatterfuck approach of Sarcofago, but maybe just drenched in lube rather than corpsepaint, give this one a spin.

Death In June – But What Ends When The Symbols Shatter? (1992)
folk, neofolk & acoustic

Death In June – But What Ends When The Symbols Shatter? (1992)

I’ve always found this record to be much gentler than the other Death In June offerings that I’ve heard. That sub-level of sinister atmosphere seems almost completely devoid from these glistening neo-folk hymns. For once, it almost seems like positivity and hope undercuts the morose songwriting, rather than echoes of pestilence, death and sadness. Yes, some of the lyrics allude to some darkness, but generally the vibe is much more twinkly than happy that I would ever have expected, especially considering this is considered one of the group’s most well liked records. 

Carpathian Forest – Through Chasm, Caves and Titan Woods (1995)
black metal

Carpathian Forest – Through Chasm, Caves and Titan Woods (1995)

Through Chasm, Caves and Titan Woods stands apart, for me at least, from the rest of the Carpathian Forest catalog, which is generally a bit more filthy and with a blackened punk vibe. This though… this is wondrous, haunting, mysterious and hypnotically beautiful; not a million miles away from the “magic spell” days of Burzum, back when black metal was transcendental yet didn’t need to declare itself as such, back when it was atmospheric and dreamy but not populated by fucking hipsters and crap tell-all movies. It didn’t blow my head off a la Revenge or 1349, but this is still a stunning slab of black metal.

Insane Clown Posse – Fearless Fred Fury (2019)
hip hop

Insane Clown Posse – Fearless Fred Fury (2019)

I’d be lying if I said I was anywhere near as enthusiastic about post-OG run Joker’s Cards ICP stuff than I was about everything up until that point. Sure, they had the odd album that was y’know, a bit crap, but after the original saga was complete it almost felt for a while that ICP were trundling forward without a purpose (I’ll get to this in my Tempest review). Furious Fred Fury though (the FIFTH 2nd deck Joker’s Card – man, I’m getting old), dropped this year and kinda took me off my guard. In the world of ICP it seems to me like a chunky mix between the latest Boom! Pow! Whatever! releases and something altogether more Hell’s Pit. I enjoyed far more songs here than I have on an ICP record in a long time, which is a big step in the right direction. I can’t wait to check out the accompanying EP for more of dat wicket shit, juggaluggalotus fam. As you were.

Ship Of Fools – Close Your Eyes (Forget The World) (1993)
avant-garde rock

Ship Of Fools – Close Your Eyes (Forget The World) (1993)

Ship Of Fools is a name that I’ve seen thrown about here and there, but I had absolutely no idea that they were an instrumental prog band. Their links to the likes of Cradle Of Filth and Anathema had me thinking that they would be some sort of doomy keyboard offering, but Close Your Eyes (Forget The World) is a cerebral trip through the meandering yet blissful sea of keyboard-driven prog. Some of the tracks are quite experimental, others lean more towards being homages to the old-school proggers. Either way, 5am has never felt so chilled. Cheers, SOF!  I can neither confirm nor deny whether Snow Patrol are fans. 

Billie Eilish – When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019)
pop

Billie Eilish – When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019)

There is a lot of hype around this lass right now, but spinning this up I can see that all of it is totally deserved. There is something incredibly special about this record. I guess, the genius starts with the production, which is done entirely by her brother, Finneas O’Connell. The songs really pop out of the speakers, the crisp, in your face tracks duck and dive from style to style, led by Billie’s pure and mesmerising vocals. The songs start to sprawl and become a bit more meandering towards the conclusion, but all in all, it isn’t a long record and is a fun listen. I really enjoyed.

Savage Abduction (1973)
exploitation

Savage Abduction (1973)

Two young girls are snatched for a high-paying maniac who is in love with life-sized dolls. A shady biker gang, who is at first a bit skeptical of the idea, soon warms to the $10,000 asking price for the girls, and they quickly kidnap two young hotties from the city. However, despite the premise for all sorts of debauchery, nothing really happens. At all. There is a bit of back and forth between the bikers and the kidnapped girls, all the while interjected with shots of the lead biker beating his girlfriend, and the doll-loving maniac making insane demands to see the girls he’s bought. Some weed is smoked and the girls are stripped to their underwear…. and then nothing happens. The film keeps you guessing about what is gonna happen next, when will it kick off etc., but it never delivers. Ever. Even the ending, which sees most of the cast dead, just kinda happens under your nose. Couple that with drab scenes and awful lighting, and yeah, I’m surprised I made it through to the conclusion. However, the two girls – Amy Thomson and Tanis Gallik – carry the film and I’d love to see them in something else.

Anathema – Alternative 4 (1998)
doom metal rock

Anathema – Alternative 4 (1998)

Alternative 4 marked the biggest departure for Anathema from their original doom metal sound. Sure, the melody had continued to creep in on both The Silent Enigma and Eternity, but Alternative 4 jumped ship from metal completely, laying the blueprint for the alternative (lol) rock sound that the band would continue to expand on throughout the rest of the nineties. The production is a little flat, but there are some Anathema classics here. Also, what is going on in the sleeve art? I’m trying to make out what it is that is in the reflection where the face is….