Archive for August 2023

I have disparaged all of the Death in June sound collage stuff over the last few years. Operating Hummingbird, and parts of albums like the latter half of All Pigs Must Die literally do nothing for me. I was surprised then, when returning to Take Care And Control, to find that it was incredibly listenable, enjoyable and of a high production quality. Now, I know Albin Julius did all the music here (this should have…

The Nazi bastards threw me for a loop here, I got nice and comfortable thinking that this was a lovely acoustic album or EP, but several tracks in things harshly cut back to fucking black metal. It’s a lovely effect, really makes the blackened shit seem brutal and sinister as fuck. Despite the dodgy lyrical content, the later metal tracks are fucking class. If only they’d cool it on the NS politics, Goatmoon would then…

Personally, I find Varjot to be an improvement on the earlier Goatmoon records. There is less in the way of sheer rawness and more focus on the folkier elements of the music, which work well with the cleaner production. Generally, I prefer black metal to be raw and disgusting but these changes seem to work well for Goatmoon, and the trademark feral shrieks are retained so there’s that too.

Der Sturmer, another band in the NSBM world that reportedly has the best riffs so are therefore worth checking out. I mean, their stuff here is pretty good, but I need to hear more releases to be absolutely sure. Totenburg… well, I nearly turned this off after five minutes as the production seemed a bit wonky but then some fucking incredible guitar playing started. I guess it’s the end of the first track on their…

Skreeeeeeeeeeee I hope you like brutal fuckin death metal because yknow, that’s what you’re gonna get here. You can say a lot about Pathology but the main thing to take away I think is that they are damn consistent. Production variations aside, as well as natural evolution of sounds, I think it is fair to say their output has been consistently solid over the years. This more recent studio album (currently placed in the second…

Very cromulent little EP from Atomck, back in the 3 piece daze (I wanna say the Never Work line-up?). The first few tracks are blasting grindcore madness, which is just lovely. Karl’s drums are fuckin crazy. The closing track, “Crowd Pleaser” is a banger too, slowing the pace right down, and including not just noise but also synthesisers, which is a nice touch. It doesn’t sound very “grindcore” when I write it out like that,…

Fuckin beauty of a cassette. Agathocles stuff is top tier, farmyard vokills over blasting mincecore and fun sillyness is the order of the day. Fentanyl Surprise side of the tape absolutely fuckin crushes it though. Absolutely beastly production with sick, crunching riffs and blasting gore drums / vocals. I’m happy with that – you should be too! LOL

Morbid Beauty has some interesting noise going on. The general vibe is more of a moody one than of total aural destruction. Ecclesiarch is much more low key. Unsure if there is a volume issue on the cassette that I have, but this side is much quieter. Nevertheless, some of the passages do built into impressive introspective noise drones.

The Hyperemesis side of this split has to be up there as some of the best goregrind ever recorded, of all time. I don’t lightly make such a statement, but fuck this shit is so goddamn good. The drums are tight, the snare sounding like its going to pop like a can of deoderant thrown into a fire. The riffs are sick as fuck and the vocals are just off the charts. Some of the…

Fuckin lightning fast grindcore, absolutely no fucking about. Gets in, fucking goes for it, gets out. Side B has an interest piece of sampling and noise collaging, with a bunch of Twin Peaks shit thrown in, which is cool – but the main event happens on Side A, with all the brutal smears of intense grinding carnage. Tidy!

When I first brought this thing into my circulation I had no idea that it was one of the first dub records. As in, one of the ones that pulls together Perry’s reworkings from other Upsetters releases. Either way, I fell in love with this before realising it was as important as it is the world of dub reggae (and music in general as a whole). You cannot beat the warm, analogue sound on this….

The sound of your head exploding. Man, this shit fuckin slaps. Bridging the gaps between goregrind and gorenoise (the line can be thin sometimes, for sure), and possessing a thick, chunky sound that is capable of carrying the full wet, sloppy impact of Meatal Ulcer’s work from the speakers right into your fuckin face. Why Won’t It Die? doesn’t fuck about, and it certainly doesn’t hang around, with tracks averaging out at around 40 seconds…

The Number Of The Beast is classic Iron Maiden, don’t get me wrong. There is no contesting that. My issue with this record however is that it is kind of on a bit of a pedastal. The tracklist is something of a classic run, but as a casual Maiden fan only four of these songs really mean anything significant to me. Personal preferences aside, it is impossible to deny that this is a fantastic listen…

The problem with Autopsy, is that you’re always going to be comparing anything that they do to their absolutely legendary first few records. There is not much out there that comes close to that sludgy, disgusting and unique blend of death metal that the band made their own. However, Autopsy are also a band that have safely avoided tarnishing their reputation with unneccessary and pointless and well, downright awful studio albums. Most bands cannot say…

More or less the same stuff as before, just a little different. Illegal Aliens does have however, quite possibly the worst cover art that I have ever seen.

A bit of a mixed bag, but such is the way of compilation albums. The first half – or two thirds – of this thing is fairly solid. Granted, danceable industrial metal is not the reason why most people come and listen to Voivod but if you enjoyed the E-Force albums then this is a natural next step. Some of this is very similar to Godflesh, at least their more drum’n’bass-focussed stuff. The record rounds…

I have been perhaps less than flattering when describing the earlier works of Graveland, but I was convinced to give them another go when I was told that Celtic Winter was peak second wave black metal. I have to admit, that I somewhat agree with my friend who told me this. Celtic Winter is head and shoulders above any of the other earlier Graveland records, which are either mired with shit production, shit synthesisers, shit…

Come To Daddy is quite possibly my favourite Aphex Twin release. Perhaps there is some coincidence there with it also being my first purchase of one of his releases, but this thing is almost completely flawless. Over the years I must have heard this EP about 500 million times (slightly overstating it there), but I have never gotten sick or tired of any of the songs here. Speaking of which, they are all fantastic. From…

I’ve said before that early Brujeria is a raw fuckin beast of a band, and this debut full length is no different. Possessing an exceptionally downtuned and dirging sound, Brujeria’s grindcore is less frenetic and more bludgeoning in its delivery. Overall, the vibe is “I need a shower”, much the same like listening to more modern bands like Fluids. I guess that feeling comes with the territory when the songs are about machete violence and…

Admittedly, metalcore, deathcore, melodic death metal, all of this stuff – it is not in my wheelhouse. The reason I’ve decided to check out this album is the intriguing album art. It is rather still, serene and beautiful, and not something that I would ever expect to represent something that tries to be so heavy and aggressive as this. Unfortunately, where Veto falls for me is it’s enormously compressed production, which whilst not exactly rendering…

I have a lot of nostalgia around Selected Ambient Works Volume II. I spent many an hour staring at the CD insert trying to figure out what each of the song titles meant, knowing full well that it was what, 2003 or 2004 at this point and I could have easily just looked it up on the internet. Going back to SAWV2 though, for the purposes of this review, I attributed my feelings of love…

I love Vampyress(SS?)’ aesthetic and vibe but the reality is that Order Of The Dragon is a mixed bag of inconsistent quality. The artwork is fantastic, and I love the mix of the grainy b-movie still and the more vibrant styles used by Assassination / BMSS etc: these two things work very well together I find. “Tales From The Ghoulag” (compiled here from the 7″) is probably the highlight of the record, IMO, although the…

All over the shop, ants in your pants, frenetic punk music with art house leanings. I guess this is an early precursor to the no-wave scene? Not my area of expertise so apologies if that’s not right (edit: RYM has it down as No Wave music). This is fuckin’ carnage, kinda reminds me of Half Japanese or even early Locust stuff. Was really cool to find out Ikue Mori drummed on this thing too.

Vampyress (VampyreSS?) play in a brilliant occult rock style, definitely in the BMSS school of thought for sure, but never the less the composition is brilliant. The whole vibe and sound is just fantastic, and as a first impression, I’m really into this and looking forward to checking out the other EP / compilation. Billy Odal takes a little more warming to, but it’s still well made. Kinda reminds me of King Dude, but a…

I don’t think it would be unfair to call Revenge a one-dimensional band. Their dimension, is, of course, absolute fucking brutality. You come to Revenge knowing what to expect, and if you don’t, then you come unknowingly, you get your wig split, and then you keep coming back for more (unless you are, as Manowar said, a wimp and / or a poser). The uniform cover art across all releases, in the same stark colour…

Avid players of Doom’s original run of games will know, that the “expansion” to Doom II entitled “Master Levels for Doom II” never had any original music. As a player, one had to load the maps individually, before the existence of a map orderer or sequencer, and therefore one was subjected to Map 1 music over and over and over again for the duration of the Master Levels, which is a bit shit because the…

Lo-fi, low-key beginnings for the excellent BMSS. Spooky, dusty, cavernous vibes are the order of the day, a far cry from what the band would go on to do with stuff like Rainbow Nights and Burning Bridges. I also never knew these guys released anything on At War With False Noise, so I guess every day is a learning experience. Highlight of this thing has to be the closing creeper that is the title-track, which…

A really great acoustic EP from this fantastic project. Both songs comprise of the same elements but are also very much completely different. Both tracks, particularly the B-side, “Talisman”, sound very similar to bands like Rome or Death In June (is the controversial cover image also a nod?) but with some added black metal vocals for the hell of it. All in all, great atmospheres and great song writing.

Tight as a duck’s arse blasting hardcore with top-tier production. Whether hitting top speed or falling into sick two-step style grooves, everything is firing on all cylinders. A short review for a short review, but damn. This shit rules.

Vektroid is easily one of the greatest producers in this style. Her style arguably defines the initial vaporwave movement, in not only “just slowing down” 80s pop songs but giving them a whole new life and meaning. It is easy to get caught up in the Floral Shoppe hype and not go further than that, but Color Ocean Road is proof enough that it is well worth doing that. Really cool, laid-back compositions are the…

Clean, tidy and precise electronic music that is very nice as background music but perhaps a little “too nice” for the kind of thing that I’m looking for. This is entirely a personal preference however, so if perfectly composed and precision-tight, chilled-out electronics are your thing, then you’d do no wrong in checking out Dive. I can’t shake the feeling however that sometimes during this album I feel like I’m watching some transitional B-roll on…

Very nasty, which is just lovely. Definitely on the grimier end of industrial techno. Doesn’t hit as hard as say, gabber techno, but still pushes sound to a fairly dark and brutal level, I’m sure that much can be gleaned from the artwork and song titles before even pressing play. Speaking of which, that artwork is very cool. Is it Pinhead smoking some harsh substance out of a bottle bong? I’m not sure. Either way,…

Very dark, dense electonic music that’s upbeat enough for you to dance to. Not as hard and punishing as other forms of “industrial techno” but enough to keep you on your toes, for sure, and also hypnotic enough to keep you hooked. I get some 90s vibes from this but for the most part it’s a very modern sound and a very clean production. The art is killer too.

A class Mick Harris / Scorn spin off project with the same level of quality paranoid beats, minimal yet spooky atmospheres and dense moods. Expect swirling, dark background noise with prominent and involving beats. They aren’t great big bass-wobbling stonkers, but they keep your attention just as well. Closing track “Silent Dust” is probably my favourite, but the entire album is best taken whole for the best kind of journey.

Perfect chill and get shit done kinda music right here. As with other folk online, I also thought that this was a Blank Banshee side project, but nowadays I’m not too sure. Either way, shit is great. Real clean production, focussed beats and amazing tunes. Such a shame that it is only 21 minutes long but hey, thankfully there’s more releases from this project. My highlight has to be the reworking of THAT hold music…

Disjointed Bliss All over the place, but that’s why we are all here, right? Had the pleasure of hearing the EX version (2016 remaster) rather than the original but all in all, sounds really great and hits all the right buttons that you’d expect such dreamy, fractured styles of vaporwave to hit. I have no profound statement to make, but Prism Genesis is a stunning arrangement of audio clips. The atmosphere that some of these…

Fuckin’ wild piece of work, this. Mangles together elements of grindcore and death metal in a swirling maelstrom pit of cacophonous carnage. There are moments that remind me of war metal bands like Blasphemy and Revenge, if I’m honest. Carrion For Worm is one of the few records recently that I have immediately played through a second time upon completing it. I know next to nothing about the band and this was my first experience…

This is an excellent underground hip hop record with a production style that is right up my street. I love the analogue warmth of a it all, as well the excellent and well-placed samples. Flow-wise, the Company have it nailed down, with some excellent bars and a general overall vibe that is really cool and confident. No idea where I picked this up but glad I checked it out. Really good stuff.

This earlier EP from Black Magick SS seems to focus more on songs that are written entirely using synthesisers and drums, rather than the “full band” feel of the full length LPs. Either way, this record has fantastic songs, some of the best in the BMSS catalog, and is well worth your time.

The only thing I can compare this to is some sort of band on a punk version of the whole Captain Beefheart thing. Like, the original incarnation of Anal Cunt is an extreme evolution of this shit right here. Am I right in thinking that this is so punk that its not punk anymore, in fact it is even barely music? Like someone gave The Cramps far too many horse tranquilizers and a bad tape…

An interesting collection of sound collages and other seemingly-randomised occurrences or little tangents of sound. Do I understand what’s going on here? Fuck no, but that doesn’t really matter to me. All of the different textures comply to an overarching ambience of unsettling mystery, of an uncanny atmosphere that can only come from an inability to put a finger on what exactly was the purpose of the work. I can’t remember how I came across…

AOAA are another one of those bands who started in the deathcore / slam – influenced end of the spectrum, and decided to change lanes into a more regular death metal approach as time went on. With their second full length, the band are fully in brutal death metal mode, but with enough chugging riffs to not lose all of their identity. The vocals are the highlight here, the loose, gargling growls that are spat…

One of the best places you could hope to start with the Agathocles discography. Bomb Brussels is 15 minutes or so of high quality, non-stop mincecore mayhem. When there’s AGx material out there as good as this, it pains me that so many splits and EPs are borderline unlistenable. The urge to tack a further super low quality set of live tracks onto the end of this thing has also been successfully resisted, leaving Bomb…

An interesting but perhaps natural evolution for the band, Burning Bridges sees the once kvlt-as-fvk esoteric black metal band now plunge headfirst into synth pop and/or rock. Comparing this to something like Panzerwitch and the change is surprising, but put it up against something as recent as Rainbow Nights and the gradual change makes much more sense. That being said, I think Burning Bridges perhaps strays too far from what makes Black Magick SS such…

A recent talk by Dr. Ben Hillier on “Esoteric Fascism in Extreme Metal Music” (well worth a watch for those who are – like me – perhaps on the outside looking in at this stuff) had me realising that out of all the “OG” NSBM acts, I had overlooked Spear Of Longinus. There is no beating around the bush here. There are no dogwhistles or covert symbolism: its all there, I suppose to their credit,…

An interesting record from Fenriz that comes on at first like a mix of leftover Darkthrone tracks with a bunch of folk elements thrown over the top of it. Hostmorke is, of course, far more than just this cynical first take. The songs are fantastic, and the black metal parts are incredibly good. The folk elements, those being mainly heavy, echoic, pounding drums and clean, chanted vocals, are a welcome addition to what we are…

For a black metal record, Blood Fire Death sure doesn’t half thrash hard! (I’m messing around, but damn does this thing go hard in parts). Nothing really hits the spot like Bathory (except maybe one of a thousand Bathory clones), here the band takes two approaches: one of building thrashing walls of whirlwind speed and another of conjuring powerful, hypnotic grooves. Both of these things are then pulled together into a dense production job, giving…

Fun – and extremely vulgar – brutal death metal, but not as good as the first album or even the demo. My initial thought was to write that there’s a lack of focus here, but in reality the songs are short and sharp, and the brutal misogyny / menstruation themes are as strong as ever (what a sentence to write out at seven in the morning lol). Don Decker’s vocals are absolutely crackers too. It’s…

I remember when this came out. I was so stoked that Seth was recording music again and then the announcement came that they would reform – albiet temporarily – with the original line-up for the 20th anniversary of the band. The 110 Song EP followed fairly quickly. I remember being a bit disappointed with it when it first dropped, mainly because it sounded like complete shit (and not in a good way). Comparing this to…

There is no title as fitting for this album as the title it was actually given. On this 1999 full length (the last proper full length, unless you count the parody album Fuckin’ A), Anal Cunt step up the nastiness both in word and in sound. The song titles and lyrics have reached what I think many would say are the “peak” Anal Cunt style, with a whole smorgasbord of intentionally offensive subjects covered. On…

Twin Peaks possesses one of the most magical and captivating soundtracks of all time. It is impossible, in my mind, to separate Twin Peaks the show from Twin Peaks the music. This is part of the reason I think, why Season 3 was so jarring to me at first, as Badalamenti’s score is used far less there. I now love Season 3, and Badalamenti’s contributions there are now some of my favourites, but not having…

Let Us Prey perhaps lives in the shadow of Dopethrone and therefore doesn’t get the attention it may deserve. However, after giving it a go several times, it is a fairly inoffensive offering from Electric Wizard that fails to really ignite any fire for me. That is of course not to say that the album is bad – it is well recorded, executed and is very consistent across its entire runtime. There are however, for…