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Gruesome - Savage Land

April 21, 2015, 9:49 am
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Written by Dave Schalek.

Cover art by Ed Repka

Exhumed's Matt Harvey is no stranger to Death's classic material (well, yes, everything by Death is classic material), specifically Scream Bloody Gore, Leprosy, and Spiritual Healing. Having served time in the first incarnation of Death To All, the star studded tribute to Chuck Schuldiner and all things Death, Harvey obviously let the experience percolate, resulting in the formation of Gruesome, an homage to early Death.

Teaming up with members and former members of such acts as Malevolent Creation and Possessed, Harvey and company made a splash late last year here at Metal Bandcamp with a two-song demo, now properly followed up with Savage Land, the first full-length from Gruesome, released on Relapse Records. Both of those demo songs, by the way, appear on Savage Land.

From the opening riff and mid-paced gallop of the title track, it’s obvious that Gruesome have done their homework. Savage Land sounds EXACTLY like early Death, say, around the time of Leprosy or Spiritual Healing. Harvey’s vocals are the second coming of Schuldiner, only minor changes in chords are necessary for the songs on Savage Land to become cover songs, and even the sound of the snare drum, for crying out loud, is EXACTLY like that on Death’s early albums. You can practically see in your mind’s eye not only Schuldiner performing this material, but Rick Rozz, Terry Butler, and Bill Andrews, as well. This is not to say that Savage Land is just a rip off; the songs are well written, catchy, and just about everything else that we love about this particular style of early death metal. Savage Land is just pure fun.

I expect that Savage Land is going to make a big initial splash, and everyone will demand a tour of some sorts from Gruesome to show it all off. However, how long Gruesome actually lasts playing what is mostly just a really well done homage remains to be seen.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Pendulous - A Palpable Sense of Love & Loss

April 23, 2015, 11:00 pm
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Written by Aaron Sullivan.


Living in the Los Angeles area has it’s up and downs. Counted among the ups for me is the music scene. Los Angeles is certainly a stop that most bands make while touring. But the local scene is just as good. Pendulous is one of the many great local bands L.A. has to offer, and with their second album, A Palpable Sense of Love & Loss they show why.

Their first album, Mirrored Confessions, was among my favorites of 2013. It’s emotionally driven Death/DOOM is the base from which this band works. With the new album they expend on it. This time around adding cello and a second guitarist, Nicholas R. (also in another great local band Deathkings).

A Palpable Sense opens much like the last album. It starts with a spoken word vocal over lightly picked echoey guitar lines. And much like the last one it sets the listener up nicely to what is in store for them and the themes vocalist E.R.M. touches on through out. What I love about them musically is their ability to create such a heavy mood without it being an overbearing distortion-fest. The music reeks of melancholy. It seeps from every note played. The weight of the music is not to crush, but to envelope the listener in it’s sorrowful beauty. Couple this with E.R.M.’s vocal ability (as mentioned in the last review), his clean style reminds me of only one man, Patrick Walker of Warning and 40 Watt Sun fame. Not that it’s a copy in sound. But rather it’s E.R.M.’s ability to convey sorrow that is both beautiful and haunting that makes them similar. He cut’s right to the core. And his death growls are deep and bathed in reverb.

If you have ever read any of my reviews you will know that I am heavy on atmosphere. I don’t care how well you can play, how many notes you can fit in your solo, or what you know about music theory. Can you move me? That is all I care about. Pendulous has moved me from the first time I heard them, and since they are a local band, I have had the opportunity to hear them many times. To see the band grow has been a treat. With this album they continue to move me, and for that I thank them.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Throes - Disassoctation

April 26, 2015, 2:16 pm
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Written by Kevin Page.


This Bristol/Birmingham, England band got it's start in 2011, but were forced to disband. They have now reformed as a two piece and featuring A.C. handling all instrumental and musical writing duties, bring us their debut album, Disassociation.

"Stay calm, stay calm", a voice tells us, right before the pummeling of the first track kicks in.

If you are familiar with any of A.C.'s past work in Purify the Horror, Theoktony, Towers of Flesh, Necrotize, The Solemn Curse or Binah (yeah, the guy likes to play in a lot of bands), you'll immediately recognize his signature drum sound. But what separates this album from anything else he has done is the unique approach to death metal. Infused with slight touches of industrial and electronic music, this gives it just enough of a twist to stand out from the sea of endless releases you'll encounter. Yet by no means do these elements detract from it essentially being a death metal album through and through. The vocals are harsh, dripping with catharsis and burning with anger. DG (also of Fever Sea) wrote the lyrics that deal with the broad spectrum of human emotions: death, fear, anger, paranoia, absolution, and detachment. These feelings are also reinforced in the sound clips used throughout. They are all from real people, expressing real feelings. No horror movie quotes or war cannons here.

Overall, I like the sound of everything on this album. The timing of the hooks are perfect. The machine gun drums, the crash of the cymbals, to that slight industrial tone of the guitar. The electronics are just enough to give you a taste without getting in the way or negating any of its viciousness. I can't say there's any one specific thing that is overly original, but the way it's combined adds up to something much greater than its respective parts. This is one of those releases I can easily see slipping under a lot of people's radars, but let's hope that's not the case.

Favorite track: "Nacroanalysis".


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]
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Sacral Rage - Illusions in Infinite Void

April 27, 2015, 2:21 pm
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Written by Andy Osborn.

Artwork by Matthias Frisk

Those fucking Greeks just don't quit. A few months after my Hellenic Darkness post there's already been enough blackened material from their country to warrant a new one just for Q1 2015. But it’s time for a break from all that death and destruction to focus on one of the more energetic and downright fun new acts from the Balkan peninsula.

The Fenriz approved quartet Sacral Rage explode out of the gate with their debut full-length, Illusions in Infinite Void. The amount of tasty, fist-pumping riffs just in the first two minutes of “El Cima Del Mar” is greater than even the best classic albums of yesteryear. Nodding heavily towards American scenes both new and old, they have more than a few obvious influences ranging from Vektor to Jag Panzer. They channel their heroes into a relentless attack that’s equal parts thrashy, proggy, and classically ripping, all laid on a supremely thick speed metal foundation.

And this neverending musical hunger are just a small part of what make Sacral Rage great, because this isn't just a barrage of killer riffs thrown at the wall to see what sticks. Everything has its place and the band executes their ideas with deadly precision. To see a young band with such a knack for songwriting is refreshing and impossibly impressive. No track overstays its welcome and there's a constant flow between rewarding predictability and unexpected surprises. The thought they put into their instrumental breaks and intros - see "A Tyrannous Revolt" - shows they know how to hold a listener's attention; so much music in this style relies too much on the vocals and lyrics to distract from the lack of fundamentals.



With that said, holy shit the vocals. Lead singer Dimitris K is bound for greatness after his performance here. His flawless pipes range from gnarly thrash maniac to a high end that gives the mighty King Diamond a run for his money. And like the music, he knows the exact right time to use each one without ever going overboard. He’s the perfect leader for this insatiable group of musicians, and it’s just what the band needs to go from damn impressive to world-conquering.

Easily one of the better debut full-lengths that 2015 will see, Illusions in Infinite Void is a near perfect metal record. Sacral Rage wear their influences on their sleeves but include enough of their own personality and unique flourishes to make it forward-thinking and fresh. It’s neither overindulgent nor predictable, but hits the right middle ground between the two. This thoroughly modern and unique take on genre norms proves that not only is speed metal alive and well, there’s still plenty of room for a new generation to grab the torch and run with it.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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The Vomiting Dinosaurs - Worship the Porcelain God

April 29, 2015, 2:18 pm
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Written by Matt Hinch.

Artwork by Gruesome Graphics

Now just hold on. Yes, a name like The Vomiting Dinosaurs does sound laughable, and at first I was thinking “Really?” That coupled with the cover art (the toilet from the last metal show you went to in an apocalyptic garbage heap) and most people would be likely to dismiss it outright. But since it came from the Grimoire Records camp I gave it a shot. And wow! Worship the Porcelain God is actually pretty good!

The Virginian trio put together a very Reign in Blood-like 28 minutes of seriously amped thrash, death and grind. Depending on the track and the angle you look at it from, Worship the Porcelain God can feel like any one of those genres, or all of them at once.

The vocals fall into two camps, black metallic and deathly growl (sort of like a vomiting dinosaur). Both quite well done. Except maybe the 30 second track tacked on called “Cat Slug”. It's just the vocalist(?) sounding like a slug coughing up a hairball. Kinda gross, definitely unnecessary but at least it's at the end. But in case you hadn't guessed already this isn't exactly a serious band.

They are serious about kickin' ass though. Crunchy, grinding guitars rip and slash through high-velocity thrashiness and grind-fueled madness. There's even a bit of a crossover feel.

It's not all speed though. Groovier, chugging riffs have their place too. Perhaps it's just where my mind/ears/eyes have been this weekend but The Vomiting Dinosaurs sort of recall the speed of Rigor Mortis, or the menacing blackened thrash of Blood Tsunami. Thrash weekend.

If you can relax a little, shake off that seriousness and give The Vomiting Dinosaurs a chance. You'll be rewarded with a concise blast of grinding death/thrash full of energy and ripping rhythms and riffs. And songs like “ChristianMingle.kill”, “Crypt Kegger” and “Speed Metal Hunks”. Keeping the majority of the 12 tracks under the three minute mark squeezes out the need for solos though. There's the grind for ya.

Grab some buds, some brews, vomit like dinosaurs and Worship the Porcelain God!


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Elder - Lore

May 1, 2015, 6:07 pm
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Written by Calen Henry.

Artwork by Adrian Dexter

A friend recently introduced Lore, the new Elder record to me as “filling the Mastodon shaped hole in his heart”.

Crack the Skye is one my favourite albums and for me Mastodon lost the magic after that album. The epic song structures, searing leads, dual harmony riffs, acoustic interludes and proggy touches were Mastodon at the top of their game, but the whole record was amazingly unpretentious for its complexity and grandiose themes. Their later records never quite clicked for me.

Thankfully Elder’s brought all that back on Lore. Unlike Mastodon though, they filter all that through a stoner doom core instead of Mastodon’s Georgia-sludge-meets-Neurosis sound. The result is an album that really does fill the Mastodon shaped hole in my heart, but carves its own path, never sounding like Mastodon-worship.

There are really no down sides to Lore. Elder write and perform killer stoner doom riffs and combine them with jangly 70s prog rock inspired riffs, acoustic interludes, even an extended post-rock section complete with strings. Their adventurousness with composition shows just how good the songs really are.

Every part of every song (and they’re all over or around 10 minutes) feels meaningful. There is no filler and their willingness to change genres and styles really showcases how fantastic the riffs are, because when they come back it sounds like the heaviest thing in the world. Check out 6:19 in "Spirit at Aphelion". After an extended spacey mellotron sounding riff they bash right into one of the best riffs on the record. I dare you not to nod your head.

Elder’s choice of melodic sung vocals is also an excellent one. The gritty deliver underscored by solid melodic chops fits their instrumental sound perfectly.

It’s hard to imagine a better stoner doom record this year, and that’s with a new Monolord on the horizon.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Gilded Lily - L'Acéphale

May 4, 2015, 2:34 pm
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Written by Justin C.


The Bandcamp genre labels for Gilded Lily are "black metal electronic experimental." That's not bad, but I hereby dub them blackdoompowerviolecegrindexperimentalpunk. Their demo, L'Acéphalé, is fast, vicious, and it's here then gone almost before you know what happened--the whole demo doesn't even break the 10-minute mark. But even with all the chaos, it has a surprisingly coherent sound.

Opener "Clasped Hands," as you might guess, isn't a reflection on the peace achieved through prayer. Black metal shrieks describe static images--clasped hands, cocaine on a glass table, and a family standing over a grave--punctuating an ambient backdrop. Just a minute later, we're thrown into the second track, kicked off by a descending punk riff that ultimately mutates into more swirling black metal territory, guided by a graceful melody line that sounds vaguely flute-like.

All of the lyrics are striking, but the third track, "Two Dogs," has some of my favorites. We're in a punky/trashy territory when the song opens up, and the whole story sums up a chance encounter between two dogs. As the song steps down into a doomier sound, the narrator imagines what a deeper conversation between the two might be like:
"I wanted one to say to a brother of his
That he was not yet at peace
That he was sleeping in the home of an animal unlike himself"
It’s strangely compelling, and it will stick with you a lot longer than another throwaway tune about Satan.

The title track closes things out, and at four minutes, it's nearly epic by this demo's standards. It has a density of musical ideas that should sound out of control, but as with the rest of the demo, the band makes it work. On one particular day, I listened to the whole demo on repeat about seven or eight times, and its charms were still revealing themselves during the last listen. I normally would have trouble really sinking my teeth into something this brief, but this is a hell of a blast.

P.S. Gilded Lily shares members with Swarms. I've only had time to dip my toes into their full-length from 2012, but it's worth listening to if you're curious about what a longer-form Gilded Lily sounds like.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Razor - Violent Restitution

May 6, 2015, 2:15 pm
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An Autothrall Classic. Originally published here.

Cover art by Steve Hutchens

Violent Restitution is the thrash metal equivalent of being manacled to a batting cage and having each member of the Bad New Bears roster beat you in the ribs, liver, balls, and upside the skull a few times in succession; then to smirk and spit in your eye as they hand off the sporty bludgeon to their next teammate. It's just THAT fucking entertaining and abusive, and in my opinion, one of the most fun, frenetic and simply intense efforts of its kind in existence; certainly one of the most incendiary and memorable speed/thrash records of the 80s outside of Germany or California. I've gotten so much enjoyment from this album in the past quarter century, that despite having purchased the LP, cassette and CD versions, I feel like I owe Dave Carlo at least another $100 dollars and a six-pack.

You know the old saying 'they don't make 'em like they used to'? Well, this is the living, serrated proof of that statement's validity. Even though I'm annually inundated with countless, excellent examples of blackened thrash, death/thrash or hyperactive paeans to the 80s, many of which manage to successfully ape the visceral excitement of a record like this, there's nothing quite the same. Like a Reign in Blood, Darkness Descends or Zombie Attack, it fashions the most straightforward of intentions into a seamless bloodthirst. Fast drums, angry riffs hurtling past you at a mile a minute, and gruesome vocals that sound like they're coming from a man who was just stabbed in the face during some barroom altercation with a half-broken glass bottle. No riff seems out of place, no derelict tempo or stylistic diversion enters the frame to diminish its momentum. Violent Restitution never pretends to be what it's not, knows and respects its own boundaries, and offers you precisely what its cover implies: an escape into social unrest, serial killer b-flicks, and a repository for unchecked, unapologetic masculinity. So close to perfection that you can taste it. In fact, if I wasn't such a massive nerd for Voivod in their prime, this would prove my favorite Canadian metal record. Ever.

Like its chronological/national neighbor Dimension Hatröss, Violent Restitution is a concept album. But the theme here isn't rocket science or speculative microscopic adventure. No, this is about 14 ways to kick your ass so hard that you'll have to floss your colon after it comes up through your throat and breaks all your teeth. The riffing provides the central force, tireless escapades of rapid mute picking and barrages of chords, coiled in the potency of Carlo's chosen tone. The guitars have more punch than almost any other Razor record. Less reverberated and atmosphere than an Evil Invaders or Executioner's Song, but denser and more effective than an Open Hostility. While Dave is the epitome of the thrash rhythm guitarist, even more so than fellow Canadian Jeff Waters of Annihilator, he's also quite capable of unhinged leads ("Eve of the Storm", "I'll Only Say It Once") that offer the bluesy, burning wildness metal snagged from its hard rock ancestry; or brief, spurious runs up and down the higher strings which add an extra level of chaos and acceleration to the standard machine gunning rhythm matrix he radiates.

Everything else on this album is secondary to that guitar, but by no means does it go down without a fight. Rob Mills' drums slap along like empty buckets being strung along a dragster on the speedway, and while there's not a lot of variation in what he's playing, he amply fills the shoes of predecessor M-Bro. Adam Carlo, younger brother do Dave, is the other new member on bass; and though his lines do little more than to mimic the guitars and increase their depth, there's this natural, pluggy tone to his playing that pounds away at your eardrums like the pulse of a heroine addict who just realized he's out of supply. Overall though, the album's engineers and producer (Brian Taylor, who had also worked with other Canadian mainstays like Sacrifice) did a knockout job of presenting Razor in this pummeling, pungent sound that easily trumps the airy aesthetics of its predecessor Custom Killing, or the thinner mix of Malicious Intent.

I should mention that the chainsaw samples, which appear at several points on the album, are excellent, and fire up the loins of the album's pacing even further. Unlike the ass-backwards, terrible Southern hard rock band Jackyl, whose cut "The Lumberjack" featured a chainsaw 'solo' and helped buy their fame, the gimmick is a lot more fun here, since it's obvious influenced more directly by the slasher flicks of the 70s and 80s. Violent Restitution, after all, is a very violent album, so when that buzzsaw begins a buzzin', it forces the listener to want to kick all that much harder. Razor also perfects their instrumental thrash opus here with "The Marshall Arts", an aptly pun-titled piece of moshing resilience which features some of the explosive riffing on the album straight out the starting gate. I'd place this in the arena with just about any other track of its sort, certainly with S.O.D.'s "March of the S.O.D." which had become so famous through its stint as the intro to Headbanger's Ball.

Stace 'Sheepdog's' vocals here are a tinge dry, but he's using the same register as the previous albums, with a lot of puerile, irascible barking and slight screams that beautiful permeate the brash hostility of the instrumental foundation. Alongside Jeff Becera or Cronos, this guy had hands down one of the best voices in the business, grimy in all the right ways and places. Violent Restitution would prove his swan song with Razor, and the metal scene in general (he did a brief jaunt with Infernal Majesty this same year that never amounted to anything), and let me say this: the loss is ours. Unlike most of the newly birthed thrashers of the current era, he has an instant character to his inflection that never evades your memory. It's not 'trying' to amount to anything, it simply is, and it's a fucking bloodbath well-suited to the hilariously blunt lyrics, a non stop flood of expressions guaranteed to get your face (or someone else's) clubbed in an alleyway.

41 minutes. 14 tracks. Choosing favorites among them would be nearly impossible, since the quality is so taut and consistent. Obviously "Behind Bars" has received much attention through covers (like the great Cannibal Corpse version), but "Hypertension", "Taste the Floor", "Enforcer" and so many others belong on a highlight reel of the 80s' greatest thrash. I also loved the smutty "Discipline", or "I'll Only Say It Once", which hearken back to the molten speed-dirt of Executioner's Song; and "Out of the Game" with that amazing mid-paced riff that just pops along up until the verse erupts. Only a hand few fall shy of perfection, like the title track, but at worst it's only enough that I could graze off a few points to my overall score. Yes, just a marginal increase in depth would have netted this a 10 out of 10, 100%, but it's nevertheless one of the most essential purchases a thrasher could make. Even in a year of brilliant extremity like Blood Fire Death, Punishment for Decadence, Leprosy, South of Heaven, The Morning After, and Malleus Maleficarum, this still earns a spot at the dinner table, and sharpened utensils with which to carve you up. Prepare for evisceration. Prepare for impact.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Label Spotlight: Transcending Obscurity Productions

May 9, 2015, 6:07 am
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Written by Kevin Page.

Transcending Obscurity Productions from India, initially started as a webzine in 2005, then began releasing music in 2010. Let's talk about their three most recent offerings.

Artwork by Scott Stearns

Hailing from British Columbia, Canada, these Canuckleheads work in the sludgy doom ridden drone sewers of the metal world. Raw, evil, unpolished is the name of the game here. And with a bandname of The Whorehouse Massacre, I don't think I have to tell you what the lyrical content is about. This is a combination of the band's last two EP's that were released in 2013, Altar of the Goat Skull and VI, rolled into one nice little ditty for your listening (un)pleasure.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]


Artwork by Michael Yee

The first of two Australian bands we are featuring here. This Brisbane trio has unleashed their third full length album, Deathsteps to Oblivion, and a more appropriate title it could not be. While also heavily in the sludge domain, there's plenty of doomy death metal to go around. What the band is able to accomplish though is this interesting and unconventional amalgamation of sounds. Normally when you see these styles mentioned, you are fairly certain what you are gonna hear. But shatter that thought right now as they push the boundaries of what you would expect from each of the respective genres. I've yet to fully grasp all the nuances myself.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]



Norse, from the Southern Highlands of Australia, self released this EP, Pest, last year. Transcending Obscurity picked this up for a proper worldwide release this year, which was a smart move, as this simply needs to be heard. Classified as a blackened death metal, but it's so much more than that.

You'll notice the atonal riffs, but it doesn't really sound like Blut Aus Nord or Deathspell Omega (two of the more prominent bands you think of in that style). The music is as cold as black metal but with a dissonant thickness of frozen Vegemite. The vocals shriek and spew fire like a rabid dropbear. It's horrifying and sorta experimental at the same time. Kinda the same way all of Australia's wildlife is.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Akhlys - The Dreaming I

May 11, 2015, 2:35 pm
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Written by Majbritt Levinsen.

Artwork by David Herrerias

"Breath and Levitatation" - just breathe, levitate and let go...

Like the title of the first track you are lured into a greater calm with its droning industrial ambiance which starts out this brilliant album. You will be lifted upwards on a rusty post-apocalyptic roller coaster that, when reaching its peak, will lose all bearings and fall uncontrollable down into a hall of mirrors reflecting kaleidoscopic nightmares, which are both pitch dark, nauseating, claustrophobic and sinister, but also holds a serene beauty, hypnotic aural landscapes and bleak atmospheres that only can be derived from the depths of the unknown.

The Dreaming I became one of the most anticipated releases of the year after I heard "Consummation" on Soundcloud and could only hope for an album which would not stray too far away from the teaser-track. Luckily it did not!

The tracks are all brutally powerful on so many levels, the drumming is insane and goes on in hyper-speed laying a stable foundation to the bleak atmosphere Naas Alcameth paints with big brushes filled with tar, tears, blood, worms, venomous flowers and rotting cadavers. The guitars feels like a fine layers of delicate razorsharp spiderwebs rising and falling in a heavy murky breeze from the depths, and somewhere underneath lies the bass like a low hum from a sleeping beast. The vocal is sinister and dares you to come closer to listen to its terrible tales of nightmares. When Naas Alcameth incantates “Awaken! Awaken!” in the later part of "The Dreaming Eye", it feels like he is at the same time pulling out my guts, and I’m willingly letting him do it because it feels so good.

"Tides of Oneiric Darkness" stands out for me, but just a tiny bit, as all of the tracks on this album are solid compositions all on their own. It is both brutally fast, but has some really breathtaking rises and falls of the grinding guitar and then there are the moments when the track slows down just enough for you to look all the way down into the ethereal depths of the track only to takes off again, I have no words to describe it. The atmosphere can’t get any more dense, dark and absolutely marvelous.

All together it’s just a perfect glimpse into the unknown world of a dreaming mind. We all know how confusing and sometimes scary dreams can be, how our brain catalogues and orders and tidies up in our brain when we sleep, processing our daily inputs. Mostly we have no clue what we dreamt about, sometimes we remember the dreams and then there is the dreams that we cannot remember but still haunts us when we wake up. That nauseating, uneasy feeling we took with us from a dream, that will linger in you for the rest of the day. The Dreaming I is such a feeling transformed into bleak atmospheric black metal.

I am amazed by Naas Alcameth's pitch black atmosphere and brutal execution of the tracks and I’m sure it will find a spot on many best-of list this year.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Introducing Candlelight Legacy

May 14, 2015, 9:29 pm
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A label opening a new Bandcamp page featuring 43 metal albums from their history? Yes please. Especially when said label is Candlelight Records and the prices are fair (they start a $5). Candlelight plans to update the page each week, and even invites you to email them if there's an album you're interested in seeing on the page. Check out this bit from the press release:

"Candlelight Records Legacy is a place to find albums from our history; many that were never officially released in North America, and all at a nice low price. Most of the albums you will find on our Legacy page are deleted in physical form. But now you can find one place that will in time house all our archives. If you have questions about a particular release, email us at orders@candlelightrecordsusa.com and we will update you as to the plans for the particular album and its premiere on the page."

Below are a couple of albums from the initial batch, accompanied by a paragraph by the mighty Autothrall. Not bona fide classics, but both are fine releases that might have slipped below your radar in 2005 and 2010 respectively.

Artwork by Ketoladog

Some bands were far ahead of the curve when it comes to the revival of the classic Swedish death metal tones (circa Entombed, Dismember, Grotesque, etc). Kaamos was one of them, forming in the late 90s. Their lineup has featured members of Serpent Obscene, Revokation, and Repugnant. Lucifer Rising is their second full-length, following the self-titled debut of 2002, and the stronger of the two, due to both the increased production and the superior songwriting. But the style does not differ greatly: grinding guitars spew old school evil, wild leads explode forth against the ballistic rhythms, and some of the vocals are layered in a Deicide fashion, with grunts and snarls often working in tandem (read the rest of the review here).


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]



It is a refreshing turn of events when one comes across an act that attempts to embrace the elements of folk and pagan culture not gleaned from the pages of Nordic history and mythology. In many ways, the cultures of New World have as much to offer in reminding us of our roots, of the necessity for reflection, temperance and reverence of both the natural and spiritual words. A band such as Utah’s Yaotl Mictlan provides such an avenue of expression, manifesting their desires in their latest release Dentro Del Manto Gris de Chaac. Originally from Mexico, some of the member’s, specifically guitarist/vocalist Yaotl and drummer Tlatecatl, hail from the criminally overlooked but sadly disbanded black metal band Ibex Throne (read the rest of the review here).


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Merdarahta - As The Dark Clouds Swept Away We Could See The Sunset

May 16, 2015, 12:03 pm
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Written by Matt Hinch.

Artwork by Mélanie Mongeon

If I ever needed affirmation that the rock I live under is nice and cozy I can just think about how As The Clouds Swept Away We Could See The Sunset is the first time I've heard Merdarahta despite the group being based a couple hours away and featuring members of Fuck The Facts, most notably Mel Mongeon and Topon Das. Mel handles vocals obviously while Das is responsible for bass and samples. Rounding out the contributors are Seb Choquette on guitars and additional percussion and Leigh Newton listed as drums, vocals and budda machine.

The album strikes a hard contrast between sonically bludgeoning doom and a noisy, ambient drone and does so in a cyclical manner. The tracks alternate between oppressive, sludge infested doom and its polar opposite in beautiful yet unsettling noise/drone. One moment the listener floats in a vacuum, detached from earthly tethers and the next is slammed, full force into the ground, repeatedly and without mercy. It's a roller coaster of conflict that has the capacity to incapacitate the listener given the right environment.

The ambient tracks are quite a bit quieter and as stated not really grounded in much. They make the listener feel detached. Almost lost in a sombre sort of way. But they are the sunset that is revealed. Introspective too, allowing the mind to wander and ponder between the dark clouds of doom that act as more of a lashing out.

The doom passages are smashing though. It's like the plod of some infernal entity flattening all in its path with slavering bellows cutting through the din. Slow, sometimes atonal chugs of resolute heaviness beating out the frustration while the screams send it forth into the unknown. Waves crashing upon dark shores, wearing them away and inspiring awe, fear and peace all at once.

It's a contemplative album on both sides. Its creators no doubt using it to work through things, as well as the listener using it to transcend the drudgery of everyday life. No matter which side of the coin is presented there is catharsis through any means possible, the hard way or the peaceful way, especially in the albums's closer "Poverty Will Spread".

As The Dark Clouds doesn't follow expectations of solid structures but it's not so much jammed as it is free-form or stream of musical consciousness blood-letting. It's doom of a difficult sort as well. Not industrial but cold, not organic yet human with subtle tribal or ritual connotations. It's a tough album to describe and only slightly less so to experience. You have to let it be what it is and assimilate it as such. It's about letting go and moving on to something better (at least that's how it feels to me) not about forcing something to be a certain way. Sweep away the dark clouds, the doubt, the regret and just enjoy the sunset.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Graves - Fides Ad Nauseam

May 18, 2015, 11:06 pm
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Written by Craig Hayes.

Over at his blog Six Noises Craig is celebrating New Zealand Music Month, "New Zealand’s annual celebration of homegrown music". He writes "Generally, that involves a lot of mainstream media highlighting a lot of mainstream acts. So I’m here to try and redress the balance a bit. I’ll be posting a link to some rowdy New Zealand music for you to check out every day over the next month. Some bands will no doubt be familiar; others I hope will be fresh to your ears." Here's his take on Grave's new album, which he wrote before the celebration began.

Artwork by Keiran D Sipes

There’s a great review of Abandon All Life, the 2013 album from Californian powerviolence crew Nails, that’s always stuck in my mind. Chiefly because the author noted that in order to really capture Abandon All Life’s high-speed hostilities, their review should have: been one paragraph long, been written in ALL CAPS, and ended by telling you to go fuck yourself.

Obviously, if you've heard the kind of vicious and undeniably malicious noise that Nails make, then you’ll know that statement is essentially 100% accurate. However, that very same sentiment also happens to be an exceedingly good fit for Fides Ad Nauseam, the latest release from Auckland, New Zealand, band Graves.

Fides Ad Nauseam is an unquestionably ferocious and belligerent album too. And its contents are also delivered at hurricane speed by an extremely hostile sounding band. More to the point, Fides Ad Nauseam is loaded with fuck you firepower. With Graves’ incensed musical barrages bringing the kind of breakneck pandemonium that’s unleashed when hardcore’s hammer is used to bludgeon the darkest punk and metal into shape on vitriolic songs.

Graves’ metallic hardcore is raw and abrasive, and there’s a lot to enjoy if you’re a fan of Boston throat-tattooed crews, the savage racket of pulverisers like Mammoth grinder, or bands like Baptists, Hierophant, Dead in the Dirt, or Full of Hell. Similarly, Graves’ music is very much in the crossover vein. With everything played at a white-knuckled pace, and stacked with the kinds of nosebleed frequencies and enraged tones that’ll provide something for crust, D-beat, hardcore, and metal fans to enjoy.

Graves have released three ear-splitting recordings so far, with their 2012 self-titled debut, their 2014 split with Conniption, and the terse and turbo-speed Fides Ad Nauseam, which is Graves’ best release yet. Just as important as Graves’ sonic stamp on those releases is the imprint of the band’s attitude. Because there’s a strong DIY drive to Graves, along with a hefty chunk of confrontational clout too. So, you can expect zero concessions, or any hooks thrown in for your comfort.

Certainly, Fides Ad Nauseam starts off at 100mph, and never steps off the gas, no matter how bone-breaking the terrain. It’s all a crashing and gnashing deluge, with high-speed grinding guitars, and nine-tracks spat out in 12 brain-battering minutes.

Admittedly, given the primal punk and metal fusillades found on Fides Ad Nauseam, it might even seem somewhat counterproductive to think of breaking Graves’ methodology down to specifics. I mean, dissecting Fides Ad Nauseam clearly amplifies Graves’ best attributes. But then, the kind of assaultive noise that Graves dishes out is set on pummelling the listener into submission, not opening itself up for any in-depth analysis.

Graves deal in gut-felt hardcore and metal on Fides Ad Nauseam. The kind of brutal wall of noise that instinctively sends the blood pressure skyrocketing. So, sure, it’s right to praise the nuance. And yes, the skill it takes to play as hard, fast, and tight as Graves do should be acknowledged too. But, really, Graves aren't out to impress us at all. They’re here to impress upon us that there’s a very ugly world lurking right outside your door.

Graves go about dispensing that news in an exceedingly punishing manner on Fides Ad Nauseam. Leaving no room for sympathy, and little room to breathe with highly pressurized songs. With single word song titles such as “Hatred”, “Choke”, “Scorn” and “Vermin”, there’s little doubt about Graves’ thematic gamut either. It’s all punk rock’s wrath, delivered with a heavy dose of metal’s spitefulness. And it’s exactly the same mix of shock and awe on Graves’ other releases too.

There’s a musical consistency to all of those releases as well, with all being recorded, mixed and mastered by Tim Shann. And Shann has captured Graves’ visceral bite and bile extremely well on Fides Ad Nauseam. The album is hot-blooded and frenzied. With vocalist Richie snarling and spitting over guitarist Josh’s meteoric riffs––which switch from fierce hardcore to blackened punk to grindcore to crust, while the dirty distortion buzzes. Throw in drummer Martin’s relentless assault, and bassist Taz’s wallop, and Fides Ad Nauseam’s broadsides become incredibly cathartic, as well as very darkly anthemic. (Also, Fides Ad Nauseam features a couple of ripping covers in “Skitliv”––originally recorded by crust punk heroes Skitsystem––and "A Nation Sleeps", from hardcore legends Dropdead.)

Obviously, you can take your pick where to start with Graves’ three releases. They all feature the same innate and lightening-fast uppercut of metallic hardcore. They all contain abundant punk rock grime and fury. And with half an hour of music released in total so far, it’s not going to take you long to appraise Graves’ three blistering releases either.

Still, I’d recommend starting with Fides Ad Nauseam. It’s Graves’ most volatile release yet. It’s certainly an adrenaline-fuelled salvo from start to finish. And it just boils with seething intensity, and incandescent energy.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Violet Cold - Desperate Dreams

May 21, 2015, 9:02 am
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Written by Celtic Frosty.


Violet Cold is, according to its lone member Emin Guliyev, an “experimental one-man band from Baku, Azerbaijan.” Azerbaijan is a small transcontinental country situated where Eastern Europe and Western Asia meet, sharing borders with Iran, Armenia, Russia, Georgia, and flanked by the Caspian Sea to the east. You’ve most likely never heard of it until now, but with Desperate Dreams, Violet Cold’s first full length after releasing 24 singles and 2 EPs, Emin has burst through the doors of obscurity into the light. And what a beautiful, rapturous light it is.

It’s possibly due to Emin’s relatively unknown (at least within the metal scene) locale that Desperate Dreams is such a unique find within the saturated genre of post black metal. In the opening seconds of “La Petite Mort,” the album’s first and featured track, it becomes immediately clear that Mr. Guliyev is an extremely bold and gutsy songwriter. That major chord synth pop melody is one of the most joyous lead-ins to a black metal record you’re likely to find, and it sets the tone for the rest of the album with authority. These synth pop melodies and hooks are ever-present throughout all 8 tracks, usually serving as the centerpiece that holds the swirling chaos surrounding it in tact.

Though that description may be a turn off to the more morose among you, the synths on Desperate Dreams do nothing to round the sharp edges of Violet Cold’s ferocity. These black metal tracks rip and snarl, trying to claw their way to the promise of the shimmering euphoria to which those pop undertones elude, but ultimately falling short. Desperate Dreams is tagged on Bandcamp as “depressive black metal,” and despite an abundance of what could only be described as feel good moments, there’s an ever-present bleakness to these songs as Emin’s sorrowful screams betray the bright music surrounding him.

There is beauty in the existential struggle we all face as sentient beings. The daunting task of finding meaning, understanding ourselves, and ultimately surrendering to our own demise. Violet Cold has managed to stir that beauty to the top of the pot, if only for a brief 33 minutes, and asked us to consider this balance of light and shadow. The contrast and the interconnectedness of it all. The idea that even though we may always walk in the shadows, we are by definition never far from the light.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Obsequiae - Aria of Vernal Tombs

May 22, 2015, 12:03 am
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Written by Justin C.


When we talk about metal bands being "old school," the timeline doesn't go back all that far, relatively speaking. For black metal, that might mean a second wave sound, or maybe going all the way back to ye olden days of the late 1980s for Bathory. Metal as a whole doesn't go back much past 45 years or so, if we're considering Sabbath to be the genesis. Obsequiae, however, is here to show us what real "old school" means, and it's medieval. Literally.

Obsequiae's second album, Aria of Vernal Tombs, finds the band building on the sound they established on their debut, Suspended in the Brume of Eos. Blackish metal is interspersed with, and takes inspiration from, music from centuries ago. Aria's opener, "Ay que por muy gran fremosura," is from a collection of religious musical poems dating to the mid-1200s. "L'amour dont sui espris" is a rocking little lute ditty attributed to a French troubadour from roughly the same time period. All of the medieval pieces on the album are interpreted by Vicente La Camera Mariño playing a medieval harp.

The metal tunes, in turn, take inspiration from the ancient songs that fall between them. "Autumnal Pyre" plays with the melodic ideas in "Ay que por muy gran fremosura," except with distorted guitars and blackened shrieks. But if this were just an album that alternated between medieval tunes and metal covers of those songs, it would be more novelty than art, but the band doesn't fall into that trap. Obsequiae somehow manages to live in a musical world that's both ancient and modern at the same time. It's an alternate universe where electric guitars were invented 600 years earlier and were not only used to play the music of the time, but also changed the development of that music fundamentally.

The medieval tunes take a more prominent role on Aria than they did on Brume of Eos, but there's still plenty of meaty metal to sink your teeth into. "Pools of a Vernal Paradise" may mimic the free-flowing intro of the lute piece before it, but the thundering percussion and hints of Sabbath-ian riffage bring the heavy. The closing track, "Orphic Rites of the Mystic," may be preceded by one of the most delicate harp pieces on the album, but it contrasts that with some of the most ferociously performed vocals on the album.

There are a million great moments to absorb here. The songs are complex, mixing in ornamentations well known from Renaissance and Baroque music with surprising bits of dissonance and rhythmic sleights of hand that you wouldn't expect. It's a fantastic piece of music, and as a classical guitar player, I think it would be incredible if more people dug into the music Obsequiae is drawing from. But those excursions should be in between obsessive listens and re-listens to Aria, of course.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Lord Time - Drink My Tears

May 29, 2015, 8:36 pm
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Written by Aaron Sullivan.


Lord Time is the solo project of Los Angeles black metal band Harassor’s drummer, Sandor GF. Much like the solo projects of his other band members, Lord Time allows him to explore the many other sides of music and experimentation he’s into outside of the Harassor moniker.

Drink My Tears is ostensibly one song clocking in at over 50 minutes. But upon listening you realize quickly it is many different songs that make up this single track. These songs range from slow hypnotic dirges to raw black metal. Vocals can range from gurgling shrieks to distorted monotone, almost robotic sounding vocals. Some songs are broken up by experimental ambient pieces. The transitions are not abrupt. In fact many fade from one right into the next. There is no real pattern to how it flows, which is great. It helps the music stay fresh as you never know what is coming next. You return to things that sound familiar but nothing is repeated. The low-fi production of it gives it a bit of a haze. While listening, it gives you an almost dream like feeling (or nightmare depending on your mindset).

For me while listening to it I get this image of a journey through a multi roomed house. Every door opened leads you to a different place and sometimes back from which you came. It also reminded me a bit of the boat scene in Willy Wonka. While he remained calm (Lord Time) the passengers (the listener) are freaking out and unnerved not only by the images. But also by the uneasy feeling of not knowing what comes next. But like them you know you must stay until the end.

No doubt a single track of over 50 minutes is a bit daunting for most music listeners. But with so much content contained within the length is really just an afterthought. It’s great musical journey from start to finish.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]


On Lord Time's Bandcamp Drink My Tears is broken into two tracks. But it was recently re-released on CD and can be heard (and bought) as intended, as a single track on the Universal Consciousness Bandcamp page.

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Vermörd - Dawn of the Black Harvest

May 30, 2015, 3:33 pm
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Written by Matt Hinch.

Illustration by Luciana Nedelea

In a way, Vermörd are to black metal in 2015 as Noisem were to thrash in 2013. A bunch of teenagers with prodigious skills leaving listeners awestruck by not only their chops but by their songwriting acuity. They even come from the same area. Vermörd's debut EP, Dawn of the Black Harvest is a feast for the ears.

It's as steeped in eroding darkness as you'd expect from the artwork. Intro track “Disciples of Shakhbûrz” sets an ominous and dreary tone but with shades of triumph in its minimalist ambience. “Plagued Eyes from the Scrolls of Xafmirtas” blows that all away in a flurry of flesh-searing black metal and spirit-conjuring solos. Brilliant tremolos and relentless percussion drive into the skull like cursed nails, hammering home Vermörd's technical death metal side.

Terrifying and frigid BM screeching is met with deathly growls, further cementing their unholy union of blackness and death. They manage to convey that sense of ancient grandeur while absolutely flattening with face-melting speed and superb guitar acrobatics.

Vermörd show tremendous promise and ridiculous talent. They bring together melodic black metal runs with the crunch of death metal and turn it into something harrowing, oppressive, epically stirring and monumental in scale. It's to the point and not moody or brooding. Dawn of the Black Harvest is death and black metal made for getting it done with maximum bloody efficiency and zero sacrifice (other than virgins).


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Dragunov - 637

June 4, 2015, 12:30 am
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Written by Justin C.


Paris-based duo Dragunov has put out an excellent instrumental EP called 637. The longest song on the EP is 6:37, and the shortest song on the EP is also 6:37. Keen students of mathematics will have figured out by this point that ALL five tracks are exactly 6:37 long. Tristan, the drummer, explained to me that they hadn't intended to make this a 6:37-concept album, but when the first couple of songs ended up the same length, they decided to go for it. I didn't even notice it at first, which is a little embarrassing, but on the other hand, it's a good thing from a musical perspective. If I'm not having moments of "This song is tooooo loooooong" or "I wish they'd explored this idea more", then I know the music is in that sweet spot of holding my interest completely.

The band self-describes their music as "garage post-metal", which I think is pretty apt. It has the kind of dissonant riffing and wide dynamics you might expect from post-metal, but the guitar sound is dirty and crunchy, and they're not afraid to go for simple-but-effective riffing, as demonstrated in the beginning of the second track, "Adin". "Adin" also demonstrates how effective the musical basics can be when done right. A sample in the middle of the song is accompanied by sustained guitar chords and a pulsing drum beat that quiets and swells. A lot of bands in the post-metal world rely on a simpler formula of quiet-LOUD-quiet-LOUD to break up the music, but it's easy to forget how much a subtle ebbing and flowing in dynamics can add to the musicality of a song.

The songs on this EP are always full of motion. The band doesn't bother with conventional song structure, but they don't devolve into chaos, either. The riffs are catchy, but the duo never grinds them into the ground with over-repetition. And their sense of dynamics is far from the only tool they use from the musical toolbox. Midway through "Tchetyre", we get a fantastic little alternating-note riff that eventually explodes into a more furious variation. Album closer "Piatt" has some great call-and-response sections, with a distant-sounding guitar leading off with an idea, followed by full-bore explosion based on the same idea. This all leads up to a fantastic, sawing riff that plays the EP out.

I haven't seen much mention of this band outside from a post from our brethren over at No Clean Singing, but 637 is a gem of instrumental goodness that deserves much wider recognition.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Monolord - Vænir

June 5, 2015, 5:48 pm
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Written by Calen Henry.

Cover Art Julio Reyes

Monolord sell a patch with a picture of a divine hand reaching out of the clouds to press the switch on a foot pedal simply labeled “FUZZ”. That image sums up their first record, Empress Rising; a fuzz manifesto commanding doomheads take notice and feel their bone shaking riffs, right from the first fuzz drop. Underneath the fuzz though and the absolutely killer riffs ran a strong psychedelic undercurrent emphasized by echo drenched vocals.

Vænir shows the same band coming into their own a bit, having already shown their devotion to the Riff and the Fuzz, the two stoner doom gods. The riffs are still stunning, and the vocals remain largely unchanged but the band isn’t afraid to shake things up a bit. They’re less obsessed with crushing tone and have crafted a more varied record with lots going on. The songs meander through riffs and themes rather than hypnotically droning the same few massive riffs (there’s still lots of that though). It makes for a more varied and somewhat pleasant listen, not quite as crushing as Empress Rising, but with more to reward repeated listens.

The result is not unlike Pallbearer’s Foundations of Burden; an undeniably mature sophomore release that leaves the first record as a still compelling statement of intent. Like Foundations of Burden, though, the maturity causes the band to tread closer to sounding like other doom bands. The use of semitones, and increased variety makes Vænir sound closer to Black Sabbath than Empress Rising did. That is by no means a criticism, though, merely an observation.

Vænir shows that Monolord are the real deal. They got everyone’s attention with the massive Empress Rising and Vænir shows they’ve still got lots to say echo-drenched, incomprehensible, and difficult to discern over the massive riffs though it may be.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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Artist Spotlight: Kognitiv Tod

June 7, 2015, 9:08 pm
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Written by Andy Osborn.

"Because the world is perfidious, I am going into mourning" / Pieter Bruegel - The Misanthrope

One of the things we pride ourselves on here at Metal Bandcamp is discovering and promoting lesser-known music. And over the years I’ve made it a point to write almost exclusively about independent groups I thought were deserving of a much wider audience. Well, today I’m excited to share with you my all time favorite Bandcamp discovery. Stumbling onto this page was like wandering into an undiscovered cave filled to the brim with esoteric and otherworldly riches. Its walls charred black, naturally.

Kognitiv Tod is the project of Illinois-based multi-instrumentalist Mitchell Provow, started in 2014. Shortly after I devoured his first full-length, Mysteries, a second one appeared on his page. And then another. And then another. Now, just a year after his first release, Kognitiv Tod boasts an impressive five albums full of material. But instead of the standard one-man bedroomgaze one would expect from this type of project, Mitchell’s recordings are something else entirely.

His brand of blackened, experimental metal is wholly singular and unlike anything I have ever heard. Fans of Horseback and Jute Gyte’s music will definitely connect with Kognitiv Tod, but those comparisons hardly do this project justice.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

I could go on and on about each album in detail, but I would be remiss to write about all five releases without some further context. To make sense of it all I got ahold of the man behind the madness via email to help us understand his process, inspiration, and endless creative drive.

How did the idea for Kognitiv Tod come about? Have you been making music and involved in bands for a while?

I used to experiment writing music when I was really young and played in some bands in junior high and high school, just messing around. I played guitar in the jazz band in high school. Then for many years I did almost nothing with music (except listen to a lot of it). I always sort of knew that I wanted to create music, but there were so many barriers holding me back like pressure to have a job and support myself. I had mentally walled myself in and stifled myself away from it out of fear and ignorance I suppose. I was doing everything like a normal person would and having success, but I was extremely unhappy and unfulfilled. In 2014 I had a sort of creative awakening that is hard to explain. I came to the conclusion that I could make music all by myself, without having to depend on anyone else. I wrote a few things and was excited by them and this provided the momentum to continue. My desires and ideas about life changed and I realized that creativity was the most important thing in my life and that other aspirations that most people would probably think are very important, suddenly were no longer important.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

How would you describe your music? The only reference point I can really think of is the work of Jenks Miller who also does a type of experimental, southern-fried black metal.

It’s difficult for me to describe. It is a combination of all the music that has been very meaningful to me. I saw someone once call it "Blackened Psychedelic Metal" but even that is ambiguous and not very definitive. I like to think in terms of artists I’m imitating. I think the original conception was to create something like Burzum mixed with early John Frusciante i.e. To Record Only Water for Ten Days. These two artists have probably influenced me more than anyone else and I think subconsciously they fostered the primary impetus behind my music.

You released your first album in May 2014 and just over a year later you already have four more full-lengths. What allows you to be so prolific?

I write, record and produce all the music myself. I do this at home, without having to rely on anyone else. This affords me a really free creative process that isn’t contingent upon other people in any shape or form. I don’t have to pay and wait for studio time. I don’t have to wait to meet with other people to write. I don’t have to take time to perform. This eliminates major obstacles that I think are responsible for the one album a year dogma. I feel most fulfilled when I’m writing and creating. It’s always on my mind. I’m always thinking about what I’m going to do next. This type of creative mode, total self reliance, is very nurturing to the creative process.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

While your music as a whole has a very recognizable sound, each album comes with its own distinct charm and mood. Do you start creating each release with a set idea or concept in mind?

I try to go in new directions with each album. The worst thing I can think of is to stagnate and release the same material in different dress album after album. However, there hasn’t been a lot of conscious decision on how to evolve. The changes seem to be very subconscious, and directly influenced by what I’m most actively listening to at the time. My most current release was heavily influenced by the bass work of artists like Eric Avery from Jane’s Addiction and Peter Hook from Joy Division. I was listening to these two bands quite a lot while writing The Nightmare of Being. It’s the first album I played bass guitar on. Howls From The Void features synth bass and my first three albums have no bass at all. I was inspired by how Joy Division and Jane’s Addiction wrote music centered around the bass, and were much deeper with the instrument than most "rock" bass players. Every song on The Nightmare of Being was composed on bass, with the guitar parts added afterwards.

Frederic Remington - Moonlight, Wolf

When I listen to your music I hear a sense of continuity, there are certain patterns and ideas within your arrangements that keep recurring. Not sure if this makes sense but when I listen to it I feel like I’m wandering around in an M.C. Escher painting.

I’ve taken a lot of songwriting elements directly from John Frusciante, as he was somebody I copied constantly while learning to play the guitar as a kid. I loved the way he would juxtapose his guitar with synthesizer. His early release, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt as well as To Record Only Water… changed the way I viewed musical production. The former being done on a four track. This had a major impact on me aesthetically and changed how I viewed production and musical atmosphere. The first Burzum album I heard was Filosofem and it had an effect equally as powerful. I had never heard anything like it. I was so awestruck and I fell in love immediately. This was the second turn in my life that changed how I viewed musical aesthetics and production. I owe much of my influence to both of these artists.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Your Bandcamp page shows you’re inspired by literature new and old. Is the music you write directly inspired by the books you are consuming at that time period?

In hindsight, I associate different creative periods by what I’m reading. When I wrote Mysteries, I had just finished Knut Hamsun’s Hunger and Mysteries. I read the former while simultaneously listening to Judas Iscariot’s Heaven in Flames on repeat. This created the mood and impetus for the album I think. I think literature can have a major impact on music. I wrote A Will to Suffer while reading Michael Houellebecq’s The Possibility of an Island and Thomas Ligotti’s The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. Naturally, I was thinking a lot about transhumanism and philosophical pessimism at the time. I think all of this somehow unconsciously colors the music I write in ways I probably don’t understand. It certainly inspires me lyrically in a more direct way.


The striking artwork, for me at least, plays a central role in Kognitiv Tod. It’s clear you carefully choose each piece to reflect the work. Can you expand on a couple examples and why you chose those pieces?

I browse through a lot of artwork when deciding on album covers. I know what the album cover is going to be as soon as I see it. It just hits me and I know it. Bruegel’s The Misanthrope I think really embodied the color and mood of where I was at mentally and creatively around the time of composing Mysteries. Composing this weird black metal all alone by yourself at 2am in the rural midwest, one certainly feels misanthropic. Not in any cliched sort of way, but a real, in your bones separation from the rest of the world. I think any artist feels this sort of separation, and I think any artist’s best work is often done alone. Being separate is essential to the creative process. Otto Rank wrote extensively about this. Howls From The Void’s artwork is a piece by Frederic Remington. I was reading a lot of Laird Barron at the time, as well as Houellebecq. The wolf just stuck out at me as this entity alone in an indifferent cosmos. I felt it really embodied the album. That artwork has a cosmologically deep feel to it, and it’s considerably darker and heavier than any of Remington’s other work.

I’ve always considered Kognitiv Tod my favorite “unknown” Bandcamp discovery. What are some of yours?

Thank you. Honestly, you probably know a lot more artists than I do. I haven’t spent a lot of time browsing Bandcamp discovering other artists, which is unfortunate. It is such a vast resource I’m almost overwhelmed by it. I plan to take further advantage of this.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan to release one more album in 2015. I have some material I’m working on. Right now I’m taking a short break from writing music while I’m reading David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. I think I’ll continue to write and record and release music as long as I’m alive. I can’t imagine not doing it. I hope to continue to evolve and grow as an artist and am excited to see what direction all this goes. I very much don’t feel in control of the creative growth and evolution, and I really like that.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

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