Album Type : EP
Date Released : 26/4/2014
Label : Shelsmusic
Track listing :
Side A). A Fire To Burn Down The World
Side B). A Fire To Burn Down The World
Total running time : 23:41
Bio:
Admiral Angry
was an aggressively bottom heavy sludge band from California.
Their first album to be released, “Buster”, was released in 2008 on Sentient Recordings marking the return of their original singer, Chris Lindblad, who did vocals on their “9/11…Only Worse” EP, when they were more of a grind band.
Between 9/11 and Buster, the band recorded an album known as “Albania”, but it was not released due to various conflicts with their former vocalist.
All of Admiral Angry’s music was written by Daniel Krauss, who tragically passed away in February of 2009.
The band has stated on myspace that they will be recording one more EP of music written by Daniel. The future of the band beyond that is unknown.
Their first album to be released, “Buster”, was released in 2008 on Sentient Recordings marking the return of their original singer, Chris Lindblad, who did vocals on their “9/11…Only Worse” EP, when they were more of a grind band.
Between 9/11 and Buster, the band recorded an album known as “Albania”, but it was not released due to various conflicts with their former vocalist.
All of Admiral Angry’s music was written by Daniel Krauss, who tragically passed away in February of 2009.
The band has stated on myspace that they will be recording one more EP of music written by Daniel. The future of the band beyond that is unknown.
The
Band :
CL | vocals
BG | bass
CS | drums
MR | guitar
DK | guitar
BG | bass
CS | drums
MR | guitar
DK | guitar
Review :
Shelsmusic label the brainchild of Founder, Mehdi
Safa, he of the band *shels, have at least 36 releases to their name, with new
and exciting signings such as Astrohenge, a new Manatees album coming out on
vinyl this year, as well as releasing Eden Maine’s debut EP The Treachery
Pact on vinyl. Today, the focus of
today’s vinyl corner was the label’s first vinyl release, ‘A Fire To Burn Down The World’ by Admiral Angry. This record is presented in traditional black wax, art direction & photos by Daniel Kraus.
“We’ve never stopped, and we never will. Sound
lives forever. We hope our music is most unpleasant.“ -Daniel Kraus (RIP)
Following the release of their Debut release in
2009, entitled ‘Buster’, Daniel Kraus founding member and driving force behind
the band had talked to Shelsmusic about an EP they were working on and his
desire to release on vinyl, that EP would eventually come to be ‘A Fire To Burn
The World.’ Tragically, Daniel Kraus passed
away at the age of 22, before the band could even record the EP. Affectionately referred too as the ‘Admiral’,
the record was released posthumously, honouring his memory and acting as a
fitting tribute to him, being the first vinyl release from the label.
I affectionately remember picking up the record upon its
initial release in 2010, as a 99p download, and remember thinking I had stolen
from Amazon, (the record was full price the next day). One can only assume, they cocked up, because
they didn’t know how to price it, because in essence ‘A Fire to Burn the World’
is one track.
Reminiscent to Khanate, Black Sheep Wall or The
Abominable Iron Sloth for that matter, I became obsessed by the brilliance of
their downtempo sludge, in 2009. Indeed,
their debut record ‘Buster’ is perhaps one of my very favourite records of all
time. Songs like ‘Sex with a Stranger’, ‘Kill Yourself’, and ‘Bug Vomit’ are aggressively
bottom heavy. A striking riff sound
reminiscent to Meshuggah, but without the djent cliches, coupled with
harrowingly tormented vocals, think Burning Witch or
Khanate. ‘Buster’ is one of the very
best records you’ve probably never heard.
Acting in some ways as a companion piece to ‘Buster’, ‘A
Fire to Burn the World’ is one piece of music played over 25 torturous
mins. Recorded to tape, the tone of the
music is laden with fuzz and bleak distortion, crackling, like any vintage
vinyl should. This is nightmarish
stuff. Have the antacids handy, because
this stuff isn’t swallowed easier.
As the rest of the guys in the band put it, this album
is “One 30 minute long song, meant to punish you for all the bad things
you’ve done in your bedroom. A Fire is not meant for everyone, but is being
released for the one person that had the determination to set this world ablaze
before he left it.” Not
only was Daniel Kraus a talented musician but an artist of some note, designing
artwork for Black Sheep Wall’s debut
album, I am God Songs. Also a brilliant
and much underrated band, in case you lost your mind and overlooked
that band too.
As I sit at my laptop listening to ‘A Fire To Burn The World’ from
the opening refrain of the drums, it is a tense affair, the maniacal and tortured vocals, are so fucking bleak it is like black bile. The guitars come in and everything is played slow,
chugging barred chords then a more open three note passage, this is ugly and
uncompromising, like salt in an open wound.
There are some lead breaks, but they seem out of key, to add further
discordance. The mix is stunning,
everything sounds huge, and the snare sound is just how i like it, snappy and
thick. Around 5 – 6 minutes they up the
pace with that Meshuggah like tone of the guitars, bassy and downtuned to
Z. Then it is back to the chugging
refrain of the opening. You can’t
so much nod to the music because it is so lacking in pace, but it is droning
and truly captivating. This
dude on vocals must have lubricated his throat with Vaseline to prevent his throat from
rupturing under the strain. When you
think things can’t get any heavier, the guitars somehow get more bass.
Like in the olden days at the cinema
with the timely interval for your ice cream or toilet break, side A comes to an
end, splitting up the track and as the listener it is your opportunity to go to your ‘happy place’ before taking in side B.
‘Cause I can guarantee this shit, won’t become uplifting.
Valium consumed to stabilise your nerves after side A,
things are indeed a little more melodious, guitars are clean, yet with feedback
filtering in and the discord of the anguish vocals bleating through. Admiral Angry, kick you in the teeth once
more, this is armed to teeth with
chugging bass, like the sound The Terminator makes when he
enters the scene, one thing is true this band absolutely will not stop until
you’re dead. Indeed the final passage of
the record is merely feedback from the guitars, the sound your brain makes when
it’s being pummelled into the floor.
This is not pleasant, uplifting, shitgrin music, this is as bleak
as it gets, but Daniel Kraus was an undoubted talent and with every
subsequent listen of the record, it is a mark of appreciation of his final and
perhaps most uncompromising work. Indeed
what better way to uphold his memory, by honouring his wish to have his music
commits to wax?
Words by : Aaron Pickford
You can get it here
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