ALBUM REVIEW: Barst, "The Endeavour"

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 18/05/2018

Label: Consouling Sounds

‘The Endeavour” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. The Endeavour

The Review:

Boy! Barst has done it again. On their 2016 outing, “Western Lands,” Barst yielded stunning results when they combined post metal aggression with claustrophobic psychedelia. This Friday, Barst is going to hit the scene with a new offering, “The Endeavour.” In doing so, this Belgian band is taking their sound to unexplored territories.

“The Endeavour” is presented as one, 42 minute song. Whether “The Endeavour” actually is one, single song is up for debate. I’d go so far as to say the album is three of four movements, all tied together by way of smooth transitions. But presentation counts for a lot, and if Barst wants us to take this album in as one song, then that’s what we’ll do. Either way, the band implores the listener to give the music full and undivided attention.

As far as genre is concerned, “The Endeavour” is hard to pin down. There’s definitely a dark element to the music, and it’s heavy in its own way. Is it metal? Yeah. Industrial? Check. Psychedelic? No doubt. Heavy doom? Uh-huh. And those are just a few of the genres that Barst brings to the table.

Throughout, the guitars are laden with a variety of distortion effects. None of the guitars are ever overpowering, but they sure do set the mood. So there’s still a subtlety in the music that holds the band back from diving head first into mindless riffing. “The Endeavour” continues its foray into the unknown by introducing programmed percussion and other electronics, giving way to a rather palpable industrial influence. Sometimes an Ufomammut tint springs to mind and at other times the music gets psychedelic enough to wonder if it’s still Barst that we’re listening to.

Then there’s the emotional palette that Barst paints from. It’s probably even more varied than the musical palette. Barst spends these 42 minutes intently dipping their proverbial paintbrush in the darkest of blacks as well as the brightest of colors. The resulting painting is one that grabs attention of both its somber tone as well as its shades of hope and elation.

Despite the sprawling nature of the music on “The Endeavour,” the album is still a very concise listen. Barst’s plan of attack is based on a clear vision, so much so that every note and chord and melody played is as intentional as the last. Barst’s vision is so sound that they don’t get caught up in themselves, but instead are able to translate what was in their mind to a recorded format without coming across as self-indulgent.

“The Endeavour” is available digitally, on CD and LP here

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Blood of Sokar - "Blood of Sokar"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full length

Date Released: 25/08/ 2017

Label: Lighten Up Sounds

From the opening song, "Cælestibus," cresting into "Hallucinatus," there is an unfathomable well of torment and apoplexy. The music's dirge only heaps dirt upon the exasperation that sets in. Blood of Sokar's thick bass and sludge-infested guitar lines virtually guarantee this temperament will not cease.  This Seattle-based act, which transcends funeral doom and blackened doom, delivers exactly the kind of recording that fear is made of.

 

“Blood of Sokar “CS//DD track listing:

1. Cælestibus

2. Hallucinatus

3. Hecatomb

4. Mortem Ventum

The Review:

One of the most disturbing horror films of the last few years, depending on who you ask, was 2015's “Baskin”. The New York Times called the Turkish movie, "a buffet for gore enthusiasts, without ever totally losing its elegance — unless your definition of that word could never encompass a graphic disembowelment or an unexpected stabbing of an eye." It is in truth quite a brutal fantasy, filled with mythic monsters and a curious tale, and quite a lot of violence.

Without spoiling it – and if you like the harsher brands of horror signified by the New French Extremity era of works like “Martyrs” and “Dans Ma Peau/In My Skin”, “Baskin” may be for you – there is a moment when the motion picture's protagonists approach the Ottoman Era building that once housed a police station. It is just the moment before Hell truly breaks loose.

If that moment of “Baskin”, where feet unknowingly tread upon this ignoble place, had a soundtrack, Blood of Sokar's self-titled debut would be it.

The Seattle-based act, which transcends funeral doom and blackened doom, delivers exactly the kind of recording that fear is made of. The heaviness screams and indecipherable vocals are stagnant as an abandoned structure with its own stories untold. You can feel those spirits cut right through you in a track like "Hecatomb," with its dissonant caws that at last merge into something sounding almost melodic. Hard to access, but rattling and memorable this debut is.

Over its four-song, 37-minute tale, Blood of Sokar tells a story that is largely one of your imagination. This is primarily because the recording's vocals are so thickly layered and droned out that your mind has to paint the picture. Such vocals are harder to pull off than you might think, simply because they form songs that are not the conflict-context-unity of your usual songwriting. The listener is challenged to see the song as a complete work, and to be part of the music as art. Lots of doom and black metal offer concept albums and stories behind and within their songs. This self-titled release is purely a tale you conjure. Hence it is difficult to recall a release that did this style very effectively since Diamanda Galas' 1993 masterpiece “Vena Cava”, a representation of the effects of dementia brought on by HIV (see Galas' 1991 live performance album “Plague Mass” as precursor to this story) or 1996's “Schrei X”, a homage to German avant garde music. Blood of Sokar nevertheless does an admirable and at many turns riveting take on this approach.

From the opening song, "Cælestibus," cresting into "Hallucinatus," there is an unfathomable well of torment and apoplexy. The music's dirge only heaps dirt upon the exasperation that sets in. Blood of Sokar's thick bass and sludge-infested guitar lines virtually guarantee this temperament will not cease.

Blood of Sokar is an overpowering new addition to funeral doom, and one that may just score a future nightmare.

“Blood of Sokar” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

EP PREMIERE: Progressive heavy rockers OLD MAN WIZARD return with "Innocent Hands"

Progressive heavy rock band OLD MAN WIZARD return with their new single “Innocent Hands”. The 2 track release will be self released by the band on 7" vinyl on the 25 August 2017, following on from their recent tour earlier this month. Acting as a follow up to their 2013 debut “Unfavorable” a remarkably complex, colourful, and genre bending release, OLD MAN WIZARD are a truly unique voice in the underground scene and today you can stream “Innocent Hands” in full below.  

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Wild Rocket - "Dissociation Mechanics"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 07/07/2017

Label: Art for Blind

Their debut "Geomagnetic Hallucinations," earned a reputation for its immersive music and brainy, intriguing lyrical themes. With their follow up they give you that again, and more. Make no mistake this group is a high-quality original that stands on its own. The stupendous "Into The Black Hole" is a true testament to that.

“Dissociation Mechanics” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Caught In Triangle Again

2. Infinite Reconnaissance Imager

3. Into The Black Hole

4. The Future Echoes

5. The Edges Of Reality

The Review:

Defunct noise rock visionary band Sonic Youth experienced much popularity over its near 30-year career, including the commercially successful albums "Goo", "Dirty" and "Daydream Nation." Hardcore fans point to a recording like 1985's "Bad Moon Rising" to be the birth of what would be the definitive Sonic Youth sound: sheets of avant garde influences, rambunctious guitars and off-the-wall effects that were a fertile bed for Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's irascible songsmithing.

In listening to psychedelic punk crew Wild Rocket. One cannot escape an ambience that feels very much like the most animated version of Sonic Youth circa "Bad Moon Rising" and possibly "Daydream Nation." In the case of the Dublin, Ireland outfit's sophomore recording, the emphasis on noise punk, like Sonic Youth, belies a uniquely crafty selection of music.

On the opener "Caught In Triangle Again" the tenor of the past is evident. You can almost lean back and picture what Moore would do with this, it is such a faithful interpretation. Make no mistake though, because the group is a high-quality original that stands on its own. The stupendous "Into The Black Hole" is a true testament to that.

When Wild Rocket released their debut, "Geomagnetic Hallucinations," in 2014, it earned a reputation for its immersive music and brainy, intriguing lyrical themes. In their return, the quartet of punk, doom, noise and rock tested performers give you that again, and more. With "Dissociation Mechanics" – an SY-style christening if ever there was one, by the way – that blend is all out on beautiful, chaotic display.

Wild Rocket's return is centered musically around several concepts, including the sea and deep space, as metaphors for cultural and global destruction. Effects laden vocals convey the depressive mood and the churning rhythm section, not to mention Jon Kelly's synthesizer work, make those stories feel like they're closing in on you. The listener has such a tempo on tracks like "The Future Holds" – steady, thick and swirling it is, among others.

"Dissociation Mechanics" is available here:

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Viscera/// - “3: Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals”

By: Ben Fitts

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 05/05/2017

Label: Unquiet Records |

Drown Within Records |

Wooaaargh

"If one were forced to classify the band’s current sound, post-metal might be the safest category, but even that vaguely defined subgenre does not quite do the band justice, as it fails to mention the strains of psychedelia, black metal, hardcore, death metal and the band’s grind roots to are still very present in VISCERA///

“3: Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals” CD//DD track listing:

1). Uber-Massive Melancholia

2). Martyrdom for the Finest People

3). Titan (Or The Day We Called It Quits

4). In The Cut

5). Anxiety Prevails

The Review:

Italian trio Viscera/// is hard to describe. Although the band has its roots in goregrind (as exemplified on their 2003 demo “Entrails Defecation”), Viscera///’s sound has since evolved into a stylistically fluid assault that makes to strike an evocative range of emotions, often within the same song. If one were forced to classify the band’s current sound, post-metal might be the safest category, but even that vaguely defined subgenre does not quite do the band justice, as it fails to mention the strains of psychedelia, black metal, hardcore, death metal and the band’s grind roots to are still very present in Viscera///. While their previous few releases also evidenced this growth, nowhere in their discography does their varied sound come together as well as on their fourth full-length album, “3: Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals”.

The album opens on the sinister sounding and melodramatically titled “Uber-Massive Melancholia”. Over the nearly eleven and half minutes of  the opening track (making it only the second longest song on the album), Viscera/// display the nastiest, dirtiest sounds in their cannon, as well as the most overt black and death metal influences to be found on the “3: Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals”. The following track, “Martyrdom for the Finest People” sees the album continue with the blackened elements of “Uber-Massive Melancholia”, but it strips away the death metal aspects in favour of ambient and drone influenced sounds. The result is a blackened post-metal track whose ten and half minutes manage to be tranquil while being propulsive, a combination in line with many of the cutting edge metal acts of today.

“Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals” continues in a similar vein over the course of its next track, “Titan (Or The Day We Called It Quits)”. At just shy of four minutes, it is by the shortest track on the album (by over four minutes) and it feels like a blur when compared to the sprawling length of the other four tracks on the album. But despite its short length, “Titan (Or The Day We Called It Quits)” manages to make as much of an impact as any other track on the album, due largely to its hazy post-rock inspired tones and thunderous, tremolo-picked guitar riffs.  

It is followed by “In The Cut”, which, at over twelve and a half minutes, is the longest track on “Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals”. Viscera/// utilize the track’s length to touch upon every mood in album’s arsenal. “In The Cut” opens with a passage of dark, guitar driven psychedelic rock before morphing (rather naturally) into blood curtling black metal and diminishing into an ethereal, chiming clean section, all within the track’s first five minutes. Over its remaining seven a half minutes, “In The Cut” rebuilds its intensity, heaviness and energy, often dipping back down and becoming more impactful when it rises again. The album closes with the track “Anxiety Prevails”, the bitterest, evilest, and heaviest track anywhere on the album. While the other tracks on the album flit through sounds and emotions, “Anxiety Prevails” stays consistently nasty throughout its eight minutes, making it perhaps less adventurous and challenging than the album’s other tracks, but quite possibly its most enjoyable. 

“3: Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: The Cosmic Dead - "Psych Is Dead"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/04/2017

Label: Riot Season

Somehow the band manage to make relentless repetition sound like a captivating journey into the unknown, packed with more subtle detail than a million prog metal odysseys.

“Psych Is Dead” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Nuraghe

2). Psych Is Dead

3). #FW

The Review:

Sometimes just one chord can be a whole lot heavier than an onslaught of riffs. The Cosmic Dead demonstrate this in style over the first half of stellar new LP “Psych Is Dead”. “Nuraghe” is a yawning 22 minute black-hole, a hypnotic mantra with an inescapable density. The track is based around a shuffling monochord groove that ebbs and flows between eerily blissful calm and outbursts of molten distortion. Somehow the band manage to make relentless repetition sound like a captivating journey into the unknown, packed with more subtle detail than a million prog metal odysseys.

The Glasgow astral voyagers thankfully provide a little respite after this epic mind-melting trip with the title track of “Psych Is Dead”. Layers of clean guitar loops and warm synth drones build up to create a wall of transcendent soothing noise. Drums are kept subdued and distant which help the band create an enveloping ambience reminiscent of “Beaches and Canyons” era Black Dice.

The calm is soon shattered by the closing crash of “#FW”. Another one-chord affair, this differs from “Nuraghe” due to its single-minded dedication to a pounding primal snare thud and guitar clang that builds up an unstoppable head of steam towards the albums close.

If “Psych Is Dead” it is because The Cosmic Dead have destroyed it and created something dark and intoxicating from its smouldering remains.

“Psych is Dead” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

“11 is one louder”: Headless Kross guitarist/vocalist Tommy Duffin picks his Top 5 from the psychedelic to the sludge

With their music seemingly forged from grit and steel, Headless Kross have been plying their trade since 2011; certainly the band’s compositions are the perfect soundtrack to the impending winter. Releasing their debut album “Bear” in 2011, a self released split with War Iron and a split with Lazarus Blackstar would follow.  “Volumes” the band’s second full length was released in April 2015 and recorded at Skyhammer Studio.  Comprising of 3 tracks their compositions had enough breathing space to ensnare and hypnotise the listener, but retain the thickness of their sound and would see the band continue as Glasgow’s No.1 volume dealers. 

It is true to say that Headless Kross have evolved as a band, and whilst “Volumes” would see the band shedding some of their sludge doom roots,  their new album “Projections 1” released on November 18th, via  At War With False Noise is an album of Long songs, deep grooves  and tortured vocals”. Today we invite guitarist/vocalist Tommy Duffin to choose his top 5 albums according to the genre their own band is known for. That genre is loosely speaking psychedelia, sludge and doom, so it is time to turn it up to 11 and checkout some classic picks from Glasgow’s finest riff dealers. 

Black Flag - "My War" (1984)

I'm sure there are people who will disagree with me but I reckon side B of this record is ground zero for sludge. Up until this point Black Flag were known for short, fast and chaotic hardcore punk. This however, sounds like they've drank a load of Benylin and recorded an all night jam. The band sound like they're sinking into a tarpit and Rollins definitely hates himself and everyone else. I love the guitar leads on this album. Atonal jazz noise that perfectly backs up the overall misanthropy.  Half the time it sounds like the vocals were recorded in the toilet bowl. Classic.

Eyehategod - "Dopesick" (1996)

The band's third album and arguably my favourite, this is like Black Flag crossed with Black Sabbath in a pharmaceutical warehouse. Negative energy never sounded so good. Absolutely pummeling drums, totally wretched vocals and then there's the feedback drenched riffs lurching from doom, hardcore and somehow a kind of heavily-sedated southern boogie! 

Om – “Conference of the Birds” (2006)

 

Sleep, as you would imagine, are an obvious influence on our sound but I love how the band split into two quite different bands and Om's approach, long meditations on bass and drums, really drew me in and made me want to explore the long song format. I'm into all their records but this is probably the one I reach for most often.

High On Fire – “The Art of Self Defense” (2000)

On the other side of the Sleep divide you have High On Fire and their first album is a stoner metal classic. I don't like my heavy metal to be shiny and new. I like it murky and covered in mould. This record definitely fits the bill. “Blood from Zion” is probably my favourite HOF song. I'm into all their stuff and the way they've progressed with each album is an inspiration too. Not prepared to stand still.

Hawkwind – “Space Ritual” (1973)

The daddy of the space rock genre and possibly the best live album of all time. I can only imagine what it would have been like to see that tour. The record is pretty head-melting even without the visuals of the original show. Time seems to stretch and contract when you listen to this and that is what we aim for in Headless Kross. This is music that takes you to another place and time completely. 

Band info: facebook | | bandcamp 

ALBUM STREAM: Chicago's acid soaked sludgers Faces of the Bog complete their "Ego Death"

By:  Aaron Pickford



(C) GoldilocksCG

Personally speaking, one of the strongest and prominent scenes in metal over the years is Chicago, with many of America’s most prominent bands, hailing from the windy city. Ministry and the Wax Trax scene, Big Black, Shellac, The Jesus Lizard, Trouble, Touch and Go Records are many of the names that have imprinted upon music fans and the history of the Chicago music scene over the last 30 years.

Today the vibrancy of the Chicago scene continues with emergence of bands past and present such as, Buried At Sea, Indian, Lord Mantis, Bongripper, The Skull, Yakuza, The Atlas Moth, Scientist the list is endless. Indeed if an album is from the doom scene, if it is heavy and it was recorded in Chicago, then one man, Sanford Parker was likely to have recorded it, which leads us directly onto today’s featured band Faces of the Bog.

A psychedelic tinged, doom influenced, sludge/prog four piece Faces of the Bog, hail from Humboldt Park, home of Emperor Cabinets and continue the tradition of excellent bands rising from Chicago underground and their acid soaked blend of sludge was recently put to tape by Sanford at Electric Audio in the form of their debut album “Ego Death”, which is a fantastic blast to the senses.  “Ego Death” is set for release on 4^th October, but today in order to whet your insatiable appetite for crushing music, we are streaming the album in full below.  You can Pre-order “Ego Death” here

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Lotus Thief - “Gramarye”

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 16/09/2016
Label: Prophecy Productions

“Gramarye” is a step up from the band's last album and is a fine and entertaining listen, the songs are still long and wandering pieces of music; there is light and shade, heaviness and an epic quality here.  “The Book of Lies” is a fine example of the record's ambience with the ethereal vocals mixing with moments of weight and levity. The darker material, such as “Salem”, is delivered convincingly and with the appropriate sense of mournfulness.  Whether you’re listening to the album on headphones or on in the background, this is a record to enjoy.

‘Gramarye’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. The Book of The Dead
2. Circe
3. The Book Of Lies
4. Salem
5. Idisi

The Review:

Lotus Thief are back after creating a buzz with their 2014 full length. The songs are still long and wandering pieces of music; there is light and shade, heaviness and an epic quality here. The airy sound and swirling keyboard sounds are still present and the band is very much within the psychedelic sphere of doom.

“The Book of The Dead” shows the band's attributes to the fullest- if you don't like this track, then the album is not for you. However, for those that do... it will take you on a trip. The lush acoustics and slow build of “Circe" offer an excellent listening experience, with unusual production and mixing tricks. The vast majority of tracks here are 8-9mins long, so referring to them as songs is perhaps a stretch- they are pieces of music to savour and let wash over you.

“The Book of Lies” is a fine example of the record's ambience with the ethereal vocals mixing with moments of weight and levity. The darker material, such as “Salem”, is delivered convincingly and with the appropriate sense of mournfulness. The material is never leaden, though- it always possesses a lightness of touch.

The album closer, “Idisi”, at over nine minutes in length, finds the band rocking out, mellowing out and spreading their wings again. “Gramarye” is a step up from the band's last album and is a fine and entertaining listen; on headphones or on in the background, this is a record to enjoy.

‘Gramaraye’ is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Lesbian - “Hallucinogenesis”

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 26/08/2016

Label: Translation Loss

“Pyramidal Existinctualism” sounds like Mastodon after their drinks have been spiked with LSD and “Kosmoceratops” is epic fist-pumping thrash that takes a left turn into weird, uncharted territory. “Labrea Borealis” and “Aquilibrium” contain more melodic passages that expand the band’s horizons further into cinematic grandeur before crashing back to Earth for further, wild fretboard explorations.  Overall “Hallucinogenesis” sees Lesbian achieve a perfect balance of labyrinthine complexity and headbanging simplicity.

‘“Hallucinogenesis” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1.) Pyramidal Existinctualism
2.) Labrea Borealis
3.) Kosmoceratops
4.) Aqualibrium

The Review:

It’s impossible to ignore a concept album based on the effects of the collision of a spore-filled asteroid with the Earth. Seattle quintet Lesbian totally satisfy all expectations of cosmic mayhem with new full-length “Hallucinogenesis”.  The band’s mind-bogglingly complicated riff constructions have been criminally underrated in the past. Hopefully “Hallucinogenesis” will be the record that changes this.

The four behemoths on display here are a heady brew of psychedelic sludge, trippy prog and pretty much every known metal sub-genre. Black metal, death metal, doom and more combine in breath taking fashion, blurred through an intoxicating druggy haze. “Pyramidal Existinctualism” sounds like Mastodon after their drinks have been spiked with LSD and “Kosmoceratops” is epic fist-pumping thrash that takes a left turn into weird, uncharted territory. “Labrea Borealis” and “Aquilibrium” contain more melodic passages that expand the band’s horizons further into cinematic grandeur before crashing back to Earth for further, wild fretboard explorations.

Lesbian have always been limitless in their song writing ambition but sometimes the sheer density of ideas was too much to digest. On “Hallucinogenesis” the band have maintained their vast sonic vision but applied more focus to create their most effective set yet. A key factor is new member, vocalist Brad Mowen. Mowen is the perfect vocal foil for the band, capable of matching them whatever stylistic turn they take. Over the course of the album he switches between haunted chants, guttural growls and semi-operatic wails with ease. Somehow he manages to maintain a coherent identity despite these many different styles and is the lynch pin that holds these monolithic constructions together.

“Hallucinogenesis” sees Lesbian achieve a perfect balance of labyrinthine complexity and headbanging simplicity. The spore-filled asteroid collision can’t come soon enough if this is the future we have to look forward to.

‘Hallucinogenesis” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook