GIDIM

I've been spending most of my recent music listening time with artists that are "heavy," but decidedly outside of the punk/metal sphere/s. BROTHER AHH, PATRICK COWLEY, the recent BILL CONVERSE platter, ALICE COLTRANE reissue/s, and I cannot recommend the Numero JOANNA BROUK collection highly enough - some of the most beautiful and emotive sounds I have ever heard. But....sometimes things pull you back. And today when I got home I didn't want introspection or nuance, but I wanted depth and I wanted power. And I wanted rage.....so I listened to the three tracks on the 2013 GIDIM demo very fukkn loudly. And then.....? And then I listened to them again. Searing and discordant one man black metal....sometimes it's what a person needs. 

GIDIM

CV+G

One off collaborations are a good idea, but good ideas are sadly and too often fraught with lackluster execution and results best kept secret. Not the case with the three tracks presented here by the bleak powerhouse CRACKED VESSEL in cahoots with one-man raw black metal act GIDIM. Not surprisingly, the addition of GIDIM gives the recording a sharp edge, and the emotional exposure that makes CRACKED VESSEL so compelling on their own adds nuance to even the harshest parts of this offering....like when "JDV" breaks from the introduction and subtly pulls you in in preparation for a wall of sound akin to '90s German metalcore clashing violently with atmospheric black metal. Fans of all encompassing acts like CELESTE will want to take special note here...these aren't the "cool" sounds that are making kids squirm these days, but I suspect that CV+G is going to stand the test of time quite well. 

CV+G

WHORELORD

Howling, filthy, raw, primitive metal. Nothing tight or concise, nothing professional or clean....this is about as primal as it gets, and proof once again that the $1 castaway bins of the world still overflow with bounty. I'm back....did you miss me?

WHORELORD

TRAPPED WITHIN BURNING MACHINERY

Snagged on a complete whim on a recent trip to Southern California, I basically thought this thing looked like it might be cool and figured it was worth a $5 gamble. Live loose, man...let it roll, you can't take it with you, right? So might as well shove some jams into your canal before you move on down the line. And so I gambled, and I was treated to 66 minutes of bleak atmospheric metal. Slow motion heaviness interrupts periods of carefully constructed quietude, with searing vocals that demand as much attention as the morose wailing guitars that permeate the interludes....interludes that create The Fifth Element's aura, but make up a substantial portion of its content. Get dark.

THE FIFTH COLUMN

LUCID TERROR

Raw and primal black grind from New York. It's just....ugly. Elements of cro-magnon death metal, but I feel like these mutants are, in their heart of hearts, pure grind freaks. No bullshit here, nothing special. Just filth and dirt and a distortion that comes from pushing too hard (as opposed to trying too hard....you get me?). Do it....

WHIP IT TIL YOU FAINT

VOLAHN

Even visitors who only casually dip their toes into the overwhelming and mind melting world of USBM will sure know the name VOLAHN. At the center of the incestuous Circle of Southern California artists who have been consistently cranking out some of the continent's most unique and compelling sounds, VOLAHN share members with countless other acts and are responsible for live performances that defy description. Epic and introspective black metal, spread out over almost 60 minutes....Aq'Ab'Al is their opus. Ancient souls and modern desires will hold you over...until there is more. 

AQ'AB'AL

In case you have any doubts....see VOLAHN in the flesh. Whenever possible. 

CHAMBER OF TORTURE

Put your internal serach for peace and light on hold for thirty minutes and sink deep into CHAMBER OF TORTURE's realm of sinister death metal. Do it. I can tell you from experience that it will act as a cleansing...and the more volume employed, the deeper the cleanse. The hate and the dishonesty will still be out there when you are finished, and you will still need to address the ills (of the world and of your soul) just as before - but imagine doing so after a full immersion. It's worth it. 

BEHEAD BEFORE INTERNMENT

SHATAAN

This one got lost in my mental shuffle during the deluge of Black Twilight/Crepusculo Negro related releases during the first wave from 2009-11 or so. Thankfully, I hoard shit, so SHATAAN was waiting patiently for me last week, waiting to me to open myself to sounds of primitively reproduced and musically advanced discordant bleak metal. And I was opened. I certainly would put this in the same category as VOLAHN or GLOSSOLALIA, but there's something about the vocals and the howled desperation...it makes up for the almost casual delivery of these relatively complex tracks. Listen to the guitars, let the tracks sink in...it was worth the wait.

WAR CRY LAMENT

CARCASS TOSS

Filthy metalpunk with that 1-2-1-2 stomp that suits lo-fi nihilist metal so very well, Nova Scotia's CARCASS TOSS dive right into "House Of Maggots" and never let the intensity wane. Beyond primitive, these tracks offer nothing but the marrow...tortured guitars and manipulated vocals dominate a recording that pierces more than entertains...and pay close attention to the subtle slow down when "Suicide Wolf" kicks in, because you'll be moshing. File somewhere between HOAX and BONE AWL...unless you just want to file under "break shit music." Derivative maybe. Trite probably. Deadly definitely. 

DEMO 1

TERRÖRSTRIKER

Fuuuuucccckkk this is what I want. Sinister death/thrash from Russia...no need to reinvent the wheel when the shit rolls true. And this shit?! My monkeys, TERRÖRSTRIKER are a fukkn machine. Eternal cheers to Reforestation (again) for bringing these sounds to my ears. 

HORDES OF ARMAGEDDON

LEATHER GLOVE

The internet has (justly) covered this one at length, so I'll spare excess adulations. LEATHER GLOVE was born from the mind of Greg Wilkinson (Earhammer Studios, BRAINOIL), and it's a monolith of death metal sludge processed through a filter that I can only describe as his own. Aural oppression at it's finest, shown the light of day by the fine people at Sentient Ruin. 

LEATHER GLOVE

MURROWIND

Minimum fidelity, maximum determination. Long periods of atmosphere punctuate extended bursts of raw and primitive black metal. Whatever MURROWIND may lack in proficiency (not much), they more than make up for with intensity. It's not pretty....and it's not supposed to be. Also, these fukks are from Kentucky, which leads me to believe that the desperation in these voices is, in fact, real. 

MURROWIND

MORBITAL

Another savage offering from Russia's Reforestation Records. Seven bursts of filthy, raw death metal than just makes you clench your teeth...this label has yet to disappoint, and from the sounds of things, the recent vinyl release from MORBITAL is even more fierce. Get dirty. 

Ужас Войны (WAR HORROR)

NUCLEAR WITCH

All hail the mufukkn bargain bin. Last week in Seattle, two of my finest dollars earned me this NUCLEAR WITCH cassette. That's 16 minutes of pure filth for less than the price of a mediocre beer in most major metropolitan area meat markets. See? BARGAIN. NUCLEAR WITCH are a fukkn mess....feedback, noise, shitty recording pegged in the red, random leads, (hopefully) satanic and (likely) inappropriate knuckle dragging noise/metal. Raw and relentless...I don't know anything about them, and it's probably best that way. Get weird, my friends.

NUCLEAR WITCH

Shit - I searched anyway, and apparently this noise is from Wisconsin. Color me intrigued...

RHINOCERVS

On the ninth (of ten) self/un/titled release, the RHINOCERVS label once again leaves you breathless. Haunting and ethereal black metal, this time tempered with atonal ambient/goth and soundtracks to nonexistent films that most would never be able to watch all the way through without crying or screaming. RHINOCERVS is all encompassing, and each release managed to do something different...this one will likely appeal to listeners from well outside of the metal realm, and though I was not struck as immediately as with other tapes (numbers 02, 07 and 12, specifically), with time it has become one of my favorites. Released in 2013, not long before the collective seems to have put this project to bed. Hopefully it's just a nap. 

RH-15

INFERNAL DAMNATION

Somewhere between East LA and Compton lies the metropolitan Los Angeles community of Maywood. And somehow amongst the rows of strip malls and chain stores and weird metro chain burger/taco joints (Tom's #7, Leo's #2, Fresh & Meaty isn't too far away, but they don't have tacos...I digress), somehow the village of Maywood birthed a sinister and brutal speed/death/thrash metal behemoth....and that behemoth is called INFERNAL DAMNATION (fair warning: at the time of posting, this link will send you to a popular social networking website, and specifically to a page on that website with an artist's depiction of boobies...so don't click that link if you hate society and/or boobs....ahhhh, metal). Triggered kicks, dueling leads, vocals not brutal enough for death metal but too confident for thrash metal (note: as a result, these vox are essentially perfect), a vague but not overpowering '90s SXE click in the bass...and hooks. Seriously. The 2:01 mark of "Dominions Obscure," when the guitar teases you into thinking that we are about to drop into straight thrash gear? That shit is tight. The top burner at TEHQ is "Cast Down Into Hell Fire," but that might because it's the purest ripper on the tape....although the BM breakdown in "Decomposed Hordes" is super hard to fuck with. Actually...this whole thing is hard to fuck with.

INTO THE CREVICE OF OBLITERATION

ACUALLI

Another offering from Crepusculo Negro, once again furthering that belief that this collective and this label can do no wrong. Demonic and primal death metal sounds...a quarter hour that will change your life view. 

PACT OF POSSESSION

WORSHIP BLACK TWILIGHT

This is where it all started, at least for the uninformed and/or geographically challenged minions. Six offerings from the artists that made up the initial nucleus of Black Twilight Circle in Los Angeles, who would spend the ensuing years creating some of the most dissonant and interesting black metal in The Americas. One track each from ASHDAUTAS, VOLAHN, ARIZMENDA, KALLATHON, AXEMAN and KUXAN SUUM, most available on other Crepusculo Negro releases, and many previously shared on this site...Worship Black Twilight makes it clear that this force was formidable from the start.

WORSHIP BLACK TWILIGHT

DEIQUISITOR

It took a few listens for Denmark's DEIQUISITOR to hook me, but reeling me in was easy once they did. Manic, chaotic and brutally fast grind/death metal shits...not for the faint. None of the slow slogs that can bog down death metal, this four track banger is pure bloodfucking evil from start to finish. Recent full length is worth your attention as well, in case four tracks isn't enough....

DEIQUISITOR

KUXAN SUUM

An early offering from the Black Twilight collective in Los Angeles, KUXAN SUUM dropped this one track of psychedelic black metal in 2009, followed it up with another in 2012, and then faded into the shadows. Long introductions and limitless ambiance, the band is haunting and distant even when they unleash...almost like you are a part of something that's incomplete. The guitars are ethereal and colossal, but still cling to a sharp, thin quality forever attached to black metal. The shit is out there, and one could surely argue that "Kinich Ahau" is merely a part of the path that took this scene to astounding heights....but sometimes getting there is the best part, you know?

KINICH AHAU