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

DISPOSSESSED

Twenty minutes of Rose City doom spread over three tracks. Portland's DISPOSSESSED are heavy beyond heavy, and the deliberate way they pummel is enviable. Bleak and devastating. 

BESEIGED

KROFFT

I don't understand why this exists. And how this is an actual thing. I feel like KROFFT probably have some weird cult following amongst underground doom freeks, and I celebrate the entire SOCKEYE catalog, so I'm not one to talk here...but...wow. And it would seem there's a Medieval Funk vol. 1?!? Someone want to explain this shit to me? 

MEDIEVAL FUNK II

MOLLUSK // STORMBREWER

Two Ohio two pieces join forces on this collosal split. I mean, like, a really really huge sounding release. MOLLUSK is imposing and desperate, slow motion intimidation so massive and so peaked that you'd never miss the bass. STORMBREWER are on a sludgier trip - a little more groove, and little more swing, and a throat baring intensity from the vocals - use FLOOR as a comparison and you'll be in the right neighborhood. My first taste of either band...dreadful stuff.

MOLLUSK // STORMBREWER

BRAINOIL

Hard to imagine that this demo was recorded 15 years ago, but when BRAINOIL found their thing (I think it's called a "groove") they struck gold...and they never stopped mining. Six tracks on this demo, and only one tops the two minute mark - crushing stoner riffs for days, but condensed into hardcore punk songs. If you haven't heard them and that doesn't make sense....? You're going to have to trust me. Their decade and a half run (there was a pretty lengthy hiatus in the somewhere, but still) has netted splits with DROP DEAD, IRON LUNG and CRUEVO (these demo tracks found their way onto that release) and two full lengths (only eight years apart...that's some Japanese band shit right there), and they still level the joint every time they play. Too punk for most of the DoomLords and too heavy for most of the punks, I trust they will continue to dominate those of us who get it for years to come.

BRAINOIL

For those keeping track and/or not already aware, BRAINOIL is made up of DESTROY!, LANA DAGALES and GRIMPLE members...and here's a live set from 2001. Not surprisingly, it rules.

GRAVE DISGRACE

This Reforestation label from St. Petersburg keeps going for the throat, it's just slower and more deliberate this time. Shameless SABBATH influence and a guitar that brings back (fond) memories of playing with Jud (LAUDANUM, BRAINBLOODVOLUME), this GRAVE DISGRACE tape is nothing short of total destruction. Brutal simplicity delivered with maximum efficacy, their tracks are engaging from start to finish - even the 9+ minutes of "The Mire Brings" - if only so you can hear the things that are being done to that poor guitar. Sometimes you just want to be bludgeoned.

GRAVE DISGRACE

HOLY MONEY

An otherworldly raw doom detonation with a solid skull foundation. You want HOLY MONEY to unleash, and you know they can...but they refuse. This one will keep you on edge.

EGODEATHSLUDGE

NIGHTWITCHES

Montreal's NIGHTWITCHES spend more than a quarter hour massaging two tracks into a peaceful submission. Numbing, if only in their sheer monotony, these sounds are as crushing as they are beautiful, with ominous vocals soaring over only occasionally. I mean, really it's just two people bludgeoning you with tonnage, but they sound so fukkn perfect when they do it. Fans of IDES OF GEMINI, KARP, RAGANA and the like will want to take note here...it sneaks up on you pretty quickly, but this shit is deadly.

NACHTHEXEN

AGHORI

This is one of those recordings that just takes you away. Released in painfully limited quantities in the early '00s, Blackmass Of Hate was given the proper (cassette) treatment by Parasitic Records a few years ago (thanks for that). A quarter hour into this release, when the drums painfully slog through the last moments of "The Imp Of Perversion," is the first time that I was aware that AGHORI were not permanent...and still it seems like their presence will continue indefinitely. Crushing, somber, all encompassing doom in three excruciating movements that will rattle your bones and your soul. Should go without saying that maximum volume and darkness only serve to enhance the experience...let it sink in.

BLACKMASS OF HATE

PROTODOOM

Brad Misanthropic made this tape for the Milwaukee Mix Tape Exchange in the early '00s, and it's still a regular jammer around TEHQ. An insane collection of crushing '70s heavy rock from an A-List of collector nerd fodder. If you aren't familiar with SEOMPI, DARK, ICECROSS, DIES IRAE, WICKED LADY, BUM (pre- IRON MAIDEN), POOBAH....well, today is your lucky day. A few slightly better known heavyweights are included as well (MAY BLITZ, HIGH TIDE, Brasil's MODULO 1000, T2, JERONIMO), but these are "well known" to freaks and mutants and afficionado more than your average punker. Can't even stress how much this tape jams, listen to the BULLETPROOF track repeatedly. You're welcome.

PROTODOOM

DISROTTED

John (former bandmate in Artimus Pyle, High On Crime and others) sent me this tape last year after seeing DISROTTED on tour. I was instantly pleased, because I feel like this is the band that JFF (former bandmate in High On Crime, ex-Kung Fu Rick) has wanted to play in for years...and it's really good. Absolutely disgusting and sinister doom from Chicago, DISROTTED set the stage with their opening riff, a riff that switches to single note speed picking (well, the painful sludge version of "speed") at the 1:51 mark to accompany blood curdling screams to let you know what you are really in for. Raw and chaotic throughout - a rehearsal recording doing constant battle with absolute sonic devastation, and I'm not quite sure who wins. Except you. You win by listening to this morose three song lump of negativity. Winning is a mixed bag, my friends...you're welcome.

DISROTTED

METHRA

Sometimes this is exactly what I want...not often, but sometimes. METHRA is the perfect band for those times, expertly crafted stoner/doom with tonnage for days. There's a higher, almost OZZY-esque voice that appears in "Blessings" and "SBS" and you realize that these kids are doing their own thing because it's almost funny....almost. The pace quickens for "Slumscraper," but the closer that follows is an exercise in deliberate delivery and patience. Heavy doesn't begin to describe METHRA; they can rely successfully on the riff or on the presentation and either way they win. Sometimes this is exactly what I want.

IV-RONKONKOMA

ABSTRACTER

Epic doesn't even come close. Oakland's ABSTRACTER soar, pulling a blanket of suffocating despair over you while you listen. Only three songs on this 2012 tape (also released on vinyl and CD), confidently accelerating to a swampy KYLESA-esque crawl at their very fastest, but spending most of the time slogging through riff after powerful riff before laying back and letting the atmosphere take over. Black metal minor chords sneak into the slower parts, even though the reviewer that pegged them for an offshoot of that genre would be a very very lazy reviewer - Tomb Of Feathers is dark, heavy, and beautifully menacing, even if the torment seems to be pointed inward. And to think that this band is right under my very nose...

TOMB OF FEATHERS

ASBESTOSDEATH

I don't really need to talk about this band....do I? Pre-SLEEP (and therefore pre-HIGH ON FIRE and pre-OM), ASBESTOSDEATH shoved weirdo prog rock right in the face of grungy metal dirges, and they did it in a metropolitan area that was, at the time, consumed by pop punk. Three of the songs here are on the band's two singles (re-issued by Southern Lord a few years ago), but there's a banger called "Absorb" that I have not been able to find elsewhere...it's probably out there, but I just don't know where to look. And while the tape clearly states that this is "not a demo," these are not the versions that were eventually committed to wax. The final two tracks seen on the cover are live jammers of a decent caliber (and can be found today at Escape Is Terminal) - ASBESTOSDEATH were absolutely ahead of their time.

NOT A DEMO

COLUMN OF HEAVEN

It should come as no surprise to learn that they did it, but nonetheless COLUMN OF HEAVEN left me stunned with this release. Classic industrial dirges and power electronics mesh seamlessly into soul crushing doom, a union that begs NEUROSIS/NEUROT comparisons even though I think my Canadian friends will call such a comparison weak and lazy. The presentation is instrumental, but no words are needed to convey the sorrow - Failures is every bit as bleak as the COLUMN OF HEAVEN...

FAILURES

It's just after 1:30am, and I leave for tour in three hours. Instead of catching a quick nap, I will be spending that time preparing the next two weeks for you, my dear friends. Expect ensuing posts to be brief, nonsensical to the point of being delirious, and likely filled with the shameless promotion of shows you likely could not attend if you wanted to (I'm mostly referring to geography here, but desire might be a factor as well). I will be back to normal eventually...

CIRCLE OF EYES

An absolutely stunning presentation of sound, CIRCLE OF EYES spend more than a half hour slogging through painfully dark and sinister drones. I remember Flenser's mailing list referring to this as "ambient doom," and while that hits pretty close to the mark, it also fails to convey the sheer anguish that CIRCLE OF EYES leave you with. Slow motion punishment at its absolute finest, I can only say that this is what my poor drone ignorant ears wanted today. A short lived project from members of OGHAM, SWAMP WITCH, SUTEKH HEXEN, NECRITE and others...my ears are appeased. 

CIRCLE OF EYES

This 2008 cassette was recently given proper treatment by Antimatter with beautiful presentation and loads of extras. HIGHLY recommended