Check out this trailer for the upcoming Efterklang album "Piramida", due out this September via /. The clip features footage of the band in the Abandoned Russian island of Spitsbergen, an Arctic island near the north pole where the namesake ghost town of Pyramiden is located.
New stuff from Ikons off their forthcoming album "Life rhythm", due out in May via . Seems like they've officially Abandoned their previously darker, more interesting and instrumental/Kraut-heavy sound for a lackluster baggy/Madchester sort of pop thing. Forgive me if I can't conceal my disappointment, but this isn't very good.
Doomsday has live video of Abandon's one-time performance of "The dead end" this past weekend: http://doomsdaymag.blogspot.com/2011/08/Abandon-dead-end-live.html
Swedish doom act Abandon will reunite for one night only to perform their posthumously-released masterpiece "The dead end" in its 100+ minute entirety with friend Ufuk Demir (of the similarly-minded/also-awesome Walk Through Fire) filling in on lead vocals for passed away vocalist Johan Carlzon. It all goes down August 25 at Pustervik in Göteborg and will correspond with the long-awaited 3xLP release of said album from .
I was originally planning to discuss summer music this week, but it seems a bit inappropriate considering recent circumstances, not to mention the fact that, despite what the calendar says, it doesn't really even feel like summer here anyway. As the clouds build outside, it doesn't really look like it either. Instead, I bring you something new from Walk Through Fire, one the absolute most devastating doom acts I've heard since Abandon. Which makes perfect sense, since the two are related in some way. Anyhow, if you're looking to envelop yourself in the sounds of pure, soul-crushing darkness, look no further. Put this on, turn it up LOUD and be prepared to get fucking bummed.
Listen to the rest of the band's new record at Bandcamp: http://walkthroughfire.bandcamp.com/
Walk Through Fire - Furthest from heaven
Here's a streaming preview of the new Medeia album "Abandon all": http://kaaoszine.fi/exclusive-medeia-Abandon/
I can't imagine that I'll ever actually like Medeia's slightly above-average metalcore, but they do consistently deliver great videos. Direct link: http://youtu.be/rTtSCh1AmQM
Imperial State Electric are the latest band to wisely Abandon myspace for their own website: http://imperialstateelectric.se/
New music from Finnish metalcore act Medeia off their forthcoming album "Abandon all", due out in April. Check out the straight-up WEAK crowd shots!
Ex-Abandon members continue where they left off, creating some of the most punishing doom Sweden has to offer: http://www.myspace.com/walkthroughfire420
"Toast to M" is oddly cheery sounding for a song about suicide, but I suppose that's the point. It's about making peace, not wallowing in misery. It's also an obvious standout on Britta Persson's new record "Current affair medium rare", which is one of three great new Swedish albums out this season, all fairly obvious picks from established artists. As with the others, one of Britta's best qualities is her consistent progression -- she Abandoned straightforward girl-with-a-guitar based songwriting with previous album "Kill Hollywood me" and has now gone further into rhythm-heavy composition, building songs around memorable beats. Naturally, having someone as gifted as Per Nordmark (Fireside, Bad Hands, etc... playing Friday at Debaser Malmö for IAT! Clubnights) as your sideman certainly helps, but let's not diminish Britta's wonderful phrasing, among other highpoints. There's lots to like, moreso on the record as a whole.
Also note that Britta Persson will be one of Club Killers' special "secret" guests at Strand on October 8 where she will be singing "Bleeding love" and "Kids in America" with the band. So there you go, two must-see shows on each side of Sweden. I won't be anywhere close, but I would if I could.
Britta Persson - Toast to M
I'm not the only one to lose interest in black metal -- genre pioneers Ulver Abandoned the genre completely once completing their monumental 3-album trilogy. Which is not to say they Abandoned the dark arts completely; in fact, I'd say that some of their post-BM work is ever more black and twisted than "Nattens madrigal". It goes to show that even if you stray, there will still be lines drawing you back, though the news that Ulver mainman Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg's label was releasing a "pure" BM album by the band Nidingr still came to me as a surprise. Naturally, I was immensely curious -- though not all of Jester's releases appeal to me, they are always interesting and I knew I had to hear what was so exciting as to inspire such a return. Amazingly, for a label that prides itself on releasing left-field/avant music, Nidingr's "Wolf-Father" is straight-up orthodox: lots of blasting drums (courtesy of Hellhammer), tremolo picking and cold, dissonant riffs. There are a few standout points of interest though, and that's what makes it an exceptional release. First, the recording. On one hand, it's really flat and digital sounding and, to be frank, the drums are lame and unnatural/heavily triggered, but it's also all very in-your-face, especially the vocals. Also, the cleanliness augments the fact that it's a (mostly) unembellished recording, untainted by excessive and unnecessary overdubs. You can even hear the bass! Furthermore, so much BM is marred by ye standard issue reverb-drenched shrieking, but not here: Nidingr is all about raging screams placed front and center in the mix. Which brings me to my second standout point: the lyrics. Not that I could ever understand Enslaved's old Norse lyrics on their (superb) early albums, but I knew what they were about and I knew it was awesome; Nidingr mines those same Viking legends, but they disseminate it in English and they do it with unbridled fury. Taken as a whole, it's almost enough to get me excited about black metal again. Almost, I say, because I doubt anything else will match it anytime soon.
Nidingr - Hymiskvitha
Black metal in 2010, part I. Did the genre desert me or did I simply lose interest? I've been listening to this new Withershin EP ("The hungering void") and pondering these questions because, while I can tell the music is good, I still can't force myself to care. Well-executed melodic Swedish black death ala Dissection...? There's certainly room for more besides Watain. And yet, I feel nothing. I don't mean that in an ironic kvlt way either -- I'm really surprised by my lack of enthusiasm. So where did things go wrong I wonder? The genre did go through a certain amount of growing pains around the turn of the century and now things seem pretty evenly split among two major strains. First, we have the upper-tier established acts who have been going at it for years, some more progressive than others (Enslaved, Mayhem), others more content to drift towards the mainstream (Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir and seriously, WTF is up with this nonsense?). Some just keep on keeping on (Dark Funeral, Marduk), a few decided to Abandon the genre completely (Darkthrone sorta, yes Ulver). Then, on the other hand, we have the new BM underground which, from my point of view, seems all too willing to embrace and accept sketchy politics and increasingly shitty, poorly recorded music. A race to the bottom, as I've mentioned here before I believe. The fact that I hear the new Burzum is getting a third vinyl repress bums me out. That means that competent bands like Withershin don't have a place anymore and boring, jaded dudes like me will shrug it off. I think my major hangup must be the lack of mystery in today's BM -- 15 years ago these bands were legitimately terrifying and sounded barely human. They burned down churches and killed each other and lived way off in some distant land that seemed far beyond reach. I distinctly remember hearing Emperor for the first time and how it sounded like absolutely nothing I had ever experienced. Then, a few years later, I remember seeing Emperor's first video and how amazingly disappointed it made me. No longer the aural expression of pure evil, here were a bunch of average metal dudes making an average metal video and playing dress-up in the woods. To say nothing about how boring they were live when I eventually saw them on tour, but the magic was forever lost and bands like Withershin have no hope to reclaim that. I don't know what's to be done though. Has the grim masquerade run its course? Can we start smiling at each other and simply enjoy the music for what it is, not what it used to represent?
Withershin - Wherein I exalt
Many folks have Abandoned myspace, but Fenriz of Darkthrone still uses it to highlight his favorite underground acts with his "Band of the Week" feature and now, after doing it continually for a long while, it's led to some bigger/better things besides just hipping many folks to lots of great music (myself included). First up, there will be a "Live Evil Fest" happening in Camden, UK in late October featuring a number of previous "Band of the Week" recipients including Obliteration and Sonic Ritual, two IAT favorites. Go here for more on that: http://www.myspace.com/liveevilfestival
Secondly, both Nocturno Culto and Fenriz will be co-editing the March issue of Terrorizer where they will be running features and interviews on many other bands they dig. Should be great for anyone into true underground metal + punk, so yeah, keep an eye out!
AbandonAbandon have always had an air of grace about them that belies their sludgy roots and perhaps that's down to the integral part that Mehdi Vafaei's pump organ plays in laying the foundation on which the band's music is constructed. Whether it's pushed to the forefront of the music, as in "There is no escape" or "The dead en", or looming with menace behind guitar-driven tracks such as "Lost we are" or "It's all gone", it's difficult to imagine Abandon having an impact as sinister as they do without. That's not to say they would lack appeal without it. The Göteborg doom crew have always done a sterling job in constructing some of the most crushing and heavy gut-churners out there and they know their craft like seasoned professionals. On "The dead end" they once again prove that they can write songs capable of tearing the very souls from those who embark on a listening experience and they achieve that not only by utilizing the sheer power behind their collective instrumentation, but by knowing when to drop an all-out aural depth charge and when to recede back into the darkness to create an eerie, transcendental mood that's almost hypnotic. Vocalist Johan Carlzon sadly passed away before this album met its awaiting public, but some sort of comfort can be taken in knowing that this was, without doubt, the finest performance the man has given in a complete body of work that comprises nothing but exceptional output. The fact that he had, unlike many vocalists, the intelligence to use his talent sparingly, only when the music really required his presence, served to heighten the impact he had on Abandon's music and showcased not only a creative genius but also a certain modesty. A unique and essential memorial.
- John Norby
