I'm not the only one to loseinterest 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.
Quite possibly my favorite track off of "Put it this way in headlines". An appropriately 90s-style video for a very 90s sounding track; exactly the sort of thing I'd used to stay up to watch for on "120 Minutes" way back when.
"Rescue" is an oddity in Dear Euphoria's catalogue. On one hand, the verses allude to the bleakness that usually defines her work ("I have let darkness blind me" + "I sing when I can't feel me", for example), but the chorus is anything but. At least, on the surface -- it's such an absurd gesture of optimism in the context of her new EP "This night will flee" that I refuse to purely take it at face value, though nothing can take away from the fact that it is, at its core, a beautiful pop song. There's always a tragic note in Dear Euphoria's vocal delivery and in this particular piece, I imagine that it betrays a hidden catastrophe. Be it a love that is unrequited or a partner separated by death or whatever other terrible calamity you can picture in your mind as the song plays on, just know that it can't end well. Intended or not, the joyous sentiment is tinted with grimness and I can't hear it any other way.
It's all too easy to let a lowkey release like this slip under the radar, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention The Tallest Man on Earth at least a few (dozen) more times, as would befit the quality of the music. Kristian Matsson's pinched nasal delivery may be off-putting to some much like that other big-name folky he's often compared to, but I find that his plaintive approach serves his songs well. Rustic and unadorned, there is no need for embellishment, vocal or otherwise -- the music speaks for itself through a simple voice and a fingerpicked guitar.
"The wild hunt" is the title track of his latest album and it is a marvel of instant nostalgia and gentle wistfulness. "I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone, yes I'll be leaving in the fall" I aim to defy.
Witness the magic of the internet! My friend Mathias sent me a link to the above yesterday with the comment: "Check out Mats Grönmark's old band Bonghit in this video from 1987, made in Stockholm. It blows me away! Mats has a lot of attitude to play with all that distortion so high in the mix in fucking 1987! If they'd been from England or New Zealand they would be a cult band today." Real talk! I'm no fan of Mats' solo material (can't stand his voice, to be honest), but this? Totally killer postpunk/proto-indie. Loud guitars, strong melodies, nothing not to like. Naturally, I'm led to their myspace page for more tracks and am further intrigued. I email back to Mathias as such and then, one day later, there's an email from vocalist Kiana with three songs from the band's sole demo. Brilliant obscurities delivered to my doorstep in < 24hrs... simply amazing. From me to you and onward.
Both José González and Junip's music is best suited for a seated theater than a standing-room only club, but that didn't stop the latter from putting on an excellent show at the last stop of their premiere US tour in Seattle on Saturday night. Expectations were met and exceeded and the new material sounded great once I let myself get into their hypnotic groove. Great heavy 70s vibe too, with the driving organ and extra percussionist on stage -- definitely got the feeling they could easily let things ramble off into spacier territory with quality results. Maybe next time, in November? When they come back with a more established repertoire?
Though I really did enjoy the show, I still have a few bones to pick. One, and this is more of a general complaint not specific to Junip, the mandatory/expected encore is bullshit. I love seeing a band play a solid, well-planned and focused set; even better if they leave the audience wanting more (and don't give it to them). Second, Mr. González needs to ween off the covers. I fully expected "The ghost of Tom Joad" since the band recorded it for the "Black refuge" EP, but had I left pre-encore, I would have missed it and been none the wiser. In fact, I kinda wish I did leave pre-encore because what they did play was not worth sticking around for. Two covers (the aforementioned Springsteen plus a Nico song) with an unmemorable original sandwiched between? Lame. Shame to go out on a bad note.
Two new Underachiever demo tracks were just posted for free download. The first one "Triumph of emptiness" takes a different path than before, showing a new, more melodic side of the band. More syncopation too, taking them more towards the offset rat-tatat of, say, Helmet as opposed to the steady 4/4 caveman drubbing they excelled at on demo #1. Not that I want to be one to discourage growth and progress, but I miss the ready steady lunkheaded singlemindedness of their eighth note pulse and furthermore, I am not feeling the melody, not at all. Vocally, they can't match it either, nor would I want them too. There's certainly something to be said for keeping it simple.
"Buried by billions of unique snowflakes of hate." The visual is just as vile as the music and I wouldn't have it any other way. Anti-life, anti-reproductive: a sign of the times. Take a look around, things are only going to get worse. Thus "Powers of horror" is my #1 album of the year -- you will not hear a band with a darker, more bleak and negative outlook than Haust, they are the pioneers of the new dystopia.
I really wanted to like the new Familjen album "Mänskligheten", but it is tragically marred by gratuitous neo-soul diva vocals. Not that the debut "Det snurrar i min skalle" was wholly immune, but one track ("Kom säger dom") and a b-side ("Feber") make it the exception, not the rule. It's not all bad for the new one though, lead single "När planeterna stannat" is a solid dancefloor stomper and the instrumental "Viggo" would fit right in on Håkan Lidbo's interesting "Musiken från framtiden" comp. My favorite track though, would have to be "Det var jag", which sounds like a combination of those two tracks into something greater. It's got the driving beat and bassline of the former as well as the Eastern melody of the latter and is supremely catchy in the way I expect from Familjen. And no damn distracting vox. Thank god.
The weather clouded up and we got some rain and hail, so it's back to the feel-bad jams that befit our never-ending bummer winter/the spring that never was. Hooded Menace are a Finnish band with a great name who sound like they spent way too much time listening to Black Sabbath on the wrong speed and then got a guitarist to come in with the most sickening, discordant harmonies possible. It's slow, queasy and yes, totally awesome. Until the sun comes back, I'm mired in this sludge.
Warmth and sunshine has finally arrived in the PacNW. That means it's time to put all my best feel-bad music (Okkultokrati, Haust) on the backburner and bust out some classic 70s-style heaviness. As always, delivers the goods, so here's a track from a recent release of theirs: the self-titled debut of Swedish/Norwegian bruisers Brutus. Don't expect any curveballs with this one, it's a straight-up blues jammer with big choruses, plenty of swing and a refreshing lack of pointless psychedelic interludes. When done right, as Brutus does, this sort of thing never gets old.
The recent news that Montys Loco are packing it in isn't all that surprising, but it is a disappointment. The sad truth is that their dark clatter and direct, angry feminist posturing remains a difficult pill to swallow for many, leaving them forever damned to the fringes. Running up against that wall of adversity is exhausting and they gave their best. So here's to their legacy and let's hope that they both resurface with new music soon.
"Have you heard the new Watain?"
"Yeah, it's weird... it's got hooks"
"True, but they've always kind of had that. I dunno, it just doesn't do much for me"
"Me neither"
I paraphrase, but that's more or less the discussion I had with a friend on the subject of "Lawless darkness", Watain's latest album. As I was saying earlier in the first part of my examination of black metal in 2010, I often wonder if my disinterest has more to do with me than it has to do with the actual music. I've been actively listening to the album for a couple weeks now and while I'm still not that into it, there's nothing definitely wrong with it either, at least not that I can pinpoint. But it does also play into the subject I brought up before: modern BM's lack of mystery. They still sport some of the best corpse paint around, looking more like the rotting undead than evil clowns, but then again, I'm looking at their spread in Terrorizer and thinking, god, this is all so corny. Not that everyone should emulate Portal all of a sudden, but that band is pretty much the only BM act I can think of whose image is as creepy/fearsome as their music. Like I've been saying: the element of mystery is crucial! Also, though Watain frontman Erik Danielsson no longer goes by the letter E, I kinda wish they would just shed the artifice entirely at this point. It's not necessary, it's distracting and arguably, seeing as how they are currently the most popular black metal band in the world right now who still managed to retain their cred, they could easily get away with it. Still, I suppose it could be me. I'll keep listening and hoping that it eventually clicks.
It never occurred to me until my wife mentioned it last night, but Monzano sounds a heckuva lot like Hello Saferide. It's true: same wistful tone, same literate lyrics, even the same vocal range. Similar instrumentation and production too, though that's far less striking in the vast ocean of guitar-based indierock. Guess it's no surprise then that I consider their album "By this time last year everything will seem younger" to be one of 2010's best releases. Six months later and I've still got it on regular rotation.
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?