Nov 15, 2017
0:25-6:00
HORN
(Germany)
Retrograd
— Folk has never been my favorite, so
to start with a folk song means I fucking fell in love. Just the
perfect black metal song infused with gorgeous folk. This EP will
contain dulcimer and trumpets, stoked for it to be released. I love
that the pictured released was a band member with his arms wrapped
around a dulcimer (nerd).
6:56-14:10
RAM
(Sweden)
Gulag
— Romping 80’s heavy metal style,
done Swedish.
14:41-17:41
CONVERGE
(MA)
Murk & Marrow
— What the hell do I need to say
about Converge, these guys are gods.
18:14-24:54
CLOAK
(GA)
Beyond The Veil
— Debut album, groove perfection,
infectious, endearing, need to get it on vinyl. They claim Fields
of the Nephilim as one of their influences, which is a very
influential gothic band. I don’t hear goth in this band, but
definitely a touch of psychedelic and rock, which Fields
skirted.
25:35-32:05
RED SCALP
(Poland)
Faces
— Really, Poland is erupting as a
powerful scene. Now they are excelling in jamming psychedelic
stoner riffage? Not expecting that.
32:30-40:28
BLAZE OF PERDITION
(Poland)
Weight of the Shadow
— The other obvious spectrum of
Polish metal: bleak, dark, gritty black metal. The vocalist is a
badass. What stands out in this sound is the melancholy
undertone.
41:01-43:15
WITHERING HERD
(OH)
Perfect Recursion
— Fuck. You know when you are
middle-aged and cranky and miss the power of the music of your
youth? I thought industrial was fucking over. Withering Herd is a
2-piece redefining this genre; and I love the incorporation of
synth and electronic – it sounded like the soundtrack of 70’s
B-movie horror.
https://witheringherd.bandcamp.com/releases
44:10-49:27
AUÐN
(Iceland)
Í Hálmstráið Held
— Yet another STUNNING Icelandic
black metal band; but this one is intensely rich and lush and I
soaked in it.
50:03-53:39
PROCESSION
(Chile/EU)
When Doomdays Has Come
— One member left in Chile; the
others scattered across Sweden, Berlin, Amsterdam, Denmark. How
easy does that make recording? Epic, heavy metal, doom.
54:20-END
BERGRIZEN
(Ukraine)
Der Unsterbliche Geist
—One of the best black metal
releases, the Ukraine gots it goin’ on.
Behind My
Vocals
John Maus, album - Screen Memories (2017)