Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Viogression - Expound and Exhort (1991)

A lost masterpiece of old-school US death metal. Kinda like a more lysergic, doom-oriented version of early Obituary.

Track listing:
1. Maggot Synod
2. Nothing (Psychosomatic Insanity)
3. Puritan Flames
4. Winds of Death
5. Fragmented Carcass
6. Cross Spells
7. As You Die
8. Limb from Limb
9. Transmigration
10. Choir of Loudun
11. Circle of the Divine
12. Choir of Loudun - The Chanting

Black space
Oblique nothing

If you're into this, listen to:
Winter -
Into Darkness (1990)
Blood Ritual -
At the Mountains of Madness (1997)

The Players' Association - The Players' Association (1977)

10/10 debut album of mostly instrumental disco/funk by The Players Association. There's an appealing, jazz-influenced looseness to this record, and it's at least partially due to a high volume of improvisatory sax and trumpet solos. If you like this, I def recommend tracking down their other four records, as they're all superb.

Track listing:
1. I Like It
2. Moon in Pisces
3. Let's Groove
4. Love Hangover
5. For the Love of You
6. Hustlin'

Ride the groove

You'll also like:
Brass Construction -
Brass Construction (1975)
Alphonso Johnson -
Yesterday's Dreams (1976)

Monday, February 27, 2017

Dargaard - Eternity Rites (1999)

Epic, synthesized symphonic darkwave. An orchestra's worth of keyboard voices, angelic, reverb-drenched singing, and black metal-style rasps.

Track listing:
1. Eternity Rite (Part I: Sight from the Abyss / The Confession and Prophecy)
2. Demon Eyes
3. Fuer Grissa Est Dranka
4. Down to the Halls of the Blind
5. Nightvision
6. Arcanum Mortis
7. Eternity Rite (Part II: Invocation and Bounding)
8. Temple of the Moon
9. ... of Broken Bones
10. Seelenlos
11. Transfer Complete

I am the one you called deep in the night

If you like this, try:
Die Verbannten Kinder Evas -
Die Verbannten Kinder Evas (1995)
Dark Sanctuary -
Royaume Mélancolique (1999)

Chaos as Shelter - In the Shelter of Chaos (2000)

Superb dark ambient/drone from Russian-born, Israel-residing artist Vadim Gusis. I'm overworked and exhausted, so that's about as much of a writeup as you're gonna get. Me listen loud while go sleepy-bye-bye now.

Track listing:
1. Decapitation
2. In the Shelter of Chaos, Pt. 1
3. A Funeral for Your Flesh
4. In the Shelter of Chaos, Pt. 2
5. Within the Eye of a Sandstorm
6. In the Shelter of Chaos, Pt. 3
7. The Door to Another Place
8. In the Shelter of Chaos, Pt. 4
9. November Uniform Alpha

In absentia

Further embracement of the void:
SleepResearch_Facility -
Nostromo (2001)
Richard Donoso -
Deterrence (2010)

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Deaden - Feast on the Flesh of the Dead (1996)

US brutal gore metal. Raw, ignorant aural horror. It's a demo, but I prefer Feast on the Flesh of the Dead to either of Deaden's studio albums.

Track listing:
1. Skin of Sores
2. Instinct to Kill
3. ... And the Dead Shall Rot
4. Lying in a Ditch
5. Sins of Her Flesh
6. Wallow in Vomit
7. Outro

I reenact the screams in mounds of flesh
That visit me when I sleep

You'll also like:
General Surgery -
Necrology (1991)
Chainsaw Dissection -
Human Internecion (2004)

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Nahual - Mysteries of the Cosmic Serpent (2001)

Ritualistic Peruvian black metal. Slow, sludge-y tempos and simple, primitive riffs, interspersed with experimental, percussion- and keyboard-based bad trips.

Track listing:
1. In the Penumbra
2. Apostasy Act
3. Mysteries of the Cosmic Serpent
4. Ouroboros Ruins
5. Moonchants
6. Sigila Diaboli (Diabolous)
7. A Night in the Woods
8. Algmor

Behold the womb of the world

You should also hear:
Necrofeast -
Necrofeast (1996)
Unclean - Ten, Který Se
Vyhýbá Svetlu

Bearns & Dexter - The Golden Voyage Volume 1 (1980)

Gorgeous new age tranquility courtesy of Robert Bearns & Ron Dexter, a duo of US composers and true believers whose music aims to, in their own words, "expand celestial harmonic horizons." Synths, acoustic guitars, piano, chimes, and various other instruments, with the constant presence of running water, chirping birds, and the like.

Track listing:
1. Golden Voyage
2. Heart Light
3. Temple Garden
4. Crystal Carousel
5. Quasars
6. Timeless Love
7. Temple Garden 2
8. Flowers of Our Childhood

The awakening electromagnetic spectrum

You will also enjoy:
Bernard Xolotl -
Return of the Golden Mean (1980)
Richard Burmer -
Mosaic (1984)

Doom - Monarchy Zoo (1996)

Heavy, butt-simple d-beat from UK crust legends Doom. Though the Police Bastard 7" has the distinction of being the best-selling crust record of all time (it's true, look it up) Monarchy Zoo has always been my personal favorite Doom record. Starts with the anthemic, mid-paced title track, followed by four short blasts of thrash-y caveman d-beat, then they're out. Perfect.

Also: someone should start a funeral doom band called "D-Beat."

Track listing:
1. Monarchy Zoo
2. Raining Napalm
3. Want Not Need
4. Dig Your Grave
5. Doomed

Lock them up, throw away the key
Put behind bars for the tourist industry

You'll also wanna hear:
Hiatus - El Sueño de la
Razon Produce Monstruos (1995)
Order of the Vulture -
Christ Killer (2004)

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Grinder - Dawn for the Living (1988)

Kickass German thrash. Very few frills, even less dynamics, hella riffs, killer solos.

Track listing:
1. Obsession
2. Dawn for the Living
3. Sinners Exile
4. Magician
5. Frenzied Hatred
6. Dying Flesh
7. Delirium
8. Traitor
9. F.O.A.D.

A bit more violent
A lot more mean

You should also listen to:
Whiplash -
Ticket to Mayhem (1987)
Forbidden -
Forbidden Evil (1988)

Moose - Sonny & Sam (1991)

Sweet, psychedelic British shoegaze/indie rock. Sonny & Sam collects songs from various early singles released over the course of the same year that it came out, and if it counts, it's my favorite Moose album.

Track listing:
1. Last Night I Fell Again
2. This River Will Never Run Dry
3. Do You Remember?
4. Jack
5. Ballad of Adam & Eve
6. Suzanne
7. Butterfly Collector

I'm your child
Make me blush
Drive me wild

You'll also like:
Teenage Filmstars -
Star (1992)
Lilys -
Eccsame the Photon Band (1994)

Acrostichon - Sentenced (1995)

Killer Dutch death metal. Kinda thrash-y at times, with some slight avant-metal tendencies. If only they had used their logo for the album cover instead of that atrocious font -- what a goddamn eyesore.

Track listing:
1. Sentenced
2. Snapshot
3. Forgotten
4. Guilt
5. Sleepless
6. Victims
7. Scarred
8. Shelter
9. Pain

A sea of twisted shapes

You might also like:
Blood Ritual -
At the Mountains of Madness (1997)
Nominon -
Diabolical Bloodshed (1999)

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

BaBa Zula - Üc Oyundan Onyedi Müzik (Seventeen Pieces from Three Plays) (1999)

A vibrant fusion of electro-jazz, instrumental hip-hop, psych, Turkish folk, and a million other styles that's pretty much impossible not to love. One of those records that's so uniquely great that it seems to actually cleanse the effects of inferior music from your system as you listen.

Track listing:
1. Babasiz Kizlar Balosu (Prom of the Fatherless Daughters)
2. Korsan (The Pirate)
3. Maduray'da Sabah (Morning in Maduray)
4. Erotika (Erotica)
5. Hıdırellez Gülleri (The Roses of 'Hıdırellez')
6. Bahar (Spring)
7. Kurabiye Dansi (The Dance of the Cookie)
8. Tohum (The Seed)
9. Anam (My Mother)
10. Dini Bütün Bir Gece (A Religious Night)
11. Çiçeğin Doğuşu (The Birth of the Flower)
12. Çöl Aslanları (Desert Lions)
13. Mutfak Kazalari (Kitchen Accidents)
14. Kurbağa Öyküleri (Frog Stories)
15. Çöl Havası (Desert Weather)
16. Adam (The Man)
17. El Filan Sallıyorum (I Am Waving and Everything)

Sacrifice your secrets, sacrifice yourself

Nicky Skopelitis -
Ekstasis (1993)
Goat -
World Music (2012)

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Caducity - The Weiliaon Wielder Quest (1995)

Belgian death metal. Kick-ass old-school brutality with nerdy sci-fi themes and the occasional keyboard and clean guitar passage. It's straight-up absurd how underrated this record and band are.

Track listing:
1. Entry: Thus Begins Our Fair Journey
2. Vision for the Morrigan (Praseodymium)
3. The Whimsical Crafts of Enchantment
4. Strength of Druid Fire
5. Gymbrea's Enriching Wisdom (Part I: The Sorcery of Chaos Hanzwarin); Gymbrea's Enriching Wisdom (Part II: Savouring of the Tricorn Flesh)
6. Gymbrea's Enriching Wisdom (Part III: The Spirits of Crystallyne Faith)
7. With a Dragon's Blaze on Their Banners
8. Civilization of Darklightborne Degradation
9. Aedrio Leriaon (Interweaving the Power)
10. The Witches' Desire
11. So Fair Our Fate, So Sad Our Loneliness (Perfidious in Its Divinity)
12. Impassible Are the Amber Runes of Silken Illusion
13. Let the Soulcrusher Speak... Again

"Dost thou know the Powerwords?
If it is thine wish to pass my world in your journey to the Highest of Places, thou shalt need them.
I need the Powerwords and your right hand as a sacrifice to appease me."

You might also like:
The Chasm - Deathcult for
Eternity: The Triumph
Gigan - Quasi-Hallucinogenic
Sonic Landscapes

Larry Coryell - Coryell (1969)

Influential fusion guitarist Larry Coryell has passed along to the great marijuana field in the sky. Coryell is more psych- and blues-rock oriented than one might expect from a man known as a founding member of the jazz fusion subgenre, but it was my introduction to the man's greatness, and it's great in its own right. Plus, I actually started working on this post a couple of weeks ago but got lazy and left it unfinished, so it looks like now's the time.

Track listing:
1. Sex
2. Beautiful Woman
3. The Jam with Albert
4. Elementary Guitar Solo #5
5. No One Really Knows
6. Morning Sickness
7. Ah Wuv Ooh

Full moon and empty spirits rise into flight

If you like this, check out:
John McLaughlin -
Devotion (1970)
Jerry Goodman & Jan Hammer -
Like Children (1974)

Lotus Eaters - Alienist on a Pale Horse (2001)

Experimental/drone/dark ambient/that kinda thing from a trio consisting of Aaron Turner, Stephen O'Malley, and James Plotkin. Music for staying up late and drifting from reality to reality.

Four untitled tracks

Dark and quiet
We go into quiet time

You'll also like:
Axolotl -
Oranur (2005)
Evan Caminiti -
Psychic Mud Shrine (2009)

Monday, February 20, 2017

Acerbitas - Urkaosets Svarta Vredesdom (2011)

Grav - Mental Illvilja (2011)

Swedish black metal. Slow and trance-like, with a great deal of repetition -- pretty much every part is played like 16 times before moving on.

Track listing:
1. I (Intro)
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI (Outro)
7. VII [Bonus]

Sentenced to a life in hell

More along these lines:
Vordven -
Towards the Frozen Stream (1997)
Aureole -
Alunar (2014)

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Grav - Mental Illvilja (2011)

Swedish depressive black metal. Layered, clean and distorted guitars, queasy melodies, hoarse vocals, and an overall uneasy, anxiety-ridden atmosphere.

9 tracks, titled "I" through "IX"

I believe in total destruction of all mankind

More in a similar vein:
Malvery - Mortal Entrenchment
in Requiem
Blood Red Fog -
Blood Red Fog (2006)