Friday, June 8, 2012

Todesstoss – Sauglingshangwerk Aushilfheins (Traumorgane Kreationen)





Todesstoss is one of the very best at making raw and ….well, fucked up black metal expressionism. Once a solo project of Martin Lang, (recently becoming a three piece) mainly consisting of hollow fuzz clouds of gritty distortion and echoing, reverb saturated, guitar buzz; lunatic rants in German; and very primitive mechanical, almost industrial, drum machine rhythms that take the early work of Urfaust and strip it even further down into a cold concrete bunker stained with blood and reeking of isolation and bizarre deaths. I’ve been following this guys work only for the last two years or so, but in that time I’ve grabbed everything that I could starting with the esoteric and psychotic Spiegel der Urangste, which sounded like raw black metal as heard through a slow awakening from a Chloroform inhalation, but even through his incredible catalog there was nothing….and I mean NOTHING remotely hinting at the horrors that are found on Sauglingshangwerk Aushilfheins. This album takes horror, insanity, and depravity to new levels of shock and artistic craft!!!! If you’re looking for a mindfuck…get Sauglingshangwerk Aushilfheins, and if you’re either experiencing Todesstoss for the first time or are a repeat patron of the deranged sounds that this incredible act can conjure up, this is the one that you want to go with.

Sauglingshangwerk Aushilfheins is the story of a man, J. Black, who works for a company called Death Inc. and his job is to collect newborn children and execute them, further along in this 30-minute horror tale filled with macabre German poetry written by Lang himself, you can actually hear the screaming of infants and the gun shots of death. The typical psychotic tantrum rants of twisted poetry that are a Todesstoss trademark are on an all time high performance here, they are really emotional and fluctuate violently and systematically between moods as he is both the narrator and J. Black the baby butcher.

Occasionally you can hear the basslines pumping and pulsing through the sinister minimal guitar wailing tone and wall of feedback and reverb. The song builds up to the middle where it just explodes into this siren of blood and homicide, it becomes this surreal black metal storm of delicately placed drum patterns, throbbing basslines of seismic proportion, a diesel motor rumble and grind of intense sound, and some of the most intense and bizarre moments that you will ever hear.  This album, broken between the intense and abhorrent title track and the more darkwave/industrialized “Spannungstrauma X” will definitely rape your morality.  Todesstoss in any phase, but especially in the trio phase that it has morphed into during the last year, is like a homicidal mixture of Einsturzende Neubauten Germanic harshness and industrial improv. with the raw and sonic effects of everything from Burzum and Urfaust, to supernatural forces and serial killers, more than likely on mind altering drugs.

Even I find this album challenging to describe, and that’s saying a lot. Yes, the sounds and subject are generally, to most, repulsive, but  the reason that this extreme story is so powerful and justified is due to the fact that it only takes half of a brain cell to realize the sentiment behind it. Sauglingshangwerk Aushilfheins  is so great because it represents a fictitious horror/black humor scenario in which humans are sacrificed by force, for humane reasons. Black Metal, and metal in general is not apologetic and neither are such minds as those behind Todesstoss, which literally translates to “deathblow” in German, a fitting title for this opus that they put forth.

The second portion of the album is the black psychedelic monument of insanity titled “Spannungstrauma X”. Fans of the briallinace of Toil and Hateful Abandon fused with Burzum and Urfaust, with a heavy nod to SIXX (Devil Doll) and the darkwave influence.

If you haven’t heard Todesstoss, then you haven’t heard the entire side of the truly insane and wild side of black metal. I’m in the process of an interview with Martin Lang in the next few weeks, so expect some wild shit to post and  deeper excursions off the pier of sanity with that and Sauglingshangwerk Aushilfheins.

From what Martin has told me, this and the other recent Todestoss S/T are only available through the label site, but don’t let that hinder you from buying and exploring, check the links below and YouTube to hear and experience first hand the sonic manipulation and psychotic power that this band will compromise you with. Todesstoss is the ultimate challenge between psychosis and sanity, emotions and logic, and self expression over popularity.






Thursday, June 7, 2012

Pandemonium – Misanthropy (Pagan Records)




It’s been a few years since black metal was my general “go to” style, but even today when something distinct and amazing comes my way such as Pandemonium, I succumb to its power and subconsciously hand over my attention for long detailed listens. This Polish mob formed back in 1989 and since then have been challenging ears and genres with their brand of intoxicating black death metal with major doom influence. I’ve had this one for over a month now and it gets continual play as I continue to itch for its unique blend of sounds that really defies classifications.

Expect some intense moments of melodic chaos with screaming metal leads and controlled steady pulses of crunching black death metal riffing with some doom wailing, and something intrinsically addicting with the bulldozers of “God Delusion”, “Necro Judas”, and “Everlasting Opposition”.  “Everlasting Opposition” has this really trippy effect in the vocals where they fade in and out of the mix, but always behind the instruments even when they are present, it sounds like the voice of a spirit calling forth and you can almost visualize the vocals as this purple plume of sticky dense smoke swirling and dispersing through a backdrop of pure blackness. The riffs on this one are deeply rooted in the blood soaked soil of old school death metal and distinctly so, right down to some of the shredding guitar slide work (not the pig squeal though).

There’s even some female vocals present on “Stones Are Eternal”, that remind me of a pagan ritual incantation by a high priestess, that add some eerie and epic moments to the song that otherwise is yet another relentless hammer blow of shredding distorted riffing and rhythmic pounding inspired by the occult and a murderous desire. The rhythms are actually pretty doomy on this one, although never that slow, they are massive and lingering with that right tweaking to the tone to make them doom and do have a steady throbbing feel to them like repeated blunt force impacts to your skull.

Still, with all of the greatness on here I have to bow down in humility and awe to the female vocals courtesy of Androniki Skoula (Chaostar and Septic Flesh) as heard on “Stones are Eternal” and the glorious power climax of the album, the title track “Misanthropy”. “Misanthropy” redefines epic and dark symphonic metal, although it’s only symphonic in a few places , that feeling is all in the way the guitar wailing and screaming melodies from the darkness behind and the spoken evil voices alongside the continual song of the priestess towering above it all.

If you’re looking for something strong, well executed, immaculately brutal, hypnotic and unforgettable, consistently solid all the way through, and something that you will return to time and time again then pick up Misanthropy. There’s nothing on here that doesn’t do something, it doesn’t raise the bar, it bends it until it snaps in half leaving us all speechless in response. This is already one of my absolute top picks of 2012, but that’s not too surprising as this horde have been continually developing and mesmerizing audiences for over two decades

Check them out:

Deathgasm has it in stock, I just checked.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Nunslaughter – Hells Unholy Fire (Hells Headbangers 2012)




This one may not need much of an introduction, or even review given that  IT IS Nunslaughter, but it’s a mega ass ripper of a beast that deserves mention and now HHR is putting out cassette versions of some of their releases so for ease of saving $ I chose this over the vinyl.

“Death By the Dead” is a straight forward grimy zombie horror death metal tune, as infectious as syphilis and equally as potent in turning it’s infected victims brains into puss. “Cataclysm” is not too different in terms of a crusty and raw shred fest full of swinging fists and a swift, but nonetheless blinding blow to the head.  Although NS are not “new”  nor are they trying to be anything aside from ugly and obscene, they have this uncanny ability to be completely unlike anyone or anything else and it’s that reason that they really are such incredibly amazing assholes and we love them for it.

One moment I’m hearing punk, then it’s thrash, then death metal, maybe some black metal….Hell, I do belief there’s even some DOOM in there somewhere, and as if that isn’t enough they also compile horror themes with blasphemy and even a bit of ridiculousness that makes them hilarious for their deviant sense of black humor and stomping anthems of gore.

Seriously, the fact that it is Nunslaughter should be convincing enough AND descriptive enough!!!! If you missed out on the original, then get this one before it evaporates into thin air once again!!!!