Mystified - Passing Through the Outer Gates: Eulogy Series volume I (First Fallen Star 2010)

Yet another essential release from newest collaborator, First Fallen Star, and a unique perspective from the musical perspective of death, Thomas Park (Mystified) sets out with this release to capture the experience of death from his angle and does so brilliantly.

If you imagine the experience of death as an ethereal transcendence, nothing violent or demonic, depressing or pessimistic, then you’d be in perfect agreement with Mystified’s post mortem atmospheres. Somewhat neo-classical and space ambient, Mystified paints images of eternal drifting and cosmos on top of a fairly minimal and spacious background. Each track sort of echoes and ricochets through a massive tunnel of space-time as would the soul as it journeys away from the mortal body into the absolute oblivion. If anything can convincingly illustrate the sort of Nirvana to be found beyond Earthly and mortal constraints it’s Mystified with Passing Through the Outer Gates. These are some seriously moving compositions!!!!

The album packaging is equally intricate as it’s presented in an A5 digipak with silver foil embossed lettering and a specially die-cut cover with a coffin shaped hole that reveals a small fraction of the awesome album artwork that lies underneath. There’s some serious care taken in each release in terms of artwork, packaging, and of course…the sounds.

Purchasing info and audio samples:
http://www.firstfallenstar.com

Dense Vision Shrine - Time Lost in Oblivion (First Fallen Star 2010)

Dense Vision Shrine is yet another artistic character embodied by Karsten Hamre and a simultaneous release on First fallen Star with his self titled acts FFS debut Through the Eyes of a Stranger. The title of Time Lost in Oblivion couldn’t have been better chosen for this release as the sounds herein sound as ancient and drifting as they do completely otherworldly.

Each track captures some alien world field recordings and then morphs them through a moderately warm and distorted ne-classical medium. The metallic clanks serve as a backdrop to the vortex of soft ambient hums and whirrs that circulate about your brain like a skilled hypnotist. Each track is stark, barren, isolationist drone, but never without any presence of life.

The tracks remind me of the image from Eloy’s The Tides Return Forever, where a man stands in solitude on a parched and cracked planet’s surface staring into oblivion as a gigantic beam of white light glares out at him from the center of the universe. That image exactly sums up what you will experience through Time Lost in Oblivion.

For Audio Samples and contact:
http://www.myspace.com/densevisionshrine

For purchasing:
http://www.firstfallenstar.com

Crisis - Reaktor 4 (Syndrom Records 2010)

This is one of my new brilliant finds in the dark ambient/noise/industrial genre and although I haven’t had the actual album on hand to fully check out in detail I can comment on my first impressions of the work.

The sound is very mechanical, hypnotic, and almost hallucinatory, sort of like what the old main frame computers bleeping and chirping would sound like on LSD. Amidst the cold electronic whirrs and hums, rumbles and blurps, there’s an aesthetically warm, almost analog effect to the tracks like “Neutron” and “Strom” that remind me of some of Clusters darker moments.

Maybe some of the fuzzy electronic babble is some tonal alien lingo, that’s a definite possibility as these tracks really do somehow speak from within the feedback and variable frequencies, just listen to “Evakuierung” with it’s muddled and incoherent speech and you’ll know exactly what I mean. It’s almost as f you’re waking up from a deep narcotic nap and barely able to clearly discern any environmental stimulus, but there are some definitely familiar elements, living elements.

Definitely check out the audio at:
http://www.myspace.com/syndromrecords02

Winterfylleth – The Mercian Sphere (Candlelight Records 2010)

Based out of Manchester, England and deriving their name and inspirations from their homeland and history, one can only expect the majestic and epic atmospheres that these guys deliver. The band are described as playing: “English Black Metal, with traditional Northern European Folk and ambient overtones. “, and nothing could be closer to the truth.

In terms of sound it’s somewhere in the Wolves in the Throne Room, Blut Aus Nord (Memoria Vetusta II), Altar of Plagues, Twilight (Monument to Time End) realm with a bit of the more pagan Bathory albums. The tracks are very dense, the vocals are ferocious but more deliberate in execution than just merely being part of the atmosphere. The mood of the album fluctuates between conjuring up images of a furious firestorm and the blazing violent winds where everything is charred and destroyed, the pure horror and chaos, and then the sort of intense memory of it when looking at the damage after it had passed.

The mixture of the tempestuous parts and the more subdued bits cover the range of war, victory, and even despair in some of the more acoustic sounding passages as heard at the beginning of “The Honour of Good Men” before the ravaging kicks in. As with bands like Winterfylleth and the others mentioned, there’s always a devastating storm, some really deep and insightful morose atmospheres, and a sense of pride and strength within the album and sometime each track. The folk elements are not over bearing here in anyway and nothing is cliché or redundant so the result is a melodic and solid piece of modern black metal. Along with this release I’d definitely recommend checking out Woe and bay area band Embers, both they really capture the extremities of the various styles they mix and the final result is pretty thrilling and intense.

Winterfylleth:
http://www.myspace.com/winterfylleth

Karsten Hamre - Through the Eyes of a Stranger

One of my newest collaborators and gaining ground on Malignants stronghold over me in terms of awesome consecutive dark ambient releases, First Fallen Star has delivered a handful of neuron scrambling releases one of which being this one here. Karsten Hamre is no stranger to the scene, having releases work under aliases: Arcane Art, Penitent, The Flux Komplex, veiled Allusions, Defraktor, and now his own name and Dense Vision Shrine. Karsten is also a visual artist and not only designs his own cover art but also does live shows.

Through The Eyes of a Stranger is one of those rare albums that sort of stops time when it come on because it has a certain substance that completely catches your undivided attention whether you intend it ot or not. Tracks like " Keepers of the Bones",and "Remember the Past" showcase organic textures and an alluring and almost warm analog feel that instantly brings to mind the more cosmic and dronier work of Tangerine Dream (Phaedra,Rubicon) and Cluster (71), yet they are created using digital equipment. Other tracks such as "Darkness Gently Falling" and "The End of the World" tread the black waters of minimal symphonic scores as the synth swatches feel as if they are being frozen to a dead stop as they come toward you, then suddenly they speed up and whoosh past you to almost dissapear into some unseen void.

The brilliance of Karsten Hamre is obvious in the way that he can blend cosmic/celestial drone, neo-classical, dark ambient, and an almost psychedelic or maybe half-psychotic state of mind into seven tracks that somehow actually do put the listener in the mind and reality of someone else. This would be the perfect soundtrack to a film in which the enitre film is shot through the yes and experiences of the main character, you never see him/her, but you see and hear how that person interacts with their surroundings. This is definitely one of my new hot picks currently and highly recommended to those who enjoy the more cinematic aspects to their ambient.

For fans of: Tangerine Dream, Cluster, Klaus Schulze, Phelios, Collapsar

Audio samples and contact info:
http://www.myspace.com/karstenhamre

art info:
http://khamre.deviantart.com/

related acts:
Dense Vision Shrine: http://www.myspace.com/densevisionshrine
Penitant: http://www.myspace.com/penitentno

Poison Tongue-Lick You Sweety (No Visible Scars 2010)

Lethal and addicting!!!! Make no mistake, this is one seriously dense horror narrative told through a power electronics format and with the coldness of the electronic whirs and clanks cunningly maneuvering through the haze of rumble and hums of bass toned feedback, and no other medium could capture this accurate of a slasher or insanity scenario. As each track plays out like the soundtrack to a scene in a psychological thriller you get to thoroughly experience the graphic stalking events of the maniac and the adrenalizing suspense as you would in watching a classic thrasher filmor reading a really great book on weird murders. Artists like Poison Tongue have the natural ability to create the most intimate and graphicly horrifying experiences that only can be understood through the experience of listening. I have to admit that my mind mine is completely thirsty for this album and seems to get thirstier after each listen.

Tracks like "The Lizard Lord", "Diabolos", and "Lust" build up the suspense as you travel through the inner workings of a derranged sexual sadist, complete with inaudible human voices in the distance that are either a result of delusions or are a display of how muddled his reality is, as his only true reality is his quest for inflicting excrutiating pain on others. The tracks seem to lead up to "interlude", which is a throbbing bassline, pulsing, ordered chaos...i.e. the absolute climax to where the flesh is finally severed and the perps sense of sadistic thrill hits it's maximum. The album then comes to a perfect close with an almost warm buzz and hum of the dark ambient on "Ripping".

Not everyone has the capacity to sit and watch and read some of the stuff that is depicted through sound on here, but thankfully I CAN and gladly do. Influenced by the great Giallo films and following in the blood trail left by the dark and brilliant works of acts like: Atrax Morgue, Navicon Torture Technologies, Steel Hook Prosthesis, Rasthof Dachau, and similar artists, Poison Tongue will deliver the stark post-industrial soundscapes and a massive mind fuck with it while walking the fraying tightrope over purely apocalyptic audio.

Released on classic black chrome C-30 casettes by one of the most gripping and promising labels in extreme audio, No Visible Scars,and packaged in a 7' EP sleeve these sounds will rip through you like a nice butchers blade through soft and still warm flesh.

Avaliable for purchase through Malignant Records and Hells Headbangers webstores (just click on thei logos at the top of the page and it'll direct you to those sites)or email NVS directly at: novisiblescars@gmail.com and they'll get back to you asap.

For audio samples, they are on webstream here so you might catch it, but also go to: http://www.myspace.com/novisiblescarslabel

Woe – Quietly, Undramatically (Candlelight Records 2010)

Woe, is right!!!!! This album is an aggressive slab of angst fueled by the scalding of suffering and frustration, it honestly reminds me of other US bands: Nachtmystium (Assassins era), Twlight (current line-up), Ludicra, Embers, Minsk, and Neurosis. It seems as though so many of the tremor inducing new bands want to take: the stripped down distortion, battering ram percussion, and raw aggression of black metal; depressing and ultimately heavy swarms of fury; barbituate induced pseudo-psychedelia, creating a half conscious somnial sort of atmosphere; classic crust rhythms and influence, and pull from those influences to create the devastating intensity of some of their forebears. Needless to say, the album title is ironic as this is anything but quiet and undramatic!

It’s bands like Woe and the ones mentioned above that make todays pool of talent one of the best ever because the few that strive to do something legit and right really have a lot of foundation to pull from: crust/hardcore/psychedelic (new and old)/industrial/black metal/ doom/death metal/grind/thrash/ambient/jazz……
The true mark of a badass band/artist to me is that they do one of two things: something solid and classic, but still stands as a worthy addition to that genre/style; pull influences from all over the spectrum of awesome sounds and execute it well, as does Woe. Melodic, catchy, stomping, pounding, melody, aggressive fusing black metal with crust and some sludge doom psychedelia, you won’t be disappointed with Woe.

I definitely hear a lot of the Minsk/Twlight/Nachtmystium influence on this album so if you dig those sounds you’ll be wanting to embark on this listening experience. I’ve been listening to music all day regardless of my mood to at least get an idea of what some of the massive pile of audio coagulating on my “to do list” is and this one was dramatic enough to be that sort of caffeine buzz to relieve my semi coma state and inspire a review. That should say something for the power behind this one, really good pick for Candlelight too. Set for release October 12,2010 and oyu better believe I want to get my offical copy as this one will be on continual play with me for time to come.

Chekc them out at:
http://quietly.woeunholy.com/

Krohm/Tenebrae in Perpetuum - Split

Krohm/Tenebrae In Perpetuum- Split (Debemur Morti 2010)

A split released conceived by two bands drawing upon their Italian ancestry and their darkest internal and personal inspirations to create beautiful yet ominous tracks of bleak aural landscapes. Each band furnishes three tracks that prompt the listener to experience the feel of the old world, the beautiful and dilapidated buildings, cobblestone streets and narrow walkways and the sensation of isolation among some sort of ruins

The sound that drew me to Krohm back with “A world Through Dead Eyes” is still thrusting and encircling my senses like a deep winter chill through my veins with these three tracks. As always with Krohm, there’s that illustrious buzz of guitar that is so primal yet crafts these impenetrably dense atmospheres of gloom and isolation, that truly “ancient” sound that makes black metal so inspiring and alluring to many is perfectly expressed in these compositions. It’s almost impossible to listen to Krohm and not be aroused and have your consciousness absorbed into the tracks as they play through. Definitely ideal for dim lighting and a late October evening when the chill begins to set in and the days grow shorter in favor of the night.


Tenebrae in Perpetuum is yet another one of my isolationist favorites. I was turned on to this act only about two years ago, it was during a cold spell and I was laying back and exhausted and some of the most incredible draconian images and feelings came into the back of my mind, sort of like having an old silent horror film playing beneath my blank conscious thoughts of mental fatigue. I love the way these tracks unfold from barely skin and bones riffs and passages into a rolling thunder of catastrophe and then a calm resumes.

As for both bands contributions, there’s always a loneliness or suffering that is overwhelmingly present within each track, half foreboding and half inviting. The vocals ranging from maniacal screams dampened with mild reverb to howls of pain and misery really hone in to the abysmal feel of hopelessness, although for myself this music is somehow very positive and refreshing. It’s almost like experiencing something supernatural and unexplainable while listening to the sounds as they cloak you in a swell of frigidity and utter blackness. Prepare to be sucked into this void of desperation and watch as your colorful world slowly distorts into shades of gray and blur until nothing but the black is present. Set for a late October release as well, this will be one of the best bleak atmospheres created in time for the oncoming winter.

Krohm:
http://www.myspace.com/krohmvoid
http://www.krohmcrypt.com/

Tenebrae in Perpetuum:
http://www.debemur-morti.com/

DOTDR talks with Andre of Sektor 304

Alright!!!! My first interview for this site and the first one to really get to talk music in as well. If you have not had the chance to check into this portuguese industrial/avant garde electronic act, then do yourself the favor and after reading this or even during it, go out and check them the fuck out!!!!!!! Many thanks to Andre for his time and those of you who support the true artists and love of audio and art, especially the insane stuff.

JW of DOTDR: I received Soul Cleansing from Malignant and seeing as how Jason has been consistently churning out some of the best in dark ambient/industrial/power electronics that I’ve heard in general it was not a surprise when it completely sent me into a gratuitous shock. I love the blend you have of ambient, minimal, industrial, and power electronics, it’s almost a perfect fix all in one release as it flows through the styles to keep it alive. How has Soul Cleansing done so far? How do you guys feel about it looking back at it? In “Death Mantra” that continual beating like a heart is really great, it adds the right rhythm or “pulse” to the track that is seemingly stark.

André: First of all, thanks for your words about our work. We are glad so many people are enjoying what we do!
Well, looking back at the album I still feel that the necessary distance for an objective view upon it has not yet been achieved. It was a hard work getting the album ready. It took about a year to record, mix and to get the artwork all done, and there were a lot of headaches throughout the process. In the end, we both feel that it represents the best we could do at the time, technically speaking, and we are quite proud of the outcome.

In terms of outside appreciation, it’s been great. All the reviews have been quite positive, some have been surprisingly very good and Jason has done a fabulous promotional work. We couldn’t feel better with our situation.


JW: I’m glad that it all worked out for you guys, the hard work really shows in the final product and I’ve been sold on it from day one. It must be great to be on a label like Malignant that releases of such a high caliber, I’m never disappointed and you all seem to strive to put out the most intense audio possible. I’ve been mainly an industrial/noise/electronic head and just recently in the last five years or so have returned to metal and am used to interviewing metal bands who typically don’t want to get into music ironically or personal, so it’s really great to actually talk to artist like you who create stuff that is intentionally deep and are less concerned about image and Satan.

André: Well, one thing that both me and João decided since the beginning is that we would go wherever we feel like. No boundaries, no genre definitions, no nothing. Of course that with time, Sektor’s identity has become more defined and now we know what it’s best and what’s inconsequent to do, but by no means we are limited by “conventions”. Both of us listen to a wide variety of music, from industrial to kraut rock, heavy metal to dub, noise to free-jazz, etc…

I believe that if you take a good look at our catalogue, from the two early CDRs to the album and our collaboration with ambient/noise artist PS, you can clearly say that we do not focus on one type of subgenre, but we actually search around, collect ideas, digest them and use what we want. Take a look at “Final Transmission”, then listen to “The Beast”, both from the “Soul Cleansing” album and compare them, for example.

It’s also interesting that you mention the “image” factor. This is quite an important point for us, especially since I deal a lot with graphics and artworks and currently work as a freelance illustrator. Image is something that should matter a lot for a band. Above all, it should be a reflection of the music, concepts and it should work as a whole with the record. The problem only begins with the image does not reflect honesty or if, above all, it begins to gain weight over the actual music.
I prefer having an attractive packaging with graphics that honestly reflect the music.

Sektor 304 deals with tension, power, brute force, in sum, it deals with primordial forces, ritualistic and claustrophobic environments. We do not wish to be a part of the goat herd just for the sake of it. I would never put a rune or a horned beast filled with pentagrams on the cover just for the sake of it. It doesn’t suit our music. I owe more to Joseph Conrad’s “The Heart of Darkness” rather than “Mein Kampf” or “The Satanic Bible”.


JW: Like you guys I’m really diverse in my listenings and also do art on the side, so I completely understand the strain to put out something good and how high ones own expectations can be. Thankfully you guys are honest and strive to go for who and what you are and not cater to something that will simply bring in superficial fans. The more influences that you have, the better and more unique your art will be whether it’s visual or audible.

You have a huge list of acts under the “influences” column on your MySpace page, most of which I really love like: Einsturzende Neubauten, Nurse With Wound, Vetrophenia, Lustmord; and then you go into the listing of kraut and prog stuff like: Eloy, Cornucopia, Annexus Quam, Amon Duul (I and II). I’m a HUGE fan of all of those bands and am really surprised to see you having so many influences and interests as I do. Although Sektor 304 is purely industrial/electronic, do you feel that some of the dreamlike atmospheres created in the kraut and prog stuff influences you here?

André: Ahahah that list! That was one busy Sunday reminding all those names! Yeah, like I said before, we listen to a lot of different music. I believe it molds your way of working and the trick is actually be able to comprehend the best from each one and then work with all that information in order to built your own body of work.

You mentioned the kraut and prog “dreamlike atmospheres”. I think we do have influences of that. Take the “Final Transmission” track for example, or even the “Transmissions” cdr, prior to the album. They are all exercises in ambience, from noise to clear dreamlike spaces. Curiously, those bits usually come from improvised sessions… hum… interesting…
The recording of “Final Transmission” was actually quite interesting with the ending going almost into this psychedelic scenario with me on the bass, João playing the guitar filled with delay and reverb effects and it was this friend of ours called Sara, who was just there with us, that saved the day by slowly adding a fade-out to the rest of my sounds while I was tripping with this monotone bass line. That track was directly recorded into a minidisc recorded with no overdubs… how nice! So I guess there is a strong psychedelic music influence on us.


JW: I try to really pay attention to what I review and when I wirte interviews I also listen to the artist stuff to ensure the right inspiration comes out. I love to just improvise to minimal drum and bass and experimental stuff and use effects on my bass to create weird psyhedellic pieces inspired purely by mood and where ever things take me, I love to hear that in other artists too.

Speaking of prog/kraut/ambient psyche music, I found a really cool disc last summer of an obscure kraut/dark psychedelic act Damenbart and it’s this dark ambient similar to some of the Amon Duul stuff on Tanz Der Lemminge. I’m hoping to start putting prog/kraut/psyche stuff up on this site soon as well because it’s amazing and I obsess over it too.

André: I never heard Damenbart. Got to check it out! Thanks for the suggestion! You should start that kind of stuff on your website. Introduce it to other people, especially if they aren’t used to that kind of music (like people who only listen to metal and stuff like that).

JW: Absoltuely, it's really amazing!!! In fact that’s my whole purpose behind DOTDR, to expose people to so many great thigns that they would never normally know about. I also hope to start a trading forum for obscure and cool acts on vinyl, disc and cassette. People glance at the site for one specific review and they get a crazy audio stream of stuff and tons of additionally interesting things including art and custom silkscreen shirts soon too.

I’d like to know more about you guys, partially because of the cool music that you dig, but also the stuff that you create. I can definitely hear the Einsturzende Neubauten in the use of live percussion and power tools, but it doesn’t jump out at me as them, you have a great sense of rhythm throughout the tracks and I’m a rhythm fanatic. Can you tell me more about Sektor 304 and what you do?

André: The rhythm came in naturally since João is a drummer in several bands. If you hear our first cdrs, there are fewer rhythms, but things naturally began to take that course. Perhaps, more than Neubauten, I guess the main influence was both Test Dept for the junk metal percussions and Swans/Godflesh for the more severe pounding you find in some tracks like “Death Mantra”.

Another inspiration came when we started hearing African music and African field recordings of processions and rituals. Their use of drums is quite powerful, to the point where nothing else is needed to fill the spaces. Besides, the rhythms are also quite unconventional in a western / European perspective, with lots of strange tempos and a notion of “group performance” that we loved (and that is quite similar to what Test Dept. did).

When it gets to composition, I believe that most tracks that have a strong rhythmic basis always start developing through the rhythm or the programmed beat. It’s central.

Usually, when the rhythm is played it’s up with João. He handles all the percussions, along with junk manipulation, fx pedals and in “Soul Cleansing” he also handled the bass. I work with sampling, loop, programmed beats, synths and vocals. Since I work with samples, I also have to deal a lot with junk manipulation through contact mics in order to get good sound waves and also field recordings. This is quite a generic task division, since there are several small things where we shift places. I guess in the end we do everything…

Right now, we have this third member for live performances that will handle an electric double bass. We were lacking someone to perform the bass live and when this opportunity came, we took it. The electric double bass becomes more diverse that just the bass. I still can’t believe the amount of sounds he can draw from there… and the instrument looks quite nice too ahah


JW: That’s fucking wicked, I really love a lot of non-western music and try to incorporate that in some of my scales and chords when I play acoustic guitar especially. The combination of those tones and different finger style techniques can create some trippy and even beautiful results.

From what it sounds like, you guys really know what you want and seem to have this insatiable urge to create something unique to yourselves and I respect that so much. I’d love to some good live acts again that are similar to what you do, the coolest live show aside from Boris in the last year that was improvised a bit and hypnotic was acid Mothers Temple. AMT had an opening act called The Sonic Suicide Squad, which was three guys: one on drum with a mic to each one for effects, and an alto saxophone with an effects mic, the third guy ran the effects and did some wild effects with both instruments and being a jazz nut I was floored!!!!! I need to find those guys again and work with them a bit more.
I’d love to see you live, but in general would you consider yourselves mainly improvisational?

André: Well, it depends on the track and what it demands. Like that “Final Transmission” example I gave you before. Other tracks collect improvised moments with others more organized and recorded track by track, like for example, on “The Beast” or “Voodoo Machine”.

In studio, everything in the end is calculated, measured and put into place. In a lot of tracks there is actually a compositional effort.

When we play live, things tend to get out of hand a bit, some songs might take longer with some room for improvisation on some noisier sections or in those ambient parts with lots of sounds taken from amplified objects and construction materials. Things get more intense and we let ourselves get carried away by it.
Both rational thinking and improvisation take place in our method.



JW: Now that I know more about your musical tastes, I’d love to talk tunes. What are some of your favorite artists and albums? Mine change on a daily basis and have been: The Heads, White Hills, Eloy, Embryo, Boris, and Captain Beyond this week and part of last.

André: Curiously I’ve been listening to the Heads this week ahah.
Well, lately I’ve been a lot into that old school death metal thing, with bands like WarMaster, Bolt Thrower, Teitanblood or Rippikoulu (93 Finnish Death Metal!! Awesome!!) and Crust/Metal stuff like Dishammer, Tyrant, Sacrilege or Nausea. So I guess I’m in a Metal phase right now, hem?

Anyway, Danzig’s last record has been playing a lot and I never let go of my good dose of Celtic Frost or Amebix!
IRM’s “Order4” is very good, as well as Yellow Swans “Going Places”. Grunt’s “Petturien Rooli” is awesome too!
Also, I recently bought this triple King Tubby cd that pops in sometimes with the bass level on max.
I’ve also been stuck to Miles Davis ”Bitches Brew”.
I guess that’s what’s been going on my stereo recently.


JW: Oh man, I’m always in a classic death metal phase combined with some good old crust, in fact I should have two custom shirts coming in the mail today for Discharge and Doom, and Celtic Frost and Hellhammer as well. I can rarely escape those bands or that style, it always seems to fit my mood. As for King Tubby, I dig the dub stuff and had some a while back, I really love the german dub techno stuff like Basic Channel and just pulled that out again last week to crank at work. Being a jazz fan, Bitches Brew is one of my standout releases from Miles Davis, I really dig the fusion stuff but also the hard bop and avantgarde. I love Sun Ra and most of Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and the like.

We both seem to be huge music nuts and it’s my favorite subject outside of visual art and chemistry, so given your diverse tastes what if any, album/s or artist/s inspired you to create Sektor 304 as opposed to another style like heavy psychedelic prog ?

André: We don’t work by opposition. We love everyone. Some more than others, or course… ahah
JW: Good answer, I could never pick one either and never rely on any speific anything to do my stuff, I sort of pull from stuff as I go. Currently is there anything else in the works for Sektor 304 like live shows, splits, new releases?

André: We are probably playing at this Metal festival in October. Let’s hope we don’t have to deal with rotten tomatoes or empty beer bottles. We could try to add a guitar solo to “Body Hammer”…
Other than that, we are still recording new stuff for a forthcoming album. No titles yet!

JW: You guys’d shred most I’m sure so hopefully the crowd won’t be too stupid and bombed to behave a bit (laughs). I look forward to anything you do in the future and wish you luck. Thanks for your time as well, I really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you a bit.

André: Nice talking with you and thanks for your interview! See you next time!


Check these guys out: http://www.myspace.com/sektor304

Gravewurm - Blood of the Pentagram (Hells Headbangers Records 2010)

From the decrepit bowels of the U.S. Black metal/metal underground pusses forth the final infection of the 20 years of audio plague known devoutly as Gravewurm. This disgusting and hideously glorious band goes out with a magnificent stench with Blood of the Pentagram, so if you are one of us who enjoy the ugly and truly scummy side of metal and are a rabid fan of acts such as: Profanatica, Inquistion, Nunslaughter, Hellhammer, Goatlord, Prosanctus Inferi, and anything related to those sick fucks you will not be missing out on this bastard. Classic raw, aggressive, nihilistic metal with a moderate punk grit like most early black metal classics, this thing delivers the true feel of cult and rotten nostalgia.

Reeking of only the rawest, ritually rhythmic and murderous melodic metal cults spewing forth over the last several decades I honestly can’t say anything except buy this sleaze and wallow in the blissful filth that Gravewurm unleashes. This release brings tears to my eyes, quite possibly from the foul burning fumes that leach out from within this album, but it’s more than likely my sentimental side that is always deeply touched when paying a farewell to the beautifully perverse and crude. Sophisticated scum fucks like myself rejoice and fester, HHR releases yet another brilliant and solid piece of underground cult history and another one for me to grab up this year. Set for detonation this October on double disc, keep your ears and antennae in tune for this one!!!! If HHR keeps up this momentum I’ll never break the spell and my cash will continue to drain out like the warm blood of a fresh virgin slaughter.

Check this stuff out@
http://www.myspace.com/gravewurm
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/

Phaenon - His Masters Voice (Malignant 2010)

My first listens to this album were done under heavy prescription sedatives and it was exactly I’d expect from the novel that it’s based off of by Stanislav Lem. An absolute science fiction experience is captured perfectly in these drifting and minimal, yet undeniably expressive tracks, so beware of the power that lies beneath the barren sounding surface of this album. If you are not careful it will abduct you, then again if you are careful it will still capture your mind and render you submissive to its alien prowess.

Okay, maybe it was the sedated and intoxicated mindset that enabled me to drift off to sleep to this and imagine a world of pure machinery, the opening track “Neutrino Radiation” is close to 20 minutes of humming, almost like what I’d imagine floating through space would sound like as everything slowly approaches and recedes from view and the solar winds blow across your skin. The actual coldness of space in most spots away from suns, reaching as low as near 0K or -273.15 °C, is equally manifested in the tone found on here and your skin should tingle a bit during the listening experience. As relaxing and drifting as this may sound as you listen through it, it is as mysterious and sinister as it appears not to be.

For at least the first two tracks His Masters Voice is celestial, minimal, and void of any emotion whatsoever, then with the third of the four tracks, “Interstellar Semantics”, there’s a minor shift to slight melody, although very slight and a hint of labelmate, Phelios, can be heard here as whooshes of analog synth brush your mind like an astral breeze as you are suspended and weightless and the volume increases dramatically as if you are actually approaching to land on a distant planet or star.

This ideal science fiction soundtrack comes to a colossal end with the magnum “Part 2-Ignoramus”, another twenty-some minute trip as was the opening only this time it’s more dramatic. In fact this is the most dramatic piece on the album and serves as the perfect end to this ambient narrative. When I think of space music I definitely envision something like what Phaenon has delivered here. For me I see the math and concepts come to life that describes the quantum world and all of it’s quirky and abstract ideas and it finally starts to make sense to me for a brief moment as it really isn’t supposed to if one truly understands it (?). Some say to get stoned, turn on some trippy space music like Tangerine dream or some trippy obscure prog act (which helps me out) and then try to fathom quantum physics, but perhaps they should just avoid the mind altering substances and turn up the volume on this one instead.

Yet again Malignant releases an incredible celestial experience that is as close as I can get to an out-of-body experience. Next to Phelios, Collapsar, Iszoloscope/AhCamaSotz Camanecroscope, and Oophi, this is will be one of my stand out sci-fi ambient releases and a definite somnium accompaniment. You even feel like you’re in a vacuum as you listen to it, it’s really undeniably awesome and just as thrilling when not under doctors ordered sedatives.

Defintely check this act out and Malignants other essentially mind melting releases to pulse your neurons out of commission, and also the artwork as that is always one of the ebst parts and this album is no exception.

http://www.malignantrecords.com
http://www.myspace.com/malignantrecords

Phaenon:
http://www.myspace.com/szymontankiewicz

Year of No Light - Ausserwelt (Conspiracy/Music Fear Satan)

I never get tired of atmospheric heavy music and regardless of how saturated the badly coined “shoe-gaze” metal genre gets there’s always an act like Year of No Light that captures that exact feeling in their sound. Fans of acts like: Nadja, Methadrone, Hallowed Butchery, Hellas Mounds, Neurosis, Minsk, and Mono will appreciate this one very much. To add to that list I also need to include: Ahab, Evoken, Alcest, Primordial, and Altar of Plagues as this is definitely a heavy storm of unrelenting destruction. Given the intensity of the sounds and my reasons for being engulfed into this massive void I will be best off taking this one apart track by track

“Persephone I”: Eleven minutes of one wandering through a wasteland, barren and complete uninhabited. You can feel the journey and looking for even a mirage to ease your loneliness, but there is none and you continue your aimless path through what appears as a never-ending journey. The sound is blissful and soothing but still very morose, you know something will happen and it’ll be tragic. It’s almost as if the end of the world did come and you were the sole survivor left to rummage through the remains and relive the horror.

“Persephone II” : Some of your burden form the last track is eased with a dramatically beautiful sound of discovery that something does exist and there might be a purpose for your travel afterall. This track is sort of the light at the end of the tunnel, but quickly dissolves into a sense of doom and dread halfway through the track. The guitar comes at you in crushing waves of doom-like riffs and the reverb guitar wails like a banshee from beneath the storm of chords crashing against you. So much for getting out of this one peacefully, or at all…

“Hierophante“: The surreal horror continues through dense melodies as you continue to unveil the misery that you will now absolute sadness, although it is very melodic there is a heavily draped layer of emptiness that clouds the track in a state of balc

“Absesse”: A haunting, atmospheric, instrumental departure from the conscious state of being into the true reality of isolation and spiraling rapidly into a dark crevasse as you come to the horrid, yet relieving realization that your life was in fact rather mundane and uneventful until now, but alas it is over. This is one powerful end to a heavy album in terms of sound and weight of atmosphere so definitely jump on getting this one, especially those who are skeptics and avoid this genre for reasons mentioned already. Really great stuff!!!!

The Equinox Ov The Gods - Nemesis

I somehow lucked out in my weird and random hunts for new and amazing metal albums when I found this bands album Images of Forgotten Memories on the Shadow Kingdom website last summer and continually find myself gravitating toward it frequently. This band is one of those that cannot be easily pegged as being anything but themselves being equal parts symphonic metal, doom, melodic metal, and just heavy and atmospheric, maybe throw some non-cheesy folk metal/pagan influence in as well and you get somewhere close to their sound.

Why they are a bit obscure is hard to say, then again why do bands like Manilla Road, Stygian Shore, and Enchanter only get notoriety by those few of us that actually have discerningly good taste in heavy tunes? The only reason that I’m reviewing this one is that this two-track single is the most recent in their catalog, but everything that they have done so far to date is as epic and intense and worthy of recognition. Armed with non-cliché poetic lyrics, crisp and memorable melodies, some symphonic and prog notes, and shredding metallic mayhem this Swedish battalion comes at you “hard and fast” (as said by the great Cirith Ungol in “100mph”) and stays true to its metal roots while proving that pagan and symphonic metal can still steadily swing a battle axe and sever your head in a fraction of a second.

I lucked out and Frederik Wallin got back to my email recently to do an interview and sent me some of their back catalog to review and enjoy. I’ll be ordering those form them very soon for sure and as always want to give my humble thanks to those who are humble and yet so talented in themselves, as are these folks and many of you out there. So check into this band, find out where to get some of their releases (Frederik even said they were a bit hard to track down) or ask me and I’ll see about hooking folks up as I always find out how to get stuff “officially” and for a good price, and support good metal and music, without it many if not all of us reading this would be lost and better off dead. This band gives a refreshing reincarnation and much needed update to the idea and sound of “epic”, so don’t expect Blind Guardian theatrics here, this shouldn’t induce vomiting for too many of you.

Sadael-Essence

For those who, like myself, enjoy the darkest atmospheres, minimal ambient, and soundscapes that ignite within the listener the most disturbing images and sensations, or just a pseudo-psychedelic nightmare in a semi-conscious vein will definitely thrive on this release. Sort of like dark ambient metal era Burzum heard on Hvis Lyset Tar Oss and Hlidskjalf, Sadael crafts sophisticated yet minimal funeral doom with a keyboard some doses of heavy guitar. Essentially the result can be summed up as the ultimate in funereal ambient metal, “Thoughts of Suicide” alone will convince even the most stubborn of naysayers that this artist understands the full extent of darkness and despair. At times the vocals growl, howl, shriek, and gurgle as if choking on blood through distorted and drawn out down-tuned chords that rattle through the bowels of hell with each strum.

Anyone out there looking for the next absolutely grim, stripped down, haunting, cryptic, and chilling to the point of making ones bones ache release will not want to miss this one. Armenian based and limited to only about 100 copies, Sadael delivers to you the pure blood freezing experience of death with Essence. This sort of what I Shalt Become is heading toward with their latest release Poison and can be expected to entice fans of: Xasthur, Velvet Cacoon, My Dying Bride, Esoteric, Hellveto, Catacombs, and anything slightly related. Also highly recommended if not essential to fans of the dark ambient/dark folk sounds as am I.

I’ve been considering closing down my website that caters to this style as so many have flaked on me as of lately, but with so much great stuff being created and labels like this one and Steinklang/Ahnstern and a few others depending on it, I might just keep it going a bit longer. So if you like what you’re reading, check this artist out further, it’s absolutely worth it!!!!

Furia - Halny (Pagan Records 2010)

The “Halny” EP is a 20 minute track of pure avant-garde bliss. It’s really hard to review something that defies categorization and instead strives for individuality in sound and the experience given to the listener. Furia achieves with this EP what I look for in many releases and wind up disappointed, a total sense of obliteration and heavy atmosphere. I really try to avoid the horrid term ”shoe-gaze” in my reviews although this album is sadly marketed as being black metal shoe-gaze sort of like the cruelties of ignorance bestowed upon other acts like Alcest.

For me “Halny” is pure blackness but heavily pagan and even folk and psychedelic sort of like Twilight. Hints of bands like: Minsk, Isis, Hellas Mounds, Wolves in the Throne Room, Finnr’s Cane, Summoning, Alcest, and Lifelover all come together in this hypnotic and almost somnial haze of what could accurately be described as yet another monumental piece of psychedelic black metal. There is nothing missing on this and the draw of so many elements,moods, and influences to create what feels like an audio narrative of a dream as it also brings to mind the track “Coffin Life” by Hallowed Butchery. Absolutely brilliant and captivating in all its fuzz and clamor.

available for purchase from Metalhit.com and Pagan Records

Crowned in Earth - Visions of the Haunted (Shadow Kingdom Records 2010)

I’ve been waiting for this album ever since Tim at SKR told me about this new act he had picked up last fall. My curiosity was peaked when I found out that this was actually a one-man doom project by this English guy, Kevin Lawry, who had also pulled of an epic solo doom project Silent Winter, and is also involved with English Doom act Kthon, both of which I’d recommend checking out.

I really didn’t know what to expect with this release: classic styled Pentagram/Vitus/Trouble/Revelation Doom; Epic Candlemass/Solitude Aeturnus/Solstice Doom; Evoken/Ahab/Esoteric Funeral doom; or similarities to some of the newest English Doom acts: Serpent Venom and Wounded Kings? My only hints were that there was going to be a session drummer, Darin McClosky of Pale Divine fame, and that there was going to be more classic rock influence. Well, as it turns out it’s more of a hybrid of Pale Divine-like classic bluesy riffs, some cool solo and melodic guitar work, and the keyboard sounds of funeral parlor antics from Italian Prog Doom acts like Abysmal Grief and THC Witchfield. So, in essence it’s exactly what the hell I’d be looking for and was really surprised and pleased with the result.

The five tracks are fairly lengthy in the doom tradition of 7-8 minutes each, but there’s a continual flow and switch between slow eerie passages and some good old riff jam and boogie. The rhythms balance out the slow parts to keep it moving and honestly give it some catchy bits that will stick with you long after listening, just like Sabbath and Pentagram do. No nasal vocals and ridiculous Ozzy impersonations or standard cliché doom riffs, or WAY over-the-top anything, everything is added in just the right amount and it shows in the taste for sure. “ Visions of the Haunted ” is a very solid Doom debut from an act to keep a watch out for, and is yet another great release from Shadow Kingdom Records. Massive kudos Kevin, you pulled this one off as well!!!!!!! True English Doom.

Cripta Oculta – Eros Dos Dolmens Esquecidos (Darker Than Black Records)

Every fucking time I start to wane form my cryptic/pagan/lo-fi Black Metal sounds some asshole pulls me back into that void with their mesmerizing noise, and in this case it’s Cripta Oculta, a Portuguese band that infuses classic 1st AND 2nd wave Black metal viciousness and raw power with incredible pagan flute and acoustic undertones that only serve to create the mood, unlike many acts that fuse their brimstone fire sounds with the pagan and folk elements, these guys don’t ever turn off the crusty/frosty/thrashy riff riot for them. Instead Cripta Oculta aims to maintain the constant rapid pace marathon of heavy metal anthems and classic angst that makes Hellhammer, Darkthrone stuff so timeless and addictive.

I guess it’s safe to say that where some may argue that Black metal and pagan/atmospheric metal loses its balls, this horde grows them bigger and better. Don’t get me wrong because this stuff is crusty/old school rebellion Black Metal that it doesn’t have any of the dreary and morbid atmospheres and melodies, or that it now lacks the strength of the dense fog atmosphere, this release just somehow manages to balance the two extremes to be catchy, ass-kicking, classic, and yet still as a breath of fresh damp cemetery night air after the first cold spring rain spell. There’s even some amazing solo work done on these lengthy but never tiring tracks. I’m heavily reminded of Blut Aus Nord “Ultima Thulee” and Immortal if that helps a bit more, I still have the Damn B.A.N. “Ultima…” orignal French obscure release with the black and white pen and ink artwork and it always fits my taste. It’s the ferocious melodies, buzzsaw power chords, pummeling drums, and a raw punkish vibe yet very densely and ironically symphonic feel.

This is a total obscure Black Metal gem and absolutely qualifies legitimately for the much abused “cult” moniker. Absolutely essential, haunting, beautiful, yet morose and depressing stuff with an authentic pagan/heathen feel and still bypassing the overdramatisms. I’m a complete perfectionist in most things and music is no exception, I really enjoy the rare and obscure treasure hunt with records/albums and savor the greatest finds for decades. If you’re tired of Striborg dribble and the countless diarrhea of raw and obscure releases, do your mind and ears a favor and pick this one up.

Recommended for fans of: early and current Blut Aus Nord (think of the sounds of “Ultima Thulee” with it’s raw melodies and chilling atmospheres); Immortal (“...Fullmoon Mysticism”) as those are the two main albums that I compulsively also have on frequent play over the years and come straight to mind like a bullet from a barrel directly against my temple. Actually, add in some of Emperor “In the Nightside Eclipse” to it as well perhaps. You get the idea…so get the album!!!!!!

Available at Metalhit.com.

Svart – Forlorad (Frostscald Records 2010)

Another eerie and skin tingling, teeth chattering, haunting atmospheric release from Frostscald comes this Swedish act, Svart. As with many acts on the label, Svart would appeal as much to fans of neo-folk/dark ambient/neo-classical/martial sounds of labels like Cold Spring UK, Ahnstern, Tesco, Soleil Moon. Here a spring release is as icy as the first breeze of a long winter.

The songs on “Forlorad” are lengthy and have a definite pagan, nostalgic, and even poetic/literary sense about them. It’s as if they are telling a tale through sound of the coming of spring as the snow and gloom of winter begins to fade and life and color returns once again return to the once hidden objects that became a blindingly white glare for what felt like an eternity. The modern, epic, folkloric sound of these tracks makes me think of artists like: Allerseelen, Ataraxia, Olen K, Ebonillumini. I’ve been slowly trying to go back to building up my collection of those labels and artists and with additions like Frostscald and their growing artist list and my newest collaboration with Cold Spring it should be happening really soon, so expect to hear and read more about these amazing sounds.

Fans of the mentioned acts and: Lik, Lifelover, Wolves in the Throne Room, Summoning, Minsk, Velvet Cacoon, Hellveto, Dead Can Dance, A Forest of Stars, Caina, Alcest, Gravsahl, and Blakagir.

Skogen – Vittra (Frostcald Records)

Not everything that I get is entirely brand new, as this was released in Fall 2009 I believe, but given that it’s Frostcald and I just got it, and not too many probably know about it, it’s safe to say that it’s new.

One of many things that strike debate amongst black metal artists and listeners is whether or not atmospheric black metal and symphonic black metal are watered down and weak forms of the style/s. Many say, “Yes” and rightfully so when looking at the history and influence of: Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, older Emperor, Beherit, Hellhammer, Bathory, Marduk, Dissection, Venom, and countless others along with slightly newer and current acts like: Profanatica, Deathspell Omega, Inquisition, Horna, Perversor…. half of the Hells Headbangers catalog at least. But I say, "no", and rightfully so, because many of the previous mentioned bands influenced and developed into that genre and incorporated ambient, shoe-gaze (I hate that Fucking term)/instrumental walls of chords and some synth to create an atmosphere or mood, synth, nature/filed recordings, and so forth to crank up the dynamics and drama within the work, and WORK it did.

Skogen is a prime example for the trial and debate of legitimacy of certain styles of Black Metal, as this Swedish monstrosity has all of the brutal and melodic feeling of Viking era Bathory starting with “Blood Fire Death” through “Blood on Ice”, “Hammerheart” and the “Nordland” series. Aside from the thrash mastery and rebellious fury of early Bathory, Quorthon also evolved as an artist to using: acoustic/classical guitar passages, clean pagan vocals, and epic, almost cinematic backgrounds in his most influential and remarkable works. Just as Bathory brought you into the deepest halls of Hell, you were also transported back to myths and legends of ancient northern Europe with all the bloodshed and triumphs, and all through the atmospherics in the music. Skogen is just as cold, articulate, convincing and melodic in the use of the “weaker” elements, the result is 1000 magnitudes stronger than many bands trying to attempt this sound of folk/pagan/atmospherics.

So in a nutshell you get the idea, this album is as thrilling and glorious as: pagan era Bathory, Summoning, Hellveto, Windir type atmospheric bands. The description given by the label is vague but honest and recommends this release to fans of: Drudkh, Ulver, Primordial. I agree but would say more so: Finnr’s Cane, Summoning, Drautran, Helrunar, Blut Aus Nord, Windir, Kampfar, but those are also my own personal picks for atmospheric and pagan black metal.

Blood of Kingu – Sun in the House of Scorpion (Candlelight 2010)

Disclaimer: I almost tossed this one aside without even giving it a listen simply because of the whole astrological, left-hand, demonology, Sumerian, etc. references in the advertising and on the webpage for the band. Thanks to stupid asses, pathetic variations on such a cliché theme and inspiration, and some asshole “left-hand” band that I interviewed who are not that great and then their revealing that they are really stupid egotistical fucks makes them worthless in my book. I’m well read on many things but always go by my own path and give respect and credit to those who do the same, I don’t need any more elitist puckered rectum mindless drones quoting and recycling ideas: build, destroy, rebuild and move on!!!!!!

The reason for that prior rant is to tell many to fuck off, but also to shed light on why my proceeding praising review of this album is merited. I went in biased and expected the usual ranting and phony philosophical occult ramble that most of these fecal matter comprised bands abuse… and keep in mind that I’m a supporter of those thoughts when used properly, but I don’t need to make it known and support it through my image. So, here’s the review:

Blood of Kingu bring forth a truly incredible black metal album for 2010, and is also the dismal and demonic intellectual and artistic spawn of members of Drudkh, Astrofaes, and Hate Forest. Right away that should motivate quite a few reading this to experience this art of ritual.

Most of the album’s sound is that of some sort of ritual, complete with incantations behind the rapid beating of drum skins and almost pagan-atmospherically dense black metal guitar chords with some of the classic tremolo style picking for melody/lead. The tracks are all intoxicating as they are somewhat astrological, and convincingly extra-terrestrial and/or ancient in origin. “ Sun in the House of Scorpion” is an accurate and enthralling experience of the supernatural and ritualistic rites, whether ancient or alien or both that will quickly transport you to throwing sacrifices into the pools of flames and chanting out to the cosmos, and it’s also clearly intended to invoke your passage into this other realm beyond current consciousness and life or light.

There is a chanting/or incantation behind some of the tracks serving as a chorus that is as much supernatural as it is inhuman and gives me the chills from the stimulation of the idea of something evil or mysterious lurking behind the sounds. The creepier and intense something gets, the more I’m drawn in to it and my adrenaline pumps heavily through my veins as I crave the jolt and thrill of what lays ahead. I really want to say that Blood of Kingu remind me in sound a lot of Beherit (Drawing Down The Moon) crossed with Wolves in the Throne Room, and that was even before I had noticed that they had done a cover of Beherit’s “Gate of Nanna”, one of my personal faves.

This new gathering of sounds definitely goes well with other acts releasing stellar stuff this year: Finnr’s Cane, Celestia, Skogen, Bekhira, Stiny Plamenu, so don’t just stop here but also check those out as well, they all go well together.