Friday, September 15, 2017

Bernard Wright - 'Nard (1981)


Funky jazz and jazzy funk led by keyboardist Bernard Wright, who at the time was just 18. Slick, synth-y arrangements counter-balanced by a sharp, hard-hitting rhythm section. Some of you will instantly recognize "Haboglabotribin'" as the source of a sample from a deep cut off of a certain 90s G-funk classic.

Track listing:
1. Haboglabotrin'
2. Firebolt Hustle
3. Music Is the Key
4. Spinnin'
5. Just Chillin' Out
6. Bread Sandwiches
7. Master Rocker
8. We're Just the Band
9. Solar

All other rides are chicken feed

You should also listen to:
Ronnie Laws -
Pressure Sensitive (1975)
Wayne Henderson -
Emphasized (1979)

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Lethal Prayer - Spiritual Decay (1996)


US death metal. Evil, sloppy, and drenched in reverb, with periodic acoustic guitar and keyboard interludes emphasizing an undercurrent of dark, blasphemous rituality.

Track listing:
1. Bathing in the Fires of Hell
2. Crucifornication
3. Ad Majorae Satanas Glorium
4. Subterranean Existence
5. Invert to Blasphemy
6. Graven Image
7. Nemesis
8. Cauchemar
9. Brynhil

Distant hallowed chanting

Also listen to:
Viogression -
Expound and Exhort (1991)
Dissect -
Swallow Swouming Mass (1994)

MV & EE - Liberty Rose (2010)


Hella chill, hella far-out psychedelic folk by a hella prolific duo. Liberty Rose is probably my favorite MV & EE record -- of course, there are literally over a hundred that I haven't heard -- and includes a could-be blues standard in "Death Is My Friend".

Track listing:
1. Right to Dry
2. Flow My Ray
3. Crow Jane Environs
4. Death Is My Friend
5. Out in Space
6. Streams

When you're a man, you're a lonely man
Your body's frail
When you die, you're a holy man
Your poetry is better then


You might also like:
Loren Mazzacane & Kath Bloom -
Sing the Children Over (1982)
Brightblack Morning Light -
Motion to Rejoin (2008)

Vassafor - Vassafor (2007)


Related:
Temple Nightside - Prophecies of Malevolence (2013)

New Zealand black metal. The epic, cosmic atmosphere is the perfect foil for the band's ass-kicking, riff-y brutality.

Track listing:
1. Black Wings Victoryant
2. Vassafor
3. Dreadnaught
4. Black Funeral

Lost to the self-perpetuating abyss

You should also listen to:
Odium - The Sad Realm
of the Stars
(1997)
Mortuus Infradaemoni -
Imis Avernis (2009)

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Ocean - Pantheon of the Lesser (2008)


Just got back from four days of insanity on a houseboat, and am feeling haggard as fuck. So while I'm settling back in, here's some slow-ass heaviness. US drone-sludge delivered with the sloth-like pacing, minimal playing, and carefully structured, miserable grandeur of funeral doom. The second and final album by this unfortunately short-lived band.

Track listing:
1. The Beacon
2. Of the Lesser

Here where nothing grows

Also listen to:
Buried at Sea -
Migration (2003)
Otesanek -
Otesanek (2004)

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Bloodiest - Descent (2011)


Related:
Corrections House - Hoax the System / Grin with a Purpose (2013)

US post-metal. Dynamic, spacious, and crushing, with piano playing a significant role, rhythmically and melodically. One of very few bands from this scene to have really stuck out to me in recent years.

Track listing:
1. Fallen
2. Coh
3. Pastures
4. Dead Inside
5. Slave Rule
6. Obituary

Don't worry, I promise I'll take you home to die

Also check out:
Across Tundras -
Western Sky Ride (2008)
Mouth of the Architect -
Quietly (2008)

The Wild Swans - Bringing Home the Ashes (1988)


Bittersweet, shimmering, pretty much perfect English new wave. The kind of swooning songs that set your heart aflutter like you're a high schooler in love, then you notice that the singer's saying stuff like, "God has left the world bereft / And the scars remain."

Track listing:
1. Young Manhood
2. Bible Dreams
3. Bitterness
4. Archangels
5. Northern England
6. Whirlpool Heart
7. Bringing Home the Ashes
8. Mythical Beast
9. Now and Forever
10. The Worst Year of My Life

My blackest days were bandaged white

You'd also like:
Aztec Camera -
High Land, Hard Rain (1983)
Frazier Chorus -
Sue (1989)

Post Mortem - Coroners Office (1986)


Raw, sloppy US thrash. Elements of crossover, speed metal, and even a touch of doom. For all of your morbid moshing needs.

Track listing:
1. Armies of the Dead
2. Waiting for the Funeral
3. Ready to Die
4. No Time
5. Concealed
6. (It Was) Just a Thought
7. Syncopated Jazz
8. Soupy Sales
9. Coroners Office
10. Death to the Masses
11. I Want to Die
12. Run Amok

Putrid gasterous juices amongst the bloody bowels
Carving choice selections and licking off the towel


You'll also like:
Kat -
Metal and Hell (1986)
Gehennah -
Hardrocker (1995)

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Shining Skull Breath (2007)


Texturally rich, guitar-based drone. Dark, harsh, and at times sonically overwhelming, but with an ethereal, shoegaze-like quality. The sound of a world ending.

Track listing:
1. Distant Star (For Pete Swanson)
2. Cannibal Hymn
3. Shining Skull Breath
4. Tigris and Euphrates, Moon of Blood
5. Diamond Star
6. The Honeybees in My Heart
7. The First Time I Saw Your Face, I Thought It Was a Dying Star
8. Beautiful Thunderbolt (Moon Gazing in Your Skull)

I will eat you alive

Also listen to:
Evan Caminiti -
Psychic Mud Shrine (2009)
EUS, Postdrome & Saåad -
Sustained Layers (2012)

Monday, September 4, 2017

M.O.P. - To the Death (1994)


Dope-as-fuck 90s NYC rap. Like a middle ground between Onyx and Mobb Deep. The dude who I talk about in this post was a DJ -- a legit, actually good one -- and the time he spun "Ante Up" at the strike of midnight on New Years (2011, I think), and the dancing that followed, will play on my highlight reel when I die.

Track listing:
1. 718
2. Rugged Neva Smoove
3. Ring Ding
4. Heistmasters
5. Blue Steel
6. Who Is M.O.P.
7. To the Death
8. Big Mai
9. Top of the Line
10. This Is Your Brain
11. Drama Lord
12. F.A.G. (Fake Ass Gangsta)
13. How About Some Hardcore
14. Positive Influence
15. Guns n Roses

Are you ready for the massacre?

You'd also like:
Inspectah Deck -
Uncontrolled Substance (1999)
Pharoahe Monch -
Internal Affairs (1999)

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Trouble - Run to the Light (1987)


God-tier US doom metal. Run to the Light has a more classic heavy metal feel than most doom, meaning that it's overall faster, has shred solos, and is actually pretty fun. For instance, "On Borrowed Time" includes a brief homage to John Harrison's doom-laden take on "Camptown Races", as heard in Creepshow. Great stuff.

Track listing:
1. The Misery Shows
2. Thinking of the Past
3. On Borrowed Time
4. Run to the Light
5. Peace of Mind
6. Born in a Prison
7. Tuesday's Child
8. The Beginning

I can hold my breath for a looooong time!

For more like this, try:
Black Sabbath -
Dehumanizer (1992)
Cathedral -
Supernatural Birth Machine (1996)

Mojave 3 - Ask Me Tomorrow (1995)


Mellowed-out, folk-flavored slowcore, featuring three members (including both vocalists) from a then-recently disbanded Slowdive. Simple, strummed acoustics, bending guitar melodies, chiming piano, and blissfully stoned vocals. If you like Mazzy Star and have somehow slept on this band, get up on it.

Track listing:
1. Love Songs on the Radio
2. Sarah
3. Tomorrow's Taken
4. Candle Song 3
5. You're Beautiful
6. Where Is the Love
7. After All
8. Pictures
9. Mercy

We can't seem to shake off the fear that nothing is different
That no one has changed


If you like this, you should hear:
Jessica Bailiff -
Hour of the Trace (1999)
Brightblack Morning Light -
Motion to Rejoin (2008)

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Aldebaran - Embracing the Lightless Depths (2012)


Related:
Ardour Loom - Ardour Loom (2014)

Funeral doom from Portland, OR. Deep growls and sorrowful, interwoven guitar leads that give way to crushing power chord catharsis over minimal but powerful drumming. One of the most beautiful records of its kind.

Track listing:
1. Occultation of Hali's Gates
2. Forever in the Dream of Death
3. Occultation of Ocular Tauri
4. Sentinel of a Sunless Abyss
5. Occultation of Dim Carcosa

Crowning the earth in blackened flame

You should also listen to:
Mistress of the Dead - I Know
Her Face from the Tombstone
(2006)
Ennui -
Mze Ukunisa (2012)

Com Truise - Wave 1 (2014)


A friend of mine died sometime in the early morning on Thursday. He was 36. We'd kinda drifted apart over the past couple of years, but he bartended with my wife so we still got to shoot the shit somewhat regularly. The last time I saw him, he gave me this record because, like a week before, I'd been talking about how awesome the new Com Truise was. Super solid, thoughtful dude. The kind of guy that actually remembers what you're into and asks about it. The world is worse off without him.

He def did hella drugs, often more than one at once, but he was a fucking pro and always seemed in control. As many of you surely know, I'm very much pro-drug use. That being said: we really gotta be careful, especially when mixing downers with other downers. Them shits amplify each other, and it's a great way to make your heart stop. And if your friend seems way too fucked up -- like, they're passed out and unresponsive --and you're worried and thinking about taking them to the hospital, PLEASE listen to your instincts and just do it, as it might mean the difference between a wretched hangover and never waking up.

The world's a pretty shitty place, to be sure. But never forget that there are some really, truly good people right there in the shite with you, and the only way to avoid getting sucked down is to recognize them, listen to them, hold them close, and cherish them like the priceless treasures they are.

Track listing:
1. Wasat
2. Mind
3. Declination (feat. Joel Ford)
4. Subsonic
5. Valis Called (Control)
6. Miserere Mei
7. Wave 1

Have a good time all the time 'cause you don't get nothing when you die

More like this:
Protector 101 -
Protector 101 (2011)
Etienne Jaumet -
La Visite (2014)

Friday, September 1, 2017

Buried Alive - The Death of Your Perfect World (1999)


Raging, breakdown-heavy NYHC. The Death of Your Perfect World boasts what I consider to be, no exaggeration, one of the worst album covers in the world. Right off the bat, the eyes recoil at its poor layout, bland color palette, and forgettable imagery. But moreover, it's super misleading. This is tough, pissed-off hardcore, not shitty screamo/metalcore. That being said: the record itself is a self-contained ass-kicking machine that reliably induces moshing in even the weakest of subjects.

Track listing:
1. Watching You Die
2. Kiss of Death
3. Worthless
4. Nothing at All
5. Kill Their Past
6. Poisoned Seeds
7. The Death of Your Perfect World
8. Empty Sky
9. Curse of the Womb
10. Drenched in Disease
11. Six Month Face
12. To Live and Die With

Bound and gagged
Forever scarred


You might also like:
Rocky & the Sweden -
Total Hard Core (1998)
Misery - Disease Ridden
+ Frozen (2013)