Serpent Lord - The Order of the Snake (2004)

True, bare-bones black metal. Melodic, evil, brutal, majestic. Serpent Lord is a key member of Ceremonial Castings -- this is/was his solo project.

Track listing:
1. An Aura from the Deep
2. A Reaper Rides the Wind
3. Cry of the Heretic
4. Foreseen Pacific World of Ash
5. Warcult of One
6. Possessed by the Crescent
7. The Last Immortal

Beholder of flame

If you like this, try:

Cirith Gorgor - Unveiling the Essence (2001)

Inure - Inure (Rough Mixes) (2003)

Last month, I wrote about Plaguewielder and Diablero, two of many great, virtually unknown, crusty metal bands from early 2000s Baltimore. Today, I bring you Inure, arguably the Holy Grail of the bunch. They were siiiiick -- a hybrid of crust, death metal, melodic black metal, and thrash, with a frontwoman whose banshee-like scream belied her gift for soulful clean vox -- and it's a goddamn travesty that they never got more attention.

Inure recorded their only LP in 2003, but it wasn't released until 2006, long after they had broken up, when, as I recall, the guy who ran their label went rogue and just put it out. And while I'm not bothered by that choice, I am bothered by the track order -- why in the fuck would you put the mellow, five-minute-long instrumental first? -- so what I'm posting is from the CDr that started circulating shortly after the recording sessions had concluded. It might be slightly more raw or something, but trust me, this is the superior version.

Track listing:
1. Pray Harder (And It Still Won't Work)
2. Dos
3. Into the Ending
4. Mudfoot
5. Dollars Will Dance
6. Harvest
7. Untitled
8. Suffer the Sickness

Might as well kill me
'Cause you won't take my harvest

O.L.D. - The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak (1993) + Formula (1995)

By request, here are the final two O.L.D. albums, in which they completely abandon their grindcore roots in favor of supremely dark and bizarre industrial psychedelia. The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak is atmospheric, dense, and cacophonous, and somewhat resembles a psychedelic merging of Godflesh and Coil. Meanwhile, Formula contains comparatively very little in the way of actual "metal", consisting of a more fully electronic sound that's simultaneously disturbing and surprisingly beautiful -- check out the chiming "Under Glass".

Track listing:
-The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak-
1. A Beginning
2. Two of Me (Parts One and Two)
3. Freak Now
4. Peri Cynthion
5. Happy Tantrum / Mutene Ang (Multitrack Improvisation)
6. Creyap'nilla
7. Glitch
8. Ebb
9. Backwards Through the Greedo Compressor
-Formula-
1. Last Look
2. Break (You)
3. Devolve
4. Under Glass
5. Thug
6. Rid
7. Amoeba

All must cease...
...What a shame

If you like O.L.D., try:

Skin Chamber

Scorn

Absonus Noctis - Penumbral Inorgantia (2005)

Cavernous solo US black metal. Dissonant and eerie, not unlike fellow countrymen Xasthur and (early) I Shalt Become.

Track listing:
1. Distant Underground Kingdoms Long Forgotten
2. Ancient Chambers of Inhuman Sorrow
3. Sinking into an Abysmal Pool of Weeping Souls
4. Inorganic Reanimation - Awakening
5. Inorganic Reanimation - Ascension
6. The Black Fields of Desolation

Acid lights

The Church - Priest=Aura (1992)

Get The Church's excellent new record, Further/Deeper, right HERE.

The Church's masterpiece, Priest=Aura saw the band almost entirely abandoning the attempts at accessibility that had plagued the hit-or-miss Gold Afternoon Fix, in favor of sprawling, shimmering, anxiety-tinged compositions and their most abstract, evocative lyrics to date. It's remarkably cohesive, devoid of weak spots, and masterfully sequenced, from an enigmatic beginning, to a pleasantly opiated midsection, to a dissonant, paranoid conclusion. One of my all-time favorites.

Track listing:
1. Aura
2. Ripple
3. Paradox
4. Lustre
5. Swan Lake
6. Feel
7. Mistress
8. Kings
9. Dome
10. Witch Hunt
11. The Disillusionist
12. Old Flame
13. Chaos
14. Film

And you = me
The land = the sea
Richer = poorer
And priest = aura

Dame Satan - Beaches and Bridges (2008)

My old band played a bunch of shows with these guys, at home and in the Bay, where they were from, and by the last time I saw them, I was convinced that they were the best band I'd ever shared a stage with. They were just so locked in and focused, and played this awesome, low-key fusion of psych rock, folk, and blues, and I was convinced that when their second record (this one) finally dropped, they'd get super-hyped and everyone would be down with Dame Satan. Instead, there was little to no fanfare, and they broke up shortly thereafter. So I guess it's on me to make sure people hear this beautiful (aside from "The Struggle", which I think is total butt) little record.

Track listing:
1. Downstream
2. Ghost Dance
3. Suffering Daughter
4. The Struggle
5. Country Thief
6. Dawn and Delta
7. Puget Sound
8. Gangster Hustler
9. Oregon Trail
10. The Golden Iranian

On the banks of a river too thick for drinking

If you like this, try:
Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin (2008)

Xergath - Raging Fullmoon (2005)

German depressive black metal. Simplistic, harsh, and generally midtempo. Raging Fullmoon is a compilation of demo and unreleased tracks, but aside from the last song, the recording quality is pretty consistent.

Track listing:
1. Proclamation
2. Raging Fullmoon
3. The Revelation of Hate
4. Ascend from the Depths of Your Tomb
5. Ride the Deathspell
6. Endzeit

Blessed by the fury

Dreamworld - On Flight to the Light (1980)

Here's a lost classic of laid-back German prog rock. Musically, it's spaced-out and chill -- all gently strummed guitars, gauzy synths, organ, piano, reverb-y flutes, and motorik drums -- but the vocals have this understatedly idiosyncratic quality that, in combination with the synths, reminds me, for whatever reason, of The Residents. I can't stop listening to this record.

Track listing:
1. Ways of Love
2. Beneath Silence and Storm (Part 1)
3. Beneath Silence and Storm (Part 2)
4. Summerdays
5. Dreamworld's Symphony: Introduction
6. Dreamworld's Symphony: Between Trees and Oiseaux
7. Dreamworld's Symphony: Un Rêve Se Réalisé
8. Dreamworld's Symphony: Endless Tenderness

I'm sitting here enjoying peace
Watching birds, watching trees

Kingpin Skinny Pimp - King of Da Playaz Ball (1996)

Gangsta-ass 90's Memphis rap. Best enjoyed blasting through car stereo speakers.

Track listing:
1. Intro
2. One Life to Live
3. Nobody Crosses Me
4. Midnight Hoes
5. Lookin' for Da Chewin'
6. Long Story
7. Y'All Ain't No Killaz
8. Hear My Dead/Anger
9. I Don't Love 'Em
10. We Ain't No Playa Hatas
11. Pimpin' and Hoin'
12. Don't Test Me
13. Let's Start a Riot
14. King of Da Playaz Ball
15. All About Them Prophets
16. Outtro

I been wastin' all my time blowin' endo out my nose

Karg - Scherben (2011)

One-man Austrian depressive black metal. Melodic guitars and keyboards are offset by intense drumming and vocals, and harsh, red-line production. Also, gotta love that Rudi-P-esque album art.

Track listing:
1. Scherben
2. Welkend
3. Heimatlos
4. Fernweh

Green to feel blue

The Open Mind - The Open Mind (1969)

Some early psychedelia for your spring break/work week. The Open Mind is this UK band's only LP, and it's a collection of short, catchy, Nuggets-like psych pop gems, with lots of vocal harmonies, druggy lyrics, and fuzzed-out leads. I have a shit-ton of records like this that I never post, for some reason.

Track listing:
1. Dear Louise
2. Try Another Day
3. I Feel the Same Way Too
4. My Mind Cries
5. Can't See You
6. Thor the Thunder God
7. Horses and Chariots
8. Before My Time
9. Free as the Breeze
10. Girl I'm So Alone
11. Soul and My Will
12. Falling Again

Looked at the moon and it was crying
Looked at the trees and they were sleeping

Evilwinged - Avatars of Satan (2006)

Chaotic black metal duo from Russia who, along with Spitehowling and Forgot, make up the Far East Division Black Wolves circle. Reverb-drenched guitars, raspy vox, and a drum machine -- no surprises, just the way Thom Yorke likes it. Between the programmed drums and the guitars, which seemingly were recorded via line-in, Avatars of Satan has a strangely synthetic sound.

Track listing:
1. Breath of Abyss
2. Nocturnal Rite
3. Metamorphosis
4. Avatars of Satan
5. Brush and Spear
6. I Cum Fire
7. Vexilla Regis Inferi

These miserable creations will degenerate and die out completely

Soul Whirling Somewhere - Eating the Sea (1993)

Darkly ethereal sounds from one-man band Michael Plaster. Songs of heartbreak and longing, for acoustic guitars and voice, awash in a sea of synthesizer.

Track listing:
1. One of These Days Some Eyes Will Be Opened
2. Not Breathing
3. You'll Tear Me Away from You
4. Wish
5. Drained
6. Swim
7. I Dream We Are Blind
8. Unhittable
9. Landed
10. Flightless
11. Swimmer in a Well

Balanced in perfect amber

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Harold Budd - Lovely Thunder (1986)
Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd - The Moon and Melodies (1986)
Harold Budd - The White Arcades (1988)
Harold Budd - The Serpent (In Quicksilver) + Abandoned Cities (1989)
Robin Guthrie & Harold Budd - After the Night Falls (2007)

A glimmering tapestry of harp, saxophone, angelic voices, synthesizer, Rhodes piano, and vibraphone. It's the perfect soundtrack to a contentedly lazy, stoned day, and all things considered, probably Budd's best album.

Track listing:
1. Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim
2. Two Songs: Let Us Go into the House of the Lord / Butterfly Sunday
3. Madrigals of the Rose Angel: Rosetti Noise / The Crystal Garden and a Coda
4. Juno

Dawn vibration

Demoncy - Joined in Darkness (1999)

Cavernous, downtuned US black metal. Simple, heavy, and evil, with death/doom undertones. One of the better USBM records in existence.

Track listing:
1. Hymn to the Ancients
2. Impure Blessings (Dark Angel of the Four Wings)
3. Demoncy
4. Joined in Darkness
5. Winter Bliss
6. Hypocrisy of the Accursed Heavens
7. Spawn of the Ancient Summoning
8. Hidden Path to the Forest Beyond
9. (Angel of the Dark Shadows) Goddess of the Dark
10. The Dawn of Eternal Damnation
11. Embraced by the Shadows
12. The Ode to Eternal Darkness

Black hordes

If you like this, try:

Morbosidad - Morbosidad (2000)

Profanatica - The Enemy of Virtue (2006)

Bruce Palmer - The Cycle Is Complete (1971)

A sprawling, low-key near-masterpiece of jazz-flavored psychedelia. Extended, organic-sounding instrumental jams composed flute, violin, organ, piano, acoustic and electric guitar, congas and other hand drums, hypnotic basslines, and, once in a while, some bluesy vocals. Super chill.

Track listing:
1. Alpha - Omega - Apocalypse
2. Interlude
3. Oxo
4. Calm Before the Storm

Don't want to treat you right

Belkètre - Ambre Zuèrkl Vuorhdrévarvtre (1996)

Related:
Brenoritvrezorkre - Vèrmyaprèb (1995), Nèvgzérya (1995), + Vasagraèbe éakr vatrè brenoritvrezorkre (1996)

One of the finest pure black metal releases from France's mysterious Légions Noires, who I describe in the link above as "a French black metal/dark ambient horde who, during the mid-90s, released countless limited cassette demos through a seemingly endless number of incestuous, perplexingly named bands and projects." Ambre Zuèrkl Vuorhdrévarvtre is an enticingly incomprehensible, distorted mass of dissonant riffs, tape hiss, and muffled drums, over top of which high-pitched rasps echo, along with the occasional ripping solo.

Track listing:
1. Voarmtre Zuèrkl Vuorhdrévarvtre
2. Demzreyavbtre Belketraya
3. Marbatreéèpreb
4. Aapr Dgyarveurtre
5. Brearmdreb
6. Damae, Dzlebaeryavtreéèpreb
7. Verhzleyavbtreleambreb
8. Eepreb, Vagezaryavtre Zuèrkl
9. Goebtrevoryalbe
10. Emvandreoatr

Dark promise

Theo Parrish - Parallel Dimensions (2000)

Theo Parrish's new LP, American Intelligence, is one of my favorite records of the year so far, and it's available for purchase in various formats HERE. I highly recommend picking it up.

Parallel Dimensions was Parrish's first LP, and it's deep house at its finest. Extended, propulsive, drum-heavy compositions made up of relatively short musical phrases, repeated over and over like mantras, building and receding, until you collapse, or your brain explodes.

Track listing:
1. So Now What
2. Anansies Dances
3. Serengeti Echos
4. Reaction to Plastic
5. Space Ghosts
6. Summertime Is Here
7. Brain
8. Violet Green
9. Nefarious Stranger

Sound sculptures

And if you like Parallel Dimensions, give this a spin:
Luomo - Vocalcity (2000)

L'Acephale - Malefeasance (2009)

Malefeasance is an experimental outlier in L'Acephale's, normally an epic Pagan black metal band (from Portland, OR), discography. Though there are elements of black metal -- the tremolo-picked guitars in "A Burned Village", the vicious vocals on "From a Miserable Abode" -- outright metal is completely foregone in favor of dense, sample-heavy dark ambient, atmospheric neofolk, industrial noise, drone, and some terrifying hybrids. Though it might not be the 'best' introduction to L'Acephale, to date it's my favorite album of theirs, so that's what you get. Includes covers/interpretations of songs by Corrupted and Current 93.

Track listing:
1. Väinämöinen Nacht
2. Hitori Bon Odori
3. A Burned Village
4. From a Miserable Abode (Alt Mix)
5. Sleep Has His House
6. Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted

The book of lies

Iasos - Crystal Love (1979)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Iasos - Inter-Dimensional Music (1975)

More beautiful, shimmering, New Age nirvana from Iasos. Synths and pianos welcome you to the promised land.

Track listing:
1. Crystal°White°Fire°Light
2. Oh, How Deeply Do I Love You

Cloud prayer

Azaxul - And Heaven Is Crying Tears of Fire (2000)

Ritualistic raw German black metal from one half of Moonblood. And Heaven Is Crying Tears of Fire is about as lo-fi as it gets -- blown-out and tinny, with barely a trace of bass. Musically, it's just as esoteric. The riffs consist largely of sequences of droning, tremolo-picked arpeggios, repeated endessly, with unrelenting blast beats and the obligatory rhythmless rasp-screams.

Track listing:
1. And Heaven Is Crying Tears of Fire Part I: The Prophecy
2. And Heaven Is Crying Tears of Fire Part II: The Arrival
3. And Heaven Is Crying Tears of Fire Part III: I Am Eternal
4. Journey Into Fear

Infernal screams in a dark night

....................................................................................................................

More raw black metal:

Spitehowling - Born to Die for Evil (2002)

Brenoritvrezorkre - Various Demos

Black Cilice - A Corpse, a Temple (2012)

Haunting Portuguese raw black metal. Blown-out sound, blastbeats and midtempo bits, a constant whirlwind of tremolo picking, and distant, ghostly howls hanging in the ether.

Track listing:
1. The Gate of Sulphur
2. Night's Veil
3. Blood to Murder
4. The Key
5. Resurrection of Dead Curses
6. Among Dead Rats

A throne of human remains

If you like this, you'll like these:

Cendres - Ungeziefer (2007)

Drohtnung - Drohtnung (2012)

Igorrr - Hallelujah (2012)

An unholy combination of classical music, glitchcore, death metal, dubstep, opera, Tropicalia, and various forms of folk music from around the world. Kinda like an electro-centric Mr. Bungle -- imagine if they'd made "Desert Search for Techno Allah" the starting point for an entire album. Depending on your mood and tastes, Hallelujah can be a highly entertaining, at times mind-blowing listen, or the most grating, irritating goddamn thing you've ever heard.

Track listing:
1. Tout Petit Moineau
2. Damaged Wig
3. Absolute Psalm
4. Cicadidae
5. Vegetable Soup
6. Lullaby for a Fat Jellyfish
7. Grosse Barbe
8. Corpus Tristis
9. Scarlatti 2.0
10. Toothpaste
11. Infinite Loop

All those familiar faces
Come back to haunt me again

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Confessions of a Knife... (1990)

Old school techno-industrial. Cheap beats, dissonant bass-lines, clattering keyboards, and people screaming/shouting/moaning about drugs, murder, sex, hating Jesus, etc. When I was 13, this was the coolest, most evil shit imaginable. My favorite album of theirs by a wide margin.

Track listing:
1. A Daisy Chain 4 Satan (Acid and Flowers Mix)
2. The Days of Swine and Roses
3. Hand in Hand
4. Waiting for Mommie
5. Confessions of a Kinfe (Theme Part I)
6. Ride the Mindway
7. Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness
8. Kooler Than Jesus (Electric Messiah Mix)
9. Burning Dirt
10. Confessions of a Knife (Theme Part II)
11. Do You Fear (The Inferno Express) [Bonus]

I live for drugs
It's great

Amusement Parks On Fire - Out of the Angeles (2006)

Gorgeous, melancholic, but generally uptempo shoegaze five-piece from dreary ol' England. Out of the Angeles is their second album, and I love it. Angelic male-female vox, dreamy guitars, and soaring melodic leads. It's a dynamic record, and some its most effective moments come when they give the drummer (and distortion) a rest, as heard on the chiming, string-laden "At Last the Night".

Track listing:
1. Out of the Angeles
2. A Star Is Born
3. At Last the Night
4. In Flight
5. To the Shade
6. So Mote It Be
7. Blackout
8. Await Lightning
9. No Light No Sound
10. Cut to Future Shock

Show the last one through
And pray to keep your first son

----------------------------------------------

If you're into this, I recommend checking out:
Air Formation - Nothing to Wish For (Nothing to Lose) (2010)

Sunn O))) - ØØ Void (2000) + Dømkirke (2008)

Related:
KTL - 2 (2007)
Ascend - Ample Fire Within (2008)

By request, here's some Sunn O))). I couldn't decide on just one album, so fuck it, we're doing two.

Their first official LP, ØØ Void can be thought of as the Sunn O))) manifesto. In four songs and just under an hour, ØØ Void lays out the sonic foundation upon which the band would build virtually all of its output -- absurdly heavy, downtuned guitars playing sinister riffs, over and over, very slowly, and at times lapsing into extended sections of pure, torso-rumbling, low-frequency feedback, all percussion-free. At a proper volume ("Maximum Volume Yields Maximum Results" reads the sleeve), it seems to take on a physical presence in the room. It's the evil flipside to the transcendent Earth 2, an album along with which ØØ Void forms the twin peaks of pure drone-doom records.

Track listing:
1. Richard
2. NN O)))
3. Rabbit's Revenge
4. Ra at Dusk

A spectral spirit kingdom rise
In stormscreens
Covered by eyes
Night emits its shadow
There is no difference
Between the ravens
They have come for me
They will come to me

Next: Although it's a live album, Dømkirke is, to me, one of the band's most essential recordings. Recorded in a Norwegian cathedral -- and in the wake of the massive artistic breakthrough that was Black One -- Dømkirke featured all-new material powered by (in addition to the usual wall of guitars) pipe organ, electronics, and powerful, at times operatic vocals from Attila Csihar of Mayhem. A crushing, enveloping, ritualistic performance.

Track listing:
1. Why Dost Thou Hide Thyself in Clouds?
2. Cannon
3. Cymatics
4. Masks the Ætmospheres

Out from the chambers
And horizons will open for me
The face of the earth
Will be to know black silence
For I saw them march for the lights

Koldbrann - Moribund (2006)

True Norwegian black metal.™

Track listing:
1. Alt er befengt
2. I suveren forakt
3. Steinet til jorden
4. Djevelens treskeverk
5. Smell of Vitriol
6. Moribund
7. Av sjel stagnert
8. Til Skiringsheim
9. Fullt spekter dominans
10. Skvadron
11. Bestial Swarm

Gangrene

Can - Soon Over Babaluma (1974)

A band as exciting, inventive, and all-in-all awe-inspiring as Can deserves better than some rando blog bro trying to assert his ideas about which of their albums is "best." As far as I'm concerned, their first six albums -- of which Soon Over Babaluma is the last -- all should be considered as some of the greatest experimental rock records ever made, and trying to figure out how they stack up against each other is asinine (don't tell Pitchfork that, though, cause they're pretty sure that Soon Over is 0.1 better than Future Days.) BUT I will say that I listen to this one the most.

In the first three tracks, there are quasi-Latin grooves, something resembling early ska or reggae, some odd, distorted violin, and countless other ideas and sounds, all crammed into a remarkably cohesive yet scatterbrained sound. The final two tracks, "Chain Reaction" and "Quantum Physics", find the band joyfully riding propulsive, percussive musical mantras into previously uncharted territory somewhere in the stratosphere, leaving pretty much every other band ever far, far behind.

Track listing:
1. Dizzy Dizzy
2. Come Sta, La Luna
3. Splash
4. Chain Reaction
5. Quantum Physics

Sunshine day and night

Forest - Forest (1996)

Related:
Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows (2007)

Hypnotic, raw black metal at its finest. Forest's association with Blazebirth Hall undoubtedly means that they were NS, but given the innocent album cover and the fact that they sing in a language that I don't understand, I get to pretend that they're just singing about how the woods get them in touch with their lupine spirits or whatever. (For my policy regarding racist black metal, see this post.) So if this upsets you, steer clear. If this really upsets you, please feel free to never visit my dumb, offensive blog ever again, or leave a comment telling me all about it. Just don't expect me to get into it with you, as this is an argument that I have had, online and IRL, about 4000 times.

Track listing:
1. Тенью над землёй
2. Тлен и огонь пред далью открытой
3. ...Багряный в утопании...
4. Enburnst the Christian
5. Winterhowl

In the middle of death, in the face of life

Al Gromer Khan & Amelia Cuni - Monsoon Point (1995)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Al Gromer Khan - Divan I Khas (Visions of a Mogul Prince) (1987)
Al Gromer Khan - Utopia (1993) + Attar (1996)

Gently drifting synths make a soft, soothing musical bed for Amelia Cuni's "Ancient Dhrupad singing." A single 55-minute composition. Also, if you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out the other Al Gromer Khan albums that I've posted, as they're easily some of my favorite new age albums, and they're pretty hard to find.

We take rose

If you're into this, I'd be surprised if you didn't also like:
Robert Rich & Lisa Moskow - Yearning (1995)

Rachel's - Selenography (1999)

Dark, low-key, instrumental post-rock. Piano, guitars, strings, and sparse percussion painting abstract, mysterious landscapes.

Track listing:
1. A French Galleasse
2. On Demeter
3. The Last Night
4. Kentucky Nocturne
5. Honeysuckle Suite (Sugar Maple -- Elm -- Sweetgum)
6. Artemisia
7. Old Road
8. An Evening of Long Goodbyes
9. Cuts the Metal Cold
10. The Mysterious Disappearance of Louis LePrince
11. Forgiveness
12. Hearts and Drums

You will be safe
You will be asleep

David Holland Quartet - Conference of the Birds (1973)

An avant-garde jazz classic. I was gonna post a different Holland record, cause this is the one that everyone knows, but what if you've never heard it? I couldn't live with myself.

Track listing:
1. Four Winds
2. Q & A
3. Conference of the Birds
4. Interception
5. Now Here (Nowhere)
6. See-Saw

Deluge

Boduf Songs - How Shadows Chase the Balance (2008)

Get Boduf Songs' new album, Stench of Exist, on digital, CD, or vinyl, right here. Do it, you'll love it.
...

"All of my heroes died the same day/All of them fallen away/Swinging from nooses, wrists opened wide/Arteries spilt at their sides."

So begins How Shadows Chase the Balance, an album of stark, devastating folk that's effective enough to make me question my choice to listen to it. Over acoustic guitars, mandolin, sparse drums, and faint atmospheric elements, Matthew Sweet (nope, not this guy) whisper-sings poetically about death, suicide, longing, and existential crises, channeling a pitch-black atmosphere usually reserved for black or doom metal. (Speaking of which, here's my post about his sludge band, Ringing Bell.) If this record had existed in '06 or '07, back when my depression was winning, it would probably be one of my all-time favorites.

Track listing:
1. Mission Creep
2. Things Not to Be Done on the Sabbath
3. I Can't See a Thing in Here
4. Quite When Group
5. Pitiful Shadow Engulfed in Darkness
6. A Spirit Harness
7. Found on the Bodies of Fallen Whales
8. Last Glimmer on a Hill at Dusk

There is blood on the breeze

Secret Shine - Untouched (1993)

A nice lil' obscure gem of 90s UK shoegaze. The more uptempo songs remind me of a less polished Lush, while the slower ones invoke Slowdive at their most serene. Though, obviously, one can easily find reference points for this sound -- Untouched is not the most original record, OK -- it's nonetheless a treat for anyone who, like me, can't get enough of this stuff.

Track listing:
1. Suck Me Down
2. Temporal
3. Spellbound
4. So Close I Come
5. Into the Ether
6. Toward the Sky
7. Underworld
8. Sun Warmed Water

All that I say
It's never true

Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Geisterfaust (2005)

Related:
The Nest - Music for Drivers (2012)

Bohren and Der Club of Gore make slow, dark jazz that's (probably intentionally) quite similar to the music to which you'd see Audrey Horne seductively swaying on Twin Peaks. Despite the instrumentation, which includes vibraphone, saxophone, and Rhodes piano, and their complete lack of guitar distortion, I'd argue that they have more in common with drone doom and funeral doom than they do with any given jazz artist.

Geisterfaust is, with the possible exception of Midnight Radio, their most challenging release. Each of these five long compositions seems to exist in a sort of slo-mo free-fall of drawn-out chords, simple vibe/sax melodies, and extremely sparse percussion; either there's no steady rhythm present, or the tempos are too slow for it to be readily discernible.

Track listing:
1. Zeigefinger
2. Daumen
3. Ringfinger
4. Mittelfinger
5. Kleinerfinger

Black city skyline