Cavernlight - Corporeal (2015)

Crushing, atmospheric art sludge from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Huge, layered sludge, carefully controlled tension-and-release, and tortured vocals, eventually collapsing into a massive pool of whirring electronics and droning feedback. One of the more interesting post-metal bands currently in operation.

Track listing:
1. The Ember That Burns in the Endless Dark
2. Wander
3. Upon the Threshold of Reason, Embracing Our Corporeal Forms
4. Through the Fog...

To wallow in the filth that dwells where despair is born

Also listen to:

Old Man Gloom -
Seminar III: Zozobra (2001)

Buried at Sea -
Migration (2003)

Mick Ronson - Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1974)

In keeping with my tradition of posting stuff a day late, here's Slaughter on 10th Avenu, the solo debut of the late, great Mick Ronson, who left us 25 years ago yesterday. It's not just one of best glam rock albums in existence -- it's a showcase for his production and arrangement skills that brings his role in the formation of Bowie's glam-era sound into sharper focus. So put this on and pour one out for Mr. Ronson, one of rock's greatest unsung heroes.

Track listing:
1. Love Me Tender
2. Growing Up and I'm Fine
3. Only After Dark
4. Music Is Lethal
5. I'm the One
6. Pleasure Man / Hey Ma Get Papa
7. Slaughter on 10th Avenue

My friend myself, boredom's hero, prince of the alleys
Stumble falling to a winsome table, in search of wine

If you like this, check out:

Jobriath -
Creatures of the Street (1974)

T-Rex -
Futuristic Dragon (1976)

Forsaken - Evermore (1997)

Maltese traditional doom/heavy metal. Evermore is an excellent piece of Sabbath worship, and could possibly be mistaken for a lost Sabbath album, except it's waaaaay to good to have somehow slipped under the radars of millions of fans.

Track listing:
1. The Healer
2. Rubicon
3. Moon Dancer
4. Season's End
5. Vertigo
6. Winter Tears
7. Sufferance
8. Madrigal
9. Slip Stream

I am the healer of this universal lie
The cosmic architect, ovary of the skies
I am the healer, I shall rid you of your pain
Chaotic inertia, a hypodermic for the insane

You'd also enjoy:

Trouble -
Run to the Light (1997)

Count Raven -
High on Infinity (1993)

The Diddys Featuring Paige Douglas - Agony & Extasy (1977)

Soul/funk/disco that's fit for the stereo in heaven. Gently psychedelic, ridiculously chill songs about stuff like having sex in outer space, with a blurry, synth-y, analogue sound that would sound right at home on a chillwave record.

Track listing:
1. My Special Love (Disco Mix)
2. Intergalactic Love Song
3. I Love You Baby
4. My Special Love
5. Strange Love
6. Your Love Is Like a See-Saw Baby
7. I Love You Girl
8. How Long Have You Loved Him

L  O  V  E

You might also enjoy:

Sylvia Robinson -
Pillow Talk (1973)

The Kaplan Brothers -
Nightbird (1978)

Omnihility - Biogenesis (2012)

US tech death brutality. Years ago, I downloaded what was supposed to be a thrash/death record (Infestation of Evilized Deformities by Glory Hole) from some metal blog, but upon listening, I heard sick AF tech-death. Although I loved it, I couldn't figure out what it was -- it was all tagged as if it was the Glory Holy record -- and none of the song recognition apps were any help. Fast forward about five years, and upon randomly trying once more, Shazam finally recognizes it, I grab the missing final track from [redacted] and all is right in the universe once more.

Track listing:
1. Biogenesis
2. Unsummoned
3. Torturous Insemination
4. Self-Inflicted Rapture
5. Abscess of Oblivion
6. Religion the Plague
7. Epoch Unending
8. Fractal Disintegration
9. Fate Beyond
10. Remnant 2012

Unholy spawn of hell

You should also listen to:

Lost Soul -
Immerse in Infinity (2009)

The Sickening -
Death Devastation Decay (2009)

Conway - G.O.A.T. (2017)

One of my favorite rappers in recent memory. Conway is from Buffalo, NY, and his sound is an update of the eerie nihilism and horror-soundtrack-worthy beats of 90s NYC gangsta rap, a style that I've always been a sucker for. That album cover kinda had me expecting some fashionably lo-fi, Death Grips-worshipping internet-core, but it's nothing like that at all. Free download via Datpiff.

Track listing:
1. G.O.A.T.
2. Trump
3. Th3rd (feat. Raekwon)
4. Die on Xmas (feat. Benny)
5. Rodney Little (feat. Prodigy)
6. XXXtras
7. Bishop Shot Steel
8. Mandatory (feat. Royce 5'9)
9. Arabian Sam's (feat. Styles P)
10. Bullet Klub (feat. Lloyd Banks & Benny)

I sent the goons out lookin' for you

You might also like:

Black Moon -
Enta da Stage (1993)

Supreme Cuts & Haleek Maul -
Chrome Lips (2012)

Wind of the Black Mountains - Sing Thou Unholy Servants (1996)

Ridiculously under-appreciated US black metal. Druggy, esoteric, occult vibes via homespun, primal blasphemy à la early Bathory. Sing Thou Unholy Servants was, thanks to ye olde Napster, one of the first black metal records I ever heard, so it's always been somewhat of a classic to me -- which it might've been to others, too, if anyone ever listened to it.

Track listing:
1. Forcefed into Blasphemy
2. An Autumn Evening
3. Black Goat
4. Beautiful Sorrow
5. Adversary (Taste of Forbidden Desire)
6. The Rite of Darkness [Bathory cover]
7. The Shadow (Hill of the Horned Goat)
8. Thou Shall Not Mourn

Show me your true form
Cloven hooves of power
Shall rule the world

You should also hear:

Nahual -
Mysteries of the Cosmic Serpent (2001)

Wormsblood -
Mastery of Creation (2009)

David Ming-Yeuh Liang ‎– Chinese Masterpieces for the Ch'in - Ancient and Modern (1980)

Striking, contemplative solo pieces for guqin, as performed by David Ming-Yueh Liang, about whom I know nothing. Not my rip -- I continue to drag my ass with regards to getting myself an apparatus -- but you can thank me for that shitty, crooked picture of the album cover.

Track listing:
1. Three Variations of Plum Blossom
2. Prelude for Huaxue
3. Mist and Clouds of Dunting Lake
4. In Mountainous Seclusion, Recalling a Friend
5. In Memory of an Old Friend
6. Roaming in Zhangan

Wild geese descending on the sandbank

Similarly sparse, meditative sounds:

Robbie Basho -
Venus in Cancer (1970)

Six Organs of Admittance -
For Octavio Paz (2004)

Birkabein - Birkabein (2011)

German raw black metal. Lo-fi second-wave evil, with muffled, tinny keyboards for extra drama. Birkabein was originally recorded in 2001, but for some reason wasn't released 'til 10 years later, with a pair of tracks from their first demo tacked on.

Track listing:
1. My Revenge Comes in Winter
2. Todeskrämpfe
3. Instrumental
4. Land der Ewigen Nacht
5. Infernal Holocaust (T2)
6. Getryn

Dawn of maggots

More like this:

Nordlys -
Foelg Nordlyset (1995)

Heemat -
Platschonk (1998)

Annette Peacock & Paul Bley - Dual Unity (1972)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Paul Bley - Fragments (1986)

Blissed-out, psychedelic, jam-heavy jazz-rock helmed by bassist-vocalist Annette Peacock and keyboardist Paul Bley. The monolithic "MJ" maintains a mostly mellow, stone-y vibe throughout, while the rest of the album explores more frantic, free-jazz territory.

Track listing:
1. MJ
2. Gargantuan Encounter
3. Richter Scale
4. Dual Unity

It's a dream

Also listen to:

Alice Coltrane & Carlos Santana -
Illuminations (1974)

Picchio dal Pozzo -
Picchio dal Pozzo (1976)

Nahja Mora - The Trees See More (2017)

Harsh, cerebral US electro-industrial. From my hometown of Baltimore, no less. Taps into the same vein of damaged, dense, sample-heavy, horror-fueled aural death that fueled prime-era Skinny Puppy. Free/name your price via bandcamp. Get it!

Track listing:
1. -
2. Removal
3. Healing
4. Inside Out
5. God
6. Daybreak
7. Destructor
8. The Very Last of Summer
9. Dream Dead
10. Tomorrow
11. Losing Teeth (Bedtime Remix by I, Parasite)
12. God (Devil's Bible Remix by Precision Field)
13. Bee Venom (Fear We Are Remix by Fun Never Starts)
14. if they do not lie they cannot live (Battery Remix by Shawn Brice feat. Maria Azevedo)

You have to make horrible compromises because the system is broken.

If you like this, try:

Hocico -
Autoagresión Persistente (1994)

Decoded Feedback -
Overdosing (1996)

XO - Heart (2014)

Sugary-sweet US shoegaze. Lush, sunny walls of guitar, lovestruck vocals, and catchy, uptempo songs that often end up with at least one foot solidly in power pop territory.

Track listing:
1. Instrumental 2
2. Waste
3. Sweet
4. Coast
5. Death
6. Crazy
7. Fault
8. Voice
9. Helll
10. Never
11. Heart

Still here

If you like this, listen to:

Guitar -
Sunkissed (2002)

Ringo Deathstarr -
Colour Trip (2011)

Pole - CD 1 (1998)

Dub-y, glitch-y, borderline ambient sounds from a Berlin-based producer. An impressive work of texture and subtle, slow-burning intensity.

Track listing:
1. Modul
2. Fragen
3. Kirschenessen
4. Lachen
5. Berlin
6. Tanzen
7. Fremd
8. Paula
9. Fliegen

I see my mother

You might also enjoy:

Donato Dozzy -
K (2010)

Abdulla Rashim -
Unanimity (2014)

Vehementer Nos - Vehementer Nos (2007)

Related:
Lesmentor - ...Sable et Soumise... (2007)

French progressive black metal. Epic, intricately written songs with twists and turns galore, but never at the expense of compositional cohesion, and with a touch of piano and strings to class that shit up.

Track listing:
1. Contre le Cycle
2. Les Devastes
3. Absurde
4. Seuls
5. Dans le Flot

Carrier of wounds

You might also like:

Foscor - Entrance to
the Shadows' Village (2004)

Lunar Aurora -
Zyklus (2004)

Arto Lindsay & Ambitious Lovers - Envy (1984)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Arto Lindsay - Noon Chill (1998)

Weird, angular art pop fronted by the great Arto Lindsay. Some buoyant Latin percussion here and there, as well as a snapshot or two of the laid-back tropicália that would come to define Lindsay's solo work.

Track listing:
1. Cross Your Legs
2. Trouble Maker
3. Pagode Americano
4. Nothings Monstered
5. Crowning Roar
6. Too Many Mansion
7. Let's Be Adult
8. Venus Lost Her Skirt
9. My Competition
10. Badu
11. Dora
12. Beberibe
13. Locus Coruleus

Your generosity is too close to cruelty

If you like this, try:

Che -
Narcotic (1989)

Nona Hendryx -
SkinDiver (1989)

Malediction - IX Sorcerers (2011)

French black metal. Cold, ritualistic sounds that aren't anyone's idea of new, but composed and performed with dedication and passion. Because sometimes, we all need help breathing new life into our relationship with The Dark Lord.

Track listing:
1. The Supreme Order
2. Impure and Profane
3. Children of the Black Sun
4. Visions
5. Hatred Phenomenon
6. IX Sorcerers

Drink the devil's blood

Also listen to:

Typhus - Profound
Blasphemous Proclamation (2005)

Khashm -
Dark Path to His Throne (2009)

Affinity - Affinity (1970)

Totally sweet, ornate old-school prog/psych with a breezy, at times jazzy feel, fueled by the powerful, melancholy-tinged voice of singer Linda Hoyle.

Track listing:
1. I Am & So Are You
2. Night Flight
3. I Wonder If I Care as Much
4. Mr. Joy
5. Three Sisters
6. Coconut Grove
7. All Along the Watchtower

You can wind him up
He'll do anything you want him to

You should also listen to:

Earth and Fire -
Atlantis (1973)

Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - Le Rat
Débile et l'Homme des Champs (1974)