Saturday, August 31, 2019

Allvaters Zorn - Erbe Verpflichtet (2003)


Epic, folk-infused, lo-fi German black metal with extensive experimental ambient elements. A dramatic, singular sound shaped by heavy use of keyboards, and vocals that range from moaned singing to spoken passages that sound like religious intonations to more typical black metal shrieks.

Track listing:
1. Erwachet
2. Erbe Verpflichtet
3. Ritual Pt. 1
4. Vom Ender Der Weit
5. Ritual Pt. 2

We have always been

Also listen to:
Nahash -
Wellone Aeternitas (1996)
Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra - The Key
to the Gates of Apocalypses
(1999)

Friday, August 30, 2019

Nosvrolok - The Luciferian Doctrine (2006)


Related:
Accersitus - Lamps of the Concealed Shrine (2011)

Mesmerizing US black metal. Mostly uptempo songs, cloaked in reverb for a distant, occult sound.

Track listing:
1. The Illuminated
2. Ominous Inane
3. Roar of the Apocalypse
4. Luciferian Doctrine
5. Silent Tomb
6. Spells of Ancient Sorcery

The howl of worship unto dead shadows

You should also hear:
Unhuman Disease - De Templi
Autem Veteris Serpentis
(2016)
Haunting Depths -
Death's Sacred Fire (2017)

Monday, August 26, 2019

Castor - Castor (1995)


Related:
Centaur - In Streams (2002)

Excellent, generally low-key 90s emo/indie rock. Great guitar interplay and understated vocal melodies that always remind me of Hum.

Track listing:
1. Anecdotes
2. Pontiac
3. Grind in Motion
4. Ceremal Frame
5. Dust Gun
6. Trans
7. The Package
8. Baroque

One thousand miles from nowhere

Also listen to:
Mineral -
The Power of Failing (1995)
Ester Drang -
Goldenwest (2001)

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Earl Slick - Zig Zag (2003)


An excellent solo record of tight, punchy art rock by Earl Slick. Features a bunch of different vocalists -- most notably, Robert Smith and David Bowie, for whom Slick played guitar on and off dating back to the Diamond Dogs tour. "Isn't It Evening (The Revolutionary)" is pretty much a lost Bowie song. Sorry once again for hardly being on here anymore, but believe it or not, the dude running an mp3 blog in 2019 doesn't exactly have his shit together.

Track listing:
1. Dancing with Eleanor
2. Believe
3. Isn't It Evening (The Revolutionary)
4. 1735
5. Zig Zag
6. Pike St.
7. Crunched
8. St. Mark's Place
9. Psycho Twang
10. The Cat

I forget if it's always this way
I was told it was gold to this day


You'd also enjoy:
Daryl Hall -
Sacred Songs (1980)
Adrian Belew -
Lone Rhino (1982)

Monday, August 5, 2019

Tunrida - Hierarchy (1998)


Related:
IC Rex - Sielun Kadotuksen Sinfonia (2005)

Finnish black metal. Unleash the Satanic powers of the cosmos, and use them to kill God today!

Track listing:
1. My Finest Hour
2. Pathways to the Cosmos Opened
3. Est Sularus Oth Mithas
4. God of Infamy, Lies, and Fear
5. The Calling
6. Preacher of Immortality
7. Hierarchy of the Cosmos
8. Astral Majesty Revealed
9. Your Second Coming

Dread me, mortal, for I am inhuman
Missionary of wrath, disciple of hell


Also listen to:
Obtained Enslavement -
Centuries of Sorrow (1994)
Algaion -
Oimai Algaion (1995)

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Was (Not Was) - Are You O.K.? (1990)


Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Was (Not Was) - Was (Not Was) (1981)

Brilliant fourth album by art-funk iconoclasts Was (Not Was). Crafting pop-rooted songs whose true genius only reveals itself upon close listening was always this band's specialty, and they never did it better than they do here -- if you're not paying attention, "In K-Mart Wardrobe" pretty much sounds like an impeccably produced ad jingle.

Track listing:
1. Are You Okay?
2. Papa Was a Rolling Stone
3. I Feel Better Than James Brown
4. How the Heart Behaves
5. Maria Navarro
6. I Blew Up the United States
7. In K-Mart Wardrobe
8. Elvis' Rolls Royce
9. Dressed to Be Killed
10. Just Another Couple Broken Hearts
11. You! You! You!
12. Look What's Back (Out Come the Freaks)

Broiled chickens sang us love songs from the skewer
Have you ever been this close to going down the sewer?


You should also hear:
Nile Rodgers -
B-Movie Matinee (1985)
Che -
Narcotic (1985)