Ancient Ceremony - P.uritan's B.lasphemy C.all (2004)

German melodic black metal that also takes liberally from gothic, and death metal. For me, everything this band has done lands in the good-to-pretty-great range, with the exception of P.uritan's B.lasphemy C.all, which completely blows the rest of their discography out of the water. Maybe it's the new drummer, who gives them a much-needed ass lift; maybe it's the guitars, which are way gnarlier than before; maybe it's the beefier yet raw-er production. Who knows. Maybe it's the weirdly emotional-hardcore-sounding vocals. Whatever it is, this is a perfect example of that things bands do where they all of a sudden perfect their sound on their last release before splitting up. Strangely, the last track on here is actually a remaster of a track from their debut EP, suggesting that they always had this in them.

Track listing:

1. Te Deum

2. P.uritan's B.lasphemy C.all

3. Raped Paradise

4. The Black Flame

5. Diabolos Temptation

6. God and Idol

Let us kill our enemies

Vengeance is yours and mine

Drunken from this triumph

Their blood it tastes like wine

More along these lines:

Graveworm - As the Angels Reach the Beauty (1999)

Siebenbürgen - Delictum (2000)

thisquietarmy - Blackhaunter (2008)

Guitar-based ambient drone for ghosts. Second full-length from what has turned out to be a very prolific project. Found this CD lost in the understock at my old job, knew I was gonna love it on sight. 

Track listing:

1. Black Haunters

2. In the Breathing Forest

3. Vampyr

4. Taming the Beast

5. Hunting Demons

6. Stranger Than the Sea

Old pang, so faithful to us

You should also listen to:

School of Emotional Engineering - School of Emotional Engineering (2004)

Belong - October Language (2008)

Bestial Mouths - Bestial Mouths (2013)

Propulsive, synth-heavy post-punk/darkwave with droning, tribal-industrial percussion and a lo-fi, horror-fueled aesthetic that was clearly influenced by the short-lived but sorely missed Witch House scene. The vocals -- trembling, reverb-drenched, Siouxsie-esque incantations -- really tie the room together. 

Track listing:

1. Ceased

2. Reunion

3. Faceless

4. Vatic Vision

5. In Empathy

6. Earth

7. Cloaked

8. Movement

9. Death Rattle

Hell is behind that door

Also listen to:

Death Ride '69 - Death Ride '69 (1989)

The KBV - Subjection/Subordination (2011)

Girls Names - Dead to Me (2011)

Where the beach meets the graveyard. The shimmering, reverb-drenched sounds of surf rock applied to the murderous, self-destructive themes of post-punk and gothic rock. Of the many indie-related micro-genres that popped up around this time -- chillwave, witch house, blog house -- surf-indie was one of the micro-est, and it never really took off, but it was fun while it lasted.

Track listing:

1. Lawrence

2. I Could Die

3. When You Cry

4. No More Words

5. Nothing More to Say

6. I Lose

7. Cut Up

8. Bury Me

9. Kiss Goodbye

10. Séance on a Wet Afternoon

When they lay me down in the ground

Bury me in a wall of sound

You should also hear:

Flesh World - Flesh World (2013)

Single Lash - Soft as Glass (2014)

Irmin Schmidt - Musk at Dusk (1987)

Strange, sinister art rock solo outing from Irmin Schmidt, who you know as Can's keyboardist. Queasy, minor-key, island music/soft rock-inspired songs with lurking hints of violence and horror, sung in a quavering, Bowie-esque croon. In fact, Musk at Dusk could be likened to a more fully realized, artistically satisfying take on the canned, vaguely tropical nocturnes of Bowie's Tonight.

Track listing:

1. Cliff Into Silence

2. Love

3. Roll On, Euphrates

4. The Great Escape

5. Villa Wunderbar

6. The Child in History

7. Alcool

Dancing in the limelight

Champagne after midnight

If you like this, try:

Steve Hillage - For to Next (1982)

Obywatel G.C. - Obywatel G.C. (1986)

O.L.D. - Lo Flux Tube (1991)

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

Lotus Eaters - Alienist on a Pale Horse (2001)

Khanate - Things Viral (2003)

Khlyst - Chaos Is My Name (2006)

Just rewatched Brainscan and a few takeaways: 1) What a confused movie. It's like it wants to be both this dark psychological thriller examining dissociation from self via violent entertainment and a made-for-TV teen movie, then on top of that there's this utterly ridiculous, borderline Robin Williams-type character eating raw chicken and jamming out to Primus? 2) Really fun and dumb, and worth a watch if you like 90s horror, but talk about an anticlimax. 3) Great soundtrack.

Which brings me to O.L.D., whose unhinged take on industrial metal does some heavy lifting during the film's first and grizzliest murder scene. The scene actually features excerpts from the first two tracks on the above-linked The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, but I've already posted that, obviously. And Lo Flux Tube is ultimately probably my favorite anyway.

Track listing:

1. Outlive

2. Disconnect Self

3. Citient Null

4. Lo Flux Tube

5. Vein Water

6. Marzuraan

7. Disassemble

8. Z.U.

9. Outlive Again (Ganglehea Mix)

Let the mind ascend

Soar through the sky

Let the mind ascend

Leave the pain behind

Let the mind ascend

Watch the body die

You should also listen to:

Painkiller - Execution Ground (1994)

Gasp - Drome Triler of Puzzle Zoo People (1998)

Instincts & Bustum - The Mystery Visions (2002)

Ritual dark ambient with traces of neofolk and ethereal darkwave. The physical release of The Mystery Visions was a collaborative effort with visual artist Bustum, and it was probably really cool, but you obviously won't be getting any of the visual components from me. Thankfully, the music is more than able to stand on its own as an effective portal to the realms of pitch-black hallucinatory madness. Ten untitled tracks.

Abyssal gaze

You should also hear:

Black Seas of Infinity - Within Daathian Chasms (2005)

Aymrev Erkroz Prevre - Noir Voyage Obstrué de Rencontres Difformes (2006)

Plasma - Gorefuck (2000)

Dang, the Halloween season is slipping like blood, stomach acids, and miscellaneous human viscera through my fingers. I'm still very much preoccupied with my job search and will be for the foreseeable future, but I refuse to completely leave y'all hanging like dismembered corpses in a shed out back.

So in honor of the holiday that makes all of my creepiest tendencies temporarily socially acceptable, here's Plasma, who make some of the most disgusting, sloppy, amateurish gore metal I'll ever post on here. Chugalug guitars, plodding drums, and creaky, clogged drain vocals slapped together with practically no regard for composition or musicality. It's like they heard Mortician and were like, "Hey, that's pretty good, but I wish it wasn't so cerebral." And flat-out refused to spellcheck their song titles.

The Anon who called Mincer "CRAP" (their emphasis) is really gonna hate this one.

Track listing:

1. Koprostatic Cunt Catharr

2. Larva Infested Clitoral Melanom

3. Saprogenic Vaginal Canal

4. Drastic Totalextirpation of Female Genital

5. Sordes and Pus in Vaginal Gore

6. Imminent Vulva Dissection

7. Feast Upon Carcinogenic Vaginal Tissue

8. Purulent Inflamation of Clitoral Abscess

9. Metrektomie

10. Unrecognized Decapitated Crania

11. Corpse Devourer

12. Exttirpationed Vagina

13. Molodrous Inquest

14. Ulcerating Vagina

Drink from the septic tank

You might also enjoy:

Patologicum - Hecatomb of Aberration (2003)

Anal Bag - Ultimate Disgust (2011)