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Des Cendres a la Cave - Transmissions from the Heart of Darkness, part IV: In limbo

Another Chapter in this blog's ambient/noise compilations. If you're not an enthusiast of the genre, these compilations are the perfect way to become one.

You can download them for free on Bandcamp

Slomatics - The Future Past

For those who haven't had the honours of stumbling unto this band, Slomatics is a Stoner/Doom band from Belfast Northern Ireland. They are proving to be a steady new entity in the UK Stoner/Doom scene next to bands like Ramesses, Electric Wizard and Moss, they have recently released a new ep called 'The Future Past'.

Slomatics' sound on this ep is very dark & heavy and the riffing rather nihilistic & repetitive, with Oborn-borrowed vocals steadily brooding in the background. They tend to sound like Conan (With whom they share a split album ) or maybe Dot[.] (in terms of guitar sound).

They have a fruitful partnership going on with James Plotkin (Khanate, Old) who has Mastered the ep, their split with Conan and their latest full length album 'A Hocht'. This cooperation clearly shines through into all these recordings as they obviously sound a bit more industrial than older albums (Kalceanna and Flooding the Weir), wich in term attributes to a more unique overall sound.

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Torche & Pelican @ 013 Tilburg

Remembering Pelican's live performance at Roadburn 2012 i do have to say they're a very impressing Post Metal band, Overtly melodic but still very very heavy. Now they're apparently returning to the 013 Venue in Tilburg Holland for another show (this time in a smaller venue) and the 013 venue (being as musically up to date as can be) have booked another great band to fill up the evening.


Torche is a band that's very hard to like at first, they're to heavy to battle they way into the mainstream, but they're also to poppy for most of the underground Stoner fans (You could roughly sum them up as a musical blend of Bongripper and Weezer). I stumbled on this minor issue earlier on to, but upon further investigation of their discography i have made my peace with them, and found that they have assembled a very unique and peculiar sound.



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Consciousness Removal Project - Tacit

Usually when it comes to Scandinavian metal bands i find that most of them share a similar approach to all diverse metal genres, they tend to play a more straight forward and raw version of their respective musical genres. Bands like Saturnalia Temple (Doom), Cult of Luna (Post-Metal), Horse Latitudes (Drone Doom) and not to mention some of the Norwegian Black-Metal bands (like Darkthrone or Mayhem) all fit into this premise. I don't know in what extend this premise is correct but it surely seems to work out for the examples i have mentioned above and a couple of others i didn't mention.

Consciousness Removal Project is a one man Post-Metal / Post-Rock project from Finland and is an obvious exception to the link i have found above. The music obviously originates from a kaleidoscope of different bands from different genres, From Lustmordian Dark Ambient, to bearing striking resemblence to Godspeed you black Emperor and from Mogwais Post Rock to Isis' Post Metal. the band has a New York feel to it (don't ask why) wich in my opinion can translate to it being a very modern sounding album.

In my humble opinion i do have note that the album has an overwhelming amount of these musical digressions wich makes it harder to enjoy, but like Neurosis has taught us: the longer it takes to fully enjoy the album, the more fulfilling and complete it feels when you finally do.


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Usnea - Usnea

Usnea is a Funeral Doom band from Portland US, they also manage to fuse some Black Metal and Sludge Metal elements into the typical Funeral Doom Sound. They Have recently (23 January) released their new self titled album wich i believe is also their debut album.

The album is pretty diverse in sound, with plodding drums and melancholic interlacing doom riffs serving as the main flow throughout the entire album, often interrupted by blasts of Black Metal or sudden surges of Sludgy mayhem. In my experience these digressions only serve the purpose of making the album more dynamic and showing the audience that their influence is broader then only Funeral doom bands like Mournful Congregation or Evoken.

They have apparently shared the stage with prevalent doom bands like Yob and Bell Witch and i think they will continue to do so in the future.

Bandcamp
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Des Cendres A la Cave - Compilation 3

Another Dark Ambient/ Post Industrial/ Dark Electronic/ Noise compilation by french blog 'Des Cendres A la Cave', available for free on Bandcamp.

Dereliction - Ambivalence

Dereliction is a Lithuanian Black/Death metal band (in a very literal sense). They manage to portray an almost perfect blend of black and death metal by integrating prevalent techniques from both genres. bearing resemblance to both death metal bands like Necros Christos or Acephalix as well as black metal bands like Ascension or Leviathan. Even the vocals are akin to both genres.

really refreshing band. (You can download this ep for free from Bandcamp.)

JK Flesh / Prurient - Worship is the cleansing of imagination

JK Flesh (see previous post) has released a new split together with dark-ambient/noise artist prurient (aka Dominick Fernow).

In the first track of the recording JK Flesh is clearly stating his take on the recently emerged Dubstep fad, until the signature godfleshesque guitar riffing kicks in, further defining his sound as pure dark and industrial electronics with a more modern esthetic then any of his other work. This atmosphere is continued throughout the rest of his recordings.

As i mentioned before, Prurient is a dark ambient artist, that means he's an alchemist of sound excelling at creating gloomy gusts of sound that pulse through your mind. I have to admit that i'm not really into the noise/dark ambient scene (with some exceptions like Lustmord or Syndrome) so i'll leave it up to fans of the genre to make up their mind.

first three tracks are JK Flesh, others are Prurient.

Bandcamp

Hark - Mythopoeia

Hark is a new welsh Sludge-Metal band in the vein of bands like Mastodon, High On Fire or Red Fang. I could conjure up a description but i've noticed they've descrived themselves pretty accurately on their bandcamp so why bother when i could just quote them:

"Ex. Taint frontman Jimbob Isaac returns with his new unit Hark. Their debut seven inch 'Mythopoeia' is released on July 30th, through the Destructure/SuperFi labels. The Welsh progressive-power-sludge trio carry Taint's torch forward, passed on from their legacy that began in 1994. With fresh chops and almighty riff power, Hark continue to fuse punk attack with Sabbathian dirge, and decorate post-whatever angularities with classic rock flourish. While Isaac's vocals expand on his tried and tested palette, his lyrics continue to shatter prose with bleak metaphor and acerbic spittle. Former Whyteleaf rhythm section Nikolai Ribnikov and Simon Bonwick, the Hark engine, bring an OCD approach to song craft, and endlessly creative pummel. Their dynamic chops, and blood lust for riffs meld with Isaac's honed and equally determined musical vision."

You should also check out Jimbob Isaac's old (now defunct) band Taint:

Polska Radio One - Liquid psych-out vol1

it's always very intriguing to see certain genres live through decades of musical innovation, while still retaining their own characteristics. Krautrock is one of those genres. Their are still many bands today that are indirectly or directly influenced by krautrock, and there are even some bands that try their best to sound just alike.

Polska Radio One is a psychedelic/Krautrock band from Yekaterinburg Russia, they have released their new ep "Liquid psych-out vol1" in december 2012. It's a really promising recording that has a strong tendency to lean towards bands like Neu or Can ( wich of course is a good thing) but with a more spacy vibe to it.

Their 2-song ep is available for free on bandcamp