Altare Productions presents the debut album of Austria’s Nahtrunar, Symbolismus, set for international release on June 22nd. Appropriately, Symbolismus is conceptually dedicated to the nights at the turn of the year, known as “Rauhnächte” in old European customs and traditions.
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Undead plays a well-tried formula of simple, middle-paced death metal while achieving effective songwriting. At times we can hear a tinge of Scandinavian sound, while some other parts scream out early and straight up U.S. death metal like Obituary or Death in Spiritual Healing. This isn’t as complex, structure-wise, as Cause of Death (which isn’t very complex to begin with either), and so approaches Schuldiner’s ultra simplistic death metal much more. Having mentioned both bands, fans of James Murphy’s work in them will not be disappointed with the soloing in False Prophecies.
This album shows the perfect balance between variety of content and consistency in style with clarity of voice. Songs do not sound like they are based on a template (even if they are, the important thing is that they do not appear like they are, that is the final product), but you can easily recognize them as belonging together. As in any album with good songwriting, the mood and character of riffs from one section of the song flows and dives into the next, carrying the listener forward without the obstacle of forced expressions. This style is heavily based on introducing appropriate variations in riff character without deviating from the mood at all.
The weaknesses of this album may lie in individual riffs, which in the end does more merit to the songwriting abilities of these gentlemen. This is to say, if you make a boring riff, sound appropriate, useful, and driving because of its context, then you have succeeded in your task as a composer. Still, this minor complaint will be on the minds of metalheads as it is the nature of the genre to look forward to strong riffs, the muscles of metal, even more important in the straight forward style of Undead.
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Tags: 2015, death metal, False Prophecies, Undead
Atriarch, are pleased to unleash the video accompaniment to the suffering sounds of “Bereavement.” The crushing psalm comes by way of the band’s An Unending Pathway full-length.
In related news,Atriarch will bring their sonic rumble to four California cities beginning tomorrow in Sacramento. The trek will include a special performance at Psycho California this Friday alongside Cult Of Luna, Eyehategod, Russian Circles and more with additional onstage trauma to be announced in the weeks to come.
Atriarch:
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Like the clueless cannon fodder that most sacrificed soldiers end up being in major wars, so too are the hordes of albums of clueless “musicians” working on a way to cash in on the lack of attention span and seriousness of the masses. Lazy music for lazy minds, candy music for people wearing rose-colored glasses. It all ends up here, sadistically reviewed, their corpses lying on the ground. Perhaps comparing these releases to massacred soldiers is giving them too much life. These sterile releases are more akin to cardboard boxes with Andy Warhole (yes, War-HOLE) colored stupidity.
Heathen Beast – The Carnage of Godhra
Scream lyrics in monochromatic vox, make cavemannish groove riffs that mimic the vocal rhythms, and then overlay or alternate with middle-eastern instruments from a keyboard. Apparently Heathen Beast thinks this is enough to make some sort of progressive folk music. Of course, you need the narrated sections, or the dialogues. Then this becomes a conceptual release. Just because you can release your musical creations does not mean you should unleash your turds on the world. Some of the cheapest music to hit the mail this month.
Osculum Infame – The Axis of Blood
Make-believe black metal that grooves like alternative metal. The nonsensical juxtaposition of sections to surprise and contradict expectation is rampant. The point is not to make the music coherent in any sense. The point is to posture. We are black metal, man, we are hardcore black metal. The reliance of this music on grooving rhythms and macho-man vocals ala Phil Anselmo is as sickening as it is disgraceful. The true black metal fan will do well to stay away from this one. Save yourself some precious minutes of your mortal life.
VoidCeremony – Dystheism
The epitome of the riff salad disaster in the so-called atmospheric death metal. The trick here is simple: make obscure, messy riffs, lots of them, more than you can count. They do not need to progress in any particular direction, they do not need to be necessarily related. They do need to keep a character, at least. This will make the fans laud your music for creating “such a dark and oppressive atmosphere”. You will hear poser hipsters like Anthony Fantano who know nothing about the graceful art of musical construction praising poorly thought-out death metal such as this. They equate “I do not know what the fuck is going on with the music but I can get the feeling” with good quality in death metal. Tough-sounding ambient music for blockheads.
8 CommentsTags: 2015, Anthony Fantano, Dystheism, Heathen Beast, Osculum Infame, sadistic metal reviews, The Axis of Blood, The Carnage of Godhra, VoidCeremony
No God Only Pain has just released a music video for their new album’s title track, Joy of Suffering. No God Only pain play a brand of primitive black metal with heavy Oi! component which brings to mind early absurd at moments but distinguishes itself with more dynamic songwriting. Atmospheric and at the same time driving, this music maintains coherence and stylistic consistence while never stagnating, an improvement over past approaches to this particular musical blend. While still having loose ends, this music shows a lot of promise.
No God Only Pain contact:
https://www.facebook.com/nogodonlypain?fref=ts
http://nogodonlypain.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AClnNyXudAE
23 CommentsTags: 2015, music video, no god only pain
Altare Productions is proud to present Dolentia’s highly anticipated second album, Iniciação Eversiva, set for international release on June 22nd. The vinyl LP version of Dolentia’s Iniciação Eversiva was released earlier this year the UK’s Mordgrimm, and that release featured six songs. Now, a CD version will be released by Portugal’s Altare Productions in conjuction with Mordgrimm, and will feature two bonus re-recorded songs from the 2007 demo A Idade da Morte, Liturgia do Sangue e da Agonia: “Lapidis/Sacrificium” (two songs glued together, like the band uses to play live) and “Era Portucalensis.”
Tracklist:
1. Voragem
2. Guardião das Almas
3. Entre Túmulos Esquecidos
4. Supremo Desígnio
5. Do Fundo dos Abismos
6. A Noite
7. Lapidis – Sacrificium
8. Era Portucalensis
Tags: 2015, Altare Productions, Black Metal, dolentia
Rare and out of print for many years now, Profezia’s Black Misanthropic Elite – Moon Anthem debut is finally back in print via Moribund Records, set for international release on July 24th as a limited-edition A5 digibook. Originally released in 2008, Black Misanthropic Elite – Moon Anthem introduced this Italian black metal to the international scene. Tracks 1-6 comprise the Black Misanthropic Elite portion of the album, while track 7 and 8 comprise Moon Anthem, altogether making for stirring spelunking through medieval depths.
Tracklist:
1. Overture Psalm
2. Poem for the Black Misanthropic Elite pt.1
3. Under a pale veil of unconsciousness reckless
4. Interlude
5. Hatred
6. Poem for the Black Misanthropic Elite pt.2
7. Bewitched
8. Hungering
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Playing a cavernous underground music, Undergang have crystallized a style in Døden Læger Alle Sår that harks back to the sound not only of obvious Scandinavian forefathers but also to that of Morpheus Descends and Demoncy. Rather than spiraling through serpentine corridors as Incantation does, Undergang uses vocabulary from the Swedeath lingo here, and then the atmospheric death metal riff of Morpheus Descends there, only to descend into a the more inconspicuous atmospheric tremoloing of Demoncy to further the expression. Enriching this mixture of influences, we can also find unexpected doom-like moments with the economical and spacious approach of Worship.
Even though all these are present in Døden Læger Alle Sår, the style parade that a collection of influences often results in is not present here. It is also very important to stress that Undergang does not fall into trope repetition nor does it wink at the listener with a cliche here and a cliche there. The band expertly appropriates the different stylistic conventions under a overall Swedish death metal mantle and, more impressively, escapes the cliches of the latter as well. The reason why it can work is because the grindy Nihilist, the American Morpheus Descends and the decorative ends in Demoncy and Worship – like breaths are all compatible. It is only unfortunate that while all this has been accomplished, Undergang’s own voice still seems only visible as a blurry image behind this coherent, translucid tapestry.
4 CommentsTags: 2015, death metal, demoncy, Døden Læger Alle Sår, morpheus descends, Nihilist, Scandinavia, Swedeath, undergang
Miserable Failure have premiered a new music video of their song Hang Them.
In other Miserable Failure news, the band has just completed the recording sessions for a new split, this time with label-mates C.O.A.G. and a third band to be announced. The split is planned to be released later this year / early next year. They’re currently working on their next release, but more on that later.
Miserable Failure Official Website
www.facebook.com/msrblflr
Tags: 2015, Hang Them, Miserable Failure
Today we will visit the works of two great composers in their own right who were also the teachers, directly or indirectly, of other composers who are considered musical geniuses. These geniuses were Mozart and Beethoven after Haydn, and Webern and Berg after Schoenberg.
In a way, Haydn and Schoenberg represent opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of the relation between composer and society. Haydn was employed by the Esterhazy family for many years, serving as personal composer for their events and whims. An honored servant, making music in the styles fashionable to the aristocracy. Schoenberg, on the other hand, was a product of a much different era, a century and a half later, when composers had attained a position of independent eminence and power as a result of a process that had started in Mozart’s time and made more clear with Beethoven. Schoenberg’s attitude and music widened the gap between an artists pursuit of perfection and the audience’s taste and preferences. This, of course, was a result of larger historical processes and not the work of a composer; Schoenberg was a result of these, not a cause.
Franz Joseph Haydn: Seven Last Words of our Saviour on the Cross
Originally written for a classical orchestra as a commission for the Oratorio de la Santa Cueva in Spain, Haydn reworked this music intended as accompaniment for the mass as a string quartet at the petition of his publisher. Irrelevant here, but it is worth mentioning that the composer later adapted this work as an oratorio as well.
Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2
Powerful and particularly lyrical in its melodies, this quartet is unusual in its use of a soprano in its last two movements. About this quartet, the composer says:
“I was inspired by poems of Stefan George, the German poet, to compose music to some of his poems and, surprisingly, without any expectation on my part, these songs showed a style quite different from everything I had written before.” – Arnold Schoenberg (1937)
The work uses a wide array of work tools, starting with a very late romantic feeling and moving into atonal experiments; the last movements in which all chromatic tones are used.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzgFd0eDaMQ
4 CommentsTags: Classical String Quartets for the death metal fan, Haydn, Schoenberg
