Chunky industrialized noise rock/ metal welded to sledgehammer drum machine rhythms and super gnarly synth textures fronted by a kid who sounds like the singer of Uniform crossed with JR Hayes from Pig Destroyer.
They've got a bunch of other stuff out, but I think this might be my favorite of their releases because it sounds most like the album Chat Pile might make after listening to a ton of Pretty Hate Machine.
RIP uncle Mike. The first time I ever heard Black Sabbath was in your truck on the way to the hardware store. I absolutely fucking idolized you so they were instantaneously cool to me because you liked them. It was a tiny moment in your life that changed the trajectory of mine forever.
"Well I know its hard for you to know the reason whyBlah Blah:
Ok, first things first: I don't think this page is dying, at least not quite yet... I've just been insanely busy with recording and slogging my way through a bunch of "real life" stuff so my efforts toward posting have admittedly been a bit half-assed lately.
I had been hoping to get my shit together and start writing more starting this week but I just got word that my uncle Mike passed away and that really knocked the wind out of me so it's looking like it might be another couple days/ weeks before I'm fully "back in the saddle" as far as writing goes.
Here's a real quick roundup to hopefully tide you over while I search for more stable footing.
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Muzak:
Predatory Light - A bunch of the same dudes as that DM band Superstition operating in more of a black metal mode. Picked this up on a whim last night and find myself really enjoying it. Mid-paced and riffy with a really dark/ mysterious mood that makes me think Dissection/ Necromantia/ early Rotting Christ/ Mortuary Drape/ Master's Hammer.
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Cultic - Real talk, that video is pretty fucking silly. Like maybe to the point of being kind of a bad idea... but, at the end of the day it looks like the band is having fun and the music is full on Celtic Frost/ Amebix/ Winter style metallic punk dirge and you really can't argue with that.
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Hulder - It feels like every time I go "all in" and decide I like some new black metal band lately about two weeks later I find out they've got some shitty NSBM leanings so I'm kinda bracing for it, but maaaan I hope that doesn't happen with Hulder because I really fucking love this stuff. Melodic and fearsome in a way that reminds me of early Satyricon crossed with the first couple of Gehenna albums.
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Scattered Remnants - So, I guess Scattered Remnants played MDF last night? Fuck. If I had known I probably would have tried to go just to see them because "Procreating Mass Carnage" is still one of my absolute favorite death metal demos of all time.
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Darkened - If you're the type of war master who wakes up at first light to spearhead your day with those once loyal then this most recent offering from metal mercenaries Darkened will almost certainly fill your dead armor with honor valor and pride...
It sounds like Bolt Thrower is what I'm saying.
https://edgedcircleproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-black-winter
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Desolate - I mentioned Scattered Remnants just now so I cant help but be reminded of 16 year old me's other favorite local band. Monstrous death metal with detours into creepazoid doom riffing and moments of completely "off the rails" blasting that border on war metal/ blackgrind chaos.
Desolate were insanely fucking heavy, especially for middle of nowhere Massachusetts circa '95.
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Beherit - Been on a wicked Beherit kick lately, especially the most recent album and this weird EP track from 2012 that kind of sounds like the beat from Folk Implosion's "Natural One" wrapped in a haze of fucked up black doom.
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Video Games:
Cotton Fantasy - Latest installment of this long running cutesy bullet-hell franchise. Pretty awesome even if I'm not particularly good at it yet. I think the character based on the ship from Psyvariar Delta is my favorite so far cos I'm pretty fond of the bullet grazing/ absorbing mechanic from that game.
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Drainus - Haven't jumped into this yet but it's next up after I finish with Cotton. Looks like R-Type crossed with Ikaruga? Extremely pretty graphics.
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Reading:
My attention span is absolute dog shit lately and any attempt to read anything longer than the occasional set of heavy metal lyrics has ended in pathetic failure.
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Tube:
Christ, have I even watched anything since last time? Uh, pretty much just an old El Santo movie and a couple episodes of Ghost Adventures. Like I said, I've been pretty fucking busy.
Just found out my uncle passed away. Too bummed to write anything coherent today. I'll be back eventually. Until then: Just listen to Beherit.
Surprisingly gritty Synthwave/ EBM from Texas. Listening to this as I drink my coffee this morning is making me wanna put together another Armed Memory album.
This late era Head of David album has a reputation for being terrible, and it definitely pales in comparison to the earlier one that had a young Justin Broadrick on drums, but at the same time it's a hell of a lot better than I gave it credit for back when I was 15.
Honestly, listening to this now I'm kinda wondering why I wasn't more into it back in the day 'cos it feels like a middle point between Cop Shoot Cop, The Young Gods circa "T.V. Sky", and "Gash" era Foetus and that was my shit back when I was in high school.
Put another way: If I ever got a chance to direct the insane 90's Tetsuo meets Hardware meets Project Metal Beast style sci-fi splatter flick that rattles around my head from time to time I would totally license a couple of these songs for the soundtrack. Sweetandlovingthing especially.
