MADNESS REIGN

Some more masterpieces...

Nu Gorod gonna sound AMAZING!

Can't wait..that artwork is some real wild shit!!

FADADES

Now THIS is a band that should have been on Metal Enterprises!

Empty Grave - Inside The Man There Is An Empty Space Which Has The Size Of God

Dear God (literally), I just had to post this one...extreme Christian goregrind. I don't even know...what the fuck??

The Size Of God

Godzilla - II

Another Metal Enterprises release...maybe even more insane than Killer Fox, but surprisingly listenable, go figure. Still, it's just not very good except for a laugh...and even then your better off with that Red Foxx album I posted a while back (ol' Red is a "Killer" Foxx after all, hehehe).

Go-zilla

Kalaschnikov - The Torture Never Stops

Another of the infamous Metal Enterprise releases...utterly cheesy and fun as hell!!

The Torture Never Stops

Undor - s/t

Czech out this insane German black "metal". Very much in the vein of the last RALF Projekt (vox-wise at least).

Undo(r)

Kaviar Kavalier - Die Urinal Therapie

A new Necrocock is out and about!!

Mystrez - The Indictment

Cold mechanical riffing of Pestilence Spheres, vox of a Doty + Russell Andersson (beyond excellent)...in parts baroque exercises in staccato ride cymbal athleticism in part break your neck thrash. The confusional song structures make for what should be a strange and alienating experience, but to the credit of these Dutch gentleman, they played with fire and came out with nary a singe on their aquanet encrusted pompadours. What are u fighting for?

The Indictment

Gruntsplatter - Chronicling The Famine

I'm not big into dark ambient, but there are a few artists that intrigue me...Brighter Death Now, Lustmord, Coil, Endura. I'm no expert that's for sure. Despite my limited knowledge, I know what I like, and Gruntsplatter I like. This project is the brainchild of Scott Candey of WormGear and CrionicMind fame (check out his blog too). Despite the somewhat bleak packaging, this is a pretty lush sounding recording, headphones definitely required. Lush, but dark for sure...suffocating really. The amount of textures being layered upon each other is unreal. This is really good tripping music if you still do that sort of thing haha. Mastered by Robert Rich, that's probably why it sounds so fucking good.

Chronicling The Famine

Himinbjorg - Haunted Shores

Psychedelic transcendental pagan metal from these French heathens.

Haunted Shores

Organ - Apoplexy In Six Parts

Norway's mysterious Organ were an incredibly gifted group that presaged the sound that Ved Buens Ende would morph into with Virus. 2003's Apoplexy In Six Parts is sort of a missing link between those two bands (sonically at least, not personnel wise). Very cool instrumentation...there'll be a convoluted clean guitar passage going on and just some incessant blasting underneath. This is actually really similar to what DHG did on Supervillain Outcast. No vox really, but occasionally some disturbed samples will make an appearance (fellatio, Donald Duck?) Definitely one of the forgotten gems of weirdo Norwegian black metal, and an important step forward for the post black metal genre.

Apoplexy In Six Parts

Incubator - Symphonies Of Spiritual Cannibalism

The return of this slimy slithering Grungy German death metal entity. A bit more streamlined than McGillroy, but still just as weird and fucked.

Symphonies Of Spiritual Cannibalism

Ulfsdalir - Christenhass

Ah that guitar tone...just magickal! Bask in some maniacal lawn sprinkler black Transylvanian Hunger worshipping devil metal excellence that is orthodox and true!!

Christenhass

The Tyrant Of Manchester - Rough Musick Bad Blood

HARSH black metal from this mysterious UK enigma who goes by the moniker Kwim. Rough Musick absolutely sizzles, dissecting the psyche into fragments...an all to appropriate experiment in this day and age. Sometimes I feel like this album looks goddamit...FUUUCK, sometimes I feeel like this SOUNDS!!

Rough Muzak, Bad Blood

Carpe Noctem - Dark Days Of Winter

Here's a charming little tale

On Feb 20, 2008, Matthias Schoorman (aka Karathron Carpe Noctem's vocalist) strangled a long-time friend to death, chopped her head off with a machete and set her headless body on fire. Apparently while he was in the midst of all this he was documenting it in real time on an internet forum...you can check it out if you want.
Schoormann then crashed his car into oncoming traffic during a chase with authorities (the girl's severed head was later found in a bag in the car).

At any rate, Carpe Noctem's debut is a very enjoyable raw melodic black metal affair with absolutely insane vocals, of course I guess that goes without saying.

Seize The Night

The Ultimate Revenge

Judas Iscariot - To Embrace the Corpses Bleeding

Have been listening to this one a lot, especially during my lunchtime runs along the Hudson. Probably my second fav US black metal after this one.

Embrace It

Borgazur - 2P3: Alchemists Earth of Aeon A. C

Hyperblazingtechnical Symphonic Christian "black" metal. Yeah, go ahead and call it white metal if you dare...white metal christian anarchy actually. This is some really bizarre stuff, coming across like a lo-fi Diabolical Masquerade mixed with a drunken Aletheian. Is it any wonder that they're Dutch?? I found this over at an extreme christian metal blog of which there are a quite a few. There truly are blogs for everything I suppose! Even if a lot of the good ones are going under RIP.

2P3

Ice Ice Burn Baby Burn

Awesome song. Awesome band. Hard to believe that anything this good has come out of Utah.....besides Mormonism hehe.

Hardware

Old school experimental death metal from Mexico. Both the Cyber Death demo from '90 and Souls Vortex ep from '92 are absolutely strange eerie chilling death metal with an atmosphere like no other...and Souls Vortex has one of the most awesome death metal covers ever, definitely one of my favorites anyway! I mean the fuckin zombies/aliens are wearing bowties, vomitting blood, pounding on an eviscerated man's ribcage and one is using it's own spinal column as a saxophone. About sums up the musick perfectly!!

Cyber Death

Souls Vortex

Brothers Grimm - Helm's Deep

This just might be one of the greatest forgotten Tech/Prog albums to come out of the good ol' US of A (or maybe anywhere for that matter). The Bros. Grimm released this their lone full length back in 1990, and to say Helm's Deep is on par with Watchtower's Control and Resistance or Fate's Awaken The Guardian is not farfetched. It's truly hard to fathom how an album like this goes pretty much unrecognized for well over 20 years. If you are a fan of prog you need to dl this right now for the bass playing alone, cuz jesus the bass goes OFF!  The closest comparison as far as bass insanity might just be Spiral Architect's A Sceptic's Universe, definitely an influence on ol' Norberg I would say. When I first found out about this album, I must've listened to vs. about 10x in a row. The middle section of that song...just holy SHIT!!! In fact, every song is so dense with memorable riffs that you will absolutely feel compelled to listen to each and every single one of these songs AT LEAST that many times.

So go deep mutherfuckers....Helm's Deep.

Helm's Deep

Black Reign - Legion

Super obscure and otherworldly power metal from Agent Steel vocalist John Cyriis recorded after they broke up for the first time. Wicked Wisdom indeed might be the worst thing ever, but this might just be the best.

Let It Reign

Wicked Stupidity

So I'm watching a Jada Pinkett Smith movie, and I'm thinking.."didn't she used to have a heavy metal band?" Why yes she did! Holy shit, this is probably the worst thing ever.

Peter Evans Quintet - Ghosts

Been listening to this awesome jazz on a fairly regular basis since I found out about it. Swings hard with lots of skrees and skronks, bleeps and blops. Evans is a fairly young guy too. Hope to hear alot more from him and this quintet.

Ghosts

Verdunkeln - Eintritt in Den Qualenfall

Pounding black metal with a unique atmosphere. Has a little of that Symbolist cinematic flavor of Smohalla and Ruins of Beverast paired with the wrist slicing undertones of Bethlehem...play this one to get your Verdunkadunk goin'.

Entry Into Perversion

Helrunar - Gratr

Scathing German excellence that will freeze your soul while it warms your heart. Features some of the best sproinging jew harp abuse that I've heard in a metal context since Part III of Taake's Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerk!!

Gratr

Klabautamann - Our Journey Through The Woods

Boy that Zeitgeister, they really can do no wrong, can they? Be it Island or Valborg, Ekpyrosis or Woburn House, everything they put out is of high quality. On this debut from '03, the Klabautaboyz do a great job at updating the epic sound of vintage Enslaved (Frost and Vikingligr in particular) with just enough tasteful Maidenesque guitar flourishes to keep thing interesting. Definitely one of my favorite Zeitgeister releases, and sure to become one of yours too.

Take A Journey

Bergthron - Faust für Faust

Heathen metal excellence...if this doesn't make you want to dance half-naked around a campfire, I don't know what will!

Faust für Faust

Graveland Anno 2012

Check out these new pictures of Rob Darken acting a nut. That guy sure knows how to have a good time...what's he battling there, some kind of mythical antelope? Damn I'd love to do some shrooms with that guy, talk about a hoot!

 

 

Black Northern Reign!!!

This might just be my favorite new black metal (one-man) band. Raise that fucking axe!!

SVENDORRAIN

Meatshits - Ecstasy Of Death

If someone were to ask me who the originators of pornogrind were, well I might just have to point them in the direction of this hot little number here. The Meatshits' debut album from '93 isn't OTT technical with guttural vomit vox and pig squeals like you'd associate with today's pornogrind...this is more in the vein of the patented mincecore death of Belgium's prolific Agathocles (of course a complete 180 from the Belgian's thematically). Fun stuff and waaaay better than anything Lividity ever did. You better have this pumpin' through your earbuds while you nail that whore in the port-a-john (or cemetery, whatever the case may be :).

Ecstasy Of Death

Gonkulator - Satan's Burial Ground

/gon'kyoo-lay-tr/

(From "Hogan's Heroes", the TV series) A pretentious piece of equipment that actually serves no useful purpose. Usually used to describe one's least favourite piece of computer hardware.
One of Fudgeworthy's finest. Gonkulator was a blackgrind noise/sludge holocaust specializing in sounds of brown. Much like it's namesake, I don't know the actual purpose of this band other than to terrorize your earholes...I guess that's a good enough reason for making music as any.

As an interesting aside, Baron von Gonkulator (the gentleman on the far right) is non other than the Mad Arab of Goat Thrower fame! Why Fudgeworthy didn't snap up Goat Thrower I have no idea, they certainly would have fit right in with their stable of "artists". I can only assume they didn't quite have that enviable brown sound so prized by Fudgeworthy and thus were relegated to the less prestigious Action Black label.

Satan's Burial Ground

Fudgeworthy Records Compilation

The infamous Fudgeworthy Records, home to all your grindcore, shitcore, noisecore, tardcore, whatever kind of disgusting lowbrow core you could possibly ever need. Founded by a gentleman named Infection Charlie, Fudgeworthy's reign of terror began with the Jesus Chrust 7" in 1990 and ended with the Phillipino black/grinders Kratornas' 7" in 2006. This label was the tastemaker of a degeneration, satiating the socially disenfranchised and mentally borderline mid-late '90's meat(shit)head prevert. G.G., Gonkulator, Meatshits A.C., Captain Three Leg...enough raw noise to keep you whacking your pud for daze. Fudgeworthy indeed.

Fudgeworthy Records

Max Neuhaus - Four Realizations Of Stockhausen's Zyklus

Lunar Aurora's cycle of insanity has led me to another cycle...of a much different sort admittedly. Legendary German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen wrote Zyklus with the idea of achieving spontaneity within structure..a wholly difficult piece that would separate the men from the boys as it were. It's amazing how Neuhaus pulled it off. Students of percussion should definitely take note.

4 Cycles

Lunar Aurora - Zyklus

One of only a handful of black metal albums that is able to viscerally bludgeon you while retaining a cryptic, haunting atmosphere. A rare, and at times beautiful, feat.

Zyklus

Falconer - Chapters From A Vale Forlorn

It's cool that Falconer's getting some play from that new car commercial (as well as are sushi, flight attendants and paratroopers), so I thought I'd post my favorite release from them. Fun as hell power metal with a smooth as shit vocalist, (who was trained in the musical theater)! Sure to please fans of Helloweiners and Lost Horizon.

Chapters From A Vale Forlorn

Falconer's MINI Coupe Commercial

Never thought I'd see a car commercial featuring Falconer, this is some weird ass shit for sure.

Ungod/Baxaxaxa split

A cult split if there ever was one. In a word RAW, so buckle up fuckers.

Raw is the Law

Semen Datura - Einsamkeit

Dissonance is a tricky thing in black metal, play your cards right and you end up sounding like Semen Datura's 2009 opus Einsamkeit (play em wrong and you end up sounding like any of a number of weak ass LLN imitators). Never content to stay in one register, SD mix it up between atonal thrash riffs, dissonant blasting sections and major chord progressions (sometimes a folk sound will creep in), similar to how Sculptured operated on their last few albums. A strange, creepy, technically proficient album that will keep you coming back for more.

Einsamkeit

Old Pagan

Old Pagan are one helluva band, and prolific to boot...here's a few of my favorites from what should become a staple in your German black metal diet.

Menschenverachtung

Tecknotschtiklan

Thrash Black Metal Holokaust

Pest - Ära

Not to be confused with the numerous other bands named Pest (from Poland, Sweden etc)...Ära is an incongruous mix of rawwar battle chaos and soulfilled acoustic strumming...sounding sort of like Sacramentary Abolishment letting Agalloch jam in their rehearsal space while they go outside and take a smoke break. An idiosyncratic and powerful listen.

Ära

Nagelfarian Descendants

It's really a shame that the great Nagelfar called it quits in 2002 after the release of their Virus West album. Fortunately the members have kept busy with various other projects.
The Ruins Of Beverast - Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite

Drummer Alexander von Meilenwald was the unstoppable meter by which Nagelfar operated...his obscure ideas have found a home in the intriguing The Ruins Of Beverast (of which he is the sole member)...von M.'s latest release from 2009 Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite (phew, what a title!)  recalls the psychedelic weirdness and plod of Sabotage era Sabbath channeled through an old Silent horror film score punctuated by the insane blasting passages that he executed so deftly on Nagelfar albums. Unstoppable.

Foulest Semen Of A Sheltered Elite

Kermania - Ahnenwerk

Kermania is another excellent black metal project of which von M. took part playing drums and lord knows what else. Ahnenwerk is a real piece of werk utilizing von M.'s patented military style rolls and blasts as well as some inventive acoustic work. A formidable black metal album that comes close to capturing the epic feel of old Nagelfar.

Ahnenwerk

Simple Existenz - Das Leben Vor Dem Tod

Not to be outdone Nagelfar's guitarist Zorn unleashed this enigmatic piece of werk under the Simple Existenz moniker back in 2010. Largely inspired by newer Darkthrone (right down to the decrepit Old West imagery) Das Leben has enough twists and turns to surprise and features strange somewhat uglified vocals by the original Nagelfar vocalist Jander.

Das Leben Vor Dem Tod

Of course these guys are involved in tons of other projects...Truppensturm being fairly decent.
These are just some personal favs.

Nagelfar - Srontgorrth

Hands down the best German black metal album ever made...may sound like hyperbole, but just listen to this immense sucker.

Srontgorrth

Old Wainds - Scalding Coldness

I have to thank my good associate Mr. Sellers (great-godson thrice removed of Peter) for reminding me of this frigid blast of excellence. If you like black metal you will love Old Wainds...if you love black metal you will go APESHIT for Old Wainds, tis simple as that...the title track, Wolves In White, holy shit the whole fuckin album is just tight and buzzy and bursting from the seams with magnificent riffs. And COLD, I musn't forget cold because in terms of sonic approximation of temperature Old Wainds are as adept as Immortal's Battles or Blizzards, which makes sense seeing as they come from Murmansk Russia, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle where January temperatures reach an average low of 7ºF!!

Scalding Coldness

Ekpyrosis - Ein Ewiges Bild

A clean sweep...listening to this is like eating a spiritual altoid...the cinnamon kind. Coldness and warmth simultaneously...oddly refreshing.

Ein Ewiges Bild