Quercus Rubra #1 - Northern Red Oak

Quercus Rubra - Northern Red Oak

This oak was growing in the ground next to my fence. I liked the kink in the trunk and the taper that the tree already had. I left it in the ground last year, as I knew that digging it mid summer would have killed it. I decided I would dig it and pot it this spring as the buds were beginning to swell, right before leafing out. Early April of this year I potted the tree. By the end of the month, it's first buds had opened and began leafing out. I knew I had some decisions to make with this tree. There was a thick branch crossing mid-trunk. It had been cut back in the past causing the two side branches. I also needed to hope roots regrew from the cut tap-root. There were no branches low as well. The kink in the trunk was now looking truly weird, with a sharp angle that jutted out to the left. The more I looked at it, the more I decided it was a flaw in the overall style.

The tree grew through the spring and fully leafed out quite nicely by mid-summer. By mid June, the tree was growing nicely, with several pushes of foliage growth, but no evidence of growth down on the trunk. I decided to attempt to wire the branches up top at this point to try my hand and getting some different angles off the trunk to potentially grow the trunk into. Having not decided on the final style for the tree at this stage, wiring the trunk away from each other and into the sun also afforded the leaves a chance to all get as much sunlight and growth as possible. I covered the soil, a formula of 100% Napa 8822 Diatomaceous Earth, with sphagnum to keep some moisture in the pot. I fertilized throughout the summer occasionally with 14-14-14 Osmocote slow release fertilizer.

Towards the end of the summer, around August, I began using a small amount of water soluble solid fertilizer with each watering when I felt that the slow release was not giving me the healthy growth on the oak. I used the leaves on my Alder as a reference point for this. Because Alder is a nitrogen fixing tree, which can produce it's own nitrogen, I can compare how green it's leaves are to other trees to determine if trees that should have dark green leaves are getting enough fertilizer. This tree wasn't. After beginning the new regimen, it's leaves began to green up. This tendency can help gauge other trees as well so an Alder is a good tree to keep in a collection for this reason.

Today, I captured some of the tree's early autumn color setting in. Just like fully grown trees, bonsai will turn colors with the season. Here, you can see some of the red coming into view. Note the small front branch low on the tree. After I removed the branch from the middle of the tree that I didn't like from the beginning, the tree began activating buds lower on the trunk. This branch grew from a bud in the perfect location. Next year, I will allow this branch to build up some strength by pruning the upper branch that is most vigorous. Eventually, I will chop the whole tree back to this low branch to grow out from that point. Currently I do not know the age of this tree. I expect it to be around three or four years. I will know for sure when I do my first cut back to the low branch - I will be able to count the rings on the trunk at that point.

Here, you can see the smaller leaves turning the distinctive red which Red Oak is named after. Note the size of my finger; oaks are notorious for having leaves which do not reduce well however I have had several buds on this tree push leaves that were smaller in size once in the pot. Red Oaks have different growth habits compared to White Oaks. You can tell the difference between the species by the type of lobes on the leaves - Red Oaks have pointy lobes while White Oaks have rounded lobes. White Oak species do not require a stratification period for their seeds to germinate while Red Oak species do. I have not seen many people with Red Oak bonsai so this tree is an experiment but I am pleased with this leaf size. If through ramification the leaves naturally reduce to this size, this will become a very nice tree to train.

On the trunk, there seem to be some more latent buds which have appeared. Hopefully next spring, I will have more low branches to work with on this tree and I can work on getting a good start on developing some long-term branching to grow out. I also am interested to see how the bark comes along next year. At the moment, this is one of my best prospects for a nice potential bonsai. There is another one growing in the back by the shed so I may have a second by this time next year.


 At the end of 2019, this was the state of the tree, with it's nicely colored, though large, leaves. The lowest left branch will likely become either the next leader for the tree (a branch selected to continue to the trunk after chopping the top of the tree off) or the first low branch. The major flaw in this tree is still the awkward kink in the trunk just below the split into two branches. The upper branches right now are simply to power the tree until some better branching develops lower on the trunk.

There were dormant new buds on the trunk of the tree all over, so I hoped that these buds would become further low branches, and allow me to begin to make decisions on the future long-term styling of the tree. The top of the tree is always strong, so being able to remove the top of the tree at the right time allows the lower parts of the tree to become strong. This is the process by which a tree is kept small, and compact, and how leaves reduce to smaller sizes.

Close up of the lower part of the trunk with the left low branch. If you look closely just above that branch's origin point on the trunk towards the right, you can see another latent bud which hopefully would leaf out in the spring.

With the buds swelling in early April of 2020, I went ahead and took the opportunity to work on this tree's roots and repotted the tree at a slightly different angle.

Pictures show the process. Any questions on this process I can answer in comments.

Left: the root ball after taking out of the pot. A lot of fine roots present. This is my first time see the growth on this tree's roots. Every species has slightly different roots.

Right: A worm had made the pot's root ball home through the winter. I put it back in the garden.

Left: I removed the soil and raked the roots out the best I could. There were a lot of good roots towards the first curve at the base of the trunk.

Right: I went ahead and cut off the majority of the remaining tap-root, since I had enough strong root mass above this point. A flat root ball is important.

Left: After removing the roots I did not want to keep, I still had a good amount of fine roots to allow the tree to grow strongly. The tree is forming a decent radial root system.

Right: The new planting angle. It looks much more interesting than the perfectly vertical trunk in the original planting.

Glaukom Synod - Ectoplasmic Revelations

Ectoplasmic Revelations appeared on my doorstep like an outlaw revisiting their favorite western shanty-town bank. Glaukom Synod has been a frequent traveler these parts for a while now, and each release has impressed me in different ways. The three hours worth of Glaukom Synod in my music library occupies a niche space between Glass Candy and Glen Tipton; nestled between polar opposites. In some ways, Glaukom Synod is a coagulation of polar opposites as well. The electronic artifacts on display are assembled with requisite heavy amounts of electronics and mechanical sounds, but with a goal of representing more natural death metal tones and structures. Ectoplasmic Revelations is no different in this respect, but most importantly, this release is perhaps even more focused in presenting Glaukom within this framework.

Ectoplasmic is it's own entity with individual tendencies and orientations. Glaukom Synod doesn't really approach the genre as a wall of noise and static and, at least to me, it's easier to imagine these tracks with different instrumentation being some idiosyncratic form of death metal than ever before, even more than the actual Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower covers on Covered in Semen and Slime.  Whereas a large portion of the genre would sound more akin to either funeral doom or drone, Glaukom is firmly opposite and refreshing in this regard. The death metal influences are clear on a track such as "Baphometic Ruminance and Clerical Decerebration". It's not impossible to imagine Cannibal Corpse piecing together parts and components for a track on Tomb of the Mutilated. Ectoplasmic Revelations is a difficult-to-find mixture of rhythmic primitivsm, challenging complexity, and auditory abrasiveness which can make the body convulse in angular motions but in an organized and purposeful flailing.





I found there was more vocal sampling present than I've previously remembered. For example "Demembrablia (Voyage, Blood and Remembrance)" utilizes vocal repetition as the main rhythmic element throughout the track. "The Taurus (Cosmic Tribulations)" even foregoes the electronic manipulation and incorporates singular death metal vocals. "Demembrablia (Voyage, Blood and Remembrance)"is likely the best overall representation of what Glaukom does so well, finding abnormal rhythmic tendencies and latching onto them with bizarre nuanced melodicism hidden beneath industrialized soundscapes. My choice for personal favorite track, "Visions of a Necrophile (The Tangerine Rest)", is the epitome of electronic suspense, with repetitive low futuristic patterns interspersed with clipping sound waves and bleeping. It wouldn't sound out of place if it were injected into the Terminator 2 soundtrack.

There's enjoyment to be found in these experimental tracks. I lose myself often searching for new and different repetitions and rhythms. It is possible to hear the same track two completely different ways or at two completely different speeds. "Sodomized By The Past" does this really well. You can latch onto the programmed drums at sonic speed or to the rubbery slower motif in the background and get a different feel for the song's pacing. This personalized experience is a unique element. Songs often are preoccupied with beating their audience over the head with obvious thumping bass to cue in on, especially in more mainstream electronic music. The experience is ultimately aggressive in tone but at times sadistically whimsical due to unconventional syncopations keyed into abnormal melodic configurations. This gonzo approach to power electronics and experimental music makes Glaukom Synod a rewarding experience even for those who wouldn't typically give the genre a chance.

CTP - 038 - I: Vivisect - Fuming Death (Rehearsal Demo)

It's taken longer than I've intended to get the official version of this Vivisect tape available. I apologize to everyone for that. The original 10 copies of this were released and sold at the Blood Incantation / Immolation show which Vivisect supported on. I believe it was one of their first shows.

Old school chunky and memorable Doomy Death Metal.

Tape is available via the online store. Wholesale orders contact via email. 

Isle of the Cross - Excelsis

Isle of the Cross's Excelsis is the newborn of seemingly bemused singer, songwriter, artisan, enlightenment personality, and multi-instrumentalist Je Schneider. The richly textured album displays the product of what could only be expected from someone of Schneider's background. "I grew up playing drums and piano - following in the footsteps of my Dad. I was introduced to a lot of great musicians of various genres from prog-rock to classical to new age to jazz to metal to folk to Latin to soundtracks/plays etc... it was always a diverse and inspiring collage." Excelsis is too a diverse and inspiring depiction. It veers from big loud dark moments a la Meshuggah or Gojira to soft candid piano interludes and classical motifs. Minimalism is something apparently Je never quite studied. There are absolutely moments which can sound jumbled and claustrophobic but they are not as common as I expected. How did Je ensure that for the most part the album steered clear of these common hiccups? "I actually didn't take any caution which has been noted by quite a few!" He also knows that the complexity present has its disadvantages. "I agree with most that it isn't an easy listen."

It's this composite of influences which can be found on Excelsis, yet the album as a whole is nevertheless coherent and rewarding on a purely textural level; an atmosphere captured seemingly for a purpose and with a definitive goal in mind. Schneider, however, is more keen to pin this on luck, even when given the opportunity to elaborate if he had a specific atmosphere, soundscape, or sound design in mind when making the record. "The honest answer is no. I was throwing a lot of everything into the album and enjoying a bit of the freedom as it was clearly an experimental album." The album sounds like standing in an oasis deep in an arid land - there is a dry wind carried through in heavier songs like "Tartarus", opener "Sacrifice", or "Empyrean" and yet at the same time, a lush overgrowth of melody and rhythmic layering; it's all very modern in sound and ancient in atmosphere; Babylonian. I didn't press Je on this atmosphere further and I was disappointed by the rather wishy-washy response; an album with such a poignant ambience purposefully and carefully crafted would elevate Excelsis. Apparently this spectacular aura was the result of simple luck. For me, there isn't much that I would call experimental about the album sonically, but in terms of Je's individual experience in terms of creation, I can see why he would feel a sense of experimentation coursing through.

I found the album completely coherent, especially once I delved into the thematic content. Lyrically, I found two halves of the record, with songs after fourth track, "The Wolf, Pt. II. Sanctuary," more inwardly focused and the opening four tracks a passionate plea against a larger societal force. Spirituality, and Religion are key themes, tempered by a call for Love as a replacement for heaven. Je was more responsive regarding the lyrical content. "Most of that was based on the loose theme of the album where two are trying to reunite somewhere in the great beyond - as they have now both died on Earth and seek to honor their vow of eternal love. 'The Wolf Pt. I and II' were pointed directly at a specific church, yet also contains some universal thoughts for those who promote / teach religion bondage. The final words of 'Sanctuary' (some of my favorite lyrics personally - Orion) are really to allegorically challenge all those who lay their hope in a specific church building or Sanctuary; to cut off this reliance and rather, more importantly, do what's right and make amends with those they have hurt through their religious fanaticism." A strange subject for a progressive death metal album... but the intricate concept blends well with the previously described spontaneously manifested auditory environment.

But is it a progressive death metal album? It is being promoted as such by the label. There are some elements of death metal, but in truth, to call Excelsis a death metal album is like calling a taco a sandwich. Even Je's 'death metal' vocals aren't really growls or gurgles, but more like jets of heavy whisper propelled from a larynx much more apt to sing a ballad like "Stars", which exists also as a music video more befitting of a Singaporean boy band than an LA based progressive death metal band. Other "official videos" exist of the heavier songs, but they are essentially karaoke, and so I consider "Stars," the only official video I've seen. It's not winning over any metalhead I know, depicting Je singing in front of a background of stars and nebulae. In truth... the genre doesn't apply at all and Rockshots is doing Schneider a disservice by miscategorizing it, causing it likely to be maligned by the wrong audience. Excelsis is a progressive hard rock / modern metal album far removed from the extreme ends of metal. Je agreed in a, now expected, abbreviated clarification: "Probably moreso ‘Progressive Metal’ alone vs Prog Death...Excelsis has some death’ish elements". I asked Je about the two guest singers on the album, expecting him to explain how he was so impressed with Diane Lee's vocals (her vocals on "Inferno" are a highlight for me) that he had to get in contact, or that he was floored when he originally heard Eric Castiglia on this song or that album. "I just contacted them by email and the rest was history." Well OK then.

So ultimately, I have mixed emotions regarding Excelsis and Isle of the Cross. In one pocket, we have a deep sack of unique influences and interesting motifs, shuffled around by Schneider who proves his musical background to be stalwart as his guitar playing and leads are as exceptionally performed as his piano parts, seemingly held together by just enough left over lint to keep the album taught and tied in such a knot that each part seems inseparable. In the other pocket, I can barely squeeze my hand in to grasp any of what should be really interesting music because Schneider, even with poking and prodding, is keen to vaporize his own rich musical background and efforts by explaining away purpose and artistry with the same aloofness Diderot attributed to Rameau's nephew in his (1805) posthumously published satire. Diderot attempts to portray Rameau as a free-spirited debutante with little concern for the world around him and even less morality but Rameau's nephew proved to actually be an intellectual adept capable of long-winded and varied conversation worthy of an entire manuscript. Je Schneider is the antagonist Diderot failed to ultimately portray. From Rameau's nephew, the irony of one of his claims comes to mind: "I would not like to guarantee that a good speaker will sing well, but I should be surprised if a good singer could not speak well. Believe all I say on this score, for it is the truth." Oh is it?

It's interesting how my opinion of the album changed based on Je's responses regarding his creative process and sonic goals in it's creation; originally impressed and intrigued and now ambivalent. Je was quick in returning answers for my questions, which was great, but I've never sent questions to someone who was so keen to not want to extrapolate on their own music. Apparently he's done other interviews for the album, so it's possible he was simply tired of answering questions, but even in other interviews, at least to me, he comes across as curt. Nonetheless, I could see plenty of people enjoying this, just not fans of death metal. I think Excelsis is best suited to listeners of more modern progressive metal like Dream Theater's most recent albums, Orphaned Land, and other heavier European symphonic heavy metal. The best song on the album for me is either "Tartarus" or "The 9th Circle. Pt. III - Inferno," which is a truly impressive work, especially considering it was written entirely experimentally, with all thought and purpose thrown to the wind, and reliant entirely on luck.

Chronicles of Hate - The Birth of Hate

Chronicles of Hate's The Birth of Hate could be construed to have checked most of the right boxes to jump on the heap of average melodic death metal albums. They are also approximately twenty years too late to their chosen genre's golden years. In truth, the band on their website claim "the intent is to merge the sound of death metal's old school with the groove and violence of most modern metalcore"*. To me, this sounds a lot like melodic death metal. This simple summary could be a more than adequate ultimatum on their debut release too. It's important, however, to not fall victim to the falsehood that just because something has been done before - and done ten thousand times before - it is necessarily worthless to try again. Something can be said regarding the age and maturity of a genre and how refinement in extreme metal, especially in genres such as black metal and death metal, has resulted in exceptionally well-crafted modern takes on genres which are often perceived as being overinflated. Unfortunately, Chronicles of Hate do not do much, if anything at all, to raise themselves above or beyond the status quo. The Birth of Hate proves to be merely a serviceable record for passerby listening.

Initial impressions of The Birth of Hate are positive. The album starts off with a moody intro track before falling headlong into "Devastation... Rise!". The production quality appears on point. The guitar partnership of Riccardo D' Angelo and Roberto Simonetti is tight with a full bodied tone. The album is recorded live, apparently, and this helps the performances feel natural and not mechanical. "The Better Way" follows, and is more aggressive and hard-hitting. Opening with a violent guitar tremolo melody from the left guitar, it is one of the tracks on the album which stands out, in my opinion. During the breakdown sections, it is easy to hear Mirko Pinoli standing out as he pummels accent notes out of his bass and into the mix. "Bet on Tragedy" begins with a slower, heavy, groovy riff that adds some variety to the record even at this early point. The song becomes the catchiest of the album with a streamlined verse which is more melodic than the previous opening tracks. "Bet on Tragedy" for me, is the album highlight. Lyrically, it also is the most commanding, expanding on the concept that world leaders view war as a game, and ignore the value of the human lives that fight and die. The band put together a music video for the song with, what looks like, edited scenes from Call of Duty or some other video game with the lyrics overlaid; for me, I'll do without the video.

"The Better Way" truly brings vocalist Francesco Macchi into the spotlight, where he will stay for the rest of the album. Macchi's vocals are quite searing, especially towards the end of the track, where he is unrestrained and animalistic, holding one vocal syllable for a full eleven seconds. He shifts between a hardcore style of vocals, lower growled death metal vocals, and some higher range screeches and snarls. Macchi makes great use of these different voices to lend passion and emotion to songs which could easily sound tired and expressionless without solid leadership in his thematic role.  It's not that the rest of the band are not acceptable musicians, they just don't stand out the way Macchi makes himself stand out. Part of this is the live production. Solos are performed in-take, being panned left or right (mostly left) with the rest of the rhythm tracks. Instead of sounding like stand-out solos, they come across as simply leads. A lead such as that which closes out "Away From Reality" would sound so much better center panned, with some minor effects added in post, with both rhythm tracks underneath.

 The album begins to slip for me at "The Beast Within." The main riff which the song returns to several times just does me in; it jumps back and forth between two or three notes for what seems forever before finding a place to rest in a been-there heard-it-before filler riff. Then it does this three or four more times throughout the song. It also emphasizes one of the album's biggest flaws, in my opinion. The material has very little dynamic movement. Songs are always all guns blazing, regardless of which speed they are going at. There isn't a single point, for example, where session drummer Antonion Inserillo and Pinoli have moments to themselves, or where either guitarist is singularly highlighted (a five second clean guitar intro to "The Beast Within" doesn't count either). "Hope Kills" starts with a riff which sounds similar to other riffs that are heard in earlier songs... having either of the guitarists perform it on it's own would add some compositional and arrangement variety to the second side of the album. This scar of monodynamism needs to be addressed in future material for Chronicles of Hate to move beyond formative.

Final track, "Away from Reality" was the biggest surprise for me. It's elevated initial melodicism was not as exceptional as that found on something like The Jester Race or Natural Born Chaos, however it did sound like something you'd find on a sub-par track from Clayman. I'd like to see more of this by Chronicles of Hate, if not as intricate. Some carefully chosen locations of heightened melodic movement would help the band craft  melodic death metal which is less stagnant, more memorable, and dynamic as a song like "Bet On Tragedy" proved the band can do well. The album art for this release is tame. It doesn't stand out at all and wouldn't exactly draw my interest if the album sat on racks with other releases, hell even if the CD was a few bucks in a used bin I don't think the artwork would catch my eye. The melodic death metal genre is so stuffed, that a band like Chronicles of Hate need to separate themselves either by doing something original or by writing perfect songs; neither of which they do on The Birth Of Hate, which is, at least, not entirely worthless thanks to the performance of Macchi.

* https://chroniclesofhate.wixsite.com/chroniclesofhate

CarnageSlumber - Sadistic Mechanical Evolution

There are infinite different purposes behind the art which bands create. Artists aim to express reverence for nature, induce mosh pits and headbanging, invoke a sense of brotherhood, convey the deep-rooted philosophy of individualism, spit blasphemy, or any number of other artistic and ideological goals good and bad. The key to successfully portraying their goal, in music as with any medium, is a unification of the medium and the purpose. With CarnageSlumber and Sadistic Mechanical Evolution, pinpointing a purpose for their art is difficult. The album doesn't truly highlight any specific elements. The lack of melodic separation between the tracks, the constant muted tremolo picking, the singularity of overall tone, and the artificiality of the drum tone points to something assembled for a reason but missing parts. Sadistic Mechanical Evolution is a piece of equipment without gauges to read, without a user manual, without input or output; it's an engine idling and producing little. The moments where the album succeeds, songs such as "Mitochondria" and "Vibrating Dead Tongues", to a lesser degree, offer just enough to hint at something underneath. Two songs which come ever so close to marrying the medium and the message.

The tone of Sadistic Mechanical Evolution is modern and urban, yet also past-prime. Guitarist Salvo Di Marco summons Morbid Angel who found and honed a similar springy, murky guitar tone on Heretic and, to a lesser degree, Gateways to Annihilation, but where those albums offered something purposefully old, swampy, and dank, CarnageSlumber mix this laden tone with the crisp snapping artificiality of mid-2000's era death metal drums found on Krisiun's AssassiNation or Decapitated's Nihility. CarnageSlumber also exaggerate their spongy guitar tone to a degree of magnitude where singular notes higher on the register would be more at home at a ten-year-old's birthday party in the bouncy-castle. Lower registers have a boomy upfront presence which is resounding yet truncated. It's a unique choice of textures to process and, at least to my sensibilities, a mystery. The tone never seems to engage me the way similar tones have, such as on Golem's Dreamweaver, which is similarly unique but better mixed and supported. Lorenzo Reina is, tone aside, excellent on drums, especially in his grand finale drum solo closing out the album on "Sideral White Creator."

My least favorite element is the monotone gruff vocals of Paolo "Zodd" Sofia. His performance is admirable with little to complain about technically. Zodd comes across as urgent, powerful, and gritty; all things you'd want in a vocalist. Combining, however, his vocals with the other elements of the mix and things start to blend in a way which bores me. There is no bass guitar, so his lower range stands out against the guitars, but because there is a genuine lack of melody in the vocals, this low end is filled with essentially a bassist playing one note for the duration of the record at rhythmic intervals. The short songs are served well by Zodd's urgency and immediacy but his often truncated barks of vocals begin to lack variety by the third or fourth song. Were there some contrast in the vocals melodically or dynamically or tonally, it would go a long way to propel CarnageSlumber. The current style doesn't capture the vivid lyrical matter or express what I feel is a wellspring of performance inspiration.

Regarding which, I did absolutely enjoy the thematic content, as choppy English as the lyrics were. Songs mainly focus on human medical experimentation. I imagine Dr. Kevorkian rewriting Carcass lyrics in Engrish. The imagery in a song like "Termical Visions" can trace it's heritage to Italian classic Giallo films in lines such as 'No one survives to the predator, no one will deny him his trophies, more you oppose more violent will be your end'. "Vibrating Dead Tongues" captures the scene of a corpse in a suspended state, with only a tongue retaining movement, being self-aware. "Mitochondria", likely my personal favorite song on the record for the atonality which is welded to it's structure, has the most vivid lyrical content, proposing the outcome of all genetic diversity in the moment of existence's destruction contrasted against the moment once again of creation at singularity. Other songs are similarly vivid taking form as poems which open the mind to what would surely be disturbing science fiction concepts.

CarnageSlumber has work to do in terms of coalescing their sound into a unified whole and a recognizable purpose or soul. There are a lot of elements and moments which speak to their artistic capability, technical prowess, and uniqueness but none which clarify what the band is trying to say with their music. There are moments on Sadistic Mechanical Evolution which I really enjoyed, but those moments do not shine light through the shadow of monotonous textures and sapping energy. As colorful as the lyrical content is, without a matching soundtrack we are given two separated cranial hemispheres which aren't exactly communicating. I could see fans of bands like Meshuggah enjoying this, but also fans of technical death metal, because of Di Marco's rigorous guitar playing. A bass rolling underneath, supporting all this with some nuanced melodic variety would be a huge addition - especially a bass with an unconventional tone - as would some vocal refinement and variety. CarnageSlumber could produce something of genuine originality in the future if they stay the course and make some arrangement tweaks to what they are already doing. The packaging on this Extreme Metal Music release is professionally done with all the lyrics included and a memorable cover courtesy of Cristina Cammarata.

Father Befouled - Anointed In Darkness: Live In Europe

Archiving Father Befouled's first European show, Anointed in Darkness: Live In Europe, serves a singular historical purpose and is how I perceive the album first and foremost. While from an artistic perspective the recording does a good job presenting the atmosphere which Father Befouled have captured on their albums, the willingness of the band to overlook certain aspects seems to me that the band has an emotional connection to the circumstances of the captured milestone which is greater than their concern for the quality of the recording itself. I can only theorize, however I expect that a slightly better performance and recording taken from the band's third or fourth show, for example, would have as much significance to a fan as the first show from this tour. Ultimately though, there is nonetheless a special semblance carried through Anointed.., perhaps just short of imperceptible, which renders minor performance mistakes and production miscues moot. If nothing else, we can revel side-by-side with Father Befouled as they offer their subterranean craft to an audience for the first time on this virgin terra. Krucyator Productions is responsible for the release and everything appears as professional as can be expected from the French label.

Justin Stubbs, the main force behind Father Befouled, has said before in interviews that his main goal is to create "dirty, nasty, dissonant, atonal, ugly shit"*. Most of these terms apply to this recording and so, at least from the creator's vantage point, Anointed... is an objective success. Personally, I don't hear a huge amount of atonality in Father Befouled, nor much dissonance. The riffs are largely chromatic, but that alone doesn't equal the discomfort which atonality manifests in say, a song like "Idol Defamation," which does carry many clearly atonal moments. Father Befouled's death metal sculptures are those of chiselled saints missing limbs and upturned crosses melting into pools of hellish fire, equal parts catacombs and coffins, and creeping paranoia. Dirty, nasty, and ugly but not so much the industrialized and mechanical incapability for melody which one finds prevalent in, particularly atonal and dissonant metal. Clearly, there are no major scales, no walking bass lines, no moments for dancing; there is only a subterranean swelling of blood, bile, and blasphemy. By church standards, this is a record which would be burnt, crushed, destroyed, and it's owner sent to reformation camps and, therefore, has a rightful place in death metal halls alongside major influences like Incantation and Immolation.



From the initial seconds of guitar feedback, it's clear that the platter we are being served hasn't exactly been sanitized. After the time-honored tradition of counting off with quarter notes on the snare, death metal is thrust into our yearning minds in the form of "Sacrilegious Defilement". The most immediate thought for the listener should be "why is Rhys Spencer's bass the only thing I can hear?" It's undeniable that his low end is overwhelming. This is the case in many locations throughout the opening song, as well as through the rest of the album. This is likely a technical miscue having to do with the way in which the live audio was mixed on the soundboard in a live setting. Live sound is rarely mixed in a similar manner to studio, especially in regards to bass. The frequencies at which bass is transmitted are longer and appear to the ear less audible than the higher frequency guitar tones in a clear-sight room so bass is pushed louder so the audience can 'feel' the rumbling in their gut. The result of this mixing is that the original soundboard source material naturally is bass heavy. It's also why when you walk outside of a venue, you can often hear tons of bass and nothing else - longer frequency waves pass through material with less volume reduction than tighter guitar frequencies. It's essential in a live setting to mix this way but is recreated poorly on record. Texturally, there isn't much to warrant such a loud bass and the muted tone is too clean for my tastes - and for the sound of the band. This is the releases largest singular flaw, yet, alternatively, this loud bass is something which would never be emphasized in a studio album to this degree and gives Anointed... an elementalism, a hear-and-now quality, which is transportive, genuine, and definitively 'live'.

Underneath Rhys' thunderous bass Amos Rifkin completes the rhythmic responsibilities capably. Derick Goulding and Stubbs add the frosting to this sulfurous cake. Riffs often are phantoms of tremolo picking and guitar squeals with occasional terse doom moments. Where solos or lead moments do appear, the subtle glimpses of sad melodies add a noticeable dimension. It's one of the reasons why "Ungodly Rest" is the best track in my opinion here, even if there are a few audible performance flaws and a full minute of the solo section has been culled in their live set. The song has a couple big moments to remember: the slow undulating opening riff descending one and a half steps to a contrasting low 'B' which acts as a melodic glue for the track and the excellent, yet shortened, doom/death solo section. For me, not knowing a large portion of Father Befouled's discography for this release, it was the quickest song to take notice of. The second track that next really captured my attention was "Holy Rotten Blood," and "Idol Defamation" third due to that atonality. In some ways it reminded me of early At The Gates melodically. The set has a good mix of speeds with plenty of slow, mid, and fast paced songs to fend off boredom or monotony which speaks to Father Befouled's songwriting.

Anointed in Darkness does exactly what the band wants it to do: capture a moment in time, their first European show, and allow others to share in that experience. It presents the band as they genuinely are: a foot soldier in the American old school death metal army, willing to follow the orders of their superiors and get the job done. It fits the mentality of a workhorse band and Stubbs' humble production minded goals. Much of the physical release is really well done also. The packaging and layout, also from Stubbs who is a graphic designer by trade, is kept simple but refined with an eight page layout featuring black and red tour photos and live shots. Having said that packaging is "something he always looks for in releases+" while simultaneously acknowledging that he "doesn't overthink things... it is me kind of going 'that's good enough'*", I can see his passion represented by the former comment as well as his desire to get things done by the latter. The layout - which could have been much more lazily assembled - is stitched together with a natural feel for acceptable photo positioning, booklet layout, and the added insert explanation as to why this release is important to the Father Befouled crew. Anointed In Darkness, even though the sound is not the best, does make me want to pick up a copy of Desolate Gods after hearing the impressive "Ungodly Rest." The front cover photo from Malia Rifkin (I'm assuming drummer Amos' significant other) captures the band in a moment of subdued grandeur, entranced in blasphemy beneath an inverted crucified Christ, simple spotlights raining a pure white light onto those who on April 30th, 2019 offered their own Word to a following of willing supplicants.

* https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/harvester-publishing/execution-podcast/e/episode-002-justin-stubbs-of-father-befouled-encoffination-49698386
+  http://putrefactiveeffectzine.blogspot.com/2010/04/father-befouled-interview-2009.html

Flyers: KRUCYATOR PRODUCTIONS

KRUCYATOR PRODUCTIONS

Sodom - Live in der Zeche Carl (1994)

Somewhere, somehow, a bootleg version of Sodom's 1994 VHS tape, Live in der Zeche Carl, ended up in my hands. There's something indiscriminate about the way in which collections and music hoarders such as myself go about their business of nonchalantly ingesting any interesting nugget of potential relevancy that we come across and then relegating it to a box or shelf or some place easily forgotten. When I picked up this bootleg, I do know it was before the popularization of Youtube and the imminent destruction of all that is obscure. It may have come my way back when I was a frequent poster on Zero Tolerance forum; when forums were the way in which obscure music was dredged from the depth at a semi-reasonable rate of speed, allowing a given number of aware readers a chance to listen, consider, discuss, and place the artifacts more appropriately into a given position. Live video in the late 80's and early 90's is the only visual documentation of these events and shows outside of pictures and so, bootlegs of hard to find and difficult to play material are incredibly valuable and worth saving in every circumstance, even if they are third-tier mementos.

Sodom's previous live video was 1988's Mortal Way of Live, documenting the classic Sodom lineup of Angelripper, Witch Hunter, and Blackfire tearing through material up to Persecution Mania. Mortal Way of Live highlights a twenty five-year old Angelripper with youthful confidence oozing out of his pores, a too-loud bass tone, and an at best awkward nonchalance; it's thrash to the bone and a key window into this era. Of the three major players in German Thrash, only Kreator would also disseminate a video tape within this general historical period though, releasing in 1990 only two years later, it was still a far different musical climate than 1988. Filmed equally professionally, however cut with black and white moments, carefully chosen cuts, and a better production, it had a more serious and cinematic quality, echoing the shift towards a more serious and mature late 80's / early 90's disposition. Venomisms and Motorhegemony are largely absent, one could say. So where then does Live in Der Zeche Carl fall aesthetically and professionally in all this?

Well, the first major implication of being a mid-90's Sodom release is Blackfire and Witch Hunter's replacement by Andy Brings and Atomic Steif (Guido Richter). We get guest appearances from the past members - including Blackfire on "Remember the Fallen" - but the show is largely the '94 lineup. The overall mix is more balanced than Mortal Way of Live with Brings being more audible than Blackfire and Richter's drumming slightly more subdued. The camerawork on the video is locked and loaded with interesting bulletpoints such as extreme closeups of Angelripper's nostrils from a microphone camera, odd punctuation pauses, and willy-nilly transitions. Where Kreator brought a polished professional aesthetic to framing, the same can not be said of Live... The camera angles and shots are not as crisp as Mortal Way of Live and the overall camera shots are often wild and frantic. The movement contrasts what I would describe as an average energy level. The crowd is practically stationary during some songs like "Jesus Screamer" and - somehow - during moments of "Tired and Red", my personal favorite from Agent Orange. The best reactions are for the classics, as would be expected.

It is easy to find highlights - Ausgebombt is one of these - but essentially what you are getting here is the 90's equivalent to a fan shot youtube live video today with better audio. I must point out that Angelripper's vocals are exceptional throughout the concert. Deep, powerful, raspy, and full of pent up pressure and intensity, words explode off his Westphalian lips like kernels being flicked off a table. One could point to his performance here as archetypal. I thoroughly enjoyed the shots of Richter in the middle of songs as his eyes go froggy and his expression transforms to sheer enjoyment only when he is going fast, as if speed is his happiness gas-pedal. I also appreciate the inclusion of errors and not overdubbing things like Brings' missed notes in the "Outbreak of Evil" solos. So there is a very genuine feeling to the presentation. The set list highlights the band's complete discography. Homage is once again given in the form of several cover songs, including "Iron Fist" which was the second track on the Mortal Way of Live video also. At an hour and a half, you won't feel ripped off, but a few songs could have been culled to make a less intimidating session. While this is not an entirely necessary video in the way Mortal Way of Live is historically, it is nonetheless an enjoyable video for Sodom fans and thrash fans generally.

Malus Clump #1 - Crabapple

Last year I started these three Crabapple trees. I gathered the seeds from a gas station tree in Harrisonburg, Virginia while playing a show with our friends in Earthling and Disintegration. Germination for these was the same as pretty much any seeds you would get for anything in the malus family. I refrigerated the seeds in a damp paper towel for approximately 30 days. After that point, I checked them every week to see if any were sprouting roots. When these three seeds began to sprout roots, I moved them into these starter trays. The soil I used here was regular garden soil mixed with compost. In about two weeks, they started showing their first true leaves.

Due to a lack of light set up, these seedlings looked leggy (long) which reinforced to me the need for a better lighting setup. Either way, they managed ok in the window sill until some warmer weather rolled around. Were I doing this now, I would have waited another month to stratify the seeds. Germinating and getting strong growth indoors is difficult. It did gain me about a month of growth, because they germinated in February instead of the mid-late march which would be ideal, but it's not something I would recommend without a proper propagation light setup. These were some of the first stratified seeds I had worked with.

By late March, I was able to repot them into a bigger pot for growing out. I put them in a standard terracotta pot. For soil, I used Napa Oil Dry 8822 as a substrate. The trees seemed to do very well initially. I encountered very few issues. Once in a while, I would see some aphids on the leaves which I would simply pick off or squish. Crabapples are generally considered disease magnets because of their 'sweet' wood. Insects love them.

By the end of July, the three trees had put on strong growth all summer and were doing very well. The roots had grown so vigorously that water was not draining well in the pot. I punched a hole through the center of the root ball just to give some drainage capability. Fertilization consisted of two applications of osmocote slow release 14-14-14 fertilizer and, towards autumn, occasionally liquid fertilization at low amounts.

By early November, the trees had pushed their fall color - a deep greenish red, almost purple hue. A second flush of growth through late August, September and early October was unexpected but brought the trees to about 14" high each. By this point, I had decided that I would be repotting the trees in the spring again, because I wanted to solve the drainage issues.

I also wanted to get the trees as close together as I could to attempt a fused trunk clump to form. Inspired by old landscape crabapples I've seen with massive triple trunks, I waiting through winter until the first signs of enlarging buds on the trunk indicating the ideal time to repot deciduous trees. These were overwintered by digging the pot into my vegetable garden beds to keep the root ball warm.

Removing the tree from the pot, it was immediately clear that the tree needed to be repotted. Matted roots filling the bottom of the pot were healthy but clearly confined. Raking out the roots and soil to get a better idea of what kind of structure I was dealing with yielded an almost springlike structure of thick, healthy roots. This root growth shows what kind of excellent root mass you can get in a single year.

I simply cut the entire bottom of the root mass off and got individual trees separated. Even removing all the matted roots proved not enough to easily separate the trees. Tangled masses of roots for each tree intertwined and wrapped around each other. I did my best to clean up the roots for each tree, removing roots growing in directions I didn't want. Because my plan was to fuse these three trees together, decided the best front of the trees, and used that as a guide as to where I could remove more roots. I needed to be able to get the base of the trunks as close together as possible. I removed roughly 75% of all the roots that the trees had grown the past year. I was perfectly fine with this and expect the tree to fully grow them all back - and more - by the end of this year.

In order to get the trees into the alignment I wanted them to fuse together, I made a wooden template out of shims to keep the trees separated from each other. I notched out a spot for each tree and pushed it down into the middle of them. I then arranged the roots outward as best I could in the direction I wanted them to grow. You can see in the picture to the left how radical my pruning was on the trees. Once I had the trees in a decent general position, I zip-tied them together to make sure they don't push apart as they grow this year. My main goal is to let the roots establish in this formation.

Next year, I will do a less severe cut back of the roots and attempt to scar the surface of the trees where they come into contact with each other so that their cambium layers can fuse into each other. This would be similar in function to a graft. By allowing the roots to grow into each other this year, next year I can remove the zip tie and use wire to hold the location of the fusing together.

March 3rd, 2020

Deceased / Sacrificial Blood / Nauseator / Redundant Protoplasm / Covered In Sores

Another show in Philly. Deceased headlining. We will be obviously playing songs from the now-finished new album, as well as potentially adding in some older material unplayed in a while to the Sacrificial Blood setlist. Nauseator, Redundant Protoplasm, and Covered in Sores round out the evening.
 

 Full Sacrificial Blood show lineup as of now:

April 11th w/ Satan, etc - Blades of Steel Fest @ Club Garabaldi & Cactus Club (Milwaukee, WI)
April 17th w/ Deceased @ Cousin Danny's (Philadelphia, PA)
April 18th w/ Massacre, Crucifier @ The Kingsland (Brooklyn, NY)
May 16th w/ Vivisect, Atomic Cretins @ Meatlocker (Montclair, NJ)

 

Dekonstruktor - Eating The Universe

Natural live sludge coupled with brief moments of electronic artificiality combine on Dekonstruktor's Eating The Universe to create a surprisingly coherent whole. Somewhere between Electric Wizard's Come My Fanatics and Eyehategod's definitive early albums, the album's sparse mechanical elements blend nicely with the low-end resonance of extremely chunky bass rhythms. The conceptually industrial elements present in what could be aesthetically perceived as a Soviet style layout are a strong and clear-headed choice. Bold red coloring, utilitarian font choice, and that the band is Russian, provide sound support for this claim of iron curtain nostalgia - the band gives no indication of any ideological orientation; this is a comment solely on aesthetics. Lyrically, Dekonstruktor's focus seems more on the cosmological front than EHG's deep personal malaise. Though the album can be construed as dull, the use of effects and subtle improvisations give enough variety to lift the album past boring but only barely.

Dekonstruktor's six songs are not obese technically, with hardly a single moment demanding a single iota of musical proficiency, and yet some songs provide a significant amount of fat structurally to bite into. While "Eating the Universe" and "14" both are simple, with repeating central structures, "To The Red Pt. 2" is an example of a much more complex track, with a number of sludgy corruptions before repeating it's verse and recalling one of the three earlier introductory riffs. This then transforms into the second half of the song, which ambles ever onward for another five to six minutes. Dekonstruktor also reduce the feeling of repetition and idleness through the length of their phrases, often exceeding numerous bars before repeating, and often with minor variations, so sections which should feel repetitive don't always come across that way. For example, "Mindcutter" only has four unique riffs. The second of these motifs repeats more than thirty times, but the manner in which is is broken up, spread out, soaked in thick oozing fuzz, and recycled under a solo make its repeat appearances less noticeable; it does something new each time, and it's length - stretched into an almost eight measure length - reduces further the feel of repetitiveness.



Still, even with all these bases covered structurally, I'm not fully overwhelmed with the release. It is hardly true that that this form of sludge is unique; bands have felt compelled to be the drips of Eyehategod and Electric Wizard's spill for quite a while now and Dekonstruktor are no different. Energy is an issue, and so any sense of personal meaning obviously falls short. Mike Williams' deep inner resentment and frustrations which are so prevalent in Eyehategod's work does not have an equal here. Garish's vocals are often reverb-laden yelps off in the distance but without the definition and attitude of Jus Osborne. Boiling this all down: How do you make intense yet near-ambivalent slow music ooze with energy? I think it mostly relies on the vocal performance or manner in which the members show 'attack' on their instruments. If either of these singular elements is executed, there is some chance of imbuing the feel of purpose. I don't perceive sonic purpose here. There's an underlying tone of whateverism which fundamentally saps the life out the release.

Without flapping on forever about this six song tape, I'm nonetheless curious to know if these issues were resolved on a future release. If Dekonstruktor managed to balance the slow patient doom with any form of intrinsic energy on a subsequent release, the outcome would be quite positive. Acknowledging that this balance is difficult to find in the genre and that I'm not normally expecting anything intrinsically timeless any time soon within the stoner doom / sludge genre, Dekonstruktor  could be said to show a foundation to build on. "Mindcutter" is my favorite track, it captures most closely what the band does really well and maintains interest front to back. I'd like to hear a little more of the mechanical elements which I felt give the band some form of originality as well. Eating The World is a good stop for sludge and doom fans of numerous backgrounds. Fans of Electric Wizard and Sleep would especially find the band to their liking, but they likely won't find the energy - wherever that is found - they get from the best in genre.

Valgrind - Morning Will Come No More

Italians Valgrind have been slogging death metal for quite a while now. Their 2012 album, Morning Will Come No More, recently re-released on tape by Nihilistic Holocaust, is quite a beastly release, drawing influence entirely from the US death metal scene - particularly premier acts such as Death, Incantation, and Morbid Angel. The old school flavor and production sets the stage for a solid hour of intense death metal in a classic and uncompromising tradition of brutality. The band adeptly structures songs to highlight outright technical prowess while adopting simplistic barbarity at key moments in tracks to give the the intellectual ear brief moments of respite and the emotional heart room to rampage and drool. After several listens, Valgrind prove themselves worthy of being listed among the best the genre has to offer, especially when compared to many of the often touted modern death metal elite.

After a short intro, the album begins proper with "Fifth Nightmare," highlighting the mixture of influences which will be found across the album. The production in many spots reminds me of the deep, low-end focus of Death's Human. Massimiliano Elia and Emanuele Ottani pair to form an enlightened guitar duo, particularly where lead work is considered. Rhythms are buoyed by Marcello Malagoli on drums and Elia once again handling bass. The four man unit with Daniele Lupidi enforcing with his powerful bellows hammer home the refined and decisive bludgeoning. With this natural throwback tone set from genesis, it's difficult to do anything but be enveloped in soothing extremity. As the album progresses, other influences and comparisons become more readily apparent depending on the tracks. "Dark Dressed Shepherd" is nostalgic for Incantation, "When Mortal Skin End To Be" immediately resurrected the more obscure Mortal Decay's Forensics at opening, and "Rebirth. Pt. 1" will remind listeners of Morbid Angel's seminal Altars of Madness.



If the album has a flaw, it's length - as is often the case for me. Squeaking by in just under an hour, it's a lot of material to digest, even as powerful and strong as each song is. A couple of weaker songs could have been dredged and deposited somewhere else, such as on an EP or refined further. A note to today's bands: Onward to Golgotha clocks forty-five minutes, Altars of Madness clocks in at forty-four, Dawn of Possession at forty-two, and Human sprints by at thirty-three. Great death metal albums should mug you; should release violence urgently; should come and go like a sharp blade through flesh. It's not that a band should be tied to any length restriction, but it takes an adept artist being candid with themselves to acknowledge when to reign in album length.

Nonetheless, Valgrind handle this lengthiness with appropriately placed short instrumentals throughout the release to give momentary cleansing of the ears. The first of these instrumentals, "Quest for Immortality" opens the B side of the tape. So aside from turning your tape - or allowing auto reverse to kick in - the track helps cue the listener back into the album and prepares them for "Rebirth Pt. 1" and "Rebirth Pt. 2." I felt a Testimony of the Ancients flavor which was odd considering the rest of the album is so US centric. The second of the instrumentals also appears on the B-side of the tape before the second to last song. It's akin to the common "we've got two more songs" warning I seem to hear every show I go to. At thirty-five seconds, it's fine where it is and makes sense though I think I would have preferred this second instrumental right before the final track because...

The album ends with masterpiece, "Only Human Beings Corrupt Their Will". Here, Valgrind leave any regrettable concern over experimental absences covered. The track is likely my favorite along with the two "Rebirth" tracks. Opening with memorable deep tremolo picking riffs before disappearing on and off into Morbid Angel territory, the song shifts to big cosmic chord moments with keys backing tapping guitar melodies and a blistering guitar solo section in a Nocturnus vein. With unique textures subliminally rumbling beneath slower repetitive chords, the song is a mixture of a number of stylistic tendencies of Valgrind while showing that there is no shortage of creative arrangement ideas available for the picking for this band.



I often wonder if exceptional albums such as this find their way to the right ears. It's easy to pass over phenomenal newer albums and a lot of old-school death metal fans seem to shy away from hearing worthwhile modern releases. It's not surprising with the amount of over-hyped music circulating along with the high saturated market that many simply do not give a modern band like Valgrind a chance. Morning Will Come No More deserves the comfort of an old school death metal fan's crusty car stereo. I also really found rewarding here were intangibles such as the memorable song titles and deep red monochromatic artwork. I wish there were some sort of lyrical accompaniment with the J-card however I am well aware of the difficulty of satisfying such an extreme layout. This all is minor; Morning Will Come No More is a major reward.