Human Bodies Interview, Ramlord Bonus Interview, and More

 9/16/15, live at Koto in Salem, Massachusetts.

Without getting into a misty-eyed rant about how dedicated and accommodating people can be, it's worth mentioning the context behind this interview. It was around 2:00am in morning, well after the intense Wednesday night show. The venue doors had opened five hours earlier. Everyone you'll hear speaking, other than myself, had a long drive ahead of them. Everyone still took the time to sit for quite an in depth interview without ever seeming impatient or rushing. Mike was even kind enough to return for a second round after the first awesome Ramlord Interview. With that in mind, the focus this time around is more on Human Bodies.

This was a great show and really interesting interview, especially the contrast between how Kveldulf and Mike got into metal and punk - pretty damn fascinating. You'll hear about how Human Bodies formed with a vivid name origin explanation, learn about the crossover in the metal and punk scenes, how the Human Bodies/Leather Chalice Split came about, the benefits of touring with a mechanic, and the usual "what's next" question for Ramlord, Leather Chalice and Human Bodies.

Saloth - Ruled By The Death God

 It's likely that everyone is getting tired of the Armon Nicholson projects but the catalog of work he has put out is one of the few examples I can think of where a single person has put out a substantial amount of material in a short span of time that are not demos, splits, or compilation appearances and in which the majority of the material is strong enough to warrant inquiry. Saloth's Ruled By The Death God skirts the fringes of both black metal and death metal - as Armon often does - in his uniquely produced manner. Saloth is likely the hybrid growth of his Yfel and Licrest projects but the death metal techniques from Tyrant's Hand and Murderbeast appear often. I can't tell, but Saloth may be the lowest tuned of all his projects as every chug in opening track "Proselytizer of Darkness" is a rumble of seismic proportions. We end up with a bizarre vibe of equal parts evil occult and doomy chillness.

Perhaps most important here is that I firmly feel this is the best sounding of his projects. I don't know how much impact Dustin Jeffries had in the engineering and mixing aspect of Ruled By the Death God but the clarity and space in this recording is just a step above Armon's other releases. Armon's vocals are a gritty low roar fighting with the lows of the bass. The guitar tone is chunky and stoic during palm muted portions of the release and exude a fizzy crisp distortion otherwise. Perhaps the drums could have been a bit louder, but doing so would draw attention to the what is the weakest element of the recording due to lack of natural tone and fullness. Armon's leads shine across the whole record - there are a handful of them - but particularly in opening track "Proselytizer of Darkness" and "Glory To Chaos."



Ruled By The Death God is mostly mid paced and at times crawls with a doom death urgency - once again indicative of the crossover from Licrest - but "Only In Darkness" offers an upbeat ride unlike the previous tracks. The opening tracks all being relatively slower might be a hindrance. Initial listens are unlikely to gain anyone's attention if there is an expectation of faster tracks existing. It takes half the album to reach the first "quicker" track. The fade out of "Ich Bin Das Ende" seems to prompt more than is offered by "To Avoid The Truth," which, to my ears, is bland. I almost would have plopped "Infinite" in the third spot on the album; this faster track would have broken up the six earlier slow tracks. "Infinite," with some tremolo picking and ringing notes is the most black metal track of the release. The album ends with "Glory To Chaos" which, because of it's catchy bass intro, killer solo section and persistent momentum is my pick for best track along with opener "Proselytizer of Darkness."

Presentation is your standard Nicholson. Once again we are missing lyrics - which I maintain would likely be very good if Armon put some thought into them (Those couple angsty Licrest tracks aside) - and a very basic jewel case insert lacks much additional artistic insight. The CD artwork is a cropped version of the cover artwork which cuts off the title of the album appearing a bit rushed. It would have been easy to adjust the artwork to fit the CD better. The actual cover artwork by Luciana Nedelea is visually appealing and representative - I guess - of the project.

One Master, Spectral Wound, Tomb and Thirst, Nightwitches, Blood Temple @ Cherry Street Station, Sept. 19, 2015

An evening at Cherry Street Station organized and headlined by the immense and imposing One Master, undoubtedly focusing on this incarnation's compositions from Reclusive Blasphemy after they reshaped something old and something new into the incredible Live in the Castle of Quiet. Four bands with whom I was unfamiliar were scouted out: my good friend Antoine Richard had seen both Spectral Wound and Nightwitches and recommended the former. Tomb and Thirst was a pending submission on Metal Archives, related to Sea of Bones. One band was elusive, having never released anything nor any presence on the internet that I am aware of. It was worthy of the trip, of course.

Blood Temple are a long-acquainted, newly-debuted two-piece black metal band fronted by Valder's comrade in Lustrum and Fatalism. Coming out of Morgirion, who played with One Master the first time I saw them at Cherry Street, I was quite interested to see the band's first show. Expectations, expectations. I was able to follow some of what the band was doing by seeing it, but it was very difficult to hear. With a single guitarist using one cabinet and one amp, the same one OM's bassist used, it simply wasn't audible, there was too much noise even ten feet in front of the amp, and there was too much noise to mix in the PA. While they haven't recorded/released anything yet, I'll be interested to hear it when they do.

Nightwitches are a doom duo from Montreal who love to bask in the buzz of a Sunn O))) amp. Some people are into that, I'm not. What this band amounted to was a couple three-chord rock songs that took ten minutes each to play, interspersed by feedback and accompanied by soft vocals that were practically a non-factor over the booming drumming and rumbling guitar.

Tomb and Thirst were the first band of the night with a bassist, who promptly broke a string on the first song and took the remainder of it to replace it. The sound at Cherry Street is always great, but there really wasn't much to work with, considering the first two and a half bands didn't have a bassist. The sound translated well enough, though - suffocatingly heavy, droning, and tone-basking. Reminiscent of their counterparts in Sea of Bones, of a similar heavy and bearded persuasion, it simply didn't engage nor interest me.

The show had a great atmosphere. It was quite lively, and as with any show at Cherry Street and with the underground, there was no separation between the audience and the performers. It's a great thing, because you never know when the guy who happens to be wearing the same Bolt Thrower shirt as you is in a band that you're about to enjoy, and everyone there lamented the passing of drummer Martin "Kiddie" Kearns - sad news which traveled fast. May he rest in peace.

There was much good news to be heard. The 20th anniversary of Capharnaum will be celebrated with Ryan and Tony, joined by comrades, playing old and new songs. Capharnaum were a unique spectacle of 90s death metal, converging on both melodic and technical elements and forming one of the later unique visions that came out of the era. In modern news, the LPs of One Master's new album Reclusive Blasphemy are finally available, and the LP version was actually mastered separately than the CD, different from the common practice of simply cutting the digital master to vinyl. That's right, two masters of One Master. If I didn't understand the philosophy of self behind I Am One Master, I'd probably be arguing with an LP right now.

Spectral Wound are a newborn black metal band from Montreal who have fashioned an admirable effort in their Terra Nullius tape. There is an overt influence from Sargeist on the guitar work, with an echo of Baptism and Behexen as well as their Quebecoic comrades in the Sepulchral Productions stable. Mostly overwhelming Sargeist emulation, which is even more apparent on recording! The contrast, on stage, was frontman Jonah's hardcore-style mannerisms - very animated and intense, a contrast to their stoic and steadfast rhythm section. The bassist, as I heard, faced the drummer and didn't move. Very enjoyable, a band I'll keep both ears on.

One Master were, of course, the masters. While they were running the show and amidst friends, they are always remarkably focused. The band completes as an entity and transforms on stage, they are a commanding presence. Valder becomes vicious and intense - they embody the music, none more than him. They ripped through Reclusive Blasphemy with a concentration on their purpose. The band has found a lineup which creates and interacts very well, to the tune of black and blacker, fast and faster, sinister and....

...very intent on that which they create. A Cursed and Dismal Mind reflects that better than any of their other works, framing the song with a slow and moody lead reminiscent of Judas Iscariot's Of Great Eternity before leading into an intense blasting black metal duel between Nightbringer and Deathspell Omega influences. Valder cites Darkspace as an inspiration on that song - I say the only one wrong is one who hasn't heard it twice. Their live show has picked up from the fast black/thrash of the first album, the focused pace of the second, and taken the extremely fast, intense, and dissonant style of the third and pushed it to the extreme. Their ultra-fast rendition of the already fast Intolerance captures the spirit of vicious and intense metal like Merciless' debut or early Sepultura where the band played so fast that it sounded they were almost breaking loose of their technical limits and sanity itself.

One could not find a better band to rip through the witching hour at a pace sufficient to make up for monumentally boring doom metal bands. Their looming apathy was torn to shreds by the intensity of One Master.

The black-and-white-and-red carnage didn't end there. I hit a skunk at high speed on the way home, yet the splattered/exploded remnants of its corpse didn't leave as powerful and impression as One Master.

War Atrocities - Necromantical Legions

Croatia, land of... well... Croatians! We've all heard about how Croatia is refusing to accept refugees from Syria. I'm sure that this is to protect the solid metal that I've heard from the country. War Atrocities, a complete and total throwback band, sipping from the wellspring of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Bathory are indicative of the quality metal from this region of the world. There is a certain sense of modernity difficult to pinpoint on Necromantical Legions but when ninety-five percent of your material could appear on To Mega Therion or Apocalyptic Raids that other five percent of modern flourish is not worth worrying about. The project of sole perpetrator Wastelander, Necromantical Legions will stir up the feels in your heels and haunt your skull with metal-not-so-dull. 

The EP starts with what is probably a little bit too long of a moody devilish soundtrack-esque intro marking over two minutes on your time sheet. Destruktor Of Eternal is the first impression of War Atrocities and the impression is to check to make sure you're not listening to Celtic Frost b-sides you've never heard of. Fourth volley, "Cryptic Calls" once again summons Tom G. Warrior and crew. At four and a half minutes, it's the longest of the tracks here. "Storm of the Tyrants" is punkier than the previous tracks. It rummages around with myriad tremolo riffs and sputtered vocals, making it my least favorite track. "Ripper Lust" is a faster varied track with drums pumping out several different beats under the riffs, serving up some good listening - and headbanging - metal. Necromantical Legions closes out with a cover of Bathory's Armageddon. The songs are all in the three or four minute range which, is possibly the only pacing issue I see. One or two longer tracks with some additional dynamics would have broken up the record and highlighted the faster parts but it's a minor thought.



Production is overall very good here. Necromantical Legions sounds like 80's death metal / thrash. The saws have the iconic fuzz of yesteryear covered in cobwebs and grit but with a clear sound. They are the prevalent instrument in the EP's mix, positioned in front of all the other instruments. Bass is noticeable with several layers of tone throughout the mix ranging from a low booming rumble across the spectrum to some overdriven distortion appearing in some tracks such as "Cryptic Calls" and "Ripper Lust." Wastelander's vocals are a little low in the mix for my taste, simply because he puts on a good performance with tons of grunts peppered around as if seasoning a slab of steak for grilling. The drums sound totally natural but are programmed. In fact, they sound so natural I had to email Wastelander to ensure accurate reporting here. Go ahead and be concerned about programmed drums, but not in this case. Don't let that discourage from hearing an absolutely awesome release. War Atrocities is worth the investigation for fans of anything mentioned in this review.

Folkvang - Never Say Never

Folkvang’s Never Say Never is a forceful folky black metal album with the unusual distinction of having a traditional heavy metal riffing backbone. This album was created by multi-instrumentalist Wind, who is backed up only by Incarnatus of Pagan Hellfire fame on drums (except for track 4). Although that may essentially seem like a solo-black metal setup, the sound is completely professional and full enough to show that Wind actually understands every instrument he plays. Moreover, the even composition and unique style show the project’s maturity - a well defined identity forged in the years since the band’s creation. The best comparison I can come up with is Windir’s 1184, but that’s a fit only for the guitar tones. In fact, the tremolo picking is often relatively sparse. Wind’s coarse vocal approach is really the strongest connection the album has to the stereotypical black metal approach, and although the word “folk” is in the band name, the metal influences are always still in the forefront.

Despite the wide range of emotions that music can offer to its listeners, Never Say Never has quite an atypical feel - a kind of sober yet playful take on mortality. It’s a feeling conveyed through the lyrics, artwork, and music; obviously with increasing levels of abstraction. Musically, this comes across through how the mood carefully balances somber melodies with sweeter ones, all while maintaining a subdued sense of galloping triumph. The balance is most obvious in the absolutely unforgettable opener “Who Wants to Live Forever?” which also boasts a fair share of the album’s black metal riffing. The track works as a really nice summation of the album’s varying styles, especially because these influences become more stratified as the things move along. What really brings the album together as a great piece of music is how damn pleasant it is without devolving into gaudy kitsch.



Never Say Never is the kind of album that doesn’t knock you over the head with how well put together it is. It’s high quality music that reveals itself over time, and this isn’t a problem at all for Folkvang because this album is one that you’ll keep coming back to. From the clean guitar lines to the folky “From the Past to the Future,” to the Immortal-esque “Massacre,” the variety of sounds always seem to fit together perfectly. The major unifying force for it all are Wind’s vocals. Wind’s style isn’t quite as croaking as Abbath’s are; the vocals are quite coarse yet not terribly raspy. More laryngitis addled cigarette smoker than screeching demon. The addition of a light touch of echo helps flesh out the sound, and because the vocals are the most abrasive aspect of the music they also balance out some of the more sugary lead guitar melodies and tones.

It’s worth mentioning that aside from being an Eastern European band with a folk/black mix, Never Say Never doesn’t have a huge structural overlap with Drudkh’s output. From what I have heard from Folkvang’s prior releases, this makes Never Say Never a bit of a deviation from an earlier atmospheric black metal sound (Folkvang has even covered Burzum’s “Dunkelheit”.) This release just has such a heavy and rhythmic riffy feel to it that it sets it apart from scores of minimalist contemporaries. Of course, the project’s core identity isn’t compromised by the change. This is really good stuff, and has such a palatable mix that I’d even recommend it to people who aren’t normally into black metal.

Overlorde World Trade Center Picture Circa 1987

Patrick O'Donnell shared this picture this morning. I thought it was appropriate to share. 

I Will Never Forget that day...

Show Me Wolves - Between Man, God and False Idols

It would be hard to argue that Show Me Wolves’ debut album Between Man, God And False Idols is anything other than well performed, professionally produced, and thoughtfully composed. Still, this album just doesn’t do it for me. Hörður Lúðvíksson’s solo project mixes elements of hardcore with metal, and adds in a progressive flair that makes the project sound somewhat in the vein of bands like Ludicra. Naturally, the vocals follow along with this and are rather intelligible, pushing a lot of air, and relatively light on the rasp. It’s a vocal style that I generally hate, and this album unfortunately isn’t an exception. On the other hand, if you are really into the vocals, I imagine that their execution is about as enjoyable as the rest of the album.



Unlike a lot of the post-”xyz”styled band’s out there, Show Me Wolves has an interestingly dynamic flair. This also ties into the album’s strong and intricate composition. For example, you’ll see how the closing track “From Ice to Fire” balances out a bouncy melody with furious tremolo picking. Similarly, in the intro track, the wandering bass line is balanced out by the triplet motif. It all works together nice and orderly, and is also well polished. But, you could also say it’s polite and sterile because of the hyper modern solid-state guitar tone; and how the album manages to be proggy without having any musical surprises. Sometimes, a call and response interplay leaves you thinking once again “that’s nice, I guess.” Overall, the album is a mixed bag.

Despite not being a fan of the main vocal style, the cleans on “Sea of Trees” and even the pitchy vocals on “Unknown Reflection” work much better and are sprinkled in just enough to be interesting without becoming overbearing. The groovier sections are also decent enough, never overindulging in chugging (or other pitfalls you might expect in this kind of a mix). One highlight that really could have used more emphasis are the impressive guitar solos. Rather than just harmonizing the entire way through, the leads sometimes end up playing diverging lines. This makes the leads a lot more interesting. He’s definitely got the chops for some additional shredding, and the music lends itself to lead sections, so hopefully this will be a focal point in the future.

I’d recommend this to anyone who is into “post” stuff that is looking for something more dynamic and aggressive. (Hörður Lúðvíksson also plays guitar in Offerings, where he shares guitar duty with Benedikt of Azoic, whom CT interviewed here )

One Master - Live In The Castle Of Quiet

One Master's Live In The Castle Of Quiet is a fascinating artifact providing evidence of two very select groups in the northeast. The first, and most obvious, is the close-knit Massachusetts black metal scene which is quite expansive with much incestuation. The second is a much less known, yet very important, WFMU audience which is North Jersey and New York specific (other than those that stream online, of course). Since college I have tuned in to listen to William Berger's My Castle Of Quiet radio show - some may have seen the name appear on this blog at times as well every often - and One Master's live set from his April, 25th 2013 show offers insight to the interests and musical direction of Mr. Bergers show.

The tape starts with Berger's coaxing voice. One Master initiate the live set with "The Destroyer Pts. I and II," which engage the listener with pretty clear Eastern European black metal styling.  After the miasma that is the opening track, "A Cursed and Dismal Mind" offers a slower discordant doomy intro with evil guitar fragments tacked on before cutting it's life line and falling into chaos. "Intolerance" crusts right on along like a barnacled speed boat sitting low in the water churning onward fastidiously, an expected malevolence drifting across the sound plane, which we've been accustomed to and expect even by this short point along. The highlight of the tape itself is the memorable marching series of riffs which flanks the introductory cannonade. This section is decidedly Norwegian in extrapolation. A comfortable muddiness and satinesque production culminates with "Infernal Silence," an initially fast and then slower moody piece.



Live In The Castle Of Quiet is a good starting point, honestly, with regards to One Master. The material here will surely entice me to explore the band's three full lengths. With one track being from their sophomore effort, The Quiet Eye Of Eternity, and the other three having been recently released on this year's Reclusive Blasphemy, both portions of the band's earlier and more recent material is present, and the consistency supports the proposition. Both albums - and the debut, Forsaking A Dead World, are available through Eternal Death. More simply than being a good gateway to the band, One Master present to us once more a gem of black metal which emphasizes the importance that atypical recordings such as live material, radio spots, demos, and whatever other sorts of clever imagined concoctions have as fan-base building devices. A great band is able to utilize multiple canvases for their creations. For One Master, this live tape is not a canvas wasted. Get it from No Visible Scars.

Slutlust - Spread Angel / Interview

Slutlust recently released their killer demo tape, Spread Angel, full of boozed up raucous speed metal mayhem. It's possible this is an entity which we my find has absquatulated from existence in a short while like many demo-bands do, and so, I felt it necessary to get the word from the horse's mouth on what the story is with these brawlers. Haven't heard about any upcoming demos from them since this interview was done.

Crazy Bull - Mold Crow

Crazy Bull, out of Philly, play some hard rocking and driving throwback metal here on their demo, Mold Crow. Though short, lasting only nine minutes, the three tracks are forceful hard rock in the same style as Fireball Ministry with a touch more speed metal influence a la Speedwolf or Motorhead. Short simple songs, memorable rhythms, passionate leads. It's a great combination. "Won't Stop Now" opens the tape adequately with some zest however it's "Wicked Machine" that's the strongest entry to the recorded world. It bears some similarity to DarkBlack's Sellsword album with contrasting harmonies and a darker tone. Hints of doom are evident and sluggishly pull the song into the faster parts. Proteanly moving between the doom metal and hard rock genres, launching into big bluesy leads, and leaving many a loin moist, Crazy Bull are targeted here. "Rok Bullet" grates on my nerves immediately due to the spelling, but it's really just not up to par compared the earlier tracks. Pick this up for "Wicked Machine."

CTP - 027 - L: Tarpit Boogie - Clash Bar Bootleg

Contaminated Tones is excited to release another New Jersey band's tape. This one from Tarpit Boogie (Ex-Maegashira, Midian, Functional Idiots members). I go back a few years with some of the members, so it's awesome to be able to support them in this way. I originally saw Maegashira play with Clamfight at the Clash Bar in 2010 with Iron Man a few days before they came on radio show. Diane "Kamikaze" Farris DJ'd the show. 

Fast Forward three or four years, and I hadn't seen or heard from George or John for some years when I met them at the Clamfight gig at Dingbatz where I recorded the Clamfight live tape. It's awesome how things circle around and I'm glad to know both bands but especially the guys in them, who are some of the more down to earth people I've met.

Get the tape until September 4th for $4. Get both Clamfight's live tape and Tarpit Boogie's live tape until the end of September for $8.

Ignore the August 31st on this...

Morgirion - None Left To Worship

In the grand tradition of supreme extreme metal demos, Morgirion's None Left To Worship has comical cover art (sorry artist Laura Hansen). I mean, yeah hairy bear arm raising a mallet, prepared to crush the rafters of a hilltop church is awesome but when it's drawn with the talent you'd see a gifted child actor in a horror movie scribble on their bedroom wall I'm not as impressed. There are snakes evaporating from the earth, and a mutated goat head with six eyes looming ready to... I don't know... ask for a six-lense set of glasses, demand the local townspeople to trim the hair around it's ears, or some other bizarre goatly request. Also in the underground simmers a tradition of there being no relation between the quality of cover art correlating to the quality of killer music. Evidence is abound all over the place but for starters there's this twenty-page thread on Metal Archives documenting some pretty hideous artwork (I'm not sure how Spectrum of Death or Terror Squad made appearances, but they did somehow) with plenty of great albums showing up among the pages. Ultimately, Morgirion offers sick and twisted black metal buoyed by the lo-fi, some punk splatter, and momentary droughts of melody.

There is a lo-fi element drizzled into the production by virtue of the live recording aspect of the material presented here. There is no feedback, however, and the overall recording has enough clarity to distinguish riffs and notes. Raspy guitars saw through the magnetic filament's contents with respect and authority (I'm guessing from the loudness of the guitar, the recording device was placed closest to the guitars in the rehearsal room). Equally vicious is the saw-throated attack of "D." While I wish his exploits were slightly louder, as a demo, his energy still impregnates the ears with vigor. He doubles on bass well. "J" on drums fills the percussive elements with bombastic fills such as in "None Left To Worship," where the bridges launch into tirades of tremolo notes and blast beats. "B," on guitars, smears small but integral segments of melody into the tracks which appear almost nonchalantly.

Highlights for me are definitely the title track, "None Left To Worship," where interplay between bass and guitar late in the track generate opportunities to lose oneself in the material quite deeply for a couple minutes. Side B starts out with the powerful "Infiltration of Divine Entity." Probably my favorite track, the back and forth fret mashing intro leads into violent vocals tucked among a series of riff with sparse, yet emphasized, quarter (or half) note rests. The execution of these rests indicate to me this is also probably the band's favorite track to play. There is a bit of late 90's / early millennium Darkthrone blackened punk to be found in the home stretch of the song as well. "The Pulse of Death" and "A Cancer Now Served" sit at the even spots in track list. Both are solid ("A Cancer Now Served" especially), as is Morgirion here in general. This cassette is a good representation of what the underground has to offer. Cool tape all around (even the silly artwork!). I'm checking out their full length immediately.

The Unshored - The Unshored

Everyone has been patiently waiting for more vocals in the style of Ved Buens Ende’s Written in Waters, right? Well, whether that’s true or not, the extremely distinctive vocal style here isn’t something you hear every day. But, The Unshored really pulls it off on this debut self-titled album. For those that aren’t put off by the unusually layered baritone moans and their sometimes off-kilter delivery, this is an interesting but flawed work. While the album sounds much too wide to be an obvious solo project, it actually is. Aside from assistance on the drum and bass composition the entire work is straight from the mind of Mike LaRocco. Using genre tags like black, death, and progressive, the music also has some clear doom/sludge influences; which is a broad enough set of influences to give the project the nebulous extreme metal moniker.



In fairness, the album uses a variety of vocal styles, death growls to black metal raps, but the weirder ones are absolutely the most effective at adding color to the music. The sad part is that Mike LaRocco underutilizes the bizarre harmonized cleans, although the first and final track use them to great effect. However, the middle of the album sags like an old horse’s back. The doom/sludge influences often cause the album’s pacing to stall out in overly simplistic repetition. When this composition device first shows up at the end of “Unheimlich,” it works pretty well. But by the time you get through a similar (and long) passage in “Nocturnal Psychosis,” you can see the project’s weak point. Progressive tendencies elsewhere in the music only make these rather dull sections more glaring. Discontinuities between the uptempo “No Vacancy” and the songs before and after it also suggest that the project is still developing a direction.

Given that this is a debut release, and a full-length at that, it’s easy to speculate and play the role of editor. This would have been a really solid and promising demo, or EP for that matter. The first and last tracks are really damn good and make up more than 20 minutes of material! The Unshored’s eclecticism isn’t the problem, the project just needs further refining. In particular, the weaker tracks have less intriguing structures when compared to the pieces like “Unheimlich” and “The Spinning Sphere.” Of course more weird vocals would be great, but aren’t the kind of thing that everyone will appreciate. Definitely worth a shot if you have a Written in Waters itch that Virus is too rockin’ to scratch or if you have a taste for unusual vocal styles.

Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Piñata

I'm being honest and serious here - the car accident I was in was better than this.

Look at Western mythology and you’ll notice a lot of horrible creatures come from mixing different species of animals. Minotaurs, centaurs, chimeras, harpies, and now we have the worst of them all - Diablo Swing Orchestra. Mixing a parodied version of swing with touches of power chords in a failed effort to seem metal, Pandora’s Piñata is guaranteed to disgust fans of either genre of music (or any genre for that matter). Diablo Swing Orchestra’s style of swing relies heavily on a dance-oriented feel. This means, like with all dance music, that the primary point of the composition is to have listener focused on something other than the music. Since metal is not dance music, Pandora’s Piñata is existentially worthless. It cannot be danced to. It cannot be listened to. A monstrosity created by mixing different musical animals.

The clear operatic female vocals suggest deep influences from Evanescence. This actually makes a lot sense, because the parts of the music that are intended to be metal are 100% nu-metal chugging. Other vocal styles are splattered on the album, like the teenager yelling “you’ll never see me again” on “Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball” (revealingly awful metaphors abound), or the choir of ostensibly full grown Swedes pretending to be Asian schoolchildren on “Black Box Messiah.” By the way, take note of the cutesy alliteration in that song title and in the album title too. This is the degree of immaturity that we’re dealing with.

Glitzy trumpets, a guitar chug on every beat, and obnoxious snare rolls are the mainstay of the composition. But, given the band’s inherent lack of direction, you also have rows like the ostentatious “Aurora” and first five or so minutes of “Justice For Saint Mary” that pretend to be serious with its pseudo-classical approach by removing all pretenses of being metal (another sign that the band doesn’t take metal, or music, seriously.) On “Mass Rapture” there is a sitar getting down with the sickness with punkish whiny teenager vocals. Maybe a theremin synth pad somewhere. Some wicky-wicky guitar doodling over a call and response section on “Honeytrap Aftermath,” which might remind you of Marky Mark. The heavy use of rhythmic staccato throughout the album makes the pain something like treating third degree burns with acupuncture. Every burst of idiocy another irritating needle.

Click on this image to feel better...

Can you believe that 18 musicians worked on this? Even in the most disciplined cults you’ll still hear stories of people escaping or disagreeing with the leader. Everyone involved must have been bribed heavily in order to put their names on this because it is bad enough to completely write off everything else they will do musically for the rest of their lives. Pandora’s Piñata is the third full-length from this ill conceived gimmick, but it’s clear that the band was out of ideas immediately after the phrase “swing metal” was uttered. This is the kind of music a bunch of drunk musicians might play at a party as a joke, too drunk to notice that the decade long joke was never funny.

“Justice For Saint Mary” ultimately closes the album out with a techno remix version of melodies from earlier in the song. It’s as if the band was trying to remind everything, just one more time, that they can’t write music and are capable only of mixing ideas of different genres. Every last second of this album is unbearable and entirely devoid of any artistic merit. I have never heard anything worse in my entire life.

Tyrant's Hand - Dystopia

Tyrant's Hand is yet another of Armon Nicholson's projects. This slab - Dystopia - takes the form of death metal in a more melodic - but not so melodic as to be Gothenburg - strain. The black metal nomenclature has appeared in descriptions but that's like putting a 'Made-in-the-USA' tag on Ikea furniture. Notable about Tyrant's Hand is that unlike Yfel and Licrest, there is a live component to Tyrant's Hand which leads me to also mention that this is also, as far as I know, the first time Armon had paired with someone to utilize real drums. Bob Hodgins offers a safe, professional percussion layer to the four tracks offered here. The implication is that the recording of this EP was done relatively early in the duo's history, as it's tight, controlled, and not loose at all indicating that not a lot of time was spent maturing the brew. It's missing some of the spontaneity that sometimes sneaks it's way into the capturing of material that's become run-of-the-mill for the performers.

Looking at the production itself, this is quite balanced. No one particular instrument stands out more than the others. The drums are probably hidden back in the mix more than I would prefer in most death metal. That ultimately sits with me, considering giving them a more pronounced role would just emphasize how bland some of the drumming parts are. The guitars are muffled during a lot of the record but occasionally, such as near the end of "Absolute Butchery," stand out when more melodic or riffy moments rear. The opening minute of "Bloodshed" is a good example of how the guitars don't take an extreme tone in either direction. Armon's vocals are decent, nothing to complain about; a typical death style growl / screech (greech?). Once again, as with the other Armon projects, the CD doesn't offer much information but an insert with some credits. Apparently politically motivated lyrics exist here, which I'd love to read, but they don't manage to protrude in any form of comprehension in either the music or the insert. The cover art of Dystopia appears to show bombed out Warsaw at the end of the German blitzkriegs of World War II - if my historical knowledge is up to snuff.

The album is generally mid-paced. While opener "Darkness" is slightly faster, we are not in the range of "blistering speed." My biggest gripe with the album is the songs all have extraneous repetitions to riffs in them. In "Darkness," for example, a riff a couple minutes in which would be best served acting as a bridge in some sort to the slower breakdown section instead becomes a repeated non-sequitur. "Absolute Butchery" take about a full minute and a half before turning into something. Trust me, the other two songs have unnecessary components as well. The noteworthy segments here include a culminating melodic foray in "Absolute Butchery" of a slower arpeggiated section where notes ring out with a somber tone, a pull-off laden headbanging riff in top track, "Long Live The New Flesh," and - at least in my opinion - a great immediate urgency initially in "Darkness".

Live reviews claim the duo has a "crazy thick and delicious sound," so perhaps the best impression would be to see the band live. Overall, this is sturdy, but I don't know how important hearing it is. As always, Armon does offer it for free download on bandcamp so if anything here interests you, easy and free listening is at your point-and-click-whims. 

Ramlord Interview

Met up with New Hampshire's Ramlord for an quick interview after an excellent show in the very lovely Somerville, Massachusetts. The lineup was intense, the weather was sweltering, and the interview took place inside of a car (because I was worried about wind ruining the audio and apparently enjoy making people endure the heat.)

Listen to what Ben, Jan, and Mike have to say about how the band formed, what makes rams different from goats,  legal troubles, nature, and d-beats. These guys put on a hell of a live show and the interview felt like something you'd read in The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds. Enjoy:
 

Chronicles Zine Issue 1 (2015)

Zines are out there and alive in the underground. It's interesting the quality differences between them not in terms of layout but in terms of actual quality of content. Chronicles, out of Norway, for me, really just destroys the whole idea that "everything can be found on the internet." The content available in this zine is huge in a small, quick to read issue. I applaud Steinar on his efforts here. This first issue is a must have for those looking to delve deep into the histories of the bands present: Ares Kingdom, Pentagram (Chile), Patrons of the Rotting Gate, Blood Mortized, Sol Negro, and Audiopain. There's a lot of other neat things in here though which round out the issue in a way only a fanzine would allow.

The interviews elicit responses from the artists through usage of defined and specific questions that indicate a high level of familiarity on the part of Steinar. For example, asking Chuck Keller specific questions on his relationship with Quorthorn or in depth questions on the themes and imagery of Pentagram's newest release. It all creates an aura of reading something set aside for those that are seeking out more than what you will find in press releases, interviews in mainstream zines, or online in forums.

Also scattered through the zines are quotations about random subjects from older zines. Steinar is clearly an aficionado of the fanzine world. These appear under the title "Truth Be Told." There are a lot of good quotes some that stand out to me: "Black Metal is not really supposed to be a very deep and intellectual form of music..." or "Poland is not too big of a country so too many churches couldn't be burnt." There are also scans of older advertisements and classified ads such as Celtic Frost looking for a drummer, the hilarious Moon Rites interview from a 1997 Norwegian zine, and also some interesting excerpts from a Metallica interview circa 1984-ish.

This is a fanzine fan's zine mostly and for fans of the bands present... it's a must-own. It delivers in the interviews and in the additional filler content. I sincerely hope that Steinar is on his way to finishing up a second issue because this first issue of Chronicles is gold.

Signaling Theory: Judging Bands on Visual Aesthetics

Why does a band's image matter? Well, why does a peacock have enormous feathers?

The answer to both questions can be found in signaling theory. Signaling theory is an idea often used in economics and biology, but we can borrow it for a bit to take a deeper peek into music. Basically, the idea is that we live in a world with imperfect (or asymmetrical) information and misinformation. Which stocks should I buy? Who should I pursue romantically? Which one of these animals should I try to eat? What bands should I listen to? Each of these decisions are based on signals you receive, which may or may not be true, but always influence decision-making.

A key part of signalling theory is how much the signal costs the sender. Cost means any cost, not just money. Some examples: the healthier a person is, the more attractive they seem; a really conspicuous looking peacock is probably really good at avoiding predators; and an unopened bottle of water with recognizable logo is safer to pick up off the ground and drink than one that has "Dave's Water" crudely scribbled on the side. All of these signals cost the sender something, either biologically or economically, and each communicates information.

Everyone has different musical tastes, but these principles still hold true. Bands signal potential listeners (economically, sellers and buyers.) Individuals recognize non-musical signals that communicate information about music. Every aspect of an artist or band's aesthetics, from the name, to album art, and down to the style of the logo tells you something. All of these things cost the band the time of designing them or paying someone else to. To make things simple, assume economical rational behavior:  bands want to maximize their sales and buyers want to listen to the best music possible.

"But I only care about the music, man." 

Don't care about image?
Great. Now drink this.

Music is one of the most subjective experiences out there, but music listeners still make choices that can be explained through signaling theory. Many people will think that an economic or biological look at aesthetics is ripping the artistry out of it -  it isn't. Even for those who want to care only about the music, there is still the question of what music to listen to. No one (not even Autothrall) can hear everything. The types that like to appear open minded will claim image doesn't matter, but get all cagey when asked about how they find new music.

All aesthetics matter though. How do we know that Kidz Bop - 23 isn't the best metal album ever, what about 24? If only the music matters then how come no one in the metal has even bothered to address these two specific and highly advertised albums? The answer is that the words "Kidz" and "Bop" are telling us something about the music style without us even having to listen to it. In the same way that you probably don't know what a poison dart frog tastes like but know not to eat it, you know you won't listen to these two albums. Aesthetics matter to everyone on one level or another, even if some people won't admit it.

Signaling Music Style

Walk into a record shop and what do you see people doing? They are flipping through material left and right to see what is there. They filter through the materials and visual cues tell them what might be interesting. There are also contextual clues like word-of-mouth or music showing up on some cool website. But even then, the information about a band had to initially come from somewhere. You can argue that in the digital age, people can sample everything, but no one actually samples everything. There is too much out there, and the first things we usually learn about music is are context, the title, artwork, or musician name. These all indicate what kind of music you may end up hearing.

So back to the theoretical record shop. If someone walked in, put a gun to your head and said "put all of the metal music in this burlap sack" are you going to reply "sorry man, I haven't heard every album in here and can't just a band just by their image?" No, you are going to do your best and make the best guesses you can based on your experience. While no one is holding a gun to your head to find metal, the setup is similar (but less dramatic). You want to find new good music and won't do a perfect job at that. As part of that process, aesthetic signals can point you towards metal or a sub-style of metal. It's almost a waste of time so say it, because inevitably someone will misunderstand the nuance, but imperfect signals are all part of the theory.

Below are four relatively obscure bands and the only information I'm providing about them is album art with a logo, the band name, and the title of the work.

Guess the genre:

Top Row: Mortido - I: Kvlt ov Hate; Rampage - Demo MMIX
Bottom Row: Anexxe Unsung Hero?; Fluid Mind - Demo 1

The contextual cue here is that this is metal oriented website, so I'm probably not getting into the finer points of polka music. You can guess that they are metal bands but, if I make it a matching game you can do better than that. Which is the progressive heavy metal band? Black metal? Traditional heavy metal? The thrash band? If you hate black metal are you going to check out all of these bands?

Signals About Quality

Let's take this out of theory for a moment and see how things work in the real world. Record labels probably have the most at stake when listening to and finding new music. This isn't just the money that can be made by finding the next great upcoming band, but the cost of listening to a boatload of music submissions. As a metal fan, you also have costs associated with music: a limited amount of time to listen to it, and limited money to purchase it.

Have you ever read what record labels look for in submissions? Rules often include:  competent logo, no CD-Rs, a band biography, band photo, and press-kits. These rules exist in part because these are high-cost signals. When a band has professional aesthetics it tells the record labels that the band put in a lot of time or money into the project. This doesn't necessarily make the music good, but the cost of the signal shows devotion and seriousness. The hope is that bands that show more devotion and seriousness will be better bands. Even though what's "good" is subjective, it's not a huge logical leap.

Image matters so much, that three major metal records labels all suggest including band photos with demo submissions:

Let's get even more concrete. Here are some examples how of aesthetic signals influenced Orion, who runs the Contaminated Tones Label, in some reviews:

Antistasis - Ritual of Ancients Demo Review

"As I am apt to criticize, CDr demos are usually poor representations of a band and, for just a little more money and effort, can be improved significantly. At least Antistasis made an attempt here to give some sort of artwork with the release - a sticker stuck on the case acts as a front cover and another decal on the disc offers some artwork there. It's a small effort but at least shows a band trying in some sort. A lack of any information on the song titles or band members or general additional information hurts though."

Metal Law - Lawbreaker

"The album cover is basically all you need to see to know precisely what the album is going to sound like."

Dishonest Signals

Have you ever seen one of those flies with the yellow and black stripes on them? From an evolutionary standpoint, other animals are supposed to think they are bees because they look like bees. If they live around you, you'll notice that they also act like bees. The problem is though, they're fakes. In biology this is called Batesian mimicry, some weak animal pretending to be a dangerous one.

On the left we have a very venomous Coral Snake, On the right, a harmless Milk Snake

Red touch yellow, you're a dead fellow. Red touch black, pat it on the back. (Don't actually pet it. It can still bite and most wild animals don't take kindly to unsolicited affection.)

Does music have Batesian mimicry? This is basically what people believe posers to be, taking metal's imagery and aesthetics but not having any of the venom to back it up. Because strengths and weaknesses are largely subjective and based on experiences, people will often get the gut feeling that some band is pretending to be something it isn't.

Personally, I like to assume people usually have genuine motives. Rather than metal fans being elitists or plagued by frauds, I view these sentiments as the direct result of asymmetrical information and imperfect signaling rather than getting into morality. Still, if you are an eagle with a taste for snake meat, you probably don't like the Milk Snake making things harder for you.

Daemonarchia - Nocturnal Lust

Daemonarchia’s debut EP Nocturnal Lust is seriously addicting because it has that wonderfully riffy Finnish black metal sound. The Horna cover makes it obvious that the band isn’t shy with their influences, but the well structured mid-tempo songs show that Daemonarchia isn’t just a shadow of past bands. Still, the music is fairly straightforward - tremolo picked rhythm guitar, sometimes with a slightly sugary lead on top, and songs interspersed with bursts of heavier rhythmic riffing. No surprises, nothing fancy, just good old-fashioned black metal.




Cliched name aside, the band immediately shows off their talent and good sense. A tastefully quick intro track leads into the eponymous track “Nocturnal Lust,” which together with “Lycanthropic Rites” make for the EP’s high points. These songs are especially interesting because of how exceptionally dynamic they feel. Daemonarchia’s strength is being able to repeat riffs in a song by introducing an idea, developing it, and ultimately returning back to it. Although half the tracks follow this pattern and the other half aren’t far off, the fact that so many of the songs are so memorable is proof enough that the band isn’t using the structure as a crutch.

Daemonarchia are contenders, using a narrow tool set to achieve a wide range (“My Inner Realm” even channels a hint of Emperor.) This is easily a top EP for the year 2015. In keeping with the music as a whole, the drums and vocals don’t jump out at you - but both are clear in the mix and you wouldn’t call them anything less than good. They sway with musical changes like corks on waves. With only 24 minutes of original music, the EP feels complete, but you’ll still end up empathizing with the menacing figure in the artwork and lust for more.

Akhlys - The Dreaming I

This album has black metal guitar and vocal tones absolutely nailed down. Akhlys’ strengths on The Dreaming I, should be familiar to anyone familiar with Nightbringer (Naas Alcameth does vocals and guitars for both bands) but the approach here feels more methodical and has a stronger emphasis on ambient sections that add a dark and palatial atmosphere. A really important part of the riffing style is how the full range of the guitar is utilized so well. It’s to the point where on The Dreaming I, Akhlys makes other bands look like they all use five string guitars.

As much as it’s fun to be a champion for the idea that all bands have a unique identity, you can’t quite escape the impression that Akhlys and Nightbringer’s share the same orbit. Sure, there is a swing towards ambiance, but if you were to compare it to how 1349’s Hellfire measures up against 1349’s Demonoir (or between Carpathian Forest and Nattefrost), it would easily be less than half the difference. Obviously Akhlys’ style leans more towards the symphonic side of black metal. But the synths have such a feather light touch that it ends up not being a huge point of difference.

It all works in Akhlys’ favor though because the hard-edged vocals and guitars stay in focus, while the synths and drums tactfully garnish them. Ambient sections are used to control pacing rather than just being filler. The percussion in particular is a great part of the album, even without ever jumping too much into the foreground. Devoid of any ostentation but not stripped down to essentials, there is plenty of rhythmic presence to keep things moving along. Imagine a big burly bartender ejecting a drunk while never laying a hand on anyone or causing a scene - effective and strong, but discreet.


At the album’s heart are the guitars and vocals. The guitar tone sounds like the strings are made out of diamond-infused platinum and dipped in icy spring water that feeds into the fountain of youth. Just listen to “Consummation.” The simple high-register melody there is perhaps the strongest part of the album, due in large part to the incredible tone. Vocals here are also extremely intense, and they have ridiculous sustain. Naas Alcamet shoves more air across his vocal cords than ought to be possible. In fact, if you were to cut open his thoracic cavity you’d find that instead of a normal set of organs that everything was just lungs. What's also really great about these vocals is how despite their often high pitch, they lack that irritating squeaking overtone that often creeps into high pitch black metal.

For anyone that shies away from symphonic black metal for being too soft, The Dreaming I is a great workaround. It shows that you can simultaneously have a ton of atmosphere without taming any heaviness or violence. Tonally though, this is absolutely top of the line.