Pulsar Colony - Snowball Earth (2011)

Band: Pulsar Colony
Country: Fayetteville, Arkansas
Style: Progressive/Post-Black Metal
Label: Independent

I'm a big fan of nature photographs, thus, when they're used for album covers, I'm naturally at least very impressed with that aspect of a group. While they certainly don't have to be the be-all and end-all of album covers, obviously, I do find them to especially appeal to me. When I saw this album cover, I immediately thought of Njiqahdda.
I can say the when I just skimmed through the album, before actually listening to it once, as I usually do with most albums, I could tell that this was going to be a really interesting album. There's a lot of different ideas on here that I immediately knew would appeal to me. Stylistically, this record makes use of a lot of different ideas. Throughout the album you'll hear traces of some of their influences, Enslaved and Alcest come through quite clearly, Calypso clearly nods it's head to those bands, while the Tool, Opeth, Mastodon, and Emperor influences are more fleeting in their appearance. The longer songs, the shortest of which proves to still be just over eight and a half minutes long, are actually justified with various trips into interesting patterns and riffs, thus creating a song that is not boring, though it wouldn't have hurt if a couple of tracks were just a bit shorter as some ideas due tend to run on for a bit too long. The entire album also could have been shortened as well, being nearly eighty minute in total, it is a tough one to listen to all the way though, though it is not without it's rewards.
I think one of the most intriguing aspects to this record is the drum programming, which does not simply make use of a "traditional" sounding kit. Throughout the record you'll certainly hear all manner of percussive drums, from those found on a drum kit to hand percussion. Granted, the setback of that effect does lead to a very mechanical sound that makes it easy to tell that it is a drum-machine. I also think that the keyboards used throughout the album give it a very unique feel as well, at times bringing in an almost new wave kind of vibe to a couple of tracks. They shift between simply providing atmosphere and lurking beneath the guitars to providing an actual melody, Absolute Zero for instance. I'm also quite partial to the bass work on here, as it's always audible, but often sounds like it was performed acoustically, but that may just be me. What may intrigue people is that while elements of this album certainly fall into the whole post-black metal sub-genre, the Alcest element where you have intense black metal parts that fall into softer post-rock and shoegaze parts is not really as limiting as it might appear, on here anyway. Instead of falling into those genres, when this thing goes soft, you get a bunch of different ideas ranging from sitar and bass solos to sections that recall more of a psychedelic folk kind of sound.
By the end of it, I was very impressed with the songs and ideas on here and I look forward to seeing what Charles Sabo does with the project next. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't like this album if you like forward thinking black metal groups. Definitely check it out if you want to hear some pretty cool experimental black metal.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Wounded Animal of The Four Elements, Pillars of Creation, Of Frostfang Origin

The Ash Eaters - The Cruel Side EP (2011)

Band: The Ash Eaters
Country: Austin, Texas
Style: Noise Rock/Black Metal
Label: Independent

I doubt a lot of people who are reading this know who The Ash Eaters are. Those familiar with the amazing blackened doom group Brown Jenkins should take notice that this is the next chapter of the members of that band's chapter. This is the band's second release, following a demo released earlier this year.
Coming from the droning and trippy ideas that were present on Brown Jenkins albums into this might be a bit of a jarring experience for some listeners. This is far from the dank and cold place that those recordings left you, with the two tracks that comprise this EP, you're brought into a much more chaotic and unstable state of mind with riffs that are dissonant and noisy. These songs are also have a clear punk edge to them, with certain drum patterns just sticking out from below the noise of the ringing guitar chords. While guttural growls and layered clean chants provide the voice for the chaotic undercurrent, the entire recording just undergoes a transformation into something far more bleak. While the music itself reflects chaos and disorder alone, the vocals bring even more bleakness and a palpable sense of disharmony. At times, it does bring groups like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord to mind, but this is a far more raw and visceral assault rather than a cerebral one, at this current moment anyway.
I really enjoy it, though I imagine it'll be a tough pill to swallow because it is different, especially from Brown Jenkins. It's a very good piece of work that I can only hope is developed even further and worked into a full-length. Definitely check this out if you want to hear some really crazy black metal.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: We Want Oblivion

WOLD - Freermasonry (2011)

Band: WOLD
Country: Regina, Canada
Style: Blackened Noise
Label: Profound Lore

I'll admit that I've never been a huge WOLD fan, if only because my first experience with one of their albums was less than pleasurable. Maybe last year's "Working Together For Our Privacy" was not the best place to start my listening career with WOLD, but what can you do. Two people whose views on music I respect very much have given very conflicting views of this album, so going into it, I wasn't really sure how this one was going to go.
Now, I'll freely admit that I'm probably a bit ignorant when it comes to WOLD, among other groups, so I kind of approached this thing cautiously. Really the only thing I knew this album was gonna be about was that it was nearly rid of all of the band's older black metal influences and was pretty much embracing their noise traits. Like I just mentioned above, I was not particularly a big fan of "Working Together For Our Privacy," so I was aware that the band's exploration of pure noise wasn't one that was all that appealing to me, but I had no idea what I was in for with this album. I have to say that SOL pretty much told me everything I was going to get from the rest of the album, the good and the bad. I'll say right now that I've fallen somewhere between the two people I mentioned above in my perspective of this album.
I guess I'll start by accentuating the positive aspects of this album. First off, the noise, I think that for the most part, it is enjoyable and pretty well done. Each track features a different kind of chaotic distortion backing it, so each track can at least be seen as different entities. The brutal noise of Free Goat of Leviticus is very different from the electronic influence on Working Tools For Praxis, whether or not you want to think of diversity as a positive or not in this case is subjective. I do think that the intention of this was all well and good, but the execution is frustrating because these tracks wind up being very uninteresting, no matter what the difference between them is, it doesn't help if the ideas are just dull. Probably the most irritating thing about this recording though were the vocals. I thought these totally ruined the record for me, they were just terrible. It honestly sounded as if whoever recorded them was sick and was yelling, or screaming, while they had a sore throat, it's just bad. Now, this might seem odd, coming from a guy who advocates repetition to bring about a meditation state from the music, but there's a difference between repeating an idea and making it hypnotizing, and repeating an idea until it's utterly dead and in the ground, or in other words, boring. A lot of what's on here is just boring and dull as all hell.
I don't know, I think I got pretty much what I expect to get out of this, not very much. I'm disappointed mainly because this came out on Profound Lore, a label that has a pretty impeccable catalog thus far, and this is just a bomb. Disagree if you like, but unless you're already a fan, I don't really recommend checking this out.
Overall Score: 4
Highlights: Free Goat of Leviticus, Dry Love, Free Eyes

Заводь - Ягна (2011)

Band: Заводь
Country: Kharkiv, Ukraine
Style: Blackened Punk
Label: Independent

Since first discovering Заводь earlier this year, I have become a big advocate of them. Their EP that came out pretty early in the year really got my attention and then their split with Axidance, for which my review was deleted by Blogspot during updates, really made me into a fan. I was not expecting another release, let alone a full-length, from this band this year, but lest to say, I was definitely excited to find it.
In every release thus far from the band, it must be known that they've improved on all fronts. In terms of production, from even the EP that was released earlier this year, the production is much cleaner, the music is a bit more melodic, and the vocals are less black metal and more screamo and hardcore-esque. Previous releases from the band has been a bit more raw and aggressive, very primitive, even while they continued to grow, but this album shows probably the biggest leap, in terms of quality, I've heard from the band yet. The songs on here are arguably the band's most melodic yet, and while that might not sit well with some people, these are without a doubt the most memorable songs the band has written yet. Besides that, these songs are just really fun to listen to, the second half of Колопола in particular just put a grin on my face every single time I listened to it.
One of the things I've come to love about this band is that on all of their recordings, it sounds like a band playing live, albeit a bit cleaner than a rehearsal room recording. Every one of the four musicians on here can be heard clearly in the mix and it really plays a role into them being a four piece that every member helps to make these songs as good as they are. When I said this sounds like a real band playing I meant it, you can clearly hear vocal cracks on a couple of these songs, and that sort of thing adds a bit of a charm to the recording that you don't get from ultra polished releases. This album also has some of the band's most diverse material yet, with clear nods to other genres including folk and post-punk. I also love how the band just go into some really dissonant and chaotic passages that wouldn't be unheard of in a noise rock song, hear Голоса. Don't get me wrong, the band's sound is still heavily rooted in black metal and hardcore punk, but these songs are less in-your-face, more stick-in-your-head types of songs. You still have plenty of fast, short, and aggressive songs on here, like opener Проклятие for example, that recall a bit more of the band's older material, but even songs like those that are a bit more simple-minded in their approach are still the best the band have written to date.
This is a great album that demonstrates this band at their definitive peak as of right now and with every member firing on all cylinders in their respective roles. While I was a fan of the band, I never expected this great a leap in quality from them so soon. Definitely check this band out if you want to hear some fantastic blackened punk that knows how to write good songs.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Колопола, Гори, Гори, Гори, Утро

Altars - Eulogy (2011)

Band: Altars
Country: Dayton, Ohio
Style: Raw Black Metal/Noise
Label: Triangulum Ignis

Around this time last year I covered the split between Altars and Halla, so it's only appropriate that I cover this new release from them. Yet another awesome release from Triangulum Ignis, quickly becoming one of the better labels covering underground experimental black metal. Along with their first full-length earlier this year, this second album proves to be more of a summation of the year.
Let's just set this straight, I'm up for any new releases from Altars, because they're a great band, but I'm not really sure why this exists. This three track affair features two tracks that have already been released, The Slain God on their first full-length, "Live On Pure Hate," earlier this year and Serment De Sang from their split with Hella. I don't mean to hate on the songs themselves, because pretty much like everything else the band has released, it's of a high quality, I'm just not sure why we need a compilation of this nature. Both songs are quite melodic, by the band's standards, and the band pump out some pretty memorable riffs in both songs. The third track, Something In The Way, is a Nirvana cover that's pretty good, not as good as their Swans cover, but still worth hearing. This track in particular continues the band's recent trek into doom metal with slower overall speed and more a much more dreary atmosphere than any of their past material. By the way, just as a side note, the entire length of this release is just under fifteen minutes, so it is one of the band's longer recordings.
It's a good release from a good band, and shows that Triangulum Ignis do have their ear to the underground and have a good intuition when it comes to releasing good material, I'm just not sure why this release was necessary. I don't cover compilations, and this is one of the few instances I'm doing so because I missed the boat when it came to their debut earlier this year. If you want to hear some great, aggressive black metal, definitely check out Altars in any form.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Something In The Way

Dichotomy Engine - Mass Desolation EP (2011)

Band: Dichotomy Engine
Country: Kula, Serbia
Style: Shoegaze/Drone
Label: Independent

There's always room for something different to close out the year. This Serbian project has been releasing albums for just about three years at this point in various styles, what wouldn't be intriguing about that. This was my first encounter with this project and I was intrigued to say the least upon just looking it up.
Coming into this with the idea that the project supersedes any single genre, I wasn't sure what to expect from this three song EP. Once Consequences began plodding along, you can be sure that this is an interesting idea that project figurehead Dražen Đorđević has come up with. The mixture of shoegazing textures with heavy and plodding guitars is an idea that at times calls back to artists like Jesu and The Angelic Process. While the material on here isn't quite as sonically complex as those groups, this project has a rawer and more visceral noise aspect to it that adds a layer of more rage and anger, as opposed to sorrow and melancholy. Personally, I found the more atmospheric and shoegaze sound on closer Barren Fields to stick out among the three tracks the most with a much clearer sense of identity, if that makes sense. I think that this element really is the project's strongest trait.
It's a decent release that demonstrates some interesting ideas, but doesn't really create a definitive sound on here. Each track does showcase a direction of where the sound could be taken in the future, but nothing is concrete on here. Check it out if dronegaze sounds appealing to you.
Overall Score: 6.5
Highlights: Barren Fields

House of Low Culture - Poisoned Soil (2011)

Band: House of Low Culture
Country: Los Angeles, California
Style: Experimental Drone/Ambient
Label: Sub Rosa/Taiga

Maybe four years ago, if you had asked me to name you a drone artist or group, the only group I could have told you would have probably been Sunn 0))). My appreciation and enjoyment of the style has probably experience the greatest leap this year. Being a huge fan, like many others, of Aaron Turner's work in Isis, I can safely say that this was another one of the earlier drone acts I found out about.
I can't say how much of this album is based on improvisations that Aaron Turner and wife Faith Coloccia performed or if it's entirely arranged and performed in this manner in mind, but I can tell you that it is an interesting listen. This is an album that abandons most instances of structure in favor of archetypal foundations of noise and ambient soundscapes. You'll find that on these three tracks, you will have a base, or foundation, laid out somewhere near the beginning of the track, and that foundation will usually remain the only constant in the song. While various idea pop in and out at seemingly random instances, that noise remains a constant. Be it loud blast of feedback, the pounding of piano keys, or a choir of voices chanting, that foundation remains the same whilst everything on top shifts and moves around. I will admit that several moments on here can be quite jarring and more than a little unnerving at times.
It should be noted however that while all three of these tracks are foundationally similar, they are all quite different from each other. Opener Spoiled Fruits of The Kingdom is quite schizophrenic in it's arrangement, with that ambient noise base holding the track together. The Ladder That Leads to Nowhere on the other hand is much more rounded and less free-flowing, in my opinion, with a louder and much more aggressive noise being the base giving way to monolithic sized ambiances through choral-esque chanting and synthesized strings. Inappropriate Body acts as an appropriate closer with possibly the most chaotic arrangement on here, though none of it feels as random as the opener. Like I said above, I have no idea how much of this record was improvised and how much of it was arranged, but the fact that only one of these tracks, the opener, feels at all like it was improvised, whether or not it was intended to feel that way, I think is an accomplishment. The randomness of that one track gives way to the more avant-garde arrangements that the other two tracks embody. The album, in my mind anyway, works by moving from random to arranged and structured before giving way to a more controlled chaos in the end. It's an album that is quite hard to digest in full, and I found it best to focus on one track at a time, before finally diving head into the whole thing.
It's an interesting listen that I both enjoyed listening to and thinking about due to it's various sounds. In my opinion, at least some of this had to be improvised, but it's performances like that that kind of give another color to these tracks. Check it out if you think experimental drone, noise, ambient, or maybe even post-rock sounds interesting to you.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Inappropriate Body