Bosse-De-Nage - iii (2012)

Band: Bosse-De-Nage
Country: Bay Area, California
Style: Post-Black Metal/Screamo
Label: Profound Lore

I used to give Profound Lore a lot of credit for signing really awesome bands that I had never heard of before and basically showing them to hordes of new people, I don't really feel the same anymore. It seems like as of recently they've been picking up dozens of newer groups who've been making a name for themselves either on smaller labels or on their own. I certainly still respect the label (even if they won't respond to my emails) but I don't hold them as highly as I used to.
But really, this is a review for Bosse-De-Nage, not Profound Lore, so I'll get to talking about the band and this album instead. By now the band have gotten arguably bigger than I think was foreseen even based on the hype and success of last year's album ii. The range of sounds ranging from Slint-esque post-rock to pageninetynine styled screamo being filtered through the guise of black metal riffs and vocals (to a degree), along with a more poetic lyrical approach that definitely makes them stand out from their peers, it's going to be hard to really say anything that hasn't already been talked about when discussing this album. I mean, I guess all I can really speak about is how I thought this worked out being because factually, there are many other reviews out there that will give you far more insight as to the lyrical approach on here and more in-depth genre descriptions.
For me, this album is a pretty big step up from ii, which doesn't even seem like it was released just about a year ago. I remember that album was certainly impressive, but it wasn't something all that great (to me anyway), this album really feels a lot more interesting and less of a black metal record than the first two full-lengths exhibited. Sure, there were obvious inclinations towards shoegaze, post-rock, and screamo, hell, even post-hardcore in the band's sound since day one, but here is where it really feels like they've embraced them into their songwriting. Desuetude feels more like screamo than black metal, it's so upbeat and energetic, but still very controlled, it never feels like it's going to go over the edge into chaos. The guitars and vocals are just out of control while the drumming keeps the song going while showcasing a sense of personality (something that isn't heard very often from someone behind the kit) while the bass keeps groove and delivers perhaps the most memorable parts on the entire album. Despite the fact that I was just describing that one song, it could really be applied to the entire album. Even on the quiet and morose Cells, there's a tension that is lurking underneath it just waiting to pour out, which happens on the following track, The God Ennui. A band embracing post-rock isn't a new thing anymore, but when there's a band like Bosse-De-Nage who manage to not only give the sub-genre, but the entire genre of black metal, a new perspective on both post-rock influence and more poetic, I'll leave the sexual nature of them for others to discuss, lyrics, it's exciting. Sure, it's not really as intense as their first two full-lengths, but exciting doesn't have to mean intense or brutal, what makes me excited is hearing a band do something interesting with their sound that is different from what I've heard before, even if it's only a minor change, it can make a world of difference. That's what we have here folks, a band doing something just a little different but breathing new life into a genre that is dying very quickly.
This is a post-black metal (post-rock influenced black metal) album that stands apart from others in the genre, which at this point is not only a good thing but surprising as well. It stands alone in the genre as a pyre of resolute defiance and artistry that the genre has yet to embrace, or rape. Definitely check this album out if you haven't already.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Desuetude, An Ideal Ledge

Double Review: Ignivomous & Father Befouled

Time for some rather new death metal records. Both of these are taken from the whole "cavecore" or Incantation-worship breed of death metal, just so you know. Hopefully you can find something worth checking out in here.

2012 - Reissuses

I don't really like covering reissued albums just because they really aren't "new" albums and I just feel like it isn't really worth promoting stuff that is technically old. I'm kind of making a one time exception for these albums because they're albums that I haven't seem a whole lot of exposure for. (all of these are reviewed from 1-10)

Venowl - Patterns of Failure (2012)

Band: Venowl
Country: Illinois
Style: Blackened Noise/Funeral Doom
Label: Independent

Who can really say what Venowl really is? Throughout their relatively short history they've released numerous small albums that range from extremely raw black metal to funeral doom to straight-up power electronics, saying what any new release will sound like can be kind of like shooting yourself in the foot. So when I got this copy of the group's first "full-length" I kind of had to let any preconceived ideas fall to the wayside.
For those who haven't been following the sonic trajectory of the band known as Venowl, I think it's time to get acquainted with it. Their start in the realm of power-electronics meets black metal harshness is easily some of the most powerful music to emerge from the blackened noise sub-genre, though to say it isn't headache inducing in large amounts would be lying. Their evolution into Senthil-esque blackened funeral doom has been a turn for the better, in my book, and while I don't particularly care too much for the music Senthil have released, I find that Venowl take a much more visceral approach to their performances. For those who aren't aware, this is improvisational stuff, so if you're not into that, you've been warned. The three tracks that comprise this debut full-length are long, ill-disciplined, and unruly pieces of blackened funeral doom, and I mean that in the best possible way.
Ok, I know that saying a song or album is long probably isn't going to bother a whole lot of people, it's more than likely going to be the ill-disciplined and unruly part, so let me explain. I say it's ill-disciplined and unruly because it's freeform music, to say there's anything on here that is meant to be ear-catching, memorable, or melodic would be a far cry from the truth if I ever heard it, and while I, and I'm sure some others as well, find elements of that to be a rather endearing quality, I doubt that it's something that's going to grab a bunch of people. Oh, and before I move on, I guess I should clarify that when I say it isn't memorable, I mean that unless you find droning guitar riffs, vocals that sound like a person being murdered, and slow-paced drumming catchy, you aren't going to remember a single part of this album, if you're anything like me, you'll remember, and come back to this album for, the experience of it. A lot of what's played is really slow, and when it speeds up it does have the tendency to turn a bit chaotic (which may have been the point). I don't dislike it for the fact that it comes off as messy, I just think that it could have come out so much more cohesive (once again, maybe not what they were aiming for) and cleaner which could have benefitted those sections.
In saying that, I find it almost odd how the shortest track on here is also the most diverse. Hung Alive By The Ribs to A Gallows is slow, just like the other tracks but shows a bit more of that black metal side that Venowl have been toying around with in some other recordings. Closer The Bounded Are Loathed is an epic, reaching almost thirty minutes, that really shows not only that Senthil influence but I'd also say a bit of Khanate as well, especially in its second half. The long droning section with screams coming at you from seemingly everywhere really reminded me of the horror that Khanate fills me with at times. It's not the section where a bunch of stuff is happening that is the most exciting but the parts where very little is that just send that shiver up your spine because you're not exactly sure what's going to happen next or when it's going to happen.
It's an interesting album because for all its flaws I still have to give it to the band that they always kept me interested and wanting to listen. Call me crazy for saying that this actually can be an enjoyable experience. It's definitely worth checking out if you happen to enjoy extreme forms of doom and black metal. Not for the faint of heart.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: The Bounded Are Loathed

Hall of Mirrors - Altered Nights (2012)

Band: Hall of Mirrors
Country: L'Aquila, Italy
Style: Dark Ambient/Industrial
Label: Malignant

I had never heard of this project before being sent this album and it was one of those times where I knew I had to hear it because of its cover. It's bleak and dark and that just bodes well for this style of music. The concept also struck me as working really well, especially in the state of mind I was in when I first listened to it.
With an album like this one, I wasn't really sure how to approach it. It's dark ambient music, so it obviously requires the listener's patience and attention, or no attention, in order to just soak it in, but seeing as I don't have a lot of time, I have to kind of listen to it here and there. What resulted from that is me gaining an experience from this that I have not gotten from other albums of a similar style. For the dark ambient and industrial noise based genres, from the handful of groups that I've listened to from it, I haven't found too many that ultimately connected with me on a higher level than just enjoying it. Now, despite what you may be thinking, I'm not going to say that this connected with me on some pseudo-intellectual or spiritual level, but what I will say is that it's probably one of the most entertaining and deep records I've ever heard produced by the genre. Now, I'm gonna guess at what you're probably thinking now, "Dark ambient music, entertaining, don't make me laugh (or some variation on that)," but believe it or not, this is an entertaining record that is quite interesting to listen to.
Each track on here contains a rich and complex musical soundscape that is deeply engrossing. It's a cacophony of various ideas coming together into tracks that explore themes of madness, paranoia, and terror, among others, and is one of the few dark ambient albums I've heard that manages to actually convey any sense of that within me. Usually it's just, it's dark, and I'm totally fine with that, but it's nice when music can give you a feeling of dread. It also helps that there's always something happening in these songs, with the exception of Night 3: Magmatic Resonance, which I found to be a bit too cold and sparse to really keep my attention, I never found myself getting bored and was instead actually drawn into the soundscape. Probably the most surprising thing to me while listening to this was that it never felt long. This is two discs worth of music, and not the sort of music that is all that active either, but it seemed to feel like I had actually been listening to this for around an hour and forty minutes.
Ultimately, it's the longest track on here that makes this worthwhile though. For all the reasons that I enjoy the first disc, the second disc, which contains the forty-five minute Last Night: Late Summer Ceremony, is pretty much everything that I liked, but in a single track. You have extremely unsettling electronics, bouts of noise abuse, disturbing ambient sections, and it's just so pitch perfect in that regard that it kind of makes the first disc feel rather uninspired by comparison. Hell there's a small bit near the end that almost makes me think of really raw black metal, it isn't by the way, but it makes me think of it. Sort of Sutekh Hexen-ish in a way, but more atmospheric, either way, it's a great track that really personifies everything that I like about this album.
This thing gets a big thumbs-up from me, it's easily one of the most exciting ambient/noise/etc. albums I've heard in a long while. Once again, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I still think that at the very least the second disc is worth hearing this year. Definitely check it out if you're a fan of this sort of stuff, you will not be disappointed.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: Night 2: Invocation, Last Night: Late Summer Ceremony

2012 - Black/Doom

This year has produced a number of interesting releases but here were a bunch of releases that fell somewhere in between the black and doom metal genre enough to make me want to just group them all together. Maybe it's a bit of a cop out but it's likely that someone will find a new band if you lump them together with a bunch a band they might already know about.

Elysian Blaze - Blood Geometry (2012)

Band: Elysian Blaze
Country: Adelaide, Australia
Style: Atmospheric Black Metal/Funeral Doom
Label: Osmose Productions

Back in 2008 or 2009 I went through a phase where I listened and looked into a lot of depressive black metal and funeral doom. Looking back, I couldn't tell you why, but I have since been a bit more picky about what I listen to from those genres. When I was really invested in the genre though, Elysian Blaze was a project that definitely stood out on both sides of the genres.
When I first got into the project I think this album was either just being announced or something like that. I couldn't tell you how many times I checked the Myspace page of Elysian Blaze hoping for some sort of update as to when this was going to be released. The album cover was released at that time, and I'm pretty sure the song titles were as well, but there were very sparse updates until I just sort of gave up and thought that the project had either been put on ice or had dissolved all together. Now, here it is, something like two or three years after I had thought that Mutatiis might have just ended the project and I see this album pop up. Was I shocked? Most definitely and no matter the quality of it, I knew it was an album I had to hear.
I guess the first and most definable feature many will notice about this album is the fact that it is a double-album that contains three tracks that top twenty minutes each. I was certainly shocked when I saw those track lengths, and probably just as surprised, if not more so, when I actually listened to them and found out that they were actually good. Don't misunderstand my intention, I did not come into this thinking it was going to be bad, not by a long shot, but in genres like funeral doom, like depressive black metal, like ambient black metal, tracks like that are often overrated, sometimes overhyped, but don't really ever accomplish too much. While songs this long often have a very narrow range of appeal, even in this style of music for that matter, these songs are quite interesting and have some really interesting ideas. I'll admit that I haven't listened to this project a quite a while, but what I remember hearing was a lot slower and more in line with funeral doom, this album is much more of a black metal album. Very ambient black metal mind you, but black metal nonetheless. Having gone back and listened to some of the project's earlier releases, I don't know what I was remembering because those albums certainly had quite a big black metal sound as well, but this album is far more bleak, I guess would be the most fitting word.
The range of ideas present on here is quite shocking if you've come to expect little from any of the genres I mentioned above. I really have to give Mutatiis a lot of credit for pooling these influences together in a way that is surprisingly original; and while mixing funeral doom, depressive and atmospheric black metal, ambient (or dark ambient), noise, and I guess classical music together has been done here and there, I can't say I've heard another album where they've been blended to a similar degree with as high results as this album. I really have to say that the closers for both albums are really well done. The title-track is a lengthy piano piece that works rather well for closing the first disc while Void Alchemy closes the entire album with an eleven minute ambient/noise piece. Unlike Fear Factory's recent use of this technique on their most recent album, this works far better. After the blistering assault the rest of the album has put you through, closing the entire thing with an ambient piece doesn't sound so bad. But I have to say that the metal tracks are the standouts on here, as if that should really come as a surprise to anyone. The first disc's metal tracks are a bit more visceral, despite their lengths, while the two on the second disc are a lot more imaginative. There are more detours and variety within these two tracks. While Pyramid of The Cold Son is quite an interesting track with a lot of cool atmospheric and ambient stuff popping up throughout, I think that the clear highlight of this entire album is, once again I'm sure it's no surprise, the thirty-six minute Blood of Ancients, Blood of Hatred. It's an absolutely haunting piece of music that, personally, I could just get lost inside.
I know that the length and style(s) of this album might put some people off, but it is truly a great record and it far surpassed any of my expectations. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be an overlooked album this year, because this is the sort of release that could easily fall into the forgotten realms (do not let that happen!). It's a great album and one that I recommend not missing out on this year. (On a sidenote, if you decide to buy a copy, definitely go for the vinyl. I got mine a couple of days ago and it looks just fantastic).
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Sigils That Beckon Death, Pyramid of The Cold Son, Blood of Ancients, Blood of Hatred