Kylesa
Spiral Shadow
Still reeling from the wake of their runaway psych trip “Static tensions” Kylesa have decided to bring up the rearguard and deliver a final crushing blow…and what a weaving serpentine offering it is.
It may seem strange to find Kylesa releasing another album so soon after the richly deserved accolades of last year, yet here they are. No really, here they are! They’ve experienced another paradigm shift. Not content with their murky sludgecore pre-Static Tensions, they branched out to dip you into the hallucinogenic swamp of the aforementioned epic. Hell, even the Baizley artwork was enough to bring the genie out of the bottle, but they’re here because they’ve turned on their own screw again.
This album is far greater than the sum of its parts, melding sun and snakes and sniper-like acoustics. The dual percussive attack has been produced to the nth degree; the midrange separation of vocals and guitars has finally allowed the two to escape each other, revealing an impassioned soul that’s been lurking below all this time.
Here there are no haircuts, no hype, no hubris and no ego.
Here the snake doesn’t have to be charmed out because what’s on offer is so succinct, so striking, you’ll be hoping the follow-up to this comes just as quickly.
Tuesday 26 October 2010
Work writing
Seeing as though I've managed to source a job writing, i guess im allowed to put my writings up that I do for it..so here's the first one
Anaal Nathrakh
In the Constellation of the Black Widow
There’s a brooding sense of malice that enters the mind when it’s known Anaal Nathrakh are releasing a new album. Their musical journey is an allegory to the rise and thunder of the Industrial Age, born in the Ironbridge Gorge mere miles from where this doomstruck duo had their formative years. To this day that legacy leaves an impression upon the landscape and it’s inhabitants (If you’re unaware of Birmingham’s musical heritage then you’ve taken a wrong turn, turn round and find Black Sabbath Avenue…understood?)
Close your eyes and as the introductory notes tear out, you feel brimstone beneath your feet and begin to engage with the malevolence within your soul. It could just be the intensified production value that’s improving with each album furthering the illustrative sonic nature of A.N, though some claim this is taking them ever further from their purist Black Metal beginnings, or it could just be that within this aural cacophony of bile soaked spite there truly is the means to take over Hell itself.
This is the elixir of heavy. Every listen changes the minds eye, giving snapshots into a brutal and industrial past, flickering briefly into our apocalyptic future. The sky has indeed been set aflame.
Anaal Nathrakh
In the Constellation of the Black Widow
There’s a brooding sense of malice that enters the mind when it’s known Anaal Nathrakh are releasing a new album. Their musical journey is an allegory to the rise and thunder of the Industrial Age, born in the Ironbridge Gorge mere miles from where this doomstruck duo had their formative years. To this day that legacy leaves an impression upon the landscape and it’s inhabitants (If you’re unaware of Birmingham’s musical heritage then you’ve taken a wrong turn, turn round and find Black Sabbath Avenue…understood?)
Close your eyes and as the introductory notes tear out, you feel brimstone beneath your feet and begin to engage with the malevolence within your soul. It could just be the intensified production value that’s improving with each album furthering the illustrative sonic nature of A.N, though some claim this is taking them ever further from their purist Black Metal beginnings, or it could just be that within this aural cacophony of bile soaked spite there truly is the means to take over Hell itself.
This is the elixir of heavy. Every listen changes the minds eye, giving snapshots into a brutal and industrial past, flickering briefly into our apocalyptic future. The sky has indeed been set aflame.
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Kerrang Vs Terroriser
And if I hear another kerrang reading eejit endorsement of steel panther I'm not coming. I just don't get it. The same people would wax lyrical about the banal nature of most pop music, but here's an entirely manufactured band created by some men in suits collecting the cash pile. It's gashmandoo. I'd like to hear some investigation into the disparity between the mainstream media ignorance of the metal culture but it's fans are the most dedicated and cash spending. A metal gig sells, fans commit for life, but it's impact is entirely ignored by critics, aside from the recent endorsement of progressive bands like mastodon, tool and meshuggah within papers like the Times. I bring all this into account, but it seems that now the average metal fan is falling into the bracket of the pop fan, by responding positively to marketing forces and enjoying bands like steel panther et al. Where's the admiration of the band that slowly builds a reputation through gigging hard and wriing well. I think Kerrang has a lot to answer for, and it knows it. When I was a teen it covered a broader music range, wheras now it goes for the cash element every time giving collum inches to the likes of te aforementioned band, Him and other associated shite. Do yourself a favour, go pick up a copy of Terroriser and find a whole new world of honest journalism and well reasoned criique.
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Sunday 17 October 2010
Nathrakh post for the group
How do all.
As you're probably aware from the posts by Laverty and Shymond, Nathrakh are touring again. Needless to say, those of you that have experienced that rolling juggernaut of bile soaked aural hatefuck will be doing anything within your means to say "I'm seeing them again." Those of you that haven't been fortunate to come face to face with the assault that is Anaal Nathrakh, i cannot envisage a greater sonic evening for you to do this than attending the forthcoming Damnation Festival. It's available from very reputable sources that their set will be the one not to miss, let alone the festival as a whole, which has grown into one of the highlights of the musical year. I wholeheartedly advise you beg, borrow and raid your piggy banks to get to this event.
Those of you who haven't heard or investigated the line-up so far can get more information here
http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk/zine
Whereupon you will also see a couple of little ol' bands listed called earthtone9 and The Dillinger Escape Plan, the former playing once more after an extremely long hiatus. These guys were the first bands i ever saw live and the ones that cemented my insatiable desire to see as much music as possible. To just have these three aforementioned bands on one ticket would be enough to make me travel abroad for a gig, so for those Nathrakh fans salivating over the Damnation line-up in far away countries, get thee'sen ower to the north.
Also, there's an extremely diverting interview with Mr Dave Hunt on the Damnation website expounding on The Lucifer Effect and its use as inspiration for the track, the resonating issues of what causes evil within people, whether its a cognitive element or a hereditary one and generally on the state of humanity as a whole,something which is always diverting. He is a intelligent force and well worth a read if you're at all interested in finding out about Nathrakh ethos and direction.
It also has a link to a video lecture delivered by the author of the Lucifer Effect, its content being more eloquently delivered by Dave and the proponent of the idea, Philip Zimbardo.
http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html
There is other live dates peppered throughout Europe for those that are unable to attend the Damnation Festival, check the group feed for the dates.
Also, in conclusion, you might have spotted that Nathrakh are playing with MAYHEM in December. However much i wish this could have been a Halloween gig (the connotations being too perfect, pigs heads on spikes on Halloween would have really tickled my black metal gland) this is happening on the 18th December, which is the day after my birthday so im self hijacking the event for my own ends (though nobody else will know this, thus making me a lonely purveyor of metal) but, all that aside, this gig is an amazing development, Mayhem being arguably the most important and relevant band in Black Metal...although if i remember rightly, it was pointed out to me that the E Channel or MTV2 did a 100 most shocking moments in music and the murder of Euronymous by Varg Vikernes aka good ol' Count Grishnackh (he seems more of a cartoon character to me these days, which belies his actual wickedness)...anyhoo, this countdown placed this event at something like number 67, right next to Shitney Peer's shaving head incident??? So it seems that the ignorance of Black Metal and associated culture by mainstream media (everywhere apart from the Scandinavian Countries) is well and truly going strong when hair cutting is considered as shocking as murder/necklace creating from skull shards.
Just bloody come along, Mayhem have found themselves in a truly important renaissance and their live performances are following suit. Throw Dragged into Sunlight with Anaal Nathrakh into the mix and you have the best singular gig of the year. Be there. Here's the link for the facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128062003911234
That's all for now, im sure the other admins have any other answers to more in-depth questions you might have.
Look left, look right, look left again!! Words to live by.
As you're probably aware from the posts by Laverty and Shymond, Nathrakh are touring again. Needless to say, those of you that have experienced that rolling juggernaut of bile soaked aural hatefuck will be doing anything within your means to say "I'm seeing them again." Those of you that haven't been fortunate to come face to face with the assault that is Anaal Nathrakh, i cannot envisage a greater sonic evening for you to do this than attending the forthcoming Damnation Festival. It's available from very reputable sources that their set will be the one not to miss, let alone the festival as a whole, which has grown into one of the highlights of the musical year. I wholeheartedly advise you beg, borrow and raid your piggy banks to get to this event.
Those of you who haven't heard or investigated the line-up so far can get more information here
http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk/zine
Whereupon you will also see a couple of little ol' bands listed called earthtone9 and The Dillinger Escape Plan, the former playing once more after an extremely long hiatus. These guys were the first bands i ever saw live and the ones that cemented my insatiable desire to see as much music as possible. To just have these three aforementioned bands on one ticket would be enough to make me travel abroad for a gig, so for those Nathrakh fans salivating over the Damnation line-up in far away countries, get thee'sen ower to the north.
Also, there's an extremely diverting interview with Mr Dave Hunt on the Damnation website expounding on The Lucifer Effect and its use as inspiration for the track, the resonating issues of what causes evil within people, whether its a cognitive element or a hereditary one and generally on the state of humanity as a whole,something which is always diverting. He is a intelligent force and well worth a read if you're at all interested in finding out about Nathrakh ethos and direction.
It also has a link to a video lecture delivered by the author of the Lucifer Effect, its content being more eloquently delivered by Dave and the proponent of the idea, Philip Zimbardo.
http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil.html
There is other live dates peppered throughout Europe for those that are unable to attend the Damnation Festival, check the group feed for the dates.
Also, in conclusion, you might have spotted that Nathrakh are playing with MAYHEM in December. However much i wish this could have been a Halloween gig (the connotations being too perfect, pigs heads on spikes on Halloween would have really tickled my black metal gland) this is happening on the 18th December, which is the day after my birthday so im self hijacking the event for my own ends (though nobody else will know this, thus making me a lonely purveyor of metal) but, all that aside, this gig is an amazing development, Mayhem being arguably the most important and relevant band in Black Metal...although if i remember rightly, it was pointed out to me that the E Channel or MTV2 did a 100 most shocking moments in music and the murder of Euronymous by Varg Vikernes aka good ol' Count Grishnackh (he seems more of a cartoon character to me these days, which belies his actual wickedness)...anyhoo, this countdown placed this event at something like number 67, right next to Shitney Peer's shaving head incident??? So it seems that the ignorance of Black Metal and associated culture by mainstream media (everywhere apart from the Scandinavian Countries) is well and truly going strong when hair cutting is considered as shocking as murder/necklace creating from skull shards.
Just bloody come along, Mayhem have found themselves in a truly important renaissance and their live performances are following suit. Throw Dragged into Sunlight with Anaal Nathrakh into the mix and you have the best singular gig of the year. Be there. Here's the link for the facebook event
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128062003911234
That's all for now, im sure the other admins have any other answers to more in-depth questions you might have.
Look left, look right, look left again!! Words to live by.
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