Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

An Interview with They Grieve

While traveling down a Bandcamp wormhole, I discovered Ottawa's They Grieve, and was sucked in by their three song debut, I Made My Sacrifice Accordingly - a surprisingly nuanced and dynamic take on sludge metal. Since info about the band is sparse at best, I reached out to them to find out more; the duo of Gary Thibert and Deniz Guvenc were kind enough to take turns in answering my questions.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

in a gadda da vida is awesome.

When I was 19 I bought Iron Butterfly's In A Gadda Da Vida on vinyl - partly out of curiosity, somewhat as a joke, mostly because it was only a dollar. At a time when I was swept up in noisecore and black metal, Iron Butterfly's (bell)bottom-heavy psychedelic rock was neither angry nor evil enough for me. Plus, due to its pop culture infamy, the song itself was something of a joke in 1998 - at 17 minutes, and with a built in drum solo, it represented the self-indulgent ostentatiousness of rock music prior to punk's cultural ascendance. "In A Gadda Da Vida" is simultaneously Iron Butterfly's signature song and an indictment of them.


Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Sunday, January 7, 2018

Bandcamp Picks - Barshasketh/Outre, Väki, Grimtone, Narbeleth



Sein / Zeit is a truly great split from two of the more interesting black metal bands I've come across in recent years. New Zealand transplants Barshasketh's contribution is a regal, Dissection-ish affair, with a galloping midsection transitioning into a storming finish. On their end, Poland's Outre pulls back their more experimental tendencies, and go for broke with some thrashy blackened death metal that will tap your toes and snap your neck. The winner of this clash of talents? You. [£3]



Finland's Väki set the bar high with their debut EP. The two songs on Kirous recall the inroads towards progressive black metal made on IX Equilibrium - and not just because of the eerily accurate Ihsahn impression Väki's vocalist lays down. While the erstwhile Emperor frontman establishes himself as a Steve Wilson figure on black metal's fringes, Vaki's appropriations are most welcome. [€2]



With a name seemingly lifted from Metalocalypse, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Grimtone was a parody act and not a bonafide Swedish black metal band. But Memento Mori is a legit slab of Nordic darkness: A speedy, no-frills assault in the vein of Marduk and Dark Funeral. The northern skies are still a-blazing. [56 SEK]



It's been a while since I checked in with DoC friends Narbeleth, and I'm happy to report that they've had an eventful few years. With an icy guitar tone indifferent to its Caribbean origins, Indomitvs is a loving tribute to the early rush of second wave black metal, embellishing its frostbitten speed with headbanging riffs and folky melodies. Narbeleth is the best black metal band currently flying under everyone's radars (including mine - I completely missed this when it came out in the middle of last year). With more releases like this, they won't be overlooked for too much longer. [€7]

Monday, January 1, 2018

Mixtape 41 - Bloodstone


Here is the 41st installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with my buddies Qadir and Aditya of Singapore thrashers Bloodstone.