Various Artists - 2009 favourites

I was just putting together a best of 2010, and realised I never posted my 2009 version, so here it is. The picture is unrelated - just a good one I took last year. I probably would have had more to say about these tracks if I'd done this post at the time. I do remember that Various Production ft. Gerry Mitchell 'The Invisible Lodger' was my album of the year - I highly recommend it. Actually, looking at these tracks, they were all from excellent albums - something that cannot be said for my 2010 selection - these were all pretty good albums.
You can find these in itunes by album artist, which is 'White Dot 2009'.

2009 tracklisting:

1-Various Production feat. Gerry Mitchell: This Invisible Blood (The Invisible Lodger)

2-Oneida: Luxury Travel (Rated O)

3-Lord Newborn and the Magic Skulls: Escape From Prism (Lord Newborn and the Magic Skulls)

4-Valet: Blood Is Clean (Blood Is Clean)

5-Bardo Pond: Silver Pavilion (Peri )

6-Fever Ray: If I Had A Heart (Fever Ray)

7-Alva Noto: Xerrox Tek Part 1 (Xerrox Vol. 2)

8-Wolok: Transubs(a)tantiation (Caput Mortuum)

9-Various Production feat. Gerry Mitchell: A Hole In Your Memory (The Invisible Lodger)

10-Alexander Tucker: Bell Jars (Portal)

11-Cave: Made in Malaysia (Psychic Psummer)

12-Oneida: What's Up, Jackal? (Rated O)

13-Shackleton: Let Go (Three EPs )

14-Ben Frost: Peter Venkman Pt II (By The Throat)

15-Bill Callahan: Eid Ma Clack Shaw (Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle)

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Since Blogger decided to remove my best of 2010 this posting looks faintly preposterous. Ho hum.

Black metal compilation

I know I've just posted the Wrnlrd album: this is a request/dedication to Steve, to cheer him up. Because black metal was invented to cheer people up.
This is not supposed to be definitive, even of my taste - it's just some of my favourites, and I am aware of glaring omissions. Lots of harshness, noise, violence and general nastiness; but also some great, triumphant tunes and riffs, as well as an assortment of amazing vocalists. You also have the two best BM drummers - Frost (1349) and Hellhammer (mayhem), but also some pretty inept work (Judas Iscariot - great track, though). It all sounds great to me, from the strange and technical compositions of Deathspell Omega and Mayhem, right down to the primitive thrashings of Bone Awl and Ildjarn-Nidhogg. Also, plenty of outrageous speed.
Tracklisting:
1. 1349 – I Am Abomination (Hellfire)
2. I Shalt Become – Fragments (Wanderings)
3. Gorgoroth – Wound Upon Wound (Ad Majoram...)
4. Belenos – Tal Ifern (Spicilège)
5. Bone Awl – In Eternal Dark (Magnetism Of War)
6. Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky (A Blaze...)
7. Funeral Mist – Sword Of Faith (Maranatha)
8. Nehemah – Nehemah In Vulba Infernum (Light Of A Dead Star)
9. Gorgoroth – Procreating Satan (Twilight OF The Idols)
10. Judas Iscariot – To The Black Tower Of Victory (Distant In Solitary Night)
11. Burzum –Dunkelheit (Filosofem)
12. Mayhem – Whore (Chimera)
13. Diaboli – As I Walk Through The Shadows (Anthems Of Sorrow)
14. Leviathan - Fucking Your Ghost in Chains of Ice (The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide)
15. Ildjarn-Nidhogg - Svarte Hjerter (Ildjarn-Nidhogg)
16. Satyricon – Dawn Of A New Age (Nemesis Divina)
17. Blut Aus Nord – Choir Of The Dead (The Work Which Transforms God)
18. Endstille – Monotonus II (Navigator)
19. Triumphator – Heralds Of Pestilence (Wings Of Antichrist)
20. Watain – The Limb Crucifix (Rabid Death’s Curse)
21. Deathspell Omega –Sola Fide pt. 1 (Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice)

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Wrnlrd - Cperadt

Is April the cruelest month? If so, here is a suitable offering from this US black metal band. I say band - I think this is yet another USBM one man operation. It's nasty, cacophonous, and very dense. Where a lot of the similarly spaced-out and psychedelic black metal bands go for a thin shoegazey guitar sound, this has grinding, amped up mid-range and treble riffs piled on top of one another, making for a pretty heavy sound. It sounds like there are some quality distortion pedals in use, here, and the heaviness is most welcome. This also has plenty of blasting speed, and some excellent distorted, grim and generally unpleasant vocals which merge in a muddily splendid fashion with the guitar assault. There is great use of very well executed doomy atmospheric moments which punctuate the ferocious and strange riffs, and give the album a bit of depth.

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Portal - Outre

I haven't posted any metal in a while, and thought that this would be an apt choice, as they have an excellent new album out, called Swarth. Although this this is labelled as death metal, don't let that put you off if you are interested in exploring the artier and weirder end of extreme metal.
This band is pretty unique, creating an abstract and disturbing miasma of sound. Grinding and atonal guitars comprise most of the mix, with fairly restrained acoustic sounding drumming - as opposed to the clicky and springy sounding kits you hear in more conventional death metal. The vocals, although guttaral, are more of a despairing roar than a belching cookie monster. Even though the song structures involve time changes, and the playing appears to be excellent, there is a murky mystery, and it's often hard to grasp just what is being played - it seems just beyond the ear's reach, like an unholy mix of My Bloody Valentine and Deathspell Omega with added wrongness.
The result is a weird and unsettling album, and the imagery used only adds to this nightmarish feeling. Definitely a one of a kind mob; I hope they play in London soon.

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Ruins Of Beverast - Unlock The Shrine

My metal posting for this month is one of the best black metal albums I've heard. Epic, yet consistently excellent throughout, this has all the necessary components in place - great production - from drum sound to guitar distortion; consummate evocation of atmosphere; judicious use of samples (film speech snippets/choral). That they also have natural mastery of phrasing and dynamics doesn't hurt, but the most important things are the great songs, great riffs, and superb vocals.
This was released in Germany, 2004.

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Deathspell Omega - Diabolus Absconditus

I like black metal a lot, but there aren't many bands who I feel will fit into this blog. DSO are definitely one of them. This is a fairly early example of the sprawling progged-out epics that they are becoming total masters at. Check out their recent Chaining The Katechon to see the mind altering heights they have reached.
This is also pretty awesome: 22 and a half minutes of their trademark disturbing ambience, queasy churning and grinding guitars and great vocals. Taken from the 2005 triple set Crushing The Holy Trinity, which is no longer available as far as I know. I've also scanned the relevant booklet page - check out my dodgy cropping!

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