#33

Collapsed Arc – In Cursive c20

Collapsed Arc is at it again, this time with two side long slabs of glitchy looped audio. In Cursive is dense and claustrophobic, possessing a disjointing non-percussive rhythm. It's rad as hell, some of the better experimental music I've heard in a while.

Imminent Frequencies


Conspiracy 666 – Conspiracy 666 cd-r

The first demo from Brazil's Conspiracy 666, you get two tracks of black metal with a technical edge. There is a surprisingly pro vibe to this; both tracks are composed & played with skill and the production is crystal clear. Nice to hear a black metal band recording in a studio instead of their parent's basement. Worth checking out if your preference in black metal runs toward skill rather than rawness.

Bosque Produções


Cop Bar – No Justice, Just Law c60

Holy fuck! Go get a copy of this right now. No Justice, Just Law is 20 songs in under 20 minutes of Cop Bar's grind/hardcore insanity. There's a great balance of being heavy, but not too serious. I can't wait till these guys drop their split 7' with Captain 3 Leg next year. Seriously, go get this already.

Self released


Impostüre/Skeld – Split cd-r

France's Impostüre kick things off with two tracks of blackened death metal that's got a certain rock-n-roll vibe to it. I'm digging it. And, the vocals are ridiculously guttural; they sound like something from some scummy goregrind act, but it ends up working great here. America's Skeld wrap the album up with three tracks of cacophonous black metal. It was a little too loud and abrasive for my tastes. Check it out for the Impostüre half, and who knows, maybe you'll dig Skeld too.

Glossolalia Records


Keasmonic Heritage – Metos cd-r

A single track ep from the ambient side project of Count Shannäth, the majority of Metos is constructed from interwoven nature field recordings and meandering keyboards. Pretty standard fare, until you get to the sudden appearance of the feedback laden guitar or cheesy, digital lute solo. All in all, a fairly mediocre release. Pass.

Bosque Produções


Laura Warholic – what comes before the word?? c26

The majority of this tape is nearly inaudible. I donno if I just got a fucked up dub or it's supposed to sound that low, but it left me nonplussed. The A starts off with a whining electronic piece that goes nowhere, then there's a folksy-shoegaze track, followed by a spoken piece over a sound collage, and things get rounded off with a fuzzed out, wah-wah guitar jam. I'd be digging those last three tracks if I could actually hear them without having to turn the volume up to 11. Flip the tape and there's this dark, rambling, sci-fi spoken piece that's layered over really driving percussion and synth. It's rad as hell, even with the fucked sound. The rest of the tape is taken up with a ghostly, ethereal track. It's a cool piece, but feels a little anticlimactic following such a burner. I really hope it's just my copy that's messed up and not all of them sound like this, because there's some awesome music on here and I want to tell you to snag a copy.

Faux Pas Records

#32

Art Imperial – Look at the Moon I Feel the Agony of Tomorrow cd-r

Oh, I'm so digging this. A single track of astral, instrumental, ambient black metal, Look at the Moon... is a total trance inducer. The guitar is surprisingly abrasive for such an ambient piece, but the faux saw wave feedback sound actually works perfectly as a counter point to the rest of the music. If you're at all into progressive black metal, drone metal, post metal, etc, you wanna check this out.

Bosque Produções


Bear Trap/Sloth – Slothbear: I Am Mobile cd

This split album starts off with 24 tracks from Bear Trap, with all of which but four clocking in at under a minute. Basically, they sound like the bastard child of a power violence band and a free jazz act; it'd be filed under noisecore, but there's just something about it that I cant get into. Sloth rounds things out with three tracks of their harsh-noise-with-a-sax schtick. This is a rough one because both bands are good at what they do, but the type of music they play here just isn't my deal.

Self released


Count Shannäth – Unreleased cd-r

Lurking in the piney woods behind the Lane Bryant outlet store is Conroe's grimmest one-man dsbm act, Count Shannäth. It's hard to be kvlt in the suburbs of Houston, but damn if he isn't trying. Anyhow, the ep opens up with “Autumn Haze”, a solid track of depressive black metal with a heavy shoe-gaze aspect. The vocals were a little overly dramatic, but otherwise it's ok. Up next is a track titled “Unreleased”, which should have stayed that way. The mix is bad, with a ridiculous amount of feedback and the thing is just a general damn mess. I'll probably check out some other stuff from the Count, but I can't recommend this particular release.

Bosque Produções


Food Pyramid/Deep Earth – Split 45

Niiiice, I didn't know anyone still dropped 45s; gotta love busting out the yellow snake spindle adapter for that big hole. Food Pyramid lets loose with some outer space beats and electronics. Deep Earth rounds things out with atmospheric synth and funky bass lines. And, both these burners clock in at over 5 minutes. So fuckin' rad, go get it already.

moon glyph


Sam Gas Can – Life on Earth is Pure and Golden, Life on Earth is Hell on Earth c24

You definitely need an appreciation for outsider music and weirdo pop to get into this little album here. Life on Earth... consists of nine short pieces that vary wildly in style, jumping from indie electronic compositions to cornball, lounge-y jams with out missing a beat. Excluding a few acoustic, folksy tracks, the music is driven by old, analog keyboards. It's cool stuff, but not everyone's going to be able to enjoy it.

Lighten Up Sounds


:Wulgata: - Eastern Sons: Fourth Journey Into the Heart of the Ancient cd-r

Playing dark ambient infused with the folk music of southeastern and far eastern Asia, :Wulgata: has released an impressive album with Eastern Sons. I was a little skeptical when I snagged a copy of this, afraid it would be nothing more than synthesizers and poorly played zhonghu, but this fear proved to be unfounded. The music is both skillfully composed and well played. There's the slightest industrial influence on the album that gives the songs an edge. Recommended.

Invisible Eye Productions