LP Review: "Cast of Static and Smoke" by Vile Creature

Cast of Static and Smoke

I've been listening to this album for the better part of a week now before fingers started banging on keys.

This not the standard modus operandi here at Glacially Musical. Typically, it's a one or two listen shot.

In the spin after spin, both sitting at my computer, streaming it while making breakfast, and just all the time poring over this bleak record, the same thought keeps coming up...

How could this album possibly be described in a compelling way?

That is not meant to be anything remotely derogatory, but extremely complimentary.

Cast of Static and Smoke is hard to whittle down into my usual review length. It doesn't even conjure up a story of something from earlier in life. So, let's begin at the beginning.

Double Vinyl Review: "The Last Bastion of Cowardice" by Northless

The Last Bastion of Cowardice

"Geez, Nik, it would be nice if you talked about yourself," said no one ever to me.

However, like Ice-T said, freedom of speech. I want the right talk and for personal reasons, I watch what I say.

So, this album arrived to me last week in the mail. It came the night before an outpatient procedure was scheduled.

That day was to be a recovery day of painkillers, beer, and records. During the purple haze I was attempting to create there was going to be some writing.

Well, the Oxycodone knocked me on my ass like I was washing my hair in a waterfall, (Inspired by Mitch Hedberg, RIP). After listening to Northless's The Last Bastion of Cowardice there was still two thirds of the STLIPA to drink and my computer screen was blank.

Stream: "Godsend" by Northless

There are times when we just get into the thick of it. The full on plastered muck of the world we are living in.

Northless would appear to have had enough. Their new record, Last Bastion of Cowardice, is being released on Halo of Flies next month. Per their usual, there'll be two colored editions, and a black edition.

Click play below and preorder the record on bandcamp. Look for the full review next month.

Vinyl Review: "Unlawful Assembly" by Dawnray'd

Unlawful Assembly

This is a hard review to write. The idea that something may be left out, that something may be said improperly, and that offenses will be caused, but I have a choice and my choice is to write what I think and what I feel.

Art is never created in a vacuum. Even bands that claim that they're apolitical, do have political undertones to their music because a single fact: Our politics isn't simply whom we vote for but our very selves in every day life.

Presently the game show host, who's been elected President of the United States of America, is attacking men and women of color for their peaceful protests on fields of play.

Weeks ago, he said, in not so many words, there were some very fine nazis in the Charlottsville, NC protests. He's been attacking American citizens for their use of their First Amendment rights, all the while ignoring the plight of 3.5 Million Americans in Puerto Rico.

Vinyl Review: "II" by Breag Naofa

II

We are in the summer of Breag Naofa even though we are in the first days of school.

It's still a sweatbox and people were asking me today, how was your summer? Long, busy, and it's time to wish for winter.

On a day when your friend and humble narrator was transported to the snowy land of Arendelle by Idina Menzell, a crushing black metal record landed upon his doorstep...along with another that we'll talk about soon enough.

Breag Naofa...they're slightly unusual and heavy boy. They're as heavy as Mitch Hedberg thought Monster Magnet was.

They can cleanse the palette in a way that gets all of the showtunes out of my head. Though Rent is a spectacular piece of art. Sorry...must think metal...

Vinyl Review: Split LP by Cloud Rat and Disrotted

Split LP

Like many other times during the past five years and now 1,000+ articles we have posted on Glacially Musical, this is a split.

Splits are nothing new and have been around for decades Typically though these releases are EPs and not LPs.

You get one or two songs by each band, half a side, and that's it. Perhaps it's simply my personal ignorance, having had an absence from the underground metal scene, but split LPs still seem a little bit on the strange side to me.

It's funny to say that because there are now several of them in my vinyl library. (Note: I don't use the term collection, because it creates a different connotation from listening to and enjoying the music contained on the discs.)

Looking at the tracklisting after finding out this record was on its way, it's only two tracks. That made me think that we were doing another 7". My first dance with Cloud Rat featured a side of "short" tracks. You may recall the Cloud Rat/Moloch split I reviewed a couple months back.

Double Vinyl Review: "Construct" by Archivist

Construct

Would you mind if I took a moment to wax nostalgic just for a minute. It's unclear to me how many of my current readers have been with me since the beginning.

This blog started off as a testament to my commitment to new music. Once it was realized that there were ten new albums in my car from that year, it was a revelation.

When Glacially Musical started, it was ab out my personal journey into modern music. Like most people of a certain age, new music had lost its sheen. Like my generation, I had aged out of appreciating  new music, new bands.

These days, that very idea is repellent to me. Music is our life's blood. Art is the most wonderful thing we have. My courses in ancient literature taught me a great deal about music. Because about 60 years ago, Music took the place of literature in telling us about modern events.

Sorry, nostalgic mode is now off. Let's move forward and discuss the most excellent double LP from Archivist.

Vinyl Review: "Split" by Cloud Rat and Moloch

Split

Recently, the spectacular Grim Van Doom/Cult of Occult split LP came across my desk. It wasn't the first split LP to reach my ears, but it's still such a very rare concept, at least in what I'm getting into both personally and semi-professionally.

Please forgive the following stream of consciousness....

If you don't mind, I'm going to take my nerdy bifocals off now. As the hockey game is over, they're no longer necessary.

It's much better now. Sorry, this review has taken a slight turn hasn't it? Well, for this guy, music is a very personal experience.

There was a time when blogs like this, were literal weblogs. I remember when we all poured our lives into our Live Journal or My Space blogs....ah yes.

Frankly, I have no idea what I'm talking about right now. This spring has been one of upheaval in my household. This is not a complaint, but an honest expression of what is happening in my life right now. Now, there is nothing bad going on in my Chateau, but the changes are huge.

Interview: Dakhma

Dakhma

Lately, Black Metal seems to be seeping into the music that I review. For many years, I was adamant about not being a fan of Black Metal.

One thing about Black Metal today is the American scene has really changed it up. There's a large, in my opinion, influence from Doom Metal which makes the American Black Metal fresh, new, and more palatable to my tastes.

Recently we did a vinyl review on Dakhma's Suna Kulto. Now it's time to learn more about the band. They were good enough to shed some light on their darkness.

Glacially Musical: Thank you for taking some time for me today.

Dakhma: Hey! Thanks for showing interest in us!

Vinyl Review: "Suna Kulto" by Dakhma

Suna Kulto

There was a time in my life when I thought that Black Metal was all the rage and in my head there was never too much of it.

Frankly, I was completely ignorant of what Black Metal was at that point. The keyboards, the monotone vocals, and the rest of the Black Metal Identifiers (read: check boxes) were very bland to me, at least to put it nicely.

Upon that realization, Black Metal bands began getting the cold shoulder (pun intended) from me. It wasn't until my listen to every album as long as it's received on time policy went into effect that Black Metal began showing up on these pages.

By opening up my mind to new possibilities, I was shown that Black Metal, like Death Metal, comes in many shapes and sizes. Bands like Morrow and The Lumberjack Feedback really opened my eyes to Atmospheric Black Metal. Speaking of Morrow, today's vinyl review is from the same label, Halo of Flies.

LP Review: "Covenant of Teeth" by Morrow

Covenant of Teeth

There are times when things are not best left to the imagination.

In those times, we need to know what makes a hero worthy of an epic poem, series, etc.

Odysseus, Gilgamesh, and Musashi transcended history into myth and lesson. (NOTE: Ulysses was the Roman name and we are committed to only using the Greek names here.)

Epics are more than just a long story. Were that the case, Harry Potter would be an epic hero many times over and even Stuttering Bill from IT would be saddled with the title.

Of course that's just not true.

The same works for music. Ina Gadda Da Vida is over seventeen minutes long, but it cannot rightly be called an epic. There is no story and frankly the song doesn't go anywhere. Even Jimi Hendrix's, aka God Himself" Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) Live, though it typically clocks in over ten minutes long isn't an epic.