LP Review: "Crimson" by The Wandering Ascetic

Crimson

It's been awhile since I've checked out anything from Singapore, but our friends from Rudra are back.

Well, to be more precise, a couple of them are back. The Wandering Ascetic is a side project from half of the band.

The major difference between the two projects comes down to simple branding. Rudra is Vedic Black Metal, or as I read it Indian Pagan Metal.

The Wandering Ascetic is a neoteric take on semi-traditional black metal. Makes sense right?

This album is an absolute engineering gem. This record is the way metal should sound when it's hitting your speakers.

Because it sounds that great, it's even more immersing. The drums and bass are both clearly audible. The guitars aren't a massive blur of gain. Too many great albums have been recorded so poorly rendering them pointless.

Oh, the music? Yes, yes. Crimson is a straight ahead rock record that's been seriously metalized. The vocals are pure black metal. The guitars are riff  heavy rock. No listener will be wanting for blast beats here.

When all of the elements are added up, The Wandering Ascetic becomes something that's new to my ears. This is the reason everybody needs to at least give this album a try.

RELEASE 2/12/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

EP Review: "Unstructured Dissemination" by Onset

Unstructured Dissemination

The hardest kind of music to write about is atmospheric doo..well anything. Atmospheric Anything.

Singapore's Onset makes nothing easier for me. If anything, they make it much harder. Atmospheric Doom Metal, like this, is a personal favorite.

So, when writing it up, it's all about finding the thread. The first track, or side one, sounds like someone (perhaps myself) standing up in front of the class to give a speech on a topic they know well, but without any notes. (Perhaps like the speech I gave on Phoebus Apollo in 8th Grade.)

The difference, Onset does much better than I did. 

Track two...it's the protest. Someone (like me maybe) is now protesting that there was nothing extemporaneous about the speech, it was certainly put together ahead of time, but as it was committed to memory, perhaps it didn't flow as well as it could have.

Just listen to me...that's all they're asking.

Onset's Unstructured Dissemination isn't the longest album you'll read about today, but it's just the right length. It's wide open and the expanses are filled by your imagination. Check it out.

RELEASE 11/28/18 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

Video: "Iron Coffin" by Dante's Theory

Remember when Informer got a video with the lyrics at the bottom? No? Well I'm old and I do recall it.

Death Metal...all the videos should be like that. Let's check some death metal from Singapore, Dante's Theory.

Punch them on Facebook and support their music on Bandcamp.

LP Review: "Enemy of Duality" by Rudra

Enemy of Duality

In many of my interviews with the metal set, it's always fun to ask them about about which of the many metal sub-genres they would put themselves.

It seems like over and over again, albums show up to me with genre tags that are completely alien to me.

Today, we're enjoying some Vedic Metal.

The Vedic Period.... was apparently a very big deal in Hinduism.

The Vedic Era began over 3500 years ago in 1500 BCE when cultural mores, traditions, customs, etc all began to take shape in Northern India.

For more, and hopefully better information, click on the link I stuck in there. As for what is Vedic Metal well that's a slightly more difficult question isn't it?

The easiest way to consider it would be an Indian version of Pagan Metal.