LP Review: "Iltheist" by Iltheist

Iltheist

This has been a long time coming for me. Exceedingly long time readers and twitter followers my remember my promulgations of praise for the English Blackened Death Metal band, Aetherium Mors.

It's been five years now and finally they have come out of hibernation. The only thing is that they've changed up their name to Iltheist.

OK. That's fine by me. It's just great that we've got some new music to consider and today's a great day for death metal.

Things have changed in the previous five years. Their previous releases sounded heavily influenced by Carcass, which is great, but they've moved away from the classic English Death Metal sound.

Though they have always had black metal leanings, this one more of a deathened black metal album. If that's not a thing, let's make it one! With both their name and style changing, it's more difficult to find the threads of the influences and that's a great statement to make about a band.

They were able to keep everything I loved about Aetherium Mors and add in new things I didn't know they needed. Ilthiest is not only a worthy successor to their previous work, but it surpasses everything they have released up till now.

RELEASE 6/21/19 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

Pizza Pie Do or Die with The Wolf Howls When I Scream Your Name

The Wolf Howls When I Scream Your Name

Welcome to Glacially Musical's latest feature: Pizza Pie Do or Die. That's how we announce that we're eating pizza in my house for some reason. 

I created it and we all say it. My family can fall in line when it doesn't really matter I suppose. In the grand scheme of things that do or don't matter though let's talk about pizza.

The food item now known as pizza is probably the most important Italian export since meatballs. In fact, because pizza can transport meatballs down our collective gullets, it's even more important than that.

Yes. I can say without fear of contradiction that Pizza is the second most important export from all of Europe.

Black Sabbath is number one...and speaking of metal bands from Jolly ol'England, let's have a laugh with The Wolf Howls When I Scream Your  Name.

They've got an tight little EP coming out in April. Be sure to be friends on FACEBOOK and BANDCAMP. 

EP Review: "Crucifixion of Hope" by Vulturic Eye

The Crucifixion of Hope

There was time back in my early youth, when heavy metal was still an anomaly. When its definition was still amorphous. 

For years, the two strongest metal bands were Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. These two founding fathers created much of what was to come later.

Metal bands took a side. Either the twin gun attack of Priest or the progressive psychedelia of Sabbath and never the twain shall meet. (Unless you're Iron Maiden and you took the twin gun of the former and the progressiveness of the latter and added in Bruce Dickinson.)

What if you could have a progressive and psychedelic version of Judas Priest? Take those visceral metal riffs and give it a liberal dusting of blues? Could Rob Halford sing Sabbath? (Don't answer that.)

Vulturic Eye has taken these two originators, these revolutionaries, and put them together in a way that Priest is toe tapping or that Sabbath sounds like a chainsaw.

They only saw fit to bless us with a single side of music on this EP. It's time for them to give us a proper album. Explore the space and crush our faces.

Release 11/5/18 BANDCAMP FACEBOOK

Hometown Tales With Bast

Bast

In case you're looking from blackened doom metal, you could do far worse than Bast. The Kingston, Ontario trio is on the cusp of their next release, Nanoångström, via Black Bow Records.

You can check that out HERE.

In the meantime, I'd like to get to know more about Merry Old England. So that means they use a lot of superfluous U's.

1. St. Louis City is my hometown. I've lived here for most of my life in and around the city. Where are you from?

Me (Jon) and Craig are initially from Worcestershire, where we lived until we were 18 or 19, then moved down to Kingston in South West London.

We were studying at the time, and met Gavin in a pub here, after noticing he was wearing a Neurosis tshirt. We called him ‘Neurosis Guy’ between ourselves for a while, before we were properly acquainted.

Gav is originally from South West London, but spent some years living in New Jersey before we met him.

Split LP Review: "Totems" by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard and Slomatics

Totems

The world right now doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Perhaps you've been seeing what's happening in the United States?

Our President is a gameshow host. Literally.

It's time to take back some normalcy in our world. How can we do that?

My only option is to continue to tell you about sweet music that will rattle your bones and send shivers up and down your spine.

If we as human beings continue to seek out the normal and (just for a time) eschew the absurd, perhaps we can see what's ever so wrong in our world and begin to set things right.

Now, let's be clear, we're not going to set things right like Anakin Skywalker (a.k.a. at that time Darth Vader) did after telling his wife that everything's going to be fine. A thought occurs as I'm writing this, my intro to this album is slightly absurd.

EP Review: "Kathmandu" by Goya

Kathmandu

Precisely what do you have to say?

In my day job, that's the biggest part of what we do. We have to listen to what is said, or more precisely we have to hear what it is not said.

There are several different methods of communication. Non-verbal communication is quite a big one.

Think about yourself... imagine you've been dropped off in a Western nation, we're presuming most readers of this blog are westerners, but it's one where they don't speak your mother tongue.

What would you do? Could you order the cold frosty beer you've been hankering for? Would the locals look upon you while having absolutely no idea what you're saying?

EP Review: "Archaic Malevolence" by Infected Dead

Archaic Malevolence

How's your day going?

Is there any chance there's been some news of developments that your friends are in big, big trouble?

What about someone who worked for you going to prison over the way he conducted himself?

There are times in this world when it feels like everything is against us. How many times did Jay Fatbuds scream that very thing in the View Askew movies?

Now, here's some good news!

Whens things come crashing down on you, there's always somewhere you can turn. Music will be your only friend until the end....even if you go to federal prison.

LP Review: "The Room of Shadows" by Pagan Altar

The Room of Shadows

Everybody loves a story.

Longtime readers may recall my attempts to cast myself as a failed musician, but that's akin to Philip J. Fry being a college dropout....very little effort on my part.

Among the band, which played all originals, had very different ideas about how long it should take to write a song. Free Bird was often cited as the gold standard of how long it could take to make a song.

It took Lynyrd Skynyrd a period of years to finish that tune. So, when my complaining that we'd been working on a song for a couple weeks happened...Freebird would be bandied about.

What is the appropriate time to incubate a song? Or an entire album for that matter? Is it of any consequence to the music if the the entire world has changed in the interim?

Stream: "Misery Porn" by Pool Art

Let's check out a new track from Pool Art. They're an indie duo based out of Manchester, England.

We're going to presume they're fans of City and not United, because I hate United more than City.

They've reached deep into the darkness of the human psyche to bring you this song about humanity's love of schadenfreude.

Tell them you love watching people fail on Facebook. They're new EP drops soon.

LP Review: "Arcanum" by Space Witch

Arcanum

The year was circa 1984 and my cousins and I were fighting off our yawns.

It was a very late night for us, but it was Saturday night and what was certain to become our absolute favorite show was coming on at about 12:00am.

To this day, my best recollection of that night was seeing this giant wave of black. It looked like a wrinkly clam shell. It was...well I remember it existing.

The next morning, we discussed this show. My cousins remembered it vividly and told me how great it was, but my memory banks only held a vision of that strange clam shell.

Suffice it to say, the wait, the pushing, and the exhaustion were not worth it to me that evening. So badly did I desire to be a Dr. Who fan. Later I did see full episodes and they did not impress me much.

LP Review: "These Paths We Tread" by Morass of Molasses

These Paths We Tread

What's better than an adventure?

The obvious answer is nothing. There is nothing better than an adventure because, no one knows what's going to happen.

It's sort of like when Peter Griffin chose the mystery box over the boat, because the mystery could be anything, like a boat!

At least two full years of my life have been wasted on digital adventure games from my lowly Atari 2600 to my WiiU.

We are always seeking out the unexpected. Let's reflect on that for just a moment. Humanity seeks to experience the unknown. A surprise is something homo sapiens yearn for. That's part of why this enterprise exists, to go on a musical adventure every single day I'm above the ground.

EP Review: "Spellcaster EP" by Witchapter

Spellcaster EP

A long time ago, I wasn't cool and had very few friends.

That was pretty much how it was for me every semester in school. Until Fourth Grade, never did I attend the same school for two consecutive years and just for a semester was pretty common.

All of that upheaval though created something in me that has served me well lo these great many years.

It's really uncertain when your friend and humble narrator grew into his own skin. Until that point, putting on airs, finding ways to fit in, and doing so were rather important to me. Yes, my friends, it was once of great importance to fit in, to make friends, and to be something other than I was.

Because, when you're constantly the new kid in school, you just want to have at least one friend out there....

LP Review: "Mors Secunda" by Terra

Mors Secunda

The United States, the country of my birth and residence, is at the same time full of wide open spaces and populations stacks where people are literally on top of each other.

In my state, Missouri, there are just over six million of us, but in the St. Louis Metro area alone, there are nearly three million of us.

That leaves some pretty large swaths of land where there is no one. Recently, we went to a wedding in out state Missouri and on our way there, we stared at a goodly amount of nothing.

Essentially, there are two wholly opposite things existing in the same space. In parts of Missouri, like the rest of the United States, we have people on top of people on top of people and in others, there is nothing. So vast, so empty, and so normal.

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.

Double LP Review: "Beyond The Veil" by Dark Forest

Beyond The Veil

This year, there has been much travelling in my life. Chicago, Joliet, Buffalo, San Francisco, Honolulu, Birmingham, and more I'm sure.

What all of this consistently reminds me of is how small I am in comparison to the rest of the world.

Not even the world, but just the United States of America.

When people emigrate here, they're typically astounded by the size. The great expanse of our country is something to truly behold.

But take that one step further.

In terms of geographic size, we are a small part of the planet earth and we only have five percent of the world's population. There is a giant universe that we have not even scratched. The immensity of creation can be something terrifying if looked at in the wrong context.

Album Review: "Black Swan Annihilation" by Monsterworks

Black Swan Annihilation

Not too long ago, perhaps no more than four or five days, Monsterworks popped into my head.

These fellas are an interesting band that never really stops working, but it's been awhile since we've heard anything from them.

Their modus operandi is to release two albums of protein smoothie metal each year without fail, but after last year's The Existential Codex no one has heard anything from our Londoner friends.

Blessed be this day however!

The unthinkable has not happened. Monsterworks is still a band and they don't appear to have lost their progressive metal touch, but before anyone gets too excited, this one is a bit different.

Album Review: "Crippling Lack Vol. 3" by David Thomas Broughton

Crippling Lack

It's time to visit the third volume of David Thomas Broughton's magnum opus, Crippling Lack.

How many times have we heard an album and then years later several tracks that didn't make the cut were released later.

Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin was the result of adding the leftover tracks from the Houses of the Holy sessions to the new recording sessions which gave us their stellar double album.

Of course, years later after John Bonham died, there was a full album's worth of tunes that was released as Coda.

Then consider god himself, Jimi Hendrix.

It's been 45 years since his untimely death and we are still getting concerts, albums, and unfinished tracks. Well, the antidote for this is to release the entire album I suppose. Honestly, when is the last time you heard of a triple album?

Album Review: "Crippling Lack Vol. 2" by David Thomas Broughton

Crippling Lack Vol 2

NOTE: Due to this triple album being release in three parts, on three labels, on three continents, each volume is being reviewed as a separate entity.

It was a very rainy day in St. Louis and I was driving home from the real world and back into my own world.

In reality, I'm as much of a writer as many of my good friends are musicians, we do it because of the love of it and not because we're being paid oodles of money. Incidentally, I make more money playing music than writing...which is really wrong.

But during that overlong rush hour commute from the outer suburbs back to my urban home, I looked around at what surrounded me.

Far from being the only driver on the highways that day, my car was the coffin that Patrick Swayze's Bodhi talked about in Point Break. My whole self at that moment was simply focused on getting home and fighting the traffic. How is that living? Thankfully....

Album Review: "Bless The Earth With Fire" by Allfather

Bless the Earth With Fire

Guitar players in this day and age are buying instruments with fake aging. Many of them are even fake aging, or relicing, the instruments themselves.

This is done because everybody knows that a guitar that's been through hell and back is a world class instrument both in feel and sound.

Why else would Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughn, or Ace Frehley play a guitar that's missing half its original paint job or more?

The same is true fos us civilians and our day to day items. For your regular joes, like myself, a t-shirt, a pair of Levis, or the Chuck Taylor All Stars that I just can't seem to throw out are the same as Steve Ray's #1, Gallagher's Fender Strat, and Frehley's Budokan Les Paul. It's something in our lives that we use everyday.

Album Review: "Forced Back To Life" by Live Burial

Forced Back To LIfe

The most metal thing about me is the my appreciation of the routine.

Most aspects in my life are strictly based on routine. The unexpected is often looked at with disdain. Plans changing is something that can cause some strange trauma, especially if it's a big change.

That's what's nice about genres of music.

There are rules. There are boxes to check. Time tested conventions are used. Even considering all of this, surprises are nice.

When someone reaches outside of the well worn cliches, it's lauded, well as long as it works of course. This is a time in my life when surprises are more than welcome, they are old friends.