Elitist – “Fear In A Handful Of Dust” (2011)

Elitist, Fear In A Handful Of Dust (2011)

Only black and white is real

My review of the debut album by Portland, Oregon’s Elitist is up now at MetalReview.  Fear in a Handful of Dust is a leering, toothless grin of an album, sure to frighten your neighbors and give you a headache in all the right ways.  The album is out now on Season Of Mist, which, we are pleased to report, seems to be doing an admirable job of overcompensating for a certain recent, uh, morbid debacle.

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Morbid Angel – “Illud Divinum Insanus” (2011)

Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus (2011)

Inexplicable horrors lurk within, and not in a good way

Morbid Angel’s first album in eight years, and first with vocalist David Vincent in fifteen years, is bound to be the year’s most over-analyzed album.  Once all the dust has settled, I’m fairly confident the shitstorm over the atrociously-named Illud Divinum Insanus will eclipse even the furor over Liturgy’s Aesthetica.  I square off with my brother in metal Jim Brandon over at MetalReview to level a dual onslaught at this bafflingly bad album.  Even if you had written off Morbid Angel after Heretic, or if you left the fold following Vincent’s original departure after 1995’s Domination, there’s almost nothing to prepare you for this singularly misguided attempt at musical diversity.  Head on over to MetalReview to check it out, and please join in the shit-flinging.  Also, be sure to be on watch for the first inevitable, “Oh, man, this universally reviled album is actually totally fucking awesome” review.  Hard to say from whence it will come, but friends, trust me, it will come.  Just not from me.

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Septicflesh – “The Great Mass” (2011)

Septicflesh, The Great Mass (2011)

Gorgeous dark classicism

My review of the new album from Greek symphonic death metal sophisticates Septicflesh is up now over at MetalReview.  I have tried to justify my somewhat ambiguous critical stance toward the album with a whole lot of words.  Early responders to the review are having none of it, so check it out and make up your own damn mind.  The Great Mass is out now on Season Of Mist.

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Endstille – “Infektion 1813” (2011)

Endstille, Infektion 1813 (2011)

1813, 1913, whatever

German black metal blasters Endstille are back with their seventh album in a shade under a decade.  Infektion 1813 is out shortly on Season Of Mist, and my review of said infection is up now over at MetalReview.  A spurious linguistic joke is made regarding Hitler and the musical Grease.  Apologies are owed all around.

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New Aborym Artwork Is Psychotically Grotesque/Grotesquely Psychotic/Fucking Awful

Season Of Mist has released the cover artwork for Aborym’s upcoming album, Psychogrotesque, and it’s almost like they are begging for the obvious puns, because the artwork is, well, rather grotesque:

An Off-Broadway Production of "The Amityville Horror VII: In Which Shit Gets Real"

Ugh.  Seriously, that’s some nasty business right there.  Looks to me like it should be (dis)gracing an album by a third- or fourth-rate gothic “metal” band, circa 1999.

Despite this abominable image, I’m still quite excited to hear the music, and can only hope the band continues to refine its dense brand of black/industrial mayhem.  2006’s Generator thankfully reined in some of the more egregiously club/EBM-leaning excesses of 2003’s With No Human Intervention, so let’s hope they keep up that positive streak.  Psychogrotesque is out in November on Season Of Mist, and features among its many guests Davide Tiso, the dude behind fellow Italian wacko-metallers Ephel Duath (whose most recent, Through My Dog’s Eyes, was, frankly, shit), and Karyn Crisis, she of (obviously) Crisis fame.

If you feel like having your eyes assaulted again with that image, visit the band’s MySpace page for more information on the upcoming album.  According to the band, apparently the album is a “realistic story about the horrific human aridity and its fragile impotence.”  Far be it from me to bust some Italian dude’s for some suspect English, but that description makes it sound like the album revolves around people being terrifyingly dry and simultaneously flaccid.

Which, who knows, is maybe your thing.

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Drop What You’re Doing and Listen to a Righteous New Kylesa Tune

Everyone’s favorite psychedelic sludgesters, Kylesa, have just posted a new song from their upcoming album Spiral Shadow on their MySpace page.  It’s a tune called “Tired Climb,” and it is the lead-off track from the new album.

Rather than stomping in out of nowhere and shit-kicking from beat one, this tune has a nice, slow, melodic build before the double drum attack thrusts us in to the sludged-up hardcore bellowing of Phillip Cope.  It’s a crackling tune, including some of the cleanest textures we’ve heard from Kylesa yet, as well as some pleasingly psychedelic guitar washes.

(Note: This is MySpace we’re talking about, so the sound quality is somewhat akin to having one’s ears dry-humped by a walrus covered in aluminum foil.  Still, you get the general idea.)

Last year’s Static Tensions was one of my absolute favorite records of 2009, so I’m quite excited for this new one, which drops October 26th on Season Of Mist.  Get in on the action before the action gets in on you (…?).

Also be sure to check out the dates for the band’s North American tour with High On Fire and Torche which kicks off September 29th in San Francisco.  Should be a scorcher of a tour.

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Help An Awesome Band Deliver Awesome Music To Your Ears

Totally twisted and wonderful avant-garde metal/dark rock

Norwegian weirdo rockers Virus released one of 2008’s best albums with The Black Flux, so you can imagine my surprise (and delight) when they put out an announcement late last week that they have already recorded (and are soon to begin mixing) a follow-up, which is to be called The Agent That Shapes The Desert:

You know you want to hear this

The thing is, Virus are no longer with Season Of Mist, and are thus looking to get this bad boy released on their own label.  To help finance the costs of studio time and promotion, the band is offering a number of different pre-order packages, including a regular CD, regular LP, t-shirt, and a limited-to-250-pieces package including the album on both CD and hand-numbered signed LP, plus t-shirt and an exclusive 7″ EP.

So, if you or anyone you know is into this enchantingly dark and bizarre music from some of the folks who brought you Ved Buens Ende and Dødheimsgard, don’t miss the opportunity to play financier.  I’m sure you, your cousin, your grandmother, and your grandmother’s dog all have a sense that the record industry is fucked and getting fucked-er, so if you like what these folks are up to, why not see what we can do to push forward with alternate business models?

See full details on how to reserve your pre-order packages, along with the full statement from Virus dudes Czral and Einz here at Duplicate Records (make sure to scroll down a bit on the page, as it’s just black background at the top).

And while you’re waiting, check out this video clip for the song “Lost Peacocks” from 2008’s The Black Flux:

Tasty, no?

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