Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Jordan's Top 30 Metal (or whatever) Albums of 2011

Here we are at the end of 2011...

(The above statement is about as profound as I'm going to get right now)

This will both be my first and last post of the year in the cavernous void of Thunder Cvnt.

Since this is my first time writing for this blog, I feel like introductions are in order:

Hi! My name is Jordan! I like neat things, good music, and other stuff. I probably have better music taste than you do, and I'm super freaking humble about it. I'm slightly anti-social, and my Mom keeps telling me I might be autistic (this might also make me far more kvlt than you are). Oh! Did I mention I'm single? Cause I am (I'm really banking on this blog to net me a ton of sexy ladies). I also really like parenthetical statements (so get used to that).

That's about it. Or at least all that you need to know.

Get ready to have your mind blown by how awesome my music taste was this year. In five... four... three... two...

30. Blut Aus Nord - 777: Sect(s)/The Desanctication
View this album as proof that Liturgy should just piss the eff off. These two albums push black metal to limits of obscurity and, more impressively, do it in it a way that makes you actually want to listen to it again and again.

29. Morne - Asylum
If you can make it through the first track's 17 minute run-time you'll be hooked. Slow, massive, sludgy doom. Kind of like an Isis popsicle covered in mud and dipped in a bit of gothic ambiance (not too much, just the tip).

28. Corrupted - Garten Der Unbewusstheit
Want to ruin a bangin' party? Put this record on and watch as everyone get's really depressed, leaves your house, and never talks to you again. Do it. I dare you. This Japanese band was a big surprise for me this year. I had never heard of these doomy titans until I saw them on Chris's year-end list. Now I'm in love. This will also prove that Japan isn't just full of a bunch of short, hyperactive people yelling about giant radioactive monsters and buying used panties in vending machines.

27. Absu - Abzu
In the last couple years I've seen an influx of calling just about every band "blackened." Blackened doom. Blackened death metal. Blackened pop (not really). But, eh, it fits here. Blackened occult themed thrash. I hated their last album. Loved this one.

26. Deafheaven - Roads To Judah
Shoegaze crossed with black metal. That was really all I ever needed to hear.

25. Rotten Sound - Cursed
This band has been one of the most consistently awesome grind bands around. This album keeps that flame burning.

24. Ravencult - Morbid Blood
Greek black metal with hints of NWOBHM. Word.

23. Mournful Congregation - The Book Of Kings
I've never been a big fan of funeral doom. At all. I was bored to tears with MC's last album, The June Frost. But this year I've found a huge appreciation for the slow burning, massive riffs of all things doom, and decided to give this band another try. I am now retracting everything I ever said about them.

22. Vastum - Carnal Law
This is about as raw and primal of a death metal album as you're going to hear this year. Dirty, dirty riffs dripping out of every seeping orifice.

21. Disma - Towards The Megalith
This album will crush your soul, swallow it whole, and shit boulders on your face.

20. 40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room
You'll notice that many albums I've chosen push the acceptability of being included on a year-end "metal" list. The Inside Room has more in common with slowcore than it does traditional metal, but that doesn't mean it's not heavy as balls. The project of ex-members of Warning, 40 Watt Sun has crafted the bummer album of the winter. If Codeine is your thing (the band or the drug) then you'll probably love this slab of melancholy.

19. Krallice - Diotima
The third album by these weirdos, and also their third really awesome mind-bending album of ridiculously complex metal.

18. Wolvhammer - The Obsidian Plains
Another "blackened" band. As silly as the amount of "blackened" music that has come out, it's created some really badass music. The Obsidian Plains is cold, bleak, angular, and glorious.

17. Moab - Ab Ovo
Black Sabbath meets Queens Of The Stone Age. Trust me, this doesn't suck as much as the previous statement makes it sound. It's real rad.

16. Junius - Reports From The Threshold Of Death
Imagine Katatonia making sweet love to HUM while the dudes from Deftones watch and high five each other. If that sound like something you'd be into, then get this album.

15. Trash Talk - Awake
These dudes churn out more fun, more energy, and more catchy tunes in a 9 minute EP than most do in their entire careers. I had this on repeat for like three days straight.

14. The Atlas Moth - An Ache For The Distance
Sometimes I think that the extreme metal community is afraid of hooks. Not everything that's catchy is shit. I love the chaotic obliqueness of band like Portal but there is nothing wrong with "metal" being something that gets stuck in your head for days on end.

13. Origin - Entity
I hate most tech-death. I find it soulless, over-indulgent, and mighty boring. All those notes flying at your eardrums with no real meaning or purpose... I'll take simple and brutal over insane technicality any day (unless it's a Mick Barr project [See #15 Krallice]). But these guys... these guys get it. You can play your instruments like a cracked out mathematician AND still write actual songs. Damn good songs. Plus, the album is concise and doesn't overstay it's welcome by lasting 70 minutes.

12. Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Despise You - And On And On...
Full-disclosure: I'd probably love anything that Agoraphobic Nosebleed put out. So, yep, I think this is awesome. As an added bonus this split introduced me to Despise You--a band completely worth your time, money, and children.

11. Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
This band keeps getting more grandiose with each album, but still keeps their shit grounded. Normally I'd cringe at the prospect of a rock opera, yet Fucked Up is one of the few bands I know that can pull it off and not make me hate them. Amazing stuff.

10. YOB - Atma
I listened to YOB more than just about any band this year. It took me a long time to get turned on to these guys and now I can't get enough. YOB does this brand of doom better then just about anyone. As incredible as this album is, it has one major flaw: The production. It's sooooo thin. This needed that low end so bad. If it weren't for the unfortunate mixing choices, this album would have been ALOT higher in the list.

9. Indian - Guiltless
So dense. So heavy. So so great.

8. Prurient - Bermuda Drian/Time's Arrow
Don't be fooled by all the synths and electronic sequels cause this is metal (okay, not really... but I like calling things metal when they aren't). Prurient has more albums then you can shake a baby at, but this is the first album that I've been able to listen to all the way through. I appreciate his brand of power electronics mixed with intense vocal vomits, but I can only handle so much before my brain begins to bleed. It's painful stuff. On Bermuda Drain and the companion EP, Time's Arrow, Prurient takes the extreme nature and nihilism of the noise genre and filters it through a John Carpenter soundtrack to create something dark, magical, and creepy as hell. All while allowing you to keep your hearing.

7. Atriarch - Forever The End
Joy Division as played Satan.

6. Gridlink - Orphan
Discordance Axis forever!

5. Thou - The Archer & The Owle/To The Chaos Wizard Youth
No one makes riff sound as slime covered and suffocating as Thou. Go to their website and you can download these two amazing EPs for free. You officially have no excuse not to listen to them.

4. Trap Them - Darker Handcraft
At this point in the list it shouldn't matter what I write. Just go get these albums.

3. Bruce Lamont - Feral Songs For The Epic Decline
Saxophones are totally metal. Yes.

2. Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
Farmers in Oregon making some of the most inspired, organic, and beautiful black metal you can imagine. I've been following this band since Diadem Of 12 Stars and each release is more amazing than the last. This is their masterpiece. This is by far the best album of the year but... it's not my favorite of the year. There is a difference and that album is....






Wait for it.


Blam!


1. Subrosa - No Hope For The Mighty Ones

I will say one thing about this: The doom metal Dixie Chicks.

Yea. This was a damn good year for metal.


Sorry if this seemed rushed near the end. I'm running out of laptop power at the coffee shop. And I don't have the internet at my apartment (cause I'm kvlt).

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Black Monolith - Demo EP

 I got into crust (specifically, the d-beat style) years ago when I discovered bands like His Hero is Gone, Amebix, and Discharge, but over the years I slowly stopped listening to this style of extremity. I don't know exactly what caused me to move away from crust music, maybe I outgrew it's adolescent ramblings or stopped caring about its political call to arms, but at this point in my life I find myself wanting this genre more and more. Enter Black Monolith.

Black Monolith hail from California and play blackened crust. This is perfect for me because, as you should know by now, I am a sucker for black metal. While Black Monolith play crust clearly influenced by bm (just listen to the vocals), they mostly sound like a crust band, and their 2011 Demo EP is one of the most satisfying slices of breakneck violence to come out of the genre in a long time.

Most of the time demos offer a rough sketch of what a band is trying to sound like. They offer a glimpse into what future full-lengths will offer when the band has put all the pieces together, but on their 2011 Demo Black Monolith have shown everyone exactly what they are, and it's clear that they have no intention of changing. The three tracks that make up the demo are mean as fuck, in your face, christ-killing, blood-spitting homages to the glory of crust's past. Black Monolith are giving their demo away for free, so go grab it.

DL

Monday, December 19, 2011

Mare Infinitum - Sea of Infinity



If it isn't clear by now, while Chris' metal tastes lean more towards black metal, mine are more geared towards funeral doom. And while I fully admit that Mare Infinitum plays some cheese ball funeral doom ripe with over-the-top synth, melodramatic harmonies, and border line power metal-esque clean vocals at times -- that's also kind of the reason I like them. It's melodramatic, but I always felt metal was meant to be melodramatic and theatrical. It's the genre's principle characteristic, and Mare Infinitum ain't scared to embrace that.

On top of that, Sea of Infinity (released today on Russian label Solitude Productions btw) has a lot of other stuff going for it. A variety of instruments are used throughout the album, the vocals are brutally gruff, and there is some great lead guitar work. Even the instrumental track, November Euphoria, is a great song (although it does seem to end a bit abruptly)

Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of Colosseum, Arcana Colestia, or Auaesuve.


Mare Infinitum - In Abscence We Dwell


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Download

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Cataleptic - Strength Within



Just released last week is the debut album by Finnish doom artists Cataleptic, entitled Strength Within. The album is an all together solid recording with musical qualities that range from depressive to triumphant. It's slow enough at times to appeal to funeral doom fans, but will quickly pick up the pace to galloping riffing.

Interestingly, while most of the songs range in the 10 to 15 minute mark, their weakest song is Reckoning, which is the only song (other than the intro) to be under 10 minutes at just 5:40. Longer songs like Determination and Paradigm seem to be given more time to develop slowly, which makes them all the more satisfying at the apex of their crescendos. And when they take the time to do so, Cataleptic's ability to shift the mood so seamlessly is really where they shine, moving from despondent to epic and back again. This is a great end of the year release.


Cataleptic - "Paradigm"


Download

A two-song album that only has one good song means it is still half good.




I first heard about Kodiak when they did their split with Black Shape of Nexus in 2010. First impression was that while they had a heavy sound at times, they dinked around so much in less than inspiring drone and ambient parts, the attention of the listener was lost. Now they are back and collaborating with ambient drone artist N, who honestly I know very little about.

The opening track RN starts with about 10 minutes of quiet drone that is honestly pretty dullsville before exploding into some heavy, but ultimately less than memorable riffing by Kodiak. The second track XE is the stronger song of the two tracks on this album, and not just because it starts off with a strong coherent rhythm--there is nothing wrong with drone as long as it is done well. XE, unlike RN, develops and changes rather than just jumping back and forth between droning and doomy riffing. The melodies are layered on top each other wonderfully, and slowly evolve into these epic soundscapes.

New Blood

After a few short weeks of spewing our jaded opinions, Matt and I decided to take on a new writer. THUNDER CVNT would like to welcome Jordan to the site. I've known Jordan for years and I can attest to his good taste. His cynicism will fill your heart with rage, and point you in the direction of quality releases.

xoxo,

Beardo

Friday, December 16, 2011

Impressions: Haemoth's "In Nomine Odium"

If you looked at my Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011 list, you no doubt noticed that my tastes lean towards the blackened side of the metal word. I swear I listen to a lot of other styles, but for some reason black metal is where I gravitate. Over that last 5 or so years I have become a huge fan of underground French black metal. There's just something about that scene that really clicks with me, and this year saw great releases (Aosoth's III) from some of the Frances best.

One release that didn't hit my radar until very recently is Haemoth's In Nomine Odium. Haemoth are a two-piece consisting of Haemoth (vocals, guitars, bass) and Syht (drums) firmly rooted in the occult.  I grabbed a copy of their latest crusher over the weekend and have been steadily working my way through each putrid passage. After a full week of non-stop spinning I have concluded that In Nomine Odium fucking rules.

There are a lot of reasons why I enjoy this album, but the main thing that keeps me coming back is the perfect balance of unrelenting chaos and suffocating atmosphere. I particularly love the vocals on this release (possibly because they remind me of Corvus when he was with Horna) and I think they are the element that ties everything together. That isn't to say that the album is particularly lacking in any one area, but a different vocal style would not suit this maelstrom of satanic glory. The guitar work throughout In Nomine... is top-notch, and makes me think of Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam era Gorgoroth (which is a good thing).


There are moments on In Nomine Odium that drag on a little too long, but they are few and far between. This album is pretty much bullshit free. What you get are 45 minutes of blackened fury. I wish I had known about this one earlier in the year because I have a feeling it would have had a spot on my year-end list. If you fancy black metal this album should be a no-brainer for you, and if you don't like black metal then why the fuck did you read this far?







HAEMOTH - SON OF THE BLACK LIGHT



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Buy

Doctorshopper's "Pax Pharma" will probably kill you.


Doctorshopper are a noise/punk/black metal band from LA, who would like nothing more than to watch your ears bleed. Sharing 3 members with Lake of Blood, Doctorshopper were recently featured in Cvlt Nation's Top 6 Demo's of 2011 list, and for good reason. The band's 2011 demo, Pax Pharma, is a colossal slab of mind-fucking noise. I grabbed this demo about a month ago but totally forgot about it until I read the Cvlt Nation list. I should not have waited so long.

Doctorshopper combine the noise stylings of bands like Wolf Eyes and Prurient with the raw vocals of black metal, and top it all off with a healthy dose of punk attitude. Pax Pharma is trippy as fuck on it's own but I suggest you turn out the lights and grab some good headphones just to be safe. Doctorshopper are giving this demo away free of charge. You have no excuse.

Download

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Chim's top whatever list for 2011

I have a hard time making best of lists. There are a lot of bands that made decent albums this year, like Heartless or Mourne, but they didn't make enough of an impact on me that I will want to listen to them in 2012 and beyond. My list, instead of being a top40, is just my favorite albums from this year that will continue to get played for a long time. Of those I suppose I'll try to order them, but really the ranking is relatively arbitrary. Also included are demos and compilations that blew me away.

9. Atriarch - Forever the End

8. Subrosa - No Help For the Mighty One

7. Pilgrim - Demo 2011

6. Aldebaran - Buried Beneath Aeons EP

5. Fyrnask - Bluostar - Generally speaking I am never very fanatical about black metal, but this album is a notable exception. While rooted in black metal, there are obvious influences of doom, folk, and ritualistic music. Fyrnask is a solo project of Germany's Fyrnd, and his first full length album since his 2010 demo. If you think black metal has become pretty stale, try this album on for size

4. Aelter - Dusk-Dawn / Follow You Beloved Compilation - I feel a little guilty including this on my list since it can hardly be considered metal, nor is it really a new release. Rather it is a compilation of Aelter's first two very limited run albums, out now on Crucial Blast. Aelter is the solo project of Blake Green, and while much of the album is droning dark ambiance, there are many sprinklings of doomy influences that clearly remind you of Green's other band Wolvserpent. It's ethereal music that I want to walk into the sunset to. Aelter does in fact have a third album out this year, but it is again very limited release and I haven't been able to track it down quite yet, so this will have to tide me over until then.

3. Lycus - Demo 2011 - dark and evil funeral doom that reminds me of Asunder. I'm eager to hear a full length from these guys.

2. Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All - While once a techy-death metal band, after a line up change up Ulcerate seems to be going in a new direction. The Destroyers of All focuses more on atmospherics, which would normally be easy to write off as being another sludgey neuroisis snooze fest, but the amazing drumming of Jamie Merat keeps this feeling rooted firmly in the realm of death metal. Just please don't start calling it fucking "post death metal".

1. Bell Witch - Demo 2011 - You can read my little blurb about Bell Witch's demo below, but needless to say this release was amazing. Unfortunately Bell Witch's bass player is back in the studio right now working on a new Samothrace album, and will subsequently be touring to promote that. Who knows when we'll actually see an album from these two.

Beardo's Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011


Every December I hear people say the same things regarding the releases that came out over the preceding 11 months; "This was a shitty year for metal *cry cry cry*" Well fuck you. Every year is a good year for metal if you know where to look. To all the haters who are more content bitching about the fact that the new Wintersun album still hasn't dropped, shut your goddamn maws! 2011 was a great year for metal, and the following list proves it.

40. Mitochondrion – Parasignosis

39. Agoraphobic Nosebleed/Despise You – And on, and on… Split 12”

38. Primordial – Redemption at the Puritan’s Hand

37. Ulcerate – The Destroyers of All

36. Blut Aus Nord – 777 Sect(s)/The Desanctification

35. Drainland - …And So Our Troubles

34. Ravencult – Morbid Blood

33. Morne – Asylum

32. Trap Them – Darker Handcraft

31. Seidr – For Winter Fire

30. Wolvhammer – The Obsidian Plains

29. Today is the Day – Pain is a Warning

28. Fyrnask – Bluostar

27. Antediluvian – Through the Cervix of Hawwah

26. Thou – The Archer and the Owle

25. Batillus - Furnace

24. Heartless – Hell is Other People

23. All Pigs Must Die – God is War

22. Negative Plane – Stained Glass Revelations

21. Circle of Ouroborus  - Eleven Fingers

20. SubRosa – No Help For The Mighty Ones

19. Trash Talk – Awake

18. Hammers of Misfortune – 17th Street

17. Atriarch – Forever the End

16. Corrupted - Garten der Ubewussthelt

15. Mournful Congregation – The Book of Kings

14. Lycus – Demo 2011

13. Bell Witch – Demo 2011

12. Wreck of the Hesperus – Light Rotting Out

11. Aosoth - III


10. Disma – Towards the Megalith - Disma dropped a modern death metal classic on our asses this year. Towards the Megalith is a cavernous slice of primal death that makes all of your Black Dahlia Murder albums sound like the soundtrack to Love Actually. 


9. YOB – Atma - The masters of doom delivered the goods in 2011. A strong follow-up to 2009's monolithic The Great Cessation, Atma sees YOB channeling Hawkwind a little more than usual and to great effect.


8. Blasphemophagher – The Ill Command of the Absolute Chaos - Pummeling black death from my favorite Nuclear War Now! band. Words don't do this level of chaos justice. 


7. False – False - 2 twelve minute tracks? Fuck yeah. False accomplished more in two tracks than most black metal bands (Liturgy) could accomplish writing a dissertation. 


6. Indian – Guiltless - Crusty, doomy, noisy, and oh so satisfying. Indian put all the pieces together to form the perfect representation of their sound. Guiltless is a crusher from start to finish. 


5. Ash Borer – Ash Borer - Cascadian black metal done right. Hollow, dark, and beautiful. Ash Borer deserved way more attention than they got in 2011.


4. Barghest – Barghest - Containing members of Thou, Barghest play second wave inspired black metal. The debut album from this NOLA collective is addictive as fuck.


3. Gridlink - Orphan - John Chang rules. Gridlink rules. Grindcore rules. Orphan rules. 


2. Bosse de Nage - II - Post black metal that doesn't play by the rules. Bosse de Nage destroyed the confines of their genre and created something completely new. II is a force to be reckoned with.


1. Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage - WITTR finally delivered their masterpiece. Celestial Lineage is the culmination of everything WITTR have ever done right. This album is truly transcendental, and deserves your undivided attention.



So there you have it, a great year for metal as illustrated by my spot on list.  


Thursday, December 8, 2011

Top 5 Metal Disappointments of 2011, by chris

5. Not getting a copy of the Satanic Warmaster/Akitsa split 7"

Being a huge Satanic Warmaster fan, I was super stoked when I heard that a new 7" split with Akitsa was dropping this year. However, I'm broke like a motherfucker and had to sleep on this release. I grabbed a copy online (yes, for free), and it's as good as I'd hoped, but the vinyl nerd inside of me is still disappointed. I suppose I could always look on eBay, but that seems a lot more time consuming than bitching on the internet.

4. Skeletonwitch writing the same record for the third time and still getting hot loads of critical acclaim.

Is it just me, or is Skeletonwitch kind of boring? I get it. You guys play blackened thrash. So fucking what? I've always been lukewarm on this band, but I always give their albums a few spins to see if they are actually progressing. You know what? They're not. Forever Abomination sounds like the last two albums (Breathing the Fire and Beyond the Permafrost), but for some fucking reason metal critics have a massive boner for it. This shit is waaaaaaaay over-hyped. I feel like that guy who saw that demon on the wing of that plane, but no one will believe me.

3. Decibel Magazine's Top 40 Albums of 2011

I read Decibel almost every month, and every December I am dumbstruck by the albums they choose for their Top 40. This year's list was particularly terrible. Opeth at #2? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?! That album was boooooooorrrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnnnggggggggg. While their list did contain some of my favorite albums of 2011 (which you will find out about in due time), their top 5 really missed the mark. Also, the new Wolves in the Throne Room album didn't even make the list but, to be fair, Decibel has been ignoring seemingly every Southern Lord release for years. Idiots.



2. Lantlos - Agape

I'm a big fan of the first two Lantlos albums and I had hoped that Agape would be the masterpiece I know these guys are capable of, but sadly that is not the case. While I don't hate the new material, I also don't think it takes any positive steps forward. The whole album suffers from weird pacing and too much ambient filler. I wanted to love this album, but I just can't. Not terrible, but very disappointing.

1. Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore

I loved Leviathan's last proper full length, Massive Conspiracy Against All Life, and had high expectations for True Traitor, True Whore. Unfortunately this album is too experimental for its own good. It's disjointed, unfocused, and unimaginative. After reading Brandon Stosuy's interview with Wrest I was even more turned off to this album. Wrest presented himself as a monosyllabic neanderthal and failed to answer even the simplest of questions. I'm not going to make a rape joke like Matt did in his Top 5 Disappointments post (you can call me the bigger man). A colossal disappointment.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Bell Witch 2011 Demo


Bell Witch's demo is a personal favorite for me this year in releases. The bulk of the demo is the two songs I Know and Mayknow, but that is 30 minutes of raw heavy doom that moves so slow you would think you were stuck in a tar pit. While just drums and bass, Bell Witch uses some tactful bass harmonies and occasional Gregorian-esqe chanting to keep things dynamic for these long songs.

Bell Witch - Mayknow



Top 5 Metal Disappointments of 2011, by chim

5) Earth's Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I

I was fairly fanatical about Earth's 2008 album The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull when I first heard it and was pretty damn excited about Angels of Darkness when I first heard it was going to come out in early 2011. While Angels of Darkness wasn't bad by any means, Earth not only didn't seem to tread any new ground with it, but kind of seemed to have stagnated. Thisdoesn't bode well for the sequel to the album Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II that is supposed to come out early 2012.

4) Someone Stealing the 2011 Lycus demo from my doorstep

Lycus is an Oakland funeral doom band that released their first demo in 2011, hands down one of my favorite releases of 2011. Its less refined sounding than, say, Arcana Coelestia or Skepticism, and more like something between Asunder and older Profetus. It's dark and dirty and fucking great, and some fucking asshole that probably doesn't even like metal snatched it from my mailbox and I can't get another because they only made 100 or so.


3) Dark Castle - Surrender to All Life Beyond Form

Ok, you bought some new guitar pedals. That doesn't mean its a good thing to bombbard me with obnoxious tremelo or wah sounds, or whatever the hell you are using. Spirited Migration was such an amazing album, and your 2011 follow-up has some good moments, but I can't get past the massively distracting guitar effects that add nothing to the music. Honestly it would be a pretty decent album if she just turned off all of pedals.

2) Leviathan - True Traitor, True Whore

Not only a major disappointment, but also ranks high in the over-hyped albums of the year. Sterile hot topic calibre black metal with disjointed vocals from someone who has made a lot of solid black metal in the past. I guess he was too busy raping his girlfriend (omg allegedly) to focus on his music.



1) Loss - Despond

When Loss released the track An Ill Body Seats My Sinking Sight before their album dropped I was super stoked on it. There isn't nearly enough good American funeral doom and judging from this track, Despond was shaping up to be a pretty solid album. And then 2 months later the album came out and it was a boring pile of crap. I liken this episode to like when the trailer is better than the movie. Don't blow your load with the preview!

Lastly, runner up in disappointments for 2011 goes to black metal in general. What the fuck is your problem?

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Impressions: LantlĂ´s' Agape

Lantlos exist as the exception to the current wave of post black metal spewing forth from the underground. Consisting of Neige (Alcest, Forgotten Woods, Peste Noire) and Herbst (Epitaph, Impavida), Lantlos exists as a post black metal band that doesn't necessarily need the genre tag. They have always forged their own path within the world of black metal, and have done their best not to repeat themselves. Recently the duo released their new album Agape, via Lupus Lounge.

Being a fan of the last two Lantlos albums gave me some pretty high expectations for Agape and while I think this album fits into the band's discography thematically and sonically, I don't consider this their best output. Let me break it down like this; the last two Lantlos albums (Lantlos and .Neon) were black metal at its most expansive, vast, and fragile. Neige and Herbst injected so much tortured beauty into those two albums, and after listening to Agape four or fives times it seems as though they might have run out of gas.

This is not to say that Agape is a waste of time, not in the slightest. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Agape sounds a little confused. There are moments of genius peppered throughout Agape, but they are short glimpses at what the album could have been, and ultimately they left me feeling a little short changed. The biggest problem with this new material is its pacing; the whole record suffers from an odd pacing that interrupts the flow of  its tracks. This is also a pretty short album, running only 35 minutes (pretty short for a bm album), that is largely ambient.

Overall I would only suggest grabbing a copy of Agape if you understand what you are going to get. This is not the best bm album of 2011, but it is far from the worst. Worthy of your time? Yes. Worthy of your money? Probably not.



Lantlos - Bliss