Doctorshopper - Degenerate Utopia

I know I posted about Doctorshopper's 2011 demo a few weeks ago, but they just dropped a new album and are giving that shit away for free so you can either cry about repeat posts or you can shut up and grab some quality noise for the low low cost of $free.99.

If you don't know shit about Doctorshopper you should probably use those nimble fingers of yours to scroll back a few pages and read my impression of their 2011 demo Pax Pharma. Get it done? Good. Now all the shit I'm about to reference will make total sense. If you recall, I am a big fan of what Doctorshopper did on Pax Pharma; their brand of punishing blackened noise was a welcome change from all of the doom/trad black metal I listened to last year. This is why I was a little shocked by the band's recent full-length Degenerate Utopia. 

 Degenerate Utopia shows a huge progression in Doctorshopper's sound. While their demo showed a lot of potential, the new album delivers the goods. This thing is a blackened slab of crusty doom that I am quickly falling in love with. Seriously, Degenerate Utopia is fucking killer. I think Matt might even like it, and we all know that he hates just about everything. Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of this beast (for freesies), even if you hated Doctorshopper's demo, you might be surprised.

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.

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

Gnaw Their Tongues

Mories, the misanthropic Dutch pervert, has a new Gnaw Their Tongues release this year on Crucial Blast, titled Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus (with blood and whip, we worship the dark). GtT is obviously rooted in black metal, but is more avant-garde noise, generally chaotic and arhythmic. But Mories isn't just some chubby kid living in his mom's basement pushing random buttons on ableton or reason. His music is very listenable, albeit hauntingly eerie, but certainly cerebral and provoking.

Sputnik music's review sums it up great: "Despite his probable psychosis issues, Mories lives and crafts in a realm of music where 'crust' is a category and 'filth' is a positive aspect, and within it he still reigns supreme on a throne of virgin bones covered in butchered Christians and semen."

Gnaw Their Tongues - "The Storming Heavens As A Father To All Broken Bodies"

download

buy @ crucialblast