Neckbeard Deathcamp - So Much For The Tolerant Left (2019)

Artist: Neckbeard Deathcamp

Album: So Much For The Tolerant Left

Genre: Harsh Noise/War Metal

Country: 

Label: Prosthetic Records

Preview Track:

With So Much For The Tolerant Left, Neckbeard Deathcamp return with a second full length helping of what they do best; piss off Nazis and play some loud, proud, and unapologetic black metal. Surprisingly, deep analysis of their music does little good for anyone. By their own admission via the description on their bandcamp page, the album was "RECORDED WITH THE SAME CONTEMPT FOR CLEAN PRODUCTION AND MUSIC THEORY" as their previous record. Yes, it really was in all caps. That's just kind of their thing. 

What can be said of the actual music is short and sweet. Neckbeard Deathcamp play a vicious, frenzied variant of war metal pissed on by harsh noise and guitar feedback. Aside from "HORSESHOE THEORY" which is a ten minute exercise in droning noise, every song here is a 3-4 minute banger or an interlude with some dumbass quote from an alt-right dude. The songs are graced with satirical takes on the alt-right for titles, such as "POZERFAUST DIVISION" or "CONSERVATIVE CRYBULLYING". That's all that really needs said. They make it clear which side of the fence they're on and people that don't like it tend to fall on the other side. The message is clear; make no apologies and have no mercy.

T O L E R A N C E

With The End In Mind - Unraveling; Arising (2016)

Artist: With The End In Mind
Album: Unraveling; Arising

Genre: Atmospheric/Cascadian Black Metal 

Country: United States

Label: U N S I G N E D 

Preview Track: 

The season for Cascadian black metal has come and gone. It feels like only yesterday the movement was still green -from 2009 to 2012, you couldn't escape Cascadia's looming shadow - but in recent years, its popularity has silently withered away. It's certainly not for lack of quality material; last year Alda released Passage, their finest fusion of folk and black metal yet, while on …And the Lamps Expire Addaura further harvested the forestral landscape they cultivated on prior albums. As with most things in this age of the internet though, the focus of black metal fans has simply shifted elsewhere. However, in 2010, when With the End in Mind formed, a seed was planted, first sprouting with their 2013 effort Thresholder, and finally coming to bloom with this year's Unraveling: Arising. There may be hope for Cascadia yet. 

Unraveling: Arising is the catharsis of sole member Alexander Roland Freilich. It carries the vibe of an album forged through trial. It's summed up perfectly in opening track "Sing The Sky", where Freilich desperately caterwauls "O’ to be scoured clean/Sings the Sky in falling stars/Roaring, whipping, saying: “Cast off those tattered rags, and emerge anew”. Musically, the song reflects that rebirth. It starts out cold and emotionless, brimming with icy black metal conviction. Transitioning into a folksy, Addaura-like segue, it pensively builds to its climax, a surge of transcendental leads that ply the middle plane between Deafheaven-esque post-black metal and the naturalistic wonder of the Cascadian scene. It's a striking transformation that leave its mark. Therein lies the album's greatest strength; its ability to simultaneously embody the heart-wrenching frenzy of blackgaze and the stoic beauty of the wild. 

There's a very spiritual element to Unraveling: Arising. It sounds like a record composed around the campfire, inspired by a starry night and the reflection of flame against the trees. Many Cascadian black metal albums feel similarly, but few have ever felt quite as genuine. The title track is the best example of this. A purely ambient piece, the song features a bass-y drone, hurried acoustic strums and ritualistic chants that swirl into the sky like ashes from a blaze. The primitivism makes it feel like it was created from instinct alone, an aural manifestation of man possessed by nature. 

Alexander may be the only "official" member, but what With the End in Mind accomplished here wouldn't have been possible without a few contributions from others, which are best seen on the closing song, "Wheeling, Endlessly Wheeling". Caitlin Fate's ethereal vocals create an excellent counterpoint to Freilich's scarring rasps. Her Bjorkian croon is haunting, mesmerizing, and memorable. Drummer Pierson Roe is fantastic throughout the record, but on this track his performance is stellar. His ability to transition from a crusty punk blitz to tribal battering is essential in the album's level of immersion. The album was created from Freilich's vision, but without these other key players, he never would have been able to see it through. 

Unraveling: Arising is a gorgeous record, that modern black metal fans would be insane not to clamor for. It's both stargazing and shoegazing. It perfectly captures the idea of tumultuous introspection and reinvigorating epiphany through our connection to this earth. Nature is magical. It's ancient but revitalizing. It will always be a source of inspiration, and this record is reminder of not only that, but the woodsy charm that made us fall in love with the Cascadian scene in the first place. Like nature, we have tendency to forget its importance and impact; but thanks to With the End In Mind hopefully Olympia will come to blossom again

W H E E L I N G,   E N D L E S S L Y  W H E E L I N G

Axis of Advance - Strike (2001)

Artist: Axis of Advance

Album: Strike

Genre: Blackened Death Metal/War Metal

Country: Canada

Label: Deathrune Records

Preview Track:

Axis of Advance is a descendant of Canadian war metal royalty. Including members of Ross Bay Cult legends Conqueror and Revenge, in 1998 Axis of Advance rose from the ashes of seminal blackened death metal act Sacramentary Abolishment, who fractured after the departure of drummer/vocalist Paulus Kressman (who then went on to form the equally as impressive Rites of Thy Degringolade). The two remaining members, Vermin and Wor were then joined by legendary drummer James Read, a veritable deity in the underground metal scene, to create Axis of Advance. Strike is one of my favorite war metal albums of all time, one that is somehow exactly and nothing like you'd expect all at once.

S T R I K E

Tyrannus - The Warden (2017)

Artist: Tyrannus
Album: The Warden

Genre: Dungeon Synth/Dungeon Noise
Country: United States 

Label: Pagoda Mast

Preview Track:

The Warden was an album I discovered the very first night I decided to start exploring dungeon synth. I experienced a plethora of different sights and sounds for the first time that evening - the whimsy of Fief, the choking darkness of Old Tower, and more - but nothing shook me more than my first listen to The Warden. Reinforcing the usual sonic fare of dungeon synth, The Warden props up its harmonic resonance with beams of noise and calamity; though melodic each track lives in a realm of static, swallowed by an everlasting void of noise. It was a dichotomy I wasn't prepared for initially, yet it ended up causing The Warden to stick with me much longer that most of my other discoveries from that time. It is the perfect soundtrack to a snowy night, and as the weather continues to get warmer, it will definitely be a record I spin throughout the summer to keep myself cool. 

A R R I V A L O F G L O R Y

Enon Chapel - Enon Chapel (2019)

Artist: Enon Chapel

Album: Enon Chapel

Genre: Black Metal / Thrash Metal

Country: United States

Label: Acephale Winter Productions

Preview Track: 

Despite most of black metal's practitioners desire to remain independent and enigmatic, Enon Chapel shy away from such pretension, and as a result prove to be one of the more interesting collaborations I've seen during my time as a fan of the genre. Consisting of Meghan Wood (Crown of Asteria, Great Cold Emptiness, etc) and Balan (Botanist, Palace of Worms, etc...) Enon Chapel is a band that delivers a fierce brand of black metal while somewhat subverting expectations of the genre. Influenced by a plethora of different sources - everything from Victorian-era England, to the insidious French Les Legions Noires, to more modern entities like The Black Twilight Circle- Enon Chapel feels like culmination of the genre's long and worn history. Though it may usurp bits of character from the annals of black metal history, their conglomeration of  influences feels fresh and untapped; like their main projects Balan and Meghan continue to compose black metal on their own terms, and unsurprising of two visionaries, the result is of a class of its own. 

S E A N C E  

Murg - Strävan (2019)

Artist: Murg

Album: Strävan

Genre: Atmospheric/melodic black metal

Country: Sweden

Label: Nordvis Produktion

Preview Track

What has impressed me most about Swedish duo Murg's third LP, Strävan, is the delicate balancing act between raw, rough and true black metal and majestic, melodic atmo black that they've found here. There's a clash of worlds here in more than just the music to be sure. You glance at the grey and black album art and murmur the name that would probably fit the mouths of orcs better than humans. But then you eye the relatively clean looking font for that guttural sounding band name and notice that the art seems like something an art student (who happens to be a metalhead) might create. Opening cut "Ur Myren" approaches you unexpectedly. A washy, reverb-drenched guitar passage that could've been taken from one of Alcest's more grimly designed tracks eventually shifts into crashing waves of distorted guitars and pounding drums, but the melody remains inherent. Therein lies the key.

It seems that to Murg violence and beauty are two sides of the same coin. If the framework on the song is a powerful melody, then something must be violated. If the aggression is front and center, then a melody will creep in to making the end product grandiose rather than bullish. The vocal performance is one of the few aspects that holds its ground tonally, the harsh, powerful screams being pushed up just enough in the mix that no matter what is happening in the music beneath, there is still that ferocity on top. The production, while pretty clear by the genre's standards, is equipped with just enough feedback and crackling distortion dancing at the edges of the songs that it never feels ill-fitting. The drums kick and pound with the right amount of urgency that even the more blackgaze-y passages feel energetic. While songs like "Korpen" carry an old school edge, there are also moments like the intro to "Altaret", which is melodically akin to something you might find on an InVogue records band circa 2013 or 2014, albeit filtered through black metal. I suppose the way to summarize Strävan in the end is that beneath an unassuming veil lies a record with a rare sense for blending the old with the new, making Murg a name to keep a very close eye on in future.

S T R A V A N

Rusted Shut - Rehab (2005)

Artist: Rusted Shut

Album: Rehab

Genre: Noise Rock

Country: United States

Label: Emperor Jones Records

The Texan psychopaths in Rusted Shut very obviously have taken a few notes out of the page of bands like Brainbombs and Flipper, but Rehab is much more than a simple homage to the noise rock of yore. Rehab is one of the most frightening, punishing, grimy, rotten, and bastardized cuts of "rock" to ever be served. The sludgy, corrupted bass-tone basks in the proverbial black smoke of distortion, whereas the guitars make a noise akin to rocks and shards of glass banging against rusty sheets of metal. Everything hits like a ton of bricks, making for an emotionally exhausting listen, but one that has its fair share of Dystopia-or-Harvey Milk-like catharsis. Screams of death, chugging riffs, a incredibly depressing atmosphere - this is one of those records that perfectly emulates pain in a way that few are able to. Bridging the worlds of heart-smashing harsh noise and utterly repulsive sludge rock, Rehab is an unstoppable force of suffering and sin. Listen at your own discretion.

D E A T H W I S H

YER SCENE VOL. 18 OUT NOW!

Yer Scene Volume 18 is out now! I've been a part of this zine for about 9 months now, and there has not been an issue that somehow didn't improve over the last. From the quality of the articles to the fantastic art and photography, each month brings something truly special. This month's issue is particularly great and contains:

- Two year-in-progress lists ft. Sinmara, for your health, Shin Guard, etc...
- Interviews with the founder of Dasein Records and math-rock troupe Wood

- Album reviews for Twilight Fauna, artemis, and spit-take

- A retrospective piece on Scott Hutchison (RIP) of Frightened Rabbit

- AND MORE!!!!

Y E R  S C E N E  V O L . 1 8 

Imperialist - Cipher (2018)

Artist: Imperialist

Album: Cipher

Genre: Melodic Black Metal

Country: United States

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records

Preview Track:

Imperialist is a relatively new melodic black metal band from the frosted wastelands of....Monrovia, California? Who would’ve thought that some of the coldest black metal could come from such a warm and happy place like California? Bands like Ash Borer, Fell Voices and now Imperialist have come from Cali and have put out some cold and miserable sounding black metal music.

I’m not comparing this band to Ash Borer or Fell Voices in any way to be clear. Imperialist is way more melodic, riff heavy and upbeat than said bands. Their lyrical themes focus on time and space similar to a band like Mare Cognitum or Midnight Odyssey. Their debut album Cipher focuses mainly on fast and ferocious melodic riffs and blast beats from the black abyss that is outer space. The vocals here are pretty much the norm for black metal ala shrieks from a demon.

Cipher won’t blow you away with originality by any means. If you’re a black metal fan then chances are you’ve heard this album dozens and dozens of times before. But if you like your black metal fast, with melody and full of riffs then you will find something you can enjoy in Imperialist’s debut album. The best is yet to come from these Californians and I’m all ears.

T H E S I N G U L A R I T Y

Laetitia in Holocaust - Fauci Tra Fauci (2019)

Artist: Laetitia in Holocaust

Album: Fauci Tra Fauci

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Italy

Label: Third I Rex

Preview Track

At first glance, Laetitia in Holocaust are a pretty conventional black metal band. In truth, they're not that unconventional on the third or fourth listen either, but they do find a way to stand out from the pack via the haze of mysticism that audibly hangs over the mix. The framework is normal, blast beats and scything tremolo picked guitars galore, but the harmonic balance between melody and just a bit of dissonance keeps things interesting. Fauci Tra Fauci opts out of raw production and jagged, extreme motifs in favor of smooth, slightly foggy production and sweeping instrumental movements. It may not be a direct classical influence, but there's a feeling of classical flare in the grandiose shifts within these songs. As a result it goes down very easily despite the coarse nature of the genre and the wonky bass fills that seem to appear in every track. Unlike a lot of their contemporaries, Laetitia in Holocaust have definitely taken a few classes on their instruments and it shows, making Fauci Tra Fauci a memorable record without necessarily stepping headlong away from the pack.

F A U C I T R A F A U C I

Illyria - The Carpathian Summit (2019)

Artist: Illyria

Album: The Carpathian Summit

Genre: Post-Black Metal/Screamo

Country: Australia

Label: U N S I G N E D 

Preview Track:

Post-black metal is a genre that has been absolutely on fire in 2019. Bands like Remete, Together to the Stars, Numenorean and numerous others have released instant classics in a genre that is normally hit or miss. But one band has stood out among the pack so far this year and that band is Australia’s Illyria.

Prior to about a month ago I’ve never heard of this particular band but they hit me like a ton of bricks. The dreamy atmosphere of The Carpathian Summit is absolutely magical to say the least. Illyria mixes in traces of post-hardcore and 90’s style screamo with their punishing brand of black metal and it works to perfection. Cries of pain mixed with clean vocals over the reverb of the trems makes for such an engaging atmosphere that makes this album is almost impossible to put down.

When you think of black metal you think of Satan and destruction but Illyria makes the genre sound almost happy at times and they execute at such a high level. The Carpathain Summit is about an hour in length but is never grating on the listener or boring at any point. If you like a hazy, almost dream pop like atmosphere then Illyria is just what you need.

T H E C A R P A T H I A N S U M M I T