Electric Citizen – Electric Citizen

Retro, ‘70s styled occult bands with female singers seems to be all the rage right now, but while it might be a little crowded out there for these types of bands, some are good enough to rise to the top. Electric Citizen, hailing from Cincinnati, has definitely risen to the top.

Heavy, black sabbathy riffs, hauntingly beautiful female vocals and plenty of psychedelica all come together to create a striking debut, rooted in the past but firmly planted in the present.

At a brisk twenty minutes, this EP is great primer for a full length album, which we will hopefully see soon.

“Electric Citizen” is available as a 2×7” set from The Crossing Zine.

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CORRECTIONS HOUSE – Post New Song (Press Release)

CORRECTIONS HOUSE have opened up their doors ever so briefly, permitting us entry for a four-minute tour of their haunting abode under the supervision of our guide, Vice/Noisey (Germany), who are streaming “Run Through The Night” at THIS LOCATION.

A mournful tide of bleak instrumentation swollen with angst-ridden acoustic guitar, ceremonial horns and an underlying serration of electronic fuzz which eventually bursts open in to an unfazed and understated procession of black metal and spoken word, “Run Through The Night” is the fourth track from CORRECTIONS HOUSE‘s forthcoming studio album, Last City Zero.
CORRECTIONS HOUSE is the collective musical extractions of Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza), Sanford Parker (Minsk) and their minister of propaganda, Seward Fairbury. The eight-track, near 50-minute Last City Zero was produced by Parker at Electrical Audio, Soma Studios, 60 Psycho Hum and Nodferatu’s Lair, and delivers a wholly cerebral, impossible-to-pinpoint kaleidoscopic synthesis of mechanical decomposition, atmospheric abnormalities, and poetic putrefaction.

Forged unwittingly by the impetuous forces of nature and altered states of consciousness,

CORRECTIONS HOUSE is without control of their destiny. Boundless in their genre voyage, they embrace the unkind, the diseased, the forgotten, the morose, their lush anti-soundscrapes and shadowy verses — at once beautifully hideous, graceful and terrifying — a manifestation of societal ruin and psychological decay.

The transformation of time and space; death begetting life and veils being torn; an imposing dissonance too penetrating to dismiss… CORRECTIONS HOUSE systematically creates and destroys through audio disease and transcendent musical deconstruction.

All things in all ways. There is nothing else.

Last City Zero will be released in North America on October 29, 2013 via Neurot Recordings.

https://www.facebook.com/CorrectionsHouse

http://www.neurotrecordings.com

https://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings

A.M.S.G – Anti-Cosmic Tyranny

The latest slice of sonic terror from Profound Lore comes in the form of A.M.S.G., a black metal horde from Alberta, Canada.  A.M.S.G., or “Ad Majorem Satanae Gloriam“, Latin for “For the Greater Glory of Satan” is primarily the work of Angelfukk Witchhammer, who wrote “Anti-Cosmic Tyranny” while serving time in prison for possession of drugs and guns.

“Anti-Cosmic Tyranny” is firmly rooted in black metal with is swirling tremolo picked guitar work and trashing drums, but it is also has a progressive swing to it, with haunting saxophones and ambient breaks throughout. The music is harsh, very harsh at points. There’s a lot of distortion and overall the album is very chaotic. The vocals are primarily croaking screeches with some guttural growling, pain filled wails, distorted spoken word passages and occult chanting thrown at times.

I always say music should be challenging and this album is the definition of challenging music. In a time where black metal has become somewhat popular, with postings on mainstream sites like NPR and the hipster paradise that is Pitchfork, it’s nice to see a black metal outfit make music like this. Black metal was never meant to be popular. At its very core, black metal is anti-social, outsider music that should be relegated to the fringes of society. “Anti-Cosmic Tyranny” is nothing if not anti-social; it’s the type of album that is meant to drive listeners away.  In fact, when I first listened to the album, I was immediately turned off by the vocals, the original, somewhat negative review I wrote focused on that. But as I’ve listened to the album over and over several times, it has really grown on me. The vocals actually work to make the album a much stronger, albeit more challenging record.

This is really an excellent album, one that most people will not be able to appreciate but for those willing to challenge themselves and are able proceed with an open mind will be rewarded.

“Anti-Cosmic Tyranny” can be purchased from Profound Lore.

Wolvserpent – Perigaea Antahkarana

Wolvserpent have been kicking around the Pacific Northwest for a few years now, but honestly, I’m not really familiar with them. It could be that they were under my radar or it could be that they got lost in the mix of bands with the words wolf and serpent in their names, but regardless, I’m glad to have finally heard them with their latest release, “Perigaea Antahkarana.”

The album kicks off with “A Breath in the Shade of Time”, which is a little over twenty three minute of neo-classical drone and monotone angelic vocals. Next up is the ambient piece, “Threshold Gateway”, which sounds as if you’re sitting in the dark woods with a small fire cracking nearby, with crows cawing around you; it’s pretty ominous, if not a little unnerving. “Concealed Among the Roots and Soil” starts with a slow, doomy intro and heavy, guttural vocals before picking things up a little around the six and half minute mark. It’s a seventeen plus minute dirge that ends with us back in the forest by the fire. Next, the hypnotic, repetitive riffs of “Within the Light of Fire” pull the listener into a trance lasts throughout its sixteen minutes of droning doom. The album closes with the neo-classical drone and doom of “In Mirrors of Water.”

At eighty some minutes, this is a dense records, but it never feels like it. While it moves along at funeral procession speeds, it’s never a challenge. From beginning to end, “Perigaea Antahkarana” is a cohesive masterpiece.

“Perigaea Antahkarana” is available at Relapse Records.

True Widow – Circumambulation

When it comes to metal, the words “Heavy” and “Dark” are thrown around pretty liberally, almost to the point of saturation. Metal is by its very nature dark and heavy, so when journalists, myself included, throw these terms at, it usually comes across as lazy writing. However, on occasion, a band releases an album that encapsulates heaviness and darkness, not because they’re a metal band but simply because they’ve managed to truly capture all that is heavy and all that is dark, without falling into cliché’s.

True Widow is one of those bands. It’s hard to define their sound. At their heart, they a metal band with doom, sludge and drone influences. But there’s something more to them, I’ve heard the terms “Shoegaze”, “Post-Metal”, “Alt-Metal” and even “Trip-Hop” thrown out when describing the band, and while there are elements of all those, none of this truly captures their sound. As such, I will simply fall back on those clichéd terms “Heavy” and Dark.”

I’m sort of reminded of Across Tundras, albeit a little heavier. The album has slightly Americana/western sound but with the droning, repetitive riffs and bass; the simple rhythmic drumming and the brooding, hypnotic male/female vocals, “Circumambulation” becomes a very atmospheric album.  Listening to it is like a journey a very dark and dreary wasteland, full of despair, but even within the darkness, there’s warmth to the music that makes that journey well worth it.

This is simply a beautiful album, one that will likely be at the top of many best of 2013 lists.

“Circumambulation” is available now at Relapse Records.

PHOTOS BY Alison V Smith

Pelican – Deny The Absolute 7”

It should be of no secret that I love Pelican, but with founding guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec leaving the band, I wasn’t sure what to expect. With this new 7” released by The Mylene Sheath, my concerns have been swept away. The band sounds as tight as ever. The A-Side, Deny The Absolute picks up right where there last album, 2011’s “What We All Come To Need” left off, heavy, driving instrumental rock.  Meanwhile, the B-Side, is more in the vein of 2012’s “Ataraxia Taraxis” EP, with an acoustic based sound. Both songs are excellent and have ratcheted up my anticipation for their next full length, “Forever Becoming”, which is due in October on Southern Lord.

Check out The Mylene Sheath to order

Osoka – Osoka

Sitting here in America, you tend to forget that there’s a lot of great music coming from around the world. The former Soviet Union in particular, has some really good bands, especially in the stoner/doom realm. Osaka hail from Russia and bring a nice slab of drone infused sludge on the always reliable Slow Burn Records.

The album is full of hypnotic, droning guitars, rhythmic drums and slow chanting vocals, all which work to create a somber, melancholy atmosphere. The songs are long, most are in the eight to ten minute range, and while repetitive, the never sound boring.  The songs move along a slow pass, but with an urgency that pulls the listener along.

While not really breaking any new ground here, Osoka deliver a solid album, full of beautifully crafted songs.