This is the full album stream for Northless’ Clandestine Abuse.
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This stream has closed.
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I am picky about sludge metal, and I have picked Clandestine Abuse (Gilead Media / Halo of Flies, 2011). My main complaint about sludge is that it’s often musically uninteresting. It’s great for “Urrrrrrrgh”, but Eyehategod owns “Urrrrrrrgh”. I don’t need to hear more variations on “Urrrrrrrgh” or Eyehategod.
But I do need to hear more interesting music. Out of nowhere – OK, Milwaukee – Northless have provided it. They’re part of a crop of young sludge bands going beyond “Urrrrrrrgh”, like Thou, haarp, Dark Castle, Salome, and Batillus. Brains are mixing with beards and beer guts.
Not to worry – this is still burlier than Saturday night at an SF bear club. The vocalist sounds ready to eat you alive. But there’s a whole lotta music coming from those downtuned strings. The album starts with a fist in the face, but it gradually goes deeper and deeper. Colors creep in: ’90s noise and math rock, pools of Godflesh feedback, the pain of Burning Witch, the salve of Isis. One passage had me thinking “Krallice, as played by cavemen”.
Then, out of nowhere – OK, Milwaukee – the record pulls out of its downward spiral. Melodies wax tender, and the growler starts singing. It’s wonderful: runner’s high after many miles, afterglow after rough sex. This is an album in the classic sense. It pulls you in and takes you on a journey. That’s why I’m presenting it as a single stream. Put it on, let it play, and drink deeply.
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BUY CLANDESTINE ABUSE
Currently available only on gatefold orange double vinyl.
(Any plans for a digital release, Halo of Flies or Gilead Media?)
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NORTHLESS LINKS
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Sounds interesting, but when you namedrop Haarp as an example of a good sludge band I have to be a bit skeptical. Salome is indeed incredible though.
I almost ordered the three-pack with The Fell Voices LP and FV/AB split but I didn’t take the time to listen to the band before I bought the other two separately. I also probably couldn’t have afforded it.
Kind of kicking myself about that now, but I do have iTunes gift cards, so ditto on that Digital Release question…
It sounds like Crowbar but with more heavyness and obscurity in their sound! Awesome!!
Digital will come. But probably be a month or so.
I love that NPR are getting in on the metal action: http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2011/02/18/133840457/song-premiere-northless-clandestine-abuse
wow, NPR… looks like the PR company is doing their job well. probably helps when that music kicks ass.
the production seems a little more modern than I usually like, but the songwriting seemed strong, at least on the first 3 or 4 songs that I was able to stream at work. good shit
not bad, looks like the guy in the middle did eat a couple people alive. diggin the sound
Wouldn’t have pegged Harvey Weinstein as a Swans fan.
Wash Jones said: “looks like the PR company is doing their job well.”
if by PR company you mean Adam/Gilead Media, then yes.
PR companies… ha.
thanks to Cosmo and all the rest for checking this out.
Enjoying this so far, and love the fact that NPR has been streaming metal tracks on their website. Makes me feel less like a weirdo for being both a metalhead and an avid public radio listener. Seems to be mostly doom though, and of the headier variety (e.g., Harvey Milk, Salome, the track from the Northless album). If NPR premieres a track from the next Morbid Angel album, my head might explode.
Sounds really great! Gonna have to pick this one up.
This is the kind of doom I like, interesting and different. These vocals are annoying though.
Yea man, in-house PR for life! I’m a DIY label, I’ve never taken a check from Gilead Media and I sure can’t afford to pay someone $1800+ to PR a record.
Glad you guys are digging on the band. This is a record both Halo Of Flies and I are both super stoked on! If you’re from the Milwaukee area, or within driving distance, there is a huge show next week TUESDAY. Thou, Protestant, NORTHLESS at the Borg Ward. Going to rule. Record release show, huge riffs, angry music, happy people.
Re: PR companies, some are good and some are bad, but I always prefer dealing directly with folks like Adam of Gilead Media and Cory of Halo of Flies. They don’t depend on others to blanket the mass media; they build their networks one fan at a time, and the feeling around them is community-oriented. Cheers to them for bringing us music like this.
Lars @ Npr is intrepid, jus puttin it out there. Npr has gone off hard as of late. This shit booms btw
I’m digging the music, but the vocals aren’t working for me. Then again, I can’t find much metal where I like the vocals these days.
Good to hear that it’ll be available digitally. I just can’t bring myself to mess with physical media for music these days. As soon as it gets in the house I rip it and toss the media in a cupboard, so why bother? Just gimme the bits, and in a lossless format, please.
Hopefully this will cross my path again when it’s out in binary format, and I can try it again.
Here’s hoping PR companies don’t become as ubiquitous and necessary in the metal world as they are in the oversaturated indie scene. NPR is a tough nut to crack now that bands are learning how valuable their support is.
I have a bad feeling PR companies are a looming reality as metal inches closer to acceptance, but it’s fucking cool you guys can get quality bands the coverage and attention they deserve. And I bet you work your asses off doing it! Good shit, and well worth the effort.
This shits incredible!
@Adam/Gilead Media: when you said “digital” release, you mean cd too? ’cause it’s impossibile for me at the moment to dig it the vynil version, only cd.
And by the way I am from Italy could I hope for a good distro here in Europe?
thanks
Northless’ Clandestine Abuse is now available on cd. Out on Siege Of Power Records.
Check out Northless on the East Coast:
Sunday Aug 14 – 7:00pm
Philadelphia, PA – The Olive Garden – w/ Bubonic Bear, Callous and Mollusk
Monday Aug 15 – 8:30pm
NYC – Lit Lounge – w/ Mortals, Demilitia
Tuesday Aug 16 – 9:00pm
Brooklyn, NY – The Charleston – w/ TBA
Wednesday Aug 17 – 9:00pm
Wallingford, CT – Cherry St. Station – w/ Victims (SWE), Misanthropic Noise, Katahdin and Krakatoa
Thursday Aug 18 – 9:00pm
Albany, NY – Valentine’s – w/ Planet Eater and Maggot Brain
Friday Aug 19 – 9:00pm
Columbus, OH – The Ravari Room – w/ Before The Eyewall
Saturday Aug 20 – 4:00pm
Chicago, IL – Reckless Records Instore
Saturday Aug 20 – 9:00pm
Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge – w/ Hunters, Coffinworm