Albums of the Week – October 16, 2012
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I just got back from a long weekend in Vegas: a bachelor party full of unmentionables (plus infinite alcohol, minus sleep) means life is now pain. Knowing I had to write an installment of this column, I was all set to talk about my renewed contempt for humanity and the foulness of greed in all its infinite variations, and somehow that was supposed to become some kind of valuable lesson that I should have already known but chose to ignore because I am foolish and weak. But when I returned to town late last night, my plans for preachy, whinging nonsense went out the window as soon as I heard MDF tickets had just gone on sale. For a moment, time froze – then a burst of brilliant light and a thousand mental images shot across my vision like a slideshow from hell. Maryland Death Fest! Bodymore, Murderland! Bolt Thrower! Fucking Cobalt! Life is not only good, it’s amazing, and the fact that my body feels like a cripple tied to a Catherine wheel barely registers in my consciousness as I think about the magic that is and will be MDF. Having bought a ticket within seconds of the news, my credit card now hates me more than ever, but I’m safe in the knowledge that this shit is on. You, too, can have something glorious on the horizon – get on it!
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ALBUM OF THE WEEK (SHOULD RULE HARD)
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Slow and low wins the prize, eh? Doug spilled some fine ink on this a while back and it’s great to see Vessels of Light and Decay has held up so well over time. In the strongest year for funeral/death/doom probably ever–with good-to-great records from Evoken, Pallbearer, Hooded Menace, Anhedonist, Inverloch, Aldebaran, and others–Indesinence can sit proudly atop the heap with the strongest record of the bunch. No small feat.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBxOL-isB7U
Indesinence – “Communion”
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MIGHT RULE HARD
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In which we get more of the slow, more of the strange, and not much else – the only new records making waves this week are either doom-ridden slabs of soil and earth or psychedelic visions from beyond . . . or something. I had hoped for black metal, and found nothing all that intriguing. (OK, the latest from Planks looks passably entertaining.
“It’s fun to take a trip; put acid in your veins.” Not entirely unlike Ufomammut earlier this year (though less heavy), Darsombra mine the furthest reaches of stoner-land for slow-burn interstellar riff meditations. Heaviness creeps in occasionally (see “Thunder Thighs”), though much of the record feels more like an especially baked Hawkwind, or maybe some trippy kraut-rock sans percussion. It’s all texture and feel as the songs slowly slip and slide from side to side, dodging conventional structure in favor of sprawl. Dig the Smashing Pumpkins sounding leads at 1:45 of the first track, “Roaming the Periphery” – gorgeous stuff.
My Dying Bride are eternal at this point. Not everything they do is essential (like last year’s 30-minute, single-track EP), but they still undoubtedly have it—A Map of all Our Failures is much better than I would have thought. The ripping death metal that works its way into opener “Kneel till Doomsday” feels appropriately vicious—great to see they still have it in ‘em.
I’ll never pretend to understand Yakuza fully – I find them more interesting as an intellectual construct than something to actually listen to, but I know a lot of folks would disagree. But the fact remains: they are interesting as hell. Beyul offers a glimpse of so many strange juxtapositions it can be hard to keep track of, and it seems to largely work – we get the odd vocal marriage of a J. Mascis drawl with ’80s-hardcore group chants and female backing vocals, with strings and the customary sax layered on top of guitars that shift between dusty, open-space sprawl and actual metal riffs. It’s weird, no question. I suggest a listen or three.
Darsombra – Climax Community [Buy CD / MP3] / [LP]
My Dying Bride – A Map of all Our Failures [Buy CD / LP / MP3]
Yakuza – Beyul [Buy CD] / [MP3]
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Yakuza – “On the Last Day”
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MOAR DOOM
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And because this is doom week, apparently: the consistently brilliant folk at 20 Buck Spin have done the world a kindness and gone and reissued three Mournful Congregation records. Mournful Congregation don’t make bad records, therefore these are all quite good and worthy of blood money.
Mournful Congregation – The June Frost [Buy CD / MP3]
Mournful Congregation – The Monad of Creation [Buy CD / MP3]
Mournful Congregation – Tears from a Grieving Heart [Buy CD / MP3]
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3tw8zTpMVo&feature=related
Mournful Congregation – “As I Drown in Loveless Rain”
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What did I miss? What are you most excited for?
