Premiere: - - - / Dawning Split LP
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Perhaps you’re familiar with Preposterous Creations through Colloquial Sound Recordings, the unofficial official distributor for France’s Preposterous here stateside. If not, no one would blame you. Preposterous’s releases can skew pretty obscure, but they’re well worth seeking out. It’s a label with few stylistic boundaries; black metal sits next to dark folk, which cozies up to psyched out goth. For an idea of the label’s style, Preposterous released a must-listen double cassette collection of early Nuit Noire demo tapes. On their website, below a picture of Spock giving the Vulcan Salute (their catalogue references are SPOCK###), Preposterous calls itself an “Obnoxious record label from the rancid side of France.” Obnoxious has never been so enjoyable. Check out the label’s Bandcamp for loads of goodies.
One of Preposterous’s most interesting artists has to be – – – , an anonymous one-man Swedish melodic black/death metal act with a previous self-titled mini CD (good luck Googling that). Preposterous teamed – – – up with Dawning, a USBM band out of San Jose that’s been active since 1995 and has ties to Pale Existence (mems Exhumed), for this split LP. The styles are pretty damn different, but the combo works. – – – delivers three wonky, sometimes singsong tracks that over the course of a few listens a few times vaguely reminded me of earlyish Amorphis (particularly “Rovfågeln”). Piano has a big role in these tracks, dancing around playfully in the back of every song. It’s an interesting move, and definitely a long way off from the aesthetic that most one man black metal bands embrace. Dawning’s one track contribution, a rerecording of Dawning’s “Divine Arrival of the Massive Hoof,” is an ambient rich 10-minute journey that’s a bit of a lesson in restraint. There’s a strange beauty to “Divine Arrival,” one that’s as much snowy night as it is alien abduction. Give it a listen.
The split LP is now available to pre-order from Preposterous Creations. Copies will be available to purchase from Colloquial Sound Recordings after the December 29th release date.
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