Giant - Song cd

One of the last good albums of the genre that came to be called "post-metal" (yeah dude when Isis broke out we named this experimental sludge or whatever, post-metal my ass), a genre that too quickly deteriorated into post-rock and Toolish stupidity(with Isis going that way too), Giant played heavy and mournful epic doom with a good sense of melody and dynamics that avoid the shoegazy style of many post metal bands. After a naming dispute they morphed into Braveyoung and abandoned this style along with metal in general and played great orchestral post-rock, and ended last year with the masterpiece Misery And Pride. Now they continue as MSC in a similar fashion, albeit with a more electronic bend, I think. Best track here is number two, "Calvin," an amazingly melancholic but kind of heartening dirge with beautiful lyrics. 2006 cd on Southern Empire.

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Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine ‎– Rampton cd

Not like that this is a rare album but I'm not sure whether it exists in 320 kbps so there you go. TOLRTD (named after the same-titled track by Earth) is a gathering of four mammoths of doom/sludge/drone, Stephen O' Malley and Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) on guitar and bass respectively, Lee Dorrian of Cathedral on vocals, and Justin Greaves of Iron Monkey/Electric Wizard/Crippled Black Phoenix on drums. The result is just mouth-opening. Take the deafening soul-emptying guitar drone of Sunn O))), mix it with the drum torturing strikes of Greaves (of course he is undoubtedly the greatest drummer in the genre) and get Dorrian on top in his one of his best performances ever, singing in a threatening and ominous style, far away from the hippyish shit of late 1990s Cathedral (maybe he was in a heavy doom mood, as Cathedral had just released the crushing Endtyme at that point), and you get an awesome classic of doom/drone. First track is a pun on Queens of The Stone Age's "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" with drug references and all, second track is a top-notch cover of fuckin' Killdozer's "New Pants and Shirt" and track three is an amazing ritual doom classic with church organ and all that borders on Thergothon worship. i used to listen to this as a teenager with my then-girlfriend after sex and the heaviness really emptied any energy that had been left after coming. Isn't all this convincing enough? 2002 cd on Rise Above.

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Roses Never Fade - Fade To Black cd

I've expressed my adoration for Integrity quite a few times in the blog, as they are probably the one band I can really call my favorite one, in their mixing of my best-liked styles, hardcore punk with extreme metal and noise, with a dark, evil, and twisted aesthetic. Roses Never Fade was the moniker singer and only remaining original member Dwid used after he completely ceased Integrity in the wake of the excellent To Die For. It's quite away from traditional Integrity, i.e. metallic hardcore with gruff vocals and mind-blowing guitar solos; in this album, where he is accompanied by two members of Pale Creation, they play acoustic dark neo-folk, close to Of The Wand And The Moon, albeit with a style that is also close to gothic, ambient, and post-punk, and in that sense it's not THAT far removed from the Closure album Dwid released as Integrity in 2001. Dwid doesn't really sing (yeah he doesn't have the voice for that anyway), but he mostly whispers, while the guys play mournful and epic acoustic melodies, and also offer some solos at a point that would not be alien in an acoustic version of Integrity, or in their calmer moments. My favorite track is "Fear For You" which has a more Death In June vibe. Despite his controversial music ventures and his choice to continue Integrity without any of the original members that really shaped much of the modern hardcore punk landscape, I've always thought that Dwid has been consistent in making good music no matter what the setting and his collaborators, and this album is also evidence of that. Of course, that excludes the Integrity 2000 albums... and of course his utterly worthless fucking Relapse releases since last year, which once more prove that Relapse is set on destroying any band that they manage to capture in their corporate nets. Meh. 2005 album on Rock Vegas Records.

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Owen Marshall - The Naked Truth

Incredibly deep, dark and psychedelic spiritual jazz by this dude who recorded nothing apart from this album and a single (also included) as a statement against the record music industry. A point of reference would be Herbie Hancock's Crossings and Sextant, but the dark funk and exotica elements combined with the lo-fi, swampy production also gives me a feeling of early Dr. John for some reason. Originally released in 1975 by Aditi Records, this is the 2012 Jazzman cd re-release.

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Moth - Scintilla cdr

Awesome spaced-out synths, electronic bleeps and prepared string instruments create a hypnotic trip made by Tim Alexander of LAFMS. 2018 cdr on Chocolate Monk.

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Serious Problmz ‎– Nervous Youth cdr

Second previously unreleased thing by damaged rurfers Serious Problmz. There is more of a structured regime here, with the vocalist/random item banger still doing his thing, but the surf/psychobilly aspect is more evident here under a mess of reverb and green muck. 2015 cdr on Butte County Free Music Society.

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Serious Problmz ‎– 369 1/2 cdr

A really obscure band from the 1980s that never recorded anything and featured Lucian Telens of Bren't Lewiis Ensemble. They played what they called industrial rurf (rural surf). If that brings to your minds a sound between Dick Dale and bluegrass, well no that ain't it. There indeed is a very vague surf (and psychobilly reference in the background of their music mainly in the sound of the guitar (chorus, beefy upper string sound, a watery feeling) but other than that they play some really swampy psychedelic improvised and broken down noise rock/post punk on guitar, bass, drum machine and an unhinged vocalist who does his own thing and brings in various things on the table, such as dishes and a typewriter to bang on. I really like this; there is an immensely green-ish, oozy, damp and decayed feel to it, and the guys create both a threatening and playful atmosphere. Perhaps they could be likened to a mix between The Residents and Deadbolt. This was recorded in 1985-6, it never saw the light of day until it was released in 2014 on cdr by Butte County Free Music Society.

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