NADJA + OVO The Life And Death Of A Wasp (Bar La Muerte / Broken Spine) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ever wonder what it would sound like if Yoko Ono joined doomdrone duo Nadja? No? Well, we're guessing it would sound a little like this collaboration between Canadian doomgaze two piece Nadja and Italian chaotic weirdo avant punk duo OvO. The overall sound here seems to fall more toward the Nadja end of the sonic spectrum, but OvO definitely add their own twisted vibe, the result something dark, and creepy, and abstract, and occasionally very heavy and very fucked up and awesome. Separated into four movements and based on some strange concept about killing a wasp in a cup of coffee, the record begins with some loping heavy slowcore, big drums, lush clean guitar chords, and all sorts of swirling weirdness, detuned melodies, harmonics, strange FX, long stretches of ambience, buried guttural vocals, streaks of feedback, it's not until nearly the end when OvO vocalist Stefania lets loose, with her childlike Ono-ish trill, operatic and creepy as hell, sometimes slipping into a monstrous gurgle, but just as often wailing like a banshee, while the music churns underneath. Can't help but be reminded of Bloody Panda too, the same sort of weird vocal / heaviness hybrid.
The second and third movements are shorter, and continue on in the same vein as the opener, with loping post rock rhythms, swirling blackened ambience, haunting chiming melodies, thick guitar thrum, more FX, Stefania's vocals never quite getting to the maniacal shriek stage, instead, slipping from hushed whisper, to almost black metal rasp, to cookie monster gurgle, the vibe almost Goblin-ish, heavy and dark, but cinematic and really creepy, the third movement the heaviest so far, a lurching doom, trudging grimly beneath wild drumming, and even wilder vocals, until finally, the 13 minute denouement, the final movement, which begins like some horror movie soundtrack, all fragmented melancholy melody, and deep heaving low end, droney and so ominous, gradually building to a strange industrial style drone-plod, which eventually explodes into something primal and tribal, pounding drums, those trilled super dramatic vox, an intense cathartic climax, which eases back into that ominous drift, this time with the vocals in full effect, the result, dark, bizarre, intense and fantastically out there!
MPEG Stream: "Movement 1: A Wasp Flying Around The Sugar Jar"
MPEG Stream: "Movement 4: Drowned In Coffee"

NADJA + OVO The Life And Death Of A Wasp (Vendetta) lp 15.00
Now on vinyl (and the cd version went out of print already).
Ever wonder what it would sound like if Yoko Ono joined doomdrone duo Nadja? No? Well, we're guessing it would sound a little like this collaboration between Canadian doomgaze two piece Nadja and Italian chaotic weirdo avant punk duo OvO. The overall sound here seems to fall more toward the Nadja end of the sonic spectrum, but OvO definitely add their own twisted vibe, the result something dark, and creepy, and abstract, and occasionally very heavy and very fucked up and awesome. Separated into four movements and based on some strange concept about killing a wasp in a cup of coffee, the record begins with some loping heavy slowcore, big drums, lush clean guitar chords, and all sorts of swirling weirdness, detuned melodies, harmonics, strange FX, long stretches of ambience, buried guttural vocals, streaks of feedback, it's not until nearly the end when OvO vocalist Stefania lets loose, with her childlike Ono-ish trill, operatic and creepy as hell, sometimes slipping into a monstrous gurgle, but just as often wailing like a banshee, while the music churns underneath. Can't help but be reminded of Bloody Panda too, the same sort of weird vocal / heaviness hybrid.
The second and third movements are shorter, and continue on in the same vein as the opener, with loping post rock rhythms, swirling blackened ambience, haunting chiming melodies, thick guitar thrum, more FX, Stefania's vocals never quite getting to the maniacal shriek stage, instead, slipping from hushed whisper, to almost black metal rasp, to cookie monster gurgle, the vibe almost Goblin-ish, heavy and dark, but cinematic and really creepy, the third movement the heaviest so far, a lurching doom, trudging grimly beneath wild drumming, and even wilder vocals, until finally, the 13 minute denouement, the final movement, which begins like some horror movie soundtrack, all fragmented melancholy melody, and deep heaving low end, droney and so ominous, gradually building to a strange industrial style drone-plod, which eventually explodes into something primal and tribal, pounding drums, those trilled super dramatic vox, an intense cathartic climax, which eases back into that ominous drift, this time with the vocals in full effect, the result, dark, bizarre, intense and fantastically out there!
MPEG Stream: "Movement 1: A Wasp Flying Around The Sugar Jar"
MPEG Stream: "Movement 4: Drowned In Coffee"

NADJA / 5/5/2000 split (Accident Prone) lp + cd 15.98
This long in the works split matches up doombliss duo Nadja (this is one of FIVE new Nadja releases on this week's list! Yowza!) with ambient soundscapers 5/5/2000 (featuring aQ pal Nathan, from Creation Is Crucifixion, M. Kourie, Human Quena Orchestra, and Travis Ryan from Cattle Decapitation) and it proves to be a pretty potent and appropriate pairing.
Nadja start things off, and waste no time, no slow builds, no pretty simmering, it's straight into a big ol' lurching doom, the drums big and reverbed, the guitar offered up in swells, and allowed to drift off, leaving just the drums to pound away between bursts of crumbling distortion. Very industrial sounding, dark ambient, the drums locked into a loop, a distant keening high end hovering just above the rumbling whir, there is a build up, but the duo begin the build already in the thick of it. The guitars grow more and more fuzzed out, the sound becomes thicker and more distorted, the background becomes more chaotic, riffs seem to coalesce out of those abstract swells, strange harmonics drift into the picture, the recording sounds decayed and damaged, as if it was some unearthed archival slab of ancient doom bliss, until the last 4 or 5 minutes, when yet more buzz and distortion enter the fray, and while the drums remain constant, they seem to sink deeper and deeper beneath the blossoming swirl of blown out noise and warm dense fuzz, all the while the sound threatening to crumble or collapse, gloriously fractured post industrial doom bliss crawl for sure.
5/5/2000 reply with what might be their heaviest recording to date. A nearly 17 minute low end sprawl, groaning, coruscating distortion, rumbling and roiling, while beneath some sort of shimmery soundscape plays out. Delicate and dreamy, abstract melodies drifting and swirling, fuzzy and gauzy and blurred into soft focus streaks, until right near the end, when the soft tranquility is overtaken by a dense swell of layered guitar, grinding and buzzing, a blissed out, blown out blackened drone.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. Each lp comes with a cd featuring the same music, as well as a printed cardstock insert.
MPEG Stream: NADJA "Spahn"
MPEG Stream: 5/5/2000 "Shadows In The Valley Of Death"

NADJA / ARMCHAIR MIGRAINE JOURNEY Transmit Acoustique Abstraction (Beta-Lactam Ring) lp 37.00
You think by now, that after a million or so releases, we'd be sick of Nadja, and could nor possibly need/want another record to add to our already overflowing Nadja collection, but somehow, we just never get sick of it, and love pretty much everything we hear, and still get excited when we hear about a new record, and every one seems to sound better than the last, what's not to love? Heavy, spacey, doomy, droney, shoegazey...
This latest sonic missive is another gem, a sidelong epic of hazy, druggy, rhythmic, almost krautrocky minimal post rock doom drift, but the thing is, it never gets loud, or heavy, whereas most Nadja jams eventually explode into a roiling crushing blissed out wall of heaviness, this one refrains, instead, loping, and drifting, and shimmering, and pulsing hypnotically, while all around the main riff and the simple motorik rhythm, backwards sounds swoop and swirl, guitar drones are layered and blurred, the bass sticks close to the drum machine, a solid anchor for the various other sounds to hover and float, the whole thing an endlessly mesmerizing chunk of softly shoegazey krautdrone slowcore. So good.
Nadja get teamed up here with someone called Armchair Migraine Journey, who counter Nadja's sidelong epic with one of their own, a field of glimmering, chiming, shimmering guitars, melodies and chords and notes swirl and shift and merge and tangle, all over a bed of low end hum, peppered with occasional echo drenched, deep and dramatic vocals, giving the sound a bit of a cold wave / gothic vibe, but only briefly, as the vocals drift off, and the tangle of guitars take over again. The side finishes off with a coda of minimal metallic buzz and haunting music box melodies. Pretty great stuff, and a good match for the Nadja track, which definitely ranks among their best.
And the packaging, WOW. A super fancy, super heavy black sleeve, printed in metallic silver, with a printed insert and pressed on thick thick vinyl. LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, each one hand numbered.

NADJA / ATAVIST / SATORI Infernal Procession... And Then Everything Dies (Cold Spring) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This record was pretty much custom made for most of you. A three way split of extreme heavy bliss out dream doom, featuring the WAY too prolific Nadja, who continue to get a pass, because we STILL can't get enough of -that- sound, the not nearly prolific enough Atavist, and a new name to add to the list of bands to obsess over, Satori, a duo featuring the head honcho of the always awesome Cold Spring label who made this disc happen.
Not sure if there was a reason for this three way split, a tour or something, or maybe it's just cuz the three bands fit pretty nicely together, whatever the reason for this happening, we're glad it did.
Starting with Nadja, who again offer up a gorgeously gauzy sprawl of Jesu meets M83, all super distorted crumbling melodies, lurching buried in the mix drum machine, weary ethereal vocals, melancholy minor key melodies, wrapped into an awesome chunk of doomed metallic slowcore, lots of dynamics and texture, a loooooong slow build a la Godspeed, with an epic and triumphant climax. So good. One of the best Nadja track yet maybe.
Atavist do their own sort of doom thing, this time a skeletal mathy post rock, clean guitars spread out over spare drumming, very Slint-ish, all spidery and delicate, until a minute or so in, when the hammer falls, shrieked blackened vox, super distorted crumbling guitars, pounding percussion, a strange flurry of off kilter jagged mathiness, before it's back to the moody Slinty sprawl. Eventually, the track becomes blown out and so in-the-red all the instruments seem to melt together, until the band unfurl a blackened post metal jam that might sound more at home on a Deathspell Omega record, culminating in a gorgeous almost symphonic sounding high end coda.
Finally, Satori, who have a lot to prove in such esteemed company, take an entirely different tack, with processed garbled vocals, over distant whirring drones, a creepy hellish machinelike soundscape of post industrial hiss and grind, deep rumbling swells, thick hissing walls of muted buzz, buried melodies, disembodied voices and buried melodies, all very grim and apocalyptic, think MZ412, Lustmord or Wolf Eyes, some seriously haunting and harrowing black ambience.
Packaged in a multi paneled black and white jacked and housed in a plastic sleeve. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES.
MPEG Stream: NADJA "Time Is Our Disease"
MPEG Stream: ATAVIST "Certitude"

NADJA / BLACK BONED ANGEL s/t (20 Buck Spin) cd 10.98
A match made in dreamdrone heaven, one that has now spawned a second collaboration, between two of the most prolific in their field. Swapping files back and forth to create a devastatingly potent sonic brew, Nadja and Black Boned Angel have delivered two crushing epics, heavy and blackened, a sonic representation of their combined might.
Unlike the surprisingly poppiness of their first match up, this is a much grimmer beast. Starting with an almost Xasthur-esque opening, rife with slightly sour funereal guitars, a creeping wave of distortion slowly moves in like a persistent rainstorm. After about 6 minutes, the drums kick in like the beginning of a forced march towards a very bleak end. Soon a cloak of industrial strength feedback takes over everything else with occasional pounds of a drum popping up here and there. The results are somewhat like Skullflower's recent work with pulverizing feedback and a harsh grinding feel. Eventually, the blankets of distortion subside and the song ends with a low rumbling sound and a sustained burst of high pitched skree. The second number here opens with a low hum that constantly turns on itself before a sloooooooooooow dirgey beat comes in, taking the on its strange circular path. Some heavy subsonic riffs enter the picture at the 13 minute mark, merging with the rest of the fuzzed out drones, and the song becomes so heavy that it seems like at any moment it might collapse on itself due to the sheer density of it all. Still, a discernible melody cuts through to bring the piece to its SUNNO)))-styled conclusion, 26 minutes later. Whew.
Perfect listening for anyone looking to get lost in the epic sonic sludge of these two masters.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

NADJA / BLACK BONED ANGEL s/t (20 Buck Spin) lp 15.98
NOW ON VINYL! And comes with an MP3 download as well...
A match made in dreamdrone heaven, one that has now spawned a second collaboration, between two of the most prolific in their field. Swapping files back and forth to create a devastatingly potent sonic brew, Nadja and Black Boned Angel have delivered two crushing epics, heavy and blackened, a sonic representation of their combined might.
Unlike the surprisingly poppiness of their first match up, this is a much grimmer beast. Starting with an almost Xasthur-esque opening, rife with slightly sour funereal guitars, a creeping wave of distortion slowly moves in like a persistent rainstorm. After about 6 minutes, the drums kick in like the beginning of a forced march towards a very bleak end. Soon a cloak of industrial strength feedback takes over everything else with occasional pounds of a drum popping up here and there. The results are somewhat like Skullflower's recent work with pulverizing feedback and a harsh grinding feel. Eventually, the blankets of distortion subside and the song ends with a low rumbling sound and a sustained burst of high pitched skree. The second number here opens with a low hum that constantly turns on itself before a sloooooooooooow dirgey beat comes in, taking the on its strange circular path. Some heavy subsonic riffs enter the picture at the 13 minute mark, merging with the rest of the fuzzed out drones, and the song becomes so heavy that it seems like at any moment it might collapse on itself due to the sheer density of it all. Still, a discernible melody cuts through to bring the piece to its SUNNO)))-styled conclusion, 26 minutes later. Whew.
Perfect listening for anyone looking to get lost in the epic sonic sludge of these two masters.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

NAGELFAR Virus West (Van) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've been meaning to re-list this for a while now. A reissue of one of our favorite black metal records EVER. Virus West, originally released way back in 2001, was the final step in this German band's progression, from folky Viking black metal to experimental avant black metal to something way more primal and raw, but somehow no less original or avant.
AQ list subscribers who might not have been hip to these guys back in the day, might recognize the name, as some of the Nagelfar folks went on to form big time aQ faves Ruins of Beverast and Kermania as well as the equally brilliant Graupel and Verdunkeln (who we have yet to review/list).
So what is it exactly about this disc that makes it so amazing? It's a bit hard to describe. The sound is very Scandinavian, harkening back to the classic sound of the nineties Norwegian elite. The sound is thick and buzzing, the vocals a chaotic howl, the drumming a crushing pound as often as a thrashing blast, but as with most things like this, much of the magic is mood and atmosphere, and these guys conjure up a truly intense and darkly magical mood, while at the same time, kicking out some of the most classic sounding riffs ever. Much of their time is spent plodding doomily along, buzzing midtempo lurches in the spirit of Darkthrone, but they also offer up some serious thrashing blackness, peppered with long slow crawls, chanted monk like vocals, lots of dynamics, stop start riffing, weird keyboards, little bits of triumphant majesty giving way to brutal growling black metal buzz, field recordings, bits of dark fluttery folk, but again it's the mood that makes this record, the way the band capture a certain essence, the spirit of black metal, managing to be true and grim and classic sounding, but also just fucked up enough to make it special, and part of that is the fact that the songs are all crazy catchy, with a certain amount of groove, hooks everywhere, the riffs stick in your head, the songs, as black and buzzy as they are, linger like pop songs long after the record ends.
The final track, "Meuterei", is the perfect encapsulation of what was so great about Nagelfar. Beginning with some strummed acoustic guitars, some Viking style chanting, the band launch into a cool midtempo mathy metallic old school metal groove, underpinned by furious blast beats, until they switch it up into a triumphant metal march, complete with what sounds like horns playing a regal fanfare. Then we're back in the grimy old school black metal filth, a buzzing snarling midtempo crush, before exploding into some chaotic blackened riffing, various guitar parts all tangled up into a heaving roiling whole, the drums holding it together with their relentless pound, so goddamn good.
Such a shame this marked the end of Nagelfar, but for those who still need more, be sure and check out Ruins Of Beverast, Verdunkeln and all the rest...
MPEG Stream: "Hellebarn"
MPEG Stream: "Sturm Der Katharsis"

NAHAR La Fascination Du Pire (Avantgarde) cd 13.98
Latest blast of black metal murk from this French duo, whose grim brand of depressive bedroom black metal has been getting lots of play around here, the sound muddy and muted and washed out, lo-fi for sure, but lush in its low fidelity, the long stretches of blasting buzz, seeming to melt into a more droned out buzz, the tempos constantly shifting, with a second guitar adding some woozy post rocky melodies, not to mention some tripped out synths that add a folky vibe, that sounds almost Native American at times, opener "Face Of Extinction" is the perfect example, it's all grim buzz, but the sounds are sort of soft focus, blurred a bit, instead of being fierce and frenzied, it sounds warped and droney and sort of druggily dreamy, there's some gnarled Deathspell style riffery going on, and its easy to hear that with a huge production, these guys could sound epic, but this murkier sound suits them, the lurching lumbering groove wreathed in strange atonal guitar melodies, and underpinned by bursts of double kick drumming, and then when that synth swoops in, it's weirdly dramatic and folky, and at last here almost Native American sounding.
The sound on the rest of the record is pretty varied, with lots of more traditional blackness, for sure, but also plenty of swooping backwards effects, warbly droned out guitarscapes, that sound like Fear Falls Burning or some other experimental guitarscaper, there are stretches of doomic plod, rife with twisted melodies and bursts of distorted crunch, plenty of loping post rockisms, some D-beat pound (coupled weirdly with monklike chanting), and plenty of noise drenched midtempo lo-fi blackness, culminating in the strange anguished abstract atmospheric blackdoom of the closer.
MPEG Stream: "Face Of Extinction"
MPEG Stream: "Where Others Have Drowned"

NAHUAL TLI End Of The Path (Self Mutilation Services) cd 14.98

NAHUM / FLASKAVSAE split (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another killer match-up between two different UN-black warriors, and yep, that means Christian black metal, a genre we've become pretty dang obsessed with. This one slipped through the cracks, we've had it for a while, bit for some reason never got around listing it until now.
Flaskavsae is one of our favorite of the UN-black hordes (another Flaskavsae split is reviewed elsewhere on this list, teamed with our other favorite, Light Shall Prevail), and these three tracks definite demonstrate why once again. Three murky blasts furious black buzz, the guitars blurred into heaving droney slabs, the programmed drums relentless and machinelike, with awesome off kilter fills, and the vocals a buried monstrous growl, the melodies are epic, the sound sweeping and majestic, there must be keyboards cuz guitars just don't swell like that, or maybe they do, the EEE folks can do fucked up things with sound, the production always as much a part of the sound as the sound itself.
This is the first we've heard from Nahum though, but their sound is a perfect compliment to Flaskavsae's, a furious relentless droned out buzz, the drums chaotic and frenzied, the cymbals awesomely loud in the mix, but it's the vocals that turn this into something fucked up and amazing, a howled falsetto screech, doused in reverb and delay, which results in the vocals careening all over the place, overlapping and getting all tangled up, very dubbed out, which makes the whole track sound sort of psychedelic. Nahum also offer up some gorgeous washed out keyboard-heavy breakdowns, all woozy and dreamy, and some super squiggly leads, all draped over the super distorted murky UN-blackened chaos below. Awesome stuff.
MPEG Stream: NAHUM "Mighty God"
MPEG Stream: FLASKAVSAE "Playing The Harlot"

NAHVALR s/t (Enemies List) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Black metal by its very nature is fairly isolationist, especially considering that one of the mains strains consists of one man bands holed up in their bedroom / attic / shed / shack / cave, shunning humanity, sunlight, any sort of personal interaction, filtering all of that negative hateful energy into their grim black buzz. Even proper black metal groups, with more than one member, are often quite tribal, kvlt-like you might even say, performing sonic rituals in some dimly lit rehearsal space, channeling all manner of dark energy and creating music both bleak and brutal, evil and cathartic. That sound, created by a group, is still intensely personal and to a certain degree is created more out of a need to create, than a need for adoration or success.
But what if you turned that whole dynamic completely around. Removed all aspects of kvlt-ishness, of individualism, what if you created a black metal horde open to anyone, anyone with an amp and a guitar, or even just a computer, could record tracks, and contribute to what would eventually be woven into the first open source black metal record.
And here it is, masterminded by the guys behind gloomy bliss metal duo Have A Nice Life, Nahvalr is indeed, as far as we know the very first "open source" black metal band. Parts and songs were solicited online, contributed via email, handed off in person, donated anonymously, and eventually the HANL guys took all the various tracks and deftly assembled them into this buzzing black behemoth. And there is in fact, plenty of buzz obviously, layer upon layer of crushing downtuned insectoid buzz, but also loads of creepy ambience, weird warbly doomy bits, super lo-fi blasts of near white noise, insane grinding drum machine stutter, haunting black ambience, deep ominous rumbles and softly glowing shimmers, weird chanted vocals, industrial scrape and pound, blown out blissed out blackened drifts of crumbling soft noise, it's all very schizophrenic, but it doesn't at all sound like a hodge podge, it sounds more like a truly expansive sprawling chunk of demented abstract black metal weirdness. Which is precisely what it is. It just so happens that there's way more than 4 or 5 guys "in the band."
Some songs are so steeped in buzz it sounds like records by Ildjarn, Velvet Cacoon and Wrath Of The Weak all being played simultaneously, other tracks are loosed from their black metal moorings and sound like Skullflower, thick sheets of sound, spaced out noise drenched ur-drones, others are gloomy and darkly melodic, simple guitarlines unfurling over streaks of feedback, howled anguished vocals, and shimmering black drones, while still others are furious dense blasts of raw, noisy black metal, in the red, speaker destroying missives from hell, swirling and roiling and churning maniacally, but often splintering into creepy doomic crawls or fucked up abstract Abruptum like blackened soundscapes.
The record begins with a sample of conspiracy theorist and radio talk show host Art Bell, talking about digging a hole to hell in Siberia, before launching into blown out super saturated black metal blast, but the source material is so varied, that even the parts that sound like black metal on the surface, have so much going on just below, twisted warbly melodies, keening wails, disembodied voices, textures and layers, so immersive and expansive, headphones are like X-ray goggles, revealing a whole other world hidden to the casual listener. The record then swerves from warped slow motion ambient doom, to soundscapes of high end skree and garbled guitarnoise, to grinding blacknoize fury, to downright gorgeous blissy drones and all the other various sonic stops mentioned above. Not at all typical black metal, instead, more of a weird sound experiment, based around black metal tropes, and created with a core of buzzing blackness, but allowed to sprawl WELL past the usual boundaries that define the genre, creating something extraordinary yet still distinctly black in the process.
MPEG Stream: "Chorus Of Blasphemes"
MPEG Stream: "Bloodflood"
MPEG Stream: "Black Elk Speaks, Chokes, And Dies"

NAILGUNNER Apocalypse. Now Or Never (AreaDeath) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Also found we had a couple of these, never listed. Another band doing the whole old school thrash metal revival thing, this time from Finland. The cleverly titled Apocalyspe. Now Or Never is their debut full-length. While they don't quite attain the rabid off-the-rails insanity of our particular Finnish thrash faves Pyrotoxic (RIP), they're still pretty entertaining if you're into the current wave of thrash nostalgia. Fast, frazzled, chugga-chugga-chugga bleaaaargh right out of the gate, and it doesn't let up. Wretched vokills lay down the thrash law over pummelling battery and razor sharp riffin' guitar grind. For fans of Slayer and the like.
MPEG Stream: "Futuristic Deth"
MPEG Stream: "On Metal Monsters We Ride"

NAILS Unsilent Death (Southern Lord) cd 10.98
A record this short should probably get an equally short review, just don't want to sell Nails short, cuz for what their record lacks in length, it makes up for in sheer crushing ferocity. 10 tracks in 14 minutes, a relentless onslaught of classic Earache Records style grind from these SoCal crushers, downtuned guitars blasting beats, guttural vocals, screeching feedback, gnarled tangly leads, the occasional bit of lumbering doom, a frantic whirlwind of powerviolent brutality, a nearly non-stop blast of face melting Napalm Death style classic old school grind. Heavy as hell and definitely recommended for folks who like it fast and furious and filthy as fuck.
MPEG Stream: "Conform"
MPEG Stream: "Scum Will Rise"
MPEG Stream: "Unsilent Death"

NAILS Unsilent Death (Southern Lord) lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL TOO! And in a super heavy gatefold jacket to boot!
A record this short should probably get an equally short review, just don't want to sell Nails short, cuz for what their record lacks in length, it makes up for in sheer crushing ferocity. 10 tracks in 14 minutes, a relentless onslaught of classic Earache Records style grind from these SoCal crushers, downtuned guitars blasting beats, guttural vocals, screeching feedback, gnarled tangly leads, the occasional bit of lumbering doom, a frantic whirlwind of powerviolent brutality, a nearly non-stop blast of face melting Napalm Death style classic old school grind. Heavy as hell and definitely recommended for folks who like it fast and furious and filthy as fuck. (And it's even faster if you spin it at 45 instead of 33!)
MPEG Stream: "Conform"
MPEG Stream: "Scum Will Rise"
MPEG Stream: "Unsilent Death"

NAIMA, TONY & THE BITTERS Dismember (Tosom) cd 15.98
Hard to resist a record with a bloody teddy bear on the cover, its fuzzy arm torn off and laying in a pool of blood, bone and sinew and gristle exposed. The record simply titled Dismember. Even harder to resist when you realize it's actually a country band, covering songs by Swedish death metallers Dismember, and far from being a joke, it sounds amazing, grim and dark, twangy and catchy, the twang and shuffle offset by horns, which add a strange funeral vibe to the proceedings.
Some of the song titles sound like they could very well actually be country songs, "I Saw Them Die", "In Death's Cold Embrace", "Dreaming In Red", but others maybe not so much so: "Where Ironcrosses Grow", "Let The Napalm Rain"... The record begins with a brief whispery intro, hushed female vocals, crooning all intimate right in your ear, before the band launches into a rollicking campfire stomp, all minor key twang, shuffling percussion, warbly Hammond organ, insistently strummed steel string guitar, and a world weary whiskey soaked drawl, culminating in a soaring epic chorus with the repeated line "I tasted blood, now I want more". Sounds like it could be the Old '97's or Sixteen Horsepower. Even a little Decemberists. Elsewhere the band dip into truckstop honky tonk, old time folk, gorgeous languorous swampy blues, epic over the top super dramatic Godspeed bombast (that inexplicably gives way to a super strange electro country tinged new wave jam), Southern rock and shuffling rockabilly...
Our favorite track has to be the darkly doomy and twangy "In Death's Cold Embrace", with its loping rhythmic slither, it's mournful funereal horns, some seriously Woven Hand like vocals, a killer warbly trombone solo, the whole thing just steeped in gothic grandeur, even the lyrics, what little bits you can catch, add to the track's gorgeous creepiness.
It almost doesn't matter that these are covers, fans of Slim Cessna, Sixteen Horsepower and that sort of muddy woodsy gothic swamp blues will definitely dig, but it's sort of thrilling to realize these are bastardized death metal songs, and to realize that melodically, thematically and especially lyrically, country blues is not all that far removed from death metal...
MPEG Stream: "Of Fire"
MPEG Stream: "In Death's Cold Embrace"

NANA APRIL JUN The Ontology Of Noise (Touch) cd 16.98
It's probably no surprise that we were intrigued when we first heard about this disc, after all the press release claims that it "researches the dark associations of post-black metal". And they go on to recommend it to fans of Burzum's masterpiece Filosofem! However, it must be the ambient aspects of Filosofem they're referencing, as you'll find no true frosty guitar buzz here, instead this is a purely digital, all-electronic album released by the UK's ever reliable, experimental Touch label, home to the likes of Fennesz, Philip Jeck, B.J. Nilsen, Chris Watson, and others. Intriguing, eh?
Of course, if we hadn't read that press release, we might never have related this to anything black metal at all, but we'd still like it. It's a very pleasant and varied dronological document, suggestive of field recordings, even though all these sounds are abstract ones, mostly realized inside a computer. There's passages that seem like buzzing insect swarms ("Process Philosophy"), or lashings of wind and rain ("Space-Time Continuum"), or Tibetan temple bells ("Semantic Shift"), or the gentle swaying of leaves and branches in a breeze ("Sun Wind Darkness Eye"). That particular track goes on to generate a mysterious low, soft hum, eventually accompanied by a beating electronic pulse, like much of the minimal techno we enjoy...
It's all quite evocative and lovely, although now that we think about it, some of these sounds could also be, like, cold winds blowing across frozen fjords, or sinister rumblings heard inside a subterranean crypt... And who knows, perhaps Nana April Jun (aka Christofer Lamgren), who hails from Sweden, wears corpsepaint whilst working with his digital tools. Probably not, though, since the majority of the text we read pertaining to this release was on the academic side of things. And although discussions of subjects like "the ontology of noise" and other psuedointellectual concepts can be a mite pretentious, regardless of that, all the whooshing, hissing, droning here is very good listening indeed.
MPEG Stream: "The One Substance"
MPEG Stream: "Process Philosophy"
MPEG Stream: "Space-Time Continuum"

NAPALM DEATH Enemy Of The Music Business (Spitfire) cd 14.98

NAPALM DEATH From Enslavement To Obliteration (Earache) cd 15.98

NAPALM DEATH Noise For Music's Sake (Earache) cd 15.98

NAPALM DEATH Scum (Earache) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another essential grind metal classic available on vinyl for the first time in years. Exact reproduction of the original sleeve and on colored wax! Just like the Carcass vinyl reissue last list, if you don't already know who they are, you probably don't need this, but 'Scum' is definitely Napalm Death's finest moment. Short sharp bursts of ripping, pounding super political sort-of-lo-fi crusty metallic grind. A classic! And for those of you turntable-less fools out there, it is of course still available on cd!

NAPALM DEATH Scum (Earache) cd + dvd 15.98
All the Jesu mania of late has definitely had us revisiting Godflesh, and digging the machinelike metallic bombast of all those records, the seeds of what would one day blossom into Jesu's blissy crush. But way before Godflesh, Mr. Justin Broadrick was wielding his axe in the mighty Napalm Death, whose Scum still ranks as one of the greatest heavy records of all time, and certainly one of, if not THE greatest grind record EVER.
And since we've never listed it, and it just got reissued with a bonus dvd, we figured it was perfect timing. We'd like to assume that any lover of heavy music already owns Scum, if that's not the case something is seriously seriously wrong. But maybe you lost it, or lent it out, maybe you have a beat up old vinyl version and just need to upgrade, whatever it is, this is essential. Like the first few Carcass records (including Heartwork sez Andee!), this is intense, furious forward thinking heavy music. Short sharp bursts of ripping, pounding super political sort-of-lo-fi crusty metallic grind. At the time, nothing like it had been heard. Now, we're on the tail end of about a million mediocre grid bands, which makes it even more exciting to hear the original, the template used by pretty much every band since. And this stuff isn't just fast and heavy, it's weird as fuck too, the riffing is convoluted, weird midtempo chugs are paired with thrashing blast beats, some songs barely crack the 30 second mark, others are churning murky blasts that stretch all the way out to 3 minutes in some cases. The vocals a barked growl, the bass a throbbing blur, but it's the guitar, Broadrick's guitar, that roars and howls and chugs and grinds and defines the sound of Scum. Which, as far as we're concerned, is one of the greatest sounds we've ever heard.
This limited reissue includes a bonus dvd about the making of Scum, the early days of Napalm Death, Earache, and the scene and city that birthed the band. It's pretty interesting, lots of interviews, Dig from Earache, write Malcolm Dome, but mostly with drummer Mick Harris, who takes us to the band's old rehearsal space, now defunct venues, and talks all about those good ol' days. It's a bit of a bummer they couldn't rope Bullen or Broadrick into getting interviewed, and it's criminal that there is no awesome unearthed footage of the band back in the day, but even with those minor quibbles, it is a pretty cool extra, and it's definitely fascinating to learn more about the band and their roots. But dvd or no dvd, YOU MUST BUY SCUM NOW!!!
MPEG Stream: "Multinational Corporations"
MPEG Stream: "The Kill"
MPEG Stream: "Scum"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrificed"
MPEG Stream: "Human Garbage"
MPEG Stream: "Life?"
MPEG Stream: "Prison Without Walls"

NAPALM DEATH Scum (Earache) picture disc lp 15.98
All the Jesu mania of late has definitely had us revisiting Godflesh, and digging the machinelike metallic bombast of all those records, the seeds of what would one day blossom into Jesu's blissy crush. But way before Godflesh, Mr. Justin Broadrick was wielding his axe in the mighty Napalm Death, whose Scum still ranks as one of the greatest heavy records of all time, and certainly one of, if not THE greatest grind record EVER.
And since we've never listed it, and it just got reissued with a bonus dvd, we figured it was perfect timing. We'd like to assume that any lover of heavy music already owns Scum, if that's not the case something is seriously seriously wrong. But maybe you lost it, or lent it out, maybe you have a beat up old vinyl version and just need to upgrade, whatever it is, this is essential. Like the first few Carcass records (including Heartwork sez Andee!), this is intense, furious forward thinking heavy music. Short sharp bursts of ripping, pounding super political sort-of-lo-fi crusty metallic grind. At the time, nothing like it had been heard. Now, we're on the tail end of about a million mediocre grid bands, which makes it even more exciting to hear the original, the template used by pretty much every band since. And this stuff isn't just fast and heavy, it's weird as fuck too, the riffing is convoluted, weird midtempo chugs are paired with thrashing blast beats, some songs barely crack the 30 second mark, others are churning murky blasts that stretch all the way out to 3 minutes in some cases. The vocals a barked growl, the bass a throbbing blur, but it's the guitar, Broadrick's guitar, that roars and howls and chugs and grinds and defines the sound of Scum. Which, as far as we're concerned, is one of the greatest sounds we've ever heard.
YOU MUST BUY SCUM NOW!!!
MPEG Stream: "Multinational Corporations"
MPEG Stream: "The Kill"
MPEG Stream: "Scum"
MPEG Stream: "Sacrificed"
MPEG Stream: "Human Garbage"
MPEG Stream: "Life?"
MPEG Stream: "Prison Without Walls"

NAPPYTIME JUNCTION s/t (360 Stereo Abuse) cd ep 9.98
First off, this is going to be a good review. Maybe even a great review. But first we have to talk about something. I was in New Jersey a while back, in a little rock club, out in the middle of nowhere, and there was a flyer on the wall looking for a lead guitar player. The requirements were simple: must be shredding, heavy, into Slayer and Morbid Angel and all things metal. The band was described as heavy and intense and brutal and they of course were serious and had gigs pending and a recording contract. THEN WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY CALLED "THE DANGEROUS DINGLEBERRIES"?! I kid you not. So why *these* local metallers decided to call themselves "Nappytime Junction" is beyond me. Especially since this record kills. Weird spacey, grindy metal. Huge fuzzy Kyuss guitars playing pounding Sabbathy riffs with howled and shrieked vocals, and the occasional thrashy bit and lots of hyperactive effects overloading the whole thing into stoned out trancey drones before it erupts again into chaotic punked out metal. So if you can, smoke a bong, swig some Jack, get high, jump around or whatever it is you do, and just try to forget that that crazy heavy shit you're banging your head to is called Nappytime Junction. Or better yet, embrace it and put that Nappytime patch right next to your Celtic Frost patch on your crusty old denim vest!
RealAudio clip: "Dinosaur Codpiece"

NARGAROTH Amarok (No Colours) cd 16.98

RealAudio clip: "Black Spell Of Destruction"
RealAudio clip: "Into The Void"

NARGAROTH Black Metal Ist Krieg (No Colours) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Over the past couple of years we've listed, and recommended, a half-dozen or so titles from German one-man-black-metal-band mainstay Kanwulf aka Nargaroth, including his most recent effort, Prosatanica Shooting Angels, just this last December. But we've never had enough stock of this most essential Nargaroth title to stock -and list- until now! No Colours has repressed this, Kanwulf's seminal third No Colours release from 2001, and we've got 'em. And you should get one too. If you're into the real raw necro black metal that is! And if you've got any Nargaroth, you need this too, and if you don't have any, this is the one to start with!
Subtitled "A Dedication Monument", this seems to be an album of black metal *about* black metal. The song titles indicate as much, from the title track to such cuts as "The Day Burzum Killed Mayhem" and "Possessed By Black Fucking Metal". Hard to resist, eh? And it's very clear the black metal he worships is the cult necro stuff, not "nowadays" black metal as he puts it. None of that gothy commerical keyboard black metal here -- not to say WE don't like that stuff too. But we do understand how undergroundier efforts like this MEAN more. Y'know? Somehow a guy obsessed with Burzum and Mayhem and the length of the spikes on his leather arm-brace sometimes (like in the case of Nargaroth) just makes THE most intense, weird, blackest of black metal. It's that sound we can't ever get enough of. Endlessly droning riffs, lengthy and hypnotic arrangements, buzzing Burzumic melodies stumbling galloping rhythms and of course Kanwulf's demonic demon screech. A spiky, scratchy grim black cloak of cult black fuzz.
Nagaroth IS Kanwulf, but on Black Metal Ist Krieg he's aided by guest musicians from Maniac Butcher and BM legends Moonblood.
MPEG Stream: "Black Metal Ist Krieg"
MPEG Stream: "Erik, May You Rape The Angels"

NARGAROTH Dead-Ication (No Colours) 2dvd 15.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Only a few left...
This one is definitely for the true fans only. The grim, the troo, the obsessive. A double dvd collection designed to give the listener / viewer a glimpse into the soul and spirit of Kanwulf, the man who IS Nargaroth. Through the music of Nargaroth obviously, but also, plenty of more personal stuff, some introspective writing, and lots of Vietnam, but more on that in a second.
The first disc, is the live stuff, all shot pretty lo-fi, handheld camcorders, either from the crowd or the side of the stage, the sound super blown out and buzzy, the vocals so high in the mix they nearly swallow up the rest of the music. But the band are tight, the crowds wild, head banging, thrashing, horns held high, recorded live in Belgium, Austria, Portugal and Italy. Having listened to Nargaroth for so long, not only is it weird to see them/him performing live, but also weird to see them playing in what appears to be a school gymnasium, or a small rock club. The music of Nargaroth is so epic and sweeping and majestic, we always envisioned flaming chariots, and dark snowy forests, storm clouds and black skies, so it takes a minute to adjust to the idea that they are in fact an actual band. And even the shit sound quality doesn't detract from the fierce performances.
The second disc is where it gets weird and personal, but in doing so, makes this so much more interesting than your run of the mill music dvd. The first section is called "Dead Shoots", one subsection is marked "Private" and is a slide show of band photos, live shots, images of hills, and seas and trees and skies, plenty of candid "dudes at rock clubs" shots, LOADS of photos of Kanwulf, hanging out with other metalheads, lurking in the forest, or sitting on a station wagon in front of his parent's house, intercut with images of Kanwulf when he was in the army, or sporting Vietnam style camo, all set to some neo-classical soundtrack. But then, Kanwulf is obsessed with the Vietnam War, the last record was called Semper Fi after all, and the next section of the dvd, called "'Nam" is nothing but images from the Vietnam War set to the music of Jefferson Airplane and classical music. Weird! But pretty interesting.
The next section is called "Live Shoots" and is all clips from the various live shows on he first disc, a slideshow set to Nargaroth songs, not sure what these are for, since the other disc has all the same images LIVE, but still some cool shots.
Next up is a section called "Digital Thoughts", personal writings and thoughts from Kanwulf, on making the dvd, and on his development as a person and an artist, very cool and personal, and not at all hung up on the usual grimmer than though stuff.
The there's LOTS more Vietnam. First a section called "Swamp Thing", A sort of homemade Vietnam documentary featuring some amazing shots of the war, images of helicopters and soldiers, jungles smothered in smoke, this time set to the Doors' "The End", Hendrix and other sixties rock, with voiceover from Kanwulf (we presume) telling the story of Vietnam, and its affect on him.
In the same section, another menu leads us to another section, this one called "Vietnam", where Kanwulf writes extensively on Vietnam, his feelings on the war, and how the war influenced his thinking, feeling and music making, as well as his plans to visit Vietnam to try and understand and experience what went on.
There's also a documentary called "No Mexican Tequila Massacre", which is a short film about an aborted Mexican tour, lots of rehearsing, hanging out and drinking, smoking, some jamming, but lots of nothing going on, the guys in the practice space, changing strings, waiting for the show(s) to be confirmed, which they never are. Plus you get to see Kanwulf in BirkenstocksÉ
The final section is called "A Way" and is a surprisingly personal missive about Kanwulf's development as a person from when he started Nargaroth, moving away from hate and emptiness to become more of a real person with real feeling and emotions, scene politics be damned, not at all what you might expect from a black metal legend, but pretty refreshing and heartfelt.
The first disc will definitely appeal to true black metalheads, some awesome rare live footage, appropriately lo-fi and grim, thrashing and black, but the second disc turns this into something way weirder, and way more intimate, as Kanwulf constantly states on the dvd, this is not the sort of thing that endears him to 'the scene', sharing and feeling and honesty are not typically selling points for black metal, but then, this is far from a typical black metal dvd.
Packaged in a full color cover, with a complete discography (including shirts even!) on the flip side visible through the clear dvd case, full color booklet, with notes, and photos, and strangely the second disc seems to be a dvd-r, while the first disc is a proper factory produced dvd. All region. But, it's PAL (not NTSC) so you may only be able to view it on a computer.

NARGAROTH Geliebte Des Regens (No Colours) cd 16.98
We haven't been able to list much Nargaroth, unfortunately, mostly because we've been unable to get enough in stock. But as far as elite black metal goes, Nargaroth stands tall in a dubious pantheon that also includes AQ faves Graveland. Hateful German TRUE black metal, Nargaroth have been spewing anti-Christian vitriol for years now, culminating in their legendary Black Metal Ist Krieg album from 2001. So here we have Kanwulf's (the man who is Nargaroth) latest missive, and it's as bleak and miserably misanthropic as ever. Four epic tracks of brittle frosty guitars, plodding midtempos, struggling simplistic drumming, occasional fuzzed out blast beats, throat shredding howls and truly cold cold atmospheric ambience. It's all about the DRONE and the DIRGE. Ten plus minutes of the same riff, sawing away and lulling you into a trancelike state, letting the minor key melodies drift from beneath the sheets of icy guitars and and settle on your lifeless body, entranced by the endless riffage. Seriously, this is like a black metal Gore (Dutch hypno metallers who specialised in repetition). So endless and hypnotic and totally transcendent. And like most black metal we champion, just to keep you confused, there are lots of ambient forest sounds, birds, dripping water, rain, and of course didgeridoos(!). Plus inexplicably, the photo of Kanwulf on the inside of the digipak has lyrics from the Moody Blues' "Knights In White Satin" printed over it!
MPEG Stream: "Manchmal Wenn Sie Schlaft"

NARGAROTH Hervstleyd (No Colours) cd 16.98

RealAudio clip: "Hervstleyd"
RealAudio clip: "Karmageddon"

NARGAROTH Prosatanica Shooting Angels (No Colours) cd 16.98
By now, you should know what you're getting into with every new Nargaroth record. A blast of hateful, misanthropic, buzzing lo-fi black metal madness, grim and sorrowful, a Burzumic hatescape of midtempo pummel and stumbling blast beats with creepy ambient interludes of rumbling drone and gutteral vocalisations (and even a Blue Velvet sample). If that sounds like your particular blackened cup of tea then by all means, you're gonna love this. But as they say, the devil is in the details, and with Nargaroth the details are always completely baffling and brilliant. Beginning with the "band" photo in the booklet. Above the picture in huge letters: "No Dark Throne Fan!" and below it the words: "Poser picture of Kanwulf inside a barn". And the photo does indeed show Kanwulf (who is Nargaroth) wielding a rifle and posing in front of huge bales of hay! Then there's the song titles: "Love Is Always Over With Ejaculation", "Be Dead Or Satanic", "Satan Industries", "Thinking Below The Ocean". And of course there's a dedication section, divided into "Thoughts about Death Cocks" and "Thoughts About Black Spikes", both of which hail a handful of bands, specifying of course the OLD versions or DEMO versions of most of them. And finally there's a paragraph detailing an infamous shootout that Kanwulf sampled gunfire from, and his final quote pretty much says it all: "Most of melodies and riffs were created during the recording itself, by making mistakes or by playing something just to fill up some empty spaces between two different melodies. I didn't spent much time for the creation. That's the way so called "satanic art" should created! The "Satan" within us acts! He does not try!"
MPEG Stream: "Be Dead Or Satanic"
MPEG Stream: "Satan Industries"

NARGAROTH Rasluka Part II (No Colours) cd ep 13.98
Talk about cult black metal! Nargaroth's Rasluka Part II (not sure what happened to Part I...) pretty much defines it. This four song, 25 minute ep is the latest blast of hate-filled mayhem from infamous German black metal maniac Kanwulf and his hordes.
Like all true black metal, this begins with a creepy intro track, featuring someone playing a recorder along to a bunch of morosely-quacking ducks, which then gives way to Naragoth's equally morose but much louder buzzing guitar/drum pound and vocal rasping, a la Burzum, Mayhem, Darkthrone. Nice n' evil like it should be. But despite the almost symphonic, ambient cascades of distortion in which their music is bathed, as well as Kanwulf & Co.'s questionable ideology, this is still at heart simply rock n' roll -- which goes some way to explaining why track four is preceded by sound samples discussing the drunken death of AC/DC's original singer Bon Scott!
RealAudio clip: "...Und Ich Sah Sonn' Nimmer Heben "

NARGAROTH Rasluka Pt. 1 (No Colours) cd 13.98
With black metal's focus on Nordic pride, Satanism, anti-Christianity and EVIL, it's easy to forget how ultra personal and intense the music making process can be. A way to purge the soul, keep depression at bay, satisfy the need to create, and in the case of Nargaroth's Rasluka eps, to mourn the loss of a friend. This is Rasluka part one, not to be confused with part two which came out first, but both have been lyrically and spiritually based on Kanwulf's (the sole member of Nargaroth) experience of losing a close friend and going through the emotions of that loss, the grief and the anger and the regret. The story inside the booklet is truly heart wrenching, and the music is appropriately buzzing and snarling, a thorny sonic miasma of violent emotions laid out in sound, the usual black metal elements are present, the droning simple riffs, the relentlessly pounding drums, the demonic vocals, but coupled with the story behind the songs, they music seems imbued with just that much more intensity and brutality and hopelessness. The fact that the first two tracks are based on Chopin's "Funeral March" seems a bit hokey at first, but that too-familar melody is soon obliterated by a massive overblown black metal onslaught, that pounds away relentlessy, abating only occasionally to allow haunting heavily reverbed piano to shimmer sadly and then fade into the distance before it's quickly subsumed again by a churning, roiling wave of fierce blackness. So good.
MPEG Stream: "Rasluka Pt. 1"

NARGAROTH Semper Fidelis (No Colours) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally recorded back in 2001, and intended to be a musical 'fuck off' and 'farewell' to the black metal scene, which as far as Nargaroth mainman Kanwulf was concerned had turned into something sad, sorry and distasteful, finally sees the light of day after 6 years of laying dormant. Not sure what changed after the recording of Semper Fidelis ("always faithful"), but Kanwulf continued to record, letting this vitriolic slab of scene directed hate sit hidden and covered in dust, to fester and remain nothing but a musical myth.
The original version of this disc was limited to 99 copies, and to receive one, you had to write a letter to Kanwulf, explaining to him some personal secrets or weaknesses, sharing some dark part of your soul. In exchange, not only did you receive the record, but also various personal and intimate belongings from Kanwulf's home and private collection. Needless to say, no one here or anyone we know, managed to be one of the lucky 99, thankfully, Kanwulf decided to release the record anyway, allowing the rest of the scene enjoy his blackened scorn and brutal contempt.
Good thing too, cuz this stuff is amazing. Ultra raw, super fierce. The sound is pretty lo-fi, the guitars a corrosive buzz so thick that the riffs are sometimes smeared into near drones, the drums are buried underneath it all, more of a throb than a beat, and the vocals are probably as harsh as they've ever been, a raspy howl, acidic and bitter, a hellish hoarse caterwaul. The songs too are raw and simple, pounding monochromatic blasts of blackness, laced with sorrowful melodies, but for the most part straight ahead and generally midtempo, no furious blasts, no plodding doom, just a relentless black crush, primitive, raw and very very kvlt indeed. But as with much music like this, the key is close listening, the various riffs and melodies, changing shape and revealing hidden darknesses not necessarily obvious at first glance, the relentless mesmeric riffing, only a few steps removed from the ultimate soundform, the drone. These tracks are epic and majestic in their stripped down simplicity, hypnotic and repetitive and so gloriously trance inducing.
The liner notes give some hints as to the background of this record, and the strange mindset of Kanwulf, a missive directed at fans and enemies, a description of the recording, and the amp used (set afire when left on the stove, hurled from the window, beaten with the guitar), and most strangely, the dedications, to Klaus Kinski, the German Federal Armed Forces and the US Marine Corps in Iraq. Semper Fi indeed.
MPEG Stream: "Artefucked"
MPEG Stream: "Der Satan Ist's"
MPEG Stream: "Vereinsamt"

NASTASIA, NINA & JIM WHITE You Follow Me (Fat Cat) cd 14.98
What a perfect pairing! Together the Dirty Three's Jim White and Ms Nina Nastasia strip things down to their bare essentials -- drums, guitar and voice -- to lay their musical hearts bare. With the additional positive of producer Steve Albini, You Follow Me is at once vulnerable and powerful. On songs such as "In The Evening", Nastasia sings with a much more steadfast, resolute strength than usual, and it fits well with the album's overall starkness. Meanwhile White accompanies and punctuates her vocals with dynamic restraint. For fans of dusky, raw melancholia.
MPEG Stream: "In The Evening"
MPEG Stream: "I Come After You"

NASUM Doombringer (Relapse) cd 13.98

NASUM Grind Finale (Relapse) 2cd 17.98
What should have been a joyous celebration of pounding grinding metal madness and a massive tribute to one of the greatest grind bands ever, instead is a eulogy of sorts for Nasum frontman Mieszko Talarczyk who was killed in the South East Asian tsunami of two years ago while vacationing in Thailand. A dark day indeed for friends and family, but also for their legions of fans all over the world. And they were indeed legion, even our own Elliott (formerly of the aQ mailorder team) would be the first to proclaim Nasum one if, if not THE, best grind bands in the world. Tough to argue. They might not be the fastest or the sickest, but as a complete grind package they're tough to beat. Buzzing, snarling guitars, blasting beats, and Mieszko's glass gargling growl swooping madly from punk rock bark to black metal screech to death metal grunt. Most of the songs hover around one minute, but are jam packed with riff after riff, part after part, heavy and dizzyingly aggressive, and pretty dang catchy too. No self respecting grindfreak should ever be caught dead without every bit of Nasum thay can find stuffed into their collection.
This double disc set collects EVERYTHING the band ever recorded (besides their full lengths proper): split 7"s, compilation tracks, unreleased tracks, demos, rare out of print tracks, outtakes, cover songs, Japanese bonus tracks and more! 152 tracks! Two hours! All amazing. Packaged in a beautiful mini hardcover book, with loads of photos, song credits, heartfelt liner notes from the other two band members, extensive notes and reflections on each recording session/song as well as all the lyrics!
MPEG Stream: "Scarecrows"
MPEG Stream: "Corpse Flesh Genitals"
MPEG Stream: "Fur"
MPEG Stream: "Distortion And Disinformation"
MPEG Stream: "Dreamland"

NASUM Helvete (Relapse) cd 14.98

NASUM Shift (Relapse) cd 14.98
It goes without saying that the extent of death and destruction in Southeast and Sub-Continental Asia following the recent tsunami was catastrophic beyond measure, and to single out one death among many stands the potential of belittling the tragedy of others. But Nasum were and are one of my (Elliott's) all-time favorite bands, and this list is meant to inform of musical happenings. So in case fans of the genre haven't heard by now- Mieszko Talarczyk, singer, guitarist and co-founder of one the longest running and most influential grindcore bands in the world -- Sweden's Nasum-- was still missing and presumed dead in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand. It still seems unreal that a community as seemingly far removed from the quake's epicenter as the Scandinavian grindcore scene would be so gravely affected by the disaster, but perhaps this is as demonstrative as anything just how wide-spread was the destruction.
And so we are left with Shift. What was to be simply their fourth stunning full-length of unmatched aural ferocity is instead an inadvertent swan song and an elegy to the voice of its fury. Still setting new land-speed records in the genre they helped define, Nasum were newly a four-piece for the Shift sessions with a second guitarist from Regurgitate and a new bassist from the similarly brutal Sayyadina. Recorded only a year after 2003's masterly Helvete record, Shift features some of the strongest and most diverse songs yet from the band, with all four members contributing to the song-writing -- though of course the default speed of most every song is still set to FUCKING FAST. Blast beats careen nearly out of control until a surgically precise breakdown cuts in to let you know Nasum are never anything less than fully in control of the whirlwind maelstroms their songs evince. Comparable only to the band's own previous output, the sheer mastery of this relentless portrait of violent virtuosity is a constant painful reminder of how dearly Mieszko and his music will be missed by his fans worldwide, and of equivalent losses to thousands more worldwide.
MPEG Stream: "The Deepest Hole"
MPEG Stream: "Pathetic"

NATAS Ciudad de Brahman (Man's Ruin) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This band from Argentina, at times are a dead ringer for desert rockers Kyuss, while at others, they blend an unbelievably lush tapestry of hypnotic rhythms and droning tribal space rock, to make this probably the best thing Man's Ruin has released in ages.

NATAS / DRAGONAUTA split (Icarus) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Stoner rock split cd from these two South American bands, both falling somewhere in the Kyuss/Sabbath realm.

NATIVE IN BLACK At The Mystic Gates Of Eternal Winter (Cold Breath Of Silence) cd 9.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
We most definitely have a thing for Russian black metal, Old Wainds, Stielhas Storhett, Forest, Branikald, Raven Dark, Nav, Ithdabquth Qliphoth, we could go on and on. So we're always psyched to discover some new band we had never heard, or heard of before, such was the case with Native In Black, whose 2008 disc At The Gates Of Eternal Winter we just managed to get in, and it's a killer, but the cool thing is it's a whole different take on black metal than we're used to, especially from Russian bands.
Their sound is cold and grim and frosty and buzzy, but it's not really furious or fast, it's also not stripped down or raw, instead it's almost like some weird variant of classic eighties metal, mixed with a little blackness, and a lot of thrash. It's hard to describe, but much like the Ruins cd reviewed elsewhere on this list, the more we listen to this the better it sounds. Most black metal is droney or blurry, barely headbangable, but this shit is epic, and totally rocking, midtempo most of the time, and when it is fast, it's not blast beats, but more furious and sort of punk rock. Lurching and lumbering, pounding fists in the air. The vocals are awesome too, definitely a black metal shriek, but also frenzied and super dramatic, a bit like Mr. Doctor or something, giving the black metal a distinctly over the top Devil Doll vibe. In fact the more we dig into this record, the less distinctly black metal it sounds, and the more it sounds like some fucked up noise rock band, who just so happen to have some metal roots, a tangled mathy buzz, wrapped around those crazy vox, and shot through with a bit of stumbly punk rock, and streaks of blackened grimnity. Live these guys could easily either be corpsepainted and bespiked, or a bunch of bearded dudes in jeans and tshirts, leaping all over the stage, flailing wildly and stage diving, hardly matters, either way this shit rules!
MPEG Stream: "Blackest Northern Orchestra"
MPEG Stream: "At The Mystic Gates"
MPEG Stream: "Ladies And Gentlemen"

NATTEFROST Terrorist (Season Of Mist) cd 15.98

NATUR Head Of Death (Earache) cd 11.98
This NYC metal band, making their debut on Earache, have a name & logo that seems more appropriate for a bunch of tree-hugging pagan black metallers than what they are, in fact - throwback '80s style NWOBHM inspired earthdogs. And heck yeah, we like that brand of metal! Particularly in the USA, bands like Christian Mistress, Saviours, Dawnbringer, Hour Of 13, High Spirits and DarkBlack are bringing it back; add Natur to the pack. Unpretentious, but not entirely unambitious true heavy metal for the denim and leather, chips and beer crowd. Heavy and galloping with 'decent enough' clean (but not too clean) vocals; the guy's no Bruce Dickinson but he puts it across okay. We do hear some Hetfield in his yowl. While not especially original, they're quite competent, and there's a lot on this disc for old school lovin' metalheads to enjoy, such as the fact that they're doomily heavier sound-wise than almost all 'actual' NWOBHM bands back in the day. And they lean a little bit proggy in parts ("Spider Baby" even hints at Goblin, a bit, with some eerie keys).
The album is (for us) a grower, it took us a couple spins to really get hooked, maybe 'cause their songs are a bit more nuanced and sophisticated than we realized at first. But now we're off the fence and happily headbanging the way Natur intended!
MPEG Stream: "Goblin Shark"
MPEG Stream: "Decion"
MPEG Stream: "Spider Baby"

NAV From Nav To Jav (ASSAVLT) cd 12.98
For those of you patiently awaiting the newest opus from Russian black metallers Old Wainds, expected any day now, this might just hold you over. Two demos of ultra raw black buzz from Old Wainds offshoot Nav, fronted by OW drummer Izbor, available on cd for the first time. Nav's last record, the surprisingly polished and weirdly melodic The Wolf Sun, definitely rubbed a few people the wrong way, with a sound way more NWOBHM than black metal, not so much blasting and buzzing as riffing and rocking. Sure it was unexpected, but we dug it anyway. Maybe precisely because it was so awesomely confounding.
But this is something else entirely. Something more like the Nav (and the Old Wainds) we know and love. Imagine the first Nav, Halls Of Death, via Old Wainds' Wither Of The Wainds, and you'll get something very much like From Nav To Jav, the sound on these demos, originally released in 1996 / 1997 is raw raw raw, super lo-fi, chaotic and frenzied, the guitars are murky and muddy, the riffing surprisingly complex, but plenty blurry and washed out, the drums wild and splattery, the vocals a harsh demonic croak, with long swaths of fuzzy warbly keyboards, the recording in the red and ultra distorted, causing the songs to seemingly warp and crumble as they come careening out of the speakers. Sort of like the EEE un-black releases, the recording here is as much a part of the sound as the songs. A sound so saturated and fucked up, it almost sounds like Faxed Head, but still with that unmistakable Russian sound, so distinctive and evocative, hateful and harsh, shot through with a drone drenched buzz, killer riffing, everything completely fried and fractured and gloriously blown out.
Essential obviously for fans of all things Nav, Wainds, Russian and black, but maybe just as crucial for anyone into raw metallic chaos, and droney distorted buzz (lots of overlap there wethink), or heck, even if you just wished Faxed Head were deadly serious and way more heavy, then this is most definitely for you.
MPEG Stream: "A Hymn To Cold Silence"
MPEG Stream: "The Warriros Of The Icy Wilderness"
MPEG Stream: "From Nav To Jav"

NAV Halls Of Death (Assault Records) cd 13.98
This bleak black slab of blown out Russian blackness from Nav (featuring folks from AQ faves Old Wainds) is back in stock...
Very much like how all the black metal bands in the Ukraine seem to be made up of the same 5 or 10 people, just in different combinations, black metal bands in Russia also tend to revolve around the same 2 or 3 visionaries, along with whatever black legions they can enlist from their little scene to help shape their black musical world.
We've reviewed a handful of discs from Russian cult underground legends Old Wainds over the last year, who as we mentioned in those reviews, are THE grim cult horde of choice among the black metal elite. And almost appropriately, all of their records seem to be way more difficult to track down than they should be, and thus of course, seem to always eventually end up seriously big ticket items on eBay.
So here we have the group Nav, also known in Russian as HABb, a black metal band made up of 50 percent of Old Wainds, primarily the project of Old Wainds drummer Izbor, so as you might imagine, the sound does not wander far from Old Wainds' grim frosty buzz. Which is of course a good thing. The same sort of fuzzed out primitivism, a gloriously murky production. But Nav add plenty of their own unique style, everything is so strangely mixed, with loud LOUD drums and guitars that swirl into a nearly impenetrable blackened haze. Demonic vocals that go from buried way down in the mix to a blown out raspy roar often within the same song, and bits of chaotic rhythmic stumble and haunting ambient weirdness, complete with the thunderous sound of horses hooves.
And unlike the straight black buzz of Old Wainds, Nav sounds a slight bit more melodic, with much of the riffing displaying a classic metal vibe, as well as rhythms that vary from the old black stand-by, the blast beat, lurching lopes, galloping thrash, pounding doom, lots of fuzzed out midtempos, all twisted amidst some strange breakdowns, where the rhythms constantly shift and the riffs contort and morph into slightly different shapes, there are even some super demented LEADS! Still, all the while the band continues to forge a wholly unique pitch black path. Fans of all things dark and frosty and cult and grim would do well to bow before the black knights of Nav!
MPEG Stream: "Halls Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Galloping From The Blizzard's Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Icy Armour On The Peak Of The World"

NAV Halls Of Death (Forever Plagued) lp 16.98
Very much like how all the black metal bands in the Ukraine seem to be made up of the same 5 or 10 people, just in different combinations, black metal bands in Russia also tend to revolve around the same 2 or 3 visionaries, along with whatever black legions they can enlist from their little scene to help shape their black musical world.
We recently reviewed the only currently available disc from Russian cult underground legends Old Wainds, who as we mentioned in that review, are THE grim cult horde of choice among the black metal elite. And almost appropriately, all of their records, minus the just reviewed demo disc, seem to be way more difficult to track down than they should be, and thus of course, are seriously big ticket items on eBay.
So here we have the group Nav, also known in Russian as HABb, a black metal band made up of 50 percent of Old Wainds, primarily the project of Old Wainds drummer Izbor, so as you might imagine, the sound does not wander far from Old Wainds' grim frosty buzz. Which is of course a good thing. The same sort of fuzzed out primitivism, a gloriously murky production. But Nav add plenty of their own unique style, everything is so strangely mixed, with loud LOUD drums and guitars that swirl into a nearly impenetrable blackened haze. Demonic vocals that go from buried way down in the mix to a blown out raspy roar often within the same song, and bits of chaotic rhythmic stumble and haunting ambient weirdness, complete with the thunderous sound of horses hooves.
And unlike the straight black buzz of Old Wainds, Nav sounds a slight bit more melodic, with much of the riffing displaying a classic metal vibe, as well as rhythms that vary from the old black stand-by, the blast beat, lurching lopes, galloping thrash, pounding doom, lots of fuzzed out midtempos, all twisted amidst some strange breakdowns, where the rhythms constantly shift and the riffs contort and morph into slightly different shapes, there are even some super demented LEADS! Still, all the while the band continues to forge a wholly unique pitch black path. Fans of all things dark and frosty and cult and grim would do well to bow before the black knights of Nav!
We haven't been able to track down the cd, but we do have the ULTRA LIMITED vinyl version. Gatefold sleeve. Limited to 300 copies!
MPEG Stream: "Halls Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Galloping From The Blizzard's Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Icy Armour On The Peak Of The World"

NAV The Wolf Sun (Forever Plagued) cd 11.98
Old Wainds. Maybe one of our favorite black metal bands ever. They're from Russia, and bands like Crebain and Leviathan and pretty much every metal band we know LOVE them. And while they're not fucked up and damaged and freaked out and fractured like much of the black metal we love, they manage to move us in a similarly strange way, by employing the usual black metal tropes, the buzz, the blast, the grim necro vocals, the furious riffing, but turning them into something emotional and dark and unique, which is a rarity in a genre that in many ways insists on uniformity, to remain grim and cvlt and true.
In our obsession we also discovered Nav, HABb in Russian, the project of former Old Wainds drummer Izbor, and featuring at least one other member of Old Wainds. Their sound was not all that far removed from the OW mothership, if anything they managed to sound a bit more chaotic and a lot more like classic eighties metal. More old school riffing and melodies, but that sound still somehow woven into OW's super distinctive black metal.
As we wait hopefully for word from Old Wainds, regarding the rumored new album (and while we wait for news about all of their other releases, none of which we've been able to track down for ages, sorry), we've got a brand new Nav record, 4 years on from their debut, and if anything, they've gone even more classic old school metal. So much so, that minus the vocals, and some extra grim buzz, one might be forgiven for thinking this was some unearthed blackthrash rarity from1988.
Just take the first song, starting with a lo-fi classic metal riff, that quickly ramps up to full strength, some noodly leads, a splatter of chaotic almost-blast beats, until the song lurches into a full on metal gallop, the riffing not black at all, instead totally timeless, with shouted background vocals, some woozy arpeggiated breakdowns, and then about halfway through some full on tweaked and trippy keyboards that ooze and warble and buzz and make the whole thing sound slightly maniacal. But soon the keyboards are replaced by some furious leads, until the end, when haunting swells fade in and out until the end.
And then just like that, we're hurled back into the melee, more speed metal riffing, pounding drumming, freaky spaced out keyboards, every song featuring long stretches where the band drops out and the guitarist just riffs all on his own, often 2 or 3 times per song! Plus there's even a track called "Old Wainds" which is a total slow doomy groove, almost a black metal ballad, with swooshes of synth, and a total eighties metal main riff, which does eventually give way to some buzzing blackness, but throughout the song they continue to return to the old school.
It's hard to imagine ANY metalhead that wouldn't dig this like crazy, the sound is huge and heavy, the riffs are crazy catchy, might not be black enough for some, but for what it lacks in blackness, it more than makes up for in true metal!
MPEG Stream: "Night Of Long Knives"
MPEG Stream: "Wolf's Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Old Wainds"

NEAR The Opening Of The Primordial Whirl (De Tenebrarum Principio) cd 13.98

NEBEL s/t (Oaken Shield) cd 13.98

NEBULA Atomic Ritual (Liquor And Poker Music) cd 11.98