ORANG-UTAN s/t (Buy Or Die) cd 22.00
Here's another good 'un for you Seventies proto-metal lovin' brothers and sisters out there, being another cd reissue of a vintage slab of heavy psych rock from way back when, in the vein of Captain Beyond, Dust, Bang, Leafhound and the like... We don't know much about Orang-utan other than that this was probably their only release, a self-titled album from 1971, and they hailed from England (we think). Certainly this is a bit Zeppish in spots. A minor lost classic? Perhaps. This rocks hard and melodic with a melancholic emotional edge to many of the songs, not just the mellower ones. Great vox and riffage! 2005, digipack edition now.
MPEG Stream: "Slipping Away"
MPEG Stream: "Chocolate Piano"

ORANGE GOBLIN Coup De Grace (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We want to like this British stoner rock band, really we do, but despite their hard-rockin, heavy ways we really just can't get into 'em that much. But, they're ok. This, their third or fourth album (see, we just don't care) is produced by one guy from Kyuss and has another, their singer, doing guest vocals on two songs. But (to their credit, perhaps) they don't sound like those oft-cloned desert rockers. No, "Coup De Grace" is more of a shit-kickin' motorcycle-ridin' rawk affair with gruff vocals and cowboy boots. More nu-grunge for the '00s. We can't really say what if anything is wrong with this, but it's just not grabbing anyone here at the moment, sorry. Maybe we need to hear it at a party or something. Stoner rock types should check out the audio clip for yourselves and see what you think.
RealAudio clip: "Whiskey Leech"

ORANGE GOBLIN Thieving From The House Of God (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
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ORANGE GOBLIN Time Travelling Blues (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
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The newest from these retro-'70s English stoner groove merchants, fixated on motorcycles and mushrooms and similar good things. Heavy, similar to Sheavy, ready to party. Plus there's lots of blissful spaced out grooves to relax to after the party as well.

ORANGE SUNSHINE Bullseye Of Being (Leaf Hound) cd 16.98
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Orange Sunshine are a freaky, fuzzed-out power trio from Holland who really really wish they existed in San Francisco circa 1969. Their sound, their graphics, even their name is inspired by heavy Frisco sixties legends Blue Cheer (Orange Sunshine being another "brand" of LSD). They just were in the USA on tour, and we saw 'em live a few weeks back at the Hemlock. Their singing drummer was definitely the star of the show. Long haired, bearded, totally hippified, he was a wild man, pulling crazy faces the whole time he was playing. It seemed quite likely that his number one drummer hero growing up was Animal from The Muppets. Coming to San Francisco to play their Blue Cheer-y music, they took it as far as they could -- even doin' their own version of "Summertime Blues"!!
This new album of theirs (don't believe where it says on the back cover that it was recorded in 1970, that's more fantasy on their part, though they do their best to make that claim almost seem likely) makes us think Acid Mothers Temple crossed with Blue Cheer. Not too hard to imagine, eh? This disc's opener, the 15 and a half minute "Ruler Of The Universe" leans towards the AMT side of that equation, being a spacey, faux Eastern sitar and tablas raga meets flying saucer lift-off sort of epic. Following that, the three minutes of "Speed" sizzle nicely. Then we get a fairly faithful cover of Cream's "Sunshine Of Your Love". They just couldn't resist cranking out Jack Bruce's (not Eric Clapton's) most famous riff themselves we guess. Nothing wrong with that, but we liked how on their earlier Love=Acid, Space=Hell album they picked things to cover that actual '60s heavy rock bands would have done, like stuff by Bo Diddley. Still it's cool hearing it given the Blue Cheer, we mean Orange Sunshine treatment. Next up, "Demonize" (or is it "Demon's Eye"?) is a blown-out, wailin' stomper that wouldn't have been out of place on Vincebus Eruptum -- although it's actually a Deep Purple cover. And then the album comes to a fuzzy finale with another Blue Cheerish number entitled "Balls Knockin'". Turns out that's the only track here that's NOT a cover. Though we've never heard of the bands that did "Speed" and "Ruler Of The Universe" before: Ron Allen Light Show and Terry Brooke's Strange, respectively. Kinda makes up for the obviousness of the Cream choice. Seems like these guys really DO live in their own drugged-out, time-looped 1968-1971 universe and it's real nice of them to let us join 'em for the authentic acid rock experience now and then!
MPEG Stream: "Balls Knockin'"
MPEG Stream: "Ruler Of The Universe"

ORANSSI PAZUZU Muukalainen Puhuu (Violent Journey) cd 14.98
Yet again, Finland delivers some divine delirious musical weirdness, this time in the form of psychedelic black metal freaks Oranssi Pazuzu, whose sound hews somewhat to the conventional tropes of black metal, but only somewhat, letting the requisite buzz and blast, splinter into swirling spaced out psychedelia, slow burning ambient space rock, PROG, druggy post rock, and pretty much any other strange sonic avenue these guys decide to explore. Think classic buzzing black metal, but then mix in some krautrock, lots of space rock (there's an astronaut on the cover for a reason!), classic hard rock and heavy metal, tons of not very black metal instruments, mellotrons, synthesizers, Hammond organs, strange vocal harmonies, it's really hard to explain what these guys are going for, but it's something spaced out and blackened, gnarled and abstract, but sprawling and expansive.
The opening track begins with muted drums and swirling electronics, soft focus chords, a strangely serene buzzscape, before the track kicks in with soaring high end riffage, pounding drums, only to break down into a sort of Hawkwindy workout, albeit with harsh vokills, but also all sorts of swoops and trills, sounds like maybe a Theremin, the band slip back and forth between blasting epic blackness, and tripped out stripped down spacejam, the guitars are rubbery and tangled, the bass a loping pulse, the riffs are strangely effected and stutter and ripple out, while a second guitar sprays shimmering harmonics out like stars in a black night sky. The second track opens up like a lost Gary Numan track, all Cars-style haunting synths, and simple motorik beats, over haunting high end melodies, peppered with bursts of furious blackness and weird chugging post rock parts.
Soon after the band slows down to full on shimmery near ballad, warbly guitars, simple skeletal drumming, hushed growled vox, before exploding into a complex keyboard driven prog workout, which leads into a more metal march.
The more we listen to these guys, the less they sound like a weird black metal band, and more like some heavy space prog band who just happens to incorporate elements of black metal into their sound. Which seems more apt considering very little of the record is spent buzzing and blasting, instead, the songs sprawl and expand into epic, convoluted spaced out prog, complex and catchy, but also obtuse and difficult, but totally unique and confounding and fantastically original.
We'd recommend this to adventurous black metallers for sure, but it almost seems like it was tailor made for all you Finnish music obsessives who have been on the lookout for something heavier and blacker and proggier and more freaked out and fucked up even than the usual Finnish fare, well friends, if this isn't what you were after, we don't know what it...
MPEG Stream: "Korppi"
MPEG Stream: "Danjon Nolla"
MPEG Stream: "Kangastus 1968"
MPEG Stream: "Suuri Paa Taivaasta"

ORCHID Capricorn (The Church Within) cd 17.98
Once again, not to be confused with the old sceamo band THE Orchid, but yes very much to be confused with BLACK SABBATH, that's their schtick as it were, this Bay Area based doom metal act now offering up their debut full-length album after a four-song ep that we considered almost a guilty pleasure because of how much Orchid sounded utterly, EXACTLY like Black Sabbath. That's what they do, and they do it damn well. There's been other bands who emulate the Sabs, of course, that's the whole "doom metal" genre really, but Orchid sound more like Sabbath than even, say, Iron Man, sHeavy, or Sleep on Sleep's Holy Mountain!
The vocalist's version of Ozzy, though, is maybe more of a malevolent one, he comes off like Ozzy with a grimacing, evil edge. Riff wise, it's Iommi all the way. Really, every moment here sounds like it's been lifted of an old Sabbath lp, but rearranged/rewritten into Orchid's all "new" Sabbath songs. They can't complain about us saying that, that's obviously their intention, to recreate the Sabbath vibe circa 1970-73 as closely as they can, becoming Earthly vessels of sheer Sabbathiness, originality be damned. "Black Funeral" here for instance, seems to channel Sabbath's "Hand Of Doom"... but without quite (quite) crossing the line into outright plagiarism. Pretty much all the other songs on Capricorn can also be mapped to their vintage Sabbath templates, it's almost like you're listening to an alternate universe Sabbath album that never existed.
All right, so we've established that it would be impossible to write a review of Orchid's album without referencing Black Sabbath. What else is there to say? The musicianship is excellent, the production heavy and '70s sounding, with psychedelic synth embellishment and other droning eerie atmospheres (see "Planet Caravan", we mean "Albatross") - and of course catchy riffage that rocks mightily when the band is going full-bore, as on "Eyes Behind The Wall" and "Down Into The Earth" among others. There's absolutely no duds among the nine songs here, we're digging 'em all, and we think all fans of heavy retro occult metal like Blood Ceremony and Witchcraft will likely enjoy these too... as well as, of course, Sabbath fans, especially if you've worn out your actual Sabbath records and want a fresh dose.
The Church Within has done this up in super-deluxe packaging - a heavy duty four-panel gatefold sleeve, adorned with art painted by Orchid's singer. We hear rumors of an even fancier, but way more expensive, limited leather bound book version, but this will do for us! Nice.
MPEG Stream: "Capricorn"
MPEG Stream: "Black Funeral"
MPEG Stream: "Down Into The Earth"

ORCHID Capricorn (Deluxe Edition) (Church Within) cd+book 39.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We listed the standard version of this heavy slab of stoner doom riffage from SF heavies Orchid back in April, and while that version is still available, we managed to get just TWO copies of the super fancy deluxe version, which comes in a super swank oversized faux leather sort of hardcover book, like some ancient necromantic tome or something. Same music as far as we can tell, but all with even fancier packaging. Here's what we had to say about the record when we first listed it:
Once again, not to be confused with the old sceamo band THE Orchid, but yes very much to be confused with BLACK SABBATH, that's their schtick as it were, this Bay Area based doom metal act now offering up their debut full-length album after a four-song ep that we considered almost a guilty pleasure because of how much Orchid sounded utterly, EXACTLY like Black Sabbath. That's what they do, and they do it damn well. There's been other bands who emulate the Sabs, of course, that's the whole "doom metal" genre really, but Orchid sound more like Sabbath than even, say, Iron Man, sHeavy, or Sleep on Sleep's Holy Mountain!
The vocalist's version of Ozzy, though, is maybe more of a malevolent one, he comes off like Ozzy with a grimacing, evil edge. Riff wise, it's Iommi all the way. Really, every moment here sounds like it's been lifted of an old Sabbath lp, but rearranged/rewritten into Orchid's all "new" Sabbath songs. They can't complain about us saying that, that's obviously their intention, to recreate the Sabbath vibe circa 1970-73 as closely as they can, becoming Earthly vessels of sheer Sabbathiness, originality be damned. "Black Funeral" here for instance, seems to channel Sabbath's "Hand Of Doom"... but without quite (quite) crossing the line into outright plagiarism. Pretty much all the other songs on Capricorn can also be mapped to their vintage Sabbath templates, it's almost like you're listening to an alternate universe Sabbath album that never existed.
All right, so we've established that it would be impossible to write a review of Orchid's album without referencing Black Sabbath. What else is there to say? The musicianship is excellent, the production heavy and '70s sounding, with psychedelic synth embellishment and other droning eerie atmospheres (see "Planet Caravan", we mean "Albatross") - and of course catchy riffage that rocks mightily when the band is going full-bore, as on "Eyes Behind The Wall" and "Down Into The Earth" among others. There's absolutely no duds among the nine songs here, we're digging 'em all, and we think all fans of heavy retro occult metal like Blood Ceremony and Witchcraft will likely enjoy these too... as well as, of course, Sabbath fans, especially if you've worn out your actual Sabbath records and want a fresh dose.
MPEG Stream: "Capricorn"
MPEG Stream: "Black Funeral"
MPEG Stream: "Down Into The Earth"

ORCHID Through The Devils Doorway (The Church Within) cd 13.98
Uh, can you say Black Sabbath? 'Cause that's about EXACTLY what this new band from San Francisco sounds like, same vocals, same chugging sludgy riffs, same swinging groove, same apocalyptic hippie vibe, even moreso than other bands also on The Church Within label that admittedly have Black Sabbath as a major influence (Lord Vicar, Lord Of The Grave, Seamount...). Courting confusion with the screamo punk band Orchid, they're naturally named after a Black Sabbath song (amusingly, one of those acoustic-y guitar solo numbers Tony Iommi liked to do now and then amidst all the heaviness, "Orchid" appearing on Master Of Reality). You don't get "Fluff" like that here, though, it's all about the heaviness and rockin' doominess. And it IS super heavy, and super Sabbathy, make no mistake. Maybe TOO Sabbathy... They've got mega riffs that Iommi might come asking for back someday, those unmistakable incantatory Ozzyish vocals, and an authentically Sabbathy sounding production, all of which puts 'em in the same camp as Sabbath worshippers Sleep (circa their Holy Mountain album), sHeavy, Iron Man, etc. We're reminded of Trouble too, though they were never quite such copyists. So, not too many points for originality, none at all really, but plenty for verisimilitude. And, we can't help it, we're sorta suckers for this, being the huge Black Sabbath fans we are, this scratches that itch, y'know?
So, this ep from Orchid comprises four songs you could throw on after listening to Vol. 4 or Sabotage and, if you squint your ears a bit, consider hitherto unreleased Black Sabbath "bonus tracks" (which all Sabbath lovers know are in very short supply). Of course we'd be even more impressed with 'em if they'd somehow managed to write truly 100 percent NEW songs as good as Sabbath's, rather than what's closer to pastiche, but that's easier said than done, and it's still a fun listen if you want to hear a shockingly similar Sabbath sound-alike, fun too trying trying to figure out which specific Sabbath album/song each Orchid song is emulating, which isn't too difficult really... "Into The Sun", despite its "Into The Void" like title, reminds us more of "Symptom Of The Universe". "Eastern Woman" has a Technical Ecstasy feel, we think, while "Son Of Misery" sounds more like the first album Sabbath. And "No One Makes A Sound" is primarily in the style of stuff on the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath LP, with a bit of an "Iron Man" interlude in it too. You won't believe it's NOT Sabbath, that should be their slogan.
We will say, though, that we hope they add a little more of their own flavor in the future, 'cause when we saw 'em live the other day (opening for the Pentagram/Ludicra/Slough Feg show) they seemed a bit... well there's no nice way to put it... like posers. They had the '70s look, the vintage gear (well except the bassist wasn't playing a Rickenbacker for some reason, WTF dude, get with the program, what would Geezer think?), it all seemed a bit too calculated, not really "real" enough, and without anything of their OWN in the mix it they might as well have just played actual Sabbath covers, rather than the cleverly rewritten Sabbath songs it appeared they were playing. That said, listening at home, we can't help but enjoy this ep quite a bit, the worshipful spirit of the thing comes across better here somehow! Like we said a while back in our WhiteBuzz review, sometimes you want more of a certain band's sound, and if another band can channel it too, let 'em! And we ALWAYS want more Sabbath... Orchid obviously feel the same way.
By the way, it's funny that we originally found out about these guys 'cause they're on a cool German label that we order from, even though they're a local band!
MPEG Stream: "Eastern Woman"
MPEG Stream: "Son Of Misery"

ORCUSTUS Demo 2002 (self-released) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

ORCUSTUS s/t (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
People give us a lot of shit for overusing the word 'buzz', but when you're describing black metal, very few words truly represent just exactly what it is about black metal that MAKES black metal what it is, yeah, it's riffs and blast beats and voKILLS, sure, but c'mon, without the buzz it would be, well, something else entirely. Plus you try and write almost 3000 reviews every year and see how many other words for buzz you can come up with.
Anyway, this is the first proper full length from this already legendary third wave black metal super group, now a duo featuring the mighty Dirge Rep on drums (he of Gehenna, Gorgoroth, Enslaved, Aura Noir among others) and Taipan (from Norwegian thrashers Amok), but having previously included members of Gaahlskagg, Borknagar, Carpathian Forest, Krypt, Deep-pression, Desekrator, 1349 and others.
This current duo offer up some seriously TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL, if those words get you going, then stop right there and add this to your cart, love Gorgoroth and old Emperor and Darkthrone and that sort of thing, not blasting or furiously fast, nothing especially fucked up or far out, more just pounding and thrashing and buzzing, black black black metal. Some killer riffing, awesome epic melodies and creeped out ambient bits, frantic chaotic drumming, classic sounding old school black metal vox, harsh and raspy, all wound around total vintage sounding classic Scandinavian blackness. Lots of hooks buried beneath the layers of buzz, and as mentioned some CLASSIC black riffs, every listen we dig this more and more, But then it's a sound that we, and we're pretty sure lots of you, are total suckers for. So if you're in the mood for some pure grim frosty kvlt old school black metal, this is definitely it.
Incredible cover art, haunting and artful and a bit garish, with a thick booklet, mysterious artwork and lyrics. Cool.
MPEG Stream: "Coil"
MPEG Stream: "Of Sophistry, Obsession And Paranoia"

ORCUSTUS Wrathrash b/w Grin Of Deceit (Southern Lord) 7" 3.98
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Another brief blast of hate fueled fury from Norwegian black metal horde Orcustus (which just so happens to feature folks from Gorgoroth and Enslaved!). This is grim "anti human, anti life, true Norwegian black metal". Old school, buzzing squirming blackened thrash a la Sarcophago, Possessed and all that sort of stuff. Heavy and hateful, fuzzed out and fast as fuck. We only got a handful of these, limited to 1500 worldwide, on Southern Lord, you know the drill -- once these are gone, they're most likely gone for good, so act fast!

ORDO INFANDORUM RITUUM OCCULTUS / WACHT split (Bergstolz) 7" 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Brand new 7" of grim buzz from two mysterious Swiss black metal bands, neither of which had we ever heard of, and neither of which feature members of any other notable bands. Switzerland is of course the home of Paysage D'Hiver and Darkspace and Enoid among others, so we had high hopes for these two hordes.
Wacht begin the proceedings with what almost sounds like a metal Star Spangled Banner, a sort of twisted guitar intro that soon gives way to a furious murky raw buzz, the drums and bass (if there is any) lost in a storm of relentless riffing and howled anguished vokills. Some killer riffs lurking in that roiling blackness, and the drums do leap out here and there, but for the most part it's like a heaving black cloud of sound, dense and hypnotic.
The much less simply monickered Ordo Infandorum Rituum Occultus (or OIRO for short), offer up their own bit of frosty grimness, a much more stripped down buzzing blast, pounding almost D-beat style rhythm, grunted vocals, raw and old school, but with some strange stuff lurking in the details, maniacal screams, some cool gnarled riffage, layered guitars, that seem to drop in and out, giving the track a sort of dizzying vibe, at times almost like a more stripped down straight ahead Deathspell Omega.
Definitely laves us dying for more from both bands, and as is always a good sing with a single, we've found ourselves flipping this over constantly and listening to both sides over and over again...

ORDO OBSIDIUM Orbis Tertius (Eisenwald) cd 11.98
Debut blast of doom-ed orthodox blackness from this SF horde, a furious, and epic squall of frenzied guitars and furiously blasting drums, of demonic vokills, soaring melodies and grim ambience. This is another one of those records that ditches all of the experimentalism and avant-this and post-that of much of the metal we dig, and still pushes all of our buttons, offering up something true and pure, something beholden to the classics for sure, but with a sound that takes those varied influences and melds them into something pretty fantastic, moody and emotive, passionate and majestic, the sort of creeping blackened doom and depressive black buzz that we never get sick off, the songs slipping easily from frantic and furious, to lumbering and anguished, usually in the same song. Plaintive mournful melodies, draped over doomic dirges, drift right into explosive blasts of black buzz, inexorably linking the two. The fact that these guys are equally adept at both, only helps seal the deal. The sound too is a big part of it, managing to sound both raw and primitive, lush and expansive, infusing the brittle buzz of black metal with some serious doomic heft, and shading that melancholic doom with swaths of dark black miserablism. And beyond that, these guys can actually write a song, with many of the melodies here, the sort that end up stuck in your head for days. All of the songs here are pretty great, but the closer, the epic 12+ minute "By His Unflinching Hand", might be the best of the bunch, certainly the most unique, ditching much of the blackness in exchange for something moodier and more epic, the song lopes and meanders, the guitars unfurling darkly, the melodies mournful and melancholy, strip away the vocals and you'd be in serious Neurosis / Isis / Godspeed territory, a smoldering slowbuild epic of the highest order, one that creeps and lumbers, offers up some blackened skitter, before a cool super dynamic, stop/start passage, that we wish would have gone on WAY longer, and which leads into the haunting coda, all whipping winds and acoustic guitar, bleak and somber and the perfect finish to a pretty fantastic record.
MPEG Stream: "Nequaquam Vacuum"
MPEG Stream: "Into The Gates Of Madness"

ORENDA Back In The Grave (No Colours) cd 16.98
This blast of glorious blackness back in stock!!
According to Metal Archives, one of our favorite go to sites for metal info, there are at least 150 metal bands from Bulgaria!! Which is pretty amazing considering that Orenda are, as far as we know, the first Bulgarian metal band we've ever heard.
Anyway, they may be from Bulgaria, but they sound Norwegian, or maybe Polish. On the surface this is furious buzzing black metal, not midtempo, but not really blasting either, just a super fast sort of harsh buzz. Relentlessly pounding drums, droning buzzy riffs, harsh vocals, but beneath the layers of buzz in each song, lurk all manner of strange melody and fucked up sonic weirdness.
It's hard to explain exactly what it is that makes these songs stand out, it's pretty subtle, whether it's some cool seasick guitar melodies weaving back and forth beneath the surface, or some sort of bell chiming in the distance, or a stretch of feedback that sounds like the warning beep of a backing up truck, or mewing cat-like vocals, but more often than not it's just the structure of the song, the interaction between the main riff and the second guitar part, that allow unlikely harmonies to surface, giving the songs a strange emotional resonance that isn't immediately noticeable.
Plus it helps that the riffs are killer, wrapped in a thick buzzy production, the relentless buzzing blackness peppered with blazing bursts of double kick drum, some super sludgy stretches of black doom, even some unlikely poppiness. Definitely recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Kargan Devastation"
MPEG Stream: "The Shrine"

ORENDA The Funeral (No Colours) cd 16.98
The welcome return of these Bulgarian black lords, after their Back In The Grave debut from last year. And of course, after Back In The Grave comes The Funeral, an equally bleak and buzzy masterpiece channeling the sound and spirit of classic Norwegian and Polish BM into a swirling, droning black mass, a funereal hymn as furious and fuzzy as it is relentless and harsh.
Four long tracks, two black blasts, bookended by two midtempo buzzscapes, and as with Back In The Grave, the sounds on The Funeral are super dense and thick, the guitars a weird lush, lustrous shade of black, churning out a cursed lament, while above the fray, vocals gnash and howl, a cracked hellish croak, way up in the mix, like some monstrous beast soaring above the roiling blackness below. But this is not just raw kvlt black metal, the riffs here are strangely fluid and warm, emotional and intense, with an almost sort of gothy vibe, like a way more buzzy and blackened Khold. And within Orenda's black forest of buzz, cool melancholy melodies lurk everywhere, haunting arpeggiated guitars, and strangest of all, super dramatic, almost cinematic sonic swells, sounding a lot like some black metal Morricone. Even when the band is blasting at a furious clip, the chords are ultra complex and the various strands of melody tangle and intertwine in strange and unlikely ways, with the band often slipping back into a completely mesmerizing, seasick lurching black lope, but always lacing their blurry blackness with stretches of haunting ambience draped gauzelike over the black blasts and complex post rockisms buried within.
MPEG Stream: "A Dead Colours"
MPEG Stream: "The Funeral"

ORIGIN s/t (Relapse) cd 14.98
Intense death metal/grindcore from a new band featuring ex-members of Angelcorpse and Cephalic Carnage. Brutal grind with an outer space obsession. Really great.

ORIGIN OF PLAGUE Desolate Grey Sky (Misanthropic Art Productions / Razed Soul Productions) cd ep 10.98

ORIGINAL SIN Black Depression (Funeral Moonlight Productions) cd 10.98
As we've mentioned in other reviews, we're kind of obsessed with Chinese black metal. We've done our best to track down all we could, but so far that's only been three bands, Be Persecuted, Ululate (who we have yet to review on the list), and these guys, er, well, this guy, name of Evil Soul, who makes music as Original Sin. The last Original Sin record was raw and primitive and intense and furious, tons of buzz all wrapped around some seriously relentless black metal.
But here, Evil Soul seems much more contemplative, at least on album opener "Silence Before Death", in fact not only is it midtempo, but there are lots of clean guitars, and drifty keyboards, the sound is distinctly lo-fi, very brittle and barren, with the harsh vox and buzzing guitar hovering at right about the same frequency, this is some serious tweeter metal, all hiss and whir, but man is it weirdly sad and pretty, moody slowly unfurling minor key guitars, those distinctly Burzumic keyboards, plinking out a strange melancholic melody, with the occasional little burst of frenzied double bass, the end of the song gets a bit more aggro, but the timbre of the sound is so odd, that even at it's heaviest it seems to flutter dreamily, albeit wreathed in buzz and blackness.
The second track follows suit, not nearly as trebly, but still loping and sorrowful, with flute like melodies draped over a waltzy rhythm, the black metal more washed out and melancholic that grim and buzzy.
The rest of the tracks drift from super spare skeletal clean guitar, to almost choral dirges, with woozy swirling vocals, and warbly whirring riffage, to galloping triumphant crunch to hushed almost post rock sounding reverbed guitarscape to the closer, which might be the heaviest of the bunch, but even then, it's laced with New Agey keyboards, and melodies so bittersweet, that the blackness and buzz is transformed into something much dreamier. Of course there are stretches of harsh vox and more intensive buzz, but those parts to hover over swirling synthscapes, the result being that no matter ho fierce or fast or heavy the songs get, they remain, pretty and haunting, and thus quite unique.
MPEG Stream: "Silence Before Death"
MPEG Stream: "Miserable World"
MPEG Stream: "I Can Never Beat Depression"

ORIGINAL SIN Misanthropic (Funeral Moonlight Productions) cd 10.98
Ever since we discovered the band Be Persecuted, we've become just a little but obsessed with Chinese black metal bands, of which there are precious few. The Encyclopedia Metallum which typically lists hundreds of bands for most countries, only has 95 Chinese bands, of which we've heard of only three. Be Persecuted, Ululate, and now, Original Sin. Original Sin is one guy, named Evil Soul appropriately enough, and Misanthropic is his only record, released last year, and holy shit is it a killer.
Raw and furious, intense and totally blown out, with a buzz that rivals even the buzziest of BM hordes. Nothing too freaked out or fucked up, just totally grim, blackened classic Norwegian style black metal. But it's a sound we can't get enough of. Sometimes we miss that fuzz drenched buzz, the sort of black metal that manages to be ultra heavy and evil, but weirdly soothing and trancelike at the same time. And Original Sin has that down, blasting maniacally, the buzz so invasive that the songs almost becomes pure dronemusic, and there are plenty of breakdowns, where the guitar picks out a super sad melodies and the buzz becomes like a warm blanket of sound, so sorrowful and melancholy. There's even a cover of Burzum's "Lost Wisdom" which is pretty true to the original, and if anything adds more buzz to the mix, some serious squalls of stuttery drum machine, and way more tortured vocals. The final track, the nearly 11 minute "Original Sin" flits back and forth between loping Burzumic buzz and lightning speed blasts, with some haunting breakdowns with chantlike clean vocals over softly shimmering minor key guitar buzz.
The one thing we noticed songwise, was there were three tracks whose titles related to "The City": there's "The Black Cloud Upon The City", "Be Disgusted With The City" and "The Elegy Of The City", not sure if they're about the town the band hails from or something more abstract, but pretty interesting nonetheless.
Way recommended for those in need of some serious grim buzz or some tranced out minor key blackness.
MPEG Stream: "The Black Cloud Upon The City"
MPEG Stream: "Ruin All"
MPEG Stream: "Be Disgusted With The City"

ORODRUIN Epicurean Mass (psycheDOOMelic) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Orodruin's debut album Epicurean Mass might be the best release yet from the up-n-coming doom metal label psycheDOOMelic, run by Hungary's Hegedus Mark, who's also responsible for the underground doom/stoner bible Psychedelic Fanzine. With a name taken from Tolkien -- referring to Sauron's Mount Doom, natch -- Orodruin are an American band, from New York state, and play a doom fan's style of doom metal. That is, it's obvious that the Orodruin guys are doom fans with musical talent making good on their obsessions, doing justice to such influences as Black Sabbath (of course), early Cathedral, Saint Vitus, and... Bo Hansson? Yep, they've got a thing for the Swedish '70s prog-organist, an AQ-fave as well, which may have something to do with the Tolkien connection. But that's why guitarist John Gallo dabbles in some organ solos on here. Aside from those, don't come looking for anything super new and original on the doom front from Orodruin -- which is not to say this isn't great, actually this is. Solid doom metal played right, with melodic but morose vocals. And we can report that they're good live too, as they just played an impressive show here in San Francisco (on the "Doomination of America" tour with an international array of doomsters) on their way to last weekend's Stoner Hands of Doom festival in Portland, OR. Doom on guys!
MPEG Stream: "Peasants Lament"

ORPHAN Aborted By Birth (From The Nursery) lp 14.98
Repressed!
Armed with drums and (ultra distorted) bass only, this heavy, hellbound girl-boy two-piece from Brooklyn crashes and bashes though ten trashed tracks of roughhewn rumble, making quite a crazed art-metal-noise racket. The drummer (girl, Speck Brown) pounds the skins with brutal abandon. Meanwhile the bassist (boy, Brendan Majewski) sings, in the most vicious nasty shriek he can muster, which is indeed brutal too, all the while ripping out the distorted riffage - which can get kinda catchy, on such negative creep cuts as "Love Is For The Birds". Elsewhere they lay waste to such troubling topics as "Penis Farm", "Swan Blood", and "Jane Fonda".
Titling their album Aborted By Birth may be intended to draw comparisons to death metallers Cannibal Corpse, if only to stress their metallic bona fides, since otherwise they probably get a lot of Lightning Bolt references, due to the bass-drums duo setup. Naturally, godheadSilo, Jucifer, and Israel's Barbara would be other good comparisons.
By the way, if you go on YouTube and look 'em up, you'll find some pretty cool, arty homemade videos for each of this album's songs!
Released on evil white vinyl only, limited to 666 numbered copies (isn't that convenient?). We have but a handful.
MPEG Stream: "Penis Farm"
MPEG Stream: "Love Is For The Birds"

ORPHAN Decapitated Lovers (From The Nursery) lp 14.98
This brutal Brooklyn boy-girl two-piece unleashes their second full length, also vinyl-only like their debut (too bad for those of us who like cds). Once again, Orphan are UBER heavy, with thudding thunderous drums and destructive distorted bass, laying down total metal riffery, decapitatin' lovers left and right... but also, there's an undeniable "pop" streak in these songs, which can get quite bouncy-catchy, and can even remind us a bit at moments of an evil Nirvana, stripped down and buffed up, bathed in extreme amp buzz and fuzz. Or if not Nirvana, then Unsane. Also, the bassist's shredded throat-torn vokills are varied enough to manage a fair amount of memorability and character (the song "Soda Pressing" is in fact almost sung cleanly, though still meanly, making us think of Dan Higgs in Lungfish, actually). Orphan's arty/weird side is also on display, most obviously via some rather atypical track titles for a metal record, like "Love Is A Stealthy Hitman (Love Is A Healthy Stuntman)", "Mister Sensitive", and "Thug Luv (Gun Oil)". Also, probably less for punk cred than just 'cause they figured it would slay, they do a Born Against cover, "Well Fed Fuck".
As we've said before, those who lament the late great godheadSilo should check out Orphan. Another heavy two-piece they could be compared to is Black Cobra, and as much as we like BC, we have to say Orphan do it better! So, fans of grinding bass heavy distorted-to-hell art metal duos, you really oughtta take this Orphan home! Hmm, but be careful... while being orphaned is an unfortunate plight, you get the idea that THIS Orphan might be so by choice. They probably killed their parents and the rest of their family!
Numbered, limited to 500 copies. Oh, and stay tuned for another Orphan release soon, a split with a Baltimore band called Dope Body being released by Black Tent Press...
MPEG Stream: "Fetus In Fetu"
MPEG Stream: "Big Black Hog"
MPEG Stream: "Soda Pressing"

ORPHAN / DOPE BODY Self Entitled (Black Tent Press) lp 15.98
The return of the Brooklyn based boy-girl, bass and drums duo Orphan, with another slab of thick fuzzed out riffing and thunderous drum damage, here matched up with the until now unknown to us Dope Body who somehow sound like an impossible hybrid of Lightning Bolt, Melt Banana, Man Is The Bastard, and Konono No.1! More on those guys in a sec. First up, ORPHAN.
Like on past records, these two bash and pound, the bass blown out and distorted the riffs massive and fuzzy, the drums pounding and crashing, with a sound that lurks somewhere between Bleach era Nirvana and Unsane, a sort of pop flecked low end noise rock, that KILLS. And everything we love about Orphan is in full effect here, AND they do a cover, that suddenly reveals another band we would never have thought to compare them to but makes perfect sense, UNWOUND! They definitely have that same sort of nineties noise rock sound, and they prove it by making Unwound's "Dragnalus" their very own, a bit sludgier and downtuned than the original, but with all the same energy. Which is exactly what infuses the other songs here, the sound is proggy, mathy, sludgey, metallic, heavy, noisy, poppy, bombastic, sweaty and frantic and seriously fun. But also a bit dark and menacing at the same time.
The real discovery for us here, though, is Dope Body, who we know very little about, but the first track sounds like a noise rock Konono No.1, which pretty much sealed the deal in seconds, chiming guitar harmonics, wild tribal drumming, yelped vox, crunchy and distorted and rhythmic and fucking awesome, quickly becoming something more like a Deerhoof meets Melt Banana sort of thing, which again, is perfectly fine with us! The sound is super varied and weird as all get out and all over the map, super mathy and bizarre, like Man Is The Bastard one second, howled vox and fuzz bass and Neanderthal pound, frantic and frenzied Lightning Bolt the next, freaked out math prog held down by some super chaotic drumming, and then still later, a sort of home brewed industrial, fractured and fucked up, twisted and cracked, the sound flitting between those various sounds, often mashing 2 or more into a whole new weirdo sound. But whatever it is, we LOVE it.
Gorgeously packaged of course. Thick silkscreened jacket, each one hand numbered, and limited to 500 copies, with a nice, printed heavy paper insert as well.

ORPHANED LAND Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven (Century Media) cd 14.98

ORPLID s/t (Prophecy Productions) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Creepy German folk-music band with industrial and experimental leanings. On Germany's Prophecy Productions label, who seem to specialize in this sort of autumnal dark pagan bombast and beauty (Tenhi, Empyrium, Gods Tower). Militaristic drumming, droning synths, male and female choir-style vocals, whinnying horses, doleful folk melodies, acoustic guitar, and weird surprises...lovely and doomful. Titles and lyrics in German. Equally for fans of World Serpent label stuff and black metal atmospheres (a la old Ulver). Andee and Allan both bought one.

ORQUESTA DEL DESIERTO s/t (MeteorCity) cd 13.98
Just by listing the members of this 'super group', I know some of you are gonna buy this before we even get to the part about how crappy this record is. Oops. I think I just blew it. Anyway. In case you're just scanning these long ass reviews let's try to get you to stop here a second: KYUSS QUEENS OF THE STONEAGE GOATSNAKE FATSO JETSON.....okay. Gotcha. Orchesta Del Desierto is made up of Alfredo Hernandez from Kyuss and QOTSA, Pete Stahl from Goatsnake and the Earthlings?, Mario Lalli from Fatso Jetson and the Desert Sessions, and Steve Brown from Hermano. So what does it sound like you ask? Well, it's sort of like stoner desert rock, but imagine if someone took away all of their effects pedals (especially the distortion pedals), took away their Marshall stacks and replaced them with Fender twins, and laced their pot with horse tranquilizers. So yeah, mellow and sleepy and uninspired. And add in Mr Pete 'My vocals can ruin any band' Stahl and you've got yourself a big ol' PASS ON THIS ONE. And for those of you who think I'm full of shit, here's the quote from the obi: "Soulful, spacious and mellow, but no less powerful than the heaviest riff-rock records Meteor City has released. Discard all your expectations of desert music and you'll be ready to take this journey."
RealAudio clip: "Shadow Stealing"
RealAudio clip: "After Blue"

ORTHODOX Amanecer en Puerta Oscura (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
We're probably not the first to say it, but doom metal band Orthodox are *anything but* orthodox on their second offering for the Southern Lord label. Spanish sludge lords with a psychedelic bent, Orthodox's 2006 debut album Gran Poder was a major sensation among connoisseurs of the heavy, being selected as an Album Of The Month on Julian Cope's Head Heritage website, in part for its pagan-Catholic imagery, in part for its monolithic heaviness. What about eagerly anticipated album number two? Though we think it's great, and most likely Mr. Cope does too, this new one will no doubt cause some consternation among the less open minded of doom fanatics, as it's got a lot more going on that sheer sludge-ry. Not that Gran Poder wasn't an eccentric effort either, but this one's extremely so. Extremely eccentric, and eclectic, indeed.
The first track, "Con Sangre De Quien Te Ofenda" could easily be mistaken for a moody piece of instrumental avant-jazz, with that wide-open-desert-spaces feel of Hex-era Earth, baroquely adorned with a shuffling, dramatic drum solo and an almost-joyous improv-blowing session for trumpet and other horns. It actually brings back fond memories of the late great metallic math-rockers Engine Kid, the band that SUNNO))) member and Southern Lord label boss Greg Anderson used to play in back in the day, like when they would get jazzy like Iceburn and cover Coltrane... Minus the horns, that disjointed, free-jazz vibe continues on the second track, the nine-minute "Mesto, Rigido E Ceremoniale", though they heavy it up quite a bit. Imagine a slowed-down, fractured Black Flag instrumental, like something from The Process Of Weeding Out made more abstract, slower and heavier. Entering into the territory of defunct Dutch instro-metallers Gore here! With the third song, though, vocals finally enter the mix, weirdly distressed and wailing chant-like, and the riffing gets more intensely metallic, rigidly clawing through a miasma of chaotic, psychedelic, paranoid jamming. That one, "Solemne Triduo", makes us think of Om mixed with Los Natas at their strangest. And then, just when things are getting loudest and most insane, the album takes an abrupt shift into the quietly windswept, acoustically strummed "Amancer En Puerta Oscura" which flows immediately into the ominous "Puerta Osario", with stark repeated chords, and cruelly plinking piano keys. Though just two minutes minutes long, this is no brief detour like the piano interlude heard in the middle of Gran Poder, as it seamlessly segues into the sedated, suspenseful "Templos" that pulsates for 15 minutes in an darkened dreamworld of eerie clarinet, shimmering cymbals, slow-paced percussion, sparsely echoing bass, sheer moody atmosphere... It's a kind of creeping chamber music, that could be the score from some Italian horror soundtrack, or the sinister cousin to the epic tracks on Circle's mellow and mesmeric Miljard, mixed maybe with the 20th Century style stuff Ghost was experimenting with on their last album, In Stormy Nights.
The seventh and final track, "Parte II. Apogeum", then hits like a ton of bricks, massive doom-riff guitars smashing all before it, as if to say, you want ye olde DOOOOOOM? You got it! This song should shut up any complainers who didn't entirely get what was going on before, it's a doozy of a doom number all right, complete with even frenzied, metallic, acid-fried guitar soloing, and insanely effected alien Ozzy vocals. Closest comparisons would be to Thrones, and Yob and/or Middian, at their most claustrophobically crushing. It's like Orthodox wanted to wrap the album up with one song that in 7 minutes, 54 seconds would utterly satisfy anyone wanting Gran Poder Part II, for whom some of the more mystifying, weirdly proggy stuff elsewhere on this album could just be a bonus. Of course for us it's all good.
Recommended to all unorthodox doom lovers! Art and design by Seldon Hunt, by the way, and as long as we're dropping his name, here's some other names that we should have worked into the review somehow, as we think fans of the following might quite like this: Boris, Comets On Fire, Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, Ennio Morricone, Dragonauta...
MPEG Stream: "Mesto, Rigido E Ceremoniale"
MPEG Stream: "Solemne Triduo"
MPEG Stream: "Templos"

ORTHODOX Baal (Alone Records) cd 18.98
At last!! It's been a while since we last caught up with entirely UN-orthodox Spanish dooooooooooom mongers Orthodox. Yeah, doom with so many o's that we're surprised they had any left for the 3 in their name. But also doom that takes a lot of strange twists and turns into the furthest far out zones of the genre.
This band's first two outstanding albums, Gran Poder and Amanecer En Puerta Oscura, were issued stateside by Southern Lord back in 2007. Now, six years later, we have the Spanish release of the their fourth opus, Baal. (Their third album, 2009's Sentencia was MIA at aQ, but maybe we'll be able to get some now that we tracked down an import supplier for this new one.) Billed as a return to their heavy doom Gran Poder roots, after the psychedelic, almost jazz-like experimentation of the last couple, this IS hellishly heavy, though still quite avant-garde, as well.
Lead off instrumental track "Alto Padre", despite its deep distorted low-end, is definitely more psych than doom, in fact... skittering percussive pitter-patter and chiming guitars conjure a hazy, mellow mood. It's a woozy ritual that could easily appeal to Six Organs Of Admittance fans, for instance. But then the band brings the doom hammer down, big time, on the next song, "Taurus", quite a surprise for some of us here who didn't know what we were listening to... Crushing, crashing chords and peals of feedback begin the jagged death march that continues over Baal's remaining four tracks. You don't listen to this for conventional "songishness", nor really even for riffs (though there are RIFFS), more for the totality of the experience of Orthodox's tectonic rumble and psychedelic sickness... It's a combo of lumbering sludge bulldozing, twisted gnarled leads, and alien, underwatery atmospheres. And vocals - with a weird, wavering effect on 'em, very much like OM meets YOB, intoning grim and desperate chant. With those vocals, one starts to think about the band inhaling from a balloon filled with, not helium, but some other, psychotropic gas... actually maybe not sucking on the balloon, but being sucked INTO it, the entire band inhabiting some impossible, drug-filled inner space. Which also sounds like it could be deep under the earth. Soon you'll be trapped there too, possessed by the churning metallic attacks, spacious drones, and proggy freakouts found throughout the demonic Baal...
The grande finale, 14 minute "Abrase Le Tierra" sums it up, explosions of distortion detonating over drum clatter and organ drone, then the guitarist goes offffff and it's a doomed out Earthless... before a wild, heavily effected finish. Imagine a mix of Yob, Gallhammer, Earth, and even Comets On Fire, here!
If the well-used terms psychedelic and heavy, which have been cited umpteen thousand times on this list alone, have any relevance to your listening habits, especially at their extremes, then we suggest you get this Orthodox album (and The Wounded Kings also this list, and the Elder reviewed last time, too, for that matter, if you haven't already), you'll be happy you did!
MPEG Stream: "Taurus "
MPEG Stream: "Iatromantis"
MPEG Stream: "Hani Ba'al"

ORTHODOX Baal (Alone Records) lp 29.00
At last!! It's been a while since we last caught up with entirely UN-orthodox Spanish dooooooooooom mongers Orthodox. Yeah, doom with so many o's that we're surprised they had any left for the 3 in their name. But also doom that takes a lot of strange twists and turns into the furthest far out zones of the genre.
This band's first two outstanding albums, Gran Poder and Amanecer En Puerta Oscura, were issued stateside by Southern Lord back in 2007. Now, six years later, we have the Spanish release of the their fourth opus, Baal. (Their third album, 2009's Sentencia was MIA at aQ, but maybe we'll be able to get some now that we tracked down an import supplier for this new one.) Billed as a return to their heavy doom Gran Poder roots, after the psychedelic, almost jazz-like experimentation of the last couple, this IS hellishly heavy, though still quite avant-garde, as well.
Lead off instrumental track "Alto Padre", despite its deep distorted low-end, is definitely more psych than doom, in fact... skittering percussive pitter-patter and chiming guitars conjure a hazy, mellow mood. It's a woozy ritual that could easily appeal to Six Organs Of Admittance fans, for instance. But then the band brings the doom hammer down, big time, on the next song, "Taurus", quite a surprise for some of us here who didn't know what we were listening to... Crushing, crashing chords and peals of feedback begin the jagged death march that continues over Baal's remaining four tracks. You don't listen to this for conventional "songishness", nor really even for riffs (though there are RIFFS), more for the totality of the experience of Orthodox's tectonic rumble and psychedelic sickness... It's a combo of lumbering sludge bulldozing, twisted gnarled leads, and alien, underwatery atmospheres. And vocals - with a weird, wavering effect on 'em, very much like OM meets YOB, intoning grim and desperate chant. With those vocals, one starts to think about the band inhaling from a balloon filled with, not helium, but some other, psychotropic gas... actually maybe not sucking on the balloon, but being sucked INTO it, the entire band inhabiting some impossible, drug-filled inner space. Which also sounds like it could be deep under the earth. Soon you'll be trapped there too, possessed by the churning metallic attacks, spacious drones, and proggy freakouts found throughout the demonic Baal...
The grande finale, 14 minute "Abrase Le Tierra" sums it up, explosions of distortion detonating over drum clatter and organ drone, then the guitarist goes offffff and it's a doomed out Earthless... before a wild, heavily effected finish. Imagine a mix of Yob, Gallhammer, Earth, and even Comets On Fire, here!
If the well-used terms psychedelic and heavy, which have been cited umpteen thousand times on this list alone, have any relevance to your listening habits, especially at their extremes, then we suggest you get this Orthodox album (and The Wounded Kings also this list, and the Elder reviewed last time, too, for that matter, if you haven't already), you'll be happy you did!
MPEG Stream: "Taurus "
MPEG Stream: "Iatromantis"
MPEG Stream: "Hani Ba'al"

ORTHODOX Gran Poder (Alone Records) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT -- ORDER THE SOUTHERN LORD EDITION THAT'S NOW AVAILABLE!
DOOM. As per AQ tradition, we should throw some extra 'O's in there just to indicate just how doomy this is -- DOOOOOOooooooooOOOM! Not to get sidetracked, but Doom might be the only musical genre that you can deliberately misspell to indicate extra enthusiasm for whatever example of said genre you're describing. RRRRap doesn't work. Nor would you say Woooorld Music. And adding extra 'o's to Pop is a just bad idea, unless you're talking about pop you don't like. But doom, being all about being slow and low, just gets doomier when you exaggerate the spelling into doooooooooooom. The point of all this? That the debut disc from Spanish doom band Orthodox, needs, like, exponential 'o's to really get at its doominess.
Recently and rightly hailed as an Album Of The Month on Julian Cope's psychedelic drone/doom/druid rock lovin' website Head Heritage, Orthodox's Gran Poder ("Great Power") consists of three looong tracks of gloomy, glacial heaviness mixed with more chaotically rockin' parts, with one brief piano-laced interlude seperating tracks two and three. These crushing compositions are almost symphonically grand, an often exceedingly slow grind of eternally doomed drone like Earth or SUNNO))), sometimes speeding up to rock out psychedelically in the style of Argentina's Los Natas, graced with heavily tremelo-laden vocals or utterly spaced out ambience that make us think of Thrones and Yob.
Throughout this sludgey stoner soundscape, you'll hear feedback wailing like lamenting lost souls, the rumbling drum battery either nervously dodging the lugubrous riffs as they fall from the sky, or pounding in unison with the guitar and bass, sounding like the gates of an abandoned ancient cavernous cathedral slamming shut... over and over again.
We imported a whole bunch of these direct from the label in Spain because we're pretty sure that fans of the likes of Corrupted (who also sing in Spanish, after all) and Yob and Sleep and UFOmammut and all the other extra-o's deservin' dooooooOOOOoom bands that we love would want this! And if for some reason you need further convincing, please look up Julian Cope's review on his site, where he references Flower Travellin' Band's Satori and the Mediterranean paganistic roots of Catholic ritual and "Rumble" by Link Wray and much much more, his incredibly enthusiastic review almost a call to arms for doom fanatics... and he also includes cool pictures of the black-robed band members he took on a trip to their land!
MPEG Stream: "Geryon's Throne [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Geryon's Throne [excerpt 2]"
MPEG Stream: "El Lamento Del Cabron"

ORTHODOX Gran Poder (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
We listed the import of this last year, and now Southern Lord has put it out domestically -- with an exclusive added bonus track, for you slackers who didn't get it already...geeze! The bonus track is a cover of Venom's "Genocide", by the way!
DOOM. As per AQ tradition, we should throw some extra 'O's in there just to indicate just how doomy this is -- DOOOOOOooooooooOOOM! Not to get sidetracked, but Doom might be the only musical genre that you can deliberately misspell to indicate extra enthusiasm for whatever example of said genre you're describing. RRRRap doesn't work. Nor would you say Woooorld Music. And adding extra 'o's to Pop is a just bad idea, unless you're talking about pop you don't like. But doom, being all about being slow and low, just gets doomier when you exaggerate the spelling into doooooooooooom. The point of all this? That the debut disc from Spanish doom band Orthodox, needs, like, exponential 'o's to really get at its doominess.
Recently and rightly hailed as an Album Of The Month on Julian Cope's psychedelic drone/doom/druid rock lovin' website Head Heritage, Orthodox's Gran Poder ("Great Power") consists of three looong tracks of gloomy, glacial heaviness mixed with more chaotically rockin' parts, with one brief piano-laced interlude separating tracks two and three. These crushing compositions are almost symphonically grand, an often exceedingly slow grind of eternally doomed drone like Earth or SUNNO))), sometimes speeding up to rock out psychedelically in the style of Argentina's Los Natas, graced with heavily tremelo-laden vocals or utterly spaced out ambience that make us think of Thrones and Yob.
Throughout this sludgey stoner soundscape, you'll hear feedback wailing like lamenting lost souls, the rumbling drum battery either nervously dodging the lugubrious riffs as they fall from the sky, or pounding in unison with the guitar and bass, sounding like the gates of an abandoned ancient cavernous cathedral slamming shut... over and over again.
Before this Southern Lord version appeared, we had imported a whole bunch of these direct from the label in Spain because we were pretty sure that fans of the likes of Corrupted (who also sing in Spanish, after all) and Yob and Sleep and UFOmammut and all the other extra-o's deservin' dooooooOOOOoom bands that we love would want this! It seems we were correct. But if for some reason you need further convincing, please look up Julian Cope's review on his site, where he references Flower Travellin' Band's Satori and the Mediterranean paganistic roots of Catholic ritual and "Rumble" by Link Wray and much much more, his incredibly enthusiastic review almost a call to arms for doom fanatics... and he also includes cool pictures of the black-robed band members he took on a trip to their land!
MPEG Stream: "Geryon's Throne [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Geryon's Throne [excerpt 2]"
MPEG Stream: "El Lamento Del Cabron"

ORTHODOX Gran Poder (Southern Lord) 2lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We originally stocked the import version of this massive slab of doom a while back, but recently sold a bunch of the domestic version on Southern Lord, who in addition to reissuing it, also tacked on an exclusive bonus track... a cover of Venom's "Genocide"! Well, now it's available on vinyl (a super swank 2lp housed in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, pressed on cool red/brown swirled vinyl), and guess what? You got it, ANOTHER bonus track!! This time, a cover of Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath"!! Holy crap! Essential for any of you out there who haven't picked this up yet, and quite possibly worth buying all over again for you doom freeks!!
DOOM. As per AQ tradition, we should throw some extra 'O's in there just to indicate just how doomy this is -- DOOOOOOooooooooOOOM! Not to get sidetracked, but Doom might be the only musical genre that you can deliberately misspell to indicate extra enthusiasm for whatever example of said genre you're describing. RRRRap doesn't work. Nor would you say Woooorld Music. And adding extra 'o's to Pop is a just bad idea, unless you're talking about pop you don't like. But doom, being all about being slow and low, just gets doomier when you exaggerate the spelling into doooooooooooom. The point of all this? That the debut disc from Spanish doom band Orthodox, needs, like, exponential 'o's to really get at its doominess.
Recently and rightly hailed as an Album Of The Month on Julian Cope's psychedelic drone/doom/druid rock lovin' website Head Heritage, Orthodox's Gran Poder ("Great Power") consists of ultra looong tracks of gloomy, glacial heaviness mixed with more chaotically rockin' parts, with one brief piano-laced interlude separating tracks two and three. These crushing compositions are almost symphonically grand, and often exceedingly slow grind of eternally doomed drone like Earth or SUNNO))), sometimes speeding up to rock out psychedelically in the style of Argentina's Los Natas, graced with heavily tremelo-laden vocals or utterly spaced out ambience that make us think of Thrones and Yob.
Throughout this sludgey stoner soundscape, you'll hear feedback wailing like lamenting lost souls, the rumbling drum battery either nervously dodging the lugubrious riffs as they fall from the sky, or pounding in unison with the guitar and bass, sounding like the gates of an abandoned ancient cavernous cathedral slamming shut... over and over again.
Before these Southern Lord versions appeared, we had imported a whole bunch of these direct from the label in Spain because we were pretty sure that fans of the likes of Corrupted (who also sing in Spanish, after all) and Yob and Sleep and UFOmammut and all the other extra-o's deservin' dooooooOOOOoom bands that we love would want this! It seems we were correct. But if for some reason you need further convincing, please look up Julian Cope's review on his site, where he references Flower Travellin' Band's Satori and the Mediterranean paganistic roots of Catholic ritual and "Rumble" by Link Wray and much much more, his incredibly enthusiastic review almost a call to arms for doom fanatics... and he also includes cool pictures of the black-robed band members he took on a trip to their land!
MPEG Stream: "Geryon's Throne [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Geryon's Throne [excerpt 2]"
MPEG Stream: "El Lamento Del Cabron"

ORTHRELM Iorxhscimtor (Tolotta) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, we were wrong back on AQ-L 117 when we said that former Crom Tech guitarist Mick Barr's Octis project was "the polar opposite" of his other band, Orthrelm. For some reason we had gotten the idea that while Octis specializes in short, fast, squiggly guitar mayhem (over drum machine backing), Orthrelm was some sort of droney, doomy thing with super-long songs. Nope. Not at all. Now that Tolotta has released this 16 minute long, 12 track Orthrelm cd debut, we can't figure out what the distinction between Mick's two projects really is supposed to be (except that Orthrelm boasts an actual human drummer, Josh Blair). Mick's modus operandi is the same here: trebly, twisted guitar soloing over rapid-fire drum beats. A metallic fretboard frenzy. Spastic, spiraling, skronky stuff that's almost silly. These twelve tracks sound like segments of one sixteen minute long "song", with pauses for breath every minute or two. Just as insane as Octis, and thus pretty cool if you're into such stuff, kind of like a cross between Lightning Bolt and Necrophagist or something -- but we'd still like to hear the Orthrelm we'd imagined. (Can anyone clue us into the source of our misconception? Like, does Mr. Barr have yet another band, one that's slow and epic?)
RealAudio clip: "track 2"
RealAudio clip: "track 7"

ORTHRELM Ov (Ipecac) cd 15.98
Orthrelm spells...? Not relief from headache, that's for sure! Notorious guitarist Mick Barr (ex-Crom Tech, and of Octis and Flying Luttenbachers infamy also) and drummer Josh Blair continue their assault on musical sanity with Ov, newly released by Mike Patton's envelope-pushing Ipecac label. Ov leaves the envelope pretty much pushed beyond what most people can take -- it will be quite the endurance test for some, but pure bliss for a select few. By the end of this review you should know who you are if you don't already (owning other records involving Barr is one clue).
Way back when we reviewed Orthrelm's debut ep Iorxhscimtor, we admitted that we'd been under the mistaken impression that Orthrelm was supposed to be "some sort of droney, doomy thing with super-long songs". It wasn't... but now it is. Sort of. Unlike previous Orthrelm releases (and Barr's other project Octis), Ov isn't about a million trebly tracks of stop-start skronk. No, here the duo's frenetic drumming and insidious ADD guitar squiggle are harnessed into a single, 45 minute long track of intense, almost metallic, repetitive minimalism. A high-pitched, note-dense, trance-inducing (maybe seizures too?), insectoid symphony that slowly shifts gears and builds tension but offers little respite or resolution until its 45 minutes are up or your ears/speakers/the disc iself shatters from the stress. Yet, if you can take it, Ov's continuous rumble of drums and precision frenzies of tinny guitar shred also create a thing of static, maddening beauty. I think...or maybe I've lost it. Am I crazy when I think that some of the feedbackier parts remind me of moments of the Boredoms' Super Ae? Or that this is not entirely unlike something that Boris or SUNNO))) would do... but with a million times more emphasis on the high end, and the notion of motion on the micro if not macro level??
MPEG Stream: "Ov [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Ov [excerpt 2]"

ORTHRELM / TOUCHDOWN split (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Look out, here's a split release from two off-the-hook instrumental rock duos, Orthrelm and Touchdown. Both bands tend to get described with ridiculous hyper-hyphenated terms like avant-thrash-free-jazz-math-rock.
New Jersey's Orthrelm -- spasmo guitarist extraordinaire Mick Barr (Octis, Quix*o*tic, ex-Crom Tech) and human drum machine Josh Blair -- contribute four tracks of gnarly, twisted stuff with maddeningly fast and convoluted squeaky guitar and hectic stop-start drums, but perhaps more in the way of actual song-structure than on previous outings. Now, probably either you're already an Orthrelm fan (or you can't stand 'em), but this is a fine example of their art for newcomers and fans alike.
Touchdown, from nearby Brooklyn, are a two-piece a la Orthrelm, but with bass instead of guitar. Their nine songs here represent their recorded debut. They do sound a lot like what you'll hear earlier in the disc from Orthrelm, but with the high-end guitar replaced by equally busy low-end bass (which makes 'em sound a bit Ruins-like). Short-attention-span post-hardcore madness to massage your brain and bother your housemates. If this split was a contest, I'd have to award the prize to Orthrelm, for their more metallic, more manic, totally fucked attack, but that's just me. Do you like insects buzzing in your ear?
RealAudio clip: ORTHRELM "track two"
RealAudio clip: TOUCHDOWN "Low Pressure Storm System"

OS The Living (Sygil) cassette + bones + coffin box 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We have only 4 copies of this, a super limited cassette tape release from weirdo abstract blackened doomscapers OS, whose Twelve Truths lp we raved about a while back. Besides being another sick slab of crusty creepy crawly black filth, the packaging is to die for, small, black-painted wooden coffins, each with a brass plaque affixed to the front, and each of course NAILED SHUT, inside is the tape, and a handful of tiny BONES! Pretty awesome. And CRAZY limited. Already out of print. We managed to get a mere FOUR copies from the band, and will not be able to get more. So if you're in the market for some howling, atonal, sludge-y blackened doom sprawl and lumbering chaotic caterwauling abject detuned black ambient heaviness, or even if you just want a killer coffin-cloaked bone-surrounded blackdoom cassette, well better act fast, cuz odds are these will be gone in no time...

OS Twelve Truths (self-released) lp 11.98
We know very little about these guys, where they're from, who they are, in fact, even the front cover / logo is so abstract it took us a while before we even figured out they were called OS, which makes this all the more appealing, a mysterious murky slab of blackened doomic filth, pounding and ominous and harsh and downtuned and hellish, these guys traffic in a sound not that far removed from the black doom of aQ faves like Amort, Monument Of Urns, and Light, but with a definite nod to classic crusty doom of the past, not to mention a sound that also seems informed by modern dronescapers and noisemakers like Gnaw Their Tongues, Pussygutt and the like.
Two epic sidelong tracks, the guitar unfurling huge slabs of rumbling grinding crunch, the drums a funereal plod, the vocals anguished and unhinged. The first side spends half its time plodding along doomily, fans of Monarch, Moss, and other monumental slowpokes will dig it big time, but gradually the sound gets more and more melodic, until the band shift gears completely, and spread out into a strangely pretty dirge, all clean guitars, over still pounding drums, and a backdrop of hellish wails and buzzing static drones, before finishing off in a tangle of slow motion mathiness.
The flipside starts off similarly, a massive sprawling creep, but laced with some gorgeous melodies, the guitars ringing out, the distortion crumbling, almost more slowcore than doom, but still heavy heavy heavy, the vocals even more harsh and demonic sounding than before, the track is epic, and lumbers monstrously, building to another strange crescendo, the sound growing warm and more dense and strangely melodic, without ever shedding any of its doom or sludge.
Fucking epic stuff, crushing droned out heaviness, that will definitely appeal to doomlords and dronelords alike, way recommended for anyone into Khanate, Wicked King Wicker, Habsyll, Thou, Fleshpress, Atavist, and of course Moss, Monarch and all the above mentioned heavies.
Killer packaging, super abstract skeletal / logo cover, folded over to make a partial back cover, printed insert, each one hand numbered, LIMITED TO 400.

OSBOURNE, OZZY Blizzard Of Ozz (Epic) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In the same spirit as listing My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless' a few lists past, it occurred to us that like 'Loveless' there are probably some of you who don't own 'Blizzard Of Ozz.' Or perhaps some of you probably had it when you were 15, but haven't thought about it in years or bothered to pull out that dirty old cassette and throw it on. And if you're anything like us, you've become mildly obsessed with MTV's 'The Osbournes', and you've been getting a good laugh at doddering, senile old Ozzy, who is perplexed by the TV remote control, his dogs that shit all over the house, his truly bizarre children, and who occasionally loses control and throws a log through his neighbors' windows. The show is so popular, the BBC reported that President Bush is a fan and has asked Ozzy to have dinner with him at the White House. Never thought I'd see the day. (Neither did Ozzy, who said "I thought I'd be on a wanted poster on the wall, not invited to his place to tea.") And if I did see the day, I imagined it with a much hipper president. But with all this media hype, it's easy to forget that Ozzy (in Black Sabbath and solo) is responsible for some of the best heavy metal ever! The first two Ozzy records ('Blizzard Of Ozz' and 'Diary Of A Madman') are total classics, ultra heavy and completely kick ass, with some of the best riffs ever comitted to tape, as well as some ridiculously catchy songs (it's strange to look back now and realise how much poppier Ozzy was than we remember, closer to Van Halen than Slayer). And since these were both re-released (remastered with bonus tracks and extra photos/liner notes) they technically -are- new releases. And since some of you may have missed the boat (even Windy, who's always loved 'Crazy Train' yet never knew it was Ozzy) we figured what the hell. And while both are great, we figured we would focus on 'Blizzard Of Ozz' since it is the best place to start for the uninitiated ('Diary Of A Madman' is a little weirder and a little heavier) and since it holds a special place in Byram's heart, who has the following to say about it:
"I would certainly never claim to be an expert on metal and my eyes fairly glaze over shortly after Andee and Allan begin one of their 'which album by _____ (random metal band) is the best' arguments. Having identified with punk rock in my formative years (though my appearance and actions made me look more like an effete and dorky new-waver at best), I was scared of the big hairy guys who I associated with metal in high school. But long before all that nonsense of cliques and fitting in, I used to ride around the suburbs on my BMX bike and listen to music regardless of its association to a particular fan demographic. With my walkman strapped on, "Blizzard of Ozz" was my soundtrack while I made my rounds checking the pay phones and newspaper machines for change. And I'm certain that I wasn't the only young suburbanite who wandered the streets plugged into Ozzy. As his first solo album away from Black Sabbath, the million-plus-selling "Blizzard of Ozz" demonstrated that Ozzy had a broader appeal than his earlier efforts with the group had. Over 20 years later, after people get over their ironic chuckling, this album still holds its ground. Those of you who've now lost or worn out your old cassettes and those of you who never gave the post-Sabbath Ozzy a chance should pick this 24-bit remastered and low priced classic up immediately!"
Also, if you were disappointed by the totally pointless / throwaway bonus tracks on the recent Judas Priest reissues (and let's be honest, 90 percent of bonus tracks on *all* reissues), you won't be here. The bonus track, 'You Lookin' At Me Lookin' At You,' is more kick ass-catchy metal and seems like it would have fit perfectly on the original album. A total timeless classic, for metalheads and non-metalheads alike.
RealAudio clip: "Crazy Train"
RealAudio clip: "I Don't Know"
RealAudio clip: "Mr. Crowley"
RealAudio clip: "Suicide Solution"
RealAudio clip: "No Bone Movies"

OSBOURNE, OZZY Blizzard Of Ozz (Epic / Legacy) cd 13.98
Remember, that's right, we made an earlier reissue of this a Record Of The Week way back on list #134! And deservedly so, it's one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever, the 1980 solo debut from the former Sabbath singer, quite a comeback in his career. Teamed up with the ill fated guitar whiz Randy Rhoads, Ozzy waxed a total timeless classic, for metalheads and non-metalheads alike.
What we didn't realized when we ROTW'd this back then, was that that 2002 reissue edition had been tampered with - the bass and drum parts had been totally re-recorded!! Weird. And wack. Apparently due to some sort of monetary dispute with the original rhythm section of bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake, Ozzy (or rather, his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne) elected to have his then current bassist and drummer (ex-members of Suicidal Tendencies and Faith No More, respectively) redo the rhythm tracks, which seems kinda fucked up, right? We learned of that later, and mentioned it in our subsequent review of the reissue of Ozzy's 2nd album, Diary Of A Madman, which also had been purged of Daisley and Kerslake's contributions.
Well, thankfully, now they've (of course) finally re-reissued these, with the original rhythm tracks restored! Presumably all parties have buried the hatchet, or perhaps Ozzy & Sharon just decided to do the right thing, we don't know. From reading Ozzy's recent autobiography, I Am Ozzy, which is highly recommended by the way, we get the idea that he was a bit embarrassed / ashamed about the whole affair. Or maybe it was all a ploy to get us to buy these several times (though they've also added a couple extra bonus tracks to Blizzard, and the new cd reissue of Diary Of A Madman, also in stock, comes with an entire bonus live disc!).
Here's some of what we wrote about Blizzard back when we first listed it...
In the same spirit as listing My Bloody Valentine's Loveless a few lists past, it occurred to us that like Loveless there are probably some of you who don't own Blizzard Of Ozz. Or perhaps some of you probably had it when you were 15, but haven't thought about it in years or bothered to pull out that dirty old cassette and throw it on. And if you're anything like us, you've become mildly obsessed with MTV's The Osbournes, and you've been getting a good laugh at doddering, senile old Ozzy, who is perplexed by the TV remote control, his dogs that shit all over the house, his truly bizarre children, and who occasionally loses control and throws a log through his neighbors' windows. The show is so popular, the BBC reported that President Bush is a fan and has asked Ozzy to have dinner with him at the White House. Never thought I'd see the day. (Neither did Ozzy, who said "I thought I'd be on a wanted poster on the wall, not invited to his place to tea.") And if I did see the day, I imagined it with a much hipper president. But with all this media hype, it's easy to forget that Ozzy (in Black Sabbath and solo) is responsible for some of the best heavy metal ever! The first two Ozzy records (Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman) are total classics, melodic, heavy and completely kick ass, with some of the best riffs ever committed to tape, as well as some ridiculously catchy songs (it's strange to look back now and realize how much poppier Ozzy was than we remember, closer to Van Halen than Slayer)... While both are great, we figured we would focus first on Blizzard Of Ozz as probably the best place to start for the uninitiated and since it holds a special place in [former AQ staffer] Byram's heart, who had the following to say about it:
"I would certainly never claim to be an expert on metal and my eyes fairly glaze over shortly after Andee and Allan begin one of their 'which album by _____ (random metal band) is the best' arguments. Having identified with punk rock in my formative years (though my appearance and actions made me look more like an effete and dorky new-waver at best), I was scared of the big hairy guys who I associated with metal in high school. But long before all that nonsense of cliques and fitting in, I used to ride around the suburbs on my BMX bike and listen to music regardless of its association to a particular fan demographic. With my Walkman strapped on, "Blizzard of Ozz" was my soundtrack while I made my rounds checking the pay phones and newspaper machines for change. And I'm certain that I wasn't the only young suburbanite who wandered the streets plugged into Ozzy. As his first solo album away from Black Sabbath, the million-plus-selling Blizzard of Ozz demonstrated that Ozzy had a broader appeal than his earlier efforts with the group had. Over 20 years later, after people get over their ironic chuckling, this album still holds its ground. Those of you who've now lost or worn out your old cassettes and those of you who never gave the post-Sabbath Ozzy a chance should pick this 24-bit remastered and low priced classic up immediately!"
As mentioned, the cd has not one, but 3 bonus tracks (B side "You Lookin' At Me Lookin' At You", which was included on the previous reissue, and is both poppy and kick ass enough to have fit perfectly on the original album, plus there's a 2010 guitar and vocal mix of "Goodbye To Romance", and the brief "RR").
And, this is also now available on the vinyl format, picture disc in fact!! No bonus tracks there. But of course way cool.
MPEG Stream: "Goodbye To Romance"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Crowley"

OSBOURNE, OZZY Blizzard Of Ozz (Epic) picture disc lp 23.00
Remember, that's right, we made an earlier reissue of this a Record Of The Week way back on list #134! And deservedly so, it's one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever, the 1980 solo debut from the former Sabbath singer, quite a comeback in his career. Teamed up with the ill fated guitar whiz Randy Rhoads, Ozzy waxed a total timeless classic, for metalheads and non-metalheads alike.
What we didn't realized when we ROTW'd this back then, was that that 2002 reissue edition had been tampered with - the bass and drum parts had been totally re-recorded!! Weird. And wack. Apparently due to some sort of monetary dispute with the original rhythm section of bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake, Ozzy (or rather, his wife/manager Sharon Osbourne) elected to have his then current bassist and drummer (ex-members of Suicidal Tendencies and Faith No More, respectively) redo the rhythm tracks, which seems kinda fucked up, right? We learned of that later, and mentioned it in our subsequent review of the reissue of Ozzy's 2nd album, Diary Of A Madman, which also had been purged of Daisley and Kerslake's contributions.
Well, thankfully, now they've (of course) finally re-reissued these, with the original rhythm tracks restored! Presumably all parties have buried the hatchet, or perhaps Ozzy & Sharon just decided to do the right thing, we don't know. From reading Ozzy's recent autobiography, I Am Ozzy, which is highly recommended by the way, we get the idea that he was a bit embarrassed / ashamed about the whole affair. Or maybe it was all a ploy to get us to buy these several times (though they've also added a couple extra bonus tracks to Blizzard, and the new cd reissue of Diary Of A Madman, also in stock, comes with an entire bonus live disc!).
Here's some of what we wrote about Blizzard back when we first listed it...
In the same spirit as listing My Bloody Valentine's Loveless a few lists past, it occurred to us that like Loveless there are probably some of you who don't own Blizzard Of Ozz. Or perhaps some of you probably had it when you were 15, but haven't thought about it in years or bothered to pull out that dirty old cassette and throw it on. And if you're anything like us, you've become mildly obsessed with MTV's The Osbournes, and you've been getting a good laugh at doddering, senile old Ozzy, who is perplexed by the TV remote control, his dogs that shit all over the house, his truly bizarre children, and who occasionally loses control and throws a log through his neighbors' windows. The show is so popular, the BBC reported that President Bush is a fan and has asked Ozzy to have dinner with him at the White House. Never thought I'd see the day. (Neither did Ozzy, who said "I thought I'd be on a wanted poster on the wall, not invited to his place to tea.") And if I did see the day, I imagined it with a much hipper president. But with all this media hype, it's easy to forget that Ozzy (in Black Sabbath and solo) is responsible for some of the best heavy metal ever! The first two Ozzy records (Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman) are total classics, melodic, heavy and completely kick ass, with some of the best riffs ever committed to tape, as well as some ridiculously catchy songs (it's strange to look back now and realize how much poppier Ozzy was than we remember, closer to Van Halen than Slayer)... While both are great, we figured we would focus first on Blizzard Of Ozz as probably the best place to start for the uninitiated and since it holds a special place in [former AQ staffer] Byram's heart, who had the following to say about it:
"I would certainly never claim to be an expert on metal and my eyes fairly glaze over shortly after Andee and Allan begin one of their 'which album by _____ (random metal band) is the best' arguments. Having identified with punk rock in my formative years (though my appearance and actions made me look more like an effete and dorky new-waver at best), I was scared of the big hairy guys who I associated with metal in high school. But long before all that nonsense of cliques and fitting in, I used to ride around the suburbs on my BMX bike and listen to music regardless of its association to a particular fan demographic. With my Walkman strapped on, "Blizzard of Ozz" was my soundtrack while I made my rounds checking the pay phones and newspaper machines for change. And I'm certain that I wasn't the only young suburbanite who wandered the streets plugged into Ozzy. As his first solo album away from Black Sabbath, the million-plus-selling Blizzard of Ozz demonstrated that Ozzy had a broader appeal than his earlier efforts with the group had. Over 20 years later, after people get over their ironic chuckling, this album still holds its ground. Those of you who've now lost or worn out your old cassettes and those of you who never gave the post-Sabbath Ozzy a chance should pick this 24-bit remastered and low priced classic up immediately!"
As mentioned, the cd has not one, but 3 bonus tracks (B side "You Lookin' At Me Lookin' At You", which was included on the previous reissue, and is both poppy and kick ass enough to have fit perfectly on the original album, plus there's a 2010 guitar and vocal mix of "Goodbye To Romance", and the brief "RR").
And, this is also now available on the vinyl format, picture disc in fact!! No bonus tracks there. But of course way cool.
MPEG Stream: "Goodbye To Romance"
MPEG Stream: "Mr. Crowley"

OSBOURNE, OZZY Diary of a Madman (Epic / Sony) cd 12.98
One bizarre fact that we overlooked in our review of the reissue of Ozzy Osbourne's "Blizzard of Ozz": the bass and drum parts have been totally re-recorded!! Weird. Apparently due to some sort of monetary dispute with the original rhythm section of bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake, Ozzy elected to have his current bassist and drummer (ex-members of Suicidal Tendencies and Faith No More, respectively) redo the rhythm tracks, which seems kinda fucked up, in theory. While most of us couldn't tell the difference, a couple AQ customers were adamant that the differences were extreme, night and day. Whatever. If you don't have these, it's either beat up old copies from the thrift store, or these shiny new aluminum versions. Regardless, 'Diary Of A Madman' is just as much of a classic as 'Blizzard Of Ozz'. With some of Ozzy's greatest tunes: 'Over The Mountain', 'Flying High Again', 'You Can't Kill Rock And Roll' and a bunch more. The bonus track here isn't nearly as crucial as the unreleased gem on 'Blizzard Of Ozz' but fans will be pleased nonetheless with the live version of "I Don't Know" featuring Randy Rhoads. Extra liner notes and photos, but if you don't have this, what the hell is wrong with you?! A little weirder and a little heavier than 'Blizzard Of Ozz' maybe, but still kick ass metallic rock and roll, and better than most anything else released in the last 20 years!
RealAudio clip: "Over The Mountain"
RealAudio clip: "Flying High Again"
RealAudio clip: "Diary Of A Madman"
RealAudio clip: "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll"

OSBOURNE, OZZY Down To Earth (Epic) cd 16.98
A new Ozzy record! His first in quite a few years. And we have to say, it's not all that bad. The sound is a lot heavier, due in no small part to the return of Zakk Wylde (which is also why a lot of the songs sound quite a bit like Wylde's Black Label Society) and the Ozzfest nu-metal connection. But Ozzy's nasally whine is in fine form and some of the songs are even kinda catchy. Comes with a bonus video for your computer that features a synopsized history of Sabbath/Ozzy and some of the only footage of Ozzy with former guitarist Randy Rhodes, who died in a plane crash.

OSBOURNE, OZZY Prince Of Darkness (Epic) 4cd boxset 42.00

OSI Free (InsideOut Music) cd 17.98

OSKOREIEN s/t (Pest Productions) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We were first turned on to this, the debut full length from one man black metal band Oskoreien, by another one man black metal band, Botanist, who was quick to proclaim this his new favorite black metal record. The awesome metal blog Invisible Oranges also included this in their year end picks, and once you hear it you'll immediately understand why. It literally took us maybe 90 seconds of the opening track to be just as smitten as everybody else. The cover is definitely misleading, an image of a figure, walking through a sun dappled glade, and no, not a dark forest, a gorgeous warm, verdant landscape, which had us imaging this to be some sort of shoegazey blackened post metal pop, a la Amesoeurs or Alcest. And while there are definitely some shoegazey elements, the sound of Oskoreien is much more black and buzzy, the sound thick, and distorted and blown out, but warm and layered and lush, super melodic too, but without losing any of its power or its black energy.
Opener "Illusions Perish" begins with the sounds of crickets, and footsteps, beneath soaring keening minor key guitars, hazy and darkly lovely, we would have been way into this if it had gone on like that for ages, but a little burst of feedback signals the launch of the song proper, an avalanche of blasting drums, and crumbling super distorted riffage, howled vox, and soaring melancholic melodies, we can imagine people lumping Oskoreien in with Wolves In The Throne Room, which to a certain degree would be somewhat appropriate, but the sound of Oskoreien is something much more raw and melodic, dense and darkly melancholic, with some amazing not traditionally black metal guitar parts - whether it's dark atonal tangles, or soaring almost choral sounding high end, the song slipping from dirge-y lumber to transcendental slow build epic and back again, the sound laced with psychedelic shimmer, and a vibe that to these ears owes more to post rock than black metal. The vocals too, odd even by experimental black metal standards, slipping easily from a more traditional raspy demonic howl to a deep throaty dramatic croon, that comes super close to a slightly less over the top Urfaust, which is most definitely a very good thing.
The record is super varied too, slipping easily from furious blast, to moody meander, the sound too drifting effortlessly from dense, black and brutal, to hushed and shimmery, peppered with gorgeous stretches of near Appalachian sounding clean guitars, as well as soaring streaks of softly psychedelic buzz, often the two combined to great effect, and for all the buzzing blackness and soaring epic heaviness, much of the record is in fact spent much more sonically contemplative, whether it's the dark forest folk of "Rivers Of Eternity", or the gorgeous solo piano coda that is "Ashen Remains", elements of both showing up within the more metal tracks throughout the record, Oskoreien is a master of mood, infusing the sprawling expanses of majestic metallic fury with a mournfully moody undercurrent, while transforming the more abstract movements into something much more ominous, and fusing the two into a single epic, ultra personal blackened songsuite, that is fast becoming one of our favorites too!
MPEG Stream: "Illusions Perish"
MPEG Stream: "Entropic Collapse"
MPEG Stream: "Transcendence"

OSTROGOTH Ecstacy And Danger / Full Moon's Eyes (Mausoleum) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Talkin' to the real metal fans here: We list a fair number of rare '70s proto-metal reissues... and then there's all the cult black metal demos from just a few years ago that get reissued on cd... but we haven't really provided all you AQ list/website readers with as much in the way of obscure reissues from metal's glory years in '80s, have we? Well not as many as we think you should hear, anyway. So let's not let this Ostrogoth cd slip past without making mention of it. After all, Allan's been listening to this non-stop for some weeks now, ever since we first got a copy.
Ostrogoth were a Belgian band playing Iron Maiden/NWOBHM inspired metal that's fairly hard and heavy for the era but also quite melodic and memorable. Ostrogoth's got dramatic but not screechy vocals (that remind us a bit of the guy from Omen), classy riffing, lots of headbanging energy, twin guitar leads galore... all the epic sweep and galloping power you could want! Killer old school true metal. Just check out the gothic logo (and literally gothic name), the extraneous lightning bolt, the cool metallic scorpion/hand grenade on black background cover art, the Ecstasy and Danger title -- they live up to all of that! We're impressed, especially considering we'd never really even heard of them before getting this reissue. Just goes to show that amid all the also-ran metal bands of the '80s, there were definitely a few that should have been better known, and this is one of those forgotten classics. Definitely the real deal, waaaay better than so much of the pretend '80s Euro "power metal" that makes the rounds today.
This disc contains their first ep, 1983's Full Moon's Eyes, and their 1984 debut full-length album Ecstasy And Danger, plus a bonus track, 13 cuts in all, with titles like "Scream Out", "Rock Fever", "Paris By Night", "Stormbringer", and "A Bitch Again" amongst others. It's nicely done reissue with liner notes and photos (that reveal Ostrogoth to be a kinda funny, nerdy looking band). You'll learn that one of their guitarists was a professor of Egyptology. His nickname was "Sphinx" of course. The other goofy nicknames possessed by the band members were "White Shark" (also on guitar), "Red Star" (vocals), "Bronco" (bass), and "Grizzly" (drums). Plus, the original cover art to both releases is provided, on the front and back covers of the cd booklet, so you can choose between 'em, always a nice touch with "two-on-one" cd reissues.
MPEG Stream: "Ecstasy And Danger"
MPEG Stream: "Heroes' Museum"

OSTROGOTH Feelings Of Fury / Too Hot (Mausoleum) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
On one cd, the 3rd and 4th albums from this underrated '80s Belgian heavy metal act. Get Esctasy and Danger first, then this.

OTARGOS No God, No Satan (Season Of Mist) cd 14.98
We've gone on and on in the past about how much we love French black metal, a list of our French faves should definitely speak volumes: Deathspell Omega, Spektr, Peste Noire, Mutiilation, Alcest, Aurvandil, Arrival Of Satan, Blut Aus Nord, Hell Militia, Diamatregon, S.V.E.S.T., Wolok, you get the picture, so how the hell did we miss out on these guys? With a seriously killer sound that falls somewhere right between classic Norwegian style blackness, and modern French Industrial black a la Spektr and Blut Aus Nord, as well as creepy album covers, bad ass song titles ("Hoax-Virus-God", "Cloning The Divine", "The Hulk Of Conviction And Faith") not to mention their awesomely and blasphemously titled debut Fuck God-Disease Process, anyway, better late than never, thanks to the suggestion of an aQ customer, we can now revel in the glorious black filth of these agents of Satan (although lyrically, they are equally concerned with quantum physics!) and glorious it is.
After a creeped out, seriously grim almost industrial intro, all black noise, and looped riffs beneath harsh hateful vox, the band launch into the record proper, a brief bit of mechanical blast, and then into a strangely psychedelic stop start thing, before exploding into frenzied furious blackness, that never lets up, until the sound shifts into a doomy lumber complete with classic metal sounding leads, and some surprising melodies. The follow up is a black industrial blow out, with some of the fiercest vokills ever, and woozy detuned guitars, a lurching warped midtempo lead in, to yet another stretch of blurred black buzz.
The record is a relentless onslaught of gnarled Deathspell like riffage, tangled almost psychedelic leads, mysterious samples, buzzing black drones, martial percussion, strange field recordings, some seriously awesome angular warped guitar crunch, super dense flurries of frenzied blastbeats, spaced out atmospheric droning doom, grinding industrial black fury, and lots of abstract black sonic weirdness woven in.
Needless to say, we're doing our best to make up for missing out on these guys the first time around, by listening to this pretty much nonstop. A contender for black metal record of the year quite possibly, and thus obviously recommended to anyone who likes their black metal grim and mechanical, fucked up and furious, frantic and FRENCH!
Alos includes a short film / music video!
MPEG Stream: "Cloning The Divine"
MPEG Stream: "Worship Industrialized"
MPEG Stream: "Hexameron"

OTESANEK Final (Nancy Jo / Reification of Misery) 12" 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Final recordings from these East Coast, ultra doom sludgelords, and holy shit do these two tracks utterly destroy. We never managed to review their only full length, from back in 2004, but we raved about their more recent splits, one with Japanese heavies Coffins, and more recently, the Four Burials comp with fellow doom brethren Loss, Orthodox and Mournful Congregation. In fact, these two tracks here are from the same sessions that produced their Four Burials track. And like was said, these songs are massive, epic, sprawling, intense, and so so heavy.
It kills us these guys are no more. The first side/song is ultra heavy, sloooooooow, crushing heaviness, with some insanely gurgly vokills, somehow it manages to be surprisingly melodic at the same time, the guitars ringing out, spacious and measured, eventually slipping into something more slowcore, sounding a bit like Khanate covering Codeine, but infused with plenty of classic doom melodies and grooves, a strange combo, but it works so well.
The second side/track begins with a wall of feedback and then a wild tangle of gnarled psychedelic guitars and spazzed out drum-age, before smoothing out into a doomy crawl. But throughout the next few minutes, the track continually erupts into super dense bursts of chug and churn, every time sounding like the start of a more frenzied jam, but always settling back into that slow motion lumber. The second half of the track gets super minimal, almost mellow, the guitars warm and low, laced with strange clicks and distant tones, all spaced out and spare, eventually building back up to a caustic corrosive crawl, the vocals even more sick and inhuman sounding. So goddamn good.
One of these cats is now in Serpent Throne, but here's hoping the rest of Otesanek start up something this heavy and intense. Too bad this is the end. But what a way to go.
The packaging is amazing as well. Super thick cardstock sleeves, screenprinted with super intense woodcut, fold out the lp to see the whole image of an impaled woman, her hair a tangle of foliage, the hilts of the swords super dense and intricate, inside liner notes and lyrics, also woodcut style. And included are a couple printed inserts. SUPER LIMITED of course, not sure we can get more when we run out.