OTESANEK / LOSS / ORTHODOX / MOURNFUL CONGREGATION Four Burials (Battle Kommand) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Somehow managed to score another 8 or 10 copies!
The good news, is that this disc will be absolute heaven (or hell if you prefer) for the doom obsessed, for those who NEED utter and extreme heaviness, who thrive on massive walls of sludge, of creeping crumbling downtuned riffage, of skull splitting rib cage rattling drum pound. And the fact that this disc contains exclusive tracks from four of THEE heaviest and THEE doomiest bands around. The bad news though, is that somehow, this disc is already sold out at the label, so this could very well be the last we see of Four Burials. We did get a bunch of these, but since so many of the aQ faithful are of the doomier persuasion, odds are these will disappear in no time.
So most doomlords will see the above names and that's all it'll take, four exclusive tracks, LONG ones, from Loss, Orthodox, Mournful Congregation and Otesanek. For avid readers of the aQ list, you too are probably familiar with 2 or 3 of those. But just in case, we'll give a quick rundown of the bands / tracks that make up the Four Burials here...
Otesanek is up first. Last heard from splitting a disc with Japan's Coffins. They are definitely doomy, obviously, but might also be the heaviest of the bunch, a sort of Eyehategod meets Moss thing going on, and one of the few bands this slooooooow, to also fuck things up big time. Super strange arrangements, ultra dynamic, lots of weird starts and stops, angular riffs, crazy vocals (both male and female, both super intense and harsh). Definitely for fans of Khanate and Bunkur and all that sort of ultradoomdirge, but weirder and more fucked up. Definitely dying to hear more from these guys.
Next up is Loss, whose approach to doom is much more classic and melodic, beginning with some unnerving samples, woven into a spare doomy plod, the band slip into some seriously melodic post rock, all clean guitar and sparse drumming, eventually morphing into a sound majestic and massive, a bit like old My Dying Bride, impossibly loooow vocals, super mournful melodies, very dramatic and miserable. The song weaves back and forth between that classic doom-ic crush and the melancholy loping post rock, eventually somehow fusing the two.
Then comes longtime faves Orthodox, from Spain, whose sound, especially here, is way more spacious and spare, very minimal. with long stretches that are practically inaudible over the daily din of the store (this is headphone doom for sure!). Chanting, monk-like and somber, clean guitars drifting and shimmering, simple stripped down drumming, some wailing dramatic vocals, the sound an abstract mysterious slowcore that seems to get more and more strangely psychedelic, without ever getting overtly heavy. Really strange, but fans of Orthodox will already be well used to their, umm... un-Orthodox approach to all things doom.
Last up, legendary purveyors of true doom, Australia's Mournful Congregation, whose sound is sad and sorrowful, melancholy and miserable, a gorgeously epic lugubrious crawl, super melodic, but totally washed out and painted in sweeping shades of black and grey. Think Skepticism, Thergothon, Esoteric, Asunder, the sort of dark, slow motion, soul stirring creep we could listen to forever.
MPEG Stream: OTESANEK "Seven Are They"
MPEG Stream: LOSS "(To Pass Away) Death March Towards My Ruin"

OTESANEK / LOSS / ORTHODOX / MOURNFUL CONGREGATION Four Burials (The Flenser) cd 10.98
Originally released in 2008 on Battle Kommand, this crushing ultra doom four way split is available again, courtesy of local label The Flenser.
Absolute heaven (or hell if you prefer) for the doom obsessed, for those who NEED utter and extreme heaviness, who thrive on massive walls of sludge, of creeping crumbling downtuned riffage, of skull splitting rib cage rattling drum pound. And the fact that this disc contains exclusive tracks from four of THEE heaviest and THEE doomiest bands around is reason enough to grab one of these if for some reason you didn't the first time around.
Thus, most doomlords will see the above names and that's all it'll take, four exclusive tracks, LONG ones, from Loss, Orthodox, Mournful Congregation and Otesanek. For avid readers of the aQ list, you too are probably familiar with most if not all of those. But just in case, we'll give a quick rundown of the bands / tracks that make up the Four Burials here...
Otesanek is up first. Who have previously shared a disc with Japan's Coffins and released the killer Final 12". They are definitely doomy, obviously, but might also be the heaviest of the bunch, a sort of Eyehategod meets Moss thing going on, and one of the few bands this slooooooow, to also fuck things up big time. Super strange arrangements, ultra dynamic, lots of weird starts and stops, angular riffs, crazy vocals (both male and female, both super intense and harsh). Definitely for fans of Khanate and Bunkur and all that sort of ultradoomdirge, but weirder and more fucked up. Next up is Loss, whose approach to doom is much more classic and melodic, beginning with some unnerving samples, woven into a spare doomy plod, the band slip into some seriously melodic post rock, all clean guitar and sparse drumming, eventually morphing into a sound majestic and massive, a bit like old My Dying Bride, impossibly loooow vocals, super mournful melodies, very dramatic and miserable. The song weaves back and forth between that classic doom-ic crush and the melancholy loping post rock, eventually somehow fusing the two.
Then comes longtime faves Orthodox, from Spain, whose sound, especially here, is way more spacious and spare, very minimal. with long stretches that are practically inaudible over the daily din of the store (this is headphone doom for sure!). Chanting, monk-like and somber, clean guitars drifting and shimmering, simple stripped down drumming, some wailing dramatic vocals, the sound an abstract mysterious slowcore that seems to get more and more strangely psychedelic, without ever getting overtly heavy. Really strange, but fans of Orthodox will already be well used to their, umm... un-Orthodox approach to all things doom.
Last up, legendary purveyors of true doom, Australia's Mournful Congregation, whose sound is sad and sorrowful, melancholy and miserable, a gorgeously epic lugubrious crawl, super melodic, but totally washed out and painted in sweeping shades of black and grey. Think Skepticism, Thergothon, Esoteric, Asunder, the sort of dark, slow motion, soul stirring creep we could listen to forever.
Obviously, WAY recommended.
MPEG Stream: OTESANEK "Seven Are They"
MPEG Stream: LOSS "(To Pass Away) Death March Towards My Ruin"

OTHER SIDE OF THE SKY, THE Rorschach (Retribute) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
WAREHOUSE FIND! Another cool discovery, a record we've dug for ages, and were meaning to review, but somehow overlooked until now. So we discovered a handful of these, and figured we oughta get it reviewed and up on the site, better late than never, and all you folks into crushing epic post metal, Neur-Isis style slow build sludge are gonna flip.
Cuz boy do these guys fit neatly right there between Mogwai, Isis, Neurosis, Pelican and the other post metal combos we're partial to, Tides, Mouth Of The Architect, Grails, Rosetta, Mono, Souvenir's Young America, Angel Eyes, Irepress, you know what we're talking about, gorgeous post rock sprawls, all clean guitar and delicate harmonies, gradually building in volume and intensity, until exploding in a frenzy of blown out metallic psych rock, huge heaving swells of churning downtuned crunch, epic and majestic and heavy.
The Other Side Of The Sky also just so happen to have two bass players, so they're able to whip up these dense tangled basslines, infusing their post metal with an extra layer of low end rumble and low slung buzz, perfectly balancing the long stretches of prettier, meandering melody, hushed blissed out ambience, and woozy slowcore, with most tracks working their way toward that explosive, cathartic climax. Shit, we still love this stuff, and these guys push all our post rock / ambient metal buttons. Odds are if you dig any of the above mentioned bands, they'll probably do it for you too.
We only have a handful of these, and it's been out for a while, so if we run out, be prepared to wait for a restock, with the possibility that we might not be able to get more. And eagle eyed aQ-ers might notice the familiar cover art, the same image used on the cover of Servile Sect's Stratospheric...
MPEG Stream: "No Compromise"
MPEG Stream: "Rorschach"

OUTLAW ORDER Dragging Down The Enforcer (Season Of Mist) cd 16.98

OUTLAW ORDER Legalize Crime (Southern Lord) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is just what you might expect (and certainly hope for) from a band made up of five, that's right, FIVE members of sorely missed Southern doom sludge legends Eyehategod. The only difference this time around is the occasional burst of speed, like EHG, if they were chasing their cough syrup/heroin with a case of Red Bull. Crushing, pummelling, shrieking, howling, grinding metallic sludge. So good.

OV HELL The Underworld Regime (Prosthetic) cd 15.98
After a protracted legal battle over the name Gorgoroth, various members went their separate ways, with Infernus keeping the Gorgoroth name, and recently releasing a decent slab of black metal under that moniker. Meanwhile former Gorgoroth guitarist King Ov Hell and vocalist Gaahl went on to form the oddly named God Seed, but before the duo could release a record, that band fell apart, resulting in the formation of this group right here, Ov Hell, which finds King (now sans the Ov Hell) teamed up with Dimmu Borgir vocalist Shagrath, along with a pretty serious supporting cast: Frost from Satyricon, Ice Dale of Enslaved and Teloch of Nidingr and 1349! But initial reports had been grim (and not in a good way), with a pretty much across the board dismissal of the new record. So we were prepared for the worst, which could be why we find ourselves digging this so much.
It's not groundbreaking or revolutionary (then again little black metal is), but it's also not terrible, in fact, it's pretty dang good, and not that far removed from what you might expect from the various contributors. Plenty of the record is blasting blackness, all furious beats and insectoid buzzing, and Shagrath's demonic vokills, but the record is surprisingly varied, with some cool warped dirgier numbers, with strange samples, and tangled spidery guitars, some definite grooves, gnarled riffing, epic melodies, all under a seriously glossy modern production, and every song that seems to be on the surface some sort of a throwaway black metal by the numbers jam, has a lot more going on than meets the ear, and there's plenty of awesomely twisted, blasting and brutal tracks that stand up pretty well to any of the bands in Ov Hell's pedigree. It takes a few listens, definitely, and if you were hoping for some sort of return to classic Gorgoroth, you'll probably be disappointed, but every spin we dig this more and more...
MPEG Stream: "Devil's Harlot"
MPEG Stream: "Post Modern Sadist"
MPEG Stream: "Hill Norge"

OVAL / LITURGY split (Thrill Jockey) lp 16.98
An odd matchup indeed. We weren't sure whether this was a joining of convenience, since both bands are now labelmates, or if it went deeper than that, considering the two groups are sort of iconoclasts, Markus Popp and his Oval project constantly reinventing himself and following his own idiosyncratic path, and Liturgy, whose 'transcendental black metal' has been known to ruffle a few feathers, and whose frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix has been outspoken in his academic/spiritual approach to black metal, which seems to be at odds with the true grim hordes, not to mention his distinctly UN black metal pretty boy appearance. Regardless, these two definitely make a good team, at least in terms of splitting a record. We were secretly hoping this was in fact a collaboration, but this is the next best thing.
Popp's Oval has definitely moved on from those beloved skipping cd underwater dronescapes we love so much, his return heralded a move toward manipulating acoustic instrumentation, and the tracks here continue in that direction. The main song here is a sort of glitchy electronic flecked post rock, sounding a bit like a more warped and abstract Tortoise, all manner of squiggles and squelches tangled up into the loping rhythm and melancholic strum, the result blissed out and melodic. The following three tracks are brief bits of experimentation, solo guitar it seems, processed buzz, transformed into distinct melodies that sound less like guitars and more like thumb piano or gamelan.
Liturgy subvert all expectations and come out with some seriously chugging churning math rock, repetitive and droney, looped and mesmerizing, it's pretty compelling, a sound we love, and these guys nail it, it's not until about halfway through that any black metal riffing comes in, but instead of launching into it, the track slips into something way more minimal, a haunting, pulsing electronic ambience, so gorgeous and hushed, until FINALLY, the song does explode into that soaring and majestic transcendental black metal we love so much, but even here, the blasting is kept to a minimum, the rhythms more midtempo, seemingly a sonic extension of the math rock opening. Great stuff. Definitely has us chomping at the bit for the new full length, and hoping for more of this transcendental math rock!
This too was a Record Store Day release, and thus was extremely limited, so not sure if we can get more once this batch sells out. Includes a download coupon as well.
MPEG Stream: OVAL "Kreak"
MPEG Stream: LITURGY "Untitled"

OVO Miastenia (Load) cd 14.98
Italian duo OvO is a band that we think a select crowd of AQ-customers will totally appreciate. But...don't look at that awful cover. Oooh, what were they thinking? Well the (sorta) little-girl voice of OvO's singer Stefania does perhaps explain the little-girl drawing on the cover (which she drew). As does the Load label's often willfully 'ugly' aesthetic. But where that illustration is sort of twee, cringe-inducing cutesiness, Stefania's voice is far from cutesy! It's a rabid, wretched little girl we're talking about. Her yelping shriek has been compared to both a squeaky toy and a wheezing dog dying by folks here at AQ. Basically, if you hate the extended high-pitched babble of Yoko Ono, stay away! Nerve-grating for sure. We don't know how she does it. Must need a lot of lozenges.
Meanwhile, OvO's music ranges from chaotic punk frenzy to plodding, art-rock dirge. In addition to the unusual, extreme vocals, OvO also uses/abuses cello, for extra droning ambience. They're hard to compare to anybody, but we'll throw out these names: the aforementioned Yoko Ono, Load labelmates Noxagt, Double Nelson, Oxbow, and Khanate. Or maybe a twisted, primitive, Japanoise version of Devil Doll ('cause they're Italian and sorta theatrical sounding). Definitely not always (ever?) easy listening, but strangely fascinating. For us, it's the endurance-testing 20 minute title track that makes this a keeper. A torturous trudge with throaty rasping and heavy doomy death-knell drums and guitar. Oppressive. Depressive. Feedback hell gargle. Very much in the vein of Corrupted and Khanate. But with witchy Yoko vox! Like we said, the select few will love it.
MPEG Stream: "Miastenia"
MPEG Stream: "VooDoo"
MPEG Stream: "Anime Morte"

OVO Miastenia (Load) lp 11.98
Italian duo OvO is a band that we think a select crowd of AQ-customers will totally appreciate. But...don't look at that awful cover. Oooh, what were they thinking? Well the (sorta) little-girl voice of OvO's singer Stefania does perhaps explain the little-girl drawing on the cover (which she drew). As does the Load label's often willfully 'ugly' aesthetic. But where that illustration is sort of twee, cringe-inducing cutesiness, Stefania's voice is far from cutesy! It's a rabid, wretched little girl we're talking about. Her yelping shriek has been compared to both a squeaky toy and a wheezing dog dying by folks here at AQ. Basically, if you hate the extended high-pitched babble of Yoko Ono, stay away! Nerve-grating for sure. We don't know how she does it. Must need a lot of lozenges.
Meanwhile, OvO's music ranges from chaotic punk frenzy to plodding, art-rock dirge. In addition to the unusual, extreme vocals, OvO also uses/abuses cello, for extra droning ambience. They're hard to compare to anybody, but we'll throw out these names: the aforementioned Yoko Ono, Load labelmates Noxagt, Double Nelson, Oxbow, and Khanate. Or maybe a twisted, primitive, Japanoise version of Devil Doll ('cause they're Italian and sorta theatrical sounding). Definitely not always (ever?) easy listening, but strangely fascinating. For us, it's the endurance-testing 20 minute title track that makes this a keeper. A torturous trudge with throaty rasping and heavy doomy death-knell drums and guitar. Oppressive. Depressive. Feedback hell gargle. Very much in the vein of Corrupted and Khanate. But with witchy Yoko vox! Like we said, the select few will love it.
MPEG Stream: "Miastenia"
MPEG Stream: "VooDoo"
MPEG Stream: "Anime Morte"

OVSKUM Atto I - Atto II (Insikt) cassette 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We don't know too much about this strange Italian black metal band other than we fucking LOVE them. One of our new favorite BM outfits for sure. This is no ordinary buzzing black metal, although it does buzz and is most definitely BM, Ovskum, do some sort of midtempo, near ambient blackened plod. The guitars are huge and thick and seem to be crumbling into pieces, the drums are a midtempo trudge or a relentless martial march, the riffing is sometimes sludgy and thick, other times, angular and jangly, often both, a swirling slithering low end beneath keening upper register guitar skree and howled vocals. It's almost weird to call these guys black metal, they sound more like some super chaotic ambient noise rock, or spacey black sludge, or dreamy noise rock doom, all definitely fit... melodies are angular and obtuse, the drumming is sort of stumbly and simple, but the sound is HUGE, thick and swirling, raw and atmospheric, guitars are gnarled and convoluted, bits of melody and keening droneguitar are whispy streaks above the roiling fury below, some tracks forego the drums completely, and become these haunting abstract riffscapes, drifting and throbbing and crawling along malevolently... it's all so intense and dark and so so so good. No cds yet as far as we know, so needless to say both this and the s/t cassette are absolutely essential.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

OVSKUM Atto III (Obscure Origins) lp 17.98
Finally, the first proper vinyl release from mysterious Italian avant black metal horde Ovskum, presented by the just launched Obscure Origins label. Atto III is the first in an Ovskum reissue campaign that will hopefully also include a cd on Andee's tUMULt label.
Bu for now, let's just revel in the blackened musikal actions that make up this amazing collection of haunting and otherworldly blackness. We don't know all that much about Ovskum, but one thing we do know is that we fucking LOVE them. One of our favorite BM outfits for sure. For the uninitiated, this is no ordinary buzzing black metal, although it does buzz and is most definitely BM, Ovskum, conjure up some sort of midtempo, near ambient blackened plod. The guitars are huge and thick and seem to be crumbling into pieces, the drums are a midtempo trudge or a relentless martial march, the riffing is sometimes sludgy and thick, other times, angular and jangly, often both, a swirling slithering low end beneath keening upper register guitar skree and howled vocals. It's almost weird to call these guys black metal, they sound more like some super chaotic ambient noise rock, or spacey black sludge, or dreamy noise rock doom, all definitely fit... melodies are angular and obtuse, the drumming is sort of stumbly and simple, but the sound is HUGE, thick and swirling, raw and atmospheric, guitars are gnarled and convoluted, bits of melody and keening droneguitar are whispy streaks above the roiling fury below, some tracks forego the drums completely, and become these haunting abstract riffscapes, drifting and throbbing and crawling along malevolently... it's all so intense and dark and so so so good.
This deluxe vinyl version, comes in a plain black sleeve with a sticker on the front of the jacket, as well as a front cover insert, along with a massive printed booklet of original artwork from Morte404, the mysterious woman whose creepy line drawings have accompanied all the Ovskum releases. III collects all four actions from the 2006 s/t tape on Insikt as well as a track from Ovskum's split with Necrolust.
LIMITED TO 490 COPIES!!!

OVSKUM Atto III (Northern Sky Productions) cassette 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

OVSKUM s/t (Insikt) (Insikt) cassette 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We don't know too much about this strange Italian black metal band other than we fucking LOVE them. One of our new favorite BM outfits for sure. This is no ordinary buzzing black metal, although it does buzz and is most definitely BM, Ovskum, do some sort of midtempo, near ambient blackened plod. The guitars are huge and thick and seem to be crumbling into pieces, the drums are a midtempo trudge or a relentless martial march, the riffing is sometimes sludgy and thick, other times, angular and jangly, often both, a swirling slithering low end beneath keening upper register guitar skree and howled vocals. It's almost weird to call these guys black metal, they sound more like some super chaotic ambient noise rock, or spacey black sludge, or dreamy noise rock doom, all definitely fit... melodies are angular and obtuse, the drumming is sort of stumbly and simple, but the sound is HUGE, thick and swirling, raw and atmospheric, guitars are gnarled and convoluted, bits of melody and keening droneguitar are whispy streaks above the roiling fury below, some tracks forego the drums completely, and become these haunting abstract riffscapes, drifting and throbbing and crawling along malevolently... it's all so intense and dark and so so so good. No cds yet as far as we know, so needless to say both this and the Atto I - Atto II cassette are absolutely essential.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

OVSKUM s/t (Raging Bloodlust) (Raging Bloodlust) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
While we wait patiently for the long awaited first proper lp release (reissuing some of the previous cassettes) from Italy's obscure black metallers Ovskum, coming soon on the newly launched Obscure Origins label, we're graced, or cursed perhaps by what is essentially a new full length from these masters of mysterious blackened mood music. Four tracks, nearly 40 minutes, of a sound that really can hardly be compared to any other black metal groups. A gorgeously blackened languid doom, abject and miserable and suicidal, but also hauntingly pretty, the guitars clean, seemingly floating over a bed of buzz, tangled minor key melodies, the drums a barely there pound, the whole sound so weary and woozy, the vocals appropriately anguished and howled, but way back in the mix, it's the guitars that weave the magic here, lots of harmonics, spare almost post rock guitar lines, the sound not so much loping as sort of slowed down and dragging, like listening to Make A Change Kill Yourself, with someone pressing the finger down on the vinyl, lethargic and warbly, black, and sorrowful, and haunting and almost otherworldly. A bit like a less distinctly doomy Skepticism, or maybe like a black metal Mazzy Star or something. That same sort of gauzy shoegazey quality, but not the way most bands use that quality to get all blissy, Ovskum take that sound somewhere much more abstract and dark, a truly creepy, haunting, mopey blackened slowcore. So fucking great.

OX Aftermath (Kult Ov Nihilow) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For those of you unfamiliar with OX, a quick look at the cover should tell you all you need to know. The image on the front it a towering Orange amplifier, the back cover, a close up of some amplifier vacuum tubes. Two songs to a side, with titles like "Seismic", "Mass", "The Horror" and "Abyss". And hell, the record's called Aftermath. Plus, it's on Finnish label Kult Of Nihilow, who in the past have brought us records from Boris, , Dot [.], Church Of Misery, Fleshpress and Stumm. So if you guessed massive, pummeling, sloooooow, doooooom, dirge heaviness, you've definitely come to the right place.
We listed a 10" from OX years ago, and sadly we were only ever able to get about a dozen. We got a whole lot more this time, but these will probably still be gone before you know it. OX is the one man guitar doom project of Ken Baluke, who spends most of his time wielding his axe in Canadian doom groove outfit Sons Of Otis, but in OX, it's just him, and his guitar, and what sounds like lots and lots of really big amps. OX is definitely a practitioner of that sort of slow motion sludge guitar ambience, but definitely has his own unique angle. The core of OX's sound is a thick slithery Earth 2 style glacial riffing, a black liquid doom that sort of seeps out of your speakers, but above this dense low end is a gloriously fuzzed out effulgence, all glistening fuzz and radiant sparkle. Those two extremes all tangled up and constantly bleeding into one another. Haunting and heavy and so beautiful. Not sure whether it's supposed to play at 33 or 45, but sounds great either way. On 33 it's a sloooooooooooow crawl, at 45, it's still slow, but a little less murky and more luminous. Sort of like having two different, but equally heavy and kick ass records in one!
LIMITED TO 255 COPIES!! We got about 40 of those, and once they are gone we most likely won't be able to get more.

OX Movements (Kult Ov Nihilow) 10" 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another amazing release from Finland's Kult Of Nihilow label (who brought us the Dot [.] 10" elsewhere on this list), this time from Ox, otherwise known as Ken from Canada's Sons Of Otis. Movements finds Ken, the axeman responsible for some of the heaviest stoner doom we've ever heard, taking his guitar playing to the farthest reaches of metal, ending up in some seriously grim and glacial territory, alongside minimal doom brethren Earth and Sunn 0))), In fact, if one didn't know better, on first listen, one could certainly be forgiven for thinking this was indeed a record by one of those slow motion doom legends. But that would be selling Ox a little short. Imagine Earth at their most ambient, then smooth off all the rough edges, until distorted guitars become slowly shifting tectonic plates, a glacial drone, dense with lumbering, rumbling tones. Doomy and dark, beautiful and serene.
Seriously limited to only 320 copies, of which we have 12, and we will NOT be able to get more. Beautifully packaged in thick black sleeve printed with metalllic silver ink.

OXBOW (FEAT. JUSTIN BROADERICK & STEPHEN O'MALLEY) Presents: Love's Holiday Orchestra: Super Sonic 07 (Capsule) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We sold through our stash of these in nothing flat when we first listed this a little while back. Luckily, one of our distributors got a handful in, so we grabbed all we could, so everyone who missed out on this the first time around, now's your chance (probably your last chance)...
Two different sides of longtime aQ faves Oxbow, recorded live at the Supersonic festival in 2007.
The A side features a handful of Oxbow tracks, all stripped down and acoustic - just acoustic guitar, and the wild feral mewling of frontman Eugene Robinson. And you would think that playing stripped down and acoustic would make it sound more mellow, less frenzied and intense, but it doesn't. In plenty of places, it's like the guitar isn't even there, it's definitely Eugene's show. A wild caterwaul that even somehow gets the crowd shouting along. Intense and emotional, darkly intimate, but still strangely sinister and explosive. Essential for sure for all Oxbow fanatics.
But it's the flipside that will probably make this disappear in no time. A side long jam, that begins much like the A side tracks, simple urgently strummed acoustic guitar, and those primal vocals, until the guests make their presence known, Stephen O'Malley from SUNNO))), and Justin Broadrick from Jesu / Godflesh, the bass player from God, and even a string quartet. When those folks join the fray, it sounds almost like you might imagine, the acoustic guitar and vocals, buried under moaning strings and sheets of soaring blissed out high end, streaks of glistening feedback, crumbling rumbling swells of downtuned amp melting grind, thick sheets of buzz and shimmer, all draped over the haunting acoustic Oxbow musical drama unfolding beneath. Pretty amazing. Here's hoping these guys stopped by a studio to capture more of this stuff. But until that happens, this will most likely be your only chance to hear Oxbow's twisted, frenzied, so called "Love's Holiday Orchestra".
Beautifully packaged in super thick black matte sleeves, with silver metallic printing, with an insert featuring photos of the evening's festivities, as well as Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner's recollection of the evening's festivities... which according to Eugene, leaves out the critical part where they left him for dead, knocked out and unconscious on the stage!

OXBOW (FEAT. JUSTIN BROADERICK & STEPHEN O'MALLEY) Presents: Love's Holiday Orchestra: Super Sonic 07 (Capsule) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We sold through our stash of these in nothing flat when we first listed this a little while back. Luckily, one of our distributors got a handful in, so we grabbed all we could, so everyone who missed out on this the first time around, now's your chance (probably your last chance)...
Two different sides of longtime aQ faves Oxbow, recorded live at the Supersonic festival in 2007.
The A side features a handful of Oxbow tracks, all stripped down and acoustic - just acoustic guitar, and the wild feral mewling of frontman Eugene Robinson. And you would think that playing stripped down and acoustic would make it sound more mellow, less frenzied and intense, but it doesn't. In plenty of places, it's like the guitar isn't even there, it's definitely Eugene's show. A wild caterwaul that even somehow gets the crowd shouting along. Intense and emotional, darkly intimate, but still strangely sinister and explosive. Essential for sure for all Oxbow fanatics.
But it's the flipside that will probably make this disappear in no time. A side long jam, that begins much like the A side tracks, simple urgently strummed acoustic guitar, and those primal vocals, until the guests make their presence known, Stephen O'Malley from SUNNO))), and Justin Broadrick from Jesu / Godflesh, the bass player from God, and even a string quartet. When those folks join the fray, it sounds almost like you might imagine, the acoustic guitar and vocals, buried under moaning strings and sheets of soaring blissed out high end, streaks of glistening feedback, crumbling rumbling swells of downtuned amp melting grind, thick sheets of buzz and shimmer, all draped over the haunting acoustic Oxbow musical drama unfolding beneath. Pretty amazing. Here's hoping these guys stopped by a studio to capture more of this stuff. But until that happens, this will most likely be your only chance to hear Oxbow's twisted, frenzied, so called "Love's Holiday Orchestra".
Beautifully packaged in super thick black matte sleeves, with silver metallic printing, with an insert featuring photos of the evening's festivities, as well as Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner's recollection of the evening's festivities... which according to Eugene, leaves out the critical part where they left him for dead, knocked out and unconscious on the stage!

P.H.O.B.O.S. Anoedipal (Megaton) cd 28.00

PAGAN ALTAR Judgement Of The Dead (Shadow Kingdom) cd 12.98
Red letter day here for old school doom fanatics! Not one but two cd reissues from NWOBHM (aka New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, in this case, make that very very British) cult Pagan Altar! This one's a reissue of their debut album, aka Vol.1, Songs written circa 1978-'81, recorded 1982, not released for the first time officially until 1998 on the band's own Oracle Records, then again via very limited & long gone vinyl, and now available again thanks to the folks at cult metal label Shadow Kingdom, who claim Pagan Altar as their favorite band ever. Obscure as it is, this is really a classic, '70s Sabbath/Priest styled (proto) metal, with an authentic occult vibe, powerful and melodic, up there with Angel Witch and, especially Witchfinder General - if you like them, you need to hear Pagan Altar as well!
Amazingly, the band is still around, still quite active, having released a couple other excellent albums (see Lords Of Hypocrisy, the other one on this list), with work proceeding on a new one. They also did a split 7" with Jex Thoth a while ago. As a matter of fact, Allan had the pleasure of seeing Pagan Altar play live at the Roadburn Festival in Holland in 2010! As far as he was concerned, one of the highlights of the fest (along with one of the only bands there to have been around longer, Comus!!!). When they came out on stage, the silver-haired singer (Terry Jones, brother to lead guitarist Alan Jones) was wearing a feathered top hat, that he gracefully doffed towards the audience, greeting the crowd in a mellifluous Yorkshire accent. He possessed a theatrical, charismatic presence that made him seem not unlike one of the earlier incarnations of Dr. Who! They then proceeded to kick out an utterly classic sounding set of twin guitar NWOBHM, including of course many songs from this album, folkloric metal of witchery and doom, sung in a reedy voice that sounds a lot like a British version of Roky Erickson. They were really, really good.
So, if you're lucky enough to get a chance to see 'em, do so! And, at the very least, if doom and NWOBHM is your thing, check out their recordings, this being a great one to start with, though Judgement Of The Dead and Shadow Kingdom's other PA cd, The Time Lord, are also quite recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Pagan Altar"
MPEG Stream: "In The Wake Of Armadeus"
MPEG Stream: "Night Rider"

PAGAN ALTAR Judgement Of The Dead (Buried By Time And Dust) lp 36.00
AS OF APRIL 2010, THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT, BUT WE'VE BEEN TOLD THAT IT IS BEING REPRESSED IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS. SO PLEASE INQUIRE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PLACE A PREORDER FOR IT.
We know you folks love limited edition vinyl releases, as Record Store Day just proved yet again. Well, here's something we just got a handful of copies of, and might not be able to get again - it's on the same label that did the Saint Vitus Die Healing vinyl that sold out so fast. And it's another one for vintage doom fanatics, a vinyl version of the debut album, aka Vol.1, from NWOBHM (aka New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, in this case, make that very very British) cult Pagan Altar! Songs written circa 1978-'81, recorded 1982, not released for the first time officially until 1998, and now available again in a deluxe gatefold vinyl edition. Obscure as it is, this is really a classic, '70s Sabbath/Priest styled (proto) metal, with an authentic occult vibe, powerful and melodic, up there with Angel Witch and, especially Witchfinder General - if you like them, you need to hear Pagan Altar as well!
Amazingly, the band is still around, still quite active, having released a couple other excellent albums, with work proceeding on a new one. They also did a split 7" with Jex Thoth not too long ago. As a matter of fact, Allan had the pleasure of seeing Pagan Altar play live just last week, at the Roadburn Festival in Holland! As far as he was concerned, one of the highlights of the fest (along with one of the only bands there to have been around longer, Comus!!!). When they came out on stage, the silver-haired singer (Terry Jones, brother to lead guitarist Alan Jones) was wearing a feathered top hat, that he gracefully doffed towards the audience, greeting us in a mellifluous Yorkshire accent. He possessed a theatrical, charismatic presence that made him seem not unlike one of the earlier incarnations of Dr. Who! They then proceeded to kick out an utterly classic sounding set of twin guitar NWOBHM, including of course many songs from this album, folkloric metal of witchery and doom, sung in a reedy voice that sounds a lot like a British version of Roky Erickson. They were really, really good.
So, if you're lucky enough to get a chance to see 'em, do so! And, at the very least, if doom and NWOBHM is your thing, check out their recordings, this being a great one to start with, except that we probably won't have it for very long (we only got, like, 8, and already have sold a few)...
MPEG Stream: "Pagan Altar"
MPEG Stream: "In The Wake Of Armadeus"
MPEG Stream: "Night Rider"

PAGAN ALTAR Mythical & Magical (Shadow Kingdom) cd 12.98
Mythical and magical, indeed! Pagan Altar, hopefully you know by now, are an '80s metal band from the UK, who never released anything back in the day, but here in the 21st century have been putting out records, dusting off their old, unrecorded songs to much underground acclaim and amazement. Their style is one that works as well, or even better, when played by gents of advanced age - part epic NWOBHM thespianism, part Black Sabbathy doominess, part hoary Brit-folk tradition. It's misty, mystic full moon music that the ancient headbanging druids of Stonehenge would probably find even more appropriate for their esoteric purposes than house band Hawkwind.
So, here's the final (for now) entry in the Pagan Altar discography for us to list. This 2006 release, originally on the band's own Oracle Records label, has been newly reissued by cult metal label Shadow Kingdom (for whom Pagan Altar are THEE best band ever). This joins Judgement Of The Dead, The Time Lord, and The Lords Of Hypocrisy in the Shadow Kingdom's Pagan Altar catalog, and it's right up there with any and all of 'em, full of emotive, incredible soloing, catchy, doomy riffs, wonderful vocals (again reminding us of a creaky combo of both Ozzy Osbourne and Roky Erickson), and an overall pagan atmosphere delivered with classic rock perfection that's not much known this side of the the '80s. What else can we say, besides, recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Samhein"
MPEG Stream: "The Cry Of The Banshee"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Of The Druids"

PAGAN ALTAR The Lords Of Hypocrisy (Shadow Kingdom) cd 12.98
Red letter day here for old school doom fanatics... Shadow Kingdom brings us not one but two cd reissues from those mystic, misty masters of British metal majesty, Pagan Altar. A truly "cult" doom act from the NWOBHM era, somehow still kicking in the here-and-now. Their debut was recorded in 1982, but kept secret and unreleased until almost the year 2000AD. They followed that with this album, Lords Of Hypocrisy, in 2004, originally released on their own Oracle Records label. It features songs which were originally written back in the late '70s, early '80s by the brothers Terry Jones (vocals) and Alan Jones (guitar). While all Pagan Altar rules, this just might be our fave. Terry Jones' nasal voice is a dramatic, wizened croak and caw, that can soar with ravens in the night sky... evoking both both Roky Erickson and Ozzy Osbourne (which means, Witchcraft fans should hear Pagan Altar). His brother brings the Sabbathy riffs and lead guitar rippage, also playin' some banjo on twangin' folk instrumental interlude "The Devil Came Down To Brockley".
Throughout the album there's drifting soft folky parts and epick metal stormers, Pagan Altar combining a pastoral prog vibe with a Satanic metal one... sad and melancholic, with intelligent lyrics, and it doesn't get more DOOM than songs about nuclear armageddon! Somehow the overall sound reminds us of Ozzy (early solo, circa Randy Rhodes Blizzard Of Ozz era), but gone way underground and druidical. A classic that stands with the best of the NWOBHM even though it was released so many years later... like a time capsule from the '80s. Brilliant stuff any NWOBHM and/or doom lover who's got a pagan bone in their body ought to own.
The original cd release of this we never were able to get enough of to list. And then the swank limited vinyl edition Buried By Time And Dust came and went (as did an earlier Miskatonic vinyl version). So nice to have it back as an affordable cd release thanks to the doom fiends at Shadow Kingdom. (Wish they'd have included the two bonus tracks found on the vinyl, but oh well...)
MPEG Stream: "The Lords Of Hypocrisy"
MPEG Stream: "Sentinels Of Hate"

PAGAN ALTAR The Lords Of Hypocrisy (Buried By Time And Dust) 2lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Red letter day here for old school doom vinyl fanatics. Buried By Time And Dust bring us two essential reissues, the Witchfinder General lp boxset reviewed elsewhere this list, and this, a vinyl version of the 2nd album from those mystic, misty masters of British metal majesty, Pagan Altar. A truly "cult" doom act from the NWOBHM era, somehow still kicking in the here-and-now. Their debut was recorded in 1982, but kept secret and unreleased until almost the year 2000. They followed that with this album in 2004, featuring songs which were originally written back in the late '70s, early '80s by the brothers Terry Jones (vocals) and Alan Jones (guitar). While all Pagan Altar rules, this just might be our fave. Terry Jones' nasal voice is a dramatic, wizened croak and caw, that can soar with ravens in the night sky... evoking both both Roky Erickson and Ozzy Osbourne (which means, Witchcraft fans should hear Pagan Altar). His brother brings the Sabbathy riffs and lead guitar rippage, also playin' some banjo on twangin' folk instrumental interlude "The Devil Came Down To Brockley".
Throughout the album there's drifting soft folky parts and epick metal stormers, Pagan Altar combining a pastoral prog vibe with a Satanic metal one... sad and melancholic, with intelligent lyrics, and it doesn't get more DOOM than songs about nuclear armageddon! Somehow the overall sound reminds us of Ozzy (early solo, circa Randy Rhodes Blizzard Of Ozz era), but gone way underground and druidical. A classic that stands with the best of the NWOBHM even though it was released so many years later... like a time capsule from the '80s.
The original cd release of this we never were able to get enough of to list, so it's nice to finally review it and on vinyl, too. Not cheap, but super swank and of course limited... as you may recall, earlier this year we blew through Buried By Time And Dust's vinyl reissue of Judgement Of The Dead (aka Vol. 1), PA's first album, all too quickly. This one may or may not stick around longer...and in any case it's just as recommended. Brilliant stuff any NWOBHM and/or doom lover who's got a pagan bone in their body ought to own. 180g vinyl, heavy gatefold sleeve with lyrics, and it also includes the 2 bonus tracks ("Witch's Pathway" and "Flight Of The Witchqueen") from the original limited vinyl pressing by Miskatonic in '05, not found on the cd version.
MPEG Stream: "The Lords Of Hypocrisy"
MPEG Stream: "Sentinels Of Hate"

PAGAN ALTAR The Time Lord (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98
In the past, we've listed a couple, now out of print limited vinyl reissues of stuff by this lost-in-time, doom-laden New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band, so we know some of you are already fans. And anyone into either Witchcraft or Witchfinder General, who hasn't yet heard Pagan Altar, should really check them out! They could be considered one of the NWOBHM's best kept secrets, seeing as how the songs they recorded back in the '80s weren't even released until many, many years later. Nowadays they're finally getting some attention, playing festivals like Roadburn, where Allan was lucky enough to see 'em, in 2010, and having more of their music finally see the light of day (or the full moon, as might be more appropriate).
While many of the releases in this band's somewhat curious discography, like 2004's Lords Of Hypocrisy and 2006's Mythical & Magical, consist of songs written (but not recorded) over 20 years earlier, what we have here REALLY goes back, way back, to the band's beginnings - these five songs are the earliest known Pagan Altar recordings to exist, actual demo tracks dating from 1978: "Highway Cavalier", "The Time Lord", "Judgement Of The Dead", "The Black Mass", and "Reincarnation". Some of course were redone on later releases. But they sound pretty darn good in their original demo form, tape hiss included. Total heavy riffing, epick rocking, infused with pagan Britfolk vibesÉ kinda like Sabbath meets Roky Erickson (on account of frontman Terry Jones's reedy Roky-like voice) meets the NWOBHM, all under the influence of Dr. Who; in other words, the Pagan Altar we know and love. Classic mystic misty majestic metal.
Pagan Altar, next to Manilla Road, are probably the top favorite band of the cult metal fetishists who run the Shadow Kingdom label, so we know they were thrilled to put this out on remastered cd (I Hate Records did a 12" vinyl version back in '04). We're stoked about it as well. AND they're gonna be doing domestic cd reissues of Pagan Altar's Judgement Of The Dead and Lords Of Hypocrisy albums soon, too!
MPEG Stream: "Highway Cavalier"
MPEG Stream: "The Time Lord"
MPEG Stream: "Reincarnation"

PAGAN HELLFIRE The Will Of Night (Tour De Garde) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "From The Highest Halls"
MPEG Stream: "Isolation"

PAGE NINETY NINE Document #8 (Robotic Empire) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "In Love With An Apparition"
MPEG Stream: "Your Face Is A Rape Scene"

PAINFORGED / GNAW THEIR TONGUES A Confession Of Worshipping The Depraved And Perverse Human Psyche (Shadowgraph) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We won't go into too much detail with this one, it was limited to 100 copies, is already sold out, and we got a mere 10, sold 3 or 4, so by the time you read this we'll have 5 or 6 left, and will NOT be able to get more. Gnaw Their Tongues obsessives will NEED this, three new tracks of GTT's fucked up and brilliantly brutal industrial symphonic cinematic black doom, all buzzing guitars, crashing percussion, twisted strings, warped vocals, twisted samples, black ambience, all woven into something freaky and creepy and unlike anything else you've heard.
We had never heard Painforged before, but they are most definitely a worthy matchup for GTT, a similarly abject bit of abstract blacknoize and metallic ambience, processed sounds throb and skitter and pulse over monstrous vocals, strange samples laced with super spare programmed doom-ed drumcrush, swirling black ambience and thick swells of rumbling buzzing doomdronedirge low end, laced with deconstructed and decaying riffage, slowed down cookie monster vox, and spidery atonal guitar squiggles, all melted down into a noxious and black sonic stew.
Packaged in a dvd style case, nice printed covers, almost sold out, so cross your fingers and add to cart...
MPEG Stream: PAINFORGED "A Confession Of Worshipping The Depraved..."
MPEG Stream: GNAW THEIR TONGUES "Kaolo"

PALACE OF WORMS Lifting The Veil (The Flenser) cassette 5.98
Latest blast of black filth from right here in SF, from one man band Palace of Worms, aka Balan, who also does time in Elk, and in Weakling worshipping outfit Dead As Dreams. The first PoW record was a huge hit around aQ land, a killer mix of grim black buzz, and avant post rock weirdness, everything we had read about this new record talked about how all the post rock and other stuff had been ditched in favor of a sound more raw and old school, but to these ears, this is anything but, the weirdness that made The Forgotten so good, still pretty much in full effect.
The opening intro eases us back into PoW's black underworld, a sprawling smoldering melodic drift, all serpentine guitars, minimal tribal drum pound, buried vokills, which leads directly into a lumbering chunk of midtempo dirgery, laced with some serious melody, and finally some raw blasting blackness, and the rest of the tape seems like a push and pull between those two influence, the melody and intricacy, the raw blast and primitive buzz, but it's that constant tension that gives Lifting The Veil its energy, even when songs are in full on blast mode, the sound is still weirdly textured and melodic, check out the first half of "No Exit", appropriately grim and frantic, but the chords are lush, and there seems to be all sorts of melodic shading going on, not taking away from the grimnity of the sound, just adding texture and depth.
"The Scroll Of Kimiris" is similarly crafted, on the surface, a frenzied blackened buzz, but the guitars soar, the melodies epic, the sound weirdly spacious and spare. "Wounded Pride" also begins all mathy and melodic, a doomy trudge, a lurching arrangement that ends up sounding noise rocky and majestic, before eventually crumbling into buzz and blast, but it's "Hellish Journey" that's the record's focal point, easily the heaviest, most sonically dense track, and its longest at nearly 10 minutes, the melodic aspect is downplayed a bit, but still surfaces all over the place, especially in the dreamy clean voiced outro, but those parts are well balanced by the sheer black force of the surrounding sonics.
Packaged with super nice, printed, heavy-stock fold-out full color inserts, and of course, SUPER LIMITED!
MPEG Stream: "No Exit"
MPEG Stream: "The Scroll Of Kimiris"

PALACE OF WORMS The Forgotten (The Flenser) cd 8.98
For a while, San Francisco seemed like some sort of black metal mecca, record after record and shows galore, all sorts of grim and kvlt hordes, Leviathan, Draugar, Crebain, Horn Of Dagoth, Elk, Necrite and more. And while some of those bands are still active, the recordings have seemed to dry up, more a trickle than a torrent. We know there is a Crebain record in the works, there's the forthcoming Mastery 2cd on tUMULt, a rumored Leviathan, but there are lots of new bands too, Botanist, Kerasphorus, and these guys, or rather this guy, Palace Of Worms, and finally a new slab of fucked up freaked out blackness from SF to obsess over, and believe us, this is well worth obsessing over.
Anyone into any of the above mentioned bands will dig PoW for sure, a dizzying blend of troo black metal buzz, and experimental post rock, which is evident from the first few seconds of the record, beginning with haunting majestic synths, then a brittle lo-fi blast of metal, that sounds like it was played on a mandolin, or pitched up, before the song proper kicks in with a wall of frenzied super saturated black buzz, croaked vokills, and buried in the mix blast beats, switching gears multiple times throughout the song, chugging doomic sprawl, to gnarled Deathspell style blackprog, with plenty of tangly guitar lines and lurching tempo changes, clean guitar, very reminiscent of another aQ BM fave Woe, the same sort of melodic sensibility fused into a seriously harrowing chunk of grim black aggression.
The rest of the record follow suit, dipping occasionally into ultra raw, old school black metal pound, weird almost industrial shoegazey ambience (sounding a bit like Nadja or Jesu), classic midtempo Burzumy blackness, awesomely creepy Eastern tinged black ambience, almost Katatonia moody sounding melodic blackness, but always returning to that furious heaviness, all lightning speed riffage, hellish vox, dizzying complex rhythms, soaring synths, but all infused with that strange, and subtle pop element that turns grim and black into something much more interesting, and makes Palace Of Worms another band to add to SF's black pantheon.
MPEG Stream: "Far From The Light"
MPEG Stream: "The Antagonist"
MPEG Stream: "As I Slumber Amongst The Cold Thoughtless Stars"

PALACE OF WORMS / MASTERY split (The Flenser) cassette 8.98
New on local label the Flenser, two of SF's best one man black metal bands join forces, Palace of Worms offer up nearly a whole new record, while Mastery (whose insane double disc demo collection was released recently on tUMULt) kicks down an 8 plus minute sprawl of blackened metal insanity.
PoW launch straight into it, starting things off with some surprisingly classic metal riffery, loads of melody, lots of texture, and a cool woozy breakdown, before the second track blackens considerably, erupting right out of the gate with gouts of black buzz and blasting beats, but even here, the sound soon grows blurry and doomy and weirdly psychedelic, PoW's sound seeming to drift between the two, classic black riffery, and tripped out doominess, culminating in the super chuggy black psych dirgery of closer "Temple Of Failure" which weds churning riffage and black buzz, to swoonsome chordal swells, so fucking cool!
Mastery counters with something much more gnarled and frantically gnarled, "Egregorian Synapse" is a warped slab of lighting speed sci-fi blackness, that slips easily from dense blast-buzz to twisted tangles of melodies, the sound never letting up for the whole 8+ minutes, but constantly flitting between different arrangements and sounds, like some warped ADD black metal mutation, the rhythms too, blasting furiously one second, stuttering chaotically the next, the guitars wild warped squalls, the riffs slippery, slithery, warbly and blackly psychedelic, the track fading out mid frenzy, leaving us to imagine that this is only a fragment of the endless epic from which it was so clearly culled.
MPEG Stream: MASTERY "Egregorian Synapse"
MPEG Stream: PALACE OF WORMS "Temple Of Failure"

PALE CHALICE Afflicting The Dichotomy Of Trepid Creation (The Flenser) cd 8.98
Some furious buzzing blasting blackened grimnity from right here in SF, the 4 song debut from Pale Chalice, a local black metal band who slay, this is not avant black metal, or post black metal, or experimental black metal, this is total, raw and furious, hateful and brutal old school classic black metal. The vocals are incredible, you might recognize that raspy demonic alien croak - those rotted pipes belong to Ephemeral Domignostika, of one man black metal band Pandiscordian Necrogenesis (who we've raved about on past lists), who's also one man black metal band Mastery (whose complete discography is coming out any day now on Andee's tUMULt label), but the rest of Pale Chalice ain't so shabby either, not sure if any of the others do time in other local outfits, but it hardly matters, this shit is fierce and frenzied and frantic, the sound huge, the guitars buzzing, the riffs gnarled, the bass a buried low end throb, the drums relentless and seriously blasting, the 4 tracks here hovering mostly in full on blast mode, but occasionally slipping into punkish pound, or woozy midtempo lope, even a little acoustic guitar drift near the end, the songs are massive and majestic, four tracks in about 30 minutes, sprawling blackened buzz drenched epics, intricate and intense, the vocals cranked WAY up in the mix, which makes the whole thing sound seriously fucked up and SICK.
Fast and furious, grim and black, one of the best new black metal records we've heard in a whileÉ and yet another group to add to the ever expanding Bay Area black metal pantheon!
MPEG Stream: "Transplant Of Dimensional Recourse"
MPEG Stream: "Command Of The Formless"

PALE DIVINE Cemetary Earth (I Hate Records) cd 16.98

PALE DIVINE Eternity Revealed (Martyr Music Group) cd 14.98
Crimson Tears? Lord Of Sorrow? Ever After? Solitude? Hmm...from song titles like those, it would seem we've got a doom metal band on our hands here, eh? Well, of course we knew that already since this is the second album from Pennsylvania power trio Pale Divine, whose first album Thunder Perfect Mind we gave a couple doomed digits up to three years ago. Now they're back, just as morose and metal as before, and still riff-rockin' hard for the air guitarists among you out there. Pale Divine's singer/guitarist belts out the lyrics to their hymns of doom with what some friends of mind would term "chain wallet" vocals, that put us in mind of Metallica's James Hetfield and, in combo with the music, Blind-era Corrosion of Conformity. Overall, the band's influences are solidly in the realm of Sabbath (natch), Pentagram, Trouble, and Candlemass (that's their "Solitude" covered here, a massive version that closes out this album with supreme downer majesty). That is, as doom bands goes, Pale Divine are definitely in the rock n' roll tradition, one foot in the '70s, akin to acts like Place Of Skulls or Abdullah, as opposed to the ugly, feedback-filled, drone-dirge style of doom of we also love as practiced by the likes of Khanate and Cavity. Heavy but relentlessly rockin', Eternity Revealed breaks no new ground in a well-trodden genre but skillfully executes their specific style with aplomb, which we would imagine was precisely their aim. If you're looking for the innovative new doom, check out Yob (for instance) but for something accessible to crank in your Camaro, Pale Divine ought to do the trick. Includes re-recordings of some of their early demo tracks, including "Serpent's Path", their contribution to the first At The Mountains of Madness compilation some years ago.
MPEG Stream: "Serpents Path"
MPEG Stream: "Ever After"

PALE DIVINE Thunder Perfect Mind (Game Two / Slow Ride) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not to be confused with the albums from Nurse With Wound and Current 93, *this* "Thunder Perfect Mind" is the full length debut from a Pennsylvanian power trio known as Pale Divine, and it's something we've been waiting for ever since we heard their cut on the Miskatonic Foundation's "At The Mountains of Madness" doom metal comp a few years back. We'd have to say it was worth the wait. The ten tracks of rockin', mid-paced stoner/doom riffage here are sure to interest those into that scene, fitting in with stuff like Spirit Caravan (although Pale Divine is darker and more metallic than Wino's band). Guitarist Greg Deiner's clean but rough and ragged vocals remind us a bit of Metallica's James Hetfield, but especially of Corrosion of Conformity's "Blind" album era singer, Karl Agell. Of course, all these comparisions harken back to the gods of doom, Black Sabbath. Actually there's a whole list of inspirations here (looking at Pale Divine's thanks list in the cd booklet), from the obvious (Sabbath) to the obscure (Leafhound, Manilla Road). But it seems that it's Pentagram who are their big heroes, though. That's obvious for two reasons: they cover Pentagram's "Twenty Buck Spin" and also actually manged to get Pentagram's Bobby Liebling to lend guest vocals/lyrics to their own tune "Dark Knight"!! So, Pentagram freaks (who'd probably like this album a lot anyway) now *have to* pick it up. Supposed '70s inspired stoner rock bands are a dime a dozen nowadays, but here's one of the few with an authentic DOOM vibe, that will really reward your attention.
RealAudio clip: "Magic Potion"
RealAudio clip: "20 Buck Spin"

PALE HORSE Gee That Ain't Well (Dry Run) cd 14.98
Yet another entry in the so slow, so low, ultra doom, down tuned, skin flaying musical brutality sweepstakes. And we might just have a new contender for the crown. In the past we have knelt before the corrosive kings Khanate, as well as doom ladies in waiting Bunkur, Moss, Monarch, Whitehorse, Planet Aids, Marzuraan, Roanoke, and on and on and on. But where can you go when you can't get any slower, any heavier, any more distorted, any sludgier, any meaner, any more harsh? The answer to that is obviously WEIRDER. So that brings us to Pale Horse, on the same label as the first Jesu ep, but miles away sonically. As you may have gleaned from the above, Pale Horse are sloooooooow, and dooooooooomy and ultra sick and brutal. Imagine a stripped down Khanate, drums to the fore, WAY up in the mix and pretty much defining the sound. Make the bass more slithery and sludgy, and then just do whatever the fuck strikes your fancy. A whole track of just guitars leaning agains the amps, letting the madly vibrating strings do all the work? Sure. How about some Khante-y sludge and pummel, but instead of harsh shrieks, add some strange sing songy vocals that sound quite a bit like the vocals in This Heat or Camberwell Now? Okay! Let's take the slowest harshest slab of slow motion acid doom, and halfway through switch gears and finish the song off with some moody slow building post rock, epic and lovely and sweetly lilting with clean guitars and dreamy sad boy vocals. The whole record is like that, which is what keeps it from being JUST another sludge record. You'll be nodding off to some bulldozing riff, sliding glacially over a pounding caveman beat, when suddenly the vocals will kick in with some impossibly sweet melody (a bit like Harvey Milk at times). Or a full on rock song will peter out into a lengthy exercise in tension and release, more some sort of abstract 'piece' than a metal song. An entire track with sweetly strummed steel string guitar and slightly distorted sung/spoken vocals (a bit like Arab Strap)? It's in there, neatly squeezed between two Teutonic slabs of black hole heaviness. There's some sludgy groove that sounds a bit like the Jesus Lizard or The Cows, some stretched out ambient murmur, and even some epic Godspeed meets Isis majestic post metal. And somehow it all makes perfect (non)sense. Fans of ANY of the above mentioned should definitely check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Yes, I Do Own Clothes"
MPEG Stream: "Bliss"
MPEG Stream: "Holy Trinity Church Student Bar"

PALE SKETCHER Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed (Ghostly International) cd 13.98
Pale Sketcher finds Justin Broadrick taking his post Godflesh project Jesu in an entirely new direction. Named for Pale Sketches, a collection of early Jesu demos and song fragments, unused parts and unfinished songs, which were presented on Pale Sketches as a collection of odds and ends, but here are reworked into a mysteriously minimal electronica. And to be totally fair, the sound, while on the surface seems radically different, really doesn't sound all that far removed from the sound of Jesu proper, sure the thick metalgaze guitars are stripped away, and the beats are a bit more skeletal and overtly electronic, but the lush shoegazey drift is still what it's all about. Thick swells of melancholy minor key shimmer, spidery melodies, hushed gauzey production haze, everything sun dappled and washed out and prismatic, it's not that hard to imagine that instead of this being a one time excursion, that this is in fact the direction Jesu was, or is, headed. Every record since the debut, Heartache, has consistently gotten less heavy, more and more mellow and dreamy, drifting ever closer to a sort of M83 style retro eighties shoegaze doom pop, so it would make perfect sense for Jesu to gradually be transformed into something warm and dark and electronic.
The sound here suits the songs perfectly, dreamy and minimal, moody and hushed, a little bit dubby, the heaviest parts are the swaths of buzzing dubsteppy bass that surface here and there, but otherwise this is like some spaced out soundtrack composed by Jesu, very cinematic, haunting and lovely, stripped down and abstract, the vocals ghostly and ethereal, in fact most all of the sounds here are ghostly and ethereal, allowed to drift and shimmer, held in place by muted pulses, and streaks of soft skitter, the whole thing ends up sounding so dreamlike, so otherworldly, the perfect next step in Jesu's constant evolution.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Dream It (Mirage Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Wash It All Away (Cleansed Dub)"
MPEG Stream: "The Playgrounds Are Empty (Slumber Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Plans That Fade (Faded Dub)"

PALE SKETCHER Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed (Ghostly International) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pale Sketcher finds Justin Broadrick taking his post Godflesh project Jesu in an entirely new direction. Named for Pale Sketches, a collection of early Jesu demos and song fragments, unused parts and unfinished songs, which were presented on Pale Sketches as a collection of odds and ends, but here are reworked into a mysteriously minimal electronica. And to be totally fair, the sound, while on the surface seems radically different, really doesn't sound all that far removed from the sound of Jesu proper, sure the thick metalgaze guitars are stripped away, and the beats are a bit more skeletal and overtly electronic, but the lush shoegazey drift is still what it's all about. Thick swells of melancholy minor key shimmer, spidery melodies, hushed gauzey production haze, everything sun dappled and washed out and prismatic, it's not that hard to imagine that instead of this being a one time excursion, that this is in fact the direction Jesu was, or is, headed. Every record since the debut, Heartache, has consistently gotten less heavy, more and more mellow and dreamy, drifting ever closer to a sort of M83 style retro eighties shoegaze doom pop, so it would make perfect sense for Jesu to gradually be transformed into something warm and dark and electronic.
The sound here suits the songs perfectly, dreamy and minimal, moody and hushed, a little bit dubby, the heaviest parts are the swaths of buzzing dubsteppy bass that surface here and there, but otherwise this is like some spaced out soundtrack composed by Jesu, very cinematic, haunting and lovely, stripped down and abstract, the vocals ghostly and ethereal, in fact most all of the sounds here are ghostly and ethereal, allowed to drift and shimmer, held in place by muted pulses, and streaks of soft skitter, the whole thing ends up sounding so dreamlike, so otherworldly, the perfect next step in Jesu's constant evolution.
MPEG Stream: "Don't Dream It (Mirage Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Wash It All Away (Cleansed Dub)"
MPEG Stream: "The Playgrounds Are Empty (Slumber Mix)"
MPEG Stream: "Plans That Fade (Faded Dub)"

PALLBEARER Sorrow And Extinction (Profound Lore) cd 13.98
With a name like Pallbearer, and a record cover that looks like an illustration from some obscure Dungeons and Dragons monster manual, you might be expecting some grim, oozing blackened slo-mo tarpit creep, or heck maybe even some full on over the top swords and sorcery power metal epic-ry, but what you might not expect, is precisely what this Arkansas doom crew conjures up, a surprisingly melodic, and downright dreamy chunk of true epic, super melodic, classic sounding doom, complete with acoustic guitars and soaring clean vocals, all wound around a sound that's more warm and fuzzy and washed out oftentimes than downtuned and sludgey. Reminding us a bit of aQ faves Megaton Leviathan, the same sort of shoegazey sound and dreamily psychedelic vibe, but Pallbearer sound much more beholden to classic metal, with some of these songs sounding like some lost eighties metal jam, slowed down and blissed out, often slipping into almost slowcore dirgery, that sort of haunting druggy mesmer, still epic and melodic, but more bleary and gauze-y, with the guitars not crunchy and buzzy, so much as thick and dense and lushly layered, the songs slow building and hauntingly brooding. Not that Pallbearer, aren't heavy, they most definitely are, like on "Devoid Of Redemption", a re-recorded track from their demo, the sound is massive, the guitars thick and churning, the drums a muted massive pound, but even then, those clean vocals change the whole vibe, and within the music itself, the melodies almost sound like horns, mournful and funereal, and the sound, even at its heaviest, seems to ooze into something much more dreary and dreamy and druggy. The recording and production too, perfectly suits the sound, vintage and classic, the sound Sabbathy, and Candlemass-y and St. Vitus-y, heavy but spacious, plenty of reverb, and deftly applied effects, but smeared and subtly stretched into something even more crushingly heavy, spaced out and psychedelic, and weirdly hauntingly lovely, a sound that's both murky and mesmerizing, magical and mysterious, which is making this a new favorite with the metalheads around here and a definite contender for doom record of the year...
MPEG Stream: "Foreigner"
MPEG Stream: "Devoid Of Redemption"

PALLBEARER Sorrow And Extinction (20 Buck Spin) 2lp 23.00
NOW ON VINYL!!!
With a name like Pallbearer, and a record cover that looks like an illustration from some obscure Dungeons and Dragons monster manual, you might be expecting some grim, oozing blackened slo-mo tarpit creep, or heck maybe even some full on over the top swords and sorcery power metal epic-ry, but what you might not expect, is precisely what this Arkansas doom crew conjures up, a surprisingly melodic, and downright dreamy chunk of true epic, super melodic, classic sounding doom, complete with acoustic guitars and soaring clean vocals, all wound around a sound that's more warm and fuzzy and washed out oftentimes than downtuned and sludgey. Reminding us a bit of aQ faves Megaton Leviathan, the same sort of shoegazey sound and dreamily psychedelic vibe, but Pallbearer sound much more beholden to classic metal, with some of these songs sounding like some lost eighties metal jam, slowed down and blissed out, often slipping into almost slowcore dirgery, that sort of haunting druggy mesmer, still epic and melodic, but more bleary and gauze-y, with the guitars not crunchy and buzzy, so much as thick and dense and lushly layered, the songs slow building and hauntingly brooding. Not that Pallbearer, aren't heavy, they most definitely are, like on "Devoid Of Redemption", a re-recorded track from their demo, the sound is massive, the guitars thick and churning, the drums a muted massive pound, but even then, those clean vocals change the whole vibe, and within the music itself, the melodies almost sound like horns, mournful and funereal, and the sound, even at its heaviest, seems to ooze into something much more dreary and dreamy and druggy. The recording and production too, perfectly suits the sound, vintage and classic, the sound Sabbathy, and Candlemass-y and St. Vitus-y, heavy but spacious, plenty of reverb, and deftly applied effects, but smeared and subtly stretched into something even more crushingly heavy, spaced out and psychedelic, and weirdly hauntingly lovely, a sound that's both murky and mesmerizing, magical and mysterious, which is making this a new favorite with the metalheads around here and a definite contender for doom record of the year...
MPEG Stream: "Foreigner"
MPEG Stream: "Devoid Of Redemption"

PAN-THY-MONIUM Dawn of Dream / Khaooohs (Osmose) 2cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another Osmose-label double cd reissue. Pan-Thy-Monium was Swedish metalmaster Dan Swano's avant-death-metal project, which culminated in the totally Zornified AQ-fave "III: Khaooos & Kon-Fus-Ion" disc some years back. Utterly off the wall experimental metal. More recently, Dan spawned the similarly-inspired Karaboudjan ep which received high marks on AQ-List #115. This double cd collects the earlier Pan-Thy-Monium material, which while not *quite* as bizarre as "III" is still more than essential for fans of P-T-M and Mr. Swano (who we term "Swedish metalmaster" because of his role as producer/musician for such bands as Edge of Sanity, Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade, Opeth, and many more). Totally "progressive" in complexity and length (the first track on "Dawn of Dream" is 20 minutes long!), P-T-M specializes in dark, melodic death metal with chaotic song structures that can shift instantaneously from doom riffing to rock guitars to ambient drone to blasting grind to jazz horn blowin'... As soon as you hear the alarm clock ticking on "Dawn of Dream" you'll know that this isn't a normal death metal band. Maybe not goofy enough for the Mr. Bungle crowd, but that's probably a good thing. Cult.
RealAudio clip: "Under Ytah"

PAN-THY-MONIUM III - Khaooos & Kon-Fus-Ion (Relapse) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Instead of worshipping Satan, these bizarre Swedish metallers made up their own pantheon of gods, foremost among them "Raagoonshinnaah," the mythology of whom they celebrate on the four epic tracks of this release. The music ranges from bluesy psychedelic rock, to grunting grindcore, to free jazz, to ambient synth-scapes...A few spins of this and you too might find religion.

PANDEMONIUM Heavy Metal Soldiers (Retrospect) cd 11.98
The history of music is littered with could have been's and should have been's, and of course what ever happened to's? We all have a favorite band, that for whatever reason never quite made it, or perhaps did make it, but never got nearly as popular as the hundreds and thousands of seemingly less talented bands that did. Unfortunately, it's never just about the music when it comes to critical and commercial success. But it is ONLY about the music when it comes to the joy of creating that music, and the pleasure of listening to it, and the fun of mixtape making, and DJing and all the various other ways we share the music we love. But sadly, that love does not always coincide with the ever important 'right time, right place', and of course, there's so much going on behind and beyond the music. Bands poised for greatness often implode, creative differences, arguments over money, tragic accidents, lack of support from a label, then there's the fickle winds of change, the ever shifting tastes of the public, and well as cultural shifts, be they MTV or grunge or radio or downloads. In some ways, we're lucky, that folks are constantly looking back, and rediscovering music that was overlooked the first time around, or simply giving people a chance to discover something that perhaps happened before they were born, or when they were too young to enjoy it. There's also the regional aspect, there was a time before the internet (did such a time even exist???), where a band could be hugely successful in their hometown, but literally unknown a town or state away.
Back in the eighties, THEE place to be a band, especially a metal band, was Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip. Motley Crue and Poison and glam and hair metal. Los Angeles was the epicenter, and spawned band after band, Guns And Roses, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Great White, and if you lived in Southern California, there were about a million other bands you could see and hear, all trying to make it big. And bands would come from all over the country, and the world, to Los Angeles, where they could find fame and fortune (oh, and girls and booze and drugs!). Which is precisely what a band of brothers from way up in Alaska did, moved to LA, made a handful of records, achieved moderate success, and then called it quits. That band was Pandemonium, and for us, they were THAT band, the one we were discussing in the first paragraph. A band that looked great, sounded amazing, wrote incredible songs, were ready, willing and able to go for it, who seemed poised for the big time, ready to sign to a major, play stadiums, tour the world, but for whatever reason, it just never really happened for them. And yet, they were always one of our favorite bands of the time. Their three albums rank amongst our favorite eighties metal records, so much so, that when Andee and Allan, were planning on starting an eighties metal reissue label, with Pandemonium being one of the first releases (Rogue Male being the other!), Andee even got in touch with the band, and things were in the works, and it looked like it might actually happen, but then alas it did not. But at last, the band DID finally end up reissuing all three on hard rock reissue label Retrospect (who were responsible for that crazy hair metal festival Rocklahoma), and finally, these three records are available again, with new liner notes and even BONUS TRACKS, so after years of playing these records to death, and making tapes for everyone we know, and buying every copy we ever came across used to give to friends, we can now express out undying love for these records, so hooky and heavy, and like we said, some of the best eighties metal records you've probably never heard (or even heard of!).
Initially we wanted to make all three our Record(s) Of The Week, selling them as a bundle, since in our minds, they were sort of one epic collection of songs that we had been listening to all together for the last nearly 30 years, but then we figured we wanted folks who might not be that inclined to check out some obscure eighties hard rock, to give Pandemonium a chance, so we picked the first one, the one that made us lose our minds for these guys in the first place, the catchiest of the bunch, and while the band did get heavier, and less glammy, it's their first record that still might just rank as our favorite of the three, and really how could a record called Heavy Metal Soldiers NOT be our favorite??
Originally released in 1983, Heavy Metal Soldiers, their debut, and their first for Metal Blade, almost immediately catapulted them into the limelight, playing all the L.A. hotspots, with all the cool bands of the time, London, Ratt, Y&T, Bitch, Cirith Ungol, Steeler, Slayer, Warrior, White Sister, Leatherwolf, Great White, Wasp, in fact at one point, Metallica was opening for Pandemonium, which definitely spoke to their bright future. As did the songs, which were amazing! The band fusing the heaviness of '70s bands like Black Sabbath and Budgie with those hard rocking Sunset Strip bands with total pop hooks, a sound that immediately endeared them to the scene, the guys digging their heavy riffing, the girls digging the pop hooks. The title track with its haunting slow build intro, all shuffling snare and low slung bassline, and when it finally kicks in, the main riff is a killer, with a wicked galloping rhythm, and an awesome vocal melody, not to mention a drop dead chorus, which really pretty much describes all their songs, they really were like classic pop songs metal-ed up, heavied up, transformed into something super rocking, and while they looked super glam, their sound wasn't as fluffy and light weight as most of the other glam bands at the time (Poison, etc), and even with this first record, their desire to be heavy still managed to shine through, with the songs definitely striking a perfect balance, "Little Lady Lier" starts off with a woozy classical guitar intro, wreathed in hazy falsetto vox, before a quick build to a super chuggy riff, and more killer vocals, and another bad ass chorus. "The Prey" might be one of our favorites, total power pop in hard rock's clothing, the chorus an awesome slow build with a background vocal hook that will get stuck in your head like crazy. And then of course there's the sprawling apocalyptic epic "Radiation Day", about as doomy as these guys get, the song surprisingly dark, a super dynamic arrangement, and hooks to die for, definitely sounds like this must have been their big live set closer, epic and heavy and dark. And the thing is, even the poppiest jams, often explode into classic old school hard rock jams, with some amazing leads, shredding but also super melodic. And it's not just the guitars, the bass is super busy, and WAY melodic, often adding all sorts of texture and countermelody in the unlikeliest of places. And of course the vocals, super distinctive, powerful and melodic, with a keen sense of melody and arrangement, so much so that the verses are often as catchy as the choruses.
This reissue tacks on a handful of demos and alternate versions, as well as Pandemonium's track from the first Metal Massacre compilation. Also included are liner notes, tracing the history of the band by guitarist David Resch, loads of photos too. And sadly, vocalist Chris Resch passed away in 2007, even as the band was gearing up to maybe record new material. But what a legacy this record, and the other two are to him, his brothers, and the dream that almost was. And the records that were such a huge part of our lives, as a teenager, but also an adult.
Not sure what else to say, for 3 decades we've been listening to these guys, and we have yet to get tired of these songs, in fact the second the reissues showed up, we threw them on and have basically been listening to nothing else since. After all that, do we even have to say it? TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED! If you dig eighties metal and hard rock, or wonder what a NWOBHM band like Witchfinder General would sound like if they were from LA (via Alaska), this is a no brainer, but if that has never really been your thing, think about giving this record a try anyway, it's just poppy and catchy enough that you might be surprised. Check out the sound samples too, if you're anything like us, you might become equally obsessed.
And for those of you who think you might as well in fact want all three (which should really be ALL of you), look elsewhere on this week's list for a special three-fer bargain, and you'll find sound samples from the other 2 records as well.
MPEG Stream: "Heavy Metal Soldiers"
MPEG Stream: "Road I'm Traveling"
MPEG Stream: "The Prey"
MPEG Stream: "Radiation Day"

PANDEMONIUM Heavy Metal Soldiers + Hole In The Sky + The Kill (Retrospect) 3 x cd 30.00
We're making Pandemonium's Heavy Metal Soldiers our Record Of The Week, but as we mention in the review (reprinted below), we originally wanted to list all three of their just-reissued records together as a bundle, cuz they all rule, so for folks who dig that sort of thing, or are just willing to take the plunge, this right here is a specially priced 3 cd bundle, containing all three of Pandemonium's albums, Heavy Metal Soldiers, Hole In The Sky and The Kill, just add this to your cart and you'll get all three. And you won't be sorry. Worth it for the rad cover paintings alone! Read more about Pandemonium, and their Heavy Metal Soldiers record in particular, below:
The history of music is littered with could have been's and should have been's, and of course what ever happened to's? We all have a favorite band, that for whatever reason never quite made it, or perhaps did make it, but never got nearly as popular as the hundreds and thousands of seemingly less talented bands that did. Unfortunately, it's never just about the music when it comes to critical and commercial success. But it is ONLY about the music when it comes to the joy of creating that music, and the pleasure of listening to it, and the fun of mixtape making, and DJing and all the various other ways we share the music we love. But sadly, that love does not always coincide with the ever important 'right time, right place', and of course, there's so much going on behind and beyond the music. Bands poised for greatness often implode, creative differences, arguments over money, tragic accidents, lack of support from a label, then there's the fickle winds of change, the ever shifting tastes of the public, and well as cultural shifts, be they MTV or grunge or radio or downloads. In some ways, we're lucky, that folks are constantly looking back, and rediscovering music that was overlooked the first time around, or simply giving people a chance to discover something that perhaps happened before they were born, or when they were too young to enjoy it. There's also the regional aspect, there was a time before the internet (did such a time even exist???), where a band could be hugely successful in their hometown, but literally unknown a town or state away.
Back in the eighties, THEE place to be a band, especially a metal band, was Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip. Motley Crue and Poison and glam and hair metal. Los Angeles was the epicenter, and spawned band after band, Guns And Roses, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Great White, and if you lived in Southern California, there were about a million other bands you could see and hear, all trying to make it big. And bands would come from all over the country, and the world, to Los Angeles, where they could find fame and fortune (oh, and girls and booze and drugs!). Which is precisely what a band of brothers from way up in Alaska did, moved to LA, made a handful of records, achieved moderate success, and then called it quits. That band was Pandemonium, and for us, they were THAT band, the one we were discussing in the first paragraph. A band that looked great, sounded amazing, wrote incredible songs, were ready, willing and able to go for it, who seemed poised for the big time, ready to sign to a major, play stadiums, tour the world, but for whatever reason, it just never really happened for them. And yet, they were always one of our favorite bands of the time. Their three album rank amongst our favorite eighties metal records, so much so, that when Andee and Allan, were planning on starting an eighties metal reissue label, with Pandemonium being one of the first releases (Rogue Male being the other!), Andee even got in touch with the band, and things were in the works, and it looked like it might actually happen, but then alas it did not. But at last, the band DID finally end up reissuing all three on hard rock reissue label Retrospect (who were responsible for that crazy hair metal festival Rocklahoma), and finally, these three records are available again, with new liner notes and even BONUS TRACKS, so after years of playing these records to death, and making tapes for everyone we know, and buying every copy we ever came across used to give to friends, we can now express out undying love for these records, so hooky and heavy, and like we said, some of the best eighties metal records you've probably never heard (or even heard of!).
Initially we wanted to make all three our Record(s) Of The Week, selling them as a bundle, since in our minds, they were sort of one epic collection of songs that we had been listening to all together for the last nearly 30 years, but then we figured we wanted folks who might not be that inclined to check out some obscure eighties hard rock, to give Pandemonium a chance, so we picked the first one, the one that made us lose our minds for these guys in the first place, the catchiest of the bunch, and while the band did get heavier, and less glammy, it's their first record that still might just rank as our favorite of the three, and really how could a record called Heavy Metal Soldiers NOT be our favorite??
Originally released in 1983, Heavy Metal Soldiers, their debut, and their first for Metal Blade, almost immediately catapulted them into the limelight, playing all the L.A. hotspots, with all the cool bands of the time, London, Ratt, Y&T, Bitch, Cirith Ungol, Steeler, Slayer, Warrior, White Sister, Leatherwolf, Great White, Wasp, in fact at one point, Metallica was opening for Pandemonium, which definitely spoke to their bright future. As did the songs, which were amazing! The band fusing the heaviness of '70s bands like Black Sabbath and Budgie with those hard rocking Sunset Strip bands with total pop hooks, a sound that immediately endeared them to the scene, the guys digging their heavy riffing, the girls digging the pop hooks. The title track with its haunting slow build intro, all shuffling snare and low slung bassline, and when it finally kicks in, the main riff is a killer, with a wicked galloping rhythm, and an awesome vocal melody, not to mention a drop dead chorus, which really pretty much describes all their songs, they really were like classic pop songs metal-ed up, heavied up, transformed into something super rocking, and while they looked super glam, their sound wasn't as fluffy and light weight as most of the other glam bands at the time (Poison, etc), and even with this first record, their desire to be heavy still managed to shine through, with the songs definitely striking a perfect balance, "Little Lady Lier" starts off with a woozy classical guitar intro, wreathed in hazy falsetto vox, before a quick build to a super chuggy riff, and more killer vocals, and another bad ass chorus. "The Prey" might be one of our favorites, total power pop in hard rock's clothing, the chorus an awesome slow build with a background vocal hook that will get stuck in your head like crazy. And then of course there's the sprawling apocalyptic epic "Radiation Day", about as doomy as these guys get, the song surprisingly dark, a super dynamic arrangement, and hooks to die for, definitely sounds like this must have been their big live set closer, epic and heavy and dark. And the thing is, even the poppiest jams, often explode into classic old school hard rock jams, with some amazing leads, shredding but also super melodic. And it's not just the guitars, the bass is super busy, and WAY melodic, often adding all sorts of texture and countermelody in the unlikeliest of places. And of course the vocals, super distinctive, powerful and melodic, with a keen sense of melody and arrangement, so much so that the verses are often as catchy as the choruses.
This reissue tacks on a handful of demos and alternate versions, as well as Pandemonium's track from the first Metal Massacre compilation. Also included are liner notes, tracing the history of the band by guitarist David Resch, loads of photos too. And sadly, vocalist Chris Resch passed away in 2007, even as the band was gearing up to maybe record new material. But what a legacy this record, and the other two are to him, his brothers, and the dream that almost was. And the records that were such a huge part of our lives, as a teenager, but also an adult.
Not sure what else to say, for 3 decades we've been listening to these guys, and we have yet to get tired of these songs, in fact the second the reissues showed up, we threw them on and have basically been listening to nothing else since. After all that, do we even have to say it? TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED! If you dig eighties metal and hard rock, or wonder what a NWOBHM band like Witchfinder General would sound like if they were from LA (via Alaska), this is a no brainer, but if that has never really been your thing, think about giving this record a try anyway, it's just poppy and catchy enough that you might be surprised. Check out the sound samples too, if you're anything like us, you might become equally obsessed.
MPEG Stream: "Heavy Metal Soldiers"
MPEG Stream: "Road I'm Traveling"
MPEG Stream: "The Prey"
MPEG Stream: "Radiation Day"
MPEG Stream: "Eye Of The Storm"
MPEG Stream: "Look Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Boys In The Bright White Sportscar"
MPEG Stream: "Imprisoned By The Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Your Evil Ways"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Night"
MPEG Stream: "Radar Love"
MPEG Stream: "Snowblind"

PANDEMONIUM Hole In The Sky (Retrospect) cd 11.98
A while back we made eighties Alaskan heavy metal band Pandemonium's 1983 debut album Heavy Metal Soldiers our Record Of The Week, and as we mentioned then, all three of their records were great, and we were essentially making ALL THREE albums ROTW. And most people did what we would have done, and bought all three, cuz they are really incredible, standing head and shoulders above what was going on at the time musically. But since we didn't technically review/list the other two, we figured we oughta just in case. For the folks who might have missed our review of Heavy Metal Soldiers, or who didn't buy all three thinking we'd review the other two eventually, well, here you go. First the lowdown on Pandemonium:
The history of music is littered with could have been's and should have been's, and of course what ever happened to's? We all have a favorite band, that for whatever reason never quite made it, or perhaps did make it, but never got nearly as popular as the hundreds and thousands of seemingly less talented bands that did. Unfortunately, it's never just about the music when it comes to critical and commercial success. But it is ONLY about the music when it comes to the joy of creating that music, and the pleasure of listening to it, and the fun of mixtape making, and DJing and all the various other ways we share the music we love. But sadly, that love does not always coincide with the ever important 'right time, right place', and of course, there's so much going on behind and beyond the music. Bands poised for greatness often implode, creative differences, arguments over money, tragic accidents, lack of support from a label, then there's the fickle winds of change, the ever shifting tastes of the public, and well as cultural shifts, be they MTV or grunge or radio or downloads. In some ways, we're lucky, that folks are constantly looking back, and rediscovering music that was overlooked the first time around, or simply giving people a chance to discover something that perhaps happened before they were born, or when they were too young to enjoy it. There's also the regional aspect, there was a time before the internet (did such a time even exist???), where a band could be hugely successful in their hometown, but literally unknown a town or state away.
Back in the eighties, THEE place to be a band, especially a metal band, was Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip. Motley Crue and Poison and glam and hair metal. Los Angeles was the epicenter, and spawned band after band, Guns And Roses, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Great White, and if you lived in Southern California, there were about a million other bands you could see and hear, all trying to make it big. And bands would come from all over the country, and the world, to Los Angeles, where they could find fame and fortune (oh, and girls and booze and drugs!). Which is precisely what a band of brothers from way up in Alaska did, moved to LA, made a handful of records, achieved moderate success, and then called it quits. That band was Pandemonium, and for us, they were THAT band, the one we were discussing in the first paragraph. A band that looked great, sounded amazing, wrote incredible songs, were ready, willing and able to go for it, who seemed poised for the big time, ready to sign to a major, play stadiums, tour the world, but for whatever reason, it just never really happened for them. And yet, they were always one of our favorite bands of the time. Their three album rank amongst our favorite eighties metal records, so much so, that when Andee and Allan, were planning on starting an eighties metal reissue label, with Pandemonium being one of the first releases (Rogue Male being the other!), Andee even got in touch with the band, and things were in the works, and it looked like it might actually happen, but then alas it did not. But at last, the band DID finally end up reissuing all three on hard rock reissue label Retrospect (who were responsible for that crazy hair metal festival Rocklahoma), and finally, these three records are available again, with new liner notes and even BONUS TRACKS, so after years of playing these records to death, and making tapes for everyone we know, and buying every copy we ever came across used to give to friends, we can now express out undying love for these records, so hooky and heavy, and like we said, some of the best eighties metal records you've probably never heard (or even heard of!).
Initially we wanted to make all three our Record(s) Of The Week, selling them as a bundle, since in our minds, they were sort of one epic collection of songs that we had been listening to all together for the last nearly 30 years, but then we figured we wanted folks who might not be that inclined to check out some obscure eighties hard rock, to give Pandemonium a chance, so we picked the first one, the one that made us lose our minds for these guys in the first place, maybe the catchiest of the bunch, but as the band progressed, they moved away from hair metal and that Sunset strip sound, getting darker and heavier, and who could argue with that?!
Hole In The Sky was record number two, originally released in 1985, and pretty much picked up right where Heavy Metal Soldiers left off, and while sonically, the shift wasn't super dramatic, it's easy to hear that something had changed, within the first few minutes of opening track "Eye Of The Storm", the vibe is way more sinister, the riffing distinctively darker, even the drumming, the sound seeming to straddle the more poppy metal of their debut, and the more progressive strains of speed metal, the guitar solos too much more fierce and intense, and while lyrically, even on the first record, the band didn't shy away from heavy topics, things definitely got more serious on Hole In The Sky (named for the Black Sabbath song, another indicator of what these guys were maybe shooting for). But that all said, they still didn't shy away from anthemic choruses, and big hooks, it was just that the vibe was different, "Look Of Death" on the surface, sounds like a fist raising head banging sing along, but mix in the wild solos, the cool minor key melodies, and it transformed the song into something else entirely. Then there are tracks like "Imprisoned By Snow", which definitely found Pandemonium channeling Sabbath, lumbering, almost doomy, epic and heavy, all of which is balanced by their killer cover of Trooper's "Boys In The Bright White Sportscar", but even that chunk of metallic poppiness sounds a little bit sinister here.
The perfect progression from Heavy Metal Soldiers, and the perfect bridge between the more poppy sound of that record, and their final, and perhaps hardest and heaviest, 1988's The Kill.
This reissue tacks on a couple of bonus tracks from their 1982 demo, which definitely hints at the bands heavier roots, even in the beginning, with a sound before the first record that was a bit darker and more brooding, but no less hooky. Also included are liner notes, tracing the history of the band by guitarist David Resch, loads of photos too. And sadly, vocalist Chris Resch passed away in 2007, even as the band was gearing up to maybe record new material. But what a legacy all three records are to him, his brothers, and the dream that almost was. And the records that were such a huge part of our lives, as a teenager, but also an adult.
Not sure what else to say, for 3 decades we've been listening to these guys, and we have yet to get tired of these songs, in fact the second the reissues showed up, we threw them on and have basically been listening to nothing else since. After all that, do we even have to say it? TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED! If you dig eighties metal and hard rock, or wonder what a NWOBHM band like Witchfinder General would sound like if they were from LA (via Alaska), this is a no brainer, but if that has never really been your thing, think about giving these records a try anyway, it's just poppy and catchy enough that you might be surprised. Check out the sound samples too, if you're anything like us, you might become equally obsessed.
MPEG Stream: "Eye Of The Storm"
MPEG Stream: "Look Of Death"
MPEG Stream: "Boys In The Bright White Sportscar"
MPEG Stream: "Imprisoned By The Snow"

PANDEMONIUM The Kill (Retrospect) cd 11.98
A while back we made eighties Alaskan heavy metal band Pandemonium's 1983 debut album Heavy Metal Soldiers, our Record Of The Week, and as we mentioned then, all three of their records were great, and we were essentially making ALL THREE albums ROTW. And most people did what we would have done, and bought all three, cuz they are really incredible, standing head and shoulders above what was going on at the time musically. But since we didn't technically review/list the other two, we figured we oughta just in case. For the folks who might have missed our review of Heavy Metal Soldiers, or who didn't buy all three thinking we'd review the other two eventually, well, here you go. First the lowdown on Pandemonium:
The history of music is littered with could have been's and should have been's, and of course what ever happened to's? We all have a favorite band, that for whatever reason never quite made it, or perhaps did make it, but never got nearly as popular as the hundreds and thousands of seemingly less talented bands that did. Unfortunately, it's never just about the music when it comes to critical and commercial success. But it is ONLY about the music when it comes to the joy of creating that music, and the pleasure of listening to it, and the fun of mixtape making, and DJing and all the various other ways we share the music we love. But sadly, that love does not always coincide with the ever important 'right time, right place', and of course, there's so much going on behind and beyond the music. Bands poised for greatness often implode, creative differences, arguments over money, tragic accidents, lack of support from a label, then there's the fickle winds of change, the ever shifting tastes of the public, and well as cultural shifts, be they MTV or grunge or radio or downloads. In some ways, we're lucky, that folks are constantly looking back, and rediscovering music that was overlooked the first time around, or simply giving people a chance to discover something that perhaps happened before they were born, or when they were too young to enjoy it. There's also the regional aspect, there was a time before the internet (did such a time even exist???), where a band could be hugely successful in their hometown, but literally unknown a town or state away.
Back in the eighties, THEE place to be a band, especially a metal band, was Los Angeles. The Sunset Strip. Motley Crue and Poison and glam and hair metal. Los Angeles was the epicenter, and spawned band after band, Guns And Roses, Faster Pussycat, L.A. Guns, Great White, and if you lived in Southern California, there were about a million other bands you could see and hear, all trying to make it big. And bands would come from all over the country, and the world, to Los Angeles, where they could find fame and fortune (oh, and girls and booze and drugs!). Which is precisely what a band of brothers from way up in Alaska did, moved to LA, made a handful of records, achieved moderate success, and then called it quits. That band was Pandemonium, and for us, they were THAT band, the one we were discussing in the first paragraph. A band that looked great, sounded amazing, wrote incredible songs, were ready, willing and able to go for it, who seemed poised for the big time, ready to sign to a major, play stadiums, tour the world, but for whatever reason, it just never really happened for them. And yet, they were always one of our favorite bands of the time. Their three album rank amongst our favorite eighties metal records, so much so, that when Andee and Allan, were planning on starting an eighties metal reissue label, with Pandemonium being one of the first releases (Rogue Male being the other!), Andee even got in touch with the band, and things were in the works, and it looked like it might actually happen, but then alas it did not. But at last, the band DID finally end up reissuing all three on hard rock reissue label Retrospect (who were responsible for that crazy hair metal festival Rocklahoma), and finally, these three records are available again, with new liner notes and even BONUS TRACKS, so after years of playing these records to death, and making tapes for everyone we know, and buying every copy we ever came across used to give to friends, we can now express out undying love for these records, so hooky and heavy, and like we said, some of the best eighties metal records you've probably never heard (or even heard of!).
Initially we wanted to make all three our Record(s) Of The Week, selling them as a bundle, since in our minds, they were sort of one epic collection of songs that we had been listening to all together for the last nearly 30 years, but then we figured we wanted folks who might not be that inclined to check out some obscure eighties hard rock, to give Pandemonium a chance, so we picked the first one, the one that made us lose our minds for these guys in the first place, maybe the catchiest of the bunch, but as the band progressed, they moved away from hair metal and that Sunset strip sound, getting darker and heavier, and who could argue with that?!
The Kill was was the group's final album, originally released in 1988, and most definitely finds the band at their most aggressive, and the opening track, "Your Evil Ways" might just be a contender for favorite Pandemonium song EVER, which considering the competition, is definitely saying something. The perfect mix of incredible hooks, and seriously kick ass riffage, the vocals so powerful and the harmonies perfect, the drumming thunderous, and the guitar solos, how David Resch did not become a total guitar hero is utterly beyond us. We've probably listened to this sound hundreds of times, and even now, it's hard to stop and get into the rest of the record, but once you do, it never lets up. "Cold Night" is dark and dirgey, with another to-die-for chorus, "Last Star" also gets seriously dirgey, with some thick crunchy riffage, and still more amazing solos. The whole record, it's tough not to go track by track, but needless to say, this is the one to get if your tastes run more toward the truly hard and heavy. The band also tackle a couple of killer covers, Golden Earring's "Radar Love", which gets heavied up quite a bit, and Sabbath's "Snowblind", which sound soooooo good, and definitely gives an idea of where record number four might have taken them.
This reissue tacks on a a bonus tracks from their 1982 demo, the song "Pandemonium", which is another killer, and definitely has us wondering why it didn't make it onto the first record, a super dynamic start stop groove that has some of the craziest kick ass drumming, and another one of the band's hook filled surprisingly poppy choruses, not to mention, still more kick ass lead guitar.
Also included are liner notes, tracing the history of the band by guitarist David Resch, loads of photos too. And sadly, vocalist Chris Resch passed away in 2007, even as the band was gearing up to maybe record new material. But what a legacy all three records are to him, his brothers, and the dream that almost was. And the records that were such a huge part of our lives, as a teenager, but also an adult.
Not sure what else to say, for 3 decades we've been listening to these guys, and we have yet to get tired of these songs, in fact the second the reissues showed up, we threw them on and have basically been listening to nothing else since. After all that, do we even have to say it? TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED! If you dig eighties metal and hard rock, or wonder what a NWOBHM band like Witchfinder General would sound like if they were from LA (via Alaska), this is a no brainer, but if that has never really been your thing, think about giving these records a try anyway, it's just poppy and catchy enough that you might be surprised. Check out the sound samples too, if you're anything like us, you might become equally obsessed.
MPEG Stream: "Your Evil Ways"
MPEG Stream: "Cold Night"
MPEG Stream: "Radar Love"
MPEG Stream: "Snowblind"

PANDISCORDIAN NECROGENESIS Cerebral Quasaric Lacerations (self-released) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The return of thee only one man black metal band in the world!!! But wait you say, what abut Xasthur, and Striborg, and Leviathan, and... And you go on and on naming all the SUPPOSED one man black metal bands, but then we point out, that those bands are indeed populated by a single member, but they record like a band, one instrument at a time, the drums, then while listening to the drums, the guitar, and then the bass, finally the vocals, and they don't play live, because THEY CAN'T. That's what makes Pandiscordian Necrogenesis aka Lord Ephemeral Domignostika (also known as Mastery, the man behind the SF black metal monster of the same name, who have a double cd coming out any day now on tUMULt, and who was also the vocalist and bass player for Horn Of Dagoth), the only truly TROO one man black metal band, cuz he DOES play live, ALL the instruments at once, playing drums with his feet, riffing wildly with his hands, and of course spitting out some hellish vokills, and if that wasn't enough, it's all improvised, these tangled twisted, gnarled black metal blowouts are made up on the spot. Pretty incredible. Granted, some of the magic is lost on a recording, we're thinking a dvd or a VHS tape might be more appropriate, to watch this corpsepainted figure, hunched over his strange drum contraption, a snare with a kick drum pedal, and a bass drum with a DOUBLE kick drum pedal (he only just upgraded to double kick), while his hands flutter wildly over his axe, his contorted face spewing blackened vitriol into the mic.
But hell, even minus the visuals, Cerebral Quasaric Lacerations is some seriously raw and grim blasting blackness, the guitars grinding and superdistorted, the riffing frenzied and frantic, the drumming fast and fucked up, laced with flurries of double kick, the vocals croaked and shrieked, the songs dense twisted serpentine arrangements, this shit is definitely primitive, seriously lo-fi, and way KVLT, and the crazy thing is, even though this stuff is mostly improvised, there's some incredible riffing, some super catchy blackness, some impossibly tight vocal/guitar/drum interplay, the songs slipping from old school classic thrashing blackness, to twisted Black Flag flecked BM gnarl, and back again, spitting out classic sounding black metal off the cuff, the sort of shit most black metallers couldn't come up with after months in a proper practice space.
Gloriously buzzy and black, twisted and demented and about as true and grim as it gets, like the first, long out of print cd-r, another fucked up chunk of bafflingly brilliant outsider blackness.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES. Each one hand numbered and screen printed, the cover a weird snake sword brain intestine thing on a smeared blood red backdrop that actually IS BLOOD. The whole cover is in fact soaked / painted in actual blood! It looks amazing, every one is different, and they all smell a bit odd, not dramatically so, but enough to know this is in fact REAL BLOOD. Doesn't get much more grim than that. We got nearly a quarter of the pressing, but if the last record was anything to go by, these won't be around for long...
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"
MPEG Stream: "III"

PANDISCORDIAN NECROGENESIS Live Across The Abyssic Planes (self-released) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One man black metal bands are a dime a dozen these days. Heck we review one or two every list, and that's only a fraction of the one man bedroom grimnity going on in the world at any one time. Anyone with a 4 track, a black heart, and a rudimentary grasp of riffs and programming a busted up old drum machine, through the magic of the internet, can become a mysterious kvlt BM figure overnight. That said, there are plenty of one man black metal bands who transcend, some of our favorites in fact, Leviathan, Draugar, Xasthur, I Shalt Become, Striborg, Nekrasov, AmocomA, Moloch, Paysage D'Hiver we could go on and on. But the thing is, none of those 'groups' are truly one man bands. They are one man, and they are technically bands, but none are proper one man bands, you know, like the old timey sort of one man band, bass drum on the back, harmonica on a rack around the neck, tiny cymbals on the knees, squeezebox in front, ONE MAN BAND.
So as far as we know, there has never been an ACTUAL one man black metal band. UNTIL NOW. Pandiscordian Necrogeneis is the project of Lord Ephemeral Domignostika, also known as Mastery, the man behind the SF black metal monster of the same name (who have a double cd coming out soon on tUMULt) and who is also the vocalist and bass player for Horn Of Dagoth.
But in Pandiscordian Necrogenesis, Lord plays all the instruments himself, AT THE SAME TIME. Right foot plays the kick drum, left foot plays the snare, while he sings and plays guitar simultaneously. As if that weren't enough, all the songs and sounds here are totally improvised on the spot. WTF?? This shit is insane, and ridiculous, and incredible. Imagine a spike laden corpsepainted dude, sitting in the forest on an old rotted log, his feet pounding away on a kick drum and a weirdly rigged snare, his hands a blur on the guitar as he howls and shrieks into a microphone dangling from the branches above. Well, that's at least how we imagine it. But seriously, this shit is amazing. Frenzied and furious, the drums, a relentless D-beat pound, a sort of almost blast beat, the vocals sometimes a hellish croak, other times a demonic shriek, the guitar though, the riffs are incredible, tangled and gnarled, slipping from garbled chug, to insectoid buzz, sometimes soaring and majestic, other times murky and atonal, the songs shifting from stumbling blast to Burzumic plod, pretty hard to believe that one guy is playing all the instruments at once, AND that he's making up this shit off the top of his head. Most actual black metal bands recording one track at a time, couldn't come up with something this heavy and buzzy and grim and black.
Essential listening for the true black metal hordes, a brief, but gloriously blasting slab of outsider blackness, indeed performed by the only ACTUAL one man black metal horde in the world...
LIMITED TO 88 COPIES. Each one hand numbered with a printed insert, with liner notes / lyrics / packaged in dvd cases, the cover a cool tangled snake on a smeared blood red backdrop that actually IS BLOOD. The whole cover is in fact soaked / painted in actual blood! The effect is pretty cool an creepy, every one different, all with a strangely coppery scent, that will most likely drive your pets insane if you leave it out.
We got about half the pressing, but these will be gone before you know it...
MPEG Stream: "Track 1"
MPEG Stream: "Track 4"
MPEG Stream: "Track 5"

PANOPTICON ...On The Subject Of Mortality (The Flenser) 2lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally released on cd a while back, this latest sprawling blackened missive from our favorite anarcho vegan pagan one man black metal band, Kentucky's Panopticon, is now available on vinyl, and combines the material from two splits, one with Idaho naturalist black metallers When Bitter Spring Sleeps, the other with Canadian / Cascadian horde Skagos. The tracks from the Skagos split, which we had reviewed before, display everything we love about Panopticon, crusty weirdo mathy abstruse black metal, a buzzing blasting pounding onslaught of Pagan fury, rife with samples and all manner of strange sonic filigree. Beginning with a strange sampled folk song, simple percussion, lots of cheers and group vocals, very Teutonic, the sound finally explodes in a gnarled frenzy of furious blasting blackness, dense and brutal and weirdly melodic, an epic jam shifting from mathy churning stutter to frantic lightspeed buzz to loping post rock meander, and finally to shimmery shoegazey ambience. The next track shifts to a gauzy rhythmic dronescape, washed out and hypnotic, the drums sound programmed, stuttery and shuffly, while melodies unfurl and blur, the whole thing hazy and dreamlike, until the guitars come in, instantly transforming into some churning Neurosis like heaviness, breaking down at one point, to just super fuzzed out bass, drums, and weirdly tortured and effected vokills, before finishing off in a blaze of total blackened sonic chaos, which somehow manages to still sound melodic and melancholy.
And holy shit, the final track from that split is a monster, right out of the gate, an impossibly insanely complex squall of looped buzzing riffage and frenzied drumming, so heavy and dense and intense, over the course of the track, shifting to hushed soft focus drone laced with tinkling chiming melodies, to spacious post rock drift, wreathed in echo-ey shoegaze guitars and maniacal shrieked vocals and anchored by still more incredible drumming, grinding to a halt, leaving a just a strange sample of deep chanted singing, and a mysterious German conversation, angelic choirs, and the sounds of birds and streams in the background.
We hadn't heard the tracks from the split with When Bitter Spring Sleeps, but it's more of the same twisted folk flecked super melodic and mathy blackness, mysterious samples, woozy, intricate post rocky mathiness, swirling foresty ambience, the sound hazy and washed out, the first track super melodic and dreamy, the drums busy beneath clouds of tangled melodies, before suddenly shifting into a blast of murky blown out black buzz, which seasaws back and forth between melodic post rock and double kick driven black buzz, often the two bleeding into one another, the songs also occasionally drifting into folky strum, soaring classic metal harmony, and haunting piano laced ambience. The next track is way more grim and buzzy, but even at its grimmest, Panopticon still surprise, grinding to a halt midsong and unfurling soaring streaks of metal guitar harmonies, totally majestic and moving, before slipping into something a bit mysterious and mathy, before finishing off in a final burst of black fury. And the last track eschews black metal entirely, instead offering a bit of gauzy melodic drift, minimal drumming, warm fuzzy guitars, lilting melancholy melodies, more strange samples and mysterious voices, a very epic, Godspeed like slow build finish to an already pretty epic collection of twisted melodic blackness.
The tracks have been remastered, the records gorgeously packaged in a thick full color gatefold sleeve, pressed on heavy vinyl, a double lp mastered at 45rpm, and LIMITED TO 250 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "A Message To The Missionary"
MPEG Stream: "Watching You"
MPEG Stream: "Living In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death"

PANOPTICON Collapse (Lundr / Pagan Flames Productions) cd 9.98
We get a lot of weird black metal here, that is after all some of our favorite stuff, but this may just be the first disc we've gotten from an anarcho vegan pagan black metal band! We've gotten a few cd-r's from this Kentucky based one man black metal band over the last little while but have been waiting patiently for a proper full length, that we could get enough of to list, and this, Collapse, is it.
And it was well worth the wait, a crushing, expansive, super varied chunk of crusty outsider black metal. Rife with news samples, killer mathy and not typically black metal drumming, spidery guitars wrapped around the usual buzz drenched riffage, the sound not just grim and buzzy, but epic and majestic and melodic. The first song is nearly 16 minutes long, and shifts through more parts and moods than most black metal full lengths. The opening 5 minutes is all intro, or seems it, a lilting minor key drift in the beginning, a pounding blackened buzz later, all underpinning depressive newscasts, before the song really explodes, literally almost, as the blasting and buzzing and pounding is interspersed with recordings of gunshots and explosions, perfectly tangled up with the music so it's difficult to tell what's drumming, and what are reports from tanks and guns, pretty effective, and noisy and chaotic, the song shifts gears a few more times, from doomy plod, to furious blast, to stripped down bluegrass, pretty sure that's a banjo, maybe even some slide guitar, but weirdly haunting and twangy, and somehow it doesn't sound out of place at all.
The second track is another 15 minute epic, which begins as many metal tracks do with the sound or thunder and rainfall, before more acoustic guitar joins in, still more slide, very twangy as well, then the drums come in, and some chimes or bells, a strange combination, loping and folky and darkly mysterious, it's not until nearly halfway in before the track explodes in another frenzy of black buzz, croaked vox, frenzied riffage, blasting drums, building to a super noisy coda, before an outro made up entirely of insect buzz.
After another 10 minute blowout, equal parts menacing majestic pagan blackness and abstract drifting folkiness, comes the strangely melodic final track, all hand drums, bongos maybe, almost jaunty guitar melodies, hushed whispered vocals, minimal, but strangely distorted drums, all wound around a stomping murky insistent doomfolk outro.
Needless to say, way recommend, an exciting new variant of the ever evolving sound of black metal, one we definitely never expected, but are digging big time.
MPEG Stream: "The Death Of Baldr And The Coming War"
MPEG Stream: "Aptrgangr"