INFINITY The Birth Of Death (Total Holocaust Records) cd 14.98

INH HALENTROPY s/t (Metal Mind Control) 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.
It's a whole new world now, discovering music. MySpace, Youtube, people emailing MP3's and JPEG's. Easier maybe, but not nearly as romantic or as exciting as receiving some mysterious package in the mail, or stumbling upon some strange looking record in a dusty old bin and some tiny record store. And to be totally honest, almost all of the amazing discoveries that have ended up being big AQ faves, began life as a weird little package that just showed up in the mail one day.
None maybe weirder than the package we got from a band called, wait for it, Inh Halentropy. Yep. They had us at Inh Halentropy. It's a weird enough name, but it's two words?!? So inside the package was a cd with that classic image of Bigfoot, walking through the clearing, staring at the camera, and over the top, the band logo, very eighties metal looking, in the middle of a hand drawn spiderweb. Still we had no idea what to expect inside. But we did discover a note. Which read in part: "Dark Greetings. For your grimnatious becryptlementÉ" signed appropriately enough: "In ancient solemnity, none so grimmÉ"
OK. We were sold, now all that was left was to actually listen to the cd-r. And as with most things, certainly the most exciting and satisfying things, the music was nothing at all like what we expectedÉ
Inh Halentropy seem to be a metal band, black metal more specifically, yet most of the disc is distinctly not metal. Or at least not typically metal. Beginning with the sound of surf on the shore, the calls of sea birds, the band crawls into action, a huge rumbling bass tone, clouds of electronic FX, a simple drawn out melody, clean guitars unwinding in an expanse of dark shimmer, when suddenly, a massive speaker destroying low end growl surfaces, and as far as we can tell, maybe those are the vocals. Church bells toll, the ambience gets thicker and more grim, the closest comparison might be funereal doom, but it's sort of ethereal. And sort of pretty. But definitely ominous and creepy. Like Low crossed with Goblin crossed with Esoteric. Elsewhere, the black clouded skies are filled with the clatter of chimes, strange harmonics ringing out, all over thick lustrous black ambience, the sound of rain, at times it almost sounds like a blackened new age, which sounds weird but is most definitely a very good thing.
"Golden Beast Altered Axe" might be the most trippy, a simple drum plod, spread out over a slowly squirming synthscape, everything wreathed in ephemeral clouds of twinkling electronic effects, a mournful melody drifts over the top, while running through the entire a track, a creepy ominous low end melody of buzz and whir, all beneath a constant sheet of rain. Very cinematic and evocative.
Our favorite track might be "A Door Is A Tomb", thee most propulsive of the bunch, but we're still talking a glacial crawl, more ambient forest sounds, water and wind, insects in the background, but here, flutes flutter over a backdrop of downtuned riffage, but smeared into a warm moaning blur, over the top, bells chime, mysterious vocals croak and growl, the drums a simple machinelike rhythm, everything eventually breaking down into a plodding bass-ic doom, wrapped in a midnight storm, and suffused with thick ropy drones and grinding minimal low end whir.
Really pretty fantastic, and totally baffling. New age doom? Black ambient nature music? Not sure what to call it, but it's completely killing us. Add to that, the fact that the date on the back of the disc says 1980, and other than the song titles and an email address (oh and a few more pictures of giant hairy beasts) there's really not much else to go on. But the music is plenty. A perfectly freaky, haunting cinematic slowcore new age black doom sprawl that should for sure hit the spot for those of you who could barely make it through that descriptor without thinking that this might already be your new favorite record. We are suitably grimnatiously becryptled. As shall you be, wethinksÉ
MPEG Stream: "Candlemath At Mid Moon"
MPEG Stream: "Greater Than The Night Sky"
MPEG Stream: "A Door Is A Tomb"

INH HALENTROPY / DULL KNIFE split (Metalhead Mind Control) cd-r 9.98
The long anticipated return of Inh Halentropy, a band we know very little about, other than they make a sound like almost nothing we've EVER heard before. A band who introduced themselves to us with a random package in the mail, containing a cd-r, and these simple words: "Dark Greetings. For your grimnatious becryptlementÉ" as well as the similarly mysterious sign off: "In ancient solemnity, none so grimmÉ".
We expected black metal, and that's what we got. sort of. Their sound was most definitely black, but not metal in any way we were familiar with, instead they unfurled a cinematic new age-y black ambient doom, equal parts Esoteric, Goblin, and Low, a sort of mysterious blissed out yet grim slowcore. Or something. Their cd-r release disappeared in no time, and no word from the band until recently, a new cd-r just showed up one day, that familiar two part band name, an owl and all sorts of strange symbols, we were soooo excited. We originally thought it was a record called Dull Knife, but soon discovered Inh Halentropy were sharing the cds with another like minded horde CALLED Dull Knife.
So what has changed in the last two years, if anything? Well, the sound is still grim, and haunting, a swirling slo-mo mix of atmospheric doom and creepy crawly slowcore, an eighties horror movie soundtrack vibe infused with a shimmery drifty bit of new age ambience, two tracks, the first a plodding cinematic sprawl, with abstract programmed drums, dark swells of distant rumble, smears of almost cheesy sounding synths, what sounds like faux horns (also probably synths), deeeeeeep bass that throbs underneath, all wrapped up with super lyrical, haunting minor key melodies, definitely like the soundtrack to some lost 30 year old European horror film.
The second Inh Halentropy jam is even trippier and more spaced out, beginning with heavily effected falsetto vocals, that almost sound like wild animal calls or that little 'cooo' sound from Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie & Clyde" albeit way more evil, some woozy detuned guitars, and some shimmery squalls of warped warble, eventually spreading out into a slow burning sprawl of spidery guitars, hushed whir and glistening tinkles, and some seriously disturbing slowed down samples. So creepy and kick ass. Hate to think we might have to wait 2 more years for another full length.
Inh Halentropy set the bar pretty high, but Dull Knife are undeterred, and offer up their own sort of creepy ambience, deep warped low end tones, unfurling grimly in an expanse of muted buzz and crumbling distortion, reminding us quite a bit of Trollmann, in its minimal low end heaviness, over the course of the track, the low end grows more abrasive, and more active, fluctuating more wildly, like some weirdly distorted symphony for foghorn and black buzz. The second DK track's another bleak bit of minimal grimness, this time even more harrowingly dense, the sounds thick and corrosive, the swells coming faster and faster, eventually blurring into a single oozing slab of blackdrone, shot through with shards of crunch and strange bits of glitch. Wow. Guess we need to hear more from these guys as well.
Needless to say, anyone into sounds slow, low, grim and black, spaced out and atmospheric, haunting and heavy, should grab one of these right quick.
SUPER LIMITED of course. Each one hand screened, different colored ink, on different colored textured paper, every one different.
MPEG Stream: INH HALENTROPY "Hobgoblin's Oracle"
MPEG Stream: DULL KNIFE "A Plan For Reverse Reaping"

INIMICAL / SECT The Other Gods / Wrath Of The Lost (Antinomian / BlackMetal.com) cd-r 11.98
This was a warehouse find, managed to dig up 4 or 5 copies, been hiding away for 5 or 6 years now, which is a shame cuz this is some pretty bad ass black metal. Split records are always funny when both bands share members, but even more funny when both bands are one man bands, and that one man is the same guy. Thus we have this split from way back in 2004, featuring Inimical and Sect, both the work of J. Del Russi, who hails from New Jersey, and MIGHT be more recognizable under his other name, Xathagorra Mlandroth, which is what he used in another one man band, long time aQ faves, ultra funereal doomlord(s) Catacombs.
But before the blackened slo-mo tarpit crawl of Catacombs, Russi/Mlandroth was trafficking in some serious old school raw and grim black metal, all frantic riffing, furious drumming, and some sick raspy vokills, the sound murky and lo-fi, the arrangements repetitive and trancelike, very hypnotic and mesmerizing, in fact almost weirdly looped sounding, which only adds to the mesmerizing vibe.
Where Inimical was more murky and washed out, the sound of Sect was more brittle and buzzy, the sound blown out and buzz drenched and thickly atmospheric, but similar to Inimical, the sound is cyclical and repetitive and trancelike and again weirdly looped, few parts repeated over and over, almost mantra like, although Sect did mix it up, with some weirdly industrial rhythms, abstract droned out ambience, and some weird spacey song structures, often ditching the blackness entirely for something way more abstract and tripped out. Cool stuff for sure. And in Sect maybe hints of what was to come in Catacombs.
Got very few of these, not sure if it's even still available, but we're guessing not, so grab one of these quick before they're gone.
MPEG Stream: INIMICAL "From The Black Dust Of The Underworld"
MPEG Stream: SECT "Wrath Of The Lost"

INMITTEN DES WALDES Promo (self-released) cassette 4.50
We have no idea where this band is from, who is in the band, we could find nothing at all about them on the internet, but whoever they are, we like them. A lot. Ultra lo-fi midtempo black metal buzz, a la Burzum and about a million followers, but like many acolytes of the mighty Burzumic one, a handful of killer riffs, some strange sonic ideas, and some serious emotion and passion, and it's easy to transform that worship into something that stands up on its own. Inmitten Des Waldes starts things off with wild streaks of feedback, and maybe the most lo-fi drum recording EVER, with the guitars not far behind. This is definitely some serious boombox, garage / rehearsal space recording, but even with cymbals and hi-hats sizzling all over the place, and the guitars sort of washed out by the drums, it's still easy to feel the power of these riffs and what could be if these guys made it to a proper studio. That said, the sound is almost as much a part of what makes this so great as the music. The fuzz and hiss, the super intimate raw vibe. Plus it seems to be instrumental, or if there are vocals, the guy was shouting them NOT into a mic, so they are lost and buried, but that's kinda cool too, making Inmitten Des Waldes sort of like a black metal Gore!

INQUISITION Anxious Death / Forever Under (Nuclear War Now!) cd 9.98

MPEG Stream: "Anxious Death"
MPEG Stream: "Low Superiority"
MPEG Stream: "Artist Of Illusions"

INQUISITION Into The Infernal Regions Of The Ancient Cult (Sylphorium Records) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is for everyone who flipped out about Inquisition's latest album Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer, the one we highlighted on our last list (and which, unfortunately, we're all out of already, though more are on the way from Germany, never fear). We've just managed to get in a few copies of the band's earlier output, of which this is their debut disc, originally from 1998 (repressed in 2003). Compared to MGoL, it's equally super Satanic and weird, but a bit rawer in production (something that a certain sort of black metal fan would perhaps prefer). Their uniquely monotonous, croaking, creepy style is fully evident already, and the music surely suits their lyrics about black blood, chalices, red eyed beasts and horned moons. Ah yes, it's creaky crushing droning doomed demon moon moan metal at its best, or soon to be. And now I want to see all the terrible old black magic movies they sampled their song intros from...
MPEG Stream: "Unholy Magic Attack"
MPEG Stream: "Empire Of Luciferian Race"

INQUISITION Invoking The Majestic Throne Of Satan (Sylphorium Records) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
True black metal fanatics know this band, whose album on No Colours, The Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer, was Allan's number one black metal pick of 2005, for sure, Satan help me. Well here's the hard to find second Inquisition, the 2001 record that preceded that slab of infernal genius that Allan likes so much, and which cultish aficionados of plodding, aching black metal should delight in as well. It took us forever to get (just a handful) more of these to list, and they probably won't be around for long. As we've said, this one is Wrest from Leviathan's favorite Inquisition opus, and not only just because it features guitarist/vocalist Dagon croaking the immortal line: "Touch me with your magic hoof"!!
MPEG Stream: "Embraced By The Unholy Powers Of Death And Destruction"

INQUISITION Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer (No Colours) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Can the No Colours label do no wrong? Inquisition's Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer is definitely Allan's favorite black metal release of the YEAR. So grim, so eerie, so very metal, and weird in a weird way. That is, there's nothing else out there quite like this band. They do that thing that the best black metal bands do: they're both totally of their genre (a formulaic genre, to be extra-redundant) yet manage to be utterly their own thing too. Fans of the elite likes of Burzum, Graveland, Mutiilation, Xasthur, and Immortal ought to immediately bow to Inquisition whilst also recognizing just how different a band they are. And it's also the sort of black metal I might spring on an extremity-friendly music fan even if they were unaware of the above mentioned artists.
Although this was the first I'd heard of Inquisition, it's actually the third album from this American (Seattle-based, but with Colombian connections?) Satanic black metal band. Redundant again? Sure, all black metal by definition is supposed to be Satanic. But these guys are so SERIOUS about it (well, I don't know for sure... the Inquisition duo of Dagon and Incubus do look kinda silly in the cd booklet photos...but I don't think that's intentional). That they go so over-the-top in their Satan worship is part of what moves them beyond mere stylistic formula and into a realm of obsessive uniqueness.
This record works so well 'cause it's simultaneously weird as fuck (hypnotically croaking vocals, the aforementioned Satanically overloaded lyrix, and strange, keening high-end guitar parts that make this the EERIEST black metal I've heard in aeons) while being fully metal with a rock n' roll backbone: slow-to-mid tempos, memorable riffs, and killer old-school fuzz guitar tone. Indeed, were it not for the love of Lucifer they express with every breath, Inquisition could just has easily have opted to call this album The Glorious Magnificence of Fuzz (though a strain of fuzz quite different from the '60s garage fuzz as heralded elsewhere on this week's list in our review of the Plastic Cloud reissue)! Sonically, that's a big part of what satisfies here, a crucial factor in of Inquisition's equation of extremity. It's truly a heavy, buzzing, trance-like blurr.
It's got to mean something when I (Allan) play something over and over and over again, considering how much (too much) music I'm getting every week. But this was -- is -- in heavy rotation in my home and even though I put it on my iPod I still took the cd itself along with me on vacation as a talisman/token/icon/fetish object just to look at... good thing I don't actually believe in Satan! I even had to go and track down their harder-to-find first two albums, also both excellent, though I do think this is their best... and if you want someone to back me up, note that Leviathan's Wrest himself is a big Inquistion fan, partial to their second album but also of the opinion that this one is brilliant too. So, an AQ black metal rave, make no mistake! Mesmerizing, crushing, gloomy, fucked up, beautiful, genius.
MPEG Stream: "Under The Black Inverted Pentagram"
MPEG Stream: "Of Blood And Darkness We Are Born"

INQUISITION Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer (No Colours) lp 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Our favorite release from maybe our favorite weird weird black metal band, now on vinyl!! Gatefold sleeve, with lyrics inside, and of course some band photos that are just completely over the top.
Can the No Colours label do no wrong? Inquisition's Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer is definitely Allan's favorite black metal release of the YEAR (2005 is when it came out, but it would be a shoe in for black metal record of the year EVERY year). So grim, so eerie, so very metal, and weird in a weird way. That is, there's nothing else out there quite like this band. They do that thing that the best black metal bands do: they're both totally of their genre (a formulaic genre, to be extra-redundant) yet manage to be utterly their own thing too. Fans of the elite likes of Burzum, Graveland, Mutiilation, Xasthur, and Immortal ought to immediately bow to Inquisition whilst also recognizing just how different a band they are. And it's also the sort of black metal I might spring on an extremity-friendly music fan even if they were unaware of the above mentioned artists.
Although this was the first I'd heard of Inquisiton, it's actually the third album from this American (Seattle-based, but with Colombian connections?) Satanic black metal band. Redundant again? Sure, all black metal by definition is supposed to be Satanic. But these guys are so SERIOUS about it (well, I don't know for sure... the Inquisition duo of Dagon and Incubus do look kinda silly in the cd booklet photos...but I don't think that's intentional). That they go so over-the-top in their Satan worship is part of what moves them beyond mere stylistic formula and into a realm of obsessive uniqueness.
This record works so well 'cause it's simultaneously weird as fuck (hypnotically croaking vocals, the aforementioned Satanically overloaded lyrix, and strange, keening high-end guitar parts that make this the EERIEST black metal I've heard in aeons) while being fully metal with a rock n' roll backbone: slow-to-mid tempos, memorable riffs, and killer old-school fuzz guitar tone. Indeed, were it not for the love of Lucifer they express with every breath, Inquisition could just has easily have opted to call this album The Glorious Magnificence of Fuzz (though a strain of fuzz quite different from the '60s garage fuzz as heralded elsewhere on this week's list in our review of the Plastic Cloud reissue)! Sonically, that's a big part of what satisfies here, a crucial factor in of Inquisition's equation of extremity. It's truly a heavy, buzzing, trance-like blurr.
It's got to mean something when I (Allan) play something over and over and over again, considering how much (too much) music I'm getting every week. But this was -- is -- in heavy rotation in my home and even though I put it on my iPod I still took the cd itself along with me on vacation as a talisman/token/icon/fetish object just to look at... good thing I don't actually believe in Satan! I even had to go and track down their harder-to-find first two albums, also both excellent, though I do think this is their best... and if you want someone to back me up, note that Leviathan's Wrest himself is a big Inquistion fan, partial to their second album but also of the opinion that this one is brilliant too. So, an AQ black metal rave, make no mistake! Mesmerizing, crushing, gloomy, fucked up, beautiful, genius.
Be warned, the sleeves are a little wonky, as if they were glued strangely, and the paper just wasn't thick enough. When they're closed they seem fine, but the weirdness becomes evident when the sleeve is opened. But beyond that little quibble, how can you possibly resist 'touching the magic hoof, ON VINYL!?!?
MPEG Stream: "Under The Black Inverted Pentagram"
MPEG Stream: "Of Blood And Darkness We Are Born"

INQUISITION Nefarious Dismal Orations (No Colours) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ready to be touched by the magic hoof?!
Two years ago, we just about sold our souls to Satan in tribute to the glorious magnificence of this band's Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer album. Allan's favorite black metal record of 2005 by far. Now this two-man cult is back with a new album for No Colours and we're sacrificing babies over here in celebration. Well not really but guitarist Dagon and drummer Incubus would probably like to hear that. And if anyone was gonna convince us through the power of stabbing riffage, flashing battery, and croaking vox that Satanism is the way to go, these are the dudes to do it!!
What makes the storming black metal of this Seattle duo so special? Certainly not just their love of Satan, though they do seem more sincerely devoted than most. No, they're just -different- from the hordes of hordes out there. For one thing, Dagon's vocals aren't the usual high-pitched anguished rasps, nor are they deathly grunts. They're more like droning crypt-creakings, layered and insidious, truly "nefarious dismal orations", an integral part of Inquisition's trance-inducing doomic atmospheres -- along with the varispeed velocity of their attack, seemingly simultaneously plodding yet blurred with speed. Then there's the RIFFS. You can't argue there. Inquisition understand old school heavy metal hookiness without being overtly retro, y'know? And this stuff oozes METAL as much as it gives off a sinister shine of actual originality and serious Satanic faith. Pure metalness plus weirdness (in the arcane, occult sense of "the weird"), yeah! We're spellbound. And what the heck is going on with the buried, backwards masked munchkinisms we think we're hearing at the end of the amazing title track?
Clearly Germany's No Colours, a label with lots of staggeringly excellent, evil bands, is well aware that Inquisition is indeed a cut above and deserving of special treatment. They've produced a limited edition initial run of this cd, a thousand copies packaged inside a black cardboard slipcase with a die-cut pentagram!! If that wasn't enough, there's also a full-colour poster folded up and inserted inside the slipcase too. We got a bunch of 'em but don't know how long these will last [note: they are in fact now gone and the ones we now have are no-longer slipcased, sorry].
It would be wrong and misleading to say that this sounds like Om meets Watain, but somehow it we think it has the EFFECT of what such a indescribable hybrid would sound like. But if we did have to compare Inquisition on this album to anybody, we're reminded the most of good ol' Immortal. Recommended as if you couldn't tell already.
MPEG Stream: "Ancient Monumental War Hymn"
MPEG Stream: "Where Darkness Is Lord And Death The Beginnning"

INQUISITION Nefarious Dismal Orations (No Colours) picture disc lp 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally availabe on vinyl! And not just any vinyl, super evil full color picture disc vinyl! Packged in a full color gatefold sleeve, the picture disc an eye popping detail of the bizarre oil painting on the cover. Sorta pricey cuz of the bad exchange rate and overseas shipping, but well worth it, after all, how else will all you vinyl obsessives be able to TOUCH THE MAGIC HOOF?!
Two years ago, we just about sold our souls to Satan in tribute to the glorious magnificence of this band's Magnificent Glorification Of Lucifer album. Allan's favorite black metal record of 2005 by far. Now this two-man cult is back with a new album for No Colours and we're sacrificing babies over here in celebration. Well not really but guitarist Dagon and drummer Incubus would probably like to hear that. And if anyone was gonna convince us through the power of stabbing riffage, flashing battery, and croaking vox that Satanism is the way to go, these are the dudes to do it!!
What makes the storming black metal of this Seattle duo so special? Certainly not just their love of Satan, though they do seem more sincerely devoted than most. No, they're just -different- from the hordes of hordes out there. For one thing, Dagon's vocals aren't the usual high-pitched anguished rasps, nor are they deathly grunts. They're more like droning crypt-creakings, layered and insidious, truly "nefarious dismal orations", an integral part of Inquisition's trance-inducing doomic atmospheres -- along with the varispeed velocity of their attack, seemingly simultaneously plodding yet blurred with speed. Then there's the RIFFS. You can't argue there. Inquisition understand old school heavy metal hookiness without being overtly retro, y'know? And this stuff oozes METAL as much as it gives off a sinister shine of actual originality and serious Satanic faith. Pure metalness plus weirdness (in the arcane, occult sense of "the weird"), yeah! We're spellbound. And what the heck is going on with the buried, backwards masked munchkinisms we think we're hearing at the end of the amazing title track?
Clearly Germany's No Colours, a label with lots of staggeringly excellent, evil bands, is well aware that Inquisition is indeed a cut above and deserving of special treatment. They've produced a limited edition initial run of this cd, a thousand copies packaged inside a black cardboard slipcase with a die-cut pentagram!! If that wasn't enough, there's also a full-colour poster folded up and inserted inside the slipcase too. We got a bunch of 'em but don't know how long these will last.
It would be wrong and misleading to say that this sounds like Om meets Watain, but somehow it we think it has the EFFECT of what such a indescribable hybrid would sound like. But if we did have to compare Inquisition on this album to anybody, we're reminded the most of good ol' Immortal. Recommended as if you couldn't tell already.
MPEG Stream: "Ancient Monumental War Hymn"
MPEG Stream: "Where Darkness Is Lord And Death The Beginnning"

INQUISITION Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm (Hells Headbangers) cd 13.98
Time once more to touch the magic hoof! As we mentioned in our write up of Negative Plane's long awaited new one last list, we're also basking in the evil radiation of a new release from another cult back metal fave of ours as well, and finally have enough copies of 'em in to not only review, but make Record Of The Week, as our Lord Satan commands, and this incredible musick deserves, laced as it is with killer riffs and curious weirdness. That'd be the latest from the duo known as Inquisition, who, although they sound like they hail from some alien Hell, actually currently dwell in the grim fog of the Pacific Northwest, originating however from the jungles of Columbia.
Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm (a great title, and one that makes this review itself perhaps not seem so verbose and purplish of prose) is again full of what we expect from Inquisition: blazing battery, buzzing guitars, and most crucially the bizarre croaking of the "robot frog" as the Invisible Oranges blog so pithily describes the vocal stylings of guitarist Dagon. His unique voice, unlike any else in black metal (though most closely akin to Abbath of Norwegian blizzard beasts Immortal, whom they remind us of in other respects as well) is one of the main things we like about the idiosyncratic Inquisition. In a way, his rasping ribbetting and our reaction to it is representative of the whole of what makes Inquisition so great. It's absurd, it's eccentric, it's evil, it's impossible to forget once you've heard it. Likewise with their eerie guitar tones and occult atmospherics, no one else sounds quite like them even within the highly formalized realm of black metal. Furthermore, the eccentric and otherworldly elements of their music are like 1000X more brilliant because Inquisition are simultaneously rooted in pure old school metal, meaning memorable riffs, indeed actual, quite catchy SONGS. Which has a lot to do with why we were so blown away when we finally got to seem them play live on tour last year. If you saw 'em too, you know it was one of the best 2 piece performances by a metal act ever. Very very metal, a churning maelstrom of axes and spikes and swords given musical form. Listening to this album, it's all here, the keening guitar soli that burrow into your brain, the riffs like the lashings of a whip, and the vokills such stern Satanic admonitions. And moments of majestic melody amidst the buzz and blurr, including one cheery passage we might have to play 'round Xmas time, hahaha.
So, another one to worship from Dagon and Incubus! And once again, adorned with excellent Antichrist Kramer artwork, more third eye skull psychedelia of morbid metalhead fantasies, something which we could also say of the music itself.
Oh man, that just made us think of something insane, what if Daniel Higgs teamed up with Inquisition someday, a la one of our other Records Of The Week this list, by The Skull Defekts?! That would be awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Astral Path to Supreme Majesties"
MPEG Stream: "Command of the Dark Crown"
MPEG Stream: "Desolate Funeral Chant"

INQUISITION Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm ( Hells Headbangers) 2lp 24.00
This recent Record Of The Week, finally available on vinyl!
Time once more to touch the magic hoof! As we mentioned in our write up of Negative Plane's long awaited new one last list, we're also basking in the evil radiation of a new release from another cult back metal fave of ours as well, and finally have enough copies of 'em in to not only review, but make Record Of The Week, as our Lord Satan commands, and this incredible musick deserves, laced as it is with killer riffs and curious weirdness. That'd be the latest from the duo known as Inquisition, who, although they sound like they hail from some alien Hell, actually currently dwell in the grim fog of the Pacific Northwest, originating however from the jungles of Columbia.
Ominous Doctrines Of The Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm (a great title, and one that makes this review itself perhaps not seem so verbose and purplish of prose) is again full of what we expect from Inquisition: blazing battery, buzzing guitars, and most crucially the bizarre croaking of the "robot frog" as the Invisible Oranges blog so pithily describes the vocal stylings of guitarist Dagon. His unique voice, unlike any else in black metal (though most closely akin to Abbath of Norwegian blizzard beasts Immortal, whom they remind us of in other respects as well) is one of the main things we like about the idiosyncratic Inquisition. In a way, his rasping ribbetting and our reaction to it is representative of the whole of what makes Inquisition so great. It's absurd, it's eccentric, it's evil, it's impossible to forget once you've heard it. Likewise with their eerie guitar tones and occult atmospherics, no one else sounds quite like them even within the highly formalized realm of black metal. Furthermore, the eccentric and otherworldly elements of their music are like 1000X more brilliant because Inquisition are simultaneously rooted in pure old school metal, meaning memorable riffs, indeed actual, quite catchy SONGS. Which has a lot to do with why we were so blown away when we finally got to seem them play live on tour last year. If you saw 'em too, you know it was one of the best 2 piece performances by a metal act ever. Very very metal, a churning maelstrom of axes and spikes and swords given musical form. Listening to this album, it's all here, the keening guitar soli that burrow into your brain, the riffs like the lashings of a whip, and the vokills such stern Satanic admonitions. And moments of majestic melody amidst the buzz and blurr, including one cheery passage we might have to play 'round Xmas time, hahaha.
So, another one to worship from Dagon and Incubus! And once again, adorned with excellent Antichrist Kramer artwork, more third eye skull psychedelia of morbid metalhead fantasies, something which we could also say of the music itself.
MPEG Stream: "Astral Path to Supreme Majesties"
MPEG Stream: "Command of the Dark Crown"
MPEG Stream: "Desolate Funeral Chant"

INVICTUS Imperium Paganum (No Colours) cd 17.98

IRRWISCH s/t (Those Opposed) cd 13.98
It seems like a funny way to discover a band, but somehow we knew we had to hear this Dutch depressive black metal trio based entirely on their logo alone. It's incredible, a miniature forest of textured trees, almost cartoonish, like Christmas trees, with a complex tangle of roots and branches that somehow spells out Irrwisch. In a world full of black metal bands that all have the same basic logo, ooooh some upsidedown crosses, ooooh an iron cross, oooooh we're so kult no one can read our band name. So yeah, a gorgeous stylized foresty logo goes a long way.
Thankfully, these guys make some pretty decent noise as well, a washed out murky grim buzz, that slips from primitive pound to woozy Burzumic lumber, plenty of haunting atmospherics as well, swoonsome synths, the sound of crashing waves, of wind through the branches, some dreamy folky drift, all clean guitar and the sound of rainfall, crickets, birdsong, as if the band were recording in the forest that spawned their logo. But for all that loveliness, these guys can definitely get raw and filthy and frenzied, exploding into furious blasts of relentless black buzz, pounding squalls of gnarled riffage, and the vocals, typically black metal for the most part, but they too come unhinged here and there, slipping into a harrowing howl, the band buried beneath a murky haze, which gives the proceedings a gorgeously blissed out vibe, even when they're spitting black gouts of buzz drenched heaviness.
MPEG Stream: "Vom Felsen"
MPEG Stream: "Leer"

ISENGARD Hostmorke (Peaceville) 2cd 14.98

ITHDABQUTH QLIPHOTH Funeral Spirit Of Holy, Holy And Holy Tranceformation (Tormented Whores Of Da'ath / Res Adversae Productions) cd ep 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The return of a new favorite, Russian black metal outfit Ithdabquth Qliphoth, deliver a 20 minute black okkult ritual, following up their Fyre Walk With Me full length which has been pretty much impossible to keep in stock. It seems this duo has shed a member and is now solely the work of the oddly named AL-LA-ShT-ORR, who is also responsible for the Cadaver Yelleth At Amber Tower cd reviewed elsewhere on this list (does this guy have a way with names or what!).
So how to follow up a confusional collection of far out fractured black metal weirdness and buzzing blown out black ambience? why with the even more oddly titled "Funeral Spirit Of Holy, Holy And Holy Tranceformation", a single twenty minute epic, which begins as a thick churning chunk of grinding low end, what could be super distorted martial drumming, or maybe just thick blackened static, whatever it is, it's intense and dense and in its fluctuations creates a sort of incidental rhythm. Eventually sampled vocals join the fray, as do little bursts of static, the track transformed into some industrial black creep. Soon soaring guitars drift in from the distance, offering washed out chordal buzz and keening feedback, the sound referencing groups like Wolf Eyes and Prurient especially, the pounding and buzzing soon gives way to a mysterious blown out dronescape, of stretched out high end tones, and downtuned rumble, before lurching into something more metallic about the halfway mark, a Burzumy doomic trudge, just crashing drums and WAY up in the mix voKILLS, all held together by a gloomy bass line, and some swirling background ambience, finally the guitars come crashing down, the drums explode into double kick, but instead of black and buzzy, it's moody and mournful like classic old school doom, majestic and epic before everything drops out, and suddenly it's a super minimal shimmer, all muted bass tones, deep reverberating low end, soft barely there chords, spare and abstract and hushed, the sampled voices return again, harmonics pluck out an atonal bell like melody, the rumbles seem to growl and grind, but still muffled and murky, the bells tolling ominously, the melancholy melody leading the song to its eventual end. So creepy and haunting, black and mysterious, otherworldly and magickal. All hail AL-LA-ShT-ORR and his unholy vessel Ithdabquth Qliphoth!!
MPEG Stream: "Funeral Spirit Of Holy, Holy And Holy Tranceformation (excerpt)"

ITHDABQUTH QLIPHOTH Fyre Walk With Me (Thou Shalt Kill!) cd 14.98
Black metal logos by their very nature are cryptic, for most impossible to read, a jumble of squiggles and spidery lines and upside down crosses, pentagrams, sharp angles and jagged edges. But once translated into actual letters, the magic is lost, it's usually BLOOD something, or DEMON something, or perhaps a very common word with wintery connotations, or some variation of the word forest. But what of the band with no 'logo', as their very name is an impossibly tangled web, whose letters have no right to be side by side, an unpronounceable jumble that somehow still manages to evoke mystery, to conjure up images of darkness and despair, even though we've never met anyone who knows how to actually pronounce it?
Such is the case with Russian duo Ithdabquth Qliphoth, who are another one of those bands who have long been aQ black metal favorites, but whose records we were never able to attain in enough abundance to review on the list. Until now.
But it's not just the name that makes these guys a mystery. Three long multi part songs, each an epic suite, with titles like "3 142 742 836 021 Times Hotter Than Earthly Fire", and "Your Fucking Creation Is Bleeding Away" or "Thy Omnislaying Revelation". And instead of names, the two band members are represented by strange Anthony Braxton like diagrams, many of the lyrics appear to be in Hebrew, and include shapes as well as words, and then the sound, at once raw and buzzing, furious and hateful, at the same time strangely melodic, the record begins with a jumble of samples, church organ, yodeling, the sound of terrified screams and the sound of fire, until the band lurch into action, a woozy midtempo black buzz, underpinned by a relentless double kick, strange processed inhuman vocals buried in the mix, all wreathed in a gauzy haze, even when the band switches gears and channels some classic Norwegian buzz, they still sound weirdly off kilter, a bit like Katatonia crossed with Immortal crossed with Burzum, but way more twisted. The melodies haunting and mournful, the guitars buzzy, but still dripping with effects, as if the whole record was being broadcast from within a fog filled cave.
The three song suites are just that, not single epic tracks, but each, three shorter tracks somehow linked, lyrically, thematically, hardly matters, they seem quite varied but do manage to flow into each other, from moody melancholia to blown out super distorted blackness, from weirdly melodic to harsh and raw, IQ take these opposing forces and tangle them up into something gloriously confusional. The opening track of the second suite, "Introduction To Burning Death" is a dramatic shift from the almost relentless onslaught of the opening salvo, a loping melodic metallic groove, that gives way to a half time, even more melodic breakdown, all epic and doomy, and almost dreamy, before shifting gears into a weirdly groovy, almost punky jam, that reminds us a bit of Khold, but super charged , with the relentless double kick drumming, and a harsh distorted ambience wrapped around the whole thing, By the third part of the second act (each act is numbered 0., 00. and 000. by the way) the band have returned to something much more gnarled and truly black, but still shot through with streaks of melody and melancholy. Which segues smoothly into the final 3 part suite, from furious epic black buzz, to grinding downtuned crunch, to soaring melodic blur, to crunchy chugging chaotic mathy pummel, to brief folky drift to warped doomy dirge, sounding almost like a black metal Paradise Lost for a moment, before ending everything with several minutes of crumbling distorted blackened drones, deep resonant tones, gurgled voices, strange percussive crunch, blurred rumbles and what almost sounds like some super distorted ping pong, all buried beneath layer after layer of smeared bleary black buzz.
Packaged in 6 panel black and white digipacks adorned with all manner of symbols and lyrics and mysterious liner notes. LIMITED TO 777 COPIES. Every one hand numbered in silver ink.
MPEG Stream: "Qliphothick Lesser Pentagram"
MPEG Stream: "Introduction To Burning Death / 3 142 742 836 021 Times Hotter Than Earthly Fire"

IXION To The Void (Avantgarde) cd 13.98
Debut full length from these French atmospheric doomlords who weave a gorgeous dreamlike doom from lumbering slo-mo heaviness, majestic gloom pop moodiness and classical bombast, heavy on the synth and mournful melody, sounding at times like a doom version of Alcest / Amesoeurs, that sort of wistful indie pop sound, but here rendered in swaths of soaring swirling atmospheric synths, delicate hushed pointilist pianos,
and crushing, classic old school style melodic doom metal a la My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. The sound is a deft balance between the chugging churning riffs, and the hazy dramatic synthy swirl, the vocals mostly growled and demonic, but occasionally cleanly crooned, hushed and emotional, and there are even horns, which add a haunting and stately elegance to the proceedings.
While this is definitely doom, and a somewhat classic strain at that, it's so melodic and so infused with a dour depressive moodiness, that it does seem to veer into distinctly gloom pop territory, which is not a bad thing at all, in fact it kind of transforms this into something much more interesting. The tracks almost orchestral and symphonic, the sound anguished and abject one minute, dark and dreamy the next, but always epic and dramatic and cinematic, like the soundtrack for some futuristic art film about outer space, the musical vibe evoking sweeping celestial vistas and the bleak blackened landscapes below.
MPEG Stream: "Beyond The Skies"
MPEG Stream: "The Plague"
MPEG Stream: "Leaving"

IXXI Assorted Armament (Sigilla Malae) cd 15.98

IXXI s/t (Total Holocaust) cd 14.98
Sure it's lame calling bands supergroups, but we haven't really thought of another word that has the same connotations. I mean, how would -you- describe a black metal band that featured members of Dimhymn, Ondskapt and Zavorash, and was recorded by one of the guys from Marduk? Exactly. So for now, we'll have to stick with super group. But since this is evil black metal, maybe we should try something like ultra-horde, or mega-kult... ummm, well, maybe not...
Anyway, it's pretty tough to fuck with a band with this sort of pedigree, and while the label describes this disc as "a dirty piece of Black 'N Roll" which had us fearing the worst, this is actually way more fierce and buzzing and black than that description might lead you to believe. The band photos don't help much either, the band all walking along the railroad tracks, or looking all tough in front of a barbed wire topped chain link fence, tank tops, bandannas, and even a ski mask in effect! But fuck it, it's all about the music, and the music here is pretty awesome. Mostly midtempo, downtuned chug, with raspy howled BM vocals, pounding drums, occasional flurries of double kick drum, massive throbbing bass, but all with a serious streak of classic eighties metal running through it all, huge sweeping epic melodies, reminding us a bit of maybe At The Gates or Dark Tranquility, even some punky stomp a la Turbonegro. And actually, the more we listen, it definitely has that Khold vibe, sort of groovy and thick, like a pop song blackened and buzzed... Minus the occasional too obvious movie sample, or brief spoken word part, this is pretty relentless and rocking, with haunting interludes of choral cathedral keyboards and monklike chants separating crushing slabs of hooky heaviness.
Also includes a video playable on your computer, that while pretty striking, looks like it was filmed with a camcorder and s single flashlight. Pretty cool.
MPEG Stream: "Rewards Of Ignorant Wrath"
MPEG Stream: "The Holy Message Of Aum"
MPEG Stream: "The End Of DeGenerations"

JABLADAV 3K Hum (Epicene Sound) cassette 5.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hot on the heels of the recent Black As Pitch record, one man band Jabaldav returns with a much more abstract outing... Whereas BaP, and the previous release Dead As Duck, were both homages of a sort to SF black metal legends Weakling, albeit filtered through some Black Flag damage and some fucked up black studio magic, 3K Hum sounds basically like what the title would lead you to imagine. Longform drones, drawn out expansive low end soundscapes, still black and haunting, brutal in their own way, but more hypnotic, more trancelike, owing more to SUNNO))) and Niblock than Immortal and Ildjarn.
The opening track is nearly 15 minutes of digital burble, tape hiss and amp buzz, woven into a slow simmering stretch of glitch pocked shimmer, like strange malfunctioning machinery, floating along a slow flowing black river, sputtering and struggling to make more than buzzes and bzzzt's, immersed in a deep resonant sonic flow. Eventually, a riff enters the fray, but it's soooo slow, and weirdly digitized, it's more like a dense cloud of overdrive tone, thick and roiling, keening and white hot, before drifting off again, leaving nothing but a strange Morse code sort of Raster-Noton click and buzz ambience...
The second track is much more smoothed out, a gorgeous languorous sun baked crawl, long distorted notes stretched way out, flecked with sharp bits of overdriven buzz, a lazy metallic minor key threnody, burning hot but slowly, smoldering and intense, very alien, but warm and hauntingly emotional. The tape finishes off with a brief series of Close Encounters like tones, that occasionally overheat and become super distorted swells, before reverting again to gentle drifting harmonics. So lovely... (btw: there are two extra tracks on the cd-r, one 44 minutes long!)
The tape is packaged in a cool full color fold out sleeve.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!!! Each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Translucent Sails"
MPEG Stream: "3K Hum"

JABLADAV 3K Hum (self-released) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hot on the heels of the recent Black As Pitch record, one man band Jabaldav returns with a much more abstract outing... Whereas BaP, and the previous release Dead As Duck, were both homages of a sort to SF black metal legends Weakling, albeit filtered through some Black Flag damage and some fucked up black studio magic, 3K Hum sounds basically like what the title would lead you to imagine. Longform drones, drawn out expansive low end soundscapes, still black and haunting, brutal in their own way, but more hypnotic, more trancelike, owing more to SUNNO))) and Niblock than Immortal and Ildjarn.
The opening track is nearly 15 minutes of digital burble, tape hiss and amp buzz, woven into a slow simmering stretch of glitch-pocked shimmer, like strange malfunctioning machinery, floating along a slow flowing black river, sputtering and struggling to make more than buzzes and bzzzt's, immersed in a deep resonant sonic flow. Eventually, a riff enters the fray, but it's soooo slow, and weirdly digitized, it's more like a dense cloud of overdrive tone, thick and roiling, keening and white hot, before drifting off again, leaving nothing but a strange Morse code sort of Raster-Noton click and buzz ambience...
The second track is much more smoothed out, a gorgeous languorous sun baked crawl, long distorted notes stretched way out, flecked with sharp bits of overdriven buzz, a lazy metallic minor key threnody, burning hot but slowly, smoldering and intense, very alien, but warm and hauntingly emotional. This is followed by a brief series of Close Encounters like tones, that occasionally overheat and become super distorted swells, before reverting again to gentle drifting harmonics, before the 'bonus track' (which is NOT on the cassette), a massive 44 minute epic, a gorgeous washed out drift, shades of Tim Hecker, Philip Jeck, and other masters of soft focus blur, like the soundtrack for some weightless drift through space, distant glimmers, barely there melodies, soft warm melodic swells, little shards of FX, like lost transmissions from some dying satellite, slipping effortlessly from ominous and dark, to dreamy and hopeful, this track all on its own is like an entire record in and of itself, but of course manages to be the final part in 3K Hum's multi part epic... So lovely...
And also on the cd (and not on the tape), is a brief coda, a weird robotic blur of buzzing tones and crumbling distortion, haunting and speaker shredding, but again in its own black buzzing way quite pretty...
The cd is packaged in a DVD case, with full color cover, and two full color inserts.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!!! Each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Translucent Sails"
MPEG Stream: "3K Hum"

JABLADAV Ambience (self-released) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As we wait for the next Jabladav full length, the ultra brutal Atta Vinter, the band have released this ambient precursor, taking it's cue from the spacier elements of Paysage D'Hiver, but also incorporating plenty of free noise drift, new age shimmer, and abstract kraut-drone.
Unlike past Jabladav ambient missives, the focus here is less on low end, on the rumble and whir and buzz, instead, it's much airier and spacier, tinkling chimes, warm swells of soft focus synths, there are some haunting things happening below, deep bellow thuds, industrial groans and creaks, but they are so far down in the mix as to just add a bit of texture and mystery. Otherwise, the sound is strangely sun dappled, glimmering, shimmering, ethereal and effervescent, and yeah, new age-y, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Popol Vuh, David Parsons, the whole first side is slow sprawling expanse of dreamy new age-y shimmer.
The second side slips a bit more into low end, but not rumbling or buzzing, not doom drone or dirge, instead, another warm whirring, lighter than air bit of sonic weightlessness, mesmerizingly tranquil, relaxingly otherworldly, this is the sound of drifting through space, or floating amongst the clouds, sun dappled or moonlit, the sounds on Ambience are a softly shifting soundtrack to leaving your body and exploring the vast expanses of inner, and outer space.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!! Each one hand numbered....

JABLADAV Atta Vinter (self-released) cd-r 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's all been leading up to this. Seven releases in less than 4 years, we now find ourselves bowing before long anticipated (at least around here) record number eight from this Weakling worshipping, Black Flag channeling one man black metal band, who as we've mentioned before, began life as nothing more than a fun fuck-around musical HAILZ to the late great Bay Area metal masters Weakling, and heck, if you're gonna pick a band to emulate and be influenced by, you could do a LOT worse. But it didn't take long for that influence to fade, and for Jabaldav to find their own voice. And that voice was indeed a twisted one, a sound that struck a chord with aQ weirdo black metal obsessives, a twisted and gnarled blackness, jagged and harsh, hooky and heavy, and plenty weird and warped.
On Atta Vinter, Jabladav expand their sound considerably, present still are the frenzied buzzing, the relentless blast beats, the grinding Greg Ginn-ish like guitars, but the songs on AV are way more epic and sprawling, weirdly haunting and majestic, long stretches of choral drift, of looped keyboard-drenched ambience, acoustic guitar flecked streaks of orchestral sounding mellotron, strange bits of abstract vocals, soaring strings, all woven seamlessly into huge crushing slabs of black brutality, of howling pounding primitive pound.
Weirdly enough, the punk element is in full effect here too, with some of the tracks sounding like slightly more metal versions of classic Midwestern punk rock, at least one is a dead ringer for Die Kreuzen, which is NEVER a bad thing. The vocals are way more varied too, from yowled bellow, to feral yelp, to hellish shriek, most of the songs are pretty short too, with more than half under 3 minutes, but plenty of wild tangled riffing and octopoidal drumming crammed into those few minutes. And even at its punkest, the sounds are a breath away from full on furious black metal blur, and that's sort of the magic of Jabladav, a careening, lurching unpredictable punkish black metal blowout that confounds and confuses, slipping from total Norwegian style icy blast, to killer loping post punk tangle, to gorgeous shimmery drone, and back again, the various elements so disparate, but so perfectly meshed, the melodies catchy as hell, the riffs super memorable, the sound still strangely sharp and lo-fi, almost lush, but the guitars ultra distorted and super saturated, the drums pounding but buried in the mix, the flow of the record a definite sonic journey, culminating in the final 3 song suite, a long-ish expanse of downtuned doominess, that gives way to mathy grinding witchiness, whose barely there drone outro leads right into a brief blast of weirdly melodic almost power-metal sounding blackness, with harmonized guitars and a super blown out in-the-red sound, which finally, leaves us battered and bruised before the epic 11 minute closer, which begins all spidery minor key guitar, and whirring warbling mellotron, before exploding into perhaps one of the most frantic bits on the record, a lurching, twisted downtuned, buzz drenched stutter, with one of the weirdest, and most KILLER riffs ever, before again slipping into that murky spidery crawl, and then back again, over and over, the heavy riffage, getting simultaneously more and more distorted and fucked up, but more and more catchy and melodic, the weird mellotron drones only adding a distinctly creepy vibe to the proceedings, the whole track impossibly complex and dizzying, before the track stumbles to a standstill, leaving a shadowy blur, a strange funereal drift, the blackened tendrils of sound gradually shriveling up and dying, leaving nothing but darkness.
Next level shit for sure, maybe too much for the grim troo old guard, but screw them, for the rest of us, this is exactly the sort of stuff we're always dying for, buzzing, blackened, outsider, otherworldly, weird as shit heaviness that defies easy categorization. WAY recommended. Maybe the best Jabladav yet, which is saying something!
And just like the other Jabladav records, limited to 100 copies, each one hand numbered and signed, most with a little something extra inside.
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"

JABLADAV Ayr (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.
Found a stash of these tucked away... last copies...
Latest missive from this Weakling-worshipping one man black metal band, whose sounds has changed quite a bit since his very Dead As Dreams beholden debut Dead As Duck, with the music growing more and more varied, and the playing getting more and more polished, the recording too constantly improving or at the very least changing, even at its lowest fidelity now, it sound intentional, an integral part of the sound. What began as a rehearsal space recorded DIY project, now sound downright professional, at times, and while in many cases we'd lament that sort of 'progress', in the case of Jabladav, it really does seem to suit the sound.
Ayr begins with a gorgeous bit of acoustic guitar, before the record kicks in proper, and while it may be more polished, that doesn't mean it's not still a bit twisted and weird, clean guitars jangle over clipped drums, howled vox, it's a weird sort of blackened pop, until the buzz comes in, and then, well, it still sounds like blackened pop, reminding us of Hypothermia, that same sort of loping jangly blackness, the distortion more crumbly and blown out than the traditional black buzz. The next track too starts out all clean guitar, and crooned clean vocals, moody and swoonsome, until suddenly lurching into a chaotic black buzz, and it's definitely chaotic, a wild maelstrom of furious riffing, drums-down-the-stairs blastbeats, and of course harsh demonic vokills. The song slips right back into the clean guitar lope, the buzz swooping in again, but this time remaining a midtempo lope, this time just wreathed in a black buzz, the whole thing driven by a prominent bassline, which gives the track a distinctly gloomy gothicky feel.
But it's not all clean and croon, "Oktober" is a frenzied blast of gnarled blackness right out of the gate, raw and feral, with some awesome stop/start arrangements, the sound filthy and crusty, blown out and in the red, which helps to balance the comparatively melodic opening salvo.
The next track, even after starting out with classic black metal intro, launches into a strange hybrid, that melds black buzz to burbling basslines, strummed acoustic guitars, more of those demonic vox, the result is a strangely washed out almost shoegazey sounding blackened metal, with definite pop elements lurking beneath the surface, the vocals getting particularly creepy and unhinged. It's a cool sound, and definitely unlike any other black 'metal' we've heard. And so it goes, the record continuing to confound, as Jabladav seems to loved doing, the next track a woozy slo-mo dirge, some killer riffing wrapped around a minimal beat, mesmerizing and hypnotic, might be one of our favorite tracks on the record, the guitars thick and buzzy but still melodic, the sound harsh and heavy, but atmospheric and a bit doomy.
The title track begins with the sound of thunderstorms, beneath weirdly processed guitars, a warped shimmery guitarscape, ambient and strangely psychedelic, the song does briefly explode into some black buzz about halfway through, but the buzz is muted, and the song is driven by a lilting melody, and everything is blissed out and becomes more so as the song morphs back into that opening pulsing guitarscape. Finally the record finishes off with another bit of impossibly melodic black buzz, the first half all chiming and shimmering, the second half more of the same, but wedded to a buried blast beat, and with slightly more buzz, but still ultimately melodic and more pretty really than grim or black.
This may in fact be the least overtly black metal Jabladav record yet (barring the ambient discs), and is most definitely the strangest, but because of all that, it might just be our favorite so farÉ
Packaged in a purplish-pink digipak, LIMITED TO ONLY 100 COPIES, each one signed and hand numbered ON THE SHRINKWRAP, which means if you open it, that number will be gone, unless you save the plastic wrap.
MPEG Stream: "Sorg Bringer Pa Hosten"
MPEG Stream: "Tronen Falle"
MPEG Stream: "Oktober"

JABLADAV Black As Pitch (self-released) cassette 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Record number two from this strangely monickered black metal one man outfit, borne out of a mighty love for dead and gone SF black metallers Weakling. And who can blame Mr. Jabladav? Of the modern breed of black metal, Weakling hewed closest to the spirit of the legendary Norwegian BM royalty, while still managing to create something completely unique, off kilter and beautifully and brilliantly fucked. Pity they only managed one record, but what a record it was...
Where as the first Jabladav disc, Dead As Duck (note the Dead As Dreams like title) mixed outright Weakling worship, frosty grim riffage, furious blast beats, epic arrangements, with a distinct post rock / math rock vibe and some seriously twisted and damaged Greg Ginn-ish Black Flag like gnarled guitars, the new one Black As Pitch (hmmm...) while still rooted in the epic buzz of Weakling and the bands that came before, expands the scope and the sound of the first one, in a big way. The core is still a grim black buzz, but even at its most black metal, the arrangements are completely convoluted and confusional, with long stretches of abstract riffing, bursts of chaotic free-black-metal, if there is such a thing (and if there's not there sure as hell should be), but the BM here is still troo and completely amazing, the guitars are super hot, in the red, blown out and WAY up in the mix, the drums too, loud as fuck, the double kick sounds (and feels) like someone pounding on your chest with both fists. Thick swaths of creepy alien keyboard sometimes drift over the black blasts, and often the blackness dissipates leaving gorgeous stretches of rumbling drone or shimmering ambience, the vocals are reverbed and sound like they must be samples or snippets from some movie, giving the songs an even creepier vibe.
Then there's the 14+ minute "Vinter Meditation", an extended chunk of cinematic ambience, all strange synths and creepy sounds, mysterious voices, and random abstract sonic disturbances, but the whole song is peppered with furious bursts of black metal, the engulf everything, saturating all the surrounding sounds with thick viscous blackness, before drifting off just as suddenly, leaving more haunting ambience, minor key melodies, the sounds of wind and thunder, soft billowing bits of chordal drift.... The rest of the record is filled out with more conventional length black blasts, except for the 31 minute drone epic "St. Philip Episcopal Church", which begins as a muted whir, a distant drone, layers shifting and overlapping, until thick grinding crumbling guitars swoop in, adding a caustic layer of fuzz over the top, and the track continues like that, sort of seesawing back and forth, from minimal shimmer, to corrosive drone, that distorted guitar changing shape constantly, from prickly buzz, to pulsing Spacemen 3 like whir to FX drenched outer space swirl, to brutal black drone. That piece alone would constitute a whole release on any one of our favorite modern abstract noise cd-r labels, but here it's just part of the bigger sonic picture, the songs short and long, black and beautiful, are all tangled up, sonically and thematically, the ambience balances the buzzing blackness and vice versa.
The record closes with an Ildjarn cover, a brief blown out black stomp, relentless and furious, the guitar still way blown out, the vocals louder than ever, the riff simple and almost punk rock, primitive and furious and fierce. Somehow it seems like the perfect way to finish off, after all the extended experimental ambience and super mathy black metal weirdness, a good old fashioned, primitive, old school, spiked, leather clad, corpse painted, church burning bloody axe attack!!
The cds are limited to 100 copies, each one hand numbered, the cassettes are numbered to 150 copies, each of those hand numbered as well.
MPEG Stream: "Ater Sicut Nox"
MPEG Stream: "Darling "Filia Noctiluca""
MPEG Stream: "Vinter Meditation"

JABLADAV Black As Pitch (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.
Record number two from this strangely monickered black metal one man outfit, borne out of a mighty love for dead and gone SF black metallers Weakling. And who can blame Mr. Jabladav? Of the modern breed of black metal, Weakling hewed closest to the spirit of the legendary Norwegian BM royalty, while still managing to create something completely unique, off kilter and beautifully and brilliantly fucked. Pity they only managed one record, but what a record it was...
Where as the first Jabladav disc, Dead As Duck (note the Dead As Dreams like title) mixed outright Weakling worship, frosty grim riffage, furious blast beats, epic arrangements, with a distinct post rock / math rock vibe and some seriously twisted and damaged Greg Ginn-ish Black Flag like gnarled guitars, the new one Black As Pitch (hmmm...) while still rooted in the epic buzz of Weakling and the bands that came before, expands the scope and the sound of the first one, in a big way. The core is still a grim black buzz, but even at its most black metal, the arrangements are completely convoluted and confusional, with long stretches of abstract riffing, bursts of chaotic free-black-metal, if there is such a thing (and if there's not there sure as hell should be), but the BM here is still troo and completely amazing, the guitars are super hot, in the red, blown out and WAY up in the mix, the drums too, loud as fuck, the double kick sounds (and feels) like someone pounding on your chest with both fists. Thick swaths of creepy alien keyboard sometimes drift over the black blasts, and often the blackness dissipates leaving gorgeous stretches of rumbling drone or shimmering ambience, the vocals are reverbed and sound like they must be samples or snippets from some movie, giving the songs an even creepier vibe.
Then there's the 14+ minute "Vinter Meditation", an extended chunk of cinematic ambience, all strange synths and creepy sounds, mysterious voices, and random abstract sonic disturbances, but the whole song is peppered with furious bursts of black metal, the engulf everything, saturating all the surrounding sounds with thick viscous blackness, before drifting off just as suddenly, leaving more haunting ambience, minor key melodies, the sounds of wind and thunder, soft billowing bits of chordal drift.... The rest of the record is filled out with more conventional length black blasts, except for the 31 minute drone epic "St. Philip Episcopal Church", which begins as a muted whir, a distant drone, layers shifting and overlapping, until thick grinding crumbling guitars swoop in, adding a caustic layer of fuzz over the top, and the track continues like that, sort of seesawing back and forth, from minimal shimmer, to corrosive drone, that distorted guitar changing shape constantly, from prickly buzz, to pulsing Spacemen 3 like whir to FX drenched outer space swirl, to brutal black drone. That piece alone would constitute a whole release on any one of our favorite modern abstract noise cd-r labels, but here it's just part of the bigger sonic picture, the songs short and long, black and beautiful, are all tangled up, sonically and thematically, the ambience balances the buzzing blackness and vice versa.
The record closes with an Ildjarn cover, a brief blown out black stomp, relentless and furious, the guitar still way blown out, the vocals louder than ever, the riff simple and almost punk rock, primitive and furious and fierce. Somehow it seems like the perfect way to finish off, after all the extended experimental ambience and super mathy black metal weirdness, a good old fashioned, primitive, old school, spiked, leather clad, corpse painted, church burning bloody axe attack!!
The cds are limited to 100 copies, each one hand numbered, the cassettes are numbered to 150 copies, each of those hand numbered as well.
MPEG Stream: "Ater Sicut Nox"
MPEG Stream: "Darling "Filia Noctiluca""
MPEG Stream: "Vinter Meditation"

JABLADAV Coldest Last Winter (self-released) 7" 6.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Three new songs from one man black metal band Jabladav, limited to only 100 copies, so grab one while you can.
Jabladav explores some different sounds on Cold, the opener "Coldest Last Winter" begins with just keyboards, and clean guitar before the distortion kicks in, but instead of exploding into a frenzy of black buzz, the song lopes drearily, the keyboard remaining, plinking out a sorrowful minor key melody, while the drums pound out a doomic tempo, and the guitar buzz all washed out and Striborg like. It's heavy but more sort of dreamy and ethereal, near the end things get a little more mathy and convoluted with some cool stop starts, but for the most part it's all drift and haunting and doomy.
The second track is another keyboards and guitar jam, the guitars tangled and folky, intricate and lush, the keyboards set on some strangehuman voice setting, so it sounds like a stuttering choir, and again, the 'band' kicks in, a trudging plod, harsh vokills over angular distorted chug, before things build to a full on black blast, the keyboards drifting creepily below the surface the whole time.
The final track is way more classic Jabladav, the guitars sharp and jagged and buzzy, the drums frenetic and blasting, the melody epic and haunting, with some cool stumbling, lurching gnarled arrangements and a cool black ambient outro. Rad stuff as always. A bit different, but still shot through with that same twisted Jabladav vibe.
Comes in a printed color sleeve, the 7"s are each numbered, there's an insert too, also numbered and signed and each with a little drawing, ALSO comes with a cd-r featuring the tracks from the 7", that too is hand numbered. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, we got a bunch. but Jabladav stuff always blows out of here...

JABLADAV Communion With Mother & Machine (self-released) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest from our favorite one man, Weakling by way of Black Flag styled black metal band, but don't be expecting any gnarled black blasts or pounding frenzied freakouts, Communion With Mother & Machine falls more in line with any of the various Jabaldav ambient records, but is notable for being created using mostly Buddha Machines and Black Boxes. A slow burning sonic collage, a blackened sprawling composition, that takes those prerecorded loops, as well as the process of switching from loop to loop (including any clicks or buzzes), and weaves them into a lush, densely layered dronescape, along with samples of other Jabladav recordings, field recordings of nature at night, Mellotrons, as well as some effects and feedback, the process is detailed in the liner notes, a simple technique of setting up the boxes in a circle around the microphone, with a particular box manually moved closer to increase its volume / presence, the colors of the Buddha Machines used are detailed as well (1 red, 1 orange, 1 white and 2 blue), as is the recording gear used, and various other steps of the process. And while that stuff is definitely interesting, it's the finished recording that matters, and it's incredible, a swirling, smoldering loopscape, crickets chirping over distant whirs, slowly shifting layered melodies, the glitch and grit of the tiny speakers adding more buzz and blur to the proceedings, deep melodic swells pulsing and shimmering, the loops slipping from organic and amorphous to machinelike and repetitive and back again, creaks and groans, disembodied voices, everything building to lush heaving slabs of layered density, laced with tinkling melodies, all set amidst thick clouds of muted crunch, smoothed into gorgeous expanses of blissed out lustrous mesmer. So great.
Total nirvana for dronelords, and as with all Jabalav stuff, WAY recommended, whether buzzy or beautiful, or both.
Packaged in super swank 6 panel digipaks, each one signed and hand numbered, and limited to ONLY 100 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Communion With Mother & Machine (Excerpt 1)"
MPEG Stream: "Communion With Mother & Machine (Excerpt 2)"

JABLADAV Dead As Duck (self-released) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This AQ fave awesome slab of Black Flagged grim and tangled black metal Weakling worship gets the super deluxe vinyl treatment. Gorgeous full color sleeves, thick black sleeves for the lp, both numbered and signed in metallic silver ink. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!
For a band that didn't exist for very long, only had one record and who have been broken up for years now, SF's mighty Weakling still cast a pretty long shadow. We still sell Dead As Dreams like crazy, more and more people are professing their undying love for Weakling's black grandeur every day, and band after band, some more subtly than others are displaying in their music, some serious Weakling worship. Wolves In The Throne Room are a recent example, they obviously expanded on the sound but there are moments where WITTR are a dead ringer for Weakling. Then there is Jabladav, who almost come off as a sort of Weakling homage, what with the very Dead As Dreams-ish title, the album artwork, and of course Weakling topping the thanks list, which also includes Burzum, Darkthrone, Black Flag, Ildjarn and Wolves In The Throne Room. But Jabladav, seem to approach metal from a distinctly non-metal background. It's subtle, but noticeable. Black Flag in the thanks list should give you some indication. Not that this isn't black and buzzy, heavy and thrashing and brutal, it is, one man, just guitar bass, mellotron and drums, but there is a distinctly post rock, punk rock vibe that permeates much of Dead As Duck. Take out some of the thick swaths of dramatic keyboards and insane bursts of double kick drumming, and sometimes you're left with some very Greg Ginn-ish angular metallic post punk. But when all is said and done, Jabladav whip up some serious black skree, with buzzy crunchy guitars dominating the mix, some murky drumming, bits of bass here and there, a little keyboards, mostly instrumental, but when there are vocals, they are a haunting croon, much like the madman in Urfaust. There are even some dreamy folky interludes. Fucking awesome stuff for sure. We've been playing this like mad since we got it. So if you dig any of the aforementioned bands (we might even include in the list Earl Shilton, Carcass, even the Champs maybe) you'll definitely love this!
And again, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, each sleeve hand numbered and signed, these will be gone in no time...
MPEG Stream: "Dead As Duck"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For A Winter's Decention"
MPEG Stream: "Zarqawi Mortus"

JABLADAV Dead As Duck (self-released) cassette 3.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For a band that didn't exist for very long, only had one record and who have been broken up for years now, SF's mighty Weakling still cast a pretty long shadow. We still sell Dead As Dreams like crazy, more and more people are professing their undying love for Weakling's black grandeur every day, and band after band, some more subtly than others are displaying in their music, some serious Weakling worship. Wolves In The Throne Room are a recent example, they obviously expanded on the sound but there are moments where WITTR are a dead ringer for Weakling. Then there is Jabladav, who almost come off as a sort of Weakling homage, what with the very Dead As Dreams-ish title, the album artwork, and of course Weakling topping the thanks list, which also includes Burzum, Darkthrone, Black Flag, Ildjarn and Wolves In The Throne Room. But Jabladav, seem to approach metal from a distinctly non-metal background. It's subtle, but noticeable. Black Flag in the thanks list should give you some indication. Not that this isn't black and buzzy, heavy and thrashing and brutal, it is, one man, just guitar bass, mellotron and drums, but there is a distinctly post rock, punk rock vibe that permeates much of Dead As Duck. Take out some of the thick swaths of dramatic keyboards and insane bursts of double kick drumming, and sometimes you're left with some very Greg Ginn-ish angular metallic post punk. But when all is said and done, Jabladav whip up some serious black skree, with buzzy crunchy guitars dominating the mix, some murky drumming, bits of bass here and there, a little keyboards, mostly instrumental, but when there are vocals, they are a haunting croon, much like the madman in Urfaust. There are even some dreamy folky interludes. Fucking awesome stuff for sure. We've been playing this like mad since we got it. So if you dig any of the aforementioned bands (we might even include in the list Earl Shilton, Carcass, even the Champs maybe) you'll definitely love this! LIMITED TO TWENTY COPIES, each cassette hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Dead As Duck"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For A Winter's Decention"
MPEG Stream: "Zarqawi Mortus"

JABLADAV Dead As Duck (self-released) cd-r 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For a band that didn't exist for very long, only had one record and who have been broken up for years now, SF's mighty Weakling still cast a pretty long shadow. We still sell Dead As Dreams like crazy, more and more people are professing their undying love for Weakling's black grandeur every day, and band after band, some more subtly than others are displaying in their music, some serious Weakling worship. Wolves In The Throne Room are a recent example, they obviously expanded on the sound but there are moments where WITTR are a dead ringer for Weakling. Then there is Jabladav, who almost come off as a sort of Weakling homage, what with the very Dead As Dreams-ish title, the album artwork, and of course Weakling topping the thanks list, which also includes Burzum, Darkthrone, Black Flag, Ildjarn and Wolves In The Throne Room. But Jabladav, seem to approach metal from a distinctly non-metal background. It's subtle, but noticeable. Black Flag in the thanks list should give you some indication. Not that this isn't black and buzzy, heavy and thrashing and brutal, it is, one man, just guitar bass, mellotron and drums, but there is a distinctly post rock, punk rock vibe that permeates much of Dead As Duck. Take out some of the thick swaths of dramatic keyboards and insane bursts of double kick drumming, and sometimes you're left with some very Greg Ginn-ish angular metallic post punk. But when all is said and done, Jabladav whip up some serious black skree, with buzzy crunchy guitars dominating the mix, some murky drumming, bits of bass here and there, a little keyboards, mostly instrumental, but when there are vocals, they are a haunting croon, much like the madman in Urfaust. There are even some dreamy folky interludes. Fucking awesome stuff for sure. We've been playing this like mad since we got it. So if you dig any of the aforementioned bands (we might even include in the list Earl Shilton, Carcass, even the Champs maybe) you'll definitely love this! LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, each disc hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Dead As Duck"
MPEG Stream: "Waiting For A Winter's Decention"
MPEG Stream: "Zarqawi Mortus"

JABLADAV Drunk As Duck (self-released) cd-r 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not one, but TWO new releases from this one man, Weakling worshipping black metal misanthrope, known as Jabladav, but maybe this one doesn't count, as it was recorded under the influence, HEAVILY under the influence, and thus is a bit of a stumbling, lurching mess. But what a glorious mess it is. If it wasn't called Drunk As Duck (a reference to the debut Jabladav record Dead As Duck) and if it didn't have a cover image of discarded corks from (presumably) bottles drunk, and if there wasn't an apology in the liner notes asking the listener to listen with a sense of humor, if NONE of that were present, we probably would have just assumed this was some super wacked, freaked out, damaged lo-fi black metal record, and we would have loved it just as much as we do now, maybe even more.
Take the normal sound of Jabladav, lower the dexterity level, slow things down a bit, make it a bit doomier, a bit murkier, add a bit more stumble, a bit more warble, and fuck, if your not left with something truly deranged and warped.
Way less mathy and complex than Jabladav proper (due, we assume, in no small part, to inebriation), the sound on Drunk as Duck, is a lurching doomic black metal, which at times reminds us a bit of Xasthur, or more specifically, the legion of Xasthur influenced black buzzers, with it's murky miserablism, it's stumbling rhythms, but a little hooch isn't enough to remove all of Jabladav's instrumental prowess, so plenty, of that tangled riffing, and Greg Ginn like gnarled guitar freakouts still surface here and there, but they tend to be draped over murky buzzing plods, or funereal dirges. When the tracks do occasionally burst into blast mode, instead of sounding shitty, or bad, or amateur, it just sounds, well, weird, chaotic, confusional, often splintering into abstract freakouts, or meandering black jams, but that stuff sounds amazing. We wouldn't dare say we like this better than Jabladav proper, but damn if we don't like it almost as much.
There seems to be a lot more keyboards going on too, adding a definite moody creepy vibe to the proceedings, but what can we say, even wasted, this guy can craft some truly demented black brilliance.
LIMITED TO ONLY 100 COPIES! Each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Light Has Died"
MPEG Stream: "Burzum La Chimay"
MPEG Stream: "Thangoraium"

JABLADAV Entisaikainen Herra Hihkasis Atilaa Menna Pilver (self-released) cd-r 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Mysterious one man band Jabladav has proven that he is much more than just a Weakling tribute, offering up his admitted Weakling inspired black buzz infused with strange gnarled Greg Ginn-ish guitaring, and furiously fucked up post rock mathed out weirdness. Grim and buzzy, but also damaged and seriously and gloriously freaked out. He also proved he could drone with the best of them on the recent 3K Hum release, a slab of deep dark dense dronology that definitely holds its own amongst the legends of drone.
So in the spirit of 3K Hum comes this latest Jabladav release, limited to only 50 copies, so we won't get too in depth, needless to say, we were pretty much sold when Mr. Jabladav emailed us to tell us about this new release, and wrote "I've never heard a Buddha Machine sound so evil." Well, heck, what else did we need to hear? Nothing in fact.
So we got as many of the 50 as he could spare and here it is!
Recorded live, using a Buddha Machine, a piano, a Casio and a handful of effects, Jabladav has created a doomy and dark ominous drift. The Buddha Machine's loops transformed into creeping lowend sprawl, bits of distortion and decay lace these long tones, a subtle throb, a deep resonant pulse, murky and muddy and sinister, spaced out, but blurred and smeared into dark dreamlike drones.
LIMITED TO ONLY 50 COPIES!!! We got way less than that. Packaged in a slim dvd style case, full color artwork and booklet, each disc signed, and numbered, the booklet signed and the insert numbered too.
MPEG Stream: "Entisaikainen Herra Hihkasis Atilaa Menna Pilver (Excerpt)"

JABLADAV Primland (self-released) 2cd-r 27.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What began as an homage to legendary SF black metallers Weakling, and maybe even a joke (not a ha ha joke, more of a fucking around, we're bored so we might as well record some grim black metal joke) has pretty rapidly morphed into a serious black metal contender amongst weirdo black metal aficionados.
Jabladav is a one man band who owes as much to Weakling as they do to Black Flag. Their first release, Dead As Duck, was a gnarled Greg Ginn-ified blast of intense blackness, blown out guitar buzz, insane blasting drums, some killer riffing and huge heapings of black atmosphere, channeling Weakling through all sorts of random not-that-black business, drone, post rock, math rock, no wave, and yeah Black Flag. The thing was, whatever inspired it, was soon eclipsed by how fucked up and far out the finished product was. A baffling and fucking genius collection of convoluted black buzz. Hot on the heels of the debut, came a second disc, Black As Pitch, which was like part two of Dead As Duck, but expanding the sound, making it even more metal, more chaotic, the songs got longer, and way more complex, even introducing some intensely blackened ambience. Which led to the next record, 3K Hum, a mostly ambient affair, huge stretched out slabs of glacial blur, massive roiling low end rumble, shimmering black ambience, hypnotic and mesmerizing, and while ambient, still extremely dense and heavy.
As if that weren't an exhausting spurt of creativity, now, not all that much later, comes the latest from Jabladav, the even more expansive and sprawling 2 cd-r set Primland, two hours of incredibly tangled black riffing, super blown out buzz drenched production, creepy keyboards, and deep dark ambience, super mathy drums, demonic vocals, all wound into super extended black jams, shot through with head spinning Ginn-ish squiggly leads, stop start riffing, but all strangely melodic, a moody mournful undercurrent beneath the roiling black heaviness. And the drums, shit, the drumming is insane, WAY up in the mix, louder than the guitars even, mathy and calculus complicated, like the guy was sitting at the top of a concrete stairwell in a 40 story building, each landing mic-ed, and then proceeded to hurl drum kit after drum kit into the black abyss, only in such a way that the resulting crash and clatter coalesced into impossibly deranged black rhythms.
But then out of nowhere, there'll be a track, all murky and muddy, lo-fi and practice space style, that sounds like it could be some lost nineties BM demo. EXCEPT, it's Jabladav, so even those tracks, are layered with slow doomy tones, deep rumbling chimes, and raspy vocals, threatening to swallow up the thrashing blackness below.
The tracks are definitely tweaked, and damaged, and a little bit spaced out and acid fried, druggy and mathy, but at their core they are pure black, the riffs are blown out, recorded so loud and in the red, the chords threaten to crumble. The record careens wildly from stumbling doomic Burzum style lope, to manic crazed thrashing black blasts, often both in the same song, the strange production only adds to the mood and weirdness, the songs on Primland even more epic and far out and convoluted and fucked than any of the Jabladav we've heard before, which is saying a lot. WAY recommended black metal weirdness/brilliance.
While they last, we have the ULTRA LIMITED, wax sealed wooden box version. If it's too pricey for you, hold off and we'll relist the normal version once these are sold out, but c'mon, this music deserves more than a jewel case. These are hand assembled, hand stained wood boxes, with a removable lid, that slides out, inside are the two cd-rs, in jewel case, and a printed color insert. The box is sealed shut with a silver wax seal. Each box signed and numbered on the bottom. But be warned, these are not had crafted keepsakes, the kind on a glass shelf at your grandma's house, no, they look grim and ancient, like the music within, weathered and worn, they're beautiful, but they look like they were unearthed from some cursed tomb, left on a shelf in a locked room, in an abandoned house, where they were discovered years later. Meaning that they are not perfect, the coloring is different on each, as is the wax seal, and the seal is quite fragile, so no matter how carefully packaged, the seal might crumble, or come off in transit, but you have to remove the seal anyway if you want to listen to the music.
You have been warned...
MPEG Stream: "Black Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Lodona"
MPEG Stream: "Vin Den Orden Jag Levandre"

JABLADAV Primland (self-released) cd-r 10.98
Primland was originally released as a super limited (100 copies) double cd, housed in a hand painted, custom built wood box, sealed with wax, and thus had a price tag to match. The box is now out of print, but Primland is now available as a much more affordable single disc, and while the box and the second disc may have been discarded, that hardly detracts from the impact of this serious slab of crushingly twisted blackness from one man black metal maven Jabladav...
What began as an homage to legendary SF black metallers Weakling, and maybe even a joke (not a ha ha joke, more of a fucking around, we're bored so we might as well record some grim black metal joke) has pretty rapidly morphed into a serious black metal contender amongst weirdo black metal aficionados.
Jabladav is a one man band who owes as much to Weakling as they do to Black Flag. Their first release, Dead As Duck, was a gnarled Greg Ginn-ified blast of intense blackness, blown out guitar buzz, insane blasting drums, some killer riffing and huge heapings of black atmosphere, channeling Weakling through all sorts of random not-that-black business, drone, post rock, math rock, no wave, and yeah Black Flag. The thing was, whatever inspired it, was soon eclipsed by how fucked up and far out the finished product was. A baffling and fucking genius collection of convoluted black buzz. Hot on the heels of the debut, came a second disc, Black As Pitch, which was like part two of Dead As Duck, but expanding the sound, making it even more metal, more chaotic, the songs got longer, and way more complex, even introducing some intensely blackened ambience. Which led to the next record, 3K Hum, a mostly ambient affair, huge stretched out slabs of glacial blur, massive roiling low end rumble, shimmering black ambience, hypnotic and mesmerizing, and while ambient, still extremely dense and heavy.
As if that weren't an exhausting spurt of creativity, now, not all that much later, comes the latest from Jabladav, the even more expansive and twisted Primland, a hellish chunk of incredibly tangled black riffing, super blown out buzz drenched production, creepy keyboards, and deep dark ambience, super mathy drums, demonic vocals, all wound into super extended black jams, shot through with head spinning Ginn-ish squiggly leads, stop start riffing, but all strangely melodic, a moody mournful undercurrent beneath the roiling black heaviness. And the drums, shit, the drumming is insane, WAY up in the mix, louder than the guitars even, mathy and calculus complicated, like the guy was sitting at the top of a concrete stairwell in a 40 story building, each landing mic-ed, and then proceeded to hurl drum kit after drum kit into the black abyss, only in such a way that the resulting crash and clatter coalesced into impossibly deranged black rhythms.
But then out of nowhere, there'll be a track, all murky and muddy, lo-fi and practice space style, that sounds like it could be some lost nineties BM demo. EXCEPT, it's Jabladav, so even those tracks, are layered with slow doomy tones, deep rumbling chimes, and raspy vocals, threatening to swallow up the thrashing blackness below. The tracks are definitely tweaked, and damaged, and a little bit spaced out and acid fried, druggy and mathy, but at their core they are pure black, the riffs are blown out, recorded so loud and in the red, the chords threaten to crumble. The record careens wildly from stumbling doomic Burzum style lope, to manic crazed thrashing black blasts, often both in the same song, the strange production only adds to the mood and weirdness, the songs on Primland even more epic and far out and convoluted and fucked than any of the Jabladav we've heard before, which is saying a lot. WAY recommended black metal weirdness/brilliance.
MPEG Stream: "Black Snow"
MPEG Stream: "Lodona"
MPEG Stream: "Vin Den Orden Jag Levandre"

JABLADAV Primland II (self-released) cd-r 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Primland was originally released as a super limited (100 copies) double cd, housed in a hand painted, custom built wood box, sealed with wax, and thus had a price tag to match. The box is now out of print, but Primland is now available as two much more affordable single discs, the first of which we reviewed a few lists back, a serious slab of crushingly twisted blackness, this is the second disc, the abstract ambient accompaniment to the first disc's more furious fucked up heaviness. But in its own, way just as intense and black.
Whereas Jabladav typically sounds a bit like some gnarled tangled up hybrid of Black Flag and SF black metal legends Weakling (Jabladav began as an homage to Weakling in fact), this second Primland disc is something else all together, a collection of sprawling dronescapes, thick with crumbling drones, black ambience, abstract piano, long drawn out epics, expansive worlds of bleak and blackened mystery. Think MZ412 or the more recent Nordvargr / Drakh collaborations, this is brooding, haunting, malevolent minimalism, but shot through with plenty of texture and mood, layered sounds woven into organic slow moving black drifts, bits of percussion surface here and there, jarring amidst the bleak slow shifting backdrop, streaks of sound that resemble strings, the piano pounding out doomy almost-melodies, drones swelling and throbbing and pulsing beneath, some of the layers processed into dizzying loops, super hypnotic and truly strange.
One track does flirt with heaviness, offering up a sport of crumbling dirgedrone, but wrapped in static, and grinding electronics, oozing over deep dreamy swells, disembodied squalls of processed noise, so distorted they threaten to blow your speakers, before being reeled in, and swallowed whole by an impossibly thick wall of dense black hole low end, shot through with glimmering upper register tones and streaks of fragmented melody.
The final track is like a slow motion raga, all hypnotic buzz and slow burning minimalism, the speed shifting subtly throughout, the track oozing and swerving and slithering, playing tricks on the listeners ears, invoking a glorious disorienting sort of audio sea sickness, woozy and druggy, and strangely irresistible.
No metal to be found here, but that's not the point, taken with disc one, this completes Jabladav's high concept Primland epic, a massive chunk of confusional outsider black art, combining dense blackened minimalism with cracked and damaged black metal weirdness, the two halves somehow reflected in each other, both able to stand on their own, but together, making up a singular organic sonic entity.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, each one hand numbered.
MPEG Stream: "Primland"
MPEG Stream: "Faith"

JABLADAV The Cold Warmth (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.
We've been sitting on a handful of these, the most recent release by Weakling worshippers Jabaladav, a ridiculously limited edition of just 50 copies, with the intention of eventually getting a bunch more to list and review. Well, we were informed recently by the man himself that The Cold Warmth was out of print, and thus we have the last handful of copies. And while there is a new full length on the horizon, this is most likely your last chance to get your grubby mitts on a copy of this, a collection of tracks recorded at the same time as Atta Vinter, but that were left off the final version. So Jabladav fans, if you dig AV, this is almost like a part two, all the usual Jabladav-isms are present, gnarled black blasts, mathy rhythms, killer riffing, the songs soaring and majestic one second, murky and dirge-y the next, the arrangements complex and almost proggy, with the sound switching from grim black, to grinding distorted churn, from strange processed vox flecked clean guitar moodiness to hazy, minor key almost post rock ambience, it's all good stuff, heavy and twisted, dark and tripped out. Apparently, according to the liner notes, Atta Vinter was meant to be 'to the point' and not at all epic, which is why these tracks were left off, but now with Atta Vinter AND The Cold Warmth in your clutches, the potential for grim black epicness is endless.
As with all Jabladav releases, the packaging is pretty deluxe, housed in a dvd case, with a cool color cover, signed by the band, there's a xeroxed insert, also signed by the band and numbered, as well as a smaller color insert, whzich is numbered, as is the disc. And again, this is out of print, and these are THEE last copies we will ever be able to get.
MPEG Stream: "The Cold Warmth"
MPEG Stream: "Paysage"
MPEG Stream: "Black Snow Reprise"

JABLADAV Trostlosigkeit (self-released) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Seems like only yesterday we were listing a Jabaldav record... Well it was in fact the last list, but where that one was a Buddha Machine driven drift of dreamy dronemusic, Trostlosigkeit finds the Jabladav sound moving back to the Burzumic black buzz we love so much. And Burzumic is right, the first track begins as a sprawl of slow moving glacial buzz, laced with a haunting, very Filosefem sounding synthesizer melody, haunting and dreamy, but it's not long before Jabladav swing back into his Weakling meets Black Flag gnarled blackness. But the sound here is much more melodic, and blissful, lots of acoustic guitar woven into the proceedings, more midtempo then blast, and that synthesizer melody resurface throughout, giving the opening track a definite woozy melancholy vibe. "Loss" is similarly dark and dreary, like Jabladav got a depressive black metal makeover, spidery guitars give way to a muddy, murky dirgey doom-ed black buzz, more dreamy synth, the overall sound is way more lo-fi than usual, but it definitely suits the new mood and sound, weirdly pretty, but still grim and mysterious and heavy.
The title track is a sprawling 19 minute doomscape, all tangled glacial guitar, muted chug, hissed hellish vox, super spare drumming, lots of space, almost ambient really, peppered with bursts of insectoid riffing and buzzing black blasts, but always slipping back into that lugubrious doomdrone crawl, the guitars especially distorted, a weird warped bit of blackness that definitely ranks with the best we've heard from Jabaldav.
But if you though 19 minutes was epic and sprawling, prepare yourself for the record closer, "Reflection", clocking in at a hefty 33 minutes, no black metal to be found here, just some serene tranquil shimmering dronemusic, washed out and ethereal, a dreamlike drift, trancelike and meditative, and really quite lovely.
As always with Jabladav stuff, EXTREMELY LIMITED. This one to ONLY 50 COPIES, of which we got about half, housed in a DVD style case, with a full color cover, inside there's an elaborately folded insert, sealed with wax, the case also features a wax seal, the liner notes, case AND disc are all numbered and signed, grab one of these before they're gone, cuz these will blow out of here...
MPEG Stream: "My"
MPEG Stream: "Trostlosigkeit"

JACULA In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum (Black Widow) cd 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK AT LONG LAST!!! We've been out of this for ages, after making it a Record Of The Week last summer on list number 221. We wish we would have been able to get it back in time for Halloween but it was not to be. But this record is great anytime of the year, so grab it now if you haven't already. It's a bit cheaper too this time around as well. Here's our rave review from before:
What's the scariest and creepiest of instruments? Could it be the downtuned electric guitar, that sound that marks all things dark and heavy and brutal and grim? Or could it be the cello with its soaring keening deep throated moan? Well we might posit, especially in light of this Jacula record, that the creepiest of all instruments is most certainly the church organ. Surprising that an instrument used chiefly to inspire and praise can illicit such utter unease and create such a pervasively creepy ambience. And that's pretty much what Jacula is all about, creepy ambience. Thick and haunting washes of warm rich church organ drone, resonant and reverberant, sometimes accompanied by simple pounding drums or mournful folky guitar melodies or wild psychedelic freakouts or soaring female operatic vocals or even occasional lyrics spoken ominously in Italian, but more often than not it's just the massive and ominous swells of a church organ. So effectively and utterly evil sounding. Jacula are sort of like a doom metal soundtrack to a Dario Argento movie. Goblin meets Skepticism! A Krautrock Thergothon? But is's not all mellow murky moodiness, tracks three and four, "Triumpratus Sad" and "Veneficium", both feature seriously fuzzed out, almost punk rock riffs, that sound about a decade before their time, insistent and completely heavy, even more so when they're eventually joined by a pounding one-drum beat or strident atonal piano or wild swirling progrock keyboards. Amazing! It's no wonder we sold the first couple of copies we got in of this to members of local black metal bands Ludicra and Leviathan!
In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum (literally "The Poison Is Always At The End"), which was supposedly recorded in an English castle, was originally released in an edition of only 300 copies in the late sixties and has been completely unavailable until just recently (this reissue cd is not entirely new, but it took us until now to get enough copies to list). Formed in 1968, Jacula even counted a medium as a member of their band who we assume was critical to the process of creating this record, considering that In Cauda Semper Stat Venenum was "Composed By Spiritualist Seance (1966-1969)" Woah! And for those of you well versed in sixties and seventies prog, be aware that this reissue is NOT the same as the Jacula record released in the early seventies (1972's Tardo Pede In Magiam Versus), even though for some strange reason Black Widow has given it pretty much the exact same cover.
MPEG Stream: "Ritus"
MPEG Stream: "Magister Dixit"

JALDABOATH Hark The Herald (Death To Music) 3"cd-r 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another three inch chunk of demented black metal weirdness from the UK. If you love the grim bizarre buzz of Old Forest, who recently returned after nearly 7 years, and whose own 3" cd-r we reviewed a few lists back, or the medieval madness of Meads Of Asphodel, then odds are you're gonna love Jaldoboath. From the same strange land, and featuring at least one dark knight who has done time in both Meads and Old Forest, Jaldoboath sound a bit like the Meads mixed with power metal thrashers Bal Sagoth, if they were a bit less serious and had recorded a holiday album. Seriously. The guitars gallop, the riffs and melodies are soaring and triumphant, the vocals are gurgly and growly, but there are horns, fanfares, fluttering flutes, jaunty little jigs, strange little sound effects, proggy organs, it's almost like listening to the strangely metal court musicians of King Arthur's court in some alternate reality.
Songs like "Bring Me The Head Of Metatron", "Seek The Grail", "Hark The Herald" and "Da Vinci's Code", each track plays like the theme music for some insane medieval Monty Python metal sitcom. On "Seek The Grail" you can almost picture the credits, the freeze frames as each character is introduced, and the horns, make it sound almost ska at times. "Jargue De Molay" is the least goofy, playing instead like some metallized Emerson Lake And Palmer, with awesome organ jams, creepy crackly breakdowns, a wicked main riff, all peppered with hand claps, blasting double kick, minor key trumpets, throbbing bass.
But then right after that comes the title track, which has a strange sing song vocal line, over a lopped trumpet fanfare, and a very holiday sounding main melody. Like a legion of musical mall Santa's gone metal and marauding through the hordes of innocent holiday shoppers. But then the last track swoops in, sounding a bit like Tool filtered through UK black metal buzz, all brooding buzz, Eastern sitar like melodies, and crooned baritone vocals. Over the top and dramatic, and weirdly hooky. WTF?
So fucking far out. But if like us, you're already a loyal knight of the Meads round table and sometime dweller in the Old Forest, well then this is just the sort of thing you can't get enough of.
WAY recommended, but only for truly twisted musical souls...
And like the Old Forest 3"cd-r also on Death To Music, SUPER LIMITED!!!
MPEG Stream: "Hark the Herald"
MPEG Stream: "Da Vinci's Code"

JAZKAMER Metal Music Machine (Smalltown Supernoise) cd 16.98
Savage Pencil cover art. Gothic font. Grim graphics. Black metal sonics. So this is the new Jazzkammer?! Metal Machine Music sees this Norwegian electronic noise duo changing their name (slightly) and suddenly adopting a black/death/doom metal sound. Maybe in this case we should say Metal, using the capital M for it like The Wire magazine does. Not sure what inspired this new direction, we'd hate to think it was just that in avant-experimental-indie circles Metal is now 'cool', and that they thought hey if SUNNO))) can do it, why not us? But chances are that being from Norway they're well aware of the black metal scene and dig a lot of the same stuff about it that we do, the perhaps unintentional avant-gardisms of bands like Abruptum for instance, and figured it was time to delve into it fully themselves. What matters, anyway, is how did Jazkamer's Metal Machine Music turn out? Well, we like it! First off, Jazkamer, as opposed to Jazzkammer, is not a duo, they've brought in some other folks to help out, including a real ringer -- Ivar Bjornson of AQ fave Viking black prog metallers Enslaved!! So we're taking it pretty seriously already.
The first track, "Friends Of Satan" is a pretty harsh intro, and should serve to weed out listeners who AREN'T in fact friends of Satan. It's a blurred, blasting battery of drums and distortion, not unlike that sampled death metal disc by Francisco Lopez, Untitled 104. Or the Dave Lombardo track on Jonathan Bepler's Cremaster 2 soundtrack. The chorus of anguished vokills at the end of the track further nail down Jazkamer's black metal ballsiness. They'd be pleased to know that someone here asked, when this was playing, "What's that? Besides headache-inducing?" Following that, we encounter one of this album's main events, the 16:51 "The Worms Will Get In", a study in slow-motion, doom-dirge minimalism a la SUNNO))), Earth, and Khanate. Simple but effective. When it ends, it's a jarring segue into the next track, the jagged "Abomination". Probably the thing on here that most sounds like it could be from a "normal" black metal album, albeit with No Wave / Voivodian influences. Next up, the title track, that's along the same lines as "Abomination" but, like, ten times noisier. And then, the finale, the 12 and a half minute "Occult Glider" that's a menacing ambient fuzzed-drone soundscape, beautiful and powerful.
We're impressed. Our doubts were quashed. Better than any Jazzkammer album we'd previously heard, as a matter of fact!
MPEG Stream: "Friends Of Satan"
MPEG Stream: "The Worms Will Get In"
MPEG Stream: "Occult Glider"

JAZKAMER Metal Music Machine (Ass Piss) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!
Savage Pencil cover art. Gothic font. Grim graphics. Black metal sonics. So this is the new Jazzkammer?! Metal Machine Music sees this Norwegian electronic noise duo changing their name (slightly) and suddenly adopting a black/death/doom metal sound. Maybe in this case we should say Metal, using the capital M for it like The Wire magazine does. Not sure what inspired this new direction, we'd hate to think it was just that in avant-experimental-indie circles Metal is now 'cool', and that they thought hey if SUNNO))) can do it, why not us? But chances are that being from Norway they're well aware of the black metal scene and dig a lot of the same stuff about it that we do, the perhaps unintentional avant-gardisms of bands like Abruptum for instance, and figured it was time to delve into it fully themselves. What matters, anyway, is how did Jazkamer's Metal Machine Music turn out? Well, we like it! First off, Jazkamer, as opposed to Jazzkammer, is not a duo, they've brought in some other folks to help out, including a real ringer -- Ivar Bjornson of AQ fave Viking black prog metallers Enslaved!! So we're taking it pretty seriously already.
The first track, "Friends Of Satan" is a pretty harsh intro, and should serve to weed out listeners who AREN'T in fact friends of Satan. It's a blurred, blasting battery of drums and distortion, not unlike that sampled death metal disc by Francisco Lopez, Untitled 104. Or the Dave Lombardo track on Jonathan Bepler's Cremaster 2 soundtrack. The chorus of anguished vokills at the end of the track further nail down Jazkamer's black metal ballsiness. They'd be pleased to know that someone here asked, when this was playing, "What's that? Besides headache-inducing?" Following that, we encounter one of this album's main events, the 16:51 "The Worms Will Get In", a study in slow-motion, doom-dirge minimalism a la SUNNO))), Earth, and Khanate. Simple but effective. When it ends, it's a jarring segue into the next track, the jagged "Abomination". Probably the thing on here that most sounds like it could be from a "normal" black metal album, albeit with No Wave / Voivodian influences. Next up, the title track, that's along the same lines as "Abomination" but, like, ten times noisier. And then, the finale, the 12 and a half minute "Occult Glider" that's a menacing ambient fuzzed-drone soundscape, beautiful and powerful.
We're impressed. Our doubts were quashed. Better than any Jazzkammer album we'd previously heard, as a matter of fact!
MPEG Stream: "Friends Of Satan"
MPEG Stream: "The Worms Will Get In"
MPEG Stream: "Occult Glider"

JE Un Royaume De Nuit (Arx Productions) cd 13.98
One of two new releases on this week's list from Ukrainian metal label Arx Productions, strangely both of them French, and even more strangely, both of them part of that new breed of 'post' black metal. But where the other, Smohalla, is a much weirder twisted psychedelic proposition, the sounds here are more in keeping with the sort of post rocky jangle of groups like Amesoeurs and Alcest, but there's plenty of weirdness going on with this too, especially in the arrangements. Take opener "Chute De L'Etre", which plays out all sweetly sorrowful minor key jangle, spidery melodies and meandering drumming, with some soft crescendos, a little bit Mogwai, a little Godspeed, but when the metal finally kicks in, it's not a subtle slow build, thick chugging guitars just explode, surrounded by a second guitar wrapping everything in psychedelic leads, the sound dizzying and heavy, more classic metal than black metal, but with such a twisted production, it's pretty awesome, and strange. And much of the record plays out similarly, with Je fusing hushed delicate jangle with bursts of chugging crunchy classic metal riffage, often the two combining for some super heavy melodic metal that should definitely hit the spot for fans of the above mentioned post black metal outfits. The vocals are more a sort of black metal screech / noise rock yowl hybrid, but they don't really play that big a part, the band instead weaving gorgeous brooding expanses of post rock, with distorted metal crunch, and in fact, the second half of the record definitely leans way more in the metal direction, with even a few blast beats popping up here and there, but even at it's most metal, the sound is still poppy and melodic, and will definitely leave grim true metalheads wanting, but for the rest of us, who like our black buzz with some fuzzy shoegazey melody, this will definitely hit the spot.
MPEG Stream: "Chute De L'Etre"
MPEG Stream: "Legendes Urbaines"

JONNYX AND THE GROADIES s/t (self-released) cd 5.98
One of our favorite "party black metal records"(WTF?) finally back in stock!
So what kind of a name is JonnyX And The Groadies anyway? Well, quite possibly the only appropriate monicker for the world's only "Party Black Metal" band. Huh? What? C'mon, you heard us. PARTY BLACK METAL. That's right. Might not sound good, at least to all you grimmer than grim blackmetalheads, but it is, in fact it's a heck of a lot more interesting than most black metal we hear these days. And actually the 'party' aspect isn't as obvious on record. Live they seem to be a serious blast, wild and goofy and explosively spastic, with pointy metal axes (as in guitars, although we imagine their might be actual axes as well) and goofy outfits and plenty of mayhem and destruction. But on record, it's all skull encrusted synths and upside down crosses, um... tight pants and foot long spikes, and, well, wild windmilling hair and white belts? The most unholy union of buzzing black metal and insanely aggro spastic screamo EVER. Grinding buzzing guitars, demonic shrieks, programmed blast beats and a thick wall of majestic keyboards. Think maybe Drop Dead, Arcturus, Teen Cthulhu, The Locust, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Behead The Prophet No Lord Shall Live, and Cradle Of Filth all packed into a sweaty filthy Portland Basement, playing before some strange mix of metalheads, emo kids and the walking dead! Huge thick blasts of grim black metal segue into fuzzy squelchy ambient synth break downs and then slip into some moody midtempo near-doom, before exploding again in a blast of barbed buzz. Awesome! Nine tracks, the first eight, brief blasts of blackness, all clocking in at under two minutes, the final track, "Unmortal", a massive 14 minute blackened synth doom juggernaut.
MPEG Stream: "Gauntlet Of Iron And Fear (Give The Doom A Hand)"
MPEG Stream: "Fog Of Blood"

JONNYX AND THE GROADIES The Upheaval On Titan (JX:ATG) lp 12.98
It's been a while, and we've waited patiently, but finally, it's the triumphant return of JonnyX And The Groadies, longtime aQ faves, and really, how could they not be? Self christened as the world's only "party black metal" band, these guys lay down some seriously grim black riffage, some howling hellish vox, but all wrapped around programmed beats, swirling new wave synths, howled chaotic screamo, all wound into a baffling, brilliant chaotic black synth, punk wave whatthefuck. And if anything, in the last few years, these guys have gotten even better, and WEIRDER. We described them in a past review as "Drop Dead, Arcturus, Teen Cthulhu, The Locust, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Behead The Prophet No Lord Shall Live, and Cradle Of Filth all packed into a sweaty filthy Portland Basement, playing before some strange mix of metalheads, emo kids and the walking dead!", which still pretty much applies, but these days, the blackness is way more intense, the riffing epic and frenzied, the songs super convoluted and complex, slipping from thrashing pound to inhuman blast and back again, but somehow, the new wave-ness has been cranked up too, with songs slipping into warped stretches of pulsing electronic drums, squelchy fuzzy synths, and occasional face melting blackened psychedelic blowouts of frantic guitars, screaming synths and chaotic drummachine damage, and besides all that, the songs RULE, catchy as hell, super varied and twisted and confusingly over the top. If these guys weren't from Portland, and weren't called JonnyX And The Groadies, and if they weren't one of the most awesomely motley looking crews ever, the long haired burnout glam metaller, the bearded metal lumberjack, the Dr. Jeckyll mad scientist, and of course the skeleton suited voodoo axeman, then they'd probably be oft discussed by the grim troo black metal hordes, a few championing their fucked up far out avant blackness, but most decrying their sullying of the true black traditions, so it's probably better that they exist well outside the black metal world, where they're free to twist their own peculiar brand of warped synth driven grind punk undead party synth brutal blackness into something this far out and fucked up and totally genius.
Available both as a cassette and an lp, the lp version comes with a big full color poster.

JONNYX AND THE GROADIES The Upheaval On Titan (JX:ATG) cassette 5.98
It's been a while, and we've waited patiently, but finally, it's the triumphant return of JonnyX And The Groadies, longtime aQ faves, and really, how could they not be? Self christened as the world's only "party black metal" band, these guys lay down some seriously grim black riffage, some howling hellish vox, but all wrapped around programmed beats, swirling new wave synths, howled chaotic screamo, all wound into a baffling, brilliant chaotic black synth, punk wave whatthefuck. And if anything, in the last few years, these guys have gotten even better, and WEIRDER. We described them in a past review as "Drop Dead, Arcturus, Teen Cthulhu, The Locust, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Behead The Prophet No Lord Shall Live, and Cradle Of Filth all packed into a sweaty filthy Portland Basement, playing before some strange mix of metalheads, emo kids and the walking dead!", which still pretty much applies, but these days, the blackness is way more intense, the riffing epic and frenzied, the songs super convoluted and complex, slipping from thrashing pound to inhuman blast and back again, but somehow, the new wave-ness has been cranked up too, with songs slipping into warped stretches of pulsing electronic drums, squelchy fuzzy synths, and occasional face melting blackened psychedelic blowouts of frantic guitars, screaming synths and chaotic drummachine damage, and besides all that, the songs RULE, catchy as hell, super varied and twisted and confusingly over the top. If these guys weren't from Portland, and weren't called JonnyX And The Groadies, and if they weren't one of the most awesomely motley looking crews ever, the long haired burnout glam metaller, the bearded metal lumberjack, the Dr. Jeckyll mad scientist, and of course the skeleton suited voodoo axeman, then they'd probably be oft discussed by the grim troo black metal hordes, a few championing their fucked up far out avant blackness, but most decrying their sullying of the true black traditions, so it's probably better that they exist well outside the black metal world, where they're free to twist their own peculiar brand of warped synth driven grind punk undead party synth brutal blackness into something this far out and fucked up and totally genius.
Available both as a cassette and an lp, the lp version comes with a big full color poster.

JONNYX AND THE GROADIES TV Party: Re-Runs And Lost Episodes (JX:ATG) cd 10.98
We listed the brand new record from the crazed Northwestern party black metallers a few lists back, and were a bit surprised that more people didn't TOTALLY FREAK OUT the way we did over these guys. Could it be describing them as "party black metal"? Not a phrase we coined, or one that's even all that applicable really, especially here. Could it be the name? JonnyX And The Groadies might be a goofy name, but these are goofy guys, the music though, ANYTHING BUT. The sound of JXATG is brutal and epic and heavy and fierce and twisted, a sort of new wave black metal hybrid, WAY heavier on the black metal. In fact, when someone was playing this up front this morning, we were all trying to figure out what black metal band it was, never occurring to us, for some reason that it could be JXATG. Which should speak to the power of this crew's black crush.
TV Party collects loads of older tracks, from various splits and demos, culled from the early days of the band, and are even more raw and fierce and furious than the new record, which is saying a lot. In fact, if these guys were called Satanic Skullfuck or something and were from Norway, people would be shitting themselves, but they're not, deal with it, they're fucking called JonnyX And The Groadies and they're from the Pacific Northwest and they slay, they destroy, they brutalize. Don't believe us? Check out the sound sample for "Organ Failure", it may only be a minute long, but it's still the soundtrack to some subterranean Teutonic march, the musical accompaniment to an army of orcs destroying some ancient civilization, pounding beats, buzzing frantic riffing, shrieked demonic vox, a killer almost industrial breakdown, with some serious chugging, and a bitchin' riff. Hell every track here could be the soundtrack for some epic battle, or you know what, some CRAZY PARTY? This is raging, blasting, crusty, pounding blackened heaviness, and it utterly rules. We'd put these guys up against any of the black metal heavies, and not only could they hold their own, they'd whip out their buzzing synths and leave the grim buzzing blasters in the dust, and would probably be having a fuckload of fun while doing it. Definitely one of our favorite bands going, they should be yours too!!
MPEG Stream: "Spelunking the Caverns of Torment"
MPEG Stream: "Organ Failure"
MPEG Stream: "Broadsword"
MPEG Stream: "Get Your Technology Out of My Spine"