/r/RABM/

Friday, February 15, 2013

Bland Vargar - "Notturno 11" (2012)

BLAND VARGAR "Notturno 11"

Year: 2012
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Italy 

Track List:

  1. Adam Van Maledict - Preludio
  2. Noir
  3. Bivium
facebook / bandcamp

Epic raw black metal from one of my long-term supporters. The band features members of Giuda, Undead Creep, Post Fata Resurgo, Oracle (r.i.p.), Isolamento, Nonperdono (r.i.p.) among others. The "Notturno 11" CD comes in a quite unusual package - recycled cardboard envelope with printed "Bland Vargar" logo, insert in thick textured cardboard, printed CD and lyrics sheet; contains a small branch of chestnut tree of the Apennines:



P.S. This is going to be my last post in this month, since I'm going to put my blog on hold at least for 2-3 weeks. I've posted everything I wanted to post, so now I can focus on other things, but of course I'll be reuploading the old/deleted albums (as I finally have no problems with uploading large files) and answering to comments/mail too. Hope you won't forget about my blog.

Printemps Noir - "Acedia" (2012)

PRINTEMPS NOIR "Acedia"

Year: 2012
Genre: Raw Black Metal
Country: UK 

Track List:
  1. Nostra Revolucion
  2. Man Has Chosen, And Heads Unerringly For Death
  3. Dark Corners Of The Land
  4. Nearing An End
DOWNLOAD

The newest demo from this UK-based anonymous one-man project. So far I feel it's the best release of X. - while his earlier demos were basically just a wall of black noise, "Acedia" is more structured and... atmospheric, I'd say. A first full-length demo album is going to be released this year, but as X. points out, "it will probably be crap though because I work all the time and I still don't have decent equipment or talent, haha". As for this demo - it was originally intended as a cassette release for a few friends (just like all other demos of Printemps Noir). However, if the people want to hear it (and I think there's a lot of my readers who do), then it's theirs.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

██████ - demo (2013)

██████ "demo"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Post-Black Metal
Country: Czech Republic

DOWNLOAD

An unnamed band from Plzeň (Czech Republic), also referred to as "NIC" and "Black Strip". Here's their first demo, consisting of 4 tracks (which are unnamed as well). The music is quite good for a first demo, on the level of early Deafknife and Toluca. According to the info I have, the band is generally associated with the crust/hardcore scene, and would fit well into my blog.

facebook / bandcamp

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

A post-rock night: Бронекот, Australasia, Obsidian Kingdom, and more

Since I'm receiving a lot of post-rock/metal albums for a review, but my blog isn't exactly for this kind of music (some of these bands are apolitical, some aren't metal at all), I decided to write a single overview post for all of them, like I've done earlier with hardcore.

Let's begin with Бронекот ("Panzercat"), a band from Russia (SPb) which I discovered via gnwp.ru. They've got one of the best band names ever, and the music isn't bad at all too:


- Australasia, an instrumental (blackened) post-rock duo from Italy. Really good stuff, on the level of Alinda.

- Obsidian Kingdom, a band formed in Barcelona in 2005. I won't call their music "post-rock", all the more so "black metal" (even though their music was frequently described as such); the band themselves describe their style as "Post-Metal / Progressive Rock / Experimental", which I think is quite accurateI really liked their latest release, "Mantiis" - it's quite interesting and conceptual stuff (but don't expect it to sound aggressive/brutal, though).

- Anniversary, a blackgaze band from Richmond, VA. There's a lack of such bands in Virginia, so these guys decided to take an initiative to form one of the first in their area. So far they have released only one long track, which is supposed to the the first one off their upcoming EP (which was expected to be released by the end of 2012).

- Yurei, a Norwegian project currently signed to Adversum. It's neither post-rock, nor metal (frankly I think that the only label applicable to Yurei's music is "experimental"), but I think it'd fit well in here. Yurei’s debut album "Working Class Demon" was released via Adversum in 2010, but I haven't listened to it yet. The second album ("Night Vision") is quite interesting, though.

P.S. I also remember an Ukrainian post-rock band called Aitia, which haven't released anything except for a couple of rehearsal tracks, one of which I happened to hear ~5 years ago. It was one of the most interesting pieces of post-rock I've ever heard (even by the standards of Ukrainian post-rock scene, which is world-class), and the band's ideology seemed to be pretty close to my own. Sadly I can't find it on my hard drive, but I definitely will post it if I'll find it.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Wild's Reprisal - "Defiance Enthroned" (2013)

WILD'S REPRISAL "Defiance Enthroned"

Year: 2013
Genre: Cascadian Black Metal
Country: USA

Track List:
  1. Ethics of Respect for Nature
  2. Forever Wild
  3. The Broken Circle
  4. A Few Too Many
  5. Industrial Society and Its Future
  6. A Manifesto for Earth
bandcamp

The second album from this Portland-based radical green/black metal project, released 1/1/2013. Musically it's atmospheric black metal with "doomy" parts and some female vocals, somewhat similar to the latest releases by A Cloud Forest. Some people have disliked the drums on this album, but I personally don't see a problem with them (there's a lot of BM project using drum machine that's programmed far worse). 

Wild's Reprisal - "Cascadia Rising" (2012)

WILD'S REPRISAL "Cascadia Rising"

Year: 2012
Genre: Cascadian Black Metal
Country: USA

Track List:
  1. A Fierce Green Fire Dying In Her Eyes
  2. Transpersonal Ecology
  3. Tragedy of the Commons
  4. Ecosophy T
  5. Unpolluted, Uncontaminated, Undammed
  6. Silent Spring
DOWNLOAD

Release notes:

"Wild’s Reprisal is the solo project of Gedden Cascadia. The music is reflective of deeply held ecocentric beliefs and a commitment to deep ecology. The focus of this music project is to inject a level of intellectualism into a genre rife with bands professing a love and connection with the natural world. Yet, how many of these individuals in these bands take this alleged love for the natural world and turn it into action to protect the biotic communities of this planet? As Humanities crushing footstep increases, those of us that love the wild places have a duty to defend those spaces by any means necessary. Actions in defense of the Earth should be rooted in a deeper philosophical understanding of the morality of the intrinsic value of all life. Each song has as its focus a different ecological philosopher. Each song lyrically is just a reading from a specific essay by the author. Each essay has a link to it on this website. Hopefully the songs will help spread the work of such important authors as Aldo Leopold and Arne Naess"

This is Gedden's debut solo work, released 1/1/2012, and a new album called "Defiance Enthroned" was finished just a few days ago. Will listen to it and write a review within the next few days.


bandcamp

Monday, February 11, 2013

With The End In Mind - s/t (2013)

WITH THE END IN MIND "With The End In Mind EP"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Cascadian Black/Doom Metal
Country: USA

Track List:
  1. ...And A Million Ghost Slaves Will Light Up The Night
  2. The Rich Smell Of Decay, And The Promise Of Things To Come
  3. Of Myths And Turmoil
DOWNLOAD

Ambient black metal from Olympia, WA. Tracks 1 and 2 were recorded around the Winter Solstice 2012. Track 3 was recorded Spring 2012 by Liam Hindahl and features Alex Mody on drums. Album artwork by James Hauptman. Of course this EP was sent to be by the band themselves.

bandcamp

P.S. Anybody knows if Moss of Moonlight are on our side or not? Their album "Seed" was among the most interesting Cascadian metal releases of 2012, and judging from their lyrics, they sympathize with the Cascadian Independence Project and the general eco-regionalist ideology of the Cascadian BM scene...

Fatal Nostalgia - "Woods of Somnolence" (2012)

FATAL NOSTALGIA "Woods of Somnolence"

Year: 2012 
Genre: Neofolk, Neoclassical
Country: USA

Track List:
  1. To Wander in Nature
  2. Cleansing Waters
  3. Woods of Somnolence
  4. Forlorn Seclusion
  5. Dark World
bandcamp / facebook

"Woods of Somnolence is a brief EP dealing with themes of nature and emotionalism while focusing on a dark folk style of music. The album art is Narcissus by Conda de Satriano, 1893.

 The first album is apolitical, but there is a slight emphasis on nature themes. The Woods of Somnolence EP however, was more inspired by environmental politics/nature in general, even a bit of Paganism. I draw inspiration from green anarchism, primitivism, transcendentalism, and other ecologically inclined politics. Nature is very influential in my life, so I plan for future releases to hopefully have a more obvious theme of nature admiration..."

While this project isn't from Cascadia, the influence of Cascadian BM and neofolk (i.e. projects like Nuwisha) is definitely noticeable on this EP. The author is fan of the Cascadian scene, and extremely supportive of all related ideologies (green anarchism, etc.)

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Ramlord - "Crippled Minds, Sundered Wisdom" (2013)

RAMLORD "Crippled Minds, Sundered Wisdom"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Blackened Crust/Sludge
Country: USA

Track List:
  1. Nihil Fucking Lifeblood
  2. Weakness
  3. Eroded
  4. Enslaved
  5. Embittered
  6. Cancers of Progress
  7. Distant/Detach
  8. Dependency
  9. Retrospect Dissonance
  10. Skin Coffin
  11. Extinction of Clairvoyance (Part Two)
bandcamp

released by Hypaethral Records
100 LPs pressed on white vinyl (pre-order)
400 LPs pressed on black vinyl

Cryptodira - "Recursions" (2013)

CRYPTODIRA "Recursions"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Country: USA

Track List:
  1. The Birth of a King
  2. Either Fly or Fall Faster
  3. On Sleepwalking
  4. Allies to Ignorance
  5. The Affirmation
facebook / bandcamp / bigcartel

A NY-based progressive death metal / post-metal band who recently released their second EP and was interested in being posted on my blog. Among their influences they cite such bands as Atheist, Cynic, Meshuggah, Opeth, Death, Converge, Animals As Leaders, Isis, and Between The Buried And Me.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Gethsemane - demo (2013)

GETHSEMANE "Gethsemane"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Netherlands

bandcamp

 The only thing that's public about this project is that the lyrics are based on the works of Dutch writer Simon Vestdijk, whose beliefs were said to be close to the ideology of RABM. Well, according to his biography, it indeed looks so (he definitely was an anti-fascist, and he viewed the "bourgeous Mentalität" as the greatest danger to human individuality). "Gethsemane" is going to be released on tape 1st of March.

V/A - "Music Against Humanity, vol.9"

V/A "Music Against Humanity podcast vol.9"

Track List:
  1. Heksed – Day Of The Lords (Joy Division cover)
  2. Ruinebell - The Last Morrow of Apathy
  3. AHNA - Empire
  4. Poison Mask - Graveyard World
  5. Doomsday - She Will Be The One
  6. Blood Patrol - Final Breath
  7. Versklaven - Baptism of Fire
  8. Swordwielder - World Funeral
  9. Acid Witch - The Black Witch
  10. Cornigr - Shroud of Satan
  11. Lifeform - Purity Contest
  12. Atriarch - Offerings
  13. Pyrotoxic - Cursed Midnight
  14. Absurdist - Darkness Becomes You
  15. Jackals - Iron Age Warfare
  16. Ecocide - Pain
  17. Hellisheaven - 16
  18. Tirefire - Posercaust
  19. Trencher - Vlad Tapas
  20. Volcanic Slut - Euphoria
  21. Nux Vomica - The Two
  22. Morkhimmel - Tunica Molesta
  23. Death Evocation - Relentless
  24. Nuclear Hellfrost - Hell Frost Freeze Eternal
  25. Salute - Iron River Iron Rites
  26. Asymmetric Warfare - Evolve
  27. The Secret - Darkness I Became
  28. Swamp Witch - Novem
  29. Messiahlator - Blizzard Of Saws
  30. Reason To Resist - The Fall Of Civilization!
  31. Maniac - Warfare
  32. Viper - Greed
  33. Badblood - Dust & Bone
  34. Khan - The Plague
  35. Plague Dogs - Lights Out
DOWNLOAD

The newest podcast from Music Against Humanity, featuring 35 bands of various styles. By the way, do you know anything about a band called Astaroth, which released a demo "Antichrist" not long ago? I discovered them because of M.A.H., they're playing very good raw BM, but I couldn't find much info about them. Even their location is uncertain: according to some sources, they're from Australia; according to others - from the US, and I don't exclude the possibility that there are actually two different bands under the same name. However, their logo certainly looks interesting (upd.: this graphic indeed belongs to another band, see the comments):

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Ancient Oak - "Den Siste Bastion" (2013)

ANCIENT OAK "Den Siste Bastion"

Year: 2013 
Genre: Black/Pagan Metal
Country: Russia

Track List:
  1. Intro
  2. Надежда
  3. Хвойные слезы
  4. Кровь отцов
  5. Чистое сердце
  6. Лес умрет, и ты вместе с ним
DOWNLOAD

The newest release of this Moscow-based one-man project. Honestly I have mixed feeling about it. First of all, it definitely would be better if his music remained instrumental: the vocal work on this album is apparently weak (which is probably the biggest downside of the whole release), as well as the quality of the lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I love when a black/pagan metal project is so politically/environmentally aware, but: 1) these lyrics look just like they were written in a hurry; 2) what's good for crust isn't always that good for pagan metal. Other than that, it's a pretty solid release. Despite the amateur quality of production, it shows that Ancient Oak is no less talented than a lot of well-known metal bands. "Den Siste Bastion" is obviously influenced by Scandinavian folk/viking metal, but there are also elements of blackened crust and dark hardcore. According to the release notes, the man behind Ancient Oak don't want his music to be distributed by anyone who promotes any kind of discrimination, but any kind of support and feedback is welcome (unfortunately there wasn't any contact info).

Monday, February 4, 2013

Baldaraz & Hagalaz & Drukne - "Vinter" (2013)

BALDARAZ / HAGALAZ / DRUKNE "Vinter" (3-way split)

Year: 2013 
Genre: Black/Pagan Metal
Country: Germany / USA

Track List:
  1. Baldaraz - Ozeangewalt
  2. Baldaraz - Stimmen im Wind
  3. Hagalaz - Night
  4. Hagalaz - Native Pagan
  5. Hagalaz - Legend of the Last Vikings
  6. Drukne - The Dusk Shrouded Wayfarer
DOWNLOAD

Release notes:


"Here comes the new dimension of Black Metal, this great Split called "VINTER" and it´s a battlecry against all preacher of oppression, against the modern life and the killing industry! 
On this Split you find 3 awesome bands, at first 2 instrumental sonx from BALDARAZ. They are full of natural power, you feel the winds, the water, the grass and all the elements of Mother Earth.
HAGALAZ the second band comes from germany/bavaria and played 3 sonx here. The HAGALAZ songs are recorded in a small "studio" near the woods of bavaria with a small dictaphone and primitive instruments/equipment, but i like this kind of softly and quiet music. The last band on this great Split called "DRUKNE" and they come from West Lafayette/US and the sound its very raw more as the other bands on this split"

As for my opinion - two instrumental tracks of Baldaraz on this split are the best their material so far. While we all  already know what to expect from Baldaraz and Drukne, I should warn you that Hagalaz have used quite primitive instruments/equipment to record their side of of the split (which is consistent with their ideology, though - all the bands on this split are primitivists/pagans/anarchists).

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Varituuk - "Gamogenesis" (2013)

VARITUUK "Gamogenesis"

Year: 2012
Genre: Instrumental Doom/Drone
Country: Canada

bandcamp

"Gamogenesis" is the latest demo by Varituuk (released 09 January 2013), consisting of one long track. The sound is considerably different from "F" - is rather a mix of funeral doom and noise/drone than black metal (or even black noise). Despite that, I found this demo interesting.

Varituuk - "F" (2012)

VARITUUK "F"

Year: 2012
Genre: Instrumental Black/Doom Metal
Country: Canada

Instrumental "blackened metal" from Canada. So far, Varituuk have released 6 demos (from "A" to "F"), stylistically  ranging from black metal to noise/drone. All the demos were released on the same day (30 November 2012), and are freely available off Varituuk's bandcamp page.


(A) // (E)

Friday, February 1, 2013

Updates from SMGS Records: Encircling Sea & Rorcal

SickManGettingSick Records is a DIY underground label from Leipzig (Germany). They recently asked me to post some info their new releases on my blog, which I gladly do. Let's begin with Encircling Sea, a black/doom metal band from Melbourne (Australia), which I first noticed because of the post on our old RABM forum ~an year and a half ago:

Line-up:
  • Rob Allen - Guitars/Vocals
  • Dase Beard - Bass/Guitars
  • David Coen - Keyboards/Effects
  • Matt Radford - Drums
There's a short review of their new album "A Forgotten Land" @ The Dark Skies Above Us. And here's another interesting release by SMGS Records: RORCAL - "Világvége" (February 2013)

"Világvége, Armageddon, Fin du monde, Weltuntergang, Apocalypse, Ragnarök... No matter the language or origin, the 'End of the World' has always been a huge theme of discord since men were born. After illustrating the decadence of a Roman Emperor with HELIOGABALUS in 2010, RORCAL is back with a third album whose guideline just appeared to be obvious. Like its source of inspiration, RORCAL music has no boundaries and VILAGVEGE is here to prove it. When Doom turns into Black, you can't expect anything but chaos: 8 tracks straight to the point, nervous and furious like never before" - official site

P.S. SMGS also released Alda's "Tahoma" DLP.


bandcamp / official page