Shit That Comes Out Today: June 28th, 2019
After sharing a life-changing weekend with kindred metalfolk at Litha Cascadia, it’s only appropriate that I change my name to Willow or some shit and run off to frolic with the forest faeries forever. Three days of the Northwest’s most creative and inspiring music, headbanging in the trees (literally) within such a lush, intimate setting will do that to a person. Psilocybin helps.
Mysticism Black
Return of the Bestial Flame (N/A)
FFO Ceremonial Castings, Hecate Enthroned, Abigor
Listen “Return of the Bestial Flame”
Hey, that’s convenient. This was the first band I had the joy of experiencing at Litha Cascadia. While packing gear into our campsite, Mysticisim Black caught my ear and pulled me to the stage, where I was met with a tantalizing blend of spectral black metal and shimmering dungeon synth. (This is starting to sound like a coffee ad… Dunkin’ Donuts “Mysticism Black”, featuring a full-bodied Cascadian essence and subtle undertones of nutmeg…) Their performance set the weekend off on a fantastic note, and to return to a brand new album from the Washington natives is the best welcome-home gift I could’ve asked for. Return of the Bestial Flame is their first release since their debut 13 years ago, so it’s kind of a big deal. It sounds a bit like what might happen if Hecate Enthroned went raw, but honestly, I haven’t been able to pin down what exactly it is that makes this band so unique. Maybe you can, though — give ’em a listen or twelve!
Heilung
Futha (Season of Mist)
FFO Wardruna, Skáld
Listen “Norupo”
It seems like at this time last year, Scandinavian neo-folkers Heilung (“healing” in English) weren’t really even an entity in the collective consciousness — and then bam, there they were. Their live video for “Krigsgaldr” went viral, as millions around the world were transfixed by their primordial, ritualistic performance. Their music taps into the two most ancient forms of musical expression: rhythm and singing. “We’re trying to place ourselves in the minds of people from 2,000 years ago,” says vocalist Kai Uwe Faust. “We make rhythms on bones, skulls, weapons.” Futha is an effort to tune into the more feminine energies that surround us; enchanting vocal harmonies glide effortlessly over the minimalistic accompaniment to guide us into a state of spiritual ecstacy. Their meditations will take your mind places you never knew it could go… all you have to do is surrender.
Low Flying Hawks
Anxious Ghosts (Magnetic Eye)
FFO Melvins, Big Business
Full Album Stream
Low Flying Hawks is a genius collaboration between drummer Dale Crover (Melvins, Shrinebuilder) and bassist Trevor Dunn (Melvins, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk). Together, they form The Mightiest Rhythm Section That Ever Was™, setting the foundation for their sludgy, psychedelic doomgaze that’ll send you to Neptune and back in less than an hour. Somebody important just notified me that it’s actually illegal to listen to Anxious Ghosts without getting preposterously baked first, so blaze up and get ready to blast off.
SUMAC & Keiji Haino
Even For Just The Briefest Moment / Keep Charging This “expiation” / Plug In To Making It Slightly Better (Trost)
Full Album Stream
Following up 2018’s Keep Facing Sideways, Sumac are once again collaborating with Japanese guitarist and experimental musician Keiji Haink. The result is pretty wack, if we’re using scientific terms. Mixing engineer Randall Dunn described Even For Just The Briefest Moment as “flamethrower jazz”, infiltrating our earholes with “ghostly howls, thunderous dissonance, and disquieting negative space”. Have fun.
Yellow Eyes
Rare Field Ceiling (Gilead)
Listen “No Dust”
My taste in music changes pretty much daily, but if Rare Field Ceiling doesn’t find a spot somewhere on my year-end list, I’ll eat my hat. This is truly one of the most imaginitive black metal releases of the year, and it feels like Yellow Eyes have really been able to hone in on their creative visions after over a decade of playing together. Their unparalelled mastery of consonance and dissonance, often reminiscent of European choral traditions, has the power to shatter your brain again and again with unexpected harmonies and the nuance of tension/release. The album also features field recordings from the band’s travels through Europe, adding another subtle layer of authenticity to its epic narrative. It’s rewarding as hell, and, I have yet to test this, but I’d reckon that Rare Field Ceiling has near infinite replay value, too. But don’t take my word for it.
OTHER SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY
Ashbringer – Absolution (Prosthetic) listen
Axioma – Crown (Translation Loss) listen
Beastwars – IV (Destroy) listen
Birdflesh – Extreme Graveyard Tornado (Everlasting Spew) listen
The Convalescence – Monument Of Misery (LEGEND) listen
Crush the Altar – Abhorrent Oblation (Redefining Darkness) listen
Dark Funeral – 25 Years of Satanic Symphonies (Century Media) listen
Kutabare / Contaminated – Death Sick / Funeral Erection (Blood Harvest) listen
Denial Of God – The Shapeless Mass (Osmose/Hells Headbangers) listen
Descendency – Generate The Genocide (Horror Pain Gore Death) listen
Hawkeyes – Last Light of Future Failure (Cardinal Fuzz Shop) listen
He Is Legend – White Bat (Spinefarm) listen
Inert – Vermin (Neckbreaker) listen
Majesty – Legends (Napalm) listen
Moon Far Away – Athanor Eurasia (Prophecy) listen
TheNightTimeProject – Pale Season (Debemur Morti) listen
The Projectionist – Visits from the Nighthag Part 2 (Appalachian Noise) listen
Ritual Laceration – I (Caligari) listen
Rotting Christ / Varathron – Duality of the Unholy Existence (Hells Headbangers) listen
Scumripper – All Veins Blazing (Hells Headbangers) listen
Stille Volk – Milharis (Prophecy) listen
Victims – The Horse and Sparrow Theory (Relapse) listen
SHIT THAT COMES OUT AGAIN TODAY
Anthrax – State Of Euphoria (Vinyl) (Island)
Atreyu – Lead Sails Paper Anchor (Vinyl)(Music On Vinyl)
Dog Fashion Disco – Committed To A Bright Future (Re-Recorded)(Razor To Wrist )
Head Automatica – Decadence (Vinyl) (Headphone )
Primus – Animals Should Not Try To Act Like People (Vinyl) (Interscope)
Primus – Antipop (Vinyl) (Interscope)
Primus – Brown Album (Vinyl) (Interscope)
Primus – Miscellaneous Debris (Vinyl) (Interscope)
Primus – Pork Soda (Vinyl) (Interscope)
Primus – Rhinoplasty (Vinyl) (Interscope)
Primus – Tales From The Punchbowl (Vinyl)(Interscope)
Soundgarden – Down On The Upside (Vinyl) (A&M/UME)
Undoer – Survival is a Myth EP (Sun and Moon)
SHIT THAT CAME OUT EARLIER THIS WEEK
Boris – Tears E.P. (Trash-Up!!) listen
