Zero Credibility

Wandering through the filthy wastes of russian internet I stumbled across some obscure forum with a lot of used music CDs being on sale. Reading countless lines of offered stuff I found two rare gems I lost hope to find. This is Thorr’s Hammer – “Dommedagsnatt”, the first release of Southern Lord label. Of course I got the reissue pressed in 2006, but still, the price was under 10bucks so who cares, also the box was wrapped in plastic, meaning it was absolutely new! This is proper doom with nice female vocals including proper doom growling. You cannot miss this one if you’re into doom.

The second one is also quite difficult to find Cathedral – “The VIIth Coming”. This album is hard to find mostly because it was released long ago (’02) on some weird american label which mostly specializes on pop. Still, it’s proper Cathedral release with a lot of varied styled songs. I was hunting for this one for quite some time too. Looks like it’s useful to dig into the piles of used CDs monitoring local forums for rare stuff afterall ;)

Finally the weather calmed down: cold winds, low grey clouds and occasional rains happen here on a regular basis. I can think again, I have motivation. Northern hemisphere aligns for the cold times – the proper times. All this is being supported by the pack of relatively weird music I got during last 2 weeks.

Ruhr Hunter – “Torn of This”. I was recommended to check this one. Very nice mix of folk and ambient. It’s very much forest music. A lot of field recording and live instruments make it sound natural and submerge you to the night forest atmosphere. I checked their myspace and found that the new track from yet to be released album rocks my world – throat singing with ritual music always was my fave mix.

Derniere Volonte – “Immortel”. Derniere became so pop it’s scary. Still it has that attractive melodies and vocals of Geoffroy to it. Speaking of vocals it became lighter, like he’s singing half strength. Some tracks have proper vocals and they definitely sound better. Weird album in band’s evolution. Still cool and brings that DV mood. Need to get used to it though.

Deutsch Nepal – “Silent Container”. This is reissue of the old limited cassettes in one 3CD pack. The timespan of these disks is around 10 years, so the difference in music is quite noticeable. This release shows the evolution of Deutsch Nepal and should be in collection of every DN fan.

Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio – “Apocalips”. Another fine release of this scandinavian neofok band. Calm guitar/synth melodies with erotic hue over them makes it nice relaxing and dark music. The last 2 albums of the band are their greatest indeed.

Horologium – “Earthbound”. I was recommended to get this release. I’m usually not  a big fan of martial stuff, but this release contains some nice ideas. Not all tracks are of my fave but still, some melodies are quite aggressive and interesting in rhythm and lyrics. There are some ambient like inserts as well.

Nordvargr/Surachai – “A Wilderness of Cloades”. The weirdest release from all in this pack. Strangest mix of dark ambient of HNB and unkown to me before japanese artist Surachai. There’s everything: dark ambient, guitar noise, pure noise and other weird thing these two created and mixed together. This album requires several attempts to get grasp of it.

Der Blutharsch – “Live in Leiden”. Live recorded in Leiden features old but best tracks of the band. Their live performances are rich of proper fluid sound and energy. I wish they come here some time.

This is the most severe summer I’ve experienced during my entire life. Two full months of merciless heat is quite unbearable. Lucky me that I managed to flee for two weeks  to Morocco where the chill winds blow from the Atlantic ocean and there’s no smoke from the wood fires. I’ll post some selected pics taken in Morocco here later, when I’ll be able to think clearly again as it’s impossible at the moment due to lack of oxygen and high temperatures.

To bring some good stuff into the post here’s long awaited Land:Fire – “Shortwave Transmission” CD that I got before the vacation but was too fried to write about. Once again this is nice mix of industrial and ambient. Sometimes spacey, sometimes harsh and dark electronic sounds create trademark Land:Fire atmosphere if impending technological collapse.

This is 3rd week of severe heat here in the middle of Russia with constant +30-32C oven and little wind. I’m missing autumn already. To sustain ability to keep sane I need some fresh music injections (daily). This time it’s pack of Napalm Death and some other tasty things.

Napalm Death - “Inside the Torn Apart” and “Words From The Exit Wound”. These two albums are in vein of much needed by me “Diatribes”. It has that special atmosphere of metal of the middle of 90s. Listening to it drags me back in time when this music was considered pretty brutal. But if to compare these albums with the last two ND releases you’ll see the difference. Still, catchy rhythms and heaviness are there so it’s proper Napalm Death of their most mellow era.

Napalm Death – “Fear, Emptiness, Despair”. This album was released before those two above, the production quality is considerably lower, the sound is hollower and not so thick. Still, it’s awesome ND release and of course it helps too to survive this heat. Anything would help actually.

Graumahd – “Cheru”. Very atmospheric and nice neofolk. It’s mostly guitar and vocals with little injections of drums here and there. Still it brings nice german folk atmosphere.

Sleep – “Sleep’s Holy Mountain”. Stoner rock originators at their best. I was hunting for this CD for like an eternity. Was able to get this reissue only. This is quite stylish CD, it oozes with 70s, it’s heavy and indeed filled with smoke. Very nice early doom sound.

Apoptose – “Bannwald”. Top notch ambient with folk touches. Awesome artork of the sleeve adds more impression and tunes for proper wave when listening to it. The album dedicated to two girls lost in the forest. Cool mix of chilly ambient with field recordings of the woods and female voiced folkish songs. Very well done album.

Today is a Big Number day. My collection just reached the number of 800 CDs. It all started back in 1993, and now, 17 years later (oh my), I have such a big pile of plastic and paper oozing with grim music. I have troubles storing them all as I ran out of rack space for quite some time now, and I was looking for proper giant rack, but it’s not an easy task as they’re usually limited for 200 CDs maximum. Looks like I’m gonna get drown in my own collection soon.

Today I’ve got another great album by the Naevus – “Silent Life”. I like this band quite a lot. Calm rock with nice catchy melodies and clear vocals that I don’t have troubles understanding words. Very well done music, it merges interesting lyrics and proper rock sound. Looks like I’m seriously hooked and gonna get more albums.

Second CD is Tho-So-Aa – “Identify”. This is further development of this interesting dark amient act. This time it went exploring interesting area of multilayered dark ambient, featuring drones and noises that add that special old movie hue to the music. Quite interesting and unusual ambient, always happy to see such projects develop with time.

After a year of hunt I finally got Moss – “Chtonic Rites” CD thanks to the vast mailorder catalogue of Relapse and possibility to order it from them. Now  I finally gathered all Moss full length albums and ready to submit my soul to Chtulu when the time comes. Looks like it’s impossible to get the rest of EPs and splits in my current situation, but to hell with that. Chtonic Rites is first album that hooked my attention to this uber grim act. Endless drones and immense heavyness of sound is what my soul needs on a regular basis.

Annotations of an Autopsy – “Before The Throne of Infection”. It took quite some time for me to track this first full length of this quite nice UK band. Then Relapse came and saved my day. This album is a bit better than the last one as it doesn’t afraid to be experimental. There’re better vocals (pig squealing prevails) and more heavy drums.

Negligent Collateral Collapse – “Reprocess Segment Database Extender”. This is my fave Chezh grind band for several years now, and I’ve abandoned the idea to get any of their albums due to underground nature of the band. But again, Relapse’s bottomless mailroder saved my day and it turned they have some of the NCC albums in stock. This is NASA grindcore, featuring lyrics about space, physics and pig squealing vocals. What alse one needs for his grind appetite?

Eardelete – “Zombieology”. This band is almost NCC as it was started after NCC ceased to exist, so it’s the same mad and fun grindcore. But with more common for grindcore theme: zombies, corpses and such. More piercing and heavy guitar sound and still the same nice humor filled atmosphere of NCC which I like a lot. They’ve released new album titled “Scalpeology” recently, gonna grab that one too.

This last chilly day of rather contrast spring brings package from Relapse Records containing the awesomeness I was waiting for quite some time. The latest creation of one of my fave bands is in my hands: Beherit – “Engram”. This one is an awesome example of grown up black metal band: staying quite primitive and evil, yet bringing something new. Like last track of this album is an awesome mix of black metal and some kind of dubstep. Very well done! The sound on the album is also of very nice power and purity. All in all, one of my fave albums during the last months.
Cannibal Corpse – “Evisceration Plague”. I’m still continuing to gather last albums of the veterans of the grindcore as they’re indeed of top quality. This one is the latest album from CC and of course it sounds like typical CC: quality meatgrinder for your everyday needs plus better sound quality that modern tech brings. Nothing special about this album, just another heavy brick of sound form USA :)
Whitechapel – “The Somatic Defilement”. Another new grindcore band I discovered recently. They sound very brutal and intense. Nice mix of fast and slow tracks and proper low growling. What else you need to whet your grind appetite?
Relapse was  kind enough to include the promo of Cancer Bats – “Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Stones” into the package. At first I thought wtf I’m gonna do with this, but after listening to a couple of tracks I actually liked this canadian band. It’s proper hardcore with some hints of deathmetal. Seems like I’ve inadvertently discovered another band I like.
All in all this May turned to be quite rich in terms of new music deliveries. I’d say this is the hottest month ever. 26 cds during one month! That is indeed extraordinary update to my collection. Well, blame Napalm Death show that started this grind madness. By the way, Fear Factory and Cannibal Corpse will be here soon with their shows, I’m pondering to go to at least to one of them. Yet I’m thinking about going to Brutal Assault fest this early august, but I’m not sure how things will turn out.

Finally I’ve received latest Burzum album “Belus”. I listened to mp3 the day it was released and liked it instantly. The delay in getting the CD was caused by the fact that the CD was released on some obscure russian label, hence first not so big pressing kinda disappeared instantly. So I had to wait 2 more months. Anyway, the music is pretty much in style of “Hvis Lyset Tar Oss” or “Filosofem” which makes Burzum sound special and interesting once again. The music is ascetic and atmosphereic, the lyrics add the big part to it. Exactly what I expected from the act for quite some time. I never liked his last pure electornic albums, they were kinda boring, but this one is what I love Burzum for.

Enslaved – “Vertebrae”. Decided to buy this one finally. Latest Ensalved album sounds pretty much like some hi end rock, nothing common with viking metal. Still the melodies are nice, the usage of normal vocals makes it sound interesting too. Overall very varied and interesting album, even not being in strict genre boundaries.

Brutal Truth – “Evolution Through Revolution”. Decided to get this barrel of pure chaos after seeing this video. Well, it turned that other 20 tracks are the same screaming chaos as well. Even more chaotic than Napalm Death. No wonder they use GW’s chaos star on the cover ;) This album requires proper mood to listen to it, i.e. this is not vor everyday relaxed listening for sure.

Deathbound – “Non Compos Mentis”. Not sure why did I bought this one. Probably cover design attracted me and I’m in desperate hunt for proper grindcore. Local stores don’t have it in proper amounts. All in all, it turned to be quite generic death metal from finland. Nothing interesting to get hooked. Just wall of typical metal without any fresh ideas or proper execution. Once again I have to remind myself that I have to listen to samples before byuing stuff.

While this late May turned into the rainy and nice weather, I’ve got a package from Eternal Pride. First comes the CD I was wanting for quite tome time: selftitled All Hail Transcending Ghost. This is collaboration of Nordvargr with Tim Bertilsson who plays guitars here. This is nice mix of trademark dark ambient with guitar drones and noises. Some pieces might remind Maurizio Bianchi’s dronings but of course there’s more darkness due to presence of Nordvargr.
Next comes another Nordvargr project Toroidh – “Eine Kleine Marschmusik”. Pretty much like “Sergevittring”, this is another proper Toroidh martial industrial release. Though second track is some speech by supposedly swedish military man talking about some military operation. There’s also some ambient tracks, but background of all the album is of course martial industrial of proper kind.
Beherit – “The Oath of Black Blood”. I’ve spotted this CD in Eternal Pride’s mailorder catalogue and decided to grab it. As I desperately trying to get latest Beherit album, I’m trying to survive getting their old stuff.  It is quite an old record dated 1990, so it’s rather harsh and raw black metal with trademark Beherit vocals. Some tracks still sound great and are really satanic. Cannot wait for the package from Relapse, there should be final album of this great act.
Bain Wolfkind – “Swamp Angel”. Decided to get this one as I liked samples on his myspace page. This is rather relaxed rock music with somewhat gangster theme. Imagine gangsters of 60s, this is what this music associated with for me. Add here very nice low voice of Bain and you’ll get pretty attractive mix.
Another Hau Ruck! release that attracted me after I heard their samples on myspace. Naevus – “Relatively Close to the Sea”. Some kind of neofolk with weird lyrics and nice melodies. And of course voice of the front man appealed to my senses, so i decided to buy this CD as well.
Atomine Elektrine – “Archiemtrical Universe”. Eternal Pride kindly included this CD into the package.  This is their reissue of 1999 album. The music is very synthetic and light but brings nice spacey atmosphere. Or rather old sci-fi movies or sometimes it reminds me of the very old computer Darklight Conflict space game I enjoyed decade ago, hence it brings good mood. At least it works this way for me.

Finally got new CD of Darkthrone after the 1.5 month wait due to awful problems with post service here – “Circle The Wagons”. Well, Darkthrone dive even deeper into oldskool metal with this album. Tracks are more punkish and somewhat more melodic, you even might want to sing along with them when you’ll know them better. And they’re easy to remember. The records made in true raw Darkthrone style. All instruments sound soft and properly merged together. Despite it not being cruel black metal I like it nevertheless. Nocturno Culto’s voice is still piercing evil one, which is cool. On CD there’s also very cute little video where Fenriz talks about old metal albums, showing their vinyls’ envelopes and remembering old metal bands.
Carcass – “Reek of Putrefaction”. Decided to get this release because it comes with white plastic bag “to avoid unpleasant leakage” from the contents and also features DVD with clips and interviews. But I’m having troubles viewing DVD on my computer, probably have to assault someone’s DVD player one day and watch it as it looks promising.
SUNN O))) – “3:Flight of the Behemoth”. Decided to buy this one as one of the last SUNN cds I ought to get. This one is from the early era of the band. Still it’s quite experimental and interesting. I’d only cut away one track which is done with collaboration of Merzbow. Random piano smashing during entire track sounds quite unpleasant. Second Merzbow featured track is quite harsh and proper mix of noise and drones.
Annotations of an Autopsy -”II:Reign of Darkness”. Still being in grind mood, I’ve found this new band. Pretty technical deathmetal. Though I liked their previous album more, but it was absent in the record store, so I got this one. Not as intense as Napalm Death, but still has its own interesting moments and juicy slow bits.
Folkstorm – “Ortodox“. Released on OEC comes new Folkstorm. This time Nordvargr uses only analogue equipment to generate noises and it’s quite noticeable from the sound. It’s somewhat warmer/softer, but still brings devastating industrial atmosphere. Rather peculiar release, type of noise presented there is kinda attractive so I didn’t want to skip to the next track and was immersed when listening to it for the first time.
Vortex – “Phanopoeia”. I was recommended to listen to this album and liked it. It’s quite proper dark ambient with alot of variety in sound, from vast spacey to some evil droning with background noises. Recommended to darkambient / noise fans.