DARK TRANQUILLITY (Not Quite)

Wednesday 06 August 2008 at 6:31 pm For whatever reason, a lot of Swedish death metal seems to be created by the inordinately young, and often, the inordinately skilled for their age. Even before ENTOMBED released Clandestine, and at the same time that AT THE GATES was gelling its impulses, the members of DARK TRANQUILLITY, only 15 and 16 themselves, were putting together high-intensity death metal that was more melodic than the common offerings of the time, but whose stylistic bent would be adopted by hordes younger replacements within a matter of years.

The now-classics that emerged from Stockholm managed to channel their youthfulness into solid composition without succumbing to it as such. Unfortunately for DARK TRANQUILLITY, the band's compositions of the period bear the weight of their ambitious minds rather poorly; seemingly decent ideas are too-far fractured to be remembered long, and what remains are riffs -- often well-written riffs -- but only that, parsed through series of confusing time signature changes and strange juxtapositions of melody. As demo material it is probably suitable, but its broader importance was over-inflated by the incestuous Swedish scene, as well as the playful dress-up of simpler ideas that became more conspicuously pursued by the band itself as time moved on.

This is just one tale among many of bands who were almost there, damned by any number of circumstances or peculiarities. It is interesting to reflect on them in the context of better things.

Averse Sefira: Trees don't pay taxes

Monday 04 August 2008 at 12:06 pm

One of the more lucid metal interviews:


Click to Play

Neuraxis - The Thin Line Between

Tuesday 22 July 2008 at 11:19 am

Neuraxis civilize metalcore by infusing it with heavy doses of progressive metal and technical death metal. Metalcore -- known for its rapid changes between seemingly irrelevant parts equally borrowed from metal, nu-metal, emo and hardcore -- grew out of the MTV culture where images on a screen tell an unfolding story, and each scene is mirrored by changes in the music. Neuraxis give the metalcore as developed by bands like Behemoth or Necrophagist a good run for its money by massaging a more listenable and more musical instrumentalism into it, creating a work that will stick with the listener longer than its genremates of lesser dimensionality.

This CD has more in common with Cynic or Gordian Knot in the way it is composed. Taking a page from the jazz-metal book, it loosely ties itself together with a clearly defined harmonic pattern, and then riffs on that, using rhythm and harmony to hold together lead riffs that are more harmony than melody but have a "melodic" effect. Its ability to turn a good riff and work within harmony should appeal to fans of Opeth. Vocals remind me of Dying Fetus or Behemoth; the death metal parts can be attributed to Immolation as processed through Deeds of Flesh, with plenty of quick short melodies played in power chords funneled past hard-stop barrages; solos are classic progressive metal and extremely well executed, and the only nu-metal influence is the tendency to periodically bounce -- but this is limited more than elsewhere in this genre.

Neuraxis can grow by giving in fully to their progressive tendencies, and escaping metalcore's tendency to write roundrobin songs that cycle around a harmonic pattern without developing it because they are too busy mashing together disparate elements. What defines this CD are the rhythm tracks which fall between leads and repetitive riffs, letting the songs grow organically at the same time they batter the listener into submission. I hope this band continue developing in this style and go beyond the conventions of metalcore to bring out in their music what is most promising, which is what has always made metal rise above the horde of noise: ripping riffs which also have some musical depth, combined in such a way as to make the listener wake up out of a daily stupor and wonder how to fit his or her brain around the flow of relentless sound.

Neuraxis - The Thin Line Between - Dreaming the End mp3 sample (45 seconds)

Eugenics Reviews III

Thursday 17 July 2008 at 10:45 am Akhenaton - Divine Symphonies

I like this: it's martial ambient in the style of Lord Wind with distorted bass. But, it is very predictable. So very predictable. As a result, it is pleasant to listen to as background music. About track seven, it starts becoming gothic with guitars and lush keyboards and Sisters of Mercy vocals. I think they need to go back to the drawing board and put more music into this, because their heavy repetition (a) isn't layered and (b) does not consist of melodies that are all that exciting.

Ancestral - Avowed

Varg, this is your fault. Yours. These people are following your lead. You made it look so simple and now, it is. Trudge beat, open strumming while power chords undulate, and you can trick out a pop song into being like Burzum. The underlying writing on this demo is a lot like later Krieg, but even more poppy, and so it seems very emo when it emerges in quasi-metallized form. Again, like all covertly negative reviews, this one must contain the words "not badly executed, but lacking direction." This demo sodomizes a Macintosh.

Chronic Torment - Doomed

This isn't A+ material, but it's a solid B. Sounding like a cross between Merciless and Fester, it's heavy-metal and hardcore-tinged death metal in the Swedish style, with an affinity for fast riffs. You will hear nothing new on this CD, but unlike most of these discs, it has an attention span long enough to bond together simple songs over the course of a few riff changes and a verse-chorus devolution. It's not like the best of Swedish metal, which leaves the stupid rock'n'rollisms behind, but it's quite solid, with the same aggression appeal that made Verminous fun until it gave you a headache.

Chronic Torment - Dream of the Dead

Gosh, does everyone need to follow Immolation and Hail of Bullets? There's some completely great stuff on this album, but it gets ruined by the nu-MTVcore/metalcore trend of ranting, dead-on-the-beat chanting verses. These sound like a braindead zombie attempting to sodomize an iron lung, and have about as much musical importance to the listener as well. I think it's good if you want something angry-sounding in the background, like in a movie. They're very catchy, but mind-numbing. This CD reminds me of Comecon in that way: their heavy metal has blended into their hardcore, with no emo, but it's so bouncy and simple that I don't want to ever put it in again. That's said because some of the Bolt Thrower-style speed riffs, with two chords strummed fast in the background and melodic rhythm patterns picked over them, are great. Still a Merciless comparison, if Merciless listened to a lot of later Malevolent Creation and The Haunted. What a promising work, but awash in stuff designed to pander to blockheads.

Death to All Hype

Wednesday 16 July 2008 at 6:05 pm People Can't Tell Surface From Essence

So as I travel the internet on random errands, I hear people talking about the new "underground" bands, which all sound like Blink 182 making atmospheric black metal. It's pretty sad, but these bands insist they're not retro while tossing together bits and pieces of the past, wrapping them around standard pop-punk, adding some emo and crust and a pinch of necro, and then thrusting it all forward with that bedroom blackmetal "truly too authentic to care" aesthetic. I've listened to well over a hundred such bands in the last week, and on every level -- musically, aesthetically, artistically -- they're close enough to identical. Even more, they have nothing of distinction about them, so why bother? "Metal for metal's sake" is a path to mediocrity.

Then there are people who love to bloviate on about the "undiscovered" past gems, which almost universally are third-stringers with no distinction. Their goal is to make you think they know something you don't. They think they get ahead in life by pushing others down, and not simply by achieving more, because the two aren't the same, even in a relative universe. One of these so-called gems is Fester - Winter of Sin, which I threw on a week ago and had to laugh at how consistent judgment can be. For a smart person, whether in 1995 or in 2008, this CD is crap.

It starts with heavy metal riffs done up like black metal, and gets worse from there. It's a salad of pieces from here and there with no real direction except vague Venom worship. Every bad cliche of heavy metal and death metal is in here, and there's no melody or structure to recommend it. What does it have going for it? To weak people, it seems like a good way to be important, knowing about this undiscovered masterpiece etc. Avoid.

Eugenics Reviews

Monday 14 July 2008 at 4:58 pm Stentorian - Gentle Push to Paradise

The best comparison I can make with this is Sentenced's "North From Here" hybridized with Malevolent Creation. It's big, dumb heavy metal riffs and some guitar noodling that goes nowhere, so much so that you forget you're listening to something and it's not a flaky engine idling in the background.

Sulphur - Cursed Madness

We want to be Immolation, but we want black metal cliche too. Yet life goes on, far away from the speakers and, ...what was I saying? Oh, don't buy this CD.

Troglodytic - Promo 2004

Hi, we've collected a ton of cliches and roped them together with Garage Band. Worse than shit, because at least you can plant shit in your backyard and grow flowers. This CD made me want to kill myself... but I threw it away instead.

Utgard - Thrones and Dominions

Dark Funeral and Watain are sitting on a bus while Darkthrone's "Transilvanian Hunger" is playing, and it runs into the back of a garbage truck. Nice speed, good aesthetic, good mastery of Darkthrone through "Total Death," but end result is totally pointless. What's wrong with listening to the original albums that do this better?

Walknut - Graveforests and Their Shadows

Why does all of this stuff sound the same? Drudkh, Nokturnal Mortum and every NSBM band from eastern europe do this slow melody of three or four notes that's half-lullabye and half-affirming, aerobic exercise music. It's not bad; this is one of the better things to arrive lately, but it's completely without character, which makes it unlikely I'd listen to this again. Vaguely reminiscent of Gehenna's first album.

Wrath of the Weak - Alogon

This album was named after "a logon," because it's clearly destined for MySpace fame. These simple songs rely on a burly version of Burzum technique where layers of guitar and bass overwash, but unlike in Burzum, they're not playing anything inspiring. The result is droning dischord that neither enlightens, clarifies or distorts the senses in any interesting way. If you can play drums while listening to a jet engine, the result is the same.

Aäkon Këëtrëh - Journey into the Depths of Night

Some people always thought black metal should sound like Abruptum, which to me sounds like art school rejects taking on John Cage under the influence of cheap drugs, maybe mixed with Bondo or Killz for added kick. Lots of theatrical stuff, really simple music, goes absolutely nowhere and seems to think it's making a big splash by being anti-music. Well, if you're trapped in Guantanamo Bay, maybe this would be acceptable listening but everyone else has something better to do. A boy's choir from a home for the chronically retarded could do better.

Hail of Bullets - Of Frost and War

Do you like Verminous and Repugnant? This is similar: it claims to be old school death metal but it has more in common with metalcore tricked out with an extra dose of bad heavy metal riffs. High-intensity production and relentless attack makes this seem like it might be interesting, but then you realize that it goes nowhere when you subtract the effect these riffs had on you when the original artists played them, and that the constant drive/bouncy drums of a metalcore band make it both exhausting and tedious. Vocals are good, but CD is pointless.

Heresi - Psalm II - Infusco Ignis

They probably play this for suicide bombers. I could see blowing myself up to make this end. These guys can play their instruments, and production is good, and they've mastered the basic songwriting to make it seem good, but... and again, but... they pick very obvious patterns and then songs undergo no change except the basic demands of manipulating consciousness to make something sound good. "Now an uplifting part, then back to minor!" Just when you think we're going black metal, suddenly the bouncy heavy metal riff off a KISS album appears, and then more parts barf up, regurgitated from metal genres past in no particular order... OK, please no. I would rather listen to the soccer moms of America trying to cover songs from the first two Destruction LPs than this vomitous horror of good-but-not-good-at-all. Nilla, please.

The Howling Void - Megaliths of the Abyss

Neat, a Skepticism clone. But without anything really unique going on. It moves forward so glacially that you forget what just happened, so all you hear is the simultaneous ringing of keyboards and guitar drone, with a snare-bass plodding in the background. Unfortunately, it is also all too predictable even if you speed it up. And it takes forever to end. Forever, forever. This CD is better than most but still unremarkable.

Classical Music for Metalheads

Thursday 10 July 2008 at 10:17 am Classical music offers what everyone secretly wishes metal would: an unbroken cultural tradition untamed by the modern whore, untouchable by the mediocre tools who seem to thrive in our industrial cities.

Here's a few favorites:

1. Brahms, Johannes - Get your Romanticism on. Flowing, diving, surging passages which storm through tyrannical opposition to reach some of the most Zen states ever put to music. 4 Symph. (2CD)

2. Respighi, Ottorino - Italian music is normally inconsequential. This has an ancient feeling, a sense of weight that can only be borne out in an urge to reconquest the present with the past. Pines, Birds, Fountains of Rome

3. Saint-Saens, Camille - Like DeBussy, but with a much wider range, this modernist Romantic rediscovers all that is worth living in the most warlike and bleak of circumstances. Symph. 3

4. Bruckner, Anton - Writing symphonic music in the spirit of Wagner, Bruckner makes colossal caverns of sound which evolve to a sense of great spiritual contemplation, the first "heaviness" on record.Romantic Symphony

5. Schubert, Franz - A sense of power emerging from darkness, and a clarity coming from looking into the halls of eternity, as translated by the facile hand of a composer who wrote many great pieces before dying young. Symph. 8 & 9

6. Paganini, Niccolo - Perhaps the original Hessian, this long-haired virtuoso wore white face paint, had a rumored deal with the devil, and made short often violent pieces that made people question their lives and their churches. 24 Caprices

AVERSE SEFIRA live in Los Angeles

Sunday 06 July 2008 at 2:14 pm Saturday, September 6, 2008

AVERSE SEFIRA (http://www.aversesefira.com/)
Necrite (http://www.myspace.com/necrite)
Blashyrkh (http://www.myspace.com/blashyrkhofficial)
Ancient Grave (http://www.myspace.com/ancientgrave)



@ The Black Castle / 855 W. Manchester / LA, CA 90044 (http://www.myspace.com/theblackcastleusa)

New Burzum album

Sunday 06 July 2008 at 10:13 am In 1992 Vikernes under the artist name Burzum released his first album. Now he has plans to release his seventh. The last album came in 1999. In addition, he finished writing the script for his autobiography. "It will work out a few new details about the killings," he said, "which were never focused on before. But I will wait to tell the story in completion."

Seventh Burzum Album in the Works

I love MP3s

Friday 04 July 2008 at 5:43 pm MP3s are an invitation to try before you buy. If you're like me, and everyone I deem to be a good person and so desire as a friend, you listen for months or years and then you buy the CD when you can -- if it's available, which in metal is far from guaranteed.

Periodically, on a rainy afternoon, I go through the music as I do mindless tasks like fixing scripts and HTML. These mindless tasks are perfect because they put me in an ornery mood, at which point I have no tolerance for music that is more annoyance than beauty. Even ugliness can be beautiful in the hands of an artist -- watch Apocalypse Now if you don't believe me, or listen to the "defeat" sections of Beethoven's third symphony. I'm not responsible for your tears that make you look like a girly man.

But it's the right mood to consider something you might listen to for years in the context of a high annoyance situation like mindless tasks. It's like being tired at the end of a day: you say exactly what you mean, uncensored. With music, you get in touch with exactly how little you care about stuff far from what you want, even if normally you'd be feeling obligated to listen to it because it's musically advanced, some critic likes it, all your friends like it, etc.

I've been rooting out some turds. I take no joy in this, but I take great joy in having them gone. That's less of my time thrown down a black hole of dysfunction and disorganization, the two creators of really bad music or worse -- music that is halfway to bad, so completely ambiguous in its presentation. Most people are so cowed by the social factors mentioned above that they keep listening, bovine erotic, and never manage to articulate their own voice or even a moment's sense and say, "Actually, this doesn't suck, but it's not good enough to fascinate me, so why not throw it out, with last year's failed relationship and my old textbooks from classes I hated and my tax documents?" Get the crap out of your life and you have space for new things to do.

Arsis - A Diamond for Disease

Oh no, it's the whisper-voiced rushing death/black assault. After a promising intro, and forty seconds of two-chord jazz-inspired rhythm riffing, suddenly we get the synthesized whisper and a break to a guitar fill that sounds like it's from the book of minor pentatonic scale variations commonly used by jazz/fusion bands to distract audiences from that moment when an overblown, pretentious song really begins to fuckin' drag... and that's what this EP does, except at high speed. The problem is that there's no concentration on songs or ideas as a whole, so you get these budget riffs made all technical and then little diversions, but nothing ever comes into its own. Nice try guys, but next time, use notecards to organize and concentrate on having a song make a difference to the listener, not just teach them fret muting technique.