Abjection Ritual - Futility Rites

Genre: Dark Ambient, Nightmare Fuel
Label: Malignant Records - 2015

Do you want to have an awful night? If so, listen to Abjection Ritual's 'Futility Rites' while you're alone. My night went from me being bored beyond belief to the point of going, "Man, it's been so long since I wrote a review, I should dust off the ol' 'In' pile and see who I owe muchas disculpas to," to jumping at every sound in the apartment that, before listening to 'Futility Rites', I could identify as the refrigerator, the cat, the other cat and the stupid pipe that rattles under the floor whenever someone in our apartment row flushes their toilet...

After having my optimism obliterated, my self-esteem shish-kababed and my dreams dashed on the sonic rocks laid out by Abjection Ritual (three tracks in, which has got to be some kind of spirit breaking speed record), the malnourished nihilist side of me began to dig for scraps. It was hungry. It wanted more 'Futility Rites'. It had to dig past a unpleasant layer or two before it could feast, however.

It's mostly just the vocals. They were great at shaking me up a bit when I first encountered them (my notes read "Raw. Fucking. Hatred."), but they began to wear on me as the album progressed. I enjoyed the occasional soundbite from the odd televangelist (and the heart attack from 'Objects of Wrath') as well as the tonal respite that came with 'Cum Immersion', probably the least threatening, though still unnerving track offered. 

If I haven't made this clear yet, allow me to be blunt; this album is the very definition of intensity. To listen is to jump head first into the deep end of the derelict, dark ambient/death ambient pool. But in the end, if you have the emotional and mental fortitude, the 'Entropic Embrace' of 'Futility Rites' will welcome you into the 'Tabernacle Of Teeth And Tongues'...

abjectionritual.bandcamp.com

Of Earth And Sun - Uncoiled

Genre: Dark Ambient, Experimental
Label: Malignant Records

Fuck, man. How the hell am I supposed to review an album that chills me to my very core? I've been grappling with this notion for a couple of weeks and I figured that now is as good a time as any to get over my slump with some borderline unreviewable material. Enter Of Earth And Sun (a project manned by one Matthew Huntzker) and his offering, Uncoiled.

Uncoiled reminds me of Rasalhague's Rage Inside The Window in the way it can give me the physical heebies and psychological geebies. Don't get me wrong now, Uncoiled is more of a "death is an inevitable factor in the universe and there's nothing you can do about it, so quit your bitching and enjoy the sounds of this bone flute," where as Rage Inside The Window is more "JESUSFUCKWHYCAN'TIESCAPETHISMADNESS!??!" I guess what I'm getting at is that Uncoiled is one of only two dark ambient/experimental/
etc... albums that I NEED the lights on to listen to, because shit get intense.

The first two tracks acted as a set up, slowly lulling me with lower oscillator tones and slow almost medicinal beats as tension builds and releases to the unheard tempo of some greater lifeform's heartbeat(s)... and then we enter Veil Of Illumination. The title sounds like it should be a light and comfortable experience, right? Well... if the sounds of the breath of the living passing through the bones of the dead is your ideal soundtrack to a relaxing canoe trip... more power to you. To me, it was nightmare fuel for a couple of nights! Worms made of pure energy entered and exited my skull as they saw fit as the ribcage of the family cat played host to a smaller version of it's self that desperately tried to claw its way out.

I could easily do a track-by-track review of Uncoiled and share all of the soul twisting craziness my schizophrenic brain translates this music into, but I have a mountain of reviews to get to, so this is where I apply the breaks on the crazy train. Uncoiled it a trip and a half that can find footing in the libraries of fans of H.P. Lovecraft, Eraserhead and all of that other shit that probably gets you put on a watch list somewhere for something...

Of Earth And Sun on Facebook

Norselaw -

Genre: Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Fucking Metal
Label: Unsigned

Man, who would have thought that buying an album based entirely on pity would yield such positive results? Allow me to explain:

Norselaw himself apparently had a dispute with his then employer that ended with his (in my opinion, wrongful) termination. Having only recently lost my job due to similar but completely different circumstances, I decide to toss my fellow warrior a bone and bought one of his albums. He 'suggested Serpent In The Circling Sea' as it would play to my tastes... how this metal marauder knew such a thing is still a mystery to me, but goddamn, was he ever right!

'Serpent In The Circling' Sea features a plethora of headbanging highlights from beginning to end. Norselaw's mastery of the art of the shred, for one. Where on Earth did this guy learn to wield a guitar in such a manner? My guess is he transferred whatever skills he learned as an axe swinging viking from hundreds of years ago to his new modern day "axe". Or at the very least, he's The Doof Warrior from Mad Max... hmmm...

Up next on the docket, we have the vocals. Let's get the clean vocals out of the way; they're rough. Not bad by a long shot, but they could definitely use some refining. As for his bellowing, fuck man, if he shouted at me to, "Get out of the way," in that tone, I'd be in the next state over before he could finish his command. Motherfucker is scary.

Have I mention lyrical content yet? Norselaw pulls his imagery from everyday political strife ("fat blue line guarded by swiiiiine!"), to Conan The Barbarian to H.P. fucking Lovecraft. And speaking of Lovecraft, Fungi From Yuggoth is one of the best tracks on the album, not only due to the ever-presence of the Old Ones, but because of Jamie Lannister's energetic drumming. Guy lets his fucking hair down and says, "fuck your ability to ever hear anything ever again!" and proceeds to rupture the eardrums of anyone within range in a berserk barrage of percussive power!

If you walk away from this review and can only manage to remember one thing, make it this: Norselaw is law. These guys fucking rule!

Yen Pox - Between The Horizon And The Abyss

Genre: Dark Ambient
Label: Malignant Records

Having been a rabid fan of Yen Pox's Blood Music (the 2010 two disc re-issue to be precise), you could easily say that I was more than a little excited to find Between The Horizon And The Abyss in my mailbox. The damnedable duo of dark ambient is back in my library and ready to make the missus second guess coming to bed with me (Phelios, Yen Pox and False Mirror are regulars in my nightly rotation and she happens to find them, "scary").

Between The Horizon And The Abyss starts off like just about every other dark ambient record you've ever heard; low rumble droning that gives way to small crackling noises and eventually syths and yadda yadda yadda. If you're a fan of dark ambient/noise/drone/blech, you know the drill... wait, did a ping pong match break out during the recording of Cold Summer Sun? What the hell is that and why does it sound out of place, yet it feels like it fits right in as if it were guided by some kind of auditory feng shui?

The point is, Yen Pox takes what you thought you understood about this genre and the abilities of the various instruments therein and tears down the veil to reveal an infinitely expanding universe of sonic possibility and impossibility. It's goddamned crazy, man.

I don't think that I can make my admiration for this project any clearer than that, but I'll just hammer the point home here in case you missed it: Yen Pox are fucking geniuses. Just shoot the next Yen Pox albums into my veins...

Yen Pox On FaceBook

Ancient Wind - The Chosen Slain

Genre: Blackened Thrash, Death Metal
Label: To The Head Records

Hailing from Glenwood Springs, Colorado, an aspiring hotbed of scathing molten metal mayhem, Ancient Wind bring the passion and the pain with their debut album, The Chosen Slain.

Here, Ancient Wind fuels a massive storm of deathened, blackened thrash with raw vocals, a hatred for all things "poser" and enough aggression to level a city. The meeting of these styles has led to the actualization of what, I believe, Feasting Amon Amarth would sound like... only a fuck-ton more thrashy and way better than I could of imagined!

Vocalist Roberto Inferno rips the mic to shreds with his battle ready roars and occasionally sounds like the man-mountain, Johan Hegg. So, no complaints here. Next, I have to mention Girth Brook's drumming. Kudos to you, sir. You managed to smoothly blend together genres that, while normally do blend well together, tend to leave lumps in the batter. Normally in a situation like this, you usually hear more of one influence than the other(s). Here, Mr. Brook manages to give equal time to three different styles.

As for the string section of Ancient Wind... fuck. Do I have to keep writing? I think you get how I feel about this band already. They fucking rule! If they were a Portland band, I'd be at their next show with a tray of my special brownies as an offering to their godliness... though, living in Colorado, they've probably had they're fair share of magical baked goods...

In summery, Ancient Wind out-metal some veterans of metal scene that are 15+ years their senior! Keep your bloodshot eyes on these guys! Easily recommended for those of you who are just straight tired of Skeletonwitch's even softening sound...

Ancient Wind On Facebook

At The Seams - In Shadows Of Giants

Genre: All Of Them
Label: Unsigned (but not for long, I'd bet...)

No risk, no reward. Know risk, know reward.

It has been my experience in these past nine years of criticising other's work (when I couldn't hope to achieve anything even remotely cool if my life depended on it) that the more you blend genres together, the farther away from "pure" or "true" metal you are, the more you seem to get hated on. Especially here in Portland, where local metalheads like their sludge metal thick, their grind filthy and their black metal BLACK! Thankfully, bands like Titarius (purveyors of the truest "blender metal"), Stonecreep and Beyond The Red Horizon (R.I.P.) and their ilk, made it their mission to buck conventional metal trends in the area and gave us all something new to wrap our heads around. Now, in 2015 (since 2012), At The Seams is here to tear the Portland metal scene apart... stitch by stitch? That doesn't sound quite right....

The album's title, In Shadows Of Giants, might be alluding to all of the influences that At The Seams pulls from. It's a veritable orgy of styles and genres slamming together and birthing a litter of blended metal tracks. One minute, there are influences of DevilDriver's groovage that run into Immortal's neck breaking, blackened speed. A little bit of Hatebreed's hardcore bounce gives way to a Sodom-level thrash attack. And so on...

Vocalist Spencer Tyler leads the charge by bouncing back and forth from a scathing black metal rasp to a formidable roar that would give Randy Blythe's tempered pipes a run for their money. Not wanting to be left behind, the tandem guitar attack co-helmed by axe swingers Edward Kilpatrick and Kevin O'Leary, slash and destroy all within reach with an arsenal of slowed 'core chugs and rippin' thrash riffs. Dan Anderson's drum work runs a similar range in speed and ferocity and never seems to lose any of it's punch due to In Shadows Of Giants mastering. The same can thankfully be said about Brian Chilson's bombastic bass brutalization, since that's a layer that so many people tend to miss out on.

I'm a little peeved at In Shadows Of Giants meager six tracks/thirty-two minute run time. But I think we all are since this shit is like crack! I might even try to worm my way out of the 'burbs and into the big city to catch a live show soon. There should be a few coming up since apparently At The Seams are already working on their second release! Paint me motherfucking excited!

At The Seams On Facebook

Xibalba - Tierra Y Libertad

Genre: Hardcore, Death Metal
Label: Southern Lord

Xibalba is a band, nay, an experience that nobody prepared me for. I assumed from the name that I was going to be thrown into the razor lined maw of a savage black metal band akin to Sarcofago or maybe an old fashioned Sepultura-like deal. I was right about the savagery, but I missed the genres by a bit and underestimated to which degree I'd be brutalized by the Pomona, California based hardcore act. Within the first minute of the first track, 'Enemigo', I found myself compulsed to message my friends, going, "Oh my God, dude! Xibalba! XIBALBA!!!", like I were advertising for a horror flick in the 1950's. (Minus the, "dude!" part, I guess.)

The assault, hereon in to be known as Tierra Y Libertad, begins with a bloodthirsty growl. The kind of growl that is usually the last thing someone hears when they're pissing off a fucking lion! And then... the drums. Like some sort of futuristic, concussive machine gun that fires sonic booms made of giant fists, they pummeled and bludgeoned and beat and (get it? They're fucking brutal) bloodied the absolutely hell out of me! This vicious attack didn't relent until the forth track ('Pausa', a minute and a half long breather).  The guitars chug and chunk up and down the heavy riff spectrum, undoubtedly breaking the notably sturdy measuring instrument in the process.

I can't stress enough just how brutal every aspect of this album is. And not in that "br00tal" or whatever kind of way you might assume. I wasn't entirely wrong with the Sarcafago comparison earlier since I ended up thinking of them throughout this album. The spirit is there. That attitude. That intensity. That rage. It's all there. But in a fresh, new form that will stomp you just as dead. If you're going to walk away from this review, please let it be this: Xibalba and Tierra Y Libertad are more than worth your time if you consider yourself a fan of raging hardcore or intense music in any form. The concussion it inflicts is also worth it.

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