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Locrian & Mamiffer: Bless Them That Curse You (2012)

and pray for them which despitefully use you

Mamiffer is a piano-based ambient/post-whatever project featuring Isis’s Aaron Turner and wife Faith Coloccia. Piano usually implies something that’s easy listening, for the most part, but their album Mare Decendrii is the reason I no longer listen to music while eating. Yeah, I listened to plenty of death metal at lunch before, but this piano-based stuff was too unsettling for that. Now I listen to people talking about autopsies.

Mamiffer teamed up with ambient/noise artist Locrian (whom I’ve never listened to before) on the creation of Bless Them That Curse You. I don’t often go in for ambient types of music, but I have been going through a bit of it lately. Given my lack of familiarity with the genre, how it’s created, and what’s expected of it, my ability to talk about it is limited. I’ll give it my best shot.

Metal Art: Birds

 
The above art comes from Serious Beak's Huxwhukw. I don't know whether that album is worth anything or not, since I haven't yet listened to it, but it strikes me that this is some of the best album art I've ever seen. So I started thinking about birds and their significance to the art of metal.

Barren Earth: The Devil's Resolve (2012)

It Removes Tough Stains . . . and It's Evil!

As far as normal people are concerned, a famous musician is only allowed to be in one band. If they hear that someone is going to be in a different one, they assume the old band broke up. This was something about metal that, for me at least, took some getting used to. Every band has a revolving door (or two), and nobody is a member of just one band.

Given this environment, it's pretty tough to say what's a supergroup, and what's just a "side project" or a second (or third, or eighth) band, or who's famous enough to make a true supergroup. But by any reasonable standard, Barren Earth qualifies, featuring as it does members or ex-members of Amorphis, Swallow the Sun, and Kreator. The Devil's Resolve is their second full-length album.

Folk Briefs, Part 2

Now with 33% More Metal Bands!

I continue to explore the world of dark folk/neofolk music, and although it's been somewhat hit-and-miss, the hits have been worth every single miss. Hopefully, I can help you look into it without suffering any of the misses.

Dornenreich: In Luft geritzt (2008)

The connection between folk and metal doesn't require any elaboration. It's there, plain as day to anyone who looks for it. That said, it's interesting to see how different Dornenreich's take on folk music is from the rest I've heard out of the genre. Whether it's because they're a metal band performing the music, or because they're simply drawing on a different folk tradition (Austrian over American), In Luft geritzt is simply more intense. Although the music is mostly acoustic guitar and violin, it's played with such speed and energy that it still almost sounds metal, and the whispered vocals are barely holding themselves in check. It's profoundly engaging. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Bloodwritten: Thrashin' Fury (2010)

Poland Is Awesome

Guest review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

I have always been shocked by just how good Poland's metal scene really is. Beyond the incredible Behemoth and pioneering Vader, Poland has also produced a wide variety of impressive metal bands. Bloodwritten is another name to add to the list.

Bloodwritten play fairly standard blackened thrash, but they play it with such emotion and rage that it is hard not to get swept up in it. Their sound is something of a combination of Sodom, Kreator, and Nifelheim. The music mostly consists of fast-paced, sinister-sounding thrash riffs and shrieking Mille Petrozza-esque vocals. The band catches the listener's attention early, with the album opening with the sound of a gun being cocked and fired. It immediately reverts to a state of chaos and whirlwind riffs from that point on through the end of the runtime.

Spirit Descent: Seven Chapters in A Minor (2012)

A Minor What?

A little over a decade ago, I worked in the electronics department of a big-name retail store. That exposed me to a promotional video which included a clip from then-up-and-coming R&B star Alicia Keys, who was getting a lot of attention for her debut Songs in A Minor. Grammar freak that I am, I could never get over that title, reading the "A" as an article and "Minor" as an adjective describing a non-existent noun. "In a minor what?" my brain instinctively screams. Obviously, it actually means they are in the key of A minor, but syntax is embedded deeply in the way my brain works.

The title of Seven Chapters in A Minor drives me just as insane. But other than my weird hangups/neuroses, it has only the key in common with the R&B album. The sophomore release of German doomsters Spirit Descent probably won't be featured on the promotional videos at the big-box retailers any time soon.

Bar Review: Tallgrass IPA

6.3% ABV, 60 IBU

In my first bar review, I mentioned that stout is my first love. I may go more into detail on that in some other post, but for now it suffices to say that I don't normally go for hoppy beers. In the past I've gotten the impression they upset my stomach, although I could be imagining that link. I'm willing to try something new. When I picked up that Buffalo Sweat last week, I saw Tallgrass also had an IPA for sale where I was shopping. I decided to take a risk on it, given that I knew the superb quality of Buffalo Sweat.

For those who don't know, IPA stands for India Pale Ale. It's a style of brew that was developed by the British during their rule of India. They found that more traditional beers don't make the journey very well, but if they added extreme levels of hops, it lasted longer. And had a much higher alcohol content. Extreme hops means it's more extreme, and I can get into that.

This is pretty damn good. It's got a bright, complex, fruity, somewhat citrus flavor to it. It also gives you just the right buzz, which is always a plus. Like other Tallgrass brews, it comes in a 4-pack of pint cans for about $8.

The Verdict: I give the Tallgrass IPA 4 out of 5 stars. I'll let you know later if it upset my stomach or if I just gave hops an unnecessarily bad rap.

Fanthrash: Duality of Things (2011)

Oldsters Return

Fanthrash's Duality of Things was released in July of 2011, the very tail end of the much-talked-about thrash revival. Or perhaps it was a year late for that particular revival. But it was still in time for the ongoing trend of old bands reuniting and giving it another shot.

They have a familiar story. Fanthrash was originally formed in Poland in 1986. They recorded a handful of demos before breaking up in 1992. In 2007, they returned, and still have three of the original members.

Corrosion of Conformity: Corrosion of Conformity (2012)

Baggage

I've been a huge fan of Corrosion of Conformity for over a decade now. That statement, of course, needs some clarification. In the days when CD burners and Napster were first becoming commonplace, I was in my freshman year of college. I obtained burned copies of Deliverance and Wiseblood, the band's seminal recordings in Southern-style sludge metal, and I LOVED them. I bought America's Volume Dealer on CD, and I actually liked it (though popular opinion is against the record). I got several tracks from Blind and Animosity off Napster, and didn't know what to think. I certainly didn't like them, so they were promptly deleted. Since then, I also enjoyed In the Arms of God a good deal.