Thantifaxath takes its metal spaceward on Void Masquerading as Matter (2017)

One of my favorite black metal albums of the past decade was "Sacred White Noise" by Thantifaxath. It's a sprawling masterpiece of mindfuck horror, without relying on tropes like blood, gore, or vulgarity, but with actually terrifying concepts like eternity and purgatory. It's all handled tastefully too, in my opinion--with reverence to the craziness that must have went into the writing.

img via Bandcamp

The band just released "Void Masquerading as Matter" this month. The news caused excitement to flow upwards and out of me. I will now review the new EP briefly.

This is the kind of music I'd like to make someday. I could listen to this over and over. Thantifaxath have done it again with this EP. Four songs, 33-ish minutes of music, takes you on an epic journey, is sparsed out properly, stylistically unheard of, and will probably be imitated in the future.

This is weird, but I'm starting with track 2. I listened to track 1 a week or so ago when it was released, and it kind of flew in one ear and out the other. I wasn't paying enough attention. Gonna skip it this time. #dealwithit

"Self Devouring-Womb" is scary and hisses all the way thru, but takes the listener thru the whole gamut. It starts slow, has a big rise in its vast middle, and ends with a completely different type of sound and style, adding to the mythos of these ideas they've conjured up there in Toronto, the Far East Stronghold of Canada.

"Cursed Numbers" comes in so smoothly after the previous track that you'll miss it if you're not listening closely for the track change. So far, the songs seem to be thematically connected. This song features the band trying out some new ideas, but they're still staying really close to the style they've created.

Somehow these guys make black metal that sounds like no other black metal I've ever heard. Sometimes I'm reminded of the band Shining--not the suicidal depressive one, but the Blackjazz one.

The way they slow down at the 4-minute mark of "Cursed Numbers" and feature these processed distorted vocals is really cool. Then the sounds of black metal space appear. Sometimes this band reminds me of a sci-fi film. Like "Alien." But they seem firmly rooted in this idea of the afterlife and massive spans of time. This album seems more sci-fi than religious, like their last album, "Sacred White Noise." But the musical style is the same--written and performed by the same three guys, obviously. At least I don't think there were any lineup changes.

Around 7:40 on "Cursed Numbers" the lead guitar is amazing to me. There are sounds of screaming too. It's super scary and technically proficient. The time signature is about as far from 4/4 as you can get, yet it's still head-bob-able.

"Void Masquerading as Matter": do you like new-school Sunn O)))? Then you'll like how this track starts. It's beautiful, quiet, and thought-provoking, and contains perfectly captured performances by at least one guest vocalist.

And wow, do they stick with the theme on this closing track. It's a wild ride. I'm tense the entire time. That was masterfully executed. Well done, Thantifaxath. I'm not going to review the first track, you can listen to it yourself, and I've gotta put my kids to bed.

Liturgy is black metal's savior

Brooklyn's Liturgy approaches black metal truly individualistically. It's black metal, definitely--not speed, thrash, grind, hardcore, punk, or anything like that. This, to me, is black metal and no other genre. Yet, Liturgy's sound and visuals are not fully, rigidly black metal--there's just no other term available with which to compare them, because no other band sounds like Liturgy. It's why they're more famous than contemporaries who dwell in works of the past, in non-innovation and repetition of sound.

Liturgy represents growth, fury, defiance, and beauty--even hope. They're like a fine wine. They're like a crazy new friend who comes into your life. Sometimes they're a depiction of heaven--rare, wondrous, and breathtaking. They blend so much together so deftly, both within black metal confines, and breaking out of said confines, spilling over effortlessly. Black metal as a genre cannot hold the greatness that is Liturgy. They shine forth with a power none may restrain.

No other band sounds like Liturgy, so if nothing else, they're unique. That alone warrants further exploration.

So y'all know I love Zev Deans, and he of course has had his hands in some Liturgy videos, because he picks awesome bands with which to work. Here, watch some more of his stuff here at his website's music page, if you want. He's got a growing body of unique work, aided in large part by Ghost, one of my fave bands alive today.

Peep this video for "Returner," track 3 from Liturgy's 2011 album Aesthetica, directed by Deans. This'll give you and idea of how Liturgy started, which will lead into where they went.



So that's pretty black metal-heavy, right? But the religious and church and high-minded aspects are there. Aesthetica was Liturgy's second album; on 2015's The Ark Work, that religious aspect was heightened--the music alone exemplifies this. The visuals compliment the mood perfectly--the album art, and the way Ark's music videos look.

Liturgy definitely has a mind toward high heights, and they use concepts of God, angels, and an ever-expanding brightness as vessels of conveyance. It's nothing like what actual churchgoers would feel free to conjure. It took a backing away from religion and its ever-safe-tenets, to give us a real look at a possible God we do not understand, but could feel safe in the embrace of. It's about vulnerability. It's about accepting what is before you, and the brilliant warmth you feel when you realize it's not going to be anything but positive and enlightening. It's like the closest you can come to an acid trip without the acid.

This video for "Quetzacoatl," directed by Aujik, exemplifies this perfectly.



Two people, witnessing this swirling whirlwind of angels. Isn't it great? That the music is constantly going in unexpected directions amplifies the feeling of "this is new and amazing." You can't help but just fall into Liturgy's arms. You have no idea what to expect, but what they're giving you is beautiful.

A few days ago I listened to The Ark Work in its entirety, and I had this thought, near the middle-end of the album, where everything is really quiet, and solemn, and there's this wavering keyboard thing going, and the mood is really meditative, and accepting, and quieting, and it really made me feel at peace. It was like, a true peace. Not one that panders to our desires for sugar, it was a truly relaxing thing. It sounded religious too. Like a religion that wouldn't detest me. Like something I'd actually like to be a part of.

Then all of a sudden, the music blasts into this unbelievably positive and intense whirlwind of major-key, symphonic, fast-as-fuck black metal. But is it black metal at this point? There's nothing black about it. It's just Liturgy. It's a bright, shining future. I had this thought: "They're giving me heaven right now." They're just giving it away. It's recorded, it's there. I may consume it. It's a gorgeous depiction of heaven and it made me feel like I was floating, as I was standing there drying dishes. That it's not being played in huge cathedrals, but in homes and kitchens like mine, seems a waste.

Of course, Zev had to make more than just one Liturgy video. Peep this The Ark Work album trailer he directed, and feel your jaw drop at the sheer power of the visuals, combined with that shaking keyboard thing I mentioned above:



So okay, next watch this live video from 2015. I love the way this venue is set up. I want to be there, one of those kids walking out the door to smoke a cigarette; one of those kids watching the show; one of those kids playing the show. Liturgy is humble up there--not trying to wow you with theatrics, but with true musical innovation. The bassist and drummer are also hawt.



Here's the last thing, it's "Follow" from Ark, from 2015, played in a studio where you can hear everything perfectly. The bell guitar effect is so cool along with black metal rhythms. It's controlled chaos. The vocal processing is really cool too, I want to know how he does that live.

Freeze takes black, thrash metal in amazing new directions

(read: PUFF PIECE ON MY OWN DRIVEL)

Hey y'all, I just made this stuff. Got a show at the Lo-fi on April 03. Come out! Watch me shred. It'll sound like a full band, with me being playing guitar and killing the vocals.



It will be the first time doing a show on my lonesome.

Listen: Pale Chalice, "Negate the Infinite and Miraculous"

This is a band featuring the dude from Mastery.

I give you Pale Chalice, from the Bay Area—a wonderful place for black metal.

Zev Deans is a brilliant music video director

Here, watch some Zev Deans videos while you read me talking about him

Once again, Zev Deans has created a metal music video that is at once simple yet complex, human yet monstrous, stunning, measured, unhurried, evil, and disturbing in that very Zev Deans-type of way.

I just love this guy. Okay, it's time for a blog post where I gush about Zev.

This is his newest work, a music video for Behemoth's "Messe Noir," released on YouTube just yesterday, April 9.

Deans' visual style is very pleasurable for me as a general viewer, and a lover of metal. Combined with Behemoth's monstrous-yet-accessible style, "Messe Noir" is endemic of the new, evil, delicious directions metal's been travelling these past few decades, with the help of bands as varied as Chelsea Wolfe, Portal, and Behemoth.

Here are Zev's videos for those artists. In my mind. this newest video is a meeting in the middle between Chelsea Wolfe's "Mer,"



and Portal's "Curtain."




"Curtain" and Portal are pure insanity, while Chelsea Wolfe and "Mer" are more restrained indie madness. Behemoth and "Messe Noir" are what you'd get if you mixed the two in a pot, right?

I've got to say, I don't really like Nergal's vocal style, but whatever. Deans picks artists who will let him go all out and get evil as fuck, and it's awesome. And did I just see he did something for Liturgy's amazing new album, "The Ark Work"?

Review: Leviathan, "Scar Sighted"

Early this month, Wrest released his new album as Leviathan, "Scar Sighted." Listen to it below, via Profound Lore on Bandcamp.



The bio there, where you can listen to the whole thing for free (as well as on Spotify—thank you, Wrest, for going to Profound Lore for this one), infers that this album is more like "Massive Conspiracy Against All Life," which is my favorite by Leviathan.

If one word could describe Leviathan, it would be "brutal." But he's such a complex writer that one word alone doesn't do his music justice. Wrest sticks to a place of dark depression and a love of death and suicide, and he wallows there, conjuring monsters and making universes of pain.

Here's a great review of "Scar Sighted" by Metal Injection writer J. Andrew Zalucky.

I've always loved this guy, this Wrest, this Jef Whitehed, this multi-genre, insane, one-of-a-kind-album-maker. But my least favorite album was his last, "True Traitor, True Whore." It's full of hatred for a woman, which is maybe the most played-out concept in music history. He also took the vowels out of the word "Leviathan" on the CD, and I'm like, what are you, texting me?

The music is cool, but all over the place, and it doesn't grab me. I can't get behind that much hatred directed at one person. In my opinion Wrest really went off on a tangent there, and if he'd just forgotten about that broad, he would have made a much better album than "True Traitor, True Whore."

Sure, she took him to court, and she probably took a lot of time and money from him, but he sounds like a mess of a person too, judging by his reaction. Profiting from an album fully devoted to debasing her is a form of poetic justice, but is it fair? We don't know. Only they know. I bet they think about it every day, and how stupid they both were, and how their dirty laundry was aired out publicly.

Wrest's life is insane. Whatever. I don't care. There's a divide there, between the life of the artist and their music, and IMO it's significant enough that listening to effed-up people's music is morally excusable—for the listener. And Wrest's music speaks volumes, and that's what I want. With "Scar Sighted," he delivers.

It's really relieving to hear Wrest's return to form on "Scar Sighted," both from the standpoint of a black metal fan, and a fan of Leviathan. The tracks are dense, and never leave the listener bored. He made a great album here, revealing secrets with each listen.

The second track, "The Smoke of Their Torment," kicks off the full-band-Leviathan feel, with downtuned guitars, sounding like they were equalized with an 80s metal sensibility. There's just enough emphasis on the bass that it's audible and keeps this insane sound grounded. Sweet riffs, total Leviathan style—always dissonant—distorted, yet clear. At any given time there are about seven or eight sounds happening. It's beautiful how Wrest controls chaos.

This song sounds like it could have been on Massive Conspiracy Against All Life. What sets it apart are the samples he throws in there, some dude saying, "Every fucking thing that crawls is gonna pay," and some other awesome stuff near the end of the song. Worshipping the beast and other such black metal nonsense.

"Dawn Vibration," track 3, also begins with sweet fucking guitars and some indescribably ambient weirdness. Exactly what I want.

As always, Wrest's drums are impeccable—well-recorded, well-played, well-mixed. He's a musical titan, this guy, his massive catalogue standing as testament.

At this point in Wrest's career, he reminds me of Jim Thirlwell—he does what he wants, finds work where he needs it, and supports himself with business knowledge and ruthless dedication to his art.

So, yeah, this is good shit. Sound Review-Approved. You're welcome, Leviathan, this review will make you famous.

Sunn O))) live in 2014, upcoming collaboration with Scott Walker

There's news afoot from Seattle drone metal band Sunn O))). They're definitely still active, though they try to remain as mysterious and low-key (pun) as possible. It's what I love about them.

Here's an excerpt from a recent live show. Still noisy, still metal.



Here's the Sunn O))) Bandcamp page. Everything they've ever released, including albums and rehearsal demos, are available for streaming and purchase. It's quite nice for the hardcore fan like myself.

I'm currently listening to and loving their collaboration with Ulver, entitled Terrestrials. It really does sound like a follow-up to Monoliths and Dimensions, their 2009 album that lifted them above the constraints of the drone metal genre they created with the band Earth, and into an experimental, orchestral, and collaborative sound.

So. Scott Walker, the guy who released Bish Bosch in 2012, that weird-ass-but-still-listenable album of vibrato, one-tone vocals meandering over minimalist beats, conjuring all kinds of images, ultimately culminating in one of the most original releases I've ever heard, is collaborating with Sunn O))).

They've only released this above image, and 4AD is handling whatever form it will take. Could be an album, could be a smoke-machine-as-album.

Here's a Pitchfork article with more info on Scott O))), and here's a Pitchfork review of Walker's 2013 reissue of his first records. The review delves into a short biography of the man that I thought was very well-written.

Here's an article from The Guardian about the collaboration.

I'm excited for what the future may bring with Sunn O)))! This is a band that gets me excited. They always collaborate with the right people, making art more for the sake of brain stimulation than profit.

Listening Material: Weakling, Mitochondrion

Last night I stayed up late watching live Portal videos on YouTube, and then I watched their Larvae video. Scary.

That band is blowing my mind lately. I love The Curator's masks and costumes, the Pope, Clock, and Wizard. I never understood them until watching them play live, paying special attention to where their fingers go on their fretboards.

YouTube sensed I was gonna be into Mitochondrion, a similar band, which I've posted below, but first let's put this Weakling album up here, a video I found afterwards.

All these two bands are not connected in any way; I just discovered them at the same time, and I think a fan of one would like the other.

Weakling - Dead As Dreams [Full - HD]


Weakling is a black metal band that my guitarist in Freeze told me I should listen to since we both love Wolves in the Throne Room. Hailing from San Francisco, they recorded their lone album, Dead as Dreams, in 1998.

Mitochondrion - Parasignosis [Full - HD]


Mitochondrion is a Victoria, B.C. power trio, and Parasignosis (2011) is their second full-length, out via Profound Lore Records.

Rotting Hills "Seventh Prayer" Video & Song Analysis

So guys, go to Cvlt Nation's page here and listen to this four-drummer black metal thing and watch the brilliant accompanying video. Very satisfying. It's a video that stays with you after you watch it.

The band is Rotting Hills. I'd never heard of them before today. But today they blew me away. Four drummers. You read that right. There is a thunderous drum sound on this thing. It is monstrous.

It's additionally a well-produced sound. When you think #blackmetal, you think terrible production, punk-speed tempos, pretty simple guitar riffs, and the shriek right? Boom, you've got black metal from your friend's basement and it sounds like ass but they HOLD to that sound. It turns away all posers.

Rotting Hills' sound, on the song "Seventh Prayer" anyway, is meditative; it begins slowly and lures you in.

So don't be alarmed if you're not a black metal fan. The sound is atypical of black metal. I don't know what else to call it, however. The music itself is cinematic, and didn't they do a live score recently as well? Videography is made for this music, and they've got a sweet final product on their hands right now.

One of the drummers directed it too. It's fully a Rotting Hills presentation.

Here's that same link again. It's currently only available on Cvlt Nation.