Noise Not Music #9: Liturgy, Lightning Bolt, Dodheimsgard And More

Photo: Liturgy by Erez Avissar

It’s been a terrific start to the year for extreme music of all forms. So good, in fact, that this edition of Noise Not Music must begin with an apology to the various artists’ whose albums couldn’t be squeezed in. New releases from Ghold, Halshug, Sannhet and Zu are all worthy of your attention and narrowly missed the cut this time around, while Mastery and Unrest sadly arrived on my radar slightly too late in the day to knock out some some more established records. All these albums deserve at least a cursory listen.

This competition for places does mean you can rest assured that the albums detailed below are all of the finest quality. Enjoy scaring the neighbours over the next few weeks…

New Releases

Der Weg einer Freiheit – ‘Stellar’ (Season of Mist)

Emerging from the German black metal underground with the highly rated ‘Unstille’ in 2012, Der Weg einer Freiheit have returned with ‘Stellar’, which might be even better than its predecessor. While there is little here that separates the band from many of their contemporaries in the atmospheric/progressive black metal scene, ‘Stellar’ features better execution than many  bands plying a similar trade.

Of particular note is the seamless musical interaction of the band’s four members. Given the rampant confusion and sloppiness that is occasionally to be found on releases of this type, it’s refreshing to listen to a quartet so convincingly on the same page. Drummer Tobias Schuler deserves credit for his performance, in which he fulfils more than his basic rhythm-keeping duties and steps up to diversify the band’s sonic palette. A highly recommended release.

Dødheimsgard – ‘A Umbra Omega’ (Peaceville)

How would I describe the new Dødheimsgard album? How would you describe the last Dødheimsgard album? It’s nothing like that, or ‘666 International’ in fact. No, it’s not a return to the raw black metal of ‘Kronet Til Konge’ either. It’s sort of a progressive rock record, but progressive rock reimagined by a group of musicians perhaps raised on a strict diet of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Emperor, Henry Cow and Mr Bungle.

There’s little doubting that this is still metal – at least most of the time – but it’s nothing like metal as the masses know it. Over its lengthy duration, ‘A Umbra Omega’ is a record that baffles more than anything else, but it is also hugely captivating. Like all the best experimental groups, Dødheimsgard are probably becoming more and more divisive with each passing record, but if they continue producing such magnificent artistic statements as ‘A Umbra Omega’, it’s unlikely that their admirers will mind one little bit.

Enslaved – ‘In Times’ (Nuclear Blast)

If there’s one band from the early years of Norwegian black metal that can still be relied upon to produce quality release after quality release then it is definitely Enslaved. Pursuing a consistently progressive path – albeit more in terms of being influenced by progressive rock than in terms of genuine avant-garde experimentation – ever since 2003’s ‘Below the Lights’, ‘In Times’ is the 13th album of a remarkably consistent career.

Thinking back over their entire discography, from the “viking metal” days of ‘Vikingligr Veldi’ and ‘Frost’ to recent releases like ‘Axioma Ethica Odini’ and ‘RIITIIR’, it is difficult to direct severe criticism at any of their releases. Their good run continues on ‘In Times’. Although not as exhilarating a listen as the band’s previous two albums, in the sense that less new ideas seem to be on the table, this is assured and highly listenable. Yet another success story for a now legendary band.

Father Murphy – ‘Croce’ (The Flenser)

Venice’s Father Murphy are a weird band. Take a hefty dose of Coil and Throbbing Gristle, add in some Swans and some early Pink Floyd, a dash of Xiu Xiu, a small drop of Black Sabbath and maybe a tiny hint of Jandek and you still don’t really get anywhere near to describing their sound. As with all individual-sounding contemporary acts, the duo have managed to reshape many familiar ideas into something completely their own. ‘Croce’, like all their albums to date, is short and to the point. Claustrophobic and atmospheric throughout, the highly successful ritualistic feeling of Father Murphy’s songs is what separates them from many of their peers.

Leviathan – ‘Scar Sighted’ (Profound Lore)

If you’re even vaguely familiar with the music of Jef Whitehead (aka. Wrest) then you’ll know that his name – and that of both Leviathan and one-time side project Lurker of Chalice – is synonymous with some of the darkest black metal to come out of the United States. If you keep up with events, however, you’ll also know that Whitehead faced multiple charges of physically and sexually abusing his then girlfriend back in 2011.

That the next Leviathan album, recorded while legal proceedings were still ongoing, was called ‘True Traitor, True Whore’ didn’t help. Plenty has happened in the meantime – Google ‘Jef Whitehead Decibel’ if you want the latest – but Whitehead was found guilty on one charge, moved to Portland and subsequently recorded ‘Scar Sighted’, the fifth Leviathan LP. To say it’s a convincing return to form would be an understatement.

Whitehead has always played a distinctly progressive form of black metal but never has he sounded so confident mixing things up as he does here. The seamless incorporation of new ideas, married to some of the most structured and well balanced songs he has written to date, makes this a contender for being Leviathan’s best record, at least since ‘The Tenth Sub Level of Suicide’. This is truly essential listening for any black metal fan.  

Lightning Bolt – ‘Fantasy Empire’ (Thrill Jockey)

Lightning Bolt shouldn’t be doing this. No band should be entering their third decade still capable of producing as glorious a racket as this, with more energy and commitment to noisecraft than groups half their age. ‘Fantasy Empire’ is their seventh album, and first on Thrill Jockey, and it is close to being the best the duo has produced to date.

Brian Chippendale is still a force of nature behind the drum kit. There’s nobody else on the planet who can sustain such a high level of percussive battery over the duration of a full-length record as this man, who provides yet another tour de force here. Chippendale’s ever-frenetic style is backed up by the monstrous bass of Brian Gibson, who provides wall upon wall of heavily overdriven quasi-metallic sound. Gibson’s approach is less immediately awe-inspiring than that of his bandmate but, in reality, is just as worthy of praise. It’s Gibson who provides the textural brutality that allows Lightning Bolt to remain so continually eloquent in their commitment to the weird and wonderful world of noise.

Liturgy – ‘The Ark Work’ (Thrill Jockey)

Liturgy – and particularly frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix – seem to relish in provocation. While that may be doing a disservice to Hunt-Hendrix’s commitment to his philosophical musings on both his own music and that of black metal as a whole, ‘The Ark Work’ at times is so intent on testing the limits of its own listeners that one cannot help but wonder…

If ‘Aesthethica’ saw the quartet attempting to subtly remould the genre that birthed them then ‘The Ark Work’ is the sound of them decapitating and disembowelling it. From the bell and brass sounds that are particularly prominent in the early tracks, to Hunt-Hendrix’s unique clean vocal groans, to the hip hop-influenced Vitriol, this is quite some reinvention of Liturgy’s sound. The best thing of all? It still sounds like exactly the same band, which is testament to the group’s ability to incorporate a vast range of new approaches into their now kaleidoscopic musical landscape. ‘The Ark Work’ is the thrilling sound of a band that could go almost anywhere in the future.

Pyramids – ‘A Northern Meadow’ (Profound Lore)

In a sense, Pyramids are not working in territory all that far from Liturgy. As a band that have also partially emerged from the melting pot that was the early-2000s US black metal scene, Pyramids have also sought to reshape a style of music that remains stubbornly unwilling yet clearly suitable for displays of great musical invention.

‘A Northern Meadow’ sees the group abandon some of the more unnecessary, and frankly uninteresting, post-rock/shoegaze elements of their debut in favour of a more obviously metallic edge. There’s also the presence of Vindsval (leader of avant-garde black metallers Blut Aus Nord), Colin Marston (Gorguts and Krallice guitarist) and drone/noise luminary William Fowler Collins to factor into the equation. Crucially, these guests enhance, rather than detract from, the distinctive musical personality that Pyramids display on this record. ‘A Northern Meadow’ takes the black metal/post-rock/shoegaze hybrid form that has become so common in recent years and finds it an entirely new shape.

Ufomammut – ‘Ecate’ (Neurot)

Italian psychedelic sludge trio Ufomammut must be coming close to institution status by now. ‘Ecate’ is yet another superb release from the highly consistent and prolific Piedmontese group. From the slow-build dynamic masterclass that is Somnium, through the visceral Old Man Gloom-esque Pluton, to the Electric Wizard squared doom of Temple, ‘Ecate’ is back-breakingly heavy. In fact, unlike many bands working along similar lines, Ufomammut seem to get heavier with each passing release. This isn’t as colossal as ‘Eve’ or the ‘Oro’ albums but it’s probably a better marriage of Ufomammut’s more expansive recent style with their more explicitly metallic roots than anything the group have released to date.

John Wiese – ‘Deviate from Balance’ (Helicopter)

Los Angeles resident John Wiese has been a bona fide superstar of the noise underground for some years now, with records like ‘Black Magic Pond’ and ‘Soft Punk’ making Wolf Eyes sound like Sonic Youth and Sonic Youth sound like the Monkees. Nothing he has done, however, has been quite as colossal as ‘Deviate from Balance’, which is his first double album.

This is Wiese the avant-garde sound artist, however, not Wiese the power electronics terrorist. That’s not to say there aren’t noisy moments – parts of Dramatic Accessories are reminiscent of having your ears viciously assaulted with sandpaper – but for the most part ‘Deviate from Balance’ focuses on exploring the varying potentialities of differing types of noise in a range of sonic settings. As a result it might actually be Wiese’s most thought-provoking and interesting release to date, provided you’re willing to give it the deep listening that it requires.

Related News