It’s December 2015 and it’s time to sum up what’s been a fantastic year in the (slightly bizarre but hopefully always entertaining) world of sonic extremes covered by Noise Not Music. Before that, however, there are yet more new releases to look over…
New Releases
Awe – ‘Providentia’ (Pulverised)
Greece does, of course, have a fine black metal pedigree. Rotting Christ may be the country’s most famous exports in the genre, but they aren’t the only ones. Zemial, Varathron, Macabre Omen and Kawir are also highly respected heavy hitters. This is Awe’s first release so they aren’t quite at that level yet, but ‘Providentia’ suggests that great things might be expected from the group. Here they take a rather longform approach, with three tracks spread over 50 minutes. Rather than this being a case of a lack of control, however, it merely emphasises the stunning technical and compositional mastery that is on offer here. I am already eagerly awaiting future statements by this hugely exciting band.
The Body & Krieg – ‘The Body & Krieg’ (At a Loss)
Did you really expect this to be anything other than filthy blackened sludge at its most soul-destroying? Putting together the Body and USBM stalwarts Krieg might be a psychologically dubious decision from a certain point of view (it’s nearly Christmas, we should be cheering the fuck up, right?) but, from another, it is a good guarantee of genuine quality. Beginning with a peal of feedback and progressing through clanking backing electronics and violently stripped down riffs, this is anything but an easy listening addition to the festive season playlist. Chip King’s shrieks are as uncomfortably demonic as ever, and the combination of his desolate howls and the fuller-bodied vocals of Krieg’s Neill Jamieson is a potent one indeed, adeptly emphasising the strengths of both vocalists as individuals as well as in partnership. All in all it’s another unmissable addition to the Body’s increasingly impressive catalogue of splits, collaborations and solo releases.
Ramleh – ‘Circular Time’ (Crucial Blast)
For those not in the know, Ramleh were – in the 1980s – one of the pioneers of power electronics, a noise subgenre as renowned for its transgressive and taboo choices of aesthetic and content as for its uncompromising sonic approach. Showcasing a subtler – and arguably more effective – approach in comparison to many other proponents of the style, Ramleh’s early material blended slabs of industrial drone with wave upon wave of corrosive noise and strangled vocals. Then things changed. The band reappeared in the ‘90s with an approach leaning towards rock, although the sort of freak-out bad trip psychedelic rock that Skullflower were playing around the same time rather than anything more accessible. Mixed results ensued but on ‘Circular Time’ (which follows 2009’s return to the power electronics genre, ‘Valediction’), Ramleh seem more comfortable than ever in the experimental noise rock sphere. At nearly two hours in length, this is a colossal chunk of music (perhaps a little too colossal) but it frequently sees the group (currently a trio) take their defiantly idiosyncratic approach to new heights. Imagine Can were raised on a diet of Acid Mothers Temple and The Dead C and you might be getting close…
Shapednoise – ‘Different Selves’ (Type)
Palermo born Nino Pedone has already made a name for both Shapednoise and Violetshaped, two projects that fuse dub-inflected techno with industrial and noise stylings, but ‘Different Selves’ might well go on to be seen as something of a breakthrough for the young Italian. His first effort for Type, ‘Different Selves’ feels like a brutal condemnation of twenty-first century urbanity. Enlightenment, the opening track, may feature a guest appearance from Justin K. Broadrick (which gives a good impression of the overall tone here), but ‘Different Selves’ is consistent enough in its intensity that this is more of a side note than anything else. Full of glitch-veering beats, pulsating machine-esque rhythms and brain-meltingly enormous drops, this has arrived late to be one of the experimental electronic world’s highlights of 2015. Miss out at your peril.
Sunn O))) – ‘Kannon’ (Southern Lord)
I’ve spent much of the last couple of weeks debating with myself the merits of the new Sunn O))) album. When I first heard ‘Kannon’ I didn’t make it to the end of the (by this band’s standards) extremely brief 33 minute run time. That’s not because there’s anything wrong with it’, but more because this is as close as Sunn O))) have ever come to doing things by numbers. Messrs Anderson and O’Malley have crafted quite a career from sounding different to pretty much everything else out there. Even the early Earth records, which inspired the band’s formation, never reached the same level of drone metal extremity that Sunn O))) did at their peak. In many ways, ‘Kannon’ is a concise summation of the approach that has earned the band a reputation that is as strong in the world of the avant-garde as the world of extreme metal. However, if you’ve seen Sunn O))) play live with vocalist Attila Csihar (best known for his work with Mayhem) in the years since ‘Monoliths & Dimensions’ came out then you might well feel (as I do) that you’ve heard all this before. It’s hard to criticise too much of what is on offer here, but it’s best seen as a stocking filler intro to the band for newcomers than the long-awaited new classic devotees of the band have been waiting for.
Yellow Eyes – ‘Sick With Bloom’ (Gilead Media)
While there is little that makes Yellow Eyes particularly stand out among the (rather crowded) USBM pack, ‘Sick With Bloom’ is enough of a grower that it deserves special mention. There’s a lot to be said for bands (especially those playing a style as nominally isolationist as black metal) quietly getting on with their business and crafting albums that have substance as well as style. That’s what Yellow Eyes have done here. There are similarities to Polish giants Mgła – especially in the way that the band utilise naggingly effective melodies – and to peers like Bosse-de-Nage and Krallice, but ‘Sick With Bloom’ reveals itself to be a distinctive and extremely impressive album in its own right.
End of Year List
20. Teeth of the Sea – ‘Highly Deadly Black Tarantula’ (Rocket)
“'Highly Deadly Black Tarantula' is, then, not quite the beast that its title suggests. It’s more elusive than that. As if one should expect anything else from one of the UK’s most enigmatic bands.” (From my review of the album for Drowned in Sound)
19. Mgła – ‘Exercises in Futility’ (Northern Heritage / No Solace)
“This is the purest distillation of the group’s nihilistic worldview to date, its bleak vision of existence making it a hugely powerful listen.” (NNM #14)
18. Samuel Kerridge – ‘Always Offended, Never Ashamed’ (Contort)
“Alongside the distorted drone guitar slabs and painfully contorted beats there are moments of energy here that listeners unfamiliar with the harsher side of the electronic music spectrum should thrive upon. Having said that, this still packs a pretty severe punch, and those expecting something colossal and steadfast in its commitment to uncompromising electronic expressionism should not hesitate to pick this up.” (NNM #8)
17. Blacklisters – ‘Adult’ (Handshake Inc. / Smalltown America)
“In short, ‘Adult’ sees Blacklisters hone their craft to the extent that they now have a stupendously spiteful dose of vitriol for every occasion. They are surely one of the best bands in the country.” (NNM #13)
“One could probably make a case for this being Napalm Death’s finest moment to date; in other words, this is absolutely essential listening.” (NNM #8)
15. Ævangelist – ‘Enthrall to the Void of Bliss’ (20 Buck Spin)
“… a hypnotic and haunting journey through various underworlds that death metal would usually be excluded from” (NNM #14)
14. Blood Folke – ‘My Heart in the Brilliance of Fire’ (Init)
“Much like Amenra they have an aura that relates clearly to black metal, thanks to the consistently dark atmosphere that dominates proceedings, but crucially they have found – in Lauren Gaffney’s (frequently effects-drenched) viola – a texture yet to be exploited in this form of metal to its full extent. The results are devastating.” (NNM #14)
13. James Welburn – ‘Hold’ (Miasmah)
“This is an astonishing sounding record from beginning to end, with Welburn’s stupendous sustained tones combining with Buck’s punishing drum parts to produce a remarkably powerful six tracks. It all comes to a close with the title track, which is reminiscent of latter day Swans in its majestic percussion sounds and soaring drone. It is difficult to think of ways anyone could make a record like this any better. Top marks.” (NNM #11)
12. Liberez – ‘All Tense Now Lax’ (Night School)
“’All Tense Now Lax’, then, is so brilliant precisely because of the way it flits disconcertingly between the two extremes presented in its title, between the constant and unrestrained tension of technological progress and the contrasting looseness of our day to day existence alongside it.” (From my review of the album for Drowned in Sound)
11. Deafheaven – ‘New Bermuda’ (ANTI)
“Far from being disappointing, then, [i]New Bermuda[/i] is comfortably good enough to blow even Deafheaven’s sceptics away.” (From my review of the album for Drowned in Sound)
10. Rolo Tomassi – ‘Grievances’ (Holy Roar)
“It’s an amazing thing to be able to say that a band sound like they could do anything they put their mind to, but it’s something I can say about Rolo Tomassi without hesitation. ‘Grievances’ is yet another remarkable record from one of the UK’s most consistently remarkable underground bands.” (From my review of the album for Drowned in Sound)
9. Bosse-de-Nage – ‘All Fours’ (Profound Lore)
“It’s hard not to feel that this is black metal that has emerged as much from the tradition of American underground rock, especially Slint, as from Europe’s black metal originators. This also means that it’s decidedly different from the Mogwai-obsessed Deafheaven, and that means that, whilst the wave of new black metal fans lured in by ‘Sunbather’ should find much to enjoy here, cynics will also find something new to appreciate in the unique sound that characterises ‘All Fours’.” (NNM #10)
8. Shapednoise – ‘Different Selves’ (Type)
See above.
7. Dødheimsgard – ‘A Umbra Omega’ (Peaceville)
“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.” (NNM #9)
6. False – ‘Untitled’ (Gilead Media)
“‘Untitled’ is a stunning display of black metal at its progressive and violent best… there’s an air of majestic triumph running throughout each of the five lengthy tracks on offer, but this is as corrosive at its core as any of the nastiest black metal LPs you could care to think of. It’s this juxtaposition that has often defined many of the genre’s true greats, a position that False could find themselves in if they produce more records as savagely stunning as this one.” (NNM #11)
5. Gnod – ‘Infinity Machines’ (Rocket)
“A triumphant record from a band at the forefront of the contemporary cutting edge, you’ll be a slightly changed person after an afternoon spent with this coming through your headphones.” (NNM #10)
“At times it confines itself to ominous brooding soundscapes, at others its bursts into coruscating walls of industrial drone...one of the true highlights of the year.” (NNM #14)
3. Bell Witch – ‘Four Phantoms’ (Profound Lore)
“Working at a funereal pace, the Seattle duo (six-string bass and drums!) unleash wave upon wave of mournful doom that borrows liberally from both the heavier end of the contemporary sludge/drone metal spectrum and from the resurgence in more melodic doom represented by the likes of Pallbearer… Their 2012 debut, ‘Longing’, was enormously promising but Bell Witch have knocked the ball out of the park this time.” (NNM #10)
“A daunting and deeply troubling opus from one of underground music’s greatest provocateurs.” (NNM #10)
1. The Body & Thou – ‘The Body & Thou’ (Thrill Jockey)
“There aren’t really any words that can do justice to how incredibly powerful this record is at times. The cover of Vic Chesnutt’s Coward, originally recorded just before his suicide, is devastating, whilst a version of Nine Inch Nails’s Terrible Lie is horrifically violent in its execution. This is going to take some beating when it comes round to compiling the column’s end of year list in December.” [Oh look, I predicted the album of the year back in February] (NNM #8)
That’s all from the column this year – I hope you get loads of black metal records in the mail for Christmas. Noise Not Music will return in January!
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