Sunsplitter Live

Book of Kings Preview

I'm just going to assume that you're as excited about this as i am.

Ramesses - Khali Mist (Video)

It took me way too long to listen to this album and now i'm bummed that i haven't been listening to it over and over and over again since it came out. Super dirty, noisy, dirgy doom with a full choir backing much of the album. The whole thing is incredible, but "A Body" and "Empty Hearth" get my votes for maybe the best songs ever.

Here.

Monarch, live in S.F.

Monarch from Aesop Dekker on Vimeo.

Wolvserpent live in NYC

Beneath Oblivion - Existence Without Purpose

Three long doom songs. No groove, no weed, no fun. Just doom. It's hard to write reviews for easily described music. Maybe this album just bums me out so much that it sucked all of the artistic insight out of my brain. Anyways, you should download this if you like heavy, slow, bummed out music.

Here.

*repost from 5/13/10*

Sun Splitter - II

Sun Splitter is a new-ish local (chicago) band that has turned me into a goofy little fanboy quicker than a middle school girl with that edward dude from Twilight. Equal parts Swans, Godflesh, Leviathan, and Rwake, these guys will very literaly pummel you to little bits with their live show. Their CD is pretty great as well, so download this then buy some shit from them.

Here.

*repost from 4/28/10*

Gnaw Their Tongues - An Epiphanic Vomiting of Blood

I've already posted one Gnaw Their Tongues album back in july. I didn't know how to properly describe it then, and i still don't. It's pure terror. Slow and fast at the same time. Complete depravity. Totally disturbing and awe-some. Or awe-ful.

Here.

*repost from 3/30/10*

Nadja - Bliss Torn from Emptiness

I got to see Nadja about two years ago open up for Asunder in Seattle. I haven't listened to them since then, mostly because their live show was so impressive and utterly crushing that i didn't think they're recorded output could match it. But then i found this. I wasn't prepared for what was to come. It's a sasquatch of a record - giant walls of sound, lurching percussion, completely fuzzed out, frightening and beautiful at the same time. Totally recommended.

Here.

*repost from 2/5/10*

Fleshpress - III: The Art of Losing All

My good friend Jeremy just moved to portland. I was totally bummed because he was one my few 'metal' friends in chicago. Jeremy was famous for a couple of things - 1) his freakishly intense body and facial hair and 2) his insane cd collection. When i lived with him, he would come home two or three times a week with huge stacks of cd's from reckless records. I still have no idea how he paid rent. Anyways, when he moved to portland, he asked me to hold on to his cd's until he could get the money to get them shipped to him. Obviously, i was excited. I've been spending the last month or so going through the eight milk crates full of cd's (!), finding the ones i wanted and putting them on my computer.

Fleshpress was one these cd's. Two tracks (the first is 15 minutes, the second is 25 minutes) of funeralesque stoner doom. It's hypnotic, but has enough changes in it to keep the whole family occupied. I've already listened to it three times today. Definitely one of the highlights of Jeremy's collection.

Here.

*repost from 2/1/10*

Om - God Is Good

This is a new release, and really easy to find, so why am i putting this up? Much like the Graves at Sea & Asunder post, this was one of my Christmas presents, so i'm sharing it with you. Om was ex-members of Sleep (the bassest and drummer), though recently the drummer left and was replaced by the drummer from Grails. So, there you have it. I don't need to say anything else. Get stoned and listen to this at night really loudly.

Here.

*repost from 12/29/09*

Graves At Sea & Asunder - Split

I know, i know. You already have this. Everybody already has this. But i got the newly reissued vinyl for Christmas so i'm going to share it with you. Hopefully it'll make you listen to it and enjoy it once again. Or, on the small chance that you don't know this record, get it now. This is one of my favorite doom records. Like, top 5 material. Two giants of the scene making giant songs to give me a giant boner.

Doom Boner.

*repost from 12/29/09*

Nox Inferi - Adverse Spheres

Part two of my 'great music to listen to in the snow' series. Dictator's 'Dysangelist' was the first, now Nox Inferi. Like Dictator, this is a recent aquisition of mine, and fits the winter time perfectly. Bleak, heavy, slow, sad. Nothing more needed to say, really. Winter time rules.

Here.

Dictator - Dysangelist

I'm starting a new series of albums right now, called 'great music to listen to in the snow'. It finally got cold and snowy here in Chicago, which, despite being uncomfortable sometimes, is totally awesome.

My first choice is Dysangelist by Dictator. I have listened to this album only twice, but each time it has hit me like few other albums have. It's four tracks, each between 15 and 20 minutes long. It's totally crushing, saddening, inspiring, and horrifying. I get lost in it. I hope that you enjoy this as much as i do.

PS - I do not own this yet, but i plan to soon. You can buy it from pale horse recordings. It has some of the best packaging i've ever seen. It includes human bone. Check it out.

Here.

Trees - Lights Bane

A tree is a plant form that occurs in many different orders and families of plants. Trees show a variety of growth forms, leaf type and shape, bark characteristics, and reproductive organs.

The tree form has evolved separately in unrelated classes of plants, in response to similar environmental challenges, making it a classic example of parallel evolution. With an estimate of 100,000 tree species, the number of tree species worldwide might total 25 percent of all living plant species.[7] The majority of tree species grow in tropical regions of the world and many of these areas have not been surveyed yet by botanists, making species diversity and ranges poorly understood.[8]

The earliest trees were tree ferns, horsetails and lycophytes, which grew in forests in the Carboniferous Period; tree ferns still survive, but the only surviving horsetails and lycophytes are not of tree form. Later, in the Triassic Period, conifers, ginkgos, cycads and other gymnosperms appeared, and subsequently flowering plants in the Cretaceous Period. Most species of trees today are flowering plants (Angiosperms) and conifers. For the listing of examples of well-known trees and how they are classified, see List of tree genera.

A small group of trees growing together is called a grove or copse, and a landscape covered by a dense growth of trees is called a forest. Several biotopes are defined largely by the trees that inhabit them; examples are rainforest and taiga (see ecozones). A landscape of trees scattered or spaced across grassland (usually grazed or burned over periodically) is called a savanna. A forest of great age is called old growth forest or ancient woodland (in the UK). A young tree is called a sapling. Some trees in Portland, OR make a scary kind of music called 'doom metal'. Crucial Blast Records are presently researching this phenomona.

Here.

Pentagram - Relentless

This band doesn't need me to talk about them or their 1985 debut. In fact, this band doesn't even need you to listen to them. They DO need you to get on your knees and kiss their jeweled feet, though. Come on. Get on your knees.

Bow Down.

Gnaw Their Tongues - ...Spasming and Howling, Bowels Loosening and Bladder Emptying, Vomiting Helplessly

I have a hard time describing this band. It's slow and heavy and scary as shit. Go get paranoid.

Here.

Pentagram - Relentless

This band doesn't need me to talk about them or their 1985 debut. In fact, this band doesn't even need you to listen to them. They DO need you to get on your knees and kiss their jeweled feet, though. Come on. Get on your knees.

Bow Down.

Gnaw Their Tongues - ...Spasming and Howling, Bowels Loosening and Bladder Emptying, Vomiting Helplessly

I have a hard time describing this band. It's slow and heavy and scary as shit. Go get paranoid.

Here.