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I received a request from Replenish Records to review a couple of their releases. This new full-length from Alda will be the first of two. Alda are a crushingly epic Black Metal/Post-Rock band from Tacoma, Washington. In the band's own words they claim Pantheist-Animism, environmentalism, the Cascadian bio-region, primitivist practices and general heathenry, music and being an animal in urbanity as direct influences. That sentence seems to do a pretty good job of summing up the band's ideology. I would just like to say, thank you.
The truth is, I don't really have a great frame of reference when it comes to music like this. I never listened to Black Metal before bands like Weakling and Wolves In The Throne Room first started playing. I have studied the history and I have read all the books and in my opinion, the first two or three waves were generally awful and overrated. Celtic Frost were talentless. Bathory was talentless. Venom was basically KISS without the groupies or connections. I am most certainly aware of the Burzums and the Mayhems and the Emperors and all that bullshit neo-fascist garbage. Shit, I have seen plenty of so-called "Anarchists" proudly wearing their t-shirts over the years. Those bands don't matter to me. None of that matters anymore.
When talking about modern Black Metal, we need only look to the trees. This is music created out of necessity. The cities are swollen and dying and in turn laying waste to the last threads of natural land we have on this rock. Alda are the sound of Mother Nature fighting back. Imagine the ground opening wide, swallowing whole these crystal castles. Picture strong roots, rising up, reclaiming the jungles, concrete or otherwise. The oceans are boiling, the sky is growing darker with each passing day. There is little left for us to do but fight.
Anyway, This is an excellent record. I don't see why you wouldn't like this if you have ever been a fan of modern, progressive Black Metal, Crust, Post-Metal and/or Apocalyptic Folk. Wolves In The Throne Room, Ash Borer, Embers, Oroku, Mammifer, Alcest... Yes, I am going to listen to it again. That will make this the 12th time today.
Bandcamp Link
Facebook Link (Twin Cyclist)
Facebook Link (Slurred Speech)
This arrived in my inbox this morning as a very pleasant surprise. Sea Of Tranquility Records out of Lawrence, Kansas have released a plethora of solid jams over the last little while and this is no exception. I might even go so far as to call this a modern Emo classic. Some readers might laugh at that statement, but, I don't care. The sounds I am hearing pour forth from this record have transported me to a much simpler time. A time before the Myspaces and Facebooks and Twitters took a dump all over our collective consciousness. There was a time when bands who generally sounded nothing alike could play a show together, or tour together and everyone would just be so stoked to be there, to be a part of it. Braids could play with Yahmos could play with RentAmericas could play with Aus-Rottens... Hardline Straight Edge bands were playing with "Crybaby Emo" bands and those Emo bands were playing with Crusty Stench-Core bands and everyone was content to enjoy it. There were no genre lines. There were no message boards. There was just community.
Both bands on this split are playing it the way it used to be in the early 90's. Boundless and passion filled. Well, I'm not sure if "band" is the correct term to use to describe Slurred Speech...? How about one-man band? Slurred Speech is Josh, Josh is Slurred Speech. He plays stark, naked Acoustic-Emo/Folk with passion and heart. His songs are gruff, melodic, introspective, sometimes screamy and all-around moving. Think Kind Of Like Spitting meets Thoughts Paint The Sky. I would love to see him play live as I am certain he could command a room with the power of his voice.
Sometimes, I have trouble describing in writing how a band sounds to me. I am having that problem with Twin Cyclist. They are a two-piece band that sound like a four-piece band playing sometimes Noodely, sometimes chaotically screamy Post-Hardcore. I do know that on their EP entitled Gilded Days, Josh Slurred Speech actually played bass. So, that might help bring a bit of circular connection to this split. Anyway, these gentlemen scream like Indian Summer, they twinkle like Cap'n Jazz, they emote like all the best bands do and they are doing it as a two-piece. I certainly can't fail to mention the soundbite that begins the song 'Grays'. The Life Aquatic is one of my favorite movies ever and if anyone can successfully use it to help build a song's atmosphere, I am going to love you forever. This is, perhaps, everything I have ever wanted from music.
I am more than stoked on this EP. Good job all around!!!
Bandcamp Link
Facebook Link
I am going to preface this early morning review by describing my current condition. The last two weeks have been filled with loving family, dear friends and the most debilitating lower back pain I have ever suffered. My Chiropractor tells me the pads between my two lowest vertebrae are either torn, bulging or bruised. Therefore, the nerves surrounding my lower spine are hyper-sensitive and prone to fits of unruly Hellfire. I have had so much trouble walking, let alone standing for any extended amount of time. The pain gets so intense at times, it almost feels like the world around me isn't real. Knee bucklingly painful!! I can't work, I can't shower, I can hardly take a piss on my own. It is getting to the point where I feel as if I am actually losing my grip on reality. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful woman in my life. She has taken care of me like no woman ever has (except you Mom, I could never forget about you!). Thank goodness for opiates!!
So, it's about 5:30 a.m. on a Tuesday. I was able to get three hours of sleep before the pain got too intense. After consuming a couple little white pills, the pain seems to have subsided for the time being... And this is where the review begins:
This album sounds amazing when listened to through the filter of Oxycontin and insomnia. The woman who wrote these songs is named Charlotte. She has the most intoxicatingly beautiful voice I have heard in a long time, reminding me of Liza Kate a little bit. I guess this would be considered Folk music by some people. To me though, there is just too much going on in these songs to limit them to one concrete genre or sound. In fact, I am just going to have to coin a new genre term and call it "Baroque inflected Chamber Slowcore". Try to imagine Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star with an actual smile on her face, singing for Codeine while the Postal Service play endless electronic loops in the bathroom next door. What does any of that mean? Well, it means this is Perfect Morning Music. Soft, lilting and cool to the touch. As of right now, during my third complete listen through this album, I feel no pain. Isn't that what music is supposed to do for us?
Bandcamp Link
If a band ever knew how to exploit my weak spots, I think it might be Tel Fyr. These Canadians have succeeded in masterfully crafting a crushingly beautiful amalgam of Folk influenced, Blackened Screamo with some pristine ambient passages bringing to mind the collective sounds of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Terzij De Horde, the Pentangle and Celeste. Imagine Fell Voices and Deafheaven getting shit-faced with June Of 44 and unrepentantly drunk dialing Sam Shalabi in the middle of the night. Tense, almost claustrophobic buildups blend seamlessly with that oppressive weight of distortion and grinding power leaving me on edge and feeling serene all at the same time. I was planning on writing an entire treatise regarding the pros & cons of Black Metal's influence on today's D.I.Y. Punk scene. Instead, I got stoned, put this record on again, got off my HIGH horse and figured it was more interesting and important to just support personal taste and influence as something that shouldn't be fucked with and that doesn't need to be mercilessly dissected. Anyway, Tel Fyr have taken all the great parts of Black Metal and combined them with the best parts of Screamy Hardcore, Folk and instrumental lullabies. I wish they would have included their lyrics on their Bandcamp page. I would like to know what a Straight Edge Black Metal "Skramz" band has to say... Hint Hint.
Kind of Like Mediafire
Sunday afternoon. I wanted to post something light to keep the doldrums away. This is Ben Barnett from Portland. He sings songs that will make your heart fall into your stomach. He has been compared to both Elliot Smith and Robert Pollard. In my opinion, he is better than both of them. I am pretty sure he has shopped at my record store before. This is Folk Punk.
