Deafest - Splinters: Collecting The Split Songs (2010)

Compilation, Black Sign
March 11th, 2010

Genre: Black Metal
Region: USA

I don't know what it is, but when it comes to the two man project Deafest I've always enjoyed the songs they release on splits more than the full length material. That's not to say their full lengths should be passed over, I just don't get the same level of enjoyment from them that I do from their numerous excursions with other underground acts. Deafest are perpetually overlooked it seems. Originally a one man project with vocals, they're now a largely instrumental black metal act with atmospheric tendencies and a major focus on nature.

This record is a collection of their side of the various splits they released with Livimørket, Mirovia, Cynd, Severnaya, and Dunkelheit from 2008 to 2009 and it's still some of my favorite material from them; before they dropped the vocals I might add. Deafest's style of black metal certainly could be called atmospheric but completely unlike the style of more well known bands who have brought it to the forefront (WITTR et al).

The atmosphere is there but the long songs and the ambient passages are dropped for a more traditional and strong tremolo-based structure with only a few instances where the riffs drop to clean chords. Vocals here (performed by Chase, the main member) are a high, indecipherable screech comparable to the depressive black metal style — pained as they extoll natures grace, persistence and resilience, or scold the encroachment of mankind. Drumming duties are presently handled by Brett but every track here (except for the ones from the Livimørket split)  was recorded before he joined, so on splinters we're hearing largely drum machine which does the job just fine honestly.

Majestic and tragic, mournful and raw: this is how I would describe the atmosphere they conjure. You can almost smell the fresh air from a recent downpour when listening to their material. Not only do they nail this aspect but the riffs are both tight and catchy, strung along at a perfect pace (most tracks lay between 5 and 6 minutes) with peaks and valleys that resemble the very subjects the music is meant to embody. Deafest are not about being fancy — over use of reverb or other effects are not needed here, nor is sampling and keyboard interludes. They lay out a very simple formula and stick to it, but do so with a great amount of passion and effort.

I have to say my favorite tracks here are taken from their split with Mirovia: Migrating Elk, Dynamic Sky and Without Rain. The final passages from each of these tracks exemplifies why I love Deafest so much as the climax is beautiful but so simple, evoking the glory of untouched nature and the ruin wrought by man. The 3 tracks which follow this are from their split with Cynd and have a similar effect, carefully arranged and executed to draw forth a soulful melodic string of coarse riffs. When the tracks aren't climbing and shimmering they take a darker turn as if into the shades of towering forests. Sometimes they open quietly with delicacy as on Winding Water, slowly opening up and exploding with melancholy, while on other songs like Coniferous they burst immediately, mowing you down with a forceful riff from the start. It's always a pleasing voyage though.

I really recommend this album. As a whole Deafest offer a refreshing albeit simple take on the "cascadian" genre and on Splinters we find some of their best material in my opinion. The songs from the bands they collaborated with on these splits are definitely worth checking out as well. They put up all their material for free on bandcamp and their official site except splits; they used to but for what ever reason stopped. You can get most of their releases in tape and cd form from Ninth Meridian Records, their bandcamp has a pay what you want for a digital copy of this recordl.

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Hexis - XI (2011)

Full Length, Enjoyment Records
December 12th, 2011

Genre: Blackened Hardcore/Black Metal/Hardcore
Region: Denmark

Here's one I should've posted last year. These guys know how to create chaotic and dark vortexes of sound.

What Hexis bring with XI is a dirty blend of black metal and hardcore that comes out sounding like Celeste (if they were more liberal with their editing) mixed with a little bit of Portal's warbled twists in the structure. In the majority of the record they attack you with mounds of down-tuned, distorted, scraping tremolo sections, a thick hazy bass tone, steady drum blasts and a harsh, vile rasp spewed over the bleak twisting madness.

They offer 7 tracks of this disturbing brand of cyclonic atmosphere. As XI opens you immediately get a dose of feedback and then are slammed with a dirty spiraled riff. From there on it's a dissonant journey into a lightless abyss. You only surface once in the course of this dive: a clearing is found during Sepulus where clean notes and chords emerge — this is soon shattered with a return of the tumultuous blackened discord which continues mounting to the very end. Slower moments in Crux bring an almost sludge heaviness into the mix that helps to vary XI well.

It's a powerful record, in part due to the excellent pacing and length of the album (it barely crawls past 20 minutes) so the tracks manage to have staying power and blend almost seamlessly together, while the album itself does not overstay it's welcome. Outside of that it's well composed too. While you could definitely count them in the recent onslaught of dark hardcore like Chromes, Young And In The Way, Black Monolith, Unsacred, etc. Hexis do manage to set themselves apart quite well in a genre which many are starting to become weary with.

Definitely check this record out. These fine gentlemen from Denmark have made this available as a pay-what-you-want download on bandcamp, so please check their page out and give them support if you can by going to their store. Follow them on facebook for all other information

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Gods Of Chaos - March Into Perdition (2012)

Full Length, The Path Less Traveled Records
May 1st, 2012

Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore/Crust/Hardcore/Black Metal/Fusion
Region: Croatia

Brace yourself for some Croatian lunacy. A friend of mine in Gods Of Chaos gave me a preview of this album a while back before it was to be released, while they were looking for a label. Admittedly when I first heard it, it was a difficult one to place genre-wise and even after a few more listens recently it's still a jarring experience. The release is on the horizon and it was requested that I put up a review and link for it (so fair warning: I'm biased).

Also, one of the tags is "aidshammer". Fuck yeah?

The bands no bullshit fuck everything attitude comes through in March Into Perdition: a psychedelic, frantic romp through multiple genres — mastered by the trusted Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, Behold... the Arctopus, etc.). This is a case where I would use the term fusion to describe their style. There really are no groups offhand I could compare these guys to in truth but there are brief moments when something pops up that I recognize but can't place (possibly a sliver of Krallice or Gigan), and they're gone before my mind can grasp it.

The quirky tangled maze of sound is somewhat comparable to Daughters if they lost the drunken Elvis vocals and went old school black metal-crust-punk-grindcore. This is especially apparent on several tracks like Black Alert/Lack of Earth but only momentarily.

Throughout the 32 minutes of chaotic pissed off hyperactivity you'll encounter elements of thrashy hardcore (Twitching Sours, The Drug of Joy), rough old school black and death metal (Nuclear Phantom Warhowl, Grinning with an Errection at the Gallows, Dealers of Nadir), and furious grindcore (Crush The Skulls of All Fucking Posers, Conquer All!!!) — either all in one track where they flip back and forth, fused effortlessly together, or on single tracks separated neatly.

Regardless of what avenue they take Gods Of Chaos tear it up. Occasional waves of sharp feedback, creepy ambience and creaking noise intro and outro tracks leading to frenetic, bouncy schizoid tremolo riffs and sudden trips of chunky powerchords to break up the hyper punk pace. A notable bass presence is key hear as it plows alongside the angular guitar with the fierce blasts of the drummer supporting the ugly structure. On the vocal front, a howling, distorted raspy voice slices through these elements, ravaging and hoarse with a serious blackened crust edge carving divots in the soudscape.

The record only slows down momentarily in some songs like Crystallized Telekinetic Mindfuck, or the final track Skullfucking Despair which runs for a little over 7 minutes: this track includes a nice dose of dissonance, slower chords and chunky gallops, though it eventually gives way into more unabashed destructive riffing. It's one of the less jarring tracks here. The last 2 minutes include heavy noise and feedback, appropriately closing a very strange and raw journey.

I recommend checking out March Into Perdition. It's a bizarre fusion of twisted oldschool flavor with hardcore pacing and structures; truly odd and contorted. The haphazard and schizophrenic tone could be a deal breaker for some people but for a first release it's surprisingly tight, leaving some room for expansion of their style.

If you want to give this a listen you can check out their bandcamp page, or buy a copy on The Path Less Traveled Records' bandcamp. I'll update this post with physical release information if it's made available later on but if I recall correctly I was told a physical release hasn't been planned.

— links removed due to DMCA complaint —

Void Forger - Ruined (2012)

Demo, Independent / Self-released
April 3rd, 2012

Genre: Blackened Hardcore/Crust/Doom Metal/Black Metal
Region: Romania

I've mentioned before I'm backed up on requests. I hope to remedy that soon. Here's one from Void Forger, a crusty blackened doom three piece from Romania who have released this demo themselves for free.

There's a lot of genres blended within these three tracks but these guys manage to keep it from getting muddled and haphazard. This is what I imagine Young and In The Way would sound like if they had more doom elements. It's a pretty even mix all the way through with the crust and hardcore moments peaking over top in many instances. The riffs from the bass and guitar are slow, coarse and chunky for the most part with bouts of faster chops both punk-like powerchords and black metal tremolo tears; the production is raw making the atmosphere quite gritty. Deep growls and blackened yells briefly surface from the murky depths and the drums splash and froth among the other members.

Pointless Media starts of mid paced and heavy before breaking into a thrashy section, and ending with nice tapped riff that starts off very YAITW-ish. Relief starts of a little faster with a crusty, bouncy, muffled rhythm that heads into a few blackened bits of territory before slowing down, hitting a nice section of chords before diving back into chaos; they make an out on a gritty bass line and a nice dark tremolo riff.

Automation is the final track and the most sludgy. A slow opening riff and pounding percussion rotates comfortably for a minute or two, changing not long after that but maintaining speed. It finally builds after some feedback and a bass line into a nice hardcore section to end, quite catchy.

There is definite promise and potential in Void Forger's demo, some room to grow and tighten up but as a whole it's a great demo. Anyone who's enjoying the wave of crusty blackened hardcore at the moment and wants a little more doom/sludge to spice up the mix would be smart to give this short release some attention. Check them out on bandcamp and facebook.

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KEN mode - Venerable (2011)

Full Length, Profound Lore Records / Init Records
March 15th, 2011

Genre: Sludge/Hardcore
Region: Canada

Not that it matters to music fans that congregate on blogs such as this one but KEN mode recently won a Juno award, the equivalent of a Grammy in Canada. Now while I would've definitely picked at least 10 other bands to be nominated along side them if I really gave a shit about award shows — which I don't — (Devin Townsend and Fuck the Facts are fine, Cauldron is eh but Anvil?) and of course it's arguable whether Devin Townsend deserved it more, I have to say that it is surprising and nice to see an actually good, talented metal/hardcore act getting recognized in a mainstream music ceremony — even if it is in a ceremony akin to the watered down afterbirth of the stale abortion that is the Grammys.

Having said all that: KEN mode do fucking rule. I wouldn't be posting them here if they didn't. Quite deserving of some respect from the industry. They have a fairly distinct sound melding Converge-ish hardcore with more traditional southern sludge elements. For whatever reason their newest record, Venerable, escaped my list last year despite having heard it and thoroughly enjoyed it on multiple occasions. Each of their records makes slight adjustments to their style and this is one that in my opinion has basically perfected it, a very cohesive and strong effort indeed. Their early stuff is often compared to Mastodon, I don't like Mastodon much to be honest — to me they don't sound similar at all. Especially on Venerable.

What you get on this record is a tightly packed, dense and aggressive conjuration of angry metallic hardcore with brief glimpses of sludge in the slower moments. At times it's balls-out vicious, filled with twangy dissonance and catchy hooks (eg. Obeying The Iron Will..., Book of Muscle, The Ugliest Happy You've Ever Seen) while in others it can crawl with huge slams and creeping atmospherics (eg. Never Was, The Irate Jumbuck) but it's always intense, noisy, loud and heavy. It has a great amount of variance throughout the 40 minute march as well, letting the styles encountered breath nicely. Vocals are often yelled and punkish, only occasionally hitting a growl or a spoken clean, while the guitar and bass are thick and well defined; playing well together without smothering one another. Drumming duties are carried out with controlled and dedicated fury.

Better late then never right? This is a very pleasing record from a hard working band. Go listen to it right now. I highly suggest supporting them by grabbing a record from their online store or getting a digital copy on bandcamp (where you can hear most of their albums), and checking them out on facebook.

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Light Bearer - Celestium Apocrypha; Book of Watchers

Split - Halo of Flies Records

2012

Genre: Post-Metal / Atmospheric Sludge

Region: UK

The guys from Light Bearer were kind enough to upload a new song from their upcoming split with Northless. It's a massive track, approaching almost 22 minutes in length. I can't believe they recorded and mixed this in such a short period of time. The studio that this song was recorded at is absolutely gorgeous, though. No wonder it came together so well!

recording "Celestium Apocrypha"

Light Bearer is one of the best bands around right now, in my opinion. Hopefully they'll get their next full-length out to us by the end of the year. Light Bearer / Northless split will be coming out on Halo of Flies in the US and Alerta Antifascista and Moment of Collapse in Europe. Support these amazing labels by picking up the gatefold LP when it's released.

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Serpentine Path - Serpentine Path (2012)

EP, Parasitic Records
February 1st, 2012

Genre: Doom Metal
Region: USA

A thick slice of doom for you guys. This is the first release from Serpentine Path who are composed of members from Unearthly Trance and Ramses so you know there's some talent behind this 7".

Two tracks here just over six minutes a piece, and while admittedly it's nothing particularly jaw dropping or special it's definitely a solid offering of glacial paced doom. Both tracks are similar in feel and quite enjoyable, very to-the-point and do not meander as they've been paced and edited well.

Serpentine Path's EP is made up of a thick guitar tone with excellent slow drumming — a steady clash of symbols, and echoing, deep gravelly vocals. In Eerebus a constant synth-like hum is floating behind the trudging grind, and a similar cycling noise can be heard near the end of Depravity; it adds much to the gloomy atmosphere. The riffs are well crafted grooves, a slow spiral downward eroding into darkness. There's only a few points where they break away from thunderous powerchords and hit single notes at a slightly faster pace (particularly in Depravity).

A nice offering of doom indeed. This EP is limited to 500 and available at Parasitic Records, and you can follow them on their blog for further news.

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200 Followers...

Recently Equivoke reached 200 followers which is something I consider impressive for a relatively small and insignificant blog in an ocean of music blogs. It's been a strange year with SOPA/PIPA and the continued interruptions in file sharing, big blogs shutting down and all that scary yet seemingly insignificant shit we all bitch about. But we're still here and going strong, and that's the plan to for the future as well.

Whirr - Pipe Dreams (2012)

Full Length, Tee Pee Reecords
March 13, 2012

Genre: Shoegaze/Dream Pop
Region: USA

I loved their Distressor EP a fuckload, and their June EP was just as nice. This is their long awaited first album.

It's true that after bands like Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Lush, Cocteau Twins, etc. created and perfected the shoegaze/dream pop sound that one could argue there wasn't many ways to elevate the sound — unless you took it into directions that Have A Nice Life, Sweet Trip, Alcest, Crooked Necks, The Twilight Sad and The Angelic Process have taken it, and then it's hardly even the same genre. Still bands like Ringo Deathstarr, Asobi Seksu and Whirr show that the genre can birth some beautiful groups and sounds.

Whirr (formerly Whirl) have perfected their sound well with Pipe Dreams. The album is just over 30 minutes of floating ethereal chords with an angelic vocal performance from Byanca (occasionally harmonized with the guitarist Loren), lush synths that drift in and out, and hypnotizing, vibrant drumming all coming together to create a hazy, dreamy, warm ocean of noisey shoegaze. The vocals are definitely my favorite aspect here as they couple with breathing, effect drenched instruments to mold some beautiful textures.

At times it is a sedated and soft experience, either sad or euphoric while in other tracks it's upbeat, noisy and twangy, more pop oriented and catchy. It's always loud. There is no particularly jarring moments though as the album seems to effortlessly flow together and the songs are edited down (nice and short) so as to leave one feeling pleased; there is no wear from Pipe Dreams.

In the end I love this record. It definitely improves on their first EP which was already stellar. I really recommend picking this one up. Tee Pee Records has the album for order go over there and grab a copy if you like what you hear. You can also follow them on tumblr or listen to previous albums on bandcamp.

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Anhedonist - The Drear (2010)

Demo, Self-released/Independent
August 12th, 2010

Genre: Doom Metal
Region: USA

Their first full length "Netherwards" is going to finally be released in a matter of weeks and I haven't even posted this crushing slab from 2010. Shame on me

I saw them at Rites of Darkness III last winter and they did not disappoint. In fact they decimated the venue with powerful, slow blows of melancholic doom. The Drear is three tracks that hit just over ten minutes each and they are truly something to savor. They're dark and incredibly hypnotizing as they quake with unheard of sorrow, focused into the thunderous grooves expertly. Echoing and pained hoarse vocals and slow riffs meet with they cavernous and plodding drums.

The Insatiable Hole is continuously plodding, dark and subtle with melodic undertones while Despond has a section which picks up the pace slightly in the beginning (almost hitting death metal territory) before crashing downward into low tuned agony again. The last track Ouranophobia I remember clearly from ROD III. It settles into more seriously addicting slabs as heard in the first track with a clean section near the end to heighten the incoming towering conclusion to the record.

With this demo as a solid indicator I can confidently say that Netherwards will undoubtedly be among the heaviest releases this year next to Pallbearer's "Sorrow And Extinction" and Amenra's eventual release of "Mass V". Just listen to this new track!

Get this shit now and follow them over here. The vinyl release is limited to 500 hundred on Parasitic Records so I don't know if you can still get it. If not, go fucking preorder the Netherwards cd from Dark Descent Records (and eventually on vinyl via Parasitic Records and Nuclear Winter Records). Highly recommended especially for fans of Lycus, Sound Asleep, Pallbearer, Aldebaran, Evoken, etc.

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