Master Toad & Pollux - Offer Their Souls

Dark Ambient with a sense of melody

However clicheicly titled, this free to download ambient release is a real jewel in the weblabel rough. It was released in 2010 by TRASHFUCK Records and Kitty on Fire Records as a webrelease and a cd-r. When an album is co-released by two such brilliantly named weblabels it cannot be all bad! In fact, it turned out to be one of the best Dark Ambient records' I've listened and one of the ones that really got me in the genre, along with NOTHING (best known as a side project of JWW from Agalloch).

All the songs are freely listenable and downloadable from last.fm which is linked to the title of the track when first mentioned. For whole packet, scroll to the bottom of the review.

Master Toad starts the split with 4 tracks, and 3 are instant hits. The vaguely hearable I Stood Upon The Beach of Lost Souls has a scary atmosphere and an unexplainable dark tower vibe, somehow still manages to stay interesting. If I was you I wouldn't tune up the volume, as Dark Insects of the Catacomb whirrs right in with a dark egyptian atmosphere about 20DB louder. Extremely solid and gloomy, and fitting to the title! Curiously, the track delivers an atmosphere alike Mythological Cold Towers' release The Vanished Pantheon. Similar atmosphere continues with Frail Raft Through The Rivers of Hell and if possible, it fits its title even better. A grim journey, but stays pleasant by growing up to a wonderful guitar melody in the end.

Unicorn Dreams finishes up the first half with a lighter tone and a beautiful melancholic melody.

What stands out in Master Toad's side is that is so organic. As nighttime music goes, it is hard to top tunes that combine an interesting Ambient wall with a tangible story and as a cherry on the cake, a guitar melody.

Pollux's side is less organic, but it still delivers great melodies. Black Hope has a big Braid -vibe. As Braid happens to be one of the best indie games of all time, this is very pleasant, though again, quite unexplained. Blue Hope is, if possible, the best track on this album with a light piano and very pleasant pulsing soundwave. The album finishes up Ghosts (Eternal Version), which is an interesting dark ambient wall, with a similar scary vibe than I Stood Upon The Beach of Lost Souls, concluding this album in fitting manner.

In free download weblabel releases, you rarely hear such well crafted passion and skill packed in a compact packet without any fillers.


Download the release: http://www.archive.org/details/kof078MasterToadPollux-OfferTheirSouls

The text was originally released as a part of last.fm journal "Great albums you've never heard of I" http://www.last.fm/user/Takkeri/journal/2011/12/12/58q703_great_albums_you%27ve_never_heard_of_i_-_mythological_cold_towers%2C_blueprint_human_being%2C_pollux%2C_master_toad

Blueprint Human Being - Heaven Is All

Avant-garde progressive rock with doom metal influences

Being a big fan of obscure rock music, but not having many glimpses to prog bands, let alone avant-garde prog, Blueprint Human Being's Heaven is all -ep made a huge impression on me some years ago. The band is best known as a sideproject of only a bit better known Finnish doom trio, Garden of Worm, which is exactly the way this quartet came to my attention. 

Heaven is all consists of 5 tracks, one being a noise outro track and one a short instrumental passage. But the three main tracks make this a fine entity. Especially Vojaganto and Hotelli Kognitio: b. Carrots in the Garden of Worm have an incredible groove. The singing in the record ranges from mediocre to weak and plain odd, but luckily the album largely consists of instrumental sections. When you can overcome the singing and concentrate on the obscure guitar lines, melodies and wicked rhythms, this is an almost throughoutly enjoyable release.

After all these years, the record is still available for purchase on a label Paradigms-recordings. So if you are into progressive rock music and can stand some oddities - this could be something for you. At least download and listen to the sample 11 minute track Vojaganto.

The review was originally released in my journal:
http://www.last.fm/user/Takkeri/journal/2011/12/12/58q703_great_albums_you%27ve_never_heard_of_i_-_mythological_cold_towers%2C_blueprint_human_being%2C_pollux%2C_master_toad 

Mythological Cold Towers - The Vanished Pantheon

"Epic monumental doom metal"

The Vanished Pantheon was released in 2005 by a Finnish label Firedoom music. Even though it was definitely one of the best releases of 2005, it was perhaps too odd and distant for most Finns to understand. It stands as only the 3rd release of the Brazilian Mythological Cold Towers, found in 1994. Their first two releases were received with quite indifferent reviews. The first, Sphere of Nebaddon got more positive publicity, but for me the second, Remoti Meridiani Hymni is stronger of the two. However neither of the first two albums become even close to the 3rd release.

It seems Mythological Cold Towers really found themselves on The Vanished Pantheon. Massive doom metal accompanied with a feel of mythic remote civilizations, and old cultures getting grinded to the dust.

The gigantic atmosphere sometimes slips to being humorously overdramatic. But if you have a personality that can appreciate extremely dramatic compositions (à la Bal-Sagoth) you should find this a very interesting release. Quite raw and unpolished, yet very natural sounds fit Vanished Pantheon perfectly and give a lot of primeval power to the compositions. The sounds remind me of Keep Of Kalessin's Kolossus, but unlike KOK, Mythological Cold Towers succeeds in having lots of strength and rage within a natural sound. Mythological Cold Towers already released their 4th album Immemorial in October on the German label Cyclone Empire. I sincerely hope that The Vanished Pantheon wasn't just a one album miracle.

Loved tracks:
[track artist=Mythological Cold Towers]The Vanished Pantheon[/track]

Also released in my journal:
http://www.last.fm/user/Takkeri/journal/2011/12/12/58q703_great_albums_you%27ve_never_heard_of_i_-_mythological_cold_towers%2C_blueprint_human_being%2C_pollux%2C_master_toad