Night In Gales - Necrodynamic

In 2001 when Necrodynamic was released, Modern Melodeath was on a really big ascension with names like Soilwork and In Flames leading the pack. Night In Gales previous effort Nailwork was released in 2000 and while being a bit of an oddity, still had most of that 2000s' melodeath touch.

Criminally underrated stands Night In Gales Necrodynamic. It is often referred with a shrug as the weakest effort of a mediocre melodeath band. While it may be true that Night In Gales never were better than a mediocre melodeath band, they did succeed in composing memorable songs and good album entities. In Necrodynamic Night In Gales is probably as far from melodeath as they've ever been. Ironically lyrically they are almost only about death. The songs usually encompass a sort of thrash metal-edged drive with nicely raw and muddy sounds; far away from the typical "modern melodeath sound", but still melodic and heavy.

The most unusual thing about Night in Gales has always been the compound words in their lyrics. In earlier albums their guitar work was at times also very odd and while not always perfect, still original. Like guitar work the lyrics turned less experimental with time, but still have a pinch of old. How about:

Down for more of those nothings
Neonecrononsense and unlight
Saw a skeleton eatin' its gravestone
But I keep these words inside

The songs have plenty of groove and while the lyrics aren't filled with oddcompoundworks anymore; they are still pretty fun.

I really got into Necrodynamic nearly 10 years ago and the song trinity Deathmouth Daisies, Song Of Something and Right From The Morgue is still as fun and rocking as they used to be. There are a lot of albums which I then thought as masterpieces but find hardship in appreciating now. Necrodynamic is still fresh. An album which I've always enjoyed and never mixed it up as being a masterpiece.

It is the sort of album you may have heard about; but didn't know how good it is. Hell, rest of Night in Gales albums were re-released in 2008, but not Necrodynamic. While it may be because of copyright reasons, it still does criminal injustice to the album. I think it was just the wrong time for a modern melodeath band to release an album which was not modern at all.

83/100

Yona-kit - Yona-kit LP

"A day later, Yasuko was shot out of the whale's blowhole, landing safe on the deck of the yacht, still at sea. She spoke of bizzare goings on withing the whale's gut...Progressive, avant-experimentalism, hardcore, ambience, metal, and a few less savory things all being digested together to form a racket the likes of which had never been heard. Days passed and Chiller Whale was nowhere to be found. The Skin Graft crew began to lose hope of ever seeing their pals again, until just moments before the search was to be called off, Chiller Whale appeared at the ship's bow! He opened his mighty jaws to reveal the castaways, stronger than before, shoes shined and united under the moniker Yona-Kit (Jonah-Whale). They : stepped out and rejoined the Skin Graft crew. "I've got it all on tape!" exclaimed Steve. "

Math rock with a pinch of Japanese obscurity

Dirty, raw, psychedelic, odd and well, slightly annoying at times. Truly one of its kind. Yona-kit's only LP is a real menace, the groove is on and the sounds are just right when you want your dose of lo-fi crunchiness. The tracks have a real energy and live feeling, but instruments also have their own space to operate and are visible parts of the entity. The image of the band is also stunning and the LP cover looks like it's been ripped out from a cheap copy of Alejandro Jodorowsky's or Terry Gilliam's pupptshow rip-off movie. And that is just right!

Initially I came across this record searching for covers of an English child ballad Two Corbies (also covered by Sol Invictus); and the cover shone out by its sheer uniqueness.

The album boasts three clear hits with Franken-Bitch, Skeleton King and Two Corbies; i would also add the obscure (well everything else about this album is obscure too) instrumental Dancing Sumo Wrestlers near their rank. Hey, a song name like that alone is close to a classic!

The 23 minute anti-magnum opus Slice of Life is a very fitting way to end the album. After about 5 minutes the rest of the 18 minutes is a repeat of the same riff. Oh how I was disappointed at first listens that the blissfull jam just stalls its development. I later came to appreciate the feeling of stopping the album in the midst of a great riff!

SDSA - Drug Life mixtape

They say that rock does not have danger anymore and they are right because most of what normal people label as rock is done by rich men in their 40-50's or corporate money making machines. Back in the day the best selling rock was filled with real cocaine-flavoured fantasies. But now those same people are still making songs. Or those who were smart enough to survive it.

"I'm steady noddin' out like I got the narcolepsy
girl I like you so I put the GHB up in your Pepsi"
- SDSA - Operation (Feat. Spunky Smith) (Prod. By FluiD)

They say that metal does not have danger anymore and again they are right. The 90's church burnings and mainstream's ideology of heavy metal being of satan is far out sight.

But we are only talking about mainstream. With a short dive underground you can easily find music where danger still lives. Take for example an Iraqese band Acrassicauda who played metal literally between bombings and in the fear of authorities finding out what they are doing and shooting them. So when Esa Holopainen of Amorphis (or any other renowed metal musician) tells that metal does not have danger anymore of course it is like they say...

Danger is definitely not out of underground music and that is why it is such a juicy goldmine to find real emotions of. And if there is a single album that has been the definition of danger lately it is SDSA's brilliantly named "Drug Life". And what the hell, the album is a free download from Bandcamp.

SDSA is short of Suicidally Depressed Substance Abusers but this is no emo-shit. Apparently most tracks are influenced by really fucked up real-life situations and that is why they don't end up making tracks often.

Fuck, im talking about rock and metal, but the stuff that's tweaked my built-in danger meter lately the most; is underground hip-hop from Detroit. I never knew I could like hip-hop quite this much, but I always knew there must be jewels like this somewhere. Stuff that is too raw to ever be in public attention. Stuff that doesn't have much distinctively good beats so to fully appreciate you have to dig deep to the drug-infused lyrics and mean vocal lines.

This stuff is full of danger and disfigured streetviews. Listening them, you can really hear that things in Detroit are fucked up.

education is shit, you cant live in this country without staying lit
- SDSA - Operation

The beginning of Drug Life contains more humour and is more on the fun-loving side of abusing drugs and yourself. The middle part (Japan Remix (Feat. Katha Underground) (Prod. By De-Paul), Midnite Snack and Mos Cryptic is the weakest. However it does lead way to brilliantly gloomy last 30 minutes of the album which makes the album a tight entity.

Is it really SDSA from 2010 or the 80s'?

"now we're all getting raped like the drunkard out of party

that smoked too much chronic and drank too much bacardi

but this type of rapist is being sponsored by our government

i feel like i'd be fake if i wasnt speaking on this shit

they way they keep cutting my grandfathers pension

makes me want to hang myself with my own fucking intestines"

- SDSA - Operation

Like I said they are not emo-shit; their lyrics are full of pitch-black humour and abusing people, or themselves. To close this review, here is one of the juiciest bits of the pitch-black-humour sort. In my minds eye I can see this scene in JAM.

"We're in a parking lot and the visions all hasty -

if you think i'll let her go then you must be crazy

i wasnt about to drop of and ask for a number

i tore off her clothes and we fucked in a dumpster

you can call it sin but i threw her in

she had leftover tacobells on her chin

and a banana peel upon a heel

saw some bloody puke so i didnt kneel

grabbed a garbage bag and i took a seat

pulled out my dick and fucked her feet

we got trashfucked girl knew how to suck

she never woke up you can call it luck

tried a dozen positions i loved her style

she was my centerfold and i was Jay Geils"

- SDSA - Crash The Club (Prod. by ProBangers.com)

Overall score: 9/10

Download the album for free from here: http://trashfuckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/drug-life

Weeping Birth - Anosognosic Industry of the I

Weeping Birth must be one of the best hidden gems of Brutal and Technical Death Metal. This project of Metal monster mind Vladimir Cochet released its first album in 2003 but robbed the bank with their second effort in 2008. "Anosognosic Industry Of the I" destroys, chills and occasionally even puts in a beautiful melody. Mainly destroys.

Seventy-plus minutes of monster riffs and huge tempos is, as a thought, very hard to digest but somehow "Anosognosic Industry of the I" is made fluid. For times when the listener may feel sated of crunching riffs, the occasional melodic bits are the perfect relief. These moments are for example the crazy guitar solo of "Hurle à la Mort", "Orgasmic Fetid Breath"'s ominous guitar lead turning into a melodically outbursting chorus, or the beautiful track "Shadowless". Most memorable melodics are, you guessed it, topped over crunching high-speed riffs. The album does have dynamics but it is truly itself only when the gas pedal is stuck down.

The clean vocals and the over done, bit dull-sounding drum machine aren't at par with the rest of the release but they are nonetheless only minor inconveniences as especially the drums are very well-programmed. The only clearly weak track is "Detestable Birth Tapestries With Snakes Embroidered", which verse riff is simply just off, making an otherwise strong track rather annoying. With deep self-examination one might also come to note that "Love, Death's Betrothed" is perhaps too technical for its own good, putting in massive disruptions after each other. On early listens it can be mindblowing in a WTF-fashion, but later on the surprise wears off.

The album is a surprisingly flawless piece, having almost no weak moments. "Anosognosic Industry Of the I" excels at constant variation, wonderful riffs and well-timed dynamics to give the listener a breather now and then. The top moments include for example the frantic and devious last two minutes of "I Was" and the evil break of "Der Tanz der Toten" with French vocals seemingly ready to gnaw the skin off your bones. But most of all "Shadowless", an almost Classical composition, which seems to consist of a continuous bridge slowly leading towards the inevitable orgasmic peak.

Prepare to get bewildered, amazed and confused. "Anosognosic Industry Of the I" brings in a similar shock factor as Havoc Unit's album "h.IV+"  - for me these two are the best Extreme Metal albums of the 2000s.

Overall Score: 9+

The review was originally released in Metal-observer: http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=18866

FluiD / John 3:16 - The Pursuit of Salvation

The Pursuit of Salvation is a split record of two very notable electronic musicians, currently surprisingly much under the underground. FluiD is a veteran presence, having released albums since the early 1990s. John 3:16 is a Drone/Industrial/Dark-Wave/Guitar-driven project from Switzerland, active since 2007. FluiD and John 3:16 produce a great split pair, both having similar haunting and enigmatic atmospheres which at times even become soothing. Artwork is also stunning, having only the webrelease I can only imagine how good it would look in my hands as the physical release 12" Vinyl.

The intro Angels Pt II is particularly impressive - melodic ambient with lots of hooks. A very definition of a catchy intro escalating the atmosphere sky-high. The next two songs develop a more industrial sound but retain the hooks almost as well. Plague could be explained as a bastard-child of melodic dark ambient and industrial, when Forewarning rolls with a massive beat and vague soundclips, which provide more music than voice.

John 3:16 relies mostly on ambient touch similar to Angels pt II. Inside the two tracks there is a lot of variation and surprises. Compared to his earlier release Sinner's Prayer which I described as "psychedelic gospel ambient" the two songs in The Pursuit of Salvation are even more ambient, melodics being less straighforward. God of Light fills up the continuum by progressing from rich soundscaping ambient to a very FluiD like industrial beat in the end. Toward The Red Sea evokes beautifully corrupted images of a deserted town with wind blowing through and deteriorated objects rattling in the wind to the sound of a distant gloomy church choir.

I can easily imagine both artists progressing to reach more vast audiences if they keep up the quality of their releases this high. The vast industrial and ambient soundscapes are truly thrilling to listen and most of all flow greatly together to form a compact release.

I do not know if Toward The Red Sea is an Isis reference, but having the Isis lyrics in memory I couldn't help but noting how the last line of Isis's - Red Sea quite suit the overall atmosphere of The Pursuit of Salvation.

The ocean spreads beneath the skin
Fluid fills blackened lungs
Tar seeps across the eyes
Away in the sea of red
- Isis - Red Sea (1999)




Overall Score: 8+

Alex Tiuniaev - Treedreams

Surprisingly grand for a wee EP

Ever since I've been a kid I've been exposed to sequencer, synthesizer and ambient music from the likes of Klaus Schulze, Mike Oldfield, Jean-Michel Jarre etc. Even though they are undoubtedly geniuses, revolutinees of the music field and whatnot, I have never became very close to their music, though I have always kind of liked them. Still, Im sure this exposion has left some mark. Often things you've listened as a kid hit you hard later on and I think I finally found my first knack of sequencer-type music on Alex Tiuniaev.

Alex Tiuniaev is an ambient and piano composer from Russia. His EP Treedreams is a small piano driven release consisting of two tracks, both freely downloadable from last.fm. Small does not necessary mean simple, and minimalistic doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of textures. Alex Tiuniaev's work reminds me subconsciously of Klaus Schulze's sequencer outputs (which of them, I cannot say). 

Treedreams I consists of a rhythmic melody circling around a rhythmic beat. Treedreams II:n has a similar beat present but it is more piano driven, than sequencer driven.Of these two Treedreams I is the simpler and clearly more memorable having a great catchy melodyline which took a few listens to materialize to its full potential. Treedreams II is a fine closer having more variation and more ambient. However for me Treedreams EP is not complete without a track from Alex Tiuniaev's newest album Blurred. Another free last.fm download "The Wild Winds Weep" can be cleverly bootlegged to serve as a brilliant intro to Treedreams. The Wild Winds Weep is my latest random find; a full on goosebump effect in the middle of a walk.

While I have only listened Blurred once I can say it does have lots of potential, especially the cinematic "We Were All Fishes Once" caught me unaware on first listen. I cannot fully express why, but somehow Alex Tiuniaev's music is extremely likable. If Treedreams or any of the synthesizer-artist-household-names-above make any impression to you Treedreams is, and free-to-listen Blurred may very well be, a shimmering find.

Overall score (modified EP): 8-/10

Download Treedreams for free here: http://www.last.fm/music/Alex+Tiuniaev/Treedreams+EP

Shuji Morimoto - Mies Kaukaisuudesta

Melancholic folk rock with sympathetic oddness

A Finnish-Japanese (?) bluesy folk rock coalition who released their first self-titled release as a cassette and free download on their bandcamp-site in the beginning of January. Shuji Morimoto is one of the many projects of Päijänne Suurjärvi, others of note being Päijänteen suopalloilijat and Guggenheim-projektz. All three share the same spirit of absudism yet have a clear own facet.

Mies Kaukaisuudesta is something of a mixture of EP and full-length album, consisting of 6 tracks clocking some 25 minutes. The overall atmosphere is very Finnish, but there is an odd heart of far-away-places and absurdism beating under the surface. The compositions are very airy and vocals mostly clear folk rock-vocals, but at times wander to stranger surfaces. 

The vocals avoid the biggest pitfalls successfully even if sometimes they dance on the edge of that wire. Not being that balanced and expected, the vocals and lyrics add a lot freshness and could even say danger to the music. Lyrics are particularly nicely crafted, awaking images of a land far beyond but sometimes they do turn naive. Even if the main image is such a cliche as japan, the lyrics avoid the manganisms and animenisms simply putting in an image of a distant and mystical land.

In this type of music the vocals and lyrics are particularly important but the compositions are surprisingly catchy and thought evoking as well. "Mies kaukaisuudesta" with a superbly catchy chorus and "Nousevan Auringon Maa" both have a lot of groove and swing under a relatively simple surface. After multiple listens it becomes clear that the record indeed has a lot of class under a simple surface. Distorted guitars, synthesizers, clean electric guitars and acoustic guitars take their turns and just when the track asks for it, they provide classy lead-sections bringing the whole matter to the next level.

The next three tracks: "Planeetta Punainen", "I don't know anything about Japan" and "Radiation is not good for your health" slow down the tempo and atmosphere from near-ballad to clear ballad. Surprisingly, in the midst the language also changes from Finnish to English and Shuji Morimoto does it effortlessly keeping the atmosphere intact. And how about saving the best melody for last? Gojira's stylish jam of a steady melodic beat and guitar leads closes up the album.

Is it really a Japanese-Finnish folk rock coalition? Or is it just one man and a made up figure, which even has a facebook page? Here I am suspecting a persons existence but guess what, I do not want to know. Not just yet. This type of mystery is bound to make a project seem somehow more secret and mystic adding its value. In short, I cannot get enough of Shuji Morimoto and Mies Kaukaisuudesta has been spinning regularly on my evening-chilling playlist for multiple months. Extremely recommended.

Download the release for free from their Bandcamp site:
http://shujimorimoto.bandcamp.com/album/mies-kaukaisuudesta

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