The Amoeba / Boris Clitoris

This triple issue deals with three free download EP'S. The Amoeba - Gayest Shits (2009), Boris Clitoris Swastikat - Swastikore (2010), Boris Clitoris - Boris Clitoris (2012). Even with two different artist names the releases are in fact from the same artist and with the same style.

All of these albums are free downloads and good ones too. In total the three EP's combined clock just under 24 very entertaining minutes. A summary of the genres in the albums could be melodic breakcore comic metal lounge mashup. It's probably easier to just compare it straight out to Nero's Day At Disneyland but with some metal and psychedelic comics thrown in. 

The first EP, Gayest shits feels like more effort was given to it than the latter ones. It sounds to have the biggest number of layers and versatility. It is also heaviest of the three, Boris Clitoris has seemingly developed its sound towards more melodic and minimalistic output. Funnily, even though the music sounds more minimalistic, on the newest release the melodies are possibly more complicated than before. Just take the bass line of Difficult Listening or the god-knows what instrument driven melodics of Hyena Clitoris from the S/T EP.

What separates Boris Clitoris from many electronic artists is the sheer quality and variety of melodies. There are for example 8-bit melodies (super nerd, Comic Sans), heavy melodic riffs (evil satan!, I'm An Alligator), odd distorted melodies (Swastikat, Mooie Man), some sort of progressive lounge (?) (Hyena clitoris, Difficult Listening), overly happy melodies with sound clips (Yellow is the color of the sun, Organ Grinder). Each song has a vibe of being an unique successful experiment, though every EP has the sort of trademark heavy tracks and overly melodic tracks. But the tracks are full of surprises, the heavy as shit riff may be suddenly entwined with a melody straight out of kindergarden, and as well the child's play may have a distorted ear-bleeding-beat. Or even the occasional noisewall. You never know whats in store, and that makes the experience immensely entertaining.

If I have to nitpick on something it would be the volume levels, through all albums the tracks have different volume levels, meaning the listener has to keep adjusting the volumes. Given the versatility of tracks it is no wonder that there are glitches like this. Also, maybe its the nostalgia-syndrome, but the output of Amoeba / Boris Clitoris has goon slightly downhill with every new release. While i'd rank Gayest shits near 10, Swastikat Swastikore is probably just under 9 and the self-titled a solid 8.

If you are into Venetian Snares or Nero's Day At Disneyland The Amoeba / Boris Clitoris is for you. And if you happen to like metal as well, all the better.

I could say all of the above all just summarize all in Boris Clitoris's words "Fucked up, epileptic, retarded, spastic, childish, bedroom produced, free to download music."

Free Downloads:

The Amoeba - Gayest Shits

Boris Clitoris - Swastikat Swastikore

Boris Clitors - Boris Clitoris (free download when you name your price to 0, I didn't)

Music Video of Mevrouw van Iersel

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+

On comes the overall scores!

After reviewing quite a few releases I can finally start keeping track on the overall scores of every album (from 0 to 10). To sum up, here are all the releases on this blog so far and the overall scores; which will be updated to releases as well.
In alphabetical order:

Alex Tiuniaev Treedreams EP (modified) 8-
Blueprint Human Being - Heaven Is All 8+
Master Toad & Pollux - Offer Their Souls 9+
Mythological Cold Towers - The Vanished Pantheon 9+
Shuji Morimoto - Mies Kaukaisuudesta 8½

P.S. If you have a better word than "Overall Score" or "Ranking" throw it at me and i'll consider changing them all. I don't fully like the tone of "overall score".