Entry 1543 - In Flames - Clayman

Style: melodic death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: modern day, religion, the human condition

Thoughts: In Flames is a very important band. Not only are they critical in my musical taste in metal, but they helped define what I look for in a lot of music beyond the genre. The band came into my life at a critical time... I was deciding if I was going to move on from metal or if I was going to delve deeper into it. I was heavily into the alternative metal scene at the time and had little to no interest in any form of extreme metal... until I heard Dark Tranquillity and In Flames.

Dark Tranquillity's history is chronicled elsewhere, but In Flames deserves as much credit as Dark Tranquillity. Dark Tranquillity started the shift in me from nu-metal to the more extreme styles in the genre, but I was still wary. There was only one band in the style that was to my liking. 

I heard a lot of people mention In Flames in the same breath as Dark Tranquillity more than once. I had my local store order Whoracle and well... yeah that was all I needed. This melodic death metal thing was exactly what I was looking for in music. I was hooked.

I quickly ordered as much as I possibly could and found the rest at Tower Records. Teenage me was very happy. A few years later I was completely enamored with the band and heard that they had a new album coming out soon - this one called Clayman.  I was excited, maybe more so than any other album I had been in a while. Colony was great and this was coming out a year after that. I picked it up day one.

The first thing I noticed before I even put the CD in my player was that the titled were... different. The more esoteric song titles were gone, in their place we had more modern song titles. I wasn't sure what I thought about that, but ya know as long as the music is good who cares right?

Well I put the album on and Bullet Ride started. The opening riff is great, it builds anticipation for whats about to happen, it even reminded me a bit of some Whoracle themes. I got even more excited. The band strips back the distortion and Anders started his semi crone/talk vocals. These were nothing new, he had done this a ton on Whoracle. Not the biggest fan but whatever. So far so good... then came the chorus.

Anders' growl... if you can call it that was weak. It was like he was yelling in a whiny tone with a bit of distortion on it. It had gone up quite a few registers since colony and all of the power that I loved from his vocals was completely gone. When he got to the second or third line of "Turning, twisting the alphabet" he goes down to the lower register so I knew he could do the classic Anders... but outside of that one line he didn't do it... Why? 

The song continued, maybe this was just a thing for Bullet Ride. Well, Pinball Map came on and Only For the Weak, and Square Nothing, and... nope this was his new vocal style. What the hell was happening? The music still was classic In Flames. The riffs were fucking amazing, but holy shit those vocals, what was he thinking?

I hated it. It ruined the album for me. I made it through once then turned it off. Not worth my time. I went back to listening to Jester Race and Colony that same day and never wanted to listen to it again. I would go back to it a few more times but ultimately the vocals killed it for me. The band was  not dead to me, but I did not like the direction that they were headed. 

I think I stopped playing the record for years. I would sometimes go back to listen to the title track which still remains an amazing In Flames song but most of the album was lacking that spark that I loved so much from the first four albums. This was essentially my thoughts on Clayman for decades. Then the vinyl re-release was announced recently.  

I forced myself to listen to the album in its entirety for the first time in years... maybe decades. What I heard was a different album. Yes, Anders vocals still suck, but you know what I can get past that. What I heard was a band that was playing classic In Flames riffs without even trying (unlike recent outings from the band). The band was in their prime here and it shows. These melodies are vintage In Flames and I was a fool for ignoring that part of the album for so long.

In Flames absolutely have started to experiment with their sound on Clayman, much more so than any of the first four albums. Satellites and Astronauts shows the band incorporating a lot of electronic elements, the aforementioned Bullet Ride does the same during one of the verses. Anders' is experimenting more with clean vocals than ever before. Honestly it sounds like the band is starting to get bored of their classic sound and is putting out feelers for what direction to go. 

A lot of people will point to the follow up to this album as the first transition album to what In Flames would ultimately become. I think that the transition started here. Clayman is a transition album for the band. They still have their riffs and focus but there is a LOT of experimentation on the album with mixed results. Is it a great album? No not really. Is it better than I remember? Hell yes it is. 

Entry 1542 - Stormkeep - Lost Relics

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: the mighty lords of the keep of storms

Thoughts: Ever since I learned of Stormkeep I have been fascinated with the band. From their debut EP and the mixture of metal and dungeon synth to the epic first album, the band has consistently released high quality music. With every release there has been a heavy reliance on keyboards and dungeon synth interludes. It's only natural that their second EP would be a full on dungeon synth release.  

Lost Relics is a short five song EP that is purely keyboard driven dungeon synth. It reflects the style that was most prominent on their debut EP's keyboard driven sections rather than the more black metal integrated style that was more prominent on Tales of Othertime. These are grandiose, classic dungeon synth tracks that are proud of what they are and do not shy away from their influences. 

Those influences come from the classic Norwegian scene.... the founders of the genre. These are a tribute to the dark dungeon music of Mortiis, Summoning, Satyricon, and Wongraven. These are sweeping epics stitched together in such a way that they are individual compositions but fit the larger narrative of the album. 

Unlike the older artists in the genre these songs are individually titled and are split up into individual tracks rather than one long one - a small but notable change. The songs also harness that slow epic meandering spirit that so many of the early (and even modern) dungeon synth artists have. Be it the frozen wintertops of a mountain, or the fog drenched valley below, the album vividly portrays vast landscapes where man is no where to be seen.

Lost Relics is likely going to be a one off album for the band. I don't see them going full on dugeon synth again, but who knows? I do know that this foray in to the genre has been quite enjoyable and while they likely won't release a full album dedicated to the style again I do hope that it is well integrated into the next album and continues the bands mighty tradition of paying tribute to the roots of their respective genres. 

Entry 1541 - Ashes - Gloom, Ash, and Emptiness on the Horizon

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: decay, sombreness, and the dreary doldrums of life

Thoughts: It's raining for the thirteenth straight day. The ground is saturated with water. The rivers overflow and the nearby houses risk flooding. With each passing day the misery grows. This is the realm in which Ashes create their music from.

Ashes play black metal with a definitive gloomy bent to it. For the most part the band stays away from blast beats and the more typical speed of the genre. Rather they favor a slower or mid paced style that leans heavily into the misery that sorrow laden riffs can create. 

The band has a large variety of tempos on the album, but they are at their best when things are a bit slower. This allows the misery from their melodies to ruminate and fester in the listener. They are given time to sink in and convey the layer upon layer of utter misery that this music brings. 

The faster moments, while still gloomy, don't quite have the same effect as the slower ones. It's almost as if the band throws these moments in to remind the listener that "yes, we are a black metal band, here's a faster tempo to remind you." Or something of the sort. Ultimately they are fine for what they are, but man I feel like the band would be so much better if they focused more on the slower parts.

That said Gloom, Ash, And Emptiness on the Horizon is a really well done album. The majority of the release fully conveys every emotion that is in the title and the band does not shy away from the misery that is associated with it. The band shows a ton of potential and I think with a bit more focus and refinement they can create something exceptional in the genre.

Entry 1539 - Ninkharsag - The Dread March of Solemn Gods

Style: melodic black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: The evil that the night holds

Thoughts: There was once a band named Dissection. They created what would ultimately become the finest melodic black metal album ever created. Their reign came to a sudden and abrupt end however, leaving their crown unclaimed upon the throne. Who then would lay claim?

For many years I thought it was Thulcandra that had picked up the crown and sat upon the throne. After all their sound is a direct tribute to the melodic majesty of Dissection. Times do change however, and after listening to both Thulcandra and Ninkharsag I tend to lean more towards that latter as the true successor to Dissection's sound. 

I mention Dissection so much in relation to this band because it truly sounds like this is the fourth Dissection album. The melodies used, the way that the drums are played and even produced in some manner all lean so heavily into the sound of the former band that the band hardly has it's own identity. 

Now typically I would consider that a bad thing, but in this case it's a strong compliment. Not only does the band have the song writing capability of Dissection, but they also have the ability to create an entire album up to the quality of this legendary band. 

The melodies cut through the air like a knife. The vocals shriek and howl as if in a deep seething pain. The drums are effective and compliment the music to near perfection. The interplay between the bass and the guitars is often enough intricate and has me eagerly listening to both in conjunction with each other.  The whole album just works, and it's damn good on top of that.

Ninkharsag does not have a vast discography, but what they have is excellent. I will almost always default to Storm of the Lights Bane for this style of music, however that has shifted a tad with my introduction to this band and their outstanding music. Very curious to see where they go from here.

Entry 1540 - EITR - Hädanfärden

 

Style: Dungeon synth, ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: The peace of the sea, the tranquillity of a starry night

Thoughts: Life. Death. War. Peace. Earth. Afterlife. Valhalla.

What is life without death? What is peace without war? What is this earth without something in the next realm? Questions which have haunted mankind for as long as written history exists. These questions have weight to them. These questions have caused many  to think, to ponder... others to violence. 

EITR's music dwells on these topics as well. Through the peace and tranquillity of dungeon synth and celestial ambient we hear the musings of those who came before us. Simple melodies resonate as stars dotted in the sky, or as gentle waves lapping on the shore... steering us ever so gently to whatever conclusions we may be destined to reach.

Answers are never guaranteed, and lo Hädanfärden does not offer any. Rather it provides a beautiful state in which one can meditate on the state of the world hereafter and the peace that it brings. The simple melodies repeat so that our thoughts may ruminate. The atmosphere is gentle so that we may consider things without turbulence. The album short so that we may return as many times as we so desire. 

Hädanfärden is a beautiful moment in time. It offers a brief respite from the chaos of the world. A oft needed one. 

Entry 1538 - Arstidir Lifsins - Aldrlok

Style: viking/black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Ancient times, old Norsk

Thoughts: I've said this before and I will say it again, and again, and again. Arstidir Lifsins is the best Viking metal band to have existed. They are one of the finest metal bands active today, and likely ever. They resonate with me on every single level that I look for in music. Easily one of my top bands of the last ten... nay twenty years.

Aldrlok. A monument to what good music is. A testament to metal and the future generations. A beacon of hope for those who have lost their way. A monument that decries that good music can still be made in this modern day. Aldrlok. 

Aldrlok. Music that comes from the very soul of humanity. The reverence that comes from the deep chants of these minstrels shakes the very core of my being. The riffs that resonate with me on a primal level are spawned at every moment of me listening to this album. The rage that permeates the depth of the music and synchronizes with the spirit of the earth itself. The beauty that comes from the acoustic instrumentation and the purity that their notes bring. The esteem and utter respect that the artists bring with their song writing to both the structure and the lyrics. All of this is Aldrlok. Aldrlok.

Aldrlok. One of the great albums of our time. One that every man woman and child should hear. One that shows the struggle of life. One that shows the joy of existence. One that needs only one word. Aldrlok.

Entry 1537 - Evilfeast - Isenheimen

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Night, winter, the dark

Thoughts: My god it's been a while. I've been wanting to get into this band for several years now. The few snippets of songs that I've heard have been excellent. Finding any of their recordings on vinyl has been a bit more of an adventure than I had anticipated. Part of that adventure is over now though and I have one of the bands EP's in my collection.  

Evilfeast plays keyboard laden rawish black metal.  None of the music is particularly fast, but what it lacks in speed it more than makes up for in atmosphere. The keyboards in particular do some really heavy lifting on this release.

Each side of the album mirrors the other. The first song is an ambient/dungeon synth track (with a small bit of black metal mixed in), and then the second song will be pure black metal. I truly love the ambient tracks as they bring to mind frozen landscapes with their bright synth tones that drone on. It is enough to chill even the warmest summer day. 

The black metal is also quite good, though not quite as excellent as the ambience. The guitars are produced as you would expect from a black metal band that relies heavily on atmosphere. The drums are a bit hollow for my tastes, but they work for what its worth. I think I would prefer them to be further back in the mix or be a bit less clear one way or another to truly compliment the atmosphere to be truly effective however.

Evilfeast doesn't do anything new or different here. Somehow though I don't think that that was ever the point. This is black metal played for people that enjoy the genre. It's executed exceptionally well and the atmosphere is one of the better takes on the genre I've heard in a little while. Not revolutionary, but certainly a breath of fresh (frozen) air in a sea of mediocrity.  

Entry 1536 - Falkenbach - Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty

Style: Viking Metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Vikings and the glory of old

Thoughts: Falkenbach is one of the quintessential viking metal bands. They were one of the first ones doing it and they remain a favorite amongst those who delve into the genre. Despite all of this I have never been able to get into the band.

I've tried listening to Ok Nefna Tysvar Ty multiple times. I've spun the record at least a dozen times now and for the life of me I don't see the appeal. Sure all the elements of a good album are there, but the way it's put together is just not for me.

I think the opening track sums it all up for me. The music is epic and blends together soaring clean vocals with the occasional rasp. There are keyboards that compliment the guitars that play a psudo flute melody. It's in this flute melody where things just start to fall apart for me. It repeats almost the entirety of the song... all nine minutes. There are a few other things that are going on but the repetition has me begging for the song to end about half way through. 

That is the essence of why I can't get into the album, it has an over reliance on simple melodies that don't need to be repeated as often as they are. There is obviously some great music on here, but I just can't get past the aspects that drag t he music down. 

Entry 1535 - Amparo - Keep Your Soul Young

Style: ambient, ambient techno

Primary Emotions/Themes: tranquility, meditation, openness

Thoughts: I ended up picking up this album on a whim. I had heard good things about it from multiple people and decided to give it a go. 

Amparo's sound can be summarized as such: dreamy ambient pads with various techno and EDM beats underneath. Most of the music here is slow and exceptionally tranquil with piano chords providing most of the melodic structure of the music. This is ambient however so these melodies are long and drawn out, almost to the point where I struggle to call them melodies at all.

While the music is quite dreamy it also lacks a lot of what I would look for in ambient music. For one it's a little too structured for me. It ends up sounding like washed out electronic music rather than ambient or a more standard rendition of the genre. The in between area doesn't do much for me on a personal level.

That said there is quite a bit to like here. Sometimes the music goes either more into the ambient or the more solidified electronic range. When it does the music seems to find itself and I'm able to enjoy it a lot more. On the ambient side the music washes me away into a dreamland where I am able to ruminate with my mind. On the more structured side I'm able to groove to genuinely good melodies and beats.  It's a shame that this only happens a few times in the album.

Keep Your Soul Young is ultimately an album that I can't get into on a regular basis. I really wish this wasn't the case as there's some genuinely good music on here. There's just too many other strong albums out there that do this style better (on either side of the spectrum) for me to give this album extended play time. 

Entry 1534 - Dödsrit - Nocturnal Will

Style: crusty black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: 

Thoughts: You ever have a wonderfully presented meal? One that looks like it is going to be one of the best experiances of your life to that point? I've been there I've seen some absolutely mouth watering dishes. The thing is, looks can be one thing - the real test here is how it actually tastes. This - of course - is an allegory for Dödsrit's Nocturnal Will.

Dödsrit plays black metal with a bit of punk influence. Their songs are long and they are highly melodic in nature. They show a lot of dynamics in that the song will blast when it needs to and pull back to near acoustic levels when needed. The small bursts of d-beat help bring the album in to its own. 

On first listen Nocturnal Will hits every single note that I wanted it to hit. The melodies struck a chord and drove me to listen further. The songs were long and well fleshed out, I thought I had hit an album that was firing on all cylinders throughout the playtime. 

I was compelled to listen a second time, and a few cracks begin to show. The songs weren't as engaging as I thought they were. The melodies were a bit more generic than I remembered. The songs themselves didn't do much for me emotionally, and the whole experience was merely "fine" rather than excellent. 

This continued to be my experience with Nocturnal Will. The more I listened the less it sounded like something I wanted to come back to. I almost felt like a heroin junkie coming back ot the same thing trying to get that same high as the first time... but it's just not there.

I think Nocturnal Will is the musical equivalent of fast food. It's immediate, available right when you want it, but in the end it's not great food. Sometimes though that can be exactly what's needed. Sometimes I need surface level black metal with little to no depth to it. For those times this album will do nicely.

Entry - 1533 - Thangorodrim - Akallbabeth

Style: classic dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: The Fall of Numenor

Thoughts: All things must come to an end, so was it with the First Age of Middle Earth. I will not befoul the writings of J.R.R. and Christopher Tolkein here as their prose are infinitely greater than my own. Read the Samarillion for the true recounting of the Fall of Numenor... as recounted in Akallbabeth.

Thangorodrim has attempted their own version of this epic tale through the medium of dungeon synth. Two songs have been designated to interpret this troubled time in the history of Middle Earth: Númenor, and The Felling of Nimloth. 

Both songs are well over ten minutes in length and easily justify the play time. As one would expect from a concept such as this the music is epic; often consisting of long drawn out melodies that bring to mind larger than life scenes. Sweeping valleys, forests as far as the eye can see, the great trees of the Valinor and the near infinite light they give off. 

Thangorodrim will continue to be one of my favorite dungeon synth projects. The music that this project has produced has become some of the finest examples of what classic dungeon synth sounds like in a modern context. Every single one of the EP's as well as the two full length albums are top tier, I can't speak highly enough of them. 

Each one of these four EP's tells a different story of the Legendarium of J.R.R. Tolkien. Each one has its own identity, yet they all fall squarely into the majesty that is Thangorodrim. A fitting tribute indeed.

Entry 1532 - Thangorodrim - Towers of the Teeth

Style: classic dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: Tolkein, orcs, Narchost, Carchost

Thoughts: Mordor. The land where no light dwells. A place where all things go to die. The land of the disciple of Morgoth's greatest disciple: Sauron. 

Above the Black Gate, the infamous entry way into the accursed land lay two towers. Narchost and Carchost watch over the black gate as faithfully as the ever watching eye on top of Barad Dur. Stolen from the armies of men in the early part of the Third Age, what was once a testament to the might of men now mocks them as their armies lay in ruin and their fortresses surrendered to the enemy of light. These are the Towers of the Teeth.

Two songs, two compositions, two epics for two towers. Each one of these fifteen minute epics contains some of the finest dungeon synth written outside of the classic era of the genre. Each composition is named after one of the two towers.

The music contained within these two songs is the stuff of legends. The melodies resonate with the ether of the world, channeling the spirits of the first, second, and third age to rejoice in their profound glory. 

In a practical sense this is dungeon synth pure and simple. The melodies are introduced once after the other and are often simple in nature. That said they have a majesty to them that few other releases have. They recall both the glory of past times in Narchost and the evil that is to come in Carchost. 

While the music is simple it never feels lacking. There are only a few instruments playing at any singular time but they are divided in such a way that they compliment each other and fill out the musical palate exceptionally well.  

Unlike many of these lengthier dungeon synth songs there is some consistency to the Towers of the Teeth. Instead of multiple smaller compositions stitched together the entire length of both the tracks feel like they are the same throughout. They feel like an evolution of the original theme and melodies rather than casting it aside for new concepts later.

Thangorodrim is an artist that I did not care for the first time I heard their music. I don't know what it was but somehow it did not click with me. It wasn't until I revisited them much later that I found the absolute majesty of their music. Towers of the Teeth is a testament to all that is good within the genre of classic dungeon synth, and it has become an essential release for those who would partake. 

Entry 1531 - Lhaäd - Beyond

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: the depths beyond

Thoughts: A theme can sometimes turn into a gimmick, a crutch for a band to rely on because they have no other ideas to lean into. Gimmicks work sometimes, but often I grow tired of them before the album ends. Themes are a band treading in dangerous waters.

Lhaäd is a band themed around the unknown horrors of the depths of the ocean. Their previous album managed to tread the line between atmosphere, melody, the violence of the depths exceptionally well. I was curious how the follow up would fare. 

I am pleased to report that Lhaäd's third album maintains the quality of the second. The atmosphere is just as dense as the previous with the guitars maintaining the perfect mix of melody and dissonance. Keyboards are sprinkled in small amounts to add accents throughout each of the songs on the release as well. They are never overbearing and only do exactly what they are meant to do: add just a pinch extra to elevate the song to the next level.

The vocals again follow suit from the previous album. A deep menacing howl that draws inspiration from the horrors at the bottom of the brine of the sea. They ebb and flow with the music in ways that most vocals do not: they bellow when required, they invoke deep seeded fear when the music calls for it, they even back off and allow the atmosphere to envelop the listener completely. A clear highlight of the album, and a core strength of Lhaäd's sound.

Through the seven songs on Beyond the band swallows the listener and drags them into the riptide of their riffs and aural violence. The theme of the ocean is ever present but it never becomes a gimmick, the band focuses on the music first and refuses to compromise its integrity. 

Themes are dangerous territory for bands, however it can also be a fertile land for the birth of an excellent album. Fortunately, Lhaäd finds themselves in the second category. Beyond is a fantastic album that never overstays its welcome. A great album for when atmospheric black metal is required.

Entry 1530 - Shagor - Lyksalver

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Darkness is everywhere, instead of fighting it why not embrace it

Thoughts: I bought this album without listening to it. The debut from this band was so strong I didn't feel like I even needed to vet this release before owning it. That may have been a misstep on my part.

The debut from these guys was full of killer riffs, dense atmospheres, and a deep vitriol in nearly every note and word spoken. Nothing original or that I hadn't heard before, but it was so well done I had to give it it's due. It was a breath of fresh air in a saturated black metal field.

The follow up is none of that. The riffs are derivative, the atmosphere is lacking, and all the venom and hatred from the debut is absent here. What on earth happened? I'm not sure but I do know that I don't like this album nearly as much as the debut.

I've often heard that the criterion for a middling album is if you would prefer to listen to silence or the album that you are currently listening to. With that in mind Lyksalver is just barely above a middling album. It's slightly better than silence, but not much. The album is simply generic black metal with none of the spunk or fire that made the debut so enjoyable. 

The riffs repeat too long and don't really have any sort of intensity or urgency. The vocals are a longing howl or cleanish shout throughout the album. They fit the music but again, there is no passion in them. The bass and drums do exactly what you would expect them to do, nothing more, nothing less. It really feels like the band wanted to release new material but simply couldn't bring themselves to put any effort into the release.

The real damning part here is that there are a few fleeting moments when the band shows the fire and atmosphere that I would expect from them based on the debut. Those moments are for a fleeting few minutes through the release - maybe ten percent at best. It's a damn shame because it shows me that the band still has it in them... they just seem to have lost their way.

Shagor is now on the precipice of a choice. They can continue in the direction that they have been on Lyksalver and completely lose themselves to mediocrity. Or they can reignite that fire and bring back that venom and hatred from the debut that made it so damn good. We'll see where their third release will end up, but as it is their second is likely not going to get many spins from me in the future.

Entry 1529 - Joe Hisaishi and Kenshi Yonezu - The Boy and the Heron

Style: orchestral movie soundtrack 

Primary Emotions/Themes: hope, fear, a chance at redemption

Thoughts: I always hesitate when it comes to adding a new Studio Ghibli soundtrack to my collection. The ones that I do have are perhaps some of the very best music that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. They elicit emotions like no other music can. That paired with the beauty of the animation that Studio Ghibli brings makes this part of my collection truly special.

The Boy and the Heron is the latest film by the legendary duo of Hayao Miyazaki and Joe Hisaishi. The movie itself lives up to the legacy of these two esteemed gentlemen. It takes me on a magical adventure for nearly three hours and I am forever lost in it's enchantment when the movie is playing. The Ghibli experience is unlike any other.

The music itself once again is in the master class level. Being driven by a piano for most of the duration, the soundtrack effortlessly expresses feelings of wanderlust, mystery, and a deep sense of needing to know the truth. 

These emotions are primarily explored by how soft and subtle most of the soundtrack is. There are extended periods of silence throughout, almost to the point where silence is used as it's own instrument. In the hands of a lesser composer this would be potentially disastrous, but in the hands of Hisaishi it becomes a thing of wonder.

The music is so simple and elegant, doing exactly what is required to generate the wanted emotions. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the master at work. 

I hesitated for a long time to add this soundtrack to my collection. Could it live up to the legacy of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and the like? In my humble estimation the answer to this question is a resounding yes. It may not be as bombastic or as instantly memorable as either of those other soundtracks, but my goodness this album is something special. For what may very well be the final pairing of this legendary duo, they go out with one of their finest moments. 

Entry 1528 - Moloch - Forest Kingdom

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: the kingdom of the forest and its denizens 

Thoughts: I want to sit down and be taken far away. Far away from the busyness of the city. Far away from the stress and constant bickering of people. Far away from concrete, from steel and the smell of burning tar. 

Take me to a place where there are rolling hills. Take me to a place where the air is fresh. Let me go amongst the trees and flowers. Let me step into the mossy grounds. Let me go to the hollows and the meadows. Take me away from all of this into the kingdom of the forest. 

Moloch's Forest Kingdom is dungeon synth pure and simple. There is nothing else that this could possibly be. The synths are droning and have an acoustic feel to them. They exemplify what the music speaks of: a simpler place where life is free to exist on its own with minimal interference from humans. 

It's this simplicity that drives the entire album. The melodies rarely have more than a few notes to them, and the songs rarely ever have more than a few measures or bars to the entirety of their construct. The atmosphere is full yet simple, much like a forest canopy shielding the animals below from the sun above. 

Music like this does not come across my turntable very often. Often times dungeon synth will be too active or too dreary for its own good. Moloch does not fall into either of those traps. Forest Kingdom has the perfect amount of repetition without feeling redundant, and it balances light and dark tones in the music to near perfection. 

I want to get away, I want to be away from civilization. I do not want to be where I am, but alas I am stuck. For some very brief moments though I can close my eyes and allow Moloch's Forest Kingdom to take me to places far away in my imagination. A place unmolested by humans, a place of peace.

Entry 1527 - Lömsk - Act I

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: war

Thoughts: Oh wow. Where did this come from? 

Lömsk play black metal, pure and simple. Their style revolves around simple riffs that are repeated and morphed throughout their songs. The songs are simple containing only a few ideas throughout their length. That description while accurate, hardly does this EP justice. 

What the band truly does is take a simple idea and iterate on it throughout the entirety of the song, building it up and tearing it down in ways that are unexpected but work utterly to the bands favor. For instance Shovels and Ropes takes a simple two note riff and build it into this incredibly massive orchestral piece that is so epic that it gives me goosebumps - from two notes!

This repeats in every song. The band takes a simple idea and slowly builds on it while keeping the core in tact. A keyboard added here, building drum beat evolving into blast beats there, whatever the song requires the band is able to produce. And produce exceptionally well.

Act I is something that I have been craving even though I didn't know I needed it. Every time I listen to these twenty five minutes of music I'm immediately smitten by how absolutely outstanding their song writing is. I can't wait for more from these guys.

Entry 1526 - Barshasketh - Antinomian Asceticism

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: the spiritual world, death, life, fatalism

Thoughts: A church bell rings, signaling the execution that is to come. The prisoner is marched out in silence and placed in the gallows, as the platform drops and the prisoner is sent to their death. This moment, the brief time between life and death is the realm that Barshasketh exists in. 

Barshasketh play a a style of black metal that is intense and unrelenting. The riffs take no pleasure in existing, in fact they insist on making the lives of those who listen to them less pleasant. They have an uncomfortable air to them that causes an uneasy feeling deep within me. 

This is not truly dissonant black metal, I'm used to that. This is something a bit different. Sure there is dissonance, but there is also this deep seeded unease and discomfort in each note that is played. They will stay in between a more traditional black metal style then suddenly and without warning switch into a dissonant direction only to go back to the more traditional style just as jarringly. Additionally the band will mix in moments of clean guitars and acoustic guitars with some of the most eerie production I've heard in a while. It's a harrowing experience.

The vocals follow suit. They alternate between this nearly goblin sounding high pitched shriek and a lower register grunt/howl that comes out every now and then. Sparkle in some incredibly odd clean vocals and you have the vocal palate of Barshasketh. 

The band seems to take great pleasure in the discomfort of the listener. There are so few moments on the album where things actually go the way that I expect them to. Rather, the band zigs when I expect them to zag. They weave when I expect them to bend. They truly are as unpredictable as you can get and still be within the well defined walls of black metal. 

Antinomian Asceticism is not an easy listen... in fact I would only recommend this album to those who are looking for something truly jarring and subverts expectations within the black metal genre. This is not a beginners album, this is an album for those of us who have heard a lot and need something fresh and unforgiving to cleans the palate. If that sounds appealing then this album delivers.

Entry 1525 - Gespenst - Den Sidste Faerd

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: power, wonder, the human condition

Thoughts: Atmospheric black metal typically comes in one of two flavors: good and bad. There rarely is much in between. When it is done poorly the band tends to sound the same throughout the album with no tempo variation and let keyboards or full chords to the heavy lifting with the atmosphere. I find it dull and unimaginative and I've heard it more times than I can count. 

When atmospheric black metal is done well however it's another thing all together. The riffs are interesting and create the atmosphere on their own. The songs are more engaging and can often have that hypnotic quality to them that makes me lose track of all time as they swirl around me. This is the realm that Gespenst find themselves in on Den Sidste Faerd. 

The band alternates between faster and slower riff selections. The faster moments are fine for what they are, but it's the slower moments where the band truly shines. During the first half of Dødsfærd the band builds a hugely ominous atmosphere. The riffs churn and boil in a way that the music festers and lingers to the point of almost being uncomfortable. Combine that with vocals that sound like a gargling banshee and some tasteful keyboard melodies and you have the makings of a truly excellent song. 

The band only has five songs on the album, with one of those being an interlude - so really only four. The songs are greatly varied from track to track, emphasizing slower more melodic portions and contrasting that with faster more intense portions of the album. Where things truly shine though is when the band slows down to almost doom speeds and ramps the atmosphere up to the maximum. 

The one major deviation from the formula comes on the final track, Intethed. This track drops nearly all the metal and relies on keyboards to be the primary focus, creating a near dungeon synth atmosphere. It's dark and brooding and the perfect way to end the album. 

De Sidste Faerd is a short but excellent entry into the atmospheric black metal field. The band doe not mess around and takes every moment seriously. The combination of slower sections interspersed with faster moments and the dungeon synth outro makes this one that I find myself wanting to come back to more. It's a great way to spend half an hour.

Entry 1524 - Ethel Cain - The Preachers Daughter

Style: dark rock/pop

Primary Emotions/Themes: the church, sin, hypocrisy

Thoughts: This is not my normal kind of music. Typically I shy away from poppier, more mainstream type music. There are however exceptions to everything. In this particular instance what Ethel has done on her debut album is create an atmosphere so dark and gloomy that it instantly caught my attention and kept it for the entirety of The Preacher's Daughter.

The music here is slow, reverb filled rock that has an obvious focus on Ethel's voice. The album has many different approaches. We have full on pop with American Teenager, slow and somber with Western Nights, almost dark ambient with Ptolemaea, and an incredible delve into the darkness of the human mind on August Underground. 

The music tells a story as much as the lyrics do. The earlier songs are more cheerful and uplifting (even though they do have an underlying sadness to them). As the album progresses though the darkness begins to take hold and metastatic in the core of the music - growing like a cancer. 

I don't know the last time I heard an album quite like this. It masquerades as a pop rock album, but the core of it is much much deeper than that. It's a story of someone losing their humanity, losing everything that binds them to what is good and decent in this world. In it's place we get the perverted version of the world and the shell that many of us become in life after we are subjected to these same aberrations.

Ethel hasn't just created a great pop album, she's created one of the most striking and emotional albums in my collection. The slow and somber songs mixed with her ethereal voice is enough to give me pause - something that is truly rare. Whatever she does next I hope that it maintains the quality of this release, and even if it doesn't we still have this testament to what pop music can be in the hands of the right individual. 

Entry 1523 - アバドン - う​そ​つ​き

Style: vaporwave, glitch

Primary Emotions/Themes: a chopped up trip through various emotions

Thoughts: This album is a trip. At it's core it's vaporwave, but that's not the entire story here. It's chopped up in ways that you just don't see in vaporwave. It's glued together in ways that resemble Frankenstein's monster more than any musical concoction. It's jarring, it's edgy, it's all of the place, and I absolutely adore it.

The album's main concept is simple: take happy pop music, chop it up into a million pieces and paste it together in the most glitched out way possible - especially the vocals. The music feels happy... or at least that it wants to be happy. There are strong beats, poppy melodies, and great hooks throughout... but there's also this underlying sadness to the music that I just can't shake. 

This is further reflected in the vocals. They sound like they are trying to communicate but are being interrupted, glitched, restrained. Nearly every time they come up the voice is glitched out in a way that it sounds like a program just crashed on a computer. As this happens though, the music simply keeps playing as if nothing is wrong. 

The way that the music has these two competing elements is jarring to say the least. They compete with each other and often create an uneasy tension. It's this tension that taps into that hopelessness and sadness that I just can't shake whenever I listen to the album. It's trying to hide itself, but the emotions are just too strong that they bleed through more often than not.

う​そ​つ​きis the kind of music that gets me excited. Not many, if anyone else is doing this style. Listening to it tickles both my analytical and emotional brain. My analytical side wondering what they are doing to get all these different sounds. My emotional side trying to empathize with the emotions present. 

Is this something that I can listen to all the time? Normally I would say no... but this album is so different and so engaging that I think can honestly say yes. This is the kind of album that I can use for a mental reset. It's so out there that it draws me in regardless of my mental state. A rare treat of an album.  

Entry 1522 - Bersarin Quartett - III

Style: ambient, dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: isolation, obscurity, that which was once ours but is now lost

Thoughts: Words are often not enough to describe how much I enjoy Bersarin Quartett's music. Some music moves me in ways that that it speaks directly to my soul. The simplicity of language is not enough to properly convey the purity of these emotions, in fact nothing truly can. I will however give it an attempt.

III is obviously the third record in the Bersarin Quartett discography. It differs slightly from the first two entries in it's approach. Whereas the self titled and II are staunchly focused on the darker moments in life. The points where hope is fleeting and life's importance fades with every passing moment.

III is slightly less dismal in its approach. While the darkness and morose moments of life are still prominently featured during the hour long album, there are just a few more moments where light is allowed to shine through. Brief glimpses at major scale tones... slight moments where the dreary depths of the weight of life is lifted.... but only for a moment. 

The thing about Bersarin Quartett's music is that is never has been overtly depressing. It merely acknowledges that life is inherently dark and in that darkness beauty can be born. Through the use of electronics and orchestral elements the Quartett is able to channel music that deeply resonates with my core. I don't simply feel the music, this music grips me and completely envelops me while it is playing. It shapes me and molds me to its dreary form. It dictates every aspect of my life as it plays, and lingers for long periods of time when silence takes hold after its completion. 

Bersarin Quartett is often described as cinematic ambient music. While I do agree with that assessment somewhat, I find that this music defies genre classifications. Sure there are moments of ambient music, but there is also electronic and classical in here as well. They are all molded and woven together in such a way that they are in perfect symbiosis - one cannot exist without the other. 

Life finds ways to move on regardless of my personal experience with it. I will be here for a short period and then it will be my time to pass the baton to the next generation. The thing with music though is that it lingers. It has a chance to resonate with generation after generation. I truly hope that future generations as well as current ones can enjoy this wonderful project's discography as much as I have. 

By staring into the reality of life and conveying those deeply tragic moments in this medium Bersarin Quartett has managed to create a chronicle of the human experience. This is why music exists. This right here. I would normally say that an album such as this is essential listening, but I don't think that does it enough justice. This is required listening for those who wish to glimpse into the depths of what it means to be human. This is required for those who wish to reflect on life and use those musings to make the world a better place. It is in desperate need of it.

Entry 1521 - Akai Ito

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: death and the mental horror it brings, love, hope

Thoughts: There are some soundtracks that I truly enjoy. Some that stand on their own, especially when I have not played the game. Akai Ito has become one of those soundtracks.

Apparently the game revolves around one of the characters on the cover and their loss of a loved one and the horror that comes with that. Listening to most of this soundtrack I never would have guessed that at the start. The music is mostly bright and uplifting, slice of life type soundtrack. 

Nearly all the tracks have a brightness to them, either through a piano or an acoustic guitar. This brightness brings hope and joy into the music. It's simple. It reflects a time in life where things are not as complex as they were in the past... at least to start.

As the soundtrack progresses things become a bit more tense. The music slowly shifts from the slice of life sound to a darker, more mysterious overtone. The music reflects the horror that the main character is going through. The piano becomes more dissonant and eerie, the acoustic guitar gets phased out completely and the slice of life feel has been completely removed. 

All of this comes full circle though, as by the end the music resolves this tension and returns to the simpler hope filled sounds of the early soundtrack. It's a musical journey, and one that I can tell the emotional arc of the character just by joining them on this musical adventure. That in itself is rare. The fact that it is done with this level of consistency and quality throughout the runtime is rarer still. 

Entry 1520 - Dolch - I and II

Style: atmospheric rock/metal, dark rock

Primary Emotions/Themes: the dagger

Thoughts: A slow hum fades into existence from nothingness. Over time Thus hum reveals itself to be a highly distorted guitar with reverb phased through every single frequency that it is uttering. The notes shift and a riff forms again from seemingly nothing. A distant and oddly eerie female voice starts chanting over the newly formed riff, and with this the very essence of (Dolch) is born. 

I & II contains the first two demos from this fascinating project. What I find curious though is that the music found within these forty minutes is a sound that is more developed than many bands that have multiple full length albums under their banner.  This slow, reverb fueled music treads the line of music and ambient all throughout both of these demo albums. 

The guitars often will not even register to my ears as guitars, but rather an element to drive the music's atmosphere forward. Take the song Hlob for instance. The guitars, while present, offer more of an unchanging backing sound than any sort of structure. There is a constant distorted noise floor that the song exhibits that never truly evolve from that. Rather the song is driven by the ghostly vocal track and some oddly placed percussion. Combined with the obscure production the song comes across as something we may hear out of a radio in a horror movie. It's quite the compelling sound, and one I have not heard much of in my musical journey.

There are of course more structured songs. Songs where the riffs are more defined, where the melodies have stronger hooks - but they are not the dominant force here. Rather the band will oscillate between these two styles and sometimes thrown in another curve ball for the listener. 

Towards the end of II, the band gives us Herz which drops all the distortion, nearly all the reverb, and gives us a minimalist track that is clear as day. After going through thirty five minutes of distortion fueled fuzziness this threw me for a loop the first time I heard it.  

I & II are a promising start to a fascinating project. I don't have anything else in my collection that sounds quite like this, and for that alone this will remain a curiosity. The fact that these demos are excellent is a nice byproduct. I will continue to see what the minds behind (Dolch) will release in the future, as their start is certainly one to take note of.

Entry 1519 - Ossaert - Bedehuis

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Darkness, death, and the world of blasphemy 

Thoughts: Black metal is my favorite genre. It has some of the most powerful music ever created to be held within the confines of its boundaries. Some of the strongest atmospheres in metal or really any genre have come from its humble roots. Some truly amazing bands... Ossaert is not one of those bands.

The four tracks present on this album are about as simple as you can get within the black metal genre. While there is a place for this there are specific things that are required of the music for me to find it enjoyable. 

The music must be well performed, the atmosphere must be top notch, and most importantly the music must be written with a raw primitive emotion that is not found in any other genre. Ossaert has none of this on Bedehuls. 

The music is simple and repetitive but the passion and raw production are lacking. The music has aggression but there is no real fire or vitriol to the supposed hate that is coming from the project. The music is executed well but it feels formulaic and has a black metal by the numbers type execution. 

I'm sure there are people out there that will enjoy this album, but I am not one of them. This is generic black metal with no real redeeming qualities and it's simply not something that I will spend much time listening to, now or in the future.