Entry 462 - Shovel Knight Treasure Trove - Part 4 - King of Cards/Showdown

 

It's about damn time I finished this. I started listening to this boxed set months ago, it's time to finish this.

King of Cards, the last set of records in this gigantic boxed set, the last entry into the treasure trove. The last character you can play as. The first record I got in this gigantic set. I missed the first press of all the other records, but I got this one. This was actually one of the first VGM records I ever purchased (I got it about 2 years later... thanks limited run...).

Each one of the other record sets in the Treasure Trove have their own identity, and King of Card's is no different. The music here radiates elegance and sophistication... in chip tune form.

One track has me feeling like I'm asking for an audience with a glorified noble. The next I'm at a banquet table with royalty. Yet another sees me going on a vast adventure with a troupe of royal knights. Such is the feelings put forward by this set of records.

This record is really fun. I'm not sure how much I'm going to listen to it outside of going through the boxed set, but if I ever have the need to listen to something that has a royal flare to it and is in chip tune form... well do I ever have the record for that.

The third disc in the set is called Showdown and consists of tracks that didn't make the origonal release of the Shovel Knight base game soundtrack. These are cool tracks but feel a bit disjointed. I'm glad they made this it's own thing, and at the very end of the boxed set. It feels more like a bonus disc than anything else.

This has been a fun journey, going through all these records. Not sure I'm ever going to do this again with the entire boxed set, but at least now I have a much deeper appreciation for the music that is contained within these spinny discs.

Entry 461 - Rusty

 

It's amazing how versatile chip tunes are. Each system's sound chip is so diverse and different. Depending on the nuances of the sound you can tell what system it's from. Sega Genesis (Master System) has a gritty and almost distorted sound to it. Super Nintendo has this refined sound but still sounds very compressed. NES sounds like the prototypical bleeps and bloops that I fell in love with as a child. And then there is PC98.

I've never heard a PC98 soundtrack before this... it's really not even a system, it's more like an all in one personal computer that was popular in Japan - similar to the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, or the Commodore 64 was in their respective countries. Needless to say it was a new experience for me.

I would say the sound of the PC98 falls somewhere in between the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and Original PlayStation (when not using CD audio). It handles a wide variety of sounds well, getting that gritty feel of the Genesis, but still having a bit of refinement as the SNES, but with the diversity of the PlayStation. It's quite a powerful sound for chip tunes.

Why go into all this detail before even mentioning the music? Its because there is so much about this style of music that is defined by the sound chip that produces it. It has a definitive influence on how not only the music feels but how it's presented, and with a soundtrack like Rusty - you need something that is going to do it justice.

This soundtrack fucking rocks. It's upbeat, it's moody, it's full of joy and sorrow when needed. It knows what to be when it's needed. Yes, it does have some early Castlevania influence, but damn they couldn't have picked a better series to emulate... it successfully channels that same energy. That is not an easy task.

When it comes to chip tunes, something has to be really damn good for me to like it. Not only do I like Rusty as a soundtrack... this thing is becoming one of my favorite soundtracks not just from the time period... but overall. Time will tell how it holds up, but for now this thing is a banger.

Entry 460 - Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion

 

Wow... just... wow.  I really don't know how to describe the music that's hitting my ears right now, other than "wow." It's been a long ass time since I heard something that made me utter the words "gawd dayum" when listening to it. The first track off Trisagion, Chasmal Fires did just that.

I really hesitate to call these compositions on the album songs... the shortest one is 13 minutes long. These are more like books put into audio form. The opening track is so long, it's split into two sides of the first LP. That is much more than a song... that's an experience.

The way that these tracks are composed is something else. It's been years since I've heard an album that has songs this long that sound this cohesive. Let's go back to Chasmal Fires for a minute here to look at how this works.

The song starts out as a dungeon synth piece for the first few minutes. During this time slowly building ambience is interrupted by simple melodies. These melodies are going to be setting the foundation for the leitmotifs for the rest of the song. As the metal comes in the pace slowly picks up until a blistering climax. During the crescendo, most if not all the melodies that were introduced in the start of the song come back. They are morphed and interchanged between instruments, but they are there... and it is otherworldly how well everything comes together.

While the rest of the album did not have that "holy shit this is amazing" factor that Chasmal Fires did, to say that they are bad songs is far from the truth. They are at worst competent, and at best really damn good. They all play around with different melodies and atmospheres much like the opening track did... just not to the same extent nor with the same expertise.

I only found out about Ethereal Shroud this year. I'm really late to the party on this one, but damn, I'm glad I'm here. Phenomenal album.

Entry 459 - Jessica Moss - Phosphines

 

 

Slow drawn out notes played on string instruments... violin, cello, and viola. Haunting reverb that echoes throughout every crevice imaginable. Music that deliberately resonates in such a way that it's all encompassing... nothing escapes its reach. This is the world of Phosphines.

I've been spinning this record for the better part of two hours at this point, and I'm hard pressed to recall a specific instance or notion the album. What I do recall though is how this album has made me feel during those two hours. I feel like I am in the middle of some great mire, or forest that I cannot escape. No matter where I go I am constantly pulled at in all directions by the landscape around me. It's a terrible feeling and one I don't particularly enjoy having.

So why do I keep listening to it? Because it's different. It's something I haven't quite felt before. Sure I've listened to uneasy music in the past, but nothing that has this level of depth to it. This is haunting on another level all together. This is a deep dread that settles in right before you know that there is nothing you can do before something terrible is about to happen. Jessica Moss has captured that pure essence and distilled it down to a sonic form.

Essentially this is a modern classical piece that has gone the way of minimalism and droning ambient. It's very challenging to listen to, but not for any of the normal reasons. The notes are not hard to follow nor overtly harsh... it's just uneasy in a way that no other album I've listened to in a long time has managed to be... and for that on it's own its worth something.

Entry 458 - Jinsang - Solitude

 

Some music is meant to chill out to, there is no other function it is suited for. Lofi hip hop seems to be one of those genres.

Jinsang creates lofi hip hop that meshes many styles into one album. There are so many genres that are packed together here that this feels more like a compilation than an actual album. One track will be a piano led lounge piece, the next will be something out of a nature documentary. The only thing that really ties everything together is the inclusion of beats on every song.

The melodies are exceedingly simple as are the beats. Honestly there really isn't much to the songs, and most are over before they even begin. Most of the time just when I start getting into the groove of the song it starts fading out and moves on to the next selection.

I think I may be approaching the album wrong. I think this music is meant to be something to have on in the background on a lazy day. This really doesn't seem to be something that is meant for active listening.

That said, there are moments here where things work well together. There are sometimes a baseline or a beat that really makes me bob my head and start feeling it. Most of the time though this is something that is meant to play when you have had a long day at work, want to grab an adult beverage and just chill out for the rest of the night. In that context this album succeeds greatly.

Entry 457 - Oublieth - A l'Ombre du Royaume en Cendres

 

Dungeon synth is such an interesting genre. It can be anything from the simplest of melodies played on a PC speaker emulator to these huge epic constructs that sweep the listener to a completely different land. Oublieth is decidedly in the latter camp within the genre.

A l'Ombre du Royaume en Cendres sounds like it is hearkening in the start of winter. The music is cold, it is slow, and it is wonderful. The music itself is rather minimal in composition. Maybe 2-3 instruments going on at any one time, however the way that they are put together through the samples and the production makes it feel much more than the simple elements that make up the songs.

The album starts out with a slow swell of keyboards building into an epic chord that sweeps me off my feet every time it comes in. The sound of wind blowing and crows cawing indicate the cold that I am about the embark on. As the album continues brooding melodies go through at a glacially slow pace and repeat to the point where they will never leave my head.

It's ironic that I'm listening to this album in the middle of summer, because this is one of the strongest examples of "winter" dungeon synth I have ever heard. The music has a wonderful balance between being completely atmospheric and having some sense of melody. It's not purely dungeon synth, its not purely ambient... its something in between.

When I first picked this up I thought that it was a mistake. The other Oublieth album Out of Season recently put out caught my attention immediately, whereas this one as a bit of a grower. I'm glad I stuck with this one though, as it has greatly rewarded my patience.

Entry 456 - Mephorash - Shem Ha Mephorash

 

It's interesting how opinions change on albums over time. I used to think that this was Mephorash's best work and was a pinnacle of religious black metal. After letting it marinate for a few years the record just doesn't have the same weight as it used to.

Mephorash play a meditative style of black metal that has the same structure and flow as a Christian hymn. There is repetition to the point where it bores itself into your brain, there is an atmosphere so thick that a ceremonial knife couldn't cut it, and there is a keen sense of when to be silent and when to let the monstrous swell of the music take over.

As goes as this all sounds, the band doesn't have that "it" factor that allows for a repetitive sound to turn into a meditative state. There are so many moments on the album that sound good to start but after a few minutes of weaving in and out they overstay their welcome. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part this is the experience with Shem Ha Mephorash.

One such exception is the closing track, the epic title track. Its 15 minutes long and goes through many modes and riffs throughout its extensive playtime. Where it really excels though is in the atmosphere. The entire song sounds like a prayer, and not just a generic one you would hear at a mass... this is a desperate plea to any divine being that would listen.

I truly wish that the band had explored more of the sound on the title track than messing around with so many other experiments on the other tracks. That said, I know the band can do better. The album before this 1557, was an absolute killer of an album. I'm still looking forward to what the band has to offer despite this misstep.

Entry 455 - Kota - Next Time, Friend

 

This was the first record I ever backed on Qrates. It was a bit of a perfect storm for me. I was just getting into lofi hip hop and had started collecting records again in ernest... the record was the right price at the right time.

I know nothing of Kota outside of this release, my only experience with the artist are these 30 minutes. I really have no desire to seek out more either, I am exceptionally content with the amount of lofi in my collection at this point. That said, I am also very pleased with how this record came out.

Next Time, Friend is a low key mixture of hip hop, nature sounds, jazz, and lounge. My favorite parts of the release are the jazz parts. These come through like a smokey diner on a cold rainy night. The piano and drums usually take lead, however there is often a trumpet or sax mixed in with the other instruments... sometimes even an upright bass. It's chill as all get out and it's the prefect thing to wake up to in the morning with.

Outside of the jazz, Kota explores some field recording material of what sounds like a beautiful spring morning. Birds and other nature sounds accompany the beats and again make for an excellent way to start the day. There are also a few one off tracks: one channels far eastern instrumentation and has a bit of funk to it. Yet others will have a lounge feel to it, with the main instrument being a lounge piano. It's still laid back but not as much as some of the other tracks on here.

Kota has a nice little collection of songs going on with Next Time, Friend. There isn't really an over arching theme to them, nor do they run together in any meaningful manner. It's just a collection of songs, a mix tape put to vinyl if you will. That said, all the songs do what they set out to do: offer a great way to start your day with some chill ass beats.

Entry 454 - Grimrik - Die Mauern Der Nacht

 

This is a combination of styles I didn't think I would ever hear, but now that I've heard it I need to find more. Who would have ever thought that synthwave would pair so nicely with dungeon synth?

The immediate vibe of the album screams: PLAY ME AT NIGHT! The tones are subdued and pulsating and resonate a dark tone... all things that make me think of night time immediately. As the first song develops some bright and sparkly tones develop and fade in: the sun is setting and stars are coming out to play for the evening's dance.

As the album continues it fully embraces the music of the night feel. The music itself is mostly played in a slower dungeon synth style, but the instruments and sometimes percussion are much more of a synthwave origin. I didn't realize it at first when I was spinning this last night, but it's obvious right away that this is not normal dungeon synth. It took me a full listen to put my finger on what the main difference was.

Subsequent listeners have yielded a more in depth experience, I'm enjoying the music for what it is instead of being distracted by trying to figure out what the hell was off about the music. I've got to say though, this is a really sweet combo. It's like John Carpenter was making dungeon synth.

After the first track setting the tone of a night driven album, the rest of the album falls in line quite well. Some tracks are quite a bit darker... more brooding, than others - but that fear of the unknown comes with the night as well. Others embrace the majesty of the moon and the night sky.

Whatever the interpretation is of the many facets of the night there is not a single bad track on the album. I need to give it more time, but this thing could easily shoot up quickly in my regularly revisited dungeon synth albums. The fact that is has a side of synthwave is even better.

Entry 453 - Do Make Say Think - & Yet & Yet

 

Out of all the albums I thought I would be enjoying this morning I did not think it would be Do Make Say Think... let alone & Yet & Yet. I randomly saw it sitting on my shelf and I hadn't listened to it in several years so I figured why not.

I don't have very fond memories of this album. I've always had kind of an on again off again relationship with the band and some albums hit harder than others. This was one I got on clearance at a local shop years ago, spun it once and shelved it... and it sat, and sat.

I had zero expectations this morning as to what it would sound like. I was hoping for something mellow that I could vibe to this morning as I get ready to start my day... and that is exactly what I got.

DMST play a highly repetitive form of post rock that slowly ebbs and flows through its various moments. The instrumentation consists largely of clean guitars, bass, and drums - all instrumental. There are other instruments that are added in along the way that add to the bands sound. I'm pretty sure I heard a trumpet, a clarinet, and maybe a saxophone somewhere in the album. All are neat additions to help to songs forward.

While the music is repetitive they have progressed greatly from the early days of the band. On & Yet & Yet the band knows when enough is enough and moves from one part of the song effortlessly, or they will add in another layer to the already dense music.

What DMST does so well is how quiet and reflective their music is. They hardly ever become truly loud and this is exactly what I needed to listen to this morning. Everything has a chill vibe to it that rarely if ever goes to the point of a huge crescendo of music. Despite the many layers at points it never loses control and never explodes into a mass of sound.

I did not expect to like this album going in this morning, but after spinning it a few times (god bless 1 LP albums... they are so wonderful), I think I've come around to it. This is something to wake up to with the sun coming over the horizon while taking in the small sheen of dew in all its morning glory.

Entry 452 - Dødheimsgard - Satanic Art

 

This EP breaks just about every single rule I have for buying a record. All because of one song... one god damn song.

Dødheimsgard found themselves at a rather curious moment with Satanic Art. The first two albums were raw black metal in the traditional Norwegian style. They are well executed and speak well to the era that they were birthed from.... their 1998 EP however showed the band starting to go in a completely different direction.

The production, while not clear as day is much improved over the first two albums. The inclusion of a piano, violin and industrial effects are also new with this release. The songs are more chaotic than they ever were in the past. Honestly, the band is beginning to become unhinged at this point. While this is nothing like the insanity that was to follow, Satanic Art is the first glimpse at the change was coming.

While much of the experimentation on the EP falls short of expectations, there is one song that brings this EP to the acceptable level... no more than that.

Traces of Reality is quite possibly one of the best black metal songs I've heard out of the late 90's. It has everything that hold the album back everywhere else: the horribly moaned vocals, the industrial bullshit, the insane riffs, the aimless direction, a million and a half ideas packed into 7 minutes. It should be an absolute mess - well... it is an absolute mess - but they somehow manage to create a song that should be terrible but ends up being something so much more.

The chaos goes from idea to idea and somehow ties it all together, the drums are truly insane and act as the glue that ties it all together. The violin comes out of no where and smacks you in the face with its frantic notes. The vocals... well they take some getting used to but they do work. The song just works, somehow despite everything it works.

The rest of the EP is not nearly as good. We have one unreleased older song that recalls the first two albums, one shorter song that tries to copy Traces of Reality and two piano tracks. I normally never buy an album for one song, but that rule is broken here.

Entry 451 - Anarkhon - Phantasmagorical Personification of the Death Temple

 

Taking a week off from music can be a huge boon sometimes. After taking time to listen to more and more extreme music my brain finally short circuited and said no more. No more music. Coming back to it now lets me at least appreciate the music for what it is instead of despising what I am hearing on every level.

Anarkhon play death metal, there is nothing else this could be. This sounds like it was recorded in a cave in one of the most dank and cavernous spaces on earth. The music feels expansive, a larger than life quality provided by the excellent production. This helps what was already a solid album become something a bit more than it was previously... just that extra little oomph that pushes it past what it would be otherwise.

The album starts out a bit deceptively. Dimensional Incantation is a plodding track that is heavy in atmosphere and pretty damn punishing. The pace of the track never really gets beyond middling, but even there the production shines through. The riffs have a massive feel to them as they echo and reverberate throughout my room. If I close my eyes, I'm taken to another realm where light no longer exists and the moss under my feet is trying to consume my very essence.

Far Beyond Blood and Death picks up the pace considerably. When I first put this on I though this was going to be a mid period Entombed speed for the entire album but when the album introduces it's first blast beat I was quickly reminded that this is modern death metal. The second track has a frantic and violent pace to its riffs that has only one goal in mind: absolute obliteration of the listener.

The rest of the album continues through various paces ranging from doom/death speeds all the way to the aforementioned blistering pace. The whole thing is way more enjoyable than I initially thought it would be. The secret ingredient here is the production. It takes what is a decent death metal album and elevates it into the realm of the good or perhaps even great albums with it's vast and spacious effects.

Entry 450 - Agalloch - The Mantle

 

Life is a clay urn on the mantle... and I am fragments on the floor. I am the ashes on the floor.

There are very few albums that I have yet to obtain that I would consider an absolute must have. On the top of that list for the longest time was Agalloch's magnum opus: The Mantle.Needless to say, this has now been rectified.

When I first heard this album 20 something years ago, it was one of the few albums that redefined what metal is capable of. On The Mantle, Agalloch plays a relaxed style of blackened acoustic music.

The acoustic guitar is far and above the most important instrument on this album. It guides the melodies and provides the backbone of nearly every song on the album. Be it the incredibly atmospheric Odal, or the massive In the Shadow of Our Pale Grey Companion - the guitar leads the songs, and it was what instantly took me in with the album.

Even when the acoustic guitar is absent, like on the majority of I Am the Wooden Doors, the acoustic guitars still lay their mark in interludes. I can't stress how important the acoustic guitar is to the album - almost more so than any other instrument, including the electric guitar. The Mantle is not The Mantle without this instrument.

Of course having excellent instrumentation is only one part of what makes this album so special. The other is the incredible pacing and flow of the album. There is a central theme to The Mantle that repeats throughout the album. It's introduced right away in A Celebration for the Death of Man and then revisited several times, culminating in an epic closure of ...and the Great Cold Death of the Earth.

Two thousand characters is not enough to encapsulate how outstanding this album is. No other band has ever done anything like this, and Agalloch would never again reach these heights. One of the best releases ever, in any genre.

Entry 449 - Prurient - Black Vase

 

So its come down to this. I can no longer enjoy regular music. It's all so dreadfully boring and samey. Nothing sounds interesting anymore, nothing is extreme enough, nothing holds any merit anymore... except this. The Black Vase that I hold in my hands.

To say that Prurient's Black Vase is music is not a truthful statement. It is more a series of layers of noises, sounds, and percussion that is meant to be as unpleasant as possible to the human ear. This is by far the most extreme album in my collection, it's not even close.

The album begins with a 15 minute long track called Roman Shower. From the instant the needle hits the record the sound is appalling. It hits feedback frequencies that make anyone cringe. It's an instant case of tinnitus. This continues through various levels of high pitched noise and low pitched rumblings for f i f t e e n minutes. It takes true tenacity to make it through this thing.

If I had played this track even 3 months ago I would have turned it off before I got more than a minute in, yet here I am on my third spin of the night to this epic monolith of noise and distortion. This album is constantly telling me to go away, to fuck right off. Nothing here is pleasant, nothing here is musical. Yet here I am taking it all in like some sort of mad man.

While the rest of the album is no where near as harsh as Roman Shower, it still is among some of the harshest music I've ever heard in my life. This thing is pure bile infused hatred for anything that is conventional... anything musical... anything akin to the simplest notion of listenable.

The thing is though... it is listenable. It meets me on a primal level, one where life and hatred meet... one where everything is disgusting and nothing makes sense anymore. Some days I hate life, and this music is on that exact wavelength. The more I listen the more I understand that in this insanity there are others that have gone through the same shit I have. That urge to scream at the universe, to say fuck everything... this is that. This Black Vase is that.

Entry 448 - Cannibal Ox - Blade of the Ronin

 

Holy shit I've been in a musical funk lately. Nothing sounds good. I've tried almost every genre I've got in my collection to break me out... nothing was working. This is the first album that was even semi musical that sparked something in me other than a great big meh.

Cannibal Ox goes way back to the early 2000's for their debut album. They successfully have tapped into that old school kung fu inspired hip hop that is among my favorites. While they were a little late to the party, they executed the style with no less fervor and passion than those who did it in the pinnacle in the early 90's.

Fast forward many many years and now we have Blade of the Ronin. When you have this many years between albums, you expect something to change... and there are a few. The album has more going on than the Cold Vein, and the instrumentation is a bit more intricate than that album as well. That said, the most important thing - the quality - has not deteriorated from the debut.

This album has incredible flow. The music makes me sway with its infectious groove. The vocals, while not overly technical or flashy, know how to work with the music. The lyrics are silly most of the time, but the passion and conviction that they are delivered with drives the music into the next level. That combined with carefully structured beats and excellent use of samples and instruments creates one of the better hip hop albums I've heard in the last few years.

Blade of the Ronin is not a masterpiece like Cold Vein is, that said it is a fucking great album. It took something out of left field for me to snap out of this funk, even if it was just for a few moments. We'll see if this carries over into other music or if this was just a one off.

Entry 447 - Aosoth - IV: Arrow in Heart

 I originally passed hard on this album, only because of the cover art. I thought it looked completely amateur and even though I have countless examples stating otherwise, I thought it transferred over to the music. Oh how very wrong I was.

Aosoth play an intricate and dynamic form of dissonant death metal. The songs are long and go through more twists and turns than a mountain road. While that is not uncommon within dissonant music, what is uncommon is Aosoths mastery of when to be quiet, when to be loud, when to be subtle, when to have melody, and when to be completely unhinged.

Lets look at the first track for examples of all of this. It stats out as one would expect: a ferocious riff with blindingly fast drums. As the song progresses though it slows down a little bit and allows the music to breathe. This comes to its full potential when the band fully pulls back and allows for an ambient section (with bongos of all things) to drive the music forward. This lasts a few more moments before the band comes in full force again right before the song devolves into a dissonant riff and ends... it's all over the place and I absolutely love it.

The album continues in a similar vein throughout the remainder of it's play time. The sense of dynamics that the band has on Arrow in Heart is quite impressive. So much of what makes music effective is this sense of depth, quiet and expanse when its needed. Aosoth have mastered that on this album and in doing so have created an engaging experience.

One thing that really surprised me about the vinyl release of the album is side D. This untitled track is about 17 minutes long and is largely noise and ambient based. When I first heard it I was a bit put off by it, but listening to it now it acts as the perfect compliment to the rest of the album. The chaos that is found in the riffs is not found here, this is more of a repeating hum with ambient elements, female vocals, guitar strums, and osculating sounds woven in between the low rumblings. It's unlike anything else I have ever heard from the band. Fantastic track, fantastic album.

Entry 446 - Black Crown Initiate - Selves We Cannot Forgive

 

This is an album I hadn't thought about for many years until it popped up on my feed a few weeks back. Today I finally got it on the turntable to see if it was as cool and diverse as I remembered it.

The first thin I remembered about Black Crown Initiate is that the album started off kind of week and got significantly better as it progressed. That notion has not changed in the slightest. The first two tracks are marginal at best. When I listened to the digital I would skip them regularly, here it's not an option.

The first two songs lack any sort of flow or direction to them, it's a combination of progressive metal and death metal with a smattering of clean vocals. The songs have moments where they are good and show the bands potential, but overall they simply are less engaging than the rest of the album.

As the album continues however the band really taps into their potential. The band leans more into the progressive end with funky time signatures and balance the clean vocals with the harsh ones way more effectively. The band also incorporates more clean guitars that have a bit of funk and jazz elements to them.

With all the added elements comes a heightened emotional awareness as well. The band knows when to pull back and let the clean vocals bare their soul, and when to step up the aggression and let the brutal elements come forward.

It's quite amazing to hear as the album progresses, how much better the band sounds towards the end than where they started with the album. The progression is rare, where many bands will front load the albums with the good songs. Black Crown Initiate have gone for the opposite effect, instead allowing their album to age like a fine wine. By the last sip it is a pleasing meal.

Entry 445 - Hostage Pageant - Barren Terminals

 

I feel like noise is becoming a safe haven for me at this point. The past few days I've been struggling to listen to anything melodic or anything with structure. I go through these points where music is boring, and I know its temporary... but its boring none the less.

Noise is that unexplored region of music that still have interest for me. It is so different and so chaotic that its unlike any other type of music I have ever heard. Most if not all people who listen to it would say that it's not even music... its just noise. I get that, but it's also the exact thing that draws me into the genre right now.

Hostage Pageant play a style of noise that is all over the place. One moment it will be quiet humming or a mechanical grinding. The next it will be incredibly harsh static and feedback loops. The next moment it will be all but a dripping of water. It's difficult to follow if you are looking for patterns. It's best just to let go of any sort of preconceived notion of what music is and just go with the flow here.

Even through all the chaos and harshness of the music there is peace here. Through all the craziness and insanity there is catharsis. It's a cleansing effect. My mind has nothing else it can do other than to listen to the insanity that is Hostage Pageant... and the crazy thing is that I'm truly beginning to enjoy this stuff.

Entry 444 - Elden Ring - Disc III

 

Oh Elden Ring, what a pain in my ass you were when you first arrived.  Disc 3 arrived as a duplicate copy of disc 2. I immediately opened a ticket with Bamco and nothing happened. I tried reaching out every way I could and hit brick wall after brick wall.

After nearly a month of this I finally put a charge-back in on my credit card and magically I started hearing things back from the manufacturer. They sent out a new set of disc 3 and gave me a 25% discount on top of it, not a bad deal... just a frustrating experience.

All that trouble, was it worth it? For the completeness of the box.. probably? For the music contained within, probably.

Disc 3 contains many of the most memorable moments in Elden Ring: the boss themes. Unlike the first two discs of the set, there are no calm moments here - only soaring themes of the most brutal moments of the game. All those boss fights that I got stuck at for hours... Godskin Apostles? Yep. Lansseax? Yep. Mohg? Also yep.

What continues to impress me about this record set is how well the music flows together. There was a lot of thought put into the order of the tracks and how well they flow together. Each one of the discs feels like its own mini album, and it makes digesting a box set the size of Elden Ring a lot more manageable than if it was done in a more haphazard way.

Elden Ring continues to be one of my favorite games in recent years. Just a week ago I booted the game back up and started a new character, just so I could play the game in a different way than I have before. The world is so huge that I forgot more than I remembered - its a great feeling.

Eventually I will get to the final disc in this set, but until then I can finally say that I enjoy this music for what it is. Far enough removed now from the bullshit that was getting this figured out - I can finally enjoy the music for what it is.

Entry 443 - Photay with Carlos Nino - An Offering

 

I love ambient music, I love how experimental it is, I love how artists get instruments to mimic other parts of life that we normally would not associate them with.

Photay and Carols Nino have created an ambient album that draws in influences from jazz and classical music. While both ambient and the associated genres typically have long play times to their compositions, the tracks on An Offering are generally shorter more concept driven pieces.

The music mimics nature, be it calm, vibrant, or even violent at points... An Offering does it's very best to integrate the sounds of nature with man made instruments. One track will have distant horns calling as if a distant animal was calling out for its mate. Another will have a guitar strum in the style of rain drops and have a saxophone mimic thunder.

Not everything is as clear as those examples however, some songs are more abstract in their execution. Some will speak on the nature of man and how we are always here, others will have an instrument soloing over nothingness with glitches coming in and out - distorting the music as it plays. No matter what the artists choose to do, it's always interesting.

Interesting however does not always mean good. I'm still wrapping my head around this one and at the time of this writing this remains an interesting release, but not entirely a good one. Sometimes the experimentation loses me, especially the final track where there is an extended vocal sample about the permanence of "now". I simply found it annoying.

An Offering is my first experience with Photay and Carlos Nino. I'm going to spin it a few more times to see if it grows on me, as it is right now though this one is interesting but nothing more.

Entry 442 - Duke Ellington & John Coltraine

 There are many faces to jazz, and I've only touched the surface of what the genre has to offer.  Jazz can offer anything from a huge band playing off each other, to a small intimate setting. For me, whenever someone says they are listening to jazz I get this picture of someone sitting down at a jazz bar late at night and there is a three or four piece band jamming with each other... and that is exactly the feel I get from this album.

Duke Ellington and John Coltraine need no introduction, they are both legends within jazz. On their self titled effort they play music that you would find in a late night jazz club, filled to the brim with cigarette smoke and patrons sipping off of a drink of choice. There are very few instruments on here, usually just the piano (Duke), sax (John), a drummer and a bassist.

The album opens up with a slow number that is nearly perfect. The improvisations fit so well with the overall mood of the song that it instantly relaxes me, even when I am in the most fowl of moods... something that is pretty damn rare in music. The album has all sorts of tempos and moods, some playful, some fast, some somber, some sultry. Whatever the band decides to do they excel at.

I've had this thing on my turntable for two straight days at this point and while I do need to move on soon, I do so very begrudgingly. This is what I listen to jazz for, this is the style that I seek out - the soul of the music for me. Exceptional record.

Entry 436 - Nurse With Wound - Echo Poeme: Sequence No 2

 

"This album consists of one 49 minute track of female vocals, spoken and chanted, looped to create a haunting meditation and evoke emotion. Steve Stapleton employs a variety of hums, sighs, and spoken phrases to create a ghostly ambience. NWW has come to be regarded as the master of avant-garde post-classical experimentation, and Echo Poeme has come to signify an important direction in its vast oeuvre."

With a hype sticker like that, I don't think I have anything further to add. Nurse With Wound has always been strange, and Echo Poeme is no different. The vocals are primarily in French from what I can tell and have a level of eeriness to them that is akin to see a child alone in a dark alley way giggling.

Music like this evokes very raw emotion in me. There is nothing standard about this, this is essentially an art-house performance piece done entirely through a recording. The start of side two is especially... disturbing. It's the same vocals as employed on side one, but there is now a low hum below them and some echo effects placed on the main vocal line. To say that it is unsettling is a gross understatement.

NWW has always been on the strange side, and Echo Poeme doe nothing to change that. If anything it adds another fold into the enigma that is Steve Stapleton and his art.

Entry 441 - Schammasch - Contradiction

 

"Split my tongue, blind my eyes, curse my faith, cut my skin, wound my flesh, soil my blood, infest my mind, drown my love, crush my bones, burn my face, nail my hands, break my will, quench my cries, choke my voice, tear my heart, evoke my fall"

So reads a passage from within the book of Contraction, the chapter Split My Tongue, from within the holy scriptures of Schammash. From within these pages are held the keys to salvation and the path of righteousness. The path of righteousness has been laid before us, do you hear the call? Will you answer.

These holy scriptures are presented from within the genre of black metal with a smattering of death are what permeate all the notes of this sacred scripture. Each one of the hymns showcase various speeds and levels of intricacy... many of them stretching well beyond the 7 minute mark. Within those hallowed minutes the hymns will slowly build and morph from seemingly humble beginnings, eventually swelling into a massive behemoth.

Schammasch have a highly refined style to them that relies on atmosphere above almost all else. Of course there is room for actual riffs and progressions within the songs themselves, however they all come secondary to the incredibly thick and religious atmosphere that is ever-present throughout every note, every breath, every instance of Contradiction... and it is glorious.

Contradiction is more than an album. It is a hymnal to all the art that is metal and the spiritual component that is so often left out from the genre. It is seldom tackled head on, and even less so with the success that the band has on this release. Now join me in prayer.

"Unify my tongue, light my eyes, bless my faith and mend my skin, heal my flesh, purge my blood, fulfill my mind, shelter my live, strengthen my bones, restore my face and heal my hands, be my will, and hear my cries, and guide my voice, and seal my heart"

Entry 440 - Ben Frost - Threshold of Faith

 

With a title like Threshold of Faith I knew I was in for an interesting listen at very least. Ben Frost has created not only interesting, it has completely consumed me and my curiosity for the past few days.... I've never really heard anything like this before and I'm enthralled.

The operative word for Thresholds of Faith is saturation... specifically over-saturation.  The soundscapes found within this rather short album are saturated to all hell, and by doing so Mr. Frost has created an album that takes simple things like melodies and chords and distorts and morphs them into these massive sweeping swaths of tumultuous sound that overload the senses in the best way possible.

I keep using these vague adjectives because I really don't know how to describe what is going on in this album. It's so simple yet some completely enveloping at the same time. Ben takes the simplest of melodies and distorts the ever living fuck out of them and turns the gain up to 11 and then releases that as the song. So in many ways the album is completely enhanced by the production, if it was not handled in the way that it is I would be listening to a minimalist ambient album... not a bad thing, but it's something I've heard a ton of in the past.

Threshold of Faith feels like someone who is coming to terms with a higher power. Everything is overwhelming, everything is otherworldly, everything is entirely too much... and that's the reason I can't stop listening to it. This is such a unique entry into my musical catalogue, of all the weird shit I've heard over my years, Ben Frost has given me something truly new. I owe him a debt of gratitude

Entry 439 - Darkpyramid - Cythera Somniare

 

What a trip this album is. I bought this when it first came out and listened once or twice then forgot I owned it. I remember looking for the cassette for months on end only to give up after a while. When No Problema announced the record version I knew that my search was over.

For something that I was after for so long it's kind of amusing that I didn't remember much about the album when I pulled it out of my stacks a few days ago. I knew it was one of HKE's projects and I knew that it was a highly regarded dreampunk album, but as for specifics it was crickets.

The first disc is a combination of beats and wonderfully subtle ambience. The album excells the most when it is in these quiet places, it promotes detailed listening and often rewards in kind when attention is given. The beats come in on about half of the songs, and aren't as overpowering as I thought they would be going into the record. They offer a nice counter balance to the comlexities of the quiet found on the other tracks.

What I truly love about this album is the quiet melodies hidden within the clouds of ambience. The melodies mimic the muisc: this is a minimal affair... and again that is a great strength to the album. When the beats come in the melodies also shift to a more overt feel... its a nice contrast.

And then there is the last part of the album. For some inexplicable reason the album switches from this incredibly detailed balance to lounge music. I don't understand the change in tone and I don't care for it either.

I suppose that this is the beuty of records though, you don't have to listen to everything... only the sides you like. In this particular instance, I will be sticking to sides A, B and C. Side D can be forgotten in the annels of time.

Entry 438 - Pharmakon - Abandon

 

I recently asked an acquaintance if they had any recommendations for noise artists as I've been diving head first into the genre of late. The instant recommendation was Pharmakon's Abandon.

Abandon is a far more structured entry into the genre than some of the other albums' I've heard lately. It revolves around rhythmic beats and droning mechanical sounds with vocals layered on top... and my god are those vocals the star of the show here.

The first two tracks feature tortured screams that put most metal harsh vocals to shame. Not only are they harsh as all get out, they have a level of emotion to them that is severely lacking within the metal genre. These screams carry weight, pain, and hint of a past that would bring anyone to their knees.

The harshness of the vocals is backed up by the music. It's abrasive and full of unpleasant sounds that are designed to be unpleasant to listen to. Mechanical grinding, chains rattling, a high pitched osculating tone. None of this is what I would choose to listen to if it was just in the environment around me. In fact I would probably look for some hearing protection. With Pharmakon though they work together to create a this incredibly oppressive atmosphere... and I think I really like it.

The second two tracks are much more subdued, the third track has a rhythmic chant feel to it (this track really reminds me of Diamanda Galas) and the final track has slow distorted vocals. While the last two tracks are not as immediately harsh as the first two, they still have an ominous and unsettling feel to them.

Pharmakon is what I feel is a gateway drug for me into noise. It's harsh and brutal, but also contains enough musical elements where I can hang onto those while the album goes off the deep end. Excellent recommendation and I will be checking out more of Margaret Chardiet's discography based on my experience with Abandon.

Entry 437 - God Dethroned - The Grand Grimoire

 

I didn't know what I was doing when I picked this up from In A Groove records in 1998. It was a local shop that sold mostly records and a few CD's. Every once in a while a metal CD would be there and I would pick it up, one of those was God Dethroned's new album at the time.  

At the time I was just starting to discover the extreme side of metal in earnest and with a band name like God Dethroned this had to be extreme. I was not disappointment with that aspect, but there was another unexpected part of the music as well that would influence my taste in music for the next year or so.

On The Grand Grimoire, God Dethroned play an aggressive style of melodic death metal. Most of the time this is full on death metal with higher pitched vocals as is seen in the opening track: The Art of Immolation. The song is high intensity and features a simple verse/chorus structure. The riffs are simple and deliver a successful uppercut to the jaw to start the album, but it's not a true representation of the sound that God Dethroned have on this album.

The title track has a different story though. The aggression of the opener is there, but there is a renewed emphasis on melody in the lengthy instrumental section. The rhythm guitar will play open chords and the lead guitar has these soaring melodies that get stuck in my head for hours upon hours.

It's not just on the title track either, it permeates a majority of the songs on the album. The Somberness of Winter has an especially powerful outro to the song. That melody in particular is so infectious that it will pop in my head randomly completely out of no where.

While many of God Dethroned's albums are solid, this one in particular stands out to me. I would go on a long quest to try to find other bands that mimicked the style found here. I searched for a year or so and never found another album that matched this aggression with the epic melodies found on this album. It's a shame, but 20+ years later this album still holds up for me because of that very reason.