In that last paragraph, I referred to the album as a womb.  Oddly enough, this idea occurred to me before I started reading MkM’s lyrics, which begin with: “Within your womb /Another me would be reborn / being one with you again / and you will carry me within / suffer from my weight inside / My bones will come from your bones / Your blood will create mine.”  MkM’s words reference birth, death, sex and violence, painting a picture far more disturbing than the poverty-level Satanism that unfortunately makes up the bulk of black metal’s lyrical content.  Don’t get me wrong, III is an extremely Satanic album, but Aosoth’s Satan doesn’t reign in some fantastical Hell, he dwells within the souls of men, just under the surface, waiting for the opportune moment to seduce and reveal his awful majesty.

Ultimately, the most fascinating aspect of III might be that it seemingly came out of nowhere.  Aosoth’s two previous albums were well-executed, appropriately filthy displays of blackened orthodoxy, but in no way did they foreshadow the impressive leap in both style and substance the band has made here.  Then again, I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for the time and space-stretching phantasmagoria that this album so effortlessly embodies; the “trance-out” effect created by the Norse treble attacks of old is nothing compared to what Aosoth accomplish over the course of these six tracks.  Aosoth have tapped into that aforementioned inner Satan and channeled it into their music; the results are nothing short of stunning.

With III, Aosoth have birthed a bloody, malformed masterpiece, an album that not only exemplifies everything that black metal should be, but also establishes a unique voice within the black metal paradigm.  Here’s to hoping they continue to look inward while striving for a piece of Lucifer.  AMSG forever.

http://aosoth.fr/

I found myself drawn to gangsta rap, specifically to the West Coast G-Funk sound defined by Dr. Dre’s landmark 1992 album The Chronic.  Part Parliament/Funkadelic and part blaxploitation soundtrack, The Chronic was rife with deep, slow beats and high-pitched synth patterns, as well as a combination of samples and live instrumentation; the album seemed like a party until you realized that much of the lyrical content dealt with violence and misogyny.  Fueled by Dre’s feud with former NWA (who’s Straight Outta Compton album is arguably gangsta ground zero) bandmate Eazy E, songs such as “Fuck wit’ Dre Day” featured lyrical beatdowns such as:

“Mister Busta, where the fuck you at / Can’t scrap a lick, so I know ya got your gat / Your dick on hard, from fuckin’ your road dogs / The hood you threw up with, n***** you grew up with / Don’t even respect your ass / That’s why it’s time for the doctor, to check your ass, n**** / Used to be my homey, used to be my ace / Now I wanna slap the taste out yo’ mouth / N**** bow down to the row / Fuckin’ me, now I’m fuckin’ you, little hoe / Oh, don’t think I forgot, let you slide, Let me ride / just another homicide”

Pretty brutal shit, especially when one considers that Dre is talking about killing a real-life former friend, not some imaginary victim ala the average Cannibal Corpse song, for instance.  While I have little doubt that many of the beefs that defined gangsta rap at the time were embellished and blown out of proportion in order to generate notoriety and sell records, there’s still something chilling about the reality lurking behind those lyrics.  Eazy E would eventually succumb to AIDS in 1995, but not before firing off a few dis tracks of his own such as the excellent ”Real Muthaphuckkin’ G’s.”

Even more than The Chronic, the album that defined the era was Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggystyle.  Snoop was an unknown when Dr. Dre plucked him out of obscurity to rap with him on the theme song for the film Deep Cover and then The Chronic, but his smooth flow, which is somehow both lazy-sounding and nimble at the same time made him an instant star.  Although my rap knowledge is severely lacking in comparison to my knowledge of metal, I do know that Doggystyle is one of the greatest debut albums in the history of rap, probably in the history of music in general.  It is a perfect companion piece to The Chronic, but in many ways surpasses it; the production is even funkier, the rhymes are more clever and the hooks are hookier.  Just like The Chronic though, there are threads of darkness hiding beneath the party atmosphere and “don’t give a fuck” attitude.  In “Murder was the Case,” Snoop makes an ill-fated deal with the Devil in exchange for success, while “Serial Killa” features the hook “Suicide, it’s a suicide” and some murderous lyrics from Daz and Kurupt while Snoop damns his fallen enemies to “go down with the Devil” and “roam through the depths of hell.” It’s RBX’s verse that steals the song however, with some uniquely gruesome wordplay and an idiosyncratic flow.  RBX comes in at around the 2:25 mark in the video below.

Snoop Dogg wasn’t the only rapper dealing with the Devil though. The D.O.C., a rapper who had written lyrics for NWA was left with a voice that made him sound like a hip hop demon after being involved in a near-fatal car accident, and his music took an apocalyptic turn on 1996′s often overlooked and underrated Helter Skelter.  Take a listen to The D.O.C.’s endtime prophesying on “Secret Plan,” which even includes a cameo from Jello Biafra.  “Remember, religion is but a tool to control your ass.”

In 1998, DMX unleashed his debut album, It’s Dark and Hell is Hot.  Much like Snoop Dogg before him, DMX rapped about selling his soul to the Devil in order to gain the trifecta of wealth, fame and power on the track “Damien.”  The interesting thing about “Damien” is that it could also be interpreted as a sort of hip hop Jeckyll and Hyde story; is DMX being preyed upon by a malignant outside force, or is he giving in to his own inner demons?  DMX would go on to record various sequels to “Damien” (“Damien II” even featured guest vocals by Marilyn Manson on the hook), but none of them top the original, which can be streamed below.

While the aforementioned albums have dark undertones, none of them can compare to the permanent midnight that is Cypress Hill’s third album, Temples of Boom.  Featuring a claustrophobic, drugged-out production scheme from DJ Muggs, this is the rap equivalent of doom metal, fuelled by tales of life on the streets and a shitload of weed.  Hell, even the cover of Temples of Boom looks metal as hell.

Not only is Temples of Boom totally heavy and suffocating, it is also oddly psychedelic at times, as demonstrated by “Illusions,” a song that sees the band consumed by a marijuana-induced freak-out; B-Real raps “some people tell me that I need help / some people can fuck off and go to hell,”over a backing track that sounds like it belongs to the Jim Morrison peyote-dream sequence from The Doors.  As the album progresses, you can almost feel yourself being taken deeper and deeper into Cypress Hill’s “temple of thieves;” there is no party atmosphere here, only blunted yet menacing beats and paranoid-schizophrenic rhymes, an absolute descent into madness, a madness madder than anything a metal band could ever hope to conjure up.  Cypress Hill would go on to experiment with metal on later albums, even collaborating with members of Fear Factory, Deftones and Rage Against the Machine on the Skull & Bones and Stoned Raiders albums, but they would never again trip the dark fantastic the way they did on Temples of Boom, a truly one-of-a-kind hip hop recording that’s yet to be equalled.

Although I sincerely doubt that any of the albums I’ve talked about here will be new to you, I hope that maybe some of the aspects I’ve pointed out will help you to see them in a different light.  If nothing else, I hope this little exercise has proven that there’s more to rap music than bitches and hos, and that there might even be something that even the most vehement of hip hop hating metalheads can enjoy.  Keep an open mind and it just might win you over.

Further suggested listening:
Wu Tang Clan – Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers)
Dr. Octagon – Dr. Octogonecologyst
Busta Rhymes – The Coming
Master P – Ghetto D
Westside Connection – Bow Down
GZA – Liquid Swords
WC – The Shadiest One
2Pac – All Eyez on Me
Digital Underground – Sex Packets
Ice Cube – The Predator
Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Beastie Boys – Check Your Head

So why do I dig this disgusting noise?  Because in listening to APoMT, I get the distinct impression that what’s transpiring musically is indeed by design, rather than some bizarre fluke of amateurishness.  Black metal means many different things to many different people, but my personal interpretation of the genre has always been this:  black metal is the musical embodiment of primitivism, chaos, destruction and hate; Nyogthaeblisz’s approach encompasses this completely.  Surely something this putrid-sounding could only be the product of musicians determined to distill black metal into its purest form?

Indeed, black metal should be unpalatable, uncomfortable and alien; it should take us to those uneasy places that other forms of music can’t even fathom (save for harsh noise and power electronics, perhaps).  This is what Nyogthaeblisz are pushing at here.  Each song on APoMT is a mostly formless/free-form clusterfuck that probably has more in common sonically with mid-nineties Merzbow (Venereology, Pulse Demon, etc) than with other black metal, only occasionally becoming structured when the band sees fit to let off the gas and settle into a ramshackle doom riff.  The vocals are a distorted, spiteful screech that completely overloads the mix whenever they pop up, adding to the inhuman atmosphere.  There is a point where music becomes so extreme that some might argue it ceases being music all together, and Nyogthaeblisz fall squarely into this category with their ultra-corrosive approach to black metal.

Whether or not you agree with my interpretation of Nyogthaeblisz’s intent, it can’t be denied that the material that comprises APoMT is some of the noisiest, nastiest black metal ever put to tape, an aural assault that actually lives up to the genre’s promise of total annihilation.   If this is the sound of the apocalypse, we’re gonna need fucking earplugs.

————————————————————————————————————/

Postscript:

The controversy surrounding Nyogthaeblisz’s inclusion and subsequent removal from Chaos in Tejas brings up a lot of questions about the state of the metal underground.  Where does one draw the line when it comes to tolerating “extreme” beliefs and behaviors?  How much freedom of speech is too much or not enough? Can we truly divorce ourselves from an artists beliefs and ideologies when we expose ourselves to their art?  I don’t believe there are any easy answers, but I have stated time and again here on THKD and elsewhere that it is important to expose ourselves to art that we might find uncomfortable or even offensive.  Where some will see a band like Nyogthaeblisz as black metal in its purest form, some will see them as offensive or confrontational, while others will see talentless crap, and others still will see some combination of these things, or something totally different all together.  The point is, we should always be willing to challenge ourselves with our consumption of art, no matter the ultimate outcome.  Art isn’t meant to be safe.

While the Black Twilight Circle have already proven their ability to branch out with acts such as Zoloa, The Haunting Presence and Blue Hummingbird on the Left, Muknal just might be their most promising foray beyond the collective’s roots in traditional black metal.  The tape is still available from Crepusculo Negro (2nd pressing) and word is that they’ll be putting out a split with The Haunting Presence in the very near future, with additional support from the mighty Ajna, so look forward to a double dose of sickness.

http://crepusculonegro.storenvy.com/

The production scheme employed by Occultation here is appropriately murky and drenched in reverb, adding to the overall atmosphere of the album without turning the instruments into indistinguishable mush.  Occultation borrow the sonic aesthetic of black metal and apply it to music that is quite far removed from the genre to great and interesting effect; Three & Seven is dark and sinister but also strangely pretty.  It’s a surreal mixture of the feminine, the devilish and the psychedelic that epitomizes how this genre is supposed to sound; Rosemary’s Baby recast as a malignant musical opium dream.

With Three & Seven, Occultation have crafted nearly forty minutes of truly esoteric music; it isn’t quite rock, nor is it entirely metal, but rather something uniquely its own.  The trio taps into something primal, something far beyond the quasi-Satanic flower power silliness that characterizes the rest of the bands they’re being mentioned in the same breath as of late, something those other bands could never even begin to understand.  Timelessly, tirelessly cult.

http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/

Of course what really drives the point home is the music.  It is by turns abrasive, haunting and beautiful; the beauty of youth swallowed up and withered, plunged into the depths of sorrow and anger.  Panopticon’s music is black metal to the core; sweeping, sharp and Burzum-esque, yet Lunn also incorporates elements of neo-folk, industrial and post rock into Social Disservices.  It is a wildly varied listen, and yet everything is seamlessly lashed together by the rage and yearning that only black metal can convey, a yearning to escape from the mental and physical agony inflicted upon those that society chooses to shun or lock away forever.

While it is ultimately difficult for me to identify with these feelings, having experienced a so-called “normal” upbringing and being a fairly well-adjusted child (albeit somewhat socially awkward), I can’t help but feel that in some way, nearly all of us are victims of some system or institution, whether it be school, prison, the government or corporate America, all of us are locked into the machine, letting it grind us down to a nub while on the inside we silently scream our guts out.  This is what Panopticon is tapping into on Social Disservices, the blood-curdling cry of despair on the tip of every tongue.

Panopticon proves with Social Disservices that the horrors of reality are far more terrifying than any imaginary apocalypse or pit of Hell.  It also re-affirms my belief that black metal shares a kinship with both punk and folk music in its ability to expose the ugliest parts of society’s underbelly, acting as a voice for those trapped underneath who might otherwise remain mute.  In this respect Social Disservices is some of the most ambitious, powerful and thought provoking black metal I’ve ever heard.

http://theflenser.com/

It took Cannibal Corpse a few albums to find their footing after ditching Chris Barnes for George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, but the band have been on a remarkably solid streak since 2004′s The Wretched Spawn; the quintet have upped both their technical wizardy and production values while maintaining a knack for memorable riffs and structures.  In this respect Torture can be viewed as the culmination of Cannibal Corpse’s post-Barnes musical and aesthetic journey; it’s probably the most varied album in the band’s catalogue and certainly ranks among the catchiest.  They aren’t bringing anything new to the table here (who the hell would want them to?), but they continue to refine and improve upon their sound without losing sight of what makes Cannibal Corpse special.  Songs such as “Intestinal Crank” “As Deep As the Knife Will Go” and “Followed Home then Killed” bring the bloodthirsty ultra-violence in a way that only these guys can; frenzied yet painstakingly contructed and played.

Overall, Torture is exactly what you’d expect from Cannibal Corpse, no alarms and no surprises, and yet there’s something about it that still manages to sound exciting and fresh.  Perhaps it’s the thick ‘n’ chunky Erik Rutan production job, or the band’s increased emphasis on shaking things up in the tempo department; Cannibal Corpse seem more willing than ever to let off the gas here, giving the songs more of a chance to sink in like red-hot blades through tender, trembling flesh.  It could simply be the fact that they’ve lost none of the maniacal, grisly energy and enthusiasm that has possessed them since day one.  Whatever the case, I take comfort in the fact that Cannibal Corpse is still out there after all these years, doing what they do best.

http://www.metalblade.com/cannibalcorpse/

Immediately launching into the one-two punch of “All Guts, No Glory” and “As Hammer to Anvil,” Exhumed proved from the get-go just how tight a live band they’ve become thanks to a ridiculously rigorous touring schedule.  However, in spite of the precision and professionalism with which Exhumed layed waste to their set, you could tell that they were also genuinely enjoying themselves.  They were giving it their all and having a good time doing it, and that infectious energy was absorbed by the audience; harnessed into appreciative moshing, headbanging and horns-throwing.

The quartet’s sickening set leaned heavily on their latest album, plowing through “Necrotized” “I Rot Within” “Death Knell” and “Distorted and Twisted to Form” in addition to the two aforementioned opening songs, reinforcing the notion that this is some of the band’s catchiest and most musically accomplished material to date.  They also played my two favorite oldies, “Decrepit Crescendo” (the very first Exhumed song I ever heard on a random Relapse compilation) and “The Matter of Splatter” from 2003′s Anatomy is Destiny, an album which was thought by many at the time to be the band’s last gasp and to this day remains criminally underrated.  The set was further bolstered by classics from across the band’s discography, such as “Torso” “Limb From Limb” and “Open the Abscess” and each song played seemed to get the crowd even more riled up.  Exhumed excels at mixing the ultra-gnarly, razor-sharp attack of death metal with a catchiness and attention to songwriting that recalls the best of Bay Area thrash, and that lethal combination was in full effect for the duration of their time on stage.

To sum it all up, Exhumed were feral, filthy and flawless; I heard more than one Des Moines metalhead saying that the headliners would really have to step up their game and that the Californians had stolen the show.  I watched Cannibal Corpse while my wife headed down to the car for a nap (she’s not a fan, what can I say?) and afterwards, we met up with Mr. Harvey for more beers in the backstage area, where a lengthy discussion about doom, garage rock and the many merits of KISS ensued.  We offered them lodging, but the fellas instead opted to head to a karaoke bar that was crawling with yuppies jamming on Rick Astley before making the two-and-a-half hour drive to Omaha, NE.  A great time was had by all and I hope that Exhumed will continue to make the Midwest a regular part of their touring regimen.

———————————————————————————————/

post script:
Extra special “no thanks” to the so-called “security staff” at People’s Court. First they, hassled us for attempting to bring a camera into the venue for this article (hence the shitty cellphone pics), in spite of us being on the list. I know at this point you’re probably thinking, “it’s your own fault for not requesting a photo pass, dumb-fuck!” but you see, less than a month ago we were on the list for Ghoul/GWAR and were able to bring a camera into the venue with no problems and were therefore under the impression that photo passes weren’t needed, so I’m going to go ahead and blame the venue for inconsistent enforcement of policies on this one. Then, there was the tool who kept trying to kick us out when we were waiting around to chat with the Exhumed fellas after the show was over.  Keep in mind that this “security guard” was roughly four feet tall and sported a haircut that caused him to resemble a penis, so he really wasn’t doing himself any additional favors by running around acting like a little hard-on. Grow another 2-3 feet, put on about a hundred and fifty more pounds and then maybe, just maybe you’ll be able to intimidate someone, douche.  Don’t get me wrong, People’s is a great venue that has been doing quite a bit of late to help bring quality metal to Des Moines, they just need to be a little more choosy about who they employ.

So pour yourself a pint of your favorite poison and settle in for THKD’s top ten songs for tying one on.  While these songs don’t necessarily have anything to do with drinking, they’re the songs I want to hear when I’m drinking.

Motörhead – “Ace of Spades”

Is there any song better for kicking off a weekend bender than “Ace of Spades?” If there is, I have yet to find it. I don’t need to tell you that this song is a pure adrenalin rush, just what you need to get revved up and ready for an all-out alcoholicaust. In college, a friend and I made a ritual out of listening to this song at top volume during our pre-game drinking sessions prior to hitting the bars. To this day, Lemmy’s cigarettes ’n’ whiskey-ravaged roar and bulldozing bass playing can make even a cream-puff like me feel like they’re the baddest motherfucker on the planet.

Venom – “Black Metal”

With its sloppy intensity and down ‘n’ dirty sound, “Black Metal” is the only track that could possibly follow “Ace of Spades.” There’s no doubt that Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon took some inspiration from Motörhead, and I also have no doubt that they were no strangers to causing a little drunken mayhem down at the local pub. There’s a rowdy, rebellious energy to “Black Metal” that makes it absolutely perfect for booze-induced headbanging. The song might sound like it was recorded inside a trashcan, but that doesn’t stop it from being a great song for getting trashed.

KISS – “Deuce” / “Cold Gin”


“You know your man is working hard, he’s worth a deuce!” For some reason it took me a long time to figure out what the hell that meant, until one night while listening (while loaded) it finally dawned on me that it was a nice way of saying your man is worth a shit. Deuce = number two, get it? Yes, I can be a bit thick sometimes, which is probably partly to blame for my love of KISS’ dunderheaded monster rock. Regardless of what it’s about, “Deuce” has a bitchin’ riff and swagger for miles, sometimes that’s all you need when you’re three sheets to the wind. Pair it with the equally mighty Ace Frehley-penned “Cold Gin” for the ultimate twofer. It’s interesting to note that Frehley, who’s alcohol-fuelled antics are the stuff of legend, wasn’t confident enough to sing when he wrote ”Cold Gin” for KISS, so the notoriously straight-laced Gene Simmons belted out the tipsy lyrics when the band recorded it for their debut. “The cheapest stuff is all I need” is certainly a lyric my PBR-loving sorry  ass can identify with.

Pentagram – “Be Forewarned”

Speaking of swagger, Pentagram mastermind Bobby Liebling has it in spades on the version of “Be Forewarned” that appears on the First Daze Here compilation. “I’ve lived on the dark side of the moon / And I’ve been to the heart of the sun / I’ve had my time with many ladies / And I’ve killed many men / Before my sixteenth year was done” if those lyrics don’t perfectly compliment a few bottles of the ol’ liquid courage, I don’t know what does. Maximum volume yields maximum results.

Misfits – “Hybrid Moments”

By now, my love for the Misfits (and Glenn Danzig’s entire catalogue) is well documented. Drunk or sober, “Hybrid Moments” is my all-time favorite song in that vast catalogue, making it an absolute must for any bender. It’s the epitome of what the Misfits were about; sing-along vocal lines and a hefty ’50s rock influence atop a foundation of blistering yet melodic punk. But more than any of this, it’s my wife and I’s song; we probably would’ve had it played at the wedding if not for the line about face raping.

Cathedral – “Midnight Mountain”

I’m pretty sure the execs at Columbia Records were drunk off their asses when they decided it was a good idea to partner with Earache Records to distribute releases from the likes of Carcass, Entombed and of course UK doom-lords Cathedral, who went funkadelic disco-doom on “Midnight Mountain,” the third single from 1993′s The Ethereal Mirror. I never would’ve imagined that a funky doom song would work, but this jam goes down smoother than a pint of Newcastle Brown Ale. I can’t resist the urge to boogie after I’ve had a few, and “Midnight Mountain” scratches that itch and then some.

Monster Magnet – “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”

With its deep intergalactic groove and one hundred megaton chorus, “Negasonic Teenage Warhead” is the perfect song to make a typically mild-mannered, rational person want to line up the whiskey shots and fuck shit up; such is the evil power of rock ‘n’ roll when paired with the demon alcohol. The ultimate song for getting smashed while smashing planets.

Clutch – “Promoter (of Earthbound Causes)”

If it isn’t blatantly obvious by now, this drunken playlist is about swagger, swagger and more swagger, and this track from Clutch’s best album (that would be 2004′s Blast Tyrant) is beyond swaggadocious. It’s a swaggering swaggadelic swaggerama of swaggnotronic ecstasy to the nth degree. RIFFS!!!

Satyricon – “K.I.N.G.”

If I were a professional wrestler, “K.I.N.G.” would be my entrance music. Unfortunately, the last time I drunkenly attempted to square off with one of my friends WWF style, my shoulder went through the wall of an apartment building hallway, effectively cutting my career short (or at least making me incredibly sore for a few days). “K.I.N.G.” is just a badass song from Satyricon’s robotic black ‘n’ roll phase that’s bound to make a drunken headbanger feel ten feet tall, provided they aren’t one of those elitist assholes that thinks Satyricon’s last good album was Nemesis Divina.

Alice Cooper – “Under My Wheels”

Honestly, I would probably be more than content to settle in with a 12-pack and listen to Love it to Death, Killer and Billion Dollar Babies in their entirety, but if I’ve got to pick just one song by uncle Alice for this list, I gotta go with “Under My Wheels.” The killer Chuck Berry-esque riffage alone is worth the price of admission, but when teamed with Cooper’s trademark sneering vocals you’ve got lightning in a bottle on your hands.  Alice might be clean and sober these days, but his early work has a boozy bite to it that’s absolutely infectious.

So there you have it folks, THKD’s top ten songs to precede a case of brown bottle flu.  Now it’s your turn, what songs/albums (metal, rock or otherwise) do you play whilst cracking open a few cold ones?

For me (as I’m sure is the case for many listeners) black metal is more about a feeling and an atmosphere than it is about more conventional metal trappings such as riffs or blastbeats.  In this key aspect Lament more than succeeds; in just twenty minutes, Obolus creates an almost unbearably dreary soundscape, not so much a nightmare but more like a profoundly sad dream.  Maybe it has something to do with the cover art or simply the EP’s title, but when listening to Lament I can’t seem to help but recall all the times I’ve been visited by deceased loved ones from beyond the wall of sleep; that same mesmerizing feeling of loss and otherworldliness permeates these five songs.

Lament offers a brief yet immensely satisfying taste of what Obolus is capable of; I look forward to seeing what they (he/she?) can do with a full length release.  If the blackened, hypnotic reverie on display here is anything to go by, it will no doubt be something to behold.  In the meantime we have Lament to haunt both our waking hours and our dreams.

http://theflenser.com/

Apollyon: Pretty early we realized that it was going to be a more intense album than it’s successor. We didn’t have any plans apart from that. Our plan is always just to write killer riffs and just see where they lead us. This time was no exception. The only difference was that we were all present from the get-go.

THKD: Are you and Aggressor still responsible for the bulk Aura Noir’s songwriting on Out to Die? Do the two of you collaborate on songs, or do you write separately? How would you compare your writing style to his?

Apollyon: Up until now it’s been like that. We’ve worked separately making riffs and putting them together, and made minor adjustments after we’ve introduced the song to the other guy. However this time around Blasphemer wanted to be part of the whole process. We decided to find whole weeks where we could all meet up at my house where I had a rehearsal room/studio. We live far away from each other and even in different countries so it’s not as easy as it sounds, as we are not blessed with excess neither when it comes to time nor money. Anyway, we had maybe 6-7 of those sessions spread out over a couple of years, where we met up created songs together, recorded them and went back and listened to them until next time we met. I’d say Blasphemer made most of the sketches and then we worked with them until everyone was content.

My writing style differs from Aggressor’s because we have different guitar styles and we also have slightly different approaches on how to make the music sound “Aura Noir”. I prefer his way of course and that’s why I love to be in this band as well, because I get to play extremely intelligent music.

THKD: Can you give us some background on the recording process for Out to Die? How did it differ from that of previous Aura Noir albums, if at all?

Apollyon: I guess I already answered that. I might just add that Hades Rise was made the same way, meeting up for weeks every now and then at my house in the mountains, just without Blasphemer’s help. Besides we had much more material already finished when we started working on Hades Rise.

THKD: You handled guitar, bass, drums and vocals on Out to Die. Do you enjoy handling all of this instrumentation in the studio? Do you prefer any one specific instrument over the rest?

Apollyon: I actually didn’t play any guitars this time, which kind of saddened me as I realized it. My favourite instrument is drums. Maybe because I’ve never had a drum kit. I like to play guitar as well but bass is horrible. I hate playing it. Vocals are always inspiring to do with Aura Noir though.

THKD: Has Blasphemer’s relocation to Portugal presented any obstacles for Aura Noir? Did you record your parts separately for Out to Die, or are you able to get together for the recording?

Apollyon: He moved there maybe ten years ago, so we don’t think much about it nowadays. It’s a hinder alright, but not a big thing. Especially since he quit Mayhem. He recorded his parts in Portugal but he had been rehearsing with us the week before in the studio I recorded the drums. I just needed peace and quiet while recording them and preferred only to have Aggressor with me.

THKD: What can you tell us about the lyrical themes on Out to Die? It looks like you’re still dealing for the most part with the old standbys of death and blasphemy…

Apollyon: Yeah, that’s how we like our metal. Not so much to tell. They are even quite personal but you know. Lyrics can be interpreted in many ways. The most important to us is that they don’t suck or deal with the “wrong” topics, meaning non metal topics such as politics or love.

THKD: Who were some of your primary influences for Out to Die? It seems like quite a few of the tracks have a bit of an old Celtic Frost vibe…

Apollyon: Sure, we love our Celtic Frost. However it’s safe to say that we more or less found our own style now, and we don’t really think of influences before making a new album. But we always use references within the band while the songs are in the making. Typically if we think a riff or a part of a song remind us of something else, we just refer to that song as the “Celtic Frost song” as a working title. There were no “Celtic Frost songs” this time though, come to think of it the only part that would qualify is the middle section of the song “Abbadon”. However there were incidents of name dropping while we were making the songs for out to die as well. The following bands were mentioned. Venom, Dark Angel, Metallica and Death.

THKD: Aggressor, Blasphemer and yourself are all involved in multiple projects, and I know that you took up the bass playing duties for Immortal some years back. Does this make it difficult to find time for Aura Noir?

Apollyon: Not really. Immortal is not a heavy touring band and they don’t need me to make music for them either. It was worse when Blasphemer was in Mayhem but still it’s very seldom, if ever, that we have to turn an offer down because of duties with one of our other bands.

THKD: Aura Noir have been combing elements of thrash and black metal for almost 20 years now. What is it about these two subgenres that continues to appeal to you after all this time?

Apollyon: I think it’s the essence of extreme metal. The “black” part is merely to underline that we are not a party thrash band or a political one. But I mean, if we had existed in 85 we would just be “thrash metal”. It’s just that so much shit happened to that genre later in the 80’s and it even died out, so when we revived thrash metal we wanted to make it clear what kind of thrash metal we played.

THKD: How have your inspirations and motivations changed over the years? Do you still perceive Aura Noir in the same way you did when the band was formed in 1993?

Apollyon: I think the main idea is still the same, the desire to make ugly and non polished metal based on killer riffs. We never want to fit in perfectly though, and don’t like to be too predictable either, so if we change slightly it’s only to confuse idiots.

THKD: Thrash metal has seen a resurgence in popularity over the past few years. Are you surprised by this development? Does it annoy you that all these new jack thrash bands are coming out of the woodwork when you’ve been playing thrash for almost two decades?

Apollyon: One thing is all the modern metal sounding thrash bands, that are the same as the modern metal sounding black/death metal bands, totally polished and without charm, destroyers of the genre. On the other hand you also have a wave of cool new bands who, like ourselves, hate the typical 90’s sound (that is equivalent of the 80’s pop sound when it comes to street cred)and try to make something interesting and inspired. I think the future is looking a bit brighter. I have no problems with new metal bands as long as they don’t suck..haha.

THKD: To what do you attribute Aura Noir’s longevity? How have you managed to keep the band lineup more or less intact?

Apollyon: Maybe because we never forced the band upon anybody. Not even on each other. Nobody had the chance to get tired of it. We always waited for each other as well instead of hiring new members or whatever. Never rushed anything.

THKD: Will you be touring or playing any shows in support of Out to Die? Do you enjoy playing live? Any chance you’ll make back to the USA?

Apollyon: We think our music often comes out better live than anywhere else, so we enjoy it much. The plan is to do full tours in both Europe and North/South America later this year.

THKD: What else is in store for Aura Noir in 2012? Are you already working on more material or will you be focusing strictly on promoting Out to Die?

Apollyon: Right now it’s enough work as the album just hit the streets, but we plan to start working on the next album after summer.

THKD: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to add?

Apollyon: Not really. Thanks for the interview!

http://www.auranoir.com/

As musically ferocious as Napalm Death are, they’ve also never been afraid to experiment, and Utilitarian sees the band introducing some interesting new elements into the mix, as well as expanding upon previous explorations.   Intro track “Circumspect” kicks the album off in doomy, groove-laden fashion, augmented by synths and electronics before dissolving into the explosive “Errors in the Signals.”  John Zorn (Painkiller, Naked City, etc) lends his twisted, atonal saxophone playing to “Everyday Pox,” a track that also sees Napalm Death flirting with slower rhythms and layered vocals that recall the likes of Killing Joke and Godflesh, all within the space of two minutes and ten seconds.  “Fall on their Swords” features an eerie, gothed-up middle section that sounds like an ultra-heavy Bauhaus, replete with deep, Peter Murphy-esque droning vocals.  Napalm Death have proved time and again that there is room for progression in grindcore, and Utilitarian just might be their most forward-thinking album yet while losing none of the band’s trademark knack for total musical devastation.

Lyrically and aesthetically, Utilitarian finds Napalm Death as politically and socially conscious as ever.  If the album’s cover, which features a quartet of corporate lackeys stomping the shit out of  the “common man” while he’s down (being something of a corporate lackey myself, this image hit particularly close to home) doesn’t give away the album’s basic themes, then biting lyrics such as “The wolf I feed / Outweighed, policed and rationed / The wolves I feed / Our liberties seized and blackened” from “The Wolf I Feed” or “Take a hammer to (stifling) traditions / Don’t tread carefully / Yes, we presume with no exceptions / freedom is for free” from “Quarantined” had damn sure better.  The band have been raging against the machine for years and show no signs of letting up here.

Considering the state our world is currently in, we need art to act as a voice of dissent now more than ever.  With Utilitarian, Napalm Death are that voice personified for the extreme metal underground, as they have been for the past thirty-one years and will no doubt continue to be until Embury, Harris, Greenway and Herrera are in the ground.  Then again, who’s to say that other musicians won’t replace them to take up the mantle, just as they did when the original band members began to drop off?  Maybe Napalm Death is eternal.

http://www.napalmdeath.org/

Satanic Royalty has it all; catchy choruses, spine-tingling riffage that pulls from first wave black metal, classic NWOBHM and old school punk rock, simple yet ripping solos and a shitload of intensity.  The musicianship is loose and lethal, coated in a clear, punchy production scheme that sounds closer to Nevermind the Bollocks… than Black Metal, perfectly capturing the unholy reckless abandon that is Midnight.  Lyrically, the album is a tongue-in-cheek cocktail of sex, death and Satan; few can resist singing along to pure poetry such as “You give me lust, you give me sleeze / I’m gonna bust when you’re down on your knees” from “Lust, Filth and Sleaze” or “Queen of the night / spread open for the rite / winged demons soon shall take their flight” from the title track.

Rock ‘n’ roll might be dead to the world at large, but Midnight are keeping the black flame burning with Satanic Royalty.  It’s dark, crude and evil as fuck, but there is an undeniable pop sensibility that permeates these songs, making it one of the most utterly infectious heavy rock albums to come along in years.

http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/midnight/

I don’t listen to a lot of hardcore, but I fucking love Blood For Blood.  While other hardcore bands are preaching unity, positivity, straight edge, blah blah blah, Blood For Blood are getting shit-faced, hating everything that breathes and generally fucking up your world.  Their music is a bludgeoning, nihilistic fist in the face and their lyrical tough guy-isms aren’t mere posturing; Blood For Blood are tough because life as they know it is complete and utter shit.

“Ain’t Like You (Wasted Youth II)” comes from Blood For Blood’s 2002 album Outlaw Anthems (which along with 1999′s Livin’ in Exile represents the band’s peak) and is easily my favorite song in their enitre catalogue.  It’s crude, violent and ugly, with the kind of lovably offensive lyrics you want to scream at the top of your lungs while burning down your school, your church and your place of employment, or repeatedly taking a Louisville slugger to the skull of your worst enemy while they’re helplessly tied to a tree.  It’s all executed with such pure brute force, you can’t help but get the feeling that Blood For Blood mean every word.

It’s no secret that I’m a total cream-puff; I’ve never been in a fight, I’m getting too old for moshing and quite frankly if I ever went to a Blood For Blood show I’d probably get the ever-living fuck beat out of me.  But there’s still something about blasting a song like “Ain’t Like You (Wasted Youth II)” that tickles the hell out of my lizard brain, causing my inner neanderthal to go berserk.  One of the great things about music is that we can live vicariously through it, and Blood For Blood’s three-minute-and-thirty-second beatdown is a perfect example.

Musically, Scum.Collapse.Eradication might be Revenge’s most disciplined salvo to date.  Read continues to be one of the most captivating drummers in all of metal, a cyclone of violence that always manages to pull back from the brink of annihilation, while his vocals alternate between high, blackened shrieks and pitch-shifted(?) death-chunder that wouldn’t be out of place on a goregrind record.  Chris Ross puts on a barbaric, brutalizing riff-clinic, alternating between sludgy, rumbling filth and speedy, churning six-string siege, while his solos slash through the mix like razor-wire.  The production retains the thick layer of grime that has characterized all of Revenge’s work, yet there is a newfound clarity on Scum.Collapse.Eradication that allows the music’s dynamics to shine amidst the monochromatic murk.  It could just be the production, but with this album it seems like Read and Ross have begun to focus more on allowing the songs to breath; a more nuanced assault as opposed to hitting you with the heaviest of heavy artillery at all times.

Revenge has been doing this style longer and better than anyone (hell, Read pretty much invented it with Conqueror) and Scum.Collapse.Eradication only serves to further assert their mastery.  It probably won’t convince any of those who think this type of ultra-gnarly, bestial metal hardly even counts as music, but the few dedicated maniacs who live for this shit will be blown away by what is arguably Revenge’s definitive statement of metallic subjugation.

The audience ate up every last chunk of  metallic offal that Ghoul dished out as the band plowed through songs from their entire four album discography.  “Splatterthrash” ”Graveyard Mosh” and ”Rise, Killbot, Rise!” were among the immediate highlights, but the entire set was as energetic as it was gruesome, all razor-sharp guitars, gnarly distorto-bass and skull-pummeling drums, with gurgled vocal vomit spewing tales of terror.  Ghoul’s show was a (blood)feast for the eyes as well as the ears, with the titanic battle between Killbot and Destructor, as well as Baron Samedi giving the crowd a much-needed “Brain Jerk” being among the standout visual moments.  Equally entertaining was the hilarious between-song banter supplied by bassist Cremator and guitarist Digestor, who brought a heavy dose of pitch-black humor to the already over-the-top mayhem taking place on stage.

By the end of Ghoul’s set, I was feeling zombiefied, totally drained by its sheer awesomeness.  The band met and exceeded my expectations, coming off like a vintage EC comic book come to life with a vicious, thrashing soundtrack that left me dying for more.  I can only hope that these cannabilistic, catacomb-dwelling Creepsylvanians someday return to spread their gutbucket blues to my neck of the woods.

(photos by the lovely and talented Mrs. THKD)

Remaining Ghoul tour dates:
3-30  Lincoln NE – Bourbon Theatre
3-31  Boulder CO – Fox Theatre
4-01  Grand Junction CO – Mesa Theater & Club
4-02  Flagstaff AZ – Orpheum Theatre
4-03  San Diego CA – House of Blues
4-04  Ventura CA – Majestic Ventura Theatre
4-05  Chico CA – Senator Theatre
4-06  San Francisco CA – The Regency Ballroom
4-07  Reno NV – Knitting Factory
4-09  Las Vegas NV – Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip
4-10  Magna UT – The Great Salt Air
4-11  Ft. Collins CO – Aggie Theater

Listen to Ghoul’s Transmission Zero:

http://www.creepsylvania.com/

Japanese wrestling legend The Great Muta

The Road Warriors (aka The Legion of Doom)

Immortal

Big Van Vader: bestial devastation

Besides Demolition, The Roadwarriors and Vader, who all looked metal as fuck but didn’t actively claim to be metalheads, there were wrestlers who did build their personas or ”gimmicks” around metal;  you had WCW’s “Heavy Metal” Van Hammer, who claimed to be a guitarist (in actuality he was an ex-Navy man from Maryland), as well as the WWF’s Headbangers, a tag team that consisted of  Mosh and Thrasher, who for some reason wore skirts (kilts?) as part of their ring gear.  Raven, a wrestler with a misanthropic demeanor and grunge-inspired wardrobe, often wore metal shirts, with a particular penchant for Nevormore (naturally).  Dale Torborg, who had previously wrestled under a baseball player gimmick (as the MVP), became the KISS Demon in 1999, wearing a ring gear replica of Gene Simmons’ iconic demon costume and makeup, and entered the ring from a coffin with KISS’ “God of Thunder” for accompaniment.  Unfortunately, the best thing about Torborg’s run as the KISS Demon was his entrance, and the character quickly fizzled out.  Oddly enough, Torborg is now a conditioning coordinator for the Chicago White Sox.

The KISS Demon

A lot of what I’ve written here is in the past tense; any longtime fan who’s kept up with wrestling over the past few years will tell you it’s in the shitter.  WWE has gone PG, turning their back on the fans that rallied around them during the “Attitude Era” to help them win their ratings battle against WCW.  With the notable exception of CM Punk and a handful of others, the bulk of WWE’s wrestlers are painfully vanilla; the arts of creating a character, storytelling and ring psychology have all but been purged from the WWE style of wresting, which is characterized by short, slow-paced matches.  TNA began as a fresh alternative to WWE, but has gradually declined over the years to the point where it’s virtually unwatchable, in spite of having a roster loaded with talent, and ROH, while high on technically sound wrestlers with tons of athletic ability, is painfully low on wrestlers that can cut a compelling promo or create an interesting persona for themselves.  Yes, in much the same way that the majority of heavy metal has become watered down and safe over the years, so too has professional wrestling.  That’s another similarity between wrestling and metal; they both go through periods of greatness and shittiness with little to no middle ground.  Metal certainly seems to be seeing an upswing this year; here’s to hoping the same happens for professional wrestling.

I would try to sum this thing up with some pseudo-intellectual bullshit about the uncanny connections between my love of heavy metal and my love of pro wrestling, but instead I’d rather just leave you with a few words from the one of the greatest of all time, too hot to handle, too cold to hold, the tower of power too sweet to be sour, the dearly departed “Macho Man” Randy Savage.  The beat goes on…

While black metal might be the jumping off point for Wildernessking, the songs are far from grim or depressing.  Each track is a stainless steel bird of prey screaming through the heavens, ready to unleash its talons and rip the sunlit sky to shreds.  There is something strangely uplifting, empowering and even beautiful about the music even when it’s at its most scathing, an invigorating feeling that gets your heart racing and your blood pumping.  Wildernessking infuse their compositions with such a strong dynamic range and sense of pathos that one cannot help but be affected by it.

The more one listens to The Writing of Gods in the Sand, the more abundantly clear it becomes that Wildernessking is a very special band with a bright future ahead of them.  The album leaves you with the distinct impression that they could more than competently take their sound in any direction at any given moment.  That just might be what is ultimately the most intriguing aspect of Wildernessking; being overcome by the rare sensation of having your ears opened up to a realm of infinite musical possibilities.

http://www.antitheticrecords.com/

Opening track “Psychic Vampire” can be seen as a microcosm for the entire album, kicking things off with a Tom Warrior-esque “UGH!” from bassist/vocalist Mike Dean and a sludgy verse riff before seamlessly transitioning into crossover mode for the chorus. The song is a statement of intent that shows off all of COC’s strengths circa 2012. The rest of the album continues on in much the same fashion, going from strength to strength; “River of Stone” reverses the formula of “Psychic Vampire” with a revved-up verse, a doomy chorus and a middle section that slows the track down to a dying man’s crawl, while “Leeches” is a two-minute-and-fifteen-second blast of pure punk. “El Lamento de las Cabras” is an interlude that lands somewhere between Southern rock and a Spaghetti Western soundtrack, serving as a brief respite before COC careens into “Your Tomorrow,” a pummeling track with a ridiculously catchy chorus. Track by track, the band unleashes volley after volley of feral, unmitigated heaviness.

Corrosion of Conformity loses none of its steam as it progresses. “The Doom” marks the album’s halfway point, more than living up to its name with thunderous, groovy riffing that recalls Eyehategod, before “The Moneychangers” kicks you square in the teeth. “Come Not Here” is a true departure for COC, coming off (at least to these ears) like a long lost Soundgarden track circa Down on the Upside, contrasting itself nicely with the one-two punch of anti-corporate anthem “What We Become” and the raging “Rat City.” “Time of Trials” closes out Corrosion of Conformity with some of the album’s heaviest riffs and rhythms, plus some soulful soloing from guitarist Woody Weatherman. There isn’t a bum track on the whole recording, and COC sounds so goddamn mean and hungry for its duration that you’d never guess they were a trio of fortysomethings.

Production and playing-wise, Corrosion of Conformity is equal parts grit and finesse. The album sounds like three dudes playing in a room together, but these three dudes have a killer set-up where each instrument is perfectly audible and comfortably occupies its own space within the mix. Mike Dean’s vocals are about as gnarly as it gets, somewhere between Mark “The Shark” Shelton (Manilla Road) and Dennis “Snake” Belanger (Voivod), executed with all the verve and venom that the comparison implies. Woody Weatherman’s guitar is all dry, crunchy mid-range, and the riff-barrage he brings to the table proves that COC only needs one guitar to kick the living shit out of you (no offense, Pepper). Corrosion of Conformity also marks Reed Mullin’s return to the drum throne after being temporarily replaced by Stanton Moore (of jazz/funk freaks Galactic) for In the Arms of God, and his playing is just as hard-hitting as you remember it, a rock-solid foundation for the sonic bludgeoning whipped up by Weatherman and Dean. COC play with the skill of the seasoned musicians they are, but with a violence and vigor that bands a third of their age wish they were capable of mustering.

Corrosion of Conformity is one of 2012′s most pleasant metallic surprises; an album that re-establishes COC as the power-house band they’ve always been, while at the same time taking their sound in an interesting new direction. While other veteran bands are content to spin their wheels and relive past glories, COC are forever forging ahead, finding fresh ways to unleash their animosity.

http://www.coc.com/

The Gleam of Wetted Lips is some of the most corrosive American black metal I’ve heard in quite some time, probably because of the aforementioned infusion of hardcore, but then again, Michigan has a tradition of musical nastiness going all the way back to the 1960s.  It could be that Aksumite is simply the next permutation of the state’s penchant for violent and ugly expression channeled through rock instruments, or it could just be kids going down to the basement, plugging in and fucking shit up.  Either way, Aksumite has uh, wetted my appetite with the all-too-brief blast of blackened punk that is The Gleam of Wetted Lips.

http://colloquialsoundrecordings.blogspot.com/

While there is plenty of scorn and bitterness threatening to bubble up and spill over the sides of these songs, there is also a distinct feeling of desperation that courses through TTTW.  Some have speculated that this is due to Wrest’s concern that the album would be the last recording he would have the opportunity  to make if found guilty of the accusations (I don’t recall if he confirmed this in interviews); there is a rough-hewn, hasty quality to TTTW that’s a far cry from the sprawling, lo-fi epics that were Leviathan’s previous full length outings.  Wrest seems to be saying, “I don’t know how I got myself into this fucked up situation or if I will be able to dig myself out of it, but I’m going to do whatever I can to exorcise these demons on my back or die trying before the hammer drops,” as opposed to the usual “I fucking hate this bitch and now I’m going to mutilate the living shit out of her and skullfuck the corpse” tomfoolery that typifies extreme metal’s take on “women done me wrong.”  Then again, given the lack of access to lyrics, he could very well be singing about violating the occular orifices of the dead; the beauty of TTTW’s mystery is that it leaves the album wide open for interpretation, informed by our individual perpsectives and experiences.

Musically, TTTW is all over the place (another sign of that aforementioned desperation?); the album takes black metal, dark ambient, a little gothic rock and a little noise and coats it all in Sanford Parker’s thick yet spacious production scheme.  Songs flow seamlessly into one another, which suggests some kind of coherent narrative, perhaps mirroring Wrest’s descent into relationship hell.  In many ways, TTTW recalls Wrest’s side project (and arguably his finest recorded moment) Lurker of Chalice more so than previous albums under the Leviathan moniker; the swirling, gauzy ambience which permeated that album to the core also appears here, engulfing the listener in something that isn’t exactly black metal, but is nonetheless horrifically black.  TTTW doesn’t sound anywhere near as fully realized as Lurker of Chalice, but perhaps that’s part of its appeal; Wrest applies his tonal pallette with the reckless abandon of a Jackson Pollock painting, creating something that is both familiar and alien.  The skeletal feeling of the recording makes perfect sense when one considers that the potentially life-altering fallout from the events that directly inspired it are as yet unresolved (at least to my knowledge).  How can a piece of art so obviously informed by real life truly feel complete when its inspiration has yet to reach its coda?

What might ultimately be the most interesting aspect of TTTW is the way that some within the metal community immediately denounced the album for its supposed subject matter and demonized Wrest without knowing the facts.  The very idea that an artist would be criticized for allowing real life experiences to drive their art is absurd; perhaps those pointing the finger at Leviathan would do well to stick to mindlessly rocking out to Rhapsody’s frilly shirt anthems of unicorns with cupcakes and rainbows flying out of their asses, or whatever the fuck it is they sing about.  As Glenn Danzig once sang, “This ain’t no fantasy.”  As for the internet warriors ready to brand Wrest a rapist/batterer and string him up as such, two things: one, there are these fundamental concepts of the American judicial system called due process and presumption of innocence that you should probably familiarize yourselves with before you go running off at the mouth; and two, I better not catch any of you listening to Burzum, Emperor or Dissection.

True Traitor, True Whore might not be the definitive Leviathan statement (that would probably be 2004′s Tentacles of Whorror), but it is an evocative snapshot of a man on trial for his life; “women done me wrong” taken to its illogical conclusion.  It taps into the uncomforable emotions that all of us, both men and women, have experienced in the face of relationships turned to filthy black shit and pushes them over the edge, past the point of no return.  This is not an exit.

http://profoundlorerecords.com/

http://www.soulsellerrecords.com/

THKD: What were your initial inspirations for The Sun Through a Telescope? Tell me a bit about how you discovered “outsider” forms of music and how that discovery informed your musical path.

Lee Neutron: The 2 albums that specifically provided the catalyst for TSTAT were the self-titled Jesu album and Sunn O)))’s Black One. Up until that point, I had been waffling around with the idea of a “solo-project” but hadn’t bothered to zero in on a focus.

Metal was, without question, the portal to outsider/underground music, at least that was the case for me (although, prior to my getting into metal, I was completely obsessed with “Weird” Al Yankovic, which seems to figure in somehow…maybe not).

Anyways, it was a very fast escalation from Def Leppard to Maiden to Anthrax and Metallica to Slayer to Napalm Death, and from there, it was Skinny Puppy, Godflesh, Faith No More, Syd Barrett, Nomeansno, Voivod, Killing Joke, etc etc. Always looking for those cool, weird, unheard-of bands with the cool, weird album art. It was like I’d discovered this amazing, secret world that was completely established and just waiting there for me. This was like 1989 – 90.

As it turned out, underground music was not so different from the mainstream. After wading through about a billion bands, it was clear that, like the mainstream, underground music had about the same very, very low percentage of worthwhile music to offer. Just because something was obscure or “challenging” (usually another way to say “shitty and unenjoyable”) didn’t mean it got a free pass. It was coming to that realization that kept me from turning my back on entire genres of music due to elitism or snobbery or whatever.

THKD: What was it about SunnO))) and Jesu specifically that appealed to you enough to light that creative fire under your ass? Also, you say you had been playing with the idea of doing a solo project prior to TSTAT. Had you been in bands or recorded any other music prior to doing TSTAT? If so, how did that experience develop into what you’re doing now?

LN: From a songwriting standpoint, nothing is more inspirational or motivational than being exposed to something in music that sounds “new”. Granted, neither of those 2 albums exactly reinvented the wheel. It’s all about context – taking old ideas and rearranging their parameters. Those 2 albums filled me with a sense of urgency to stop sitting on my ass and get to work on my own weird amalgamation of heavy metal. Specifically, it was the delay-and-reverb drenched vocals over crushing doom riffs of Jesu and the track Báthory Erzsébet on Black One with the black metal dude doing his vocals from a coffin. Such a horrific atmosphere created by that song, so much more so than most of what would qualify as black metal. I felt like, while I could never be on par with those bands, I still had to step it up.

I’ve been playing in bands since high school and continue to play in a handful of bands. Lots of shows, lots of recording, tours in Canada and the United States. Nothing major compared to the typical routine of a person in a touring band but I’ve been around the block a few times. It all contributed to the ongoing learning process. How to write a decent song, how to filter out your horrible ideas and idiotic impulses, how to record something and not have it sound like garbage, how to deal with other musicians (most of whom are insane/unpleasent) etc etc. Still constantly learning.

Nothing I had done prior to TSTAT would fall primarily under the metal category, however. So, I guess those previous musical experiences also developed into a need to finally address my metal demons. BLARGHHH!!!!!

THKD: Can you guide us through a brief history of TSTAT following your inspiration to start the project? How would you describe the develepment of the project up to this point?

LN: The songs that make up the Orange and Green/Black EPs came after the initial inspiration. Getting to the point of being able to enter the studio took almost a year just because I knew I’d be doing it alone and wanted to be ready. Once the recording, mixing and mastering were completed, I sent sampler CDs to every metal and/or experimental record label imaginable. The response, as you could imagine, was a resounding silence. Not a “NO!” or even a “no”, just nothing.

Fair enough.

After spending way too long in a “well, now what?” kind of limbo, I smartened up and planned to self-release my stuff exclusively on cassette with a digital download option. Seemed like a fun and cheap way to get things done on my own terms. I figured no one but me and my own laziness would be standing in the way of releasing TSTAT music. The self-release manifesto turned out to be unnecessary, however, when I was given massive support from Dwyer Records in releasing the Orange and Green/Black cassettes and from and Handshake Inc., Spettro Records and Grindcore Karaoke in hosting the Summer Darkyard digital downloads.

The project has developed a lot more quickly and fruitfully than I imagined it would. The reaction it’s gotten has been mostly positive and the number of listens on Bandcamp and LastFM are astonishing. Over the years, I’ve become very accustomed to and okay with the idea of no one but me caring about the music I work very hard on.

THKD: What made you decide to embrace both the cassette and digital download formats? I think there is an interesting dichotomy there between the two.

LN: Interesting, indeed! The most up-to-date format and the most out-of-date format coming together as one.

The decision to go with cassettes was primarily economical. Vinyl would have been my first choice but there’s just no way. Far too expensive for a man of my meager resources. Plus, the idea of paying through the nose for TSTAT on vinyl only to sell a few pity copies to friends and family and have the rest sit in my basement alongside various other boxes of past failed releases, well…..no thanks. Cassettes are really cheap to buy in bulk with lots of potential for them to look really cool. There’s also a certain novelty aspect that comes along with them (at least, that’s the case in 2012). I was always a big cassette guy so I have a certain nostalgic affinity for them. They seem to be kind of a hot item in the underground metal community so that’s another plus. Just a cool and easy format to work with.

The digital download option just made sense as I’m not sure how many people who buy cassettes actually listen to them. Or have the means to listen to them at all. I mean, the very idea of selling someone a cassette in 2012…you kind of do it knowing it’s more of a novelty item than something utilitarian. So yeah, a digital download to go with it. So you can come away with something to stick on your mp3 player and actually hear the music you just paid for. Thank you very much, come again!

Vinyl and digital are where it’s at right now. Nobody wants a CD anymore. But again, I’m not rich, so cassettes are a nice substitute for vinyl.

THKD: Ok, so I think that pretty much brings us up to the present. Tell me a bit about your latest release, Summer Darkyard. What were the circumstances surrounding its creation? What were you looking to accomplish this time out?

LN: I really like the idea of, instead of putting out one full-length after another, shorter releases and lots of them. The results are potentially a lot more weird and interesting than, say, 45 – 60 minutes of “A – material” every 2 years or so with a huge void inbetween. It honestly bothers me that more bands don’t employ this tactic. So many bands are in the position to basically do whatever they want and so many end up doing almost nothing. The Melvins are one band that is constantly putting out crazy stuff on multiple formats. They have such an extensive discography that runs the gamut of just about every variation of heavy music you could imagine. It’s one of the many reasons that they’re my heroes.

I’ve been working on a full-length to follow up the 2 EPs that came out last year and Summer Darkyard was something I came up with to fill the gap. 3 songs (plus a short bonus track) recorded and mixed by me; no studio this time. I also imposed upon myself a rule of no live drums on any of the songs which removed the possibility of anything overtly heavy. I wanted to focus a little more on the ambient side of things with this release. Plus, I don’t have the means to properly or even improperly record a drumkit so that made the decision fairly unconditional. Compared to the 2 EPs that precede it, it’s a little more esoteric. Like I said, no drums and really only one song that is guitar-driven.

The idea was to then offer it as a free download with no physical format to accompany it. So that’s what happened. Released on Halloween of last year. E V I L ! ! ! ! !

THKD: Can you elaborate a bit on the recording process for Summer Darkyard? What was your setup for the sessions? Did you run into any obstacles recording the release yourself? What were the pros and cons?

LN: My home setup is very sparse and probably very dumb. One mic, a mixer, a guitar pod, a Korg, a PC, cracked software…and one guy at the helm who almost has one clue.

I usually start with a very vague concept of what I want a song to do. That, or I have a very specific idea that I want to rip off from some other band. The song Darkyard, for example, started out very simply: I wanted simultaneous bursts of guitar and vocals coming out of virtually nothing with no drums to augment the bursts. That seemed like a decent enough idea to build a song around. The last song, I’ll Die, Goodbye, is the result of shameless thievery. It came from sampling large portions from 2 different songs by 2 different well-known artists, laying them on top of one another, then spicing them up with effects. It was something I’d been wanting to do with those 2 songs for a long time and I finally got around to it.

As far as working alone goes, there’s really only one specific set of obstacles I’m always dealing with – constant self-doubt and second-guessing. That’s a definite con of the one-man show. Lyrics are another big problem for me. I can’t stand writing them. Music is a pleasure, lyrics are not. Worse than homework.

On the upside, I find the quickest and most efficient way to get things done is to do as much as you can by yourself. Pro. Big pro.

THKD: Earlier you noted that only one song on Summer Darkyard is guitar driven. Were you making a conscious effort to get away from the guitar? If so, why?

LN: Removing guitars (and drums) as central instruments provided more opportunities for the drone/ambient aspects to be pushed to the foreground. It was definitely a conscious effort to do so, the reason being to possibly make things interesting. Not so much a need to get away from guitar because of being sick of it or anything. Guitars are good.

THKD: What are some of the lyrical themes you’re tackling on Summer Darkyard? Vocally you seem to be coming from a black metal place, and of course we talked a little about Black One’s influence on you earlier, so I guess I’m wondering if the lyrics are dealing with black metal-type themes, such as misanthropy.

LN: There’s a definite black metal aspect that is slowly but surely creeping into TSTAT, much moreso now than on my first 2 releases. That said, I’m more into the idea of black metal than black metal itself. Black One seems to encompass the spirit of black metal without being an overtly black metal album which is one of the reasons why I love it.

As I said earlier, lyrics are not my thing. I don’t really feel like I have any story to tell so, more often than not, I can’t be bothered with themes or a concept or anything like that. Darkyard, for instance, is just a bunch of random words. They mean absolutely nothing. Cro-Magnon Nightmare, on the other hand, is a little more specific. I thought that up as kind of an imagined epilogue to the movie Quest for Fire. Kind of a not-so-nice vision of the future for a doomed species. Boo hoo. I’ll Die, Goodbye is mostly based on my own excruciating high-school-era experiences. There’s one part about this girl I knew who was on acid and slashed her hand up with glass from a broken beer bottle she found on the ground. Other parts are just invented for effect. Kind of a cut-and-paste type approach. On my first 2 EPs, I used lines directly from books and movies as lyrical fragments. It usually boils down to what I’m obsessed with at that particular time.

I wouldn’t call what I’m getting at with the TSTAT lyrics misanthropic. They’re far more insular than that. I’m basically panning my subconscious for gold. There’s not a lot there, unfortunately.

THKD: What were some of the books and films you were borrowing from? Are there any particular authors or directors that inspire you and how do you translate that into music? What about soundtracks? TSTAT definitely has a cinematic vibe to it.

LN: There’s one song with lines from American Psycho. Awesome movie and an even better book. I especially like towards the end when things are completely unraveling. Not that I aspire to be Patrick Bateman or anything. I just like the idea of a person becoming slowly but surely unglued from their reality. Someone else, not me. No thanks. Another source for stolen lines was a comic book called Cerebus the Aardvark (which I’m currently re-reading for the 4th time). It’s a series of books I’ve known about for awhile but only checked out a few years ago. It’s not your typical comic book. Very strange, very long and really amazing. Some parts of it are awful and unreadable and even that I find amazing about it. I was also borrowing from Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. A great story though I find it gets a little worse with every re-visiting. I sample dialogue from movies a little bit as well (though not on Summer Darkyard).

Movie samples and book-thievery aside, I can’t say that either mediums have a huge influence on what ends up being a TSTAT song. I don’t think I have the same kind of vested interest in movies or books that I do in music, even though I love all 3. I’ve never been a huge soundtrack guy but there are definitely a few that I’m really into. Sunshine, Altered States, Blade Runner, Conan the Barbarian, Twin Peaks, the Argento/Goblin stuff.

THKD: I think it is interesting that the album starts off really angry sounding both vocally and musically and then kind of gets more mellow and sort of vulnerable sounding as it goes along, especially with the Jesu-esque vocals that pop up on “I’ll Die, Goodbye” was this also intentional and if so, what does it represent?

LN: Totally intentional. There’s not a lot behind it actually. It’s the idea of a jarring intro – an attention-getter – and from there a short journey into unsettling, ambient oblivion. I knew I’d be taking the ambient side of things to a certain extreme on this release so that particular track seemed like a good place to end where it’s basically fading out into nothing.

THKD: Let’s switch gears a little bit and talk about the release of Summer Darkyard. How did you get hooked up with Handshake Inc and Grindcore Karoake to host the digital downloads for the album? What are the advantages of this as opposed to just throwing it out there yourself on Bandcamp or something?

LN: Handshake Inc is run by a good friend of mine named David Hall. He promised to include TSTAT amongst his initial releases even before he’d got the label up and running. It was Dave who was the link to Grindcore Karaoke as he’d made a video for Agoraphobic Nosebleed and, as a result, had been in close contact with Jay Randall. He recommended TSTAT to Jay who responded very positively and added my release to his roster. It’s also being hosted (along with my previous 2 releases) by an Italian-based online-label called Spettro Records.

The advantages of this increased exposure are, hopefully, an increased listenership. I could care less about making a dime out of this cuz I know it’s not gonna happen. If people are checking it out, that’s good enough. Even if they hate it, that’s fine. As long as they are aware.

THKD: What kind of feedback have you gotten so far for Summer Darkyard? Are you happy with the response? Has your music attracted any trolls or weirdos?

LN: The feedback I’ve received so far has been mostly positive, what little there has been. It’s always fascinating to me to hear what other people think of what I’m doing. The fact that they think anything about it at all is enough to blow me away. I’m happy that there is a response PERIOD. Good, bad, whatever. If it’s being talked about, that’s more than I ever expected. I had fully prepared myself for complete indifference towards my TSTAT music so anything to the contrary is great.

No trolls to speak of, at least none that are, as of yet, displaying any troll-like tendencies. No weird emails, no fanatical interpretations, no stalkers. No, nothing like that. I’ll know I’m definitely making some significant waves when those retards start coming out of the woodwork.

THKD: Would you ever consider performing live as TSTAT, provided you could find the right group of musicians to help realize your vision?

LN: I’ve actually already got the musicians all in place. Various members of Fuck the Facts and Alaskan have expressed interest in helping me out if that time comes. My concerns are more to do with being able to come up with a live TSTAT scenario that would prevent it from being just another mediocre metal show. I’ve thought about it a number of different ways, possibly with a full band playing along with a backing track or possibly just me and a guitar playing along with an even more elaborate backing track. I always imagine playing against a backing film of some kind too.

It’s definitely something I’m not worrying about right now. I’m not really at a point in my life anymore where I can get out there and tour my ass off. Playing a bunch of random shows isn’t gonna do a whole hell of a lot to promote the band. If the time ever comes that a sort of “demand” for live shows develops, then I’ll probably start thinking about it. So, short answer: TSTAT will never play live.

THKD: What’s next on the horizon for TSTAT? What are your plans for the project in 2012 and beyond?

LN: I’m really hoping to get a video made. That is one thing that is completely out of my hands as far as my being able to get it done on my own. I am at the mercy of other people so, suffice to say, it might not happen. But yeah, since there are no immediate plans for playing live, I think getting some sort of visual to accompany the audio is the way to go. That is literally the next thing I want to get done.

2012 will also see the release of the first TSTAT full length. 7 songs, 6 of which are in various states of completion and the 7th being only theoretical at this point. My plan is to record and mix with Topon from Fuck the Facts. He’s a good friend and runs a great studio here in town.

Beyond that, I’ve got plans for an EP of cover songs as well as a strictly black-metal release (or my idea of black metal). Lots of ideas, all of which are subject to change.

THKD: Are there any final thoughts you’d like to add?

LN: Just basically want to say thank you VERY much for giving me this opportunity to promote my music! The online blogging/fanzine community has literally been the lifeblood for this project. I can see it in the bandcamp stats and on the LastFM page. A review or a writeup gets posted and the numbers go up. Incredible. And with regards to shedding some light on completely independent, unheard-of stuff, the metal community in particular really steps up. I love that.

http://www.tstat.org/

Clocking in at thirty minutes, Larvae isn’t quite long enough to be a fully immersive experience in just a single listen, but it is so utterly hypnotic that you’ll most likely be giving it repeat listens, and this is when Sutekh Hexen’s audial alchemy comes to fruition.  Larvae is one of those albums that reveals some strange new facet each time it is played, some previously unexplored cranny that takes you ever further down the rabbit hole towards the obsidian phantasmagoria at its core.  It’s the same trance-out effect that Burzum achieved with Filosofem, but whereas that album sought transcendance through infinite repetition, Larvae uses layers of overlapping sound combined with subtle shifts in mood and tone to actualize its haunting mesmerism.  The songs begin as whispers in the darkness, build themselves up into storms of swirling cacophony and then recede back into the maw of infinity from whence they seemingly came.

With Larvae, Sutekh Hexen have created the soundtrack to an internal apocalypse, the grim revelation that there’s a demon lurking within each and every one of us.  It is a meditative affair, conducive to introspection of the most horrific kind; it might just inspire you to take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize that you’re utterly terrified of the rotten, evil thing that stares back.

http://www.handmadebirds.com/store/index.php

The legendary California death metallers have been pretty much unstoppable since rising from the grave in 2009, releasing an EP, a full length album and a demos collection, in addition to playing just about every metal fest known to man.  Now, with the help of longtime label Peaceville Records, the band has gathered all of their hard to find and out-of-print EP material on one convenient piece of gore-drenched plastic (or two slabs of wax) with All Tomorrow’s Funerals.  Loaded with twenty-two cuts of the quartet’s patented brand of filthy, smoked-out death metal, the disc/DLP contains Retribution for the Dead, Fiend for Blood and The Tomb Within, as well as the Horrific Obsession single.  You’re probably already thinking that’s a whole lotta Autopsy, but the band sweetens the fetid pot with four brand new songs, giving fans an additional EP’s worth of material on top of everything else.  The new tunes are exactly what you’d expect from Autopsy, and just might be the ugliest, most morbidly heavy music they’ve recorded since reuniting.  Here’s the title track below, just in case you need further convincing.

All Tomorrow’s Funerals is out now (officially released on 02/28/12), and is available directly from Peaceville or down your local shoppe.  Check out my brother from another mother Dave Schalek’s review of the compilation for all the pertinent info.

Additionally, our pals over at Invisible Oranges are giving away two copies of the album, one on vinyl and one on CD.  The contest ends on 03/07/12, so get your worthless ass over there and enter to win.

After you’ve entered to win a copy of the album (or gone out and bought the damn thing), swing back over to THKD and check out the two interviews I’ve conducted w/ Autopsy drummer/vocalist Chris Reifert here and here.  I also reviewed The Tomb Within, which is included in this release, here.