Review: T.O.M.B. - Third Wave Holocaust

This is long overdue. I've had this album, thanks to Malignant Records, for some time now and have listened to it pretty regularly but haven't had the time to sit down and write in quite awhile. I had heard a lot of good things in regards to T.O.M.B. but never got around to checking out their material. Then a copy of this, Third Wave Holocaust, showed up. The artwork really drew me into this album. Out of everything I had lying around to listen to, the artwork kept pulling me closer and closer to this release. So, I gave in to T.O.M.B. and I've not regretted a single second of that decision. Third Wave Holocaust rotated day in and day out in my car, accompanying my dread on my way to work and relieving the day's tensions after work.

From the first provocative sample draped across a humming low end, to the chime that continually pulls in your attention. The ghastly voices resonating from the background and the deep, choppy chain of bass that all came in within a few minutes of the first track, Antagonizing the Unknown, let me know this was going to be right up my alley. Electric Exorcism comes in as a cathartic whirlwind that is thickly layered in noise, yet still ambient in a way. Although mostly having a wall quality, there is enough coming and going to not let your mind wander too far off its intended path. Offerings of high squeals and guttural rumbles keep the track alive and not the sometimes-stagnant wall.

The Great Venerat Insult introduces itself with dark ambiance, the now-familiar low rumble, a light static and some minimal drum work and relieves itself in a similar fashion. The following track, NA LA GORE NA, begins a chant immediately proceeding The Great Venerat Insult. This chant becomes more and more distorted and elongated as it continues forth. Layers of static and noise start to mask the chant, getting more and more harsh until peaking and slowly working itself back down to its origin.

Appropriately titled, Vulgarity, comes in on the chant's heels again bludgeoning us with a quasi-wall. Menacing sounds emerge from the bowels of this wall adding a chilling effect. Just when it begins to lull you off, a piece of aural shrapnel finds its way into your head. Disrupting Admin brings some deep bass, heavily distorted and droning. The tension this track builds is unsettling. It's invasive and overwhelming and then it's gone, abruptly ending and opening the door for the next track, VOM VOODOO, a tribal beat covered in a swarm of locusts. Title Track, Third Wave Holocaust, comes in more demanding. Its echoing, metallic hit soaks among rumbling noise and static. The track tinkers with a lot of variations of sound from the whole spectrum piling on top of the looped, metallic hit.

Clairvoyant Frequencies, the second to last track, continues in the vein of the album's overall feel. Darkly swooping and swaying through our ears while distorting the already disturbed range. It's haunting yet pacifying for nearly the entire track until it screeches out of existence. Closing track, Tribute to HANHUA, is by far the most disturbing track of the album. There is a lot to soak in with this track. The ethereal voices, the constant ringing, the dense atmosphere, the subtle changes in texture. It's a bit of an amalgamation of the rest of the tracks all joined into one epic. I would say it's likely my favorite track, and a monumental close to a great album.

You can pick this up from Malignant Records, and I highly recommend that you do so.

Review: Steel Hook Prostheses - The Empirics Guild

 

The prolific Steel Hook Prostheses (J. Stillings, L. Kerr) have released another ominous album, "The Empirics Guild." Out now on the infamous Malignant Records.

Crawling and claustrophobic. Spacious and demented. Pained, tormented voices amongst electric tools and static rumbles. Ambient, in the darkest of ways. Fields of electricity and caustic percussion evoke the unsettled. The voices become garbled. Reverberating and liquifying. Dripping into cataclysmic synthetics. Scathing as a whole.

Elaborate layers of mechanical, haunting, landscapes. Foreboding whispers and trails of saturation. Spectral, disembodied. Crashing echoes, swarming broods. All driven with intent of capturing and regurgitating fears. Memorable discomfort is apt. Cavernous depths allow rumination of the sonic layers and interchanging textures. Entangling torrents of man-made nightmares. All-absorbing and endlessly captivating shadows of auditory madness. Nearing hallucinogenic and ethereal. Undeniable and utterly dismal. A perfect amalgamation of forlorn distress and impassioned catharsis.

Available at: http://www.malignantrecords.com/

Review: The Vomit Arsonist - An Occasion for Death

 

Another Malignant Records release they were kind enough to send my direction. We have, The Vomit Arsonist's "An Occasion for Death." Join me in what will assuredly leave you questioning reality.
A slow churning in the bowels of the machine quietly hide behind a powerful sample starting off "An Occasion for Death," on the first track, "Think God Out of Existence."  The churning becomes more alive, gradually increasing in volume and depth. The voice gives way to the atmosphere. Slow, meandering, oppressive, moving with a distinct goal.

"At the Edge of Life, Everything is an Occasion for Death" flows from the aftermath of "Think God Out of Existence." Darkly ambient, haunting. A slow, tortured, drum beat begins to take form; plodding and enhancing the ominous field of sound. A shrill voice takes hold. Distorted and eerie, seemingly wrapping around the ears. Droning, but intriguing. Never allowing one to drift off, or forget where they are.

"Invita Minerva" boils through. Haunting, delayed vocals, echo throughout sending chills down the spine and embedding deeply. Rolling, static noise lie just behind, rumbling and swarming. Slow, but effective in its crawl. "Black Bile" comes in on the hindquarters of "Invita Minerva" with another slowly plodding, highly mesmerizing drum pattern. Tribal-like in their demeanor.  The distorted vocals reappear, menacingly, agonizingly. The voice becomes more strained, giving way to unnerving effects, ending the track on an unpleasant note.

"Torn Between Will and Desire" sways into the ears. Swooping back and forth, hanging among a cloud of despair. Noise infiltrates harshly but not unbearably. Penetrating high ends mingle amongst a low creeping torture that sluggishly brings brute drumming into play. Whispers of insects play to and fro with harsh vocal disturbances that crumble and decay leading to "The Absurd." A clutter of natural sounds mix with high-end murmurs as the ghastly voice once again makes its appearance, unintelligibly, drenched in affliction. The sounds of metal scrape along once again, chilling the spine. Aptly titled, "A Means to an End," comes in as the last track of the album. Setting foot into a natural setting, clanging, chopping, surgical, like the ambiance of a morgue. Disturbing, fleshly sounds introduce another sample spoken in foreign tongue. The machine continues its churning, contorting the background clatter. Returning is the distorted, anguished voice. Making its final, unsettled, appearance. The horrifying atmosphere sets on edge, the fears unknown. The subtleties and combinations of sounds allow for the mind to enhance as it pleases. Before long, the aura fades away. The sounds have dissipated but the feeling is residual in bone. Walking away, no longer feeling secure. A magnificent feat to achieve.

Review: Aderlating - Gospel of the Burning Idols

Everyone is familiar with Mories, the mastermind behind Gnaw Their Tongues, De Magia Veterum, Cloak of Altering etc. Aderlating is one of Mories' many projects (this one he is partnered with  Eric Eijspaart for) and one I continually find myself going back to time and time again. "Gospel of the Burning Idols" was released earlier this year through the always outstanding, Malignant Records, who were kind enough to supply me with this album for a review, in a glossy, sleek CD sleeve.  

The diversity of sounds throughout "Gospel of the Burning Idols" are nearly unfathomable, if it weren't for the fact that they're all here. In all of their glory. A low rumble ruptures the silence and sets us forth onto our journey by means of the aptly titled opening track, "Opening of the Tomb." Haunting, mesmeric vocals break the soundscape menacingly, for the most part, unintelligibly. Drumming begins to infiltrate the cacophonous field, quiet, but prominent as the static rumbling carries on.

The magnitude of outstandingly interwoven sounds make Aderlating stand strong against a crowd of inferiority. Every range is present and dynamic, and no layer is anymore overwhelming than another. At times, simplistic changes or repetition take hold, captivating ears and mind. While other more complex alterations jar and arouse. The dark atmosphere becomes reminiscent of a late stroll through a dank, musky cavern. Things are lurking. They are watching, and these are their thoughts spewing forth. Many will try, but few will accomplish such success in sound. To hear all the intricacies of this album, I recommend solitude, an open mind and of course, anticipatory ears.

I don't feel the need to write out a lengthy review of each and every track. I would rather give a brief but detailed synapses of the album as a whole and allow you to develop your own thoughts of the remainder of the album. The tracks are short enough to keep a solid attention-span but long enough to deliver an unnerving, captivating, and strangling oppressiveness. This is not for the weak-minded or feeble-gutted. Aderlating have really found a solid sound here that is almost refreshing in the most sinister of ways.

A few samples are available on the Malignant Records website, here, http://www.malignantrecords.com/releases/4503

If you enjoy dark, noisy, atmospheric oppression, then by all means, head over, give a track or two a listen and if you can get behind the work of Mories and Eric, then throw your money towards it.

Review: Sewer Goddess - Mutilation Process

 

If you are unfamiliar with the entity that is Sewer Goddess, then, might I suggest, you dive deep into some research and familiarize yourself. "Mutilation Process" is a live recording from May of 2012 that was released on cassette via Graceless Recordings. Graceless has put out a number of great releases thus far (such as the Vesicus and Dagger of Sacrifice demos) and I have my fingers crossed that they will continue to do so.

This is an excellent example of what Sewer Goddess has to offer. Long, droning passages drown in thick layers of revolting noise and death-industrial style dirges. Female vocals eerily find their place among this sump of waste and defilement, beckoning the attention of it's listener. Painfully slow guitars add to the ever-darkening atmosphere. At times they're extremely harsh, while at other times I find them to be like guides; leading me through the murky filth like a siren leading me to my death. Percussive elements lend a hand to the overall texture of Sewer Goddess' squalor and perversion, hitting hard and echoing through the cathartic landscape. The slowly chanted vocals continue to unnerve as they gain in frequency and intensity, soaking into walls dripping with feedback. The whole set is disturbing and wretched in the most pleasant of ways. 

I personally cannot wait to hear more from Sewer Goddess. Everything about this creature has utterly wonderful. They have found a niche that they conquer with ease. Be sure to check them out and pick yourself up a copy of this live performance from the always excellent Graceless Recordings.

http://gracelessrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/grace005-sewer-goddess-usa-mutilation-process

http://gracelessrecordings.bigcartel.com/product/sewer-goddess-usa-mutilation-process-tape-2013

https://www.facebook.com/SewerGoddess187?fref=ts

Review: World of Metal and Rust - Songs for Prisoners

 

World of Metal and Rust is an experimental dark ambient/industrial project coming out of Portland, Oregon. "Songs for Prisoners" is the second release preceded by "Industrial Noir."

Tracks 1-8 are a hypnotic dirge into the mind of a prisoner, each labeled accordingly, Prisoner A-H. Manipulated field recordings and samples emphasize the drone and monotony of the lives of a prisoner.  Simplistic rhythms stack-up among the layers of sound continually pounding away in mesmeric fashion. Each prisoner is its own. Some haunting, some lucid, all captivating like the cells in which they are permanently affixed. Piano, distorted mongoloid voices, industrialized soundscapes, synthetic variations, samples, and sickening ideas of claustrophobia all radiate through these tracks making skin crawl and tighten as the steel slams and the walls close in.

 Tracks 9-12 aren't labeled as the previous tracks. They're not specifically the minds, or experiences,  of prisoners but, they do emanate a similar vibe. "Lair of Oppression" is a particular stand-out among these final four tracks. The deep, rumbling bass induces a trance-like state that is only to be shattered by unnerving industrious sounds. The passage drones on, holding tight to the listener, fading out into obscurity. It is followed by a bonus track that stands out among the rest of the album due to its obvious change in tone and texture. It is heavily seeded in a more electronic type of sound that is nothing less than catchy and addictive. And this brings us to the conclusion piece, aptly titled "Outro." It brings us back to where this adventure began. Darker, caustic and haunting. A fitting end to an interesting concept-album.

I'd like to personally thank Ross for sharing his material with me and for being the first review for Tenebrous Tongues. Below you will find links to the music, blog, and Facebook. Give the links a follow and check out the entity that is, World of Metal and Rust.

http://worldofmetalandrust.bandcamp.com/

http://worldofmetalandrust.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-of-Metal-and-Rust/612576668756801?fref=ts

Changes

If you were one of the few that checked up on this site prior to this posting, thank you.

There have been many delays in everything I was hoping to accomplish in a much shorter time-frame. So, I've decided to wipe the slate clean and will post updates once things are set in stone.

The original idea was to release batches of tapes at the same time but aligning everything has been anything but smooth.

I can assure you all of at least two releases:

Wet Dream Asphyxiation's currently untitled dedication to Ed Gein. I guarantee this will be a must-have with many extras in the special editions.

The other will be "VII Gates" by Gnashing of Teeth. All the details of this release are still being thought-out and the music is still in the process of being recorded. It's going to be, yet another, excellent release by the duo that is sure to pool blood in your ears and thrill you at the same time.

If there is still interest stirring about for the XtB release, "Exorcisms," then that may be the third release. If not, I may substitute it with another release from XtB or another band if I'm able to get something lined up.

If you have a project that may "fit the bill" for the label's aim, please, submit your material. I'm open to any submissions.

If I'm able to, I will also be acquiring some Pro CD-R's so that I may release other projects that aren't particularly fond of cassettes. It will also allow me to release albums at a faster speed than the cassettes will.

Thank you all for your patience in this venture. I'm taking my time to assure you all that you will not be disappointed in anything Tenebrous Tongues releases.

Regards,

XtB