PainKiller - Execution Ground (1994)

Oh man. Say what you will about John Zorn, but there's no denying that he knows his way around the saxophone. Whether it be the klezmer-influenced free jazz of Masada or the surf rock/jazzgrind hybrid that is Naked City, Zorn pushes his lungs to their maximum potential to create the ugliest, and at times loveliest, sounds the alto sax can make. Featuring Mick Harris of Napalm Death on drums and samples, as well as sharing vocal duties with Zorn, this is a dementia-filled record that will abuse and punish you, even in the quiet moments. Although similar to Naked City in that PainKiller blended avant garde jazz with grindcore, this is an altogether different beast. Execution Ground is a double disc with a small tracklist where songs are stretched well past the 10 minute mark. It's certainly not an easy listen, but it's far more manageable than their previous outings, which were more reminescent of traditional grindcore fitted with waling saxophone in short schizophrenic bursts. The fist disc consists of three tracks that are mostly improvised drum, bass and sax madness with minimal vocals that sound more like indecipherable screams of agony than anything else. Eerie samples garnish the quieter spaces to evoke unsettling atmospheres. There's a strong dub influence as well, leaving behind heavily echoed drums and distorted sax wobbling around in low-end bass frequencies that give the impression you're dealing with aliens instead of humans. The second disc features two 20 minute dark ambient dub versions of the first and last track of disc one. It's not recommended that you listen to this disc alone in the dark. Unless you want to. I'm not stopping anyone. While the drums and saxophone are the focal point of the first disc, the bass work should be of note. Extremely psychedelic and liquid, it ebbs and flows with a cosmic rumbling perfectly fitting for the chaos happening around it. Both discs are up for grabs below. -N

Disc 1
Disc 2

Yashira - We Find Ourselves In The Grief Of Others (2015)

 

The four piece Yashira crafts a beautifully oppressive yet heavy and abrasive character of metal. Having been a band for less than a year, they have already played with the likes of: Crowbar, High On Fire and they did a small run with Full of Hell. The band's current and only released Ep We Find Ourselves In The Grief of Others pushes the boundaries of extreme metal seamlessly combining elements of black metal, doom, sludge, while giving it an alluring and sinister psychedelic earmark. My favorite song off of the ep which happens to be the second song and the longest *9:34* Alluvation (Succumb to The Cycles) begins with a baptism of doom with droning reverb and feedback that I would have to describe as the sound of being led to the guillotine by my executioner, the song continues to develop throughout several harmonious movements from a eerily beautiful chorus that echoes blue record era Baroness, to blast beats and buzzsaw guitars until a crowning glory of bottom heavy fury brings the song to an end. The first song Dialysis (Cynosure) is only a little more than half as long running at about 5 minutes and 30 seconds, immediately transitioning from heavy progressive riffage to a blast beat & then logically moving to another beautiful chorus. What makes Yashira stand out above their peers is the way each song is delicately crafted; The guitar work, vocal work and rhythm section all work and transition as seamlessly as flowing water, or as matter getting sucked into a black hole, take your pick. It's almost as if Igor Stravinsky himself listened to Through Silver and Blood and then went out and bought a Les Paul and an Orange stack. Yashira will be a force to reckon with in the metal world. Peep the bandcamp in the link below. -Rip

https://yashira.bandcamp.com/releases

Flying Saucer Attack

Flying Saucer Attack (1993)

A band who seemed doomed to nothing more than a cult following, but for good reason. Flying Saucer Attack refused the assistance of recording studios, making way for their feedback-ridden, lofi psychedelic DIY attack. Crafting dreamy melodies similar to My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive with new age-esque ambience (two tracks on the album are named Popol Vuh 1 & 2 if that tells you anything), this is a record that drones, swells, and screeches with its eyes gazing upwards. For proof, just check out that album cover. From here, they would go on to master their otherworldly droning with the album Further.
                           Further (1995)

Similarly, the cover tells all. A decidedly darker and stranger affair than the self titled, but another classic nonetheless. This album features a more melancholic sound with less vocals and more emphasis on post-rock compositions. Here, the lofi qualities are more concentrated, with the noise and ambience turned up to 11. They released a few more albums following Further, most notably New Lands in '97. For best results, smoke a bowl and grab some headphones. Both the self titled and Further are available below. -N

Download Flying Saucer Attack (1993)
Download Further (1995)

Thy Catafalque - Tűnő Idő Tárlat (2004/2010)

Thy Catafalque are, in my opinion, the shining example of avant-garde metal. Nothing here is conventional and at times, this is hardly even metal. "Csillagkohó" kicks things off with the sound of howling wind before buzzing tremolo riffs appear and cut through like giant sheets of ice, but this is no typical black metal record. There are spacey synths, industrial soundscapes, drum n bass beats, Hungarian folk influences, and even some orchestral sections. There's more of an emphasis here on artistic expression than there is on being ~kvlt~. Thy Catafalque operates mostly as a one-man band with the addition of a few guest musicians on strings. This is avant-garde metal at its finest. Download for free on Bandcamp. -N

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James Chance and the Contortions - Buy (1979)

One of the first bands to be associated with the New York No Wave scene, James Chance and the Contortions created a mind bending concoction of punk, free jazz, and funk rock that raged, skronked, and thrashed. Buy is the debut album from these seminal No Wavers, and the only album recorded under this name before changing to James White and the Blacks. From there, they released a couple of albums before fading into obscurity. But none were as important as Buy. While I appreciate No Wave's tendency to assault the listener with as many ugly notes as possible, The Contortions actually knew how to play their instruments, and sometimes in the nastiest ways possible. -N

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Never Young (members of Calculator)

Never Young are a noisy post-punk band that hails from The Bay Area: they are the product of one of my favorite new(ish) screamo bands Calculator, three of the four members of the latter created what some would describe as "Sonic Youth, At The Drive In and My Bloody Valentine having a menage e trios" . The effects laden guitar work combines dreamy shimmering shoegaze with noisy feedback ridden punk riffs, The vocals, are shouted and almost disembodied at times. All of this serves to create a youthful,poppy and yet artistic approach to punk. The band has 3 Eps out the most recent, titled NY Singles being from October of last year however I have heard rumors that a full length is in the works so stay tuned!

-Rip
https://neveryoung.bandcamp.com/album/never-young

Lost Salt Blood Purges - Only The Youngest Grave (2016)

Another one of my favorite post-rock releases, the newest offering from Michael Snoxall aka Lost Salt Blood Purges. Described as "...a ritual of many things. Experimentation, change, life, death, isolation.", LSBP's new album wanders through dark and empty streets and cold winter landscapes. Tape manipulation, sombre post-rock riffs, smokey saxophones, electronic noise, melancholic neofolk picking, ritualistic ambient drones and pulsating tribal drumming; a combination not too dissimilar from my previous post, but this certainly conjurs up a different overall feel than 'II'. Also a double disc, but much, much longer in comparison. Clocking in well over an hour, this is the perfect companion to sleepless frostbitten nights. Headphones yield best results. Snag for free on Bandcamp! -N

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