STREAMING // (Album) YOTH IRIA – “As The Flame Withers”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Sound Engineer: George Emmanuel
Produced By: YOTH IRIA + George Emmanuel
Executive Producer: PAGAN RECORDS
All Guitars Performed By: George Emmanuel
All drums Performed By: J.V. Maelstrom
Keyboards Performed By; John Patsouris
Cover + Inside Art By: Harshanand Singh
Band Logo By: Giannis Antoniou
Band Photos By: Manos Georgiou
New Music – A Symmetry Of Pain
“I climb these stairs a dozen times a day and, by the open door, wait, looking in at where you died. My hands become a tray, offering me, my flesh, my soul, my skin.,” describes the poem “The Kaleidoscope” by Douglas Dunn. It may not seem important before January 29th, 2021, but the poem accurately reflects The Body’s ongoing torment of an orchestrated march into the sightless pits of agony.
On their newest release, I’ve Seen All I Need To See is a kerosine fire that by gaslight, illuminates a call back to their previous records where the percussion is more authenticated and the howls are more hellish. Both Chip King and Lee Buford are the maestros of the chaos which were first personally introduced with their 2014 release I Shall Die Here that was striking for its brevity amongst the sequences of death.
Memorable for not just their instantly recognizable sound and atmospheric building, but the tension rises with each release and I’ve Seen All I Need To See is less about forcing the hand of self-slaughter but to bring about a mercy killing from The Body. “Tied Up And Locked In” forces this rumbling underneath the surface as if it was a manhole explosion with hard percussion from Buford and vocals from King that conquer the ears. There is less of a focus built around the idea of featuring other vocalists or artists here and a burning desire to introduce only two guests to the record.
Both Chrissy Wolpert and Ben Eberle bring ice to the stereo, but it is still on the foundational grounds where The Body takes instrumentational pain to a new level. “Tied Up and Locked In” is a marker where approachability becomes a forefront for The Body. A band that was always built around the idea of crushing and pulverizing until the listener is ashes in the palm, seams split here for I’ve Seen All I Need To See and it awakens a distant evil.
Taking the simple pattern for percussion on “Eschatological Imperative” with droning out-of-tune snare smacks and pings. The basement recordings clash with the immaculately low-tuned strings that hit like atom bombs. The instrumental continues with some vocalization from King but the main focus relies on the harsh feedback that cuts suddenly like a slit throat into ritual murder.
Over the eight tracks present here and the near 40-minutes of eternal walls of noise, I’ve Seen All I Need To See on the final track, “Path Of Failure” resembles war. The isolative planes that fly overhead and drown out any sound, the synth wails that resemble buildings crumbling, and the percussion sporadic as gunfire; The Body are criminalistic here. Masterminds of downfalls, the eagle trembles as I’ve Seen All I Need To See paints the face with mud and adorns cuts over the eyes, ensuring a permeant gaze into the audience. The Body looks through you here, becoming death, destroyer, and eater of worlds.
When the cold bitter isolative hell goes belly up, The Body slices willingly, giving no formation of artful action to stand on. It is negative, it is unable to conform, it is The Body at some of their best presentative performances yet.
Listen To I’ve Seen All I Need To See Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Album) The Ruins Of Beverast – “The Thule Grimoires”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Track List: Ropes Into Eden, The Tundra Shines, Kromlec’h Knell, Mammothpolis, Anchoress In Furs, Polar Hiss Hysteria, Deserts To Bind And Defeat
STREAMING // (Album) GOLPE – “Promo 2020”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Written + Performed By: Tadzio Pederzolli
Recorded + Edited By: Eugenio Mazzetto
Mixed By: Jonah Falco + Will Killingsworth
Mastered By: Will Killingsworth
Artwork By: Francesco Goats + Tadzio Pederzolli
Track List: Sei La Tua Priglone, Nato Colpevole, Propaganda
STREAMING // (Album) Circus – “Demo”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Artwork By: Llija N.
Recorded, Mixed, + Mastered By: Nathan C.
Photos By: Kristen N.
Track List: Laughing In Piss, Clown Car Pile-Up, Feral Climax, Chucklehead Shiv (Honk Honk)
STREAMING // (Album) Bones – “Burden”
Listen Here – Soundcloud/Spotify/iTunes
Featuring: Xavier Wulf + Eddy Baker
Produced By: Infinity Frequencies, Lyson, Philip Dekat, Vegard, Aerblade, Shawty Shine
Track List: Burden, Brimstone, SafeAndSound, WannaSeeMyKnifeCollection?, SecondStarToTheRight, Aluminum, Opal, Ethanol, DejaVu, TheWaitingGame, DontTellMomTheBabySittersDead, HeyStranger, MyDearFriend, GoneWithTheWind
STREAMING // (Video) Code Orange – “YOU AND YOU ALONE: 011
Listen/Watch Here – Twitch
STREAMING // (Track) Clams Casino – “Haunt”
Listen Here – Soundcloud
Classic Day – My Hands, The Bars
With the simple four-piece line-up, it would be difficult to imagine that a band could play on average two-hundred shows a year, but Black Flag continues to be the inspiration for always feeling like you never work hard enough.
In the midst of their recruitment of vocalist Henry Rollins, the band’s work ethic seriously improved as they recorded and dropped most of the discography here from the notable Damaged to the later onslaughts like Loose Nut. Loose Nut was released in 1985 and was one of the last steps that Black Flag took before eventually switching the seemingly revolving door of lineup changes and transitions into the death of punk rock.
Opening with the self-titled track, “Loose Nut,” the record is a re-invigoration of Black Flag’s energy that packs dynamite into the speakers. They are immensely aggressive and know how to trigger that alpha instinct of movement, but can refine the energy to be harnessed as a positive explosion. There involves the lead vocals from Rollins and then having Greg Ginn on the guitars that also features Bill Stevenson of Descendents and All fame on the percussion. Wrapping up the rhythm section holds Kira Roessler on the bass and backing vocals who would round out her career with Black Flag’s studio sessions on the ’86 release In My Head.
Roessler on Loose Nut is actually one of the more pivotal and featured acts for the record as her bass playing on “Best One Yet” or “This Is Good” become the openers for the tracks. She stretches into these weird segments and grooves like on “This Is Good” that while difficult to get into by itself when combined with the other instruments is an appreciated component of style. And that carries into most of Loose Nut; for a record that is only nine tracks, Black Flag packs an overabundant amount of sound and variety into the 34-minute performance.
Especially on “Sinking” which is a stand-out for Loose Nut where the vinyl becomes scorched and etched from dropping the needle in the same spot so many times. Rollins describes one of the better verses lyrically even if his performance is mostly dead until the second verse. He describes, “Sinking, waiting, thinking, sinking all the while. It hurts to be alone when it hurts to be alone.”
As the solos from Ginn and the percussion ramps up, Rollins becomes more progressive in thought, describing his own demise. He illustrates, “Cutting my teeth on the blues, soul sinking to the bottom of my shoes. Thinking my life’s a waiting game, staring at my grave and feeling the same.” From the shouts of the bedroom at 3 A.M. in the morning or in the bitter hours of a cold, miserable mourning; “Sinking” is the fragile dirt underneath the coffin that shakes and trembles.
The salt burns as the wound reopens, again and again, every time Black Flag slides into the ears, destruction seems close. It is this poetic relation to being both in control of everything and nothing at the same time, sinking and dying and then falling back into the misery of never gaining agile footing in a shifting society that steps over you instead of raising you up.
Listen To Loose Nut Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Album) Refractive Errors – “2021 DEMO”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Recorded + Engineered By: Colin Knight
Cover Art By: YourSuffering
Track List: S.P., PRISONERS, CASH OUT, PSYCHOSIS, USELESS AND CONSUMING
STREAMING // (Album) GISM – “Detestation”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Track List: Endless Blockades For The Pussyfooter, Death Agonies And Screams, A.B.C. Weapons, Nightmare, Document One, (Tere Their) Syphilitic Vaginas To Pieces, Nuclear Armed Hogs, Anthem, Shoot To Kill, (Anti Atomic And Hydrogen Bombs), Choke
STREAMING // (Album) HEADLICE – “Vol. 1”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Guitar: Ed Lice
Bass: Red Lice
Synth: Shred Lice
Drums: Fred Lice
Recorded + Mixed By: Cody McWaters
Mastered By: Alec Thomas
Art By: Russell Taysom
Track List: HEADLICE THEME SONG, AUTO-EROTIC ASPHYXIATION, I HOPE YOU GET INJURED, BACTERIA, NIT COMB, BOMB IN MY BACKPACK
Misc. Day – Melted Wicker
Through the stained iris of Baton Rouge’s Thou and Los Angeles’ Emma Ruth Rundle, there is a real beauty to isolation. Their 2020 release May Our Chambers Be Full was one of the strongest releases of the year and came through to hold an alliance that embodied pure metallic dreams.
Moving to the current day, a four-track EP spawned and quickly once again rose to be a key piece to the more captivating continuations for both artists’ discography. The Helm Of Sorrow is not just a gorgeous title, it opens with the subtly of “Orphan Limbs” where Emily McWilliams is the lantern in the pale atmosphere. She continues through only guitars and some synths to be as haunting as an apparition but has this harrowing sense of charm that suddenly becomes drowned when Thou enters the ring.
Known for their abrasiveness and endearing production, Thou is a wrecking ball where Emma Ruth Rundle is delicate and allows reprieve where there often is hell. Either physically or emotionally, Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou are punishing especially on the following track, “Crone Dance,” where the instrumentation takes a turn for the familiarity of heavy bass and pulverizing percussion. “Crone Dance” is illustrative and deliberate in its delivery. When the rumbling strings disguised as stabbing pins become a drowning wave large enough to submerge the listener.
And it follows that harsh change on “Recurrence” where the instrumentation is reflective of the greatest parts of both Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou. Thou always manages to destroy any speaker they come into contact with and Emma Ruth Rundle manages to perfectly blend the daunting with the attractive. Much of “Recurrence” is a shouting match into the void where the reverbed strings and percussive progressions become overpowering.
The final track of the 21-minute EP is actually a cover of The Cranberries on their 1997 track “Hollywood” that quickly became the personal standout for the record. Emma Ruth Rundle provides the verse delivery while Thou’s vocal growls and shouts are the choruses. The two artists work in tandem to provide a sweet to the salty, a stone to the soft.
When the instrumental really begins to kick into overdrive, it is one of the moments of conflict where it is both gorgeous and frightening. “Hollywood” tightly secures the best parts of why May Our Chambers Be Full in 2020 and why The Helm Of Sorrow in 2021 was such an exemplary project. Rather than being a split record, the joint cohesion is a new entity of old favorites that continues to impress as time marches on.
Listen To The Helm Of Sorrow Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
THIS IS A LIST OF THE MOST RECENT STREAMS...
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)
MATT'S MUSIC MINE - MERCH FOR SALE
VIDEO REEL 2
LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY – JESUS PIECE AT BABY’S ALL RIGHT, DECEMBER 6TH, 2022
SUNDAY SAMPLER // (Playlist) “12/04/2022″
(Track) Jake Mason Trio – “Rib Eye”
(Video) Lightning Bolt – “Dead Cowboy @ TAICOCLUB 2014”
(Video) The Velvet Underground – “After Hours”
(Video) Mac Miller – “10 Years Of You”
(Video) A$AP Rocky – “Same Problems”
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)