Misc. Day – Desecration
From the initial inner workings of the harsh building synths and atmospheric percussion that is more spacious than the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Altar Of Plagues on their third and final recorded venture are able to constrict and nearly abolish light on Teethed Glory And Injury.
The opening track “Mills” is four minutes of tension, just straight walls of unbreakable and uninhabitable wastelands similar to a horror movie where a jump-scare would occur. Now imagine for the next four minutes, Altar Of Plagues concurrently is off-screen to the audience, whittling away on an intricate delivery of dread encompassed by sound. All that is prominent is the consistent eerie synth and the punch of an 808 bass that builds up into a more authentic percussive delivery.
When the transition to “God Alone” bears teeth and Altar Of Plagues true form can be revealed to the audience, Teethed Glory And Injury is a warped monster of blackened wings and eyes but an impressive reach. Almost as if the band was able to pull the audience through the speakers, Altar Of Plagues feels immaculately powerful here and wants a witness to crush. “God Alone” is carried by these slashes of distortion that cut wildly into the mix. Through confusion being the main ally of Altar Of Plagues, the pulverizing instrumentation is focused and a dream to follow.
With Dave Condon on the vocals and bass, he joins Johnny King on percussion, and James Kelly on the vocals and guitars, but also the keys which are attuned to fill most of the ungodly barriers of sound here. For a black metal record, the track lengths never reach too far past the four-minute mark with only three tracks ever gracing over. These tracks, especially “A Remedy And A Fever” are etchings in the evil that surround themselves in crunches and clipping from the mix that aids into their desolation-esque outlook.
“A Remedy And A Fever” spends much of the four-minute introduction as a shouting contest into the void until the levee breaks and immediately the instrumentation consumes the speakers. Bordering on both the agonizing and the occult, Altar Of Plagues are a twisted joy to be in awe of. At some portions, they are focused entirely on the destructive nature like an atom bomb of percussive and stringed isolation, then at times, they can switch to grace the listener with sections of metallic beauty. Something that seems so daunting shouldn’t be allowed to be this motivational and pushing toward a light.
That light might immediately be suffocated in the next sectional, but their progressions in performance and sound here on Teethed Glory And Injury are fantastic. Altar Of Plagues can not only bring hell to the ears, but they can glorify the presence of hope in the same hands.
Listen To Teethed Glory And Injury Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Track) Lifetaker – “Pit Viper”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Full Release December 4th, 2020
Recorded By: Tonmeisterei Oldenburg + LIfetaker
Mixed + Mastered By: Tonmeisterei Oldenburg
Track List: Code Nero, Wolfsgesetz, Adrenochrome Vampire, Sheol., Panzerdämon, Wire Mother, Abyssal, Filtheater, Year Of The Rat
SUNDAY SAMPLER // (Playlist) “11/29/2020”
Listen Here – Spotify
“A playlist of tracks that were featured on MattsMusicMine.com from the week of November 23rd – 29th. From Reviews to Streams, never miss a track with these playlists that are uploaded every single Sunday till I drop dead.”
Featuring: MAVI, Your Old Droog, Mach-Hommy, El-P, Tha God Fahim, Black Thought, Code Orange, Thundercat, Jimi Hendrix, Sunami, Danny Brown, Chief Keef, Mike WiLL Made-It, P Almighty, Death Valley Girls, Da$H, Soft Kill, Tamaryn, JPEGMAFIA
Track List: SMH, Pravda, In Fear, Them Changes, Like A Rolling Stone, The Wind Cries Mary, Mind Your Business, Savage Nomad, Status, LeftHandedBandit, Hold My Hand, Little Things, ANOTHER DAY, Floodgate, COVERED IN MONEY!
STREAMING // (Album) JPEGMAFIA – “EP!”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Produced By: JPEGMAFIA
Mixed By: JPEGMAFIA
Mastered By: JPEGMAFIA
Track List: BALD!, COVERED IN MONEY!, BODYGUARD!, BALD! REMIX, CUTIE PIE!, THE BENDS!, ROUGH 7, living single
STREAMING // (Album) Soft Kill – “Dead Kids, R.I.P. City”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Electric + Acoustic Guitars: Conrad Vollmer
Drums + Percussion: Daniel Valadez
Electric + Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Synth, Vocals, + Lyrics: Tobias Grave
Bass On 2, 6, 9, + Piano On 10: Owen Glendower
Backing Vocals On 3: Adam Klopp
Vocas On 4: Tamaryn
Synth + Percussion: Dave Trumfio
Additional Lyrics: Nicole Colbath
Recorded At: Kingsize Sound Labs + Chateau Trumfio
Engineered By: Celso Estrada
Mixed By: Dave Trumfio
Produced By: Dave Trumfio + Soft Kill
Mastered By: Howie Weinberg
Cover Photo By: Megan Tvedt
All Art + Text By: David Rugh
Track List: Roses All Around, Wanting War, Matty Rue, Floodgate, Crimey, Pretty Face, Ducky, Inverness, Oil Burner, I Needed The Pain
New Music – The Witching Hour
Somewhere out in the Californian desert lies a coven, or a conglomeration of members known as the Death Valley Girls who were infectious enough to catch the eyes of Iggy Pop and just about any ears they come across.
On their newest record, Under The Spell Of Joy feels like a blast into a subsonic 1970’s revival where the psychedelic rock foundations never died but instead were built upon to form sculptures of sound. Consisting under the direction of Nikki ‘Pickle’ Smith on bass, Rikki Styxx covers the thumping percussive sections and backing vocals as well. Also featuring is Gregg Foreman on the organ and synths and perhaps the central minds of Larry Schemel and Bonnie Bloomgarden who together cover the guitar work while Bloomgarden uses her vocal apparencies as driving forces.
Throughout the massive attack of 11 tracks over 38 minutes, much of the awe of Under The Spell Of Joy comes from Death Valley Girls chemistry together both on and off the stage. Especially on the more charismatic tracks like “Hold My Hand” which through depth and layering, become solid walls of sound to the amps. Through the intense bass work from Smith or the forgiving use of feedback on the guitars, Death Valley Girls are the perfect blend of both beauty and acidity.
When the title cut “Under The Spell Of Joy” breaks through the glass membrane, Death Valley Girls recruit Gabe Flores for the underlying saxophone that eventually controls the track. While the vocalists all chant together “Under the spell of joy” like a cultish backing, the saxophone comes in to be more destructive than constructive. With percussive and guitar being the repetitive mantra, the horns are illicit and form a fantastic emotional draw.
This hypnotizing continues throughout much of Under The Spell Of Joy but is eerily present from the organ from Laura ‘The Kid’ Kelsey that mesmerizes and bonds to the audience. This is where the early flower power theme enters and rather than decimating or dominating the mind, seems to expand and really push thought forward.
For what seems like a millennium, bands like Death Valley Girls needed a mainstage stamp in the cosmic playlist for their ability to absolutely gather every eye in the room. From their electrifying performances to their conquering stance on sound, Under The Spell Of Joy is a medicine that not only goes down smooth but begs for more servings after.
Listen To Under The Spell Of Joy Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Album) G.L.O.S.S. – “Trans Day Of Revenge”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Engineered + Produced By: Joey Seward at Punkall
Artwork By: Julaya
Insert By: Bex
Dedicated To: Adan Parker
Track List: Give Violence A Chance, Out From The Desk, Fight, We Live, Trans Day Of Revenge
STREAMING // (Video) Danny Brown – “Savage Nomad”
Listen/Watch Here – Youtube
Classic Day – Band Of Gypsys
“I should have quit you,” describes Jimi Hendrix over the enthusiastic and almost chaotic howls of guitar strings and percussive crashes on “Killing Floor.” While the record Live At Monterey might be a release that comes far after Hendrix’s death in 1970, the recording sounds as current and alive as ever.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was the band at the time and some of the works on Live At Monterey are more highlighted by the covers and the crowd favorites like “The Wind Cries Mary.” Even the cover of the Howlin’ Wolf track “Killing Floor” that spends more minutes as a display of Hendrix’s guitar prowess as an understatement, the relation of inconsistent but distinctive playstyles from both guitars continue to be a column for the statues of sound.
The experimentation that Hendrix plays with marches on and unfearfully clashes with shines more true on his Bob Dylan cover of ”Like A Rolling Stone” that bounces the spotlight from Hendrix over to Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on percussion. The melting waves that Hendrix produces are flattering and entirely different from Dylan’s original writing but never upstages it in any way. The rendition is celebratory almost and the way that Hendrix can inject shots of life and vitality into the mix while speaking to the crowd is charismatic and frankly amazing.
As the record produces on and “The Wind Cries Mary” opens up the audience, almost everything falls into a progressive place. The subtly of the work is a base for the bass from Redding to really hunker down and grasp on the audience. Hendrix’s vocals here are soft and feel almost freeform to the ears as pools of warmth wash over, but sorrow still lingers through the yearning strings that pluck along.
When the group reaches the guitar solo, the familiar string work is a reflective friend but the percussion is almost the star of the show there with Mitchell delivering a quick, but sporadic break until the melody shines back in.
Before the guitar is burst into a sacrifice symbolizing love, the strings snap on the last piece of Live At Monterey. “Wild Thing” might be a simple and iconic song, but when Hendrix covers the track, the flames couldn’t be any higher as the band seems to erupt into spontaneous combustion for the last seconds. Amps become twisted and distorted, nothing seems to follow a pattern, and the beauty is etched forever into the breaks of vinyl fuzz noise.
Through the dust and lighter fluid, Live At Monterey continues to illicit some of Hendrix’s best recorded live setting playing that could rival his Woodstock performance. It hurts to know the potential that Hendrix had, but even in his four short years in the mainstream, his playstyle and fashion sense was enough to craft a career of obsidian-esque memory.
Listen To Live At Monterey Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Album) Sunami – “Sunami”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Engineered, Mixed + Mastered By: Charles Toshio
Additional Vocals (In Order): Brandon Flores, Sammy Ciaramitaro + Dave Chaos
Art By: Jon Mayo
Layout By: Ian Bouchard
Track List: GATE CRASHER, MIND YOUR BUSINESS, Y.A.B., FEDS WATCHIN
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)