Jesu / Eluvium Split LP

Hydrahead Records / Temporary Residence Records
2007
Vinyl 12"


The second instalment of the Hydrahead / Temporary Residence collaborative series sees Jesu and Eluvium take one side of a limited LP each. The first instalment was an incredibly fast selling joint venture between two of Hydrahead and Temporary Residence's bigger names, Pelican and Mono, yet lacked new material, especially from Pelican. However, the second instalment promises to be much more interesting, more new material from Jesu (with a new direction) and a follow up to Matthew Cooper's beautiful 'Copia'.

Jesu are the bigger name in this package, despite the fact that all Godflesh and Napalm Death reference is pretty much irrelevant now, and Jesu has become a success story on its own. Recent releases 'Sliver' and 'Conqueror' were a lot more tuneful and melodic than 'Jesu' or 'Heartache', which didn't sit well with many fans. The barren drone, simple beats and melancholic vocals were replaced with a general increase in pace, almost cheesy lyrics and definite catchiness. Still unmistakably JK Broadrick, and still very good, but relatively unexpected. This split LP does nothing to change this trend however, the depth and bleakness is all but gone, and there is a very definite nod towards classic shoegaze artists such as My Bloody Valentine. Opener 'Farewell' is the weakest track sadly, ponderous and perhaps even irritating, but fortunately the rest of the Jesu side is good. A lot of the more unnecessary flourishes of Conqueror have gone, and the fuzzy yet clear sound that sums up Jesu is allowed to breath a bit more. Interestingly the tracks on this split are entirely at odds with the Sun Down / Sun Rise 12", which was by all means a fantastic return to type. This split LP is probably the best of the lighter side of Jesu, perhaps on an equal footing with the Silver EP, but most should stick with the Sun Down / Sun Rise 12"

For what could have initially been a closely matched pair, the Eluvium side of the this split could not be any more different. Matthew Cooper is joined by Jeremy Devine, and the tracks on this split don't have much in common with those of the most recent Eluvium record, Copia. Copia was a lush, dense and beautiful album with decadent classic orchestration that set it apart from the typical post rock crowd. 'Time Travel of the Sloth Parts I, II and III' is a lot more cut down that this, and is closer to Eluvium live shows. The track is a shifting, delicate wall of drone that sounds most like a piano led Growing. It's much lighter than say, Sunn O))), and slightly messy when compared with Growing, but the piano parts add a lot to the sound and when combined with the sometimes dramatic dynamics it creates an interesting piece of work. It isn't in the same league as Copia, its a very different thing all together, which is good rather than great.

Overall this split LP is a let down, JK Broadrick manages to turn in two good tracks that are far from his best and are perhaps more of an attempt to pursue a variety of material under the Jesu banner. The Eluvium material is better, yet far from essential. In fact since I started to write this, I have not gone back to this split and both Jesu and Eluvium remain firm favourites.

6 / 1 0


Notes

• JK Broadrick has since released a further EP on Hydrahead, 'Lifeline', which features guest vocals from ex-Swans legend Jarboe.
• Eluvium are due to make their first live appearances in the UK supporting frequent tour partners Explosions In The Sky for a UK tour.
• Copia was one of my favourite albums of this year
  

Links

• Hydrahead Records
• Temporary Residence Records
• Jesu
• Eluvium
  

Coalesce - Salt and Passage 7"

Second Nature Recordings
2007
Vinyl 7"


After eight years of break ups, fall outs and extremely limited reunions, Coalesce have finally released their first new material since the classic '0:12 A Revolution In Listening'. Massively influential and popular, yet still as relevant as Converge despite having been out of the loop for so long, Coalesce have effortlessly managed to evolve their sound, just as they did between 'Give Them Rope' and '0:12 A Revolution In Listening'. The choppy phrasing, stripped back sound and groove from '0:12...' have been taken to extremes, now backed up with incredible musicianship and an abundance of ideas. 'Son of Son of Man' sounds as if it has been broken into pieces, then messily put back together - Riffs are constantly overlapping or stopping short, and the whole track is paced in such a satisfyingly uneven way, while still managing to be thoroughly catchy. 'I am This' is similarly good, slightly more familiar, but still fantastically clever and addictive.
'Salt and Passage' is pretty much the perfect comeback release from a band as important and unstable as Coalesce. Both tracks don't rely upon any gimmicks or new elements, and are far from being tired re-treads of what they have done in the past. New Coalesce sounds muscular, fragmented and very, very catchy. Which is clearly good news.

9 / 1 0


Notes

• Salt and Passage has been printed on a massive array of different coloured vinyl, with at least 3 different colours and different coloured sleeves for some versions. The rainbow press was limited to 60 copies, though black should still be available at least, and a second press is likely.
• Coalesce recently finished a tour with their inferior labelmates at Hydrahead, The Daughters, and hopefully they'll make their way to Europe soon.
• Blue Collar Distro (run by vocalist Sean Ingram) is also carrying the bands first live DVD set, 'No Business In This Business', incorporating footage from 14 different shows. This will only be available through Blue Collar and on tour.
  

Links

• Myspace
• Sean Ingram's Blog
• Buy 'Salt and Passage' at Blue Collar Distro
  

Southern Lord Records Round Up

Greg Anderson's Southern Lord Records has been exceptionally busy of late, releasing quite a large amount of material from a variety of artists new to the label. Well, new artists may be misleading considering that Gravetemple, Burial Chamber Trio and Magistral are one-off collaborations featuring the usual suspects (Stephen O'Malley, Greg Anderson, Attila Csihar amongst others). Yet several new artists have been introduced to the label, including, Glorior Belli, Om, Weedeater, Wolves In The Throne Room and Striborg. Most offer up no real surprises considering the history of the label and fit the bill of either being black metal, drone or 'stoner rock'. Being familiar with most of these artists, ive decided to look at Glorior Belli, Wolves In The Throne Room and Magistral, the three records that presented the greatest unknown quantity.

Glorior Belli - Manifesting the Raging Beast
The French black metal trio return with their second album, and first for Southern Lord. First impressions of this album are unsatisfying, its disappointingly straightforward for a black metal album. The production is sharp and clean, the musicianship is tight and varied and there are no overblown keyboard lines. Unfortunately this results in an album without a particular sound of its own, where even the vocals are forgettable. Solid, tight and much more listenable than most black metal, yet not bleak enough to be sucked into and reliant on too many familiar riffs. There are however some catchy and quite clever parts scattered around this record, usually when the band drop to a mid pace and actually show off. The solo at the end of final track 'Altered Verses' is overblown and all the better for it, while the more relaxed pace lets the drums breathe and we actually get some interesting fills. 'Manifesting the Raging Beast' is a decent album, and would be good listening for someone who likes the idea of well produced black metal, yet it would fall short for fans of say Xasthur or Striborg for the same reasons

6 / 1 0


Stephen O'Malley & Z'EV - Magistral
Another SOMA collaboration, adding to his list of recent joint outings including KTL (with Pita), Grave Temple (with Attila Csihar and Oren Ambarchi) and Aethenor (with Daniel O'Sullivan and Vincent de Roguin). While O'Malley is famous for his droning guitar work, Z'EV is a reknown experimental percussion artist. This was always going to be a challenging (bordering on pretentious) record which would stand or fall depending on how the two managed to work together, especially considering the usual lack of percussion in O'Malley's work. What we have ended up with is something initially impenetrable that with further listens reveals itself to be astonishingly atmospheric and clever. The breadth of sound is balanced perfectly, in that Z'EV provides the momentum and tension, with SOMA filling all of the available space with undulating, twisting noise. This record works entirely because of the percussion. Over the course of the record the percussion becomes more and more pronounced and never fails to catch the attention. O'Malley is flawless as usual, perfectly complimenting Z'EV, the only failing being that it does lack variety. 'Magistral' is an excellent collaboration, with considerable niche appeal i.e. fans of SOMA and Z'EV, as well as fans of ambient music in general.

7 / 1 0

Wolves In The Throne Room - Two Hunters
More black metal on Southern Lord, and straight off the back of releasing the vinyl edition of Wolves' last record 'Diadem of 12 Stars', their new album 'Two Hunters' comes onto SL first. First thing to catch the attention about this album is how long the tracks are, there are only four, three of them clocking in at around ten minutes, which is certainly sign of something a little different. 'Two Hunters' sounds different as well. 'Diadem of 12 Stars' was a fantastic, progressive and really quite melodic black metal record, and 'Two Hunters' builds on this considerably. With a more dense sound and a lot more variety and experimentation in structure and instrumentation, the album comes out as something very similar to post-rock, yet with the fury and despair that you would expect from black metal. 'Two Hunters' might not have the brutal edge of many black metal albums, but the epic and bleak picture that it paints is utterly compelling. Opening track 'Dia Artio' is elegant and un-metal, and works as a five minute introduction to the mood of the album, and really makes it clear that this is not going to be a stereotypical black metal album. Instead, 'Two Hunters' is an incredible album, while thoroughly black, more than enough new elements are introduced that don't seem contrived and don't clash.

9 / 1 0


Notes

• Wolves In The Throne Room look set to become a regular with Southern Lord, and have already toured with Sunn O))), Earth and Weedeater. Their current tour is (for the most part) with Jesu. A European tour would be much appreciated.
• The next major release on Southern Lord is the highly anticipated new record from Om. Entitled 'Pilgrimage', it will be Om's first double LP. SL recently issued a sample track online, and it can probably be summed as more of the same, only with more riffs and better production.

Links

• Southern Lord
• Glorior Belli
• Wolves In The Throne Room
  
• Stephen O'Malley