2 0 0 7

In Brief - 2007 has been an interesting year, filled with the usual disappointments from the big names, and brilliant surprises from the unknown. I've also seen my own tastes develop, something which won't show too much from music this year, but largely in what I've chosen to listen to the most. Boris, Eyehategod, Growing, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Xasthur, etc. have been important and it's been a good year for pushing the envelope for me. The lists I've made are going to be a lot more personal than usual, as a top ten should be, so I hope a few people will read this.


The 10 Albums of 2007

10. Sword Heaven "Entrance"
Load Records
Long awaited following a series of epic demo tapes, and finally picked up by Load records, Sword Heaven released their debut album this year. It's nasty sounding, easier to get a grip on than the various tapes, skittering and shattered noise falls over near tribal beats and fractured vocals. Reminiscent of early Swans, which is definitely an unpleasant but good thing.

9. Loinen - "s/t"
Blind Date Records
Finnish doom, very much in the tradition of mid-period Melvins. Characterised with jerky stop and start riffing, clever drum work and unique vocals. Massively satisfying to hear in a year of almost exclusively deep south / eyehategod influenced sludge, this album hits with some brutal, nasty riffs yet very much has its place in modern doom.

8. Eluvium - "Copia"
Temporary Residence Records
For me, an emotional album that is entirely about feeling and depth. Difficult to place, but in the end such a perfect sense of grandeur and subtlety with expert instrumentation. Strings and woodwinds and well as the backbone of piano push this far, far ahead of the Eluvium material that went onto the split 12" with Jesu.

7. Xasthur - "Defective Epitaph"
Hydrahead Records
Malefic gets it right again, that is all really. The big additions of live drums and strings are kept low in the mix, which turns out to be one of the strong points of this record. Thick waves of noise all but drown the bass and drums, with vocals and synths occasionally pushing through. Far into the realm of blackened shoegaze (awkward, i know) at times, but mournful and oppressive above all.

6. Deathspell Omega - "Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum"
Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Almost at the completely opposite end of the scales to 'Two Hunters', 'Fas...' is quite honestly one of the most brutally technical back metal albums I have ever heard. The album seems to work at two speeds, an atmospheric mid pace reminiscent of a blackened Gorguts and a breackneck technical blast. Disorientating and unpleasant, yet never technical for its own sake, this basically sounds like a descent into a technicolour madness.

5. Big Business "Here Come The Waterworks'
Hydrahead Records
Big Business step up their game considerably from the one dimensional, yet awesome 'Head For The Shallow'. It would be easy to put this down to the influence of the Melvins, but Jared and Coady are legendary in their own right. Better riffs than '(a) Senile Animal', choruses that are of Karp quality and the addition of a supporting guitar player all add up to make a great, great rock album.

4. Deerhunter - "Cryptograms"
Kranky
Probably the most 'indie' album on this list, and front runner for album of the year for most of the year. Catchy, clever, dreamy and danceable in equal parts, 'Cryptograms' brings up memories of the best of early shoegaze and noise, while still being completely fresh and compelling. Extremely satisfying as a pop album, yet loses nothing when taken as a whole. 'Spring Hall Convent' and 'Hazel St' are the kinds of songs that get easily attached to memories, yet only positively.

3. Oxbow - "The Narcotic Story"
Hydrahead Records
The first new Oxbow release I have been around to appreciate from the start, I originally heard these songs on the Love's Holiday acoustic tour, and while some songs still work best that way, there is no doubting the power of this album. An immediate candidate for the album of the year, the twisted pulse of this album churns out thoroughly touching moments as readily as unpleasant outbursts. Eugene Robinson completely outdoes himself, every track is a perfect performance in every way. Musically, its more of the blues/noise/rock that only Oxbow can do, this time with unparalleled depth of feeling. Pretty much perfect.

2. Do Make Say Think - "You, You're A History In Rust"
Constellation Records
After being a slightly interesting aside to my own perception of post rock for a very long time, it all seemed to suddenly make sense with this album. No emphasis on tedious 'build up' or soaring delayed guitar lines, but instead a beautiful sense of melody and unpretentious, short songs. With fall back of very natural, almost folky guitar lines and memorable sighed vocals, there is almost infinite room for an expanse of instrumentation. I find myself constantly going back to this record and humming along to every line, certainly the most uplifting album of 2007.

1. Wolves In The Throne Room - "Two Hunters"
Southern Lord
As reviewed earlier in the year, this is a fantastic album. Deep, symphonic post - black metal (if that means anything) that completely avoids cliche and sounds as lush and refreshing as it is epic and brutal. For an album so obviously black metal there is so much going in 'Two Hunters' tied to an inescapable sense of melody and emotion. Yes.



Those That Did Not Make It -

• Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity - Simply not as good as 'The Runners Four', some great tunes and it's still deerhooof, but disappointing nonetheless.
• Neurosis - Given To The Rising - Again a great album, but very much middle of the road compared with the rest of Neurosis' material. I have an extended review to post, this was a difficult call
• High on Fire - Death Is This Communion - Flat sounding and sadly a bit predictable following on from 'Blessed Black Wings'. Killer riffs, and new bassist Jeff Matz works incredibly well with the band, but it was hard to get excited about.
• Om - Pilgrimage - Fairly simply. a great album, but too short. Song writing seems to have gone backwards from the near perfect 'At Giza' as well.

Potential Additions -

I havent heard albums by Clockcleaner, Wooden Ships, Prurient, Boris & Michiho Kuhihara, Portal and Earth yet.

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
  

Boris @ Nice 'n' Sleazy's

After another year of hard work, both in touring and release schedule, Boris return to the UK for a largely sold out tour, including this packed date in Glasgow. As has become the norm for Southern Lord bands on tour, talk concerning this gig has either focused upon the merch available or how 'posers' who turn up for the merch are tossers and don't deserve the tickets. Which is all a bit of a shame, Boris have recently released a formidable run of albums and EPs, most prominently 'Pink' and 'Rainbow', both of which contributed to the show. In short Boris are still at their very peak, and the increasing variety of their material indicates a band that are far from stale.

The set tonight includes a large chunk of 'Pink' including both the post rock and heavy rock sides, culminating in a gorgeous rendition of Flood, perhaps the pinnacle of Boris' career so far. Before Boris though was the questionable support, local 'electro doom' one man project Loss Leader. Playing guitar and singing over laptop backing, he immediately hit problems with the backing going out of sync almost immediately after about 30 seconds. After a couple of attempts he resorted to playing an improvised, Khanate inspired (yet particularly uninspired) few minutes of doom. Sadly it just doesn't work tonight, and the set is abandoned abruptly. After listening to a few tracks away from the gig, Loss Leader has a very interesting m83 mixed with some Joy Division type sound, which seems a baffling relation to doom, but would be well worth checking out.

After the extremely brief support, and the novelty of the merchandise stall wearing off, Boris come to the stage quickly and kick off the evening proper with 'parting'. A straightforward and easy opener to the evening, it seems to set out the band's agenda for the evening i.e. waves of feedback, riffs and some great vocal melody. Sadly this rules out the Melvins inspired sludge of Amplifier Worship, but you can't have it all. A nice mix of tracks are played across the rest of the set, including tracks from Heavy Rocks, Akuma No Uta, Rainbow and more from Pink. The heavy rock mid section of the set is utterly exhilarating, Atsuo's drumming being a major high point. For a band that do rock and roll so well, Boris are equally if not more impressive at droning post rock soundscapes. Of which 'Flood' is a perfect example, and is the highlight of the set and a perfect second half. Boris play a slightly truncated version tonight, around 35minutes compared with the 70 minutes and four parts of the original album.

The performance is near perfect and every movement works wonderfully. The band moves quickly through the quieter parts, yet the cacophonous, feedback drenched outro is milked for everything it is worth. Atsuo steals the show at this point, abandoning his drumkit and concentrating upon hammering the gong at the back of the stage, making perfect use of what could have been a gimmick. But Boris are far from being a band that could ever be seriously accused of being gimmicky, and they work through a varied set which is absolutely seamless. The only criticisms tonight are that most people cant actually see the band and we don't get an encore.

Boris may be constantly evolving their sound yet as long as they are willing to play the likes of Flood, Feedbacker or Absolutego live they will continue to be an incredible live band.


Notes

• Boris have a packed release schedule this year, so far this year they have released - Walrus/Groon, Rainbow LP + Boxset, Split 2xLP w/Doomriders
• A live 2xCD with Merzbow is on the way, as well as a split 10" with Stupid Babies Go Mad
• The UK tour culminates with a date at Koko in London with Isis and Oxbow (full band, not the Oxbow acoustic duo that toured the UK with Isis)

Links

• Inoxia Records
• Boris Homepage
• Southern Lord
• Hydrahead Records
• Nice N Sleazy Homepage
  

The Goslings - Grandeur of Hair

aRCHIVE Recordings
2006
Limited CD

First things first, this may be a textbook case of artwork fitting the music it envelops perfectly. 'Grandeur of Hair' is an album of thick, pulsing, analogue drone carried along by peaking sludgy riffs and hypnotic female vocals. This is a brand of noise or drone that is most similar to Boris at their most dense, with much appreciated nods towards My Bloody Valentine. The Munch woodcut in pink, messily applied to a black background seems to characterise an album where pretty features and form emerge out of the waves of feedback and sludge.

As with most drone albums, 'Grandeur of Hair' should be played very loudly, though unlike most there are frequent riffs and vocal hooks that pull your attention back, in a familiar and melodic way rather than a reliance upon the power of the raw sound. Which, incidentally, is huge. The frighteningly harsh guitar parts are distorted and twisted into something with a texture of its own. Its a completely compelling sound, that (as mentioned before) comes closest to Boris' more drone moments such as Flood and Absolutego. The production and mastering courtesy of James Plotkin is perfect, even quieter sections such as the clean guitar part in 'Windowpane' is played over a backdrop of static, which avoids jarring dynamics and basically maintains a theme throughout the album. However there seems to be a clash of ideas in this, the rich drone is in constant flux, changing with the melodic elements, but there is never any satisfying theme or change in dynamic that develops. The sheer noise on the individual tracks works really well, yet it is relentless from start to finish without any real let up or development. It's maybe a personal preference, but some respite before the undeniably awesome wall of noise that characterises the album.

The idea of heavy, slow noise rock is certainly compelling, tracks like 'Croatan' and 'Overnight' are utterly crushing, but it's hard to keep tuned in to the whole running time of this album. As mentioned earlier, the melodic nods always catch the ear, but despite the background noise sounding fantastic, the constant changes means that it never settles into being memorable or distinct in any way. This is a bit of a shame, because the components of this album are completely absorbing (I doubt anyone could avoid getting sucked in by the opening of 'Own a Car') but a lot of the impact is lost when listening all the way through.

'Grandeur of Hair' is certainly a very impressive record, and for a first experience of The Goslings it gives the impression of a group that have mastered their sound, fans of noise rock will definitely enjoy this record (if they do not own it already), though others may find it ultimately disappointing after a fantastic opening. A dirty and brutally sludgy album, which is different enough to stand out from most albums of its type.


7 / 1 0


Notes

• 'Grandeur of Hair' is one of the most recent releases on aRCHIVE, a label distinguished by lavish, individual packaging and limited runs of various noise/doom/drone/etc. groups. Notable releases have included Sunn O)))'s LiveWhite and both Khanate and Boris live sets
• The artwork is provided by www.cjadesign.com
• Limited Pressing of 500 cds, most aRCHIVE cds are unlikely to be reprinted, only the Khanate Live Sets have been repressed so far.
  

Links

• aCHIVE Recordings
• The Goslings homepage
• Myspace
  

Knut - Challenger

One of the best and most under-rated technical metalcore albums ever, incorporating much more than the genre description allows and at least as clever as contemporaries such as Botch. Largely forgotten about, this is one of the harshest yet varied albums of the genre. Not rooted in the punk/hardcore sound like Converge or Coalesce and brutally heavy without any metal cliches. The title for this blog is taken from the track 'Neon Guide' (obviously), as Challenger is an album I would always consider one of my all time favourites, i can only hope my overview can do this album justice.

The album strides into life with the powerful 'Whacked out'. Typically for Knut, slow but forceful chords give way to a pounding technical assault, choatic guitar lines cover a relentless and clever rhythm section easily. Most important here are Didier Severin's brutal yet emotional vocals, which work perfectly with the cold and metallic production, both contributing massively to the mood of the album. The first four tracks follow a similar formula, all with aggressive technicality, unorthodox breakdowns and just enough respite for it to hold together. No other metalcore bands have been able to mix mid-tempo groove with technical intensity quite so effectively. Some amazing riffs and incredibly tight writing are completely unforgettable.

From 'Neon Guide' to '58.788' the pace of the album changes considerably. Neon Guide is one enormous riff, pretty much without any metalcore influences and almost doom-like. The following track, 'H/Armless' is undoubtedly the high point of the album however. An unrelenting dirge of one note pounding, building up and falling away, constantly tense due to the desperate and vicious vocals. By all means it should be tiring, but even without the threat of something changing, 'H/Armless' is weirdly compelling.

The rest of the album is paced perfectly, after 'H/Armless' it relents and returns to earlier technicality, via the acoustic, sampled laden '58.788'. Album closer 'March' is another 20 minutes of pounding and controlled aggression and pretty much unbeatable as a way of ending. Admitedly, the second half is not as compelling as the first six tracks, yet the change in pace is very welcome and finishing on a slow burn fits Knut much more than a futher burst of energy.

I think the reason why i hold Challenger up so highly is that it is still a unique sounding metalcore/mathcore record. Released when their only real contemporary, Botch, were fumbling and about to release their most straightforward record (An Anthology of Dead Ends) and probably at the end of Hydrahead's mathcore days, 'Challenger' stands out as the best album of that period. After a 3 year absence, the follow up to Challenger, 'Terraformer' finally arrived. Definitely a very good album, but it lacked the tension of Challenger, much less vocals, more samples and a preference for slower riffing. A notoriously slow band with a reluctance to tour, i don't see Knut splitting up soon, and i can only hope that they release another album as good as Challenger. It will almost certainly not be a mathcore album, and that is even more exciting.

1 0 / 1 0

Notes

• Knut and Hydrahead released their long awaited remix album in 2006, featuring a number of extremely odd remixes, but also an excellent remix of H/Armless by J.K. Broderick (Jesu, Godflesh, im sure everyone knows, etc.)
• Knut seem to playing most of their shows in Geneva at the moment, though a European tour is due in September/October of this year

Links

• Mp3s (Knut official site)
• H/Armless live w/Isis (Youtube link)
• Video for H/Armless J.K. Broderick remix (Youtube link)