Anwar Sadat : "Ersatz Living "

There are hipsters in Kentucky? Who they hell would have thunk it? I am surprised as you will be this came out of Kentucky. Post punk is an influence, going into this the dudes over at Dead Air On the Pulpit who I know not to trust, tried to convince me this was industrial and I don't hear much hinting at that until midway through the album on "Quantum Fighter", then the electronic elements which up until this point has just created noise , provide more of a groove. Something about it also reminds me of older Inxs, a fact brought even more to the forefront when the guitars take on more of a jangle.

It "No Exit" which almost sounds like a Joy Division cover ,that really makes me take note. The vocals are crooned a little more like Iceage and the punk influence is all over this thing. The Joy Division influence is also felt in some other places following this most noted would be the drone of the synth on "Geshenkgeber" which find the throaty vocals in more of a Rollins like hushed whisper pledging to be submissive and getting down on his knees. Overall the lyrics are just as coarse and rough as the music with a pretty shitty attitude and the needed negativity in their outlook. If you ever wanted to hear what it might sound like to have Henry Rollins front New Order then " Ubik" might answer your question. I like when the vocals chose to actually sing in a more Depeche Mode like fashion these guys hit upon sounds that are some of my favorites.

This is an album I had to go back and re-listen to in order to be sure I have really given every song the proper trial that it deserved and heard things differently on songs like " Lower Than Life" which finds the angular riffs and coarse vocals working very well in their rough and tumble pounding with a hook buried under all the noise rock attitude. They go into a more confrontational ranting on the last four minutes of the album that brings more noise. I'll give this album a 9, it's more impressive than even the first song might have suggested going into it, this Godflesh vibe that I have heard some talk about is no where to be heard , but what they do is just as dirty and hopeless in all the right ways.

Anagnorisis : "Peripeteia"

The narrative these songs are woven around provides a more personal touch then most black metal band's allow themselves to create. There are no arctic wastelands or occult gibberish to hide behind. In some ways if it was not for the sonic storm cloud raging as this album's heart beat you might mistake this for hardcore.  The vocals keep their scathing snarl as a static coat of white noise to a similar effect as Deafheaven. Their approach to black metal is less atmospheric and the ambiance if of a more emotional nature. The riffs on the second part of " Disgust & Remorse" touch on a more traditional and almost thrashy side of black metal. It has a bigger more metallic sound to it. I doubt the sample at the end of this song is from the same family tapes as some of the other narratives.

A cleaner guitar tone opens up "5306 Morning side". The samples are put to good use on this one. There seems to be more laughter than kinda of personal issues that this album seems to suggest are lying under the surface. They have more elaborate arrangements than a black metal band who wants to hypnotize you with the white noise drone of their blast beats. By the third song , I get to get ready for the vocals to shift from the mid range rasp that is beginning to become monotone. There is two minutes of ambiance leading into "Night Skies Over Nothingness". Around the four minute mark their is a great deal of authority in the chugged riff that hits you in face.

The vocals shift into an angry chorus of possessed pigs when they come in on the title track. The atmosphere in the layers of guitar is very effective on this song and makes it a more powerful transition when they lock back into bigger riff. They eventually jam this out after the lyrics howl something about knowing himself with a black mirror for all to see and then a keyboard solo takes place. So they make good use of all the songs 11 minutes.  Some of the loathing in the album's mood reminds me of Nachtmystium. There are some oddly bright post- rock like chords leading into the blast of "Metamorphosis". The comes a guitar solo that rips into the song like something from "Comfortably Numb".

The album ends on a more melodic note with the acoustic guitar leading into "Transparent". This one also actual sung vocals. Things build back up into their more typical brand of black metal at about the two minute mark. I'll give this album a 9.5 and see how it grows on me. It is without question one of the better black metal albums I have come across recently and these guys have really stepped up their game when it comes to song writing.

Tombstalker : "Black Crusades"

This band does have a nice dark rumble, but don't let that fool you even with all the Entombed influence they are still pretty much thrash. Death metal influenced thrash, but thrash none the less.  They really want to be death metal and that struggle is real. If you asked me I would have never guess these guys were from Kentucky.  So they do have that suspension of disbelief going for them. Just when I'm thinking "Wow, I really dig these guys more than I thought I would" they go and get blasty. Just wanting to be death metal is not good enough, they want to be blackened death metal. The second song disappoints me after such a strong start. The dual vocals don't really add as much as they intend once the groove is lost. They do get some of that back on with "Fate Weaver" . This lets the album regain some of it's momentum and the title track helps add to that . The black metal undertones fight to bubble up.

The vocals work better when they carry more of a snarl. They can pull of the lower death metal growls, but for what sets them apart from hundreds of other death metal bands, it's their thrashing side. The title track feels a little long winded. Some of their songs are pretty concise with the fat trimmed off of them, this just isn't one of those songs and I begin to get lost in it. Even their guitarist is not the world's greatest shredder, or even a shredder at all, the solo section of the title track adds to the song, though it could also stand to lose some bloat. Many of the songs start off with samples from horror movies and "Soul Eater" is not exception. It finds the band back in there trashing place. The song does race away from them a bit when they get overzealous in their quest for blackness.  The snarl of the vocals on this song begin to descend into what could be the scathing growl of any metal band these days. The bass comes up in the mix to fall back into the distance shortly after. I think heavier bass in the mix is one thing that is keeping this album from thrashing harder and makes it sound more death metal.

"Plague Father" opens with the cawing of crow and then launches into it's hybrid thrashing death metal. I do like when the slow down into the more powerful part toward the end and I'm totally o.k with them going in that direction as a death metal band. I do feel they pass up some melodic opprotunites on this song and leave it as middle of the road death metal. They break the eight minute mark again with the closing song "Chaos Enthroned".  They get off on the wrong spiked boot by going into a blast, but as the song winds around get a better handle on it until it locks into a pretty solid groove midway in. To get such a strong start this album did not go the way I wanted it to. I think it found them in an identity crisis not unlike that Atlanta band Vimur fights. You might want to be black metal band, but if that is not what is in your heart, then you should always play what is in your heart.  I'll give this album a 7, hopefully they find themselves heading more toward the place they were at on "Chaos Undivided" as that was some powerful shit.

Panopticon : "Autumn Eternal"

This one man black metal band's new album opens with an acoustic Appalachian piece before the metal swells up in the form of "Into the North Woods" which is not color by numbers black metal, really thoughtful drumming moves the song in a way that blast beats couldn't showing showing what black metal can be if you are brave and talented enough to step away from conventions. Sure you might argue this is closer of the more post- rock influenced brand that bands like Deafheaven made popular and you would not be wrong but it works here.Its crazy to think Lunn is up in Kentucky doing this. He does bring in a violinist, cellist and Finntroll vocalist  to help out in a few places. The more conventional blast beats to come in the title track. Lunn's vocals have improved he goes into a lower gurgle on a few spots. The title track doesn't blow me away like the first metal on here does, but it's still better than most of the black metal that has come out this year. The bass work compliments the drums well on the break down section, giving the build up the added intensity as intended.

On "Oaks Ablaze" the drums are an even more impressive pummeling machine. The galloping groove doesn't find its hooves until a minute in. The vocals give weight to my theory that often harsh vocals in metal serve as s layer of white noise to give the music just a human touch. Midway into the song it breaks down into the somewhat folk metal cliche of the sound of crunching leaves being walked on. The drums begin a tribal around around this before it builds back up.The sound effects continue on with " Sleep to the Sound of the Waves Crashing" it opens as a blast fest, which for what  we know Lunn is capable of would be a cop out if it ended there. Three minutes in it begins to grow more melodic. If you read my review here on a regular basis you might notice I am always scrutinizing bands for melody and dynamic. I know this is a vulgar habit of mine, but since we are talking about music those to things are essential and what seperates it from being noise. The song goes into a Philip Glass like classical section that has a mourning quality to it. The song blasts back with a rapid fire yet melodic section.

The sweeping Deafheaven like feel returns to " Pale Ghosts". In fact the blast beats only further lean the sound into that direction. It is not the albums most original moment by any stretch of the imagination. I am surprised more of the Appalachian sounds haven't re surfaced. One of the album's longest songs is the slower but more driving "A Superior Lament" . The guitar work manages to keep up with the drumming and the vocals drop into the lower growl to create an overall more unique sound than the previous song mustered. The guitar harmonies are almost Iron Maiden like. Lunn is becoming more of a drummer than a guitar player , but the guitar parts aren't shabby. Its just clear where the albums strengths lie.

The album closes with " Wind's Farewell" which gets its start as more of a post-rock thing. The guitar tone on this one is great backing off from the standard metal crunch. Four minutes in the blast beats return but in a very organic manner. I typically don't like instrumentals , but the guitar here really sings to make up for it. This is one of Lunn's better offerings he keeps getting better. If you are a fan round it up a point from the 8.5 I think this album is worth.

Black Metal History Month : Nest's s/t

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Ad Infinitum : "Woven Within"

Ok, now there's only 21 black metal albums left to cram into the black history month...or in this case black metal history month, though rather than looking back at where black metal has been it's history seems to be reflected back to it in new bands...or one man projects as the case of this project. The one man band seems fitting for black metal due to the genre's misanthropic nature.

This is one of four metal bands that use this name, two of which are from the United States, this project is based out of Kentucky, which is impressive as this feels like it was created somewhere much colored and less colored by the restrictive tendencies many southern metal bands have to not progress much beyond what ever last year's trend was.

This album take me back to bands like Cold World and when the Depressive Black metal scene was starting to gain momentum in it's early days. It is more atmospheric I suppose if we are going to count straws as the vocals lack the sniffling and gurgling that most DSBM  has and it sounds like the cold distance it creates is more of the emotional intent than self deprecation. Not as bad  as most of the earlier "ambient" or "Atmospheric" bands in over indulging themselves in keyboard sections that drone on, the song writing is normally  focused on keeping the songs moving. There is one three minute instrumental interlude and the  albums closing song "Surfacing" is a 12 minute synth drone. The actual songs that do more than drone are pretty worthwhile.

Songs like the "Observer" lock the guitars onto a drone and hang their in a hypnotic state of suspended animation. The vocals throughout the album are in the Burzum like mid range snarl, and coated in enough over drive to sit them into the guitar mix where they serve a layer of white noise, rather than conveying any lyrics.Some snarls are more accented, some are drenched in delay and add another coat of ambiance.

The title track is pretty punishing in it's straight ahead past into the gray landscape this album creates. When the riff shifts into a lower register the guitar takes on the more droning sensation it established and maintains for the bulk of the album with varied themes of melody tracked over it.This guy is good at the arrangements, in the sense that rather than verse chorus it works in movements of ebb and flow where the sonics take slight shifts.

Overall the mood that is created here is great, despite the few lapses in to synth over doses. I'll give this an 8.5 , it is much more black metal than alot of the genre mish mashes we have come across this month. Until the 200 download per month limit  is reached on Bandcamp the album can be obtained for free on their page and a limited edition pro-dubbed cassette version of the album is going to be released for all the mega -hipsters who are reverting back to tapes.