down(load) by the water little fish, big fish... and dana scully.
no compromises blackened funeral doom from Ireland. This is their first demo, and it's one of my favourite records lately. Raw sound, but not in that bedroom-black-metal way, just muddy enough to deliever the kick. All their stuff is highly recommended!
Strangely enough, I used to dislike Einstürzende Neubauten. Then I learned German, got my hands on a discography, had a few murky, night-time listening sessions, opened up a dictionary or two, and, well, now I'm a fan. "Tabula Rasa" is a great album, it has all these spoken word stuff, various drones and quite interesting arrangements.
Here's a feel-good record for you all. This is easy-going stoner rock with various "alternative" overtones plus a touch of retro by Millionaire's guitarist, who also was in Mark Lanegan Band. Oh, and the first album of the project featured Lanegan on one of the tracks. Musically it's somewhere between Millionaira (what a surprise), Brian Jonestown Massacre ("The Color of Sundown" even uses the same chords as BJM's "Servo"...), The Dandy Warhols (chorused vocals), some Eagles of Death Metal, but with a more polished aesthetic. Some songs drift into other territories as well, callwords include "gothic Americana", "new country" etc. Might not be a challenging, original and ground-breaking record, but it's a) professional, b) good, c) that's all.
Not the stuff you usually see here (because the stuff you usually see here is ABSCENCE get it -snort snort-). This is progressive gothic metal, or something along those lines.They mix a whole lot of styles. Complex songs, dramatic vocal delivery (male clean & growl, female clean sometimes), violins. But not in your usual "gothicslash folk metal" way when the violin is just used to repeat a simple catchy melody from time to time. No. As Light Dies, and G-d blesss 'em for it, use the violin as a real instrument. Way to go! 
Nature, insanity, darkness.
Long time, no posts. Sorry guys... I had/have all kinds of computer & internet access problems, work, study, you know the drill. Right now I'm exploiting my girlfriend's fast broadband connection, so here's a quick one, the total 70's worship "occult rock" EP by The Devil's Blood. It's all epic riffs, driving beats, choruses, with a dark atmosphere and sometimes a nifty touch of kitsch. Not the kind of thing I usually go for, but this 5-song record is a masterpiece. Great compositions, catchy melodies, a nice female voice; music reaching straight-ahead rock songs to more psychedelic jams (e.g. closer "Voodoo Dust", a 10-minute monster). Hard rock has never been so soft. It's a pity their 2009 full-length kinda sucks, it's just mehh, lame and bland. 
A weird one. Skeleton of God released an EP "Urine Garden" ages ago, then vanished, only to reappear in 2008 with this kick-ass mix of psychedelia and brutal death metal. Yepp, and it's indeed psychedelic, it's not just a tag. I don't usually listen to death metal, but this album I like a lot.
A very impressive piece of work indeed. It's been some time since I've found a decent "free jazz" influenced record that doens't bore me to death and holds enough, if not surprises, but at least interesting moments to be worth a second, third etc listen. Ultralyd's "Conditions" features free-jazzy saxophones with very tight (almost rock-like) drumming and various noises, effects... Not abrasive but not "ambient" or "smooth" either. Uneasy listening without ears bleeding.
"The Banjo Lesson" by Henry Ossawa Tanner
