cassette craze chronicles XXX feat. ASAGRAUM, CH'AHOM, MIZMOR, ORDER OF DECAY, THE KEENING and YOB

I know, as if compiling all thoses end of the year lists wasn't enough, there's still the regular business of tape reviewing going on. Spoiler: It's very likely that you'll see at least one these releases again in a ranking soon.

THE KEENING - Little Bird (2023)

Last heard together with her former SubRosa bandmates, but already split up into The Otolith and her solo project The Keening on the brilliant 2020 "Women of Doom" compilation - but there only with an instrumental piano piece -, Rebecca Vernon is now finally back in full band mode! Which still means that she performed a huge chunk of "Little Bird" herself: drums, piano, organ, hammered dulcimer guitar and obviously vocals, leaving bass the only "standard" Rock instrument not in her hands.
But then there are also harp and many strings, winds and guest vocals, all in vital roles, which helped her to create an amazing album far beyond what was appropriate to expect.

I can't believe how much I missed her voice! That is her actual singing voice as well as her whole artitistic voice as a composer, player and - not to be underestimated - lyricist. Even the most epic song "The Truth", in which she's telling such vivid stories and raising existential questions with so few words, is significatly elevated by its profound poetry.

Musically The Keening continues where SubRosa left off both with their last studio release as well as with their more atmospheric "subdued" Roadburn performance. Vernon also doesn't shy away from possibly becoming more accessible for a wider audience beyond Metal circles without sacrificing her integrity. No, it's not as crushingly heavy as her former band, but it's still definitely categorizable as Doom, in an equally wide sense like you can call it Contemporary Gothic, Alternative, American Dark Folk or simply gorgeous and meaningful music. There's so much to love in these six tracks... but we have five more cassettes to listen to, right?

Speaking of the media, I actually also bought this album on CD, because my tape copy somehow doesn't play as clean as I would like it to - and I also just wanted a version with readable credits and lyrics. So even though I prefer the upright format for the cover artwork, I wouldn't necessarily buy this stunning work on cassette again.

MIZMOR - Prosaic (2023)

Mizmor mastermind A.L.N. wanted to make "less self-indulgent" and concept-heavy music on his new album. Well, I was completely fine with that, but you do you. So for once we're not getting the huge hammer of atheism. And that's ok, since it ultimately doesn't have a crucial influence on the sound anyway. "Prosaic" still gives us four long and devastating tracks of bleak and sludgy Blackened Doom with pained brutal vocals, which will wring the soul out of your body.

I don't have the desire to rank Mizmor's discography here and now, but if you think this is the best album so far I won't object. I'd still take "Wit's End" from the same-named EP over the individual songs here though. Which naturally doesn't mean too much. All of this is peak Doom. Especially the awesome fourteen minute closer "Acceptance" is exemplary for everything great about this band.  

YOB - Elaborations of Carbon (2002/2023)

From Mizmor to a band whose guitar sound and Doom heaviness is quite similar, even though Yob's style of course includes a whole array of different influences plus Mike Scheidt's unconventional, sometimes surprisingly high vocals. Even though on their 2002 debut their style wasn't fully evolved yet, a lot of trademarks like the very dry guitar chugging before opening the sound up wider and wider are already recognizable. And the song length already goes up to seventeen minutes on this album too.

Now remastered and thankfully graced by a new cover artwork "Elaborations of Carbons" still proves to be a worthwhile edition to the inspired quality Doom Metal section of any music collection.

ORDER OF DECAY - Mortification Rites (2023)

More metal, please! How about some nasty Blackened and Doom-infested Death Metal straight from a namless Scottish crypt? The first time I listened to Order Of Decay was by accident, because Sentient Ruin Laboratories had uninentionally put one track from them into the digital promo package for Disimperium's "Grand Insurgence Upon Despotic Altars". It took me a while to even notice that, because both bands for sure have some similarities, and I just thought "Blood Libation" was the odd  somehow less chaotic, more melodic (in the way of Autopsy) and abyssal track.

But luckily there's this whole album, so eventually when I saw it being available in Europe I got this nice and foul tape. These "Mortification Rites" don't re-invent the wheel, but they roll deadly and with malicious conviction. Interesting for anyone who likes their Death Metal as atmospheric as dangerous. 

CH'AHOM - Camazotz Cult (2016/2018/2021/2023)

Moving at least one escalation level up from Order Of Decay we enter the ridiculously extreme low-fi hell of the German-Aztec blood cult Ch'ahom. I'm not even fully up to speed with their infernally grinding Blackened Death emissions, since "Camazotz Cult" isn't the newest actual release, but a compilation of their first four demos, originally released between 2016 and 2021 on one sixty minutes long tape. Most tracks - of whom a couple appear several times in different recordings - bear titles like "Tlacaxipehualiztli", "Path to Ixtab" or "The Breath of Miclantecutli", but on the "Lustfully Sinning For Death Metal" EP they also play covers of the band Sadogoat (later Sadomator), featuring the attempt on most offensive Metal song title "Sexual Metalcoholocaust".

Some of these recordings really sound like most people with prejudices against the medium would imagine a demo cassette to sound, but it's always powerful - and you shouldn't let yourself be fooled by the production or the band not taking themselves too serious all the time to think that this is just utter primitive garbage. Sometimes it kind of is, because it wants to be, but then there are also moments of Slayer soloing, complex contemporary Dissonant Death Metal or Ch'ahom sounding like Morbid Angel on "Covenant". But it's all embedded into very South American underground aesthetics, so at first glance you can think you're listening to some extremely old school Sepultura / Sarcófago stuff, while in truth the band is rather paying tribute to a sound which fits their specific concept. Which also includes long atmospheric drums and flutes intros / interludes for probably ritualistic purposes. 

And if you're a regular reader and think that some parts of this review sound familiar - yes, there are indeed parallels to Grave Desecrator. This rips good.

ASAGRAUM - Veil of Death, Ruptured (2023)

I've seen the two "satanic witches" Obscura (vocals, guitars, bass) and drummer A. Morthaemer twice with additional live members now and I liked both shows. I still didn't expect the new Asagraum studio album to blow me away as much as it acually does.

Most Black Metal releases I love have at least some special gimmick which helps me to explain my affection. "Veil of Death, Ruptured" not so much. The lyrics being partly English and partly Dutch certainly isn't it. Asagraum simply celebrate stylistically pure Black Metal with a great sense for riffs and melodies and the right amount of ferocity in both instrumental performances and vocals. The classic spirit of the genre presented with a flawless recent production, which allows every detail to be detectable, but doesn't  soften up the music while doing so.

With around thirty-six minutes playing time this isn't a very long work, but it has enough to say and does it with a great dramatic curve, where each of the seven tracks (plus one interlude) somehow feels like a rise. The only thing I'm missing are maybe one or two more minutes of the closer "De Waanzin Roept Mijn Naam". It's already the longest song, but it ends a bit too abrupt for my taste. Yeah, that's my whole mighty hammer of critique. Devastating, I know.

MUSIC 2022: TOP 6 non-album releases

Before I get to the big main category post you are for sure all desperately waiting for. *harrumph* Here is the "best of the rest" music ranking of 2022!

In consideration for this list were basically all physical items, which aren't albums (studio, live or reissues). Arguable exceptions are split and compilation releases, which some might define as albums, but which I included here nonetheless, because my list, my rules. Other stuff considered were EPs and singles, even though no seven inch ultimately made it here.

I actually didn't buy a lot of any of those formats, so in relation to the total it would already feel excessive to rank more than these six favorites.

TOP 7 NON-ALBUM RELEASES 2022:

1. MIZMOR - Wit's End
   
   
   
   While the atmospheric experimental drone of the B side "Paradolia" scores as an interesting deviation from Mizmor's usual sound, it obviously is the quarter-hour long title track which (of course in slow motion) catapults this EP to the top of this little ranking. "Wit's End" is a sludgy, blackened Funeral Doom threnody, which not only stands out in the subgenre, but is hands-down one of the best things ever in Doom Metal as a whole. A beautifully bleak and hopeless masterpiece!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. TEMPLE FANG - Jerusalem / The Bridge
   
   
   
   Yes, I've only just refused to write a proper detailed review about this EP a couple of days ago. And the fact that these epic twenty-two minutes of fantastic Motorpsycho masterclass Psychedelic Blues Prog Power Rock tells you more in moments of listening yourself than any of my attempts to capture this greatness in words ever could - that hasn't changed one bit. With their first actual studio release the Dutch band spectacularly proves that they are not only among the greatest live acts around today, but can also capture their magic off stage. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. ELONMUSK / ELECTRIC MOON / KUNGENS MÄN / KANAAN - International Space Station Vol. 1
   
   
   
   Is it a compilation or 4-way split? Who really cares! What matters is that this extends far beyond one hour (digitally even longer) with just four magnificient tracks for zoning out. The international crew of psychedelic / space rock bands curated by Electric Moon / Worst Bassist Records' Komet Lulu compliments each other perfectly and creates a continuous great flow. Ultimately this double album possibly is among the best of any kind of this year's releases in the genre. Fly, Space Station, fly!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. LUSTMORD - The Others [Lustmord Deconstructed]
   
   
   
   You don't necessarily need to know Lustmord's original 2008 album "Other" to tremendously enjoy this mammoth 130 minutes tribute by a staggering gathering of artists from Årabrot to Zola Jesus. Sixteen bands and artists give these dark ambient compositions new spins in their respective languages. A compilation which features Mono, Godflesh, Bohren & der Club of Gore, Ulver, Steve von Till, Jo Quail... That alone should raise expecations. "The Others" exceeds them by far.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. QRIXKUOR - Zoetrope
   
   
   
   Ok, please cut me some slack with my "only physical items" rule! This one is superimposed over the picture above, because it's a December release and I'm still waiting for the CD. But of course I already know that it will be worth the wait, because this one track / twenty-four minute behemoth of overwhelming chaotic cavernous Blackened Death Metal continues just where the brilliant 2021 album "Poison Palinopsia" left off - but now with even a lot more sick symphonic Classical elements. A reeking maelstrom of cosmic madness. Flush me to hell!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. OTTONE PESANTE - ...And The Black Bells Rang
   
   
   
   Between relentless Grindcore, frantic Sludge, Mathcore, Jazz, majestic Neo-Classical Post Rock, Blackgaze and brutal Prog Ottone Pesante take us on quite a rollercoaster in the not even twenty minutes of this EP. That the Italian trio does this solely with drums and brass instruments - as "a lovechild of Sons Of Kemet and Naked City staring Into the Pandemonium" - is of course a bonus, which makes this also awesome live band extra special. This release is the ideal starting point for digging into their discography.
   
   
   

cassette craze chronicles XV (feat. BORIS, MIZMOR and SO HIDEOUS)

The player keeps spinning and it seems like metal remains the main focus of my growing tape collection. But metal also is a very wide field...

MIZMOR - Wit's End (2022)

Ever since the epic video for its title track premiered during Roadburn Redux last April (and disappeared again afterwards) I've eagerly awaited this new EP from Mizmor. And since I already own all other studio albums on beautiful cassette editions, the choice of media couldn't have been easier.
Mastermind A.L.N.'s solo project / occasional live band has of course always delivered greatness, but the song alone is just the icing on the cake, even on top of "Yodh" and "Cairn". These fifteen minutes of painful longing for a world that believes in science, packed in a blackened, crawling threnody of funeral doom is just one of the greatest offerings this genre (and I'm speaking of doom metal as a whole) has ever given us. It's a masterpiece.

The B side "Paradolia" is almost equally as long, yet a lot more experimental. Based on an older composition from 2011, this very clerical and ambient remix(?) / reimagination (?) strays from the usual sludgy metal guitar heaviness and is all about atmospheric droning and layering waves and noises around each other. Maybe this track is to Mizmor what Justin K. Broadrick's Final is to Godflesh.
Surely not for every doom metal fan, but I thoroughly enjoy this expertly crafted foray into abstraction. It's also the perfect transition into the next album in this chronicle, which is all about drowning you in transcendent dizziness...

 

BORIS - W (2022)

The busy discography of the Japanese trio Boris, which spans over more than two decades now, is quite intimidating if you want to pick a point to start, even if you don't count the numerous collaborations with other artists like Merzbow or Sunn O))). I've risked an ear here and there, yet haven't really immersed myself deep into the catalogue. So my personal window on the multi-faceted heavy music group is still quite narrow and possibly random, but from my record collection I can say that so far my favorite Boris has been female lead vocals Boris with guitarist Wata in the spotlight, as on their heavy alternative pop record "Attention Please!" oder the "Japanese Heavy Rock Hits V3" single.

And since the recent "W" (companion to the 2020 release "NO") is all about her again and basically represents the whole manifoldness of Boris in a nutshell, yet everything drenched in shoegaze and the sometimes already uncomfortable comfort of eery ASMR, it's no wonder that I just want to wrap myself into this wonderful blanket of noises and silences like a baby. There's a depth and intention behind the way Boris are handling this kind of sound and atmosphere, which makes the majority of anything post rock or metal seem bland and blank. The few more abrasive moments like the instrumental sludge metal banger "The Fallen" or the abrupt ending of "Old Projector" make sure that you don't completely dissolve into a hazy state of being half awake and half-asleep. Which is good, because there really is no need to dream your own shit using this as a soundtrack. "W" in itself is dream enough.

SO HIDEOUS - None But A Pure Heart Can Sing (2021)

At last here's the by far most wild and heterogenic mix of styles in this bunch. I've heard that some fans dislike that the band didn't change the name, because they are not really a black metal band incorporating outside influences anymore. So what? That's the description of every second black metal project today. In fact I could easily with a lot less metal in general on this album. Not that the metal is bad, not at all. But the most interesting passages on "None But A Pure Heart Can Sing" are actually mostly those, when you almost think that the New Yorkers So Hideous are originally coming from "the outside" - as in jazz, chamber orchestra, brass, strings and all, western soundtrack, piano music -, and the post hardcore, prog metal and blackgaze is what's added on top.
So yes, I'm already sugesting a direction to go in the future, while I still immensly enjoy this album. There are a couple of instances, which are a bit much for me, like the whole last track "From Now (Til The Time We're Still)" with its shameless schmaltz which even Mono or Dream Theater would only utilize in their most borderline moments.
But maybe at that point it's just me being too spoiled by the truly great klezmerish bits in the relentless high speed thunderstorm "Motorik Visage" before. This is certainly a very New York band and a fitting neighbour to the adventureous likes of Imperial Triumphant and Kayo Dot.

ROADBURN REDUX - review

Roadburn Festival as we know and love it can't happen right now, obviously.

So this year it's Roadburn Redux - a free to watch mix of exclusive performances (mostly pre-recorded live shows from all over the world) and actual live streams from the 013 venue in Tilburg.

Add to that video premieres, interviews, documentaries... and you're quickly at the point where you decide to keep it real and - just like at Regularburn - don't even try to see everything.

The good thing is that you don't have to watch everything exactly when it happens. Until at some point on Tuesday night everything can be revisited. Good for me, since on Thursday night, when Roadburn Redux began, I was working on "druturum VIII-I" of "Druturum VIII" (further title to be revealed later) with my own band DruturuM. A great piece of psychedelectronic dronekraut low-fi weirdness is forming there, if I may say so myself...

And on Friday the party already started when I still had several hours of work to do. So was a lot to catch up to right from the start for me.

After Tuesday it's up to the artists and labels if, when and where all this greatness might reappear. Much of this would be worth a physical release.

I have written a couple of short reviews about streams in the course of the previous year, but following the fleeting nature of this happening I will keep this one rather brief and just focus on (not even all of) my highlights.
This is the stuff I re-watched, these are the shows I'd tell you about if you were foolish enough to engage in a real life conversation about Roadburn 2021 with me:

GOLD - This Shame Should Not Be Mine

Gold were already established as phenomenal genre-bending live band and being experienced in the live streaming game for me, but this show took them to a whole new level.
Premiering a commissioned personal piece about sexual violence, sounding more electronic and björk-inspired (even using an interview snippet of her as a sample) than ever, this show surely was no easy dish and had an unmatched sincere intensity. The first time I really felt that special, brave adventurous Roadburn spirit fully grabbing me at Roadburn Redux. One for the festival's history books!

I kind of hope that Gold don't even bother to turn this into a studio album, but instead just release it as it is. It's just so damn powerful and on point. Even the underlying discomfort and akwardness which shines through at the end of almost every livestream show without a direct audience, works in its favour. 

NADJA - Seemannsgarn

Drone. Metal. Mastership. Think Godflesh slowed down to infinity! One must have an amazing fantasy to imagine this fourty-minute chunk of cathartic noise possibly being any more perfect. Unconditional love!  

BADA

Bada is the band, which mostly consists of members of Anna von Hausswolff's live band, including Anna herself, but here not in the center of attention, but in the role of an equal member among others on the keys. As their debut record was a fantastic exploration of droning doomy ambient noisy psychedelic rock, so was this live recording, captioned in one of my favorite settings of all pre-recorded performances. Masterfully spellbinding atmospheres!
That one amp in the middle looks like a washing machine though.

JO QUAIL

Short and sweet. Initially the modern post rock and metal's favorite cello player was supposed to play her big commissioned piece "The Cartographer" as the only part of the canceled Roadburn 2021, but due to travel restrictions that wasn't possible. Still nice of her to bring us some dark looped, never before played string goodness in a solo performance instead. 

TRIALOGOS - Stroh Zu Gold

Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Conny Ochs, cellist/composer Sickerman and experimental musician Kiki Bohemia are Trialogos. And their mixture of experimental noises, minimalist krautrock, folk and post rock vibes, that one part which reminds me of the "Knight Rider" theme and some surprisingly heavy monster riffs was without a doubt one of Saturday's highlights. Album pre-ordered!

HAUNTED PLASMA

Sometimes the hype is real. Electronic artists (or bands with strong electronic elements) have become a vital part for Roadburn, and one of my favorite acts embracing the 0s and 1s this year might be Haunted Plasma, a dark and danceable meeting of Finnish minds, including members of Oranssi Pazuzu and guest singer Mat McNerney of Hexvessel in his most gothic register. Addictive!

KNOLL

One of the shortest shows, performed by probably the youngest guys in this Roadburn edition came from the grindcore collective Knoll. So refreshingly close to the early Napalm Death roots of the genre, but still with a distinct sound including some electronic elements. Fuck yeah, this was just pure raw fun!

NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM - Set Chaos To The Heart Of The Moon

Every Roadburn edition has this one show which you enter with ridiculously high expectations, to a point that other visitors might not take you seriously anymore. But you are in the know, and after the show everyone agrees with you that Magma, Anna von Hausswolff etc. totally won the festival.

This year that show was the larger than life spiritual jazz / drone / doom / psychedelic rock fusion extravaganza  of Neptunian Maximalism. Already when the eight members of this live incarnation of the group started the performance just standing in a row and chanting a capella you felt that this was going to be special. And indeed there's no other band out there invoking this blend of elevating cosmic chaos out there. Not even NNMM themselves in a way, because this show sounded deliberately different than their giant three-part debut "Éons", but equally as ancient, mighty and all-embracing.
No doubt, Neptunian Maximalism have done their name justice. If you're a fan of The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Sun Ra Arkestra, Swans, Sunn O))), Kikagaku Moyo or just watching the communication between two drummers giving everything, this is for you.

More is more - and more than this is as good as impossible.

PLAGUE ORGAN - Orphan

When we start to talk about drummers of Roadburn Redux, there is no way around René Aquarius and his blasting-it-relentlessly-for-fourty-fucking-minutes performance with Plague Organ. Accompanied by an equally persistent almost-only-one-note bass and his Dead Neanderthals mate Otto Kokke, he delivered one of the surely most talked about instrumental performances of this weekend.
While the meditative aspects of "Orphan" may haven taken a little longer to set in than on the album, the live version made up for it with the typical Neanderthals trolling quality, which was taken to a whole new level with this display of stamina.

DEAD NEANDERTHALS - IXXO 

And the drum robot strikes again! But this time in another tempo. The Dead Neanderthals show on Sunday took their concept of pushing minimalistic ideas to maximal effect into a quite surprsing direct. While you would typically expect some kind of extreme jazz or drone noise from them, the performance of "IXXO" was actually quite... let's say listenable.
Extended to a quartet with three synth players they grooved through a hypnotically repetive krautrock piece, which you would have rather expected from Minami Deutsch or Radar Men From The Moon. Just a bit more minimalistic of course. I was actually a little disappointed that it already ended after thirty-five minutes, haha. If you can blast for fourty minutes, you can do this for a full hour, right?

STEVE VON TILL - A Remote Wilderness

Let's close this bunch of impressions with maybe the most emotionally striking performance after Gold! Why hasn't Steve von Till's solo work been more on my radar before?
What a charismatic presence. What a real voice. And what a profound work of art. If I had to choose, then this show would be among my top 3 alongside Gold and Neptunian Maximalism. I'm speechless.

DE WOLFF 

Or no, let's close this with the actually last band on the bill! The Dutch working animals DeWolff are what you could call streaming veterans by now. I've just seen them do a very entertaining special streaming show in a vintage TV show setting with many guest a while ago. And after that they played a string of nine shows a row, on each performing another one of their studio releases in full.
That probably made them the ideal candidates to jump in almost in the last minute without the chance to rehearse extendly, because Radar Men From The Moon sadly had to cancel their appearance. DeWolff confidently promised "the freakiest, dirtiest, heaviest and swampiest set we'll ever play".

Of course we're not talking The Body or Conan dirty, yet rather Dirty Purple, so yeah, it definitely was a fun vintage rock dirty blues jam party finale. Good times, fuck yeah!

MIZMOR - Wit's End

So far I've only written about live streams and pre-recorded live performances.
Of course there were also tons of audio and video premieres. Kayo Dot, Darkher, Telea Jacta meets Electric Moon or my personal favorite among all those: This epic ultra doomy commissioned track by Mizmor, which comes with a fittingly dark animated video. Looking forward for the forthcoming EP with this on it very much!

Oh wait. I forgot that that was also an amazing video premiere from Big|Brave. Well, I'm getting their new album anyway and it's not a competition, alright?

Ok folks, that's all I was able and willing to write about for now.

That doesn't mean there wasn't more quality and greatness in the line-up. Of course some artist weren't my cup of tea or failed to completely reach their full potential like the Wolvennest offspring The Nest, which despite Ryanne van Dorst being on guest vocals, just had too many aimless and dragging parts.
Similarily Solar Temple, who achieved an amazing richness of sound for two people, just could have told their whole story in half an hour instead sixty minutes.

Both shows weren't really bad at all though. Further shoutouts go to all that those flavours of black metal, be it the crushing might of Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, the class of Wesenwille, the western variant of Wayfarer or the harsh raw purity of Doodswens. There were also great ambient-influenced shows from Die Wilde Jagd,  Autarkh III, the unbelievably beautiful Of Blood And Mercury or Dirk Serries. There was the joyful experimentalism of Spill Gold and the melancholic punch to my gut seeing Hexvessel, who were the second last band I've actually seen in the flesh over a year ago. There was the dirty rock of Maggot Heart. There were Might, Tesa, Kairon; IRSE!, Doctors Of Space, Territoire and more.

And there are some a lot like The Ocean or Aaron Turner, who I still have to catch up on by the time I'm publishing this review.


What a line-up for a freaking streaming event! And what an amazing and elaborate production on all fronts! Roadburn has never done something like this before and is already setting new standards.

I didn't use all social media gimmicks which were offered, but I sure as hell successfully tried that "donate" button, because this weekend of excessive live music consumption exceeded all expectations by far and has been the best thing since forever really.


Thank you Walter, Becky, the whole Roadburn Redux team and all the artists who made this possible!

And also cheers to all fellow Reduxians, each one in their own special bubble, but united in being apart, who against all odds made this feel like a communal experience!

Resterampe 2020 (mit BLUES PILLS, JESU und MIZMOR)

Ok, die Überschrift klingt jetzt ein wenig despektierlich. Ist aber gar nicht so gemeint. Hier frühstücke ich einfach noch ein paar Musikveröffentlichungen des letzten Jahres ab, die erst kürzlich in meine Sammlung eingegangen sind.

Den Anfang macht ein Bündel aus vier Wiederveröffentlichungen des Black/Sludge/Funeral Doom- Metal-Projekts Mizmor:

MIZMOR - Mizmor (Tape) (2012/2020)

MIZMOR - Mishlei (Tape) (2018/2020)

MIZMOR - Yodh (Tape) (2016/2020)

MIZMOR - Cairn (Tape) (2019/2020)

Das überwiegend auf Kassetten spezialisierte Label Tartarus Records hat letztes Jahr alle drei Studioalben von Mizmor in luxuriös anzuschauenden Versionen im schwarzen Karton inklusive Booklet mit Texten und Artwork neu herausgebracht. Dazu kommt die erstmals 2018 erschienene Compilation "Mishlei", welche alle Tracks der Split-Releases zwischen Debüt und "Yodh" vereint und faktisch auch ein vollwertiges Album darstellt.

Alle vier zusammen gibt es mit Rabatt und inklusive Logo-Patch als Set. Und weil mein bisher einziger Mizmor-Tonträger die "Yodh: Live at Roadburn 2018"-CD gewesen ist, war der Versuchung, hier zuzuschlagen, einfach unmöglich zu widerstehen. Zum Glück!

Denn diese räudig mächtig epochale, musikalisch so bösartige, aber inhaltlich durchaus sehr ernsthaft durchdachte Diskographie, hat einfach keinen Schwachpunkt. "Cairn" ist ganz klar das krönende Meisterwerk, doch alles davor zeigt schon sehr deutlich den Weg dahin.

Wer sich in Black Metal getunkte Yob, Conan und Bell Witch vorstellen mag, auf Longtracks und auf extreme Vocals mit Wiedererkennungswert steht (diese aus einem hohlen Baumstamm zu kriechen scheinenden Growls klingen, wie das ikonenhafte Cover von "Yodh" aussieht), der bekommt mit Mizmor eine wunschlos beglückende Vollbedienung.

Und dieses Tape-Quartett ist natürlich ein Juwel in meiner jungen Sammlung.

JESU - Never (blue in white vinyl 12" EP) (2020)

Neulich im Review des neuesten Jesu-Albums "Terminus" hatte ich ja noch zu Protokoll gegeben, die vorangegangene Comeback-EP des Justin-Broadrick-Projekt ausgelassen zu haben, da es mir zu effektüberladen experimentell war und ich mich einfach noch nicht hineinhören konnte.

Inzwischen habe ich mich dann doch mal getraut, das immer noch in Farbvarianten erhältliche Vinyl zu bestellen. Anders als die als Beikauf mitgenommene Final-CD "Reading All The Right Symbols Wrong" von 2009, die mich auf Anhieb abholte, bleibe ich auch dabei, dass es sich bei "Never" zumindest für mich um das vielleicht bislang schwierigste Werk Broadricks (in meiner Sammlung; ich bin weit davon entfernt, Komplettist zu sein) handelt. Das Ding musste ich mir schon relativ mühsam erarbeiten.

Nicht, dass es sich hier um besonders komplizierte Musik handelt. Allerdings wurde die an sich auch emotional sehr direkte und eingängige Basis der vier Stücke dermaßen durch den Pixelschieberfleischwolf gedreht, dass der Mix aus Shoegaze und Elektro schon einen sehr fragmentarischen und künstlich distanzierten Eindruck macht.

Jetzt, da der Knoten geplatzt ist, kann ich den surreal träumerischen Charakter von "Never" auch voll genießen. Für Newbies, die nicht eh schon Fans sind, halte ich die EP allerdings für sehr herausfordernd. Da erschließt sich das stilistisch deutlich geerdetere Full-Length-Album mit Sicherheit trotz des langsameren Durchschnittstempos schneller.

BLUES PILLS - Holy Moly! (2CD Digibook) (2020)

Zum Abschluss nun noch ganz andere Töne. Die Gemeinsamkeit zu Jesu ist, dass ich auch hier zunächst skeptisch war und lange mit dem Kauf (bzw. dem Hinzufügen auf meine Geburtstagswunschliste) zögerte.

Blues Pills ohne die naturtalentiere Wundergitarre von Dorian Sorriaux? Fehlt da nicht eines der wichtigsten Markenzeichen?
Dazu kommt die Neigung der Band, sich als erste Single gerne Stücke auszusuchen, die sehr formelhaft und on the nose sind und mich für sich erst einmal nicht allzu mächtig umhauen.

Letztendlich waren hier aber alle Sorgen müßig.

Der seit jeher für die zeitgeistige Authentizität verantwortliche Musiknerd und Hauptsongwriter Zack Anderson wechselt vom Viersaiter auf die Gitarre, was natürlich - in gar nicht so dramatischen Ausmaß - nicht mehr ganz so filigran und brilliant daherkommt, allerdings u.a. durch mehr direkten Dampf ausgeglichen wird. Sehr schnell wird klar, dass "Holy Moly!" das bisher am stärksten rockende Album der Band geworden ist.

Die von mir so hochgeschätzten Motown/Soul/Gospel-Elemente von "Lady In Gold" sind allerdings nicht verloren, sondern blitzen hier und da weiterhin hervor. Und wie!
Elin Larsson wird ja gewohnheitsmäßig von Album zu Album (und wenn live gespielt werden darf auf den Touren dazwischen) immer besser, und das gilt hier besonders für die hohen Soul-Schreie wie in "California", einem der Songs, die aus dem vorherrschenden Powertrio-Uptempo ausbrechen.
Zu jenen gehören auch das dunkle "Dust", das bittersüße "Wish I'd Known", der mit Piano und Streichern zu unerwarteter Größe wachsende "Song From A Morning Dove" und die abschließende Bluesballade "Longest Lasting Friend".

Moment! Habe ich da etwa tatsächlich "Trio" geschrieben? 

Technisch ist das für "Holy Moly!" korrekt, denn Neu-Bassist Kristoffer Schander posiert bisher nur auf Bandfotos und in Videos. Bis auf die überschaubaren, aber stets umso wirkungsvolleren Gastmusikereinsätze hören wir hier also tatsächlich das Trio LarssonAndersonKvarnström.

Vermutlich war es für die Band auch wichtig, im kleinen Kreis an diesem Ding zu werkeln. Das Resultat zeigt auf jeden Fall eine eng zusammengeschweißte und gewachsene Gruppe. Das Wunderkinder-Image früherer Tage ist komplett abgestreift und weiterer Souveränität und Songwritingqualität gewichen.

Ein großartiges Album. Vielleicht sogar das beste der Blues Pills. Allerdings  müsste man die Songs wohl live erleben, um diesen Eindruck zu verifizieren.

Eine deutliche Steigerung zur Debüt-EP "Bliss" von 2012 ist "Holy Moly!" ohne Frage. Komische Aussage, ich weiß. Darauf komme ich auch nur, weil eben jenes vergriffene Teil der Digibook-CD-Version des Albums als Bonus beiliegt.

Angesichts der vielen Neuaufnahmen und Liveversionen der hier vertretenen Hits "Bliss", "Astral Plane", "Devil Man" und "Little Sun" halte ich das Ding nicht zwingend für den allerheiligsten Gral, aber es ist halt wie es ist: Auch wenn man ein Blues Pills-Song schon neunundneunzig mal gehört hat, ist er halt beim hundertsten Durchlauf noch super.

Ok, "Devil Man" war mir in der Vergangenheit durchaus schon mal über, haha.

MIZMOR - Yodh: Live At Roadburn 2018

Ok, let's bridge the time until the release of my Saturday review of Roadburn 2019 with some other related content! Like this new Roadburn Records CD I brought with me.

MIZMOR - Yodh: Live At Roadburn 2018 (CD) (2018)

Mizmor's performance of their full album "Yodh" in the Koepelhal last year was a mighty masterclass of modern (or better: timeless) black and doom metal.

Even though one could have edited some of the longer pauses between the five 10+ minutes epics, this recording does a great job of capturing the impressive, overwhelming essence of this show. It's pummeling, monumental and just a hellish fine listening pleasure.

The artwork is also clever, but sadly not as fabulously meme-able as the studio album cover.

Mizmor live at Roadburn

All in all I can't see many convincing reasons not to own this:

Too much music and not enough money? Ok, I get that one.
You hate extreme metal and are only really into K-pop? Yes, that too.
You are worse then Hitler? Alright, you shouldn't even read this. Seriously, what are you doing here? Go back to Austria!

But any other excuse is just lame, man. "Yodh: Live At Roadburn 2018" rules!

ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2018 • DAY THREE : Saturday, April 21st

- If it doesn't make us wiser
Doesn't make us stronger
Doesn't make us live a little bit
What are we doing? -

Bell Witch

The first sign of what was to be expected from Roadburn 2018 came shortly after last year's edition in a fashion many announcements cast their first shadows these days: with a change of the profile picture on a facebook page and a slogan in form of hashtags.
In this case the image showed the flower decoration during the Scepticism show of 2016, accompanied by the tags #Forthosewelove and #Forthosewelost.

It's hard to imagine what expectation this would have generated at most other events. Probably ninety-nine percent of rock music festivals would have deemed this the uncoolest of all thinkable advertising moves and slapped their promoters in the face for it.

But knowing Walter Hoeijmakers' approach of putting each year's festival edition together with a holistic artistic vision, there was no doubt that remarkable things were about to happen.

The background is that "Mr. Roadburn" had to deal with hard personal losses and he made the decision to channel parts of his grief through Roadburn, making it not only a celebration of life and love for music (which I saw primarily reflected in the participation of those many psychedelic groups from East and West), but also very openly a work of mourning.


So after already two days (and one night) of live music it was on Saturday that Roadburn truly bared its soul, with performances of artists whose latest work have very impressively dealt with grief work and overcoming pain.

If there is one album of 2017 that connects to this notion more than anything else and also speaks the musical mother language of this festival, it's of course Bell Witch's 80+ minute one-song epos "Mirror Reaper".

Exactly that giant piece filled the Koepelhal - both sonically and in terms of capacity - in the early afternoon.

Bell Witch

It's hard to put anything about this concert into accurate words. Even the pure anticipation I felt before the start, when the full cover artwork was shown on the screen, was different than at the other concerts of this festival.

Roadburn does the unthinkable, the things you couldn't imagine happening anywhere else, so frequently that it's easy to get used to it and take it for granted.

On this early afternoon I didn't. The sheer fact that a funeral doom duo would perform this one sad, crushing, slow piece of orchestral scope in a hall filling with 1200(?) people was stunning by itself.

And how wonderful did it turn out to be! The daylight coming from the milky windows in the East made the Koepelhal feel like an industrial cathedral, a huge brethren of Het Patronaat. And everyone in it was experiencing this mass in a different silent way. Oh, this wonderful silence. I can't stress enough how much the audience gets it at Roadburn. You could hear the needle fall in the quiet parts - or let's say: you could hear the plastic cup being stepped on.

The performance of "Mirror Reaper" was amazing. Bell Witch is no show act with significant stage action. But whenever you went out of your personal zone and took a look there was always something interesting to see. For once the song was accompanied by an eerie black and white movie which thematized the circle of life and death in powerful images.

But also the musicianship of Dylan Desmond on bass and Jesse Shreibman, who besides the drums also multitasks the organ with his left foot, is always something amazing to behold. The probably most important virtue of the duet band format is how it amplifies the role of each member's individual personality. And these guys know how to put a lot of that into their art.

The hardest job however may have fallen onto the "third member" of Bell Witch, who has been contributing guest vocals on each of the band's albums and whose fragile Patrick Walker-like voice carries the second half of "Mirror Reaper".
So there is this huge thing happening on stage, everything runs more than smoothly, and after over fifty minutes you have to come out there and join it as an equal part. Nope, no pressure. So you could tell that Erik Moggridge naturally was a little nervous for the first few minutes, but he totally nailed his part. Somehow reminding me of a Damian Wilson of solemn doom, his performance was the final ingredient which lead this concert to indisputable perfection.

This show was everything I wanted it to be - and more. As expected this was the epicentre of my Roadburn 2018 that transcended watching just a couple of guys delivering some nice tunes by far the most. This will be with me as a life experience.

In my review of Thursday I mentioned one of the two biggest goose bumps moments of the festival. The second was when after a short pause at the end of "Mirror Reaper" the applause set in.

I've read about other fans that they needed to take a break after Bell Witch to process the profound gravity of what they had just witnessed. And in retrospect I must admit that I would have needed that break, too.

But instead I went straight into the main stage of the 013, where Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik delivered a show I just cannot honour the way it surely deserves.

Hugsjá

Hugsjá was the name of their current take on Norwegian lore and history. And as we know it from them they presented it in grand epic folk songs, which were able to open whole world of the imagination. At least I suppose so. Even though it didn't have the magical depth of the related Wardruna show in 2015, I could tell that this still was really good.

But after that larger than life and death Bell Witch experience, everything else just seemed small and far away and quickly vanished from my memory.


After a couple of songs I went over to the Green Room. And while I waited for the next show I felt that now - finally - my mind was ready for new sound adventures again.

Damo Suzuki & Minami Deutsch

Backing up early 1970s Can singer Damo Suzuki for a purely improvisational jam, the second show of Japanese kraut rockers Minami Deutsch promised a lot of those adventures.

It's shortly after midnight as I'm typing this right now, so forgive me that I don't even bother trying to explain the range and kind of sounds Suzuki delivered in his language-free adlibbing, which was in the forefront of this performance most of the time.
Minami Deutsch very much focussed on following his flow - and that was what made this improvisation so special to me. It was very controlled in a way you can only achieve with very good knowledge of your musical partners. Most of the time it was all about subtle details and nuances, while the rhythm section carried on in a steady fashion. A break could just be filled with one soft but so rightly placed guitar ring.

But when the point of every jam on Earth came where the drummer does that sudden explosive shift that has the potential to catch the other instruments off-guard, everybody was totally on board and executed it with the utmost precision. 

Minami Deutsch are a psyck rock band with a special flavour and jamming with one of their heros obviously was a big inspriring encounter for them, which made this show even better than their "normal" performance the day before. I'm glad I could watch it unfold, even though I couldn't stay for the end, because there's always the next thing you don't want to miss...

Mizmor

Back in the Koepelhal another full album performance was heralding the early evening. Mizmor, who rarely play live at all, since "they" are only a one-artist project in the studio were playing the 2016 work "Yodh" in full.

Even if you've never heard the album, chances are that you've seen its rememberable, staggering artwork which has turned to a hilarious meme in certain places. Almost more amazing than this painting is the fact that the singer / guitarist of Mizmor in a strange way has a very similar facial expression to those entities while performing. I hope one of you pit photographers has captured that striking resemblance! My toy camera possibilities are a bit too limited to frame something like this right.

And damn, what a killer black / death vocalist he is!

But the music was also top-notch.

I've heard the album a couple of times before, so I knew that beginning was ok, but not the strongest part of it. But when the black metal opus is finally infused with a serious amount of doom, "Yodh" gets really big and glorious. Damn, this was good. A great critic's favorite album, presented in a worthy environment.

Directly after the show one of the strangest things of the whole weekend happened: the vast hall emptied.

For a moment there were more people behind the bar than in the audience. If the following artist was peeking from behind the stage now, she must have been horrified that being an "outsider" even for Roadburn standards almost nobody wanted to see her here.

But luckily half an hour later the Koepelhal provided a more than thankful setting again - for a singer who albeit being artistically independent and dealing with very dark subject matters cannot be described without uttering the evil forbidden p-word: pop.
    

Zola Jesus

Zola Jesus

If "pop" is often equated with shallowness - that formula doesn't work for Zola Jesus at all.

Especially her latest release "Okovi", which unsurprisingly dominated her show, could hardly be a darker and more sincere affair. Her electronic music was performed as a trio with one very ambient, noise-orientated guitarist and a female violin player - who a certain german webzine review transformed into a male drummer. Ok, close enough, I guess.

Apart from some catchy melodies and dancable beats the pop appeal of Zola Jesus mainly originates in her stage persona. There was the optical side with her dress and hints of a choreography, which thankfully never went too far. The music still was very much the focus here.

And of course there was her voice! I have used this description before, but since it works: Zola Jesus' raw emotional power is not unlike that of Florence Welch, mixed with a pinch of - hold your breath! - Rihanna. Combine this with a musical mix of Björk's "Homogenic" phase with the darkness of "Pain Is Beauty" Chelsea Wolfe and you get a mesmerizing piece of art, be it in the studio or here in this life setting, where Zola Jesus who claimed to either be too pop or too weird at many festivals, was welcomed with open arms.

Rightfully so, because her show not only had integer substance, but it also was just fucking awesome. And Jesus, what an exit! I honestly don't remember which song she played at the end, but wow, that furious intense performance!

Jump cut from Zola's sweaty face to the sea of sweat that was boiling inside the Hall Of Fame, where my Japanese psych journey continued with its wildest chapter.

Dhidalah

Pairing their traditional "Eastern" kraut and psychedelic influences with heavy stoner riffs, noise attcks and ass kicking in-your-face power trio rock Dhidalah probably was the Japanese band that was stylistically closest to the "West" (aka the groups of the San Diego Takeover).

Do I still have super detailed memories of their show? No, sorry, some impressions just get a little buried in the overwhelming flood of musical information. But I still know that it was damn good and just the kind of wild ecstatic rush I needed right then and there.

After Dhidalah I took a longer break. All Pigs Must Die were on my schedule, but I could here them good enough while exploring the merch area to realize that they were a tad too angry for me at this moment.

The final shows I had marked on my running order were ex-The Oath guitarist Linnéa Olsson's Maggot Heart and following them Hair Of The Dog, but I already had scrabbed both much earlier in the day in favor of the grand psychedelic rock finale on the main stage:

Under a phenomenal, but at the same time also a bit silly picture of King Kong fighting Godzilla the members of "Artist in Residence" Earthless teamed up with Kikagaku Moyo, who I was super keen to watch again, for the epic "East meets West Jam".

Earthless & Kikagaku Moyo

This clash consisted of two half-hour long pieces. The first started only with one guitar from West vs. one Sitar from the East. It was a slow build-up which unapologetically had fun playing with some cultural clishés, but at the same time had enough depth and athmosphere to fully pull you in.

It took a patient time until all musicians were finally on stage, with most of the Kikagaku Moyo guys (including the drummer who didn't play his original instrument at all here) performing multiinstrumental duties, thus adding a wider sound palette with acoustic guitar, cello and several percussions to the mix.
Of course there was a lot of layering signals whirring around, but especially the two bass player did a a good job of tying it all together.

The second improvisation was designated to be a wilder ride. And indeed at some time it became an unstoppable colossus that just gloriously pushed on and on. Sometimes this beast seemed on the edge of losing control over itself, but the central guitar heroes on both sides were wise enough to see that everything already was operating at maximum and to not even put extra layers on top of it, the Earthless West by just concentrating on providing a steady basement and the East by not even touching the six strings again and just having a good time on the cow bell.

So while on the nitpicking side I would maybe have enjoyed this even a little more with the Kikagaku Moyo drummer behind the kit, my overall judgement of this gathering can only be that it was absolutely magnificent!

What better high to close yet another unforgetable Roadburn day? This was without a doubt one for the "Live At Roadburn" record wishlist.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:

Bell Witch, no surprises from me here.
Behind that I would say Zola Jesus and the Earthless & Kikagaku Moyo jam are in a tie, even though I prefer to look back on all the psychedelic rock shows I watched this Roadburn as one wholesome experience.

MOST PAINFULLY MISSED:

Well, this Saturday was a bitch - until it wasn't.

On paper this whole cluster around Zola Jesus seemed like the worst clash fest of all time. (And according to Walter himself this was indeed the most painful day to plan for him in Roadburn history.) Erik Moggridge's project Aerial Ruin, an ambient performance with participation of NYIÞ, who I loved in 2016. The motherbefuddling Heads!

But when the time of that clusterfuck was there, I was content with my decisions and never regretted it. So most of my misses were just a pity, but nothing more. That also goes for the opportunity of diving into the dungeon synth genre with Old Tower or the acoustic Cave In tribute to their late bandmate Caleb Scofield, that was added to the programme on short notice in Het Patronaat even before Bell Witch. I'm admittedly mostly unfamiliar with the man and his work, but from what I've read this performance must have been very moving.

The one show that really still itches me though is the full performance of "Absolutego" by Boris and Stephen O'Malley, a drone worship ritual of Sunn O))) proportions, it is said.

But fuckyeah, that's Roadburn, too immense for one mortal human to cover. And it for sure wouldn't be the same if that ever changed.

reviews of the other festival days:

ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2018 • THE DAY BEFORE : Hardrock Hideout / Wednesday, April 18th

- Attakk of the Evil Belgians -

ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2018 • DAY ONE :
Thursday, April 19th

- Put me down where I can see the Bong of Doom and Christmas -

ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2018 • DAY TWO :
Friday, April 20th

- Go Spread Your Psych -

 

ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2018 • DAY FOUR :
Sunday, April 22nd

- Leave the lights on
I'm going blind -

Bell Witch:

Hugsjá:

Damo Suzuki &
Minami Deutsch:

Mizmor:

Zola Jesus:

Didalah:

 

Earthless &
Kikagaku Moyo: