Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Peste Noire - L'Ordure À L'État Pur (2011)

Band: Peste Noire
Album: L'Ordure À L'État Pur
Year: 2011
Country: France
Peste Noire has been a very special band from the start. They named their first demo "Aryan Supremacy", but  Famine - the man behind PN, claimed that they weren't nazi's, since that's a German device. And since then Famine has provocated the whole scene with stupid statements.
The band was also been very noticed because of the fact that Neige - the man behind Alcest, were a session band member during the demo releases. He then also made some guest apperances on the first two albums, and wrote one single song during his whole time in the band. Some distros and record labels have claimed that
Peste Noire is "one of Neige's bands", just to sell more PN-records. This makes Famine rage, and he says:
"To claim that Neige is an important figure in PN is the same as saying that the person who plays the triangle in SOPOR AETERNUS AND THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS is the main man in SOPOR. Our lives are different and so are our tastes, friends, ambitions, views, and so forth. I don't spend time in the same places. I don't even spend time with them. I am nothing like them. They are rich, idle, with hardly any responsibilities on their hands; they use their parents' money to pay for recording costs. I am poor, I write with a sense of urgency, I record using very crappy equipment. I don't write teenager poems from the balcony of a rich Parisian apartment, I just want to destroy all that, and I know exactly what I'm talking about. Now let me reiterate: I hold no grudge against Neige and his friends, but it just so happens that if Neige or his friends refute these facts, which are nothing but the truth, in one way or the other, I will be forced to shave their heads, take a picture of it and post it on the internet. I'd prefer not having to do that. I hate to take it out on weaker individuals, but if they choose to go against truth, I will be forced to perform such an act as I cannot tolerate lies. I therefore swear on my cat's life before the whole world: if they deny these facts I will shave their heads."


Song(s) you should listen to: This album is just fucking hilarious. So I'll just go through the songs one by one:

Casse, Péches, Fractures Et Traditions starts off kind of mysterious and medieval, as we're used to. But then I don't know what the fucked happened. They sure had a dope party with the Oompa Loompas, Mora Träsk, and the guy who wrote the French coffee song though. Just when you thought it couldn't get more awkward, Famine shouts "COCORICO!" and counts a choir in, who are all going nuts as crazy roosters. What the fuck?

Cochon Carotte Et Les Soerus Crotte is a about having sex... maybe with animals? I just don't know. Not my cup of tea at all.

J'avais Rêvé Du Nord 1
has a very electro-influenced intro, controlled by a repeated guitar riff during the first 3 minutes of the song. But it's quite interesting! Then a mellow part kicks in, and Audrey from Amesouers does some soprano vocals for a while. Then the song develops quite well, and maybe you can actually think about listen to it a second time.

J'avais Rêvé Du Nord 2
is the rawest on this album. It's focused on common dirtyness, with the smoker-on-his-deathbed-vocals, some coughing which actually makes me twist and turn a bit... But after a while you will burst out in laughter again due to the hooligan choir who shouts "LALA-LALA-LALA LAAA-LAAA!".

I don't know if you just have gotten used to the sound of the album when you get to this song, but Sale Famine Von Valfourte is actually good! It's very aggressive, and contains so much darkness that it will summon your grandmother. Just the way we like it.

La Condi Hu
is actually very sweet! It's not anything like Peste Noire. It even contains beautiful cello and post-rock influences, and it's combined in a way making me get goosebumps. The only Peste Noire-thing about this is that the lyrics is mostly just words for different kinds of diseases in French, so it's not the kind of sad love song you thought it would be. But I would recommend you to download this and suffer through the whole album just to listen to this song, It's worth it, I promise.


Darkthrone - Circle The Wagons (2010)

Band: Darkthrone
Album: Circle The Wagons
Year: 2010
Country: Norway
Everyone knows or SHOULD at least know who Darkthrone is. They have been around since the very beginning and even if you like them or not you can't deny that they set the standard for many bands in the black metal-genre. People talk a lot about the death-era ala Soulside Journey and the black metal-era that followed but I think that people don't give the newer era the attention that it deserves. We have come a long way since Transylvanian Hunger which is and always will be a masterpiece for the genre but that is no reason to turn down on the newer albums. Maybe someday Fenriz and Nocturno will close the casket and retire to a life in piece but Circle The Wagons shows that they have a long way to go before that happens. If I were to make a list of the best albums from the previous year Circle The Wagons would definitely be in the top five. Everything about it just reeks of Darkthrone even though it sounds like a dirty and possessed version of Motörhead. The riffs are beyond great, the primitive drumming pounds you like a woodpecker determined to bash your skull in and the vocals sounds like a foul and angry drunk that just got out of bed only to find out that there's no coffee left, cursing the whole mankind for being against him. The first song Those Treasures Shall Never Befall You is about black metal never breaking any new grounds and to me that is what this album is about, breaking new grounds. But if you are contempt with treading water in the past then I really can't blame you. But at least give this record a try. You don't want this treasure to get out of hands.

Song(s) you should listen to: I Am the Working Class always gets me going. It's a real killer and whenever I try to convince people to listen to this record this is the song I always show. If there were an award for best metal-riff the price would go to Darkthrone without a doubt.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Alfarmania / Ättestupa - Stenstans Fördärv / Mitt Blod, Min Kropp (2010)

Band: Alfarmania & Ättestupa
Album: Stenstans Fördärv (Alfarmania) & Mitt Blod, Min Kropp (Ättestupa)
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
This is the spawn of the unholy union between two of Sweden's finest in minimalistic music. Together they have created a split consisting of seven songs that are darker than Dale Cooper likes his coffee and that pretty much sums it all up. Alfarmania gently kicks off the record with four murky songs of drone-like nihilism. Repetitive walls of sound mixed with vocals that could be samples from some newsreel from World War II as well. This side of the record is the most gloomy and is best experienced with the lights turned off, preferable lying in fetal position on your cold bathroom floor. The first thing that strikes me when I come to Ättestupa's side of the record is how well produced it sounds compared to their previous releases. But don't take that the wrong way, it is just as dark and harsh as before just executed with a bit more finesse. Another thing that comes to mind is that these songs are a bit more guitar-based than before and that some of the melodies has some black metal-touch to them. Especially in the first song Ett Stort Mörker Skall Komma (a great darkness shall come) where it almost sounds like black metal in slow motion. Overall i like the direction which Ättestupa has on these songs and I'm really exited to hear how the next release will sound like.

Song(s) you should listen to: I always root for listening to a record from start to finish, especially when it comes to music like this. I just think the whole experience enhances that way.



Sunday, May 22, 2011

Altar Of Flies - Eremiten (2009)

Band: Altar Of Flies
Album: Eremiten
Year: 2009
Country: Sweden
First of all I apologize for my absence here. I've been having problem with blogger and against my will I have been forced to use Explorer just to be able to use it. Feels like I'm back in elementary school again, only thing missing is the dial-up modem. Though I haven't been very active I have a lot of albums that I intend to put up for you to enjoy. Hopefully they will be up soon. First off we have another piece of Swedish noise. Don't know why Sweden seems to spit out so much good noise. Maybe it's because we're generally very miserable people. All that needs to be said about Eremiten (the hermit) is that it is a dark void where no light will ever reach, just waiting to devour you.

Song(s) you should listen to: Nobody Sleeps is the longest song and therefore the most progressing and dark. Put your speakers to max and let the sound engulf you. Perfect for when you're hungover and full of anguish.


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Chicagojazzen - Misantropi För Nybörjare (2010)

Band: Chicagojazzen
Album: Misantropi För Nybörjare
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
My better half told me to listen to this, and as soon as the first track started I thought "WTF, he knows that I hate Doktor Kosmos, why does he make me listen to this?". I was too lazy to turn the music off, so the record was still playing, but I stopped listening. And all of a sudden it switched to track three - Höga Byggnader Reste Sig Ur Ruinerna, which caught my attention, and I fell in love.
You can say that this album is like a box of chocolates. If you just hold on through the up-beat electro pop song in the beginning, which is really too sweet and yucky, you will find some delicate pieces during the album. And this album really got pieces for everyone. Chicagojazzen is a one man band, and I just think this dude locked him self in into a studio a couple of days and decided to record some music, but with no genre restrictions what so ever. You will hear all kinds of instruments, used in all kinds of different ways. The songs most often has some melancholic jazzy artsy post-rock feeling to them. Except for one - Bränn Ner Jörn, which is quite noise-ish. The only thing these tracks have in common is that they're all a little Lo-Fi.
And as a bonus if you know Swedish, the tracks have awesome names such as "Ewokerna känner ingen skam" (The Ewoks knows no shame), "När Per nästan dog" (When Per almost died), and "De målade mitt tandkött violett" (They painted my gums violet).

Song(s) you should listen to:
Höga Byggnader Reste Sig Ur Ruinerna is maybe not something special, if you don't get a smile on your face as soon as you hear avant-garde circus tunes from hell. De Målade Mitt Tandkött Violett is a melancholic but beautiful song that has that kind of roadtrip-feeling to it. You know, when you're half awake/half asleep and just dead looking out through the window. This song could be in a movie. In fact, all of these songs could be in a movie soundtrack.


Saturday, May 7, 2011

CELESTE - NIHILISTE(S)

Band: CELESTE
Album: NIHILISTE(S)

Year: 2008
Country: France
Those who know me in real life will probably go like "FINALLY, she's uploading it!" when they read this post. I heard this album short after it's release in 2008, and since then I've been really nagging for anyone to listen to it. Everyone knows that CELESTE is one of my favourite bands, and this album is very close to my heart.
And why? It's not just only because CELESTE is formed from the ashes of Mihai Edrisch. It's also because this shit is so fucking intense that you need to grab on to your seat while watching your whole life passing by. I have no idea about how, but in some way they make the most raw and evil pieces of music I've ever heard. They use very sludgy guitars most of the time and the drums often set the intensity-level. The reason I talk about that intensity all the time is because they are masters of build ups. First of all there can be a small change of pace to a slower direction to catch your attention. Then it builds up, and creates a tension making movie writers jealous. And all of a sudden hell breaks loose and you're about to have an epileptic attack. They're not called "Hell's Choir" for nothing.


Song(s) you should listen to:
Mais encore faut-il pouvoir renier tout un programme is the song that I think represents the build ups I was talking about earlier the most. It's so intense that it makes me want to slam my face to the wall until it's gone. Literally.