40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room (2011)

Band: 40 Watt Sun

Album: The Inside Sun

Year: 2011

Country: United Kingdom

Some people that I know have already started to make plans for this years christmas. Myself, I have started no make plans for next years festivals I want to visit. Right now the scales tip in favour of Roadburn Festival in April. The main reason is that both Sleep and Bongripper are performing and also.. well that is pretty much the reason. But since I'm curious man I decided that I might as well check out the other band. The first band that drew my attention was 40 Watt Sun, mainly because I think the bandname is great (good bandname is important folks). They play a sort of mellow and post-rockish doom with long and slow songs with epic clean vocals. I'm going to make a comparsion that some of you might not understand and some of you who do might think I'm an idiot. The first thing that striked me when i listened to The Inside Room was that it sounded like a mash up between swedish bands Cult of Luna and Broder Daniel. For those who maybe haven't heard of Broder Daniel I can say that they were a really big pop-band here in Sweden. If you some day end up at a party with a lot of swedes just put on the song Shoreline and watch as they all make fools of themselves. Anyhow, I'm not saying that 4o Watt Sun is a copy of the two bands, rather a mix of the feelings that those two band create. Maybe it's a swedish thing, maybe I should get my head checked. You be the judge.

Song(s) you should listen to: Carry Me Home is the song that I think has the best melody and also the best vocals. A perfect song to chill out to.

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Terra Tenebrosa - The Tunnels (2011)

Band: Terra Tenebrosa
Album: The Tunnels
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Some people like to dress up as spooky creatures, run around in the woods, and rehearse in a studio full of dead rats and mould. Include a concept involving a main character with the hazardous name The Cuckoo - an enlighted spirit who tries to bring justice to this world, with help of his two assistants Risperdal and Hibernal (which are also two types of drugs used by patients with mental disorders). Didn't thought such a band existed? Well, let me introduce you to Terra Tenebrosa.
The band members have decided to be anonymous, but it's no secret that two of them were members of the old hardcore band Breach. The idea about Terra Tenebrosa actually started when one of the members rediscovered two songs he wrote for Breach that never got recorded. They experimented a lot with these songs, because they didn't wanted them to sound "too Breach". One of Breach's characteristics is still there in most of the songs though - the heavy cooperation between drums/guitar that will hammer into your head like ten thousand tanks. Other than that, it's not so easy to figure out the influences behind this. It has some really good drone-parts, but other than it's hard to categorize. The overall mood is dark and atmospheric, sometimes actually a bit disturbing. The vocals are haunting and barely there, in fact Terra Tenebrosa was supposed to be an instrumental project from the beginning.

Song(s) you should listen to: Well, if you haven't gotten into a state of apocalyptic headbanging after the first track The Terranbos Prayer, you're simply not human. But if I would have to chose a favourite track, I would probably chose The Mourning Stars, which is actually pretty pleasant to listen to during the first half of the song. Then it makes me almost a bit nauseous, but in some kind of sick sadistic good way, which develops in the following track The Arc Of Descent.

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Altar Of Plagues - Mammal (2011)

Band: Altar Of Plagues
Album: Mammal
Year: 2011
Country: Ireland
I've followed Altar Of Plagues since their first full length-album, and their development is so interesting to follow. Ever since their demo, when they mostly were extremely influenced by Wolves In The Throne Room, you can hear that they have the potential to make something great that's never really been done before. And for every release they've done, they've gotten closer to that.
Altar Of Plagues has their own sound, but it twists and turns a bit from every album, so you can never foresee anything. When I heard the atmosphericness in the first few seconds of the album, I could not imagine the intenseness that would follow. And those are the key words for the whole album. You'll get escorted into this repetitive atmospheric part, and then all of a sudden, you just get carried away in the speed of darkness. Some may probably say that this album is too repetitive with these parts, since the tracks are also quite long, but they haven't understood the patterns of this journey Altar Of Plagues will serve you.
I also know that some people have commented on the production of this. This album is very well produced, but they don't do it the common way. Their drums are set very high, the guitars are quite low, and the vocals are really distant. It sounds like they come from a man screaming out his desperation alone in the woods. I just think it sets the whole album.

Song(s) you should listen to: Well, I got this album yesterday, confirmed that it was really good, and uploaded it. Therefore I would say that you should just listen to the album from the beginning to the end, but some song will maybe grow you a favourite after a couple of listenings. The first track - Neptune Is Dead, will blow your mind though. The Sun Drowns In The Ocean is very experimental, with a humming and joiking woman together with an atmospheric mood. I could imagine many would skip this track, because it's very unexpected, to say the least. But the end of the song flows perfectly into the last track All Life Converges To Some Center, which I really adore. I actually got tears in my eyes while listening to it, it's really beautiful.

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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.

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Altar Of Plagues - Sol (2008)

Band: Altar Of Plagues

Album: Sol

Year: 2008
Country: Ireland
If you're the kind of person who gives a fuck about the environment, people starving, and those kinds of things fat lazy politicians are causing by sitting on their thrones doing nothing but eating tortured pig pork and expensive chocolate reaped by poor African children, Altar Of Plagues maybe will be something for you. It will maybe also suit you if you're the kind or person who pretends to care about that because it's trendy.
I won't deny that Altar Of Plagues will grow into a trendy band, if they're not already considered as one. Somewhere around 2006 they probably discovered that Wolves In The Throne Room made a huge success with their first full length album of environmental hippie black metal, so they decided to kind of copy them. And add some influences of other successful epic sludge bands such as Neurosis, Isis, etc.
But, Altar Of Plagues is definately not a bad band. This EP is their second release, and naturally it's a bit more dirty and less refined than their last two releases (White Tomb (2009), and Tides(2010)). Therefore my personal opinion is that this isn't their best release, but they found their trademark; modern Black Metal very influenced by Sludge, Doom, and Post-Metal. It's not very trve, if you prefer corpse painted warriors fighting each other with sticks in the woods of Norway, but it will leave you with an impression. And if Sol is the first thing you've heard of Altar Of Plagues, you will expect shitloads from their later releases.

Song(s) you should listen to: With Fire In Our Veins We Drown In Light is the song that includes the most genre crossings on this EP I guess. It starts off with a really catcy post intro, then evolving into an anthem-ish part where two singers sings something that would probably sound cheesy if it was written down. Then the song evolves a tons of times into tons of different parts, which is quite good for a reason, since the song is about 14 minutes long. But sometimes it involves into things that you don't really understand (like at 08.29, it starts off pretty good, but ends in a total disaster).
There are two or three vocalists on this track, and the one who starts to sing at 02.35 will maybe be disliked by some people because it sounds like a young teenage boy in complete desperation. I, on the other hand, thinks these vocals are quite interesting, probably mostly because of the desperation level, but also because it's so not expected.

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Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom (2010)

Band: Bongripper

Album: Satan Worshipping Doom

Year: 2010

Country: United States

Probably the record with the most colourful album-cover we have uploaded on this blog so far. Suits the name of the band and album as well, I can imagine that this is how a LSD-trip to the depths of hell must look like. But if you look at the music this is probably the heaviest and darkest album on this blog as well. Chicago's Bongripper has been around since 2005 and with their latest release they sure make a mark in today's Sludge/Doom-scene and it's easy to see why. Bongripper manages to pull off an entirely instrumental album that sounds both fresh and raw at the same time. Given that they play a genre of music where it takes knowledge and skill to stand out from the rest makes this an impressive effort to say the least. The riffs are refreshing and the build ups is woven into the songs so good that you barely notice them. As the icing on the cake you also get some moments with a clear Black Metal-touch.

To summarize: Satan Worshipping Doom takes you to the middle of a 54 minute long Satanic ritual that will make you bang your head for hours to come.

Song(s) you should listen to: The song conveniently named Satan is by far my favorite song of the record and it's here that you will find those Black Metal-touches I spoke of earlier. After briefly two minutes of build-up to set the mood the song kicks of with a fast and well played Black Metal-riff which then makes a leap into the far borders of Doom-land. About halfway through the song it turns into a groovy session of chugging riffs that gnaws right into you're ears and makes you want to go rampage. This is definitely the song that stands out from the rest but it suits really well and maintains the feeling which is present throughout the whole album.

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An Autumn For Crippled Children - Lost (2010)

Band: An Autumn For Crippled Children
Album: Lost
Year: 2010
Country: Netherlands
Okay, so the name of the band really sucks. It sounds like some newfag band with long bangs covering half of their faces, and that cares more about looks than music. But An Autumn For Crippled Children named their band after a song by the UK band Ebony Lake (which is also a horrible bad band name, but they do strange music with some originality to it). So just put a finger over the computer screen where the band name is typed, or name it something else when you've downloaded it, because this band is actually good.
This band, whatever you want to call it, combines elements of Black Metal and Doom, and juice it up with some of the old depression mood. They use the guitar in a very melodic way, so you can easily hum the melody of their songs. It therefore causes some songs to stick on your mind for a little while.
Maybe this doesn't sound like something original, but I've never heard anything like it, so it's hard to write about since you can't really compare it to other bands. It's absolutely depressing anyway, nursing you into a state of melancholy.

Song(s) you should listen to: I Beg Thee Not To Spare Me is MINDBLOWING from the beginning to the end. At least it gives me the shivers, causing emotional overload. As the song title indicates, I get the feeling of someone who was close to death once, but was saved somewhat against his/her will, and is now expressing his/her despair. It's haunting.
Ghost Light is also a great song on the album. It starts off pretty mediocre, but from the middle to the end it builds up and get more and more raw and evil.

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Palehorse - Habitual Linestepper (2008)

Band: Palehorse
Album: Habitual Linestepper
Year: 2008
Country: United Kingdom
I came across this band when I was supposed to find some music by the hardcore band Palehorse from Connecticut, USA on Spotify. But I found this band instead, which I've never heard of before.
Anyways, I liked their music, and thought their album title was pretty clever, so I did a checkup on the band. Turns out that they are a pretty known band in the sludge scene of UK. And they are sure playing sludge. Their music is fairly slow and very heavy. One thing that surprised me was the vocals that sounds a lot that something that could fit in any screamo band. If you gave the drummer some POWERTHIRST so he would drum more energetic, maybe this would be liked by all the skramz kids out there.
The band consists of a drummer, two vocalists, and two bass players. Nothing more, nothing less. Who need guitars anyway?

Song(s) you should listen to: We Cannot Love You
This song starts out pretty slow and sad, and with a really catchy bassline, that continues pretty much through the whole song. Then the sludge will squirt all it's juice over you.

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