Ancient Oak - "Silence Of War" (2011)

ANCIENT OAK "Silence Of War"

Year: 2011
Genre: Instrumental Black/Pagan Metal, Blackened Crust
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. Silence of war
2. Iron troll
3. Death from the sky
4. Death & life

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Another demo by Ancient Oak, even better than "Eventyr". AFAIK they have one more demo, but I was unable to find it anywhere. Just like on "Eventyr", all the tracks are instrumental. The first track is kind of atmospheric intro, the other three are much more "metallic" (however, not without some atmospheric parts). Overall a very good demo, hope to hear much more from them in the future.

Ancient Oak - "Eventyr" (2011)

ANCIENT OAK "Eventyr"

Year: 2011
Genre: Instrumental Black/Pagan Metal, Blackened Crust
Country: Russia

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Ancient Oak is a very mysterious project from Russia which have released 3 demos so far. "Eventyr" is their 2nd demo, featuring 4 untitled instrumental tracks. I have not much info about them, but they have a good reputation on gnwp.ru, so I think it wouldn't hurt to post their demos here. UPD: not "them", but "his" - it's an one-man project whoser member draws inspiration from Norse mythology and adheres to DIY ethics & anarchism.

Kora - rehearsal demo (2011)

KORA "demo"

Year: 2011
Genre: RABM, atmospheric black metal
Country: Russia

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Finally, some recordings from this Moscow-based RABM project. Kora was formed in 2010, and for about an year was mostly a "live" band. Now they released a 2-track demo, and it sounds very promising, despite the poor quality of recording. Reminds me of Panopticon at times (which isn't surprising, because Panopticon is extremely popular in our RABM community), but of course it's only a rehearsal demo, and their sound might change in the future. The founding member of Kora also has an ambient project called Дно.

Dishammer - "Under The Sign Of The D-Beat Mark" (2010)

DISHAMMER "Under The Sign Of The D-Beat Mark"

Year: 2010
Genre: Blackened Crust / Thrash Metal
Country: Spain

Track List:

1. The Devil's Advocates
2. Outlaw Psychopath
3. Welcome Death
4. Under The Sign Of The D-Beat Mark
5. Sexwitch
6. Invocation
7. Rusty Coffin

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"Under The Sign Of The D-Beat Mark" is the latest EP by Dishammer, who are without a doubt one of the best bands on the modern Spanish crust scene. Their music is commonly labeled "blackened crust" - however, in terms of music and aesthetics they're akin only to first wave thrash / proto-black metal bands like Venom or Hellhammer (just my opinion). For the fans of old school!

GoddessX - "Future Elegy" (2010)

GODDESS-X "Future Elegy"

Year: 2010
Genre: Raw Black Metal, Noise Rock
Country: USA

Track List:

1. Metamorphic Crunch
2. Menstrual Asylum
3. A Star Emerges
4. Goddess of MindXpansion
5. Eternal Death

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"GoddessX is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist, and artist living in beautiful Crozet, Virginia. Originally from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, she spent the first 25 years of her life surrounded by an oppressive, anti-intellectual, right-wing Christian monoculture. Her art and music is a war against such ignorance and self-denial. Extreme isolation gave her the space she needed to develop the resourcefulness, independence, and imagination that typifies all of her work" - official biography

What can I say? The first similar project that comes to my mind is DödsÄngel, but GoddessX' music is even more harsh and raw. I'd say it's comparable to Orisha Shakpana in terms of quality of production, so if you aren't into noisy and chaotic stuff - then steer away. You can also listen to it at SoundCloud and decide if it's worth downloading. However, it's still pretty interesting record (at least for a first home-made demo), and I'll wait for a second EP, which is announced to come out in summer 2012. 

Her music appears to be strongly influenced by Thelema, chaos magick... and of course, anarchist ideology. That's a relief to see someone who's really into chaos magick and anarchism at the same time... because the majority of the "chaos mages" I've came across are so-called "national anarchists", "national liberals" or some other shit like that; and the most prominent Thelemite out here is Misha Verbitsky, whose political views are also very controversial (but nevertheless interesting). However, I've strayed away from the topic. Perhaps I should write a separate post about Russian anarcho-mysticism (quite interesting subject which is highly relevant to my blog), but right now let's talk about GoddessX and her music. Hope all the enthusiasts of extreme and aggressive female-fronted music will enjoy her debut EP, despite the amateur quality of recording... and if you wish to get in contact with her, you can try it through last.fm. Or facebook.

Nux Vomica - "The President Is Dead" (2009)

NUX VOMICA "The President Is Dead"

Year: 2009
Genre: Neocrust
Country: USA

Track List:

1. Engendered
2. We Are The Forest

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I think many of you are already familiar with this metallic crust band from the Cascadian region (originally from Baltimore, MD, but later relocated to Portland, OR). In general, their music is more suitable for my other blog, but in my opinion this EP fits into the concept of this blog as well. P.S. I have much more good stuff to post here, but I still can't make myself to review more than 1-2 albums per day, so you have to wait...

Ecocide - s/t (2011)

ECOCIDE "Ecocide"

Year: 2011
Genre: Blackened Crust / Sludge / Doom Metal
Country: USA

Track List:

1. This Soil Shall No Longer Bear Fruit
2. Static
3. Proverb
4. Red As Fault

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Line-up:

• Heidi - vocals, violin
• Elliot - drums
• Nick - guitar
• Brian - guitar
• Brian Slaughter - bass

The first and (sadly) the last release from this excellent female-fronted band based out of San Antonio, TX. Their music is often labelled "blackened crust", but for me it's more like epic crust/sludge/doom metal with some BM overtones. And of course, let's not forget the most distinctive feature of their music - the use of electric violin! If you like epic, symphonic blackened crust in the vein of Johann Wolfgang Pozoj - this album is definitely for you. Such a pity that this awesome band is no longer active...

bandcamp

Violent Ends - "Black Moon" (2011)

VIOLENT ENDS "Black Moon"

Year: 2011
Genre: Blackened Hardcore
Country: USA

Track List:

1. Open Wounds
2. Eyeless
3. Haunted
4. Agonizer

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This North Carolina-based blackened hardcore band was already featured in my blog, and here's their newest release, a 4-track EP called "Black Moon". It's also available from their bandcamp page (wish to support the band financially? name your price!)

Amebix - "Knights of the Black Sun" (2011)

AMEBIX "Knights Of The Black Sun" (single)

Year: 2011
Genre: Epic Crust/Metal
Country: UK

Track List:

1. Knights of the Black Sun

Finally, the first new track in more than 20 years! And who said "it isn't real Amebix"? Of course it doesn't sound like their early-80s' releases, but that's what is called evolution. There was very strong post-punk, gothic rock and maybe even doom metal influence on their album "Monolith" (1987), and I'm not surprised that they're still heading in this direction. Moreover, it's a visible tendency: many of those who played crust and hardcore in the 80s and 90s, now are playing not only black metal, but also doom (see my posts under the label "doom/sludge" - there are quite a few), and even gothic metal. And of course it's only a single, let's wait for a full-length album...


P.S. An awesome animation video for this track:

Welkin Dusk - "Born Into A Dying World" (2011)

WELKIN DUSK "Born Into A Dying World"

Year: 2011
Genre: Blackened Crust
Country: USA

Track List:

1. Buried Deep In My Hate
2. No Room For Debate
3. Welcome To The Penitentiary
4. All That Is Sacred Is A Lie
5. Entrapped
6. Gasping
7. Dry Eyes Of Samsara

bandcamp

Most likely you're already familiar with this Chicago based anarchist BM / blackened crust band (and in case if you aren't, you should check out this post). Here's their first full-length release, which includes all the tracks from their 1st demo, re-recorded in much better quality.

Green Destroyed - demo (2011)

(no cover)

GREEN DESTROYED "demo"

Year: 2011
Genre: Noise/Atmospheric Black Metal / RABM
Country: USA

Track List:

1. Eternal War
2. Slave
3. Too Late... Why?
4. Doomed To Extinction

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First full-length demo by a new one-man RABM project from Northampton, Massachusetts. The only member of Green Destroyed is a staunch supporter of RABM scene, and he already has a lot of future material ready. According to him, his sound will be moving in a more Post-Black, Cascadian-influenced style over time. And as for this demo - the sound is quite noisy and raw, but unfortunately it lacks the rawness and harshness of the best raw USBM bands. Anyway, if you like noisy atmospheric BM, then you may like this demo as well. Actually, the material on this one is very promising, despite the amateur quality of recording, and I hope Green Destroyed will once become one of the best atmospheric RABM projects.


soundcloud

Drear - "Promo 2007" (2008)

DREAR "Promo 2007"

Year: 2008
Genre: Blackened Doom Metal
Country: UK

Track List:

1. They Try to Emulate the Clouds
2. Dismal Autumn Skies On An Anglian Eve
3. Penmount Crematorium

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Want more blackened doom metal? No problem. I have not much information about this UK-based project, but their music definitely was inspired by ecoanarchist ideas. These 3 tracks were recorded during 2007, and were released as a promo on 01 January 2008. There's at least one more album by Drear, called "We Will Use Your Blood For Fertilizer", and I'll ask them if I can post it here too.  

Mammon - "Demiurge" (2011)

MAMMON "Demiurge"

Year: 2011
Genre: Sludge/Post Metal
Country: Australia

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One more Australian band which was willing to send the demo to me for a review. It contains three tracks numbered in roman numerals (I, II, III). Actually, I won't even try to write a review, since I don't think I can write anything better than this one. And yes, the music speaks for itself... Although you should note that it isn't black metal, but rather sludge/post-metal in the vein of Neurosis or Isis.

Disease Process - demo cassette (2011)

DISEASE PROCESS "Disease Process"

Year: 2011
Genre: Blackened Grindcore / Crust
Country: Australia

Track List:

1. Thrown To The Wolves
2. Shallow Graves
3. Black Lung
4. Bhopal
5. Martyr Blood
6. Putrid Fang
7. Fall Of Rome
8. Summon The Witch

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It's always good to hear some music produced by fans of my blog... this time it's old school grindcore/crust (80s UK school) with strong black metal overtones. The band is based out of Perth, Western Australia, and this cassette is their debut release. As far as I understand, their lyrics carry eco-anarchist (and possibly anti-civilization) message. From a review by Rest In Punk Records:


"Anarcho-Grindcore outfit DISEASE PROCESS draw inspiration from the late 80s UKHC / Grindcore. Old school raw Black Metal & Crust, to create their own brand of nihilistic audio warfare. Savage Buzz-saw riffing & cold Nordic melodies tangle with relentless Blast & Dbeats only accentuate the Anarcho-political ideals & misanthropic social views spewed forth with such seething hatred & contempt..."

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Worthless And Alone - demo (2009)

WORTHLESS AND ALONE "demo"

Year: 2009
Genre: Raw/Atmspheric Black Metal
Country: USA

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These ten minutes of music were once recorded by an eco-anarchist BM/ambient project called Worthless And Alone, a split with another RABM project that never got off the ground. Worthless And Alone was active from 2007 until 2009 from the Northern Coast of California, and despite the ideology and musical style, it was unconnected to any sort of RABM community. As of today, the project is dead, and its founder isn't making any black metal or ambient music anymore.

The cassette rip presented here actually consists of two songs: first is a cover of Asylum by Crass, and the second is an 8 minute ambient piece with eco-anarchist lyrics. The quality of recording is quite poor, but it isn't surprising for a home-made demo. According to the project's founder, he recorded one more EP besides this cassette, but so far he hadn't sent it to me.