La Peste - "μυστηριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς" (2019)

LA PESTE "μυστηριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς"

Year: 2019

Genre: Black Ambient/Noise, Dungeon Synth

Country: USA

Track List:

1. Canticum Canticorum
2. μυστηριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς
3. Ado
4. Araboth
5. Kairos

Bandcamp / Facebook 

Dark ambient with some guitar noise parts, openly critical of capitalism, fascism and conventional religion.
"μυστηριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς (or Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth)" is a new album that explores the darkest recesses of religion and the occult. La Peste is an exploration of themes mystical, literary, personal. and political.

kageraw - "Shaman Tears" (2016)

KAGERAW "Shaman tears"

 

Year: 2016

Genre: Ritual Ambient, Acoustic

Country: Russia

Track List:

1. ohota
2. kaaren
3. Mara
4. salvatio
5. oya-maya
6. улетает душа
7. पृथ्वी

bandcamp

kageraw is Julia from Axidance, Warona and several other bands that have appeared on this blog before. I posted one of her solo albums here about an year ago, along with some of her photography and art, and she was very grateful to me after that. Here's her latest release, which is a mini album recorded a couple of months ago. Like all her solo works, it isn't BM or crust, but ritual meditative acoustic music, recorded lo-fi at home.


"Shaman tears.
Short fragments from the songs of inner feeling.
A few grains of the infinite sound which I hear inside,
but cannot show in perfection this real vibration.
13 minutes - that were allowed to be recorded"

[sömn] - "konflikt" (2016)

[sömn] "konflikt"

Year: 2016

Genre: Noise, Dark Ambient, Power Electronics

Country: Sweden

Track List:

1. maktmakeri
2. pengar=våld
3. kartor
4. produkt - människovärde
5. för-/motakt

bandcamp

Minimalistic noise from Malmö, Sweden. The author is a reader of my blog, and the main reason he sent this release to me is his willingness to provide a radical alternative in a genre that's too infested with fascists. Of course, any feedback from the listeners would be appreciated.

"[sömn] is a one-person project based in Malmö. There has been three releases s to date, and the albums act more like collages of themes, with konflikt being the first political one, dealing primarily with class society and repression of progressive/revolutionary movements.

So far, the releases have been experimental in the sense that I have been toying around with samples, field recordings and images in freeware without knowing what I'm really doing. Usually, the tracks end up as some sort of dark ambient, industrial, noise, power electronics or some of their derivatives.

Although there are some tracks that I am happy with on my releases so far, I wouldn't consider my music "good". There is a fourth release in the making though, which I'm taking more seriously. Hopefully I will be able to produce a more coherent sound/atmosphere."

kageraw - "I Fission" (2015)

KAGERAW "I Fission"

Year: 2015

Genre: Piano Ambient, Neoclassical

Country: Russia

Track List:

1. intro
2. fragment first
3. I fission
4. lioss
5. messerti
6. fragment last

DOWNLOAD

This project is frequently being posted in our VK group and on gnwp.ru, so I became interested in it even if it's very far from metal or punk. If I'm not mistaken, kageraw is an one-woman project by a member  of Axidance, Repression Attack, The Toverheks and at least a guest musician in warona. Given that she was/is in such bands, I expected her music to be great and wasn't disappointed. Ofc it isn't agressive at all, just beautiful piano ambient stuff, mostly instrumental but with some spoken word vocals here and there.

It also should be mentioned that kageraw is much more than just a music project - she's also a prolific artist and a photographer. Her earlier releases came with a big art book, which I can't find anywere right now (all the links are dead) but there are some examples of cover art I could find:

There's much more art and photography (including lots of nature photography) on her facebook and flickr pages. All her art is very beautiful and I'd just post everything on here if I could, but there are too many pics... Check out her bandcamp page too.

Kluizenaer - "Anachoryt" (2015)

KLUIZENAER "Anachoryt"

Year: 2015

Genre: Raw Black Metal, Dark Ambient/Drone

Country: Netherlands

Track List:

1. Ontkenning Van Het Bestaan Van Betekenis Of Waarde
2. Allesomvattende Afkeer

bandcamp

The second release by a Dutch one-man project whose debut one was reviewed by me this summer. This new EP is still rooted in dark ambient and noise/drone, but it's definitely more BM-oriented than the debut album. Quite impressive stuff, especially if you listen to it alone in the dark.

Leadeater - "Oxalis" (2015)

Leadeater - "Oxalis"

Year: 2015
Genre: Black Metal, Dark Ambience
Country: United States

Track List:

1. Oxalis

bandcamp

Leadeater begins with a sound very ambiguous, yet dark. They then harken back to the time of the 90s grunge and punk at about a minute in with a slow, rhythmic guitar that continues the musical interlude, without vocals. Their music slowly builds up to an explosion of bitter frustration with vocals after the five minute mark, which descends slightly more rapidly into despair and frustration. Eventually this mesh of feelings comes together and fuels more of the fire that is urgent need resulting in despair and frustration which is the constant showcase of the song throughout. The song was a bit too repetitious for my taste for the first 12 and a half minutes, but regardless it was done skillfully, albeit repetitiously.

Afterwards, the dark ambience sometimes doesn't sound so dark as it sounds like a popular 90s rock song as a musical interlude, in my opinion until the twenty minute and thirty second marker where the song explodes and becomes the rightful black metal/dark ambience song it deserved to be. Perhaps this is a representation of the Oakland, California music scene and I'm quick to judge, but there seemed to be something missing from the song regarding the modern black metal scene until that last mark at twenty and a half minutes. The dark ambience really sets in afterwards after the twenty-four minute mark.

Altogether, pleased enough with the last eight minutes and first four minutes to say this album is worth the listen. Unfortunately, it was so worth the listen that it's apparently already sold out. Give this band a listen, definitely!

Aether - "Altar" (2015)

AETHER "Altar"

Year: 2015

Genre: Ambient/Drone, Black Noise

Country: Germany

bandcamp

Aether is an one-man ambient black metal project by Ravachol from Munich, Germany, which I discovered due to this review by Hayduke X. Here's the latest up-to-date release from Aether, consisting of two long untitled tracks. There's not much metal on this one, it's mostly experimental stuff, but it's definitely BM-influenced and it isn't as noisy as you might think. The release comels along with a short essay about its concept.

Cedar Dreamer - split w/ Organelle (2015)

CEDAR DREAMER "split w/ Organelle"

Year: 2015

Genre: Post-Rock/Ambient

Country: USA

Track List:

1. Anew
2. Radiant Spring

bandcamp

Some more stuff from Olympia, WA. Cedar Dreamer is a non-BM solo project of a member of With The End in Mind; something in between of post-rock and ambient/drone in terms of sound. These who long tracks are the Side B of a split cassette tape (side A by Organelle can be heard here).


"...With The End In Mind has been featured on the RABM blog several times, and although this project has a markedly different sound and feel, it comes from the same intention and inspiration that has created the blackened metallic Cascadian sounds of WTEIM. Cedar Dreamer is focused on reverence and respect for the beauty and raw power of Earth, and a firm resistance towards all who destroy and desecrate it..."

Kluizenaer - "Radbraak" (2015)

KLUIZENAER "Radbraak"

Year: 2015

Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone/Noise

Country: Netherlands

Track List:

1. Ik, De Duvelmakere
2. Raaskalk
3. Verpest en Vervloekt
4. De Zwijgende Profeet

bandcamp

Kluizenaer ("Hermit") is an one-man project from a place with a strange name "'s Hertogenbosch", colloqually known as just "Den Bosch".  The music is mostly "blackened" ambient drone/noise. It isn't directly political, more medieval/occult-themed, but the person behind the project is definitely into the red/anarchist thought. More stuff is coming soon.

Wounds - In The Valley Of Death (2015)

Wounds - "In the Valley of Death"

Year: 2015
Genre: Blackened Death Metal
Country: Canada

Track List:

1. One Womb
2. Trailing Hades
3. Fare the Well

Another band from my area, Wounds is a punishing black metal band with heavy death metal influences. I'm unsure of much of the band's history other than I believe they're new and that the vocalist was the drummer of the band 'Misfortune" whom I had posted on here before. My band Lapsaria also played with them recently alongside Panzerfaust and Vow of Thorns.

I have really dug this release since they put it out earlier this year. Each song is pretty well constructed, with dynamic changes and slick production. Any fan of more atmospheric or mid-tempo'ed black metal will dig this but it will also appeal very much to people across the spectrum.

bandcamp/facebook/

Frostland Tales - "Obrazy" (2015)

FROSTLAND TALES "Obrazy"

Year: 2015

Genre: DSBM, Dark Ambient

Country: Czech Republic

Track List:

1. Les za svitu plamene (Rozjímání)
2. Hvězdná obloha (Procitnutí)

DOWNLOAD

Just as announced, this is the last release from Frostland Tales, consisting of only two short tracks. The track names mean "A forest in the light of flame (Meditation)" and "Starry sky (The awakening)" respectively. The cover image doesn't have any special meaning, it's just a photo made when he was in northern Italy. As for the music, it's very minimalistic. The author himself calls it "dark guitar-ambient", but feel free to call it however you want.

And the most disturbing part about this release - the author says that he's going to commit suicide by the end of this month, and the note is already written. It's the first time during the whole existence of my blog when a someone tells me about his suicide plans, so I really don't know how to react. I have no idea if he really intends to do it (or maybe already did), but if it's true... okay, it's his choice. Who am I to judge him and his decisions, anyway?..

Solitary Depression - "Void Stipulation" (2015)

SOLITARY DEPRESSION "Void Stipulation"

Year: 2015

Genre: Dark Ambient, DSBM

Country: Sri Lanka

Track List:

1. Incarnation
2. As I exhale into life after death
3. Life's despair
4. Dreaming beyond

DOWNLOAD

The latest work up to date from one of my readers in Sri Lanka, one of whose earlier EPs I've already posted here before. For the most part, it's still dark ambient / dungeon synth, but there are considerably more elements of depressive/suicidal BM on this EP than on SD's earlier works.

Cuscuta - "The Wilderness Within" (2014)

Cuscuta - "The Wilderness Within"

Year: 2014
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: USA

Track Listing

1. Atavism and the Destruction of Civilization
2. Trapped in the Beast... Tearing from Within

DOWNLOAD

Featuring the same person from Evergreen Refuge, Cuscuta is a project that is just as raw and fantastic. The sound is more spacey and when you really crank the volume, it's extremely powerful. Most of the lyrics on this release speak from an eco perspective, with Evergreen yelling into the void as civilization collapses around us.

This release is basically two long tracks. Not very uncommon for him as Evergreen Refuge generally has some pretty lengthy pieces. It all flows so well though that you barely notice. Give it a listen and see what you think.

Iamí - "Luz e Sombra" (2014)

IAMI "Luz e Sombra"

Year: 2014

Genre: Raw Black Metal, Dark Ambient / Dungeon Synth

Country: Brazil 

Track List:

1. Crença Profana
2. Lamento
3. Rito Iniciático
4. Orvalho do Crepúsculo
5. Cura e Magia
6. Quietude 1

bandcamp

One more release from my inbox that isn't available for free, but still streamable on bandcamp, and intended primarily for the fans of DIY black metal and (to a lesser extent) dungeon synth:

"Iamí (means "night" in the ancient indigenous Tupi language) is a one man band from Brazil, intended to play a different kind of black metal, without losing it's roots, and increasing with the dungeon synth atmosphere. The lyrical themes goes from ancient shamanism practices, spirituality, nature, human consciousness and meditation.

 This is Iamí's debut album. It contains 6 tracks which goes from black metal to dungeon synth, with very profound meanings, influenced by personal transcendental experiences. Produced in a small dungeon room with only a few resources, an old keyboard and a simple guitar, it got a very artistic sound.  The lyrics are in brazilian portuguese, but the music speaks to all"

facebook

Aires & Rui P. Andrade & Earthly Beasts - split (2014)

AIRES / RUI P. ANDRADE / EARTHLY BEASTS

Year: 2014

Genre: Dark Ambient / Drone

Country: Portugal 

Track List:

1. Aires : Solvet Cosmos in Favilla
2. Rui P. Andrade : Turdus Merula
3. Earthly Beasts : Erebus

DOWNLOAD

The newest release from Aires, made in collaboration with Rui P. Andrade (a member of the noise/BM trio Ecos) and Earthly Beasts (a dark ambient project based in Lisbon), and released by the netlabel Enough Records. Just like the first release, it's very good and completely free for download. Aires himself describes this split as "one track is quiet, almost timid, another one is mechanical, almost industrial, and the other has this ghostly quality to it", yet he thinks that the music should speak for itself, and it's up for you to decide if you enjoy this kind of stuff.

bandcamp

Aires - s/t (2014)

AIRES "Aires"

Year: 2014

Genre: Dark Ambient / Drone

Country: Portugal 

Track List:

1. orgânico I - vozes sem corpo
2. orgânico II - monolítico
3. isósceles
4. contraplacado

DOWNLOAD

Finally, another ambient/drone release from my inbox, which probably has no direct relation to the topic of my blog, but it's really good and released under a free license - so why not to post it?

"I've been playing experimental music for a couple of years,most of the times solo, under diferrent aliases, but as Aires I explored drones, samples and field recordings for the first time. On this release I tried to keep things as varied as I could, yet still keeping a distinct mood, somewhere between the mechanical and the animal. Mixed in the drones and noises there is also a distinct black metal influence, most present on the last track, "Contraplacado"..."

Release notes:


"The Aires project is only a couple of months old yet it represents years of experimentation with sources as diverse as digital sounds, samples and field recordings. The self-titled debut album, just released by netlabel Enough Records, shows this sonic evolution in 30 minutes, divided by three tracks and an interlude. Dark, machine-driven yet emotional and ambitious, "Aires" is a firm first step into the world of experimental music"


bandcamp / facebook

Cervidae & Mother Of Toads - "Mercian Cosmic Alliance" (2014)

CERVIDAE / MOTHER OF TOADS "Mercian Cosmic Alliance"

Year: 2014

Genre: Experimental, Dark Ambient / Drone

Country: UK 

Track List:

Mother Of Toads

1. Princess Tinymeate
2. Wuthoqquan
3. IV

Cervidae

1. Sermon Of The Seven Suns
2. Consolamentum

DOWNLOAD

A new release from Cervidae, an Eco-Anarchist raw black/ambient/drone from Staffordshire, England. It's a split with a fellow psychedelic/drone/improvisation project Mother Of Toads. Both sides of the split are quite experimental stuff, here's one track for example:

There's one more 2-track demo from this project, but the author preferred it to be left unpublished, because it was hastily produced, and the result turned out to be just raw repetitive noise. I still think some of my readers would enjoy it, though.

Cervidae / Mother Of Toads

Solitary Depression - "Her Lament" (2014)

SOLITARY DEPRESSION "Her Lament"

Year: 2014

Genre: Dark Ambient / Drone

Country: Sri Lanka 

Track List:

1. Into the Void
2. Her Lament
3. Dead Dream
4. Her Demise

DOWNLOAD

As promised in my previous entry, here's another release coming from Sri Lanka. Solitary Depression is an one-man band started in 2009 as a DSBM project, but this EP seems to be pure ambient/drone to me.

Another Sri Lankan band that's certainly aware about the existence of my blog is Forlorn Hope, one of the first BM bands from there (formed in 2002, even before Funeral In Heaven). Their new album "Diabolism" is going to be out in mid-2015, but I'm not sure if it should be on here, since their lyrics are mostly about standard misanthropic stuff.

Dunnock - split w/ Intergalactic Holocaust (2014)

DUNNOCK "split w/ Intergalactic Holocaust"

Year: 2013

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal, Dark Ambient/Drone

Country: USA

Track List:

1. Flower of Flesh and Blood
2. Jan 28th (my harp is turned to mourning)
3. Kudryavka
4. Facedown in the Ohio

DOWNLOAD

Dunnock is a black metal project from SF Bay Area which released the debut full-length album a couple of years ago, but I decided not to post it back then, since it seemed to be not particularly in my taste. This is a new release with a more interesting concept which some of my readers might be interested in.

These 4 songs comprise Dunnock's part of a split with a project from Australia called Intergalactic Holocaust. IH mostly specialize in apolitical space-themed horror lyrics and atmospheric BM, while Dunnock's side is more political and therefore more suitable for my blog. The material is divided between two black metal tracks and two dark ambient pieces. The quality of production is still quite "lo-fi" but better than their early works. Here are the release notes:

"The black metal tracks explore the nature of sacrifice in light of the Cold War Space Race with a song being dedicated each to the US and Soviet Union.  

The US track ("Jan 28th") is about the Challenger Disaster, specifically the death of teacher-astronaut Christa McAuliffe, who's presence on the shuttle was primarily a propaganda stunt.  It is told from the point of view of her students who watched the shuttle explode on live television.

The Soviet track ("Kudryavka") is about the Space Dog Laika, who was rushed into space on an unsafe rocket, again as a publicity stunt, and died a horrible death as a result of poor planning. The song is told from the point of view of her trainer. (All things above considered, the track name still sounds quite funny for a BM song. - B.K.)

The ambient pieces are also about sacrifice of one sort or another, and have a political bent to them.  "Facedown in the Ohio" is about a classmate of mine who supposedly drowned in the Ohio River after abusing inhalants.  It's later come to my attention that he may have been murdered and the drowning staged.  In either case it is a reflection on the sorry condition of my home state of West Virginia, which has been robbed and raped by the coal and oil companies, the people left jobless and destitute, prone to violence and substance abuse, with perhaps the lowest life expectancy rate in the developed world.

The other piece "Flower of Flesh and Blood" is named after the film, itself an exploitative story about the sexualizing of violence and literal bloody sacrifice in the name of personal pleasure"

bandcamp 

V/A - "The Blackened Dust" (2012)

V/A "The Blackened Dust"

Year: 2014

Genre: Dark Ambient, Black Metal, Blackened Crust

Country: Indonesia

Track List:

1. WINTERNIGHT - When The Winter Cries
2. HATELORD - Long Suicidal Dream
3. WORLD TO BE ASHES - Ashes
4. JENATH - Armageddon War
5. WINTERNIGHT - Poisoned Tears

DOWNLOAD

And before I'm gone, here's one more compilation that deserves your attention. It features 4 projects from Indonesia, which all consist of pretty much the same people. Of them, Winternight (dark ambient) and World To Be Ashes (blackened crust) already were featured on my blog before.

Release notes:

"This compilation comes from an idea one among us, until we agreed to make it happen. When something sacred become commonplace, and when things are banal regarded as something special, or when the world offers something all too familiar to be the daily consumption, because the music for us is nothing more than change the form of an idea into an infinite rebellion the values of life that is now offered with no moderation, so that each of us well aware of the life that we live individually or in community. Although we basically did not have a great community, and also as proof that no matter how small communities can produce a creation if the community really wants, without having to rely on the larger community, we also want to emphasize that this is not always the kind of music identical with certain revolutionary ideas in order to escape the life torn by capitalist-consumerist system of the world today, so with any kind of construction we were still able to represent our imaginative dreams about life and its realization. So for us our little community that makes us realize that when a civilization of music here today experiencing a prolonged period of boredom, so we keep our own adventure with a desire to create something that might mean so much to us to provide us with a modest anyway. Enjoy!

All tracks recorded & mixed at Freezing Dust Room, Bandung (2009-2012).
Except vocals on “Long Suicidal Dream” and drum/vocals on “Armageddon War” recorded in a different studio"