Mike Van Portfleet - Beyond the Horizon Line (2004)

I’d imagine anyone that’s even vaguely familiar with darkwave music probably knows who Mike Van Portfleet is. Mike began his music career back in the late 80’s with Lycia, who would later become one of the most admired and respected bands in the darkwave scene. However, as the 90’s were coming to their end Lycia became more silent and Mike moved on to other musical ideas. ‘Beyond the Horizon Line’ is Mike’s first solo album and for the most part it’s quite a departure from what he was doing with Lycia.

On, ‘Beyond the Horizon Line’ Mike creates dark and icy sounding ambient music straight from his home base in the hot Arizona desert. As usual with ambient music we have some melodic moments filled with beautiful synth work and also lots of bleak droning moments on this album. Fortunately the album belongs more so to the former, but it’s a very slow paced ambient record which naturally gives it more of the droning quality. Mike takes the listener on a slow paced chilly ride that’s filled with an unadulterated dark atmosphere that makes you feel like you’re in a cold dark cave or perhaps wondering through a frost covered field with an endless assault of snow and wind bashing against you. In addition there’s also some ghostly sounding spoken parts far off in the distance that only add to the unsettling feeling already present in the music. Mike’s guitar playing also makes a sporadic appearances, but if you don’t pay attention it might blow right past you, and make you think its simply synth sounds.

If cold ambient music like Apoptose or Northaunt interests you or if you’re just curious about Mike’s other musically endeavors then this is indeed a fantastic ambient record. Unfortunately, it's Mike's only foray into this sound, but perhaps someday he'll continue his work in this project.

Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat - If the Sky Falls, We Shall Catch Larks (2005)

Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat is a band I found a few years ago on a compilation. Their name is a reference to a medieval witchcraft ritual, and is sure to inspire a few "what?"'s from anyone you the mention them to.

KtAoaBC is the solo project of Belgian singer/songwriter Stef Heeren, who describes the project as "apocalyptic folk". From the opening seconds of the album, you can tell this is a very accurate description. "Sevenfold" opens with a dark drone, soon overtaken by rhythmic guitar and tambourine; a voice, one that consists of equal parts beautiful melody and grating heretical venom, lays over top. Simple chorus chants fill the background. The darkness is repetitious, infectious. "Nihil, as in Nihilism" starts slower, repeating a guitar melody with lyrics until about the midway point, when it leaves its softer edges for a tribal angst, and cries of "we need a new heaven now". "Sighing, Seething, Soothing" is 19 minutes long, making up about half the album by itself. It is a slow piece, featuring droning noises and bells that wash away under a piano, only to come back more dissonant than before. Eventually, tribal drumming and simple guitar melodies and choruses come to the forefront. It is the essence of KtAoaBC's sound: simple, yet complex, tribal, almost-shamanistic, repetitious, yet never boring, and with a deep undercurrent of darkness running within it. The album closer "Almost, Silver" again has a slow build up to a fantastic track: finger picked guitar and vocals eventually are joined by heavier drumming, and background noise. Though the album is only four tracks, it just about reaches the forty-minute mark.

Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat is a band that can appeal to a wide variety of people, from the neofolk listeners to the post-rock listeners to the neofolk listeners to the pagan metal listeners (I happen to be all four of those). This album, as well as the band's other works, is highly recommended.

Tristania - Widow's Weeds (1998)

Back in the late 90's one of the most popular styles of play within the metal underground was the Gothic/doom metal sound, which usually consisted of a male singer using a death metal growl while alongside him a female singer who opted for an angelic soprano voice, which often times had people dubbing this style, 'Beauty and the Beast Metal.' The music was generally slow, heavy and melancholic in character with the admittance of keyboards and even classical instruments like violins and cellos and lyrically themes that centered around sadness, love, religion and loss.

As far as I know in 1991 Paradise Lost became the first band to mix growled male voices with female singing, and in '92, The Gathering pushed the sound a bit more on their debut, 'Always,' but it wasn't until 1995 when Norwegian band, Theatre of Tragedy released their debut self-titled album that this style of music really became a thing of its own. Quickly other similar sounding bands like Lacrimas Profundere, Haggard, The Sins of Thy Beloved, Trail of Tears and Tristania released albums. Admittedly, there was a point where I was really into this style, but years later the only band and album that has stuck with me is Tristania and their incredible debut album, 'Widow's Weeds,' which is not just one of the best albums within the genre, but an all-time fav for me on a personal level.

I remember first hearing this album in the autumn/winter of 2000 and if this isn't music suited for that time of the year then I don't know what is. For me it was a completely fresh sound; I'd never imagined before that death growls, female singing, classical instruments and metal could be combined to form such a lush, beautiful and melancholy form of music, but then I heard this and I was obsessed, immediately.

What simply makes this album so pleasing to me is that each of the seven songs (plus intro/outro) are wrote incredible well with each song flowing perfectly along whilst introducing new elements as they progress and bringing about different moods of melancholy with them. I've always found these songs to be fairly catchy too and I must admit back when I first got myself a copy of this album I played the thing nearly to death. Each song features quality sounding heavy riffs which you could certainly bang your head to, the lovely synth/piano parts add incredible depth, the stunning but mournful sounding violin adds a funeral dirge like atmosphere, the superb low growls/screams give it a bit of a violent twist and of course the wonderful lead female voice of Vibeke Stene (and the backing choir) are gorgeous beyond description.

Naturally, being the depressed teen I was at the time I often allowed the music to effect me and I'm not at all shy about saying that I had a serious crush on Vibeke too (even tried writing her a few times, haha). Years later and not much into the idea of killing myself any longer I still find parts of this record to be incredibly sad sounding, but it doesn't quite get to me the same way.

Anyway, I find very little fault within this fifty three minute opus. Songs like, 'Evenfall' has everything that makes this record great and prepares the listener for what to expect the rest of the journey, while 'December Elegy' permeates the most melancholic vibes, whereas, 'Pale Enchantress' somewhat does away with the sadness altogether in favor of a more mysterious sentiment. 'Angellore' takes a break from the growled male voice in favor of a clearly sung baritone voice during most of the song, while, 'Wasteland's Caress' almost has an epic like vibe as the song builds up to a stunning climax.

After this album Tristania would go on to release another great, but unfortunately overlooked album titled, 'Beyond the Veil,' which featured faster songs and more usage of the full choir, but ultimately much less doomy and melancholy sounding. Shortly thereafter guitarist/grunter, Morten Veland was booted from the band and he went on to form the awful band Sirenia, while the remaining members of Tristania unleashed, 'World of Glass,' which introduced electronics into their music and largely sounded like a completely different band by this point. Two other mediocre albums have followed since then and recently they released a new album titled, 'Rubicon,' which features only two original Tristania members; keyboardist, Einar Moen and guitarist Anders Høyvik Hidle. At some point even Vibeke quit and they got some ugly Italian whore to sing for them instead. I'll do the right thing and stay clear of this one altogether.

I still have my Tristania long sleeve in my closet; I don't bring it out much because its a bit worn out from wearing it so much back in the day, but after revisiting this album again I just might. Regretably, my VHS player said, 'fuck you Joe,' and ate my, 'Widow's Tour' video a few years ago, but I guess it got re-released somewhere along the way on DVD.

Anyway, if you've heard the Gothic/doom/beauty and the beast metal genre before and were turned off then give this album a chance. It's been re-released a few times, so it shouldn't be hard to track down, and as far as I'm concerned it's an absolute masterpiece of the genre too.

Miserere Luminis, 09/24/10

I was slightly put off when I first got to Théâtre Plaza on St-Hubert Street in Montreal simply because I was counting only a mere dozen attendees waiting in line for Miserere Luminis' last show, minutes before the doors got to open at 7:30 PM. I was also questioning the choice of the venue but once inside Théâtre Plaza, it all sort of made sense as to why the concert was happening there simply due to the architecture and decor which I guessed were, in my opinion, very fitting for Miserere Luminis' music. Still, it took nearly an hour before the attendance got to exceed 50 or so, which is more or less when Wendess took the stage to open this special concert night.

I must admit that I was not very familiar with Quebec City's Wendess, who play a “Skagos/Falls of Rauros” type black metal, as I only heard their demo for the first time a few days prior to the concert. Their live performance was ordinary, nothing over the top here. It seems like it took some time to build momentum and take off. And as soon as they managed that, they then left the stage after a short 30-minute set. One has to bear in mind that these three young guys don't have much experience playing live (their first show was in Quebec City on September 18), so let's give them the credit for doing what they did. I personally enjoyed what seemed to be an almost integral live performance of their 2010 demo and I'm definitely looking foreword to see/hear more from this young band.

thisquietarmy got to play next, and in front of an increasing number of people. Quite frankly, I didn’t know what to expect from this Montreal guitarist and his project as I was totally ignorant of what it was all about. And this ambient/shoegaze/experimental drone-like music proved to be an interesting experience for me. thisquietarmy's performance on the first segment of his set featured Eric Quach, his guitar, a multitude of pedal effects, and all were in sync with a video projected on a large screen in the background which added much to the music and vice versa. During the black and white video of this first segment, the set consisted of live versions of "Battlefield Arkestrah" and " Warchitects" from the album "Unconquered". An improv/medley of tracks from his latest album "Aftermath" were performed during the middle part, when the colors on the film backdrop appeared. Riveting. The second segment featured an unreleased track taken from his "Vessels" upcoming album. No video in the background for this one. Nevertheless, just looking at Eric control and shape the sound of his guitar as he did was impressive enough and the whole set proved to be quite the surprise for me. So much that I went on meeting with Eric at the end of the show to buy a few albums from him. I then found out that he is involved in several other projects including Destroyalldreamers and Parallel Lines, and he also recorded an EP with Aidan Baker (of Nadja), among other things. Highly recommended for fans of the genre. Between, thank you Eric for revealing the content of your set.

Falls of Rauros took the stage next. I was really looking forward to see them live, especially because I enjoy their music and also because this was their first gig in Montreal and in Canada. They opened up performing “In Waves of Golden Light” and “And Never Shall There Be”. And then things did not run so smoothly for them and their set was abruptly stopped when their guitarist/frontman broke a string right in the middle of “Of Stone and Stars in the Sky”. Professionally enough, their lead guitarist apologized for the short delay in a very well spoken French much to the surprise of everyone. That aside, they gave a very solid performance and they closed their set by playing “To Witness Existence” which was one of the songs I really wanted to hear. I don’t think that the majority of people knew who they were which is a bit of a downer to me. But I strongly believe that some of them discovered their music and hopefully we will get to see them again and soon in Montreal. This band is criminally underrated and truly deserves more recognition and exposure.

We were all warmed up now. And the stage was set for Miserere Luminis. The very reason why after all so many people crowded Théâtre Plaza. The band had promised something special on their last concert and they delivered. Miserere Luminis are known for wearing masks, costumes, and grayish body paint on their skin and in addition to their mysterious and mystical stage presence, props were scattered across the stage. The lighting was in sync with the emotions evoked by each song, the sound was great, and all these elements contributed in making this concert an intense experience for the senses. They opened their gig with “Cineris” and their setlist included in no particular order “Miserere Luminis”, “Le Mal des Siècles”, “The Mist”, the amazing and hard hitting instrumental “IV”, “Birth of New Ages”, “Senectus”, “Ciel Tragique” and “Exulcerare”. And we even got to hear their version of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie”. Overall, this was an amazing last performance which also coincided with the end of an amazing collaboration between Icare and Neptune from Gris, and Annatar from Sombres Forêts under Miserere Luminis. The band immediately walked off stage. No encore. There was no need for one. The guys from Miserere Luminis are now turning the page on this chapter to fully focus on writing a third album for their respective projects. And that alone, is something to look forward to. 

The Wardrobe - A Sandwich Short (2006)

The Wardrobe is a collaboration between Andrew Liles and Tony Wakeford. Andrew who is a long running electronic/experimental composer has worked with such artists as Bass Communion, Hafler Trio, Steven Stapleton and Karl Blake to name but a few, while Tony Wakeford is of course the mastermind behind Sol Invictus, L’Orchestre Noir and as well many other on/off projects and collaborations.

I’d have to say my initial reaction to this record was a weird one. As I pulled the CD out of the envelope my eyes meet with the picture of the sandwich that graces the back cover of the album (it looks really yummy too) and then I flipped it over to see the weird cover image of a doll. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little more when I opened the booklet and seen the picture of two very odd men; one of which, Mr. Wakeford was sitting down, he looked half retarded and was holding a gigantic stuffed pike (that's a type of fishy), while Andrew looked like his caretaker and his expression looked like a man who wanted to murder his patient. Crazy stuff.

Anyway, ‘A Sandwich Short,’ which is crazy British slang meaning, 'lacking in intelligence' is the second album released by this duo, while the first and now deleted, ‘Cups in Cupboard’ was released in '05. I unfortunately missed this album so I really don’t know if this album bares similarities to the debut or to Andrew's usual musical repertoire. One thing for sure though is that this isn’t really the usual thing from Tony.

Musically now, The Wardrobe offers up an assortment of acoustic guitars, ambiance, electronics, neo classical elements, cabaret music, experimentation and besides that just a lot of weirdness. There isn’t any sort of actual genre classification you can file this under as everything is quite random and unexpected. Vocals are nearly completely absent from the recording with the exception of some narration on the song, ‘Lucifer Before Sunrise’ by Helen and Alice Potter. This particular song is also a cover of sorts as it was originally a song made by Tony and Steven Stapleton (Nurse with Wound) back in thee 80's. There are other vocal appearances on the album, but I believe they are just samples.

Each track definitely has their own identity to them. Some are piano based songs, while others feature ambiance and neo classical sounds merging together, a few are acoustic dirges, but a lot of them are just odd and experimental and probably are closest sounding to Nurse With Wound. The album carries a lot of sentiments too; creepy, ominous, melancholic, silly, trippy and just plain indescribable.

During these past three years and some months since I originally got this album I've rarely pulled it out and gave it a spin, but when I have I've noticed a few new things and gradually appreciated it more.

I can honestly say though this is one of those random wacky albums that actually works better under the influence of some mind altering substance and considering I severely injured my back again this morning at work I'm currently doped up (thank you doctor) as I write about and listen to this release.

Nightingale - The Closing Chronicles (1996)

Nightingale much like Mr. Swanö's other band, Edge of Sanity, are a group I've known about for quite honestly many years, but never bothered to check out for reasons I'm not sure of. Also much like EoS it wasn't until I came across a used disc that I was provoked to check out yet another one of Dan's projects, fortunately this one is flippin' great too.

Nightingale original began in 1995 as Dan's solo Gothic rock band, designed to explore his brief fascination with the genre, and during that same year he released, 'The Breathing Shadow.' By this second release, 'The Closing Chronicles' he had joined forces with Tom Nouga (AKA Dag Swanö, his brother) and taken the music in a completely different direction.

The Closing Chronicles is a complete throwback to classic 70's progressive rock and although no immediate band comparisons come to mind it seems Dan took several parts of all those great bands from back then and mixed them with his own unique style. The songs are rich with classic sounding prog synths, superb guitar work from both brothers, vibrant bass riffs, the usage of a real drum kit instead of the drum machine the first album had and of course Dan's always impressive lead vocal work.

Honestly speaking every last song on this album offers up something special although various parts of the songs seem to hold a melancholic or dark vibe of sorts. Although songs like, 'Steal the Moon' is short (3 min), upbeat, fast and catchy with a great synth solo while, 'Intermezzo' is just Dan's voice and a haunting synth melody. The other five songs don't seem to deviate to much from each other and are just a great collection of amazing prog songs, especially, 'Thoughts from a Stolen Soul' and 'Alive Again,' which are beyond exceptional. Of course, if you've heard Dan's voice you know it's among one of the finest out there and that's surely one of the aspects that propels this record to such great heights.

After this album the band was considered finished, but still some concerts were played around Dan's hometown of Örebro, Sweden and by 2000 Dan and Dag were recording a new album simply titled, 'I.' In 2002, two new members joined them and Nightingale has continued onwards as a four piece band.

Having enjoyed this album considerably I'm quite eager to hunt down and explore the rest of Nightingale's discography and see what it has to offer.

Equilibrium - Sagas (2008)

I first became aware of the German band known as Equilibrium back in 2003 when the band sent me their demo for review on the old Lunar Hypnosis webzine. Unfortunatey, I made the mistake of forgetting about these guys after that early encounter and didn't become aware of them again until sometime earlier this year when I picked this album up.

These five Germans rely heavily on synthesizers to create epic sounding folk metal that at least to me sounds like a more serious version of Finntroll. The synths are indeed the dominating instrument on this lengthy (playing time 79 min) release since they are constantly used to create folky melodies as well as majestic classical passages within their frantic metal sound.

The guitar work is (at times) largely buried under the synths, but there are some cool riffs present and there are a few colorful solos that sneak through too. The best example of the band pulling off a great song that combines their heavy synth sound with decent guitar work would be the sixth song, 'Snüffel,' which is also my personal fav on this beast.

Helge's vocals are sort of what brings this album done a peg though as its very straightforward fast paced troll-ish screams, which hardly differ other than the occasional usage of some low growls, but perhaps if some clean vocals had been used and since the bass player is female it might have been worth a shot to give her an opportunity at the mic too.

Nevertheless, there are some great songs on this release. The aforementioned, 'Snüffel' kicks much ass as well songs like, 'Blut Im Auge,'Unbesiegt' and 'Die Weide Und Der Fluß' are all highlights too. I think what prevents me from totally enjoying this stuff though is simply because when it comes to folk metal I've moved onto enjoying the bands that actually use real folk instruments in there music, such as; Nokturnal Mortum, Illbeltz and Metsatöll. For some reason those Finntroll-ish folky synth melodies just don't hit home like they used to.

However, you know your own personal tastes more so than me. If heavily synth based semi-melodic epic heavy metal is your thing then definitely give this record a shot. It might just floor ya.

Immortal - The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh (2010)

After numerous bootlegs through the years, 'The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh' marks the first official live CD/DVD documentation from legendary Norwegian black metalers Immortal. The footage is taken from their 2007 appearance in Germany for the Wacken Open Air metal festival where they no doubt played in front of one of the biggest audiences of their career. The DVD itself is a bit on the simple side as its just the show and absolutely nothing else. Why the band or label wouldn't consider adding an interview, backstage footage, their promo videos or a myriad of other possibilities is seriously beyond me, but fortunately this particular gig is fantastic and warrants purchase regardless of the lack of extra material.

Considering the fact that the first three Immortal records feature some of my most favored black metal songs it's pleasing to see that a good portion of the songs on this live DVD are from that period. Collectively eleven songs are played and there's at least one song from every album except, 'Blizzard Beasts,' which must be the black sheep within their catalog, otherwise I have no idea why they wouldn't play any songs from it.

Anyway, after a short intro of the crowd cheering, screaming and what not the band takes the stage and kicks things off with, 'The Sun No Longer Rises' from, 'Pure Holocaust,' which is also my favorite Immortal song/album. From this point they take us forward to the absolutely crushing, 'Withstand the Fall of Time, from, 'At The Heart of Winter.' Onwards it's three songs from, 'Sons of Northern Darkness' followed by, 'Wrath from Above,' which is taken from, 'Damned in Black.' Then they turn the clock back to the first album with, 'Unholy Forces of Evil' followed by another cut from Pure Holocaust, namely, 'Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss.' Another song from At The Heart of Winter is up next followed by two of their mightiest songs, 'Battles in the North' and finally, 'Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark)' to conclude their performance.

As far as visuals and sound are concerned I can honestly say this DVD is absolutely pristine and in the week that I've owned this DVD I've already thrown it on a few times and blasted it at unnaturally high volumes. The camera work is perfect and you get to see the band from basically every angle imaginable. Likewise front man Abbath is fun to watch because he goofs around a bit at times, occasionally playing the guitar while standing on one leg and also he's got the Gene Simmons mannerisms down pretty damn well too. His in-between talk is limited and he spares no expense at living up to the classic Immortal corniness by talking in a strange voice when addressing the crowd or just taunting them at times with hopes of getting them to rouse up further.

As far as the concert is concerned this is surely one of the better performances I've witnessed, but again I do wish some extras had been included. If you're a long time fan of Immortal you'll definitely want to pick this baby up soon and even if you're new to them I'm quite sure you'll find something you'll appreciate while watching this massive gig.

Two Nights Over North America Tour, 09/16/10 - 09/17/10

On both Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th my friend and I attended shows on Katatonia's, 'New Night Over North America' tour, which on the 16th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had the line-up of Urn, Orphaned Land, Swallow the Sun and Katatonia, while the following day in Chicago, Illinois the line-up included, Clad in Darkness, Novembers Doom, Swallow the Sun, Orphaned Land and Katatonia. For me, both shows were incredible and I'm quite happy we decided to attend both shows, but the performance in Chicago was slightly more memorable for us since the line-up was better with Novembers Doom on board, the venue was bigger, a lot more people attended and of course fans in Chicago are simply more dedicated and hungry for metal down there. That's not to say that I didn't have a blast in my hometown of Milwaukee, because I absolutely did, but what I quickly observed was the aforementioned increase of people (at least double in Chicago) and it just seemed like the bands had more fun and really wanted to put on absolutely one of the best shows of their life's on Friday evening. Rather than actually reviewing both shows I'll just simply give my thoughts on each band that I saw on these two evenings.

Urn/Clad in Darkness: In Milwaukee it was Urn who served as openers while in Chicago it was Clad in Darkness who got things rolling. Both bands are actually from Chicago, but I guess both couldn't open up in Chicago so somehow Urn found there way up to Milwaukee. As for Urn, my two friends and I only caught the last song or two of their set and much like when we saw them back in April when they opened for the Finnish metal tour they played some sort of progressive viking indescribable metal, which much like back then failed to make much of an impression on me. However, it seems this band plays out quite often and I'm sure they've got their fans and all, but in the live setting they just really are not that convincing.

As for, Clad in Darkness, well when we walked in we once again caught just there last song and they were in the middle of some lengthy progressive instrumental number, which must have gone on for a solid ten minutes or so. As it reached it's climax the singer, whom had been laying somewhere on the stage, emerged and then began screaming in a black metal-ish voice and the band was then finished. Curiously it made me wonder if all the bands music is in this progressive vein or just that particular song. I wasn't to fond of the singers vocals, but musically it wasn't too bad at all. Hopefully I'll catch them some time in the future and be able to sample more of their songs and get a better understanding of their music.

Novembers Doom: I've known about these guys for probably a solid ten years now and although I never really considered myself a fan I've always found a little something special in all of the albums I've heard from them. The band played a few songs from their latest releases as well as some older material from way back in day when I remember hearing them for the first time. All in all, they put on a great performance and were quite embraced in their home town of Chicago. I'll have to consider picking up their new album soon since I really enjoyed what I saw on this evening.

Orphaned Land: In Milwaukee these guys played before Swallow the Sun and in Chicago they played after them, which would lead me to believe that they were switching spots every other show. Orphaned Land who hail from Israel have been playing together since the early 90's, though they really didn't catch much attention until a few years ago when Century Media picked them up and released their third album, 'Mabool.' The band could probably best be described as something like Middle Eastern folk metal and basically they combine metal with what sounded to my ears like traditional Middle Eastern music. I can honestly say during the first day in Milwaukee the band wasn't that convincing, but when we saw them the following day it was much more interesting, because once again more people were into what they were doing onstage. As far as the actual metal portion of their music is concerned I didn't notice a large abundance of colorful and tuneful metal melodies, but rather things were a bit more tuneless in that department while it seems like the bands main strength is combining the folk music with heavier music. Unfortunately, all of the folk music had to be sampled, but it still managed to catch my attention and made me a bit curious to hear their albums. The singer, who proclaimed himself not to be Jesus Christ(although looking similar enough), was quite a good front man and at least in Chicago he had no problem getting the crowd involved. Regrettably, I didn't buy their album(s), but I'll have to keep them in mind and pick them up later and see what Mid East metal is all about.

Swallow the Sun: Well, what can I say other than that I really enjoy these guys and have done so for a few years now. Both of their performances were utterly outstanding and on each day they played a great selection of their finest songs. However, once again they excelled the most in Chicago and that's quite simply because they had Jonas from Katatonia come onstage and sing, 'The Justice of Suffering' with them, which is something I've been longing to see them do, but wasn't sure if they ever had done previously. It made the night to say the least. Some of the other songs they played throughout the two days were; Swallow, These Hours of Despair, Hope, Plague of Butterflies, New Moon and The Ship. I truly enjoyed watching these guys on both nights and I do hope they come back soon since they've have plenty of fans waiting for them here.

Katatonia: I've been listening to Katatonia for something like nine years now. I remember back in 2001 after reading an interesting review and interview in Metal Maniacs I bought, 'Last Fair Deal Gone Done,' and at first was a bit confused by what I was hearing since I was at the time more accustomed to just hearing black and death metal from Sweden. However, it quickly became a favorite of mine, I bought all of their back catalog and have followed them closely ever since and nowadays can easily consider them as an absolutely favorite band of mine.

The last time Katatonia toured the states was in 2007 and I most regretably missed them back then and this is largely why I wanted to see them on both days. As I had greatly hoped Katatonia was breathtaking both home in Milwaukee and down in Chicago, although on both nights they played the exact same set list, but I still enjoyed every last minute of it. Curiously the band didn't play any songs from, 'Tonight's Decision,' which really baffled me, but I can only assume with the sudden departure of the Norrman brothers the band didn't have time to rehearse with their new touring members, Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson & Niklas "Nille" Sandin, but if anyone has any further insight on that I'd really like to hear it.

Anyway, to say I had a 'moment' during these performances would be an understatement indeed as I was quite simply in the bliss of life, but I guess all of you music fanatics know what it's like to finally see your favorite bands live and you know what I'm talking about.

As expected Katatonia mostly played new songs from the past three albums, but snuck a few in from Last Fair Deal and Discouraged Ones too. They played songs like, Forsaker, The Longest Year, Idle Blood, Onward into Battle, Day and then the Shade, Leaders, Soil's Song, July, Ghost of the Sun, Criminals, Evidence, Complicity, Omerta, Teargas and Saw you Drown. Unfortunately, they did not play my absolute favorite song, Cold Ways, but who knows maybe it will be there in a future tour.

All in all, it's hard for me to truly express my emotions since I had such a good time on both nights and I can honestly say if you have any love for Katatonia or any of the supporting bands definitely get off from work and check this tour out. You won't regret it.

If you need further proof then just stop over at my youtube channel and check out some of the videos I made on Friday night.

Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces (2009)

I'm a recent convert to Decibel Magazine after honestly not reading any print 'zines for the past several years, but recent in-depth articles on Burzum and Amorphis has drawn me into this impressive magazine and I feel it's about time I subscribed to it. However, that's another story, but it's exactly what lead me to this book. Decibel has a monthly feature called, 'Hall of Fame,' which documents the making of monumental metal albums via gripping and sometimes hilarious interviews with all of the members that participated in the chosen albums creation.

For me some of most interesting interviews include Black Sabbath talking about Heaven and Hell, Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales, Morbid Angel's Altars of Madness, Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, Opeth's Orchid, Down's Nola, and Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse. What makes them interesting is that the reader will be able to read about the writing process for the album, memories of working in the studio, the scene at the time, the bands motivation and influences, how certain songs or lyrics came to be, fan reactions, the tour(s) that followed, how key members joined (or left), cover artwork creations, etc, etc, etc. In particular though hearing Emperor's old bass player, Tchort talking about Varg Vikernes visiting them in the studio while wearing his medieval armor and eating an ice cream cone really stuck out for me as well hearing Mikael Akerfeldt talking about how Johan not wanting to wear a suit for their infamous top hat photo, but rather wanting to go bear chested with sun glasses made me laugh too.

The majority of the book is quite engaging and fortunately almost all of the albums mentioned I owned and have owned for years, though one of the albums, Paradise Lost's Gothic I'd never heard before and funny enough I found the album at a second hand store yesterday and snatched that baby right up. There are however some albums like Dillinger Escape Plan's Calculating Infinity, which are honored in this book. Really, DEP? I guess that one throws me off since they're not even a metal band and having once owned the album I really fail to see what's so special about it. A few other bands honored are Converge and Botch, and again I'm left confused, but whatever. There's also albums from Kyuss and Diamond Head mentioned and although I've never heard much from these bands the interviews, like Paradise Lost's Gothic, definitely made me curious. Collectively 25 interviews are conducted over the course of 365 pages of fun and memorable metal stories.

All in All, I enjoyed almost all of this book and I do hope there's a part 2 of Decibel's Hall of Fame some day, because these guys really know how to ask the right questions and keep me interested throughout the entire interview.

If perhaps some of the albums mentioned in hear are among your favorites and you'd like to get the most in-depth scoop on them then I'm quite sure this would be the book to turn to. Likewise if you're new to metal this could very well be a great read for those that want to discover at least some of the individual sub-genre's true gems.

Sunn O))) - Oracle EP (2007)

To create drone doom, it takes a gloomy, creative, yet twisted mind to firmly grasp the obscurity that rests within each droning soundwave. These three words can describe Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley's first 2007 release entitled, Oracle. The EP itself contains three pieces of carnage—two of which are over fifteen minutes and the last song over forty minutes. Although this recording still holds that Sunn O))) feel every dronehead loves, it seems that Anderson and O'Malley are taking a much more creative and darker approach to their minimalistic doom writing. Atilla Csihar once again steps into the studio with O))), to add to the haunting atmosphere with his eerie, echoing vocals, along with Joe Preston who also makes a special appearance on the EP. When you observe Oracle, it will feel like you have stepped foot into an underground, dimly candlelit chamber as lifeless souls are tormented for over an hour and twenty minutes. On a personal level, this has to be the best Sunn O))) EP released so far.

The album begins with a sixteen minute composition entitled, "Belülrõl Pusztít", which translates to "Killing from the Inside" in Hungarian. Not only is the title in Hungarian but the lyrics are as well which is a small inkling that Atilla puts more effort into O)))'s music than previous albums. This song does not contain any heavy drone riffs at all, as its only purpose is to set the tone for the gloom that has yet to come. Joe Preston's contribution has to be by far the most creative part of the EP, for he uses a jackhammer to amplify the intensity behind Atilla's shrieks and O)))'s synths and bass. This innovative use for a jackhammer lasts for a short time but it leaves you with quite the impression of how fierce the rest of the album really is. In the last five minutes of the song, we start to hear the steady drums kick in as this is the only time we hear the drums in any of the three songs.

"Orakulum" is the second of the three songs but it's the first where we start to hear O)))'s notable drone doom style spew out of the Sunn amplifiers. As the song progressed, it came to my attention that it sounded like something you would hear off of "Flight of the Behemoth" due to its muffled guitar effects, muddy, low-end bass and the absence of the synth throughout the song. Again, Atilla's dirty Hungarian vocals flow in and out of the frequencies, using more of his grunt than his scream or shriek. There's not much else I can really say about this song. It pretty much stays constant for the whole sixteen minutes which gets dull after the first ten minutes or so. Not my favorite piece off the EP but it is the most vehement of the three.

The chamber tour ends with a forty six minute song called "Helio)))sophist" which is my favorite on the album. I was instantly hooked by the drone chord that fades in the first few seconds of the song, which soon enough fades out to begin a synth trip. The one clever aspect about "Helio)))sophist" is its dynamics; the song weaves into heaviness, calms down, and continues this cycle throughout its duration. It seems like they were trying to combine everything heard in the first two songs into this composition. Atilla uses all of his vocal techniques such as his screaming, deep tone chanting and shrieks while O))) utilizes unique drone riffs that lacked in "Belülrõl Pusztít" and synths that were missing in "Orakulum". The synths used in the recording remind me of those used in both Neptune Towers albums for their space-like, atmospheric ambience. The song ends with everything droning out even Atilla's scream that lasts over two minutes which is pretty impressive to anyone's standards.

There's no doubt that Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley have proved themseleves numerous times before that they are the drone doom masters of the new era, alongside drone father, Dylan Carlson. Oracle is a caliginous delight for any Sunn O))) fan although I wouldn't recommend it to anyone trying to get into drone doom, for this album is far too out there and cannot be understood by just anyone. Oracle proves to be a great silent night listen for anyone suffering from insomnia or can even be served as a soundtrack for an approaching thunderstorm. After many plays of this amazing EP, it makes me curious to see what the black robed drone masters have in store for us next.

Peordh - Glaring From Spacious Woods and Mountains of Eternal Frost (2007)

Other than the recently released demo compilation, ‘Glaring From Spacious Woods and Mountains of Eternal Frost’ is the sophomore release and most recent work from the one man Virginia USA based band known as Peordh. Similarly to 2006’s, ‘An Obscure Forgotten Path’ Peordh once again offers up highly Pagan themed black metal that’s not exactly like any other out there.

As usual with Peordh the songs are long and typically it takes time for them to develop and may even require a few spins before the album really makes sense. Fortunately everything seems to be highly epic and atmospheric in character and some acoustic guitars, flutes and nature sounds can be found within this lengthy seventy four minute album. Although the guitar work is generally more on the drony side of things it is still fairly well performed and should leave most satisfied and hold their interest. One thing that I still feel needs improvement is the vocals, which have some odd effect placed on them, and it just sounds off and distorted to my ears, but perhaps you’ll think differently.

Another thing to point out is that the music actually has somewhat of a progressive character to it since things are always changing and there are moments when the black metal disappears completely in favor of a more ambient moment or some odd folky sections. The last two songs on the album are also in more or less an ambient like vein and together they add almost thirty minutes to this album, but fortunately they are quite well done.

All in all this is a fairly good recording from Peordh, though it seems like some ideas within our still in their development stages and could fully mature by the next release, which I do hope is in on it's way.

Betray-Ed - The Depressive (EP) (2008)

It is through Lunar Hypnosis’ own J.M. that I got into Betray-Ed, by following his advice and ordering “Woods of Eternity” which was reviewed by Grimmenfrost right here on LH. Ultimately, one thing led to another and I got to correspond regularly with François, Betray-Ed’s creator, heart, and soul. With his help, devotion and generosity, I'm privileged with an in depth exploration of his work with this particular project and after listening a few times to “The Depressive (EP)”, I now feel like I have to write these words and post it here rather than privately sharing my thoughts with François on this EP.

As with his early and latest recordings, François manages to convey very intense emotions and imagery through his music and importantly enough, Betray-Ed’s distinctive sound can be recognize regardless of the album’s theme and complexity. And “The Depressive (EP)” is no exception to this. As one should expect, this work is dark, profound, full of melancholy, aggressive at times, and as depressive as the title suggest. Although influenced by doom and black metal, this album is minimalist; do not expect to hear anything more than François’ occasional painful vocals and his synth. While simple, the piano lines and melodies effectively express the profound, bleak, and caliginous state of mind François was in during the writing process of this EP. “Funeral” and the beautiful and touching “My Letter to No One” are good examples of this. The clean vocals are for the most part enhanced by several effects such as a simple echo on “Guilt” which is one of my favorite track on this album. And it is through cold and unsettling screams and shrieks, such as those heard on the second section of “Litanies of Evil (My Wounds Are Bleeding)”, that François manages to channel his pain, hatred and aggression. All these elements are presented with the right dosage, immerssing the listener into a depressive atmosphere which makes for an interesting 25-minute plunge into Betray-Ed's darkest hour.

On a negative note, “The Depressive (EP)” evidently does lack luster. But one should bear in mind that François did pretty much everything by himself in his “not-so-state-of-the-art” home studio. And it is through his experimentations with the synth and his “from the heart” and somewhat innocent writing style that this EP shines. Betray-Ed’s music is a work in progress. Each new album or EP is a step forward and a remarkable improvement over the previous recording and “The Depressive (EP)” was a necessary step for François’ maturity and fulfillment as an artist, and this goes for Betray-Ed as well, which makes this recording an essential listening experience for existing and future fans of Betray-Ed.

Swallow the Sun - New Moon (2009)

Back in 2007 Finnish harbingers of gloom and utter doom otherwise known as Swallow the Sun released their third full-length album, 'Hope.' Known for their heavy melodic doom approach that's filled with atmosphere that propels the bleak emotions pristinely to their listeners, Hope was an absolutely massive record, which in the three years since its release has, at least, in my opinion become something of a modern doom metal classic. Following it up with an equally powerful album would take some serious effort and time.

Released nearly three years after Hope, 'New Moon' (no connection to the gay vampire romance, Twilight) continues the sound Swallow the Sun was previously exploring with little (if any) advancements on this recording, but that hardly means its a bad album. In fact some truly great songs grace this recording, such as; 'Lights on the Lake,' 'New Moon' and 'Servant of Sorrow,' but what I really don't feel when I listen to this album is that dark atmosphere and melancholic feeling that the band pulled off so flawlessly on the previous album. I mean, it's there in doses, but as a whole this album doesn't grab me the same way their previous album or debut did (unfortunately I haven't got my hands on their second album yet). Parts of Hope I actually felt were really catchy too and I don't get that vibe as much with these new songs, but there are some songs and moments that have gotten caught in my head and kept me coming back for more and more.

All bitching aside, this is a decent doom metal album, nothing mandatory, but if you've enjoyed previous albums from StS I see no point in passing it up since there are some great moments on this release, but just don't expect something as grand as Hope.

Nest - Trail of the Unwary (2007)

Looking back at 2007 there were a lot of releases I missed out on, some for reasons I can’t quite even comprehend. One of them happens to be Nest’s sophomore release, ‘Trail of the Unwary,’ which didn't end up in my hands until nearly a year after it's original release date, but a wise man once said, “Better late than never.” Trail of the Unwary continues on in Nest’s dark atmospheric acoustic style of music, which thus far still sounds refreshing and entirely matchless to others.

The soul of Nest’s music is a blend of old Finnish folklore with dark ambiance. What sets this Finnish duo apart from other neo folk bands out there is the fact that they don’t use any acoustic guitars at all. Instead they use the traditional Finnish instrument called the Kantele. The Kantele is over 2000 years old, and belongs to the horizontal harp family and can have anywhere from five strings to thirty strings on it (The one used in Nest has only fifteen though).

The main thing with this album is the atmosphere, and quite frankly it has one of the best I’ve ever felt before. When listening to this album I can close my eyes and picture myself walking through a cold dark forest. I happen to be very fond of forests and the feelings I get when I walk through them are simply indescribably. It’s one of the few places in this world where I feel safe and at complete peace. So the fact that Nest is able to recapture this feeling is greatly admirable.

For me Nest’s music has always been highly enjoyable during the Autumn and Winter months of the year and I remember, oddly enough, when I got this album it began snowing shortly after pressing play. I found myself gazing out my living room window watching the snow ruthlessly descending to the earth, eventually I turned all the lights out, got a glass of wine, put my feet up, and continued gazing until all sixty eight minutes of the album had expired. Wondrous indeed.

While this album doesn’t seem to offer too many new components to the Nest style of music what it does seem is that all previous facets of the bands music seem improved upon. The highly melodic synths are mysterious, full of character, and gorgeous at all times while similar words could be used to describe the Kantele work. Interestingly, ‘Hunt’ (as well as a few other songs) have some very doom-ish sounding heavy electric guitar riffs at various points in the song, while John Haughm (Agalloch) adds his voice to, ‘Kontio’ & ‘The Turning of the Tides’ and Laurie Ann Haus (Todesbonden) is featured on, ‘Across the Waters.’ Of course there are nature samples still and some usage of bass guitar and various percussions on each song, which serve to enhance the mood even further.

All things considered Nest is one of the finer bands currently creating dark atmospheric music and since music of this sort is a regular in my stereo I’d have to say this album is utterly required. Now, I eagerly await the bands next chapter of excellence...

The Cold Beyond - Deathbed Revelation (2003)

During the late 90's, The Cold Beyond (originally known as Dead by Morning) was one of the most vehement, bloodthirsty and hate filled musical entities within the American mid-west. Specifically stationed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; The Cold Beyond played live often and released two demos and a single of raw, high speed, violent and sometimes even depressive black metal during their original tenure ('98-'00), but dissolved in the early months of the new millennium without recording a full-length album. Sometime in 2001 The Cold Beyond arose again, but as just the solo project of guitarist, Asylum's. In 2001 another demo saw light and the last musical document from The Cold Beyond was this debut album, 'Deathbed Revelation,' released in 2003.

Under Asylum's direction the band continued onwards producing music in an industrial direction that was much akin to the Thorns debut, Dødheimsgard's, '666 International' and Satyricon's, 'Rebel Extravaganza' releases. This short thirty four minute release features industrial vibes, odd synthetics, programmed drums, samples, strange song arrangements, melodic guitar riffs and both black metal styled screams as well as those with extensive effects placed on them. Upon first listen the album probably wont make much of an impression, but I've found that after numerous spins I've come to really enjoy this release and I've often times noticed characteristics which eluded me earlier. Songs like, 'Liberate the Flesh' and 'Intellectual Tempering' stand out with their interesting guitar work, while, 'Skin Packaging' and the title track are memorable due to their twisted unorthodox sound. While its true, the album shows its influences entirely too well and if you had no love for those releases mentioned above then you'd be unlikely to get much out of this release either. However, if you've longed for more industrial tinged black metal then surely this is a release worth hunting down.

After this album, Asylum buried The Cold Beyond once again, but in mid-2010, original vocalist and founder, Sithicus revived The Cold Beyond as his solo project with plans to re-release the old demos under the album name, 'Deadspeak,' while a new full-length recording called, '...And then the darkness came' is also in the works.

Ulver - Kveldssanger (1996)

Truthfully for quite some time now I’ve been wondering what type of reaction the black metal crowd gave off when they heard this album back in '96. After an outstanding demo and debut album that mixed black metal with folk music Ulver returned in 1996 with an album that was filled with acoustic neo classic styled folk music. I’m sure the legions immediately screamed, ‘sell out or posers’, but then again I’d expect such things. The truth is Ulver’s, ‘Kveldssanger’ (Evening songs) is a beautiful acoustic folk album that should be heard by everyone that has interest in this type of music.

Musically we have thirteen songs, which feature acoustic guitars, woodwind instruments, cellos, nature samples and the always-wonderful vocals of Kristoffer Rygg (Garm). With this release Kristoffer truly proved his vocal talent with his remarkable operatic perhaps even Gregorian like traditional folk vocals. I honestly haven’t heard many others sound like this. As for the musicians on this album only three of the five members were present and I’m not exactly sure who performed what since it's not noted in the booklet. Regardless the musicianship is damn near flawless and these guys have created some intricate and beautiful acoustic songs. I also like the three photos in the booklet a lot as they show the three members crouched down in front of an old cabin with Kristoffer holding a giant torch, and the other two members looking rather dismal.

An interesting characteristic of this album is its varying lengths. One song is only seventeen seconds while the longest song is almost seven minutes. Collectively the album is only about thirty-five minutes though. My personal favorite from this album is the final track, ‘Ulvsbakk.’ This one in my opinion has the best guitar work, the mood is somber and chilling and it's also the only song with percussion. Other standouts include, ‘Østenfor Og Bestenfor Maane,' and ‘Høyfjeldsbilde,’ though the whole thing is quite engaging.

After this release Ulver returned more to their roots and released one the rawest black metal albums in existence (at the time). Whenever I listen to, ‘Kveldssanger’ I can’t help but think how wonderful and skilled these guys are and just how gorgeous and delicate these songs are. It’s a shame they only gave us one (short) album performed in this manner. I’m still hoping some day they will return to this fashion, but judging by the type of music they make today I don’t ever see it happening... but your never know. It is Ulver, after all.