Petrychor - Effigies and Epitaphs (2011)

Finally, Petrychor's full-length:

Petrychor's first release, the Dryad EP, was highly acclaimed, including by me. And as such, this full-length was ever so anticipated. I could barely wait.

Eventually when I came across this release, it actually didn't catch my fancy the first time, or even the second. I couldn't see the connection between this release and the last that I one, expected, and two, read from an interview of Tad Piecka (the person behind this project).

However, perhaps at least connected to the fact their first EP resonated with me so much, I decided to give this release another try. And this time, perhaps it was my mood or the context, or whatever, but I felt a semblance to the resonance I did with the EP.

This album is amazing. It has many of the same similar elements that made Dryad, and fans of that release, like myself, to be draw in again. The folk, the classical, you name it. And of course all the elements that make it akin to Cascadian BM. However, as a full release, it attempts to expand on this expression, and make it whole. However similar they may be, I felt a fundamental difference in it's expression. Dryad may be interpreted as conveying a more "positive" sound, and that is part of what makes it, a positive beauty. But with Effigies and Epitaphs, there's a darkness there not present in Dryad. I feel it in the vocals, but even in the overall atmospheres, amongst other elements. The very existence of the song Seared, Sundered, the epitome of the dark expressions I'm describing, is proof of this. However, I think it is quite deliberate despite what I say, that this song is not at the end of the album, perhaps signifying that the conclusive feeling of this album is not a spiral into darkness, but simply that it is a reaction to the darkness entrenched in the ecological destruction ever-present around us. Afterall, beneath highway and street, things will grow back through the cracks...

Highly recommended album, especially for fans of Cascadian BM with strong folk elements, and classical.

Album Name: Effigies and Epitaphs

Band: Petychor

Genre: Black Metal/Ambient/Post-Rock/Folk

Year: 2011

Country:USA

Track Listing:

1.	I Lift My Voice	02:27
2.	In Remembrance	10:43
3.	Of Grandest Majesties	13:17
4.	Subjugated and Abused	09:19
5.	Seared, Sundered	03:01
6.	Beneath Highway and Street	14:19
Total playing time		53:06

 DOWNLOAD (via bandcamp)

Vaiya - :W i n t e r m o o n: (2011)

Another release from my mate behind the project Vaiya.

W i n t e r m o o n: was recorded leading up to and, as a celebration of, the Winter Solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere.

It is an ode to the life winter brings us. It feeds our scorched earth and dry bodies. It brings forth a time of flourishing abundance to our lands.

This song is an offering to the spirit of winter. The moon, the cold, the rain, the long nights and loving warmth.

A limited edition of 30 CDr's are available, packaged in high quality, hand numbered paper envelopes with insert and a photo print from a recent trip into the Alpine region of Victoria.

:V a i y a M M X I:

- quote here

Vaiya is a favourite project of mine, an amazing Southern Hemisphere interpretation of Cascadian sensibilities. The melodic acoustic parts in this release (building up to the heavier parts), much like the previous (Merkstave), remind me of what I like about Fauna, and brings me to a place away from the depravity, the destruction, away from the soulless void that is the metropolis. It's an invitation to be connected to something... real.

A definite reccommendation for any fan of Cascadian-sytle BM.

Purchase here (also for free download)

Album Name: :W i n t e r m o o n:

Band: Vaiya

Genre: Ambient Black Metal

Year: 2011

Country: Australia

Track Listing:

1.	:W i n t e r m o o n:
Total playing time		18:45

 DOWNLOAD

Back online

Yep, time for me to get off my arse and back into the cyber world. My life's still hectic, and I'm sure there may well be better things for me to do with my time, but fuck, I'm obsessed with BM.


So yeah, I'll try to catch up a little bit with some of the rad releases from the last few months or so, and I'll try to have a steady flow of posts in the next few months.

Sorry I wasn't back sooner!