Ash Borer - Self-Titled (2011)

Here's the much anticipated first full-length from Ash Borer.


Self-Titled is Ash Borer finally realising the mastery of sound they first truly displayed in their unforgettable split with Fell Voices. It was from that point, I thought this band had some real potential, and that I would not be disappointed by the eventual manifestation of a full-length release.

Simply put, it's an amazing release, the best of their stuff to date, and not worth missing.

Album Name: Self-Titled

Band: Ash Borer

Genre: Black Metal

Year: 2011

Country: USA

Track Listing:

1.	In the Midst of Life, We Are in Death	12:09
2.	Rest, You Are the Lightning	07:57
3.	My Curse Was Raised in the Darkness Against a Doomsday Silence	19:39
		39:45

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Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s) (2011)

And a new one from Blut Aus Nord.



After some variation and experimentation with their music in their previous years, such as it's relation to BM and other musical elements, this release is somewhat a return to their BM roots. More specifically, this album has been compared to being akin to The Work Which Transforms God. In my opinion, that was the album that made it for me. They have other notable albums, with their own character, but none, until recently, had been able to match the immensity of the darkness within.

777 Sect(s) is all that, and yet more. To me, there is more consistency in the musical expression, where The Work Which Transforms God may lose my attention, 777 Sect(s) has found the missing link to sustain the vortex that is the reality that such BM would bind me.

If you don't understand my convoluted jibber-jabber, then maybe you should check it out yourself, and hear what a masterpiece truly is.

Also one of my albums of the year.

Album Name: 777 Sect(s)
Band: Blut Aus Nord
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2011
Country:
Track Listing:

1.	Epitome I	07:57
2.	Epitome II	06:51
3.	Epitome III	04:52
4.	Epitome IV	11:52
5.	Epitome V	06:23
6.	Epitome VI	07:31
Total playing time		45:26

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Alda - Demo (2009), Self-Titled (2009), : tahoma : (2011)

Alda, from Tacoma, Washington (USA).

Meaning of the Name 'ALDA'

• Meaning: Old German feminine form of Aldo and Otto, "Old; prosperous." Variants include Aldabella, Aldea, Aldina, Aldine, Aldona, Aleda, Alida, Alyda.
• Origin: German
• Gender: Female

- Quote here.


Alda is a Cascadian BM band that has been around for a few years now, has a few releases (one of which is quite recent), however, never really took my attention beyond being another Cascadian BM band.

Their first two releases are examples of this. And essentially, they became a band that I put to the side and forgot about.

However, these feelings suddenly changed when I came upon their latest release, : tahoma : (obviously a geographical reference here, being that Tahoma is, according to wikipedia, the original form of Tacoma, the city of which this band originates, or may refer to Mount Tahoma, etc). Honestly, given my previous impressions, I didn't expect much. But this latest release was a complete break from their previous material. As opposed to their other music, this album is an eloquent interwoven eclectic auditory nirvana. Still Cascadian BM, but with lengthier metal passages that keep you captivated, rather than strained, with a strong emphasis on a lighter folk element with clean vocals. These latter parts, are almost meditative, and indeed, a beautiful balance of the darker and lighter elements has been found here.

: tahoma : is quite the surprise, but it is worth it, and one not to miss.

One of my favourite albums of the year.

Album Name: Demo

Band: Alda

Genre: Black Metal

Year: 2009

Country: USA

Track Listing:

1.	The Seed and the Hailstone	03:53
2.	The Evergreen Womb	06:11
3.	Fimbulwinter	05:31
		15:35

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Album Name: Self-Titled
Band: Alda

Genre: Black Metal

Year: 2009

Country: USA

Track Listing:

1.	Scattered On the Wind	05:16
2.	Fimbulwinter	05:08
3.	The Seed and the Hailstone	04:07
4.	Vale	06:22
5.	Venom in the Waters	04:43
6.	The Evergreen Womb	06:24
		32:00

DOWNLOAD (thanks to AmusLadmin)

Album Name: : tahoma :
Band: Alda

Genre: Black Metal

Year: 2011

Country: USA

Track Listing:

1.	In the Wake of an Iron Wind	11:58
2.	Adrift	08:41
3.	Tearing of the Weave	08:24
4.	Shadow of the Mountain	11:17
5.	Wandering Spirit	14:11
		54:31

DOWNLOAD (via mediafire)
DOWNLOAD (via bandcamp)

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!

Temporary hiatus

Technology sucks.

My computer died a while back, my general access to the internet is limited at best, and life overall seems to drags me in directions at the moment that are not this blog.

So basically this blog will be a bit slow in the next few months, but I'll still try to get a few posts up.

Apologies to all, but I hope to make this blog more active in the coming months.

Thanks for reading, and listening.