Seemingly coming out of the blue — like the sudden emergence of a horrible memory buried for years — drone doom supergroup Khanate returns with To Be Cruel (released digitally on May 19th and on physical formats on June 30th via Sacred Bones Records) the group’s first album since 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul. Shrouded in secrecy prior to its release, To Be Cruel delivers three tracks and 62 mins of harsh, cold, sparse, experimental sounds fit to ruin any good day.
For the second year in a row, the best in underground metal bands will descend on Austin, Texas for the Austin Terror Fest, taking place from June 15th through 17th. “Powered by Worshiper Cabinets”, the festival features Exhorder, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Yob, Acid King, 40 Watt Sun, Bell Witch, Pinkish Black, Come to Grief, Buzzov-en, Primitive Man, Krallice, Gnaw, Goya and many more announced for the full line-up. Tickets are available now (link below) but may sell out since this bill is so killer and many of these bands will make their Austin début. Continue reading
The word “experimental” is a double-edged sword. For some it classifies anything veering from the typical form people are used to. Thus it renders whatever it is; be it medicine or art, undigestable to safer minds. To others the word conjures a magical playground where truly anything is possible. When foisted upon artists, such as guitarist/vocalist Ron Varod (Kayo Dot) and his solo outlet Zvi, we get the latter. Arriving in 2014 Zvi I challenged the listener to feel a piece of music on Varod’s terms. His new release II: Death Stops Us All (Halfpear Records) is no less of an emotional tug of war for the senses.
Composed of just three pieces, Zvi:II differs from its sister release in some ways.’You’ve Charmed Me, I Will Stay’ begins with a swelling guitar repeated like waves with other instrumentation flowing in. The layers of harmony vocals in the background suck in your attention. While the plucked guitars parts are calming, there is a unease that sets the table for what is to come.
‘Black Leaves’ (featuring Alan Dubin of Khanate and Gnaw on vocals) begins with more unsettling bassy notes. They soon stop and the song takes shape with Varod crooning forlornly at first. Moody strangeness pervades the track with, but never confusing you. Finally, a familiar harrowing shriek from Dubin fades in and out from the mix over and over. Jarring stabbing chords, detuning strings along with underlying keyboards flood in, giving a feeling of sonic vertigo. Ending with a mantra type singing wail, some malicious whispering, and other oddities from beyond, we glide into the final track.
We again meet Varod and his voice to some off-kilter balladry and guitar, with a motif close to the first track. What ‘Whale Bone Cage’ does is beckon you to come down from the anguish and recover. A final strum of an open chord seems to breathe out a phrase….. rest.
A release like this can only come from vision of a person without bounds as a writer. Matching Varod’s work are the talents of engineer Colin Marston (Gorguts/Kralice) and James Plotkin (Khanate) to engineer. The only shame of these releases is they are too brief, and leave you lusting for more.
8.0/10
Blind Idiot God drummer, Tim Wyskida, who also sits behind the kit for Khanate, will do an on-air interview with Kamikaze Diane on WFMU Thursday, March 5th starting at 1:00 pm. “I’ll play four or five tracks from the new record” Wyskida explains, “and four or five tracks by artist who’ve influenced me and who also influenced BIG members throughout the years.”
As previously announced, Blind Idiot God will be releasing their double vinyl LP Before Ever After on February 24, 2015 via Indivisible Music. The record was co-produced by Bill Laswell (Herbie Hancock’s Future Shock, PiL, Motörhead, Ramones, Iggy Pop). The band will celebrate the album with a live performance at The Paper Box in Brooklyn.
BLIND IDIOT GOD Record Release Party
Saturday, March 7th
The Paper Box in Brooklyn, NY
doors 8:00 pm // tickets $10 advance, $13 at the door // 21+
with Gnaw, Rhyton and Oneirogen
Before Ever After Track Listing:
1. “Twenty Four Hour Dawn”
2. “Night Driver”
3. “Antiquity”
4. “Earthmover”
5. “FUB”
6. “Barrage”
7. “High and Mighty”
8. “Voice of the Structure”
9. “Under the Weight”
10. “Ramshackle”
11. “Wheels of Progress”
12. “Strung”
13. “Shutdown”
Gnawing away (sorry) at the outer limits of music and misery since 2006, New York’s Gnaw have no respect for music whatsoever. Judging by this sweaty, fulminating mass of a record, the way they see it is that music should be utterly destroyed, the last breath of every tone, timbre, and texture ever plucked from a guitar string, smacked out of a drum kit, tickled from the ivories, and squeezed out of any electronic noise-producing box should be smashed to fucking bits and expression in its purest form should be its only purpose. And so with album number two, Horrible Chamber (Conspiracy Records), “music” continues to die countless deaths.Continue reading