Heksemøte - Den Andre Heksemøte

I was in dying need to review some wall, and I was wondering why I haven´t done a wall review for ages. Turned out that the reason for that was that I wasn´t a member of the HNW-dedicated group on Facebook. I like to hear wall, and I (in return) review it and post it. Looks like I have to... stalk out my wall-needs. Nonetheless, I was lucky in stalking this fantastic 2-track 30+ minutes digital mini-album, which have been released on Earthwalker Recordings 22nd of January. The same label which released the excellent Veil of Nature one (see former review). 

So here we are dealing with DEEP and atmospheric ambient-noise-wall. The act is called Heksemøte and they are from Italy, and there´s a lot more from them on their own Bandcamp site. 

Ritualistic occult-moods drowned in a deep fog in a swampy bog. Subsonic reverbed bass walls give u a feeling of being almost buried, deep beneath the earth. Or the same kind of feeling when you are walking through a forest, with a heavy fog preventing you to see anything. And you probably know how sound is in a fog, right? Maybee we are underground in the hidden lair where the dreaded Son of Yog-Sototh is hiding... deep beneath the witch-haunted village of Dunwich? It´s all for you to decide. 

It is funny how anw/hnw work, you look at the cover-art and give it a listen. I wonder what pictures of my imagination would be in my mind... without that photo/picture that comes with this release. Something stressful and strangely soothing at the same time, like hiding from something in the dark knowing that you are safe at the moment. A shelter of sound if you like. A good release that is good for isolated moments in your warm basement, recommended.

Bandcamp (Earthwalker Recordings):

https://earthwalkerrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/den-andre-heksem-te

Bandcamp (Heksemøte):

https://heksemote.bandcamp.com/

     

The Burning

Not really into slasher movies but this one is ok.

1981´s The Burning is a janitor from a summer camp who gets horribly burned in a fire accident and later returns to get revenge.
So basically Mr. Crispy Bacon here goes on murdering half-naked teens on a summer camp with the aid of a pair of gardening scissors. A pretty simple plot that kinda reminds me of Friday 13th.

The murder scenes are surprisingly good, I really loved the canoe one. There are some pretty good camera angles too, especially the one where he grabs the horny teen in the woods and drags him around on his scissors.

The editing is not bad, nothing special about the soundtrack and you males are going to love the boobs. There´s quite a few. Bouncy and perky.

Also, the teens are so fucking stupid and shiny and happy that you actually want to see them die. And that´s the only thing wrong with the movie, at least for me: slow paced. The killings take forever to happen.

Well, decent little flick, guaranteed to make you have fun for a while.

IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082118/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Whispering Oak - Feast of the Warlords

A new side project from the guy who brought you Rattenkonig, the act is called Whispering Oak and the title of the debut album Feast of the Warworlds. Recorded last X-Mas 2017, and released in January 2018 on the Rottenkonig Bandcamp-site. As astonished I was with the former review I did with his Realms of Rats album, I just had to have a check up on this!.

5 tracks, about 22 minutes. 4 original tracks, and 1 tribute-cover to your favorite Norwegian cave-troll Burzum. The very first track called Omnipresent Cold has a slightly Tangerine Dream/Jarre´ish flange-driven retro synth working in the background, with some beautiful and evocative sounding medieval synth-strings. The track is basically painting a snowy, sunny and glittering frosty landscape before your very eyes, watching it from a hill if you like. The Almighty Warmasters *gulp* continues where Omnipresent Cold ends, where you begin to notice an approaching army in the distance, behind the fog maybe. As it sounds like, they have been in war and gained victory over the enemies... and they are probably gonna "march" by/through your own home village. Carrying the dead and wounded comrades in a battle which claimed too many victims. A beautiful and sad synth piece, with low-key martial drums added to it. 

Third track Broken Anvil kind of melts the first two tracks together. The martial drummings of the second track continue here, but the melancholic sadness has been replaced with a scene of hope and warmth which u could feel with the first mesmerizing track. Les Pleurs D Chêne (The Crying of the Oaks) offers a kind of for brooding sense of doom, silence before the storm if you please. It´s a quite pleasant, relaxing and majestic track, but with a sense of ... that something is amiss. Someone is burying the dead, the fallen soldiers are being buried close by your village maybe?. A beautiful 10-minute treat!. Last track coming is the Burzum cover, a not-released track that is and you can hear the original on Youtube. A simple and almost poetical piece ending this great album! 

There you have it! Evocative and dark medieval material filled with all the coldness, warmth, dread, doom...with tiny glimpses of hope. 

Go and have a listen, it might enlighten your Monday ... certainly enlightened mine!.

Bandcamp:

https://rattenkonig1.bandcamp.com/album/feast-of-the-warlords

Xuthal of the Dusk - Demo 2017

I am a huge fan of Robert E. Howard, and of his work regarding the brutal sword & sorcery world of Conan the Cimmerian. And letting the brutal in-your-face Conan-attitude collide with noise-wall and repetitive dungeon-synth... is actually not a bad idea at all.

A demo-debut which was released last summer of 2017 by an act called, Xuthal of the Dusk. Here I might reveal to you that Xuthal is an ancient city from the world of Conan. Here and only here, is the first and only time where Conan meets his match in close hand-to-hand combat with a terrible creature/half-god called Thog. Which actually resamples (very much) Clark Ashton Smith´s toad and sloth-like Lovecraftian entity-god Tsathoggua. Xuthal of the Dusk is actually the name for part 3 of the Slithering Shadow comic Savage Sword of Conan... ANYWAYS!.

We´re dealing with 3 long tracks, 15 minutes each .. 45 minutes in total. A hypnotic and brutal account of repetitive noise-wall and static dungeon-synth elements. The very first track Fatigue of Victory gives u the impression of waiting to be executed... or the impression of watching over a smoking battlefield with thousands of dead warriors scattered all over, while the few (who are remaining alive) are scavaging what the can find among the dead. The next track Snakewood Wand has a slightly ritualistic and ceremonial approach. Maybee someone is getting ready to be sacrificed to Thog?. Being bound to the sacrificial-alter, while someone is either chanting and giving it away on some eerie musical instrument. Either way, your doom is sure to come... you just have to wait for it. Flange-like (sound effect) noise-wall working up and down in your head/ear, while an esoteric and metal-clanging melody is repetitive being played. Last track called Grey Tunnel Moss is giving the listener a means of escape, from being sacrificed from whatever terrible entity you were being bound to be engulfed by. It is quite a long tunnel, and it goes on for quite some time. A tiny dose of hope lingers with your tiny candlelight, all while the heavy gloom of darkness is brooding heavily in your mind. A saddened bell-like melody with a reverbed heavy bass-driven wall. Done. Hope you enjoyed the journey through Xuthal. The novel The Slithering Shadow can be bought from the nice clerk at the exit!. 

It´s not a complex and abstract journey into noise, nor is it an extremely melodic dungeon-synth treat either. Less is more?. Works in that fashion... while having that certain charm which isolated releases like this have. Not for everyone for sure! I don´t mind, I like it!. 

Bandcamp:

https://xuthalofthedusk.bandcamp.com/releases

Infernum - Livael-Itu

 

 

 

Cult label Grey Matter Records is at-it-again with a new and interesting cassette + digital mini-album. Already sold out via the label itself, still available via Lighten Up Sounds and getting a rerelease via Hollow Myths.   

 

Calls themselves Infernum; ´Conjuring sonic landscapes and portals to Deapth, the realm of Livael-Itu, since MMXVII´. Working on a fusion between neo-classical/martial, gothic-ambient and dungeon synth. Includes 4 tracks, 20 minutes total.

 

The music/tracks are absolutely amazing, fantastic constructed moods with classical themed gothic, martial and ritual sound-aesthetics. Neo-classical strings, barbaric march drums, evocative vocal chords, moody and deep trumpets with mysterious church-like bells chime in the background.  It literary feels like being transported into that unknown realm. The melodies are breathtaking dramatic, almost like reading Bram Stoker´s immortal and gothic masterpiece Dracula at times. Best track on the album (by far), would be the AMAZING track which ends the album ´The Flames of Livael-Itu´!. GIVE IT A LISTEN DAMN YOU!. Top nodge stuff!.    

 

For the curious, the cassette release also includes a beautiful track-by-track booklet, which will guide the listener through the realm of Deapth (Quite cool eh?). And the cassette comes in a semi-transparent blood-like color! Take a look below.

 

Bandcamp:
https://infernumds.bandcamp.com/releases

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/infernumds/

Lighten Up Sounds:
lightenupsounds.storenvy.com/collections/1053480-dungeon/products/22901304-infernum-livael-itu-cs

 

 

 

Maniac Cop

An 80s slasher favorite and a cult movie. Though I´m not really into it, I´m afraid. I mean, I like it. But it can be a bit boring...

Matthew Cordell is a murderous ex-cop returned from the dead and basically the movie plot is him taking revenge on the city that caused his demise, though in the movie is not very clear why, they refer police brutality but maybe the origin story could have been a bit worked on more, and that kinda kills it a bit.

The absence of a memorable death and gore scenes is also a downer but I gotta say it´s awesome when Maniac Cop enters the scene. I love the scene where he makes the kid jump out of his car without saying a word. Awesome. And Bruce Campbell is on it too so hey! Not all it´s bad.

The photography is kinda meh and so is the editing. Which disappoints me since I heard the movie had a budget of $1.1 million.
Anyway, it is a cool movie. It spawned two sequels that I´ll look into soon. 

IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095583/

Nocht - Lore Of Sorrows

The world of black metal and dungeon synth goes hand in hand from time to time, and this latest release from Nocht is no exception. 

More ambient-based than guitars really; from slowed-down-funeral-black-metal/ambient to moody and beautiful medieval sounding harpsichord-synths (I think) plus additional majestic and epic piano+choir/synth melodies. Some of the background synths take me back to my old Amiga500, remember the computer game firm called Psygnosis and the music which we in their games?. Surely for those who love the cursed and haunted castle-ruins feel! 25 minutes of majestic pure orchestral ambient-doom for fallen empires!

As mentioned earlier, this is the latest release by Nocht (1st November 2017) and it has been made available as a physical (and beautiful) cassette release via Stench Ov Death Prod. Additional digital albums are available via the official Nocht Bandcamp site. Extra info about these additional digital albums cannot be found via Discogs, cause no information regarding these hasn´t been added yet. If we cross our fingers, we might see more cassette releases with this act. 

Bandcamp (label):

https://stenchovdeath.bandcamp.com/album/nocht-lore-of-sorrows

Bandcamp (band):

https://nocht.bandcamp.com/

Cenobite - The Labyrinth

Angelic to some, demonic to others. That is all you need to know about this. A synth-dominated soundtrack based on the Hellraiser universe. A debut release with this project, made by the same people behind such acts as Argonath and Nahadoth.

If you are a dungeon synth fan and needs a reason (or two) to get into the bizarre, eerie and sometimes erotic splatter punk world of the author Clive Barker (and his Hellraiser universe) then this treat might do the trick. 

If you are a Clive Barker/Hellraiser fan and love the sometimes soundtrack/atmospheric built tracks by Coil, and need to expand that tiny little universe then this will also work here. 

Another interesting piece of info for both dungeon-synth fans and Coil fans would be the source of inspiration Clive Barker would receive when he created the Hellraiser story. Coil members were fans of the work of Clive Barker, so they invited him to their home. There Clive Barker would browse through their collection of gay s/m pornography, including the photos of male genitals having all sorts of metal appendages attached to them. After that, he created the cenobites (see the similarities?).

Well... On with the music review itself! 

Sinister (almost carnival) soundtrack music which sounds kind of innocent, but with undertones of subtly unpleasantness that is meant to harm you. Gothic-horror symphonic elements are added with occasional well-done piano and organ work as well. Perfectly catches the weird and disturbing elements that exist within the world of Clive Barker. Quality and unique horror material!.

My advice, take your Clive Barker books and re-read them while having this in the background. It will work like a charm.

Bandcamp:

https://cenobitesynth.bandcamp.com/

Sudaria - Apókryfa

Sudaria is a new thing which started back in 2017 last summer. So far there are 3 albums released, a CD and 2 cassettes. And this one is the latest offering (23rd Oktober 2017). 

The first you notice is a sacred and esoteric atmospheric sound. And all of a sudden, you are engulfed/submerged in this murky ritual world. A VERY Lovecraftian and VERY alien world is floating through your speakers as we speak. Ritual vocals (mysterious moans and croons), strange acoustic guitar, cavern/dungeon mood drones, echoed fuzzbox distortions, looped and machinelike white-noise and the sound of people making progress in whatever ritual they are performing. I love their sound, sumthing in the background and sumthing in your face. Sound quality is incredible superb, field recordings when it works!. David Tibet Of Current 93 once said, that his first initial idea of his band was the sound of an occult/ritual-driven version of Whitehouse. This comes quite close to that. A very direct and brutal kind of ambient music if you please. This is the first track I am talking about, and this goes on for nearly 20 minutes!. 

Next offering also nearly 20 minutes. Evocative and reverbed violin and creepy string give it a lovely seriousness to this. We´re not talking about teenage Satanists crucifying frogs in their parent's basements here!. Think Throbbing Gristle, Aghast and Ain Soph. Occasional classical piano sets the aesthetics just right later on. Strangely distorted vocals can be heard in the background, sounds like the dream television recording from Carpenter´s ´Prince of Darkness´. This REALLY sounds amazing! The tracks give you that kind of feeling like... being watched in a supposedly haunted house. Something quite unseen and (not from this world) is abroad, and stalking you without your knowledge of it. If anyone did a proper M.R James film adaption, then this second and final track on this album could work perfectly. As in the work of ghostwriter M.R James, it literally feels like ´blackness slowing and surely engulfing you´ (quoted by Christoper Lee). 

This is top quality ritual/horror music which deserves anyone's attention for the bizarre, esoteric and scary!

Bandcamp:

https://sphingidaepupae.bandcamp.com/album/ap-kryfa

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/secretsudaria/

     

Veneno Para Las Hadas

Veneno para las Hadas (or Poison for the Fairies) it´s a 1984 Mexican horror film that is considered a cult one.
For good reasons, I might say.

It reminds me of Peter Jackson´s "Heavenly Creatures" and it follows the same mechanics: Flavia befriends a girl at school, Veronica, who´s into witchcraft and convinces her she´s a witch. Veronica then convinces her to do a series of things in order from them to prepare poison for the fairies, since fairies are known to be witches´ enemies and at some point, things go really bad.

The movie in itself is not scary at all, no gory effects or anything like that. It focuses mainly on how scary Veronica can be in her evil innocence. The acting is fairly good and we really get convinced with these two girls.

The photography is pretty good and the movie looks really beautiful and I love that most of the characters we don´t get to see their faces, except for the two girls. I can´t think anything bad about it. Maybe the fact that in the end, it´s inconclusive if Veronica was really a witch or not. Though I guess is that she wasn´t. Maybe the fact that is not specified in the movie, makes it even more charming.

All in all a hidden classic that you should watch at least once in your life.

df:)

IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135033/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

IMDB:

Talog - Ukleta Kotlina

One of my favorite DS-related acts doing Slavonian grim ambiance, out now (12/01 2018) with it´s fifth Bandcamp release. With this one, I am hoping for a physical release!

Cold, snow-dominated and desolate vintage synths welcome the listeners, there is not a warm fire here to warm your cold and frozen little bodies. Walking through a burned down village, the smell of burned down huts and decay is almost unbearable. Being utterly left to ruin and stagnation is the sound of O Zaboraljenoj Zemlji, which means something about a Forgotten Land. Forgotten indeed, a truly sad and beautiful way to start this release. 

U Tmini I Tamnici (In Dark Dungeons) offers martial drummings through a dark dungeon. Which will only offer a certain doom for the unlucky dungeoneers?

Last track Smrt Bez Spokoja (Death Without Rest) offers a nice and quiet solitude´ish nature to the album. A sad title name, but a strangely uplifting piece. Feels more like death is a nice thing for the souls on fire and agony. A slowly and majestic melodic ambient nail in the coffin!. 

A great digital (Sofar) mini-album which perfectly suits the cold European winter in January (mostly being the coldest month over here). A unique DS release for the DS crowd. Do yourself a favor and give it a "warm" spin!

Bandcamp:

https://talog.bandcamp.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Talog/353449861484137

Zoloft Evra - Murder Chamber

Second review on Kalteldur with this amazingly dark Italian-based industrial/ritual experimental project. Second full-length album after their debut Negative Infliction Pleasure (Lovely title) from 2015, which came out on Naked Lunch Records. This second album was released the 4th of November 2016 on Frozen Light in an ltd quantity of 300 stamped copies. 

A journey through forbidden ritual-based sexual pleasures performed behind locked doors, hidden basements and secret lofts. Zoloft Evra deal with demonic taboos of basic human lust, the kind of sexual-based pleasures that hide deep within our subconscious. The album has been called Murder Chamber, and for good reason. Let me give you a thorough description of the murderous pleasures hidden within!

First track called Razor Deepthroat (video below) could give you a hint or two, or just frighten you away. A hypnotizing and ritualistic drone based moody piece featuring moaning female vocals, clatterings like a knife are stroking a long metallic spring, frightening multi-layered reverbed windy sounds all trapped inside some huge cathedral. Sounds like a dimension have just been opened into the netherworlds!. 

After you have gone through that dimensional portal, thou has now entered the Murder Chamber (see first shows video above). Fusion of different ideas here in style and sound. Satanic black ritual-industrialism meets heavily distorted and shoegazer/post-rock´ish guitar-work. Sounds really amazing!. 

Krokodil Death Ride. A ritual drumming and satanic summoning with that awesome MZ.412´ish looped distorted guitar sound. Maybee the idea of this track has been inspired by the users of Krokodil. A nasty and highly addictive flesh eating zombie-drug from Russia, take it once and you are done for it!. Disturbing frightening piece.

Fourth track Deadlife Obedience features raw female vocals, combined with funeral-doom aesthetics. A slowly and beautiful melodic harsh ambient-rock piece. Fans of Swans would enjoy it I'm sure of it!. 

Cold Hypnotic Bloodbath follows up where Deadlife ended. A saddened mesmerizing moody suicidal piece with beautiful guitar work. With those slightly harsh and whispering vocals, and with a deep and mysterious wall of drones building up in the blackened background. Feels like blood oozing out of your system, slowly transporting your soul beyond.

After walking the several hundred steps with razors on them, you end up with the last track called The Screaming Wall. An ambient-drone wall nonetheless, which works in the same manner as the unforgettable ending scene from Pasolini´s groundbreaking arthouse-torture flick Salo, or the 120 days of Sodom. End of story..... I am going to have to catch my breath here, enjoying a stay in hell can be breathtaking!.

Almost 40 minutes of painstaking sexual ritualistic pleasure all wrapped up in suffocating blackness. Is Hot Chocolate too boring as sexual background music, maybe u ought to try Zoloft Evra... might spice it up? An incredibly intense album, recommended!. The CD is still available through their Bandcamp site! 

Bandcamp:

https://zoloftevra1.bandcamp.com/album/murder-chamber

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/zoloftevra/

       

Gespenst -  Forfald

Not often I get to review sumthing from my own country (Denmark), and it´s not often that I get-down-and-get-black metal-dirty either... first time for everything right?!. So here it goes!

Gespenst hails from Denmark, Aarhus and contains 2 members from a doom metal band called Woebegone Obscured. And this release is the duo´s debut which was released back in August 2016 on CD, LP and digital via their Bandcamp site. Their limited LP version has been sold out, but can be obtained via Discogs for a reasonable price.

They describe themselves as playing dismal and angst-ridden black metal, with occasional doom metal and dark ambient elements. In other words; The perfect fusions of sub-genres for someone like me.

The first track Sorgens Taage (Fog of Sadness), starts off with an epic and melancholic driven black-metal guitar sound. A very traditional start with evolves into various styles (Further on). As stated before, undertones of atmospheric dark-ambiance lurk in the background while the heaviness of doom metal aesthetics pounds you flat on the ground. There is a slight sort of sludgy and shoegazer feel to the distorted guitar at times, which gives the track a unique sound. For the novice of black metal, I can describe it as something between Dissection and early Anathema. The aggression of black metal meets the ambient moods of early doom/gothic metal.

The next track Revelation of Maggots (My favorite) almost sounds like Autopsy is slow motion. A full almost 11-minute long piece of pure misery. Sounds and feels like you are looking into a black-abyss. Heavenly and apocalyptic guitar work gives the track a kind of soundtrack´ish feel, fantastic and epic synths supported by occasional acoustic guitar, agonized vocals. If anyone would do a modern Hammer-inspired horror flick, this could easily work for the soundtrack. The track even contains a sample from a horror movie (Which I can´t recognize), sounds like some sort of evil, occult driven and ritualistic scene going on. A fantastic track, and the best track on the album in my opinion. 

The third track Min Sjæl Raadner (My Soul Rotes) follows up in the same manner as Sorgens Taage. Aggressive (but slow) black metal desperations clashes with the dismal world of doom metal. Again making use of the sludgy sounding guitar. With occasional dark-ambient inspired breaks in the track.

The last track (On the digital Bandcamp version) called Life Drained to the Black Abyss is probably (maybe) the darkest and most depressive treat on the album. As you can hear and see, there is no life in the black void. Nonetheless, a traditional and atmospheric black/doom metal treat ends the album nicely. I think it tries to follow up on the Revelation of Maggots track, but somehow missing the mesmerizing and melodic soundtrack workings of that track. A decent track nonetheless. 

So there you go; A black metal album (Which in my opinion) suits excellent in these cold winter temperatures, where we are all forced to be inside warm living rooms and expose ourselves to old school horror movies or the literature work of either Poe or Lovecraft. Traditional black metal fans will love it, funeral doom junkies would dig it and dark ambient fans will find it tasty!. Recommended!

Bandcamp:

https://gespenst-dk.bandcamp.com/album/forfald

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/gespenstband/about/?ref=page_internal

   

Fåntratt - Under Isen

Olof is at it again. This time we´re dealing (once again, see former review) with the second chapter of his folksy dungeon-synth inspired project called Fåntratt. This came out on the 24th of December, so we´re bound to have sumthing with an X-mas-snaps-aftertaste combined with a long walk through snow-covered Nordic landscapes. 

Here Olof has achieved in creating an almost magical journey through mythical and forgotten times. Feels like an isolated experience, being inside some hut which has been buried in snow, and u can´t get out! Luckily you are in the company of Fåntratt, which means; good strong porter beers, warm fireplace and plenty of roasted meat. Which is followed by good stories from the days of old Christmas. Occasional curious trolls peep through the almost snow covered windows, and also small gnomes stick their heads out in small holes made by rodents. Outside you can even hear the singing 7 dwarves marching by, Christmas bells on Santa´s sleigh, 

It´s melancholic in a cold way, epic in a deep way, atmospheric in a warm way, mesmerizing in a highly focused way and highly addictive! 

2017 was a good year for the style of dungeon synth, and this release proves it. The cassette is already sold out, so you are going to have live with the digital version. Enjoy it!

Bandcamp:

https://faontratt.bandcamp.com/album/under-isen

The Howling

Truth is I don´t know what to say about The Howling. I understand it´s a classic and it spawned a lot of sequels but I´m not into it...

The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed by Joe Dante. Based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a television newswoman sent to a remote mountain resort after a fatal incident with a serial killer, unaware that the inhabiting residents are werewolves.

The movie itself is not bad, it´s just too slow and not gory or trashy enough to my liking. The wolf transformations are pretty cool though and the last scene, where Karen turns into a wolf on the broadcast is pretty epic.
And you gotta love Marsha. Sexy Marsha, always on the heat. :

I saw one Howling when I was a kid but I don´t remember which one. Maybe the third or fourth. I will eventually check the sequels.

Technically speaking, it´s ok. The acting is decent, sound effects, the photography reminds me of 70s movies and the special effects are cool, except maybe for the last one.

Anyway, not my cup of tea but I understand why it´s so well liked.

IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082533/

Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Howling_(film)