New Release on my Record Label. Villages - Music for Savage Flowers (Headway Recordings, 2012)

Beatrik - Requiem of December (Avantgarde Music, 2005)

I don't really hear much about the underground metal scene in Italy. I don't even know if there is much going on. So, I was surprised to discover an Italian band comprised of equal parts depressive black metal and funeral doom. Really impressive material here. Plodding DSBM guitar a la Xasthur or Nortt is contrasted by classic dark organ sounds, and simple doom drums with an occasional blast beat. There is even a bit of nature worship thrown in there under the Varg-like gurgling vocals. The recording is fairly clean and well done.

Sounds like cutting your arms while the church bells ring...



Get it HERE

LAND - Night Within (Important, 2012)

The band describe this work as, "approaching an apocalyptic noir narrative," and Night Within, despite its slate visual appeal which recalls the grey paintings of Gerhard Richter, thematically points towards a world occupied by the early postmodern detective stories of Paul Auster and the urban neon dislocation of Taxi Driver with its existential protagonist roaming the city alone late at night."

Heavy words for heavy music. The atmosphere of this record makes me think "jazz for a dark alley". There is a definite lurking menace here, a modern take on noir soundtrack. Reminiscent of the doom jazz artists like Bohren and der Club of Gore and Mount Fuji Doom Jazz Orchestra, LAND wisely forego the Angelo Badalamenti elements. They know how to create tension and build to a near crescendo. This is really intense music with a casual delivery, much like the calm and cool demeanor of a film noir character. My first thought was Alain Delon in a 60's Melville film set in a cold Scandinavian climate. 

The two composers are UK musicians Daniel Lea And Matthew Waters. These two assembled quite a cast for this faux soundtrack. Guests include David Sylvian (Japan), Daniel O'Sullivan (Ulver, Guapo, Miasma, Aethenor), Alexander Tucker (everywhere with everyone) and an ensemble of woodwinds, brass, guitar, keys, bass and drums. The album was sculpted in Reykjavik by Ben Frost.

This one will certainly sneak into my End of Year list. 

Read full review of Night Within - LAND on Boomkat.com ©

Annalium Desparatio, Third Wave Part 1 (Mixtape, 2012)

Annalium Desparatio: A Fronte Praecipitium, A Tergo Lupi, Third Wave Part 1 by The Nomadic Subject on Mixcloud

Last winter, I handmade a cassette boxset for five friends of mine. The four cassettes contained a chronological history of black metal. First, second, and third wave. Here, I've mixed the first part of the third wave. Eventually, I'll mix the remainder and post those as well. Enjoy the Darkness...

Discoverer - Tunnels (Digitalis, 2012)

Kansas City's Brandon Knocke makes a combination of analog revival music and psychedelic hip hop. There's a little Emeralds and a little Tycho in his sound but he makes the hybrid his own. Everything sounds really original. Tasteful clean slow moving drum machine is placed over blissful synth sounds. And he doesn't overdo it. There's no over the top trippy reverb on the melodies, nothing's buried. All the sounds are fairly upfront.

This is a nice take on the current trend of instrumental hip hop made in some guy's bedroom. Very listenable material that I don't find cliche. No ironic nostalgia or parody here.