The Necks - Chemist (2005, Fish of Milk)

The 13th album by Australian improvisational trio The Necks is my favorite of their catalog. Here they changed the formula. Instead of hour long tracks as on their prior outings, they opted for three 20 minute tracks.

The typical modus operandi for this band is to begin simply with a thematic phrase and explore it as deeply as possible over a lengthy period of time. There aren't many obvious changes in this process. However, to the attuned and refined ear, these minute changes will actually feel intense and dramatic over the course of the interminable forms. Their tact, patience and subtlety puts them in the categories of Minimalist compostion and Krautrock.

The improvisations feel completely natural in these lush, heavy and emotional recordings. The Necks provide an outstanding example of artful repetition. Hybridizing elements of the ECM label, 70's Minimal Prog and 80's Serial music layered in a crust of Doom and darkness. Essentially, this band is making Jazz by true definition.

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Moonsorrow - Viides Luku : Havitetty (2007, Spikefarm)

This is the most exciting album I've heard in quite a while. Finnish sextet Moonsorrow has crafted an impressive document of Progressive Black Metal. There are elements here that would appeal to fans of Opeth as well as fans of Drudkh or Wolves in the Throne Room. This is a cross sub-genre recording that never feels contrives or trifling.

"Jaasta Syntynt, Varjojen Virta" is a drawn out 30 minute piece that never loses my attention. Its important to recognize that this is not several short movements fused together but an actual half hour long song. An unbelievable undertaking, incredibly conceived and masterfully executed. Around the sound of a crackling fire, guitars slowly churn, building into a doomscape with death and progressive overtones. This evolves into a heavy Black Metal motif with traditional folk instrumentation. The effect is epically brutal and spiritually torturous.

"Tuleen Ajettu Maa" begins with intensive chanting and quickly bursts into classic heavy blastbeats and tremelo guitar.

The organic flow of the composition and structure here is mindbending. Don't forsake this undeniably great Heathen Black Metal masterpiece.

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U.S. Christmas - Run Thick in the Night (2010, Relapse)

I'm very proud of my hometown heroes for the extraordinary amount of attention they've received for this new album. Growing up worshipping Neurosis makes it incredible for me have friends that ended up on the Neurot label for a while.

There's not much like their sound either. A very original mix of Sludge Metal, Blues and blown out Post-Rock that I half-jokingly refer to as Blood Meridian Metal. Imagine Neurosis and Hawkwind colliding with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis and you'll have a good idea.

Heavy, sad and beautiful, this band offers a narrative that is a voyage into existentialism. Cerebral and emotional yet raw and edgy, USX is onto something great.

Long live Asheville, NC metal.



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Chaos Moon - Languor into Echoes, Beyond (2007, Ars Magna Recordings)

This band is primarily the project of Esoterica. The fact that these guys hail from Nashville, Tennessee surprises the hell out of me. For all I knew this could have been someone in his bedroom in the Eastern Bloc.

The first half of the record is chock full of blast-beats and second wave familiarity that most Black Metal fans will enjoy. However, in the middle of the fourteen minute epic "Simulacrum of Mirrors", things shift in the favor of those who enjoy Atmospheric Black Metal. I'm just implying some similarity. I do not intend to lump this band into the Wolves in the Throne Room category. What I find most interesting about this album is the use of standard blast-beats and the use of ethereal keyboards almost in opposition to each other culminating in its own cohesive sound.

This results in Ambient AND Black Metal, not Ambient Black Metal. Many elements presented here will be familiar to those who enjoyed Leviathan's "Lurker of Chalice" project. Also in contrast is the romantic sound of Chaos Moon. I have no idea what the lyrics are but little of this recording feels suicidal or even self-loathing to me. There is more than a sliver of light seeping through in "The Palterer" and in "Hymn to Iniquity" where there are obvious hints of 4AD and Shoegaze.

If you are open to synthesizers with your Black Metal, I'd be shocked if you didn't enjoy this one.

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Adam Forkner - Vvrssnn (2003, K Records)

You may know Adam Forkner by his other monikers, "White Rainbow" or "Yume Bitsu", impressive projects in themselves, but with this album he created of the finest electronic releases of the last decade.

Vvrssnn (pronounced "version") seems to have no particular genre in mind. This album moves gracefully through danceable tracks, downtempo grooves, psychedelic dirges and gorgeous drones, all enveloped in a spaced out meditative sensory deprivation chamber. The moment you begin to mellow and feel a bit lost, he pulls you back into a punchy four on the floor with perfect precision. Forkner has an eloquent approach to the entire composition. The narrative exists, is impossible to interpret but feels familiar all the while. Guest appearances by other members of Yume Bitsu and the rhythm section of "Modest Mouse" give everything a warm and cozy live feel that is necessary for those who don't ordinarily dig electronic material.

Give it a couple of tracks. There is a seemingly saccharin coating to some of the cuts. But, I find it fascinating that he uses the electronic staples as an ironic mask for the brilliance underneath it.

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