THE DEVIL'S MONTH: April 2023
Every first Thursday we round up some of the finest releases of the previous month.
Our THE DEVIL’S MOUTH / MONDO NEGRO brotherhood marches on strongly, and after inaugurating our regular LABEL SPOTLIGHT feature, we will continue to bring you our montly round up of some of the coolest records being released across all corners of the underground. THE DEVIL’S MONTH has already given you January, February and March picks, and it’s now time for the April batch. 2023 continues to shower us in musical riches, the choice of five albums was as hard as ever, and just you wait to see what May has in store. Rumour has it that there is a gigantic secret brewing, waiting to come out in a couple of weeks…
Bonjour Tristesse
Against Leviathan!
(Supreme Chaos Records)
You’ve seen that promo pic, so yes, of course this is black metal, but even with the usual spikes/flames/looking scary in the woods combo visually presenting Nathanael (also bassist/vocalist for the wonderful Heretoir, if the name rings a bell), the sole Bonjour Tristesse member, the project is far from your typical run of the mill one-man raw BM hack jobs that all sound indistinguishable from each other. Even thematically, ‘Against Leviathan!’ follows a different path - as the first in a two-album cycle, it’s a critical look at our modern society and our clash with nature. Eloquently worded and sometimes even poetic, it’s a much deeper and interesting conceptual backdrop than what we’re generally used to in this genre. The music reflects that also - while there might be a tendency to label it DSBM in the beginning, the fact is that there isn’t anything inherently depressive or suicidal about ‘Against Leviathan!’. Its atmosphere is achieved by clashing anger and frustrated rage against beauty and sadness. There is a constant air of decaying grandeur, akin to visiting an empty abandoned palace long reclaimed by the forces of nature. For once, the production is entirely appropriated to this vision, avoiding the “raw” pitfall and giving each instrument and each longing howl the potency and the fullness they so richly deserve. Even if you’re a little jaded with the black metal underground right now - or especially of you are! -, don’t let this one slip by.
Lunar Chamber
Shambhallic Vibrations
(20 Buck Spin)
It’s “only” an EP, but at 28 minutes and packed with such a wealth of ideas, it would be silly to pass this up on the list just because of that denomination. It’s a really unusual beast, this one - the very first release by this trio that has apparently materialised a few years ago already (2018, it seems), consisting of quite young musicians with experience in other bands such as Tómarúm or Proliferation, it’s a wild mix of technical, angular, Gorguts-ian death metal and forward-thinking proggy flourishes, the kind that you’d regularly expect from bespectaled forty-somethings into Magma, Rush or Zappa. Add in a lyrical fascination with “Buddhism, the East, and esotericism”, as the press release explains, and you have quite a recipe. For disaster, potentially, as this is the sort of thing that can go very wrong, very fast, if it’s not handed expertly. Fortunately, “Timeworn Nexus”, “They, Who May Not Be Perceived” and “Æther Lotus”, the three band members who are actually called Brandon, Kyle and Thomas, do an exquisite job in justifying the use of those pseudonyms - ‘Shambhallic Vibrations’ does feel otherworldly and ethereal, but never at the cost of becoming aimlessly meandering. The death metal parts, complex as they are, are strong enough to ground the whole thing and stop it from floating off into Planet Freturbate, and the end result is refreshing and very striking. Looking forward to the full-length debut now!
Dorthia Cottrell
Death Folk Country
(Relapse Records)
If that album title makes you feel anything at all, then go for it right now. That could be all of the recommedation, really - Dorthia sure went for the no-bullshit approach with this, her second solo album, and not just in terms of the title. Especially when compared to her self-titled 2015 solo debut, a more obvious acoustic singer/songwriter effort, ‘Death Folk Country’ sounds deeper, rawer, much more genuine and from the gut. There’s still an undeniable Windhand-ness to it, especially in the more atmospheric parts, but only due to the umbilical connection of it being the same person - kind of like what happens with Steve Von Till/Harvestman’s stuff and Neurosis, for example -, as the music comes from a very clearly defined, different territory. Not quite country and not quite folk but somehow encompassing both and adding a touch of blues, sombre and profound but at the same time inspiring a curious sense of weightlessness, as Dorthia’s effortless vocals almost seem to levitate above the music sometimes, these songs never take the easy way home. There are no obvious hooks, nothing that can be defined as “catchy” (“hypnotic”, on the other hand, would be the ideal description), but their impact is nevertheless very direct and very organic. The lyrical mood is often bleak, her words unflinching while maintaining a poetic beauty-in-darkness kind of vibe, fitting the atmosphere perfectly. Saved for last (just about) is a gut punch called ‘Eat What I Kill’, which features lines like “once a bad girl, a bad girl for good” or “ain’t nothin’ special about singin’ a song”. After listening to ‘Death Folk Country’, I’d respectfully disagree with that last one, Dorthia, if you don’t mind.
Dødheimsgard
Black Medium Current
(Peaceville)
While these little blurbs I do here every month are not necessarily “reviews”, I do like to give you a sense of how each recommended album feels as a whole and to offer some overall criticism. If you just skip this bit and go straight to the Bandcamp play button below, that’s fine too, but know that there is some time and effort involved in these things. So, in the interest of full accuracy, please be aware that I will only feel like I’m fully qualified to discuss this new Dødheimsgard album sometime around 2031, if humanity still survives in any shape or form by then. That’s pretty much how long it’s taken me to fully get to grips with ‘A Umbra Omega’ their previous album from 2015 and their finest hour (yes, I’ve said it!) so far, and ‘Black Medium Current’ is holding a similarly fascinating yet puzzling grip on me so far, albeit appearing before us like an entirely different beast, as all DHG releases tend to be. Make no mistake, however, none of this is a chore. To listen to, and to keep absorbing and understanding this often disorienting, but also soothing and miraculously perfectly flowing sequence of moods, from smoky, jazzy dark-alley mysteries to furiously dissonant, uneasy chopped up black metal, is a moving emotional experience and, to put it bluntly, an enormous pleasure.
At this early stage, however, one of the earliest conclusions about ‘Black Medium Current’ can already be drawn. Maybe maturity has something to do with it, but it’s clear the band has realised to an even deeper degree that contrast is key, and with time they’ve learned to create absolutely seemless ways to move between those contrasts. Take that harsh bit in the middle of ‘It Does Not Follow’, for instance, isolate it and show it so any black metal veteran - they’ll probably nod along, and enjoy it, but it won’t send anyone into a frenzy. Within the context of the whole song, however, after the mind-boggling, ghostly psych bits, after the mood-setting loungey bit, after the clear singing, when it erupts, it will feel like the most savage piece of music ever. When it finally dissolves, towards the end, into a distant, slowing beat, as if drifting slowly into deep space, you will physically take a deep breath, as a very appropriate piano interlude called ‘Voyager’ follows, the next stop on this surreal ride. It’s just an example of one part of a song, but from the first to the last note played, all of ‘Black Medium Current’ is like this - a long and winding journey that feels meticulously planned yet spontaneous and free at the same time. All of its strange tempos, all the myriad of atmospheres it creates, everything feels part of a whole. Tension, uneasiness, release, bliss, conflict and confusion - everything you might want out of music is here, in this truly creative masterpiece. Who cares if Dødheimsgard take eight years between albums - if this is what we have to look forward to, we’d wait 80 years if need be. It’d be worth it.
Tunic
Wrong Dream
(Artoffact Records)
I’ve been a huge fan of Tunic for a while now, and it was a pleasure to have vocalist/guitarist David Schellenberg as a guest on the podcast when their previous album ‘Quitter’ came out, so it was a no-brainer to instantly spin the new album ‘Wrong Dream’ the minute the promo landed in my inbox. Well, it’s been spinning ever since, because not only does it feature all the desperate angst and dissonant heaviness we’ve come to expect from the trio, it also goes and steps on a few other territories they haven’t before. Maintaining a certain kind of minimalism, a very much welcome no-bullshit, barebones approach to both sound and songwriting, Tunic nevertheless seem to be… evolving! "For the longest time Tunic used to be about punishing the listener with the loudest, fastest and most intense songs possible and we still hold true to that a lot of the time now, especially live, but we're just adding a bit more dimension to our songs now," David mentions on the press release accompanying the promo, which absolutely nails it. Don’t think, however, that those extra dimensions will add any accessibility or ease of listening to the whole thing. ‘Wrong Dream’ is both lyrically and musically still full of trauma, raw vulnerability and following all the wrong dreams. Are there even any right ones?