THE DEVIL'S MONTH: January 2023
Every first Thursday we round up some of the finest releases of the previous month.
You were forewarned! When we signaled the beginning of our partnership with the awesome Mondo Negro store (where you will be able to find many of the releases mentioned in this and other features, and tons more unusual/hard to find stuff) by sharing our year-defining playlist, we promised more great things to come, and the first shared outcome of this sister/brotherhood is now before you - a monthly round-up of some of the records that have most caught our eyes, ears, hearts, souls and any other squishy or esoterical bits that might be moved by music. So without further ado, here are the picks for THE DEVIL’S MONTH - January 2023!
Fågelle
Den svenska vreden
(Medication Time)
A true confirmation of the arrival of the unique musical voice that appeared in the experimental scene with 2019’s ‘Helvetesdagar’, Fågelle’s second album is a quiet display of seething fury, and if that sounds like some sort of cute little image coughed up by a lazy writer, well, give it a spin first and then let me know. Deceptively sparse, glitchy electronic soundscapes appear jumbled together with field recordings and other scrapyard-like sounds, but the end result, despite still feeling raw, intimate and ominous, is also a lush and expansively emotional cry out into a cold and uncaring world.
Obituary
Dying Of Everything
(Relapse)
“I don’t know, man. We’ve used all kinds of gruesome deaths in our songs, what should this next dude die of?” “How about everything?” We don’t know if that was the origin of this album title (okay, we do know, and it wasn’t - apparently it comes from a poem Donald Tardy’s girlfriend wrote), but it would have made sense at this point in the career of the Tampa death metal legends. Their place in the extreme pantheon is assured, even with a few so-so albums in the latter part of their career, but whichever place in their guts this album was dredged from, however, seems to have ignited that old spark again. Though Obituary through and through (“We didn’t take any different approaches. We’re comfortable in our skin,” Donald says), it’s their most balanced mix of old-school and modern vibes and their best collection of songs in a long time.
Scúru Fitchádu
Nez Txada skúru dentu skina na braku fundu
(Self-released)
The second Scúru Fitchádu album came out with precious little previous warning, a sudden drop typical of main man Marcus Veiga’s guerrilla approach to his art. As he told us in the recent chat we had with him, “I like the unexpected and being predictable gives me hives.” With this remarkable release, he also proves how unwilling he is to be pinned out or reduced to whatever you might have him figured out as, musically or conceptually. African music - mainly from Cape Verde -, electronics, industrial and punk are still at the base of these powerful songs, and they are confrontational and thought-provoking as always, but never stagnant, and never just used as a mere vehicle for some autopilot preaching like so many other one-dimensional artists. “I don’t like being boxed as the guy with the causes, I can’t ghettoise my music just for that political limitation,” Marcus also told us. And it shows.
Sightless Pit
Lockstep Bloodwar
(Thrill Jockey)
Collaboration is so deeply ingrained in the artistic expression of these people that by now you’d be hard pressed to mention in a single breath every project that has sprung from this group of friends that extends through acts like Full Of Hell, The Body, Lingua Ignota, Thou and more. Whereas with lesser artists it might feel like they were scraping the barrel, however, in their case almost all of their different outings make sense. Sightless Pit is now formed by the core duo of Dylan Walker (Full Of Hell) and Lee Buford (The Body) - Kristin/Lingua Ignota is no longer a part of it - , but as you can see by just a little scroll of the tracklist, ‘Lockstep Bloodwar’ features many other different guests on almost every song. Never does it feel scattered or without focus though, and the duality between bellicose, soul-scraping noise and an underlying sense of melody is always what drives the music. At the end, bloody and bruised, emerges an album that will reduce you to a purple-hued pulp, yes, but a smiling, warm-hearted one.
Tribunal
The Weight Of Rememberance
(20 Buck Spin)
Alongside Obituary, Vancouver-based newcomers Tribunal are at first glance the most genre-specific band of this bunch, but leave it to the typically judicious 20 Buck Spin to dig up in all the right places to come up with that band that carries a tried and tested style with cliché-free grace. Such is the gothic doom of this duo (Soren Mourne on cello, bass and vocals, Etienne Flinn on vocals and guitars), and yes, I’m aware “gothic doom” in 2023 might be one of the most uncool pairings of music-related words, but instead of corny Tristania albums or whatever, do think prime My Dying Bride, Skepticism or even Occultation (for a more contemporary reference) to frame what Tribunal are doing. Sombre, solemn, heavy in varied ways, and drenched in their own personality unlike so many current peers, ‘The Weight Of Rememberance’ could be the start of something special.