THE DEVIL'S MONTH: July 2023
Every first Thursday we round up some of the finest releases of the previous month.
As we flip to side B of 2023, the song remains pretty much the same - a ridiculous number of envelope-pushing, forward-thinking artists putting records out, both established veterans and newcomers of the most disparate underground genres, and some so adventurously out-there as to not even be a proper part of any genre at all. Fortunately, the two-headed music-tuning monster antenna that is the collaboration between THE DEVIL’S MOUTH and MONDO NEGRO is far from running out of batteries, and each month we keep bringing you a super-distilled, five-album strong collection of the best releases of the past four weeks. This month’s batch features “ecstatic black metal” (you’ll see), lots of punk, lots of ambient stuff, and a staggering degree of awesomeness all round. Dive in:
Agriculture
Agriculture
(The Flenser)
“For something to be ‘ecstatic,’ the feelings and emotions it evokes must transcend what we tend to experience most regularly in our lives. Ecstatic joy isn’t just happiness; it’s a feeling of jubilation which impacts us emotionally and in a metaphysical, arguably spiritual sense too.” And this is why Agriculture - it feels weird at first, yeah, but you’ll get used to the name, don’t worry - call their music “ecstatic black metal”. The explanation goes on, if you’d like to read the rest on their Bandcamp, which I’m sure you will visit frantically looking for the “buy now” button in a minute if you’re not still familiar with these guys, but suffice to say that the music does that concept absolute justice. If you remember the thrill of listening to, say, that Deafheaven demo for the first time, or experiencing the profund yet exhilarating angst of the sort of emo black metal acts like Lonesummer have done, or even how an entire universe seemed like it was opening up in front of you the first time you listened to Wolves In The Throne Room, this is exactly what you get with Agriculture. The passion, the intensity, the unbearable heaviness coexisting with the utmost frailty, the evocative nature of its concept, all of it will feel like a transcendental experience - which it is.
End Reign
The Way Of All Flesh Is Decay
(Relapse)
Harking back to an age where metal and hardcore existed in an open space without any rigidly defined borders, and yet expertly avoiding any tired, forced retro trappings just to feel “old school”, End Reign are instantly appealing. Literally the first second you put it on, opener ‘Desolate Fog’ will pull you into the pit for a constant battering that you will love every second of. It’s the sort of expertly crafted hi-tech bomb that still feels as spontaneous as a cocktail molotov to the face, that only people with a ton of extreme music mileage could pull off, and everything makes sense once you look at the line-up. With the well-known Domenic Romeo (Integrity / Pulling Teeth / A389 Recordings) at the helm, you also get the great Mike Score (All Out War) on broken glass-gurgling vocals, Sebastian Phillips (Exhumed / Noisem) shredding away like his life depends on it, and Arthur Legere (ex-Bloodlet) and Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer and Misery Index) composing a simply demolishing rhythm section. If you still need a few more big names to convince you (you don’t, but let’s have them anyway), they evoke Amebix, Bathory, Slayer and Cro-Mags as main inspirations, but whatever, we’re already in all the way. A proper crossover gem, the kind that really makes you understand that metal and hardcore are simply two sides of the same closed fist.
Luna Honey & Norman Westberg
Aftermath
(Cacophonous Revival Recordings)
Luna Honey only formed six years ago but theirs is already a lush, rich catalogue that veers from hypnotic ambient to more unhinged, dense bouts of experimentation. The one thing that we didn’t know was missing in their sound was adding the uniquely talented Norman Westberg to it. The long-time Swans guitarist (among several other equally fascinating projects) has carved out a remarkable solo career in the last few years, building delicate, almost minimalist pieces of carefully woven guitar textures (his latest live shows opening up for Swans have been the stuff of pure beauty), and so this match seems like it was made both in heaven and in hell at the same time, because it definitely covers all bases. Deeply atmospheric, with the electronics, guitars and voices seemingly freely flowing in and out of each other, the whole thing is like watching a particularly vivid dream unfold while wide awake.
Mario Infantes
Antidote To A Turbulent Mind
(Lost Future Records)
Mario Infantes, a Spaniard based in Iceland, is the vocalist for Cult Of Lilith, a proggy, technical death metal band whose first album ‘Mara’ was very well received a couple of years ago, and that tells you absolutely nothing about what you can expect on this, his first album under his own name. You see, ‘Antidote…’ is a collection of unexpected, often even bizarre soundscapes, a sonic - and visual! - building erected by synths, drum machines and virtual instruments that despite their unassuming, even subtle nature, rarely fails to pull you into its own quirky little world of imagination. I added “visual” back there because not only are these tracks indeed very evocative, very psychedelic, very cinematic, something that makes sense once you realise that Mario, himself, is a visual artist as well, but also because the videos that have been shared are really quite something and add a lot to the music. So after you give this surprisingly addictive thing a spin, do go check out ‘…And Find My Grotto’ and ‘Purrxistence’ (yes, there’s cats in it) in visual form, you won’t be disappointed.
Restraining Order
Locked In Time
(Triple-B Records)
Picking up where their already excellent debut left off (literally, with a reprise!), clocking in at just a dash over twenty minutes, ‘Locked In Time’ doesn’t waste any time with any kind of bullshit. Every second of this record matters, and despite its short duration (it just means you get to listen to it twice over the time a regular album takes, okay?), each song contains at least one colossal hook that will satisfy you immediately and keep you coming back for more. In terms of relentless energy, it’s sort of reminiscent of Rancid’s 2000 self-titled, for instance. Looking for the perfect record to put on while you work out, while you drive, while doing stupid chores, or when you just need to sing along to some awesome tunes without even thinking about it and let off steam? ‘Locked In Time’ is all that and a lot more. Don’t let those side-tasks fool you into thinking this is somehow wallpaper or throwaway music, though. It’s a lot of fun in those and many other situations, yes, but in fact, it might also be one of the most lasting examples of the vitality of pure hardcore punk that we’ve heard in years - I can guarantee you that if I’m still around in ten years, Restraining Order will still be in my regular rotation.