THE DEVIL'S MONTH: June 2024
Rounding up some of the finest releases of the previous month - now including Andy's picks too!
June is upon us and so is Summer (well, for my half of the world at least), but just as the horrible heat and the detestable sun can’t hide all the cold things going on around us, so too the festive season of outdoor festivals and big events can’t stop all the nerds out there from holing themselves up in studios and basements and other such hovels and keep releasing weird records. So, just like every month, here is our selection of the best that happened in the many fields of weird outsider music during the month of June, as always powered by our lovely mates at the Mondo Negro record store where you can procure much of what we go on about here, and infinitely enriched by the extra picks of our permanent guest, our chief anti-rock star, our gargantuan genius, our handsome here, the unparalleled Andy Cairns.
Let us know if you liked any of these, and which were your own favourites for June. We always love hearing from you.
Onwards!
Darkened
Defilers Of The Light
(Edged Circle Productions)
Cheers to Albert from Decibel for handing me this one to review, as otherwise it would probably have languished forever in the undownloaded depths of my overpopulated “Promos” inbox label. It just looks like the kind of thing you’ve heard before a million times, and make no mistake, it is, but as I mention in that review (that you can read on this issue, alongside a bunch of other awesome stuff) it’s the best kind of heard-it-all-before - the kind that it doesn’t matter because it’s really well done and you’ll enjoy it anyway. Sort of non-descript death metal in terms of origin, despite some vague Swedishness to it all (the band is mostly Swedish apart from their Canadian vocalist), richly melodic and reminiscent of what we used to call “dark metal” in the 90s for lack of a better term which we still don’t have, it’s just a collection of really great metal songs which you will inevitably play over and over again.
Habak
Insania
(Persistent Vision Records)
Crust punks who wear Neurosis and Envy shirts, you know? Yeah, Habak are what you would call “melodic crust”, but all of those quick’n’easy descriptions really feel like they’re missing the point of this Mexican band, so it’s better to start at the beginning with them. And this is their beginning - ‘Insania’ is actually their debut album from 2015, now remastered, available on vinyl for the first time, and with a bonus live song, which instead of the throwaway “bonus” material these things usually are, is in fact an excellent glimpse into the band’s cathartically intense live shows. “Cathartically intense” would actually be a great way to describe what you get with these guys - explosive vocalist Alejandra Valdez’ lyrics, in Spanish as they should be, are darkly elegant and yet raw explorations of mental turmoil, isolation and despair, and the sound of the band, while maintaining that fiercely DIY, unpolished, honest edge to it, aptly reflects these themes, with sombre passages and furious crust outbursts weaving in and out of each other and producing a staggering emotional effect. Alejandra is the natural highlight of it all, the constant fucking explosion of unhinged emotion and aggression that she is, but do go and check out some of their live videos and more recent material to see how the entire band really slithers along menacingly through their songs as one full entity.
Insect Ark
Raw Blood Singing
(Debemur Morti)
Ah, so this is it. The splitting of the chrysalis and the slow, majestic unfolding of its menacing wings. Sure, everyone’s different and art is delightfully random and etc, but if you could specifically plot an ideal evolutionary trajectory for a band, this is kinda how I’d do it. Starting out as a solo project for the wildly talented Dana Schechter, becoming a duo along the way, and after the name is more or less established, by the fourth album (after Dana has become a fully-fledged member of Swans, mind you), drop that album, the one that seems to sneer at you when you start listening to it as it whispers “watch this”. ‘Raw Blood Singing’ is the true coming of age for the Insect Ark project, expanding its horizons more widely than any of us, even the most devoted fans, could ever have imagined. Not only is extraordinary Khanate drummer Tim Wyskida the best fit Dana has had as a band companion, but the way these new songs push deeper than ever is truly awe-inspiring. Apart from Dana’s voice, present for the first time, and we’ll get to that in a second, her arsenal of tools is pretty much the same - the distorted lap steel, the creeping bass, the unpredictability of the homemade pedals, the synths. The voice does add an important new dimension, and that’s what most people will focus on of course, but I believe it’s essential to note the excellence of songwriting on display here before qualifying the voice, lest we give the impression that this is just same old Insect Ark with singing on it. Not that there would have been anything wrong with that, as same old Insect Ark was pretty awesome to start with, but this music ebbs and flows with a pulsating dark energy that is absolutely primal and takes this project straight to top-tier level on its own, regardless of the presence of vocals. But enough downplaying them, too - yes, Dana’s voice is absolutely amazing, the gigantic cherry on this multi-layered cake of doom, a sort of sombre, almost restricted crooning, both seductive and menacing, and it makes us wonder why she was quiet behind that lap steel all these years.
LÖBO
Matéria Negra
(self-released)
As you might have noticed, our lovely guest Andy Cairns is a bit looser with the whole “stuff that came out last month” kind of deal of this feature in his picks, the devil-may-care rock’n’roller that he is, while I, the boring poindexter, sit here going “no, it came out 24h before the limit, I can’t do it” while my glasses slide down my nose. So fuck that for once, ‘Matéria Negra’ came out on May 31st but whatever, I say it goes and this is my party and I’ll cry if I want to. My excuse is that they just dropped it on us sort of by surprise, so I already had all the May stuff written last month when they did. In any case, this needs to be mentioned here because it’s salivatingly brilliant. LÖBO have always been not only one of my favourite Portuguese bands, but one of my favourite bands tout court, even if their career has been mostly a tantalizing game of tease and desist. One sole EP back in 2010, ‘Älma’, released shortly after they formed (go listen to it too!), still as a four-piece, a string of absolutely fantastic live shows, several of which that I was fortunate to witness, and then a long period of the bad sort of “we’re probably broken up” silence. Fortunately, that familiar dark blip on the radar appeared once more last year as LÖBO revealed they were recording a new thing and shared the extraordinary ‘Torre de Silêncio’ track. The new thing turned out to be this three-track EP, and it’s such a powerful “we’re back!” statement that we’ll be even more pissed this time if they decide to disappear again. Now as a power trio, with the core duo of João Vairinhos and Ricardo Remédios joined by guitarist/bassist Pedro Barceló, they sound even tighter and meaner than before, which is really saying something. Maintaining the basic characteristics of their sound, which is a huge-sounding, spacious mix of doom, post-rock/metal, sludge, psych and ambient, ‘Matéria Negra’ feels like the doors opened by ‘Älma’ all those years ago have now been finally kicked entirely open and they let all the infinite darkness of the universe seep in. Each of these songs is its own sinister universe of exploration, with the listener being lost and found and then lost again, in an atmosphere as heavy and suffocating as it is mind-expanding and luminous. The interplay between synths, guitars and bass is such that everything seems to merge into one thick vortex that just keeps pulsating along. To call it “instrumental” music feels even demeaning, as if it’s suggesting that vocals might even be a possibility, which they aren’t as they’d ruin everything in this towering, otherworldly sonic achievement. Dive in, go on. You won’t regret it.
Sear Bliss
Heavenly Down
(Hammerheart Records)
Some bands are just like this, spending a whole career, which in the case of Sear Bliss already amounts to more than 30 years and nine full-length albums, more or less within the sleepy comfort of obscurity, lauded by the few that come across them and give them the time they need to blossom in your mind and heart, but otherwise rarely mentioned alongside other frequently less talented contemporaries. If you’re an explorer of black metal, you might have even come across them before, since a few of their basic characteristics sound quirky enough to pay attention to, like being from Hungary or the fact they use brass instruments such as trombone, trumpet and/or euphonium alongside their very particular take on black metal. But get past those more exotic basic facts, and you’ll find an exquisitely subtle and nuanced band, one that needs time and dedication just like all our favourite “avant-metal” bands of yesteryear like Ved Buens Ende, This Empty Flow or Beyond Dawn among others, a little group to which Sear Bliss most definitely belong, even if not considered so very often. In fact, those names mentioned weren’t just randomly chosen out of the “avant” hat, they are indeed reference points that might come to mind as ‘Heavenly Down’ slowly but beautifully unfolds in all its brass-laden glory. Sear Bliss aren’t the darkest, the most brutal or the coldest black metal band in the world, nor do they intend to - what they do is build a shadowy yet colourful labyrinth of sounds and textures for you to disorient yourself in, a beautiful, inspiring yet ultimately scarring journey. While the weight and bite of this unique record (I’d venture, even without the benefit of hindsight, that it’s definitely top three in Sear Bliss’ rich catalogue, and might even come to confirm it’s in fact #1 after a few more weeks of living with it) is far from immediate, they do know how to throw a more straightforward banger now and then too - just check out the cadency of the main riff of ‘Chasm’, one of the best black metal songs of recent years and hidden down there on track seven.
Enola Gay - Cold (Enola Gay1916)
Every release from this Belfast band takes their art in compelling new directions. Keeping their post-punk aesthetic but adding further colour and tactile washes of sound. With ‘Cold’ there is a fantastic vocal atop guitars verging on modern classical, jazzy drums and an almost ravey bass line. This is serious intense poetic music played with strength, dignity and grace.
Light Of Eternity - Light Of Eternity (Bandcamp)
New project from Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke and it’s stellar. The drums are as fantastic as you’d expect, guitars and keys bring a grandeur and hypnotic patterns over which measured vocals float keep the momentum exciting and instant. ‘Lament’ is gorgeous, romantic, doomed and very, very affecting.
Other Half - Dark Ageism (Big Scary Monsters)
What an album. Every song captivates, guitars are infectiously warm yet retain an understated savageness, a seam of melancholy runs through the tracks but without collapsing into navel gazing or ennui. The sound of the whole thing is almost too awesome to take in at one sitting. I could mention Slint, Codeine, Bitch Magnet, Unwound and more, but it wouldn’t do this wonderful record the justice it deserves.
Problem Patterns - I Think You Should Leave (Bandcamp)
Essential tune, filthy bass and guitars, urgent, arresting vocals with brilliant lyrics dealing with making the best of what you have to deal with in the north of Ireland and by being proactive turning things around for the good. Fierce, vital music to inspire you to get off your arse and so something positive with your life. Check out their album, ‘Blouse Club’, on Alcopop! Records while you’re at it. [José’s note: and while you’re at it, why not check it out without leaving our premises, eh?]
White Hills - Killing Crimson/Fiend (White Hills)
Both these tracks are from their forthcoming album ‘Beyond This Fiction’. ‘Killing Crimson’ has a relentless, Geordie Walker style riff, close, psychedelic harmonies to begin with then swerves into some King Crimson circa ‘Red’ territory. There’s many spectacular sounds on this with nods to space rock in places. ‘Fiend’, meanwhile, has a more restrained pace with a heat haze of guitars and a startling bass line. Some of the vocals remind me of Pink Floyd on ‘The Wall’ album for some reason. Really looking forward to the album.