LK Ultra's Red Hot Mixtape, May 21st ed.

Side Lava
1). -(16)- - The Absolute Center of a Pitch Black Heart - Relapse Records revealed this week that legendary Los Angeles sludge band 16 will return with a new LP, titled 'Lifespan of a Moth' on July 15. Along with the news came the bandcamp link above featuring the first single. It's an osbtacle course full of fast-moving curve balls. A great song that shows the deft hand of a veteran band at work and an excellent start to any mixtape.

2). MOS GENERATOR - Wicked Willow - Another legendary west coast band, Washington's resident bullshit-less throwback rockers Mos Generator also have a new album in the pipeline called 'Abyssinia' set to invade homes on August 5. The first single, "Wicked Willow" is streaming on Decibel and it's more than worthy of inclusion on any mixtape. The build-ups and (slightly) subdued payoffs here are masterful.

3). CHURCH OF MISERY - Make Them Die Slowly (John George Haigh) - Japan's favorite heavy sons, Church of Misery's latest album, 'And Then There Were None...' has been out since early March, but this song is still reducing my mind to sludge. Great riff from the "Iron Man" like intro, to the awesome chorus, this one's got it all.

"I'll hang you high and drain your blood

Sip on the nectar while your bones reduce to sludge

Submerge your carcass in the drum

Sulfuric acid bath, without a trace you're gone"

4). MERCHANT - Black Vein - I hadn't heard Australia's Merchant until fairly recently. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. My feeble mind couldn't have imagined a band so expertly walk the line between extreme metal and what you might consider to be traditional sludge in the Crowbar, Eyehategod vein. "Black Vein" is a real standout track on their new album 'Suzerain' and at 9 minutes, it's one of the shorter ones.

5). BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS - Sand Mountain - Germany's resident drone/sludge masters Black Shape of Nexus (B-SON)'s new album 'Carrier' was an adrenaline shot to the heart of a band that's been shaping minimalist sonic worlds for a decade and "Sand Mountain" is the standout track, a nervous breakdown of a song with a paranoia-inducing riff. This is the flashpoint where the drive to move minds with droning sounds and minimalist structures and the drive to move bodies with great riffs and punchy rhythms comes together.

Side Magma

6). BLIZARO - Frozen Awakening - Blizaro is my favorite band and they're still the best kept secret in the world of underground heavy. Their second official full-length 'Cornucopia Della Morte' was recorded years ago but got lost in haze of delays and label changes. When their new, self-titled record comes out (hopefully sometime this late spring / early summer) you'll hear how the band has changed their focus so this album is a weird artifact of a weird band. "Frozen Awakening" is arguably the best song on the album, one that finds that perfect marriage between Goblin-esque Italian horror music and Paul Chain-like Italian proto-doom riffs.

7). BLOOD CEREMONY - Lord of Misrule - The title track to Blood Ceremony's fourth album has that signature band sound with a sprinkling of 60's flower power petals. An upstrokey riff and flute combine with a powerful chorus to keep that Wicker Man vibe from their last album going strong. It's a scene of drunken revelry, fated to end in a sobering way.

8). VOKONIS - Olde One - I have to remind myself that Vokonis is a Swedish, not an Italian band. They have that sound. The ostensible title track from Vokonis' first album, 'Olde One Ascending' is doing just that at the Paranoid compound. It's one of those songs where when you're still learning it and it comes up on a playlist, you have to pull your device from your pocket and check who does it and make a mental note. It's the melodic riff that floats over the heavy bassline that does the trick.

9). DOPETHRONE - Host - Dopethrone and Fister put out a FREE split single on bandcamp last week. Dopethrone's side is like a pipe bomb filled with spinning sawblades. Just a killer tune with a great riff and that buzzy tone the band is known and celebrated for. It made for a nice surprise and a solid ramp for the big finish to our mixtape.

10). HEAD OF THE DEMON - Sathanas Trismegistos - Head of the Demon is another of my top 5 favorite bands. Their second album just escaped into our dimension, this is the title track. Sometimes I think they're playing black metal at quarter or even eighth speed, this is one of those times and it's a perfect example of what about this band just clicks for me. A good way to end a mixtape, by throwing you into the abyss.

***

Bonus Cassingle:
A). LOOKING GLASS - Procession
B). LOOKING GLASS - Electric Mistress

Hour of Power: BEST VIDEOS OF 2013

Here are my 14 favorite videos released in 2013.  It was hard culling a great list down to a single, essential hour of videos because there were at least two hours worth of memorable ones.  These are the ones I like best.  I've run them down in chronological order of release and I'll give my reasons for liking each one as we go here ...

1. Frankenstein Pays The Rent (The Mangled Dead / Hate Humans) - Just a fun, campy, no budget video.  The best moment is when the monster rides by the bus stop on a skateboard and takes the guy's obviously fake hand off as he goes.
2. U Turn (The Quartet of Woah! / Ultrabomb) - There's nothing flashy about this video, just four guys jamming on a sound stage.  What makes this video stick out for me is the rambunctious energy of the guys in the band.  Impressive performance.
3. Bruce Lee (Indian Handcrafts / Civil Disobedience For Losers) - There's no disliking this video, that's just all there is to it.  A good retro feel here for this faux chop sockey flick.  The Canadian duo actually make a good job of it acting the parts too.
4. Torn Apart (Valient Thorr / Our Own Masters) - This video puts a smile on my face.  Valient Thorr sit in cubicles, long hair, beards and tattoos in button up shirts and ties acting freaked out by the office worker whose decided he's had enough.  Guys quietly peaking over a sea of cubicles makes me LOL as the kids say (Lucas laughs).  Good conclusion to the storyline too.
5. Dune (Beastwars / Blood Becomes Fire) - This was just an amazing animated video.  Visual stunner here, Beastwars are quickly developing a reputation as having excellent visual representation of their work to go along with the amazing music.  Astronauts and dinosaurs, what more needs be said?
6. Sons of the Soil (C.F.A. / Managed By The Devil, Brought To You By The Grace Of God) - This was another fun, silly video.  The Tacoma trio do the Dorf thing here and hilarity ensues.  Good energy and a lot of good fun.
7. Waiting for Saturn (Bison, Bison / ST) - It's kind of a toss up between this and "Bruce Lee" for my favorite clip of the year.  This video is a tribute to John Carpenter's They Live complete with alien masks and extended fight scene.
8. Goodbye Gemini (Blood Ceremony / The Eldritch Dark) - This one gets the nod for the nice retro flavor here.  It really feels like an obscure occult horror film from the seventies with the poor image quality and vintage clothing.
9. Shrouded (The Body / Christs, Redeemers) - This was one of the most enigmatic videos I've ever seen, if for no other reason than the song this video supports isn't really all that musical.  It's just a whole lot of static, but it creates an incredibly intense atmosphere and it all builds to the stunning conclusion.  Feels like a found footage snuff film.
10. The Bearded Fool (Old Man Wizard / Unfavorable) - Here we go with another fun one.  The guys in Old Man Wizard have shot (or are shooting?) a video for every song on their six track debut album and they're all different.  In this one OMW get their medieval thing on meeting the dastardly challenges of dread witches and piss poor video editing.  It's mad, brilliant stuff.
11. Branch Davidian Compound (Cold Blue Mountain / ST) - This one I just liked the concept.  The band gets together and jams in a house.  The camera voyeuristically watches from outside the window in moments here and there creating a cool perspective.  What seems normal from the inside, seems strange from the outside.
12. Slave the Hive (High on Fire / digital single) - This was a strange one indeed, just a strange concept.  A Jacob's Ladder feel to this one with anthropomorphic bunny's etc. substituting for the demons in the psych ward.  Cute when animated, the stuff of nightmares in live action.
13. Palm Reader (Castles / Fiction or Truth?) - Nothing too flashy in this one, yet again.  What I like about this video is the energy and enthusiasm of the band.  Walking down a Belgian back alley in business suits, the band headbangs, air guitars and air drums to their own song which may seem egotistical to some, but I like the idea that the band isn't too cool to totally geek out about their own creation.  It makes me enthusiastic about their music, because they are.
14. Wasted Wails (Hydromedusa / digital single) - This was just brilliant.  VHS shot for that genuine retro feel, the concept is nothing special, just the band jamming in a green room with psychedelic images projected behind them, but the video has two thing going for it: it's got a great soundtrack and a good vibe.

2013 Chronicle (Year in review) part 6 - Best of May 2013

May 1 - Geezer (Gage EP)

May 2 - Ten Foot Wizard (ST)

May 3 - Procession (To Reap Heavens Apart)

May 7 - APE MACHINE (Mangled By the Machine) - By this point in the year, the Ripple Music machine was really rolling and it was impossible not to get mangled by it.  If this album was just a hefty stoner record of no inconsiderable girth, it would be notable simply for how good it is.  But that it was recorded in a single take, front to back with no pauses between songs, makes it an essential listen.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Gun You Down" and "Angry Man".  Rating 5/5

May 10 - MAGISTER TEMPLI (Lucifer Leviathan Logos) - Old school metal combined with doom and occult / esoteric references set the foundation for this Norwegian quintet.  This was one of the more satisfying and memorable albums of the style released in 2013.  Anyway, it`s hard to go wrong with that mix of influences, Magister Templi concocted a killer potion indeed here.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Master of the Temple" and "The Innsmouth Look".  Rating 4/5

May 10 - SHALLOW GRAVE (ST) - This Auckland quartet released one of the most addictive albums of the year.  It was brutal, sludgy and doomy with droney passages which played out like time spent tied to a chair in a shed or basement waiting for the next round of torture to begin.  This album is a rare combination of dark and aggressive.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Chemical Fog" and "Nameless Chants".  Rating 4.5/5

May 12 - MAMMOTH STORM (Demo 2013) - This apocalyptically heavy trio must have emerged from deep inside a snow filled caldera.  One day Mammoth Storm and Salem's Pot are going to tickle fight to see who is Sweden's heaviest band.  All us mortals the world over will be destroyed in their convulsive jocularity.  No happy endings here, just mass.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Volcanic Winter" and "Ancient Apocalypse".  Rating 5/5

May 14 - KADAVAR (Abra Kadavar) - German retro rockin' trio Kadavar's rise was a meteoric one.  Within the space of a single year the band went from one that few outside their home territory knew about to releasing a six song album with polyrhythmic structures to being signed by Nuclear Blast and releasing a streamlined straight up hard rock record and becoming everybody's favorite buzz band.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Fire" and "Doomsday Machine".  Rating 4.5/5

May 14 - UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS (Mind Control) - UK quartet Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats (named after a band former Cactus vocalist Rusty Day formed shortly before his murder) came out of their shell this year, conducting interviews and releasing promo group shots at the behest of their new label Rise Above Records.  They also made their live debut at the Roadburn Festival (!!! [that's some venue for a debut performance]) and later toured the UK with no lesser personages than Black Sabbath themselves.  Most importantly they released their third album and all-important follow-up to 2011's terrific 'Blood Lust' which had scored the band significant underground buzz.  As always of course, opinions were split on the creative success of the record with the majority falling victim to the album's deadly charisma.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Mt. Abraxas" and "Mind Crawler".  Rating 4.5/5

May 15 - CULTURA TRES (Rezando Al Miedo) - South American sludge heroes Cultura Tres had a great year, signing to Devouter Records in late 2012, then successfully touring Europe shortly before releasing this terrific album.  Hooky, heavy & haunting, the album took Alice in Chains style harmonies and dragged them through the sludge.  'Rezando al Miedo' was one if the great albums and one of the great creative leaps forward for any band this year.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "La Ley Del Dolor" and "Hole In Your Head".  Rating 4.5/5

May 15 - Kings Destroy (A Time of Hunting)

May 17 - Evangelist (Doominicanes)

May 21 - A Pale Horse Named Death (Lay My Soul To Waste)

May 21 - ROTE MARE (The Invocation & The Kingdom) - It's not easy hearing someone pour their guts out on record but when the net results are an airtight split and a stellar pair of full-length albums it becomes a little easier to handle.  Sifting through the entrails reveals gem upon gem and any stretching of creativity expands to new heights, never thinning out.  Traditional doom never sounded so passionate.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Suicidal Slayer" and "The Thief".  Rating 4.5/5

May 24 - Steak (Corned Beef Colossus)

May 24 - Vidunder (ST)

May 27 - BLOOD CEREMONY (The Eldritch Dark) - Canadian quartet Blood Ceremony's much anticipated third album came out of left field with a folk / doom tidal wave of top notch storytelling with more than ample memorable moments to match.  A decidedly more colorful record than their previous effort 'Living With The Ancients', 'The Eldritch Dark' has been a mainstay in my Top 10 records of the year since its release.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Goodbye Gemini" and "Witchwood".  Rating 4.5/5

May 28 - Age of Taurus (Desperate Souls of Tortured Times)

May 28 - ALICE IN CHAINS (The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here) - Alice in Chains's second album since their 2009 resurrection was simply more of what you've come to expect from the grungy legends.  It's a great album, full of hooks and harmonies, big metal poses and faux cowboy ballads.  The thing I like about it most is that it exists.  Original review here.  Get it here.  Highlights include: "Stone" and "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here".  Rating 4.5/5

May 30 - Witches of God (The Blood of Others)


Best Album From April 2013:
'The Eldritch Dark' by BLOOD CEREMONY

Best Song From April 2013:
"Mind Crawler" by UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS

PARANOID Thoughts:

And the award for record label of the year goes to: Rise Above Records.  Forget that the label is currently embroiled in a minor controversy with all-world label signees Electric Wizard, 2013 ought to be remembered for the consistently high quality of the label's output.  Everything the label released was awesome and each album that came out seemed to be better than the last.  Any one of the albums listed below would have been at or near the top of any other label's best releases list for the year, the fact that label head honcho Lee Dorrian managed to rush them all out the door in the space of a single year makes you wonder whether the anti-trust lawyers won't be coming after him some day soon.

Top 10 Rise Above Records released albums from 2013:
1). Iron Man - 'South of the Earth'
2). Blood Ceremony - 'The Eldritch Dark'
3). Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - 'Mind Control'
4). Horisont - 'Time Warriors'
5). Cathedral - 'The Last Spire'
6). Moss - 'Horrible Night'
7). Church of Misery - 'Thy Kingdom Scum'
8). Age of Taurus - 'Desperate Souls of Tortured Times'
9). The Hidden Masters - 'Of This & Other Worlds'
10). Purson - 'The Circle & the Blue Door'
Last year's winner: Small Stone Records.

Hour of Power 10/26/13 (playlist)

1. Goodbye Gemini (Blood Ceremony / The Eldritch Dark) 2013
2. Children of the Sun (Nightstalker / Dead Rock Commandos) 2012
3. Heartbreaker (Motörhead / Aftershock) 2013
4. Loner (Black Sabbath / 13) 2013
5. Golachab (Saturnalia Temple / Impossibilum EP) 2013
6. Go Blind (Shooting Guns / Brotherhood of the Ram) 2013
7. Ride to Ruin (Hollow Leg / Abysmal) 2013
8. Conscience (At Devil Dirt / Plan B: Sin Revolución no hay Evolución) 2013
9. Evil Eye (Fu Manchu / The Action Is Go) 1997 'classic clip'

And a special bonus:
10.  Cooking Hostile with Phil Anselmo Episode 1 2013

Blood Ceremony - The Eldritch Dark (album review)

Flute.

It's all one needs to know about the band really to let them know that Blood Ceremony is one of those bands that is so far removed from a metal sound that it makes them twice as metallic.  Like when Goths give themselves their own 'Goth' name it's always something like ... I don't know ... "Tearspiller" or "Rat-Eater" or something, but every now and then comes a being so dark, so depressed, so made-up and dressed in black that this brooding creature can only go by the very un-Goth handle of ... "Betty".  It's an inversion you see.  Like an upside down cross.  It's the same spirit the flute brings to bloody ceremonies.

Basically, the use of flute is Blood Ceremony's most obviously identifiable and defining characteristic.  The other is Sean Kennedy's big, bad Sabbathian riffs.  2011's 'Living with the Ancients' saw the band move slightly away from the flute at times and go for more of an organ sound (both instruments are played by vocalist Alia O'Brien) and also deeper and darker into the cellar of Doom Metal.  'The Eldritch Dark', the band's third full-length album, sees the band veer sharply into folkier territory, featuring more flute than a renaissance fair and even some violin for good measure. It's the natural and logical direction for the music to go into.

From the off, album opener "Witchwood" finds the band exploring less dark and heavy territory, which was the overwhelming mood of 'Living with the Ancients'.  A third asset the band has always had aside from flute and riffs galore has been Alia's tremendous ability to snake her way into the listener's brain with infectious vocal melodies, another overwhelming impression left by Blood Ceremony's last effort.  "Witchwood" pulls the organ out of storage and dusts it off once more to pave the way for another of "riff master general" Kennedy's cyclopean figures.  The fourth asset of Blood Ceremony is their proggy nature.  It would be one thing for this band to be able to stick out like a sore thumb if all they'd given listeners were boy-girl love songs with big riffs mixed with flute in an unadventurous song structure, they would still be cool sure, but they become a different beast entirely by giving the listener more, by telling a story and doing it in style.  Progginess seeps out of the pores of this record like sweat, and looms over everything like an ominously eerie and dark cloud, giving way to some classic rock sides that aren't all Sabbathian.

"Lord Summerisle" really captures the mood of Paul Giovanni's soundtrack for The Wicker Man (1973), the (amazing) film the titular character of the song is taken from.  If memory serves, this is the first duet the band has done.  Bassist Lucas Gadke provides not only the main instrumental component of the song but lead vocals as well, with Alia riding shotgun providing the harmony.  Actually, there's a palpable Moody Blues feel to this song with wind-swept vibes providing accompaniment.  The Wicker Man soundtrack feel spills into the next track, "Ballad of the Weird Sisters", even more so.  By far the folkiest track on the album, it actually has much in common with Bob Dylan's mid-seventies albums such as 'Blood on the Tracks' and especially 'Desire'.

It's this folky / proggy emphasis that provides the album with its dark appeal.  We don't often associate folk and bright sounding instruments like the flute and violin with darkness in music, but what Kennedy's riffs don't slather in shadow, O'Brien's lyrics smother in sinister kisses with poisoned lips.  She can suggest things even without explicitly saying or showing them, which makes the album all the darker, because the listeners fill in the blanks in their own minds.

"Drawing Down the Moon" is probably the most "pure Blood Ceremony" track on the record but even then there's a folkiness to it that cannot be denied.  The thing that makes Blood Ceremony's folk leanings unpretentious to the listener is that they're not trying to be a metal band, there's no double kick to wrench you from the storytelling, and the band can only do what a regular traditional rock band can do, with no crazy set-ups, only they do it heavier, much, much heavier.  They do it heavier not just in terms of sound, but in mood.  It's a "heavy vibes" thing.  Vibes made more evil and sinister by the folky nature of the compositions on 'The Eldritch Dark'.  When listening to this album I see the devil cut in wood.  I hear whispered tales of forbidden things in a puritanical age.  I see the guilty accuse the innocent.  I see evil in broad daylight, which is somehow darker than evil at midnight, isn't it?

After the short instrumental "Faunus", the album closes with "The Magician" a song that charges down the same tracks as "Oliver Haddo".  In fact, The Magician is the title of the book that the character Oliver Haddo is taken from.  It was written by W. Somerset Maugham and published in 1908 and I have it on my shelf, a purchase inspired by Blood Ceremony, so there you go.  The character of Oliver Haddo was inspired by a brash young wild-eyed upstart occultist that was circulating in British social circles of the time by the name of Aleister Crowley.  Just had to throw that out there, it's a great song too (so is "... Haddo").

There are a great many bands and albums out there with a truly genuine 'vintage' sound.  Kadavar's 'Abra Kadavar' is one, with a specifically hard rock feel, Purson's 'The Circle and the Blue Door' is another.  It sounds like it really could have been released by the Vertigo label in early 1971.  New band Demon Eye (for specific reasons, stay tuned for their review coming soon) ... the list could go on, Ape Skull, The Tangerine Stoned.  Chock up 'The Eldritch Dark' in this same category.  What makes it stand out among the pack is its neo-acid folk stylings melted across the flaming grill of Kennedy's fretboard.  You won't hear anything else like it, not even in the band's own back catalog.

Highlights include: "Drawing Down the Moon" and "Goodbye Gemini"

Rating: 4.5/5


Tracklist:
1). Witchwood (6:58)
2). Goodbye Gemini (4:22)
3). Lord Summerisle (3:24)
4). Ballad of the Weird Sisters (6:23)
5). The Eldritch Dark (4:21)
6). Drawing Down the Moon (5:20)
7). Faunus (2:24)
8). The Magician (8:03)
Total Run Time: 40:51

Alia O'Brien - Vocals, Flute, Organ
Sean Kennedy - Guitars
Lucas Gadke - Bass
Michael Carrillo - Drums

From: Toronto, Ontario

Genre: Doom, Psychedelic, Acid Folk

Reminds me of: Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull, Mount Salem, Shocking Blue

Release Date: May 27, 2013

Better Reviews:
Temple of Perdition
Bloody Good Horror
And see my proudest moment of them all, when I published the first ever written review by Soggy Bog of Doom podcast host, Soggy Bob.  It was about this album, see #20 on the link below!
Soggy Bob on the Doom Charts

Blood Ceremony on facebook

GET IT HERE

OR HERE (digital)

Hour of Power 04/27/13 (playlist)

1. Wizard of War (Orchid / Mouths of Madness) 2013
2. Into Her Grave (Vidunder / ST) 2013 ***
3. Kvelertak (Kvelertak / Meir) 2013
4. Vacio (Chinaski) 2013
5. Steak 'Corned Beef Colossus' EP teaser - 2013
6. Goodbye Gemini (Blood Ceremony / The Eldritch Dark) 2013
7. Kingdom of Others (Death Ape Disco / Supervolcano) 2013
8. From the Woods (Black Moth Cult / The Fountain of Tantric Worship) 2013
9. Hand of Lucifer (Doublestone / ST) 2013
10. Secret of the Fox (Half Gramme of Soma / ST) 2013
11. Forever High (Orange Blossom Jam / Mystic Jar of Doom) 2013
12. Hexagon Riders (Ice Dragon / The Burl, The Earth, The Aether) 2010 * 'classic' video *
13. Mirrors (Romannis Mötte) 2013

*** special thanks to Captain Beyond Zen for this video