Episode 31 – Little Albert Experiment (right click to download)

This one will really mess up your mind.

We don’t know what it is. Maybe the weather, ‘cause when the seasons change we tend to go all nuts and freestyle and shit. Last episode we caught you off-guard with some freak stuff, and now the unpredictability factor is still way high.

So don’t freak out. We start with some noise, pretty heavy stuff, we land a couple of metal punk punches on your face, and then it’s all game – there’s even some goth for our more anemic listeners. We’ll twist and turn and shake you up. But don’t worry. It’s all good and you’ll end up liking it. Maybe even ask for more. Ahah, puppets on a string, all of you.

So now you know: keep an open mind, just like little Albert. So we can fuck it up even more.

NO FRICTION means NO PLEASURE, NO BABIES!

Click for show notes and a complete tracklist.

Episode 31 – Little Albert Experiment

“BUT THIS IS NOT METAL!”. Yeah, we hear you. But hold on, this not what it appears to be. Give it a couple of minutes or so and you’ll understand why we went with Boredoms for the intro track. Sammy Hagar once said that “there’s only one way to rock, but Boredoms weren’t paying attention”.  Japanoise, free jazz, metal, tribal, drone, ambient, electronics, punk, kraut, psych rock, from Can to Brian Eno, from Pink Floyd and Blue Cheer to Black Sabbath and Metallica; you name it, these guys don’t leave a stone unturned. And man, THIS IS HEAVY STUFF. HEAVY. Also, they’re Japanese and there’s a girl, Yoshimi P-We, on drums, which obviously ramp up the coolness factor. Oh, and this track belongs to their “Super æ” album, which, according to band frontman Yamantaka Eye, should be pronounced as “super ah” or “super ugh”. Super ugh! Fucking metal!

Boredoms are a big influence on Lightning Bolt, so it makes perfect sense as a follow up act. Again, it’s noise with a metal sensibility. This is “Metal East”, from their fresh-of-the-oven amazing album “Fantasy Empire”, their first in six years and their first Thrill Jockey release. The voice here can put off the ones of you who can’t stand anything but screaming and growling or epic howling. Drumming is all over the place, in a good, manic way. Fast and strong as a 1968 Ford Mustang. We saw them play live once, in an underground parking garage in Lisbon, and it was as intense and loud as we’ve always been told that their “guerilla gigs” would be. Good stuff.

As far as we are concerned, Aksumite is one of black-metal-punk best kept secrets. They do something really special with very classic references, including of course Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and even, we suspect, recent Darkthrone (their “Priory of Aksum” track kinda gives it away). The focus on shorter tracks doesn’t stop them from being quite diverse in style and substance. Shit, this is starting to sound like a “proper” music review. Better stop here haha Give a listen to the “Prideless Lions” album. It’s real cultshow. Sick fucks will worship or die!

What’s really cool about Winter from the USA is their retro attitude, which is why academics have a lot more to gain from checking them out. There’s probably no other metal album in 1990 (or the 90s in general) that’s so obviously inspired by Celtic Frost (Amebix too). Maybe more so than Darkthrone’s “Panzerfaust” or “Total Death” albums. Anyway, check the “Into Darkness” LP if you’re looking to hear actual heavy as fuck NOT BORING doom. Quite a crushing relic.

It’s almost outrageous that Dark Sonority are so under the radar, even if they’ve already been tipped by pundits such as Fenriz and Sindre Solem. Granted, these Norwegians used to be known as Kaosritual, and at that time they were probably more recognized, maybe even more so since vocalist/bassist Mehimoloth was shot dead in 2009. Now, under the Dark Sonority moniker, they have only one EP under their belt, already from 2012 But. it. is. special. The track with an endlessly long title we picked up here is a prime example of their talent. It’s spacious black metal, harmonious doom, epic haunting all put together into one single masterpiece. So c’mon Dark Sonority, send us more good stuff!

Next up on this episode, a kind of intermezzo with Night Flights’s “Corpse Strut”. Dark matter right here! It’s amazing how far-reaching the music of John Carpenter is these days. Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Cluster and Brian Eno are also quoted as influences, as well as late night TV show ‘Night Flights’. Thanks to our mate Pedro Marques aka DJ Marquez for this one.

Before we make the final jump to the fast and loose side of the world here’s two new wave/punk pieces by all-girl DIY German bands Östro 430 and Xmal Deutschland. There were quite a lot of these in Germany in the late 70s/early 80s, and most of them were really good. Make sure to give a listen to Carambolage, Malaria! and Pervers as well. Namedropping like motherfuckers haha sorry!

This episode has slumbered a bit and we don’t want you to think we’re getting soft, so we’re ending with 10 minutes of nonstop rock’n’ roll: a troika of evil! First off, it’s the infectious “horror metal” from The Lurking Corpses. It’s Misfits/Danzig/The Cramps all put together into one metal frankenstein bastard. Darkthrone right after, with their Testors cover from the CD version of “NWOBHM – New Wave of Black Heavy Metal”. And we close it up on an upward curve with “Zombie Ward”, from death metal punk heroes Abscess (basically a different manifestation of Autopsy). And that’s it. See you in two weeks!

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Tracklist

1. Super Are | Boredoms (JAP) |Super æ, 1998 http://www.boredoms.jp/
2. Metal East | Lightning Bolt (USA) | Fantasy Empire, 2015 http://www.laserbeast.com/
3. For the Glory of All Afrika | Aksumite (USA) | Prideless Lions, 2012 http://colloquialsoundrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/prideless-lions
4. Servants of the Warsmen | Winter (USA) | Into Darkness, 1990 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Winter-official/172406259480429
5. Du Morgenstjerne, Morgenrødens Sønn | Dark Sonority (NOR) | Kaosrekviem [EP], 2012 http://www.discogs.com/Dark-Sonority-Kaosrekviem/release/3739617
6. Corpse Strut | Night Flights (USA) | Night Flights, Vol.1, 2014 http://www.arcade-sound.com/products/night-flights-vol-1
7. Plastikwelt | Östro 430 (GER) | Durch Dick & Dünn [EP], 1981 http://www.discogs.com/artist/304021-%C3%96stro-430
8. Orient | Xmal Deutschland (GER) | Fetisch, 1983 http://www.discogs.com/artist/58788-X-Mal-Deutschland
9. The Leech and the Worm | The Lurking Corpses (USA) | Workin’ For The Devil, 2014 http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lurking-Corpses/199078861463
10. Bad Attitude | Darkthrone (NOR) | NWOBHM [EP], 2007 https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/collection/233/
11. Zombie Ward | Abscess (USA) | Seminal Vampires and Maggot Men, 1996 http://www.discogs.com/Abscess-Seminal-Vampires-And-Maggot-Men/master/336497