Dreams of the Drowned - Thanatotropic Principle

Artist: Dreams of the Drowned
Album: Thanatotropic Principle
Genre: Experimental Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: France

The band noticed my earlier post with the demo and kindly pointed me toward the new release, which they uploaded yesterday. As they put it, it's "not a full length yet but a true release indeed!" Anyway, I'm happy to share and promote music of this quality, and I hope the band receives more recognition with this release.

This album continues the trend found in the demo, including a cover of Coiled In Wings by avant-garde legends Ved Buens Ende. The music is sludgy post-rock, hectic hardcore and blackened rock all bundled nicely in an avant-garde package. I wouldn't call it shoegaze, but those of you on that bandwagon will find something to like as well. Overall it's another unique and rockin' release from Dreams of the Drowned.

band page

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Fullmoon Bongzai - Noisense

Artist: Fullmoon Bongzai
Album: Noisense
Genre: psychedelic electronic black metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Greece

Look at those goats. And that logo. "A voodoo beach party celebrating the unholy." You know you have to have this album. Fullmoon Bongzai is a one-man band from Greece, who takes after Aarni by claiming several fictitious band members. The song-titles make it seem like a parody-act, but musically it's quite unique and interesting. The album delivers a harsh psychedelic experience with ambient black metal (that might be closer to noise actually) and well-integrated electronic sounds. All vocals on the album are sampled, which gives a little bit of a disjointed feel between tracks, but there is a cohesive atmosphere throughout the album. In summary, if you like weird stuff check this out.

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Conflict - There's No Power Without Control

Artist: Conflict
Album: There's No Power Without Control
Genre: Anarcho-punk
Year: 2003
Origin: UK

This is the comeback album from British anarcho-punks Conflict after 10 years of hiatus - which might have something to do with apparently being banned from performing in the UK after inciting a riot. This album is heavier and features better production than their old work, and it's catchy enough that I find myself singing it out of the blue every once in a while. The dual male-female vocals complement each other very well when present, and Conflict's favorite lyrical themes of anarchism, police abuse and animal rights make a strong appearance. There's also a pretty sweet ska beat on The Hidden Hand. Also, I've gotta say that is one of the coolest album covers I have ever seen.

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Odious - Mirror of Vibrations

Artist: Odious
Album: Mirror of Vibrations
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Egypt

Odious is an Egyptian black metal band taking a large influence from middle eastern music to accompany the usual european melodies. I definitely recommend this for fans of Melechesh or middle-eastern folk music. I think this is an influence that has been underutilized in metal, so I was really excited to hear Odious doing something novel with it.

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Munruthel - Aquarius' Epoch

Artist: Munruthel
Album: Aquarius' Epoch
Genre: Folk Black Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: Russia

Munruthel is yet another Russian pagan black metal band, but this one is definitely above the curve. I call it black metal, which is definitely there, but you'll also hear a lot of folk and even power metal melodies (weird, I know!). It's good times, but I should mention that I cringed when I first listened to the album: why so hooked on the battle samples?! argh!

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A.P.P.L.E. - Plutocracy = Tyranny & Exploitation

Artist: A.P.P.L.E.
Album: Plutocracy = Tyranny & Exploitation
Genre: Punk
Year: 1988
Origin: USA

A.P.P.L.E. helped define Peace Punk by merging elements of British anarcho-punk, a la Crass, and 1960s San Francisco rock, Jefferson Airplane-style. The result is quite different from both influences, I think, but very enjoyable. The lyrics have that punk kick (and gratuitous profanity), with the 1960s influence giving them more of a peace-and-love message than most anarcho-punks. This album incorporates a few (very good) songs from an earlier ep, A Sensitive Fascist is Very Rare.

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P.O.S. - Audition

Artist: P.O.S.
Album: Audition
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2006
Origin: USA

P.O.S. is a rapper from Minneapolis. He started out his music in a punk band, and the influence can still be heard, but now he makes intelligent but angry underground hip-hop. The main thing that stands out is that his beats are sometimes crafted from chugging metal guitars (and is that double-bass I hear?). He's also a part of the Minneapolis-based Doomtree collective, which I also recommend to hip-hop fans. This was requested, but I have definitely been listening to (and posting) a lot of hip-hop recently; five years ago I never would have guessed!

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Panopticon, Wheels Within Wheels split

Artists: Panoption, Wheels Within Wheels
Album: It's Later Than You Think
Genre: RABM (Red & Anarchist Black Metal)
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

I've gotta say, I'm excited about this one. Panopticon starts things off with an excellent acoustic track featuring banjo and mandolin. I think it's great to hear a metal band drawing on American folk-music traditions, though this isn't a metal song by any means. The black metal kicks off from there with fuzzy atmosphere and compelling riffs on a song in memory of anarchists murdered by the state for fighting for workers' rights. Wheels Within Wheels is a new band on Lundr Records, the label run by A from Panopticon. The packaging calls it "crushing blackened doom", but I think it's more like blackened drone/post-rock. Either way, it makes for an excellent second half to the split, and I also look forward to more from this band.

tracklisting:
1. Panopticon - ...speaking...(collapsed version)
2. Panopticon - the ghosts of haymarket square
3. Wheels Within Wheels - begining
4. Wheels Within Wheels - white light rains down on...

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buy the cd - mine is hand-numbered copy #11/100, and it comes with a cloth patch (this makes the punk inside me very happy)

K'naan - The Dusty Foot Philospher

Artist: K'naan
Album: The Dusty Foot Philosopher
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2008
Origin: Canada

K'naan is an African-Canadian rapper, originally from Somalia. His vocal style is unique (in my limited hip-hop experience anyway), giving me the feeling that he is just having a conversation. This leads me to think he doesn't take himself as seriously as most rappers, though his rhymes are excellent and his beats fresh (and he does give the occasional trash-talk). A lot of his music relates to Africa and being a refugee, with an insightful global perspective. Musically he also has a lot of rock/pop leanings on this album, particularly with the amazingly catchy If Rap Gets Jealous.

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Orcustus - Orcustus

Artist: Orcustus
Album: Orcustus
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Norway

Orcustus is a Norwegian black metal band consisting of members from Gorgoroth, Enslaved, 1349, Carpathian Forest, etc. Apparently they released a demo years ago that I haven't heard, but I just listened to the 2009 self-titled full-length debut, and it's a beast! It's very thrashy and intense, and I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys the olde-tyme Norwegian black metal sound. That's some bad album art right thur.

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In other news, A from Panopticon visited my blog (yay!), and he let me know that a new split with Wheels Within Wheels is now out and available here. So I ordered a copy and I'll have it up for you guys when it arrives, but you should buy it as well! It's limited to 100 copies, so you'll be picking up on kp (kvlt points) at the same time.