Morne - Untold Wait

Artist: Morne
Album: Untold Wait
Genre: Sludge / Crust
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

Morne is another crust band that plays atmospheric, sludgy music that is very reminiscent of Fall of Efrafa. The band-members hail from a notable crust-punk background, from bands such as Disrupt and Filth of Mankind, but they obviously have been influenced by post-metal just as much. This is a style that I think is really starting to take off, and I can't say I'm sorry.

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Fuckmorgue - Down Forever

Artist: Fuckmorgue
Album: Down Forever
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2004
Origin: Canada

I almost didn't take this when I first saw it because of the band name and album art. But then someone mentioned crust influences, and it seems that at least one out of four interesting new black metal bands comes from Canada, so I gave it a shot. I was surprised in a very good way! It's grimy and harsh, but experimentally so. The vocals will probably turn some black metal fans off: she screams in a crusty but tortured voice - think somewhere between Detestation and Thorr's Hammer. The album and songs are rather short, and I like all of 'em, even Where He Goes which only has one repeated line to the lyrics.

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Dessa - False Hopes EP

Artist: Dessa
Album: False Hopes EP
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2005
Origin: USA

This post was partly prompted by my noticing that P.O.S. - Audition is by far the most downloaded thing I've posted here. Dessa is the sole female rapper in P.O.S.'s Doomtree collective, and who doesn't like a good femcee? She's into poetics (she seems to think of herself as a writer more than a musician), and her lyrics are similarly personal in nature to the P.O.S. album. I think there are somewhere around 12 cds titled False Hopes by the various members of Doomtree; the only other I've heard is the group release, which is quite good.

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Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object

Artist: Mouse on the Keys
Album: An Anxious Object
Genre: Nu-jazz
Year: 2009
Origin: Japan

This Japanese jazz trio is fresh and exciting, though much more 'produced'-sounding than traditional jazz albums. In this case that adds as much in carefully crafted intricacies as it takes away in atmosphere. I'm pretty sure this'll make my top of '09 list. For fans of The Bad Plus, Happy Apple, Jaga Jazzist, etc.

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Encircling Sea - demo

Artist: Encircling Sea
Album: demo
Genre: Sludge/Doom Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Australia

This demo album consists of a single 48 minute track. It's a good 12 minutes into the song before the heaviness hits, which makes it rush through one's headphones all the more furiously. The song includes long ambient passages, and finishes up with a descent into black metal riffing. I haven't been able to listen to the whole thing in one sitting yet (maybe it should've been 2 tracks?), but it's great atmospheric, cerebral music.

Thanks to Encircling Sea for sending me this album! I like to promote underground artists on this blog, particularly those that want to be part of the music-sharing community. Of course I still only post music that I really like!

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Umbra Nihil - The Borderland Rituals

Artist: Umbra Nihil
Album: The Borderland Rituals
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Finland

Umbra Nihil did an awesome split way back with Aarni, one of the most interesting bands in metal, and I believe Master Warjomaa is also a member of Umbra Nihil. This is more doom-centric than I've come to expect from his influence, but still very much on the experimental end of metal. This is an album that would've made my top twenty of last year, except I didn't hear it until a few months ago.

In other similar sounding news, I had the chance to play Borderlands recently, and it's a fun multiplayer game! You should play it when it comes out. If you're into that kind of thing.

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Fall of Efrafa - Owsla

Artist: Fall of Efrafa
Album: Owsla
Genre: Neocrust
Year: 2006
Origin: UK

Fall of Efrafa are a sludge/crust/post-metal band from Brighton. Apparently they are a concept-band about the mythology in the novel “Watership Down” By Richard Adams (which I haven't read). Anyway, the songs on this, their debut album, are epic and crushing in all the right ways, starting out with a simple and dark cello intro and building their marching army of sound as they head to the crash against rocks that is the self-titled final track. I also have the second album, and I guess the third is out now so I would love to hear it; I wonder, will they disband after the trilogy, or just let the 'concept-band' idea fade away.

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