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.

Jarost Marksa - We the People

Artist: Jarost Marksa
Album: We the People
Genre: RABM (red and anarchist black metal)
Year: 2008
Origin: Russia

Jarost Marksa means "Fury of Marx" in Russian, and this is the most 'traditional communist'-leaning black metal I've heard. This three track EP concludes with a cover of Sacred War by the Red Army Choir, a song about World War II. Between the sickle-and-hammer and the World War II reference, I was a little worried this would be Stalinist-authoritarian in nature, but the lyrics are very much about self-liberation through revolution and it seems the band members met in an anarchist commune, so all my fears have been assuaged. The music is pretty raw in the underground black metal tradition, but there seem to be melodic complexities that keep it interesting for me. I'd recommend Panopticon over this one, but I think it's still a good find. I look forward to Jarost Marksa's future releases!

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No Cops for Miles - A New Diction

Artist: No Cops for Miles
Album: A New Diction
Genre: Ska-core
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

California punk/riot-ska band No Cops for Miles is clearly influenced by Choking Victim and the resulting "Crack Rock Steady" scene, but I feel like they bring something fresh to the songwriting. The production is fuzzy and DIY-tastic, and the album is very short, but worth a listen if you're interested in this style.

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Dreams of the Drowned - Demo

Artist: Dreams of the Drowned
Album: Demo
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: France

Dreams of the Drowned play black metal with surprising hardcore / post-punk influences. Solstafir did something (a tiny bit) similar with Masterpieces of Bitterness, which I might post later, but it was much more traditional in terms of black / viking metal. I love black metal bands that are doing things I've never heard before. The band plans to release a full-length in 2009, and I look forward to it.

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Revocation - Empires of the Obscene

Artist: Revocation
Album: Empires of the Obscene
Genre: Death Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Revocation comes up big with this debut album, a very thrashy death metal release. As you may know, I'm not big into death metal unless it has something special going for it. And this band does, with brilliant songwriting and thrash riffs that should really make anyone wonder why people buy that monotonous crap from Cannibal Corpse and the host of other generically br00tal death metal bands.

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Kaki King - Everybody Loves You

Artist: Kaki King
Album: Everybody Loves You
Genre: Instrumental Rock
Year: 2003
Origin: USA

Kaki King is a guitar wizardess unlike anything you've seen (watch this to see what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDmth1YZI7k , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJnwk3GBiM), and she doesn't succumb to wankery (maybe it's a gender thing?) but writes quality songs instead. She also has songs about the LGBT experience, which always counts as a plus for me. At least on this album she's the only musician.

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The 3rd and the Mortal

Artist: The 3rd and the Mortal
Album: Memoirs
Genre: Doom Metal
Year: 2002
Origin: Norway

The 3rd and the Mortal play very experimental doom metal; in the case of this album it is very jazzy, with some electronica parts as well. The female vocals are great, and they fit the downtempo music as well as the poetic male spoken-word. I've heard that this band was a big influence to the multitude of Nightwish-esque female-fronted gothic metal bands, and I can believe it, but The 3rd and the Mortal are way outside the box compared to those bands. I like this one a lot more than Painting on Glass, which is the only other 3atm album I've heard.

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