Near Grey - Near Grey

NEAR GREY - Near Grey
2012
Indie

Big thick waves of monochromatic acrylic paint. The cover artwork for Montreal's Near Grey expresses perfectly what their music is about: something abstract, atmospheric, and voiceless. We enter the realm of sludge, we connect to an intangible country where musical textures counts more than any kind of groove. But there are no coldness, no evilness, and no negative weight. At the same time, we're nowhere near the light, the warm instruments or the happy radio vibe. The best descriptive could be "near grey", indeed.

The style has grown quite a bit since Neurosis and Isis made it popular. Near Grey plays a slower, instrumental version of sludge/post-metal, without getting too much into shoegaze or post-rock. They keep their distortion on as a background for their music, with only splashes of clean guitars here and there to give it some relief. A few feedbacks, a few keyboard atmosphere, and many guitar effects are additional tools used in the refined production.

This first offering of Near Grey is an EP. Three songs, ranging from 7 to 18 minutes, form the eponymous journey. Despite their duration, the songs never feel too long, nor repetitive; in fact, they progress naturally, taking a left turn on certain occasions, and they leave a lot of space for the guitars sound to die out. The pace of the album is an excellent breathing exercise, taking its time to reach various anonymous inscapes.

Recommended for fans of Three Steps to the Ocean, A Cold Dead Body, Omega Massif, Explosion in the Sky, etc.

http://neargrey.bandcamp.com/

Show of Bedlam - Roont

SHOW OF BEDLAM - Roont
2012
Choking Hazards Records

I admit I didn't know about Show of Bedlam (SoB) before I saw this "Doom Night" poster, and went to see them live at Cafe Chaos in Montreal. Now, that was a surprise, the band deliver the goods and are probably one of the best doom acts I've seen live in the City that Never Sleeps.

Right off the bat, SoB isn't your typical type of doom (or classical doom). This is a noisy branch bred in pain, born into hardcore, and likely raised around a few crossover acts such as Earache's rosters of the 90's. If we were to try finding SoB's parents, we would probably find it somewhere between the social violence of Today is the Day and the dark personal journey of Rollins Band. One closer comparative could be the mighty Jucifer, with whom it seems that SoB shared a split earlier.

Roont is a full lenght divided into four long tracks, and an interlude. It is one whole uneasy atmosphere, opening up a personal nightmare. Beyond the doom music itself, this direction is crafted by the female touch of singer and frontwoman Paulina Richards, who also participated in the brilliant Masseter alternative project. Throughout her relatively long texts, she is dragging us into an inscape journey where we witness dark interpersonal situations, and find a few shady characters; something also explored by other female-fronted bands such as Otep, Doll, or Social Revolver. With Paulina's very specific tone of voice and variations, Roont is like a black and white vintage horror movie, with a touch of purple despair.

SoB is a four-piece band: vocal, guitar, bass and drum. The tempo of the album is relatively slow, like a hearbeat pounding in your head, alone in the dark of an empty basement, waiting for your captor. There are all sorts of noises, loops and synth effects added to the instruments mentioned above, thus offering a rich backdrop to Roont. The guitar sound is dirty, and the bass - deep down the spectrum - is full of overdrive. The female vocals are saturated and textured with a deep reverb, giving them a nice ghoulish/horror movie texture.

On the cover, there is an appropriately depicted spooky abandoned wooden house, somewhere in a nameless town. On the back of the cover, we see a spiritual summoning session (likely taken from a black and white horror movie). On the inside, we find a 12'' piece of sparkled wax, purple and black.

Roont is definitely making my year's end list as one of the most pleasant discoveries, and probably as one of Choking Hazards Records' best releases to date.

http://showofbedlam.bandcamp.com/
http://chokinghazardrecords.blogspot.ca/

Le Kraken - Exil (EP)

LE KRAKEN - Exil
2012
D7i records/Vendetta Records

It has been almost three years since Le Kraken released their second release and first full lenght album, Exalt. While the music used the same common denominator as many sludge and crust bands, it was a welcoming variation: simple structures, short songs, and French lyrics. I was highly anticipating any follow up to it, and it came under the shape of a 5-songs, 17+ minutes 10'' EP.

At first, Exil sounds like more of the same cool-aid we drank earlier: punk-size songs (2 to 4 minutes average), guitar-oriented structures, atmospheric chords layered over a pounding drum, and a vocal pitch drenched into hardcore. However, after a few listen, we unearth something definitely fresh.

This EP is the opportunity to introduce a new line-up. Bassist Guillaume Chamberland has taken vocals duty, and a new guitar player, Jean-François Dussault Desgroseillers, joined, now forming a four-piece with drummer Louis Guillemette and guitarist Jean-Phillipe Marcil.

Exil is also an opportunity to introduce a new logo, something crucial for a band that has started to tour seriously and that is constantly expanding its audience.

So how does that translate into music? Opening track "Exubérance" kicks in with what we came to know (and like) about Le Kraken: contagious guitar riffs, clever drum patterns, and a range of vocals that makes the music quite accessible. Then, all of a sudden, the drapery falls, and we are left with some sort of Cult of Luna-esque melancholic guitar atmosphere. It is picked up by the other instruments, in a slow and almost doomy atmosphere, bringing the listener somewhere unexpected. "L'assault & l'esquive" displays a similar structure, i.e. riffs and drum patterns change mid-way through the song. Applied to their heavy-but-not-oppressive music, this technique makes the songs breathe, and suithes the mood perfectly. These two songs are followed by "Erratum", a short crusty snack that could have figured on any of Le Kraken's previous releases.

The band clearly crafted their art while sharing the stage with many other bands from the same genre. Centrepiece to the album, the excellent "Arbore essence" is something radically new for Le Kraken. In a progression of guitar textures and a wise alternation of drum patterns, the song brings echos of Alaskan or Textures, among others. Delightful.

Last, but not least, the Exil EP ends with the title track. With a focus on a strong chorus, this one captures the best of the album through variations of atmospheres and tempos, and offers one of the best texts the band has written to date. On that level, this time again all lyrics are sung in French and express personal reflections, or states of mind. The choice of words is better than your average band, but the construction is very raw, unpolished and unfinished, as a note to yourself in the corner of your university notebook.

Aside from the music, the Exil EP is housed in a stunning piece of art. The dramatic picture on the cover is the art of Alexander Mody, who is responsible for designing Vestiges' most striking landscape cover arts in the last years. There are two editions: black wax, and black haze/clear wax. Definitely worth purchasing on vinyl.

In conclusion, Exil is Le Kraken's first step into a new direction, one that is rooted into new alliances. It is laid on strong foundations, but rather than being limited by its past releases, the record tells us that the band is ready for venturing into new paths.

http://lekraken.bandcamp.com/album/exil
http://www.toysofdisharmony.com/

Haggatha - IV

HAGGATHA - IV
2012
Choking Hazards - Blind Date

Vancouver's Haggatha are back with another monster slab. Like its title suggests, this is the 4th release of the band, but only the 2nd full length. Last year, they offered us the excellent III, a 2-song, 8-minutes long 7". They also toured intensively, spreading their dirty sludge all across America and Europe alike. Beside touring and releasing albums, they've also spent time with other projects, as drummer Matt is also a new Bison B.C. member.

What is the result? Well, the Haggatha signature is still recognizable, there is still an Eyehategod influence, and still the same crushing, doomy tempo, with a saturated guitar distortion and minimal 'primal scream' vocals. However, rather than doing Haggatha II part II, they came out with a slightly different formula. On the production level, it's less muddy (especialy in terms of low frequency), and there seems to be a new hierarchy of instruments. On II, guitars were at the forefront of the music; on IV, it's the drum that prevails. In fact, this instrument seems to be leading all way through the new album. It hits a lot harder, and nails the sludgy grooves more closely than before.

The album starts with four songs of average length (between 3 and 6 minutes), and ends with a stunning 18-minutes mastodon. Side A of the vinyl (the four first songs) are more focused than before. They are of average tempo and very catchy. There are no huge variation of tempo (like III) or atmosphere (like II), just a sheer hit on the skull. A case in point, the opening riff of "Precession of the Equinox" easily sticks into your head, while "Codependence", with its lead guitar detour, is probably one of the best crafted song the band ever wrote.

On side B we find something unusual for Haggatha. They dared venturing on the path many doom bands took in recent years, and wrote a very long song, "Epoch". To make it epic and to make it stand out from the rest of their songs, the band very cleverly adopted a minimalistic approach. This works very well, while offering the album something fresh and different.

The artwork is also worthy of mention. Like the music, it bears the same Haggatha theme with the logo on the cover. This time, a bas-relief of it was created and placed in a variety of dirty, earthy textures. The pictures are used inside and outside the beautiful gatefold vinyl, while a very plain 16-pages booklet contains minimal information (10 pages are plain black), such as lyrics and credits.

Simply put, it is my favorite Haggatha album to date.

Get the album on mp3 and vinyl by following these links:
http://haggatha.bandcamp.com/album/haggatha-iv
http://chokinghazardrecords.blogspot.ca/

Indian handcrafts - Civil Disobedience for Losers

INDIAN HANDCRAFTS - Civil Disobedience for Losers
2012
Sargent House

On October 30, 2012, you may have been preparing for trick or tricking, but there is something you might definitely not have been prepared for, and that is Civil Disobedience for Losers, the second full length from a band you probably never heard of, called Indian Handcrafts.

With a space truck as a façade, and a tongue-in-cheek name, you probably already know you are embarking on a very colorful trip. This is stoner rock at its best. Two guys; drum, vocals, guitars and a pedal rack, rocking the boat like hell. They are as prog-rock inspired as Queen of the Stone Age, as furious as The Melvins, and as dirty as Monster Truck. All that, and more: at some point, one can feel a reference to Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, and other guitar-oriented bands. Indian Handcrafts has this ability to use all of these influences and bring them into something fresh, something new.

There is an excellent variety of subgenres on Civil Disobedience, all equally crafted. We find cocaine rock songs such as opener Bruce Lee, Starcraft, or Worm in My Stomach; and a batch of stoner songs like Zombies, Coming Home or Centauri Teenage Riot; the punkish Terminal Horse; and the heavier The Jerk and Truck Mouth. Despite its many directions, this box of Smarties never feel disoriented, for the grooves are addictive all way through.

As I write these lines, Indian Handcrafts is touring with Red Fang and Black Tusk. With such an excellent line up, there are no reasons not to go see them delivering the goods live.

This very unexpected album from the Barrie, Ontario, duo will end up on a lot of people's year end top ten list, including mine. Highly recommended.

(... And yes, it's also on vinyl.)

http://indianhandcrafts.bandcamp.com/
http://sargenthouse.com/

Infinite Grievance - Funeral Mile

INFINITE GRIEVANCE - Funeral Mile
2012
Indie

Infinite Grievance is a two-piece band from Calgary, Alberta. It specializes in funeral doom, or a very slow form of death metal. You may not have heard of it as the band doesn't tour (in fact, it doesn't play live at all), and its records have not been distributed except in a digital form, by the band. We talk here about the true independant DIY experience.

So what is Funeral Mile? It is the second full length in the band's discography, if we count the 2010 Delusions of Clarity album. Other than that, Infinite Grievance also issued two demos, one split and one compilation, all in 2010.

Funeral Mile has 6 songs, ranging from 3 to 12 minutes, for a total of over 47 minutes of music. The short but excellent "Toska" serves as some kind of intro to the album. It doesn't do much other than offering a general solemn mood to the album, and preparing the grounds for "Drown". This second song is deep and very depressive, and reminds me of the excellent bands Loss and Mourning Congregation. So far, this is good material in the purest tradition of funeral doom, there are no surprises and no deceptions. To change the pace of the album (but not the mood), it is followed by the title track, a repetitive and mechanic song that pushes the listener into a state of vertigo and crushing movement. Strangely enough for a title track, "Funeral Mile" might take more time to digest compared to the other songs. "Fade With Time", is cleverly placed between two 9-minutes songs, and like the narrow passage on the cover artwork, it brings fresh air to the whole heaviness of this album, in a melancholic atmosphere reminiscent of early Anathema or Thergothon. However, the sky darkens again under the shape of "In Mourning They Damn Your Name", another slab of funeral doom in the same vein as the first 2 songs. With oppressive discomfort, it is dragging miserably (in a good way), and constitutes the funeral hymn at the heart of the album. As this track ends, a cold wind from the deep takes over, and serves as a brilliant transition to the last song. "Receding Frost" is an instrumental that sums up the album with a desolate atmosphere.

Musically speaking, Infinite Grievance doesn't bring any new water to the wheel. Although its guitar sound is really heavy, and has the right amount of both sustain and definition, it sounds pretty generic for a funeral doom band. Same with the vocals, bass and drum, which are very standard. For this reason, newcomers to the genre might find it dull and tasteless. On the other hand, funeral doom is a style that has become very traditional over time, and the bands are often described in relation to the cult landmarks of the genre. In this context, I would say that Infinite Grievance's Funeral Mile would compare easily with any roaster of the favourite russian doom label Solitude Productions (Astral Sleep, The Howling Void, Helllight, Funeral, Inborn Suffering, etc). Its strength might not lie in one specific song, and it may not be opening any new grounds, but the band is very competent at producing an excellent album for the genre.

Links to the albums and the band:
http://infinitegrievance.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-mile
http://infinitegrievance.blogspot.ca/
www.facebook.com/IGDOOM

Lebensraum - Lebensraum (EP)

LEBENSRAUM - Lebensraum
2012
Indie

The first thing that caught my attention might have been the beautiful logo and artwork. A DIY enterprise, this CD is housed in a 2-panel digipak, where black and grey are the main ingredients. Here we find the themes of nature and darkness, probably more associated with black metal than any other style. However, the content displays something else.

This is the first EP from Montreal Lebensraum. This 33-minutes cd speaks the doom language with great skills: it uses influences from the late '70s Sabbath riffing to contemporary funeral doom arrangements. As displayed by its cover, the Lebensraum EP is coated with black metal in a degree that I've rarely seen (the only band I'm thinking of might be Lurk). Once we venture through Lebensraum, it gets cold, very cold, and we can barely see the sun peeking through this ominous forest.

So what exactly means Lebensraum? You might have guessed, it's german. It's a concept about "living space" developed in the 19th Century about unification and adding territories or colonies. The idea was further transformed by Hitler to justify the expansion of Nazi Germany, especially on the Eastern front. Pretty dark theme for a blackened doom band.

The journey that we experience going through the Lebensraum EP is a very interesting one. Starting on a funeral doom note, it goes black and then comes back towards more familiar stoner doom territory, all that in 5 songs of uneven length. Breaking it down track by track might be the best way to dissect this piece of blackened art. In a grandiose manner, the EP opens with "This I Doom", an epic 11 min 47 song that presents Lebensraum as a band, music and musicians alike: words are spoken in both death metal style and black metal rasp; the guitars sound is sharp and dry, the lead guitar bringing accents of desolation with very simple notes sustained in the background; the bass guitar adds some interesting and infectious bass routine towards the end of the song, a method of composition that is also used on other tracks; while the drum displays both laid back doom beats and details of unorthodoxy earned from other genres. We all know what the band can deliver when "Scorbutus" kicks in at a more standard pace, bringing the listener further into darkened territories with its catchy riff. The journey takes a left-hand path and the listener meets its maker on the third and central song, "Final Path". Here, Lebensraum takes it time, using long pauses and slow pounding riffs, creating an evil and uneasy atmosphere similar to black metallers Marduk and Blodsrit, before bursting into a trash metal attack. In contrast to this song, the following "An Old Man" looks like the lighter song of the EP, mostly because of the stoner groove, although the vocals stay tuned on the dark side and the drum keeps hitting sadistically. Finally, "Dormant Giant" follows that trend and offers some early Maiden-meets-Sabbath riffs, while the vocals are more distant than on any other song. This is one hell of a song to finish an EP and making a statement that there is room for more to come.

Check it out here: http://lebensraum.bandcamp.com/album/lebensraum