back.

wolves in the throne room- malevolent grain
over the past year, more and more speak of an american black metal band has revealed itself in my peripheral. a bad ass band name, and supposedly riffs to back it up. black metal has always struck a 'lolwut' nerve with me. it simply never clicked. after watching until the light takes us, it felt just to give the scandanavion export another go. i admit, i bought this record blindly, and with high expectations. fingers crossed; hoping that this would be the one who converted me to the dark side. this two song 12" ep, lasting over 20 minutes, offers two very different tracks. opening with "a looming resonance", i find myself smirking at the chorus pedal melodic intro. moments later, rolling my eyes at the terrible female vocals. however, i felt compelled to remain seated, and truly soak this in. like the first time i drank scotch, the first impression was of embarrassment and discomfort. however, after letting it sink in, the subtle beauty of this music began to sink in. the blast beats of the drums are almost lost in the sfumato of foggy guitar and synth. there is a certain antiquity to this record that summons an inexplainable feeling of dread and relaxation. in renaissance art, emulation was considered a form of flattery and respect: wolves in the throne room innovates the formula gifted by forefathers burzum and darkthrone. i have seen the void.

black metal
plan 9, used $10
http://www.mediafire.com/?n2lmmieingo

old man gloom- seminar ii:the holy rites of primitivism regressionism
in full, the old man gloom alien simian defense league, was one in a million. a dream team of big leauge "heavy band" dudes, the brain child of members from cave in, converge, and isis. it is unfortunate that they only performed one live show. the studio project released a number of full length records between 1999, and an indefinate hiatus in 2004, seminar ii being my favorite of the mall. interstellar soundscapes leading into neck-crushing sludge loop, omg brings the beef with very little marbling: this aint no chuck. definately recommend it.

sludge/post-metal
magic bullet distro, new $19.99
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W2K5LLAJ