Dead To A Dying World - Litany (Album Review)

Release date: October 16th 2015. Label: Tofu Carnage / Gilead Media / Alerta Antifascista. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Litany – Tracklisting

The Hunt Eternal

Cicatrix

Eventide

Beneath The Loam

Sick & Sunder

Narcissus

Band Members:

Mike Yeager - Vocals

Heidi Moore - Vocals

Eva Vonne - Viola

Sean Mehl - Guitar

Gregg Prickett - Guitar

James Magruder - Bass guitar

Cyrus Meyers - Drums

Review:

Texas, with its expansive blue skies and red state status, might seem an unlikely birthplace for a shadow dwelling metal act like Dead To A Dying World. However, history has proven that extreme music can proliferate in a muggy outpost like Florida so a hostile environment can definitely breed a formidable scene. This Dallas septet’s uncompromising sensory onslaught on their sophomore album Litany is wickedly out of step with the Lone Star State’s more celebrated progeny (SRV, Los Lonely Boys anyone?) and that’s no accident.

This collective has far more pressing matters to contemplate, such as the future of our environmentally threatened planet. Dead To A Dying World uses “blackened apocalyptic doom” as a musical description and it is an apt one. Unlike the infamous Waco doomsday cult a mere ninety-six miles from their hometown, the misanthropic members of this faction channel their visions of Armageddon and its aftermath into a unique brand of protean art.

Dead To A Dying World play a blend of crust, psychedelia, post-rock and various other derivations of heavy music. Fronted by vocalists Mike Yeager and Heidi Moore, the collective vacillates between cataclysmic sections and tranquil anticipatory moments. The ground shifts constantly beneath these compositions which eschew rational structure for an almost ceremonial ebb and flow. Adding to the mood of heightened emotion are the viola contributions of Eva Vonne, alternately impassioned and solemn.

The pagan tone of “Cicatrix” evokes a dim forest ritual with its blended harmony vocals, creepy guitar plucks and thunderous timpani. This track broods and revels in its repetitious structure, never allowing the building tension to release. “Eventide” is an overpowering wave of a track and Yeager bellows atop the anthemic strains of its guitar and strings. At the seven minute mark, his co-vocalist adds throaty accompaniment and the track segues into a somber fissure. One can almost picture the serene aftermath of a natural disaster, so primeval is this fourteen-minute epic. The bleakness of the extended middle section segues into a military drum tattoo which lightens the mood, if only slightly.

No way around it. This is dark, serious music with little room for humor or levity of any kind. Litany is a record for reflecting on the grim side of the human experience. The lyrics make both vague and specific reference to humanity’s distress. The following verse from “The Hunt Eternal” provides a glimpse into Dead To A Dying World’s cheerless yet unquestionably resolute worldview.

Torn skin consumed by plague

Famine does not assuage

Resigned unto this fate

Monochrome crushing wave

Wince in pain broken sight

Bound to us by bridled right

Sure, this is a stanza rife with melodrama but so are most songs about the end of days. It’s the conviction in the delivery which makes the record so chilling.

As days turned we abandoned our gods

Our mouths rotten with the flavor or our own

They certainly don’t sugarcoat. While the first few numbers bludgeon the listener with blast beats before bathing them in a stark beauty, the band isn't afraid to diversify its approach. One such example is the waltz time pattern of “Beneath the Loam” which adds a European flavor to the proceedings. This song also flirts with unusually jazzy guitar shapes before shrieking demonic vocals appear and the decimation begins anew.

Somewhere along the way all this dreariness becomes unexpectedly intoxicating. The dynamic shifts feel essential, fated even. Members of like-minded despair merchants Pallbearer and Sabbath Assembly make appearances but the consistency of mood renders their contributions subservient to the whole. A key player is celebrated metal producer Billy Anderson who turns in some of his best work in recent years. Litany showcases his skills beyond the indelible mark he has made on the worlds of sludge and stoner rock. All parties involved seem part of a hive mind in support of the unrelenting despondency of the material. Be grateful for this, as few acts this side of Neurosis, Crass or Pink Floyd are capable of wrenching such loveliness out of torment.

Words by Ari Rosenschein

Thanks to Earsplit PR for the promo. Litany will be available to buy on Vinyl and CD from Gilead Media while the Vinyl Release will be handled by Tofu Carnage / Gilead Media in North America and Alerta Antifascista in Europe on October 16th 2015.

Links:

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Australasia - Notturno (Album Review)

Release date: September 21st 2015. Label: Apocalyptic Witchcraft. Formats: CD/DD

Notturno - Tracklisting

1.Nebula 01:39

2.Eden 06:05

3.Kern 04:27

4.Creature 05:25

5.Invisible 03:46

6.Haxo 02:39

7.Amnesia 05:35

8.Lumen 03:38

9.Notturno 04:07

Review:

Occasionally an album appears that is so well conceptualized and executed its very existence seems improbable in this era of singles and disposability. Notturno by Italian Post-rock act Australasia is one such release. An instrumental project of enviable depth and scope, the band boasts provocative influences which run the gamut from Ennio Morricone and Red Sparowes to the Cure and Tangerine Dream. Heroes like these make it clear the band has lofty ambitions. They succeed in fulfilling these aspirations and more on Notturno.

Australasia is the brainchild of Italian multi-instrumentalist Gian Spalluto. Notturno was preceded by a number of releases including a reverent cover of the theme to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. It is easy to detect Spalluto’s appreciation of cinema while absorbing these layered, moody tone poems which navigate scene changes like a sweeping camera. The nine uncompromising pieces on Notturno evoke nostalgia, loss and wonder, often within the same song. A listener might become simultaneously disoriented and stirred while submerged in Spalluto’s immersive soundscapes. Fans of Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor and even Neurosis will find much to satiate them here. Cocteau Twins and Joy Division are also touchstones, though Australasia’s hazy, shoegaze influenced sound never becomes merely imitative.

Opening with the one minute forty second meditation “Nebula”, the group quickly establishes its penchant for vintage synthesizers and atmospheric passages. Unlike peers who use such moments as a lull to set up the next crushing movement, Australasia possesses a unified sound which includes bell like keyboard tones alongside dreamy guitars and precise, punishing drums. Another aspect which distinguishes them from the occasional excesses of the Post-rock movement is a focus on brevity and songcraft. Despite the non-presence of singing (for the most part) these are songs in the classic sense. Yes, they contain all the intense peaks and valleys that are the hallmarks of their genre. However, only “Eden” passes the six minute mark and most tracks are noticeably brief when compared to the lengthier compositions of bands like Isis or Russian Circles.

“Creature” evokes the Smiths mingling with Disintegration era Cure as filtered through the psychedelic prism of an act like The Mars Volta. “Invisible” adds some keyboard pads that would not feel out of place on a release helmed by Brian Eno or Daniel Lanois. Its instrumental flow is broken by a soulful female voice midway through the track. The unexpected appearance brings to mind Clare Torry’s otherworldly vocal performance on Pink Floyd’s “Great Gig In The Sky”. “Haxo” is a brief interlude boasting a rhythm in the irregular 5/4 meter and an air of sustained tension.

Spalluto is a masterful guitarist and arranger who is unafraid to distinguish himself from the milieu. Rather, he seems to revel in his otherness. The sheer audacity of his willingness to try something as ambitious as this collection is testament to his clarity of vision. Expressive, emotionally resonant guitar harmonies give way to washes of electronics. Tightly wound and containing nary a wasted moment, the songs effortlessly avoid instrumental metal cliches. In fact, this illuminates the most confounding aspect of Australasia. Why does an act so wide-ranging and unique even feel the need to profess any ties to metal at all? Hypnotic mix and occasionally thick riffs notwithstanding, Australasia’s co-opting of the term Post-black metal feels a bit forced especially with music this fully realized.

Unlike the willfully crude aesthetic of some acts in the aforementioned genre, the production on Notturno is crisp and almost pointedly professional. An unaccompanied piano is the sole instrument on the closing title track. It weaves its way through a maze of subtly arpeggiated chordal variations before peacefully concluding. Here, as elsewhere, the lack of lyrics is no impediment to emotional impact. Websters’ defines notturno as “an 18th century piece for an instrumental group composed in several movements and resembling the serenade or divertimento”. Spalluto has updated the form to accommodate his own wide ranging musical imagination and we are the lucky recipients of his bounty.

Words by Ari Rosenschein

Links:

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