The Angelic Process - Sigh (Ep)

Released right after "Coma Waering" ... one of my favourite things metal related these days ...

leap of faith? Huh? Now there´s something I suspect K.Angylus would have approved of

Trance to the Sun

Skin Chamber

The single most impressive "Industrial-Metal"(so much more than this though) albums of all time.

Hardly surprising if one is to take into consideration that both Paul Lemos and Chris Moriarty are the USA´s equivalent to,say,Einsturzende Neubauten in Europe - in other words,pioneers/innovators in the US´s ambient-noise-industrial etc scene (if there ever was one at all) ... so, basically people who´ve been experimenting with sound in general since as early as the late 70s

,having released countless albums as Controlled Bleeding prior to this "project"... and speak of longevity paying off - the way sound is used in here in order to evoke mood - space denotes exactly that imo (listen to a song like "in the sewer of dreams" to name but one) -

... and yeah ,we also have the "Metal" part to it (not that I´m in some way disassociating it from the above or anything), well , it´s 91, those of you who were around and into metal (not necessarily metal-metal,more like all that exciting new extreme music that was being released by labels like Earache for instance) can fairly easy attest that 91 was a peak of sorts(in creativity,extremity,you name it) for taht style of music thus making perfect sense that "outsiders" such as CB opted to dabble with it while doing these two albums which were quite clearly an outlet for a Darker vision.

Into this Pit of Shame

Trial of the bow

There is no doubt in my mind that by the time Renato put his very last touches to diSEMBOWELMENTS’s “Transcendence into the periphereal” he knew that THAT was it (“For we will not pass this way again” if irony(and actually owning cds instead of MP3s) is your thing). I mean,come on,in case you don’t know Disembowelment which is highly unlikely(only second to Autopsy in popularity I suppose),just go and download it ,or something, and then tell me of an album in the metal genre which rivals it in its unique,nearly impenetrable,inexorable expression of Horror...

...well , you know what I like to believe? I like to believe such a fucking masterpiece left its creators so burnt out that they haven't touched any metal again ever since.So , here is Trial of the bow,basically what 2/4 of Disembowelment got involved in right after the former’s demise…”Heh”, fukk going into all the 4AD,Projekt ,”ambience & atmosphere” etc etc bullshit,nothing the vast majority of you wouldn’t know already.

INDULGE

Contra Ignem Fatuum

UK Black Metal that doesn't sound like it's simply trying to fill an empty slot in the latest local pub line up.
I'm sad to say this is only 20 minutes long, and sad because the second track, which is Black Metal, is rather brilliant.
That is, within the walls of the style it's played in, which would be atmospheric/ambient.
Tracks 1&3 are martial ambient pieces of music, which are no less good tracks, better for the fact that the first is merely leading up to 'Detritus' and the final song is almost like a farewell for now piece of beauty.
With subtle but superbly exicuted synths lingering throughout, this is a cold affair and I'm sure this band could offer us something truly great...it seems however that there's no recent news on their movements, which is a shame....still Xul will be looking out for Contra Ignem Fatuum in the future.

Download Contra Ignem Fatuum

Urna - Sepulcrum

I started listening to this album and was struck by "oh no, more funeral doom"...
Then the synth kicked in...and man it hit me. No doubt if it wasn't for the synth this wouldn't be as potent, but fukk the synth adds such a different dimension to what's on offer, that it creates a dark passage way that you can't help but follow down, deeper and deeper.
Even for the non-believer in this method of music, abit like myself to a degree, this is worth a shot.

Plus there's a Beherit cover.

Download Urna

Byla

There is this very distinctive "quietude" about Byla ,a sense of space so overwhelming one can easily find himself right at the center of it all ...

... some place you wouldn't mind being "the last to leave".

INDULGE

The Angelic Process

"Wall of Sound" ... Do you instantly associate the term with pseudo-intellectual humanoid garbage (NME,total tolerance,Kerrap,metal archives reviewers etc etc ,take a pick.)

dragging the term on and on from generation to generation who use it to describe everything from over produced disco/pop/metal toss (all one and the same) to simpleton noise making passed around as "art"?
...
Now with that being out of the way take "Coma Waering",place it wherever it suits you best,and play that 1st track ...

... it is ,isn't it? A Thick & Deafening Black Monolith shuffling forward slowly into that blinding light.

INDULGE

Treha Sektori

.........
Download Here

Heltir

Chapter 3 in Xul's exploration into the works of the late great Rozz Williams. Here we have one of his later projects in the form of Heltir. One of his more difficult projects for sure. As it was essentially an industrialized beat poetry for the nihilistic. Something akin to sitting in a jazz club that was invaded by a goths that knew how to groove, daddy-o. This is his sound of San Francisco... City life and a vibrant filth permeating through the cracks of enlightened civilization. The beauty of hookers walking the streets, junkies begging on the corners so they can run to the park to score another bag. Drunks slashing each other with bottles. The chemically imbalanced screaming at the world as they wander through another night of madness... All while some pseudo-sophisticated uptight morons gobble down their fusion cuisine, sip their wine and think how it's sad that everyone can't live equally. Very experimental, especially when compared to his prior works. More industrial and ambient in nature than the goth laced works of his past. The underneath current is still carrying on with his drug infused concepts... Oh it shows, it shows, and we listen, and appreciate. Some people are just born to burn out quickly...

THE GREAT KING

Caves

The stuff nightmares are often said to sound like, only worse.

This is probably a Xul exclusive, the demos are limited to 73 and 94 copies(the five track being the 94)Fukk it, who cares about the order of things, these are just demos.

I doubt these are available on any other blogs, so this could well be a WOX exclusive, if not go shit yourself.

I'm sure the main man behind this wouldn't have sold these to me if he knew I was going to post his work within 3 hours of obtaining them, fukk him, he's just a pawn in Xul's game.

Musically, this is Atmospheric Black Metal, or Ambient Black Metal, which ever one you think suits best. Xul just thinks this is exactly the type of obscure shit you need to hear, even if it's just a case of being able to boast on your melodeath forum bashing mission.

TEN THOUSAND STOOD BEFORE HIM AND TEN THOUSAND FELL.

Reusmarkt - Echo

As you Xulborgs are aware, Xul is firmly against treehugging and ovary worship. Reusmarkt can be filed as a pagan band, but there are no flutes here, there's no song titles to hint at what the subject matter might be, and there's a pond reflecting the cosmos on the cover. Space aint hippies, brothers. Space aint hippies.

There are ambient tracks before each black metal one on this album. They shouldn't be looked at as filler or intermission, but an intergral part of this albums atmosphere. This is a deep, evocative listening experience. Dark and meditative, while lush and melodic. The mechanized drum sound is akin to machines of armageddon coming to life. The guitar tone; the rusty chain drives which allows them to mobilize. The bass is nothing but a cavernous hum filling the void created by the astral synth work.

If there is only one post of mine you were to check out, I would highly recommend it be this one.

...

His Divine Grace

Minimalist ambient... the lush sounds of repetitive drones for over an hour. Completely introspective and drifting... drifting... drifting. They have quite a discography but Xul will focus on Reverse Aleph. There is a sadness to these drones, a feeling of emptiness and reflection. But like all great ambient it carries within it its own form of hope. Download and let go of all emotions and feeling to let this sweep you away in its current. Excellent work.


HAU RUCK!

Endvra

The sounds of hell. Soundtrack to your most bizarre dreams and the party music of the cenobites. Endvra are an extremely dark sounding project in the ambient world. They claim that their music can be used as a gateway to other planes, and I have to admit... It very well might be. Something is darker than most others here, something you can't quite place your finger on... Nor would you likely want to. Awesome stuff.

THE DEVILS STARS BURN COLD

Necropolis

Necrosphere, another Cold Spring release, which tells you it's automatically worth checking out.
Hailing from Siberia, we have two tracks of cold Dark Ambient, the first being released on CD-R a while ago, and very limited, now released with an extra track at 14 minutes long.

Turn that Metal off for 45 minutes and feed your Astral Ambient urges.

INTO THE NECROSPHERE!

Animus - Hallucinations: Ideals Surrounding Water, Sand, and Clouds of Dust

Animus is a one man project from Israel. Shockingly, it isn't shit. Even more shocking, it has enough depth that you can get lost in it. A similar style to Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, but Hallucinations is far more brown than blue. Melancholy acoustics lead the way to groovy opium filled black metal riffs, mongoloid droning, and tumble dryer drum machine glory. This is a chasm, filled with the echoes of water dripping down to a muddy resevoir deep inside. Drown in it.

FECES

Nordvargr - Pyrrhula

She'll be laying there, with his groaning voice in her mind, reliving the moment she made the mistake of leaving her drink unattended whilst she went to the bathroom to take a shit, she remembers nothing after that, just waking up amongst some livestock in a field, her shirt ripped open and chunks of bloody-bread hanging out of her kunt, the scent of his rot up her nose, and the soundscapes of Pyrrhula in her ears, that stupid fukking kunt.
BREADRAPE

Sephiroth-Cathedron

One of Cold Meat Industries better releases. Cold dark ambient. Dark melodies combined with abysmal drums and an atmosphere from your nightmares.

Slide into the abyss