Mayhem - Ordo Ad Chao

Mayhem's Ordo Ad Chao from 2007 is available on the Season of Mist Bandcamp. A wildly divisive album when it was it was released, Ordo Ad Chao has since received status as an uncomfortable black metal masterpiece. Unorthodox song structures and heavy use of dissonance gives the music an almost improvisational feel. That feel is enhanced by the production, the album sounds as if its being performed in the basement beneath you. Like you're a fly on the wall of some infernal, subterranean gathering.

The production can't hide the dizzying display of musicianship. You're flooded with waves of blazingly fast tremolo picking, bludgeoning by double-bass drumming, and baffled by schizophrenic tempo changes and almost jazzy fills. And then there's the vocals by Attila Csihar. Croaks, hisses, growls and grunts. Insane shrieks and maniacal laughter, the man does it all. Read the reviews from Sputnik Music, Metal Review and From the Dust Returned, and file under not so easy listening.

Attila Csihar. Photos by Carmelo Española.

In a short time Season of Mist Records has established a strong presence on Bandcamp. They have individual band pages and a catalogue site:

seasonofmistrecords represents the current, up to date titles, and bands who already had bandcamp sites made by anyone outside of the label.

The catalogue site represents the back catalogue. It includes bands that are no longer on the label, but whose albums we still have the rights to sell. Its also a means to sell albums for bands that already have bandcamp sites with other labels, or that otherwise don't want to have a bandcamp site.

Both sections are updated regularly. Right now there are 219 albums on the Season of Mist Records Bandcamp, including three, other, albums by Mayhem.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Ironbird - Songs Of Spite And Ire

Ironbird have released their debut album Songs Of Spite And Ire on their Bandcamp. This mixes stoner and sludge metal with fuzzy desert rock like Queens of the Stone Age. The albums has a dry sounding production with plenty of room to enjoy the buzzing guitars and the excellent musicianship. The songwriting combines driving melodis metal with enough embellishments and tempo changes to make it rise above generic sludge. A good debut, check it out.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Ea - Ea

Ea's self-titled fourth album is available on their Solitude Productions Bandcamp page. A single monolithic track, totaling 47 minutes, of atmospheric funeral doom. Starting with foreboding piano notes, it slowly moves through parts with low-tuned riffs, melancholic leads and hypnotic clean guitar chords. Dark textures are added by church organ, choral vocals, plucked strings and lots of floating keyboards. The vocals are infrequent death growls, and harsh screams during the anthemic middle section. The band biography on Bandcamp page states that

Ea is based on the sacral texts of ancient civilizations. Ea uses a dead language which was recreated according to the results of archeological study.

I just love stuff like that. And you can easily imagine the dying days of a vast, ancient civilization while listening to the album. It also works as very heavy ambient music. Here's a review from The Metal Archives, and one from Doommantia.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Lately work has interfered with the running of Metal Bandcamp, but now we're back. Thanks to Ea for making a couple of weeks of hard work seem less painful.