The Ash Eaters - Nothing Is Real

Guest review by That's How Kids Die.


I’ve spilled a great deal of digital ink on The Ash Eaters; I’m proud to call guitarist/vocalist/mastermind UA my friend, and it has been a unique experience watching/hearing his latest metallic foray develop from the, uh, ashes of his previous work in the great Brown Jenkins. But as great as that band was, The Ash Eaters take things to a whole other level, especially in terms of UA’s highly distinctive guitar-work, which I’ve often likened to an insect swarm, relentlessly stinging the listener from every direction. When one listens to The Ash Eaters, one must reserve themselves to the cold fact that there’s no escape, no respite from the overwhelming nature of the music, and nowhere is this more evident than on Nothing is Real, the latest in a steady stream of releases.

Nothing is Real is comprised of three tracks spanning a total of about fifteen minutes. The Ash Eaters have released several EPs since 2011, and this is the best way to experience their music, not because it gets boring, but quite to the contrary; there’s just so much going on musically within the confines of a single song that sensory overload is practically inevitable. Just when you think you have a handle on navigating the musical labyrinth, it transforms completely, revealing newer, darker paths you didn't even know existed.

I touched on UA’s guitar playing in the first paragraph, and his idiosyncratic assault on the six-string is the obvious highlight and focal point of Nothing is Real. The man’s ungodly riff-barrage seems to get more tangled and bizarre with every release, the musical equivalent of one of Lovecraft’s adjective-packed passages detailing some elder horror hailing from a realm beyond the limits of human understanding. Indeed, plan on setting aside whatever it is you’re doing if you decide to put this EP on, as his maniacally baroque approach to the instrument demands your full and undivided attention. But in spite of the chaotic complexity, these three songs will stick with you; I’ve found myself contemplating their elaborate riff-mazes even when I’m not listening to them.

The Ash Eaters project has shown marked progression with each release and Nothing is Real feels like the next logical step in UA’s spiral into total six-string madness. It’s cerebral, harrowing and engaging, another musical puzzle to solve for longtime followers of the man’s work and a mind-bending surprise for first-time listeners. If you’re looking for some metal that will get your synapses firing rather than fading into the background, look no further.

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Trelldom - Til Et Annet

Guest review by That's How Kids Die.


If you’re expecting an objective assessment of Trelldom’s Til Et Annet… I reckon you better look elsewhere. You see, I’m of the opinion that everything Gaahl touches, from the hammering satanic attack of Gorgoroth to the psycho-sexual industrialized freak-out of Gaahlskagg, turns to black gold. Now that I’ve fully admitted my man-crush on the notorious Norwegian vocalist, we can attend to the task at hand; espousing the virtues of Trelldom’s second album, which has been reissued by the fine folks at Hammerheart Records.

Trelldom’s sound is Norse black metal at its most pure; you won’t hear any of the quasi-industrial atmospheres or electronic flourishes that tend to pop up in Gaahl’s other bands on Til Et Annet. What you will hear is an impeccably played and composed slab of total Norwegian black metal orthodoxy, musically evoking the wintery landscapes that tend to grace Trelldom’s album art. It’s the kind of album that will freeze your blood in its veins, made all the more chilling by Gaahl’s eerie vocal performance. Largely free of the distortion and effects he employed in Gorgoroth and Gaahlskagg, the man’s raw talents are allowed to truly shine here.

I’ve talked almost exclusively about Gaahl so far, but trust me when I say that the musicians backing him for Til Et Annet are far from slouches. Guitarist Valgard makes whipping out hateful, frostbitten tremolo riffage sound easy, while bassist Sir (now a member of God Seed) and session drummer Mutt deliver a solid, no-frills performance that serves as a perfect foundation. All these elements work in unison to create a frostbitten blizzard of an album, all cold, sharp edges and icy atmosphere.

It should probably come as no surprise that Til Et Annet was produced and mixed by none other than Pytten at the legendary Grieghallen studios; the album possesses that classic raw, trebly Norwegian sound, albeit with a bit more burl behind it than many of the other black metal recordings of the time. The mix is dominated by the guitars and vocals, with the drums only coming through when Trelldom lets off the gas, and the bass MIA in true kvlt fashion. It’s a sound that’s been done many times over, but the combination of naked ambition, compositional skill and youthful intensity the band brings to it succeeds in making it positively sublime.

Til Et Annet is as traditional a Norse black metal album as you’re likely to find anywhere, but it isn’t the style that makes the album stand out from the pack, rather it’s the level of craftsmanship; Scandinavian bands in corpse paint and spikes were a dime a dozen in 1998, but very few were releasing material of such exquisite quality. Essential grimness, to say the very least.

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The Sequence of Prime - Inter-

Guest review by That's How Kids Die.

Art by Brandon Duncan

I first experienced the one-man destructive force that is The Sequence of Prime via 2010’s Virion, an album that sounded like a man being assimilated by hostile machinery and forced to play cybernetic metal inside a black hole. Fast forward to 2012 and TSOP mastermind Brandon Duncan has finally unleashed a follow up in the form of Inter-, a record that sees the man crawling out of the bio- mechanical abyss and gaining control of those aforementioned death-machines, bending them to his will in order to create something even more violent and brutal.

Whereas Virion had a devastatingly mechanized feel, Inter- ups the ferocity by scaling back on the electronics, allowing Duncan’s fleet-fingered riff-mongering and vein-popping vocals to take center stage. The results are nothing short of stellar; in less than twenty-five minutes TSOP whips up more ferocity than most metal bands can muster in twice that amount of time with four times as many musicians. The music is mercilessly precise but possessed by a sense of total psychosis; think of it as Today is the Day meets T-1,000.

It’s worth noting that not only does Mr. Duncan handle all of the instruments, vocals, lyrics and programming for TSOP, he also records everything himself and is an accomplished graphic artist who designs all of his own album art and layouts. Even though Duncan gives his music away for free, he’s still dedicated to creating a complete experience for the listener that goes beyond music.

Overall, Inter- is one of the most flat-out ripping metal albums I’ve heard this year, which is saying a lot considering the amount of music I’m bombarded with on a weekly basis. Mr. Duncan’s singular vision has resulted in something totally unique, a razor-sharp assault on the senses that’s as cerebral as it is utterly neck-wrecking. Consider yourselves warned.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]