Stéphane “Neige” Paut has an impressive resume for anyone involved in music, and it’s more incredible when you consider how young he still is. At a mere 27 years of age, he’s already put out a giant catalog of music with bands such as Lantlôs, Old Silver Key, Amesoeurs, Peste Noir and Mortifera among others, and we’re still waiting on some studio output with him fronting Forgotten Woods. There are people who would kill to have such a body of work.

But Neige’s most intriguing project is Alcest, a band he founded before the turn of the century that finally offered up an official release with 2005’s “Le Secret,” re-released in expanded form last year. Unlike the harsh, more traditional black metal output of his other projects, Alcest was something different, more delicate, more spacious. It was inspired by a dream world Neige would visit in his youth that would go on to shape this decidedly Peter Pan-style viewpoint, and what he created over the course of split releases, EPs and two full-length records was something that was out of the comfort zones of many metal fans. There isn’t much room for fairytale wonder in black metal, nor any other sub-genre for that matter, and Alcest’s music often went against the grain of the ugliness and despair cranked out by most other artists. That made some people reticent to describe this band’s music as black metal at all, though some of those traits were present in the band’s earlier work. But as time has gone on, the music has grown more atmospheric and beautiful, more shoegazey and reflective. Now with album three in our midst, the band’s music has drifted even further away from darkness and deeper into that fascinating dream state.

“Les Voyages de L’Âme” (translates to “The Journeys of the Soul”) is very much a trip into light. The music practically glows with imagination and spirituality (not necessarily of the religious sense, though one could argue you get a certain sense of that depending on how you interpret the lyrics), and Neige is translating what certain people feel when they have out-of-body or near-death experiences. He is connecting with something otherworldly and haunting, taking a trip on which not many people would be willing to embark. He’s looking beyond what he can touch and feel with his own hands and is letting his mind and spirit surge and explore realms that remain secret to most. That doesn’t sound like something that would turn on the bloodsoaked amongst the black metal throngs, but that’s to be expected with people who often operate with closed minds.

This is, arguably, Alcest’s finest accomplishment to date. It certainly is the duo’s most ambitious musically, and there are whirlwinds of melody and drama that keep carrying you onto the next adventure. Neige and bandmate Winterhalter transcend beyond the Earthly limits of most bands and truly achieve something magical. This eight-cut, 50-minute album, the bulk of which is delivered in French, does not necessarily have to be understood lyrically for you to follow along with them. It certainly helps you have a full grasp of what’s going on, but “Les Voyages” is one of those records with which one can relate musically. I certainly did that long before I decided to peruse the lyrics, and I did that by choice. I wanted to see if the songs could lift me up on sound alone, and it did from the first time I experienced this record. Each time back I discover a new part of Alcest’s world.

The albums opens with “Autre Temps,” a song that sets up the record deliberately and purposely takes a while to launch, but that’s to set the mood and prepare you for what lies ahead. The ballad-like title track is cinematic and breathtaking, with Neige’s rich, ghostly voice telling the tale and the music settling into deep, lush valleys and blowing into mountainous peaks. “Nous Sommes l’Emeruade” just gushes with beauty and emotion, and that leads into the angelic, cloud-bursting “Beings of Light,” one of three cuts here that get an English title. “Havens” is an interlude piece that, while short, does its job, which is to set the stage for closer “Summer’s Glory,” a song that could not have been more aptly titled, sounding like something that should be emanating on one of those evenings when the horizons are brushed with orange, the skies are alive with purple, and the stars are present and accounted for in full. Its thrashy end sounds like a heart coming alive. Only two cuts, “Là Où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles” and “Faiseurs de Mondes” have a trace of harsh vocals, and in both cases, they eventually give way to Neige stretching his voice into the heavens and the music epically following.

“Les Voyages de L’Âme” is one of, if not the most, listenable albums in Alcest’s catalog. It never unfurls itself in the same way, always letting you see other layers and different shades each time you visit. It’s a record that can lift you in times of trouble, help your inner energy burst when you feel most alive, or simply allow you to achieve a peaceful state of mind if your mood is neutral. Labeling Alcest’s music as black metal or any other distinction would be like applying handcuffs. Your ears need to be open, your eyes at attention, and your head clear. This isn’t music that belongs in an envelope, rather it deserves to mix right in with your air supply for proper ingestion. Alcest is a band for the most daring, hopeful and imaginative listeners, and those with rigid walls would do themselves a great disservice by failing to leave their confines now again just to fly with the clouds for a while. That may not sound very metal, but it’s quite human.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.alcest-music.com/

To buy “,” go here: http://shop.prophecy.de/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.prophecy.cd/

I almost never write about mainstream metal on this site. A bit of clarification is in order, I guess. By mainstream metal, I mean bands that have music released by major record labels, therefore having the advantage of great distribution, marketing, promotional opportunities. I don’t ignore those bands because I have anything against them signing on with the majors. If you can get a good deal and you’re comfortable with it, I’m all for it. It’s just that the majors sign such awful metal bands. I hate every single one of them, and I sometimes make fun of their fans. I had to forcibly prevent myself from mocking people over the weekend on a certaon social media site. I’m a jerk that way. I won’t even list any of these bands here, but look at the bulk of the lineup of your average Mayhem fest or turn on a local rock radio station (if you have one) and you know what I mean.

But sometimes the majors get it right. Warner Bros. snapping up Mastodon was a daring move, but it’s been fruitful for both parties. I’ve largely been lukewarm to Mastodon’s WB work, but not because they’re on that label. It’s just their new direction isn’t to my liking. I’m sure they aren’t too worried about me. Perhaps the best marriage of metal and a major label has come with Epic and Lamb of God. Arguably, the band isn’t doings things much differently than they were in their Prosthetic and Metal Blade years, though they’ve added more swampy tendencies and some Pantera-style groove as seasoning and not a personality shift. In return, Lamb of God have done pretty well sales-wise (their last record “Wrath” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard charts), grabbed big tour slots with bands such as Metallica and have become a rousing success story. If anyone accused the band of “selling out,” I’d say that person is bitter, delusional or both. It also should be pointed these dudes still have a major presence in their home base of Richmond, Va. Frontman Randy Blythe just did some stuff with Cannabis Corpse. You going to tell me Metallica would do that?

People wondered if Lamb of God could survive at Epic since the story is majors only see value in you equal to how much money you draw, but they’re on their fourth record there with “Resolution.” That’s an impressive run that started in 2004, and while not everything they’ve done since landing at Epic has been a home run (“Sacrament” was kind of eh), they’ve more than held their own, refused to change their stripes and still are making pulverizing modern metal. Another important thing about the band is you know it’s them when you hear them. Lamb of God have a style and a personality. That’s so rare, especially among the so-called mainstream metal bands who all sound identical.

On “Resolution” we get more of the same from this massive quintet. I don’t mean it’s a retread record. It’s not at all. But if you like Lamb of God, anticipate their records and go to their shows, you’ll be pleased. It’s nice to know you won’t be let down, and Lamb of God rarely under-deliver for their audience. If you aren’t a fan, this album won’t change your mind. I saw a review elsewhere that suggested this band get more ambitious. Why? I’ve said this many times before, but it bears repeating: Some bands do a great job shape-shifting, while others do really well sticking to a formula, tweaking it slightly and delivering solid material. Lamb of God do the latter masterfully. Also, this record beats the holy shit out of anything put out by the other mainstream metal bands, most of which are as bland as a paper plate. This is where I want to make a Korn joke, but I’ll just let you make one of your own.

“Resolution” rips open with “Straight From the Sun,” a crushing song that draws blood early, sticks its boot in the wound and twists. It leads into two cuts that are tried-true LoG in “Desolation” and “Ghost Walking,” tracks that should have the band’s fans whipped into a frenzy. Guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler are in command, tearing out some vintage-sounding riffs that remind a bit of their earlier work. “Invictus” simmers in filth a little bit with groove-infested riffs, a pummeling drum work from Chris Adler and a snaking bassline from John Campbell; “Cheated” is a punk-infused explosion that’s looser and more violent than we’ve heard from the band in some time; and “Terminally Unique” borrows a bit musically from prog and thrash, making for a really interesting listen.  There are a few songs – “The Undertow,” “The Number Six” — that are on the more melodic side and could demand some radio play, but they don’t sound like they were written specifically for that goal. Closer “King Me” is the one true curveball, with some cleaner guitar work, sweeping synth work, more introspective lyrics, Blythe guiding the listener along with a gravelly monologue and operatic female vocals from Amanda  Munton. Of course, shit blows up eventually and we’re off to volcano land, but it’s a cool trip to place this band doesn’t ordinarily take you. There’s your ambition.

Lamb of God may not be embraced by underground metal fans who can’t see beyond their basement walls, but I doubt these guys are sweating that a whole lot. Lamb of God have remained true to themselves and their fans, and they’re the most noteworthy example of an extreme metal band taking their work to a corporate label and excelling. There are a lot of garbage bands headlining hockey sheds who won’t be remembered a decade from now. Lamb of God should be in their places, and even if their star eventually falls with Epic, you know they’ll be in a club somewhere ripping the walls down with the same ferocity.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.lamb-of-god.com/

To buy “Resolution,” go here: http://www.myplaydirect.com/lamb-of-god/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.epicrecords.com/

It’s mood music week, apparently, what with us taking a look at the new Asva yesterday and today spending some time with the sixth full-length effort from Kayo Dot, a band that defies all descriptions, though they’ve been tagged with the post-rock, post-metal, art-rock type labels. Those designations only fit to an extent, and they only do because no one’s coined a term for what this Toby Driver-led band creates. Let’s just say if you’re new to this band’s music, spend some time expanding your mind before you do so, because it’s not an easy experience once you get inside.

For me, Kayo Dot’s music always establishes feeling and mood. Their compositions are not ordinary at all. They explode across their canvas, and while there’s a musical brilliance to what they do, Kayo Dot don’t seem interested in paying homage to convention or rigid guidelines. Therefore, some people may – and already have – dismiss the band’s music as a mess. That would be a foolish assessment. That would be an opinion of a listener who just doesn’t get it, and there’s no real shame in that, as Kayo Dot’s music doesn’t seem inclined to please all. As for me, I appreciate their free-spirited expression, and what they do never ceases to set up shop in my heart and mind and take me away. Their 2010 album “Coyote” broke my heart over and over again, and while I’ve emotionally calloused a little bit to the story due to repeat listens, it still manages to prick me at least a little bit every time I hear it.

Kayo Dot’s new record “Gamma Knife” arrived in our hands digitally on Jan. 4, and while we’re just three weeks into the new year, it’s going to be tough for another band to top these 25 minutes of spontaneity, excitement, creativity and surprise. From the first listen, I was taken hostage by this collection, partially recorded live in October in Brooklyn (the rest done at home in October and November).          It sounds nothing like any other entry in the band’s catalog, and that’s another thing that makes me love this band so much. From album to album, you never know what you’re going to get. You can’t even venture a prediction. Put their last three efforts – this, “Coyote” and “Blue Lambency Downward” – together, and you’d be hard pressed to guess it’s the same band responsible.

“Gamma Knife” has very interesting bookends. It opens with “Lethe,” a song that wouldn’t sound out of place in a winter midnight mass. I don’t mean a black mass. I mean an old-style-church, hands-folded-upward service designed to lift you spiritually. And this song does that, though it doesn’t have to move you liturgically and can just affect you personally. It’s gorgeous and colorful, and Driver’s soulful vocals takes the song to the highest of heights. The closing title cut is quiet, serene and jazzy, almost lounge style. It’s a perfect song to dress up a rainy night, and Driver’s smooth singing reminds a little bit of Rufus Wainwright, sans the pretension.

In between those cuts are three tracks that throw everything at the wall, attack your senses and leave you reeling. They’re some of Kayo Dot’s most aggressive songs in some time, and the live performances of these numbers add an extra level of organic fury. “Rite of Goetic Evocation” find the sax flutters from Terran Olson and Daniel Means filling the room with smoke, while Mia Matsumiya’s strings let propulsive beauty slip in, and Driver’s throaty growls mash the thing into spikes. At points, the song gets dangerously close to black metal territory. “Mirror Water, Lightning Night” sets the jazzy elements and metallic traits across the battlefield from each other, urging both to charge, swords in hands, for a duel to the death. Inside all of that tussling comes some parts that sound a little but like Steely Dan and Rush. “Ocellated God” is the heaviest yet, taking listeners back to an era when screamo wasn’t a bad word and a sullied subgenre, and there is just total madness afoot throughout this incredible exercise. It makes the calming closing track that much more effective once it leaks out.

Kayo Dot never will be a band you’re able to box up, bottle or corner. They keep moving, gelling then melting, rising up and burning down and returning an all-new being. Each record is a new journey, and even if the foot soldiers are the same, their frame of mind never is. Kayo Dot are a band that is treasured by its followers, because those people feel some kind of kinship to the group’s multiple transformations and heartfelt expressions. It’s unlikely they’ll ever be one of the biggest bands in the world, but they’ll always be one of the most genuine.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.kayodot.net/kayodot/index.php?text=home

To buy “Gamma Knife,” go here: http://kayodot.bandcamp.com/

Artists changing, morphing and maturing has been something of a theme at this site. Typically, we’re for it. Why should a band with large ambitions keep making the same album over and over again just to satisfy an audience that isn’t willing to change with them? Now, whether the band or artist’s new direction is satisfying for a listener, a good idea, or just a stab at moving more units is up for debate in every case. But as long as whoever is making the music is happy with the output and is listening to his or her heart, isn’t that what matters the most?

I was cool with what Opeth did on “Heritage,” even though it was a far cry from their more death metal style. It sounded good, I liked the songs and it seemed true to their overall spirit. On the other hand, Mastodon totally have lost me on their past couple albums. I like their heavier, sludgier, uglier early material, and what they’ve done the last half-decade does nothing for me. But one band whose transformation has stunned me the most is Asva. When I listened to their new record “Presences of Absences” for the first time, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was used to this band being doomier, sounding not terribly unlike Earth did a decade or so ago. But this was altogether different. I even went online and did some sound sampling just to make sure the wrong CD didn’t accidentally end up in my case. Yet, when I heard the vocals, I knew I was experiencing Toby Driver’s otherworldly, smoothly jazzy singing rising through the foggy drone, so it had to be the real thing. I just had to figure out what to do with this world-toppling new record.

Actually, speaking of Driver, his presence in the band is very evident and noteworthy. One of my favorite bands is his Kayo Dot, and you certainly can hear some of what he does there carried over to Asva. That’s not just vocally but sonically, spiritually and philosophically as well. The band’s 2010 album “Coyote” is one of the most emotionally moving records I’ve ever heard (closer “Cartogram Out of Phase” gets me every time), and while the content is not the same, you can hear some of that outpouring on “Presences.” I find myself having the same type of transcendental experience. In a huge side note, Kayo Dot’s new album “Gamma Knife” is available for download at their Bandcamp site here: http://kayodot.bandcamp.com/.

“Presences” wasn’t even intentionally designed to be an Asva album. G. Stuart Dahlquist (Sunn 0))), Burning Witch) originally saw the record as a solo project, but as the piece developed, he knew it required full band attention. Driver, Greg Gilmore and Jake Weller were brought in to round out the new version of Asva not only for their musical ability but also for their willingness to put themselves out there as human beings to make this album the enriching experience Dahlquist envisioned. He basically took what Asva was in the past and lit it on fire, willing to carry on with just the ashes. It was a daring but ultimately fruitful decision, because this is absolutely Asva’s finest work yet. In fact, even though this is an entirely new formation of the band, they’ve never sounded this complete.

The record opens with “A Bomb in That Suitcase,” a piece built on organ drone, freak jazz horns, Driver’s high-register wail and eventually some earth rumbling and drum crumbling that level your plane of existence. “Birds,” a shimmery, psychedelic, R&B-flavored track, is the shortest piece of the collection but certainly never fails to mesmerize. The sprawling title track, that runs nearly 24 minutes, is absolutely arresting, opening and closing on sampled vocals recordings, the final being Ora Dell Graham singing “Shortenin’ Bread,” a chilling Southern spiritual (if you think it sounds upbeat, read the lyrics). In between are noise eruptions, keyboard soup, slowly shifting tempos, and emotions left out there for full examination. Closer “New World Order Rising” begins gently and serenely enough but eventually melts into doom thunder and storming, a volume that rises threateningly, and Driver revealing, “I have dreams that come true.” The horns that bring down the curtain might as well be calling for the end of the world, or at least a conclusion to the way we view our daily existence. If you take on this record and it doesn’t profoundly change your way of thinking, I feel bad for you.

Asva, over the course of the two full-lengths that preceded this record, were a band I really liked, visited now and again, and that remained in fairly usual rotation in my house. “Presences of Absences” is a new animal altogether, the sign of a band or at least an idea that is maturing, a new being tearing from a cocoon. To use an annoying cliché, Dahlquist has taken Asva to a new level, and he chose the right musicians to help him get there. This record is a powerful statement that, if you allow yourself to absorb it fully, can permanently impact your heart and soul. I liked Asva before. I wholeheartedly love them now.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/asvasongs

To buy “Presences of Absences,” go here: http://importantrecords.com/imprec/imprec279

For more on the label, go here: http://importantrecords.com/

There are many times when I get an e-mail in my inbox from a publicist or a record label telling me of a band with which I’m not yet familiar. I’d say eight times out of 10 I file the thing away for later, not because I’m a jerk but simply because so few new bands sound like they have anything interesting to offer. Then I’ll get a write-up that makes me think I need to hear the band immediately based on the description and how it may match my tastes. I’ve become pretty good at this, and usually if I pursue something out of the blue, I end up enjoying what I hear.

A few weeks ago I got something about the doom band Uzala, who originate from very un-metal-sounding Boise, Idaho. Their music pays some homage to (but doesn’t sound exactly like) the pioneers such as Black Sabbath, Pentagram and Electric Wizard as well as newer crushers Witch Mountain, Jex Thoth and Blood Ceremony (minus the flutes, that is) and boasts the vocal duo of siren/guitarist Darcy Nutt (who also is an esteemed tattoo artist) and guitarist/growler Chad Remains. Without making an issue of gender (I hope), I’m all for female-fronted doom bands. I really like to hear a strong, smoky female voice overtop slow-driving, filthy, metallic riffs, and I generally end up liking those bands more than like-minded male-fronted outfits. I don’t know why that is, and it isn’t a conscious decision. It’s just what I prefer, I guess. So that’s another thing that interested me in hearing Uzala, and Nutt’s voice (that has some Veruca Salt/The Breeders influences) matches the material just perfectly. Her expression and passion are unquestioned, and with just this one release, she’s quickly becoming one of my favorite doom voices. While Remains gets a chance to scare the crap out of you on occasion, his lead work only pops up now and again (on punishing “Fracture” and “Wardrums,” where he’s in total command).

The music has a vintage, under-produced feel that gives it a certain charm and character. So don’t read that as a criticism. I like that Uzala’s music isn’t super-polished. It makes the guitar work sound more menacing, the drums meatier and the vocals extra human. It’s easier to connect in a way because it seems like such a primitive expression that your inner beast cannot help but relate. Uzala’s music also sparks the part of my brain that identifies with the glory days of black metal. I mean, listen to opener “Batholith” and try to deny that spirit isn’t here. It’s music that has its pretty, calm spots, but there are twice as many scars and bleeding wounds to ensure you wallow in sorrow and despair.

“The Reaping” is a nice bit of trad doom that’s calculating and mesmerizing at the same time. It’s easy to get lost in there. “Ice Castle” has a mystical, psychedelic finish that’s dressed in a simmering lead guitar line that gives the track some teeth. “Cataract” is the first epic on the record, and its dusty soulfulness is countered by classic metal riffing and soloing that might remind you of why you fell in love with the genre in the first place. “Death Masque” totally soars, both musically and with Nutt’s vocals, and that leads to slow bleeding “Plague,” that boils your senses, eventually churning into what sounds like a dark spiritual. The aforementioned “Fracture” and “Wardrums” are where the band lets out its penchant for violence and skullduggery, settling in somewhere between the first and second waves of Nordic black metal. It drags your ass down into that dark basement where water drips from the ceiling and spiders leave their half-eaten prey.

Uzala are a really promising band whose best years are still ahead of them. They have the makings of an underground group of artists coming into their own who could be ripe to be picked by an indie metal label such as Profound Lore or even Relapse and sound right at home. I’m excited to see where this band goes next, and considering the passion and heart with which they play, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.

At War With False Noise is producing 333 vinyl copies of Uzala’s debut. You also will be able to buy as cassette version via Witch Sermon. Get on this. Find both links below.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UZALA/108093595875096

To buy the vinyl, go here: http://www.atwarwithfalsenoise.com/releases.html

To buy the cassette version, go here: http://witchsermon.wordpress.com/

You can’t anticipate all problems, can you? One knocked us all around the past few days, that being computer issues. We’re a staff of one, so when things go wrong, it’s not like someone can just step up and make up for the slack. Awww, boo. But we’re back up with a new computer and a keyboard totally differently than my old one, so I keep messing things up. I already had to restart this whole post because I somehow closed it like magic and lost it. Always save, kids.

So everything’s back up and running, and tomorrow we’re planning on being back to normal operations with an album review. Fingers crossed. Also got a lot of really exciting promos the past week or so, and that’ll make for some good fodder the weeks coming. So today we’ll give you a short update on some friends of ours – at least I like to think that they are – in Mares of Thrace. I praised their debut album “The Moulting” (albeit it at another site as we weren’t up and running yet) and named it one of my favorites of 2010. I still listen to it a lot nearly two years later.

Now comes word that the band’s new record “The Pilgrimage” is due for release in April on their new label Sonic Unyon (Voivod, Augury, Threat Signal). The duo of guitarist/vocalist Thérèse Lanz and drummer Stefani MacKichan recorded their new album with producer extraordinaire Sanford Parker in November and December at Chicago’s Engine Studios, and final touches are being put on the music right now. There also are plans for a North American tour in the new year, and details are upcoming.

“Some of the most influential records in my life, from way back in the ’90s up till now, were Sonic Unyon releases,” says Lanz, through a release from Earsplit PR, about the signing. “It’s impossible to understate the impact the label has had on Canadian independent music. Accordingly we are incredibly proud and stoked to partner with Sonic Unyon Metal for our upcoming records.”

We’re pretty pumped about the record as well, and hopefully the stronger label will enable more people to discover Mares’ brand of metallic chaos. Check back for more on the record in the upcoming weeks, as we’ll be sure to give a nice bunch of ink to the new music once it’s in our hands and ears.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.maresofthrace.com/

For more on their music, go here: http://maresofthrace.bandcamp.com/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.sonicunyon.com/metal

On an episode of “Seinfeld,” Frank Costanza once yelled, “I will not tolerate infestation!” Now, he was talking about rodents, but the mass gathering black metal experimentalists Farsot have in mind involves insects. Lots and lots of little creatures with multiple legs who typically creep us out. And if their vision is true, you may not have a choice but to deal with said infestation. That is, if you survive to see it.

The German band, that’s been in existence since 1999 but didn’t offer their full-length debut until 2007 with “IIII,” have changed things a bit in the past few years. The music is more explorative and mesmerizing, trancey and  stirring, spread out and panic-inducing. Their new sophomore effort “Insects” (out on Lupus Lounge)is not a blast beat frenzy, it’s not packed with speed and ferocity, it’s not going to inspire a ton of clichéd metal listener activities such as headbanging and fist pumping. Instead, it should make you concentrate and wonder, fear for your future, and remember all of your life’s worst nightmares. In fact, the content on “Insects” sounds like something that would make for a good, cheesy SyFy channel movie where gigantic insects rule the earth, trying to snuff out the humans. Unlike how said movie likely would end, humanity wouldn’t stand a chance.

Farsot look at what’s happening on planet Earth, the technological tidal wave that has become our lives, and our total devotion, even worship, of the advancements we’ve made as a race. But there are those who believe our technology eventually will crumble on top of us, and if you look at all of the concentration spent on preventing certain countries from gaining nuclear capabilities, while the same nations wringing hands have that power right now, it certainly isn’t impossible to imagine a day when all of those groups cancel out each other in one giant mushroom cloud. And what would remain? Well, the insects, of course.

So, sure, what Farsot envision is only a theory, a premonition, a scary dream from which we should be able to wake, but that’s not a certainty. That’s what makes the eight songs on “Insects” so scary and effective. Not only does their music match their vision perfectly, but we can’t outright ignore the lyrical content here. We are capable of destroying ourselves and leaving this world to the multi-legged beings. It’s interesting when going over the words and realizing the lyrics are kind of both abstract and that-can-apply-to-anything general, but knowing their intent gives the lines power and venom.

“Like Flakes of Rust” opens the record, and what’s interesting is the vocal approach applied by singer 10.XIXt (the band members go by weird codes instead of names) in which he uses more of a speak growl. It’s not just in this song but in many other places, and it comes off like a buzzing, almost as if he’s taking on the characteristics of the new overlords. “Empyrean” is thrashy and more in your face sonically  than most of the other songs, though it eventually goes calm, with cleaner vocals and rich atmosphere. “Perdition” sounds a little bit like Opeth in spots, as it leans more towards prog, but it also has its eruption points. “The Vermillion Trail” has a damaged black metal approach not unlike Funeral Mist, as the song envisions the meltdown it warns about and reminds us that only the insects can come out of the nuclear winter. “Withdrawal” goes gothy and psychedelic, seemingly inspired by Celtic Frost’s early days, while instrumental “Somnolent” is an unsettlingly calm outro piece, either soundtracking the funeral of mankind or the transformation to the bug world.

“Insects” isn’t just a weird, horror-style warning that’s noteworthy for its philosophy. It’s an excellently crafted album of spacious, thought-sparking black metal , death and prog that infuses new life into Farsot, a band that wasn’t exactly stale. It’s a transformation, a metamorphosis into a more organic, exciting band that’s capable of anything. It’s almost as if the rest of the black metal world, that’s content to keep doing the same thing, is imploding, and only a band such as Farsot could come crawling out of the smoke and carnage. They have plenty to offer the world and are completely captivating, even if what they’re serving us are the seeds being planted for our extinction.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.farsot.de/

To buy “Insects,” go here: http://shop.prophecy.de/product_info.php?info=p1240_FARSOT—Insects–CD-Jewelcase-.html

For more on the label, go here: http://prophecy.cd/

All forms of music are made with many inspirations in mind. Love, death, sorrow, depression, happiness, sexual arousal, the rejection of sexual arousal, God, the devil, the rejection of any god, you name it. There is nothing that is off limits. In the case of Behold! The Monolith, I feel like what moved them to make their crushing epics is a battle axe. That’s it, a simple instrument of brutal, barbaric destruction designed to split your chest into two pieces. I can’t help but hear the band’s awesome second record “Defender, Redeemist” and not think of it.

The trio’s sophomore platter is sticky with blood, ominous and so heavy that you’ll need multiple breathers. If you’re not aware of the band’s power yet but are into groups such as High on Fire, St. Vitus, early Sabbath, Iron Maiden and early Mastodon, you’re in for a love fest. An ugly one where you might have to protect yourself from other heathens in a filthy den who also have their eyes on your object of affection. It’s that brutal an experience, one that sounds inspired by tales and warriors of ages gone by. It also has those fantastical, medieval elements that make metal fans swoon, and that’s kind of where the Maiden comparison comes into play.

You’ll need time to absorb the eight cuts on “Defender, Redeemist,” their follow-up effort to 2009’s eye-opening self-titled debut. The L.A. band dabbles in smoky doom that also should make the stoner community proud, and the fiery guitar work of Matt Price both fits in well with that camp and those who are more into trad doom. There’s something for everyone here, as long as heavy metal glory and gloomy punishment make you happy. This is one bad-ass, maniacal, beast of a record that should put this band on the fast track to subgenre dominance and larger stages to hold their chaos.

The album opens with “Guardian’s Possession,” a quick warning salvo that leads right into “Halv King,” a crushing song that gives you an idea of what’s in store during this rest of this gallop across dusty lands in search of men to slay and meat to eat. The guitars are fast, the rhythm section of Kevin McDade and drummer Chase Manhattan is tight and bruising, and the vocals are delivered with demonic intent.  “Desolizator” has a meaty lead guitar groove that leans a bit toward classic thrash and a choppy tempo, and it’s a fun song to hear when driving. In fact, you might find yourself challenging the gas pedal, so maybe be careful. The title cut is spacier and packed with adventure. It has its heavy, challenging moments, and at times it dissolves into acoustic beauty that almost seems there to change the scenery. It’s a really good, effective cut.

“Witch Hunt Supreme” reminds of when Mastodon used to be one of my favorite bands. Just that opening guitar riff and where it leads makes me wonder if BTM couldn’t fill the void Mastodon left in the underground scene. The song then changes into a slow-driving doom head-banger dressed with harsh, throat-mangling storytelling. Three-part epic “Cast on the Black/Lamentor/Guided By the Southern Cross” is a sprawling piece that touches on everything this band does well, and while it’s nearly 14 minutes long, it never feels that lengthy. The band keeps things interesting, and it’s pretty easy for the listener to decipher when the dudes have moved onto the next piece of the triptych.

I’m a sucker for doom, as any regular reader would know, and I always dig the stoner realm as well, but that also makes me pickier as bands who do that type of things seem to multiply by the day. Fewer things ring my bell these days. Behold! The Monolith are one of those that never disappoint me, and when I want something that just bloodies my face like, well, a battle axe, I turn to these fellows. Their new record is a monster with which to be reckoned, and it should make them major players in the doom scene. Try them on for size next time you’re visiting some of your favorite chemicals and see if their music doesn’t make you see battle scene on your walls, Just don’t have weapons around, otherwise you might have some spackling to do the next day.

For more on the band, go here: http://beholdthemonolith.com/fr_home.cfm

To buy “Defeater, Redeemist,” go here (not up for sale on the site yet, so keep checking back): http://beholdthemonolith.storenvy.com/collections/15874-all-products

We start our review year with no words. From the bands, that is. We kind of need to use words, otherwise how would you know what we think of the groups’ music? We also start the year with one of the stupidest opening paragraphs in Meat Mead Metal history. We let it stand.

There are varying opinions on the value of instrumental-only bands. I have a friend who, try as he might, just can’t get with the idea. There have been exceptions over time, but for the most part, he needs words in order to truly embrace music. Then there are people such as myself who love instrumental music. As long as the work is compelling, interesting and powerful, why do you need words to express you emotions? Also, it gives your audience a chance to simmer in the emotion and come up with the stories themselves. I always find a lot of fun in that, but the idea of no singing isn’t for everyone.

Today, we bring you two bands who get out their messages through their instruments only, though each group does it in a completely different way. In fact, the only thing these two bands have in common at all is that they’re instrumental acts. I’m not even sure if there are sonic crossover possibilities for their respective audiences, though I like both of them, so perhaps that answers my question. But each get their points across, and their approaches have merit, so let’s give each a little focus.

First up is Loincloth, another in a line of interesting signings by Southern Lord and whose new album “Iron Balls of Steel” sounds more like the title of a Manowar record. That seems to indicate the band doesn’t take their image too seriously, and with song titles such as “Underwear Bomb,” “Hoof-Hearted” and “The Moistener,” they don’t seem to mind if their listeners smile along with them. Humor isn’t something that inhabits the instrumental metal world all that often, but the band’s compositions, mostly two minutes and shorter, also set them apart from groups who usually wax and wane over epic songs and albums. “Balls” is 16 songs that end in about 40 minutes, so if you want something that will profoundly move you philosophically, you’ve likely come to the wrong place. If you just want to have a blast, then you probably couldn’t buy a more fitting album.

The band features guitarist Cary Rowells and drummer Steve Shelton, both members of Confessor, as well as guitarist Tannon Penland, of Koszonom, and their approach to their music is to pound the hell out of you over and over again. It’s not pretty what they do and it’s not poetic, but it’s overflowing with tonnage. It’s math-friendly, doomy, thrashy and totally a slave to the riff, so if you like the air guitar thingie, you’ll be in heaven with “Iron Balls of Steel.” One drawback is the songs don’t really mesh together like a true album. They sound like a collection of punishing ideas mashed into one place that don’t really have anything to do with each other. It doesn’t flow naturally at all, but perhaps that’s just the guys going against what you expect. That said, the record at least shines based on its individual parts, and Loincloth punch the hell out of you on the aforementioned tracks as well as psyche-ish “Sactopus”; groove-heavy “Elkindrone”; the melodic and airy “Stealing Pictures,” that reminds me a little of Pelican; and tricky, trucking “Voden.”

This is a fun listen, one that’ll satisfy your craving for abject heaviness and sounds much better when played at a really, really loud volume. Again, it sounds more like a mish-mash of songs rather than a complete album, but that’s OK when the songs are this jarring. In the words of Sterling Archer, “Balls.”

For more on the band, go here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Loincloth/266521466700945

To buy “Iron Balls of Steel,” go here: http://www.southernlord.com/store.php

For more on the label, go here: http://www.southernlord.com/

Now, onto a band that certainly has a flare for the dramatics, that being Massachusetts’ own Caspian. This post-rock creature deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as like-minded acts such as Explosions in the Sky and MONO, and perhaps one day they will be. If you want to get an idea for the band’s live majesty, grab a copy of “Live at Old South Church.” The five cuts on this document are culled largely from their first two full-lengths “The Four Trees” and “Tertia,” as well as from EP “You Are the Conductor,” namely the stunning opener “Last Rites.” From the start, the band’s massive wall of gorgeous sound is apparent and impenetrable, even when listening on cheap headphones carrying the song from a damaged laptop computer. So I can only imagine what being there must have been like.

The show was captured Oct. 22, 2010, from the Old South Church in Boston, a Gothic, revival-style building constructed in 1875. On top of that, the show wasn’t just for Caspian to unfurl their power in a unique venue. The appearance was part of a benefit performance for Amirah, a non-profit group dedicated to providing whole-person care and safe housing for victims of sexual trafficking. In fact, some proceeds from the album sales also will go to help the agency that is tackling a subject that normally just makes for horrific headlines in many of our insulated worlds. Caspian certainly made the most of the stage, blowing through the spacious rumbling of “The Dove”; kicking up the tempo on more rock-oriented “ASA”; and putting a quaking exclamation point on the album with “Sycamore,” that just drips with emotion.

As noted, Caspian deserve more ears tuned to their music, and perhaps people with generous hearts and compassion for the victims Amirah serves will benefit by helping others and getting in touch with an explosive, powerful band. Caspian’s music is too big for a tiny hall, so let’s get them into the bigger rooms where they belong, so that their music doesn’t take down any buildings.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.caspianmusic.net/

To buy “Live at Old South Church,” go here: http://www.mylenesheath.com/catalog.html?&Vl=32&Tp=2

For more on the label, go here: http://www.mylenesheath.com/

For more on Amirah, go here: http://www.amirahboston.org/

There’s no mystery left in our world anymore. You have the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle to thank for that. A dictator or terrorist leader is killed, and we want to see the body. Now. A high-priced athlete signs with our favorite team, and we want to know how much he’s making. Now. A soon-to-be-princess is going to wed and we want to know exactly what she’s wearing. Now. More on the topic of today’s entry, a highly anticipated album is going to be in stores and digital outlets in weeks, but we need the music and the art. NOW.

We live in a society where an e-mail that bounces back infuriates us, where a failed text message ruins our day, where a dropped cell phone call leads us to threaten our service providers with cancelation. We’re spoiled. Louis CK does a fantastic rant about this topic, so look it up. We can’t wait anymore. We can’t have any level of mystery. We need to know everything right now. And if we can’t, it’s just unacceptable. This is why the band FALSE intrigued me from the start. I recall asking some fairly benign questions about the band to Gilead Media, and by the band’s request for secrecy, they could not be answered. That fascinated me. It didn’t make me angry, it didn’t cause me to lash out, it made me sit on the edge of my seat until that magical digital promo arrived of the Minnesota band’s debut untitled effort. The fact I knew from which state they hailed was a really big deal. Here I am almost six months later, and I still know very little about the band. And I love it. I think some of this harkens back to my youth when I’d go into a record store looking for the latest album from a band and not having any clue what it looked like. Seeing it for the first time? Fireworks! I remember that exact experience with Metallica’s “…And Justice for All.”

Of course, all FALSE’s shadowy moves aside, the music is what ultimately would matter most, and if it failed to be massive, then their efforts would be moot. The music was earth-moving, life-changing, genre-crushing. From my first experience listening to the two cuts that make up this effort, I realized I had discovered a band that was not like any others. Yes, they had tenets of early Nordic black metal, some power metal, some death, but it was the way they put the whole thing together. It is an album that, no matter how many times I hear it, I discover something new about it. One of the first qualities about their music that really grabbed me is how they use mystical sounding keyboard in the mix of their chaos. It shimmers and sinks into the puzzle, and it reminds me a lot of how Iron Maiden used keys on “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.” I know that record gets bashed, but I positively love it. It’s one of my favorite Maiden records, and to hear some of that in FALSE, whether it was intentional or not, sent my heart ablaze. The simmering guitar work, the adventurous leads, the nicely sectioned movements in their epics, and the blood-thirsty banshee cries and growls of leading lady Rachel all make the package the most devastating and moving of 2011. This is the best, most promising band in all of domestic black metal, and their reign has only just begun.

Whether FALSE decide to remove the shroud at some point and let people inside the machine, there’s no saying. There are photos of the band playing live out there, but they still tell you very little about the band. In fact, the group looks so damn normal that it just feeds into the mystery behind their hellacious chaos. It’s scarier when folks who aren’t adorned in corpse paint and spikes make something this vitriolic and come up with scenarios such as, “Promises of a throne/a battle rages/brother against brother, sister against sister,” like some real-life “Game of Thrones,” and deduce, “Hell is what we have sown, and hell is what we shall reap.” Of course, then they prod the sun god Khepera, the warrior goddess Sekhmet and other Egyptian deities on “Sleepmaker,” a gut-ripping revenge tale, so they also tab violence throughout the ages. OK, I need to stop. I could talk all day about this album, and that is another reason this is, hands down, my favorite album of 2011. It has rewarded me so richly and continues to do so every day. I am in sick love with this band, and I feel like I’d capture people, hold them for ransom and slit throats if I had to in order to keep FALSE’s secrets. I’ve not been this affected by a band in a long time, and it’s great to feel this way about someone’s art. Even if I know little to nothing about the actual creators.

Although the members of FALSE have chosen to maintain their silence, we decided to try to get them answer questions anyway. It failed! And we respect their position and admire a band that wants to maintain their mystery. I know I’m not the first person who tried to get them to speak. So we asked Adam Bartlett owner of Gilead Media, who put out FALSE’s album in conjunction with Howling Mine, to discuss the record, its importance to him and what he knows about what the band has planned in 2012. I remember realizing when first reading his responses that, the way he said he felt about the music was the same way I did when I first heard it. We thank him for giving his unique perspective on this band and for making possible Meat Mead Metal’s favorite record of 2011.

Meat Mead Metal: We’re naming FALSE’s unnamed debut our No. 1 record of the year. It seems the record was well received and got people talking about the band. Are you happy with how this album was received by the public?

Adam Bartlett: Absolutely! Particularly for a band that many people haven’t heard, or even heard of, there was a great response. It feels great any time a band’s debut recording is so warmly accepted.

MMM: How has this release affected you both personally and professionally?

AB: Personally? Well, that’s one of my favorite records now, has been since earlier in 2011 when I first heard it. The people in that band are a great group of individuals and the way they write sounds so passionate when I listen to it. They have an element I hear very rarely in music. Professionally? Not much changes there. I do everything I can for all of my bands because I believe entirely in every record I release.

MMM: What led you to discover the band, and what about them made you want to work with them?

AB: Bryan (Funck, also of Thou) from Howling Mine turned me onto them. Saw a show of theirs and was entirely blown away. He and our friend Andy had nothing but great things to say. Bryan asked me to put out the record with him and I agreed, contingent upon finally hearing the recordings when they were done. Turns out my other friend Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording was set to mix and master the album, too. I knew I would be in for a treat… and was I ever. That was one of the most shocking first listens I’ve ever had.

MMM: FALSE did something very different that most bands don’t these days — they shrouded themselves in mystery, not actively releasing band member info, doing promo shots, interviews. How do you feel about their approach? Do you think the aura of mystery helps the band?

AB: I really like the way FALSE chose to do things. People gave me some crap for the way I represented them while promoting the record, but I am certain to only represent bands the way they want to be. It’s a long series of questions I ask and materials I request. They ultimately decide how they want their image portrayed during promotion, and as long as I think that makes sense for the record, I respect that. There were many requests for interviews that I had to respectfully turn down. In a couple cases that resulted in less coverage by the potential interviewers, but the band was adamant that the music speak for itself. Especially when we’re talking this early in their life as a band. I certainly think it helped build interest. These days, with Google and a download blog just a click away… with Metal Archives, people are so used to the immediate availability of all the information they could possibly want, streaming audio or downloads, band history, photos and videos… we’re so accustom to having immediate access to all these things. FALSE really captured the attention of a lot of people by denying listeners the immediate availability of any information until a time of our own choosing.

MMM: For those who have yet to see the band live, how would you describe the experience?

AB: It’s hard to put into words. It’s an experience, that’s for certain. There’s not much more I can say beyond that. It’s a very focused and captivating experience. The songs on the 12” resonate very deeply with me, so experiencing that live, for me, is very powerful. There are parts of those songs… I only listen to them alone, because I feel like I’m not grasping the full scope of what that song is truly achieving.

MMM: Does Gilead Media have plans to work with FALSE in the future, and if so, what details can you give our readers?

AB: I will be working with them on at least one project in 2012, but the details on that will remain confidential until we’re ready to move forward. We’ve withheld so much from you already, why do you think we would just feed you the juicy stuff now?! I will say, though, people are going to be very excited about that release. It’s going to be one of those records where, when you see the announcement about it, you’re going to think you misread it.

For more on the band, go here (it’s the best we can do): http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/False/3540332204

To buy the album, go here: http://www.gileadmedia.net/

Or here: http://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/untitled-false

For more on the label, go here: http://www.gileadmedia.net/store/