CAVE, NICK AND THE BAD SEEDS The Road To God Knows Where / Live At The Paradiso (Mute) dvd 19.98

CAVE, NICK AND WARREN ELLIS The Proposition (OST) (Mute) cd 16.98
It's been several years now that Warren Ellis from The Dirty Three has been serving double duty as a part of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds but it really hasn't been until this score that the totally distinctive Dirty Three violin stylings of Ellis and Cave's dark brooding presence have totally meshed together to create something so strikingly gorgeous! While Cave's name will probably end up the focus in most people's eyes, the truth is this record is just as much and kind of even more about the sound of Ellis as more then half of the score is instrumental, which is very fine by us. The playing and mood is as good and at times even more grand and gorgeous then recent Dirty Three outings which of course we always adore. When Cave does step to the mic it's the more subtle and creepy and less crooning side of his delivery which for the mood of this record works so perfectly. Can't tell you anything about the film The Proposition but we can tell you the music in it is pretty damn stunning!
MPEG Stream: "Martha's Dream"
MPEG Stream: "Queenie's Suite"

CAVE, NICK, & THE BAD SEEDS The Boatman's Call (Reprise) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Melancholy song-action from Nick and co. Some say his best of recent years.

CAVENDISH SANGUINE Strange Alloys, Rare Earth (Fflint Central) cd 9.98
It's that time again. When Richard James (aka Aphex Twin) drives his tank home and holes up in his big 'ol bank/bunker and draws the shades in fear. When Autechre sit on their fire escape, listening to the mysterious strains of the latest Fflint central release drifting across the city, pondering whether it's time to just throw in the towel and head down to the pawn shop and get rid of all their gear. When Boards Of Canada realise that their days are numbered and people will only let them make the same record so many times. Our favorite electronic underdogs return to show the world how it's done. And just how well it can be done without a budget or a video or magazine ads or a bunch of pats on the back from other "electronic musicians." This latest Fflint missive is the newest release from the mysterious Cavendish Sanguine. Taking elements of all the above mentioned bands, mixing in all sorts of abstract noise and random weirdness and coming up with some of the most compelling and beautiful experimental electronica we've heard. The sound this time around is slightly more 'rock' than past releases. Not rock in the traditional sense, not even remotely, but more in the sense that it sounds really organic and is less a seemingly random assortment of sounds, and more a semi-structured set of parts and songs, that at times sound like it could definitely be a band, and not just a solitary figure hunched over a keyboard in a dark corner. Mysterious and sing songy Krautrock, jangly and noisy, rambling and shambolic, gives way to shimmery skree, melodies shifting and eventually splitting apart and forming new more abstract melodies. Chirping birds and gutteral Orc-ish vocalisations over a bed of keening chimes and high end swells. Abstract IDM is deconstructed into even more abstract beats, shuffling and skittering beneath shifting chords and slabs of minor key sound. Rich sheets of dense sound, layers of sweet ambience, and the metallic hum of excited strings, eventually becoming clipped and static, a hypnotic looped rhythm over accordions, crowd sounds and more bird calls. As always, amazingly good, completely baffling and totally original.
MPEG Stream: "Hyderus"
MPEG Stream: "Bronze"

CAVENDISH SANGUINE Transmutation (Fflint Central) cd-r 9.98
Fflint Central is a U.K. label run by two extraordinarily nice guys and darn fine hosts (good enough to befriend a sick and bedraggled on-tour Andee and buy him Cokes). Fflint specializes in experimental electronics and harsh abstract noise. One would think that there's enough, or too much of both, but the men from Fflint have that something special (fuck-you attitude? undefinable sound? sense of humor?) that makes these records way better and way more interesting than the majority of the 'electronica' we hear these days. Fans of VV/M, Lesser and other 'troublesome' electonica will dig this stuff.Affordable CD-Rs. Go ahead and take a chance. You may regret it...
Cavendish Sanguine is the work of Fflint co-mastermind Barry Williams, and is certainly the least abrasive. But that's not to say it isn't harsh in its own way. Huge swarming walls of buzzing and humming, dissipate into sublime, murky low-end atmospherics. Dark pulses and repeating figures (ala Charlemagne Palestine) slowly become less and less cohesive until they too begin to drone and hum. This one is definitely for the drone minded among you. Fans of Jonathan Coleclough, Andrew Chalk, Mirror, etc.
RealAudio clip: "Sulpher Pavilions"

CAVENDISH SANGUINE Truculence (Fflint Central) cd-r 9.98
Another installment in Fflint Central's campaign to take over the world. Or if not the world, to at least annoy the fuck out of your neighbors! For those of you just tuning in, Fflint is a small cd-r label run by a couple of guys in the UK, who manage to put out some of the best experimental electronica we've ever heard. I'm still amazed that Warp or Lo or someone hasn't just snapped up the whole Fflint stable. Cavendish Sanguine is one half of the two man Fflint empire, and 'Truculence' is record number three. Cavendish seems to fall more on the ambient side of all things FFlint. But ambient in no way means wimpy or new age. This is tough challenging stuff. Dark drones and clattering music concrete, super distorted synth washes and ear shredding white noise, pulsing rhythms and stuttering far away melodies. Abrasive and raw, but warm and hypnotic at the same time. Cavendish (and the rest of the Fflint artists for that matter) seem to have really found their own sound, a sound that allows them to go all over the map, without sounding like the millions of laptop jockeys out there, and more importantly always sounding uniquely Fflint. Highly recommended as always!
RealAudio clip: "The Clouding Of Judgement"
RealAudio clip: "Rictus"
RealAudio clip: "Azeotrope"
RealAudio clip: "Quack Nostrum"

CAVENDISH SANGUINE Vitriol Crusts (Fflint Central) cd-r 9.98
Full length number two from the mighty Cavendish Sanguine (1/2 of the demented team that run the awesome UK fucked-electronic label Fflint) and it's just as good as we've come to expect from everything they put out. CS was always the moodiest, least abrasive member of the Fflint stable, and 'Vitriol Crusts' continues along the same path, taking the swarming buzzing and muted electronic skree from their previous release, and stretching it out and warming it up making this a great drone record, albeit a peculiar one. Warm waves of fuzzy hum blossom into peals of Skullflower-like high end epiphanies, stuttering hiccupping samples beat against each other until they become a sort of underwater drum-roll-drone, and melodic tones shift effortlessly making for some dark and dreamy (but still creepy) ambience.
So good.
RealAudio clip: "Hall of Tendrils"
RealAudio clip: "Plague"
RealAudio clip: "South Stack"

CAVITY Drowning (Bacteria Sour) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's a fancy, shiny die-cut Pushead artwork cover on this disc, thanks to it being on Pushead's label - that's the first thing you'd notice. Put it on, and the visuals are obliterated by the seriously heavy south Florida sludgecore the band kicks out, ala EYEHATEGOD meets early Corrosion of Conformity. This gets the Andee seal of approval.

CAVITY Laid Insignificant (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
They just don't make bands like Florida's Cavity anymore. Or I guess maybe they do, but now they just make 5 or six bands out of the ingredients that made up Cavity back in the day. Not to sound like an old man, but these days most bands have 'A SOUND' and they stick to it. Cavity on the other hand were pretty tough to pigeonhole. Sure they were heavy. And they were metal. But also punk. Sorta grindy too. They tended toward the sludge-y end of the sonic spectrum, but in the middle of some sub Sabbath dirge they'd explode into a furious thrashing grind only to immediately slow back down to some impossibly glacial Khanate like crawl, complete with tortured shrieks, and buzzing droneguitar.
This record, originally recorded way back in 1997, sounds as fresh as it did a decade ago. Someone joked recently that super hyped duo No Age were punk rock for people who had never heard punk rock before. Which is not entirely fair to No Age as they are an awesome band, but there is some truth to the fact that lots of bands these days borrow pretty heavily from the past, without a lot of fans realizing it. No Age are kick ass and wild and fun, but they're not necessarily reinventing the wheel. That's also true with a lot of heavy bands these days. If Cavity were bunch of kids and Laid Insignificant was a super limited cd-r, or a one sided etched 12", labels would be lined up around the block to put something out by these guys, kids would be losing their shit. But just because this record is ten years old is no reason they still shouldn't. This is epic mindblowing heaviness. Furious and freaked out, sweaty and brutal and visceral. Elsewhere on this list Allan talks about Vincent Black Shadow in terms of sheer blown out sweat soaked pure rock and roll power. The same could be said about these guys, just leaning a little more toward the extreme side of the sonic spectrum. Back in the day, no band could touch Cavity live OR on record, and listening to them again, it seems like nothing has changed. The guitars are massive, the riffs incredible, heavy and melodic and thick as shit, the drums HUGE and pummeling, the songs super catchy, even when they're all tangled into buzzing blasts, or sprawled out in huge black oozing pools, the hooks remain intact. And vocalist Rene Barge has the wickedest raspy howl this side of Eyehategod. About as EMO as that kind of voice can get. Which also keeps these songs from turning into wanky riff fests. These are SONGS, dark and dense, complex and hypnotic, groovy and crushing, utterly headbangable for sure, certain to fill a pit in the blink of an eye, but at the same time, musical enough to be serious headphone bliss for the hard and heavy.
Not sure what else to say. These guys ruled. And still rule. This just proves it all over again.
MPEG Stream: "Laid Insignificant"
MPEG Stream: "The Woods"
MPEG Stream: "9 Fingers On The Spider"

CAVITY Miscellaneous Recollection '92-'97 (Kapow) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is a pretty awesome collection of early singles and compilation tracks from Florida's Cavity, one of the original (and still one of the best) new-wave-of-metal-core bands. Noisy and completely devastating. If you like stuff like Converge, Isis, Cave In, Coalesce, and Botch, you will love this.

CAVITY On The Lam (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
From the state that gave us President George W. Bush's presidency and our first taste of anthrax panic, comes sludgemetal masters Cavity and their new album for Hydrahead. Just like their past efforts, the sweet smell of Sabbath is strong, mixed with the crusty stench of metalcore violence ... heavy, swinging stuff for fans of feedback, vocal venom, and riff-bludgeon (a la fellow Southern doomsters Eyehategod). All the "stoner" rockers here at AQ give it the thumbs up.
RealAudio clip: "Cult Exciter"

CAVITY Somewhere Between The Train Station And The Dumping Grounds (Rhetoric Records) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Second album of heaviness from these Florida sludge punk metallers, for fans of EYEHATEGOD, Deadguy, etc. Classy.

CAVITY Supercollider (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
With this 1998 album, Cavity's Sabbath-fried sludge from the swamps of Florida really earned them their rightful place in the pantheon of heaviosity peopled by the likes of the Melvins, Eyehategod, Boris, and Electric Wizard. We liked 'em already, but this record stood above and beyond. Sheer HEAVY pummel, riff repetition chug fulla feedback and nasty vocals. There's quiet respites now and then, making the monster riffage even more monstrous. Definitely the kind of thing that just takes you over, relentless, submersive, and hypnotic. So, we can't believe we never listed this before! It was a HUGE fave among a bunch of us here when it came out on Man's Ruin a few years ago. It's been sadly out of print ever since that label folded, but now Hydrahead has stepped up and reissued a remixed version, complete with new artwork/design and what appear to be 2 new tracks (but, one's missing -- what happened to "Almost Blue"?). So apparently even if you have the Man's Ruin version, you've gotta buy Supercollider again. But this is one of those records you *would* buy again, it's that good! And if you don't have this already, and you like heaviness, GET IT. Cavity's best album (though their last one, On The Lam, was pretty great too). Thanks Hydra Head for giving us the chance to recommend this, again.
MPEG Stream: "Supercollider"
MPEG Stream: "How Much Lost"

CAVO s/t (Shit Jam Records) 3"cd 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Six tracks in seventeen minutes from Japan's mysterious Cavo, who just happen to be labelmates of the amazing (and amazingly monickered) Bathtub Shitter, and feature a member of Corrupted! The first two tracks are a bit misleading, a hazy pagan ritual of gutteral almost-throat singing, temple bells and slow chants. Reminds us a bit of Ghost or Comus. But the ritual quickly grow in intensity until it's a chaotic swirl of tribal drums, shouted vocals, sludgy low end, repetitive riffs, and thick viscous ambience. Like a primitive mix of the Boredoms and Crash Worship. The tribal melee continues, interrupted briefly with one more ambient interlude, all low end rumble and groaning vocalisations, sounding like Keiji Haino with strep throat fronting Earth. Toward the end of the record the sludge coalesces into a weirdly catchy Viking style sing-a-long, lots of WOOOAH OOH OHHH's until things wind down in a truly creepy ritual of spoken female vocals, clapping, manic chanting, shouts, screams and whistles. Comus meets the Boredoms? The Wickerman performed by Corrupted? Boris covers the Incredible String Band? More amazing and baffling Japanese weirdness!
MPEG Stream: "Eti"
MPEG Stream: "Olammo"

CD_SLOPPER SaskieWaxi (Or) cd 15.98
Cd_Slopper is the collaborative work of Mego contributers Oswald Berthold (of Farmer's Manual) and Florian Hecker. "SaskieWaxi" features both a musical program and an HTML-executable element of text / graphics / etc. The musical format is certainly informed by both Hecker's and Farmer's Manual's previous work -- non-linear collages that instantaneously dissolve any rhythmic proclivity the two may be pushing for. At first, the two appear to be using an archaic version of 8-bit sound software (or at least emulating this clunky means of making collage work), but throughout 44 very short tracks, Cd_Slopper gradually reveals more complex fragments, blisters, and shards of sound. Pretty whimsical stuff. Like the latest work from Microstoria or Pita.
I'll admit that I gave the CDrom portion only 30 minutes or so, but each attempt to view / install the software of the visual data resulted in the computer acting all funny (opening up the wrong programs, not finding the proper html link, or simply crashing). I'm reminded of so many art gallery exhibitions of "internet art" which find the computers always in a similar state of disarray... making me wonder, [1] is that what is supposed to happen (thus, making a really lame comment about the nature of computer glitch), [2] is the artist just a bumbling idiot, or [3] did the last viewer try to download some porn, thereby fucking up the system? In any event, I'm not impressed with this portion of the evening's program.

CECILE Talkin (Special Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix.

CEDAR, LILY Sleeper (Extra Small) cd 10.98
Lily Cedar's debut album is comprised of nine pastel-hued tunes -- sweet and pretty like a bouquet of buttercream icing roses. From the fuzzy-soft female singing to the thoughtful guitar strumming, everything is ultra light and wistful with an air of daydreamy innocence. Very much in the K Records / Olympia, WA lo-fi pop camp.
MPEG Stream: "Water In July"
MPEG Stream: "Troubled Sleep"

CELEBRATION s/t (4AD) cd 13.98
Celebration features former members of Baltimore's anguished depressives Love Life who've brought an ample dose of volatile darkness to their new band. Although their more rollicking paced songs may bring them within spitting distance of current bands such as Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade, methinks this heady band would like to lead you down a very different path than those predominantly 'up' sounding bands. Definitely more sinister and far less of a 'good time'. Slightly unhinged and perhaps intoxicated by some mysterious elixirs (Not boozily drunk, mind you! If that's what you're seeking, you should check out the latest Silver Jews album). If you like the formidable but sadly defunct band Pleasure Forever (or their predecessors Slaves and VSS), you're probably already familiar with these folks as they've shared plenty of stages... and if you're not, well, you should be! Jagged post-punk guitars and propulsive drumbeats slash through squalls from the organ and saxophone while lead singer Katrina Ford's howls, moans and slurs her blood-red vocals. Yeah, it's pretty darn great!
MPEG Stream: "War"
MPEG Stream: "Stars"

CELEBRATION The Modern Tribe (4AD) cd 10.98
Lighter (less savage?) and more varied in tone than their 2005 debut, Celebration's The Modern Tribe possesses the druggy woozy spin of an old carousel planted very ceremoniously in the midst of a wee hours cabaret. The band has definitely honed their chops and their sound. Multi-instrumentalist Sean Antanaitis' saxophones and organ snake their way around Katrina Ford's throatily expressive vocals while David Bergander pounds out a, yes, tribal beat. Highlights include songs like "Hands Off My Gold" which seems deeply inspired by the manic genius escapades of Oingo Boingo. The band seem like they'd be just as at home in veils by a wild bonfire or ensconced in a candlelit bordello. Heck, they'd be at home anywhere alongside their comrades TV On The Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (whose members make guest appearances here). Tempestuous to say the least!
MPEG Stream: "Tame The Savage"
MPEG Stream: "Hands Off My Gold"

CELEBRATION The Modern Tribe (4AD) lp 13.98
Lighter (less savage?) and more varied in tone than their 2005 debut, Celebration's The Modern Tribe possesses the druggy woozy spin of an old carousel planted very ceremoniously in the midst of a wee hours cabaret. The band has definitely honed their chops and their sound. Multi-instrumentalist Sean Antanaitis' saxophones and organ snake their way around Katrina Ford's throatily expressive vocals while David Bergander pounds out a, yes, tribal beat. Highlights include songs like "Hands Off My Gold" which seems deeply inspired by the manic genius escapades of Oingo Boingo. The band seem like they'd be just as at home in veils by a wild bonfire or ensconced in a candlelit bordello. Heck, they'd be at home anywhere alongside their comrades TV On The Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs (whose members make guest appearances here). Tempestuous to say the least!
MPEG Stream: "Tame The Savage"
MPEG Stream: "Hands Off My Gold"

CELER Nacreous Clouds (And/Oar) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Celer is the husband and wife team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long, who currently reside somewhere down on the Southern California coast. They've released a handful of well-received ambient recordings on Spekk and Infraction, and they've found a good home on And/OAR for this driftscape of tapeloop interplay. As for the title, a nacreous cloud is found in the upper regions of the atmosphere at the polar regions. Well past sunset and well before sunrise, these clouds showcase a radiant brightness against an otherwise darkened sky; and it's this particular phenomenon that forms the inspiration for Celer's album of the same name. Having stretched the tones of various instruments into languid looping drones and bliss-out ambience, Celer presents 37 short tracks which actually work really well as a single composition, given the gentle flutter and restrained attack from all of their sounds. References abound to William Basinski's ambient work, Aidan Baker's soft focus facets, and of course the seminal work of Brian Eno.
MPEG Stream: "80,000 Feet"
MPEG Stream: "Diphenhydramine"
MPEG Stream: "5:59 AM"

CELESTIA Evanescence (Turanian Honour) 7" 8.98
Limited to 555 copies, each one hand numbered...

CELESTIA Frigidiis Apotheosia : Abstinencia Genesiis (Paragon) cd 14.98

CELESTIAL BLOODSHED Cursed, Scarred and Forever Possessed (Moribund) cd 14.98
This is the debut full-length from Norwegian black metallers Celestial Bloodshed. Having only previously put out a demo and an ep, Cursed, Scarred and Forever Possessed (great title!) gives listeners outside of the utterly cvlt underground (who, like, don't live in Norway or trade obsessively over the internet) a chance to plumb their depths just a little deeper. Those lucky few already exposed to the charred sickness of these misanthropic underlords will recognize their place within the blackened realm ruled by bands like Burzum and Gorgoroth. Why do we mention those two bands specifically? Well, CB tend to go back and forth pretty solidly between both the more mid-paced buzzed out dirge of the former and the brutal blasts of the latter. At the same time, they've managed to incorporate some experimental soundscapery and some super cool and strange vocals, well beyond the usual black metal atmospherics. A gloriously grim, harsh and heavy collection of buzzing blackness, which will most definitely fit nicely in any serious metalhead's collection. Hail!
MPEG Stream: "Cursed, Scarred And Forever Possessed"
MPEG Stream: "Truth Is Truth, Beyond The God"

CELESTIAL SEA Deep Inside The Cold (God Is Myth) cd-r 8.98
Celestial Sea is the unlikely collaboration between God Is Myth head honcho Todd Paulson, who is also responsible for Dormant, reviewed elsewhere on the aQ site, and Andrew Curtis-Brignell, of UK black metal one man band Caina. Not unlikely because of the folks involved, it's not hard to draw lines connecting Caina Dormant and God Is Myth, but more for the sound they produce. An epic cinematic post rock more influenced by folks like Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Isis and Mono than any black metal or even metal in particular.
Granted the crossover between metal and post rock is pretty common these days with folks on both sides of the sonic divide borrowing freely from the folks opposite. And we're never ones to complain, we love both sounds, pummeling metallic crunch, and loping mathy instrumental jams, and the two together, well, you know where we stand.
So here we Have Celestial Sea, a (perhaps) one off, that finds the duo getting super spacey for the opening 5 minutes, simple minor key guitar figures unfurling over long drawn out drones, ratcheting up the tension, creating a brooding post rock ambience, that to be honest, we'd be happy to hear continue for the length of the whole record.
Instead, the band launch into the first proper song, soaring crystalline chords, breathless vocals, simple drumming, all swept up in a shimmering swell, building to a crescendo that instead of introducing crushing downtuned riffage, offers up some super proggy organs, but only for a moment, a few seconds later, the guitars drop, and the band is soaring majestically, and heavily through some epic major key chords, the drumming wilder and more chaotic, before blissing back out soon after.
Track three, "William Bentley's Grave" is another slow burner, with a definite prog vibe, lots of glistening shimmer, finally exploding in another epic climax, not crushing or heavy, just expansive and cathartic.
The closer, "Deep Inside The Cold" is the darkest of the bunch, and the most overtly heavy, sounding a bit like Opeth or Katatonia but more mathy and introspective. The guitars thick, ringing out, long passages of droning looped riffage, and finally the record's big payoff, high end guitars spiraling heavenward, the drums double time, a serious final blowout.
Definitely for fans of rock both post and math, and of course metalheads not averse to some sonic subtlety and lots of pretty pretty melody
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, housed in a plain white sleeve with a paste on cover and a printed insert.
MPEG Stream: "Clouds"
MPEG Stream: "As The Birds Fly South We Prepare Ourselves For The Impending Storm"

CELESTIIAL Desolate North (Bindrune) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There was a time where all you had to do was add umlauts to every vowel (heck how about a few consonants too?) to make your band name more evil. More mysterious. For glam rockers it simply meant changing s's to z's, BOYZ, TOYZ, NOYZE... oh and changing i's to y's, and double o's always helped... Bad Noose. But recently, there have been several examples of grim black and doom metal bands adding an extra 'i' for no apparent reason. When it was just French black metallers Mutiilation, we thought, okay, they're just French and little bit strange, or maybe it was a typo but they thought it was cool. We can dig that. But now with Minnesotan funereal doom lords Celestiial jumping on the double 'i' bandwagon, we're beginning to think something is going on. Something sinister. Er... siiniister we mean.
Anyway, we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled for more of the evil double 'i' but in the meantime, Celestiial has more than just the 2 i's going for them. They also have a gaggle of o's. that's right. Celestiial are definitely one of those bands who have earned the multiple o'd doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom. They're in the tradition of bands like Skepticism, Thergothon, Disembowelment, Evoken, Winter and more modern practitioners of the ultradoom like Catacombs, Esoteric and the like, but Celestiial are no ordinary doom band, sure their songs are lengthy and glacial, guitars are nothing but black smears in a starless sky, the plodding drums are dropped reverently amidst a bleak and barren sonic landscape. Vocals growl and gurgle and float weightless like some dark wind. Celestiial's doom is even more spacey and blissed out than any of their influences. The guitars are thick and dense and tuned impossibly low, but they sound soft, like someone shaking out a huge black blanket and letting it settle over you, blocking out all light. The programmed drums are so dense with reverb, and the cymbals seem to sizzle endlessly, the percussion just turns into a wash of hiss and whir, that adds a strange fuzzy glow to the already murky and blissy sound. The other thing you can't help but notice, is the sound of nature, everywhere, in every song, crickets, wind blowing through the trees, frogs, whippoorwills, thunder, rain falling on leaves. You know how Skepticism sounds like it was recorded in a forest? This is like that too but it's not metaphorical, it really has forest sounds. It's almost like their is some black doom funeral procession, trudging through the forest, lit only by torchlight, the creatures of the night, gathered just outside the circle of fire. So intense and strangely serene, especially for a 'doom metal' record.
And the thing is it's not just for effect. Celestiial are from Minnesota and are quite possibly the first reflective, isolationist, naturist doom band ever. From the band's website: "Celestiial was created to mirror mysticism in nature. Its heart lies not in its medium but in its dreams. It is a reflection of astral light shown upon the earth--sinking into its soil--waiting and dreaming. It wishes to be the pulse of woodlands and water. Nothing more? Understand that funeral doom isn't always slow for the sake of being slow. It is slower than the beat of the human heart. Its pulse is dead. The pulse of CELESTIIAL aims at being completely parallel to continual motion in everything of this earth. From the seasonal changes to representations of myth."
Woah. But if you really listen, Celestiial's slow motion doom does sound perfectly at home amidst the sounds of nature. Like some living breathing shadowy doomic creature living among the insects and wild birds, lurking in tree tops and curled up upon soft piles of wet leaves. It's almost like a doom metal version of recent record of the week Osmose, by Ariel Kalma, but instead of synths and rainforests, it's doom and dark forests. And as if to further tie the music to the land, and the peoples of the land, Celestiial incorporate an unlikely selection of traditional instruments into their slow motion dirges, such as Celtic harp and Native American flutes.
All of that, strange instrumentation, nature sounds, the two i's, combine to make this wonderfully weird, hauntingly mysterious and quite possibly one of the dreamiest and most blissed out doom records ever!
MPEG Stream: "Haunting Cries Beneath The Lake Where Our Queen Once Walked"
MPEG Stream: "Lamentations In The Citadel Of God"

CELESTIIAL Where Life Springs Eternal (Bindrune) cd 12.98
Full length number two from this Minnesotan funeral doomlord, long anticipated around here considering how much we loved the last one, Desolate North, and this is another sprawling oozing missive from the dark forest, an epic chunk of woodland doom, similar to how the new wave of Cascadian black metal bands find inspiration from their surroundings, Celestiial look to the woods, the the water, the the world that surrounds them.
The record opens with a dense swirl of black buzz, nearly motionless, a thick heady drone, laced with feedback, and grinding industrial grit, 4+ minutes of heaving whirling blacknoize, that gives way to a field recording of a trickling stream, complete with birdsong, wind, what could be thunder, the perfect introduction to the record's 30+ minute centerpiece, "Great Storms Carry My Sadness", a gorgeous, minor key, ultra doom lament, as slow and low as any of the other doom outfits, but somehow the sound is warmer, more lush, it manages to glow with some sort of warmth, while remaining appropriately dark and dense, the song plods along dreamily, and then fades out, leaving still more sounds of the forest, running water, birds chirping, all underpinned by deep barely there metallic shimmers, super haunting and otherworldly, like wandering through the forest at dusk, eventually the doom swoops back in, and if anything it's even prettier and more minimal than before the break.
After a brief bit of lovely acoustic guitar, set to burbling brook and bird song, the record's other long track, another epic doom sprawl creeps into motion, laced with harp and hooting owls, another strange track in that it manages to be washed out and dreamlike, but also dark, and dense and heavy, but not like Bunkur or Moss, this is something way more ethereal, a hazy heaviness that leaves plenty of space for nature to intrude, birds and wind and rustling branches, all as much a part of the sound as guitar and drums and vocals. After another brief delicate bit of soft focus shimmer, of forest sounds and glistening acoustic guitar, the journey is over.
Where Life Springs Eternal is that rare funereal doom record, a collection of songs that are as beautiful as they are heavy, and like the record that came before, easily some of the most blissful and dreamy doooooom you'll ever hear.
MPEG Stream: "Spell Over Still Water"
MPEG Stream: "Great Storms Carry My Sadness"

CELESTIIAL / BLOOD OF THE BLACK OWL split (Worm Gear) lp 15.98
A high concept split lp from two aQ faves, two different bands, two different sounds, their bond being that of nature, both expressing their visions of the world around them, of their place, and our place amongst the living things that surround us, forests, plants, animals, insects, it's that natural force that infuses the music of both of these groups, and thus links them in such a way, that this shared 12" could almost be the work of a single entity.
The first side features a single extended track from naturalist doomlords Celestiial, their track of course begins with the sounds of birds, of water and wind, insects, a forest at dusk most likely, before from below, rises deep ominous swells, rumbling drones, distant moaning melodies, a deep dark ambience that soon gives way to a big blown out doom, but, a very spacious, spare, airy sort of doom, not heavy as much as abstract, spaced out, the guitars not crumbling and downtuned, more like chiming and ringing out, somehow weirdly processed to make them seem like they are being stretched out, moaning and then fading out, before exploding in another burst, the drums and percussion sounds industrial, the vocals howled and buried in the mix, everything strangely harmonized, sounding a bit alien, near the end the drums speed up into an almost blast beat, but the music gets more and more melodic, minor key swells keeping time with the beat, unfurling a mournful melody, until the music fades out and the track finishes as it began with deep drones and the sounds of the forest.
The flipside features a long three part track by Blood Of The Black Owl, who begin proceedings with a plodding, almost metallic dirge, but backed up by a haunting chiming high end jangle, as well as distant flute like melodies that sound distinctly Native American, the vocals howled and industrial sounding, a bit like Swans or Cop Shoot Cop. The second movement begins with birdsong, deep, slow rubbery dubbed out bass, soft ethereal reverbed vocals, very medieval sounding, until the track switches gears and transforms into something more post industrial sounding, a doomy plod but with haunting mysterious melodies. The side ends with a very tribal sort of ritualistic piece, all simple hand drums and shimmering lowend ambience, growled spoken word, very minimal and haunting, almost like some ancient rite, being captured on vinyl for the very first time.
Gorgeously packaged. Incredibly thick vinyl, thick sleeves, full color inserts, and most likely quite limited...

CELLULOID MATA Mix Oscillations (Noise Museum) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As Celluloid Mata only has a few very limited releases, their name probably won't seem as familiar as those who have been asked to remix them... nevertheless, you should expect to see their name popping up in the near future as their dark atmospheric breakbeats resemble all of things Skam. These remixes range from the electro fuckery of DJ Speedranch to James Plotkin's mutant electonica / prog rock and Drahomira Song Orchestra's clubby throb.

CELLULOID MATA Sable (Ant Zen) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Celluloid Mata "Sable" is a dark (almost industrial) electronica album heavy on the distorted breakbeat crunch and the harsh electronic collage. Definitely for the Meat Beat Manifesto / Scorn crowd.

CELTIC FROST Into the Pandemonium (Earmark) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CELTIC FROST Monotheist (Century Media) cd 14.98
It's been *how many* years that Celtic Frost fans have been waiting for this??? Well here it is! The first new album from Switzerland's extreme avant-garde metal pioneers since 1989's Vanity/Nemesis. We don't want to make you wait any longer, so we'll keep this review brief. What you want to know is, is this a disgrace to the hallowed CF brand name or did they manage to live up to their idiosyncratic and influential legacy?? Well, we think they have done the latter, and boldly too. (Besides, how can you disgrace the legacy when you've already made glam mistake Cold Lake like 20 years ago? though we hasten to add, Cold Lake is actually one of our FAVORITE Celtic Frost albums, perversely enough.)
Spinning Monotheist makes us think that CF mainman Thomas Gabriel Fischer has been listening to a lot of old Godflesh lately, not a bad thing! This has that uber-doomy industrial vibe to it, complete with feedback squeals and shuddering beats. Not dancey industrial, but factory/machine industrial. All that heaviness is accompanied by a large dose of melancholic melody. Add Tom's dramatic, almost Bowie-like spoken-sung vocals (and more than one instance of his famous death-grunt "uhh!"), and you've got a Teutonic, twisted, Type-O gothy, doom/industrial/prog/classical/black metal, non-rehashed return from Celtic Frost that's no disappointment at all. Uhh!!!
While supplies last, we've got the import slipcase digipack version with bonus track.
MPEG Stream: "Obscured"
MPEG Stream: "Domain Of Decay"

CELTIC FROST Monotheist (Century Media) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW AVAILABLE AS A GATEFOLD DOUBLE LP! LIMITED CLEAR VINYL PRESSING OF 1000. INCLUDES AN EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACK NOT ON THE CD (different than the digipack cd's bonus track)!
It's been *how many* years that Celtic Frost fans have been waiting for this??? Well here it is! The first new album from Switzerland's extreme avant-garde metal pioneers since 1989's Vanity/Nemesis. We don't want to make you wait any longer, so we'll keep this review brief. What you want to know is, is this a disgrace to the hallowed CF brand name or did they manage to live up to their idiosyncratic and influential legacy?? Well, we think they have done the latter, and boldly too. (Besides, how can you disgrace the legacy when you've already made glam mistake Cold Lake like 20 years ago? though we hasten to add, Cold Lake is actually one of our FAVORITE Celtic Frost albums, perversely enough.)
Spinning Monotheist makes us think that CF mainman Thomas Gabriel Fischer has been listening to a lot of old Godflesh lately, not a bad thing! This has that uber-doomy industrial vibe to it, complete with feedback squeals and shuddering beats. Not dancey industrial, but factory/machine industrial. All that heaviness is accompanied by a large dose of melancholic melody. Add Tom's dramatic, almost Bowie-like spoken-sung vocals (and more than one instance of his famous death-grunt "uhh!"), and you've got a Teutonic, twisted, Type-O gothy, doom/industrial/prog/classical/black metal, non-rehashed return from Celtic Frost that's no disappointment at all. Uhh!!!

CELTIC FROST To Mega Therion (Earmark) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CENTRAL FALLS Latitude (Truckstop) cd 14.98
Ok first of all, let it be known that this band contains many Chicagoans who also play in such outfits as Town and Country, US Maple, Chicago Underground Trio, Brokeback, Manishevitz, and Lofty Pillars. But before you go writing them off like I (Windy) almost did (not being a fan of any of those groups, although some of us at AQ are rabid US Maple fans), give this a listen. It is much better than you'd think; in fact it's downright pretty. The most apt comparisons are to the Radar Bros and the Scud Mountain Boys (and other Scud-related groups like Pernice Bros and Chappaquidick Skyline.) Central Falls sound *so much* like that particular flavor of well-executed downer rock, complete with the delicately fragile male vocals, and heartswelling slow-in-coming guitar soloes. The restrained instrumental backup also brings to mind Lambchop, with its slowed down slight twang, melancholy lap steel and lushly strummed acoustic guitar. Once in a while the melodies are even worthy of George Harrison. Very very nice, if you've got the patience that the best of the slowcore bands deserve.
RealAudio clip: "So Lovely, So Lovely"
RealAudio clip: "Travel"

CENTURIONS GHOST A Sign Of Things To Come (I Hate Records) cd 17.98
Cathedral + Celtic Frost styled doom debut from England. With some weird parts to make it interesting.

CENTURIONS GHOST The Great Work (I Hate Records) cd 16.98
We like the name this British doom metal band picked for themselves, it's making references to both ancient history and supernatural phenomena, and more importantly, sets one up for a story to be told... at least we're curious about who the centurion was and why they're now haunting the place. This, the band's second album for the doom-centric Swedish label I Hate Records (whose records we definitely -don't- hate, as recently reviewed and recommended offerings from the likes of Jex Thoth and Fall of the Idols should attest) doesn't answer those questions, but it does sound in keeping with the general spooky concept, though it's not as 'old school' doom as you might expect. With lurching riffs, rhythms like a Roman legion on the march, cathartic screams (a bit Neurosis some of this), it's heavy and doomy all right. It rages more than it plods, the pace here often fairly fast and thrashy, the vocals often anguished and angry.
Previously (in our review of their A Sign Of Thing To Come debut a few years back) we'd said that this band sounds a bit like a weird Cathedral and Celtic Frost hybrid. Now we'd say they've got a lot more noisecore in their doom. Tracks like "In Defiance", for instance, sound like Isis with a more classically metal approach to melody (and guitar leads) as well as a dose of hardcore brutality. Or we could say that this band has more in common with the likes of Village Of Dead Roads, Mouth of the Architect, and Today Is The Day than it does, say, Revered Bizarre or Gates Of Slumber.
MPEG Stream: "The Supreme Moment"
MPEG Stream: "Black Hearts Will Break"

CENTURY PLANTS Sound System Sound (Tape Drift) cd-r 8.98
We've been playing catch up on cd-r's lately. We order a bunch, because they're so limited and we won't be able to order more later, but then we end up with way too much stuff to review so lots of those cd-r's end up sitting around for a while. Which is a bummer, but does mean a lucky few of you get a chance to nab some of these loooooong out of print cd-r gems well after the fact.
Take this one, limited to only 50 copies! Of which we had 10 or 12, and now have about 8. This baby has been out of print for over a year! And it's too bad too, cuz this is a slow burning doozy. Languorous sun baked electric guitar, wrapped in wah and delay, a little distortion, the notes and chords allowed to drift and shimmer. Two epic half hours of slow motion psych drift, lazy and blown out, blissy and druggy, the opening track is a lysergic sprawl that eventually builds to full on chaotic cacophony, so in the red, it nearly fried the speakers here. The second track is just as speaker punishing but instead of whit noise skree, it's long billowy stretches of low end buzz, and distorted drone, peppered with brief sprawls of squealing feedback and glitched out amp damage. Killer stuff. Too bad we only have 8 copies. You have been warned.
MPEG Stream: "Glass"

CEPHALIC CARNAGE Anomalies (Relapse) cd 14.98
Dizzying! Mathematically advanced, metalcore deathgrind stoner madness (and more!) from these Colorado freaks. Definitely a worthy successor to their previous pot-fueled masterpiece, the labyrinthine Lucid Interval. In fine grind style, you get plenty o' samples and gargled inhuman vox on top of Cephalic's metallic geek frenzies. But just when you think you have a handle on what's going on, you'll find...anomalies. These guys like to mix it up, from Dillinger/Cryptopsy craziness to doom sludge to hardcore breakdowns, to the epic moody almost-goth creepiness of the disc's final track "Octogeny Of Behavior". And for those who think "stoner" rock is supposed to sound like Sabbath or Kyuss, well...just check out the heavy psych riffage that kicks off track five, that ought to make you happy! Overall, pretty amazing, as we expect from these guys. Just imagine a corrupted filesharing session between Meshuggah and Neurosis...
MPEG Stream: "Scientific Remote Viewing"
MPEG Stream: "Piecemaker"

CEPHALIC CARNAGE Exploiting Dysfunction (Relapse) cd 14.98
Colorado stoner-math-grind band's sample-filled, mind-melting 2nd album.

CEPHALIC CARNAGE Halls of Amenti (Willowtip) cd ep 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After the hyper onslaught of their recent masterpiece "Lucid Interval", this one-off experiment comes as a drastic departure for these grindmetalheads, though it's certainly in keeping with their allegiance to the sweet leaf! What do we mean? Well, "Halls Of Amenti" is but one 19 minute doom metal dirge, heavy on the DOOM. Downtuned slow motion sludge that would sit comfortably in your collection next to Thergothon, Skepticism or Esoteric! Think Sabbath or Candlemass or Trouble but slooooowwwwwed waaaaaaaay dooooooown. And fronted by a growling and shrieking death metal vocalist. Fans of the above mentioned bands as well as Corrupted, Boris, the Melvins and all things sludge should not pass this by. This beautifully packaged clear 3" cd is supposedly the first of a three part series.
RealAudio clip: "Halls of Amenti"

CEPHALIC CARNAGE Lucid Interval (Relapse) cd 14.98
It's hard to imagine that a bunch of semi-pro pot-smokers could motivate themselves to produce music this technical, fierce, and over-the-top insane, but they did. This ain't your typical "stoner rock" that's for sure -- although there are some weighty breakdowns of riffed-out doom, Cephalic Carnage's general modus operandi puts 'em at the top of the fast n' tricky league with the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan, Coalesce, Meshuggah. Heavy metalcore mayhem w/ grunting death metal vocals, hypnotic fusion-esque guitar figures, post-rock dynamics, random electronic noises, major drum beat-downs, cryptic samples, and hyper-shred musicanship. (And some surprises we won't mention.) Anyone into metal that's avant-garde in its complexity and brutal in its execution -- the above mentioned, and also Mastodon, Gorguts, Dying Fetus, Wicked Innocence, Cryptopsy, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, etc. -- probably already knows about these guys, but if you don't, you'll be glad to get to know 'em! Metal cluttered with lyrical references to the cannabis leaf might not seem so brainy, but with this, their third and best full-length album, Cephalic Carnage prove they're possibly the geniuses of the genre. They're kinda the anti-Electric Wizard, if you know what we mean, though of course we love the even-heavier Wizard's much simpler, slow n' low odes to the leaf as well -- and both bands transcend the cannabis-connection to hook those of us just interested in the music, anyway.
RealAudio clip: "Pseudo"
RealAudio clip: "Black Metal Sabbath"
RealAudio clip: "Lucid Interval"

CEPHALIC CARNAGE Xenosapien (Relapse) cd 14.98

MPEG Stream: "Endless Cycle Of Violence"
MPEG Stream: "Ov Vicissitude"

CERBERUS SHOAL Bastion Of Itchy Preeves (North East) cd 12.98
Cerberus Shoal's newest offering is a slow, strange, earthy beauty. On each of the ten ever-shifting avant-folk songs (some quite lengthy jams), notes from the horns, flutes and mellotron (we're guessin') slink and slide hypnotically while percussion comes in the form of warm melodic wood block tapping. The ensemble singing and chanting conjured images of a pagan ritual conducted by Brian Eno. Bastion Of Itchy Preeves is a precarious balance of the dissonant and the delicate.
MPEG Stream: "Bogart The Change"
MPEG Stream: "Me And My Dead Head: Baby Gal"

CERBERUS SHOAL Chaiming The Knoblessone (Northeastindie) cd 14.98

CERBERUS SHOAL Crash My Moon Yacht (Pandemonium/NEI) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Look out, Windy's got a new favorite band, and it's Cerberus Shoal. Never mind that I'm a latecomer to the group -- "Crash My Moon Yacht" is their _fifth_ album -- it's never too late to experience the crashing beauty that is Cerberus Shoal. High time, too, as this band, who live and make music together in Portland, Maine, has been grievously overlooked throughout their career.
On such Western and ethnic instruments as bowed guitar, balalaika, flute, trumpet, dholak, woodblocks, oud, quena, radios, whistles, electric bass, hammond organ, xylophone, etc, Cerberus Shoal plays a stretched out, intense yet langurous blend of mostly-instrumental drone-rock similar to many of the bands AQ knows and loves. They're equally epic and emotional as Godspeed You Black Emperor, but less weepy. They're as careful as Tarentel, yet much more complex. As for other groups who feature ethnic instrumentation, Cerberus offers a worthy challenge: far more consistent than the spotty Sun City Girls, they don't try to wrestle their ouds, djembes and congas into pop song structures like Macha does, and they're more accessible and varied than Pelt. Without meaning to slight any of those groups, hopefully comparisons will make it clear to you just how amazing and worthy of your time this group is. Live and on record, the band displays amazing restraint -- although the stage is crowded with dozens of instruments, at any one time only 3 or 4 distinct sounds will be in play, making for any number of possible sonic combinations, all the while keeping the music simple and utterly respectful of each instrument's unique timbre. There are even parts that remind us of music as disparate as Boards of Canada and prog rock, that's how evocative it is. Very late night soundscape-y. I can't say enough good things about this band. If you've got the patience and the desire for meaningful music that's as substantive as it is lovely, Cerberus Shoal will make you so happy.
Please note that we also have in stock "Homb" (on Temporary Residence), Cerberus' breathtaking fourth album and Caleb's (Cerberus' frontman) own personal favorite.
RealAudio clip: "Changabang I"

CERBERUS SHOAL Garden Fly, Drip Eye (North East Indie) cd ep 6.98
The always-inventive Maine collective releases a two-song cd single for those who can't wait for their next album. Although Cerberus' strongest moments are its multilayered instrumental climaxes that come after several minutes of murky, evocative buildup, this ep instead forefronts their experimental girl/boy vocal quirkiness. The Thinking Fellers fans amongst us may have had enough rollicking herky jerky voice antics to last a lifetime but nonetheless you may want to check this out.
RealAudio clip: "Garden Fly"

CERBERUS SHOAL Homb ( Temporary Residence Ltd.) cd 13.98
Look out, Windy's got a new favorite band, and it's Cerberus Shoal. Never mind that I'm a latecomer to the group -- "Crash My Moon Yacht" is their _fifth_ album -- it's never too late to experience the crashing beauty that is Cerberus Shoal. High time, too, as this band, who live and make music together in Portland, Maine, has been grievously overlooked throughout their career.
On such Western and ethnic instruments as bowed guitar, balalaika, flute, trumpet, dholak, woodblocks, oud, quena, radios, whistles, electric bass, hammond organ, xylophone, etc, Cerberus Shoal plays a stretched out, intense yet langurous blend of mostly-instrumental drone-rock similar to many of the bands AQ knows and loves. They're equally epic and emotional as Godspeed You Black Emperor, but less weepy. They're as careful as Tarentel, yet much more complex. As for other groups who feature ethnic instrumentation, Cerberus offers a worthy challenge: far more consistent than the spotty Sun City Girls, they don't try to wrestle their ouds, djembes and congas into pop song structures like Macha does, and they're more accessible and varied than Pelt. Without meaning to slight any of those groups, hopefully comparisons will make it clear to you just how amazing and worthy of your time this group is. Live and on record, the band displays amazing restraint -- although the stage is crowded with dozens of instruments, at any one time only 3 or 4 distinct sounds will be in play, making for any number of possible sonic combinations, all the while keeping the music simple and utterly respectful of each instrument's unique timbre. There are even parts that remind us of music as disparate as Boards of Canada and prog rock, that's how evocative it is. Very late night soundscape-y. I can't say enough good things about this band. If you've got the patience and the desire for meaningful music that's as substantive as it is lovely, Cerberus Shoal will make you so happy.
RealAudio clip: "Harvest"

CERBERUS SHOAL Mr. Boy Dog ( Temporary Residence Ltd.) 2cd 15.98
Long awaited new album from the Portland, Maine collective known as Cerberus Shoal. Their signature sound is intact: a meandering, honey-slow drive towards perfection. They'll take so long to build up to the crashing climaxes that you sometimes forget you're waitin' for 'em, and you think you're listening to some sort of cool ethnic drone record or something -- except for the decidedly rock guitar that's wandering sadly & introspectively over it all. While this double album is not as good as their Homb record, which we always have in stock, it's very lovely.
P.S.When people ask me about Cerberus Shoal, I usually quote this past review:
On such Western and ethnic instruments as bowed guitar, balalaika, flute, trumpet, dholak, woodblocks, oud, quena, radios, whistles, electric bass, hammond organ, xylophone, etc, Cerberus Shoal plays a stretched out, intense yet langurous blend of mostly-instrumental drone-rock similar to many of the bands AQ knows and loves. They're equally epic and emotional as Godspeed You Black Emperor, but less weepy. They're as careful as Tarentel, yet much more complex. As for other groups who feature ethnic instrumentation, Cerberus offers a worthy challenge: far more consistent than the spotty Sun City Girls, they don't try to wrestle their ouds, djembes and congas into pop song structures like Macha does, and they're more accessible and varied than Pelt.
RealAudio clip: "Nataraja"
RealAudio clip: "An Egypt That Does Not Exist"

CERTAIN BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT Live Berlin '98 (Manifold) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A live collision of the combined forces of Mick Harris (Scorn) and Tony Child (Surgeon) making freaky nightmare sonic landscapes.