DOOMED NATION Issue 1.5 (Doomed Nation) dvd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Issue 1.5 of the infamous Doomed Nation dvd magazine, we only got 5 copies of this, already out of print according to the guy who makes these, so once these are gone they're gone for good.
Just like volume 2 (reviewed elsewhere on the AQ site) this is jam packed with tons of doom and sludge and all sorts of downtuned brutality. Just look at the bands: Sleep, Saint Vitus, Indian, 16, Buried At Sea, Sourvein, Hidden Hand, Jumbo's Killcrane, Meatjack, Rwake, Fistula, Terminal Lovers and more. Videos interspersed with clips from eighties teen movies, Godzilla movies, horror movies, super lo-tech, but totally killer!
Limited to 666 copies, each one hand numbered, pretty sure we can't get more, so act fast. Comes in a white dvd case, with killer blood splattered artwork, and all sorts of flyers and stickers inside!

DOOMED NATION Issue 2 (Doomed Nation) dvd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Relapse Contamination fest just plowed through town, so for a couple days, our store was jam packed with bell bottoms, greasy long hair, bizarre facial hair, tattoos, piercings, beards beards beards and of course lots of bands hawking all kinds of crazy tour shit. On tour with the bans was the guy responsible for the legendary Doomed Nation video magazine. We managed to get about 20 copies of the almost out of print volume 2 (limited to 999 copies, and 999 upside down IS 666 after all...) and it is fucking awesome! Doom freaks will already be diving for the buy button. And you should too if you hope to get your grimey mitts on one of these. Here's the lineup: SUNNO))), Ufomammut, Buried At Sea, Indian, Ramesses, Church Of Misery, Weedeater, Lair Of The Minotaur, Venomous Concept, and more.
And these aren't just live clips. Well, some are, but most are real videos, filmed with weird effects, interspersed with all manner of fucked up imagery, and all the videos are sort of strung together with tons of super gory horror movie clips, the whole thing is pretty lo-fi and ghetto, but really well done. Definitely essential for all you doomlords and doomladies, just look at the band list fer chrissakes!!
LIMITED TO 999 COPIES, not sure we can get more, so act fast. Comes in a clear dvd case, with killer blood splattered artwork, and all sorts of flyers and stickers inside!

DOOMED NATION Issue Three (Doomed Nation) dvd 5.98
Like we mentioned in the review of volume two, it's easy to tell when it's time for another Doomed Nation dvd. Suddenly the store is filled to overflowing with band dudes, and everywhere you look there's nothing but denim and leather, spikes and studs, tattoos and piercings, and acres and acres of facial hair....
Which is precisely what happened today, and thus when the pot smoke cleared, we had a heaping handful of dvds, volume three of the always amazing Doomed Nation series, featuring tons of amazing videos and live clips from the best of the doom underground. Loads of AQ faves, and a handful of bands we had never heard, or at least heard very little from, as well as a short attention span barrage of movie clips and snippets of TV shows filling up the spaces between the doom, and in keeping with the theme of the artwork, an old woodcut of a mass hanging, most of the clips are indeed of hangings, some funny, some gruesome, from horror movies and period dramas, all sliced and diced and shot rapid fire and scattershot all around massive slabs of bulldozing doom.
Up first, an amazing live clip of AQ faves Baroness (lots of beards, mostly shirtless) in full on blown out post rock mode, these guys are so amazing. We can never get enough. And from there on out it's a relentless river of doom, and other assorted heaviness, some archival footage of a shirtless (and pantsless) GG Allin, Black Tusk, who we've never heard before but who are appropriately sludgy and heavy, Facedowninshit, live totally tearing shit up, a super pro Goatwhore video, very dangerous for the epileptic and light sensitive, Raise The Red Lantern who are super awesome, with killer lights and the most active and chaotic stage presence of the bunch, Saint Vitus live, reunited in 2003 with Wino (we also have a dvd of the whole show for sale! See elsewhere on the list), Swarm Of The Lotus with a super intense and gorgeously gorey and creepy video (at least the parts without the band) and a singer who keeps his glasses on, which we always love, some awesome live footage of Grief, killer lo-fi live footage of the mighty Buzz-Oven practice space jams from Black Cobra intercut with, you guessed it, tons of snake footage, as well as clips from Indian (a strangely brief, bordering on non-existent blip of a performance), Rwake, Hawg Jaw, Asschapel, Hope And Suicide, Stereochrist and Mala Suerte!
LIMITED TO 2007 COPIES, each one hand numbered, packaged with super striking blood splattered cover art...

DOOMRIDERS VS. BORIS Long Hair And Tights (Daymare) 2lp 49.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
First in a super limited series of lp-only releases from everyone's favorite Japanese doom-drone-psych-rock overachievers Boris! For this limited double lp, they've teamed up with Boston's Doomriders, which just so happens to feature members of Converge, Old Man Gloom, There Were Wires and more...
These records capture live shows recorded back in 2006 when the two bands toured together. 
The Doomriders for those who don't know, are a straight up Motorheady rock and roll band, they even start their set with a bellowing roar: "We are the Doomriders from Boston, and WE PLAY ROCK AND ROLL!!!" And they do, pounding and simple, not thrashing or blasting just riff heavy big drum blasts of kick ass RAWK. The perfect sonic match up for the more rock side of Boris. 
The first track, though, on one of Boris' two lp sides had us fooled, a massive churning droned out low end sludge, the heaviest thing we've heard from them since Flood (not counting the Altar collab with SUNN) but after that it's back to the full blown, in the red, ultra distorted pedal to the metal blasting Pink-style wild psychedelic garage rock stomp that have become their modern sound. And it sounds great. Super saturated production, amazing sound, loud Loud LOUD!!! Obviously essential for all you Boris freeks...
And of course super elaborate packaging as always. Deluxe metallic gold gatefold, super thick stock, killer Screaming For Vengeance Judas Priest homage artwork, clear yellow vinyl...
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES, half red, half yellow, the copies we have are yellow, and this is ALREADY SOLD OUT and selling for crazy $$$ on eBay. We tried to get 100 copies, and got less than half that. Needless to say these will be gone before you know it. ONE PER CUSTOMER. 

DOOMSWORD Let the Battle Commence (Dragonheart) cd 21.00
Did you know there were Vikings in Italy? Yep, these guys, who are back with an excellent new disc. They're just as obsessed with swords and glory, axes and honor as Manowar, but with a bit more of a serious historical slant (though that doesn't stop them from taking cool noms de guerre like Deathmaster and The Forger).
Let Battle Commence takes up where their last record, Resound The Horn, left off. It's a concept album of sorts, concerning itself with Danish King Ivar The Boneless's conquest of York on November 1st, 866 AD, apparently one of the few pagan triumphs over Christians, according to the band. With lyrics like "We shall fill the air with spears to turn black this Christian sun" and "Odin guide my sword!" you might think you know what side Doomsword is on. But, even then, other songs acknowledge the horror and loss of warfare, showing ambivalence by the victors in lines like "Of this land / Of glory, battle and death / All I recall is the look in the eyes of the dead" and "Woman I never saw / I am sorry if you can believe me / I killed your man in my last fight" (from "Deathbringer - Blood On My Hands").
Still, these are stirring heavy metal anthems that could certainly be used to lead men into battle. I can imagine the helicopter gunships in Apocalypse Now blaring Doomsword instead of Wagner, just as effectively.
MPEG Stream: "Heathen Assault"
MPEG Stream: "In The Battlefield"

DOOMSWORD My Name Will Live On (Dragonheart) cd 21.00
Cult Cult Cult. Doom Doom Doom. It's thee fourth album of HEAVY and EPIC war metal anthems from this (metaphorical) sword and axe wielding bunch, and maybe their best yet. Italy's pagan doomsters Doomsword (that's doom-sword not dooms-word, just to be clear) are a true metal outfit, with clean, manly vocals. The Viking tales of Bathory are the closest they come in comparison to the black metal realm...but they're NOT a bit like the fruity and fantastical power metal of countrymen Rhapsody either. No, this is for fans of underground olden metal acts like Solstice, Wotan, Candlemass, and former labelmates Slough Feg. Doom done heavy metal style, not sludgy-droney or stoner-Sabbathy, but epic.
Sure, with songs like "Days Of High Adventure", "Steel Of My Axe", and "Thundercult" you might expect some kind of D&D metal here. Well sorta, but as we've said before there's a serious slant to Doomsword's stuff, even if you'd be prone to thinking 'em silly. And their hymns to myth and might will stick with you, thanks to their morose melodies and sheer metallic chug. Mostly midtempo, sluggishly so, but with some storming numbers too. There's acoustic intros, catchy choruses, and (most importantly) many massive RIFFS. Stuff to awaken ancestral memories! Listeners will be unconsciously be girding their loins and preparing for battle. The unironic metal of Doomsword is "keeping it real" about stuff that went down over 1000 years ago, and doing so with much passion, intensity and skill. Classy and damn good. Cult Cult Cult. Doom Doom Doom.
MPEG Stream: "Death Of Ferdia"
MPEG Stream: "Claidheamh Solais (Sword Of Light)"

DOOMSWORD Resound The Horn (Dragonheart) cd 21.00
Dark, epic, doom (duh) metal from Italy. "Our fate is written: Sword and shield, born to die on the battlefield" is their motto, and their songs thus focus on tales of ancient Viking and Celtic warfare. Heavy and atmospheric, with decent clean vocals (a bit like the guy from Blind Guardian) and grand, morose melodies. For fans of the likes of Candlemass, Cirith Ungol, Manowar, Manilla Road, and Solstice. Despite the inherent silliness you might attribute to heavy metal songs of swords and battle, there's something about this just seems very SERIOUS. They've created a vibe quite far from the happy fantasy power metal of countrymen Rhapsody, that's for sure!
RealAudio clip: "Shores Of Vinland"

DORMANT Beneath The Mighty Oak (God Is Myth) cd 10.98
From the man who runs the amazing God Is Myth label, responsible for recent AQ faves like Godheadscope, Caina and Procer Veneficus, and who used to record as Uvall, comes the new 'group' Dormant, which takes the more traditional black metal sound of Uvall and abandons it almost entirely, focusing more on mood and melancholia, texture and timbre, songs as much as sonics, a sort of orchestral dark doom pop sound, run through with streaks of buzzing blackness, and plenty of dark dark ambience.
With some help from folks like Caina and Celestiial, Dormant weaves an unlikely blackened sonic brew, gloomy and dark, but strangely pretty and poppy, epic and almost orchestral at points, there are brief moments of grim buzz and blasting black fury, but they are relatively few and far between, instead most of the record drifts delicately, mournful strummed steel string guitars, moaning drones off in the distance, deep baritone, near spoken vocals. Sounding very much like Swans or Angels of Light. Even the heavier songs spend much of their time moping mournfully, shimmery clean guitar twang, reverbed soft focus riffage, sometimes eventually transforming into midtempo black metal, but still suffused with that distinctly pop element, occasionally even turning pitchblack and offering up some buzzing riffs and harsh vocals, but only briefly, usually slipping back into a lilting dreamy dark folk, or a strange loping industrial dirge, or a haunting expanse of barely there drone.
Definitely for the super adventurous blackmetalheads out there, or for darkfolk freaks who don't mind bits of buzz and blast peppering their spacey jangle, moody gothic miserablism and abstract late night drift.
The first 200 copies of this cd come housed in a hand screened digipak with an insert and a sticker. We have about a dozen of those. Once we run out, we'll have copies from the rest of the pressing, a version that comes in a DVD case instead.
MPEG Stream: "Black Ashes"
MPEG Stream: "I Am The Wind On The Horizon"
MPEG Stream: "Sighs"

DOT [.] s/t (Blind Date) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We managed to get the last 40 or so copies of the third and (supposedly) final pressing of only 175 copies of this massive slab of Japanese heaviness. So act fast.
BORIS! CORRUPTED! EYEHATEGOD! JAPANESE DOOM SLUDGE! If those words mean anything to you, drop everything you're doing RIGHT NOW and order yourself up one of these massive slabs of earth flattening, face melting downtuned dirge. Slow slow slow like their sludgy countrymen Boris and Corrupted, Dot [.] focus less on the drone, and more on the riff, sounding much more raw and aggressive, aligning themselves a bit more with Eyehategod, Bongzilla, Grief and the rest of the US slow motion doom contingent. Huge riffs, pounding relentless drumming, hellish shrieking vocals, amps until forever, everything (even the drums?) tuned as low as they will go, a soul sucking metallic black hole of sound. Four lengthy tracks, only one of which even comes close to almost breaking the midtempo mark.
AGAIN, SUPER LIMITED!!!!! To only 175 copies, and we got about 40, most likely never to get more again. You have been warned.

DOT [.] Stay Smoke, Stay Stone (Kult Ov Nihilow) 10" 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Do these bands mean anything to you: Boris, Corrupted, Harvey Milk, The Melvins, Sunn 0))), Earth? Well, if they do, you are definitely gonna need this. One of two new releases from the amazing Kult Of Nihilow label from Finland. Dot [.] are most certainly the best Japanese doom band you've probably never heard. We even listend to one whole side of this 10" at 45 thinking that it sounded too slow at 33! Yes, they are that slow and sludgy and downtuned and fucking amazing. Impossibly heavy and relentlessly glacial.
Unfortunately, this is limited to 332 copies and we managed to get our hands on a mere 12 of those, never to get more. So you'll have to move a lot faster than these fellas if you want one of these to end up stuck to your turntable. Super thick colored vinyl, gorgeously packaged in transparent, screened sleeve!

DOVE s/t (self-released) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We raved about Floor's Dove album last list, so it only makes sense that we would move on to the new album from Dove, the band that followed Floor and just happens to also feature a fellow from another AQ favorite, Cavity! Equal parts the Melvins, High On Fire and Sleep, which means huge, thundering riffs, planet splitting percussion, and black hole bass, but with the unlikely addition of sweet acoustic parts, weird almost-folky clean guitar and occasional minor key post rock breakdowns. This is much more 'punk' than the Floor record. Where Floor was channelling the Beatles via Nirvana via Eyehategod, Dove takes that end result, roughs it up a bit, rolls it in broken glass and barbed wire and sends it careening down a punk rock mountain with no brakes. Occasionally Dove slow down into Floor / Cavity dirge territory, but more often than not, things quickly pick up or take some weird unpredictable turn before resuming their thrashingly hooky onsalught. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "On A Mission"
MPEG Stream: "Goes Without Saying"
MPEG Stream: "Red King"

DOWN II: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow (Elektra) cd 17.98
The first song on the last Down record is easily one of the best (if not THE BEST) stoner-metal/New Orleans sludge rock song ever. EVER. The rest of the record didn't stand up to the opening track, but it was still a pretty solid record of ultra heavy stoner rock groove (how could it not be with Phil "I'm In Pantera But I Have Other Interests So Don't Hold That Against Me" Anselmo's brutally melodic rasp and guys from Corrosion Of Conformity, Eyehategod, and Crowbar laying down the riffs/beats). Oddly enough, with the new Down record, although not all that sonically similar to the first, the first track knocks you flat on your ass while the rest of the record struggles to reach the same intensity. Hmm, I'm beginning to see a pattern. Again, not to say this record doesn't rock, because it does. I think we were just hoping for a whole record of 'first songs'. That said, Anselmo has such an unbelievable voice, from growly, bluesy rasp to demonic howl to melodic almost eighties metal screech that every song bristles with anger and emotion. And the production is HUGE, warm and fuzzy guitars, pounding drums and thunderous low end, like a hyper-charged Molly Hatchet or Lynyrd Skynyrd on angel dust. But unlike the first Down record, this one seems to be much more varied, with slowly droning acoustic ballads (a la Agents of Oblivion/Acid Bath) shredding blues jams, straight up stoner metal, punky work outs and even a song that sounds like something off of Nirvana's "Bleach". If you loved the last Down record you've been dreaming about this new record for years, and if you're a fan of Acid Bath, Eyehategod, Corrosion Of Conformity, Crowbar, and all that Southern doomy stoner sludge, odds are this will be blasting from your pick-up in no time, 12 pack on the seat next to you, gun rack rattling against the rear window, dead buck in back, stars and bars trailing in the wind...
RealAudio clip: "Lysergik Funeral Procession"
RealAudio clip: "There's Something On My Side"
RealAudio clip: "Beautifully Depressed"

DOWN III: Over The Under (Down Records) cd 17.98

MPEG Stream: "Three Suns And One Star"
MPEG Stream: "The Path"
MPEG Stream: "N.O.D."

DOZER Beyond Colossal (Small Stone) cd 15.98

DOZER In the Tail of a Comet (Man's Ruin) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Swedes who sound EXACTLY like the late and undoubtedly much-missed Kyuss. Somebody should hold a festival of all the Kyuss-clone bands, with Natas, Fireball Ministry, Unida, etc. They could compete to crown the new Kyuss II. Anyway, you know what this sounds like (that is, if you're a Kyuss fan--and otherwise, you won't care): lots of heavy bass, rockin' vox, psychedelic sunburn guitar. Pretty darn good, but this trend has to come to an end. I mean, originality isn't the number one virtue in rock n' roll (and certainly not in the "metal" and "stoner rock" realms and not at all in the Kyuss-o-centric "desert rock" subgenre) but this is getting ridiculous. Still, better to copy Kyuss than Korn, I suppose.

DOZER Madre de Dios (Man's Ruin) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More unabashed Kyuss worship. And no one does it better than Sweden's Dozer. And I do mean no one. Dozer sound exactly like Kyuss; groovy low end, wailing vocals, warm, desert-baked guitar. So don't look here for anything original, but if you're still missing Kyuss, then this should do the trick.

DOZER Through The Eyes Of Heathens (Small Stone) cd 14.98
Stoner rock, that's this.

DRAGONAUTA Cabra Macabra (Dias De Garage) cd 12.98
Whoa. Argentina's most "weird-ass" Sabbath stylers seem to have gone totally black coffee, forget the decaf. Grinding growling galloping METAL here, folks. Sure there's still proggy changes and acoustic guitars and mad laughter and all sorts of whatnot, but the main focus of these eleven tracks is pretty much kicking your ass with crunchy guitar riffage!! And then barking savagely in gruff Spanish at your crumpled form. Sabbathy doom is still an aspect of their sound, but we'd never mistake this for Cathedral, let alone Kyuss. It's way too fierce and thrashy. If you've heard their previously reviewed (and highlighted) Luciferatu album, or their split with Abdullah, just imagine that but with less crazy "clowning around" we guess you could say. Less eccentric / more EVIL. Or less '70s / more '80s. Perhaps they've been listening to a lot of old Slayer and Celtic Frost lately?! In any event, they're still pretty much our favorite metal band from Argentina, no doubt (we're counting Los Natas as more of a stoner/psych outfit). By the way, we imported these directly from South America and when/if we run out, it'll probably be a while before we get more, just so you know.
MPEG Stream: "Dioses del Submundo"
MPEG Stream: "Necrogalaxia"

DRAGONAUTA Luciferatu (Dias De Garage) cd 12.98
Doom metal bands by their very nature are solitary, backwards-looking, miserable creatures. It's not the most popular of rock (or metal) genres, nor does it always attract the most normal or ordinary musicians. Often, doom bands conform to the established Black Sabbath blueprint for the genre, but sometimes in their isolation they wind up going in weirder and weirder directions, influenced by the progressive rock of the '70s that Sabbath themselves began to dabble in circa Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage... Argentina's Dragonauta are one of these weirdo doom bands. When we first heard them (on a split cd with fellow Argentinans and AQ-faves Los Natas some years back) they were your basic Sabbathy/Kyussy stoner doom outfit, but now their debut full-length, Luciferatu, shows them to belong to what might be considered the most eccentric, deviant strain of 'doom metal' alongside the obscure, cult likes of Paul Chain, Northwinds, and Dirty Lust... It's a like progged-out, jazz-flecked mixture of Los Natas and Cathedral at their most ridiculous. Heavy riffage, maniac growling Lemmy/phlegmy vox (in a Spanish accent), and much psychedelic strangeness of songwriting and instrumental coloration abound on this album. Definitely one where it's hard to predict where each song will go next! Creative and chaotic yet crushing. Definitely if you like the proggier, bizarro elements of the last couple of Los Natas albums, you'll want to check out Dragonauta!! Includes a video track for your computer by the way with almost twenty minutes of live footage and interview.
MPEG Stream: "Bruta-Vu (Nijo del Diablo)"
MPEG Stream: "Vidrio Negro"

DRAIN THE SKY s/t (Life Is Abuse) cd ep 7.98

DRAIN THE SKY s/t (Life Is Abuse) lp 9.98

DRAUGAR From Which Hatred Grows (tUMULt) cd 13.98
It's been ages since we've heard from Hildolf and his weirdo black metal project Draugar. An absence made even more pronounced by the fact that Draugar's debut, From Which Hatred Grows, has been out of print for a while now. Word is there is a brand new full length brewing but for now (finally!), but until then, to tide us over, Draugar's first, and maybe best set of songs is available again. Black, brutal, buzzy, and so bizarre...
Who knew so much pure evil lurked deep in the depths of (supposedly) sunny California, especially right here in San Francisco. The legendary Weakling (R.I.P.), the ungodly blackened evil of Leviathan, the blazing, bleak torment of Crebain, and this here bit of blackness, the grim, funereal, majestic savagery of Draugar's From Which Hatred Grows.
Haunting and atmospheric, brutal and buzzing, blighted and black. Fingerpicked acoustic guitars explode into roaring, soul-shearing riffs, pounding drums demarcate hazy blackened soundscapes of misanthropic brutality and gorgeously melodic impurity, damaged and demented arrangements underpin hellish profane howls of utter anguish. Yeah, black metal at its best with nary a glacier or fjord in sight. Yet, as Burzumically brutal as it all is, you could be listening to this and suddenly forget and mistakenly think you've got some fucked up experiment in lo-fi ambient drone psychedelia on your stereo instead. Keyboards warble WAY above the mix, drums and vocals and guitars are whipped into Merzbow-ic blasts of white noise, blast beats are obliterated into gentle expanses of delicate acoustic guitars and droning ambient hum, the whole thing a gorgeously perplexing blast of bizarre blackened sonic experimentation. Much like the infamous Benighted Leams confused and astounded us once upon a time with its outsider genius, Draugar transcends black metal musical norms, making truly abnormal, artistic sound with unknown boundaries. Like Leviathan and our other favorite California black metal act Xasthur, it's the one-man-alone, far from the "scene" aspect that seems to foster a creativity beyond that of many ordinary black metal bands. From Which Hatred Grows is one of those rare metal records that manages to be true and grim, buzzing and black, but also a truly unique sonic vision that should find its way into the collection of every adventurous music lover.
MPEG Stream: "Intro / Uncontrollable Despair"
MPEG Stream: "Born"
MPEG Stream: "Dust Chains Idiots"

DRAUGAR Weathering The Curse (Moribund) cd 14.98
The black ice continues to spread, a grim black metal glacier slowly enveloping all with ears to hear. The West Coast black metal contingent's influence grows steadily, until one day hell walks the earth. Sorry, getting carried away. If the above scene had some sort of hierarchy, Leviathan would undoubtedly be the king. Xasthur would be a prince, or perhaps another king vying for supreme power. Crebain would be a knight, sent to slay all who shall dare oppose, and then Draugar, well Draugar would be the kings ex-vizier, locked in a dark dank dungeon, insane and murderous and demented, from years of no light, eating bugs, lack of sleep, and staring endlessly into blackness. Draugar is definitely the black sheep of this already black family, imbuing his home recorded evil, with the grim buzz of classic black metal, but with a healthy dollop of damged brilliance a la Benighted Leams, Lurker Of Chalice, or Striborg. Buzzy and black, droning and depressive, Draugar more than holds his own amidst the blackened elite, but somehow, everything he touches turns to what-the-fuck? Gentle clean arpeggiated clean guitar melodies are way up in the mix, layed atop a sluggish stream of indistinct guitar fuzz and Whitehouse-ish vocals. Sounding a little like somebody taped Darkthrone over a Slint record on an old C90 that had been in their back pocket for a month. Loping midtempo buzz over buried angelic choruses, like Morricone's The Mission performed by Graveland. Occasional ambient breaks, where guitar melodies wander aimlessly across barren soundscapes of distant rumble and creepy shimmer. Sometimes the riff seems to just splinter apart and what was moments earlier a galloping black metal juggernaut, has become a seasick drone. contructed from fuzzy almost melodies and vocals so distorted and so affected they sound like bursts of radio static. As always, heavy and grim and completely fucked!
MPEG Stream: "Warrior Without War"
MPEG Stream: "Infernal Existence / Grey Horizons"

DRAUGAR Weathering The Curse (Moribund) picture disc 14.98
Back in stock for a very limited time! We managed to get a few more copies of this ultra black picture disc. Limited to 500 copies, pretty much gone after this...
The black ice continues to spread, a grim black metal glacier slowly enveloping all with ears to hear. The West Coast black metal contingent's influence grows steadily, until one day hell walks the earth. Sorry, getting carried away. If the above scene had some sort of hierarchy, Leviathan would undoubtedly be the king. Xasthur would be a prince, or perhaps another king vying for supreme power. Crebain would be a knight, sent to slay all who shall dare oppose, and then Draugar, well Draugar would be the kings ex-vizier, locked in a dark dank dungeon, insane and murderous and demented, from years of no light, eating bugs, lack of sleep, and staring endlessly into blackness. Draugar is definitely the black sheep of this already black family, imbuing his home recorded evil, with the grim buzz of classic black metal, but with a healthy dollop of damged brilliance a la Benighted Leams, Lurker Of Chalice, or Striborg. Buzzy and black, droning and depressive, Draugar more than holds his own amidst the blackened elite, but somehow, everything he touches turns to what-the-fuck? Gentle clean arpeggiated clean guitar melodies are way up in the mix, layed atop a sluggish stream of indistinct guitar fuzz and Whitehouse-ish vocals. Sounding a little like somebody taped Darkthrone over a Slint record on an old C90 that had been in their back pocket for a month. Loping midtempo buzz over buried angelic choruses, like Morricone's The Mission performed by Graveland. Occasional ambient breaks, where guitar melodies wander aimlessly across barren soundscapes of distant rumble and creepy shimmer. Sometimes the riff seems to just splinter apart and what was moments earlier a galloping black metal juggernaut, has become a seasick drone. contructed from fuzzy almost melodies and vocals so distorted and so affected they sound like bursts of radio static. As always, heavy and grim and completely fucked!
MPEG Stream: "Warrior Without War"
MPEG Stream: "Infernal Existence / Grey Horizons"

DRAUGSANG / MORKER Seil Pa Skyggans Hav / Den Sista Utfarden (Northern Silence) lp 15.98

DRAUGURZ A Yell From The Past (Dark Hidden Productions) cd 10.98
Of all the crazy and amazing black metal cassettes we've gotten over the last year or so, this has to be one of our favorites. And while we did just manage to get the tape back in stock (see elsewhere on this list) we also finally got A Yell From The Past ON CD, so we can finally highlight it, and lavish it with all the blackened praise it so rightfully deserves.
A Yell From The Past is a brilliant blast of demented blackness from a mysterious Brazilian black metal horde called Draugurz, who in the past have shared a split with AQ faves Marblebog.
Draugurz are of the ultra anguished midtempo doom drenched black metal persuasion, with a super buzzy and brittle guitar sound, stumbling drums way up in the mix, fuzzed out murky minor key keyboards and EXTREMELY tortured vocals, the kind that howl and scream and caterwaul...
A Yell From The Past (awesome title!) is a collection, a sort of greatest hits, drawn from two demos and the split with Marblebog, and the whole thing is a gorgeously lo-fi, dark and torturous journey through a black musical wasteland. Slow trudging doom gives way to lurching midtempo buzz gives way to a furious blast that is so blown out it threatens to transform into a smear of Merzbowian white noise. Heavy and weird and mysterious, haunting and heavy and so very dementedly black.
Killer cover too, some sort of cartoonish ghost drifting above the forest.
MPEG Stream: "Die Traumburg"
MPEG Stream: "Hatestorm"
MPEG Stream: "A Yell From The Past"

DRAUGURZ A Yell From The Past (Gungnir Productions) cassette 4.50
Of all the crazy and amazing black metal cassettes we've gotten over the last year or so, this has to be one of our favorites. And while it is now available on cd (see elsewhere on this list) , it somehow seems more appropriate to the tape format, all buzzy and lo-fi and completely damaged. But however you swing, digital or analog, it's time to again lavish A Yell From The Past with all the blackened praise it so rightfully deserves.
A Yell From The Past is a brilliant blast of demented blackness from a mysterious Brazilian black metal horde called Draugurz, who in the past have shared a split with AQ faves Marblebog.
Draugurz are of the ultra anguished midtempo doom drenched black metal persuasion, with a super buzzy and brittle guitar sound, stumbling drums way up in the mix, fuzzed out murky minor key keyboards and EXTREMELY tortured vocals, the kind that howl and scream and caterwaul...
A Yell From The Past (awesome title!) is a collection, a sort of greatest hits, drawn from two demos and the split with Marblebog, and the whole thing is a gorgeously lo-fi, dark and torturous journey through a black musical wasteland. Slow trudging doom gives way to lurching midtempo buzz gives way to a furious blast that is so blown out it threatens to transform into a smear of Merzbowian white noise. Heavy and weird and mysterious, haunting and heavy and so very dementedly black.
Killer cover too, some sort of cartoonish ghost drifting above the forest.
Warning: the tape has some drop outs and some serious sonic inconsistencies, but just consider that another element of Draugurz's weird world and they sound almost like they belong...
MPEG Stream: "Die Traumburg"
MPEG Stream: "Hatestorm"
MPEG Stream: "A Yell From The Past"

DREADNAUGHT Down To Zero (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98

DREAM DEATH Back From The Dead (Penance Music) cd 14.98
Reissue of this obscure doom-death classic, the precursors to Penance. Definitely a hefty footnote in the history of heavy.

DREAR / GREAT AMERICAN DESERT Warring Against The Sun / Solipsis (Autumn Wind Productions) cd 13.98
Massive slow motion funereal doom metal matchup between two relative unknowns, Drear and Great American Desert. Both traffic in that sort of slow motion doom drenched sludge we can never seem to get enough of. Huge downtuned riffs, simple spaced out drum pound and thick swaths of black fuzz. Doomlords into the usual suspects, Moss, Esoteric, Corrupted, Noothgrush, Catacombs, Eyehategod, Monarch, Stumm, Dot [.], Winter, Disembowelment, Skepticism, Thergothon, will pretty much HAVE to own this.
Drear are up first, and just happen to feature one member from AQ faves Contra Ignem Fatuum (aka Circumscriber), their brand of UK black doom definitely falls somewhere right between Esoteric and Moss, three massive lengthy epics, dense and fuzzed out, but sort of dreamy and melancholic at the same time. The vocals are harsh and hellish, but they are draped over fuzzy soft focus buzzscapes, dreary, dreamlike and shimmery, the whole thing anchored by a simple Godflesh at 16rpm drum machine plod.
Drear are teamed up with Oklahoma based Great American Desert, who have a whole different take on funeral doom. The sound is less massive and more minimal. Distorted guitars spin a murky muddy web in the background, the drums a simple spare framework, but the vocals, holy shit the vocals, some sort of super processed, demonic alien mechanical growl, metallic and distorted, like dragging huge pieces of metal across sharp rocks, recording them onto a metal cylinder and playing them back through a wall of tweeters run through a pitchshifter and a battery of distortion pedals. Occasionally the background is a weird lo-fi clean guitar tangled up with some low end rumble for some minimal doom metal Low action. But always with those vocals!
Both bands are amazing and fucked in their own unique way, so needless to say this is some essential low end for the doom obsessed among you...
MPEG Stream: DREAR "Let The Sun Collapse"
MPEG Stream: GREAT AMERICAN DESERT "Dervish Shaitan"

DRIFT OF A CURSE The Wrong Witness (self-released) cd 13.98
A new somber rock trio has emerged from the Bay Area's shadowy fog featuring three SF metal vets! Though their other musical endeavors are decidedly metal leaning, Old Grandad's Max Barnett and Erik Moggridge along with Chewy Marzolo of Hammers Of Misfortune take Drift Of A Curse in a post rock direction on their debut album. Throughout the album's eight songs, the band smoothly weaves in and out of ominous overcast atmospheres and more fervent tempos. The Wrong Witness commences with "Blink" a number that creeps along at a brooding funereal pace, and things proceed along as such. Very heavy in tone and mood, but by the fourth song "Straits And Narrows" they get far more propulsive - almost poppy even! - with cool multi-part vocals and high sinewy guitars. This comparatively 'up' mood doesn't linger too long though. The very next song is the album's title track and with its subtle spacey effects and gentle gruff vocals it draws everything back down into a forbodingly solemn contemplation. If you dug the dark weathered beauty of Erik's other side project Aerial Ruin, definitely check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Blink"
MPEG Stream: "Straits And Narrows"

DRINK THE BLEACH s/t (self-released) cd ep 5.98

MPEG Stream: "Freeway"
MPEG Stream: "There's Nothing"

DRIVER, TOBY In the L..L..Library Loft (Tzadik) cd 16.98
Working in a record store I've learned that records released with merely someone's given name attached -- unless they're very famous -- often tend not to receive as much attention as something released under a more fanciful, made up "group" moniker. Maybe it's that a plain ol' person's name just doesn't fire the imagination. It seems wise that Jeff Mangum was Neutral Milk Hotel, that Chan Marshall calls herself Cat Power, that Campbell Kneale makes music as Birchville Cat Motel (and Black Boned Angel, etc.), and that Tara Burke is Fursaxa, amongst many other examples -- though we're not sure how Malefic recording as Xasthur, where you've got two made up names, fits into this. So, to anyone contemplating a solo project, we'd suggest making up a "band" name for it...
Which is our way of saying, don't ignore this cd, just 'cause it's being presented under the name of Toby Driver. He's actually the main guy from the avant-metal outfit Kayo Dot, whose debut album on John Zorn's Tzadik label has been quite a favorite 'round these parts since it was released in 2003. Heavy and weird and droney and strangely poppy too, all sorts of things we like.
In the L..L..Library Loft is a solo project from Toby, with some help from his friends -- there's eight other musicians credited, a remarkable number of 'em playing the lowly tuning fork, along with other things! Another unusual instrument credit is "remote snare drum". Plus there's a more conventional array of instruments like guitar, bass, piano, violin, cello, drums, trumpet, trombone, etc. That should give you the idea that this shares with Kayo Dot an interesting style of proggy chamber rock experimentation -- indeed, the four, fairly lengthy tracks here are kinda like Kayo Dot with most of the metal removed. Though, the rumbling waves of percussion, guitar distortion, and buried screams on the track "Kandu Vs. Corky (Horrorca)" still hint at Neurosis. But there's also many non-metallic elements here as well -- fragile singing and dark, quietly moody ambience. Definitely a disc worth exploring, especially if you're already a fan of Kayo Dot (or Kayo Dot's earlier formation as Maudlin Of The Well).
And look out for Kayo Dot's new album, just released on Crucial Blast, to be reviewed here next time, hopefully!
MPEG Stream: "Kandu Vs. Corky (Horrorca)"
MPEG Stream: "Eptaceros"

DROMMER Black Moon Float (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
Another blast of un-blackness from the E.E.E. camp, the home to some of the most amazing un-black metal we've ever heard. What the heck is unblack metal you ask? In a nutshell, well, it's Christian black metal. And any avid readers of the AQ list will remember us raving about pretty much everything we've heard: Light Shall Previal, Agathothodion, Glaciial and this here band, Drommer.
Unlike the buzzing black hordes these guys call labelmates, Drommer is A. not buzzy, and B. not religious. So what we have is some serious secular black ambience. Or maybe still un-black ambience. Drommer unfurl two epic slabs of spaced out shimmer. The first is a gorgeously layered drone, lots of high end draped over deep resonant whirs, the sounds beating against each other like all the best minimal drone music, creating all manner of subtle tonal variations and gorgeous abstract overtones. Sixteen minutes, simple tones stretched all the way out, all the action and the color and the musical movement comes from the interaction between the various tones, subtle, but utterly hypnotic.
The second track, is more in the dark ambient vein, a nearly 30 minute trawl through some haunting mysterious landscapes. There's some definite Lustmord action going on, which is always a good thing, but where Lustmord is abject and utterly desolate, Drommer lace their dour drones with shimmers of glistening melody and stray beams of sunlight. But even with these brief glimpses of blue sky, for the most part, it's a gorgeous black cloud of sound, chimes are muted and spread into dreamy blurs and laid over a sluggishly flowing stream of mumbled murk and dark dolorous glimmer.
As with all E.E.E. stuff, this is ultra limited, usually only 50 copies, so once these are gone, that may very well be it.
MPEG Stream: "Den Lovet Fremtidig Aeons Av Evig Sporsmal"
MPEG Stream: "For Evig Er Enna Mournful For Det Noensinne Begynt"

DROMMER Channeling Natural Forces (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
More from the unblack camp!! E.E.E. Recordings, the Christian black metal label that brought us some of the best (un)black metal of the last few years, Light Shall Prevail, Glaciial, Agathothodion, strike again, but this time displaying a whole new side and sound.
This latest release is from a band called Drommer, who the label describe as "non-religious dark ambient", and their debut Channeling Natural Forces is a "soundtrack to nature", and indeed, there is plenty of rain, thunder and found sounds, all woven into thick, reverby soundscapes, slow burning, glimmering murky crawls, stretched out melodies, some huge grinding almost industrial drones, crumbling distortion, soaring keyboards, very dramatic and super epic, but fuzzy and buzzy and lo-fi at the same time. Makes it sound very intimate and organic.
The opening track sets the tone, a slowly growing ambience bathed in strange digital distortion and reverb, making what might otherwise be simply a dreamy drone, more a bizarre textured buzzy pulse, a haunting swell, that is constantly shifting and shimmering, the various overtones creating minimal murky rhythms amidst the static buzz. These effects surface throughout the record, giving those tracks a very alien vibe, but managing to remain true to their purpose, reflecting the sounds around us, and creating dramatic sounds to accompany natural events. Most of the tracks sound like the music we hear in our heads when the sun finally breaks through the clouds after weeks of rain and black skies. Not happy so much as glowing and subtly effulgent. Other tracks let nature do the talking offering a simple minimal counterpoint to the sound of the surf, or dripping water, deep dramatic rumbles, raga like buzz, way in the background, while nature performs her particular brand of music making over the top.
A few of the tracks get downright heavy, one when Drommers drones are all tangled up in the sounds of a torrential downpour, which ends up sounding like a natural Sunn 0))), the other, where the tones become sharp and intense, a buzzing high end skree wrapped in hiss and static that eventually crackles and flares wildly before blinking out.
Pretty amazing. Definitely a unique angle on ambient music and a cool way of incorporating field recordings, almost like a black metal Jewelled Antler!!!
As with everything E.E.E., way recommended.
LIMITED TO 50 COPIES!!
MPEG Stream: "Winds Of The Mountain Deep"
MPEG Stream: "Returning To Liquid Form"

DROMMER Oceans (E.E.E. Recordings) cd-r 8.98
Still more bizarre and amazing unblackness from one of our favorite new record labels, E.E.E. Recordings. The home of the cream of the UNblack metal crop. For those of you who have yet to discover unblackness, well, quite simply, it's christian black metal, which we know, seems like it would not compute, and for lots of folks it doesn't, since black metal is predicated on the message more than the music, but fuck it, some of the best black metal we've heard in the last few years has been from un-black bands. However, we almost don't need to have this discussion here since Drommer are not Christian, and are not really black metal. They are, according to the label 'non-religious dark ambient', but the music of Drommer is way to weird and varied to be summed up that simply. It most certainyl is dark, and ambient, at least sort of, hard to gauge the religious part as they are instrumental and ambient. 
But dark ambient gives the impression of swooshiness and dreaminess and drifty droniness, but this, the third disc we've reviewed from Drommer is so much more. 
Our favorite track might be "Shallow Water Residence", a swirling squall of crumbling white noise chopped and layered over moody mournful piano, the two elements constantly battling, it's quite intense and dramatic. But the rest of the record is just as unexpectedly amazing. The opener, "Oceans", is a long stretch of decayed drones, wavering and beating against one another, emitting sporadic rhythms, and coalescing occasionally into fragmented melodies, all very buzzed out and fuzzy, and with a constant tense minor key quality to it, almost like a Niblock piece recorded onto some old tape in William Basinski's attic. A lot of the record sounds like the sort of ambience one might expect to find on a Wold record. All damaged and corrupted, the sound quality so degraded that the imperfections are like another part of the composition. But then all of a sudden, the band will whip out some crazy majestic slab of moody instrumentalism like on "Ashen Sea Of Grey", the beginning of which sounds like it came straight off a Daniel Higgs record, before halfway through it splinters into shortwave interference, and becomes some murky childlike lullabye. Then there's the final track, all simple percussion and dramatic acoustic strum, like the rough mix of some lost Woven Hand song or a Nick Cave outtake, albeit peppered with strange digital glitchery and buzzy reverb... 
This record is just so gorgeously demented, and unpredictably intense. Imagine if you can, Tim Hecker making (un)black ambient music, and you'd get a rough idea, but Drommer is way more schizophrenic, somehow without losing cohesiveness, every bizarre twist, or jarring shift, sounds completely natural, it's almost like Oceans is the soundtrack for the strangest film you've never seen. One of our new favorite records for sure... black, unblack or otherwise. 
MPEG Stream: "Oceans"
MPEG Stream: "Black Moon Float"
MPEG Stream: "Alive In Tears"

DROMMER The Saddest Of Days (E.E.E Recordings) cd-r 8.98

MPEG Stream: "The Quest To Find Utter Nothingness"
MPEG Stream: "Vanished From This Place"
MPEG Stream: "Night Terror: Another Entrence Into"

DROWNINGMAN Still Loves You (Equal Vision) cd ep 8.98
The metalcore onslaught just won't let up. Drowningman traffic in the same sort of howling and chugging as Coalesce, Converge, etc. However instead of hyper-virtuosity (that's not to say they aren't dynamic and complex, because they are) they temper their metal with some melodic pop punk. And the harsh screeched vocals are balanced by some emo style broken-harted-boy vocals. But Drowningman are heavy and chaotic and can get the pit churning with the best of 'em, it's just cool to hear a band like this stretch out a little and not shy away from the pop.
RealAudio clip: "The More I Get To Know You, The Less I Like You"

DRUDKH Autumn Aurora (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

DRUDKH Blood In Our Wells (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Quite possibly our favorite Ukrainian black metal band. And before you scoff, there's plenty of competition, Hate Forest, Nokturnal Mortum, Astrofaes, Lucifugum (and about 200 more according to the Encyclopaedia Metallum), but Drudkh somehow manage to prevail.
Drudkh's particular brand of black grimness, is of the midtempo Burzumic variety, but they infuse their buzz with a surprising amount of epic majesty, mournful melody and strange chords and phrasings that lend all their riffs a strangely haunting gravity. It's kind of hard to explain actually, but every Drudkh song is just so intense, so emotional and so full of mystery. A few things have changed on Blood In Our Wells though, the first is all the Ukrainian folk music and random dialogue purloined from some Ukrainian film, that really adds another strange layer to Drudkh's already dense sonic world, the other thing that's different, is the surprising amount of guitar leads, not the squiggly lightning fast black leads you might expect, but some super melodic strangely glam rock leads. Really! Sounds strange, but it totally works. And just manages to make Drudkh even weirder and cooler.
There's plenty of buzzing blackness for the true and grim and black hearted, but folks who dig Godspeed and Isis, and that whole slow build, explosive climax, quiet-loud-quiet thing might find this Drudkh to be their gateway drug. The perfect moody blackness to drag all those indie rockers to the dark side. TOTALLY RECOMMENDED!!!
MPEG Stream: "Furrows Of Gods"
MPEG Stream: "When The Flame Turns To Ashes"

DRUDKH Estrangement (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After the gorgeous dark folk of Songs Of Grief And Solitude, Ukrainian black metallers Drudkh return to their roots, offering up a 5 song ep, with four looooong tracks of sprawling, epic, depressive, nature obsessed, foresty blackness.
Definitely the best sounding Drudkh yet, the drums are awesome, way up in the mix, the guitars soar and ring out, so mournful and majestic, the vocals too are much more intense than in the past, a raw feral roar, passionate and emotional and surprisingly musical for BM vocals. And then there's the bass, a whole new addition to Drudkh's sound, not that there wasn't bass before, but now the basslines are as crucial to the sound as the guitar parts, not just a simple thump thump thump, the bass is slippery and intricate, unfurling dense webs of complex low end, creating a thick black backdrop, so the guitars can buzz and howl, and the drums can blast wildly.
The core of the record are the first three songs, each 10+ minutes, and each a stirring sonic journey. This is the sound of dark forests, and windswept peaks, of rushing rivers and snow cloaked mountaintops, full moons and firelight. The tracks vary greatly, often in the same song, the tempos shifting effortlessly from doomy plod, to midtempo lope to furious blast, but the riffs this time, wow, so totally catchy and melodic, without losing any of the grim fury, powerful and hauntingly heartbreaking, soaring in long drawn out melodies as often as buzzing maniacally. In fact more often. The drums are way different too, sort of sloppy and chaotic, but it suits the sound, no clinical super tight blasting, but instead, the rhythms have feeling, some swing to them, letting them lurch and stumble, and work in perfect concert with the ever shifting riffage. The sound is definitely reminiscent of classic Drudkh discs like Forgotten Legends and Autumn Aurora, but revamped, and recharged, imbued with a surprising amount of drama and moodiness and emotional intensity. No more so than in the last track, the briefest of the bunch, but what a grandiose blast of epic black beauty. Beginning with acoustic guitar, it soon launches into a glorious blissy midtempo blow out, that would sound pretty good right next to some Alcest. It even has a super intense guitar lead, that wails wildly over the roiling black bliss beneath. Woah. So fucking awesome, and so recommended.
And of course, a review of Drudkh is never complete without a mention of the bands problematic politics. While they do seem somewhat removed from all that, at least musically and lyrically, focusing instead more on nature, it is worth mentioning as it is a distinct part of what they're about. We talked about it in a past review, and since we don't think we could write about it again as eloquently, here it is again.
We've been through this before with Burzum and Graveland and umpteen others, we love the music, but abhor the message. In some cases, like with Drudkh, it's easy to just enjoy the music and ignore the problematic politics, there are no printed lyrics, no fucked up song titles, just images of forests and sky and rain and darkness, a mysterious booklet with more images of trees and forests and the sky and rivers, all very mysterious and evocative. For some though, there is no ignoring the message, no matter how subtle or indirect, and the thought of giving any sort of support is unacceptable. That's perfectly fine. But for us, the music -can- transcend the message, and does at least in this case.
MPEG Stream: "Solitary Endless Path"
MPEG Stream: "Skies At Our Feet"

DRUDKH Forgotten Legends (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've gone on and on in the past about Ukranian black metallers Nokturnal Mortum and the NM side project Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra. Bands that perfecty straddle the line between true grim blackness and total what-the-fuck weirdness. But the Ukraine has a load of other bands who are just as buzzy and brilliantly black and fucked up. And it just so happens that they all seem to share at least one (the same?) member. Astrofaes, Hate Forest, Lucifugum, and of course Drudkh. All of these projects traffic in the same sort of buzzed out atmospheric blackness that we can't get enough of. Loping stumbling midtempo folk flecked blasts of Burzumic fuzz, long LONG tracks, melancholy melodies swathed in buzzing guitars and anguished vocals, with brief bursts of blast beats and mosquito buzz riffing. Very droney and atmospheric as well as fiercely fuzzy blackly brutal. Fans of Burzum (obviously) and bands like Graveland, Woodtemple and the like definitely need everything by any of these bands they can get their hands on. This is the first Drudkh record from a few years back, we'll be listing the others soon (including a brand new album for 2006) but we figured we might as well start at the beginning. Forgotten Legends (and all the Drudkh records for that matter) is so good. Dark and bleak and depressive, droney and dirgey and black, but weirdly lovely as well.
Unfortunately, no discussion of any of these bands is complete without a brief look at their politics, always a troublesome sore spot with most black metal. Drudkh focus on 'Slavonic pride, culture and mythology', an ideology only slightly removed from the full on racism of Nastional Socialist black metal bands. Their name in fact means wood in Sanskrit, "the first language of the Aryan race." Oof. We've been through this before with Burzum and Graveland and umpteen others, we love the music, but abhor the message. In some cases, like with Drudkh, it's easy to just enjoy the music and ignore the problematic politics, there are no printed lyrics, no fucked up song titles, just images of forests and sky and rain and darkness, a mysterious booklet with no information but for the words: "sadness, bitterness, pain, despair, loss, agony, solitude, betrayal, melancholy, sorrow," all very mysterious and evocative. For some though, there is no ignoring the message, no matter how subtle or indirect, and the thought of giving any sort of support is unacceptable. That's perfectly fine. But for us, the music -can- transcend the message, and does at least in this case, and the sound of Forgotten Legends is nebulous enough that each listener can take whatever they want from this music, a series of totally mesmerizing, gorgeously depressive black buzzing drone metal epics.
MPEG Stream: "False Dawn"
MPEG Stream: "Forests In Fire And Gold"

DRUDKH Lebedynyi Shlyakh (The Swan Road) (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've proudly proclaimed Ukrainian black metal horde Drudkh to be our favorite band from that particularly kick ass region (although we pretty much love all of those bands: Hate Forest, Nokturnal Mortum, Astrofaes, Lucifugum, etc.) and we've been meaning to get some of their back catalog in after reviewing their most recent record Blood In Our Wells.
Lebedynyy Shlyakh aka The Swan Road, just might be our favorite of all of their records, released barely a year before Blood In Our Wells, it's a super dark and emotional, brittle lo-fi dronelike blast of Burzumic buzz but with all sorts of strange parts and sounds, weird arrangements and very distinctly Drudkh-like elements. It definitely gets harder and harder to describe exactly what makes one frosty grim black metal record stand out, they all buzz and blast, everything is fuzzy and black, and of course grim and harsh and cult and cold and brutal and pummeling. So it usually comes down to the songwriting, the riffs, the arrangements, even some sonic subtleties that just can't be so easily put into words.
With Drudkh, it's just that. They imbue their sound with all sorts of unlikely sonic elements that perfectly balance the more traditional black metal sounds. Lots of the riffs are strangely angular and distinctly un-black metal, almost like post rock parts of classic metal riffs. There are brief bits of acoustic guitar, often hovering beneath a thick swirl of blackened hiss and crumbling fuzz. Plus there are all sorts of strange folky elements, and some super emotional minor key leads, that just sort of soar and hover, all majestic and so epic. But it's not so much those parts and pieces as the way they are integrated, the way the songs exude a sort of magic and chemistry. And the thing is, Lebedynyy Shlyakh is not so hateful and grim, it's weirdly hopeful sounding, more musical than a lot of black metal. Minor key sure, but more melancholy than miserable. And the arrangements and strange melodies evoke a sort of epic loping post rock more than the bleak buzz of Burzum or Mayhem. Which definitely makes Drudkh a whole 'nother beast. Mathy and melodic, with lots of unexpected twists and turns, structural and melodic, buzzing and black, but a buzzing blackness twisted into entirely new shapes. Revisiting this disc it's easy to see why we were (and still are) so blown away. SO RECOMMENDED!
MPEG Stream: "Eternal Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Blood"

DRUDKH Microcosmos (Season Of Mist) cd 13.98
The return of Ukrainian black metal legends Drudkh! In the past, the Ukraine have given us Hate Forest and Nokturnal Mortum and Astrofaes and Lucifugum and so many more, but Drudkh somehow always manage to overshadow their blackened brethren, their sound transcendent and otherworldly, at once grim and frosty and black, but at the same time timeless and epic and majestic and melodic. Few black metal bands could release an all acoustic folk record, and imbue it with the same sort of intensity and emotion, but Drudkh did just that with Songs Of Grief And Solitude, a folk record that one might assume would most definitely not appeal to metalheads, but we've yet to meet a black metal freek who didn't also love that record. Definitely speaks to the band's power and originality and energy.
Something strange seems to be going on currently with Drudkh and their catalog though (or maybe with Drudkh and their old label Supernal), all of their previous records are currently out of print and unavailable, which makes the arrival of Microcosmos even more timely. Continuing on from where the brilliant Estrangement left off, the sound of Drudkh is a dizzying blend of old world folk music, melodic metal, and of course grim buzzing blackness. The record begins with a brief bit of baroque court music, some old school folk, all buzzing strings and simple percussion, Eastern melodies and warm wheezing textures, before the second song kicks in with a flurry of frenetic buzz and wildly blasting drums, the main guitar immediately unfurling a totally epic and timeless sounding melody. The band establishing in a matter of seconds that they have returned, and all other black minions must bow down or be smote. The nearly ten minute epic is packed with twists and turns, as we described Drudkh songs in a past review, an epic sonic journey, from soaring washed out melodic whir, to howled blasting fury, to woozy mid tempo grooves laced with heart rending minor key melodies, stretches of Deathspell-ish gnarled riffage, even a drifty acoustic interlude, with steel string guitars, weird bits of buzz and fragmented riffage and some scraped atonal bass, before lurching back into a blown out Godspeedian majestic black coda.
And so it goes for the whole record. Four songs, all hovering around ten minutes, the guitars intense and massive, the melodies and arrangements so unlikely but so perfect. Strip away the buzz and take away the vocals, and this would be some super dense tripped out folk flecked post rock epic, but as it is, Microcosmos is next level black metal, their naturalist vibe is totally present, the songs and sounds organic and lush, evocative of forests and fjords, of grey skies and snow covered mountains, but the magic most definitely lays in the songs, even the harshest heaviest parts are impossibly melodic, and even the pretty parts often splinter into total buzz drenched chaos. The bass is all over the place (a rarity in the realm of black metal), throbbing and pulsing, adding melodic counterpoint as often as it does texture and ambience, the vocals appropriately harsh and howled, but really, they seem to just merge with the music, a gorgeously blackened metal that easily slips from relentless blasting, to Burzumic plod, to seasick lurch, all blended into a sound that while on the surface is most definitely black metal, is ultimately a strain of blackness that could only be Drudkh.
In the past we've mentioned the bands possibly problematic politics, but recently the band issued a statement to the effect that the absence of lyrics and information, the no photos, no interviews, no website policy is purposeful, and this dearth of information is what led some folks to posit that the band espoused ideals in line with the NSBM movement, when in fact, the band claim to be apolitical, and to promote "individualism, self-improvement and estrangement from modern values." So there.
MPEG Stream: "Distant Cries Of Cranes"
MPEG Stream: "Decadence"
MPEG Stream: "Ars Poetica"

DRUDKH Songs Of Grief And Solitude (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The long awaited folk record from Ukrainian black metal gods Drudkh. And it's amazing! But before we get into it, we have always wondered, what it is exactly with black metal and folk? Why does a record, that to the untrained ear, sounds like Renaissance Faire music, get lauded as still being 'grim'? And why do black metallers, one of the seemingly most close minded group of music fans in the world, deem certain sorts of folk music worthy of their adoration, when they have utter disdain for all other musicks that are not grim or true? And what makes a certain folk music grim or true?
Who really know, and who really cares. What we do know is that Songs Of Grief And Solitude is gorgeous and mournful, melodic and mysterious, and you would never know this was the work of one of our favorite buzzing black hordes!
Based on Ukrainian legends, traditional songs and fairy tales, Songs Of Grief And Solitude is a gorgeous folk record. Acoustic guitars and flutes, woven deftly into super moving emotional arrangements. VERY reminiscent of Comus, the Incredible String Band, and similar minded seventies folkies, haunting and minor key, dark and dreamy, unlikely melodies and unusual arrangements help avoid the usual Renn Faire vibe, although when the flutes join in, it's a bit difficult to deny. But the majority of the record is quite dark, very cinematic, moody and haunting, sounding like it could very well be the work of any number of modern day freak folk outfits, but with the added weight of the band's black background giving the music more musical heft. Each song begins with the sound of a crackling campfire or chirping crickets or tolling bells or the whir of night time nature, as if each of these songs was a tale being related around a campfire, or told to friends in the field. Normally we would suggest that maybe Drudkh fans would not necessarily dig this, but pursuant to the above black metal/folk discussion, and the fact that all the Drudkh fans we know LOVE this record, we'd have to say it's pretty damn essential. But it should also be essential listening for all the modern free folk freaks as well. Might be their black metal gateway record (even though there is NO black metal here). Songs Of Grief And Solitude would fit perfectly between your Comus record and your Vetiver record, next to your Brightblack Morning Light and Feathers records. Check it out. All hail Drudkh!
MPEG Stream: "Sunset In Carpathians"
MPEG Stream: "Tears Of Gods"
MPEG Stream: "Archaic Dance"

DRUDKH Songs Of Grief And Solitude (Northern Heritage) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The most recent Drudkh available on vinyl for a very short time. Super cool, new artwork, limited to 500 copies, and thus, these will probably disappear in a flash...
The long awaited folk record from Ukrainian black metal gods Drudkh. And it's amazing! But before we get into it, we have always wondered, what it is exactly with black metal and folk? Why does a record, that to the untrained ear, sounds like Renaissance Faire music, get lauded as still being 'grim'? And why do black metallers, one of the seemingly most close minded group of music fans in the world, deem certain sorts of folk music worthy of their adoration, when they have utter disdain for all other musicks that are not grim or true? And what makes a certain folk music grim or true?
Who really know, and who really cares. What we do know is that Songs Of Grief And Solitude is gorgeous and mournful, melodic and mysterious, and you would never know this was the work of one of our favorite buzzing black hordes!
Based on Ukrainian legends, traditional songs and fairy tales, Songs Of Grief And Solitude is a gorgeous folk record. Acoustic guitars and flutes, woven deftly into super moving emotional arrangements. VERY reminiscent of Comus, the Incredible String Band, and similar minded seventies folkies, haunting and minor key, dark and dreamy, unlikely melodies and unusual arrangements help avoid the usual Renn Faire vibe, although when the flutes join in, it's a bit difficult to deny. But the majority of the record is quite dark, very cinematic, moody and haunting, sounding like it could very well be the work of any number of modern day freak folk outfits, but with the added weight of the band's black background giving the music more musical heft. Each song begins with the sound of a crackling campfire or chirping crickets or tolling bells or the whir of night time nature, as if each of these songs was a tale being related around a campfire, or told to friends in the field. Normally we would suggest that maybe Drudkh fans would not necessarily dig this, but pursuant to the above black metal/folk discussion, and the fact that all the Drudkh fans we know LOVE this record, we'd have to say it's pretty damn essential. But it should also be essential listening for all the modern free folk freaks as well. Might be their black metal gateway record (even though there is NO black metal here). Songs Of Grief And Solitude would fit perfectly between your Comus record and your Vetiver record, next to your Brightblack Morning Light and Feathers records. Check it out. All hail Drudkh!
MPEG Stream: "Sunset In Carpathians"
MPEG Stream: "Tears Of Gods"
MPEG Stream: "Archaic Dance"

DRUMM, KEVIN & LASSE MARHAUG Frozen By Blizzard Winds (Smalltown Supersound) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With an album title that sounds like it could be the name of the next Immortal record, this new release from Chicago guitar experimentalist Kevin Drumm takes the inspired-by-black-metal aesthetic of his recent Mego-label cd "Sheer Hellish Miasma" even further (what's he been doing, hanging out with Weasel Walter?). In fact, he teams up here with an actual Norwegian! Lasse Marhaug of noisy electronica act Jazzkammer joins Drumm for this live-in-Oslo session, his laptop computer vs. Drumm's guitar and analog synth. Their collaboration/clash results in some dark and droney sounds that are semi-appropriate to the apparent black metal concept, being generally quiet and creepy rather than massive or mayhemic. The guitar, when you can tell it's a guitar, is more Derek Bailey than Burzum. And the arctic winds evoked on here hiss rather than howl. But, there's no mistaking the simulation of the sinister crackling of burning churches, and perhaps even the twittering of malicious goblins in dark forests, via Drumm and Marhaug's electronics. So, of course, we love this. Leaving aside the black metal business, this is atmospheric ambient glitch drone improv at its best -- and most eeveeiil.
RealAudio clip: "track 2"

DRUNK HORSE Adult Situations (Tee Pee) cd 14.98
Oakland's ironic cock rock masters bounce back from the demise of their former label Man's Ruin with this new album for Tee Pee. Ironic? Yep, that's the one problem we might have with these boys. Otherwise, they rock hard, crankin' out good party tunes like something from your older stoner bro's record collection circa 1973-1980. They fit right in with other modern bands doing that retro rock thing, like Cherry Valence, All Night, Boulder, and even Drunk Horse pals The Fucking Champs in their more Thin Lizzyish moments. Drunk Horse are great players, indulging in total '70s worship...but I can't help thinking that they learned their riffing from Cheech & Chong's "Earache My Eye" rather than from the real, non-goof rock bands of the era. Maybe that's not fair, but I can't help but imagine how good these guys would be if there wasn't the joke element going on. Sure, these are smart guys playing dumb rock...but can't you be genuine about it though? Maybe it wouldn't have to be so dumb if they didn't make it intentionally so, with songs about Lube Jobs and so forth. That said, this is pretty darn good AND kinda funny too so maybe I should just enjoy the witty lyrics, kick-ass guitars, and sweaty songwriting regardless. Plus when they go off instrumentally you know they are -- or could be -- more than just a campy pastiche of '70s rock cliches. There's hints of jazz fusion, genuine pop smarts, and mucho guitar intelligence, so someday I want to hear the Advanced Drunk Horse record. Whatever, whoop it up!
RealAudio clip: "National Lust"
RealAudio clip: "The Bitch Is Bach"

DRUNK HORSE Bambi (Wantage) 7" 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
With "Dirty Mind" on the flip -- yep, both are Prince covers, done up all rock n' roll by SF's smartest '70s style rockers.

DRUNK HORSE Tanning Salon / Biblical Proportions (Man's Ruin) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Pretty damn good sophomore effort from San Francisco rockers Drunkhorse. Basically, these guys play a heavy, '70s inspired style of honkin' hard rawk, a la Fu Manchu and other "stoner" outfits also found on the Man's Ruin roster. But, unlike a lot of those bands, the Drunkhorse musical and lyrical IQ isn't really down in the double digits. Like current tourmates The (Fucking) Champs, Drunkhorse work on several levels at once. It's definitely music to party to, but not if you can't deal with the occasional sideways lurch into jazz fusion or musique concrete. No, don't worry, that sort of eclecticism is carefully employed, so there's always a heavy groove or boogie woogie piano break or something to balance any overt weirdness. And the singer's rock drawl conceals a great sense of hipster wit. It's hard to decide if Drunkhorse are at heart overachieving stoner rockers or dumbed down art rockers, and it doesn't matter. Get drunk, play this loud, and simultaneously exercise and destroy brain cells. If you're wondering about the title, by the way, we're told this is two miniature concept albums in one...for more info, buy it!
RealAudio clip: "AM/FM Shoes"
RealAudio clip: "Secret Ingredient"
RealAudio clip: "Manchild"