LOST GOAT Equator (Man's Ruin) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

LOST GOAT Equator (Man's Ruin) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

LOST GOAT The Dirty Ones (Tee Pee Records) cd 13.98
New one (getting better) from this popular San Francisco hard rock trio. Not 'stoner rock', not 'punk', not 'metal', not 'grunge'...not exactly. Loud guitars, tough girl vocals, lots of attitude and rock action. Members of Amber Asylum show up to add strings to one song, and Leadbelly and Buffy Sainte-Marie both get covered.
RealAudio clip: "Rat Masters of the Icky Path"

LOST GOAT Trapped on Earth (Life is Abuse/In Search Of) cd 11.98
Finally, on cd. Digipak in fact. One of San Francisco's most popular hard rock verging on metal by way of grunge groups... They're no Sir Lord Baltimore, but it ain't the seventies no more either.

LOST GOAT Trapped on Earth (In Search Of/Life Is Abuse) lp 8.98
Popular local hard rock/metal act's debut lp. The girls in the band will get mad at you if you tell them they remind you of something like L7, so stick to the Black Sabbath comparisons no matter how inappropriate.

LOST HORIZON A Flame To The Ground Beneath (Music For Nations) cd 16.98
Nope, nothing to do with the 1930's book/movie about Shangri La. This Lost Horizon is a different sort of paradise, one for fans of over-the-top European power metal. A troupe of buff Swedes in body paint and capes, galloping musically across the galaxy, with soaring vocals, shredding lead guitar, and sci-fi keyboard coloration. This is their second full-length, which sees two new band members, Equilibrian Epicurius (responsible for "string romanticism...translation for mortals: guitars") and Perspicacious Protector (playing the "soulhealing euphoria generators...translation for mortals: synthesizers"), joining the crew of Transcendental Protagonist, Preternatural Transmorgifyer, Ethereal Magnanimus, and Cosmic Antagonist. These comic-book names might sound tongue in cheek, but we think these guys are actually pretty serious in their view of heavy metal music as being a ruling, spiritual force in the universe. Certainly they're channeling something beyond most mortals... And, there's even a song -- eleven minutes long -- about the movie Highlander, of course called "Highlander (The One)"!
Cheesy in *such* a good way. Even more melodic (and a bit mellower) than their debut, this definitely gets thumbs up from Andee and Allan, and Cup's a fan of their names/conceptualization/packaging. It's a transdimensional revelation (translation for mortals: pure ridiculous power metal genius).
RealAudio clip: "Lost In The Depths Of Me"

LOST HORIZON Awakening the World (Koch / Music For Nations) cd 15.98
Much debate has occurred between the metalheads here at AQ because of this cd. Originally, we saw an ad for this record in a magazine, and knew, by the cover alone, that this was going to be the best 'power metal' record ever. Hell, maybe the best record ever, period. And I (Andee) still maybe believe that. Allan, the non-believer, and one whose seemingly arbitrary likes and dislikes continue to baffle some of us, might be slowly coming around... We shall see.
Let's start with the cover (and the ad we saw): four post apocalyptic Mad Max-ish war-painted metal warriors strut purposefully through the clouds above some sort of battlefield, where blindfolded human puppets are controlled by humanoids with the heads of pigs, vultures, and what appear to be badgers. The back of the cd of course shows our metallic heroes in complete control, with the animal-headed humans chained up and being whipped mercilessly by the members of Lost Horizon.
Then there's the band members names and their Lost Horizon duties: Cosmic Antagonist: "Orchestrating of thunder and seismic harmonising." Ethereal Magnanimus: "Laments of the souls and primal victorious warrior cries." Preternatural Transmogrifyer: "Keeping of the Universe's pulse and taming of chaos." Transcendental Protagonist: "Poesy of spiritual enlightenment, the entire string romanticism, soul healing euphoria generators."
And for those confused by all this, each band member has an 'earthshape' which is apparently their real name, and a 'translation for mortals', i.e. "Keeping of the Universe's pulse and taming of chaos" means -drums- to us mortals.
So if you're anything like us, you're sold already, who cares what it sounds like?
Well happily enough, this is some of the most kick ass power metal we've heard in a while. Blazing fast Iron Maiden/In Flames/Blind Guardian style epic and over the top power metal. The difference here being the extreme catchiness of the songs, the complete silliness of the band, and some really cool and quite bizarre arrangements. So for those of you already into power metal and classic eighties metal, this is a must have, and for those of you who aren't sure and are looking to try something like this, I can't think of a better place to start than Lost Horizon. They're from Sweden, if it matters -- although I think they'd prefer we thought they came from some metallic universe beyond.
RealAudio clip: "Heart of Storm"
RealAudio clip: "Sworn In The Metal Wind"

LOST INSIDE Hearts Will Grow Heavy (Misanthropic Art Productions) cd 13.98

LOST SOUL Scream of the Mourning Star (Relapse) cd 14.98
Straight from the Relapse "Polish Assault" compilation to their debut full-length, these blasphemous death metallers from the burgeoning Polish metal scene (Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated, Yattering, etc.) are out to kill.

LOTUS CIRCLE Caves (Dusktone) cd 13.98
Caves is the latest sonic ritual from this mysterious Greek horde whose sounds is a blackened doomdrone, that seems to have more in common with the strangely hypnotic solo guitar psychedelia of aQ faves Blackwolfgoat that any of the more typical black/doom metal outfits we've reviewed in the past. No drummer, we can only assume LC is a one man band, and his M.O. is the sort of thing we love. A sort of post SUNNO))) sort of doomdronedirge, unfurling a churning slo-mo riff, and then looping it, over and over and over, a mesmerizingly cyclical core, around which various other sounds are arranged, blurred streaks of rumbling buzz, haunting chantlike vocals, clouds of FX drenched chordal whir, streaks of high end, buried melodies, bits of murk other sonic detritus, the result is indeed very ritualistic, record opener "ÉTo Witness Under The Stars" spends a good four minutes chugging away, before the riff drops out, leaving just a strange swirl of overlapping voices, very liturgical, wreathed in crackle and hiss, before a new riff takes over, this one more brittle, wrapped in feedback, and more distinctly metal, but still essentially a slow motion bit of doom-ed riffery, one that seems to grow more downtuned as the surrounding sounds grow more horrific and blackened.
And so it goes, "Dawn Of A Dead Sun" follows a similar pattern, but wraps it's droned out feedback soaked riff in banshee wails and blackened vokills, and as the track progresses, it seems to grow more psychedelic, more raga like, inspiring a sort of trance state, a gloriously droned out blackriff ritual that is utterly entrancing. "Secret Entities" is the most 'rock' of the bunch, sounding like it might explode into proper song form at any time, but instead the chords ring out into the ether, the melodies fading into blackness, while "From The Depths" wraps the core riff in a weirdly processed almost slappy synth sound, which at first sounds odd, but soon more effects join the fray, and it becomes a strangely heady hypnotic crawl, and finally "Plutonian Funeral", finishes things off with the creepiest and most minimal sprawl of the bunch, layering a sort of creepy carnivalesque synth, beneath an oozing layer of crumbling low end, peppered with weird reverbed twang, and wrapped in distant melodic shimmers, as well as the occasional hellish shriek, a dark, occultic coda for sure.
Gorgeous haunting heaviness, that just might appeal to fans of black psychedelia and abstract guitardrones more than metalheads...
MPEG Stream: "...To Witness Under The Stars"
MPEG Stream: "Dawn Of A Dead Sun"

LOTUS EATERS Wurmwulv (Taiga) 2lp 35.00
Originally released on cd in 2007 by Troubleman Unlimited, this sprawling experimental epic is finally available on vinyl, and in a seriously lavish, ultra deluxe edition... Here's what we had to say about Wurmwulv when we first reviewed the cd way back when...
As if these guys weren't busy enough with their 'day jobs', Stephen O'Malley (Khanate, SUNNO))), Burning Witch, KTL, Thorr's Hammer), James Plotkin (Atomsmasher, Phantomsmasher, Khanate, OLD, Flux, Romance) and Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom, House of Low Culture) still somehow managed to find time to get together and do something a little less... heavy, or sludgy, or crushing, or even drone-y for that matter.
Wurmwulv is the latest chunk of ambient drift, minimal clatter, and abstract soundscaping from the trio known as Lotus Eaters. Three looooong songs, 50 minutes of strange drifting sound.
The opening track is a slowed down pipe fight. A warped wander through a sea of chimes and bells, of resonant metal and shimmering metallic drones. Avarus, Anaksimandros, have got nothing on these guys. Ominous and dark, but strangely melodic. From delicate tinkling to dense metal on metal pound, single notes fluttering in space, to flurries of clang and clatter, all the while, way in the background, a deep swirling tidal low end shifts and shimmers.
The second track is brief, 5 minutes of high end drift, strange electronic interference, gristly rumbles and hissy whirs, while beneath it all, machines creak and groan, mysterious objects scrape and rattle until near the end, the track is suddenly overtaken by a lush wall of warm guitar whorl.
The final track, another lengthy exploration, is an effects laden trawl through a world of constantly shifting low end. Nearly static, layers of rumble and whir, gently and almost imperceptibly shuffling, while over the top, drift tiny alien sonic events and muted squiggles of FX, helicopter like whup-whup-whup's, and faux animal calls, clicks and thumps, all manner of mysterious sound. Eventually, a flurry of high end streaks takes the form of some sort of effervescent symphony, glistening in their own all high end universe, before the low end returns, bringing with it a muted folky drift, a lazy sun dappled slow burning outro...
The packaging of this new vinyl edition is indeed over the top, well worth the hefty pricetag, gorgeously printed, on heavy stock, pressed on heavy vinyl, the 4th side of which is gorgeously etched...
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 1"
MPEG Stream: "Untitled 2"

LOVE MONSTER s/t (Wrong Way) cd 13.98
Love Monster is what the mighty Monster Magnet were called before they became Monster Magnet. These seven songs were recorded in 1988 on a four track, and it sounds like it. The cock rock swagger of later Monster Magnet is woefully absent, and in its place a garage-y hard rock that sounds a bit like Iggy Pop fronting Kiss. Or something. Not a bad thing, just really rough and raw and for superfans only.

LOWRIDER Ode To Io (MeteorCity) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Kyussism. A religion? A 'zine? Both? Either way, someone from Kyussism claims this band Lowrider to be the new Kyuss, so I guess they know what they're talking about. If you're into that so-called "desert rock" sound, the fat bass, stoner groove, '70s worshipping thing, you must love the late and (to you) great Kyuss and probably will love these guys too. THEY certainly love Kyuss. File with all the other Sabbath-by-way-of-Kyuss psychedelic heavy rock bands, and put 'em at or near the top of the pile.

LUCE, ED Wuvable Oaf #2 - SPECIAL EDITION (Goat Blud Comics) comic book + 7" + picks 20.00
A little while back, we listed issue #2 of one of our favorite comics, starring the big, hairy, doll making, lovestruck punk rock behemoth better known as Wuvable Oaf! But now for a very limited time, we got a handful of copies of the super limited special edition version of Wuvable Oaf #2. And we're the only store that's got em. So what's so exciting about the special edition you ask? More on that in a second, first a bit about the Oaf...
We've been champions of Luce's crazy creation since the moment we first laid eyes on Oaf and his equally hirsute cadre of pals and lovers and hangers on. Not to mention the kitties! For those new to the Oaf, in a city, suspiciously like San Francisco, lives the Wuvable Oaf, who spends his days making cool little stuffed dollies, filling them with his shaved body hair, living in a house full of kitties, and pining after Eiffel, the diminutive lead singer of the band Ejaculoid, who are constantly battling their arch rival band, Sphincterine, and that's just scratching the surface. There's lots of unrequited love, nightmarish dream monsters, wild punk rock gigs, nightmare dates, aggro-massage, jilted evil ex-boyfriend chefs, blind dates, bands with names like Muff 'N' Top Grrrlz and Wasp Women, a broKENCYDE shirt pops up during a show, so do the bad guys from Superman 2, as does our very own Andee! It's definitely a wild ride, the art is amazing, super detailed, over the top, there's so much hair everywhere, on the big beefy dudes, on the kitties, it's no wonder why it takes Luce ages to finish each issue, but it's well worth the wait, funny, and fun, and sexy and silly, now we're dying for issue 3, especially after the back page teaser, a big hairy, horned, devil tailed man-beast with the legend "Who is Gote Blud?". Well?? WHO IS IT??????????????
So okay, the special edition, what's so great about it? Well howsabout a custom glow in the dark cover, each one signed and hand numbered by the artist? Or what about a set of custom Ejaculoid picks, affixed to a special printed insert? Okay, well if that ain't enough, the special edition comes with a bonus 7" SINGLE, one sided, featuring Ejaculoid's synth punk grind jam "Fearce" on one side (and just so you know, the musical Ejaculoid is made up of members of Limp Wrist, Los Crudos and Needles!), the flipside featuring an awesomely gory etching, that goes along with the super gory eviscerated super model record cover, and it includes a torn ticket stub with info on where you can download a digital version of "Fearce"! All in a plastic bag sealed shut with a kitty sticker (of course). Only 200 in existence, and we're the only store, comic, record or otherwise that has 'em!

LUCIFER Big Gun (Dynamic) cd 16.98
We've been waiting to hear THIS for YEARS. An extremely rare and mysterious circa '71 underground UK psych LP of which we knew little and had been able to find out less. But it seemingly promised great things, as we shall explain in just a sec. Now that, thanks to the Dynamic label who have reissued this at long last, we've -finally- heard the thing, we can say that while it's not exactly what we hoped it would be, it turned out to be something quite, um, remarkable nonetheless. And after all, what we'd hoped for might have been a (literal) pipe dream anyway... Lucifer really couldn't be all it was cracked up to be, could it?? I mean, the band's very name, the all-black Smell The Glove style cover, the hairy/scary band photos, the song titles -- "Banshee", "Prick", "Winter", "What Was That Thing I Saw You With Last Night" -- all portend something impossibly dark and heavy, leaving us hoping that Lucifer would sound like some sort of unknown, underground, creepy cousins to Black Sabbath! And the album's original, rather confusional liner notes also hint in that direction, spouting wonderful nonsense about how the band has "this cave in Arizona" where they like to record their "evil music"! We're also informed that they did a single called "Fuck You" that was never released, having been confiscated by the police!! Sounds pretty darn metal, right? Add to that the fact that the first time we ever heard of Lucifer, years ago, was in an old interview with none other than Ozzy Osbourne, wherein he mentioned this album as being something he and his Black Sabbath mates dug back in the day! That's a lot of expectation to build up. And the truth of course is that Lucifer sound NOTHING like Black Sabbath, or metal in general. They're not even particularly heavy in the guitar dep't -- heck, quite a lot of this is acoustic. Yet they ARE totally weird and fucked up and cool and a bit ridiculous, and definitely "heavy" in the "heavy, maaaan" stoner hippy sense of the word. We'd compare 'em to contemporaries in the British busking free fest hippy druggy psych scene like the Edgar Broughton Band and (lighter) Hawkwind, or (maybe) to NYC's Godz. And at their heaviest, when guitars are plugged in and all, some of this is murky and dismal enough to sound like something by AQ obscure Krautrock faves German Oak. Some other primitive, blues-damaged Krautrock we like also comes to mind, like Kalacakra, Siloah and Zippo Zetterlink.
The unlucky thirteen tracks here consist in the main of meanderingly simple and repetitive hippy guitar riffing, gruff freaky vocals, subversively anti-establishment lyrics ("working is just a bore, smoking's against the law, I'm just a natural man"), and junky rhythms, all contributing to a definitely underground, overwhelmingly wastoid vibe. It makes the Pink Fairies sound almost straight. Definitely dated, yeah, but a charming artifact of a long-gone, LSD-lifestyle...
NB just in case, be aware there are other Lucifers out there, including one from 'round the same era but from NY instead, more of a garage band that one.
MPEG Stream: "Banshee"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Care"

LUCIFER Big Gun (Dynamic) lp 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 been waiting to hear THIS for YEARS. An extremely rare and mysterious circa '71 underground UK psych LP of which we knew little and had been able to find out less. But it seemingly promised great things, as we shall explain in just a sec. Now that, thanks to the Dynamic label who have reissued this at long last, we've -finally- heard the thing, we can say that while it's not exactly what we hoped it would be, it turned out to be something quite, um, remarkable nonetheless. And after all, what we'd hoped for might have been a (literal) pipe dream anyway... Lucifer really couldn't be all it was cracked up to be, could it?? I mean, the band's very name, the all-black Smell The Glove style cover, the hairy/scary band photos, the song titles -- "Banshee", "Prick", "Winter", "What Was That Thing I Saw You With Last Night" -- all portend something impossibly dark and heavy, leaving us hoping that Lucifer would sound like some sort of unknown, underground, creepy cousins to Black Sabbath! And the album's original, rather confusional liner notes also hint in that direction, spouting wonderful nonsense about how the band has "this cave in Arizona" where they like to record their "evil music"! We're also informed that they did a single called "Fuck You" that was never released, having been confiscated by the police!! Sounds pretty darn metal, right? Add to that the fact that the first time we ever heard of Lucifer, years ago, was in an old interview with none other than Ozzy Osbourne, wherein he mentioned this album as being something he and his Black Sabbath mates dug back in the day! That's a lot of expectation to build up. And the truth of course is that Lucifer sound NOTHING like Black Sabbath, or metal in general. They're not even particularly heavy in the guitar dep't -- heck, quite a lot of this is acoustic. Yet they ARE totally weird and fucked up and cool and a bit ridiculous, and definitely "heavy" in the "heavy, maaaan" stoner hippy sense of the word. We'd compare 'em to contemporaries in the British busking free fest hippy druggy psych scene like the Edgar Broughton Band and (lighter) Hawkwind, or (maybe) to NYC's Godz. And at their heaviest, when guitars are plugged in and all, some of this is murky and dismal enough to sound like something by AQ obscure Krautrock faves German Oak. Some other primitive, blues-damaged Krautrock we like also comes to mind, like Kalacakra, Siloah and Zippo Zetterlink.
The unlucky thirteen tracks here consist in the main of meanderingly simple and repetitive hippy guitar riffing, gruff freaky vocals, subversively anti-establishment lyrics ("working is just a bore, smoking's against the law, I'm just a natural man"), and junky rhythms, all contributing to a definitely underground, overwhelmingly wastoid vibe. It makes the Pink Fairies sound almost straight. Definitely dated, yeah, but a charming artifact of a long-gone, LSD-lifestyle...
NB just in case, be aware there are other Lucifers out there, including one from 'round the same era but from NY instead, more of a garage band that one.
MPEG Stream: "Banshee"
MPEG Stream: "Don't Care"

LUCIFER WAS In Anadi's Bower (Record Heaven) cd 18.98
This mysterious Swedish band sounds kind of like a cross between Jethro Tull (but with not just one, but two duelling flutes!) and Black Sabbath (due to the heavy riffs and Gibson Les Paul guitar work)É Although they're a current band, they began in the early '70s, but just hadn't record an album until recently!! (1998's "Underground And Beyond", on which the original band lineup used vintage equipment to record vintage written-in-'72 tunes... making for one of Allan's favorite records of that year, 'cause they really don't make 'em like that anymore!) Now, this, their second album, expands upon their Tull / Sabbath sound, becoming a little more prog rock, with the addition of the ultimate prog rock instrument, the mellotron (and not one, but two, of course!) and a new, more capable, vocalist. This goes straight into Allan's year 2000 top ten. There's one song that's a little too, uh, poppy that I tend to skip over, but the rest is amazing '70s style psych/metal/prog nirvana. Flutes! Riffs! Genius!

LUCIFER'S FRIEND s/t (Repertoire) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is one of those bands where we'd heard the name (cool name, eh?) but nobody really ever said, man, you gotta check 'em out! Then, when we finally hear Lucifer's Friend, we wondered, why didn't someone turn us on to this band sooner??! They're an early '70s German hard rock band with an English vocalist, that on this record (circa 1970) comes on like a cross between Led Zep and Uriah Heep. All you stoner rockers, this is the real deal. Classic stuff! (And if you're one of those, like us, who loved that The Want album recently released on Southern Lord, you'll love LF for sure.) Lucifer's Friend's status as a bonafide "krautrock" outfit is sorta peripheral by today's Can/Faust/Cluster/Kraftwerk standards, kinda like the Scorpions, although krautrock fans might note that this was recorded by Conny Plank. Includes 5 bonus tracks from various singles of the period.
RealAudio clip: "Keep Goin'"

LUCIFER'S FRIEND s/t (Repertoire) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Debut album (circa '70) of this krautrock band (one that started in a kinda hardrock vein, moved into more progressive realms, and thence to heavy metal, we're told)... This disc (with 5 bonus tracks from their early singles) is a great piece of proto-metal very similar to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and (especially) Uriah Heep! A little psychedelic weirdness, lots of riffing and great vocals (courtesy British singer John Lawton, who later did join Uriah Heep). Current "stoner rock" fans (who dig Queens of the Stone Age, Monster Magnet, Nebula, etc.) should definitely delve into the work of past masters of the form, like Lucifer's Friend (and Captain Beyond, and Blues Creation, and Dust, etc. etc.). Another great band that we easily could have missed out on 'cause for some reason nobody grabbed us and said, check these guys out! So, that's our job now. Check 'em out.

LUCIFER'S FRIEND s/t (Revisited) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the vaults of the legendary krautrock label Brain comes another cool digipacked reissue on Revisited. We've been fans of this particular album for a long time, previously stocking a Repertoire reissue when we could get it. In fact, looking into our archives, we see that we reviewed it on two separate occasions, giving it quite similar but different reviews. Well, here's a third, based on those.
This self-titled 1970 debut album is one of the two early Lucifer's Friend albums we recommend, the other being its 1972 sequel, Where The Groupies Killed The Blues, which perhaps will be reissued again as well. After that, the records we've heard aren't as good. But THIS, this is a great piece of '70s proto-metal very much akin to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Budgie, and (especially) Uriah Heep! Some psychedelic weirdness, lots of heavy riffing (on guitars and organ) and total wailin' rock god vocals (courtesy of British singer John Lawton, who later DID join the Heep). As krautrock goes, they're more like early Scorpions than the more out there stuff you might be thinking of (Faust, Can, Kraftwerk, Cluster...) but this -was- recorded by Conny Plank.
The first track, the triumphal rocker "Ride The Sky" (recently covered by doomsters Trouble on their abortive comeback Simple Mind Condition) begins with a trumpeting French horn motif that will definitely make you think of Led Zep, sounding uncannily like the "ah ahhhhhh ahh" intro to "The Immigrant Song", though this came first. There's a cool live video of this track on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5DpOdf-_yM&feature=related.
If you dig that, you'll dig this album... !!! For fans of the above, as well as the likes of Leaf Hound, Weed, Toad, other more obscure proto-metal gems...
(FYI, Revisited has included 2 bonus tracks this time 'round.)
MPEG Stream: "Ride The Sky"
MPEG Stream: "Keep Goin'"

LUCIFER'S FRIEND Where The Groupies Killed The Blues (Repertoire) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Their second album from '72, as great as the self-titled first one. This one is a bit weirder, more proggy, now more like Queen than Zeppelin. The complex arrangements and overall heaviness again make us wonder: why isn't this band a lot more famous? An instant favorite from the moment we heard it. I guess it is nice to know that there's always the undiscovered gem out there awaiting. Again, recorded by Conny Plank.
RealAudio clip: "Prince of Darkness"

LUCIFUGUM "...back to chopped down Roots" (Cybertzara) cd 14.98

LUDICRA Another Great Love Song (Alternative Tentacles) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another Great Love Song? Yes that's the unlikely title of this, the second album from this supremely confident and capable and sometimes confounding Bay Area black metal band. Ludicra, whose very name seems a veiled, half-ironic challenge to black metal orthodoxy, are one of several bands making a black metal name for the San Francisco scene, alongside Leviathan and Weakling (R.I.P.) and Crebain, etc. Ludicra are indeed a band (more than just one damned soul) and include members of Hammers Of Misfortune and Impaled among others. And they are just a bit different from most black metal acts, even if sonically you'd swear they were among the Norwegian elite. For one thing, their line up is 2/5ths female (including one of the most fearsome vocalists), for another, this new album sure doesn't look like your typical black metal record, and...they're now on Alternative Tentacles! Yup, Jello probably heard the tinges of Neurosis in their music we guess...indeed it's there (the two bands share some guest musicians in fact, members of Amber Asylum perform strings with Ludicra as they have on past Neurosis releases). But Ludicra is also a very very black metal entity. With keyboards and raging guitars and blasting drums and screams of triumph and despair, it's got a density of sound put to tape that incorporates both the heaviest violence and the prettiest melancholy...in fact a lot of this is really quite pretty, to our ears, when they get into a midtempo plod and let the little melodies up for air... Black metal fans will find this band bows to no one, even as it reminds us of Enslaved, old Emperor, Opeth, old Solefald, and others of their ilk. Ludicra, however, are urban not ancient, emotional not evil...musically they do conjure the wolves and longboats of Nordic black metal even though any such references (there IS a song called "1000 Wolves") are allegorical in nature. We thought their debut Hollow Psalms was great, and this is an equally fantastic follow-up.
MPEG Stream: "In The Green Maze"
MPEG Stream: "Aging Ghost"

LUDICRA Another Great Love Song (Alternative Tentacles) lp 10.98
Another Great Love Song? Yes that's the unlikely title of this, the second album from this supremely confident and capable and sometimes confounding Bay Area black metal band. Ludicra, whose very name seems a veiled, half-ironic challenge to black metal orthodoxy, are one of several bands making a black metal name for the San Francisco scene, alongside Leviathan and Weakling (R.I.P.) and Crebain, etc. Ludicra are indeed a band (more than just one damned soul) and include members of Hammers Of Misfortune and Impaled among others. And they are just a bit different from most black metal acts, even if sonically you'd swear they were among the Norwegian elite. For one thing, their line up is 2/5ths female (including one of the most fearsome vocalists), for another, this new album sure doesn't look like your typical black metal record, and...they're now on Alternative Tentacles! Yup, Jello probably heard the tinges of Neurosis in their music we guess...indeed it's there (the two bands share some guest musicians in fact, members of Amber Asylum perform strings with Ludicra as they have on past Neurosis releases). But Ludicra is also a very very black metal entity. With keyboards and raging guitars and blasting drums and screams of triumph and despair, it's got a density of sound put to tape that incorporates both the heaviest violence and the prettiest melancholy...in fact a lot of this is really quite pretty, to our ears, when they get into a midtempo plod and let the little melodies up for air... Black metal fans will find this band bows to no one, even as it reminds us of Enslaved, old Emperor, Opeth, old Solefald, and others of their ilk. Ludicra, however, are urban not ancient, emotional not evil...musically they do conjure the wolves and longboats of Nordic black metal even though any such references (there IS a song called "1000 Wolves") are allegorical in nature. We thought their debut Hollow Psalms was great, and this is an equally fantastic follow-up.
MPEG Stream: "In The Green Maze"
MPEG Stream: "Aging Ghost"

LUDICRA Fex Urbis Lex Orbis (Alternative Tentacles) cd 12.98
The evil, epic sounds of San Francisco's Ludicra ooze forth once again, their third album demonstrating that they're still among the most highly emotive and intelligent masters of brutality in the business, no less despairingly obsessed with urban decay and man's inhumanity to man than on previous efforts Hollow Psalms and Another Great Love Song. Interestingly (perhaps) this album is their second for Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label, hardly a bastion of nihilistic black metal art -- indeed, they haven't signed any MORE black metal bands since Ludicra, but we'd imagine that's 'cause they rightly figure that they already have one of the best! And also one of the most unique -- how many black metal bands feature not one but two female lead vocalists (one of 'em on guitar as well), alternating demonic rasps and moaning clean singing? Not exactly typical. Something that has also been said of their sister band, the amazing Hammers Of Misfortune (both share the talents of guitarist John Cobbett). And Ludicra are in some ways a crustier, filthier, bleak black metallized version of Hammers, with similar progressive urges and social concerns...and displays of neo-classical, heavy metal guitar! Which is where the most sophisticated "beauty" is to be found amidst the midtempo grimy grim grind of these five tracks (none of 'em short -- in fact the album terminates with the twelve minute "Collapse", gripping guttural symphonic sickness with cello courtesy of one of the members of Amber Asylum).
MPEG Stream: "Dead City"
MPEG Stream: "In Fever"

LUDICRA Fex Urbis Lex Urbis (Alternative Tentacles) lp 9.98
The evil, epic sounds of San Francisco's Ludicra ooze forth once again, their third album demonstrating that they're still among the most highly emotive and intelligent masters of brutality in the business, no less despairingly obsessed with urban decay and man's inhumanity to man than on previous efforts Hollow Psalms and Another Great Love Song. Interestingly (perhaps) this album is their second for Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label, hardly a bastion of nihilistic black metal art -- indeed, they haven't signed any MORE black metal bands since Ludicra, but we'd imagine that's 'cause they rightly figure that they already have one of the best! And also one of the most unique -- how many black metal bands feature not one but two female lead vocalists (one of 'em on guitar as well), alternating demonic rasps and moaning clean singing? Not exactly typical. Something that has also been said of their sister band, the amazing Hammers Of Misfortune (both share the talents of guitarist John Cobbett). And Ludicra are in some ways a crustier, filthier, bleak black metallized version of Hammers, with similar progressive urges and social concerns...and displays of neo-classical, heavy metal guitar! Which is where the most sophisticated "beauty" is to be found amidst the midtempo grimy grim grind of these five tracks (none of 'em short -- in fact the album terminates with the twelve minute "Collapse", gripping guttural symphonic sickness with cello courtesy of one of the members of Amber Asylum).
MPEG Stream: "Dead City"
MPEG Stream: "In Fever"

LUDICRA Hollow Psalms (Life Is Abuse) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally, the debut record from this fearsome local black metal fivesome sees the light of day. Ludicra is yet another project from the fertile metal mind of John Cobbett (Hammers Of Misfortune, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Iron Cemetary, etc.), this time with the help of local rockers/scene fixtures Aesop (Hickey, Dr. Dre Del, etc.), Christy Cather (Missile Command), Ross Sewage (Impaled), and Laurie Sue Shanaman (who works at the veterinarian where Andee's girlfriend and Erik his housemate take their cats!).
Ludicra's debut reveals them to be a highly advanced black metal creation. They're complex, moody, darkly psychedelic, and 'post-rocky' like AQ-faves Enslaved -- a very good thing. The droning savage trance rock of another AQ black metal fave (and fellow San Franciscans) Weakling is also evident. Maybe it's Aesop's punk-derived drumming, or the song-writing dynamics, but while this is very metal indeed it also betrays an awareness of other strands of underground rock. And of course it's heavy, textured, and exceedingly well-crafted, as you would expect from the pen/plectrum of Sir Lord John Cobbett.
Ludicra has two singers: Christy (who also plays guitar) and Laurie Sue, and while both vocalists are women, you won't hear any of the sweet singing that Hammers of Misfortune's female vocalist does. No, it's all very extreme -- except for some wordless background choruses and an interlude or two of gentle chanting, they mostly deliver scary throat-shredding screams that upend gender stereotypes. But, like Hammers, having more than one vocalist allows for interesting variety and dynamics. Lots of acoustic interludes and dark and rhythmic breakdowns that hint at the band members' diverse indie rock/post punk/punk rock backgrounds. That, and Ludicra's ability to yet generate at the same time such a convincing black metal atmosphere, makes for a very satisfying and compelling listen.
The care Ludicra took with their music also extends to the packaging. "Hollow Psalms" comes in a standard digipack, but upside-down/reverse so that it opens more like a book (with the cd tray on the inside front cover, and the booklet on the right side). The art on the cd even says "Ex Libris" with a space for your name, in keeping with the storybook theme. The handlettered booklet includes lyrics and is illustrated by bassist Ross. We're very impressed, all around.
RealAudio clip: "Tomorrow Held In Scorn"
RealAudio clip: "Hollow Promise"
RealAudio clip: "The Final Lamentation"

LUDICRA Hollow Psalms (Life Is Abuse) 2lp 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
About time! After eight years, finally the debut record from this fearsome local black metal fivesome sees the light of day ON VINYL. The cd is currently out of print too, making this all the more essential. Like the cd version did, the lp comes in a rather deluxe package. Mastered at 45 rpm for extra fidelity, it's two slabs of clear vinyl packaged in a gatefold, handbound booklet with art and handlettered lyrics, inside a thick silkscreened cover, limited to 500 copies! As impressive as the original cd's "storybook" packaging, definitely the way this deserves to be vinyl-ized, in style.
Here's what we said back when about the cd release, though by now you probably know all about this band, considering all the accolades they've garnered here and elsewhere, with their latest opus The Tenant, on Profound Lore, being highlighted here not long ago...
Ludicra is yet another project from the fertile metal mind of John Cobbett (Hammers Of Misfortune, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Iron Cemetary, etc.), this time with the help of local rockers/scene fixtures Aesop (Hickey, Dr. Dre Del, etc.), Christy Cather (Missile Command), Ross Sewage (Impaled), and Laurie Sue Shanaman (who works at the veterinarian where Andee's girlfriend and Erik his housemate take their cats!).
Ludicra's debut reveals them to be a highly advanced black metal creation. They're complex, moody, darkly psychedelic, and 'post-rocky' like AQ-faves Enslaved - a very good thing. The droning savage trance rock of another AQ black metal fave (and fellow San Franciscans) Weakling is also evident. Maybe it's Aesop's punk-derived drumming, or the song-writing dynamics, but while this is very metal indeed it also betrays an awareness of other strands of underground rock. And of course it's heavy, textured, and exceedingly well-crafted, as you would expect from the pen/plectrum of Sir Lord John Cobbett.
Ludicra has two singers: Christy (who also plays guitar) and Laurie Sue, and while both vocalists are women, you won't hear any of the sweet singing that Hammers of Misfortune's female vocalist does. No, it's all very extreme - except for some wordless background choruses and an interlude or two of gentle chanting, they mostly deliver scary throat-shredding screams that upend gender stereotypes. But, like Hammers, having more than one vocalist allows for interesting variety and dynamics. Lots of acoustic interludes and dark and rhythmic breakdowns that hint at the band members' diverse indie rock/post punk/punk rock backgrounds. That, and Ludicra's ability to yet generate at the same time such a convincing black metal atmosphere, makes for a very satisfying and compelling listen.

LUDICRA s/t (Life Is Abuse) cd ep 8.98
Although Life Is Abuse is the name of the label, they want to make life easier on those of us who love the inner city black metal art of San Francisco's Ludicra by putting out this brand new EP, featuring three unreleased songs from the Billy Anderson-recorded Another Great Love Song sessions, to hold us over until the next full-length Ludicra album coming out on Alternative Tentacles in the fall. Yay! These three tracks are prime Ludicra insanity, majestic and dark and fucked up and brilliantly composed as only a band featuring members of Hammers Of Misfortune and Impaled (among others) could do it.
Actually, you get more than just those three new tracks here: the cd comes with Quicktime footage of Ludicra performing live & brutal on October 7th, 2005 (five tracks) plus a Ludicra photo slideshow!
MPEG Stream: "Wooden Wheels"

LUDICRA s/t (Life Is Abuse) 12" 9.98
And now this ep is available on on vinyl too...what we said when the cd version came out a little while back:
Although Life Is Abuse is the name of the label, they want to make life easier on those of us who love the inner city black metal art of San Francisco's Ludicra by putting out this brand new EP, featuring three unreleased songs from the Billy Anderson-recorded Another Great Love Song sessions, to hold us over until the next full-length Ludicra album coming out on Alternative Tentacles in the fall. Yay! These three tracks are prime Ludicra insanity, majestic and dark and fucked up and brilliantly composed as only a band featuring members of Hammers Of Misfortune and Impaled (among others) could do it.
MPEG Stream: "Wooden Wheels"

LUDICRA The Tenant (Profound Lore) cd 13.98
Local black metal favorites Ludicra return with The Tenant, their first for the great Profound Lore label, and as always, the band delivers. Ludicra masterfully mixes majestic black metal with brooding post-rock for a formula that pretty much touches on everything we love about metal in 2010, including some of the most vile and amazing female vocals we have ever heard, not that you'd necessarily think it was a woman screaming when you first hear this. Another strength is Ludicra's awesome male/female vocal harmonies which certainly add an element of beauty often missing in this kind of music. The amazing arrangements are certainly the work of a group dedicated to forging their own blackened path. It's clear that this is a band of lifers, all of them veterans of the fertile Bay Area metal scene, having served time with the likes of Hammers Of Misfortune, Agalloch, Slough Feg, Impaled, and quite a few others.
"Stagnant Pond" opens the album with some cool acoustic flourishes before the shrieking female vocals come in, sounding a bit like a banshee clawing its way from the depths of hell, as the song builds and builds in intensity. "A Larger Silence" is a super melodic piece of baroque sounding metal with some great harmonies, while "Undercaste" rocks at a nice midtempo groove before going into a surprising outro that seems to owe just as much to British folk music as it does to metal. Throughout it all, the lengthy songs flow into one another perfectly, making for one of the most well thought out metal albums we've heard in quite some time. It's rare that a band is able to seamlessly merge a wide array of influences into something they can call their own, but Ludicra appear to be up to the task and we couldn't be more thrilled. Highly recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Stagnant Pond"
MPEG Stream: "In Stable"
MPEG Stream: "Truth Won't Set You Free"

LUGUBRE Chaoscult (Hymns Of Destruction) (Heidens Hart) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

LUGUBRUM Albino De Congo (Old Grey Hair) cd 13.98
Uh, what?? If you would have told us that our favorite Belgian carrots n' beer obsessed black metal weirdoes Lugubrum (who are also one of our favorite black metal bands, period!) would title their new album Albino de Congo and incorporate African thumb-piano music a la AQ faves Konono No.1, we'd have thought you were pulling our legs, trying to up the ante on our made-up album April Fool's jokes from a few years back.
But of course, it's no longer April, and the band being Lugubrum, we have to believe it. Heck, we're HEARING it. The new Lugubrum is here, and it does indeed take their raw black metal attack into "Extreme Music from Africa" territory, with song titles like "Lugwampinga", "Bwikalubalume" and "Kurlerha Omugongo". There's a picture of a thumb piano in the cd booklet, and they claim this album was in fact recorded in the Congo. Is it a joke? With these guys, it always is AND it always isn't, which is why we love 'em so much... also 'cause their music is invariably awesome. (And with Belgium's colonial history in the Congo, we can perhaps assume there's specific cultural/political dimensions to Lugubrum's interest in that part of the world.)
We see no reason why Conrad's Heart of Darkness can't be just as useful a black metal inspiration as Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings. So in exploring their own hearts of darkness, the metallic component here is FIERCE. But they've given it a Congolese context. Thus, for instance, they'll be tearing through the vicious riffage of "Kabondobondo, Muborobondo" and then some hand-drumming will rise to the surface. Or the sounds of the jungle at night make an appearance in the midst of "Kurlerha Omugongo". A lot of the time it seems they'll save the polyrhythmic hand drums and tinkling thumb pianos and shamanistic chanting and other ethnic instrumental elements for the beginnings and ends of songs, though maybe they're there the whole time but just can't be heard above the din of buzzing black metal guitars and blasting drum battery and Frosty death-grunts.
And, remember that Lugubrum can be (and always has been) plenty odd without the addition of this African influence. So there's some very strange beets, we mean beats, and lovely jazzy or post-rocky interludes (like the dreamy "Mushole"), and other weirdness to be heard here unrelated to the Congo concept. When this is playing, at times you could easily forget that you had a "black metal" record on, and think you were listening to, say, the krauty rhythms of Circle instead. Lugubrum have a knack for mixing all sorts of strange stuff into a cohesive whole, it all flows somehow without any jarring juxtapositions actually spoiling your, uh, suspension of disbelief.
While we don't really believe that this was recorded in the Congo, we'd like to think it was true, and can't prove otherwise. What we will assert is that this is another excellent, eccentric Lugubrum album, and quite recommended!
Oh, and another note: this is one time we're happy we DIDN'T get the limited edition, as supposedly the first 100 copies of this were "cursed and pissed on by pygmy medicine men". Believe it, or don't, but don't ask us for one of those!
MPEG Stream: "Kadurha"
MPEG Stream: "Lugwampinga"
MPEG Stream: "Isirhe"
MPEG Stream: "Kurlerha Omugongo"

LUGUBRUM Bruyne Troon (Skramasax) cd 13.98
BACK IN STOCK!
A classic release of "Boersk Blek Metle" from Belgium's carrot-brandishing metal mavericks Lugubrum, one of our favorite black metal (blek metal? brown metal?) bands ever! We just listed their new one, De Ware Hond, and when re-ordering more of those direct from the band's own Old Grey Hair label, we decided to get some of Bryune Troon too 'cause we'd somehow never had this particular disc in stock before. It's a 2001 release, recorded 'round about the same time as their now out of print Al Ghemist album, which was the one that started our sick fascination with this bizarre band in the first place, and if you like Lugubrum as much as we do, you're gonna want it.
Unlike some of their more recent output, Bryune Troon strikes a balance of metal vs. not-metal weighted more towards the metal side of things. You won't hear much saxophone, for instance (though we think maybe we hear it on the track "Low Dog", is that what's credited as "Lovendegm chainsaw vomitor"??), but there certainly is plenty o' weirdness creeping in around the edges of everything here, Lugubrum's blasting, wretching black metal already twisting away from the Darkthrone/Emperor/Mayhem template into beyond-Ved-Buens-Ende madness. "Recorded...under handicapped and alcoholic conditions", this incorporates loping, lumbering low-end dirge, atmospheric drone, weird watery field recordings, banjo riffage, scatological subject matter, Viking stoner psych ("Holebeard Blues") and gypsy folk... plus gobs of fuzz and buzz in the best black metal tradition. All this and more has swirled down into the clogged-pipe-plumbing of Bryune Troon, leaking brown liquids all over "side midget" and "side dung".
As we've said before, Lugubrum MIGHT be joking around. They almost have to be. Yet when you listen, it's not silly. It's serious, even scary. Some of the songs here are sung in English and the lyrics, about "moldy cloaks" and "flab" and "red hot sauce" that we can understand...we can't understand. Any jokes they're making are the obverse of funny ha ha in -our- universe, which surely ain't where these folks dwell.
MPEG Stream: "Low Dog"
MPEG Stream: "Pump Room Brawl"

LUGUBRUM De Totem (Blood Fire Death) cd 13.98
LUGUBRUM. The name belongs in all-caps cuz Allan and Andee have concluded that Lugubrum are the greatest black metal band EVER. Maybe. After becoming utterly enamoured of their split with their own side project Finsternis (reviewed on list #144), the two of us ordered some of Lugubrum's self-released cds direct from Belgium, for our own collections. Such sudden, massive Lugubrum exposure proved one thing: the totality of their music, their art, their concepts -- are all beyond normal mortal understanding. We must bow down to the totally fucked Lugubrum aesthetic. Yes, they are obsessed with drinking beer and eating carrots. (Yes, we just said eating carrots -- there's a spiked carrot in their logo, their motto is "Beer Us Or Die!!!"). Yes, they make music from the bowels of Hell. Yes, they have some seemingly silly songtitles ("Midgets of Evil"? "Beard Of Disease"?) -- but with totally grim and twisted lyrics, however. Being so paradoxically silly AND serious is the sort of weirdness we truly admire.
Eventually we'll try to stock their import cds, but we're lucky that now their hard-to-find-to-say-the-least 1999 masterpiece, "De Totem" has been reissued in the USA, remastered with 2 bonus tracks! This disc demonstrates that Lugubrum excel at slow-paced trudge-trawls through the doomy mire, changing up with trancey speed blasts. The sound -- their guitars, their vocals -- is so dirty nasty filthy. Makes Anaal Nathrakh sound like freshly scrubbed choirboys. The fuckin' fuzz...fuck. Such doomed, distorted, diseased atmosphere. Frosty string bends. Noisy feedback. Anguished howls. In a word: Beautiful.
And, if that wasn't enough, with the photo sessions for the De Totem booklet, Lugubrum have invented a whole new, hitherto untried look: hillbilly black metal!!! No corpse paint, rather corncob pipes, hoedown hats, shotguns, and beards. A pet hound dog, even. And yes, they actually take it so far as to play banjo on the album! Although, what's weirder is that one of the bonus tracks seems to incorporate a Jamaican dub influence... As we said, now our favorite black metal band in the world. LUGUBRUM.
RealAudio clip: "Udder Of Death"
RealAudio clip: "De Totem "
RealAudio clip: "Reet Reel"

LUGUBRUM De Vette Cuecken (Blood Fire Death) cd 13.98
Back in stock! A black metal highlight from a few lists back... Black metal's all right if you like saxophones. Huh? The Belgian beer-n-carrots black metallers Lugubrum, one of AQ's absolute favorite bands in the genre, are back with another diseased and disturbing album. And yes, while their general sonic mayhem is constructed (destructed?) from the usual distorted buzzing guitars, blasting drums, and vile vocalizations, there's some jazz saxophone blowin' through here too! And perhaps that's a tuba on the next song. I think maybe Lugubrum broke into the band room at their old high school... Yet for all the seemingly tongue-in-cheek silliness on display (like their avowed love of carrots, and use of banjo and alto sax) they somehow still manage to be one of the grimmest, truest, nastiest outfits out there. Really, even the saxophone on here is SCARY. And weird, they're so very weird. I don't think ordinary folks like us are really even equipped to understand music that's so primitive yet so advanced. It seems Lugubrum inhabit their own twisted, mythic world. I mean, what to make of the cover art even? There's something of the Brothers Grimm about Lugubrum. Freakish, childish yet so very dark and psychologically resonant, reaching back to ancient days and ways. Brilliant, doomy fucked up black metal that in it's own way is as avant-garde as Ved Buens Ende and as heavy and brutal as Anaal Nathrakh.
MPEG Stream: "Attractive To The Flies"
MPEG Stream: "De Vette Cuecken"

LUGUBRUM De Ware Hond (Old Grey Hair) cd 13.98
Maybe it's the name, but something about "Lugubrum" makes us think of a steaming witch's cauldron. A sinister sonic stew as it were. Nominally a black metal band, these mega AQ faves definitely blend in a lot of other things into their sound. Of course there's big orange carrots floating around in there (kinda like when cannibals are trying to entice Bugs Bunny into a stew-pot) 'cause we know that these Belgian weirdos just love carrots. But in terms of musical ingredients, the Lugubrum recipe calls for everything from troo grim black metal to avantgarde jazz, from dronological doom to hillbilly heehawin'. They're utterly mad master chefs, though, so when mixed properly and brought to a boil, Lugubrum's bubbling brown stew tastes like nothing else and is thick and heavy enough to eat with a forklift. Ok, enough with the culinary/cauldron metaphor, let's give you some specifics about De Ware Hond, Lugubrum's latest (9th) album. Following up last year's Live In Amsterdam, they bring four (long) new tracks of their "musick" on this one, all of it recorded live in the studio (no overdubs). That in part explains its organic, tranced-out vibe, these songs structured, we're assuming, with plenty of room for improvisation -- particularly sounding like it on the second half of the record, when the usual guitars and drums and organ are joined by "Funhouse" style saxophone and mellow, mesmeric tablas, for even more improv-jazz, out-there-fucked-up-Eastern-psych appeal. Not at all your usual black metal! Apparently "brown metal" as Lugubrum puts it. Loping and lurching and and lurking and blurting and rasping and wretching and roiling, this could be Abruptum jamming with Oxbow, Today Is The Day teamed up with Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, Neurosis playing Pharoah Sanders, or Pan-Thy-Monium vs. Dead Raven Choir... yeah it's that weird and hard to describe. But definitely dark and, dare we say it, druggily dreamy?
This is probably their least "metal" album yet, however just as Lugubrum as ever. And we're absolutely sure they were still the most metal band to appear at the recently concluded 2007 (K-RAA-K)3 Festival in Belgium, alongside such artists as Daniel Higgs, Giuseppe Ielasi, Raccoo-oo-oon, Jozef Van Wissem, Major Stars, Sun City Girls, Phil Minton, Warmer Milks, and others! OK, Witchcraft played too, they're also sorta metal. (And we just heard that the Sun City Girls were at the last minute unable to play the festival, they had to cancel for some reason. Too bad, they definitely would have liked Lugubrum we think...a band maybe even weirder than they are...)
MPEG Stream: "Movement I - Opwaartse Hond"
MPEG Stream: "Movement I - Neerwaartse Hond"

LUGUBRUM Heilige Dwazen (Old Grey Hair / Blood Fire Death) cd 13.98
So fucked. Of course it is. It's freakin' LUGUBRUM. Allan and Andee's favorite black metal band ever, pretty much, almost. Well, at least when we're in the mood for REALLY WEIRD black metal from a bunch of Belgians who dress like farmers and eat carrots with their beloved beer. Weirdos these guys are for sure, but unlike some of the more "avant-garde" black metal acts such as Arcturus, Sigh, and Ulver (amazing as those acts are/have been) there's nothing so overtly, obviously calculated to be weird for weirdness sake from these guys. Lugubrum's insanity is more organic, but not inadvertent either like the maybe idiot savant status of Rethaf Ruo or Striborg. No, these geniuses strike a balance, and do utterly their own thing, norms and abnorms be damned. On this latest album (their sixth full-length cd), saxophones and clanking chains and droning loops of organ grinder music aren't merely eccentric elements added to a formula black metal base, but are fully integrated into the band's unique musical vision. Is it even black metal? What does that mean? What does it matter?
Their seemingly scatological, "brown metal" lyrics are cryptic, beyond easy comprehension, and that might be just as well. "The Kiss On The Anus"? "At The Base Of Their Tail"? "We Slying Sucked Stolen Bread"? Don't ask. Submit instead to the music, rumbling along, vocals growling howling mad, Funhouse saxophone blowing crazily over and under the scuzzy, sloppy, necro riffery. Somehow they're THIS weird and outside of genre boundaries (employing banjos along with blastbeats) yet are accepted as being among the grimmest of the grim by the true, cult, elite, black metal diehards. They've got 'em scared. Even though they sound like Abruptum playing jazz, or Celtic Frost jamming with Residual Echoes, or Brainbombs covering Venom... They walk the fine, wavering line between intentional absurdity and deeply, confusingly meaningful art and we love 'em for it.
MPEG Stream: "Holy Fools Embodied"
MPEG Stream: "Though Chained"

LUGUBRUM Heilige Dwazen (Old Grey Hair / Blood Fire Death) lp 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally available on VINYL!!
So fucked. Of course it is. It's freakin' LUGUBRUM. Allan and Andee's favorite black metal band ever, pretty much, almost. Well, at least when we're in the mood for REALLY WEIRD black metal from a bunch of Belgians who dress like farmers and eat carrots with their beloved beer. Weirdos these guys are for sure, but unlike some of the more "avant-garde" black metal acts such as Arcturus, Sigh, and Ulver (amazing as those acts are/have been) there's nothing so overtly, obviously calculated to be weird for weirdness sake from these guys. Lugubrum's insanity is more organic, but not inadvertent either like the maybe idiot savant status of Rethaf Ruo or Striborg. No, these geniuses strike a balance, and do utterly their own thing, norms and abnorms be damned. On this latest album (their sixth full-length cd), saxophones and clanking chains and droning loops of organ grinder music aren't merely eccentric elements added to a formula black metal base, but are fully integrated into the band's unique musical vision. Is it even black metal? What does that mean? What does it matter?
Their seemingly scatological, "brown metal" lyrics are cryptic, beyond easy comprehension, and that might be just as well. "The Kiss On The Anus"? "At The Base Of Their Tail"? "We Slying Sucked Stolen Bread"? Don't ask. Submit instead to the music, rumbling along, vocals growling howling mad, Funhouse saxophone blowing crazily over and under the scuzzy, sloppy, necro riffery. Somehow they're THIS weird and outside of genre boundaries (employing banjos along with blastbeats) yet are accepted as being among the grimmest of the grim by the true, cult, elite, black metal diehards. They've got 'em scared. Even though they sound like Abruptum playing jazz, or Celtic Frost jamming with Residual Echoes, or Brainbombs covering Venom... They walk the fine, wavering line between intentional absurdity and deeply, confusingly meaningful art and we love 'em for it.
MPEG Stream: "Holy Fools Embodied"
MPEG Stream: "Though Chained"

LUGUBRUM Live In Amsterdam (Old Grey Hair) cd 13.98
Oh yeah! Our FAVORITE BLACK METAL BAND EVER (well, favorite black metal band ever who are heavily into carrots and beer and saxophones, that's for sure) has added to their lengthy and puzzling discography this brilliant live album, for all of us who haven't yet hijacked a jet to get to Belgium to drink beer and eat carrots with these maniacs in person. And they're someone else's favorites too -- this disc documents a show they played in Amsterdam last year, as support for a SUNNO))) performance by special request. And we know the SUNNO))) guys have good taste in weird black metal, right? Well they do, they got freaking Lugubrum to open for 'em!!
And what do Lugubrum start things off with? A version of their doomiest droniest bit of bombastic Beelzebubic bludgeon, "Haunted Ordure", from their out of print split with Finsternis!! YEEEAAH! (that would be us in the crowd, had we been there). It's laced with "prepared saxophone", unlike the studio version. Different but cool, which is what you want from a live album anyway (along with excellent loud sound and tight playing, which this also possesses). And all through this set, as on their insane masterpiece from last year, Heilige Dwazen, the saxophone is fully, usefully integrated into the grunting, groaning, lurching, churning, HEAVY CHAOTIC ART of their music. It's no novelty record, it's simply fucked up, is-it-black-metal-or-jazz-of-Hell?, live and raw and mind blowing, like an anguished black metal Painkiller. Forget SUNNO))), these guys should be co-headlining a bill with the Brainbombs!
All fans of Lugubrum definitely need this, and even if you've never heard 'em before this is surely worth checking out if the above has made you curious!
46 monstrous minutes, eight songs.
MPEG Stream: "Haunted Ordure"
MPEG Stream: "De Vette Cuecken"
MPEG Stream: "Ratteknaeghen"

LUGUBRUM / FINSTERNIS split (Full Moon ) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Starting with an introductory minute of electronic drone distortion, the half of this split cd by Belgian black metallers Lugubrum, entitled "Al Ghemist" is, simply, awesome. Unlike most black metal bands, Lugubrum aren't concerned with playing fast. But they do care about atmosphere. Slow, doomy, heavy, dirgey, dark, bleak atmosphere. The production is kinda lo-fi, but densely textured.
The opening noise piece leads into "Hunted Ordure", one of the best doom songs we've EVER heard. Buy it for this track alone and you'll be happy. Happily doomed. But the other Lugubrum tracks are good too. They do some faster stuff, but it still sounds like music from the bowels of the earth. The croaking vocals, fuzzed-out guitars, the weird non-standard rhythms, it's so nice. As they say, "Your discomfort and damaged speakers nourish Lugubrum eternally!!!"
Finsternis (a Lugubrum side-project) aren't quite as odd an outfit. They play good old-fashioned necro black metal, excuse me, "alcoholic bonesaw metal" exclusively. You've heard the likes of them before. But their half of this split does provide some hateful blasting rock n' roll for those that dig this sort of primitive, grimy black metal.
Oh, thanks to AQ customer Roberto for pointing out to us that the old man on Lugubrum's "Al Ghemist" cover art appears to be holding a carrot. For some reason that didn't convince Roberto that this was amazing, but it only added to our love for Lugubrum.
RealAudio clip: LUGUBRUM "Hunted Ordure"
RealAudio clip: FINSTERNIS "Haunting Hellfury"

LUMSK Asmund Fraegdegjevar (Candlelight / Tabu) cd 17.98
We had been eyeing this record for a while. They are called Lumsk after all. And their logo is the letters in Lumsk rendered as gnarled trees and roots, and the cover features a sketchy drawing of a long haired nordic warrior, hair blowing in the wind. The name of the album and the song titles are all in Norwegian too which is never a bad thing. At best it would be some amazingly weird black metal record, at worst some beer hoisting Viking sing along metal, either way, we'd probably be pretty into it. Well, when we finally cracked one open, it was neither of those things, and so much better than we could have hoped for. The simplest way to describe Lumsk is some strange mix of Hammers Of Misfortune, Enslaved, Scandinavian folk, and the Fucking Champs. Sounds weird. Sounds impossible actually, but that's definitely what it sounds like. Lots of complex instrumental riffing, lots of loping seasick Viking rhythms, along with simple drumming and loads of organs and keyboards, occasional violin and even a choir, but then there's the vocals, male and female, both proud and majestic, soaring and weaving, definitely reminiscent of Hammers Of Misfortune. My thumbnail review was originally "a more epic, Viking metal Hammers Of Misfortune", but on further listens there's just so much dense Carcass-y instrumental stuff going on under the surface, that it makes the soaring (almost renn-faire sounding at times) vocals sound almost alien in that context. It's a little bit power metal, a little bit folk metal, a little bit doom, a little bit prog, and yeah, a little medieval / rennaisance, but put it all together and not only does it not make sense, but it makes so little sense that it makes absolutely perfect sense. To us at least. Definitely NOT death metal or black metal, way more melodic than heavy, and downright pretty at times, but still plenty heavy enough to please all the discerning metalheads around here.
MPEG Stream: "Det Var Irlands Kongi Bold"
MPEG Stream: "Ormin Lange"
MPEG Stream: "Skip Under Lide"

LUMSK Det Vilde Kor (Tabu) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "Diset Kvaeld"
MPEG Stream: "Svend Herlufsens Ord III - Jeg Har Det"

LUMSK Troll (Tabu) cd 16.98
When we first heard Lumsk a few years back, it totally blew us away. Some really odd combination of Hammers Of Misfortune, Enslaved, Scandinavian folk and The Fucking Champs. Yep, you read that right.
And that is what it actually sounded like, lots of Viking riffery, some epic vocalizing, but also some serious metallic shredding, boy / girl harmonies, folky interludes, some medieval / renaissance faire filigree, some fuzzy synths, pretty weird, but pretty dang cool too.
So here's the follow up, and if anything, it's more of the same. But with a couple changes, much of the shredding is gone, and the folk element is more pronounced, but other than that, it's still some confusional combination of chugging riffage, fluttery female almost-operatic vocals, super dramatic male vocals, soaring strings, folky fiddle and a mess of over the top Viking metal chug.
A handful of the tracks are almost straight Scandinavian folk, the vocals lilting and delicate, the arrangements swooning and melancholy, and then just when you're all ensorcelled and entranced, the band will kick in with some over the top, downtuned chugging stein-hoisting metallic drinking song or some epic metal hoedown.
Definitely an acquired taste, but we can tell you that at least two people at aQ dig this band a LOT (bet you can't guess which ones).
MPEG Stream: "Dunker"
MPEG Stream: "Asgardsreia"
MPEG Stream: "Trolltind"

LUNATIC GODS Mythus (Epideme Records) cd 14.98

LURK s/t (Total Rust) cd 12.98
This is the debut release from these Finnish heavies, and is a crushing slab of gloriously abject doomsludge infused with plenty of old school slo-mo death metal crush, the label mentions bands like Coffins, Autopsy, Winter and Celtic Frost, and we're definitely feeling all of those, but we're also hearing plenty of Melvins (especially in the vocals) even some diSEMBOWELMENT, not to mention all those other modern death metal outfits like Disma, Vasaeleth, Vastum, Encoffination and the like. Lurk mix long stretches of droned out ambience, layered guitar buzz and effects drenched thrum, with bursts of churning chugging heaviness, pounding doomic sludge, the drums massive and pummeling, the vocals slipping from a growling guttural howl to a surprisingly melodic bellow (hence the Melvins comparison), there are some surprising melodies too, even some hooks, but they're less noticeable once they've been stretched way out and slowed way down. The songs often fracture into lurching lumbering stop/start workouts, or disappear in squalls of white noise, slipping into near-grooves, before splintering into something much more abstract and dirgey. The closer is the fastest of the bunch, but even then it's still basically a crawl, but when the drums and the riffs fall just right, and the band lock into a serious chunk of blackened chugging sludge, these guys become fucking monstrous, and that sort of sonic power and black hole metallic fury, should have all those other modern death metal outfits looking over their shoulders, and running for their lives.
MPEG Stream: "Soar"
MPEG Stream: "Unfinished"
MPEG Stream: "Deliverance"

LURKER OF CHALICE s/t (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Although we listed the Lurker Of Chalice cd only three lists ago, since then the old version has sold out and it's been scooped up and reissued by Southern Lord. Same music, slightly different artwork.
For those of you who just skim the list or only read the first few sentences of reviews, let us get your attention real quick. Lurker Of Chalice, in case you didn't realize, is the work of one WREST, aka SF black metal overlord LEVIATHAN. Paying attention now? Good. let's proceed. Lurker Of Chalice has existed in one form or another for several years now, but outside a cassette or two this is the only recorded evidence and man will it blow your mind. Originally conceived as a less black metal, more experimental musical outlet (and possibly inspired by Leviathan / AQ faves Benighted Leams) Lurker Of Chalice is constructed from lots of black metal parts as might be expected, but lot of very un-black metal bits as well: arpeggiated post rock guitars, martial percussion, simple propulsive krautrock rhythms, swirling droning ambience, strange haunting vocals, obscure found sounds and samples, doomy slow motion dirges, reverb drenched, almost sun dappled melodies over creepy warbly soundscapes, warm thick keyboards, heavily strummed steel string guitars, rich throaty crooning, super overblown distorted guitars, all smeared into a warm fuzzed out, dreamy and melancholy, mostly midtempo blackened doomscape. Occasionally, Lurker blasts into full on black metal, like on the second track "Piercing Where They Might", but even in a BM context, things are beautifully way off kilter, rumbling bizarrely affected vocals, dizzying riffs that swirl and slither and make it impossible to focus, huge jangly guitars over miltaristic snare drums and warbly Michael Gira like vocals. So weird. But so perfect. Imagine Leviathan and Benighted Leams and the Swans and Ved Buens Ende, all somehow mixed into some darkly evolving, gothic tinged expanse of moody metallic melancholia. This is maybe the best sounding record Wrest has made which is saying a lot. And it's definitely the weirdest, and most certainly the saddest. The whole record is dripping with intense emotion, minor key and slowly stretching toward some bleak future of broken promise and crushed spirit. From slowly evolving, almost cinematic instrumentals to massive and majestic dirges to woozy effect drenched post rockisms to ultra bleak ballads to damaged black metal crush, Lurker Of Chalice evokes total and utter misery, a musical invocation to the lost and alone, wandering in search of hope, under the suffocating black cloak of night, crushed beneath a starless sky and adrift in a soulless universe, exposing every raw nerve and dark corner of Wrest's twisted musical soul. So fucking good!
MPEG Stream: "Piercing Where They Might"
MPEG Stream: "Spectre As Valkerie Is"
MPEG Stream: "Paramnesia"

LURKER OF CHALICE s/t (Southern Lord) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Lurker Of Chalice, the slightly more twisted alter ego of Leviathan mainman Wrest. This, his one and only album, released in two different cd editions, both out of print for ages, and a 2lp edition, also out of print, has finally been reissued. Now in a deluxe digipak, and much to the chagrin of the folks who bought the cd the first time around, this new cd version includes the previously vinyl only bonus track! So it's time to either finally hear what you've been missing, or suck it up and buy it all over again for that extra track, it's worth it...
Here's our review of the Lurker record when we first listed it in 2005:
For those of you who just skim the list or only read the first few sentences of reviews, let us get your attention real quick. Lurker Of Chalice, in case you didn't realize, is the work of one WREST, aka SF black metal overlord LEVIATHAN. Paying attention now? Good. let's proceed. Lurker Of Chalice has existed in one form or another for several years now, but outside a cassette or two this is the only recorded evidence and man will it blow your mind. Originally conceived as a less black metal, more experimental musical outlet (and possibly inspired by Leviathan / AQ faves Benighted Leams) Lurker Of Chalice is constructed from lots of black metal parts as might be expected, but lot of very un-black metal bits as well: arpeggiated post rock guitars, martial percussion, simple propulsive krautrock rhythms, swirling droning ambience, strange haunting vocals, obscure found sounds and samples, doomy slow motion dirges, reverb drenched, almost sun dappled melodies over creepy warbly soundscapes, warm thick keyboards, heavily strummed steel string guitars, rich throaty crooning, super overblown distorted guitars, all smeared into a warm fuzzed out, dreamy and melancholy, mostly midtempo blackened doomscape. Occasionally, Lurker blasts into full on black metal, like on the second track "Piercing Where They Might", but even in a BM context, things are beautifully way off kilter, rumbling bizarrely affected vocals, dizzying riffs that swirl and slither and make it impossible to focus, huge jangly guitars over militaristic snare drums and warbly Michael Gira like vocals. So weird. But so perfect. Imagine Leviathan and Benighted Leams and the Swans and Ved Buens Ende, all somehow mixed into some darkly evolving, gothic tinged expanse of moody metallic melancholia. This is maybe the best sounding record Wrest has made which is saying a lot. And it's definitely the weirdest, and most certainly the saddest. The whole record is dripping with intense emotion, minor key and slowly stretching toward some bleak future of broken promise and crushed spirit. From slowly evolving, almost cinematic instrumentals to massive and majestic dirges to woozy effect drenched post rockisms to ultra bleak ballads to damaged black metal crush, Lurker Of Chalice evokes total and utter misery, a musical invocation to the lost and alone, wandering in search of hope, under the suffocating black cloak of night, crushed beneath a starless sky and adrift in a soulless universe, exposing every raw nerve and dark corner of Wrest's twisted musical soul. So fucking good!
MPEG Stream: "Piercing Where They Might"
MPEG Stream: "Spectre As Valkerie Is"
MPEG Stream: "Paramnesia"

LURKER OF CHALICE s/t (Southern Lord) 2lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally re-pressed, and available again for a limited time, some on black and green swirled vinyl, some on black and blue swirled vinyl (no picking or choosing, it's random). Includes an exclusive track not on the cd. And as it is, the cd versions were limited editions and are now utterly out of print.
For those of you who just skim the list or only read the first few sentences of reviews, let us get your attention real quick. Lurker Of Chalice, in case you didn't realize, is the work of one WREST, aka SF black metal overlord LEVIATHAN. Paying attention now? Good. let's proceed. Lurker Of Chalice has existed in one form or another for several years now, but outside a cassette or two this is the only recorded evidence and man will it blow your mind. Originally conceived as a less black metal, more experimental musical outlet (and possibly inspired by Leviathan / AQ faves Benighted Leams) Lurker Of Chalice is constructed from lots of black metal parts as might be expected, but lot of very un-black metal bits as well: arpeggiated post rock guitars, martial percussion, simple propulsive krautrock rhythms, swirling droning ambience, strange haunting vocals, obscure found sounds and samples, doomy slow motion dirges, reverb drenched, almost sun dappled melodies over creepy warbly soundscapes, warm thick keyboards, heavily strummed steel string guitars, rich throaty crooning, super overblown distorted guitars, all smeared into a warm fuzzed out, dreamy and melancholy, mostly midtempo blackened doomscape. Occasionally, Lurker blasts into full on black metal, like on the second track "Piercing Where They Might", but even in a BM context, things are beautifully way off kilter, rumbling bizarrely affected vocals, dizzying riffs that swirl and slither and make it impossible to focus, huge jangly guitars over miltaristic snare drums and warbly Michael Gira like vocals. So weird. But so perfect. Imagine Leviathan and Benighted Leams and the Swans and Ved Buens Ende, all somehow mixed into some darkly evolving, gothic tinged expanse of moody metallic melancholia. This is maybe the best sounding record Wrest has made which is saying a lot. And it's definitely the weirdest, and most certainly the saddest. The whole record is dripping with intense emotion, minor key and slowly stretching toward some bleak future of broken promise and crushed spirit. From slowly evolving, almost cinematic instrumentals to massive and majestic dirges to woozy effect drenched post rockisms to ultra bleak ballads to damaged black metal crush, Lurker Of Chalice evokes total and utter misery, a musical invocation to the lost and alone, wandering in search of hope, under the suffocating black cloak of night, crushed beneath a starless sky and adrift in a soulless universe, exposing every raw nerve and dark corner of Wrest's twisted musical soul. So fucking good!
MPEG Stream: "Piercing Where They Might"
MPEG Stream: "Spectre As Valkerie Is"
MPEG Stream: "Paramnesia"

LUSTRE A Glimpse Of Glory (De Tenebrarum Principio) cd 13.98