Babalon Vs Spring 2023
I thought, instead of going over a band's discography or doing recommendations, this week we go into albums I'm looking forwards to. Im only doing albums that are confirmed to be released this year because I have trust issues with anything without a release date. It's kind of like the Zodiac thing.
Prophecies Ablaze
Unpure
Black-Thrash
Sweden
It's been more than half of my short existence since Unpure has released an album and, in the Swedish tradition, they seem to have made it worth our while. "Prophecies Ablaze" sounds like a vicious return from one of the unsung legends of Swedish Black-Thrash. Evil and brutal riffs just ooze from this one, provided by a lineup bolstered by members of the indomitable Watain and Degial, and Kolgrim's vocals have not become any less ferocious with the passage of time. The first two promo tracks, "Northern Sea Madness" and "Small Crooked Bones" already show promise and are well worth your time in and of themselves.
Apocalypse
Rotten Sound
Grindcore
Finland
I might catch shit for this, but luckily I don't care - Rotten Sound is probably my favorite Grindcore band of all time. I too love Napalm Death, Nasum, and Repulsion but Rotten Sound is unique in both their immediacy and talent. I'm well aware "talent" in Grindcore sounds like an unsanitary proposition, but the mix of Swedish-Finnish death metal sound with the blistering brutality, to quote Goniloc, "touches you in the touchiest of places." The new opus "Apocalypse," is Rotten Sound's first full length album in 7 years and it sounds worthy of their already storied discography.
Nostalgia
Enforcer
Heavy Metal
Sweden
Remember a few years back when classic heavy was thin on the ground? Sure there were the legendary acts still ripping, but traditional metal was very much on life support (I promised to not make a Mötley Crüe pun) as far as new material for a few years. If you ask me, or read a piece I am writing, this changed with In Solitude and Enforcer. While In Solitude broke my heart and ceased to exist in 2015, Enforcer published their debut "Into The Night" in 2008 and have released some of the greatest records the genre has seen in quite a while.
Anyway, the Aarvika giant Olof and company are back and if the singles are anything to go by, this record is going to see the band continue their reign.
72 Seasons
Metallica
Thrash Metal
USA
You know who Metallica are, you've heard what's coming and you don't need me to tell you about. You might want me to but you don't need me to. However I am too excited to leave them off my list.
Rock Releases
Plagueboys
Grave Pleasures
Post-Punk
Finland
It is no exaggeration to say that after "Motherblood," I did not envy Grave Pleasures' position one bit. They always seem to have the monumental task of topping themselves, but it pays off when your track record is this strong. Grave Pleasures are one of the few acts that have me going " a new album you say dear fellow? Well I know whatever it is, it'll be great."
With good reason too, as "Plagueboys" seems to continue the extremely high standard laid by its forebears. It's desolate, it's emotional, it's extremely well written lyrically and musically, and its one of the few bands you could both dance to and cry to. Maybe even at the same time if you're Billy Eliott enough.
The Old Ways Remain
Blood Ceremony
Occult Rock
Canada
Canada's Blood Ceremony are often seen as The Devil's Blood Lite™️ but this is a very narrow way of looking at it. Beyond the blood and being Occult Rock groups headed by women, they have very little in common with one another. The vibe is different to the point I'm not sure they'd really fit a bill together. I could see TDB playing alongside, say, Candlemass but I see Blood Ceremony being much more at home with acts like Windir or Skyclad.
What I'm trying to say, inarticulately and with foam running from my rabies infested mouth is that the band has a more Folk edge to it. All three of their previous records left me with a taste for more, walking that tightrope of being psychedelic and classic without being derivative and "retro." Their new one has no songs out yet, possibly as a conspiracy to antagonize me, but I have every reason to believe it'll be worth checking out.
Unsolicited Recommendations 7
You might've imagined I've grown tired of cramming my opinions into blog posts but allow me to assure you I haven't. I've been busy with a couple of things both announced and unannounced that will be crammed into your eyeballs and earholes in the next month or two. That and the ever increasing crime rate in New York that means I have to dodge bullets in increasingly innovative ways says I have to treat each one of these as the last. No pressure.
One movie and one book-
Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing
I think there comes a point in any reasonable person's life where they wonder about the psychology behind an atrocity. What is it that such and such persons felt was sufficient cause to do such horrific things?
One of the closer, and truthfully more harrowing, analyses I've ever seen to try and answer that question is Joshua Oppenheimer's 2014 masterpiece, The Act of Killing. The documentary centers around the Indonesian Massacres of 65'-66' and the life of Anwar Congo. Anwar was a small time gangster in the city of Medan in north-west Indonesia. Small time gangster amounting to the selling of counterfeit movie tickets. Coincidence and circumstance conspired to place him at the head of one of the most ruthless and terrible death squads of that particular conflict.
I'm not going to delve further to not ruin the impact, but a more shocking example of the banality of evil you would be hard pressed to find. Anwar, being a part of the political group to come out on top in that particular conflict, was lauded and lionized for the many, many atrocities he committed, and he accepted that role. That's where the journey starts.
It's not a happy or sanitary story, but much like Hannah Arendt's The Banality of Evil, it answers often unaddressed questions that make you grow as a person.
Umberto Eco - Baudolino
Umberto Eco's Baudolino is a book I've recently fallen in love with which doesn't get nearly the attention it merits. I imagine this is because it has to compete with its older brothers-The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum. Both of which require patience to get the best results (especially if you're looking to understand the underlying mysteries Eco references.) Baudolino, standing at a hefty 528 unabridged pages, is also not a quick read.
However, it is a book that actually merits that overused word "epic." Why? Because, and I promised myself not to make a dick joke, it does a lot of things with that length. It's both one of the funniest and most profound books I've ever read. It does require you know a little bit more about both semiotics and medieval politics than is reasonable, but with same basing and googling, it is not hard to traverse.
The main character, Baudolino, comes across not as an archetype or someone you're meant to project upon but a flawed and lovable protagonist. Over the course of a journey to find the mythical Prestor John, we see Baudolino evolve and change. However it is never written in a boring clear cut "this is the character arc" kind of way. He's an honest liar, a cowardly brave man and a pacifist who's constantly getting caught in wars. He's funny and profound, jovial and scarred, and one of the best main characters I've had the chance to acquaint myself with. The cast he's surrounded with, both historical and fictional, are equally as charming and convincingly villainous.
So yes it's 528 pages, but you'll leave it both smiling and thinking.
The Shape of Things to Come
Heard in whispers and rumors
A word here another there
It was all known, it was all written
And still, we flew, we dared
A world of high contrast blacks and whites
A world of sickly, dying, grey delights
A world of burning, wicked lights
The shape of things to come
Read from multiple omens
Inferred by augurs and seers
And that which displeases the king
Ends the unbelievers
A world of stars in retrograde
A world of fires fated to fade
A world of only flayers and the flayed
The shape of things to come
A brief dalliance with logos until its course is run
A battle to battle, not to be lost or won
This and no other,
Is the shape of things to come
Babalon’s Bands IV - Ultra Violence (Ultra Silvam)
Ultra Silvam are a band which kind of came out of nowhere to me. Ok they came out of Malmö you smartass but what I mean is that I haven't heard the name and next thing I knew, I was hooked. That's how quick it happens kids.
The band formed in 2015 and except for their initials and promo pics, very little is known about who the fuck these people are. They go by M.A (bass and vocals,) O.R (guitars) and A.L (drums) but Ill talk about them via their respective roles as they had no lineup changes yet. So if you see me dancing around a title like I was a singing bear in the Jungle Book, that's why.
It would be two years before the band released an official demo. It was the year of our lord 2017, Britain was contemplating Brexit, Robert Mugabe officially became the "former" Zimbabwean president and Ultra Silvam came out swinging. In 13 short minutes (and 29 shorter seconds,) the band gave us a taste of what was to come. Their sharp, abrasive sound was already starting to show its teeth and unveil its aggressive potential. While I wouldn't say that these early, early recordings are an absolute must, if after two albums and a live record you're still hungry, it's definitely a fun 13 minutes. It also has a track you won't find anywhere else, namely "Crooked Horned Prophet."
Their debut however, "The Spearwound Salvation," is definitely a must. Finding an album that doesn't sacrifice brutality for sharpness and manages to walk that line with grace is rare indeed, but Ultra Silvam do just that. It's a whirlwind of knives in that airy early-Destruction kind of way. Clocking in at 27 minutes, the album doesn't meander at all. It's fitting that it has the word "spear" in the title as that's what it feels like, an exact and meticulous spearpoint, carefully sharpened so you couldn't touch it without drawing blood. No idea why the title has salvation in it though.
I am not a huge live albums guy so I'll just mosey on up to 2022 and their sophomore album, "The Sanctity of Death." The album's title again has a deep resonance with the sound. On "The Sanctity of Death," we find Ultra Silvam gearing up to present bigger sounds, bigger concepts, and a bigger sense of reverence to their source material.
While the band definitely brings a greater sense of bombast and ambition to the sophomore, it is by building a very intricate picture with a lot of parts. The guitarist in particular channels his spearpoint sharpness into these twisted melodies and an atmosphere of deeply fucked up worship. The sophomore is catchier than the debut and a bit more melodic, but it by no means lets go of the trigger. It's odd, while it is more melodic, the onslaught driving the album is so violent that I couldn't in good conscious say it's MeloBlack. But whatever it is, it's uniquely brutal, and I for one am looking forwards to spitting blood through my broken teeth to it.
So it's almost exactly a year after release, what are they doing now? Well, aside for a western European tour alongside the venerable Balmog (excellent Spanish/Catalan black metal) in March, I don't know. But whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be horrifying
P.S
If you are like me and were curious about what Ultra Silvam means literally, it means “Beyond the Forest” which was an old name for Transylvania.