The three slots on the ever-changing Metal Listening Station are taken by an Italian import and two groups of Bluegrass boys…
In slot one is the newest from Italy’s Ufomammut - Oro: Opus Primum. This is the band’ sixth proper full-length, and the first in a two-part series that when put together will equate into one giant song. Ufomammut create an incredibly far-reaching psychedelic brand of heaviness that no one else does quite as well. LSD visions give way to spiritual revelations, colliding with a Cosmic, molasses-thick groove that is inescapable and undeniable. How this band has stayed so far under the radar in a time of dime-a-dozen “stoner rock” bands is beyond me. Tune In. Turn On. Drop Out…
Slot two is given to Louisville’s (ohlm) and the re-release of their glorious full-length, The Synaptic Dissent. While recorded when the band was merely a trio, this new version shows off the additions of the two newest members of the fold, Marisa on violin and J.R. on keys and noise. The new layers on (ohlm)‘s head-nodding, mind-warping instrumental prog metal, take the sound into new territories unexplored by the standard guitar/bass/drums. Grab this while you can, as it is limited in edition, and will likely be gone by the time their next gift to the Cosmos is unveiled.
Finally, slot three is occupied by Somerset’s gods of Universal crush, They Yearn For What They Fear. Eat.Work.Sleep.Die is a pissed off backlash at our bullshit culture and our perceived importance in the galaxy. Fast, slow…doesn’t matter; TYFWTF is a behemoth of a band that continues to push the boundaries of heavy by making whatever sounds they damn well please, with a work ethic that borders on unfathomable. Seriously, this band continues to improve with every release, which is nigh on one-a-year these days.
“Local” and “heavy” are in other parts of our fine establishment as well! One-man machine Josh Lay has not only been busy with his solo black metal project Glass Coffin (new album, Remnants of a Cold Dead World, limited CD-R via Crucial Blast Records; and the single-sided Haunted By the Ghosts of the Damned 12″ on Prison Tatt Records), but has been hard at work on his two-headed monster baby Husk Records. New additions from the curators of all things damaged include the newest 7″ from Lay and occult partner Morgan Rankin’s dark ambient drug dirge beast Swamp Horse, titled Subtle Dimensia. Also blackening the cassette rack is the Ukraine’s most proactive black metal misanthrope Moloch with his album Misanthropie ist der einzige Weg zur Reinheit, and the ultra-kvlt, bile-spewing Highmass’ Ecnaegnev. The Bluegrass State’s most hated sons, The Hookers, hooked up with Josh to release the soon-to-be-gone Kentucky Suicide cassette, which comes with a razor blade, instructions for the clueless, an inverted cross painted with the blood of the Rock n’ Roll Outlaw, and enough devil music to make you do it. More info on Husk Records and all things related can be found at huskrecords.blogspot.com.
