AUDREY HORNE 'YOUNGBLOOD'

Wild! Awesome traditional classic rock album by these norsemen, straightforward with an mind-blowing assortment of killer rock riffs, bluesy grooves and heroic musicianship, with dozens of retro 70s/80s influences creating an overall hyper-addictive sound. Enriched by Toschies powerful and melodic vocals, this album sums up as their best work so far!

LIARS 'WIXIW'

Kind of a more esoteric sixth album, with this heavy-talented Brooklyn-based indie trio moving directions by trading in more traditional instruments for electronics and venture out into no man's land. These guys are of course known for being consistently good but inconsistent, therefore “MIXIW“ (pronounced 'wish you') finds them merging dark electronic beats, upbeat rock tempos and dance rhythms with fields of synths, somewhat eerie background atmospherics, strange loops, slurred vocals and intriguing lyricism. With 11 tracks of mysterious concepts and unrelenting textures, “WIXIW“ sums up as a remarkable achievement, an unsettling melange of aversion and warmth, so to speak. Lovely and twisted, catchy and creepy. Delightfully fresh stuff to my ears!

TANGORODRIM 'UNHOLY & UNLIMITED'

This is the real deal. Straightforward, primitive and somewhat ugly black metal, reminding of Darkthrone, Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost. Tangorodrim also feature the most cool and raw vocals that i've heard since Darkthrone's 'Panzerfaust'. Besides this (third) album of the band, which saw it's release in 2003, i especially recommend their second offer entitled 'Those Who Unleashed'. But all of their stuff is great in many ways. And while everyone thought they'd split-up, these guys released a new ep called 'Two Iron Rules' via Apocalyptic Empire records just some days ago. Not for wimps or posers!!

NEW BUILD 'YESTERDAY WAS LIVED AND LOST'

Excellent pop album, that adds lot's of coolness to the table. Funk-driven bass lines, shimmering guitars and ultra-melodic vocal work therefore are just the basic set-up to a kinda danceable journey through their massive amount of influences. Bravo!

PETAR DUNDOV 'IDEAS FROM THE POND'

Finally, Croatian mastermind Petar Dundov’s third album and first full-length release since 2008 appears three years after his amazing 'Escapements' album, a spectacular debut which classifies as a real landmark release for Dundov, a character to be firmly established in the techno world and major figure in the Croatian dance music scene. 'Ideas From The Pond' therefore sees him masterfully mixing ingredients from different styles like Ambient, Techno, IDM, psychedelic House and a variety of (complex) cosmic sounds, extremely melodic and spaced out. Almost 80 minutes of epic and profoundly atmospheric compositions, partly clashing into dreamy/lazy mid-tempo beats - offering a special kind of sentimental, hypnotic playfulness. Beautiful layers of techno and galactic synthesizers, mesmerizing rhythms and shimmering melodies with an understated strength, citing old Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream and stackful of 90s trance. A harmonious blend, breathtaking and highly recommended!

AURA NOIR 'OUT TO DIE'

Impulsive fifth full-length from Norway's blackened thrashers, intense and supremely aggressive with an inevitable touch of rawness. It almost doesn't get any better than this. Buy or die.

MATTHEW DEAR 'HEADCAGE' EP

This 4-track EP sees Matthew Dear striking new paths within his unique brand of (deep) experimental pop music, delivering some outstanding, playful and delicate stuff that makes us all lust for his upcoming fifth album 'Beams'.

PODCAST #01 'DISTORTED TRANSMISSIONS'

Oldies but Goodies. Only headphones is real!





Tracklist:

BROTHER INFERIOR - FORMULA
DROP DEAD - WHATEVER I DO
HELLNATION - OUTSIDER
RUPTURE - THE CONCEPTUAL REALITY
CHARLES BRONSON - WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME
SEEIN' RED - FUCKED
DETESTATION - MINDLESS VANITY
CAPITALIST CASUALTIES - JESUS' WHORE
Y - IDENTITY
SPAZZ - RAT PACK
DUDMAN - LEGEND FIST VS BEAST FIST
WOJCZECH - HOLZ
THUG - TOOLSTEVE
DISCORDANCE AXIS - ALZHEIMER
M.I.T.B. - FOOT BINDING
YACØPSAE - GOLFTURNIER
ENEMY SOIL - HYPOCRISY
ABUSO SONORO - A FERIDA DAS RUAS
RADIOACTIVE LUNCH - POT COOKIES
DEAD INFECTION - THE END OF LOVE
ENTRAILS MASSACRE - I AM INNOCENT
NO LESS - PEACE PIPE
DOMESTIK DOKTRIN - MESS WITH THE BEST, END UP LIKE THE REST
YOUTH ENRAGE - SILENCE
REAL REGGAE - LAST OF REVENGE
324 - COBALT
PLUTOCRACY - G OF THE D
E.T.O. - CRUMBS

MIXED AT EPICENTER STUDIOS BERLIN, FEBRUARY 2012

PYRAMIDS

PYRAMIDS 'magpie & raven'
Aurora Borealis

Feared of the unknown? Then go somewhere else! This mammoth of a song holds great potential, offering a noncompetitive post-rock opera of intense psych. Thrusts of noise conquer bracing and extensive piano arrangements, triumphant guitars, gentle melodies and spoken word performances. Thrilling, versatile and exceptional!

http://www.aurora-b.com
http://youtexasdarkstar.tumblr.com

BEST OF 2011

top ten albums 2011 - buy or die

the field 'looping state of mind' (kompakt)
graveyard 'hisingen blues' (strandet)
loops of your heart 'and never ending nights' (magazine/kompakt)
mark e 'stone breaker' (ghostly)
autopsy 'macabre eternal' (peaceville)
sebastian 'total' (ed banger)
locussolus 'locussolus' (international feel)
wooden shjips 'west' (thrill jockey)
necros christos 'doom of the occult' (sepulchral voice)
wolfgang voigt 'kafkatrax' (kompakt)

ten more reasons to drop money

justice 'audio, video, disco' (ed banger)
fucked up 'david comes to life' (matador)
pyramids 'magpie and raven' (aurora borealis)
in solitude 'the world, the flesh, the devil' (metal blade)
usx 'the valley path' (neurot)
little dragon 'ritual union' (peacefrog)
teen daze 'a silent planet' (lefse)
black lips 'arabia mountain' (vice)
frank ocean 'nostalgia ultra' (ofwgkta)
boris 'heavy rocks' (sargent house)

can't stop thinkin' bout you baby..

earth 'pentastar' 1996 (sub pop)
kiss 'music from the elder' 1981 (casablanca)
aura noir 'deep tracts of hell' 1998 (hammerheart)
melvins 'lysol' + 'joe preston ep' 1992 (boner)
pest 'daudafaerd' 2004 (no colours)
black sabbath 'mob rules' 1981 (warner)
moss 'live burial' 2004 (self)
boris 'feedbacker' 2003 (diwphalanx)
goatlord 'reflections of the solstice' 1991 (turbo)
spazz 'skatin, satan & katon' 2001 (slap a ham)

WOLFGANG VOIGT 'KAFKATRAX'

Maybe a slightly too futuristic outcome by this lead figure of Cologne's Kompakt record label, at least for the masses. But this headstrong entity consists of well-structured samples from audio books of famous German novelist Franz Kafka as source material as well as boldly minimalistic beats and basslines, using the human voice to surreal effect and creating an weird and hypnotic feel that characterizes this album. Kafkatrax is a crowning achievement in experimentalism, creating a psychotic-paranoid, “Kafkaesque” atmosphere that took me by storm. A truly amazing art piece!

Buy or die.

LONG WAY FROM HOME

Fenriz (of Darkthrone fame), also known as DJ V.K.O.M. (Vast Knowledge Of Music) just created a compilation of crossgender techno/house tracks, exclusively for Lodown Magzine. This way, lads.

AUTOPSY 'MACABRE ETERNAL'

Autopsy has returned from the grave to feast upon the living once more, and it's a beautiful thing. It's their first full-length album since the band split up even before the official release of their fourth album 'Shitfun' in 1995. Recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley CA, 'Macabre Eternal' includes their first 10-plus minute song 'Sadistic Gratification', basically a piece of pure fucking sickness. This band fortunately decided to make an official comeback after working together on two songs for the special 20th anniversary edition of the debut 'Severed Survival' in late 2008. A five-song EP, 'The Tomb Within', the band’s first collection of newly recorded tracks in over a decade came out last September and saw the original trio of Chris Reifert, Danny Coralles and Eric Cutler joined on bass by Joe Trevisano. Reifert previously said about this horrific creation that they've brewed up the sickest and heaviest material that their rotten souls could possibly spew forth, so this might be the best stuff they've ever did. The EP was just a taste, but this is more like an assault from beyond the grave. 'Macabre Eternal' therefore contains no repeated EP tracks, no Pro Tools, no triggered trickery and nothing less than the pure brutality that Autopsy has always delivered to our ears. Essential and sick to the bone. 'Macabre Eternal' is by any means the most anticipated album this year in my book, with Autopsy offering a sludgy and organic production, heavy-handed riffs and maniac percussion. 'If you like our stuff, you will think this is the best', Eric Cutler recently said. Don't even think to put that into question.

HELLO AGAIN

On my ears. SCUM, FROM ENSLAVEMENT TO OBLITERATION, MENTALLY MURDERED. As always. Thank you, Mick Harris. Photo via Dig Pearson @ Home of Metal.