Mix Tape: Spring 2012

Here's a fresh mix for Spring. I have compiled this mix to fit a regular 80 minute CD, so some songs have been modified to fit better. This mix focuses a bit more on recent (2011, 2012) releases, including some great debuts that have piqued my interest. Its got everything from grim winter black metal to summer time cruising stoner rock. Read more for a brief writeup on the selected tracks. I hope you enjoy listening.

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1. Haust - Nekromantic Norway (Powers of Horror, 2010)

Starting things off with a bit of Norwegian chaos thick with zombie decay, Haust bring the kegs with reckless abandon in buckets of sludgy hardcore filth. Kind of like a leaner, meaner older brother to Kvelertak.

2. Dodecahedron - A View from Hverfell II: Inside Omnipotent Chaos (Dodecahedron, 2012)

Experimentalist French-inspired Dutchmen debut their jazzy, post-structure black metal cacophony to gracious respect, in all its technical anti-melodious, writhing beast of a space dragon glory.

3. Rituals - It was All Very Sudden (Rituals, 2012)

A song that sustains momentum in both an emotional and physical draw, awash in melancholy aromas with the presence of regret or nostalgia, and driven home with the sludgy trudge of apocalyptic marching riffs towards inevitable doom.

4. Botanist - Quercus Lamellosa (II: A Rose from the Dead, 2011)

I find this to be a particularly catchy sounding song from Botanist's creepy creations within the Verdant Realm. It sounds like some kind of horrors befalling an insect nation, involving warfare, plagues, and unspeakable terrors. And a praying mantis on vocals.

5. Pallbearer - An Offering of Grief (Sorrow and Extinction, 2012)

Admittedly my favourite song on this mix. Exquisitely regal craftsmanship of a cosmic take on epic funeral fucking doooom. Let this tapestry of shadows crush you with insatiable licks from the everlasting pool of divine sadness.

6. Christian Mistress - Haunted Hunted (Possession, 2012)

At cruising speed now, Christian Mistress provides the breeze that blows freely through the hair, providing a sense of satisfaction and balls out confidence. Rock out the denim and leather, the ghosts are at your back, and darkness snares the light for good.

7. Drudkh - Night Woven of Snow, Winds and Grey-Haired Stars (Eternal Turn of the Wheel, 2012)

Drudkh make a fantastic return to form on their 9th full length. The compliments return to the hypnotically subtle details in overlapping guitar harmonies and developing themes. I find this song really captures the sounds of Spring returning, and seasonal change in general.

8. Sigh - Far Beneath the In-Between (In Somniphobia, 2012)

Japanese avant-garde midnight circus burlesque psychedelic Middle-Eastern flavoured orchestrated trip hop jazz lounge mindfuck of a brilliant good time. There's metal in there too somewhere, I think. Listen to it, and love or hate. It's crazy, either way.

9. Portrait - Bloodbath (Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae, 2011)

Hell yeah, who wants some Satanic black thrashin' powerfully heavy Swedish speed metal ala Mercyful Fate by way of Dissection? This defines badass, fire up the furnace and burn it to the ground, beatdown is in session.

10. Furia - Wodzenie (Marzannie, Królowej Polski, 2012)

A retreat to the frosty pools of gritty black metal, though spliced at its core with a trace of long lost mildly psychoactive primordial ooze that infested the wombs of creations that spawned a darkened direction for early 70's hard rock and roll.

11. The Bad Light - Sweet Sting (Marrow of Sound, 2012)

Groovy sludgy drums and bass, and that distinctive vocal snarl. I will be playing this bad boy all summer long, crack the beers and crank the tunes, burn the midnight oil. Life is pretty sweet from this point of view.

12. Enslaved - Alu Misyrki (The Sleeping Gods, 2011)

Despite being essentially funded by Toyota, Enslaved managed to pack a fantastic display of how their recent output could sound at its best in just a few 'side' tracks. I really like the way this song swells with the unstoppable crest of thundering mystic storm clouds.

13. The Secret - War Desire (Solve et Coagula, 2010)

I'm picky with my hardcore. This hit the spot though. Apocalyptic sludgy doom is shovelled into the mix with menacing conviction. Frantic and sure to pop some blood vessels, its a great sonic embodiment of murderous intent. Road rage friendly.

14. Orange Goblin - Return to Mars (A Eulogy for the Damned, 2012)

More cow bell! The greasy stoned whiskey guzzlin' space bikers return with the humid air of fat pungent grooves choked with dank anthemic swagger. This one comes with a warning: barnburners spread like wildfire, so get ready for the stars.

15. Waning - To the Smouldering Next (Population Control, 2012)

A cold and distant misanthropy bearing alien origins and industrial confines, artificially extracted from a heavily sedated lifeless corpse of black metal, driven with mechanically martial rhythms and a chilling singularity of focus. No one hears you scream in space.

16. Ramesses - Safety in Numbness (Possessed by the Rise of Magik, 2011)

Lay yourself amongst a stream of liquid exstasy, the current of shadows flowing with the secrets of mystical truths and surreally giving off a faint aura of magikal command. A seductive caress of the black of night gently drips the time right out of you.

17. Melvins - The War on Wisdom (The Birds & The Bees, 2012)

I didn't realize it, but this is the second Toyota-sponsored track on this mix, what the fuck is happening? And it's a similar case as Enslaved, as the Melvins have displayed an excellent compact showcase of what they do best these days. My favourite song by them in a while.