Neurosis – Honor Found in Decay promo

Update #2: here’s an embed of At The Well, a track from Neurosis’s Honor Found in Decay. Oh, wow. What a commanding, fantastic, perfect track. The guitar sounds at the start like a moaning ox, but radiates out into brighter colors as it whines and fades. Amazingly, the bagpipes here are (they are bagpipes, right?) are not just a novelty but one of the most beautiful moments of the song. The ritual vocal repetition, what sounds like “in the shadow world…,” the kind of watery wobbling guitar notes radiating out over very familiar tribal sounding drums is reminiscent of the climaxes at the end of tracks like Burn from Eye of Every Storm, or the title track of Given to the Rising. Yet it’s a very different entity- it’s not oversaturated with effects, you can almost hear a silence between the instruments as if placed there out of deference. Jesus, this is as good as any track Neurosis has put out in a long time.

Now, below is just a promo. There really is some honest-to-god music mixed in here. So listen for it. There’s also some over-the-top marketing but they’ve always been like that.

Update: Neurosis has premiered the track At the Well for NPR’s All Songs Considered. Cheggit here.

Ocean-Pantheon of The Lesser

Ocean Pantheon of The Lesser:

If you like long stretches of big scary chords followed by a long quiet build up followed by even bigger scarier chords than this ones for you. If not then avoid at all costs. These guys epitomize what a lot of drone metal bands are going for.

Rating: 12/15 sunn amps

Pauline Oliveros-Deep Listening

Pauline Oliveros Deep Listening:

Accordion, trombone, voices, and found percussion recorded in a gigantic cistern with a ridiculous amount of reverberation. The subtlety of the musicians knack for incorporating microtonal elements and utilizing the natural Reverberation makes this piece an incredible listen. The droning harmonies are nothing short of gorgeous and trance inducing.

Rating: 14/15 sustained notes

Dreams of Dying Stars – Funeral in The Void

Dreams of Dying Stars Funeral in The Void:

Dude taping down a key on his Moog synthesizer and walking away for half an hour, then calling it a song.

Rating: 2/15 Endless planes of nothing

Grouper – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

Grouper Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill:

This is what Mazzy Star hanging out with Jesu would sound like, yet somehow more boring. The girl can sing, but the album just drones on and not in a good way.

Rating: 9/15 Quaaludes

Psychic Ills-Mirror Eye

Psychic Ills Mirror Eye:

Trippy drone music, heavily influenced by Classical Indian music. Though long, the songs never plod. The guitarist and keyboardist continually find interesting sounds, while the rhythm section holds steady. A good record for zoning.

Rating: 12/15 Interesting uses of a Vocoder.

Across Tundras – Lonesome Wails From The Weeping Willow

Across Tundras Lonesome Wails From The Weeping Willow:

If Electric Wizard ever played bluegrass, this what it would sound like.

Rating: 13/15 tripping cowboys

Black Moth Super Rainbows- Drippers

Black Moth Super Rainbow Drippers:

A group of Hate Edge punk rockers righteously espousing the use of any and all substances.

Rating: 13/15 No Poison For Life XXX neck tattoos

Ascend- The Obelsik of Kolob

Ascend The Obelisk of Kolob:

Like Sunn 0)))), but interesting stuff happens periodically.

Rating: 11/15 Dudes in Cowls

Om-A Conference of Birds

Om A Conference of Birds:

Long ass songs about celestial entities made with only bass, drums and chanted vocals. Not something I listen to everyday, but if I want to space out this is the album I’ll turn to.

Rating: 11/15 Handfuls of shrooms