SHACKLETON – ‘THE MAJESTIC YES’

Peerless is an epithet lazily ascribed to legions of artists who are patently nothing of the kind, but in the case of arch dreamweaver Sam Shackleton, it’s the only appropriate term. From the arabesque dubstep extrapolations of his Skull Disco years to masterpieces of polyrhythmic psychedelia like ‘Music For The Quiet Hour’ and ‘Departing Like Rivers’, his trailblazing exploits in the sphere of contemporary electronic music have resulted in a discography that, in terms of sheer eye-popping originality, is all but unparalleled. His first release on Honest Jon’s in five years, ‘The Majestic Yes’ is Shack in microcosm; a gravity-defying exposition of rhythm as rapture that showcases his trademark rococo sound design in arguably its most otherworldly iteration since 2018’s lavishly abstracted ‘Furnace Of Guts’. Comprising three long-form tracks structured around the shamanic rattle of Senegalese percussion maestro Beaugar Seck’s sabar drums, this is expansive, sense-heightening music of the first order; swirls of opalescent synth, harmonium-filtered glossolalia and crepuscular sub-bass that permeate every quadrant of the soundfield like a cloud of opiated pollen from some alien species of orchid. It’s a scintillating, if concise, tour de force, but it doesn’t end there. To the majority of producers, remixing an artist as singular as Shackleton would be a poisoned chalice and then some, but his idol Mark Ernestus steps valiantly into the breech, splitting the difference between Basic Channel and Ndagga Rhythm Force with an arachnoid, dub-frosted (in)version of ‘The Overwhelming Yes’ that closes the EP on a deliciously sinister note. Majestic? Yes.

Honest Jon’s Records

GUERRA FINAL SELF TITLED

Debut 7″ from scene veterans Guerra Final. 7 cuts of outraged crusading Crust Punk with a fat Anarcho Punk streak in the songwriting and vibe  – slashing, angry Guitar forms rudiments of chord rage reminiscent of classic Punk Metal glory like English Dogs, with fierce, slick, short/sweet solos ablaze, lithe Bass prominent within the mix and extending the furious melodies beneath the Guitar work, swinging drums with plenty of heart and sweat and gruff vocal outcry – gnarly, hellacious, hard-charging d-beat bangers delivered in a furious froth, swollen with urgency and heroic despondency. Falls more on the Hardcore Punk end of the Crust spectrum, songwriting supercharged with fervent, simplistic gut punch intensity the order of the day. Fucking pissed!

Bandcamp

NECRODEITY / BRAHMASTRIKA SPLIT – ‘PRAETERNATURAL COMMOTIONS FROM KOLKATA MAHA SAMSHANA’

Split 7″ from Necrodeity and Brahmastrika – Insane anti-cosmic DETH Metal from the ever fertile Kolkata underground scene. First up, Necrodeity offers a savage track of blasting Black Death Metal with almost Brutal Death Metal/Grindcore drum dynamics, dry hectic snare blasts front in the mix, merciless riffing cast in ancient obsidian Necrovoric forms of archaic Death Thrash style with babbling, ravenous, devil-tongued hissing vocal delirium, sealed into dry and noisy production. Repugnant, blaspheming. Then Brahmastrika’s contribution to the ritual bombards and saturates with perplexing arrangements of vortex Death Noise Metal, leaning into opprobrious Power Electronics sounds, extra-black carbonisation Noise and irradiated vocal, explosions of coiling percussion with some patches of discernable war riffing. Exceptionally discordant and earbleedingly violent. Killer split – Hail Kalikshetra Raktachakra!

Iron Bonehead Productions

THE CHATS – ‘GET FUCKED’

Inexplicably more energetic than their debut full-length, The Chats’ second album is a total ripper. They seem more pissed off this time around and I’m all for it. Sure, the Aussie punk humour is still there in tracks like “6L GTR” and “I’ve Been Drunk in Every Pub in Brisbane”, but then there’s “The Price of Smokes” which starts off seething in its indignant displeasure before boiling over into a maelstrom of bloody-eyed lividity, railing against the cost of living. They’re a truly formidable power trio here – like I said earlier, they’re drawing more energy than before but have also become frighteningly tight; every song blasts through with the power and precision of a laser cannon. New guitarist Josh Hardy seems to have a few more tricks up his sleeve than the last fella, peeling out occasional Hendrixisms and surf tones with blitzkrieg efficiency. On the subject of efficiency, this little dose of aural amphetamine clocks in at only 28 minutes, so when The Chats tell you to “GET FUCKED”, you’ll have time to do it over and over again.

Bandcamp

PURIFICATION – ‘DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER’

Portland, Oregon’s Purification, with their third full length in as many years. Deeply morose, darkly florid psychedelic Doom of a dogmatic yet experimental mode, moldering in a musty stoic trip-state, drawing influence from many corners of psychedelic Rock, Traditional Doom and Old Skul Heavy Metal.  A sort of drugging and muddling of Trad Doom revivalist sounds like Reverend Bizarre, adding shades of psychotic purple and infernal green to an already lurid palette of sound and blurring the audial edges with mouldy production fuzz und drang phantasia  –  foreboding and prosaic psychedelic Doom dripping with pungent atmosphere. Stately Guitars shimmering and swimming, unfurling prideful/mournful melodies and some smoker leads, astride a rather separated armoured Bass low end and dripping slow Drums full of swing interlocking wickedly, topped with demented vocal dramas of the insane clergy, fervent and possessed with the rapture of antitheist irreverence. ‘Dwell In The House Of The Lord Forever’ plays a bit like an EP, soaked as it is with ambient passages and instrumental dirges, and features two exceptional covers from the deep recesses of obscure Doom. This one’s still available on CD from their bandcamp page – dig it, sinner.

Bandcamp

DAVID WALLRAF – ‘НЕТ ВОЙНЕ’

Radiation sickness in aural form from Hamburg-based sound-mangler and theorist David Wallraf who lands on Deal’s increasingly vital Brachliegen Tapes with an incendiary 3-track EP as uncompromising as it is imperative. ‘Нет Войне’ (literally, ‘No War’) is the horror of the age made manifest; politicised post-industrial dub that counters oppression by institution with oppression by sound in incisively stringent fashion. Opening track ‘I Hate My Government And I Hate Your Government’ (hearts are worn firmly on sleeves here) sets an ear-razing precedent, churning up the tarmac on the road to dissolution like a damaged, post-apocalyptic reincarnation of My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Slow’. Woody beats thwack against buttresses of excoriating bass-riven noise until the pressure becomes unsustainable and all falls eerily silent. ‘Congagement’ is just as steely yet more surreptitious in its approach to sedition, but Wallraf reserves his most withering attack for ‘Всё Идёт По Плану’, almost 10 minutes of acrid, dub-diseased discord rent asunder by a monstrous doom-laden bassline that sidewinds through the scree like a starving anaconda with a caiman in its sights. With all proceeds going to Nash Svit, a Ukrainian LGBTQ advocacy group, this is one righteous racket you simply cannot do without. Grievously good.

Brachliegen Tapes