Sleeping Village Reviews
  • REVIEWS & PREMIERES
  • ARCHIVES
    • OLDE REVIEWS
    • OLDE INTERVIEWS
    • OLDE FEATURES
    • OLDE PREMIERES
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!

FRESH MEAT FRIDAY - July 17th, 2020

7/17/2020

0 Comments

 
Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s crumbling gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be--and have been--listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so! 
On the docket for today, July 17th, 2020:
Väki, Eremit, Entry, and deathnoisefrequency

Picture
Väki - Kuolleen Maan Omaksi ​
(Redefining Darkness Records)

The illustrious Redefining Darkness deals pretty exclusively in gritty and grimy death metal, so (on the rare occasion) when they dip their toes into blackened waters, you know the album/artist in question is exceedingly worthwhile. This is certainly the case for the Finnish Väki, who present a delicious brand of chaos-ridden black metal that recalls The Great Old Ones in its telltale complex frenzy. There's a distinct focus on oppressive atmosphere throughout, with little attention given to pleasing melodic or earwormy hooks--despite an admitted penchant for muscular riffage amidst the fray. This album is equally explosive and introspective, and every listen reveals an additional layer of complexity. A must for those in search of quality chaotic black metal...but perhaps not an album intended to entice newcomers into the darkness.

Find it on bandcamp here!

Picture
Eremit - Desert of Ghouls ​
(Transcending Obscurity)

Eremit--Germany's heaviest doom duo
--are swiftly becoming masters in their own right when it comes to delivering crushing-yet-atmospheric-sludge. Desert of Ghouls ​is a beast unto itself--easily their most ambitious and technically adept accomplishment yet. The behemothian bass tone is utterly sasquatchian. The drums are forceful and present. The compositions are dynamic and dexterous, at times reaching a near-hypnotic cadence. Sludge lives and dies by an ability to maintain interest, and here, Eremit's songwriting abilities clearly enhance the two tracks beyond the sum of their sonic parts. If you're looking to sample...I recommedn you just listen to the whole damn thing. "Beheading The Innumerous" is plodding and pummeling, whereas "City of Râsh-il-nûm" is more progressive and exploratory. Both are, I humbly submit, essential listening.

​Find it on bandcamp here!


Read More
0 Comments

FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: May 15th, 2020

5/15/2020

0 Comments

 
​Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so!

On the docket for today, May 15th, 2020:
 In The Company of Serpents, Devangelic, OKKULTOKRATI, and Vide/Witchbones

Picture
In The Company of Serpents - Lux  
(Self Released)

Now this. This is doom metal how I like it: an exercise in extremes. menacing yet delicate, dynamically light-footed yet seismically plodding, and utterly willing to throw genre convention out the window. From neo-folk acoustics to sludgy Neurosisian heft, In The Company of Serpents demonstrate a keen ability to shift expectations and apply nuance to a genre that all-too-oft relies entirely on the power of the riff. There's a gentle balance struck here between the lighter ambiance and the shadow-cast atmosphere that few bands are able to apply. Simply put, this is an engrossing album, likely to appeal to anyone who enjoys doom across the spectrum from thick sludge to esoteric psych.  Hence, I do gladly declare that Lux is the greatest album this week has to offer. 

​Find it on bandcamp here!

Picture
Devangelic - Ersetu
​(Willowtip Records)

Ersetu is the first album of its ilk to appear on Fresh Meat Friday--namely, an album that I don't understand, nor particularly enjoy. That said, there is something intriguing dwelling in these repetitive riffs, and I aim to spend the day figuring out what that quality is, hence the inclusion here. On the plus side: Devangelic has their brand of filthy rhythmic riffs delivered in rapid-fire succession down to a science. The downside? Those same incessant riffs are the entire meat of this album. There's no deviation, no dynamism in the songwriting--which ultimately leads to an utter lack of perception of one's place in the album. Track distinctions lose meaning. As such, Ersetu feels more like submersion into a brutal bath, an exercise in hypnosis by incessant march of sixteenths.

Find it on bandcamp here!


Read More
0 Comments

FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: April 16th, 2020

4/16/2020

0 Comments

 
Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so!
On the docket for today, April 16th, 2020:
At the Altar of the Horned God, FOES, REPTILIUM, and Funeral Leech

Picture
At the Altar of the Horned God - ​Through Doors of Moonlight (I, Voidhanger Records)

Ye olde I, Voidhanger specializes in delivering music that pushes boundaries and toes lines of obscurity and invention. In that regard, At the Altar of the Horned God certainly delivers: this album is a blackened avant-garde paganistic ode to the natural order. While the majority of the ritualistic soundscape blankets the listener with an odd meditative sensuality, a sharp vicious rage frequently shows teeth. Equal parts spiritual and menacing, Through Doors of Moonlight feels like a genuine journey--although it’s yet to be determined whether said journey leads into enlightenment...or through madness. Let me get back to you on that one; I’ve only listened to this horn’d beast once. Highly recommended for those of you who like a brand of black metal as experimental as it is organic.

Find 'em on bandcamp here!

Picture
FOES - American Violence
(Glacier Recordings)

Metallic hardcore? Not my typical genre o’ choice. But sometimes you just need an ass-kicking soundtrack, and so here we are, latest EP from OR’s hardest hardcore outfit  clutched in white-knuckled grasp. In short? These guys rip it up with elbow elbow-throwing zeal, laying down a potent mix of punishing deathy riffage and gritty hardcore swagger. Muted chugs throw down alongside breakneck percussion and the most furious vocal delivery of the week.
 FOES are not here to make friends, and, in the process, will likely end up gaining themselves some fans instead--after all, if there was ever a time to be fuckin’ furious, this is surely it.
American Violence succeeds because it wears its vitriolic intent on its ragged and punk-patch ridden sleeves. Check this one out.

Find 'em on bandcamp here!


Read More
0 Comments

VILLAGE CRYPT: Paara - Riitti

4/4/2020

0 Comments

 
Here at the Sleeping Village, we keep our most revered albums in....a very special place. Their time may have gone, but they are certainly not forgotten. As ye may have noted, we're trawling through many of our 2018 Album of the Year picks--many of which, I'm pleased to state, still hold up today. On the docket for today: my personal #3 album of '18. Read on! 

Picture
Like dissecting a joke, the process of over-analysis often kills the magic...but sometimes, it serves to enhance. The latter holds true here, & I can say with great satisfaction that over multiple attempts to pen this review, Paara’s Riitti has only tightened its delightful stranglehold. This is a masterfully crafted & richly emotive album, expressing folkish and blackened influences with a vibrancy eschewing mere imitation. Comparable to the glory days of Insomnium, or perhaps Moonsorrow if their songwriting wasn’t so, well, bland, each of these four tracks drives forward at natural gait without ever feeling overdone. This is particularly so in the case of intro track "Viimeinen virta"--the longest of the bunch, no less. A brave move with spectacular payoff. ​


Read More
0 Comments

FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: April 3rd, 2020

4/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so!
On the docket for today, April 3rd, 2020:
SKAM, Weed Demon, AARA, and Lucifer Star Machine 

Picture
SKAM - The Sound of Disease (Redefining Darkness Records)

“Anger” isn’t an unfamiliar term to us connoisseurs of the loud and heavy, nor to the bands who dwell in genres defined by explosive emotion. On Sounds of a Disease, Sweden’s own SKAM have found a way to hone anger into a purely belligerent form of explosive catharsis. Utilizing a potent blend of grindy death with d-beat punk ‘tude, this is a soundtrack to exorcise personal demons. Like unto chaos incarnate, the ridiculously swift-footed riffage skitters over powerful blasts and unhinged animalistic diatribes. When people talk about music as therapy, I don’t anticipate this being the first album on their mind--but for me, this short-n-visceral journey has been a lifesaver in recent days.

​$1 on Bandcamp, to boot!

Picture
Weed Demon - Crater Maker (Electric Valley Records)

When it came to naming their sophomoric album, these guys genuinely couldn’t get more accurate than “crater maker.” How so? Part of what allows Weed Demon to stand apart from the horde is a distinct emphasis on sheer heft. The most essential aspect of Weed Demon’s sound is the sheer crushing heaviness on display. Everything is massive, impactful, and oppressive by design. This latest effort, notably, aggressively toes that line between stoner-drenched doom and sludge, but also brings in some bluesy acoustics to even things out. Despite these occasional moments of levity, Crater Maker is dark, warm, fuzzy as hell--an embrace from slow-moving subterranean magma. If you love big riffs: definitely worth yer while. 

Get it on Bandcamp here!


Read More
0 Comments

    Welcome!

    We provide thoughtful reviews of music that is heavy, gloomy...and loud enough to wake us from slumber. Written by a highfalutin peasantry.

    What are ye

    looking for?

    All
    Acoustic
    Alt Metal
    Alt Rock
    Ambient
    Ancienthand
    Ancient Hand
    Atmospheric Black Metal
    Avant Garde
    Band Bio
    Band Bios
    Bandcamp Day
    Band Help
    Blackened Death Metal
    Blackened Doom
    Blackened Thrash
    Black Metal
    Black Sabbath
    Brutal Death Metal
    Chaotic Black Metal
    Charity
    Classic Rock
    Compilation
    Concept Album
    Cover Songs
    Crossover Thrash
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Folk
    Dark Metal
    Deathcore
    Death Doom
    Deathgrind
    Death Metal
    Depressive Black Metal
    Devin Townsend Project
    DIY
    Doom
    Doom Metal
    Dungeon Synth
    Epic Doom
    Epic Metal
    Experimental
    Experimental Electronic
    Extreme Metal
    Fresh Meat Friday
    Goregrind
    Gothic
    Gothic Metal
    Grind
    Grindcore
    Groove Metal
    Hardcore
    Hardcore Punk
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Grinder
    Heavy Metal
    Heavy Psych
    Industrial
    Let Go
    Loveloth
    Melodic Black Metal
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Metallic Hardcore
    Metal Reviews
    Music Video
    New Music
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Nwobhm
    Old School Death Metal
    On The Horizon
    Open The Coffers!
    Osdm
    Pop
    Pop Punk
    Post Metal
    Post-metal
    Post Rock
    Post-rock
    Power Metal
    Press Kits
    Proceeds Donated
    Progressive Death Metal
    Progressive Metal
    Psych Rock
    Punk
    Rap Metal
    Redefining Darkness
    Refusing To Let Go
    Release Day Roundup
    Retrospective
    Review Miniseries
    Rock
    Sabbath Sunday
    Samples
    Science
    Shoegaze
    Slam
    Sleeping Village Presents
    Sleeping Village Sampler
    Sludge
    Sludge Metal
    Speed Metal
    Spotify Playlist
    Stoner
    Stoner Metal
    Stoner Rock
    Submission Guidelines
    Symphonic Metal
    Techdeath
    Technical Death Metal
    The Voiceless Apparition
    Thrash
    Tips And Tricks
    Trad Metal
    Village Crypt
    Volt Thrower
    Weird

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • REVIEWS & PREMIERES
  • ARCHIVES
    • OLDE REVIEWS
    • OLDE INTERVIEWS
    • OLDE FEATURES
    • OLDE PREMIERES
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!