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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: Oct. 9th, 2020 Feat. Coastlands, Yatra, Legendarium, Slow Draw, & Dangerous Times for the Dead

10/3/2020

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On (most) Fridays, 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, Oct. 9th, 2020:
 Coastlands, Yatra, Legendarium, Slow Draw & 
Dangerous Times for the Dead

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Coastlands - Death
(
Translation Loss Records) 

​
The common concern with instrumental music is that an album will inevitably run out of things to say, and thus become... boring. That certainly isn't the case with the latest from Coastlands, an impressive post-metal/post-hardcore outfit from Portland OR. Death is a welcoming yet harrowing ride--similar, in ways, to Insect Ark's album from early this year, albeit a little more varied in the atmosphere department. In that sense, the constant shifting approach of Russian Circles might be a more apt comparison.. This is music designed to envelope the audience and carry them away on the emotive and sonic current, and it does so with apparent ease. If you're looking for an immersive album, this week's offering doesn't get better than Death.

​Find it on bandcamp here!


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Yatra - All Is Lost
(Grimoire Records)

Yatra is, dear readers, as Yatra 
does. For those of you not in the know, Yatra does good doom at a rate that is becoming a tad alarming--indeed, this is their second full-length of the year. This crew is characterized by an utterly sasquatchian tone and a penchant for throat-mangling vocal delivery, and All Is Lost is another feather in their increasingly flamboyant cap. That said, I do take minor issue with the monotony--by the back half, I found myself wishing for a little additional intrigue to shake things up. The established formula works well, but sometimes formulas become traps, and I'm excited to see Yatra branch outward and upward with their next release (which should be out in a couple months, assuming they keep up at the same impressive rate.)

​Find it on bandcamp here!



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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY...erm, SATURDAY: July 4th, 2020

7/2/2020

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Every Friday--in today's case, Saturday--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, July 4th, 2020: 
​Ancient Hand, Northern Crown
, Gramma Vedetta, and Pale Witch

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Ancient Hand - Best regards,
​(Independent Release)

If you follow our shenanigans on Instagram, you may be aware of (unsubstantiated) rumors that I have accepted a sizeable bribe in exchange for this review. Let me dispel said rumor thusly: I love Ancient Hand's body of work, and Best regards, is his best work yet by a significant margin. Moving away from dungeon synth roots and into increasingly experimentally turbulent waters, this album is a wholly heartfelt exploration of pain, anger, and inevitable catharsis. Sonically, Ancient Hand embraces a palette of heft and aggression, moving into the arenas of dark(er), ambient, boom-bappy hip-hop beats, industrial noise, and EDM. It's a dynamic approach, and one that oozes emotive results--from the hard-hitting "metacognition" and "ORAL," to the reflective Interludes I & II, the intent is clear--but yet remains a joy to experience. 


Find it at bandcamp here (for NYOP!)

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Northern Crown – In A Pallid Shadow
(Independent Release)

This album, I am pleased to report, has been quite the grower. Occupying a strange space between, the respective mid-eras of Candlemass and Kansas, In A Pallid Shadow takes the traditional epic doom template and amps it up with a significant prog-rock extravagance. One wouldn’t think that the flair of the former former would benefit from, well, the flair of the latter, but here, Northern Crown have found a delicate balance that works remarkably well. Besides the tasteful application of the standard Hammond fare, the vocals are powerful and emotive, and the songwriting, while certainly not trim or restrained, feels meaningful and well-considered throughout the (pleasingly short) breadth. All told, this is an excellent album—almost certainly a candidate for many a doom-laden year end list.

Find it at bandcamp here!
​



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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: May 22nd, 2020

5/22/2020

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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!  Note: there was a veritable horde of excellent music released today. As such, we tried to focus on some lesser-known artists for this edition. More reviews to follow in days to come!

On the docket for today, May 22nd, 2020:
Pile of Priests, Molder, Without Light, and Capra

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Pile of Priests - Pile of Priests​ 
(Extreme Metal Music)

That band name, right? That album artwork, right?! This looks like an absolute riot, and, thankfully, it sounds like one too. Pile of Priests play a gloriously theatrical brand of (alternately) thrashy and proggy death metal, with ample room for narrative. To their credit, these elements never conflict of clash--indeed, the narrative elements and progressive leanings, which might feel campy in lesser hands, lend the entire affair an oddly addicting charm. It takes guts to inject grunty riff-driven death metal with a soaring epic flair, but this self-titled beast handles the challenges...well, handily.

​Pile of Priests is, in sum, a fun and competent conglomerate of independent elements that make death metal enjoyable. This particular scribe shall certainly be listening in weeks (and months) to come.


​Find it on bandcamp here!


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Molder - Vanished Cadavers
(Rotted Life Records*)

Speakin' of death metal, it's time for one of the underground's hottest acts in OSDM entertain-ment. If you've been following us for a while, you'll know that we Villagers are big fans of Molder's cadaver-licking style of death metal barbarity. As such,  the release of the stellar Vanished Cadavers is a cause for much joy and celebration. This is everything I had hoped--big riffs, meaty production, vicious vocal onslaught, and a generally. This album, notably, employs a slightly thrashier edge than what we've seen before, as well as a clearer approach to rapid-fire composition. Fans of Autopsy rejoice. While it ain't fresh, Molder represents the concentrated form of everything we underground and old school death metal fans love about the genre trappings. They are, undoubtedly, going places. (*Also seeing release on Goatthrone  and Headsplit.)

Find it on bandcamp here!


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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: April 16th, 2020

4/16/2020

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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

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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!

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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!


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VILLAGE CRYPT: Novembers Doom - Of Sculpted Ivy and Stone Flowers

4/9/2020

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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. Today's pick: another one of  The Voiceless Apparition's all-time favorites. Read on! ​

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Written by: The Voiceless Apparition

​
Hello everyone. Here is part II of my retrospective review series. Today I'm going to be reviewing the second studio album from Chicago dark metal pioneers Novembers Doom. Entitled Of Sculpted Ivy and Stone Flowers, this album was released on May 25th, 1999. This album marks a huge shift in the band's sound compared to their debut album, as they almost completely shed their death/doom bruteness (not entirely) and went instead for a more melancholy and melodic gothic metal sound. 

The album begins on a melancholic note, as "With Rue and Fire" is a hauntingly painful song. Drowning in despair and regret, this song pulls at your heartstrings. With such heartbreaking lyrics like: "In some sick way, I enjoy my pain/It always seems to indulge me," you can't help but feel for vocalist Paul Kuhr as he belts out growls with such agony and conviction. "The Jealous Sun" picks up the pace a little bit, albeit with dynamic and mood shifts. I really liked the choice of layering the growls and clean vocals together in the first verse, it gives it more of an epic feeling to it. Major praise needs to be given to guitarist Eric Burnley as his choice of chords and melodies is fantastic. Towards the 4:00 mark we segue into a beautiful section of gorgeous clean guitars and the amazing vocals of Cathy Jo Hejna. ​


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