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Bandcamp Day Donation Roundup

6/4/2020

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On a typical Friday, we Sleeping Villagers spend some time looking over new releases. Today, however, is not a typical Friday. Instead, we are opting to focus entirely on bands that are donating today's proceeds to bail funds, mutual aids, and other organizations working hard to bring positive change and assistance to black individuals and communities, who, (as you are hopefully all aware,) are disproportionately impacted by police brutality and racist institutional oppression. Bandcamp is not taking a cut of sales today, so all proceeds will go directly to artists--and, in turn, into the hands of organizations that can turn dollars into action. 

If you're looking to donate directly to a bail fund working to support jailed protesters, either in your city or in cities heavily impacted by police brutality and wanton arrest during this past week of demonstrations, here is a link. 


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VILLAGE CRYPT: Pungent Stench - For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh

4/25/2020

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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. As I noted before, the man, as you may have noticed, is on a goddamn roll with these retrospectives. Once you're done with this retrospective, check out some of these look-backs on underrated classics! 

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Written by: ​The Voiceless Apparition​

...And just like that, we are back. Hello everyone. Today we're gonna take a small detour from the black metal-leanings of the last few reviews and go for where my heart lies: death metal. I'm happy to say that today's review is the debut album from Austrian death metal gods Pungent Stench, and their album entitled For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh, released on April 9th, 1990, via Nuclear Blast Records. This is a monumental album in the growth of the European death metal scene, and while it may be still underappreciated compared to it's peers, this is a bonafide classic to the ones who adore it.

The album begins with really eerie intro before being led into "Extreme Deformity." This is the perfect way to start the album. Tasty and filthy grooves combine with pummeling death metal and grindcore brutality, but without sacrificing hooks and catchiness. A major facet of this album that I like quite a lot is the prominent use of bass on this album, courtesy of Jacek Perkowski. He gets time to shine with 2 glorious bass solos that mix well with everything on this song, but that's just a small aspect of this album as he is heard really well in the mix throughout the whole album. Track two, "Hypnos," is a bruiser. The groove sections on this song are glorious, they are simple and catchy but they still keep that energy and rawness to the song. Another fantastic tune on this fantastic album.


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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: April 24th, 2020

4/24/2020

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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 has been a veritable tsunami of high-quality releases today. This is but a fraction of the stuff you should check out. Reviews in forthcoming days will seek to fill the gaps! - Ed. 
On the docket for today, April 24th, 2020:
Marmalade Knives, Total Fucking Destruction, Sölicitör, and Lord Fowl (and Firelink!)

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Marmalade Knives  - Amnesia 
(Electric Valley Records)

​In a week with a particularly hard-hitting release that has absorbed much of my time (read: Ulcerate​,) something with a laid-back vibe has been necessary to maintain a certain balance. To this end, Marmalade Knives succeed enormously. On their debut, these Santa Cruzian purveyors of proggy psychedelia unleash an instrumental exploration of astral planes. In other words: this is music with which to relax to. Rather than grabbing your attention outright--with the exception of the driving "Xayante"--this album exists as a calming expedition through equally ethereal and funky waters. Notably, these guys demonstrate very strong technical and compositional proficiency. I'm excited to see how they expand their progressive tendencies!

Find 'em on bandcamp here!

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Total Fucking Destruction - ...to be alive at the end of the world​ (Translation Loss Records)

​You wouldn't think that a band with a name such as Total Fucking Destruction could possibly deal in subtlety. Sure, avant-garde isn't new to these guys, but this is a new level: ...to be alive at the end of the world is a delightfully nuanced, experimental, and well-balanced piece. While grind elements are still hanging around, serving as an anchor of sorts, a deliberately atmospheric and melancholic vibe asserts a certain dominance over the project as a whole. As such, typical grind brevity/aggression is well-represented in the meat of this TFD sandwich, but the title opener and 11-minute closer add a level of bleak flair that borders on indie-rock angst. A slow-burn vision of the apocalypse, if e'er the was. More like Total Fucking Destruction of expectations, am I right?

Find 'em on bandcamp here!


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FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: April 3rd, 2020

4/3/2020

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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 3rd, 2020:
SKAM, Weed Demon, AARA, and Lucifer Star Machine 

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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!

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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!


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VILLAGE CRYPT: Aborted - TerrorVision

3/24/2020

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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. On the today's docket is an album that, despite not receiving a whole lot of love from critics, ended up smacking 2018's Albums of the Year list in the face, coming in at a respectable #8. 

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And, if I had to do it all again, I suspect it would land in a very similar place. Hindsight is always 20/20, and in this case, I regret nothing. TerrorVision is a damn fun album--one that I still listen to frequently to this day.
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There are a lot of brutal death metal bands that bring visceral bombast to the operating table, but Aborted ply their trade with an indistinguishable and unmatched glee. It's absolutely disgusting. Across the breadth, individual tracks begin to lose distinct character, but rather form a series of brutal procedures, grinding and lacerating with bloody intent. Unlike many of their counterparts in the realm of goregrind and brutal death, who may wield scalpels like blunt force instruments, Aborted are relentlessly calculating in their technicality. That said, they never let flashiness take president over that which matters most--pummeling riffs, cranium-splitting drums, belligerent vocals, and straightforward songwriting. TerrorVison is fast, hefty, and, despite boasting a modern hone, is smeared with the accumulated viscera of a remarkably consistent career.


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