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In a continuing attempt to cover more music that would all-too-oft slip through the very large cracks, we slumbering scribes are making an effort to publish short reviews at a greater frequency, thereby shining our very small spotlight on more cool shit. Here's a mini-review of a new single from the one and only Cult Leader.
Written by: The Administrator
A Cult Leader drop is always cause for celebration 'round these parts. I was a massive fan of 2018's A Patient Man, and was quite pleased with 2022's Gather & Mourn split EP with END as well, particularly the braying and discordant "Ataraxis." I can only hope the release of this latest single, "Learn To Love It," is a harbinger of another album to come. The fact that it originates from the Gather & Mourn sessions may imply that it is a genuine standalone, but any case, I'll happily throw this single track on repeat. It's already done a serious number on my workout playlist. From the sheer ferocity to the thematic focus on catharsis and religious oppression, "Learn To Love It" is a classic Cult Leader track through and through. We're talking churning and crusty hardcore. Bestial and furious. The riffs are bludgeoning yet bleak. Anthony Lucero's howled roar is truly animalistic, verging on rabid. In the world of loud and raging music, he's one of my favorite vocalists by benefit of that mighty feral gravitas. At a succinct two minutes and fifteen seconds, "Learn To Love It" is a brisk affair. My favorite part of the track is the fake-out outro, which erupts magnificently after a false conclusion and second of silence. It is not as if the track is subtle up until that particular moment, but Cult Leader nevertheless drive home the point with an admirable and fearsome fury. Check out the single below, and find it on bandcamp here! Cult Leader - "Learn To Love It" was released March 29th, 2024 via Deathwish.
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Editor’s note: this review was originally published in 2020 at a now-defunct site for a collaborative Best Albums of the 2010’s Retrospective. As the internet has since swallowed said site, my retrospective review now appears here in lightly edited form.
Written by: The Administrator
When initially considering what album I wanted to draw into the light for an End of Decade retrospective, the sheer volume of possibilities sent me into a bit of a frenetic journey through a decade of heavy music. Let’s face it: in ten years, the metalverse spawned an unbelievable bounty. But, eventually, the only true option became clear. For such an event I needed to focus on an album that, beyond being excellent in its own right, somehow personally set the stage for the decade as a whole. That, for me, is Agrimonia’s Rites of Separation. This album singlehandedly determined the course of my music listening experience from 2013 to the present. “Talion,” the album’s first track, begins with a piercing riff, a crystal-clear clarion call. It serves as an assertive hook, cutting through the noise before the noise even begins. This is the track that pulled me into a world of harsh vocals and aggressive atmosphere, a world of deliberate and progressive songcraft. Because Agrimonia are so genre fluid, existing betwixt black metal, sludge, post-metal, post-hardcore, crust punk, death metal, and doom, it is remarkably easy to approach their sound without any particular expectations. As such, a young acolyte to heavy music gained perspective without necessarily committing to the trappings of a particular niche. 
Written by: The Administrator
Without fail, I get excited when a project bearing the Demo I moniker hits the ol' inbox. There is something so intrinsically intoxicating about the prospect of band's first foray, something utterly salivatory about the promise of raw potential. Add a "blackened crust" descriptor and you know I'm slamming in the earbuds with great haste. While Compress' first outing starts on a somber tone, opener "A Setting Sun" moves towards some significantly more furious environs. There's a jarring sense of movement that Compress bring to the table across these three tracks--and I mean this, of course, in the most complimentary sense of the term.
This year, in an attempt to cover more music that would all-too-oft slip through the very large cracks, we're trying something new and novel around these parts. Namely, we're gonna actually publish the little one-off reviews that were previously (and arbitrarily) deemed too short for publication. In that spirit, here's a mini-review of a debut EP that deserves a little attention. Without further ado:
Written by: The Administrator
Industrial metal seldom breaches our shoddy defenses here at the Sleeping Village. That's not, I must note, because we doesn't enjoy the genre, but rather because we very rarely see review requests from bands flying the industrial banner. A real damn shame. Melbourne's own Knife, however, proudly exude the grinding, percussive, mechanical, and pulsating 90's-era aggression of acts such as Nailbomb and the seemingly immortal GodFlesh. Notably, they infuse the five tracks contained within Wound's confines with a distinctly crusty vibe and highly emotive discernible-but-visceral harsh vocals. There's a tangible fury and sense of forward momentum across the breadth, and the instrumentation itself avoids stagnation by indulging in a bone-crunching breakdown from time to time. Look to "Sinners" as a prime example of both extremes. As such, Knife successfully avoid feeling dated...while simultaneously recalling a distinct aesthetic era of industrial music. If you're looking to sample, mighty closer "Warmonger" is my favorite individual track, but realistically, the whole thing is A. quite short and B. definitely worth yer while. Wound is a brief but intense intro to this duo's sound, and while it is unfortunately over swiftly, it serves as an excellent appetizer. |
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