Sleeping Village Reviews
  • REVIEWS
  • PREMIERES
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
  • LABEL
  • WRITERS
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!

PEASANTRY'S PICKS: Grindcore (Feat. Bandit, Kaya, Kuroi Jikai, & Gendo Ikari)

11/13/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Izzy

​
So, for a little bit now I've been doing weekly retrospective reviews on older albums I enjoy a lot, with the main intent being for you as the reader to find new albums you may enjoy, and for me as the writer to get to talk about albums I may never have gotten to otherwise
But of course, as I am human and not a machine, sometimes I find it difficult deciding on what to review, twiddling my thumbs and trying out various rough draft ideas until eventually that fateful Friday creeps up on me and I’m left still unsure what to do. This was my response to my (admittedly self-created) new problem.

Peasantry’s Picks! This will be an occasional retrospective format I use for talking about a small, themed selection of EPs or short albums that would be nigh-impossible to review in the format of a full-length dissection, but when paired together offer a lovely little charcuterie of releases to sample and taste. And in the last minute spirit of this, I decided I wanted to talk about a handful of almost absurdly short grindcore EPs that, despite their unimposing runtime, I can’t resist coming back to.  Like musical junk food, these EPs and albums are addicting, almost impossible to play just once. 
Each project presented is 10 minutes or less in length, and some as short as 5 minutes! So if you enjoy grindcore, I see absolutely no reason not to do yourself a favour and check them out.


Read More
0 Comments

PRURIENT - Casablanca Flamethrower (Review)

11/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Izzy

In the world of extreme music, Prurient should be a household name by now. Dominick Fernow is an exceptionally prolific artist within the ecosystem of noise and industrial, and ever since what I would consider his magnum opus, Frozen Niagara Falls, was released on Profound Lore Records, his crossover amongst metal fans I’d say is bigger than ever.
​

Even for myself, long before I dove headfirst into the world of noise music, Prurient was a name I recognized, and after taking the plunge into his intimidatingly vast discography I came out with a deep love for his work. Even fifteen albums in and I’ve barely scratched the surface, but I find so much joy in trudging through his diverse work, and every album is something different and new. Dominick is many things, but a one-trick-pony is not one of them.


Read More
0 Comments

HEALTH - DISCO4 :: PART I (Review)

10/27/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Continuous Thunder

For Los Angeles industrial noise rock band HEALTH, the album cycle has two distinct parts. First, there’s the studio album with all-new material, and typically it will be different from the last one, but a lot of the major HEALTH components will be there. Then, a year or so after the studio album comes another album with the word “disco” in the title. This will have remixes of the tracks from the studio album provided by other artists such as Crystal Castles, Toxic Avenger, Tobacco, and Purity Ring. The band followed this pattern for three albums, but for the fourth cycle, they decided to change it up. Rather than remixes, DISCO4 contains entirely new tracks created in collaboration with all the contributing artists.


Read More
0 Comments

DUMA - Duma (Review)

10/15/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Izzy

Chances are, unless you’re a big nerd like me who regularly seeks out weird bands in weird genres like cybergrind and power electronics, you’ve probably never heard of this band in question. But for a blossoming noisehead like myself, albums like this are candy to me, meaning I absolutely love it and it’s probably not healthy. 

The description-defying Kenyan noise duo Duma have only been with us a short while, officially forming in 2019. Their eponymous first offering to the world is 2020's best industrial-related release at time of writing, an opinion I expect to continue holding through the rest of the year as I am thoroughly impressed by and cannot get enough of the dizzying blend of noise these two employ.


Read More
0 Comments

PYRRHON - Abscess Time (Review)

6/28/2020

0 Comments

 
We covered this album during last week's edition of Fresh Meat Friday...but Pyrrhon is far too significant of a band to gloss over with such egregious brevity. As such, our very own gibbously non-euclidean amalgamation--aka Loveloth the Omniscient--took the reins. Hence: enjoy this expanded review! - Ed. 

Picture
Written by: Loveloth

​
Three years ago, a more impressionable, less jaded Loveloth scoured the plains of the Interwebz in search of new, exciting music. One faithful day, I was doing the usual, which translated to me religiously reading Angry Metal Guy. Anyhow, here I am scrolling through and chillin' until I see this insane album cover. It features a mangled dog snarling, whose paw got stuck in a rusty iron trap. The beast has multiple wounds and is clearly malnourished. The surrounding area looks nice though as it's filled with leaves, but the dog and washed out color palette evokes a feeling of discomfort. Needless to say, my interest was piqued and one quick glance later I see the title. Pyrrhon, What Passes For Survival. The two r's in the band name were weird, sure, but I was not prepared what was to come.

You see, there is this guy named Kronos who writes for AMG, and he is known for his hot takes and penchant for the most extreme forms of metal. What I absolutely love about his style, apart from his vast vocabulary and superb phrasing, is how convincing his points always were. Sure, I would disagree with him, but his hot takes never felt cheap and that is pretty rare these days. But now: back to the epic, overlong intro.


Read More
0 Comments

FIRE-TOOLZ - Rainbow Bridge (Review)

5/14/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Continuous Thunder

I’m pulling something from the deep recesses of left field for you today. But when you’ve listened to as much music as I have, left field can provide welcome, refreshing, if sometimes puzzling breaks from the norm. (There’s a reason music critics praise experimental music so highly.) The harsh sounds of heavy metal’s more extreme sub-genres make them excellent sonic palettes for experimental artists. The best artists will recognize the similarities in different styles of music and bring them together, or they will contrast two very different genres that otherwise would never mix. The latter can be found in Fire-Toolz, who juxtaposes the clean, hazy, and nostalgic sounds of vaporwave with the harsh and oppressive sounds of black metal, noise, and other extreme genres.
​


Read More
0 Comments

BLACKLAB - Abyss (Review)

5/12/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Written by: Continuous Thunder

If you told me at the beginning of the year that one of the best sludge metal albums I’d hear in 2020 would come from two Japanese girls… I’d lean in closer and ask you to tell me more. I don’t know about you, but in my experience, when women are involved in making hard rock and metal on the doomy side of things, it tends to be pretty damn good more often than not. Some of my favorite albums from the past couple of years have been from bands like Windhand, Castle, and Electric Citizen. And this year we’ve already had great albums from Konvent and Lucifer. Well, get ready to add BlackLab to the pile.

As mentioned, BlackLab is a doom and sludge duo from Japan, made up of guitarist and vocalist Yuko Morino and drummer Chia Shiraishi. Abyss is their second album. Being a duo in the doom metal world requires some sonic creativity to get your sound sufficiently heavy and thick. I’m not sure what witchcraft Morino has employed, but her guitar tone is freakin’ huge! And these riffs aren’t just fuzzy, they’re downright filthy. We’re talking trve slvdge, Houdini-era Melvins levels of nasty. Along with down-tuning, a sub-octave can be heard filling out the bottom end. I don’t know if Morino dubbed in a bass guitar or if she split her signal into an octave pedal, but there is certainly no lack of low end here. She’s also the kind of guitarist who uses feedback to her advantage.


Read More
0 Comments

TEKARRA/MALAMADRE - Split

4/14/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Demonstrating adherence to a vague moral code, this particular villager will only review a split release if there's a fair balance between the parties involved. If a split is inherently weighted in an obvious fashion, it's simply not worth touting around a recommendation of the package as a whole. This is all to say that this (fairly mysterious) 2-track from Alberta's Tekarra and Mexico's Malamadre fits the bill quite well, thankyouverymuch. Both tracks here hold up, with graceful ease, its respective end of the bargain, and thus, a successful split is born. At risk of showing all my card, this fine little effort is a slow and exceedingly worthwhile burn. 

Tekarra starts things off with the massive Barbaric Tools, a simultaneously deathy and droning slab of feedback-ridden amp worship. As one might expect, this living mountain of a track clocks in at over ten minutes--a slow burn, but ruthlessly effective in it's delivery. Over the course, Tekarra unleashes anticipatory waves of distortion-heavy (and indeed centric) riffage. Supplication before the the amplifier is the name of the game, and if you're new to drone, Tekarra invites you in with a warm tone and welcome arms. 

Some quirky soloing and extended bouts of hypnotically intense feedback round out the guitar's delivery, lending the track a sense of character that all-too-oft goes amidst in the genre's more lackluster efforts. It's unique identity is only strengthened by the addition of crushingly heavy vocals, absolutely massive in stature. While everything remains audible, the production does lean towards the reedy side of the spectrum. In some sense, this gets the track a uniquely antiqued feel that, frankly, I've come to greatly enjoy over repeat rotations. For that gut-wrenching punch we've come to anticipate from modern doom, however, a little extra heft and girth will throw these guys in with the heavyweights. It's a great track regardless, and I'm interested to see what these potential heavyweights hit us with next.

.
But Tekarra aren't the only headliners here, and Malamadre, to their credit, follow up with great aplomb. Without the benefit of vocals, the appropriately entitled Cataclismo makes subtle, sparse, and incredibly effective use of drums to fill the  Less a mere necessity, each cymbal hit is a statement. By design, there is limited space for any real crescendo until the very end, and Malamadre actually get by quite well by simply offering minor changes to the riff structure and percussive patterns. That's not to say the back half doesn't make exceptionally great use of noisy elements to draw things towards a natural conclusion. The entire track feels wondrously organic--somehow alien and monstrous, when compared to Tekarra's more deliberate riffage. Appropriately enough, Malamadre state that their "slow and colossal riffs" are inspired by "legends of the great kaiju." Evident enough, and well executed. Cataclismo is supremely effective in building up an inevitable catharsis. 

Both of these tracks strike me with their ability to take the unexpected and use it productively against the listener. Given Tekarra's runtime, I was expecting a drawn out affair, and yet, not so much. These 10 minutes hardly feel like 5, and that is truly an accomplishment. Malamadre, to their credit, succeed enormously without vocals, utilizing well-conceived and exceedingly deliberate instrumentation to great effect. They work off each other quite well, each illustrating and inhabiting a distinct persona of doom metal's drone-ier side. As a split should.

Highly recommended!


Tekarra / Malamadre's split was released April 5th, and can be found at their respective bandcamps. 

0 Comments

THESE BEASTS - These Beasts

3/21/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Says guitarist and vocalist Chris Roo: “This world is fucked and I really just need to get shit out with my friends by my side." And in one fell swoop, Roo thusly describes the sound and the impact of the debut EP from Chicago’s own These Beast far more succinctly than I ever will. Forthcoming glowing recommendation aside, you just gotta appreciate a band that nails it in the artistic statement department. And there's no question: everyone can benefit from a good vent. The trouble, more often than not, is finding an audience willing to subject themselves to your grievances. In the case of These Beasts, it’s looking like this particular Villager shall henceforth lend an ear.

These Beasts don’t defy classification per se--but, as with most artists, describing them in terms of who they sound like versus what they sound like feels reductive. In any case, bear with me here. By kicking in the door with a certain mustardy ferocity, These Beasts take the forthright no-fucks-given experimentality of Botch or “Red Medicine”-era Fugazi, and batter, fairly mercilessly, against the distortion-ridden and axe-bashing aggression of Unsane or Whores. While the sonic differences are obvious, a general Torche-esque weirdness broods beneath, lending the entire affair a comfortable air of genre-melding nostalgia. ​​

Picture
It’s clearly noisey, but “noise rock” doesn’t quite do These Beasts any sort of justice, as punk-driven vivacity and doomy undercurrents pervade. For the former, look to the celebratory shouts of “Shirilla In a Tub.” In terms of the latter, melancholic standout “Shovel and Pick,” and the back half of “Impugn” come highly recommended. Churning and angular riffs billow and slice with serrated finesse, leaving ragged wounds with paradoxical precision. All the while the twin vocals are expulsive yet melodic, communing effectively with the guitar to maintain a consistently pugilistic front. Needless to say, the sheer intensity feels genuine throughout. Bludgeoning drums--with particularly excellence cymbal work, I might add--keep the affair appropriately grounded. The entire 6 track packages bristles with an untamed energy, but yet, it never feels overlong or undercooked. In other words, it’s clear to this attentive listener that these boys have a knack for revision.
​

And throughout, most importantly, this EP demonstrates a cathartic raw anger, a general recognizable fury. For those of you looking to sample, intro track “End of the Whip” (listen below) remains the prime example of this actualized intent. Do These Beasts incite anger, shouldering the burden of rabble-rousers? Not so much. Do they reflect our collective need and appreciation for catharsis? Absolutely. This ferocious EP comes highly recommended. 

These Beasts - These Beasts will be released 3/29 from Magnetic Eye Records 

These Beasts can be found prowling the internet pastures at: 
Bandcamp
Instagram
​Facebook
0 Comments

SWORD HORSE - Obstrinxerit

12/1/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
As a wordslinger here at the Sleeping Village, my vocabulary is my pride n’ joy. While the reviews and features published here are (admittedly) a little verbose, it is this academic rigor that defines us. Thus, as a thesaurus hound, a word with which I am unfamiliar is if nothing else, a challenge. A month back, Sword Horse (Albuquerque’s soon-to-be-favorite doom duo) threw down the gauntlet with a single bearing a wildly pedantic title, born of the Latin but otherwise lost on me. Needless to say: hook, line, sinker.

Today’s vocab means, loosely, that he/she will bind, tie, or otherwise fetter. What a fitting title for such a constricting track. Sword Horse don’t deal in doom of a relaxed nature. This music falls off the extreme end of the spectrum. Dark, violent, crushing--all are apt. Rather than riffs, Sword Horse writes motifs in distortion. Rather than intelligible vocals, a harsh cry emanates from the blackened void. While prior singles and their Affliction EP recall Primitive Man in a dedication to the purest form of sonic annihilation, Obstrinxerit taps into something even more visceral. On Affliction, the percussion in particular was a defining quality, allowing the sludgy atmosphere a structure. Here, that structure is pulverized, replaced by a free-flowing ambiance, an irresistible pull into a cave that is too small. In this case, Death doesn’t beckon, so much as leave you with no other option.

Obstrinxerit’s strongest suit is the vocals, which echo and billow, filling the space with remarkable aptitude. For a six minute track, it seems half its length, which is quite telling given the rejection of a typical template. With that said, should Sword Horse put out an album of this material, some additional features will likely be necessary to maintain the high standard of pummeling and constricting music they have created until this point. If you like your metal raw and visceral, this loquacious Villager highly recommends you give Obstrinxerit some of your hard-earned time.


Sword Horse can be found:
Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook
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
    2020
    420
    Acoustic
    Adam Paris
    Albums Of The Decade
    Albums Of The Year
    Alex Bringer Of Payne
    Alternative
    Alternative Metal
    Alternative Rock
    Alt Metal
    Alt Rock
    Ambient
    Ambient Metal
    Americana
    Ancienthand
    Ancient Hand
    AOR
    Aoty
    Apocalypse
    Art Rock
    Arzou
    Atmoblack
    Atmospheric
    Atmospheric Black Metal
    Atmospheric Doom
    Avant Garde
    Avant-garde
    Avant Garde Black Metal
    Avant Garde Death Metal
    Ballad
    Bane Ov Silence
    Baroque Metal
    Beaston Lane
    Beatdown
    Bestial
    Best Of The Year 2018
    Blackened
    Blackened Crust
    Blackened Death
    Blackened Death Metal
    Blackened Doom
    Blackened Grind
    Blackened Punk
    Blackened Sludge
    Blackened Thrash
    Blackgaze
    Blackie Skulless
    Black Metal
    Black N Roll
    Blastbeasts
    Blastbeats
    Blood Metal
    Blues
    Blues Metal
    Blues Rock
    Breakcore
    Breakdown
    British Metal
    Brutal
    Brutal Death Metal
    Cantina
    Captain's Chronicles
    Captains Chronicles
    Capt Graves
    Carlos
    Cavern Death Metal
    Chaotic Death Metal
    Chaotic Hardcore
    Chaotic Metal
    Chinese Metal
    Chiptune
    Christian Metal
    Classic Albums
    Classical Crossover
    Classic Metal
    Classic Rock
    Comic
    Compilation
    Continuous Thunder
    Core
    Cosmic
    Country
    Cover Songs
    Crossover
    Crossover Thrash
    Crust
    Crust Punk
    Cyberpunk
    Dark Ambient
    Dark Pop
    Dark Rock
    Dbeat
    D-beat
    Deathcore
    Death Doom
    Death-doom
    Deathgrind
    Death Metal
    Death Thrash
    Debut Album
    Demo
    Depressive Black Metal
    Desert Rock
    Digital Hardcore
    Djent
    Doom
    Doom Death
    Doomgaze
    Doom Metal
    Doom Punk
    Doomviolence
    Double Review
    Dreampop
    Dream Pop
    Drone
    Dsbm
    Dungeons And Dragons
    Dungeon Synth
    Ecological
    Editorial
    Edm
    Electronic
    Electronic Rock
    Emo
    EP
    Epic Doom
    Epic Metal
    EP's
    Experimental
    Experimental Electronic
    Extreme Metal
    Fantasy
    Favorite Music
    Finnish Metal
    Florida Death
    Folk
    Folk Black Metal
    Folk Metal
    Folk Rock
    Free Jazz
    Funeral Doom
    Fuzz
    Garage Rock
    German Heavy Metal
    Glam Metal
    Glam Rock
    Goregrind
    Goth
    Gothic
    Gothic Metal
    Goth Metal
    Goth Rock
    Grind
    Grindcore
    Groove Metal
    Grunge
    Guest Post
    Guest Review
    Hallucinatory Black Death Metal
    Hardcore
    Hardcore Doom
    Hardcore Punk
    Hardcore Sludge
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Grinder
    Heavy Metal
    Heavy Psych
    Heavy Rock
    Hip Hip
    Hip Hop
    Horror
    Hxc
    Icelandic
    Immigrant Core
    Immigrind
    Indie
    Indie Rock
    Indonesia
    Industrial
    Industrial Metal
    Industrial Rock
    Instrumental
    Italian Metal
    Izzy
    Japanese Metal
    Jazz
    Legends
    Lichtmensch
    Lord Hsrah
    Lovecraft
    Loveloth
    Mathcore
    Mathgrind
    Math Rock
    Melodeath
    Melodic Black Metal
    Melodic Death Metal
    Melodic Doom
    Melodic Metal
    Memorial
    Metal
    Metalcore
    Metalhead World
    Metallic Hardcore
    METAL MENAGERIE
    Metalreviews
    Metal Reviews
    Modern Rock
    Murder Metal
    Music Review
    Music Video
    Mystic
    Negative Reviews
    Neofolk
    New Age
    Nintendocore
    Noise
    Noise Rock
    Nu Metal
    NWOBHM
    NWOTHM
    Occult
    Occult Rock
    Old School Death Metal
    OSDM
    Ozzy Osbourne
    Pagan Metal
    Peasantrys Picks
    Pirate Metal
    Pop
    Pop Punk
    Pop Rock
    Portal
    Post Black Metal
    Post-black Metal
    Post-classical
    Post-genre
    Post Hardcore
    Post-hardcore
    Post Metal
    Post-metal
    Post Punk
    Post-punk
    Post Rock
    Post-rock
    Post Sludge
    Post-sludge
    Power Electronics
    Power Metal
    Powerviolence
    Prehistoric
    Preorder
    Prog Metal
    Progressive Black Metal
    Progressive Death Metal
    Progressive Metal
    Progressive Rock
    Prog Rock
    Psychedelic
    Psych Rock
    Punk
    Punk Rock
    Raw Black Metal
    Record Label
    Reese
    Relaxing
    Retro Rock
    Retrospective Review
    Review Off
    Review Redux
    Reviews
    Riffs
    Rock
    Rock N Roll
    Sabbath
    Sabbath Sunday
    Sadboi
    Saxophone
    Screamo
    Shane Thirteen
    Shoegaze
    Short Reviews
    Singer-songwriter
    Ska
    Skramz
    Slam
    Sleeping Village Records
    Sleeping Village Sampler
    Slipknot
    Sludge
    Sludge Metal
    Soliloquist
    Solo Act
    Sound Design
    Soundtrack
    Southern Rock
    Space Rock
    Speed Metal
    Split
    Statement Of Intent
    Stenchcore
    Stoner
    Stoner Doom
    Stoner Metal
    Stoner Rock
    Story Review
    Stream
    Surf Rock
    Swedeath
    Swedish Death Metal
    Symphonic Metal
    Synth
    Synthpop
    Talesofdeception
    Techdeath
    Tech Death
    Technical Death Metal
    Texas
    The Administrator
    The Voiceless Apparation
    Thevoicelessapparition
    The Voiceless Apparition
    The Voiceless Appartition
    Thrash
    Thrashcore
    Thrash Metal
    Threefoldtreatise
    Torture Doom
    Track-premiere
    Track Review
    Trad Doom
    Traditional Doom
    Traditional Metal
    Trad Metal
    Tribute Album
    True Doom
    Underground
    Usbm
    Vaporwave
    Vattghern
    Visual Review
    Volt Thrower
    War Metal
    Weird
    Zombie

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • REVIEWS
  • PREMIERES
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
  • LABEL
  • WRITERS
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!