Lascowiec - Unbroken Spirit (2011)

Lascowiec: a Slavonic woodspirit who protects the animals of the forest, taking the form of a wolf riding atop another wolf.

Lascowiec: a band playing a style of cosmic black metal much indebted to the Russian Blazebirth Hall style (yet still maintaining its own identity).  If you're familiar with Angkor Vat, the band Lascowiec evolved out of, this is much of the same.  The drums are hollowed out and buried almost to the point of being subliminal.  The two guitars interlock, spiraling ever upwards, through misty clouds of ethereal synth (which are, thankfully, not overdone), forming a mystical bridge between the astral realm of eternal forms, and our profane world in which we must prove our worth to the ancients through conflict and triumph of will.  Only through the strife of battle can we achieve our spiritual ascension.

The band have put out a good number of releases on cassette and CD, of which this is probably the most solid.  They possibly have some NS ties so if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one.  (Or you could stop being such a prissy baby).  Their sound is simultaneously romantic and hateful, raw and atmospheric.  If you're into BBH, you'll want to check this out.  Their stuff that is still available for purchase is not too hard to find.  Not much else to say, really.

The will to resist (VBR)

Mamaleek - Kurdaitcha (2011)

Mamaleek are two anonymous brothers from San Francisco who play a mixture of black metal, jazz, and world music.  Kurdaitcha, their third album (whose name refers to the office of "ritual executioner" among some Australian Aboriginal peoples) has fewer jazz elements than their previous work, but is the most streamlined and easily listenable.

The shuffling electronic percussion at times sounds like, oddly enough, a cross between ritualistic drumming and witch house-y programming.  Throughout the course of this album you will encounter strangely trilling wind instruments (some type of flute?), sampled chanting in what sounds like German, blackened dungeon-scraping noise, and, during the anthemic highpoint of penultimate track "The White Marble Stone," rhythms slightly reminiscent of hip-hop.

Just an observation: the fuzzed out ending of "My Body Rock Long Fever" would sound right at home on My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, complete with a final loop that calls to mind "Touched"...

These are all disparate parts of Kurdaitcha, but as a whole there is really nothing to compare it to.  This album demands to be taken on its own terms.  Mamaleek are one of the most unique, curious bands I've had the pleasure of hearing.

One more note: to my knowledge I was the first person to realize (or at least the first to post on the internet about it) that all of Mamaleek's song titles are taken from old negro spirituals.  I don't really know what to make of that, but there it is.

Kurdaitcha is available as a pay-what-you-want download from the always superb Enemies List Home Recordings.

Or, you can get it as a direct download below:

Trance soul journeys to the realm of spirits (192).

Cendres - Ungeziefer (2007)

Cendres hail from France.  It is unknown who the members are and if they are involved in other bands.  Frankly, this matters very little.  This is their sole release to date: 5 songs and ~30 minutes of fascinating black metal.  "Ungeziefer" is, of course, that deliciously ambiguous word that Kafka used to describe the creature Gregor Samsa turns into.

The word 'hypnotic' is casually thrown around to describe any number of Burzum clones writing long, plodding compositions that go nowhere and ultimately leave no impression on the listener due to their extreme blandness.  Similarly, just about any idiot with a cheap microphone and even cheaper ideas can record a 'lo-fi' black metal cassette, obscuring his lack of creativity with layer upon layer of fuzz.

Cendres fall into no such traps.  On the surface, the songs do not seem like much.  They are repetitive and noisy, ugly and off-putting.  But make the effort to listen beneath the funereal fog of tape hiss and Ungeziefer will reward you.  Appreciating this album takes time, patience, and repeated listens.  Every so often, you will notice a flash of brilliance, a stretch of a few seconds evoking a sense of profound otherworldliness, buried deep beneath the murk.  It then disappears just as quickly as it arose.  You can't be sure if what you heard and felt was merely imagined, but its impression remains shackled in your mind.  It becomes increasingly clear that this tape is more than what it seems.  You will feel compelled to go back, to listen again, to try to find out what the hell is going on with this music.  That is Cendres' true hypnotic power.

I will refrain from revealing too many of Ungeziefer's secrets.  Its hidden meanings are that much more satisfying when they are stumbled upon on one's own.  But I will leave you with a place to start: endure the monotonous blasting of the second track, "Libération de l'âme," until its final third comes around.  Your initiation into Cendres' entrancing atmosphere begins there.

Listen closely (VBR).

P.S. If anyone has a copy of this tape that you would like to part with, please contact me.