San Francisco’s Lotus Thief have been bringing their particular brand of mystical, historical melange of doom, space, prog and post rock for a while now, with each release further settling into a dark corner of atmospheric post rock and metal. With Oresteia, the band feels more expansive than ever, even as that expansiveness leads to the songs losing some impact along the way. Continue reading
No meandering preamble. Too much of 2019 was utter shit, and music was the salve to my battered and bruised soul. Last week I touted 19 albums that helped me cope with the personal and global tragedies that the year brought, and this week brings another 15 records that, while not formally ranked all can on a given day act as my #26, or even my #1. Don’t try to find reason or logic in a list. Not only is it all subjective, but it’s all subject to change on a dime, on a given moment when the axis spins and tries to buck you off into orbit, and all you can cling to is the fragment of a melody, a riff or a lyric that tethers you to the world, keeps you grounded and ready for another day.
Enough. Let’s do this. Continue reading
Guernsey based doom metallers Byzanthian Neckbeard are geared for a busy last half of 2019, releasing an EP, Extinction, this week and a full length, Minaton, in November. Now, relegating them to strictly doom is a bit of a disservice since their intensity is closer to death metal and they have a keen sense of sludge but, doom is indeed the largest part of their music. However, either way you slice it, they destroy. Just their name conjures images of brutes pillaging entire civilizations and they certainly deliver, musically. Just ahead of this week’s EP we had the chance to get behind the scenes and pick them for info so stick around to see how it went down with all members’ hands on deck. Once you do that, head over to their Bandcamp page and go crazy, links within. Continue reading
It is a fairly common experience for people (read: me) getting into meditation for the first time to experience difficulty in quieting one’s mind. Repeating mantras over and over can sometimes be helpful , because that repetition gives the conscious mind a concrete task to focus on, which frees up the rest of the person. The language used can change based on the tradition it’s found in of course, but the idea of using repetition to lower defenses and experience something wonderful is all I have been able to think about as I continue to sit with Big|Brave‘s new album, A Gaze Among Them. Continue reading
