Waves And Particles...

Ak'chamel - Transmissions from Boshqa (2016)

We last heard from Ak'chamel back in 2015 with their quick album The Man Who Drank God.  Impressions were pretty favorable, as the band expressed themselves in interesting and uncommon ways, and to be honest, I've kind of been wondering what they'd been up to.  I'm glad to receive signs of life with their new album, Transmissions from Boshqa, which again keeps tracks on the short side, though they break the three-minute mark more than a couple of times on this go-round.

The music maintains the band's intriguingly alien nature, not just from the eastern/aboriginal modes and usage of instruments beyond the guitar/bass/drums staples, but also thanks to the semi-lo-fi production and its strange meshing of smooth edges with strange head-space. The very acoustics are put to work in the efforts to unsettle listeners and guide them into the music's captivation, and the album as a whole has something of a hypnotic effect that made it difficult to analyze it for reviewing instead of just going along for the ride.

Like Ak'chamel's last release, this one's available on cassette, this time through the Artetetra label. It's certainly not an album for everyone (thank goodness), but those who are open to some unusual flavors in their music for bad times should be able to get some stirring stimulus out of it.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Have A Nice Life, Mamaleek, Nurse With Wound, Opium Warlords, Wyatt E.

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Ak'chamel - Spirit Radio (320 kbps)

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Somewhere Out In Space...

Menimals - Menimals (2016)
 

In my reviews, I often talk about how vital it is for bands to bring something new to the table with their music - or at least, put their own spin on old ideas.  Of all the albums I've reviewed for The Burning Beard, I've never come across one that truly creates its own unique musical climate quite like Menimals' self-titled album.  Hailing from Italy, Menimals craft a hazy, hypnotic musical waft of smoke that invokes psych, jazz and raga more than doom or heavy rock.

"In This Unforgiving Heat" opens the album with subtly undulating double bass and restrained, workmanlike drums that tether a dreamy lead wind instrument from flying off into space.  "Dodecahedrum, The Window Sphere" brings rasping, half-sung, half-intoned vocals into the mix.  The song's tempo ebbs and flows throughout the track, and everything adds together to create a truly atmospheric and engaging song.

With "Tetrahedron", Menimals finally let themselves go and explode off into the ether with a seven-minute epic that is simultaneously memorable and involving, whilst still being subtle enough to wash over the listener in waves.  With this self-titled debut, Menimals have crafted an album that takes influence from jazz, avant-garde rock, and even ambient music to create a record that has a place in avant-garde lineage - despite largely eschewing influence in favour of genuine individuality.  The album, by virtue of its sheer uniquity, is not for everyone.  However, it is an album that earns a hearty recommendation from me for its sheer originality.

~ Martin

For Fans Of; Coil, Faust, Nurse With Wound, Einstürzende Neubauten, Current 93

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Menimals - In This Unforgiving Heat (320kbps)

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Burning Bright...

DrAlienSmith - Phosphorus EP (2015)

Coming out a year after DrAlienSmith's first EP, Phosphorus features five tracks blending doom, industrial, heavy psych, and a spice rack of other influences for a quick but admirably experimental journey.  With an ability to write engaging material in both slow crawls and more animated material, DAS hits a good balance between the two.  Right now, my favorite piece is the title track, with its controlled moodiness and how it develops that quality, and while there's enjoyment to be had in that, I found myself wanting the wildness to go further, by letting the feedback have a stronger outlet or just cranking up the volume.
It's an EP that rewards close listening to the details, though, with what feels like an obscured outer-space story shaping its instrumental pieces (although that could just be the NASA cover art working its magic).  The years of mixing-board experience held by Al Smith (the man behind the alien) gives the album a great sense of textures and frequency-management (not always dominating the material, but ever-present), while the spikes of harder/more guitar-based punch are used sparingly enough to retain impact and strong contrast.  Cool stuff, worth checking in on for fans of dark & heavy music looking for something out of the ordinary.
~ Gabriel

For Fans Of;    Bill Laswell, Chord, Factrix, The Sleepers, Sunwølf

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DrAlienSmith - Lynchpin (320 kbps)

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Intravenous Doom...

Druglord ~ Enter Venus (2014)

There's no accounting for taste. Hell, as I write this I'm actually knocking back cinnamon vodka with gold flakes floating in it (screw you, I'm out of Wild Turkey). But we do all have a friend or two who you can completely rely on when it comes to recommendations. Thankfully I'm blessed with at least five; Frank, Niels, Rich (Speedowax records), Dan (Easyrider Records) and good ol' Steve (STB Records). If any of these chaps point something out to me I know they're onto a winner. So last year when the latter dropped me a line to say he'd be putting out Druglord's second album and I should check out their first release, Motherfucker Rising, I knew it was advise I'd do well to adhere to. Naturally I did, and a matter of minutes latter I was throwing money at the band in return for a signed LP, a shirt and various other odds and ends. So imagine my face when I get home yesterday to an early copy of this, Druglord's mighty new album Enter Venus, on absolutely beautiful splattered vinyl.
Now, I know not all of you will be too familiar with this Virginia trio but to be quite frank if you're not, you're fucking up. Druglord are to music what Salvador Dali was to landscape artworks - fucking mental... and yet entirely awe inspiring. Best described as kinda like Windhand performing the best of Saint Vitus while under the influence of a heroic dose of mushrooms... if you can imagine what that would ultimately result in? Although I would advise you right now, not slap this album on while tripping yourself. It's so dark, down tuned and crushing that it kinda feels like you're being dragged to the very bowels of hell. Not an advisable route to travel down while opening the doors of perception.
So yup, Enter Venus, as you've probably already assumed, is a whole big bunch of terrifying. It pushes boundaries and stretches itself pretty widely over the whole doom genre that lines become blurred and demons abound. From your usual and expected fuzz laden, gut wrenching licks to it's almost schizophrenic (at times) composition, it strives to be both familiar and unorthodox, and you know what? It does just that. There's a beautiful chaotic elegance to it that I've just not experienced before. At least not all amalgamated in one place. It has that psychotic creepiness of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, sans the break-neck speed. The raw aggression of Weedeater, minus quite as much sludge, and all the reverb and sorrowful tone of Sleep, but without... Well, nothing really. Just all the reverb and sorrowful tone of Sleep. Maybe with just an angrier approach. It truly epitomises all thats dirty, blood-curdling and arcane about the genre... and I bloody love it.

Having initially suffered a minor set back due to the covers being damaged in shipping it will be up for preorder on in a variety of vinyl based forms. 115 'standard' copies, 100 for the euro market, and Obi press limited to 87 but most notably will undoubtably the diehard version, limited to just 48 copies and complete with a stamped and screen printed box and complete with a shed load of extras.
Goddamn, you guys are spoilt!
~ Jay

For Fans Of; Moss, Sourvein, Eagle Twin, Major Kong, In The Company Of Serpents

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