Frost and Fire

Cirith Ungol were a Californian metal band heavily influenced by fantasy literature-- they took their name from Shelob the spider's mountain passs from Lord of the Rings and every album cover featured artwork initially used for Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series. The band was steeped in a sound equal parts '70s hard/psych rock, Black Sabbath, and some forward-thinking ideas of their own. Although their debut record Frost and Fire is frequently hailed as the early-metal bees knee's, I much prefer this demo of theirs from 1979 as it features many of the songs that would eventually end up on the album in much rawer form. Also, the final version of the title track didn't have the trippy synth. There's some great guitar work, and Michael Flint's gnarly basstone really grinds it up. But what will truly make or break this demo for the listener are the wails of Tim Baker. By all accounts, the band were hardly popular back in the day, but Aesop from Squidlair pals Cosmic Hearse put it best-- "The term "cult band" here means that nobody gave a fuck when they were around, people even hated them, but now everyone claims to have been on board since the beginning."

So do yourself and the band some justice and lend your ears.

Download HERE.

Black Meddling

I gotta say it straight: I wasn't as impressed by Nachmystium's Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt 1 as most everyone else was. There are some cool moments, to be sure, but a bunch of the gang vocal choruses annoyingly remind me why I so quickly tired of Children of Bodom years ago. Also, the three-part "Seasick" dealy was an interesting concept, but a saxophone? That instrument can either make (see King Crimson's catalogue) or break (see Thin Lizzy's "Dancing in the Moonlight") a song, and while not as drastic as the latter example I think the instrument's inclusion was a lil' much.

But I digress. I'm especially picky about the black metal-influenced stuff I listen to; the "purer" bands of the genre aren't so much my thing because I can't get down with unprovoked hatred. But Nachtmystium's breakthrough 2006 record Instinct: Decay was totally awesome. Just raw enough in the production department, but not without charred melody, memorable riffing and totally trippy guitar sounds. I went right out and bought it as well as the Eulogy IV EP, which if I recall correctly is where the psychedelic sounds first began to seep in. I unfortunately never got to see them live on that tour, but through some searching I acquired a soundboard rip of their Seattle set while touring with Daughters and Pelican in 2006. FLAC converted to WAV converted to MP3. It was unlabeled so I did what I could-- only a few song remain that way. Enjoy, unless you're some kvlt dude who can't get past the fact that they're not bedroom BM anymore.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Oh My Thoth

I've been terrible about posting consistently, and being abroad for three weeks with no personal computer as of this coming Wednesday won't help much. As such, I'm posting as much content as I can muster.

Jex Thoth, formerly Totem, are a female-fronted doom metal band with who, beyond the Black Sabbath influence, incorporate a lot of '70s psychedelic spookiness into their sound. In addition to the slightly lo-fi production, certain songs are tastefully caked with macabre keyboard melodies, adding to the already enveloping atmosphere. Plenty of folky bits, too.

These sounds could get any fan of heavier rock or metal tunes stoked, but what rams everything home for a heady-heavy grand slam are the gorgeous, haunting vocal melodies emanating from the masterful throat of Jex Thoth herself.

Let's cut to the chase: I got my hands on their new debut self titled full-length album and listened to it four times in one day. It's that fantastic.

A dude on Youtube claims to have literally found this clip from a strange, occult UK movie on TV, hit record, and played Jex Thoth's "The Banishment" over it...and it's creepy and fun in the way old horror movies can be.

Jex Thoth MySpace