OSR: June 20th, 2016
Let’s start this one with Dr. Zilog‘s Unknown Command. I’ve got to say that this one is much better than any of their previous albums. I knew the project with Vulgar Fractions, and it was pretty good for a while, but the gimmicky nature of it made it intolerable to me after only a few listens. Same goes for that other chiptune project, Unraveller. However, I feel that Unknown Command is much more a metal album than it tries to be a NES soundtrack.
Kel Valhaal – New Introductory Lectures on the System of Transcendental Qabala
That’s the new project of Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, most famous for being the brain behind the American black metal band Liturgy: Kel Valhaal. Borrowing the name from a song on “The Ark Work”, the latest of his other band’s albums (more on that later), it completely lets go of the black metal aesthetics in favour of a completely electronic soundscape, along with clean, monotonous vocals. While most of Liturgy’s work can be labeled as metal, The Ark Work did go into extremely experimental territory, abandoning harsh vocals and bringing in the sound of bells… lots of bells. Kel Valhaal has … Read more
Advanced Mathematics 1: Morse Code
I recently wrote an article, on Heavy Blog Is Heavy, about twelve-tone technique, dodecaphony, tone row system, whatever you want to call it (read it here). And while it was fun, I only could go so deep into theory, not to alienate the diversity of readers, each with their own proficiency in music theory. So, this exercise got me into gears and I now want to do more of this, and go as deep as I personally can, so I’m beginning the Advanced Mathematics series, where I’ll pick a topic that takes from both math and music and try … Read more
OSR: June 15th, 2016
You might want to stay, there’s a surprise inside…
But first of all, Pace House are releasing their new album… today! Forever Existing Place is somewhere between the chiller songs of CHON and TTNG. It’s on the mellow side of math rock, which retains almost none of what makes math rock math, but there’s still some display of musicianship, and the sonic characteristics of the genres are kept. It’s really good, especially for a relaxed listening session.