Session X: [Underground haul - Aesthetic Death + Hypnotic Dirge Records]

And the party continues this time with Aesthetic Death and Hypnotic Dirge Records. So, what have we here then... Let's hit it off with Goatpsalm's self-styled musical ode to Babylonian mythology - Erset La Tari. An offering predominantly characterised by its cavernous / ritualistic atmospherics stemming both from their black metal rootings as well as ambient and industrial. The fundamental component here is the confluence of both the varied guitar work (including lingering drones, tremolo-picked passages and palm-muted aggression) and the  richly evocative synths. I would summarise it as an ethereal sojourn through dark archaic rites and forgotten Middle Eastern lore and perhaps not as oppressive as one might've anticipated. Moving away now from ancient Mesopotamia and towards the swampy, fetid habitat of Wreck of the Hesperus. Gnarly sludge/funeral doom with a sepulchral atmosphere you could choke on. What's not to love about Light Rotting Out's delightfully inspired cacophony? It only takes a few minutes to realise that behind its rhythmical tribalism and the bare-bones'n'relentless riffery lies a terrifying ingenuity that courses through every note - like poison. A primal, unwelcoming creation which is definitely some of the best doom I've heard of late. Finally, breaking away from our solidly metal orbit we find ourselves drifting through the eerie void of interstellar space with this split release by Dust to Dearth and Lysergene - The Death of the Sun. Much like the typical narrative of a sci-fi disaster film whereby a suicide mission is dispatched to save our dying star, there is a thick vibe of an imminent, inescapable doom intespersed with flashes of both hope and awe. Dust to Dearth relies mostly on influences from ambient, electronic music as well as, more subtly, the rich ethereal tapestry of Dead can Dance. Lysergene's MO is darkwave and electronica - their kinesthetically engaging inoculation of EBM on Critical Mass was a fine listening experience indeed. Things here are rather different: the whole setup now is completely devoid of rhythmic structure and a lot more ambient and expansive. A quality effort which what's more has the seal of approval of Esoteric's own Greg Chandler. Onwards now to new shores and frostbitten Canadian Hypnotic Dirge Records with Netra's Mélancolie urbaine. As evidenced by the glaring gastronomical mismatch of let's say fried chicken and marmalade it would seem that there are some things that are just not meant to be mixed together. Black metal and trip/hop should belong to that particular category - right? Thankfully there's enough creative drive here to sustain a solid musical delivery with sample-beats layered under depressive trebly guitar driven thematics. The content, both lyrically and sonically, draws inspiration from the everyday weltschmerz in our western Babylon which is quite absorbing and well-situated in reality as opposed to the vast majority of black metal acts. Its tiring over-reliance on movie samples and overall unconvincing vocal presence notwithstanding you still gotta love the daring intransigence of such releases.

.eof