Trifonic - Emergence

       A duo of two brothers, Brian and Laurence Trifon, coming together in a mutual collaboration of musical talent reveals an album which enables you to simultaneously melt into dreamy comatose while being pricked up with goosebumps by music that is expressive and chillingly sleek.

       Trifonic's debut album, Emergence, provides the listener with a range of well executed ideas and examples of the two brothers' unique and varied uses of electronic styles, all wrapped up with an air tight level of production that only enhances the experience.

       Beginning with the title track, Emergence, the stage is set for an album that absorbs the listener in fluid arrangement.  The heavy use of soundscapes composed of ambient drone and instrumental ground chords provides a perfect backdrop to allow someone to feel utterly immersed.  As the album progresses, a feeling of floating through a singular train of thought occurs, undulating and vibrating the senses as one passes through various stages in it's progression.  The music in the foreground provides the pulsating waves that move my senses back and forth to different concepts and ideas.  Here and there, a particular motif or phrase made of either electric or acoustic components will dominate, and be guided through the fluid of ambient backdrop.

       Bearing all of this in mind, another aspect of the album comes into play as Broken, the second track, begins, being the deliciously appropriate and almost fated companionship between the flow of music and vocalist.  The smooth timbre and almost sedated expression of the female vocalist provides another splash of rich and warm color to the slowly shifting sea of tones and hues created by the music.

       With regards to subject matter and overall mood of the album, the music is aimed at providing an idea that is not necessarily downright dark in and of itself, but in a sense, solemn and introspective.  The music, using a great deal of down tempo and ethereal rhythms and chords, seems to lack any sort of pulse beyond the resting heart rate of an average human being, and throughout, provides a sensation of falling into a trance-like and almost sleepy stupor.

       The album seems to reach a climax with the track Sooner or Later, which takes on a somewhat invigorated pace compared to the previous songs leading up to it.  From the get go, a more solid and tangible song structure grasps your attention, being driven primarily by the stunning blend of vocal and instrumental talent that the listener has already been acquainted with.  Another interesting aspect to this song, which just makes it all the more memorable is the increased variation on vocal style.  A notable hopping around in register and the use of leaping voice breaks during the chorus give this song an entirely unique personality within the album.

       As a whole, Trifonic seems to hit their mark with Emergence.  The album's crisp sound production and arrangement provide an entrancing and enveloping experience that provides nothing less than a soothing catharsis.

- Dragon Zlayer

Death Grips - No Love Deep Web

It’s all suicide… 

The rap and hip-hop game has been consistently changing and fluctuating within recent years, and overall for the better. With artists such as Lil B, Kanye West (with his most recent album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), OFWGKTA (Tyler the Creator and company) and Danny Brown, new and intriguing changes to this style of music, along with a myriad of excellent releases, have set a landmark in the history and development of hip-hop music. However, one group stands out above the rest in ingenuity, gritty yet catchy lyricism and ingeniously original instrumental beats; this group is Death Grips. After releasing a mixtape in 2011 (Exmilitary) and an their first official album earlier this year (The Money Store), both to overwhelmingly positive critical acclaim, Death Grips releases yet another album for the year 2012 in their most recent musical venture, No Love Deep Web. The album was leaked via the members of Death Grips themselves on the midnight of October 1^st to a horde of fans, anxious in anticipation of the aural experience that No Love Deep Web could potentially provide them, wondering what fresh new hooks, catchy choruses, and hypnotically enticing beats the album could potentially hold.

               

Like every Death Grips album, No Love Deep Web starts out extremely strong, with the first few tracks being some of the most substantial on the album. Indeed, the opening track Come Up and Get Me is not only one of the finest on the album, but is also representative of the overall theme and feeling of the album: namely, suicidal paranoia. Several of the tracks on the album mention and deal with the theme of suicide and death, as can be most prominently heard in the track World of Dogs, with its dangerously catchy chorus of “It’s all suicide”. Come Up and Get Me is no exception to this theme, as the lyrics speak of a man poised on the edge of a rooftop and contemplating ending his own life, begging for someone to “come up and get him”. The emotion that lead rapper of Death Grips (MC Ride) puts into the track verges on feeling quite disturbing, as he shouts through increasingly hoarse vocals, his voice cracking in desperation as he yells out the troubled lyrics. Meanwhile in the background, an intimidating barrage of throbbing bass adds to the maddening paranoia that the lyrics create, setting the stage and mood for the rest of the album.

               

A  major factor in the popularity of Death Grips can be seen in how truly memorable and catchy the choruses to key tracks are, despite being almost completely indecipherable due to MC Ride’s shouting and relatively free-form style. However, hip-hop cannot rely on vocals alone, but is also strongly influenced by the beat behind the vocals, which Death Grips specializes in making unique, instantly recognizable and truly riveting. These styles can be seen in two remarkable tracks, Lil Boy and No Love. Lil Boy shines through via its vocal and lyrical qualities, in which MC Ride lures the listener in with what sounds like a more traditional style of rapping before desperately shouting his way back into the Death Grips style. Two gripping hooks within the track leave the song embedded within the listeners mind as a reminder of the captivating lyrical stylings that MC Ride can produce. However, what truly stands out most amongst both tracks is the electronic beats that take the songs from being average hip-hop and transform them into a truly outstanding Death Grips experience. Lil Boy varies in style from synthesized chime-like noises that seem oddly unsettling and isolated to dubstep reminiscent of UK electronic artist Skream, and many other soaring electronically produced noises in-between. However, the true instrumental gem lies within No Love, which makes full use of an industrial-like theme of soaring electronic drones that emit a foreboding and ominous presence that seem to come directly from some sort of demonic terror, overlapping an equally impactful chorus rapped with a distorted vocal effect. Together, these two tracks become definite highlights of No Love Deep Web.

               

Despite the positive qualities of the aforementioned tracks, the album itself does have several apparent downfalls, the first of which is its’ partial lack of musical variability, consistency in quality, and overall intrigue. Previous Death Grips albums all have a stellar quality to them that makes the music truly unique: Exmilitary was abound with all sorts of samples, from The Beastie Boys to Link Wray to Pink Floyd, and The Money Store was packed with original, fun, and addicting beats that made almost every track stand out. However, No Love Deep Web in part (though not entirely) falls flat in these areas, producing some tracks that are repetitive and some that are mostly unmemorable and seemingly uninspired (i.e. Hunger Games). Tracks such as these can seem rather bare or seemingly lacking at times, creating a minimalistic result that leaves much to be desired. This is not to say, however, that simple tracks can’t also be done well: take Stockton, for example, which feels very “plain” instrumentally as an overall track, yet has one of the catchiest choruses on the entire album. Another downside is that various parts of the album seem repetitive and electronic effects sound overused. The bass tracks that were so iconically dirty, bouncy and full of energy from The Money Store cannot as consistently be found on No Love Deep Web, leaving some of the bass on the album feeling stale and generic. In addition, the electronically produced noise of synthesized chimes initially sounds quite interesting and different, yet after appearing on no less than 3 tracks on the album, begins to sound uninspired and repetitive. More so than on previous albums, with particular tracks on No Love Deep Web it feels and sounds as though Death Grips was working with a rather limited palette musically.

               

With the inclusion of some amazing hit tracks and despite some rather bland misses, Death Grips manages yet again to produce another album in the genre of experimental/alternative hip-hop that stands far and above the rest of the hip-hop game. While the album did not necessarily feel as full of energy on all of its tracks as the previous albums put out by Death Grips, maybe this is due in part to the rather bleak and hopeless theme of suicide, death, and haunting paranoia that is apparent throughout the album. Given that these are very dark themes, perhaps the album seems more low-key because it itself is dark and brooding, ruminating on the depressing thoughts of a disintegrating psyche. Regardless of this fact however, the album managed to successfully produce unforgettable tracks that will no doubt stand side-by-side with other Death Grips key tracks such as Guillotine from Exmilitary and I’ve Seen Footage from The Money Store. Coupled with the wildly successful album The Money Store from earlier in the year, No Love Deep Web and Death Grips themselves will not soon be forgotten, as their importance in the history of the hip-hop scene becomes ever more apparent.

- Richard Cory

Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Light

For many of those in the metal community, David Gold’s (guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter) sudden death in a car crash was a tragic, sobering event. His band Woods of Ypres was prepping for a tour in support of what he evidently thought of as his best album yet, and the music that he poured his heart and soul into was only just beginning to see a larger audience under Earache records after nearly a decade of obscurity. Despite the tragedy of losing a truly unique heavy metal songwriter on the top of his game, with Woods 5 - Grey Skies and Electric Light, Gold managed to go out with a bang, releasing what many (including this listener) consider to be his swan song.

Woods of Ypres’ 5^th effort continues down a similar stylistic path to Woods 4: The Green Album, replacing almost all black metal elements with melodic doom metal in the vein of Katatonia and Warning. The clean vocals that largely dominate the album are mournful, expressive and largely pushed to the forefront of the mix. Gold bolsters a rich, commanding baritone that’s often double-tracked with a higher octave – it’s bold, booming and forceful, and an incredible improvement from previous albums. The vocals largely carry the central melodies of the songs, a departure from the riff-oriented songwriting approach of many other metal bands.

Opening track and album highlight Lightning and Snow marries melodic sensibility with startling amounts of muscle and energy; Gold sounds absolutely rejuvenated and inspired right from the start, and continues for an incredible 5-song winning streak right up until Adora Vivos. The latter is perhaps one of the band’s best songs; the verses blast away with purpose and vitality, and Gold’s vocals soar and shimmer over the life-affirming (and infectiously catchy) chorus. Despite the stellar songwriting, the production largely strips the guitars and drums of much heft – they sound thin and airy when they should be robust and muscular, especially given the vitality and energy of the aforementioned songs. Fortunately, this is only a miniscule gripe.

The album ends with two tender piano-driven ballads that swell with solemn grandiosity, and for 8 minutes you forget that you’ve been listening to a metal album this whole time. It’s a rare treat when a metal band can pull of a traditional ballad-like song with such heart, soul and sincerity as Finality and Alternate Ending, rather than simply being ham-fisted filler to break up the monotony. Both songs are heartbreaking perseverations on a lost love, and they’re exhausting to listen to – even if you’ve never really had your heart broken, you’re left feeling like you did.

A common criticism of Woods of Ypres singles out Gold’s nakedly blunt lyrics. Never one to muddle his message with complex metaphors, vague symbolisms and the like, Gold prefers to state the nature of his emotions with simple declarative statements. On paper, his blunt and unorthodox approach seems silly and simplistic, but when married to the memorable vocal melodies and Gold’s passionate delivery they become endearing very quickly, taking on a kind of awkward, yet achingly honest charm. By the end of the album it becomes hard to imagine it any other way.

Another thing to notice is the eerily prophetic nature of the lyrics when paired with Gold’s death right upon the album’s release. Gold’s choice of lyrical themes have always been dismal (check out Suicide Cargoload and Wet Leather off previous album Woods 4), but some lyrics seem oddly synchronistic considering his death in a car accident – on album closer Alternate Ending, Gold sings “back on the highway, under the moon, my final moments, still wondering about you…” I'm certain the similarity is a simple coincidence, but it does add another dimension of poignancy and poetry to the song, and the album as a whole. It’s a tearjerking reminder of the tragedy of losing such a unique, inspired musician. Both Finality and Alternate Ending paint a picture of a man spending his last moments thinking of the woman who broke his heart. One can only hope Gold was in a better state of mind in his final moments, and given the career-best piece of work and bona-fide doom metal classic that Woods 5 – Grey Skies and Electric Light came to be, I’d like to imagine he was.

“A moment of silence for the dead, but not one moment more. The dead are to be forgotten; we are here to be adored.”

Not on my watch, Mr. Gold. You may be gone, but your legacy remains. An artist like David Gold deserves to be remembered, and with Woods 5, may there never be silence when we think of him.

- Swede Potato

SleepResearch_Facility - Deep Frieze

                In an isolated arctic landscape, the frigid wind howls by. As snow continues to relentlessly fall, the temperature drops lower and lower, causing the heart to slow to a nearly fatal place, as the extremities begin to lose all sensation. As this lonesome, freezing death approaches, the true hopelessness of the situation finally sets in; a truly grim end is about to be met.

                Dark ambient music has its basis in being terrifying or bleak, creating an eerie atmosphere out of minimal sounds and noises that give one the impression of being lost, feeling hopeless, or dying. Often dark ambient albums are quite thematic, with themes ranging from an isolated outer space (Lustmord’s The Place Where the Black Stars Hang) to the miserableness of a desolate earth (Brain Eno’s Ambient 4: On Land), and all sorts of other morbid topics and tales of horror. Yet one album stands out as being one of the most thematically grandiose dark ambient pieces ever produced, and that album is Deep Frieze by SleepResearch_Facility. An album which conceptually represents being stranded and freezing to death in a harsh Arctic landscape, Deep Frieze successfully manages to surround the listener in a freezing miserableness that goes beyond a biting cold discomfort of the body, to a painful affect of the mind and soul.

               

SleepResearch_Facility is a musical project intended to place listeners into a deep unconsciousness via sleep-inducing ambient sounds, a concept which perfectly matches up with the hypothermic album at hand. As the body temperature drops increasingly lower, all internal organs begin to slow down as their functionality ceases, making the body slower and the mind sludgy, as tiredness begins to approach and the entire self peacefully slips into death. The album itself is a perfect musical representation of this freezing death, with hauntingly ethereal synthesizers that sound distanced from the listener, rumbling bass that vibrates the mind like a glacial earthquake, and effects representative of wind howling by and other natural noises. Each track name corresponds to coordinates for various locations in Antarctica, which is fitting in that each track sounds as though it could have been a field recording from anywhere in this icy desert, making the album all the more haunting and real.

               

Deep Frieze begins by making one feel completely isolated from all mankind and at the utter mercy of the cruel landscape, as the opening track (79®S 83®W) leads itself to sound as if it was just a natural recording the Antarctic (representative of the aforementioned field recording effect), complete with blizzard-like wind noises and a sort of ambient hollowness that one gets from being surrounded entirely by nature. The second track, 72®S 49®E, continues this eerie pattern of desolation by implementing the use of very distant-sounding electronic noises and ethereal synthesizers, which gives one an even greater feeling of being completely isolated from the world. This portion of the album is completely immersed in the icy theme, yet the rest of Deep Frieze introduces a new, more anxious-feeling tone.

Within the final three tracks on the album, one slowly begins to hear more unnatural noises, sounds which are most certainly made by a living life form, yet do not belong in the lonely landscape of the Antarctic. Distant noises can be heard that sound like a walkie-talkie beeping, or blips reminiscent of a radar-scanning system, giving the impression that perhaps the listener is not as isolated as previously imagined, but is rather in the presence of something very mysterious and haunting. This presents an entirely new theme to the album, one that produces large amounts of anxiousness and suspense at the thought that perhaps one is not as isolated as previously thought, and rather is in the unnerving company of someone, or something, else. This adds a slight element of horror to the album, a theme which is common amongst almost all dark ambient albums, and is indeed a defining theme of the genre itself. Towards the end of 86®S 115®W, very distant voices over some sort of speaker can be heard muttering indecipherable words, over sounds of static that sound like a radio attempting to pick up a signal. This extra element of suspenseful horror, with the possibility that someone is there watching you, observing you as life slowly slips away into the harsh icy landscape, is what makes Deep Frieze go above and beyond being a normal dark ambient album to a magnificently thematic audial experience.

               

While SleepResearch_Facility intended for this album to lull one into a deep, restful sleep, it instead ended up producing an album so foreboding, haunting and surreal that attempting to sleep while listening could possibly result in quite hellish nightmares. It’s difficult to find an album that presents its concepts in such a compelling way as Deep Frieze, the themes of which are as bleak as they are real, depressing as they are engulfing, and overall very unnerving and unsettling. The album goes above and beyond a listening experience as it fully engages many other senses and evokes terrible thoughts to mind that leave the listener wondering: is it worse being completely alone and abandoned in a harsh wilderness, or worse knowing that someone, or something, is there watching you?

- Richard Cory

Those Poor Bastards - Satan is Watching

It really is a shame what country music has been twisted into over the years. What was originally a unique form of American folk music is largely stigmatized nowadays to be an antiseptic, artistically vapid, lowest common denominator form of music that capitalizes on crass (yet profitable) “redneck” caricatures and imbecilic jingoism. It’s a cynical, commercialized mockery of a musical style that originally gave a voice to the downtrodden, the poor and the miserable.

However, the idiosyncratic duo Those Poor Bastards shakes off those conventions with absolutely zero mercy. Lead by singer, guitar player and songwriter Lonesome Wyatt and backed by The Minister (bass, drums, banjo, etc), Those Poor Bastards could best be described as raw, gothic country music that plays like a Tim Burton movie if he decided to displace any and all of his family friendly quirkiness. The music of their 4^th full length Satan is Watching is largely rooted in Appalachian old time music and old school country, with a flavor of Murder Ballads era Nick Cave and a psychotic, God-fearing Tom Waits (and maybe a tinge of lo-fi punk rock). The production is raw and seedy and the performances stagger and stumble along like those of drunken, doomsday-preaching street musicians.

Opening number This World Is Evil lays down the duo’s stark, bleak approach with a minimalistic instrumental array of harsh guitar fuzz, barebones percussion and a quiet flute played over Wyatt’s manic, desperate condemnation of a world of sin, where “they’ll hang a man before his trial, just to watch him suffer”, and all the while “Satan is watching as you sleep”. There is no relenting from here; each song paints a horrid lyrical picture of a world that is not unlike Hell itself, and the music augments this with raw, dirty, minimalistic arrangements. Indeed this terrible band of tribulated troubadours have no interest in diluting the message of Those Poor Bastards with bells, whistles and fancy production tricks; instead, the music reflects the immorality, the inhumanity and the insanity of this perceived Hell on Earth.

A curious (and particularly effective) characteristic of Satan is Watching is the lyrical subject matter, nearly all of which is steeped in over-the-top expressions of guilt, misery and ultra-conservative Christianity. Bear in mind, this is not your average soccer-mom, mainstream Republican type of ‘conservative’ Christianity – this is apocalyptic, fire-and-brimstone, atavistic Christianity (the two members are “registered Holiness Preachers”, if their Facebook page is to be believed). Closing number and perhaps the best track on the album No One brings together all of the album’s themes together in an intimate and chilling fashion – featuring only fingerpicked guitar and Wyatt’s cracked, quivering voice, he sings “My body is a thing corrupt and wrong – it is guilty, yeah it is guilty/My soul is the thing that’s dragged along – it is innocent, Lord it is innocent.” This theme of demented Christian self-loathing is common on Satan is Watching, further exemplified by Swallowed By Sin and Crooked Man, which sports a truly messed up singalong chorus that is far catchier than it has any right to be.

Whether or not you align yourself with self-loathing Old Testament Christianity, it’s hard to resist the raw, passionate intensity of such an extreme worldview. On that note, those who can’t enjoy music that communicates a radically disagreeable message should probably steer clear of Those Poor Bastards (unless, on the off chance, you are a self-hating, old timey Christian, in which this is probably right up your alley). However, if you’re the rare soul who can appreciate some sincerely dejected music (or would like to foul up the delicate little ears of an unfortunate Toby Keith fan), Satan is Watching will be just your cup of bitter, black tea.

- Swede Potato