|
Navigate The Listings
|
|
|
|
Other Stuff
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Heaviness for TUESDAY MARCH 25TH
Yeah, I know...we're running WAY LATE on bringing you a new update from Crucial Blast. It's been, what, close to a month and a half? Jeez. Things have been a little more nuts than usual here, with family emergencies, a massive swell in mailorders, and other stuff, and it's been taking even longer than usual to get this update together. On the other hand, we're getting much closer to launching the new, improved webstore which will (fingers crossed) be hopefully happening in the next few weeks, and it's going to be amazing once this thing goes live.
At the very least, we've got a ton of new stuff in this week's update. both brand new titles and older stuff plus some killer rarities that'll have some of you noise rockers stoked. And we've got a new album in from an Aidan Baker related project, this weeks featured release, the Arkhangelsk CD from ARC, the Toronto-based drone rock collective that Aidan plays in. Most of ya most likely know Aidan from his terrific solo albums and of course the mighty blissmetal duo NADJA, but he has been playing in Arc for years as well, and although this project might not be as well known by fans of his heavier output, Arc's dense droning percussion-heavy ambient rock is just as amazing as his other projects. This new album comes to us from the Czech-based avant metal label Epidemie, and it's the heaviest stuff that Arc has released yet.
Some of the other killer new titles that are listed in this weeks Crucial Blast update include the new, final self-titled album from Dystopia, a crushing full length album that sees the legendary Bay Area crust/grind band bowing out with some of their most lethal and crushing jams ever, available on both CD and on limited edition vinyl. There's a new CD from the other band that Nadja's Aidan Baker plays in, ARC, a heavy slab of drone rock and massive percussive overload. Power violence plunderphonics masters CROM make their return with their new album Hoit Sumerian Nights, and we also have an amazing new double-disc album of dark doom folk from The Elemental Chrysalis. Iron Lung serve up a crushing new platter of chaotic, complex hardcore grind on Sexless/No Sex, which features cover art from Nick Blinko. And we have the massive new album from OCRILIM, Mick Barr's (Orthrelm) pure guitar project, debuting on Hydra Head with Annwn, a seven part symphony of dissonant minimalist speed metal shred and Branca-esque guitar wall, as well as a brand new 3" CD of insane noisecore blasts and genre-hopping from Japan's FINAL EXIT.
There are a couple of new cassettes in stock this week, too, like the demo from the very weird, very heavy Australian doom metal band called A.D.P., a bunch of tapes from the Recycled Music Series on RRRecords from sludge-noisician Josh Lay, Australian harsh noise/thrash/cut-up artist Agit8, NY black noise terrorist AHLZAGAILZEHGUH, porno power electronics drum machine blasters Twodeadsluts Onegoodfuck, Euro psychedelic noise duo ALVARS ORKESTER, and GRAVEYARD CROWS grim, trippy psychedelic tape murk.
We're also carrying most of the in-print discs from Realicide Youth now, the microlabel run by Robert Inhuman that has released a bunch of really furious gabba/digigrind/noise CDRs, including stuff from Robert's own group Realicide plus a neat disc of anarcho-cheerleader-deathmetal, a couple of solo discs of abstract gabber and weirder soundscapes from Robert, DJ Thumper's clandestine gabber remixes of top 40 pop tunes, and more, all packaged in hand assembled sleeves and with silkscreened/spraypainted discs. And alot of CDs and records have been reissued lately; we've got the new version of Bongzilla's singles collection, now titled Nuggets and featuring two new comp tracks of crushing pot-fueled sludgecore...a newish CD from noisecore legends Anal Cunt that collects a bunch of out of print EP and compilations tracks...and a new domestic reissue of the double-LP version of YEAR OF NO LIGHT's Nord and MONARCH's self titled double CD. Two new DVDs in stock: the awesome live document Live 1980-1981 from the legendary sludgepunk band Flipper, and the older Pikadourei DVD from Discordance Axis that we've finally managed to get a few copies of for any fans of DxAx's spastic art grind that haven't picked it up yet. Plus some rarities like the two albums from early 90's doom weirdos UPSIDEDOWN CROSS (including vinyl and tape formats!), the scum-sludge of KILSLUG's crucial LP, and a stash of the out of print NACHTMYSTIUM ep Euolgy IV!
Of course, there's MUCH more mutant heavy music to be had folks, so head over to the Crucial Blast NEW ADDITIONS Page to check out all of the new stuff.
|
|
|
FEATURED RELEASE
|
ARC Arkhangelsk CD $13.98 Epidemie
Anyone that is into the sounds of drifting drones of the guitar-based sort and/or the more blissed out, textural strains of doom metal is going to at least be aware of Canadian avant-guitarist Aidan Baker, either from his excellent solo recordings or from his prolific and increasingly popular dronemetal band Nadja. There's another band that Aidan is a member of, however, that isn't nearly as well known, but which is just as great as any of his other projects. That band is Arc, a Toronto based trio that crafts what I'd call a sort of improvised ambient rock. If you're familiar with Aidan Baker's solo work and the kind of drifting, layered drones that he creates using guitar and effects, that's a large part of Arc's sound, and he's joined by Christopher Kukiel on percussion and electronics and Richard Baker on drums and other percussion. Aidan also contributes drums and other percussion to Arc's music, and what we get is heavily rhythmic dronerock, with cascading tribal rhythms amd dreamy guitar drones swirling together into a wash of hypnotic ambience.This newest album, the band's fourth, is a bit surprising as it has been released by the Czech avant-metal label Epidemie Records, whose catalog includes albums from avant-death metallers Azure Emote, experimental electro-doom duo Dusk, and funeral doomsters Mistress Of The Dead. Which leads me to believe that this Arc album might be heading in a heavier direction than previous recordings. That's partially the case, through most of Arkhangelsk stays in a subdued state of hazy drones and swirling percussion. The disc features four lengthy tracks, all of them created initially with improvisational performances on drums and guitar and then layered with additional percussion, electronics and woodwinds, with each of these two sessions recorded in a single sitting, using only minimal post-production on the recordings. The disc begins with the glistening sheets of guitar and dense polyrhythms of'Relicary', then moves through the spacious dronescapes of 'Angel Sightings' and "ossuary', but it's on the second track "The Valley Of Dry Bones" that Aidan lashes out with crushing distorted riffs and improvised blues licks, and even comes within range of Nadja-levels of metallic overdrive towards the end of that track. Even at it's heaviest, though, Arc's music is constantly underscored by the surging and receding waves of krautrocky percussion, an eternally moving mass of rhythm riding out on Aidan's ethereal guitars. These tracks flow together like an epic fusion of Troum, Can, Nadja, and the trippy drum-trance music of the Boredoms. Limited to a mere 600 copies, the disc comes in a sleek 6-panel digisleeve illustrated with abstract, Shroud Of Turin-esque artwork. Highly recommended!
MP3 SAMPLE: " Shock Treatment " (excerpt)
MP3 SAMPLE: " Monolith " (excerpt)
MP3 SAMPLE: " Neon Flow " (excerpt)
MP3 SAMPLE: " The Groke " (excerpt)
|
|
|
