VoidCeremony At The Periphery Of Human Realms  20 Buck Spin (Cassette Release) Released: 1/6/22 When the PR notification arrived for VoidCeremony's At The Periphery of Human Realms , a YouTube link to preview the full album was made available and I wanted to survey the comments following my first listen. Evidently perturbed at the fact that the album is only available on cassette via 20 Buck Spin , a commenter asked that Death Metal (addressing the whole genre, apparently),  "… get away from these shitty cassettes?! Please?" The label's response was simply (and wisely), "A: No."  VoidCeremony —  guitarist/vocalist Garrett Johnson, guitarist Phil Tougas (Atramentus, Chthe'ilist, First Fragment), bassist Damon Good (Mournful Congregation, Stargazer), drummer Charlie Koryn (Ascended Dead, Incantation) — have followed their 2020 debut LP,  Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel with what is essentially a demo tape. Clocking in at less than ten...

Two cuts from Le Butcherettes and Death Valley Girls: "The Universe" and "When I'm Free" is a solid combo: 3 minutes of sugar-fueled  Nugget -pop backed with a harmonized array of multi-tracked vocal arrangements.  Tragically, the Suicide Squeeze-released split 7" is sold out ahead of the physical release date of 2/11. That said it's available to own digitally. https://deathvalleygirls.bandcamp.com/album/the-universe-b-w-when-i-m-free  Via Stereo Sanctity: Speaking about the release, Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes said "I'm such a huge admirer of Death Valley Girls, so I was touched and surprised when they came up with the idea of doing a split vinyl together. Immediately I knew I wanted to cover one of my favorite songs of theirs, "The Universe," in support of their brilliant new single, "When I'm Free." A true honor to be a part of their EP!" Bonnie Bloomgarden of Death Valley Girls also commented ...

Side B — Assembled 1/10-1/14 Still working through the month's offerings.  Enjoy…  ______________________________________________________________________ Allegra Krieger : "Taking It In" (via Clandestine PR) Official Website —  https://www.allegrakrieger.com Bandcamp —  https://allegrakrieger.bandcamp.com/album/precious-thing Northern Spy — (Pre-order)  https://northernspyrecs.com/product/precious-thing/ Precious Thing  releases 3/4/22 ______________________________________________________________________ Die! Die! Die! : "Losing Sight, Keep On Kicking" (via Us-Them Group) Bandcamp —  https://diediedie.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-not-an-island-anymore This Is Not An Island Anymore  releases 2/18/22 This Is Not An Island Anymore by Die! Die! Die! ______________________________________________________________________ God Is God : "The Song Part II" (via mutante-inc.) Bandcamp —  https://godisgod.bandcamp.com/album/metamorphoses ...

Side A — Assembled 1/3-1/7 Following the turbulence of the Holidays and the excessive work schedules leading up to them, music continues to be my long sought-after balm for stress and the monotony of corporate drone'dom. Side A for the first week of January is light and loud, meditative or necessarily aggro. I'm happily excited about some of the records and singles I've had the opportunity to sample so far. Is it naive to assume this trend will continue well into 2023? Probably, but I'm content for now.  Enjoy…  ______________________________________________________________________ Tomato Flower : "Red Machine" (via Ramp Local) Bandcamp — https://tomatoflower.bandcamp.com/album/gold-arc Ramp Local — https://ramplocal.com Gold Arc releases 2/11/22 ______________________________________________________________________ Sea Change : "Is There Anybody There" (via Stereo Sanctity) Twitter — https://twitter.com/SeaChangeartist Shapes Recordings — https...

To whom it may interest, It's Wednesday evening, three days before we stick a pin in 2021, which has largely been a garbage year. My day-well-into-night job drudgery has been excessive over the course of the pandemic and its viral offshoots that keep Americans both stupid and sick. The professional imbalance of my life was significant enough this year that I didn't feel I could even come up with a good list of favorite listens for 2021. I did, however, contribute to this year's round-up for No Ripcord. It's worth a look . When the aforementioned pandemic was at its peak in 2020, live music was obviously not happening. So, when vaccination efforts began and some live venues began opening their doors back up this year, I was planning on getting back to writing concert reviews. It was naive of me to think I could that, understanding that my profession doesn't allow the phrase "after work" any gravity or consideration. And then Phawker , the Philly-based out...

Good afternoon, Looking ahead at 2022. Here's some music I enjoyed this week.  ______________________________________________________________________ Wadada Leo Smith, Henry Kaiser, Alex Varty:  "Pacifica Koral Reef (preview)" (via 577 Records) Bandcamp — https://577records.bandcamp.com/album/pacifica-koral-reef 577 Records —  https://www.577records.com Via 577 Records: "I’m supposed to be writing about Pacifica Koral Reef , this record that I’ve made with my friend Henry Kaiser and his friend Wadada Leo Smith. And while the music it contains is, for me, a miraculous late-career achievement after 50 years of mostly playing in alternative rock bands, writing about it is a downright odd thing to have to do. In my parallel life as an arts journalist, I’ve interviewed everyone from Ornette Coleman to John Cage to Robert Plant but I’ve rarely had to write about myself, and I much prefer it that way. Fighting against my natural tendency towards self-effacement is the fact ...

Photo Credit: Gianluca Grasselli The timing almost seems deliberate. Earlier today I was immersing myself in Sunn O)))'s recent live release, Metta, Benevolence BBC 6Music : Live on the Invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs , (Fanboy note: I have a transparent blue edition pre-ordered), which features the vocal talents of Anna von Hausswolff. And then it was announced that von Hausswolff is also releasing a live album, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival (2018) , which is scheduled to release January 14th, 2022 via Southern Lord.  I've listened to "The Truth, The Glow, The Fall (Live)" maybe five times this afternoon. Culled from von Hausswolff's 2018 release, Dead Magic , in spite of how I interpret this track, it sounds triumphant in this live setting, the pipe organ's long association with religious ceremony enhancing the scale of this project. I'm sure this performance was an absolute treat to witness. That said, it's thankfully been captured on wax for all to ...