Black paint (by numbers). The highlight of Liturgy’s set at First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn Heights last July (the first time the band ever played in a church, as frontperson Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix announced from the stage) was a monumental, pounding and then-unreleased 20-minute song which, it turns out, will be the title track of their next album, due in the spring. It’s something of a return to form for the Brooklyn’s own black metal intelligentsia. After a pair of brilliant, self-released albums in 2019 and 2020 which added to their lineup some of the best of the city’s finest experimental improv and contemporary composition players, they’ve stripped back down to a super-tight four-piece and are back on Thrill Jockey. That chunk of epic is out now (digital only, via Bandcamp) as an EP with a brief and rather unlikely power ballad titled “संसार.” As the Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time oddly divides “93696” into three tracks, reasonably enough titled “93,” “36” and “696,” but on the forthcoming album (which will also be issued as a double CD) it’s all one track. There are, no doubt, some exceedingly complex reasons for all of this that will likely be laid out on Hunt-Hendrix’s YouTube channel at some point. Meanwhile, respect to a trio whose debut has three cuts, clocking in at precisely 10, 20 and 30 minutes. Eyes Like Predatory Wealth is the high concept, doom-drenched debut from Apparitions. Guitarist Andrew Dugas, drummer Grant Martin and Igor Imbu on modular synth recorded their parts separately in Brooklyn, Chicago and Houston without listening to each other’s tracks but following strictures set out by Dugas. That’s interesting enough but it matters about as much as the fact that the album’s concept and titles derive from filmmaker Matthew Barney, author Georges Bataille, painter Yves Klein and poets Arthur Rimbaud and Diane Wakoski. (These are heady times, see Horse Lords below.) What matters more is that the album crushes cohesively with passages of amped and extended beauty. It’s available as CD, cassette and download from The Garrote.
The Lord finds an angel. If a meeting between ultra-heavy Greg Anderson and angelic singer Petra Haden seems unlikely, the recent Devotional (vinyl, CD and download out Oct. 21 on Southern Lord) isn’t the first time they’ve met. Haden–who also sings with her sisters, all daughters of jazz legend Charlie Haden, as the Haden Triplets—has recorded with Anderson in Goatsnake (Vol. 1, released in 1999) and Sunn O))) (2000’s ØØ Void). But Devotional is their first duo project and the first time with him that her voice isn’t subsumed in the dark, atmospheric mix. Haden’s multi-tracked, wordless vocals are up front and rich, supported by her violin. Anderson (as The Lord) fills out the rest of the space with guitars and effects, and there’s nicely light drumming by Jade Devitt. It still grinds, if less so than their past
collaborations, and in a more melodious manner: slow, ethereal and pretty much wonderful. It’s not clear if they’ll be taking it to the stage but The Lord and his frequent bandfellow Stephen O’Malley will be touring the states this winter as Shoshin (初心) Duo, stopping at Pioneer Works in Red Hook next month.
Baltimore lowlife. A sort of digital cricket chirp introduces Comradely Objects, the fifth full-length from Baltimore’s Horse Lords. A steady drum beat kicks in, then a loping guitar line weaves its way through. What could be the components of an African Highlife song, soon gives way to a low-grade tension. As the music builds and more layers are added, it begins to resemble something by minimalist composer Julius Eastman (the band released a great version of his Stay On It in 2017) with fractured, postpunk guitar. At the same time, the precision of execution brings King Crimson to mind. To say there’s no band like them, then, is obviously off the mark, but the clinical, infectious riffage is still very much their own. The album was their pandemic project and, facing an uncertain future, the Lords abandoned concerns about being able to play the album live. (Playing live might remain an issue as three-quarters of the band have since relocated to Germany.) The result is precision grooves in a neo–no wave vein. The album takes its title from a 2008 book on Russian Constructivist design, following suit by shunning artistic ego in favor of a utilitarian whole. Comradely Objects is out Nov. 4 on LP, CD and download from RVNG INTL, with a portion of proceeds going to CASA, a mid-Atlantic organization supporting the needs of immigrant families.
Noisy Beast (Shake Chain Punters). Some grittier neo–no wave comes this way from London (by way of Upset the Rhythm, out Nov 18th vinyl, CD, download). Listening to Snake Chain’s self-titled debut might be more relaxed than going to see them live, as singer Kate “Meltdown” Mahony (the nickname is mine) is apparently given to crawling through the audience in a raincoat and crying (or “crying”) offstage at the start of their sets. On the album, she comes off like a desperate, three-martini Lydia Lunch backed by distorted, stomping punk and synth worthy of Suicide’s Martin Rev, with some genuine horrorshow moments thrown in. While artists aren’t often their own best critics, Mahony describes the album as being like “crying in a Catholic sex dungeon with Eastenders on,” which seems pretty apt. Her lyrics are a damn lot harder to make out, but Upset the Rhythm kindly supplied “Do we speak language or does language speak us? Is there a mouth in the middle of the desert? Do you ask how cups are designed? Would you say yes when you really mean I don’t know” from the song “Birthday,” which is more distressing than festive (in a good way). There’s precious little documentation online: a smattering of earlier tracks, a lucha-fetish (or is that homemade Dr. Doom?) promo clip for “Highly Conceptual” from the new album and a 2-year-old, 10-minute live clip which as of press time bears the single comment “Aweful.” The misspelling works.
Author
Kurt Gottschalk is a writer, journalist and broadcaster based in New York City.
