Shoegazer Metal : Search & Destroy

Skot to thread.

I think Katatonia were the first band to openly embrace the shoegaze aesthetic. Renske wears a Slowdive shirt in the Discouraged Ones band photo (1997).

Also, the washes of guitar buzz used by Norwegian black metallers like Burzum and Forgotten Woods were somewhat similar, but the influence was never acknowledged. Probably came up with the sound by themselves.

Alcest is making thousands of metalheads aware of the stuff, just read the message boards at last.fm. In the next couple of years, a big metalgaze wave is likely to come out of the "depressive black metal" scene.

A few of the black metal fans on the Southern Lord board are moaning how Alcest have betrayed black metal to make "nigel music". I should imagine the BM boards are worse.

...Katatonia were the first *metal* band to... etc

With black metal and metal fans moaning about a shoegazer influence, if it does take off, I would bet a lot of the original shoegazers will hate it every bit as much.

Good lord, frankly I couldn't love it more. Moaners on either side can take a hike.

Actually the BM acquaintances of mine will relate newer Alcest to Ulver, Agalloch or post-rock, not MBV. Extreme metal has been so isolated from other kinds of music that kids in the scene simply don't know what shoegaze is.

made out of babies

love that new alcest album. and that angelic process album. and the new caina album. and, yeah, there is lots of black metal that fits the bill. and i think bands like isis count. mono bore me to tears though. a lot of that godpeed crescendo-rock stuff does though.

discouraged ones is, needless to say, one of the best rock albums i own. or have heard. if i had a top twenty rock album list, it would be on there.

i'm at work. i'll think of more good stuff later.

i actually meant battle of mice, same people as made out of babies, i think

like i said on the metal thread, the new alcest is STRAIGHT-UP shoegaze. there is very little metal on it at all. if you didn't know the dude was a metal dude, you certainly couldn't guess from that album.

I was going to say Caina as well.

Having heard only "Le Secret" and the MySpace samples of the new Alcest (my copy is on the way and don't want to spoil the fun), I can definitely hear black metal in the drumming and guitars.

The fast beat 3 minutes into the Printemps Emeraude sample - I don't think a britpop band would play that. It wouldn't be out of place in a Darkthrone tune and yet it sounds so uplifting here, I love what this guy is doing.

Maybe there will be a britpop band who goes in a black metal direction.

I always kinda hoped Mogwai would do an album a bit like this.

Meanwhile, I shall tentatively suggest Oceansize as perhaps verging upon both genres, they being Britain's best currently-operating band. :p

Mogwai need corpsepaint

Italian Shoegazer Metal:

Vanessa Van Basten
http://www.myspace.com/vanessavanbasten

MORGAN BELLINI: guitars, synth, sampler, sequencer, mic, software, fx, harmonica, glockenspiel, percussions
STEFANO PARODI: bass, synth
--------------
ROBY: live drums
BERNA: other drums, synth
CLAUDIO PARODI: eq feedback on 'Good morning VVB!'

Influences The God Machine, Godflesh, Jesu, Swans, Klaus Schulze, Angelo Badalamenti, Sunn O))), Killing Joke, David Lynch, Katatonia, Low, Burzum, Wire, Kyuss, Girls against boys, Helmet, William Burroughs, EM Cioran, David Cronenberg, Andrej Tarkowskij, HP Lovecraft.

I can't stop listening to the new Alcest album, it's easily the best metalgaze album of the year, perhaps my favourite CD overall.

Angelic Process and Caina are incredible as well. Not surprisingly, Profound Lore is resposible for all three discs...they are on some kind of roll.

And I can't wait for the new Ulver this fall!

from Chile, Mar de Grises have an unusual set of influences

Mar de Grises
http://www.myspace.com/mardegrises2

The music of MAR de GRISES invites to a desolate trip through the endless movement of our lives. Bitter feelings and the diverse forms in which the man expresses them are intermingled with the most various musical elements to create an intense sonorous film, where moving emotions emerge from overwhelming atmospheres.

This is somewhat of a surprise, the up-and-coming Finnish doom label Firebox signing a Chilean band with an original take on doom metal. Mar De Grises ("sea of gray") has produced an extraordinary debut album in The Tatterdemalion Express, mixing elements of doomdeath, ambient, funeral doom, and even progressive into a seemless and unique sound. The songs are long (averaging around eight minutes each), sometimes complex but never overly ambitious. This is one of the best doom albums in the last several years."
- BNR Metal Archive

*gazes at shoes* I don't know, I'm just seeing fabric and rubber, not metal.

I like it when it's more metal than shoegaze (unlike Jesu, who at this point are more shoegaze than metal) but would humbly submit The Goslings as the be all end all of this.

Also - does Velvet Cacoon count?

The Goslings rule. I suppose they are kinda shoegaze-doom.

Good lord, frankly I couldn't love it more. Moaners on either side can take a hike.

-- Ned Raggett,

What are your faves, Ned?

Destroy: Jesu

(sorry guys, I've heard Silver and Conqueror, and both just sound like a shitty Fragile-era NIN impression to me)

i didn't really like jesu much at first but conqueror really grew on me

in what strange universe does jesu sound like nine inch nails?

Skot sez it so I DON'T HAVE TO.

the three jesu tracks on the jesu/eluvium split are fucking incredible -- the first one especially so -- but i struggle to see in what way any of it is "metal". i could be a wank and say it transcends genres, but really ... it's just kinda shoegazing in excelsis.

i've said it before and i'll say it again: certain metal fans' obsession with genre details is pathetic. the more music that exists, the more boundaries will be blurred. i'm a latecomer to the whole metal thing (see threads passim) and i genuinely have little idea what constitutes doom/stoner/black/whatever metal. all i know is that if it rocks, and doesn't suck, i like it ;)

I would bet a lot of the original shoegazers will hate it every bit as much

i doubt it. it's metallers more than anyone else who seem to get riled by such things. there's a fairly obvious explanation -- metal has traditionally been an "outsiders'" genre, allegiance to which has had tribal overtones, and anything that dilutes that or (in the case of the whole "nigel" smear) makes it "trendy" is going to upset a lot of dudes -- but ... that doesn't mean it ain't fuckin' pathetic :)

i must listen to the new alcest again. i liked it, but it didn't particularly grab me.

Serena-Maneesh, anyone? Their debut album varies from shoegazey rock to incredibly heavy guitar riffing/feedbacking/soloing, and I think some of it could be qualified as 'metal' at a push. It's definitely a different kind of 'shoegazer metal' if accepted into the fold.

fuck "the fold" :)

It was an intentionally dry statement, GF. :P

Maybe I should give this Alcest band a try?

You got shoegaze in my metal! You got metal in my shoegaze!

I like it when it's, well, Jesu. I don't like it when it's, like, well... early Smashing Pumpkins.

Former viking metaller Wyrd from Finland is now doing the Brave Murder Day thing, worth a listen.

Also, Lifelover (from Sweden) and Joyless (with Forgotten Woods members) play a poppy kind of black metal. Btw, Neige does vocals in the comeback Forgotten Woods album, I still haven't heard it but should be good, I love this band.

Alcest album doesn't even have metal vocals. Kate would like it.

Where do I get the Alcest album in the UK? Or how do I get it shipped here?

Do Boris count? Pink is pretty shoegaze metal in places.

I like Jesu's first album A LOT. And the Goslings. This stuff is right up my street.

I will look for Alcest :)

When FMM got Boris's Rainbow, she was all "Yup, here's a shoegaze album for Kate..."

The Alcest album is out in north america on Profoundlore (its on sale as of yesterday) i'm not sure who is doing the euro version.

Shoegazer bands that had metal influences

Loop
Swervedriver (used to get in RAW magazine)
Catherine Wheel went Alt Rock didn't they?
Levitation

anyone else?

Darkspace

Colonel Poo check out Angel Eyes and Angelic Process that I linked to. I think you will like it.

Alcest signed a 5-album deal with http://www.prophecyproductions.de recently. (european sales at that site too)

I bet profoundlore is cheaper.

Profound Lore is $11, but they won't ship outside US+Canada. It's not clear that Prophecy's store will ship to the UK, and Grau, who Prophecy recommend, charge €20 for shipping outside Germany. Bah. I'll just pre-order it from Amazon.

Italian Shoegazer Metal:

Vanessa Van Basten
http://www.myspace.com/vanessavanbasten

I know these guys, they're really good.

http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/mp3/souvenirs_dun_autre_monde.mp3

^alcest mp3 from new album

Angelic Process mp3 http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/mp3/THE_ANGELIC_PROCESS_Million_Year_Summer.mp3

Caina http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/mp3/CAINA_Morgawr.mp3

Oh man, how did I not mention Nadja on this thread. Awesome band.

check out an mp3 here http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/mp3folder/Nadja.mp3

http://www.alien8recordings.com/artists/27/Nadja

http://www.netrover.com/~amizen/nadja.htm

Ondo are pretty good http://www.myspace.com/avondo I've only heard the split with The Austrasian Goat but it's really good.

Now Nadja - that's more like it, some real interesting sounds there. I would tend to excercise a small amount of caution when it comes to some of this modern stuff: there's a lot of it and some of it sounds fairly generic, contrived and bland to me.

I like Jesu, and feel he's made a different, original record each time and Conqueror was just a logcial progression, well executed. But some of these new bands mentioned above venerate Mogwai as some sort of trailblazers - give it a rest! They are and always have been a bunch of chancers plying their tawdry, simplistic and po-faced wank to folk who should know better. I'm going to reserve judgement on the Alcest until I've heard the whole thing, but it's kind of taking the purity of the new Jesu sound to another level, and I'm not sure what the point is. The dude sounds pretty genuine though, so we'll wait and see.

Now that Goslings album, that's a fucking beautiful beast and something new. Everyone needs to hear that one.

The split 7" with yellow swans was good. Was glad to track that one down via mate in the states. Wish they would tour.

The Goslings are very cool indeed. Friendly folks too.

OK, Alcest pre-ordered.

The label I run just released a record that Stylus said was a bit shoegazey: http://stylusmagazine.com/reviews/azalea-city-penis-club-robin-allender/the-coffin-years-the-bird-and-the-word.htm

It suggests Neil Young (both electric and acoustic) channeling Britpop through Boris-esque sludge rock. The distortion is requisitely heavy; "Thunder and Wonder" lives up to its title with a swirling, shoegazer rideout.

Here's that track if anyone's interested: http://www.mediafire.com/?am2iyxrmg3o

PTW hated the first half of that track though ('“Thunder And Wonder” would deserve about a 2.0 for its first half, but then the instruments gather for effective, coagulated noise. It’s like we have to listen to the voice and then we’re rewarded with clangor.'), so stick with it.

And there are a couple more here: http://www.dreamboatrecords.co.uk/catalogue/coffinyears/

If I've understood what we're talking about, 'Farewell' by Boris must be the archetype of this sub-genre. Fair?

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/44536-column-show-no-mercy

Now Pitchfork's on it, we should abandon all hope and go back to our technical death records.

(xpost)

You seen the Goslings play, Ned?

That I haven't -- just been some e-mail conversations with 'em so far!

caek I think my review of that album is up at the AMG

Farewell by Boris is exactly what I was thinking of when I mentioned them upthread, yeah.

Hi Jerry! I actually like Mogwai's first album, but haven't had much use for anything since that. Not that I've paid any attention for the last several years.

The Goslings don't play live much. Which is a shame.

(xpost)

Awight Mark! I have to confess I thought the first few bits they did were okay, but that was before they started taking themselves waaay too seriously.

Goslings for the next ATP!

Ned, thanks for the heads-up!

OK, so far this Alcase isn't metal at all, it's pure shoegaze. I like. Like Slowdive played on 45.

(OK, except for the drums, which are on the cusp of metal and that sort of 80s hardcore/speedcore thing.)

Like Slowdive played on 45

Slowdive 45's played at 33 essentially predicted half this stuff.

No, no, other way around. They sound like Slowdive 33s played on 45!

approaching it sorta from the other side, anyone like lycia's side project bleak? pretty heavy for goths.

Oh heck yes, listened to it the other week. Anything Lycia does = glorious.

Wonder what new Ulver will sound like.

press release for new Ulver:

http://www.jester-records.com/ulver/ulver.html

"Dark and tragic" might be fitting adjectives for Ulver's 14-year career, but "low-key" is definitely a more recent development. For even though it might be hard to believe it when you listen to the soft-spoken new album, Ulver were once a seminal black metal band. They even have the name (Ulver translates as "Wolves") and a trilogy of folklore-inspired metal to prove it.

But even in a scene that sent shockwaves around the world, Ulver were outsiders. While other black metallers were "slaves to the one with horns", Ulver were inspired by Thomas Kingo, a 17th century composer of psalms.

As the band matured, their influences became even more eclectic. Techno auteurs Autechre rubbed shoulders with visionary mystic William Blake. Ulver have released acoustic folk albums and instrumental techno records, raw metal and industrial soundscapes, and they have composed music for films.

I'd like to say that they are equally comfortable with whatever medium they choose, but that would be a lie. Ulver never seem comfortable—they seem restless, longing for some far-off horizon or hidden world only they can see. This makes every new release from Ulver interesting because you not only have to ask "is it good?" (with Ulver, that's a redundant question) but "what kind of music is it?"

So, what kind of music is this? The boys already told you it's "dark and tragic", but while being weighed down with the world, they have managed to produce their most accessible album to date. This might sound like a paradox, but Ulver thrive on such paradoxes. Their fears have been given a shapely form indeed, capable, perhaps, of bringing a little comfort to some.

Soothing electronics and natural percussion provide the basis for Garm's warm vocals, singing songs of loss and disillusion. While the lyrics provide little hope, the music carries a note of quiet faith. It sees Ulver abandon many of their grand concepts, to focus on music and human emotion. Contributions by world-renowned thereminist Pamelia Kurstin help make SHADOWS OF THE SUN a piece of rare beauty.

You want comparisons? SHADOWS OF THE SUN sees Ulver borrow some pigments from David Sylvian's palette, using it to transport their own visions onto the canvas. Incidentally, Austrian audio abstracter Christian Fennesz, an associate of Sylvian, also help make this album what it is.

Other comparions could be made. The band are avowed fans of Coil. Nick Cave, maybe. But such comparisons only cheapen, because Ulver really don't sound like anybody you already know. They are the perfect strangers.

I'd call them "lone wolves", but I've promised the band to lay off the wolf jokes.

DIDRIK SØDERLIND

Ulver -Shadows of the Sun: front cover

<a href="http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/ulver/shadows_of_the_sun/";><img src="http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s928971.jpg"; alt="Ulver - Shadows of the Sun"></a>

get the correct code:

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s928971.jpg

Meantime I'm giving Alcest another listen here -- yeah, nice.

But some of these new bands mentioned above venerate Mogwai as some sort of trailblazers - give it a rest! They are and always have been a bunch of chancers plying their tawdry, simplistic and po-faced wank to folk who should know better

shite. mogwai rule. no, they're not trailblazers. but they're a magnificent band.

I have a track by this band called Nazxul, and it is exactly like a death metal Lycia. Its actually pretty awesome.

Also in no universe would I *ever* call Swewrvedriver or Sereena-Maneesh shoeegazer metal, good god! Theyre rock bands not metal bands, ffs.

i'm gazing at something and it ain't my shoes ifyouknowwhatimean

http://images.villagevoice.com/siren/2006/event_pics/serena/ser2.jpg

sorry. i'll admit to an occasional weakness for the nicosnowqueen.

er:

http://www.stereogum.com/img/siren06_serenamaneesh3.jpg

i actually never even knew about them until recently. i watched stuff on youtube and some of it i liked. way derivative, but that's okay. and they seem to have gone thru more than one era. the old stuff was different than the new stuff.

http://static.twoday.net/waldar/images/serenamaneesh.jpg

They're pretty good, I like em. I found out about them cause they toured here recently supporting NIN (of all bands!?)

But yeah sorry Louis, shoegaze metal they is not.

Poor Louis.

I think I'm going to try and check some of these bands out tho.

Good show. Did you get the free mp3s I linked to up above?

Not yet but I will!

trayce, i'll bet you would like the new angelic process album.

that is GOOOD ALBUUM

That is very good album, which I actually need to get in full. Actually everything on that label might deserve my attention...

Well with all those trusted recommends how can I say no :)

Hey this Alcest stuff is really good. They sound a bit like Slowdive but with more guitars.

And I should have read what Kate said upthead, heh duh.

That Ulver sounds promising. There are some good suggestions here that I can't wait to check out.

Jesu is really starting to wear on my nerves. I was a huge fan of Broadrick in the 80s/90s and the first Jesu album had some good stuff on it, but his tone deaf vocals are better off buried under huge ugly guitars, and the plodding slow place of all his songs have the (most likely intended) effect of depressing the living fuck out of me. And I like depressing music.

I really like Nadja aka Aidan Baker (started a thread about him a few weeks ago), but his stuff is starting to sound kind of samey, too. I'd love to hear his eponymous material collide with Najda.

A lot of the recent Nadja stuff has been re-releases of his older stuff though.
His solo work and also as "arc" are quite different.

The Nadja/Atavist collab was pretty different.

Birchville Cat Motel also should be mentioned here. That stuff is great and really should be checked out.

Anyone like Fear Falls Burning?
There' a 5xLP box set out which is FFB tracks remixed by the likes of Aidan Baker, JK Broadrick etc

one of tonefloat's major projects in its anniversary year is a much anticipated five album set once we all walk through solid objects. the set collects 10 original and brand new fear falls burning pieces, reconstructed by renowned artists including bass communion (steven wilson of porcupine tree; uk), final (justin k broadrick of jesu; uk), (frans de waard of beequeen/freiband; holland), harvestman (steve von till of neurosis; usa), birchville cat motel (new zealand), byla (of dysrhythmia; usa), aidan baker (of nadja; canada), johannes persson (of cult of luna; sweden), jefre cantu-ledesma (of tarentel; usa) and stefano pilia (of 3/4hadbeeneliminated; italy).

all tracks showcase the wide context of the music of fear falls burning. not only by the origins of the musicians, from postrock to industrial, but also by the way the original material was treated. not only by reworking their way, but also by adding scapes, tools and instruments. each and every contribution makes up a full vinyl record album side. the 5lp release promises to be a landmark release with yet again tonefloat's trademark quality presentation. the vinyl will be pressed on 180 grams coloured vinyl. 'once we all walk through solid objects' will be pressed in a limited and one-off edition of 500 copies only, in true fear falls burning style.

And then it'll immediately be ripped and shared and Tonefloat will be all "why are people always so content to listen to crappy mp3s" and everyone else will be "UH-DUH."

(Or not, but at a certain point going vinyl *only* is kinda nuts.)

i remember when the rumor was that Chapterhouse was recording a metal album. But then 'blood music' came out and it wasn't metal instead it was mainly crap.

Ned> It's 60 euros plus shipping!

Thanks to someones generosity I have now listened to Alcest and Jesu. I love Alcest, theyre not metal at all! They sound like Ride!

Jesu, I like so far too, bit like Bitcrush of all bands.

The artwork on the Alcest album is lovely, too. Same with the lyrics...shamelessly romantic, in the poetic sense.

Have to say this for the thousandth time, no label right now is on the kind of run that Profound Lore is, and Alcest is the best of what's been a very, very good 2007 crop. Not too bad for a dinky indie label run by one dude in Mississauga.

The self-titled album is still Jesu's best. If you haven't heard that then I recommend it.

Ned> It's 60 euros plus shipping!

That ain't cheap!

no label right now is on the kind of run that Profound Lore is

I need to drop those guys a line, that's for sure...

Damn freeloader :P

Hooray! Oh wait.

It's alright for some

At least you wont get promos of the box set hehe

Amazon.co.uk mail: october??? :-(

Dear Customer,

We wanted to give you an update on the status of your order.

We are sorry to report that the following items have been delayed:

Alcest (Artist) "Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde" [Audio CD]
Estimated arrival date: 10/10/07 - 12/10/07

but but it says "available now" here :-(((

Can people tell me about GHASTLY CITY SLEEP?
I've just acquired their "groundbreaking" debut.

Is it even "shoegazer metal" actually?
I just kind of got the vibe that it is from what I've read.
(haven't listened yet)

StanM: I didn't get that email yet. I ordered mine from Amazon UK on Sunday, I think. The current delivery estimate is "23 Aug 2007 - 4 Sep 2007". Who knows.

Prophecy Records are distributed by Plastic Head in the UK. They also have an ecommerce website:

SOUVENIRS D'UN AUTRE MONDE
by ALCEST
http://www.plastichead.com/catalogue.asp?ex=backlist&target=ALCEST
In Stock - Dispatch immediately

I thought they would be wholesale only.

a number of UK distributors have direct ecommerce websites for the public including cargo and plastic head.

A lot of the recent Nadja stuff has been re-releases of his older stuff though.
His solo work and also as "arc" are quite different.

-- Herman G. Neuname, Saturday, August 4, 2007 4:24 AM

I know. It has had the effect of making me realize that he's been doing this stuff for a long time. I still like it a lot, but some of it wears on me after a while. That said, I want a re-master/re-release of Bliss Torn from Emptiness.

I really like Aidan Baker, but haven't really found anything by Arc that does it for me.

Fear Falls Burning didn't do much for me, either, but I've only heard a few songs. Got any recommendations?

"He Spoke In Dead Tongues"

I got the Angelic Process vinyl from Roadburn Records. Also pre-ordered the Nadja vinyl.
Angelic Process vinyl looks and great.

Need to buy that Alcest cd still. Ordered the le Secret ep that i found on a distro. That sells for big bucks on ebay so Im please i've got it for a reasonable price.
Will probably get the Caina cd with it along with Atavist.

Angelic Process is so good

Yes. Very much so.

Did anyone else pre-order the ltd 2xcd of early Jesu recordings?

Also next month Hydrahead are releasing a new Jesu ep called Life-Line

funny, i just listened to Angelic Process for the first time today. These guys are pretty cool. I'm eager to look more into their work.

i don't know anything about any of this, but the one xasthur album i have sure sounds shoegazey.

I must thank you once again for the Alcest/Jesu/Eluvium stuff, Herman... I really did like it a lot. Must give it some more listens.

That Jesu EP looks really promising, especially because Jarboe is on it...

i've ordered the jesu loose-ends CD and have a note of the EP's release date but know very little about what it'll actually be. still: it's jesu, so it's worth anticipating.

That Alcest album is super great, but I will join the chorus of people saying they can't hear any metal in it at all. Unless Slowdive are metal. Maybe Chuck Eddy says they are.

There's not enough ass kicking country in it for it to be metal for chuck ;)

naw im sticking with herman. I don't like that last fm name anymore.

I'll get it right yet.

also

On Oct.5th, two Jesu titles are to come from the Daymare Recordings.

DYMC-044
JESU / Lifeline
Release Date: October 5th (world premiere)
Including Japan only bonus tracks (exclusive remixes)

DYMC-045
JESU / st
Release Date: October 5th
With Japan only bonus disc: exclusive EP (Your Path To Divinity [the endless
path], Gurdian Angel [highest throne])
thick cardboard paper gatefold package

SUNN O))) reissues are also coming.

SUNN O)))
Daymare expanded edition re-issue series vol.2
*tentative release date: October 31st (date may be changing)
*each album came with bonus disc including completely unreleased materials
*renewed artwork by Stephen O'Malley himself
-miniature thick cardboard gatefold sleeve
-all the disc housed in a paper inner bag
-obi side strip
-Japanese linernotes

DYMC-023
The Grimmrobe Demos
bonus disc: Live at Gabah / Anti Club '99

DYMC-024
OO Void
bonus disc: Remix by NURSE WITH WOUND

DYMC-025
Flight Of The Behemoth
bonus disc: SUNN O))) with MERZBOW at Earthdom, Tokyo 2007

Please wait for next newsletter in Oct. for more info.

And since someone mentioned Xasthur

XASTHUR / Defective Epitaph　(2CD)
DYMC-042
miniature thick cardboard gatefold sleeve
Release Date: September 21st (world premiere)

with Japan exclusive bonus disc including completely unreleased materials in
38 minutes.
There is no plan to be released separately in the future or anywhere else
1.UNTITLED / UNRELEASED (3.24)
2.UNTITLED / UNRELEASED (5.51)
3.MORDER GJENKLANG AV TANKEGANGEN (11.08)
4.FUNERALS DRENCHED IN APATHY / SOULLESS ELEGY (FIRST ATTEMPT) (9.27)
5.AWAKENING TO THE UNKNOWN PERCEPTION OF EVIL (SECOND ATTEMPT) ( 8.02)

Avalanche Recordings now presents its first full release in the form of 'Pale Sketches' limited to 2000 copies only on CD, an album compiling unreleased Jesu material containing some songs culled from even before the full conceptual realisation of the project. It is a compilation of Jesu songs that Broadrick felt did'nt fit with previous Jesu releases, so he chose to mix these songs this year and compile them for their own release. Available to buy now on pre-order and shipping in early October, the CD is housed in a full colour 6 panel digipak and contains 8 songs, 4 of which are instrumental, song 4 'The Playgrounds Are Empty' can be heard over at the official Jesu myspace site within the next 24 hours...

In January 2008 'Pale Sketches' will also be available from the Avalanche Store on 180 grm double vinyl, along with the long awaited vinyl version of the first Jesu release 'Heart Ache' and a new FINAL studio album on picture disc only. These items will be available to buy on pre-order in January 2008 and shipping in late February.

Please visit the Avalanche Store HERE
and scan down the Avalanche Recs catalogue until you reach 'Pale Sketches' which can be purchased immediately.

All Avalanche Recordings releases are available ONLY from the Avalanche Store or from selected Justin K Broadrick related concerts, albeit in an extremely limited quantity.

N.B -
WORLDWIDE JESU TOUR DATES INFO ANY DAY NOW !!!!!!
NEW JESU EP 'LIFELINE' ON HYDRA HEAD OCT 9TH !!!!!

Just heard the new Alcest and I'm definitely loving it. I'm a bit surprised no one has talked about the Sigur Ros-y-ness of the closing track, and maybe even a bit in "Ciel Errant." And I mean that as a complement, by the way. I've always loved Sigur Ros (and Mogwai, and GY!BE) for the same reasons that I love MBV, Ride, Cocteaus, and Slowdive.

The first word that came to mind when I read that P-fork interview with Neige was HOPELANDIC, what with all his talk of "visions" of this "other world" and "fairy-like atmosphere."

Anyway, if no one had told me who performed it, I would have guessed "Tir Nan Og" was a Takk.. outtake. And a really good one.

That said, I'm approaching this entirely from a shoegaze background with next to no black metal exposure. I'm remedying that as we speak.

Check out the Le Secret ep!
Definitely check out Nadja, Angelic Process, The Goslings (and anything else mentioned on this thread) , if you haven't already!

Hjarnidaudi and Hlidolf are really doing it for me just now.

There's not enough ass kicking country in it for it to be metal for chuck ;)

-- trailofgybe, Friday, September 28, 2007 11:30 AM (Friday, September 28, 2007 11:30 AM) Bookmark Link

naw im sticking with herman. I don't like that last fm name anymore.

-- pfunkboy, Friday, September 28, 2007 11:31 AM (Friday, September 28, 2007 11:31 AM) Bookmark Link

I'll get it right yet.

-- Herman G. Neuname, Friday, September 28, 2007 11:33 AM (Friday, September 28, 2007 11:33 AM) Bookmark Link

I'm beginning to wonder how many people on ILM are not you :P

I tried a new username as I was fed up but I decided I dont like it. Was easier when you could just change nicks like the old days.

Saw this posted on the SL Forum.

If you live in the Los Angeles area you could catch
JESU free at Amoeba on friday, october 5th @ 6pm-ish.

Are you going Ned?

Aye, just bought a new trackie :p

We probably should talk more about Agalloch on ILM.

and here it is Agalloch C/D ?

for those who want to buy the Angelic Process vinyl
Here's some info
http://www.roadburn.com/images/tap.jpg

LP 1, SIDE A

1. THE PROMISE OF SNAKES (9:32)
2. MILLION YEAR SUMMER (3:52)
3. THE RESONANCE OF GOODBYE (5:14)

SIDE B
4. WE ALL DIE LAUGHING (6:05)
5. DYING IN A-MINOR (8:20)
6. WEIGHING SOULS WITH SAND (5:20)

LP 2, SIDE A

7. MOUVEMENT-WORLD DEAFENING ECLIPSE (1:59)
8. BURNING IN THE UNDERTOW OF GOD (6:47)
9. MOUVEMENT- THE SMOKE OF HER BURNING (4:16)

SIDE B
10. HOW TO BUILD A TIME MACHINE (HIDDEN TRACK) (5:45)
11. SLEEPWRITTEN (EXCLUSIVE TO VINYL BONUS TRACK (10.53)

500 will be pressed: 300 black, 100 yellow, 100 red

http://www.roadburn.com/images/nadja.jpg
500 will be pressed: 300 black, 100 green, 100 white
To Aidan Baker, the differences between his solo output and the Nadja Doom-
Drone project are fluent and mostly superficial. To the rest of the world, they
are immense. What started out as an exploration of the harsher facets of
Baker's music has by now evolved into a small-scale underground sensation,
uniting the most diverse factions in adoration and devotion, as well as a
fully-fledged band: The impact on the group's sound by the advent of Leah
Buckareff can hardly be underestimated. While the relentless fields of their
albums may occasionally have scared off the interested, there are no more
excuses after this EP for not at least having tasted this black wine at least once.

For "Guilted by the Sun" is an open invitation to the Nadja cosmos, a
boiled-down version of their full-lengths and a thickly flowing substrate of
everything they stand for: Melancholy and majesty, razorsharp edges and
finely woven textures, screaming pandemonium and deafening silence,
introversion and rabid fury. Lifting the veil and taking just that deciding amount
of blurr out of their opaque distortion mantras has suprisingly enough not taken
away anything from their mysticsm, but only served to back it up. Even though
the crunching and piercing guitars have remained in the focus of the arrangements,
the atmospheric contributions have shifted from mere background tremmors
to the status of equitable elements – a movement, which had already set in with
their most recent Fear Falls Burning collaboration and has now taken them
yet another step further.

Baker and Buckareff are no longer afraid of juxtaposing the violence with
the volatile, resulting in moments of solitude and reflection amidst the guided
cacophony. As a direct result, the structure of the pieces has become more
flexible, with a plethora of open breaks in continuation - the opener, a
ten-minute long andtripart progressive doom-metal miniature opera, being a
point in case. Interestingly enough, while the duo has refined its music in
about every single aspect and taken some courageous steps,

"Guilted by the Sun" is not the most difficult, but rather the most accessible work
of their catalogue. Partly, this can be explained by the fact that they are playing
together tighter than ever,intuitively dabbling in near-song-structures and even
integrating vocals in a very straight-forward manner. The other reason may well
be that thanks to their growing interest in breaking their arrangements wide open,
the current Nadja sound, despite the clear-cut stylistic differences, is approaching

Shop is here http://roadburnrecords.bigcartel.com/

the new procer veneficus album belongs on here. such a great album. one cd is completely ambient and one cd is ambient/metal. brian eno + burzum. it made my top 20 this year. i was really looking forward to it after the dude's last album which was likewise awesome. only 500 copies of the box, but i think you can still get it from god is myth:

http://www.god-is-myth.com/3.html

http://god-is-myth.com/images/Web_P_V_summerhaze.jpg

http://www.procerveneficus.com/lunartransit.jpg

http://www.procerveneficus.com/duskworlds.jpg

Brand new double cd boxed set from PROCER VENEFICUS out August 1st, 2007. Disc 1 - entitled “Duskworlds” is psychedelic and dissonant black metal drenched in the droning haze of summertime sunsets. Music for the arc of Venus and a glass of scarlet wine during a passionate August twilight. Threaded with several pieces of murky, amnesic ambience. Disc 2 - entitled “Lunar Transit” is soft, moonlit ambience for August meadows at midnight, lulled by the sea of crickets into dreamsleep. Heavily interlaced with sub-aqueous orchestral blurs. Shimmering atmospheric hymns attuned to the ebb and flow of Selene. Both of these albums are music from the late summer of 2005. This very special two cd set is strictly limited to 500 copies worldwide and comes housed in a beautiful cardboard box with some added bonuses. This is a split label release between God is Myth Records and Ars Magna Recordings. A NOTE ABOUT THE PACKAGING: THIS IS A VERY UNIQUE AND SPECIAL PACKAGE. BOTH CD'S COME HOUSED IN BEAUTIFUL CARDBOARD SLEEVES AND ALSO INCLUDED IS AN INSERT WITH WITH A PHOTO ON ONE SIDE AND SOME EXCELLENT POETRY WRITTEN BY NIGHT HIMSELF ON THE OTHER SIDE, AS WELL AS A LEAF AND ALSO A BAG OF INCENSE. THERE ARE 11 DIFFERENT SCENTS CHOSEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS RELEASE IN ORDER TO KEEP WITH THE SUMMER THEME. WHAT MAKES THESE PACKAGES UNIQUE IN TERMS OF THE INCENSE IS THAT NOT ALL BOXES HAVE THE SAME FRAGRANCE IN THEM. THE 11 AVAILABLE SCENTS ARE - AMBER, MUSK, PATCHOULI, LAVENDER, FRANKENSCENSE, SANDLEWOOD, ROSE, COCONUT, VANILLA, STRAWBERRY & JASMINE. WE WILL NOT TAKE SPECIAL FRAGRANCE REQUESTS. THESE WILL BE SHIPPED OUT RANDOMLY.

Of interest to UK readers:

most of profound lore's 2007 albums including: caina, the angelic process, portal, cobalt, pulsefear will be getting released in the UK on October 8th via Plastic Head Distribution.

They are showing up on HMV, Play, Amazon.co.uk etc websites.

About time. Profoundlore wouldn't ship to europe.

Holy shite at these prices

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Alcest-Le-Secret-CD-SEALED-Amoseurs-Peste-Noire-Ulver_W0QQitemZ190151232653QQihZ009QQcategoryZ307QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ALCEST-Le-Secret-CD-1st-press-Rare-peste-noire_W0QQitemZ150160872747QQihZ005QQcategoryZ1049QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I paid £11ppd for mine.

I gave that PROCER VENEFICUS a listen and I didn't get into it. I suppose I should give it another listen but it wasn't what I expected from that description.

i love the vibe. the mood. he's really into ambient music. and most of the box is ambient music. but i dig that. for more of a metal vibe, there is always velvet cacoon.

Something about "shoegazer metal" just doesn't sit right for me. I love polish sausage and ice cream, but I don't want to taste them together. I think the minute metal becomes shoegazey, it's no longer metal. Call it nu-gaze or something. :)

it's actually commonly called "metalgaze" these days. and you are wrong about how well they go together, as one listen to one of the greatest rock albums of the last 20 years will tell you:

http://www.metalplaza.nl/img/adv/14565114.jpg

I think sometimes people pay too much attention to where a band came from, instead of what kind of music they are making. A lot of the groups mentioned on this thread are just making rock music that has a lot of keyboards and doesn't sound like anything mainstream rock groups are doing. They have metal roots and still use a lot of distortion, so instead of re-categorizing them as rock music, they are some kind of hybrid metal. Katatonia is a different beast, though. Up until their most recent album I call them metal.

Agalloch are pretty metal.

Something about "shoegazer metal" just doesn't sit right for me. I love polish sausage and ice cream, but I don't want to taste them together. I think the minute metal becomes shoegazey, it's no longer metal. Call it nu-gaze or something. :)

-- rockapads, Saturday, September 29, 2007 2:24 AM (18 hours ago) Bookmark Link

RONG

"shoegaze" and metal are both musics that are largely about the sheer force of sound (namely distortion).

shoegaze's emphasis on the ethereal goes well with metal's emphasis on the cosmic, religious, mythological and other larger-than-life themes. it was only inevitable they'd cross-pollinate.

i mean, you can see metal starting to explore the same territory as shoegaze at least as far back as Burzum and Darkthrone, if not earlier.

If only those shoegaze bands would reform and make metal records ;)

I'd love MBV to do that actually.

ah, god, that would be about the best thing ever.

Doubt MBV fans would see it that way.

Which would be part of the fun :)

hmm ... most MBV fans i know would. as i've said (many times, increasingly tediously): my journey to metal began with shoegazing, and i think that's the same for a lot of us more, er, peripheral metal fans.

but yeh, there are probably a heap of others who'd think it was a shit idea. they're just wrong.

You should do a poll on it.
In fact, maybe I will.

Procer Veneficus LOOKS great.

Should My Bloody Valentine Make A Metal Album?

So who has heard the new Jesu ep then? Jarboe is on one of the tracks.

I like this ep a lot. Most people seem to hate track 3 though.

Which is the one with Jarboe on it.

Now sitting with Alcest in front of me (though no headphones means I can't listen till later), with Goslings, Angelic Process, Caina and Nadja in the mail. Cheers for making me spend money AGANE.

(Also, I will wait to see what Daymare end up doing for LifeLine before I decide where to get it from.)

1. New titles from Daymare Recordings

These two titles will be available from the 21st Sept, please visit
http://inoxia-rec.com/ - "mail order list English" - "Daymare Recordings"
We have started accepting order already, and will ship out from the 3rd of
Oct.

On Oct.5th, two Jesu titles are to come from the Daymare Recordings.

DYMC-044
JESU / Lifeline
Release Date: October 5th (world premiere)
Including Japan only bonus tracks (exclusive remixes)

DYMC-045
JESU / st
Release Date: October 5th
With Japan only bonus disc: exclusive EP (Your Path To Divinity [the endless
path], Gurdian Angel [highest throne])
thick cardboard paper gatefold package

2. Coming Soon

New Boris with Merzbow CD from Diw Phalanx out on Oct 26!

PX-168
Rock Dream -Live at EARTHDOM 18 Nov.2006-

Recorded live at "Earthdom" in Tokyo on the 18th Nov 2006, includes a
previously unreleased "Evil Stack" and a cover of PYG. 13 songs.

Diw Phalanx official website http://www.diwphalanx.com/

SUNN O))) reissues are also coming.

SUNN O)))
Daymare expanded edition re-issue series vol.2
*tentative release date: October 31st (date may be changing)
*each album came with bonus disc including completely unreleased materials
*renewed artwork by Stephen O'Malley himself
-miniature thick cardboard gatefold sleeve
-all the disc housed in a paper inner bag
-obi side strip
-Japanese linernotes

DYMC-023
The Grimmrobe Demos
bonus disc: Live at Gabah / Anti Club '98

DYMC-024
OO Void
bonus disc: Remix by NURSE WITH WOUND

DYMC-025
Flight Of The Behemoth
bonus disc: SUNN O))) with MERZBOW at Earthdom, Tokyo 2007

Daymare Recordings official website http://www.daymarerecordings.com/

Sorry, I meant I would wait and see what the "exclusive remixes" are first.

Ahh, ok.

It's really about whether I buy the new version of the s/t and another version of Conqueror (instead of the Sun Down/Sunrise 12") tbh.

OK, Alcest album great, but not metal. Am I the only one that thinks it sounds (vocals excepted) a lot like iLiKETRAiNS?

Ignore that, I spoke before all the acoustic stuff kicked in. Still veh good though.

the jesu EP is blindingly great. esp the jarboe track and the one before it. is it metal? i don't think so; not really, not any more. is it heavy? insofar as it forges a new sonic universe with its own gravitational pull (and some ace plinky early-80s keyboards): fuck yeh.

I like it. But it's funny seeing , on other message boards, people hating on the jarboe track. If it wasn't jarboe on it, i think they would be even more vicious!

Big WTF moment listening to the first Ride album. There's a line in "Decay" which goes "let's stay here for a while...", which Katatonia did identically in "Day".

Ned breaks the bad news here
The Angelic Process is on hold

I got my Jesu - Pale Sketches cd in just now. Did anyone else get theirs? (Grimly?)

Shoegazer bands that had metal influences members of Godflesh playing guitar

Loop
Swervedriver

Dammit now I want to hear "Mothra." (Actually maybe it's on YouTube...)

Good song and interesting writing: http://paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=1165

The demos cd I got wasn't what I expected. I expected some heavier jesu tracks. Will need to give this more listens.

azrael's self/goat sort of belongs in this thread. i think?

The first track on Pelt - Max Meadows, has that feel to it, and I like it a lot more than Jesu or something similar.

I have a track that I think fits this description obliquely with accordion if anyone wants it :D Am I allowed to say that?

http://www.notnotfun.com/presents/pics/nnf098a.jpg
http://www.notnotfun.com/presents/pics/nnf098b.jpg

The Goslings

Occasion

NNF098—CD ($11)

Hollywood, Florida family/band Max and Leslie Soren have been unleashing their private bouts of punishing ceremonial sludge-gaze for the past half a decade now, and there’s been some total titanic highlights (Between the Dead, Grandeur of Hair, etc). But the grunge swamp graveyard they seem to unearth their moss metal from must be profoundly fertile ground, because each new song-cycle they lay to tape is somehow even more miraculously brutal and shimmering and visionary than the one before it. This phenom holds true for Occasion, The Goslings’ newest and maybe deepest doom/beauty inquest. Eight thundering masterpieces of molten slime riff majesty, nightstalker drums, and soaring-into-the-sun female vox that crush the earth, bleed, and breathe in humid darkness. Ranging from the Slowdive-meets-Skullflower transcendent descent of “Motorcade” through to the quaking basement funeral of “Little Horn,” Occasion is a glorious passage into The Goslings’ hidden holy land. Mastered for optimal audio gravity by James Plotkin, and housed in a swank six-panel wallet-style metallic-ink digipak with artwork by the band.

http://www.notnotfun.com/presents/present.html

Yes i want this.

For some reason, the first thing that came to mind was Mew.

Probably not what you people are looking for though.

Certain Cornelius tracks might fit the bill. He did a MBV-ish remix of a Salon Music track which is quite metal.

I just paid for the Goslings cd, was only $15 total inc shipping to UK. Bargain!

Yeah NNF rules

My friend's got that Pocahaunted shirt they're selling atm. want! but they don't have it in the right size ;_;

search: draugar

If Will Haven were an instrumental band, they would be huge. Personally I love Grady's screaming (especially on the 1st and 3rd record). But they'd have a crazy crossover audience without the vox.

Their minimalist metal is totally mis-categorized. Those hypnotic beats, repetitive baselines, and hugely affected guitar riffs are really something.

basslines, not baselines.

The couple of Draugar tracks I've heard seemed like pretty full-on USBM. What's the shoegaze stuff?

Got my Goslings cd yesterday.
Btw W4lter there's a Pocohaunted lp out.

POCAHAUNTED "PEYOTE ROAD" (WOODSIST012) ----> $15ppd

Debut full- length LP. Edition of 500

The couple of Draugar tracks I've heard seemed like pretty full-on USBM. What's the shoegaze stuff?

Cant say I've heard Draugar.

W4lter did you get a shirt or lp then?

I haven't got around to much buying lately. They're putting a tape out by my fwends band, I might buy some other stuff when I get that.

What band is that?

Bl4nk |2e4lm. They just did a show w/ d4m0 5uzuk1

Speak English, you.

:D

It's all that eucalyptus you people smoke.

I like many bands being described as this, but what is it really meaning? Looking down?

I think so.

>_<

Actually, all of these bands do this.

otm

The new 5ive album gets better with every listen. Anyone else like it?

What exactly is shoegazey about that Goslings album?

Anyone else like it?

Yeah, I do. Not as much as you I suspect, but it's cool. Have you heard anything off the new Jucifer album on Relapse? Thought I didn't care for this band (or for listening to 70-minute albums, as a whole) but this has made me change my tune.

I haven't heard it, no. Worth checking out?

Yessir. There are really nasty doom bits and psych-folk sort of bits and stuff that is almost like Torche with a lady singing and quite a bit that reminds me of The Breeders but with better songs than the new Breeders album (which is the things that stopped me being impressed with Jucifer before)

Last time I listened to Jucifer I thought they sounded more like Veruca Salt.

Destroy: Jesu

(sorry guys, I've heard Silver and Conqueror, and both just sound like a shitty Fragile-era NIN impression to me)

Hah! Can't believe I said this in 2007. I have come around to Jesu in a HUGE way.

There you go.

I do maintain there are parts of Conqueror that sound eerily similar to "The Day the World Went Away" but it's alright, I don't mind it so much now. The first self-titled Jesu record is a gem as well.

Also search from this thread, I love all of these and are pretty new to me (within the last year or so):

Agalloch
Alcest
Katatonia (the little I've heard)
Nadja
Ulver

next you will be liking mastodon..

Goddamnit never!

;-)

Alcest album is so fucking good I don't even know where to begin.

Alcest's new album is bringing back the black metal growls. Not too sure what to think of that, considering how near-pefect the last album was without them.

The early stuff was pretty great, and that was more black metal. I don't know if anything could approach Souvenirs...

I just hope it is better than the Amoseurs thing.

I have been going to sleep to the sound of the alcest album on very quiet recently.

theres a new alcest split ep

The Pyramids with Nadja collab is amazing. It's got Simon Raymonde on it, was produced by James Plotkin and also features the guy who looks like Popeye from that bunch of Belgain art Nazis Das BludClaart or whatever they're called. So much better than the Nadja/Black Boned Angel collab.

The new Jesu EP is the jolliest to date as well.

Broadrick must need to stock up on good vibes because of reforming Godflesh/recording with Greymachine.

interestingly, I think he uses autotune on the Jesu EP as well!