Playlist: Andrew Scherer

Andrew Joseph Scherer is one of the founding members of Velnias and in addition to his main group has worked / works with such artists as I Shalt Become, Locrian and Twilight Congregation. He also will be starting his own label, Inspired Hate sometime early next year, along with a few as of yet unnamed musical projects.



CURRENT AND ETERNAL MUSICAL OBSESSIONS :

Obsequiae "Suspended In The Brume of Eos"
Comus "First Utterance"
Potentiam "Orka I Myrki"
Dissection "Storm of the Light's Bane"
Ice Bound Majesty "How Can We Live In A Kingdom And Never See The Throne"
Bloodrain "Bloodrain III : Nomen Nostro Legio"
Old Wainds "Where The Snows Are Never Gone ..." / "Religion of Spiritual Violence"
Death "Leprosy"
The Loathsome Couple "The Loathsome Couple"
Ride For Revenge / Torturium
16 Horsepower "Low Estate"
Ascension "Consolamentum"
Judas Priest "Painkiller"
Goatmoon "Varjot"
Ennio Morricone "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"
Sigrblot "Blodsband (Blood Religion Manifest.)"
Obscure Anachronism "Metanoia"
Moon of Delirium "Demo"
Rahu "Rahu"
Disillusion "Back to Times of Splendor"

Servile Sect and Cedars of Lebanon Cassettes from Land of Decay

I don't have much time to post on these but I want people to know they're available because they could sell down pretty quickly. I know a bunch of people have been waiting for these for a while, and now, finally, both are available from Land of Decay.

First is a cassette of two demo tracks from droned-out psychedelic mindbenders Servile Sect, who we've featured before. Their album TRVTH came out on R. Loren's Handmade Birds label earlier this year, but the material on this tape goes back to 2005-2006, before their debut Stratospheric Passenger came out. Dark and eerie and not to be missed.

The second is a cassette from Cedars of Lebanon, which features members of Minsk and US Christmas. Don't now much else about the band, but what I've heard of the tape is really solid. What's interesting here is that this is "the first Land of Decay release that was recorded exclusively in the drainage tunnels and abandoned missile silos around Peoria, IL." Wow.

For more info, click over to the Land of Decay link above, and to buy them (along with Locrian's The Clearing LP, now finally available from LoD), go here.

Psychic Teens, TEEN

This post-punk revival that's become all the rage these days has me quite torn. Some of it is so, so good. And some of it is so horribly, obviously bad that it makes me want to condemn the whole "movement" and never listen to anything labeled post-punk ever again.

Psychic Teens falls into the first group. I have been listening to this for over a month and I enjoy it a little more every time. It's not an easy record to pin down - generally a good sign. Post-punk is the first thing that comes to mind, and that's certainly accurate, but there's so much more to this. Honestly, I'm hearing 5 different decades of music here. The 80s, most obviously, but I can't help but hear the psychedelic bands of the 60s (like The Doors), some of the great rock and punk bands of the late 70s and 80s, some old-fashioned dark gothic beauty, throw in a sampling of the alt-rock movement of the 90s (Can I really hear Nirvana at times? Why yes, I think I can...), and even some shoegaze, drone, and metal at times. The album starts with some throbbing bass, which eventually gives way in the end to some heavy, blissed-out guitars that are almost reminiscent of Nadja. There's pretty much something here for everyone.

It's refreshing though, that Psychic Teens wear their influences on their sleeves, because by being honest about who they are, they come off as the genuine article. Despite the influences being so obvious, it doesn't sound derivative at all - it sounds fresh, if not unique. It won't be for everyone that frequents this site, but if you give it a chance, I think you may be surprised. You can stream or download the album on Bandcamp and/or order the LP here from Golden Voyage.

Syven, Aikaintaite

We all listen to music for different reasons, but at the root of things, we presumably go back to the things we love the most over and over again because they stir something inside of us, be that something whimsical, something political, something sorrowful, even something dreadful.

And then there are the pieces of music that transcend the personal, the pieces where the music stands on its own, where it takes on its own life - where it stands beside us, or across from us - the point being that it is anywhere that is not inside of us, because it is just too large. There is too much meaning, to much profound wisdom contained therein for it to remain in our hearts. It is an entity entirely its own. It is not alien, but it is other.

Finland's Syven (whose song "How Fare the Gods?" you may remember from the stunning compilation Whom The Moon a Nightsong Sings)  have created just such a piece of music. The music contained on their debut album Aikaintaite is bigger than the immensely talented duo of A.T. and A.K.S.; it's bigger than the instruments it's played on (including the native Finnish kantele); in some ways, it's bigger than music, bigger than art. It's bigger than any genre, obviously. We can call it folk, we can call it neofolk, or ambient, or whatever else we want, but in this music, genres break down. One listen to this album will show you that. It has elements of all these things, even a few hints of metal, but the tremendously atmospheric and evocative layering of synths over the kantele, the tribal percussion, the field recordings, and the varied vocals (from feral growls, whispered chants, and amazing low male choirs that at times approach the depth of Tibetan throat singing) makes no real suggestion of genre. It needs none, as it is its own.

The record is self-described as primordial and shamanistic, and these words are certainly appropriate.

There is breath within this music. There is life. It speaks to us, yes - but when it speaks from another side, it listens as well. It is open. It does not preach, it does not explain, but it communes with us, as we commune with it. It is... more than a gesture, more than a prayer - it's a beckoning to nature, a beckoning to the ancients to show us hope, to spark the light in all of us that keeps us alive in the harshest and most difficult of times.


Click over to Vendlus Records, where the album will soon be available, to hear samples.

Uzala - Uzala LP/CS

Boise, Idaho's Uzala will be releasing their self-titled debut record soon. Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Darcy Nutt, vocalist/guitarist Chad Remains, bassist Nick Phit (Graves at Sea/Atriarch), and drummer Stephen Gere (Gere recently left the band and has been replaced by Chuck Watkins), they make killer fuzzed-out doom-rock that fans of bands like Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony, Witch Mountain, The Devil's Blood would almost certainly enjoy.

The album was recorded and produced by Blake Green of Wolvserpent and mastered by Andy Lippoldt of Persistence in Mourning. The album artwork was created by Darcy Nutt, who in addition to playing in Uzala, is also a world-renowned tattoo artist and owner of Chalice Tattoo. Design was handled by none other than Stephen O'Malley.

Uzala will be released on vinyl by At War With False Noise. It is being pressed in an edition of 333 copies on 180g vinyl, in heavy "tip-on" Stoughton sleeves with printed inners. Preorders are being taken now, and each preorder comes with a black patch with the Uzala sigil printed in silver. There will be a separate preorder option for that includes the album, the patch, and a black T-shirt with the album artwork printed in white.

The cassette version will be released by Witch Sermon. It will be limited to 111 copies, and the first 33 orders will include a black patch with the logo printed in white. The cassette version will include a bonus track, "Cataract," which was recorded during the same sessions. Contact Andy at Witch Sermon for availability.



Check out "The Reaping" below: