Blood Harvest

Morrow vs. Hajduch

Morrow vs. Hajduch: Bastard Priest’s Ghouls of the Endless Night

Scott Morrow is ALARM’s music editor. Patrick Hajduch is a very important lawyer. Each week they debate the merits of a different album.

Bastard Priest: Ghouls of the Endless NightBastard Priest: Ghouls of the Endless Night (Blood Harvest / Pulverised, 9/3/11)

Bastard Priest: “Ghouls of the Endless Night”

Hajduch: Ghouls of the Endless Night is the new LP from Swedish duo Bastard Priest, which plays fast, crusty D-beat / death metal. The album is streaming at Invisible Oranges, which is a must-read for all things metal (and which will hopefully continue to thrive following the recent departure of creator/editor Cosmo Lee).

Most of the tracks here are a wall of sound, but there’s a lot of interest in the spaces carved out. The melodic breakdown on “Enter Eternal Nightmare” (I think — the stream isn’t segmented by track) is one of many standout moments.

Morrow: These dudes are from Umeå, the home of Meshuggah, but they couldn’t sound further from the latter’s mechanical mastery. Their songs are raw, gruff, and to the point — a lo-fi metal-head’s dream.

Ghouls of the Endless Night is chock full of push beats and breakdowns, and it’s effective for what it is. A handful of solos give the tracks a much-needed other dimension, but I can’t help but feel a little bored. Also, I’m far from an audiophile, but the recording quality leaves much to be desired.

Justin Bartlett

Guest Spots: Doom artist Justin Bartlett’s current favorites

Justin Bartlett has created art for some of your favorite bands and labels: SUNN O))), Intronaut, and Southern Lord, among many others. A self-described “black-ink warlock from the grim and frostbitten raven-realm of Southern California,” Bartlett knows metal and doom aesthetics. It’s only natural that he knows of a few bands you should hear too.

Bands and Artists You Should Know
by Justin Bartlett

Constructing a cohesive theme for my guest column at ALARM was not forming in my skull. Top Ten Album Releases for 2010? Top Ten Favorite Artists? Top Ten Fish Tacos? Hmm…nothing.

Perhaps this needs to be more KVLT and underground…Top 10 Cassette Releases? Nah, the tape thing has been played out enough. Bear with me….Top Six Uses of Upside-Down Crosses on Album Artwork? Ah, fuck it, here’s a list of nine bands and visual artists that I enjoy, find inspirational, or simply think are interesting and who you should check out for yourself. All of the visual artists I’ve listed have created artwork for bands, but some of the musicians/bands do not necessarily have outstanding album aesthetics. Either visually or musically (and sometimes both), they weave together textures that are dark, grim, and, to a person with a penchant for the negative, often cathartic.
 
Blessure Grave

1. Blessure Grave

Blessure Grave was one of the best things to come out of San Diego’s rather lackluster and safe indie music scene for years. Although its post-punk sound gives a nod to some of my favorites — Joy Division, Death In June, The Cure, and The Chameleons — the band played with enough conviction and creativity to avoid being too derivative. Structurally, the band has a very strong pop drive to its material with an underlying bedroom black-metal atmosphere. Blessure Grave released a ton of EPs on vinyl and cassette, and Judged by Twelve, Carried by Six was one of my favorite releases of 2010. Unfortunately, the band broke up recently, but luckily I was able to work on a cassette cover for When I Die before its demise. Blessure Grave’s mastermind, Tobias [Grave], started a new band called Soft Kill.