Beerdigungs Lauten - "Slay The Close Of Yours" [1994]

Artist: Beerdigungs Lauten

Title: Slay The Close Of Yours

Genre: Death Metal, Grindcore

Country: Armenia
Year: 1994

Track List:

1. Slay The Close Of Yours
2. Psychosis
3. With God's Help
4. Unchallenged Hate (Napalm Death)
5. Sabre Dance (Aram Khachaturian)

To my knowledge, Beerdigungs Lauten were the very first extreme metal band in Armenia. The band was formed in 1993 by two former members of Demon Spirit (Armenian clone of Slayer, with no known releases), after they started listening to such bands as Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Pungent Stench, Disharmonic Orchestra, Atrocity, Righteous Pigs, etc. and decided to play more brutal music. During the autumn of 1993 they held their first rehearsals at Armgiprodor (a scientific faculty outside of Yerevan).

The winter of 1993-1994 was very hard for them, as well for the citizens of Armenia as a whole: constant electricity outages, war in Nagorny Karabakh, economic blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan, etc. However, in spring of 1994 they got lucky: an Yerevan-based band called Dumbarton Oaks offered them a rehearsal base. They got all the needed equipment shortly thereafter, and recorded their first and only demo at Ardzagank studio after two months of rehearsal. After that, they were invited to the "Barev" TV show, which was their first appearance on TV. After 1995 the band was pretty inactive, but they finally split up only in 2004 after playing a final concert in Yerevan.

Unsurprisingly, "Slay The Close Of Yours" sounds quite raw. Back then there were only two recording studios in Yerevan - Ardzagank and Asparez - and BL had chosen the former (because they had some friends there), even though Asparez had better equipment. Anyway, the very fact of existence of brutal death metal in Armenia 20 years ago is quite interesting. To put it in short: if you liked Abscess' demo, you might like "Slay The Close Of Yours" as well. I also think BL were the only band in the world to make a death metal version of "Sabre Dance" :)

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The Peace Is There - "Depth" [2013]

Artist: The Peace Is There

Title: Depth

Genre: Post-Rock, Post-Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Creature
2. Depth

Post-metal/hardcore from my city. Nothing really outstanding, but not bad at all and certainly worth listening (although I think calling this "black metal", like they do on their bandcamp page, would be a way too big stretch).

2014

2013 was a pretty bad year for me and most people around me, so I'm happy it's finally over, and can only hope that the next year would be better. I also turned 27 y.o. a week ago; of course you can congratulate me with that too, if you want. As for this blog, I actually don't have much interest in continuing it, but I see I have some regular readers, so I'll try to post new reviews at least from time to time. Happy 2014 for everyone!

Képzelt Város - "Anatolij" [2013]

Artist: Képzelt Város

Title: Anatolij

Genre: Post-Rock, Post-Metal

Country: Hungary
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Kepler
2. Orion
3. Vörös óriás
4. Albireo B
5. Epszilon
6. Libra
7. Nóva
8. Theodor
9. Ég veled, Anatolij!

Képzelt Város (which means "Imaginary Town", if my knowledge of Hungarian doesn't deceive me) is a band started in 2005 by 4 architecture students from Budapest (but expanded to 6 members since then). Maybe "Anatolij" isn't an extraordinary release, but it has everything I love in Hungarian rock: "cosmic" atmosphere and the dominant role of the keyboards (+ cello):

Uran Bator - "Butsalgah" [2013]

Artist: Uran Bator

Title: Butsalgah

Genre: EBM, Ethno-Industrial, Breakbeat

Country: Russia
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Maadai Kara
2. Kargyraa
3. Khookhoo Namjil
4. Jelmeigen Sagal
5. Ooskus Uul
6. Valambay
7. Barbannadyr
8. Bool
9. Chokyr At

One more Asian-themed album, but this time it's not metal. Uran Bator is a new side project of IVAN[Ъ]MAN (also known for Стройбат), influenced by both industrial/EBM and Mongolian/Tuvan/Folk music. If I'm not mistaken, all the lyrics on "Butsalgah" are in Tuvan, and they tell a story set in the alternative universe where the ancient Mongol Empire is armed by nuclear weapons. The idea is very interesting, but "Butsalgah" isn't without its flaws: the cover art looks cheap, and I didn't particularly like the "industrial" component of Uran Bator's music. However, I still think it's one of the most original and innovative releases of 2013.

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Darkestrah - "Manas" [2013]

Artist: Darkestrah

Title: Manas

Genre: Black/Pagan Metal

Country: Germany/Kyrgyzstan
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Манас-мститель
2. Память (Старик)
3. Победа
4. Кыргызстан
5. Манас-батыр

Darkestrah are probably the one and only well-known Kyrgyz metal band, and here's their most recent release, titled "Manas". Personally I prefer their early stuff which they recorded before relocation to Germany - because as of now, their music seems to be more influenced by bands like Drudkh, and therefore lost much of its "exoticism". All the lyrics on "Manas" are in Russian (unlike their earlier albums with lyrics in English). Anyway, if you're interested in Asian black/pagan metal, this album is worth checking out - although Darkestrah aren't as "unorthodox" as Tengger Cavalry, for example.

Cold Divide - "Weaponized" [2012]

Artist: Cold Divide

Title: Weaponized

Genre: Industrial Rock

Country: Australia
Year: 2012

Track List:

1. Weaponized
2. Citizen Replaced
3. Cold War Skies

From last.fm:

"Cold Divide combine genres to create an uncompromising, original sound. Apocalyptic, menacing and memorable.

From the beginning, Cold Divide have worked hard to ensure that they are a live act to be reckoned with, incorporating live synths, loops and glitched out mayhem from sources both hardware and software alongside heavy rock drums and guitars. This intense and continually evolving process of combining genres and sounds is a vital part of the bands identity, since the production and sound design of their recordings are as equally important as their live performances.

To date the band have supported international acts such as: Combichrist (Norway/USA), Grendel (Netherlands), Nachtmahr (Austria) and Lab4 (UK).

Cold divide have also remixed artists such as Frontline assembly (Canada) and Distaudio (Australia). They have also had the track “Plagueworthy” from their debut ep Grand manipulations used in the in-game soundtrack for the online multiplayer game “APB”, which was developed by the same team as grand theft auto and features other artists such as Pendulum.

Heavy slabs of guitar. Vocals that can soar, snarl and penetrate. Synths and bass that sound like the very fabric of space and time being ripped apart. Drums that make you want to dance but kick you in the chest. Cold Divide aspire to create their own sound. That unique combination that only they can make, so as soon as you hear it, you know. Cold Divide want to make sounds you’ve never heard before, but will want to hear again and again and again"

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Flash Terrorist - "Body Fusion Limit" [1997]

Artist: Flash Terrorist

Title: Body Fusion Limit

Genre: Industrial Death Metal

Country: Italy
Year: 1997

Track List:

1. Virtual Programmer
2. Body Fusion Limit
3. Blood For God
4. Scar
5. Shothead
6. Victim
7. Narcos
8. Life's To Stake
9. Extortion
10. Infected Molestor

Yesterday, Fear Factory had a live performance in my city (for the first time ever), but unfortunately I couldn't go. Maybe my list of "seen live" bands isn't empty, but it mostly consists of local bands; moreover, I had to go to Moscow to see Ayria and L'ame Immortelle live. So it was a big pity to miss FF coming here, even though I don't like their newer albums that much.

Why do I write all this? Here's a very obscure and underrated band whose one and only full-length, "Body Fusion Limit", sounds very simular to the FF's mid-90s releases (something in between of "Demanufacture" and "Soul of a New Machine"). Flash Terrorist were formed in Italy in 1991 under the name "Alice In Hell" (inspired by Annihilator's debut album?). There's not much futher information about them, except they've released only one album and then disappeared - even though they had a lot of potential and the right understanding of how industrial death metal should sound...

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