Mr. Death
Descending through ashes
Agonia Records
There's something intriguing about Sweden's Mr. Death that makes you want to come back for more even though you're not quite sure if you're that into their new album. Historically, that has been the mark of a damn good recording for me, with case in point being "Contradictions collapse". When Meshuggah released their debut back in '91 I had the same feeling; I wasn't quite sure if I liked it, but I kept coming back for more. Now it's one of my all-time favorite albums. I sincerely doubt that I'll be singing the praises of "Descending through the ashes" in 20 years time, but it definitely has something special for now. It's a combination of that odd sound -- like a mix of the American and Swedish deathgrinders from back in the day -- and a unique songwriting technique that's simple, yet very effective. On every listen I'm wondering if the songwriting is actually any good and I still can't put my finger on it. That it has me returning to it on a regular basis speaks volumes. It's old-school Swedish/American death metal with a production that would make Satan shit himself. Good enough for me!
- John Norby
Claws Costeau - Your basic boring skweee track
"Your basic boring skweee track": better than no skweee at all. And besides, I am a strong endorser of the KISS principle in all realms and spaces.
Nomethod winter update
has provided us with their winter/spring release schedule, as well as a couple excellent sample tunes. Listen above/read below:
Dec 23 - Tennis Bafra - Knox Harrington [digital single]
Dec 24 - Åbe - Leland [digital single]
Jan 01 - Åbe - King of Pellargonia [CD/digital]
Feb 06 - Tennis Bafra - Abulia Jubilee [CD/LP/digital]
Feb 22 - Soviac - The aack album [CD/LP/digital]
Mar 03 - Simian Ghost - Youth [LP]
Later in 2012, look for new albums from De Montevert, First Love Last Rites and Daymare.
The Kissaway Trail down to a trio
Danish act The Kissaway Trail has parted ways with bassist Rune Pedersen and guitarist Daniel Skjoldmose and will continue on as a trio for the time being while they work on new material. Read more: https://www.facebook.com/kissawaytrail/posts/10150408327558173
Emil Jensen & Familjen - Nyår
Timely without being Christmas-themed, here's a brande new duet single from Emil Jensen and Familjen entitled "Nyår": http://www.adrianfiles.com/01.Nyar.mp3
If you don't want to bother with downloads, stream it on Spotify here.
Korallreven - As young as yesterday (video)
A new video from Korallreven, directed by Marcus Söderlund.
DWNSTRS - Satanic adventures of Hector
The new DWNSTRS album "Satanic adventures of Hector" is now streaming in full at SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/fullsteam/sets/dwnstrs-hector
Powersolo - Got no fear (video)
Perhaps not the best Powersolo video, but still entertaining as always.
Gimme some dogs
Peter Bjorn and John are doing an Advent calendar thing and normally I wouldn't care because I'm a Scrooge, but I can't pass up some behind-the-scenes footage from their dog photo shoot: http://peterbjornandjohn.com/blog/2011/12/gimme-some-advent-calendar-7/
Musik med Loney Dear
Loney Dear plays his Tomas Tranströmer tribute piece for PSL: http://blogg.svt.se/psl/2011/12/07/musik-med-loney-dear-2/
Vädret - Sista
will be releasing a 7-track mini-album from Vädret, the new solo project from Scraps of Tape guitarist Marcus Nilsson. Release date TBA.
The Ark to release posthumous DVD
The Ark are officially done as a band now, but they'll be putting out (at least) one final release: a live DVD filmed at last summer's Peace & Love Festival as part of their farewell tour. Official release date is February 15 and 10% of the proceeds will be donated towards the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation.