Alright, let’s the get the introductions out of the way first. This is VHÖL, a “super-group” of sorts originally started by John Cobbett (Hammers of Misfortune, Amber Asylum) and Aesop Dekker (Agalloch, Worm Ouroboros) after the incredible Ludicra called it a day (sigh). Mike Scheidt of YOB was brought on board to lend his discernible vocal skills to the project and Cobbett’s colleague from Hammers of Misfortune and Amber Asylum Sigrid Sheie joined on bass. And lo, VHÖL was born.
The sound of VHÖL is a little harder to pinpoint than their origins and with such a diverse group of musicians there’s always the chance that too much will get thrown into the mix – too many cooks spoil the broth – and whilst with VHÖL there’s the obvious nods to black metal, to thrash, to progressive metal, to hardcore by way of d-beat, at no point does that become overwhelming or overpowering. VHÖL’s strength lies in the abilities of the musicians involved – Scheidt’s voice is powerful and commanding and here he lets loose with a glorious abandon, wailing and rasping and lifting the sound beyond mere heavy metal whilst the guitar of Cobbett soars above the tracks adding depth and nuance whilst a tangible grungy dirtiness flows through the filthy bass lines of Sheie.
Exclusive
CVLT Nation Streaming
LAURASIA AWAITS US “Seclusion”0
Posted In Avant Garde,Features,Music,Streaming
Out of my loneliness and depression is where I found some of the best times of my life. From these places, I was able to see all of the beauty that I had around me. When I blast LAURASIA AWAITS US, their songs remind me of the ups and downs of my existence on this planet. Their new album entitled Apathy Remains Victorious will be out on April 23rd via Domestic Genocide. LAURASIA AWAITS US should really be proud of themselves for manifesting such an emotionally majestic piece of sonic magic! CVLT Nation is honored to be streaming their song “Seclusion” below…
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King Dude
Of The Wand & The Moon
A Story of Rats
3/31/13 Photo Essay & Review4
Posted In Art,Avant Garde,Events,Features,Music,Neo Folk,Photography
Text & Photos by Matthew Grant Anson
Sundays are weird days for shows – they bring out a strange hodgepodge of people who either don’t have work or school the next day or do but don’t care. Combine that with King Dude’s already peculiar fanbase, and you had the perfect recipe of strangeness at Los Angeles’ The Echo Sunday, March 31st. King Dude, accompanied by Of The Wand & The Moon and A Story of Rats brought the tunes to match, together providing a unique and off-the-wall combination of neo-folk, drone, and everything in between.
A Story of Rats began the proceedings with ten lit candles, distorted vocals, driving drums, and bwwoooonnnggggg-ing bass feedback. This amounted to their entire set…they either played one long song or multiple songs with no breaks in between; it was hard to tell. The audience for the most part didn’t know what to make of the act, so far removed from King Dude’s sound they were. A Story of Rats had at least five build ups where it seemed as if the music was about to crescendo and transform into something, only to peter out into nothingness like a 4th of July bottle rocket that’s reached the apex of its flight. Drone music isn’t for the faint of heart, and it takes a particularly warped mind to appreciate the intricacies that are (probably, hopefully) hidden beneath the repetition and the feedback. Needless to say, that type of audience just wasn’t at The Echo that night.
Exclusive
CVLT Nation Streaming
SMOHALLA & OMEGA CENTAURI
Tellur-Epitome1
Posted In Avant Garde,Black Metal,Features,Music,Streaming
Today a very special split comes out featuring two bands that have created their own alternative universe! The bands are Smohalla & Omega Centauri, and the name of the record is Tellur-Epitome, which is being released by Duplicate Records. Both bands take a different approach to expanding how black metal is created! Smohalla & Omega Centauri sounds work perfectly together to make this a listening experience that will have your dreams shapeshifting into unknown creatures. CVLT Nation is proud to be streaming Tellur-Epitome in full below!
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Gateway To The Nightside…
ANDRAMELECH / SERPENT NOIR Review0
Posted In Avant Garde,Black Metal,Music,Reviews
Label: Daemon Worship Prod.
Neither Andramelech or Serpent Noir are new names in the world of metal music. For those familiar with each band, you know the degree of punishment that each delivers on an almost year by year basis in both recorded and live performance. However, if you’ve never listened to either band you’re missing out- these bands fucking destroy and will warp your view of what it means to play black metal. Gateway to the Nightside won’t likely be listeners first experience with either band, but it serves as an immensely entertaining portrait of what each band represents both musically and conceptually.
Andramelech introduce Gateway to the Nightside with “The Trefoil Crown”, a jarring, misanthropic burst of black metal. The riffing on this song is smart– it doesn’t overstay its welcome nor does it confuse technicality with ease, there’s real substance here. “The Trefoil Crown” gives the listener a push-pull of black metal urgency and a sense of death metal cynicism. It’s hard to find anything about the track that isn’t worth complimenting; structurally it is sound and I can’t help but to compliment that. The second Andramelech track “The Voiceless Verb of Vovin” begins much slower than their initial track but quickly raises the stakes when vocalist Antithesis elevates the song into more foreboding heights. The song toys with this relationship between comfort and fear, switching between parts that are slower and orienting then quickly rejecting them for a more destructive, bending sonic blast. Each track is truly wonderful to listen to repeatedly.
CVLT Nation
2nd Anniversary Show
Ticket Giveaway!0
Posted In Apocalyptic Blues,Avant Garde,Black Metal,Doom,Events,Features,Hardcore,Music,Sludge
The CVLT Nation 2nd Anniversary Show is coming up soon on Friday, April 26th, at Unit B in Santa Ana, CA, and we want to offer our awesome radical readers a chance to win 2 pairs of tickets to the show! You can still pick up pre-order tickets from Unit B HERE for $8, or you can pay $10 at the show, but if you pre-order your tickets and email your receipt to contact@cvltnation.com you get a 15% off code for the CVLT Store for any one order of clothing or records! We will be drawing two lucky winners for a pair of tickets each on Friday at noon PST, so enter to win at contest@cvltnation.com with “2nd Anniversary” in the subject! Good luck and see you at the show!!!
**Congratulations to Daniel Echeverria and Jesse Barron for winning a pair of tickets each! See you at the show!***
Special thanks to Crash the Clubs and LACE Pickups!
Vuyvr are a brand new breed of black metal band coming out of Europe, Switzerland to be more exactly. Gathering members from well known bands such as Knut, Impure Wilhelmina, Rorcal and Elizabeth such gathering could only result into something very interesting and really worth taking a look.
Vuyvr’s debut album, “Eiskalt” is one of the most fresh and stimulating albums coming out this year that will probably shock the most puritan of the black metal puritans while on the other hand, it will please many of the new generation of black metal fans out there.
Influenced by the old masters the genre, Vuyvr’s sound appears to be quite traditional yet it contains a big dose of originality for it to be contextualized into nowadays. “Eiskalt” is one of those albums that after a first hearing it might not glue immediately with us, this specific case is one of those albums that must be assessed with particular attention and specially, with time for you to discover them buried deep in the frost which abounds in this album. Only then you’ll see that the more you listen to it, the more it will grow on you. Vuyvr’s sound is all about simplicity, releasing great sharpened riffs that could cut a mountain into half and vocals with that just right amount of harshness, fitting perfectly into the this kind of record you’re about to hear. All of this entangled in a very stripped down, raw, straightforward production.
Let’s look a little bit more inside this Swiss blizzard..
READ MORE…
CVLT Nation Premiere
AGARTTHA Video
“Lambsprinck” Now Showing0
Posted In Avant Garde,Film,Music,Music Videos
AGARTTHA is an Italian band that creates far out music that will attack your inner soul and will have your head moving in ethereal circles. When I hear their music, I travel to places in my imagination where flowing water turns into outer space! AGARTTHA are set to release their new album entitled A Water Which Does Not Wet Hands very soon via King Of The Monsters (pre-order HERE). Check their brand new video for their song “Lambsprinck” after the jump! Make sure to listen to AGARTTHA – they speak the language of the clouds!
Sex, God, Sex…
SWANS Live 1987
Full Set Download!0
Posted In Apocalyptic Blues,Avant Garde,Music,Streaming
So what do we have here? It’s an epic download of a SWANS set from 1987 in Switzerland. All I can say is that this show sounds hauntingly beautiful and the sound quality is spot on! Check out the download link and track listing after the jump!
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We are all about killer weird shit for awesome weirdos to have something to listen to. Plus we really dig supporting people worldwide who support their scenes by starting bands or setting up labels that release really interesting music. The brand new TYR Records is the kind of creative outlet that I’m speaking of. They have just co-released the new Witch in Her Tomb with Crippled Sounds and it is fucking all the way on point! They also have just stocked their webstore with new tunes from VELD, Detraxisti, Palace Gardens and Shattered Shield. The cool thing about TYR Records is that they are putting out music that they are into and not pandering to anyone’s taste but their own. All of the bands on this label sound different, but they do share the fact that they are awesome! Check out the TYR Records webstore when you are in the mood to have your thoughts smashed against something challenging! Peep some sonic samples before and after the jump!
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