Favorites this week:
Tre Burt - Caught It From The Rye (Oh Boy Records)
There’s been a lot of talk about Tré Burt’s alleged similarity to Bob Dylan — enough that I was fearful to listen to Caught It From The Rye, especially as a person who has, with much dismay and disappointment, listened to (and, tbh, dated) more than my share of annoying young men who insist on failing at Dylan cosplay. I can say with great relief, though, that this isn’t that. Bob’s in here, sure (particularly in the nasally voice that sounds like it’s being somewhat forcibly ejected from the body against some resistance), but he’s certainly not alone — I definitely hear Townes Van Zandt and John Prine, for example — and, most importantly, he doesn’t come close to drowning out Burt, who is a uniquely gifted voice in his own right. Burt’sis a worn-in voice, and these are worn-in songs, recorded as-is, often featuring just voice and acoustic guitar (we get some train whistles, harmonicas, tambourines, and even a full band here and there, though). A few of the tracks have a rigid structure (“Real You” is probably the hookiest and most traditionally constructed tune here), others seem to kind of spin in endless space. Many of the songs seem to deal with the broad subject of being a person living life (the passage of time, a tooth going yellow, trouble sleeping, lost friendships); on “Undead God of War,” though, Burt sings of violence, capitalism, and white supremacy. These two realms are part of the same world (Tré Burt’s, and ours) and can’t really be teased apart, of course; it’s part of what makes this the kind of folk music the world desperately needs right now. In sum, these are simply great songs, and this record is a powerful expression of a self. Also, if it’s good enough for John Prine (Burt’s only the second artist signed to Prine’s Oh Boy label in the last fifteen years), it’s for damn sure good enough for the rest of us.
Bütcher - 666 Goats Carry My Chariot (Osmose Productions)
If you crave Belgian, old-school, broadly-influenced yet raw-as-hell black/speed/thrash, you’ve stopped at the right exit. Bütcher’s (apparently overstaffed by goats) chariot is a flaming machine careening out of control, blasting through and destroying signposts labeled “Venom,” “NWOBHM”, “German speed metal”, “Mercyful Fate,” “Brazilian thrash,” and on and on. Each song is bursting at the seams and absolutely over the top in a way entirely different from the last. These guys are so obviously fully immersed in their influences, probably master historians of the entire heavy metal genre, but they’re also quite clearly complete maniacs (they remind of Nifelheim in this way)— the music comes across as anything but soullessly studied; it sounds like Bütcher has to make this music or they’ll die. I don’t know another band that can go from an ogre-stomp riff to Darkthrone at their crustiest to classic dual-lead speed metal on a dime like this (and continuously do it for a ten minute song?!). This gleefully deranged beast is jam-packed with surprises from start to finish. If you like leather-and-spikes Satanic thrash and/or literally any of the greatest extreme metal throughout history, then I can’t recommend it enough.
Other stuff released this week:
Will Guthrie - Nist Nah (Black Truffle)
Will Guthrie, a percussionist working mainly with metal (the substance, not the genre), here showcases the rich sonic possibilities of that material. Using bells, gongs, singing bowls, and also a variety of “junk," Guthrie occasionally creates minimal, ASMR-like, ear-massaging drones (like on “Catlike”); other times, his pieces are more directly informed by Javanese Gamelan, rhythmically complex and engrossingly repetitive. “Elders” and “Catlike” both fall into the first category, and each evokes an image of a consistent physical method of sound production (for “Elders",” rubbing; for “Catlike”, tapping). There is a seeming randomness to “Lit 1+2” — it sounds the most “junk”-y, but is also very tonal, with sweeping, chiming sounds, almost like vibes runs. There is a passage with tubular bell/wind chime-like sounds that resonate at seemingly random and constantly changing intervals, in a kind of organically generative way. “Kebogiro Glendeng,” the longest and most typically tuneful song here (if pressed, you could hum it), is a hypnotizing Javanese piece intended for play by children; if this is Guthrie making a nod to his beginner/outsider status to the music, it’s not unappreciated.
Nimbifer - Demo II (self-released)
A follow-up to last year's Demo I (which likewise featured a medieval engraving of a dude getting stabbed in the head), Demo II brings more of the old school, unchanging-for-long-periods raw shit we need in these troubling times. There’s a thick atmosphere here, but this definitely isn’t “blackgaze” — the fog is formed through near-constant blasting and tremolo; it’s minimalist and stark. To me, that’s raw black metal at optimum operating procedure. On “Die Diener,” they do that classic trick of slowing the blasting while the guitars stay on at the same speed, and it’s *chef’s kiss*. They’re at their best when they form that impenetrable wall of blasting, and only slightly falter when they slow down. Regardless, Nimbifer is doing the damn thing, and I’m excited for a full length.
Sammas Equinox/Emanating Void (Temples of Ice)
Here we have a split from two Finnish black metal outfits. Sammas Equinox’s offering, “Glaciers in the Somber Night” is sub-sea level fidelity, goat-n-potatoes, mid-tempo black metal; I wouldn’t write home about the vocals or songwriting. There are some interesting atmospherics in the middle, but they’ve left a gaping seam showing between this and the rest of the track. Emanating Void’s “Crystallized in Superiority” does a similar thing style-wise but with more polish and songwriting skill; atmospherics are enmeshed in the overall world of the song, riffs are strong. This track is good winter black metal — sounds like a menacing, freezing windstorm.