Begin with the End

Name: King Dude

Album: Fear
favorite track: Watching Over You

best subterranean music of 2014

Joshua Paulsen
Name: Botanist
Album: VI: Flora
Favorite track: Cinnamomum Parthenoxylon

King Dude shows us the drearier side of Americana

with Fear. Using foreboding gospel sounds to
explore what one might call the underbelly of the
American dream. He touches on phobias, death,
early adolescence, and, of course, Lucifer.

Black Metal has undergone some change in the

past few years, particularly with the Weaklings 1998
release, Dead as Dreamsand if you want to get
technical, probably even further back than that. The
point is, the purists are pissed, and Botanist is more
than happy to keep pushing the boundaries of Black
Metal (however, you Biology majors out there or anyone else as obsessed
with plant life as much as Botanist is should be pleased). Ive been listening
to them for a while now, and its only with this, their 5th release, that I really
feel they have hit their stride.

With a voice at times reminiscent of somewhere between Elvis and Leonard

Cohen King Dude takes you into the depths of our hidden, or suppressed
fears. In Bloody Mirror he develops the idea of constantly looking into a mirror
as a means of reflecting back on our subconscious. This may seem simplistic
or clich at first; however, King goes further by reminding us that our minds
are always separated from the physical realities they interpret.

Aside from naming all the songs after the scientific names for certain plants
(for the most part), you wont hear your typical tremolo pickinga staple of
the Black Metal sound. Instead, youll be guided by a Hammer Dulcimer
an interesting sounding instrument, even when used for this sort of music.
They also use microtones: a form of scaling not found in the Western system
of 12 equal intervals. It becomes increasingly easy to appreciate just how
experimental these guys are. Instead of the harsh winter banshee howls
from all of your classics, you get lucid, ethereal spring awakenings. I really
encourage anyone that is into Black Metal to give this an open ear.

Empty House, the longest track on the album represents a coming of age
and does so loudly. King Dude explores the idea that our prepubescent minds
are unwillingly forced into the reality of adulthood. Without question, he is
singing about demons in his songs. If you ever get the chance to play this
track while driving along one of Montanas desolate highways you might end
up possessed (just kidding, but not really).

ix

Name: Antwon
Album: Heavy Hearted in Doldrums
favorite track: Rain Song
Growing up in the early hardcore scene of the
Bay Area instilled in Antwon a deep and personal
understanding of music. At heart, hes a pretty big
music nerd. Starting off as a founding member of
thrash band Leather, Antwon eventually transitioned
over to the hip hop world with no remorse.

Not going to lie, this album is raunchy. Every song is laced with spiced imagery
to make you question even your most fantasized vice behind closed doors.
But dont let that stop you from enjoying the claustrophobic 90s production
layered throughout each track. He doesnt just touch on the taboos of the
bedroom, the undertow has him rapping about his anxiety, pining for love, and
being worthless. Seriously though, this album has everything you love and
hate about 90s hip hop. If that sounds appealing than this album is for you.

Name: Have A Nice Life

Album: The Unnatural World
Favorite Track: Cropsey
HANL released Deathconsciousness back in 2008
and received very little recognition. However, the
underground devoured it whole and elevated it to
cult statusand rightfully so. Six years later, the duo,
Dan Barret and Tim Macuga, decided to release yet
another bleak take on lifes absurd realities with The
Unnatural World. Dont take the word bleak lightly. This music is depressing
(in fact you can say that all of Dan Barrets projects tend to ring the same
note). Thats the point, though: Sadness is okay. Bitterness can stay.
HANL picks up right where they left offonly this time they seem to steer
away from the tongue and cheek song titles of the first album. This release is
also shorter than Deathconsciousness, but still just as lo-fi and doom-ridden.
Fans of Joy Division and Bauhaus will love these guysa lot of the post-rock
influence transfers over, specifically on tracks such as Defenestration Song.
HANL sets you up for an emotional response, making you sit in the cesspool
of noise theyve created only to carry you upwards to a wall of synth and
feedback to a place where Dan Barrets voice wails heavily with empathy. An
album of crisis no doubt.

Honorable Mention Name: Sinoia Caves - Album: Beyond The Black Rainbow - Favorite Track: Run Program: Sentionaughts
Death Waltz Recording Company has been doing us all a favor by extracting our favorite movie soundtracks to be played viciously with the same enthusiasm
and love for the films themselves. This year they released the OST for Beyond The Black Rainbow by composer Sinoia Caves. It captures the mood of the 80s
homage film so well with its ambiance and organ laced eeriness youll think you are trapped right in Arborias drugged induced institution.

Honorable Mention Name: Raspberry Bulbs - Album: Privacy - Favorite track: The Light Surrounds Me
The second full length release from Raspberry Bulbs will leave a strange taste in your ears. On your first listen youll probably just be trying to figure out were
to place it categorically. Dont worry, youre not alone. They carry the ugliness of punk, but wrap themselves in a blanket of garage noise and tape loops.
Production is murky as expected. Previous band of lead vocalist Marco Del Rio, Bone Awl, went with the no-fi production as well. The riffs on this album could
potentially strangle you if your not careful. Good luck!

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Name: Salems Pot

Album: ...Lurar ut dig p prrien
Favorite Track: Dr. Death
Hailing all the way from Sweden arrives the fuzzedout, psychedelic doomsters Salems Pot. This album
is quite the mind-fuck. Have you ever had a panic
attack? Do you know the feeling of anxiety piling up
in your chest? These guys have the perfect sound for
us overly neurotic folk.

Name: Flying Lotus

Album: Youre Dead!
Favorite Track: Never Catch Me
Facing death is never easy. However, there are
plenty of outlets to help accept the processsome
more positive than others. This is the 5th studio
album from acclaimed producer Flying Lotus, and
the title says it all.

The title might best be followed up with whats next? Flying Lotus isnt alone
on this albums journey, collaborating with Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg,
Thundercat and jazz hero Herbie Hancock, to name only a few (not to mention
the morbid visual aid from Japanese horror manga artist Shintaro Kago).

This album only has 3 tracks to bend your mind. Some might be reminded of
Electric Wizard, but Im reminded of Paul Chain more than anything. There is
definitely a presence of both within the album without a doubt.

There is so much going on in this album and all crammed into 38 minutes in
total length. Acid washed fusion is tightly scattered all over the place, with
layers of prog and free form, nicely gated by Fly Los masterful production
skills.
I highly suggest playing this album from start to finish at least once to really
capture it all. An album that speaks tribute to the loss of life on a personal and
universal level.

ii

Name: YAITW
Album: When Life Comes to Death
Favorite Track: Self Inflicted

I loathe genre terminology. So much that Ive divided

most extreme music into two categories: Fast and
Slow. However, that doesnt mean there isnt room for
more specifics. Like Blackened Crust for instance,
which is what you might call YAITWs (Young and in
The Way) sound. Id still call it fast, but for the sake
of description lets start there.

Opening up with an Alan Watts sample can only mean

that whatever comes after is vivid in philosophyat
least it damn well should be, and YOB live up to
those expectations.

Ill be honest, its actually really hard for me to put

this album in words without selling it short. It massive in sound and even
more so in the ideas it conveys. It is a meditative experience that resists
description. In fact this album requires the same sort of approach meditation
does: each song demands your full, undivided attention; each song longs to
be experienced with all of your senses simultaneously.

Signing onto Deathwish Inc for their fourth release, and with the range of
influence these guys have, it makes sense. They take the fastness of
hardcore, the filth of Crust, and mix it with the occult imagery of Black Metal.
Even their symbol is reminiscent of Watains. That doesnt sell them short of
great though. These guys are legitimately scary.

Mike Scheidts otherworldly vocal delivery is what really shines out to me when
listening to them. His clean vocal style juxtaposed against earthly growls only
further shapes the larger idea of this album: destruction is required before
ascension. When Scheidts does sing, his range is triumphantly amazing.
Overall, the sound is a cathartic experience in and of itself.

The best example of this is the occasional use of eerie piano, synth, and
string instruments. Its soothing but definitely makes your skin crawl. These
accents and undertones effectively work to bridge the songs together into a
maelstrom of visceral pain. I hope they continue with the same anger in future
releases.

iv

Name: YOB
Album: Clearing the Path to Ascend
Favorite Track: In Our Blood

name: Thou
Album: Heathen
Favorite Track: Free Will

I never thought I would have the opportunity to see

these guys live. Theyve released tons of material in
between the last full length and when I heard that
they would be heading our wayI was in complete
awe. Hailing from the southern mist of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, a place reeking with the history of Sludge
Metal these guys still pride themselves on the DIY attitude.
With lumbering riffs spread throughout the album, they mean every word that
spills from Bryan Funcks scorched vocals. The lyrics are intelligent, and I
really encourage you to look them up if you can. Its as if he has positioned
himself at the forefront of all the unsettling atrocities around the world, and as
the narrator to these atrocities, he is a defiant, aggressive constanta force
to be reckoned with.
The only way to take in the album is at a slow unsettling pace. Heathen
definitely speaks truth on every trackperhaps truth that some listeners
might not be comfortable with hearing.

Name: Swans
Album: To Be Kind
Favorite Track: A Little God In My hands
Michael Gira cut the head off last years giant The
Seer only to replace it with this years release.
Complimenting and expanding on the same formula
of its predecessor, To Be Kind will take you through
every range of emotion possiblethen repeat over
and over and over again. Sounds fun, right?

Since Swans resurfaced they have only been cultivating more grandeur with
each subsequent release. Its a respectable comeback considering theyve
been dead for almost 13 yearsand Gira is in his 60s. Age isnt stopping
him from making the same game changing music he has been making since
Swans initially started out. Its pretty profound to think he is still able to pull this
type of majestic output this far into his career. I recommend playing this on the
best sound system at your disposal to really intake Giras lunatic persona and
the multi-instrumental orchestration that backs his insanity. Not to be missed
or listened to without devotion.