Boxhead Ensemble -- Dutch Harbor - Where the Sea Breaks Its Back (review)

Artist: Boxhead Ensemble
Album: Dutch Harbor
Genre: post-rock | drone
Year: 1997
Label: Atavistic Records

I picked up a copy of this CD while browsing the avant-garde section of Wuxtry Records in downtown Athens.  On occasion, I come across an album that really blows me away; although, I wouldn't use such terminology to describe this particular work...
Dutch Harbor - Where the Sea Breaks Its Back is the soundtrack to a 1998 documentary film of the same title directed by Braden King and Laura Moya.  While I have not seen said film, the Boxhead Ensemble's compositions have piqued my interest.
This music is best summed up as beautiful yet eerie.  The album is a meld of post-rock and drone mixed with soundbites that I assume are taken from the documentary itself.  The introduction consists of crackling radios and an ominous reed solo that transports the listener to the choppy seas off the coast of Unalaska Island where Dutch Harbor is located.  The droning of the next few tracks juxtaposes a feeling of tranquility in an otherwise harsh environment.  Recordings of shipping yards, trucks driving along snowy paths, and the forces of nature are abundant and only help to transport the listener to the seemingly rustic and chilled land- and seascapes of Alaska.  Despite this being the Boxhead Ensemble's second effort, they do a magnificent job of using nothing but sound to achieve such vivid, peaceful imagery.
The droning soundscapes are broken up by passages of guitar noodling on "Captain's Bay Road" and the full-on jam session that is "At Sea."  Dutch Harbor is also interspersed with a number of spoken passages.  In "Mother Gromoff," the titular woman teaches the listener various words in a language that I can't seem to figure out.  The final track, "In Closing," features a man by the name of Buck Rogers talking about Manifest Destiny and the westernization of Unalaska Island.
Aside from the spoken word segments, the Dutch Harbor soundtrack is almost entirely instrumental.  The one exception to this is "Ebb's Folly," which is the only track to feature vocals.  The song consists of a strummed guitar line backed by soft droning noise.  The vocalist is passionate yet tender as he delivers the somber lyrics.  The melody drifts on soothingly until the guitars are drowned out by a crescendo of abrasive noise.
The Boxhead Ensemble eloquently paint an image of a relatively bleak, yet peaceful Unalaska Island.  I hope to pick up a copy of the group's followup, The Last Place to Go (Recordings from the Dutch Harbor European Film Screening Tour), but until then I plan to continue enjoying this masterpiece.  You can listen to the soundtrack on YouTube here.


Rating: 5 / 5
Top Tracks:
Ebb's Folly
Captain's Bay Road
In Closing
Introduction
Ship Supply

Slaughterbox -- The Ubiquity of Subjugation (review)

Artist: Slaughterbox
Album: The Ubiquity of Subjugation
Genre: technical/melodic deathgrind
Year: 2011
Label: Amputated Vein Records

My introduction to this band came from my interest in finding the world's fastest drummer.  A number of forums pointed to Slaughterbox, specifically their song "Fit for Human Consumption."  I checked it out, and it's safe to say that this was not a letdown.  Pete Chavez is an absolute machine behind the kit.  Whether or not his playing is legit or computer-aided is up for debate, but the speed of this album is, without a doubt, undeniably insane.  Tracks like "Arrogance and the Loss of Human Dignity" and "The Head Table" showcase the band's ability to play highly-technical compositions at (nearly?) inhuman speeds.
Slaughterbox is first and foremost a tech-death band in the vein of Viraemia, but they manage to bring in unique elements (aside from their ridiculous drummer, of course).  Each track showcases a powerful melodic section that shifts the pacing from a violent wank fest to an emotional, equally wanky one.  The title track even makes use of clean guitar parts combined with buzzing double bass rolls.  These passages set Slaughterbox above their contemporaries in my books.
One last feature that sets this album apart is the vocals.  They are a combination of pig squeals and high-pitched shrieks, and they're all done by the drummer!  His vocals definitely take some getting used to, as he often sounds like he is about to completely blow out his voice, but with time the vocals seem to meld nicely with both the technical and melodic sections.
I highly recommend this album to fans of Brain Drill, Viraemia, and Origin.  Definitely not the kind of music that can be appreciated on the first listen, but this album is a real treat if you give it time.  You can stream the album on YouTube here.


Rating: 4 / 5
Top Tracks:
Fit for Human Consumption
The Ubiquity of Subjugation
Manifest Destiny of the New World Order

Implore -- Depopulation (review)

Artist: Implore
Album: Depopulation
Genre: blackened deathgrind
Year: 2015
Label: Pelagic Records

I am writing this review in anticipation of the Friday release of the band's sophomore album.

Implore are a relatively new trio from Germany, yet they sound as if they are veterans of the European metal scene.  The band's sound is a seamless mixture of crusty grindcore and HM-2 buzzsaw death metal (a la Dismember) with a blackened overtone.
The band rips through fourteen tracks in under thirty minutes like any good grindcore band would, but they manage to pack the record with diverse arrangements.  From short bursts like "Cadavers On Parade" to more drawn out numbers like "Hegelian Dialectic," Implore manage to weave together an aggressive masterpiece that not only pummels the listener but also provides more crushing sections.  "Ruthless Conspiracy" and the aforementioned "Hegelian Dialectic" both showcase the band's ability to slow down the tempo without losing steam.
Depopulation manages to stand as a single body of work as opposed to fourteen individual parts thrown together thoughtlessly.  Each song bleeds into the next by means of brief feedback interludes; therefore, the flow of the album is never broken by silence or a (often tasteless) track fade-out.  Samples are also used throughout the album, but the band does not use them as a crutch to spice up an otherwise boring album.  Rather, brief samples are woven into the compositions as a means of enhancing the dark atmosphere already conjured by the guitars.
Implore does not just ravage the listener with wave after wave of blast beats and riffs.  They also tastefully weave crushing breakdowns into their compositions.  Tracks such as "Sentenced" and "Bohemian Grove" prove to be excellent headbangers amongst the grinding chaos.  The album closer, "Inexorable Malignancy," contains one of the greatest breakdowns I have ever heard (and I've listened to a lot of slam...), and the band top it off with a powerful lead that I feel punctuates the album perfectly.
This is easily one of the best albums of 2015, and it's exciting to see that it is only Implore's first full-length.  Be sure to give this record a spin; you can stream it on YouTube here.


Rating: 4 / 5
Top Tracks:
Inexorable Malignancy
Epicyte / Parasite
Sentenced
Bohemian Grove