Tour of Duty: USA

The U.S. black metal scene has got to be my favorite bar none. Like many creative outlets we benefit from a land mass nearly the size of all of Europe, and a much more diverse population than many other countries, so it's understandable that we have a much more diverse and ambitious crop of bands. Regardless of all of that, there are so many U.S. acts that it's been a difficult task to just pick a few for this installment and I've only tried to stray from very current acts as well as the longer ones and those most well known (there's an exception for Leviathan as 1. it's probably my favorite band and 2. that track is awesome and hard to get a hold of).

Without further adieu, I present to you...

Tour of Duty: U S of A

1. "Hissing and Sullen" - Leviathan - Destroyers from the Western Sky (track appears only on this comp)

2. "Winter Bliss" - Demoncy - Joined in Darkness

3. "In Retribution, Anonymously Burned" - Frontier - Demo

4. "Crippling Blasphemous Persistence" - Infernal Stronghold - Godless Noise

5. "Crucified Whores (Of the White Light)" - Ibex Throne - Total Inversion

6. "The King of Jews" - Havohej - Dethrone the Son of God

7. "Unto Us He Is Born" - Profanatica - Profanatitas De Domonatia

8. "Show Me" - Bone Awl - Meaningless Leaning Mess

9. "Uno con Kaos" - Volahn - Dimensiónes del Trance Kósmico

10. "Who Shall Stand Against Me?" - Krieg - Blue Miasma

Tour of Duty: USA from Perpetual Strife on 8tracks.

Art for Music's Sake: Dilek Bakaya

Mistress of Death

Many music fanatics like myself find their preferences in art to be shaped by the music they listen to. I've come to love artists like Gustave Dore and Albrect Durer because of their constant use in the world of metal ( as well as literature). Recently I've been enamored by Dilek Bakaya, whose body of work shows up on countless flyers here in nyc as well as some of my favorite bands's releases.

It comes as no surprise to hear her cite artists like Putrid, John Baizley, and Vania Zouravliov (amongst a slew of others) as inspirations. Many of her works seem like some wet dream amalgamation of those mentioned, amongst others, but not without her own dose of personality. Still attending art school, Dilek's work has been featured as flyers for bands such as Ghost, Masakari, Weedeater, Pentagram, and Eyehategod. Maybe it's common, but I'm astounded by not only her work, but the consistent quality of the bands she works with. It's one thing to churn out artwork for basement dwelling slam bands, but to be doing work for the "big boys" of the scene speaks volumes of her enthralling style.

Finding her process through lyrics first, other attributes such as the music's speed further influence her when creating a piece of work for a particular artist. Looking at the cover for the Infernal Stronghold/Absu split you can see each band's influence upon it as the verbose and archaic influences of Absu match the grime soaked fury of Infernal Stronghold in an outcome that's dense, overwhelming and cryptically detailed.

Absu/Infernal Stronghold flexi.

When working with a particular band Dilek makes sure that her work fits accordingly, as she states: "very rarely do I just draw whatever I feel like drawing, I always make sure that there is a distinct visual connection to the band itself."

Speaking on her latest piece, Night Bride, Dilek comments saying that "Night Bride, is my favorite piece since the city of Istanbul can be seen in the piece. It was about time for me to pay tribute to my Turkish heritage in my work, since it means so much to me."

Night Bride

When asked about her own aspirations and work Dilek voiced an urge to "branch out from doing work for bands... to start doing something else to keep things exciting for myself." One would hope this wouldn't mean a segue out of the world of music as in such a short amount of time she's become a recognizable power.

Be sure to follow her through these various links...it's only a matter of time before your favorite band has her John Hancock all over their cover.

www.dilekbaykara.us

www.dilekbaykara.blogspot.com

www.dilekbaykara.tumblr.com

Absu/Infernal Stronghold

Absu and Infernal Stronghold; it makes sense, but I'm still surprised by it. I think of Absu as one of those metal bands who've hit the next step and sell enough to make a living. Whether this is right or wrong (probably wrong) I didn't expect to see them team up with Infernal Stronghold, a band I picture excelling best in someone's basement in between bong rips for a totally self-produced split. All of that said, the packaging is simple, hand done, and great. Artwork courtesy of Dilek Baykara, and a great track from both bands on a flexi disc.

When I received this in the mail from Infernal Stronghold, I thought they were having a fun time with me and just mailing me a sleeve; it took a second for me to realize what a flexi disc was. Beyond the physicality of it, the music itself is great.

Absu's redeveloped sound funneled through thrashy razor riffing leads perfectly into one of Infernal Stronghold's more black metally songs with their signature grimy production. Both tracks are excellent, but it's hard not to give it to Infernal Stronghold as their dank punky take on blacken thrash is a winner 9 times outta 10.

Yeah this is a lazy post, yeah I don't give a shit.

Forgotten Lore: Mohoram Atta

How many times have you bought a split, record or, downloaded something without knowing the band and become completely infatuated with that said band? Now, how many times have you had to suffer the disappointment of realizing that band doesn't exist anymore? This was the story for me when I received my copy of Thou's split with Mohoram Atta entitled The Degradation of Life nearly two years ago.

While I bought the split for Thou's portion, I quickly became enthralled by Mohoram Atta's side. My inability to successfully coherence friends into a band, and as well as to do anything except play the drums had left an undying hunger for two of my favorite styles of music/aesthetics to be successfully combined. I dug through so many bands just to find the perfect mixture of melodic hardcore and black metal, some close (think Martyrdöd) some lacking the His Hero is Gone/ melodic touch I was looking for (think Infernal Stronghold or any recent Mark McCoy project, etc) and some just bad. 


All of that said, I was astounded at the end of Mohoram Atta's split with Thou hearing the track "Forever Sleep" as it completely blew me away. A somber melodic riff  put to building drums and an ajoining second guitar continue to build to one of the most epic crashes I've heard. Picture a song like  Envy's "A Warm Room" covered by a black metal band and you have "Forever Sleep" in a nutshell. 

This comparison isn't to discredit Mohoram Atta's originality, quite the opposite actually. Few times does a band capture exactly what's been humming in your head, or rather, offer something you've always wanted subconsciously, something you can't find and something that's always a goal. As high strung as that sounds, it's true as Mohoram Atta were able to cover a wide breadth of emotion and dynamics. From the mournful cascading mountain of a song like "Forever Sleep" to scathing and melodically driven tracks like "Birthright" or "Cull, " and one such as "Weight of Existence" which encapsulates them both, Mohoram Atta covered every single aspect of their sound.

I would have to say their work on the split with Thou is my favorite. Having been fortunate enough to pick up Desolate Motherfuckers when I was in the U.K. I'd say that's a second favorite, and lastly, out of what I know to exist, is The Weight of Existence demo. The band, at times, employed three guitarists and apparently had an amazing stage presence. 


It's a shame this band didn't continue. However, members have found their way into some great bands. Drummer Mike plays drums in the awesome black metal act Fell Voices, his solo project Sleepwalker (another good black metal act) and  Resin Hits. Singer Brandon has Yarn and Sea, a cute acoustic band with a female singer (not too bad actually) as well as Wolfgöd who play a glam inspired style of hard heavy metal. There's probably a handful I'm missing, but a lot of my information is from word of mouth, crosschecking members lists on Myspaces and Facebooks, etc.

Keep an eye out for any of their releases, or their member's bands.