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

Wreck and Reference - No Youth

Various depictions of the future in fictional mediums emphasize the irrelevance of boundaries. Whether the separations be geographically, ethnically, or linguistically, they become moot as cultures develop and merge together. In that same way, Wreck and Reference embody a logical amalgamation of numerous emotions, styles, moods, and structures throughout their latest release No Youth.

The California based band encompasses a distinct electronic sound that's grounded in organic drums and a slew of different vocal attacks that make those that are unfamiliar to the electronic effects/instrumentation comfortable yet curious. The droning "Spectrum" introduces the listener  perfectly as its slow and narrow beginning opens up to a vista like display of exploding drums and subtle developments in melody. "Nausea" might be my favorite track on the album as the soothing ambiance breaks way to a comprehensible blast beat and ethereal crooning vocals that carry a blissful feeling. The coin is flipped once again as "The Solstitial" becomes a noisy outburst of vicious vocals and searing effects. I feared the band would endlessly rotate styles and sounds, becoming unrecognizable by the end, but this was fortunately untrue as the band retains a distinct sound that only takes a few songs to fully recognize. I don't surprise myself by saying "Nausea" and "Obedience" are my favorite tracks, mostly because of their tangible melodies that fight through the weave of harsh elements and contrasting effects.

Reminiscent of the line Swans have drawn throughout their career between painful and blissful, Wreck and Reference provoke numerous comparisons, all of which befitting and flattering, but none of which are substantial enough to explain the simply enjoyable yet complex sound they possess.

Available for pay what you want on their Bandcamp, as well as a full stream below.

Springtime/Sunshine Grill Tunes

The weather's getting nicer, I'm slowly adding ice to my coffees and my pants are getting shorter by the day: Spring's here. While the weather's been a bit bipolar here in NYC (get it!?) I sense it's only a matter of time before I'm up to my knees in cans and hotdog bun wrappers. While I'm not shelving my black metal entirely, I feel it's time to show off some essential Spring to Summer listening.

Without further adieu, here are some albums to get spinnin' while you grill.

Anthrax - Among the Living
Maybe my favorite thrash album of all time. There's tons to sing along to and it's just plain fun.

 Danzig- I 

             

  

Perfect party music, "She Rides" and "Twist of Cain" are my jukebox favorites, they'll fit in outside too.

 Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky

I know you're saying "black metal on a sunny day, HUH!?" but ABITNS has the awesome backbeat and groove of "Dethroned Emperor" Celtic Frost with some seriously great riffs.

 Graf Orlock - Destination Time: Yesterday

Summer actionflicks mixed with rhythmically diverse grindcore is exactly what that kilbasa needs.



Insect Warfare - World Extermination



Energetic, perfectly constructed and devastatingly heavy, World Extermination makes for a good time.

Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath

DBTO is full of headbangability and is a bit thrashier than the immaculate Melissa; "Welcome Princess of Hell" and "Nightmare" emphasize this perfectly.

Motorhead- No Sleep 'til Hammersmith

Only thing better then this would be Lemmy and co. 

sharing a brew with you and playing a gig

 for all your dumb friends. 

No Sleep 'til Hammersmith is Motorhead at their best.

             

Repulsion - Horrified

              Nothing happy about this, but  Scott's delivery and the simplistic headbanging riffs make this perfect grill side music.

Wehrmacht - Biermacht

Upbeat, fun, and energetic, this was Wehrmacht's crowning achievement. The best crossover album around.

Grill from Perpetual Strife on 8tracks.

Protestant/Suffering Mind Split 6"

The long awaited Protestant / Suffering Mind split fails to disappoint as both bands offer 2 short tracks on this nifty orange 6" ep. Proudly boasting 100% DIY effort behind the release, the bands keep things fresh with the quality you'd come to expect from each.

It's an interesting pairing as Milwaukee's Protestant play a metallic infused style of hardcore that can jump from melodic, to aggressive, and everywhere in between whereas split mates Suffering Mind are probably the finest purveyors of straight ahead grindcore at this time. Obviously Protestant had this in mind as "Sheep in Wolves Clothing (Everyone with Dreadlocks is Stupid)*" clocks in at 35 seconds and is probably the grindist thing the band's done yet.  "No Peace" on the other hand fits right in with expectations as it's a driving freight train with a catchy refrain and awesome blastbeat jumps.

Suffering Mind seems to do their best to draw songs out as both slim out into a slower tempo rumble and the vocals completely take over. Those who've yet to listen to the band should pay keen attention to the dynamic delivery between both vocalists and the band's penchant for satisfying rhythms. Both bands incorporate a similar bare bones production that doesn't harm anything, and gives an old school vibe to both sides.

A great catalyst for those familiar with one, but not the other (Andrew I'm looking at you) or someone foreign to both. Limited to 666 as all cool things are.

Halo of Flies

2011

*A point of difference is the ep jacket doesn't include the knock on our dreaded friends, whereas the mp3s with the  download code provided does; I wonder what this is all about.

Tour of Duty: The Netherlands

When I think of the Dutch music scene it's really just Urfaust, a band I was lucky enough to catch this past summer. Beyond that, I'll be honest I don't listen to this scene it that often. Thankfully, due to your seeming enjoyment of this series, and a general thirst for new music, I've come upon a few new acts as well as older ones I've had sitting around forever that ya'll might like.

There's Countess with the old-school narrow perspective on how things are to be done, Bestial Summoning with their war metal-lite style, Sammath with one of the heaviest black metal sounds around, Irrwisch with one of the best melodic/atmospheric eps, and of course Urfaust tying it all up with the ethereal guitar/vocal driven dirge that sits as my favorite effort of theirs. De Magia Veterum play a strange synthy style of symphonic metal that toys with a mid era Blut Aus Nord kinda sound. There's Nihill who play a dense suffocating and a bit strange style akin to Darkspace. I've also included the harsh and unsettling sounds of Gnaw Their Tongues, a band based in black metal but pushed towards the noisy, abstract and frightening edges of modern extreme music.

My paint skills know no bounds.

So fuck the Stroopwafel, get some black metal!

Tour of Duty- Netherlands from Perpetual Strife on 8tracks.

Impatience - Impatience

Milwaukee anger specialists Impatience bruise through almost 15 minutes of old school pissed off hardcore that's fixin' to throw you through a window. Featuring members of Protestant and Enabler, Impatience play a heavy, fast and stripped down style that brings to mind Japanese masters Bastard as well as stalwarts Integrity.

Immediately the band shines with "Coward." From the anxious opening of feedback slams to the voracious vocals and gang choruses shouting "you fucking cowards" to the sped up measures of blast beats, Impatience stays true to their name and never takes the foot off the pedal.

Energetic and well executed, Impatience scores big with this tape.

Sacred Plague Records
2011
 

Somewhat Forgotten Lore: Realized - 21st Century Terminal World

While 21st Century Terminal World still exists as their only full length, I was surprised to see that Japan's Realized were still kickin' the 'ol d beat around with a somewhat recent ep entitled Area 1. Misconceptions aside, Realized play a style of d beat driven grindcore with the most Doom-like vocals outside of Doom themselves.

I've held it as truth for years that Japan's one of the best countries when it comes to music. Like so many of my other Japanese favorites there's not a whole lot that really seperates Realized from the pack in terms of raw data. Instead, it's their supreme understanding and execution in delivery and sound. "Sweet Hammerheart" sounds straight outta the U.K. circa 88 and I mean that in only the best of ways.Their sound is honest and competent and successfully blurs the line that just barely separated hardcore and grindcore all those years back.

Songs surge along  d-beats and hardcore riffing staircases to blastbeat quips thoroughly ransacked by unearthly and seemingly overweight vocals. Guitars shine through every so often with a memorable riff, but for the most part play dirty and razorfed hardcore riffs.

With an album cover that's Scum meets World Downfall in a gloriously 80's style, Realized complete the package.

2005
Bloodbath Records