Album Review: Brulvahnatu - Menstral Extraction Ceremony

A review of Brulvahnatu's Menstral Extraction Ceremony

Brulvahnatu is the most underrated band I’ve ever had the joy of uncovering. Around a year ago I ordered the first two albums from this artist and I have immensely enjoyed them. The atmosphere accomplished by the petrifying vocals, extensive album art, captivating lyrics, and dynamic song writing draws you in and transports you to a swamp glowing green, where you are the only person on earth. It takes me back to when I was just discovering 70s progressive rock; that was when experiencing an album audibly, visually, and cognitively gave me a glimpse into a carefully crafted other world. So of course, the new album by Brulvahnatu for 2011 was my most anticipated release of the year.

This album, Menstrual Extraction Ceremony, starts off with an assault of sound. And it carries on with little respite for the first three tracks, carving through the album bluntly and crudely, which certainly goes with what I’m guessing is a hysterectomy theme. When we get to the fourth track, “The Gland”, the album becomes more instantly memorable, partially because the track’s beginning has a saxophone. This somewhat unorthodox instrument choice is very effective though, it refocuses the music so that the brutality and beauty of the ensuing riffs are brought to clarity. This track is great, a brilliant example of what makes Brulvahnatu worthwhile. Eighteen minutes long and engaging the entire time, “The Gland” opens up the rest of the album for further scrutiny and visitation. The last track, the title track, concludes Ceremony effectively in the first ten minutes of its half-hour length. The grand themes build and put a fitting climax to the album. But this album has an included aftermath, first there is silence then there is a small choked voice of a guitar that rambles from directionless and wandering to distorted, then forceful, then sated, and so on. It is what is left after the deluge of the Menstrual Extraction Ceremony, the little bit of life clinging on, alone. What upon first listen sounds like completely superficial noodling, ends up contributing to the effect of the album considerably.

This album took some thought for me to engage with it, but it was overall a very rewarding experience. The album art is essential to tapping into the overall aesthetic of this experience; you have probably never seen such sordid shades of pink. The production on Brulvahnatu’s albums was for me the gateway drug of kvlt or nekro production or whatever it’s called. The depth of sound on these recordings makes a lot of other albums sound downright insipid, like a glossy poster in place of a sculpture. And this album continues the great production even though it is ever so slightly tweaked in some of the sounds.

The intention of this album, namely to expose the listener to the lonely and fantastical world of Brulvahnatu, is achieved on this album. Were we being prepared for this Extraction Ceremony during the song “Cleaning Your Womb” from Uterine Acid Swishes? It’s hard to say. But, it can be said that Kib Sreng consistently releases albums of top notch quality that are a profound journey through a different realm. I highly recommend this album and this band to anyone who becomes dissatisfied with the level of musical depth in some metal. The songwriting here isn’t trying to be the most brutal or the darkest or anything, but there’s much more interesting imagery here for which metal music is the perfect medium. The riffs are never over thought; they just go how they’re supposed to, without overscrutinization. Everything falls into a groove here beneath Kib’s guiding hands.

By Austin P.

Pagan Flames Productions
Eternal Obscurity Records

The Commodification of “Aura”: Vinyl and the Underground Culture Industry

The Commodification of “Aura”: Vinyl and the Underground Culture Industry

By David Perkins

Preview
Recently, there has been a resurgence of vinyl records available for purchase both instore

and online. Already, the internet changes the historical context within which records are

available. At their emergence, records were only available in person or through mail-order; a

process all but lost to the convenience of online shopping and the speed of contemporary postal

shipping practices. Every album release seems to coincide with some limited vinyl edition; from

the pop of Lady Gaga to the British heavy metal of Judas Priest to the somewhat obscure death

metal of Misery Index, every new album seems to have a limited analog release alongside the

standardized compact disc and digital download versions.

Read the rest here.

Doom Metal

by Akshay Sharma

Doom Metal

 

 

Science Fiction and Metal

by Austin Penner

Science Fiction and Metal

Fuck the Facts Interview

Interview by Dominik Pachala with Topon Das of Fuck the Facts

For the readers who don’t know who you guys are who and what is Fuck the Facts?

Topon Das: We’re a band from Ontario. We’ve been around for a little while, we started years ago. There’ve been a few band member changes over the years.

So you guys have done a bunch of splits with a bunch of different bands, is there a band in particular you guys want to do a split with and are there any upcoming splits with any bands we should know about?

Topon Das: We don’t have any upcoming splits lined up but , yeah, we definitely have talked with a few bands about doing something. It would be cool to talk to the guys from Kill the Client to try doing something. Yeah there are a ton of bands we’d like to do something with but it all comes down to finding the time on our end and on their end to get the things worked out. The last split we did was with Leng T’che, that was really cool because after we became friends and we really liked the band.

So somewhat similar to the question before, what bands would you guys like to tour with?

Topon Das: We did a tour with Anti-Gama in Europe and that was really awesome because I was a fan of the band beforehand. So that was the first time I was a fan of the band before we toured with them. I know that when you tour with a band and you see them for 30 nights, that’s when you really start to get into their stuff. That’s how I got into few bands like Unearthly Trance. There aren’t a lot of offers that we get to tour with bands like the tour we’re going to be doing with Ken Mode. Me and Jessie (Ken Mode) have known each other for quite a bit and we got in touch with each other and talked about doing something. That’s what we’re used to when it comes to touring.

You guys are playing free show in Edmonton on May 2^nd at Filthy McNasties. Will you guys be concentrating your set list on the newer material or are you guys gonna play older material also?

Topon Das: When we started doing shows this year, we did a bunch of 10-year anniversary shows. So we went back and played a bunch of really old songs. So for this tour we’re really focusing on the newer stuff, we’re playing stuff from Disgorge Mexico, the split with Leng T’che, the unnamed EP and a couple new songs that are going to be on our next album.

So how do you feel your music has evolved since Vagina Dancer?

Topon Das: Every time I hear that album title, I try figure out what I was thinking. For one, that tape was basically noise. That dates back to pre-band era. Like when I was talking about the 10 year anniversary, that’s when the band started around 2001. The tape came out sometime around 1998. So from then, it was a solo project, it’s changed a ton. Our music is always evolving we don’t want to limit ourselves to just one thing. I’m happy with the evolution of the band, it’s definitely been influenced by the different members that have come into the band even from 2001. One of the main purposes of the band is to keep evolving.

So you guys have been signed on Relapse, what sort of difference have you guys noticed between releasing records with labels vs DIYing?

        Topon Das: It’s been a long time since we worked with Relapse, I think its been 5 years. I think a lot of people thing that when you get signed to a label, management will deal with more stuff. But you end up doing a lot more stuff than you would do otherwise. We have a huge DIY ethic, we released a couple of DIY things while we were on the label. I think it was awesome that we could work with them since the label is recognized in the scene and they have contacts that we don’t have, but at the same time they didn’t allows to do whatever we wanted even for other realizes and independent stuff .

 Can you talk about John Zorn’s Naked City and how it influenced Fuck The Facts?

Topon Das: I pulled the band name off of a Naked City album. This was a long time ago… I was really into the album, I still think it’s a really awesome album. I haven’t listened to it in a while but it has a lot of really cool shit going on. When I heard that, I just really want to have an extremely open mind to music and do whatever I wanted to and not worry about being a grindcore band, a metal band or even a really weird experimental band. I felt that that album mixed the noisy stuff with the smoother stuff. I feel that we’re kinda like that. We’re doing the stuff we want to do and not really forcing ourselves to do anything weird or different or anything.

Female Vocals in Metal

by Natalie Ross

Female Vocals in Metal

Non-Traditional Black Metal

Non-Traditional Black Metal
(or, Black Metal for Those
Who Don't Like Black Metal)

by Ryan Lagerquist

Non-Traditional Black Metal