If Malachi proves too Sludgy, Blacken it up with some Dead to a Dying World

So I posted some time ago about the Doom Crust band Malachi, and misleadingly claimed that they were one of the only crust groups I knew of that employed a cello player. How could I overlook Dallas TX’s very own Dead to a Dying World!!  Considering I recently moved to the area, I thought I’d post on this awesome, epic 7-person project.  Like Malachi, they too have a cello player (as well as an upright bass...), and they too obviously come from a dark & crusty background (musically speaking of course...).  The members formed in recent years and have released one 3-song full length.  The album will crush your soul (and your skull....) and leave you yearning for more metaphysical-auditory abuse.  Many blogosphere critics have called this band “Blackened Crust,” but that description doesn’t do this sonic apocalypse justice.  The band employs more than just Crust & Black Metal; there are moments of sludged-out Doom as well as quieter times that might remind one of string-textured post-rock.  If you like Nux Vomica & Malachi, this is a definite addition to one’s archives.  Check out the opening track of the record, “Concrete and Steel”:

Alright, I can’t help it.  Also check out the most epic track, “We Enter the Circle of Night... And are Consumed by Fire,” clocking in at 22 mins.:

Wow, it never gets boring, and more importantly, Dead to a Dying World never verge into the realm of production cheesiness when employing their divergent styles of metal.  Usually an effort of this scope misses the mark in the studio process (I think of bands like Iwrestledabearonce or Horse the Band that attempt the marriage of metal & electronica with “questionable” results...).  Dead to Dying World kills it through the entire album.  Check out the entire release.

(Released 2011 on Tofu Carnage Records)

http://www.mediafire.com/?5uxshdpsndna22t

Happy Labor Day!

And now for something completely different:

(so that's me on labor day.... ahh, the virtues of laziness...)

One more anthem for the workers and I'm out. (No work today...!) You can't have a Labor Day celebration without those good old Commies Boy Sets Fire. "Workers of the World Unite!":



Gotta love Boy Sets Fire! Great Communist post-hardcore!

 dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?74xtyxf2k9sgcq7

Happy Labor Day!!!   Peace.

For Optimum Results, Crust Goes Best with a touch of Cello & a scoop of Sludge

Just ask these guys:

So people are probably thinking this is going to be yet another everything-Crust blog.  I promise I plan to post music from all sorts of styles or genres, but for now, I’d like to post another (shall we say “Post”)-Crust band.  Reader meet Malachi, a band which includes perhaps the coolest cello player in the Crust-core tradition. (No, I don’t know of any other cello players in Crust bands, but that’s because I’m ignorant!) This band rages on an epic scale worthy of Beowulf and the rest of the skull-crushers of the northern Germanic lands.  Malachi is not German or Nordic, however.  They’re from Milwaukee, WI and play a style best described as Doom Crust.  They sludge hard and crusty with moody-cello undertones. There are two vocalist, both male & female, which is a definite plus.  Don’t know what else to say about this other than one (or some?) of the members was in High on Crime (as well as other notable crusty, heavy bands).  Check out the following track from their 4 song self-titled LP:

If you’re eager to hear the cello clearly, skip forward to about 5 min., but know that you are impatient and probably not worthy of the epic payoff that is doom sludge... just wanted you to know that....

(Thanx to No Gods No Masters blogspot [ http://ryonikis.blogspot.com ] for exposing me to this record!!!)

Let me know what you think.

Here's the 4 song record:

dl: http://www.mediafire.com/?6tnb0f7vqd6chxg

Best Crust Band of 21st Century Late Capitalism:

Portland's Nux Vomica has got to be one of the best Crust bands I've heard in a long time.  I'm not sure it's even accurate to call this Crust.  Would it be too annoying to name this Post-Crust? And the answer is yes, for the term, post, has often been used and abused to label or categorize music which defies categorization.  Are Nux Vomica a Post-Crust band?  They are a group that refreshingly redefines boundaries from a solid Crust-Punk background.  Their music employs elements of Sludge, Hardcore, Black Metal, & Post-Rock, and their songs epically rage for an average of more than 6 minutes.  The guitar work here is beautiful; the chord changes are far from random & non-sequitor like so much music of the Crust tradition.  Here's a clip of the first track off their full-length, Asleep in the Ashes (Released 2009 by Aborted Society):

Really amazing, fresh-sounding Crust Punk.  Make sure you checkout the entire full-length:

dl:  http://www.mediafire.com/?jmajyjxgyzu

(Nux Vomica live....... awesome)