Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Arzachel - Arzachel (1969)


Straight outta the late 60s, Arzachel (UK) was an extremely obscure project that unfortunately saw only one release, a self-titled album issued on an also short-lived label. To give you an even more complete idea of the isolation surrounding this release, from what I've read the band only existed for a single recording session and was actually a mere pseudonym for the band Uriel, which I've found no music of. According to this same story, the band of four had broken up (forming the progressive rock bands Gong and Egg) and had received a posthumous offer to record music together as a quartet. The result, due to legal issues concerning the name Uriel, was Arzachel, an album overflowing with reverb and characterized by it's intense use of the Hammond organ and the occasionally improvised psychedelic godliness. The last two tracks, "Clean Innocent Fun" and "Metempsychosis", are especially epic, clocking in at over 10 minutes each. And although the album as a whole proves to be a pleasant listen, these final two offerings stand out above the rest, with the former being perhaps one of the best psych-rock tracks of '69 and the latter containing a long, spacey jam reminiscent of early Floyd. So then, with that said, how could you possibly go wrong, hm?

1. Garden of Earthly Delights
2. Azathoth
3. Queen of St. Gang
4. Leg
5. Clean Innocent Fun
6. Metempsychosis

Download (56.56 MB)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Indian - The Unquiet Sky (2005)


Ah.. many times now, I've wanted to share this record, even with those who generally dislike this style of music. Yes, I feel pretty strongly about "The Unquiet Sky". Simply put, it truly may be the best sludge album that I've ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with. This is absolutely devastating metal, plenty of slow-plodding riffs with psychedelic droning elements throughout (which can be credited to the massive amount of gain and reverb emitted from their relentless Orange amps). The guitars are dense and fuzzy, as one might expect, but it's a welcomed tone that has been tweaked to perfection - theses axes are crushing when they want to be and let out carefully-planned cries of feedback at will. So, needless to say, this album has excellent production topped off with songwriting skills that succeed in keeping things interesting through the entire trip. Oh, and vocals here are harsh and manage to work well alongside the dark, sludgey tones. Rhythm section is naturally good and, if you enjoyed this album anywhere near as much as I have, will have you air-drumming along through 'Ration' every time. To sum things up, it's the best elements of Ufomammut and Eyehategod; the album neither wrote, but probably would have loved to. Toke alongside this one.

1. No Able Fires
2. Ration
3. Dead Weight
4. Los Nietos
5. Queen
6. Tied and Gagged
7. God of Panic, Lord of Decay
8. Loophole Noose
9. Shill
10. We Can Build You
11. Worshiper of Sores

Download (73.46 MB)

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Learning the ways of the blog.

Well, I'm finally here. Since p2p programs have difficulty running on this terribly old machine and I haven't enough money to buy all that I want to hear, blogs have been a choice of mine for a few months now when it comes to finding new music. I hope to upload some stuff sooner or later, but for now I'm still getting a feel for this place.. it's all pretty confusing and time-consuming at the moment. But anyways, expect more posts in the future, and thanks for visiting and reading in the meantime.