The sights, sounds and words of the week in noise.
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The 40 best post-metal records ever made | FACT
“Around the time grime was evolving from garage – in the simplest terms – so too was post-metal emerging from noisecore. Noisecore was the culmination of the fast-and-complex style of thrash and metallic hardcore. Between 1997 and 2000, bands like Botch, Kiss It Goodbye, Dillinger Escape Plan and Coalesce were twisting hardcore and metal into increasingly technical shapes, blurring the brutality with jazz, pop and, well, Gregorian chants. Eventually, the time passed for noisecore, and those young intellectuals decided to slow it down, growing oddly tender at times.”
Insomnia, anxiety, break-ups… musicians on the dark side of touring | The Guardian
“For many, the contrast between the highs of a successful show and the anti-climactic low that often follows can be hard to adjust to, a phenomenon that has been termed “post-performance depression’, or PPD. Mental health professional John C Buckner writes: “When the body experiences major shifts in mood, it is flooded with several different neurotransmitters, resulting in a biochemical release that leads to a feeling of ecstasy. After these moments the nervous system needs time to recalibrate itself to prepare for another release. After an exciting performance the body starts to balance out the level of neurotransmitters, and therefore it is not releasing the same level that caused the exciting feelings, resulting in the lingering sadness. In normal day-to-day life, biochemicals are released and rest/recovery follow, causing the typical ups and downs of life. In the case of PPD, the process is more extreme with higher highs and lower lows.””
Does the Struggle of Making Art in America Make for Better Art? | Pitchfork
Only now as I’ve made my permanent home in the U.S. have I begun to understand what kind of determination and resources it takes to have a successful band, career, and meaningful artistic life. This land of opportunities with no public funding and a queue of talented young musicians lining up for the big time is very, very brutal, albeit exciting and nowhere near perfect. My first year in Los Angeles I damaged my thumb in a wood cutting machine. The medical bills totaled $6,000. The real dark side of being in America, the aloneness of it, how one error or unlucky turn could set you back was terrifying. I remember being in an apartment in West Hollywood lying in the dark in the middle of summer, forcing myself to try to sleep so I could avoid the fact that I had no prospects. Everyone networks very blatantly here. Handing out business cards, and striking up immediate friendships (very un-Danish). Everyone hustling, promising, hyperbolizing everything. My gut-terror and this bazaar-like atmosphere also gave me an energy. There is something about trying to fight through the masses of people and reach the sprawling musical tapestry, sometimes failing intensely and sometimes not.”
LISTEN
French Rockets — Pulling Metal
“What repeats makes me stronger.” Such has been the ethos of Perth synaesthetiacs French Rockets, and it continues to serve them well on “Pulling Metal”, the second single from new ablum Arc. Rather than build layer upon layer for the Great Wall of Sound that’s been the group’s calling card for the last several years, this song is about subtraction; the bass drops out to give way to wiry electronic philandering emerges, returning to fill the rhythm once the guitars drop out. And while repetition serves them well, French Rockets have perfected another part of their artillery here: how to write a catchy-as-fuck hook. Arc is out on June 29.
Scott Kay — Stargazer
Your weekend meditation comes courtesy of Scott Kay, better known as the guitarist of metal outfits Voyager and Statues. There are no axes here on Stargazer, though; just seven minutes of exultant celestial atmosphere built around a simple but striking piano motif. The track is available for $1 and all proceeds go towards Women’s Community Shelters which helps women in crisis find safe spaces, so if you enjoy it throw a buck towards a good cause.
WATCH
Sannhet — Atrium
The latest clip from Sannhet’s under-appreciated Revisionist makes for uncomfortable viewing but a welcome reminder to delve deeper into the Brooklyn trio’s brutal and beautiful sophomore record.
Chelsea Wolfe — Carrion Flowers
Keeping with the trend of disturbing black and white montages is the first video from Abyss, Chelsea Wolfe’s forthcoming new record. Shot on what looks to be several different cameras, the clip is an assemblage of growth and decay, industry and nature, punctuated by striking imagery — honestly, how amazing is this shot? Wolfe’s material has been getting darker with every record, and the drum-and-guitar combination on this track — which is emphasized here with some clever editing — is utterly haunting. If it’s any indication of how the rest of the album will sound, Abyss is shaping up to be one of the most bleak collections of music in a long time.
