#Prophecy Productions

[drondskaath]

Vemod | The Deepening | 2024

Norwegian Black Metal

[darktripz]

BETHLEHEM - Dictius Te Necare

[dustedmagazine]

Botanist — Paleobotany (Prophecy Productions)

Photo by Wyman Choy

For much of Botanist’s existence — as an artist, a project and now a band, with a line-up that has cohered over the last few full-length records — their association with black metal has been taken as a sort of given. And as recently as Photosynthesis (2020), Botanist was deploying the harsh tones and shrieked vocals typical of black metal in its many sub- and hybrid genre forms. Listeners familiar with Botanist since the project’s initial releases (this reviewer started listening with III: Doom in Bloom, still his favorite Botanist record) know that Otrebor, founding member and songwriter, has always had a delightfully idiosyncratic and high-concept notion of black metal. Otrebor’s principal axe is an amplified hammered dulcimer. And that band name? It’s serious: all of Botanist’s songs thematize plant life, as mythic protagonist, anti- (or at least counter-) human lifeforce or object of scientific study.

As the title Paleobotany suggests, plant life remains a primary concern, and the band takes a sort of para-scientific approach here, thinking and riffing on the phenomena (and experiences) of ancient vegetation during the long evolution of the earthball’s ecologies. That hammered dulcimer is still the most prominent element of Botanist’s sonic environment, but things are changing in Botanist’s sound. There are bursts of harsh, guttural vocals on some of the record’s tracks, but they operate in a sort of duet with the more prominent clean singing of Mar Stacey. And “clean” doesn’t really capture the heroic, dulcet quality of Stacey’s performance. The vocalist seems to have spent a fair amount of time listening to Jon Anderson’s more operatic turns on Tales from Topographic Oceans.

Yes is a loaded reference, but prog is relevant to Paleobotany in a few ways. Numerous songs on the record evoke a sound akin to Kayo Dot, c. Coffins on Io, for good (some) and for ill (mostly). The long middle of Paleobotany, from “The Impact That Build the Amazon” through “Strychnos Electri,” is Botanist at the band’s most bloodless. You might say, “That’s sort of the point. No blood. Only chlorophyll.” Fair enough. But stultifyingly self-important compositions are still stultifying. The playing and the production shimmer, and to be sure, a beautiful shimmer is an aesthetic property ideally suited to the dulcimer’s brightness. But on that stretch of tracks, you’d be hard pressed to dig up much drama or intensity under the shiny surfaces.

Perhaps Botanist wishes to leave black metal behind, and one can applaud the impulse to change. Even to evolve. The record’s themes loom significantly here. But there’s something to be said for rootedness, and dirt, and darkness. Is it significant that one of the most effective songs on Paleobotany is “When the Forests Turned to Coal”? It’s compositionally ambitious, full of strange noises and forceful playing. There are moments of triumphal grandness, especially in the song’s closing 50 seconds, but there is also a grittier passion. With a bit more cultivation, something more engagingly strange may emerge from Botanist’s less doomy bloom.

Jonathan Shaw

[triste-guillotine]

FALKENBACH "...en their medh riki fara...” CD 1996 (’...A world is deep inside of me, filled with ancient pride... No mortal one has ever seen the horse on which I ride... The one-eyed God is on my way, Thor will be my guide, Freya knows the path I go, the Fenriswolf to fight...’)

1. Galdralag 2. Heathenpride 3. Laeknishendr 4. Ultima Thule 5. Asum ok Alfum naer... 6. Winternight 7. ...into the Ardent Awaited Land...

https://falkenbach.bandcamp.com/album/en-their-medh-riki-fara

[burlveneer-music]

Haavard - s/t LP - Ulver’s original guitarist Håvard Jørgensen returns to the dark folk soundworld of their 1996 album Kveldssanger

If anybody else were to release an album that sounded as remarkably close as "Haavard" to ULVER's magical acoustic masterpiece "Kveldssanger", which stunned the Norwegians' followers with its radiant beauty in 1996 and that also contained a track entitled 'Kveldssang II' – that musician would be accused of blatant plagiarism. Yet guitarist and vocalist Håvard Jørgensen is the musical mastermind behind both, "Kveldssanger" and "Haavard", which means that his debut album as a solo-artist is in part a legitimate follow-up to ULVER's folkish excursion into acoustic sounds that he realised with the help of many excellent guest musicians – including vocals by Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg. Under the banner of HAAVARD, the Norwegian continues his unique artistic approach that unveils the epic and sublime melodies, which are deeply rooted in his native land's folklore. Through its acoustic and largely instrumental translation, Jørgensen lays bare the spectacular layers of cinematic beauty that hide underneath Norwegian black metal. Throughout the 90s, Jørgensen was an integral part of Oslo's fast rising black metal scene. After joining ECZEMA and continuing when the trio turned towards black metal with a new singer under the new name SATYRICON, Jørgensen also became a part of the black scene's progressive spearheads ULVER. Although feeling somewhat disenchanted with black metal for a while, Jørgensen continued to appear in various formations and for example contributed acoustic guitars to MYRKUR's "M" (2015) and live album "Mausoleum" (2016). In 2019, the guitarist founded new Oslo black metal act DOLD VORDE ENSD NAVN together with three current and former members of DØDHEIMSGARD. With his passion for the darker side of music re-kindled, Jørgensen decided to pick up the loose ends of the beautiful musical thread that "Kveldssanger" had left behind with his self-named solo-project HAAVARD. Audibly adding many years of experience, "Haavard" again invites us on an acoustic journey into the beating melodic heart of dark Nordic music.

[altarus]

Perchta - D'Muata

Austrian folk black metallers Perchta are back with their sophomore effort and I’ll be damned if it’s not the craziest shit you’ll hear all year. Let’s investigate. Continue reading Perchta – D’Muata

[forgemill]

Apollo is more relatable than I gave him credit for

[ireallydohateyou2]

[drondskaath]

Aureole | Alunarian Bellmaster | 2024

American Atmospheric Black Metal

[anonymous-cat1]

Warrior Cats Animation Just Announced!!

IT'S FINALLY REAL!!! After all these years, a Warrior Cats animated production has just been announced!

Warrior Cats and the company Coolabi Productions have formed a deal with Tencent Videos to finally create a Warrior Cats animated production!

"In collaboration with Coolabi, Tencent Video will work with the original characters and storylines to create animated adaptations for audiences across the globe. This will be the first authorised official animation of Warrior Cats, which we know the fans have been requesting for many years!" ~(Stated on the official Warrior Cats Hub)

-SPREAD THE NEWS AND REBLOG THIS-

[triste-guillotine]

BETHLEHEM “Dictius Te Necare” CD 1996 (’...Die Hure mit den vergifteten augen von finst'rem Mondschein erhellt ist wie keusche blasphemie inmitten tiefschwarzer See...’)

1. Schatten aus der Alexander Welt 2. Die anarchische Befreiung der Augenzeugenreligion 3. Aphel - Die schwarze Schlange 4. Verheißung - Du Krone des Todeskultes 5. Verschleierte Irreligiosität 6. Tagebuch einer Totgeburt 7. Dorn meiner Allmacht

The title of the album is Latin for "You must / should kill yourself". The album is also dedicated to all suicide victims.

https://bethlehem.bandcamp.com/album/dictius-te-necare?label=998332143&tab=music

[septembersung]

This will not sound revelatory on the Mental Illness Website, but it has been personally 🤯🤯🤯 to finally be old enough and have accumulated enough experiences and friends with varied insight to look at the things that happen on the daily inside my brain and realize. Oh. oh. That is so, so not normal. That’s the mental illness talking.