Random Review: 'A Greater Darkness' by Red Harvest

Norwegian extreme/experimental metal quintet Red Harvest performed an impressive feat throughout their career; they managed to successfully differentiate themselves from the legions of second and third wave black metal bands (and black metal in general) to arise during the last twenty-five years while simultaneously crafting exceptional music that was bleak and heavy enough to proudly stand next to the best of their scandinavian extreme-metal brethren.

Even now that so-called 'blackened' music in general seems to have embraced synthesizers and techno-apocalyptic rhetoric Red Harvest doesn't sound like a trailblazer or has-been. Eschewing (though never disparaging) the occultism of their peers and drawing early inspiration from American bands such as Slayer and Ministry they created a unique style that only benefits from comparison to bands such as Aborym or Anaal Nathrakh.

Released in 2007 A Greater Darkness is very accurately described by its own title. If you are familiar with the rest of their discography then, thematically, there will not be anything surprising about this album since vocalist/lyricist Ofu Khan unfortunately didn't seem to have anything new to say in terms of raw ideas. Instead the band offers a radically new interpretation of their traditional fare. The synth is almost completely sublimated into the background on most tracks while the guitars and percussion trade in the precision attack of Sick Transit Gloria Mundi and Internal Punishment Programs for sloppier, crushing walls of noise. The result is music that sounds much more organic and atmospheric without loosing any of the energy or intensity.

Ofu Khan described A Greater Darkness as "This time it's less future-fear and bio-mec. This album is about knocking at the gates of Hell, and you are actually allowed in." With that in mind it is downright amusing to hear what he describes as 'less future-fear'; the album is already drowning in fatalism before the first refrain on the opening track Antidote:

Somebody's found the antidote

Somebody's found the antidote

to human suffering

Wipe us out of existence

After a brief section of ambiance the music opens like the crash of a sledgehammer and it is those words, literally the opening lyrics, that set the tone for the entire album. Gone is the 'new world rage' mentality of their older music and the fiercely defiant screams of "REJECT THEIR FUCKING WORDS!/REJECT EVERY FUCKING THING THEY SAY!" Also absent from the album is tortured regret expressed in many of Internal Punishment Programs's closing songs. In exchange you are presented a worldview that is shockingly pessimistic even by Red Harvest's own standards, so much so that even Ofu Khan's characteristic goofiness (if you have a good ear for metal you'll catch the line "Darth Vader rules the Vatican!" in Antidote) does little to lighten the mood.

No longer fighting the darkness Khan is free to explore his paranoid existentialism to a refreshingly nuanced degree. Seemingly drawing his energy from the conflict and paradox of trying to put a human voice to the ultimate forms of dehumanization Khan delivers a performance that is vividly harrowing in its detail and breathtaking in its scope. Particularly impressive is the second song; it's heartbreaking to hear just how old he sounds on the melancholic track Hole in Me.

It's where they try for direct aggression that Red Harvest runs into trouble on A Greater Darkness. The song Icons of Fear feels out of place with it's surprisingly catchy and straight-forward approach, almost as if its a throwback to their days as a Slayer tribute band. Dead Cities, however, is the only truly 'bad' song; it is competent-but-uninspired to the point that it should have been held as a b-side.

At the other end of the spectrum the final four tracks, I Sweat W.O.M.D., WarThemes, Distorted Eyes, and Propioception, showcase the best of what the band has to offer.

I Sweat W.O.M.D. is as bombastically abrasive and disorienting as it is introspective. A casual listening gives the impression that it is about something like the horror of nuclear warfare; in fact it's deeply personal song about irrational fears and paranoia.

Warthemes is a dark-electronica track. I honestly am not sure what it's about (cocaine?) but it is awesome.

The final two tracks together from a 13 minute epic. Distorted Eyes begins with a simple guitar riff and the words:

You're not the first

surely not the last

to think you have the answers

and are dead wrong

From there the song slowly expands to dizzyingly epic proportions. The final lyrics of the album,

Cherish the dark

in a ring of fire

reach for the unknown

as the pages turn

in a ring of fire

beautifully summarize its central themes: the horror of loosing touch with reality, fear of the inevitable, and the anguish of seeking solace in the dark and unknown.

Distorted Eyes dissolves into a dark synthetic mess that smoothly transitions to Propioception, a cold and minimalist piece of industrial ambiance.

Then it's over. Red Harvest disbanded in 2010, making A Greater Darkness their final studio album. Fortunately it's also one of their best, and one I highly recommend.

Only Korans? - Part 3, unfortunately

[04/16/2012] - I feel like I've learned a lot since I wrote this, and it now no longer 100% represents my views on the subject; they aren't enraged because we burned some books.


"Worse than useless" is the most concise way I can think of to describe that bigot Terry Jones.

That's all I have to say about him.

In Afghanistan many people have now been murdered because of a Youtube video of a Koran being burned. I'm disgusted by the bigotry of the group that burned that Koran. I'm outraged that those people were murdered. There is nothing to justify what has happened, though there are certainly explanations. Understanding their outrage is not a reason to sanction their actions. Understanding the maliciousness of the original offense does not mean that any part of the retribution should be forgiven.

When I made the original post I titled it "Only Korans?" to imply that no so-called Holy Book should be safe from burning in an act of defiance. Now though I'd like to repurpose that title for its other meaning.

That book is merely a Koran.

To Hell with the accommodationists and strict-multiculturalists. Their wretched hypocrisy, essentially born out of pity for murderers and tyrants, is nauseating. I have no respect for you or your opinions if you can look at the events that have just occurred in Afghanistan and say, "See? This is why we must forbid insulting Islam."

Fuck it. I have nothing left to say.

I'll quote Madison-area band Erebus instead:

(From 'God Loves Us')

The bones of infidels

Of countless human souls

How could the world forget

The graveyard it’s built on

This earth is drenched with blood

In the name of God

Surely the work of the Lord Has been Done

Let us pray for the 3 million children a year,

That are destroyed by the holiest butcher

Let us pray for the billions of infidels

That were created,

So they can burn in hell

Has he the will but not the power?

Impotent

Has he the power not the will?

Sadistic

Just fucking end it all

I’m blessed,

you’re blessed,

we’re fucking blessed

I’m saved,

you’re saved,

it’s fucking great

Grab mom and dad and grandma too

Cuz it’s true,

God loves me and you!

Why keep a prison

When we’ve got one here on earth

What can we expect at the gates?

When you’ve turned your back on us?

You wash your hands

And sit in judgment

Or are we just fuel

For the Flames

Let us pray to the god that has betrayed us all

Born a sinner, you will die nothing more

Pray to the tyrant, laughing on a throne of despair

Demanding all from a world too poor to give

We are controlled by guilt and fear

Suffering

Gambling on a roll of the dice

Cowardice

What are you waiting for?

I’m blessed,

you’re blessed,

we’re fucking blessed

I’m saved,

you’re saved,

it’s fucking great

Grab mom and dad and grandma too

Cuz it’s true,

God loves me and you!

How much worse can it get?

I’m disgusted

I don’t want your paradise

Send me to hell

Another Twitter-esque micopost.

There's a good reason why my posts are so short and I never follow-up on things I say I will! Really, I swear!

Too much Minecraft* and not enough sleep ;)

So just as a teaser: here are some quick reviews that I intend to expand into full posts sometime within the next month.

• Scott Walker - More dis-likable with every passing day.
• Dawn of War 2: Retribution - Extremely fun and I haven't even tried anything besides Last Stand (co-op survival) mode yet.
• Deicide's new album "To Hell With God" - The least ambitious of all the albums they've released since 2001. Also one of the most enjoyable. Just no-frills no-bullshit brutal satanic Death Metal. I'll let you decide if that's a good thing.
• Internet Exploring 9 - Doesn't have any true adblock = not worth my time.
• The Feminine Mystique - Enthralling yet intellectually challenging book. I found it enlightening and highly recommend it if you haven't read it.

So.... yeah. That's it for tonight. Vaya con el Diablo mis amigas.

*Sorry, couldn't help myself :P

Regarding Kanye and Bush

I'm declaring the song for the last two weeks to be Cyberwaste by Fear Factory; one week each for Kanye West and George Bush. Not a perfect fit since neither is a blogger, but it's close enough.

NOTHING!

YOU SAY!

MATTERS!

TO US!

I noticed something disturbing while watching the various Matt Lauer clips; Bush and West have the exact same problem. They both seem to be reasonably intelligent. At the same time they are completely and utterly oblivious to so many things. It's like they're mild psychopaths [warning: wikipedia]. I don't mean that in the stereotypical sense of the raving lunatic archetype; sometimes they just don't understand how they affect other people.

Randomized Dissonant Cognitions (or..uh, something)

I was planning on writing a bunch of posts about the election; I guess I've simply become too burned out when it comes to politics. Writing about video games and music is much more fun than politics or social issues lately.

This is only the second major election I'll get to vote in. Maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention in the past, but I honestly never thought I'd see the type of insanity that is consuming the elections this year. During the 2004 election I thought it was ridiculous that Howard Dean was discounted as unelectable because of his 'yee-hah' moment.

I wish we could go back to that type of thinking.

One candidate I'm particularly displeased with is Ron Johnson. It's probably unfair for me to single him out. Nonetheless there is plenty to be disgusted with.

Check out the video on the "Meet Ron Johnson" page. It's all of the nauseating rhetoric you could possibly hope for from conservative talk radio, neatly repackaged as a political... something. It's not a bio, it's not an endorsement; the video gives me a creepy 'propaganda' vibe.

*updated again (4/7/11)* See this post for important information about the next section!

Especially distasteful is what Charlie SYKES [sic] has to say at the 2:20 mark. Actually, it's a little after that, but 2:20 is where you should start.

I always felt that my personal freedom would be protected. I could trust that our constitutional checks and balances would work. But then a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the 2008 election.

You'll miss the reference if you're not familiar with Sue Williams's well known "A Funny Thing Happened" [MASSIVE trigger warning].

I don't see how there can be any doubt that Mr. SYKES was alluding to that drawing. The wording of what he said fits perfectly and is too awkward to simply be something he'd say in that context. Is he saying that the 2008 election was as bad as rape? Probably, it's well documented that many conservative media figures like to use rape metaphors to describe liberals and progressives.

I doubt that Ron Johnson even knows enough about feminist artwork to understand the reference. I find it harder to believe that nobody in his campaign caught that while they were reviewing content to use in the video. But even if they're all cheerfully oblivious I'm still disgusted that they would seriously consider SYKES to be a good person to go with.

Also worrying is the "Preserving Wisconsin Values" section on his site, which reads thusly:

“I’m a pretty traditional guy. I believe in a culture of life, and I believe marriage is between one man and one woman.” – Ron Johnson

Ron is pro-life, pro-family, and believes that freedom of religion doesn’t mean freedom from religion. Ron will take these principles with him to Washington and will stand up to those who would attack these cherished traditional values.

Ron is an avid fisherman and outdoorsman who believes strongly in maintaining a clean and healthy environment. He believes Wisconsin’s sporting traditions and the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment should be protected.

Ron and Jane have been married for 32 years and together they have three children.

Hey Ron, Utah is that way.

Also, what the fuck does "freedom of religion doesn't mean freedom from religion" even mean? How can you have one without the other? And this man has a good chance of being my senator *shudders*

A few Random Final Notes. I've been rereading Orwell's 1984 and listening to Meshuggah's Obzen (the link is to the album's lyrics) and generally have been thinking about cognitive dissonance a lot lately.

I love violent videogames, books, movies, and music. I deplore the casual use or acceptance of actual violence. I spend a lot of time analyzing the rhetoric people use and absolutely despise hypocrites.

I'm not sure what to think about all of that. After I've had more time to think I want to write something much more in-depth on the topic. For now I'm just going to presume the power to dedicate Meshuggah's song "Combustion" (off of the afore-mentioned album) to this year's conservatives. And possibly to myself o_O

Also, what's up with drinking bleach? I thought that was just a funny Metalocalypse sketch.

*updated* : originally wrote that Johnson was running for governor; actually should have read senator.

Song of the Week: "Black Night"

My previous post inspired me to declare this week's song to be Black Night. Of course I'm not referring to Deep Purple's classic single; I'm talking about Deicide's cover of Deep Purple's classic single. And I'm assuming the authority to dedicate that song to none other than the Legendary Yukio Futatsugi himself (I'd link to a better interview but I'm too lazy to find one right now, I'll probably update that link later).

Why am I picking this song and that Legendary Figure? Partly because both are amazing; partly because the original Black Night was written in a drunken stupor when Deep Purple's record company demanded something to be released as a single and Yukio Futatsugi's last game at Microsoft Game Studios (Phantom Dust) received equally callous treatment.

Mostly though it's because things just don't feel right when Yukio isn't crafting his masterpieces. Fortunately there is always hope; sometimes we all we have to do is be patient.

Beyond the End

Btw: NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I've known about that for a while now; slipped my mind to post something. Red Harvest was an amazing band and I wish its members the best of luck with the rest of their lives.

I guess that means I should stop using their songs as a source of ideas for post titles...

update: If you are into extreme/progressive metal then you need to watch this video.

This one is also cool; audio isn't great but I believe it shows their last performance ever.

Yay!

Ok, I'm not going to link to Pharyngula all the time; I just felt like after my last post I should be a wuss and point out some positive things in the world. This is a post which suggests that warfare is a relatively recent phenomenon in human history and isn't something that we're hardwired for.

And also this "Slayer Goes To Church" video, makes me very happy.

Brillo Pad to the Brain

In the spirit of the "scrape my brain clean" metaphor I used in my previous post I went and watched a few of my favorite videos on youtube. Then it occurred to me that not everyone in the world has seen these videos. And that makes me a sad panda. So here they are!

Death Metal Rooster
Cat Death Metal
Nine Inch Snails. As a rabid NIN fan I declare this the best NIN parody ever.

Disclaimer to avoid confusion: None of those videos are mine.