Subterranean Cave Blues

LUSTMORD - Paradise Disowned (1983)

One of those people that like to fire up the neurons to awaken the amygdala deep in yer medial temporal lobes? It's ok-- humans enjoy being scared for whatever primal reason preprogrammed into our DNA... likely has something to do with our constant wrestlin' with our fragile mortality. Anyway, as much as I'd love to play shrink with y'all and continue in vain to dazzle with my half-understood fancy words, let's talk some 'bout Welshman Brian "Lustmord" Williams, the grandaddy of thee "dark ambient" subgenre. Here, kats n' kitties is an artist willing to walk that extra mile-- literally-- to stir up thee horrors lurking in yer subconscious.

Now a lotta artists like to refer to themselves as "underground," but how many of 'em actually recorded there? Mr. Williams has a leg up on the rest of 'em cuz that's exactly what he did for "Paradise Disowned"-- descended into subterranean locales like the crypt at Chartres Cathedral, Dunster Abattoir in Bangor and even the bottom of the fucking ocean! To further cause yer delicate little heart to beat a little faster, he utilizes infrasound-- frequencies below 20 Hz that are known to inspire dread in those exposed to 'em. Throw in treated field recordings of Tibetan horns and monk chants, and you've got thee perfect 3 a.m. album (should thou have thee proper constitution). Now that's what I call "underground" music!

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STABAT MATER - S/T Promo (Bootleg CD-R, 2001)

Finland's Mikko Aspa is one of my favorite people currently toiling away in thee extreme music scene today; actually, mebbe I should rephrase that as I've never actually MET the guy. I am in awe not only of his talents and sense of aesthetics, but of his work ethic as well. How prolific is he? Well, he's currently thee vocalist of Deathspell Omega, and is the sole member or contributes in one way or another to Clandestine Blaze, Grunt, Creamface, Nicole 12, Fleshpress, Clinic of Torture and Alchemy of the 20th Century among a half dozen others. He is also thee proprietor of black metal label Northern Heritage and power electronics imprint, Freak Animal. Ah yes, he also dabbles in your favorite, sticky little vice and mine: porn, as editor of "Erotic Perversions" magazine and owner of "Public Obscenities" video.

Some call Stabat Mater "funeral doom," which is a term I absolutely abhor-- it brings to mind alla those yawn-inducing, goth-inspired swillmeisters like Wormphlegm, Catacombs and Rigor Sandonicous, which aside from their equally slooow tempos, are too mired in perpetual suckage to be lumped alongside Stabat Mater. What I hear comes down to "you can take the boy outta power electronics, but you can't take power electronics outta the boy." Every slothful guitar riff sounds like it's been filtered through some form of electro-grime, encrusted in feedback-swirling filth. How sluggish is it? Let's just say ya got plenty o' time to pour another shot of Maker's in between chord changes. There is also extensive use of samples-- Gregorian chants, and most effectively, a would-be female victim screaming at the precise moment Aspa spews, in his heavily-treated gargle, thee chorus of "Give Them Pain."

These five tracks, although some of 'em have made thee rounds on comps and splits, were never supposed to see the light of day. According to thee version of thee saga that I've heard, Mikko gave a handful of copies to "friends" as a taster, only to discover it had been leaked all over "teh intrawebs" only days later. Oh well, with friends like those...

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