White Ward

Record(s) o’ the Month – June 2022

Record(s) o’ the Month – June 2022

“The summer swelters and bakes and tensions boil over at AMG HQ. There’s been an unusually high number of arguments and shouting matches over the proper Record o’ the Month for June. The resulting clamor has disrupted the orderly working environment we strive to maintain through fear and abject brutality.” Sun’s out, manbun’s out.

Cailleach Calling – Dreams of Fragmentation

Cailleach Calling – Dreams of Fragmentation

“When an experienced musician, or musicians, begins a new project, expectation is a tricky part of the equation. After all, a new project is a new project, with all the bumps, twists, and booby traps associated with starting something new, regardless of the experience of its creator. I muse on this because Dreams of Fragmentation, our super-atmospheric black metal album for the day, is the debut full-length for Cailleach Calling, which itself is formed of Tony Thomas and Chelsea Murphy of Dawn of Ouroboros, whose debut full-length floored the Master of Muppets and left a lasting impression on a good number of you, alongside Yurii Kononov, formerly of White Ward.” Great expectations and fragments of dreams.

Unru – Die Wiederkehr des Verdrängten Review

Unru – Die Wiederkehr des Verdrängten Review

“There’s something about abstractness in music that rides a fine line between tantalizing and off-putting. While anything tagged “avant-garde” is immediately greeted by a chorus of hissing and boos, there are ways to create effectively challenging tunes using relatively standard methods. Some metallic styles are born out of this aesthetic, as post-metal’s emphasis on landscapes or drone’s focus on overwhelming density spring to mind, but black metal has always maintained a bit more straightforward nostalgia in the unholy trinity: tremolo, blastbeats, and shrieks. Unru seeks to challenge such things.” Dare to be difficult.