Lav's Music Corner

At some point I've got to get better about reviewing metal records. Since I'm so bad at it I felt the need to do a recap of some of the most notable ones to drop this year so far.  The Promise Of Rain  - Scarcity Scarcity are a NY black metal band that I'm a bit late to the party on. They debuted a few years ago on The Flenser, which really should be enough to get me to tune into anything at this point, but I let the debut slip by me. I almost made that mistake again when this new record didn't immediately blip on my radar beyond the actually beautiful album cover it sports. Thankfully some positive coverage the album received has led to me attempting to right both wrongs with an overdue review.  Promise  serves up just 6 tracks, but with four of them powering past 6 minutes it's grand total runtime reaches 40 minutes. It opens with the bold "In The Basin Of Alkaline Grief" which wastes no time introducing its brutality and ferocity. It takes a seemingly b...

Now that I'm recovered enough to have opinions again a week full of big swings fell right into my lap. See what hit it out of the park and what completely struck out.  5.  Alter Ego  - Doechii (feat. JT) This is definitely a tricky one but in a week like this, it belongs on the list. Doechii and City Girls rapper JT is a combination I was THRILLED for and boy do they deliver. The two verses on this song are intense, pummeling, verbose, and completely unstoppable avalanches of charisma and momentum. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I try I just cannot get behind this chorus. Where both rappers make the intensity of their performance sound great on the verse the hook is just purely annoying in a way that is so blown out it's difficult to swallow. It's a tricky assessment on a song that has some of the most impressive performances I've heard all year.  Listen 4.  Gasping Dust  - Full Of Hell (feat. Ross Dolan) Is this song only a minute long, yes. But b...

Lockstep Bloodwar  - Sightless Pit Sightless Pit is a musical project I first caught onto a few years ago as a meeting of the minds between frequent collaborators from experimental metal bands The Body and Full Of Hell alongside one of the most interesting artists in all of music in the past 5 years, Lingua Ignota. Now they've released a second album and even though Lingua Ignota is no longer involved, the record isn't lacking in interesting collaborations as a few artists I was already familiar with like Midwife, Gangsta Boo, and claire rousay appear in the tracklist. When this record is living in its comfort zone of crushing distorted textures, harrowing screamed vocals and the genuine sonic intensity of extreme metal things go pretty well. Opening track Resin On A Knife  is an early highlight and the pairing with Midwife makes perfect sense and the title track around the midpoint satisfies my desire for horrifying shrill sounds on any album associated with The Body. The rec...

The Body are a Rhode Island based experimental metal duo who have been active for over 20 years now. They initially worked in the realms of doom and sludge metal but over the years have expanded their sound into the worlds of noise and harsh electronic music. They are just as known for their multiple collaborations with artists like Full Of Hell, Thou and Uniform as much of their core studio discography.  Review By Lav: I wasn't listening to The Body in their early days because I was just too young, but by the time I got a bit older the band had expanded their ambition and sound palette into something that really impressed me. In particular their 2018 album I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer  impressed me quite a bit with its instrumental ambition. On top of all this last year Lee Buford took part in an experimental super group that intrigued me with Sightless Pit. So it's safe to say that I was excited for this record but I wasn't quite prepared for what ...

Sightless Pit is a new experimental rock super group made up of Kristin Hayter the mind behind Lingua Ignota, Lee Buford percussionist for experimental metal band The Body, and Dylan Walker frontman of grindcore band Full Of Hell. The three musicians came together to record this industrial noise and post-hardcore record that takes a really unique approach by not including any guitars on the record. Review By Lavender: After last years expansive, unique and encapsulating Caligula  I was willing to listen to just about anything Lingua Ignota's name was attached to. Despite having never been a fan of just about anything Full Of Hell did and having an on and off relationship with The Body I was still excited for this record given the unique concept and the sheer creativity Kristin Hayter put together just last year. The lead single to this record really got me excited and it's the first song on the record here. Kimgscorpse  starts the record off interesting from its very ...