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Stuck in the Filter: May 2024’s Angry Misses
By Kenstrosity
I thought the onset of summer would mean a total solar beatdown. Instead, it’s brought the rain. Absolutely chucking down rain. But, if you thought that bad weather leads to mercy from me, you’re dead wrong. In fact, I pushed my minions even harder to dredge up as many waterlogged nuggets of notable ore from our perpetually overtaxed filtration system.
And so, as my “staff,” who are definitely paid (don’t look into it) dry off in the industrial-grade wind tunnel, allow me to introduce May’s Filter entries for a public I truly don’t care about at all (don’t look into it). BEHOLD!
Iceberg’s Divisive Defenstrations
Cobra The Impaler // Karma Collision [May 24th, 2024 – Listenable Records]
Belgium’s Cobra The Impaler bill themselves as carrying the torch of classic-era Mastodon, a band hitting so many spectrums of metal comparing one’s music to theirs is a much safer bet than not. Led by primary songwriter and ex-Aborted guitarist Tace DC, the band sit somewhere in the murky grey between progressive and technical modern metal. The aforementioned Mastodon worship is strong here—especially in opener “Magnetic Hex”—although the crystal clean production by Jens Borgren really prevents the use of the term “sludge.” Elsewhere there are prog-metal moments of Virus/Vector-era Haken (“Karma Collision,” “The Fountain”) and some of the relentless, drums-in-front compositions of Gojira (“Karma Collision,” “The Assassins of the Vision”). Vocalist Manuel Remmerie’s also has his work cut out for him, delivering plenty of admirable cleans in both high and low registers alongside full-throated screams and somewhat less effective pitched growls. The instrumental performances here are top-notch, professional in the verse/chorus sections, and continuously—sometimes outstandingly—creative in the free-form bridges. There is some tightening to be done with the accessibility of the choruses—they fall flat against the superior instrumental sections— but there are moments of brilliance and a ton of potential in this five-piece.
Capstan // The Mosaic [May 24th, 2024 – Fearless Records]
Anyone who’s plugged into the post-hardcore scene should know that Florida’s Capstan transcend the—rightfully deserved—vitriol thrown at the style. I don’t think any Fearless band has ever been reviewed here, but Capstan’s latest opus The Mosaic deserves a shoutout to whomever hasn’t run screaming from these halls. Led by vocalist Anthony DeMario—sure to be a divisive figure with his unapologetic pop punk cleans—the band has continuously augmented their Warped-core sound with the mathy guitar noodlings of Chon or Polyphia, and an impressive triple vocalist attack for thick, elaborate harmonies. This album, clocking in at over an hour, doesn’t pull any punches, showcasing trip-hop, breakdown-laced numbers (“Bete Noire”), full throated anthems about self-loathing and heartbreak (“Misery Scene”) and even lighter, crooning ballads (“What Can I Say”). Synergy and professionalism are where the band shine; everything has is slickly produced and the performances—especially those vocals—are whip-smart. Plenty of editing could have been done, but you can tell how much fun the band is having. Anyone with a passing interest or nostalgia for 2000’s post-hardcore should check this out. Plus their drummer plays with traditional grip, and watching a jazz guy slam out breakdowns is pretty rad in my book.
GardensTale’s Dose of Decay
Strychnos // Armageddon Patronage [May 17th, 2024 – Dark Descent Records]
I don’t always check out albums that set the comment section and/or Discord abuzz, but when I do, it rarely results in anything less than interesting. Case in point, the bottomless evil of Strychnos, a Danish outfit that struggled to get off the ground in the early 00’s, eked out a single EP in the 10’s, and suddenly started shitting out heaving platters of malicious black/death since the pandemic. Armageddon Patronage is the second full-length off their new production line, and it brings every horseman along for its deadly ride. War is embodied by the lethal double feature that starts the charge, with swelling riffs battering the unjust to fertilizer. The unflinching and unfeeling brutality of Famine seethes from “Choking Salvation,” and out the beaks of “Pale Black Birds” pours Pestilence with slavering enthusiasm. Frontman Martin Leth Anderson, who also handles bass for Undergang, employs a bellowing growl that encapsulates hopelessness and suffering, and the excellent, malevolent riffs usher an effective aura of utter destruction. Death, however, comes not at the end, but during the doom-laden centerpiece, the despondent “Endless Void Dimension” with its atmospheric Gregorian chanting. I have no qualms becoming a patron to this spiteful chunk of armageddon.
Dear Hollow’s Shtanky Shwamp of Shrieks
Saidan // Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity [May 24th, 2024 – Self-Released]
Saidan do things a little differently. The Nashville duo’s themes rooted in Japanese folklore and the formidable and mysterious yokai in particular, combined with a relentlessly riffy and punk-driven tour-de-force of black metal proportions are always food for thought in the act’s brief and formidable history. Seamlessly transitioning between punk chord progressions and bouncy drums to blastbeats and kvlt tremolo to groovy riffs and rhythms, anchored by Splatterpvnk’s ripping vocals, it never shies away from punishment. However, interwoven with this assault is a distinctly melodic undercurrent that brightens the progressions and gives purpose and a sense of fun – a hyper-melodic black metal act would be jealous. You won’t be able to shake the grooves of “Desecration of a Lustful Illusion,” the symphonic black intensity of “Genocidal Bloodfiend” and “Veins of the Wicked” hit you like a cyclone, and the classic thrash solos and anime-theme-song vibe of “Sick Abducted Purity,” “Visual Kill,” and “Switchblade Paradise” are guaranteed to get your head banging – plus, the interlude “seraphic lullaby” and instrumental closer “suffer” ain’t half bad. Visual Kill is like if Powerglove wrote a black metal album that you could actually take seriously, backed up with the technicality, songwriting chops, and sheer unbridled energy to make it work.
Parfaxitas // Weaver of the Black Moon [May 31st, 2024 – Terratur Possessions]
The minds behind Parfaxitas should need little introduction, although the moniker will likely not ring any bells. Representing three separate scenes and their respective contributions to black metal lore, two American stringsmen from acts Merihem, Suffering Hour, and Manetherean, Icelandic drummer B.E. from Almyrkvi, Sinmara, Slidhr, and Wormlust, and Norwegian vocalist K.R. From Whoredom Rife collide. Weaver of the Black Moon combines the blueprint of second-wave Norwegian black with the obsidian dissonance of Icelandic, and the experimental edge of American acts, making it a tour-de-force of both vicious sound and tortured atmosphere. Dissonance rains down like acid, a backdrop, and shroud of otherworldly sounds that shimmer and crunch in ways that recall both the winding passages of Suffering Hour and the psychedelic rawness of Wormlust simultaneously. Hammered by vicious blastbeats and guided by tortured barks, the guitar and meandering fluid bass guide listeners from untouchable intensity (“Thou Shalt Worship No Other”) to haunting and hypnotic atmosphere (“Ravens of Dispersion”) – stealing the show. Parfaxitas features a whole lot of firepower, culminating in epic closer “Fields of Nightmares,” a crescendo of punishing and otherworldly proportions.
Aseitas // Eden Trough [May 30th, 2024 – Total Dissonance Worship]
After Aseitas’ formidable 2020 album False Peace, which narrowly missed my AOTY’s, the Portland trio is back with another album – which could easily be classified as an EP in its tidy thirty-minute runtime. Eden Trough condenses the lofty and decadent ambition of its predecessor for an album devoted to complete takedown in winding riffs, punishing death metal, and ravaging vocals. From the thick and punishing signature shifts of “Libertine Captor” and “Alabaster Bones,” complete with shifting riffs and a liminal sense of melody, to the more droning and haunting “Break the Neck of Every Beautiful Thing,” to the epic and cosmic psychedelia of ten-minute centerpiece “Tiamat,” Aseitas’ shows its tantalizing and gradual progression to an echelon of indispensable in the world of dissonant death. Offering influences of convulsive mathcore, mammoth post-metal, and unhinged yet intensely calculated technicality, Eden Trough is a must-listen for the long-time fan, as well as proffering a snapshot to the curious of what makes Aseitas so special to begin with.
Dolphin Whisperer’s Progalicious Ponderings
Azure // Fym [May 23rd, 2024 – Self Release]
Are you way into high fantasy and exuberant, progressive albums that reflect that sentiment? If so, look no further than Azure’s third opus, Fym, which over its runtime recounts the tales of a mystical fox’s journey in a frightening and whimsical world. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about an album with such a storybook concept.1 But between Chris Sampson’s vocal navigations that ring as hyper-tenor and dolphin-like (“The Lavender Fox”)2 as they do sullen and heart-wrenching (“Kingdom of Ice and Light,” “Moonrise”), and Galen Stapley’s mystical fretboard wizardry that marries funk chords, soundtrack melodies, and dance-able shred, Azure packs too much sunshine in their prog for me to ignore. And at almost eighty minutes, they pack a lot of it too. However, each run through Fym’s pages finds a new rumbling bass bounce to propel a hop, a new vocal run to twirl my tongue (with notes that I couldn’t possibly hit), or a synthfully sinful refrain to stain my brain matter with happy juice—”The Azdinist // Den of Dawns” or “Agentic State” unite these ideas best—it’s truly a hard album to put down. Combining just about every era of Genesis with the acrobatics of Dream Theater, the play and ambition of the earliest of Pain of Salvation theatrics, and healthy dose of modern bastardizations (check the autotune/pitchshifting on “Doppelgänger”), Azure has made a mighty statement with Fym that I’m still digesting. And with as many inventive synth patches, harmonic vocal layers, and cinematic builds as this rainbow dose of prog pushes, it’ll be quite some time before I’ve made up my mind about it all. So I’ll continue in pieces. Or all at once. Whatever time allows because Fym is just that much fun.
PreHistoric Animals // Finding Love in Strange Places [May 16th, 2024 – Dutch Music Works]
And here we are with, what’s that, another prog concept album? This one’s a little less terrestrial though, featuring healthy infusions of a futuristic space drama and heavy-hitting synthwave doots and bounces. Over the course of their past couple works, PreHistoric Animals has found an ease in comfortable exploration with their King’s X-like tendency to grip with a barbed verse melody or chorus explosion, layered tastefully with harmonic vocal accompaniment and groove-heavy riffs. But, despite that comparison, it’s clear from the opening synth pulse of “The City of My Dreams” and “Living in a World of Bliss” that an electronic and hooky identity that’s caught between Toto and Yes imbues the edges of refrains that stick like honey to vocalist Stefan Altzar’s easy-on-the-ears narrative. Finding Love in Strange Places can get bogged down a touch in its word-driven nature, though, especially on the various interludes and certain longer tracks like “Unbreakable” and “Nothing Has Changed but Everything Is Different.” None of that fluff ever truly interrupts Finding Love’s heartbeat rhythms, which hold a steady if highly syncopated simplicity and form a hi-hat charming vessel that keeps the head nodding in progressive pomp. Oh, and it helps that guitarists Altzar and Daniel Magdic (ex-Pain of Salvation) have studied the slow-burn solo nature of greats like David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Brian May (Queen), with tasteful legato and searing ascensions aiding in earned crescendo at Finding Love’s best moments (“Living in a World of Bliss,” “The Secret of Goodness”). Having reliably churned out confident and catchy works every other years since 2018, PreHistoric Animals fly relatively low in the flock of modern prog, but these space-bound Swedes have earned a likely lifelong aquatic fan at this stage of their growing career. Give Love a chance!
Matrass // Cathedrals [May 17th, 2024 – La Tangente Label]
And, last but not least from my assortment, Matrass hails from France to bring you Cathedrals, which is… yes, you guessed it, another prog concept album! If you’re worried about another album of the synthtastic and 80s prog-themed variety, though, don’t fret about what Matrass brings to the table. Playing closer to post than progressive waters, Cathedrals flitters about dreamy, lounge jazz guitar passages before crushing down with Cult of Luna riffs and Tesseract-inspired, low-end atmospherics. But most important to the groove and cinematic lilt that defines Cathedrals is the methods by which vocalist Clémentine Browne navigates jangling verses with gentle croons and accented, rhythmic spoken word before frying down with screeching and hissing fervor against heavy chord crushes. That talent for establishing and reinforcing mood lands idiosyncratic in the realm of post acts, so her exact methods may not fit the bill for all fans of the rise-and-fall aesthetic the genre offers. And though Matrass remains largely iterative of this mood through its hour-long run, it’s that successful idea of atmosphere that allows peak tracks “Shreds,” “Adrift” (which features Browne on saxophone instead), and “Cathedrals” to conjure such powerful and drifting thoughts in my head. And when you’re in its valleys? Matrass still maintains a textural backdrop that spells high potential for this young act.
Saunders’ Sulfuric Stash
Desolus // System Shock [March 10th, 2024 – Hells Headbangers]
Who’s up for some explosive, throwback thrashy goodness? Although hailing from the States, Desolus take plenty of inspiration from classic German trash titans Kreator, Destruction and Sodom. Throw in classic Dark Angel vibes, a heavy, modern edge and crunchy production job, and the band’s debut System Shock ticks all the boxes for a thrashing great time. This shit is seriously jacked with unhinged, old-school aggression, spitfire riffs and stampeding percussion propelling the album’s ten speed-driven assaults. An utterly deranged, ’80s underground-inspired vocal performance adds further steel-plated authenticity to a retro-minded sound that manages to sound fresh and inspired. Aside from rare moments of slower melodic nuance on the otherwise blistering “Sea of Fire,” and the aptly titled “Interlude” providing a handy breather, Desolus crank speed and intensity to the max, rarely breaking from their relentless stride. The opening one-two salvo of “System Shock” and bonkers lunacy of “From Man to Machine” set a savage tone and gritty platform from which Desolus launch assault after assault of high-octane thrash mania. “Cures of the Technomancer” is an absolute riff beast with groove and speed for days, while “The Invasion Begins” deftly puts you in a false sense of bouncy melodic security before jamming the afterburners into a typically ferocious attack. Exuberant, nasty stuff.
Terminal Nation // Echoes of the Devil’s Den [May 3rd, 2024 – 20 Buck Spin]
The second album from Pittsburgh bruisers Terminal Nation hits with sledgehammer force, obliterating any semblance of subtlety in favor of an extra beefy, in-your-face hybrid of death metal and hardcore. Echoes of the Devil’s Den features a searing, politically charged and seriously pissed-off bite. High-profile guest vocal slots seamlessly blend into the vicious attack, including strong turns from Integrity‘s Dwid Hellion (“Release the Serpents”), Killswitch Engage‘s Jesse Leach (“Merchants of Bloodshed”) and Nails frontman Todd Jones. Jones features on “Written by the Victor,” a vicious tune that harnesses thick, neck-wrecking grooves and punishing, doom-laden death grooves. The album’s hardcore influence and political slant may turn off certain listeners, but those who don’t mind some hardcore in their death stew should find plenty to like here. The gritty, muscular exterior features nods to Bolt Thrower and All Shall Perish, while the weighty, mid-paced crush, chunky riffs and breakdowns are balanced by tasteful melodic counterpoints and livelier bursts of speed (“Dying Alive”). Not all works; the provocative, anti-police song “No Reform (New Age Slave Patrol)” musically has its moments; however, the heavy-handed lyrical approach sticks out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, Echoes of the Devil’s Den swings and slugs you more often than it misses.
Steel Druhm’s Sewer Tarts
The Troops of Doom // A Mass to the Grotesque [May 31, 2024 – Alma Mater Records]
For their sophomore outing, Brazilian death-thrashers The Troops of Doom took their vintage Sepultura-esque sound and juiced it up considerably from what we heard on 2022s Antichrist Reborn. A Mass to the Grotesque still sounds a bunch like classic Sepultura but it’s much more refined, developed and expanded in scope. Yet it’s still a frenzied, thrashing assault full of lyrics about evil, demons, and all things anti-Christian. It sounds like something that should have dropped in as the 80s thrash wave started mutating into proto-death, and that is a beloved era of music for yours Steely. Songs like “Chapels of the Unholy” and “Dawn of Mephisto” sit right on the bleeding edge of thrash and early death, with Slayer-tastic riffs colliding with early examples of death grooves. What makes this so entertaining is how the band reaches outside of the Sepultura homage bubble to drag in new elements to expand their sound. Some songs feel slightly progressive (“Denied Divinity”) while elsewhere they shoehorn epic doom into the massive “Psalm 7:8 – God of Bizarre.” The straight-up riffbeasts are my favorites though, with “The Imposter King” being a big, fat, sweaty highlight. While these cats are always going to get compared to classic Sepultura, they made real efforts here to stake out their own identity. This is a wild, testosterone-fueled ride featuring the maximum allowable Satan, and I support that.
#20BuckSpin #2024 #AMassToTheGrotesque #Aborted #AllShallPerish #AlmaMaterRecords #Almyrkvi #AmericanMetal #ArmageddonPatronage #Aseitas #Azure #BelgianMetal #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #BoltThrower #Capstan #Cathedrals #CHON #CobraTheImpaler #CultOfLuna #DanishMetal #DarkAngel #DarkDescentRecords #DeathMetal #Desolus #Destruction #DissonantDeathMetal #DreamTheater #DutchMusicWorks #EchoesOfTheDevilSDen #EdenTrough #FearlessRecords #FindingLoveInStrangePlaces #FrenchMetal #Fym #Genesis #GermanMetal #Gojira #Haken #Hardcore #HellsHeadbangers #Integrity #InternationalMetal #KarmaCollision #KillswitchEngage #KingsX #Kreator #LaTangenteLabel #ListenableRecords #Manetherean #Mastodon #Matrass #May24 #MelodicBlackMetal #Merihem #Nails #PainOfSalvation #Parfaxitas #PinkFloyd #Polyphia #PostHardcore #Powerglove #PreHistoricAnimals #ProgressiveMetal #Punk #Queen #Review #Reviews #Saidan #SelfReleased #Sinmara #Slidhr #Sodom #Strychnos #SufferingHour #SwedishMetal #SystemShock #TechnicalDeathMetal #TechnicalMetal #TerminalNation #TerraturPossessions #TesseracT #TheMosaic #TheTroopsOfDoom #TotalDissonanceWorship #UKMetal #Undergang #USMetal #VisualKillTheBlossomingOfPsychoticDepravity #WeaverOfTheBlackMoon #WhoredomeRife #Wormlust #Yes
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Stuck in the Filter: May 2024’s Angry Misses
By Kenstrosity
I thought the onset of summer would mean a total solar beatdown. Instead, it’s brought the rain. Absolutely chucking down rain. But, if you thought that bad weather leads to mercy from me, you’re dead wrong. In fact, I pushed my minions even harder to dredge up as many waterlogged nuggets of notable ore from our perpetually overtaxed filtration system.
And so, as my “staff,” who are definitely paid (don’t look into it) dry off in the industrial-grade wind tunnel, allow me to introduce May’s Filter entries for a public I truly don’t care about at all (don’t look into it). BEHOLD!
Iceberg’s Divisive Defenstrations
Cobra The Impaler // Karma Collision [May 24th, 2024 – Listenable Records]
Belgium’s Cobra The Impaler bill themselves as carrying the torch of classic-era Mastodon, a band hitting so many spectrums of metal comparing one’s music to theirs is a much safer bet than not. Led by primary songwriter and ex-Aborted guitarist Tace DC, the band sit somewhere in the murky grey between progressive and technical modern metal. The aforementioned Mastodon worship is strong here—especially in opener “Magnetic Hex”—although the crystal clean production by Jens Borgren really prevents the use of the term “sludge.” Elsewhere there are prog-metal moments of Virus/Vector-era Haken (“Karma Collision,” “The Fountain”) and some of the relentless, drums-in-front compositions of Gojira (“Karma Collision,” “The Assassins of the Vision”). Vocalist Manuel Remmerie’s also has his work cut out for him, delivering plenty of admirable cleans in both high and low registers alongside full-throated screams and somewhat less effective pitched growls. The instrumental performances here are top-notch, professional in the verse/chorus sections, and continuously—sometimes outstandingly—creative in the free-form bridges. There is some tightening to be done with the accessibility of the choruses—they fall flat against the superior instrumental sections— but there are moments of brilliance and a ton of potential in this five-piece.
Capstan // The Mosaic [May 24th, 2024 – Fearless Records]
Anyone who’s plugged into the post-hardcore scene should know that Florida’s Capstan transcend the—rightfully deserved—vitriol thrown at the style. I don’t think any Fearless band has ever been reviewed here, but Capstan’s latest opus The Mosaic deserves a shoutout to whomever hasn’t run screaming from these halls. Led by vocalist Anthony DeMario—sure to be a divisive figure with his unapologetic pop punk cleans—the band has continuously augmented their Warped-core sound with the mathy guitar noodlings of Chon or Polyphia, and an impressive triple vocalist attack for thick, elaborate harmonies. This album, clocking in at over an hour, doesn’t pull any punches, showcasing trip-hop, breakdown-laced numbers (“Bete Noire”), full throated anthems about self-loathing and heartbreak (“Misery Scene”) and even lighter, crooning ballads (“What Can I Say”). Synergy and professionalism are where the band shine; everything has is slickly produced and the performances—especially those vocals—are whip-smart. Plenty of editing could have been done, but you can tell how much fun the band is having. Anyone with a passing interest or nostalgia for 2000’s post-hardcore should check this out. Plus their drummer plays with traditional grip, and watching a jazz guy slam out breakdowns is pretty rad in my book.
GardensTale’s Dose of Decay
Strychnos // Armageddon Patronage [May 17th, 2024 – Dark Descent Records]
I don’t always check out albums that set the comment section and/or Discord abuzz, but when I do, it rarely results in anything less than interesting. Case in point, the bottomless evil of Strychnos, a Danish outfit that struggled to get off the ground in the early 00’s, eked out a single EP in the 10’s, and suddenly started shitting out heaving platters of malicious black/death since the pandemic. Armageddon Patronage is the second full-length off their new production line, and it brings every horseman along for its deadly ride. War is embodied by the lethal double feature that starts the charge, with swelling riffs battering the unjust to fertilizer. The unflinching and unfeeling brutality of Famine seethes from “Choking Salvation,” and out the beaks of “Pale Black Birds” pours Pestilence with slavering enthusiasm. Frontman Martin Leth Anderson, who also handles bass for Undergang, employs a bellowing growl that encapsulates hopelessness and suffering, and the excellent, malevolent riffs usher an effective aura of utter destruction. Death, however, comes not at the end, but during the doom-laden centerpiece, the despondent “Endless Void Dimension” with its atmospheric Gregorian chanting. I have no qualms becoming a patron to this spiteful chunk of armageddon.
Dear Hollow’s Shtanky Shwamp of Shrieks
Saidan // Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity [May 24th, 2024 – Self-Released]
Saidan do things a little differently. The Nashville duo’s themes rooted in Japanese folklore and the formidable and mysterious yokai in particular, combined with a relentlessly riffy and punk-driven tour-de-force of black metal proportions are always food for thought in the act’s brief and formidable history. Seamlessly transitioning between punk chord progressions and bouncy drums to blastbeats and kvlt tremolo to groovy riffs and rhythms, anchored by Splatterpvnk’s ripping vocals, it never shies away from punishment. However, interwoven with this assault is a distinctly melodic undercurrent that brightens the progressions and gives purpose and a sense of fun – a hyper-melodic black metal act would be jealous. You won’t be able to shake the grooves of “Desecration of a Lustful Illusion,” the symphonic black intensity of “Genocidal Bloodfiend” and “Veins of the Wicked” hit you like a cyclone, and the classic thrash solos and anime-theme-song vibe of “Sick Abducted Purity,” “Visual Kill,” and “Switchblade Paradise” are guaranteed to get your head banging – plus, the interlude “seraphic lullaby” and instrumental closer “suffer” ain’t half bad. Visual Kill is like if Powerglove wrote a black metal album that you could actually take seriously, backed up with the technicality, songwriting chops, and sheer unbridled energy to make it work.
Parfaxitas // Weaver of the Black Moon [May 31st, 2024 – Terratur Possessions]
The minds behind Parfaxitas should need little introduction, although the moniker will likely not ring any bells. Representing three separate scenes and their respective contributions to black metal lore, two American stringsmen from acts Merihem, Suffering Hour, and Manetherean, Icelandic drummer B.E. from Almyrkvi, Sinmara, Slidhr, and Wormlust, and Norwegian vocalist K.R. From Whoredom Rife collide. Weaver of the Black Moon combines the blueprint of second-wave Norwegian black with the obsidian dissonance of Icelandic, and the experimental edge of American acts, making it a tour-de-force of both vicious sound and tortured atmosphere. Dissonance rains down like acid, a backdrop, and shroud of otherworldly sounds that shimmer and crunch in ways that recall both the winding passages of Suffering Hour and the psychedelic rawness of Wormlust simultaneously. Hammered by vicious blastbeats and guided by tortured barks, the guitar and meandering fluid bass guide listeners from untouchable intensity (“Thou Shalt Worship No Other”) to haunting and hypnotic atmosphere (“Ravens of Dispersion”) – stealing the show. Parfaxitas features a whole lot of firepower, culminating in epic closer “Fields of Nightmares,” a crescendo of punishing and otherworldly proportions.
Aseitas // Eden Trough [May 30th, 2024 – Total Dissonance Worship]
After Aseitas’ formidable 2020 album False Peace, which narrowly missed my AOTY’s, the Portland trio is back with another album – which could easily be classified as an EP in its tidy thirty-minute runtime. Eden Trough condenses the lofty and decadent ambition of its predecessor for an album devoted to complete takedown in winding riffs, punishing death metal, and ravaging vocals. From the thick and punishing signature shifts of “Libertine Captor” and “Alabaster Bones,” complete with shifting riffs and a liminal sense of melody, to the more droning and haunting “Break the Neck of Every Beautiful Thing,” to the epic and cosmic psychedelia of ten-minute centerpiece “Tiamat,” Aseitas’ shows its tantalizing and gradual progression to an echelon of indispensable in the world of dissonant death. Offering influences of convulsive mathcore, mammoth post-metal, and unhinged yet intensely calculated technicality, Eden Trough is a must-listen for the long-time fan, as well as proffering a snapshot to the curious of what makes Aseitas so special to begin with.
Dolphin Whisperer’s Progalicious Ponderings
Azure // Fym [May 23rd, 2024 – Self Release]
Are you way into high fantasy and exuberant, progressive albums that reflect that sentiment? If so, look no further than Azure’s third opus, Fym, which over its runtime recounts the tales of a mystical fox’s journey in a frightening and whimsical world. Normally I wouldn’t think twice about an album with such a storybook concept.1 But between Chris Sampson’s vocal navigations that ring as hyper-tenor and dolphin-like (“The Lavender Fox”)2 as they do sullen and heart-wrenching (“Kingdom of Ice and Light,” “Moonrise”), and Galen Stapley’s mystical fretboard wizardry that marries funk chords, soundtrack melodies, and dance-able shred, Azure packs too much sunshine in their prog for me to ignore. And at almost eighty minutes, they pack a lot of it too. However, each run through Fym’s pages finds a new rumbling bass bounce to propel a hop, a new vocal run to twirl my tongue (with notes that I couldn’t possibly hit), or a synthfully sinful refrain to stain my brain matter with happy juice—”The Azdinist // Den of Dawns” or “Agentic State” unite these ideas best—it’s truly a hard album to put down. Combining just about every era of Genesis with the acrobatics of Dream Theater, the play and ambition of the earliest of Pain of Salvation theatrics, and healthy dose of modern bastardizations (check the autotune/pitchshifting on “Doppelgänger”), Azure has made a mighty statement with Fym that I’m still digesting. And with as many inventive synth patches, harmonic vocal layers, and cinematic builds as this rainbow dose of prog pushes, it’ll be quite some time before I’ve made up my mind about it all. So I’ll continue in pieces. Or all at once. Whatever time allows because Fym is just that much fun.
PreHistoric Animals // Finding Love in Strange Places [May 16th, 2024 – Dutch Music Works]
And here we are with, what’s that, another prog concept album? This one’s a little less terrestrial though, featuring healthy infusions of a futuristic space drama and heavy-hitting synthwave doots and bounces. Over the course of their past couple works, PreHistoric Animals has found an ease in comfortable exploration with their King’s X-like tendency to grip with a barbed verse melody or chorus explosion, layered tastefully with harmonic vocal accompaniment and groove-heavy riffs. But, despite that comparison, it’s clear from the opening synth pulse of “The City of My Dreams” and “Living in a World of Bliss” that an electronic and hooky identity that’s caught between Toto and Yes imbues the edges of refrains that stick like honey to vocalist Stefan Altzar’s easy-on-the-ears narrative. Finding Love in Strange Places can get bogged down a touch in its word-driven nature, though, especially on the various interludes and certain longer tracks like “Unbreakable” and “Nothing Has Changed but Everything Is Different.” None of that fluff ever truly interrupts Finding Love’s heartbeat rhythms, which hold a steady if highly syncopated simplicity and form a hi-hat charming vessel that keeps the head nodding in progressive pomp. Oh, and it helps that guitarists Altzar and Daniel Magdic (ex-Pain of Salvation) have studied the slow-burn solo nature of greats like David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Brian May (Queen), with tasteful legato and searing ascensions aiding in earned crescendo at Finding Love’s best moments (“Living in a World of Bliss,” “The Secret of Goodness”). Having reliably churned out confident and catchy works every other years since 2018, PreHistoric Animals fly relatively low in the flock of modern prog, but these space-bound Swedes have earned a likely lifelong aquatic fan at this stage of their growing career. Give Love a chance!
Matrass // Cathedrals [May 17th, 2024 – La Tangente Label]
And, last but not least from my assortment, Matrass hails from France to bring you Cathedrals, which is… yes, you guessed it, another prog concept album! If you’re worried about another album of the synthtastic and 80s prog-themed variety, though, don’t fret about what Matrass brings to the table. Playing closer to post than progressive waters, Cathedrals flitters about dreamy, lounge jazz guitar passages before crushing down with Cult of Luna riffs and Tesseract-inspired, low-end atmospherics. But most important to the groove and cinematic lilt that defines Cathedrals is the methods by which vocalist Clémentine Browne navigates jangling verses with gentle croons and accented, rhythmic spoken word before frying down with screeching and hissing fervor against heavy chord crushes. That talent for establishing and reinforcing mood lands idiosyncratic in the realm of post acts, so her exact methods may not fit the bill for all fans of the rise-and-fall aesthetic the genre offers. And though Matrass remains largely iterative of this mood through its hour-long run, it’s that successful idea of atmosphere that allows peak tracks “Shreds,” “Adrift” (which features Browne on saxophone instead), and “Cathedrals” to conjure such powerful and drifting thoughts in my head. And when you’re in its valleys? Matrass still maintains a textural backdrop that spells high potential for this young act.
Saunders’ Sulfuric Stash
Desolus // System Shock [March 10th, 2024 – Hells Headbangers]
Who’s up for some explosive, throwback thrashy goodness? Although hailing from the States, Desolus take plenty of inspiration from classic German trash titans Kreator, Destruction and Sodom. Throw in classic Dark Angel vibes, a heavy, modern edge and crunchy production job, and the band’s debut System Shock ticks all the boxes for a thrashing great time. This shit is seriously jacked with unhinged, old-school aggression, spitfire riffs and stampeding percussion propelling the album’s ten speed-driven assaults. An utterly deranged, ’80s underground-inspired vocal performance adds further steel-plated authenticity to a retro-minded sound that manages to sound fresh and inspired. Aside from rare moments of slower melodic nuance on the otherwise blistering “Sea of Fire,” and the aptly titled “Interlude” providing a handy breather, Desolus crank speed and intensity to the max, rarely breaking from their relentless stride. The opening one-two salvo of “System Shock” and bonkers lunacy of “From Man to Machine” set a savage tone and gritty platform from which Desolus launch assault after assault of high-octane thrash mania. “Cures of the Technomancer” is an absolute riff beast with groove and speed for days, while “The Invasion Begins” deftly puts you in a false sense of bouncy melodic security before jamming the afterburners into a typically ferocious attack. Exuberant, nasty stuff.
Terminal Nation // Echoes of the Devil’s Den [May 3rd, 2024 – 20 Buck Spin]
The second album from Pittsburgh bruisers Terminal Nation hits with sledgehammer force, obliterating any semblance of subtlety in favor of an extra beefy, in-your-face hybrid of death metal and hardcore. Echoes of the Devil’s Den features a searing, politically charged and seriously pissed-off bite. High-profile guest vocal slots seamlessly blend into the vicious attack, including strong turns from Integrity‘s Dwid Hellion (“Release the Serpents”), Killswitch Engage‘s Jesse Leach (“Merchants of Bloodshed”) and Nails frontman Todd Jones. Jones features on “Written by the Victor,” a vicious tune that harnesses thick, neck-wrecking grooves and punishing, doom-laden death grooves. The album’s hardcore influence and political slant may turn off certain listeners, but those who don’t mind some hardcore in their death stew should find plenty to like here. The gritty, muscular exterior features nods to Bolt Thrower and All Shall Perish, while the weighty, mid-paced crush, chunky riffs and breakdowns are balanced by tasteful melodic counterpoints and livelier bursts of speed (“Dying Alive”). Not all works; the provocative, anti-police song “No Reform (New Age Slave Patrol)” musically has its moments; however, the heavy-handed lyrical approach sticks out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, Echoes of the Devil’s Den swings and slugs you more often than it misses.
Steel Druhm’s Sewer Tarts
The Troops of Doom // A Mass to the Grotesque [May 31, 2024 – Alma Mater Records]
For their sophomore outing, Brazilian death-thrashers The Troops of Doom took their vintage Sepultura-esque sound and juiced it up considerably from what we heard on 2022s Antichrist Reborn. A Mass to the Grotesque still sounds a bunch like classic Sepultura but it’s much more refined, developed and expanded in scope. Yet it’s still a frenzied, thrashing assault full of lyrics about evil, demons, and all things anti-Christian. It sounds like something that should have dropped in as the 80s thrash wave started mutating into proto-death, and that is a beloved era of music for yours Steely. Songs like “Chapels of the Unholy” and “Dawn of Mephisto” sit right on the bleeding edge of thrash and early death, with Slayer-tastic riffs colliding with early examples of death grooves. What makes this so entertaining is how the band reaches outside of the Sepultura homage bubble to drag in new elements to expand their sound. Some songs feel slightly progressive (“Denied Divinity”) while elsewhere they shoehorn epic doom into the massive “Psalm 7:8 – God of Bizarre.” The straight-up riffbeasts are my favorites though, with “The Imposter King” being a big, fat, sweaty highlight. While these cats are always going to get compared to classic Sepultura, they made real efforts here to stake out their own identity. This is a wild, testosterone-fueled ride featuring the maximum allowable Satan, and I support that.
#20BuckSpin #2024 #AMassToTheGrotesque #Aborted #AllShallPerish #AlmaMaterRecords #Almyrkvi #AmericanMetal #ArmageddonPatronage #Aseitas #Azure #BelgianMetal #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #BoltThrower #Capstan #Cathedrals #CHON #CobraTheImpaler #CultOfLuna #DanishMetal #DarkAngel #DarkDescentRecords #DeathMetal #Desolus #Destruction #DissonantDeathMetal #DreamTheater #DutchMusicWorks #EchoesOfTheDevilSDen #EdenTrough #FearlessRecords #FindingLoveInStrangePlaces #FrenchMetal #Fym #Genesis #GermanMetal #Gojira #Haken #Hardcore #HellsHeadbangers #Integrity #InternationalMetal #KarmaCollision #KillswitchEngage #KingsX #Kreator #LaTangenteLabel #ListenableRecords #Manetherean #Mastodon #Matrass #May24 #MelodicBlackMetal #Merihem #Nails #PainOfSalvation #Parfaxitas #PinkFloyd #Polyphia #PostHardcore #Powerglove #PreHistoricAnimals #ProgressiveMetal #Punk #Queen #Review #Reviews #Saidan #SelfReleased #Sinmara #Slidhr #Sodom #Strychnos #SufferingHour #SwedishMetal #SystemShock #TechnicalDeathMetal #TechnicalMetal #TerminalNation #TerraturPossessions #TesseracT #TheMosaic #TheTroopsOfDoom #TotalDissonanceWorship #UKMetal #Undergang #USMetal #VisualKillTheBlossomingOfPsychoticDepravity #WeaverOfTheBlackMoon #WhoredomeRife #Wormlust #Yes
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The thing that I find very interesting about many occultists, especially chaos magicians, is that they do not realize we have sigils in our brains. A sigil is a symbol. Ontologically, a symbol is an abstract denotation of a set, a representation, and a representation that points to a value which could also be a representation. When I think about my bed, I do not have an actual bed in my brain. The thought about my bed is a representation of my bed. It’s a symbol.
When you form memories, your brain creates things called memory traces, which are physical representations and symbols of objects. These memory traces can be formed from changes in synaptic strength, such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) and distributed across neural circuits. After that, a partial cue or context can trigger the retrieval of a complete memory. In addition to that, memories can be reactivated and consolidated. Stored memories can be retrieved and reactivated, leading to their stabilization and potential modification through consolidation. This creates a physical trace.
As an aside, the parapsychologist who scientifically investigated mediumship, Stephen Braude, wrote a paper a while ago about the Hard Problem of Psychology and how this relates to memory traces. You can find that paper here:
Memory Without a TraceSigils are metaphysically useful because they allow us to identify, manipulate, and map purely conceptual entities that are not physical, and they act as mnemonic identifiers that allow us to locate things in our minds.
There is an aspect of this of particular interest: Since memory traces and sigils connote the same magical ideas and can be used in the same implementations, you can use other people’s memories in the same way that you use a sigil. I’m human and you’re human. So, we are instances of a prototypical ontological classification of humans. We are representative of humanity. As I said before, a symbol is a subset of a category. In a one-dimensional enumeration of characters or objects, these entities are symbolic because they are a set of things that we can count; therefore, they are extensions of that set. We are instances of the set of humanity; therefore, we’re not just people, we are also symbols and entities with a physical presence.
So, not only can you treat memory traces in people’s brains as sigils, you can treat their entire physical presence as a symbol of humanity itself. And since a person has a persistent existence through time, there are multiple versions of them that exist at different times. We don’t move through time; instead, information about us is translated moment to moment, so it is more like every moment we physically exist is a moment where we are copied. But, we still are us, right? We are an abstraction of ourselves – a pattern or a signal. That means you can treat a person as an archetype of themselves.
The interesting thing about many ceremonial magicians is that they tend to elevate humanity and assert that sorcery applies to non-physical things; however, it does not apply to humans because humans have a physical presence. That is not true. Our physical bodies are information, since they are fundamentally comprised of a canonical ensemble of states, from which information emerges. That implies we are intrinsically symbolic entities, and we are instances of a particular pattern that we call humanity. More importantly, we are a manifestation of a self-replicating pattern that we call life. Since any time-dependent thing can be deconstructed into a sum of sines and cosines, that means time-dependent things like life have harmonics. We call a propagation of information, such as something through time, a signal. So, our existence is symbolic on a rising and falling edge. Not only are we symbolic, we might not even be “real,” but I digress. The same rules that apply to any other being a magician is evoking can also be applied to humans.
Ousia is a Greek metaphysical term commonly translated as “essence,” “substance,” or “being.” In metaphysics, ousia refers to the fundamental nature or essence of something. In the context of belonging to a category, ousia can be understood as the underlying essence or substance that defines what something fundamentally is, rather than just its superficial properties. It connotes spirit. Thus, we can view instances of individual humans as extensions of the human soul or human spirit and use people as symbols to manipulate the soul or spirit. The potential energy would be dunamis, and the realized energy would be energia. Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of formative causation and morphic resonance supports the idea of an entelechy and ousia that emerges from a field of forms.
Can sigils be charged? The answer is usually no. Sigils are not the thing itself; instead, sigils are representations and pointers. For example, a conventional usage of a sigil is as signatures for entities, or they serve as mnemonic identifiers within our schema.
Can you create a sigil that can be charged? Yes, if you use a system that is composed of different possible states where when something is added or subtracted, it changes the system. An example of creating a charged sigil is via technomancy. If you were to use Johnson–Nyquist noise and you psychically and magically projected a pattern onto that noise which denotes the “sigil”, then you can say something has been charged. In addition to that, you can combine that with hash functions of encryption to generate something cryptographic.
If we treat memory traces as sigils, can you charge that? Yes, however, it would holistically impact that person. Charging the edges of neural circuits affect synaptic transmissions. In a neural circuit, the edges typically represent the connections between neurons, known as synapses. The ion channels have potential, and that potential determines if a neuron fires or does not fire; therefore, you can charge that memory trace and neural circuits since there’s potential and different states there that can come from charges.
Entropy can refer to any energy that is not doing intended work. So, the energy from a traumatic event (a haunting) or the residue from a magical act (a ritual) that is no longer going towards doing something but it just exists in the ambience is entropic. Human neurophysiology is extremely sensitive to the energies that magic uses, so entropic psychic or magical energy can charge the neurology of a person by being in that place. Humans are highly volatile “sigils”. Conventionally, if you turn a person’s image into a meme, you are effectively treating them as a memetic sigil.
However, a sigil written on the floor in chalk cannot be charged because there are no different states that are sensitive to the magical energy that can change. It can be aligned with a non-physical construct, but it cannot be charged because there’s no sufficient physical entropy. Magic and psychic energy interact strongly with randomness, so with something created via Johnson–Nyquist noise or even something that undergoes Brownian motion and precipitates out of a solution, there’s a potential for it to be in a different state. The charge would be held within the enthalpic properties of the precipitate. A sigil written in chalk is not going to spontaneously change its shape during a ritual. Instead, the sigil acts as an identifier and mapping to the magical or psychic entity, allowing one to interact with it intentionally.
#Animism #animistic #ceremonialMagic #ceremonialMagick #chaosMagic #chaosMagick #egregore #egregores #grimoire #grimoires #magick #occult #occultism #pagan #paganism #paranormal #Parapsychology #psychic #ritual #ritualMagic #ritualMagick #rituals #RupertSheldrake #sigil #sigilMagic #sigilMagick #sigils #sorcery #Spirituality #witch #witchcraft
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The thing that I find very interesting about many occultists, especially chaos magicians, is that they do not realize we have sigils in our brains. A sigil is a symbol. Ontologically, a symbol is an abstract denotation of a set, a representation, and a representation that points to a value which could also be a representation. When I think about my bed, I do not have an actual bed in my brain. The thought about my bed is a representation of my bed. It’s a symbol.
When you form memories, your brain creates things called memory traces, which are physical representations and symbols of objects. These memory traces can be formed from changes in synaptic strength, such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) and distributed across neural circuits. After that, a partial cue or context can trigger the retrieval of a complete memory. In addition to that, memories can be reactivated and consolidated. Stored memories can be retrieved and reactivated, leading to their stabilization and potential modification through consolidation. This creates a physical trace.
As an aside, the parapsychologist who scientifically investigated mediumship, Stephen Braude, wrote a paper a while ago about the Hard Problem of Psychology and how this relates to memory traces. You can find that paper here:
Memory Without a TraceSigils are metaphysically useful because they allow us to identify, manipulate, and map purely conceptual entities that are not physical, and they act as mnemonic identifiers that allow us to locate things in our minds.
There is an aspect of this of particular interest: Since memory traces and sigils connote the same magical ideas and can be used in the same implementations, you can use other people’s memories in the same way that you use a sigil. I’m human and you’re human. So, we are instances of a prototypical ontological classification of humans. We are representative of humanity. As I said before, a symbol is a subset of a category. In a one-dimensional enumeration of characters or objects, these entities are symbolic because they are a set of things that we can count; therefore, they are extensions of that set. We are instances of the set of humanity; therefore, we’re not just people, we are also symbols and entities with a physical presence.
So, not only can you treat memory traces in people’s brains as sigils, you can treat their entire physical presence as a symbol of humanity itself. And since a person has a persistent existence through time, there are multiple versions of them that exist at different times. We don’t move through time; instead, information about us is translated moment to moment, so it is more like every moment we physically exist is a moment where we are copied. But, we still are us, right? We are an abstraction of ourselves – a pattern or a signal. That means you can treat a person as an archetype of themselves.
The interesting thing about many ceremonial magicians is that they tend to elevate humanity and assert that sorcery applies to non-physical things; however, it does not apply to humans because humans have a physical presence. That is not true. Our physical bodies are information, since they are fundamentally comprised of a canonical ensemble of states, from which information emerges. That implies we are intrinsically symbolic entities, and we are instances of a particular pattern that we call humanity. More importantly, we are a manifestation of a self-replicating pattern that we call life. Since any time-dependent thing can be deconstructed into a sum of sines and cosines, that means time-dependent things like life have harmonics. We call a propagation of information, such as something through time, a signal. So, our existence is symbolic on a rising and falling edge. Not only are we symbolic, we might not even be “real,” but I digress. The same rules that apply to any other being a magician is evoking can also be applied to humans.
Ousia is a Greek metaphysical term commonly translated as “essence,” “substance,” or “being.” In metaphysics, ousia refers to the fundamental nature or essence of something. In the context of belonging to a category, ousia can be understood as the underlying essence or substance that defines what something fundamentally is, rather than just its superficial properties. It connotes spirit. Thus, we can view instances of individual humans as extensions of the human soul or human spirit and use people as symbols to manipulate the soul or spirit. The potential energy would be dunamis, and the realized energy would be energia. Rupert Sheldrake’s theory of formative causation and morphic resonance supports the idea of an entelechy and ousia that emerges from a field of forms.
Can sigils be charged? The answer is usually no. Sigils are not the thing itself; instead, sigils are representations and pointers. For example, a conventional usage of a sigil is as signatures for entities, or they serve as mnemonic identifiers within our schema.
Can you create a sigil that can be charged? Yes, if you use a system that is composed of different possible states where when something is added or subtracted, it changes the system. An example of creating a charged sigil is via technomancy. If you were to use Johnson–Nyquist noise and you psychically and magically projected a pattern onto that noise which denotes the “sigil”, then you can say something has been charged. In addition to that, you can combine that with hash functions of encryption to generate something cryptographic.
If we treat memory traces as sigils, can you charge that? Yes, however, it would holistically impact that person. Charging the edges of neural circuits affect synaptic transmissions. In a neural circuit, the edges typically represent the connections between neurons, known as synapses. The ion channels have potential, and that potential determines if a neuron fires or does not fire; therefore, you can charge that memory trace and neural circuits since there’s potential and different states there that can come from charges.
Entropy can refer to any energy that is not doing intended work. So, the energy from a traumatic event (a haunting) or the residue from a magical act (a ritual) that is no longer going towards doing something but it just exists in the ambience is entropic. Human neurophysiology is extremely sensitive to the energies that magic uses, so entropic psychic or magical energy can charge the neurology of a person by being in that place. Humans are highly volatile “sigils”. Conventionally, if you turn a person’s image into a meme, you are effectively treating them as a memetic sigil.
However, a sigil written on the floor in chalk cannot be charged because there are no different states that are sensitive to the magical energy that can change. It can be aligned with a non-physical construct, but it cannot be charged because there’s no sufficient physical entropy. Magic and psychic energy interact strongly with randomness, so with something created via Johnson–Nyquist noise or even something that undergoes Brownian motion and precipitates out of a solution, there’s a potential for it to be in a different state. The charge would be held within the enthalpic properties of the precipitate. A sigil written in chalk is not going to spontaneously change its shape during a ritual. Instead, the sigil acts as an identifier and mapping to the magical or psychic entity, allowing one to interact with it intentionally.
#Animism #animistic #ceremonialMagic #ceremonialMagick #chaosMagic #chaosMagick #egregore #egregores #grimoire #grimoires #magick #occult #occultism #pagan #paganism #paranormal #Parapsychology #psychic #ritual #ritualMagic #ritualMagick #rituals #RupertSheldrake #sigil #sigilMagic #sigilMagick #sigils #sorcery #Spirituality #witch #witchcraft
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La única forma de conocer la muerte es amar la vida
A. M. BonannoLa joie n’a pas besoin de justification
E. M. CioranEl 6 de diciembre de 2023 moría en su casa de Trieste Alfredo Maria Bonanno. Nacido en Catania, Sicilia, en 1937, a sido un compañero anarquista, filósofo y atracador de bancos, teórico y agitador, editor, traductor y escritor incansable. Además de sus obras clásicas sobre el anarquismo, Alfredo produjo importantes estudios sobre Hegel, Nietzsche, Stirner, pero también de Baudelaire, Paul-Henry Thiry d’Holbach y Maquiavelo.
Con todas nuestras limitaciones, en este artículo trataremos de hacer en passant, un intento parcial de explicar su figura, su historia.
A finales de los años ’60, Italia, igual que el resto del mundo, recibe una sacudida libertaria que convulsiona todos los ámbitos de la sociedad. Mientras, el “mayor partido comunista de Occidente” empezaba a transformarse en “partido del Estado dentro de la clase obrera” intentando recuperar las formas de autoorganización autónoma de las luchas obreras mediante el sindicato. Comienza la estrategia de los “históricos acuerdos” con la “Democracia Cristiana”, partido mafioso y corrupto que llevaba treinta años en el poder; de ahí la “política de sacrificios y austeridad”, es decir, sistemática concertación subordinada a la patronal. Aquellos que no se ajustaran al paradigma institucional serían posteriormente marginados, criminalizados y reprimidos. Por dar sólo algunas cifras: unas cuatro mil personas fueron investigadas y condenadas por “banda armada”, “asociación subversiva” o “hechos relacionados con intentos de subvertir el orden constitucional”; más de veinte mil se enfrentaron a cargos. Según las estimaciones del Ministerio del Interior, los integrantes del “área social subversiva” superaban los cien mil.
Alfredo comienza su militancia en la década de 1960, en las filas del movimiento anarquista siciliano, y tras haber trabajado diez años en un banco y después como ejecutivo en la industria química, se implica en las luchas de la época. En ese momento histórico, en un contexto social marcado por fuertes reivindicaciones salariales, luchas obreras y por derechos sociales, se desarrolló una excepcional efervescencia obrera, una insubordinación generalizada que dio lugar a una revuelta que, por su dimensión, profundidad social, extensión temporal y geográfica, sería la oleada revolucionaria más significativa en Europa occidental desde 1945 hasta hoy.
La respuesta del poder no se hizo esperar. Primero con intentos de golpe fascista apoyados por algunos aparatos de los servicios secretos y organizaciones paramilitares como Gladio, luego mediante el uso sistemático del terrorismo de Estado con el asesinato de Pinelli defenestrado en una comisaría de policía, las bombas de plaza Fontana, las de Brescia, o las de la estación de Bolonia.
Al funeral de Pinelli asistieron algunos cientos de personas, incluidas personalidades de una cierta autoridad intelectual como Vittorio Sereni, Franco Fortini, Marco Forti, Giovanni Ramponi, Giorgio Cesarano, Luigi Manconi, además de asistentes de la Universidad Católica de Milán, y muchos anarquistas, incluido el propio Bonanno, quien publicó un folleto en 1988 titulado Io so chi ha ucciso al commissario Calabresi (Yo se quien ha matado al comisario Calabresi [breve frg.]), en referencia al asesinato en 1972 del comisario de policía que gran parte del movimiento anarquista y revolucionario consideraba autor de la muerte de Pinelli. En este escrito se afirma que en el funeral de Pinelli surgió una idea de justicia que no existía antes, un deseo compartido de venganza. Además, la ausencia de reivindicación, de siglas que asumieran este acto, hizo que aquella acción anónima y vengadora fuese inteligible y muy clara para todos
Por un lado, en esta época Italia vive un supuesto “boom económico”, para algunos sectores de clase media y de la burguesía, por otro lado “crisis” económica y fuertes choques sociales. Es en esta coyuntura histórica cuando Alfredo pone en marcha “Edizioni Anarchismo”, participa en el debate escribiendo en periódicos como “Sinistra Libertaria” y creando la revista “Anarchismo” (1975-1994).
Durante toda la década de los setenta del siglo pasado, el debate en el seno de las organizaciones de la izquierda extraparlamentaria se centró no tanto en el uso o no de la violencia revolucionaria, sino más bien en cuándo y cómo utilizarla. De las huelgas salvajes a las asambleas en las fábricas o en los barrios, de las manifestaciones en masa a los autodescuentos de las facturas, de las expropiaciones proletarias a los sabotajes, se desplegaba un panorama variopinto formado por estudiantes y trabajadores, desempleados y “marginados” y entre estos, un movimiento formado por comunistas heréticos e indios metropolitanos, Comontistas y consiliaristas, situacionistas y autónomos. Además de las Brigadas Rojas, que llevaban a cabo la presa de poder y el “ataque al corazón del Estado”, existía un archipiélago de siglas (se usaron más de seiscientas) que practicaban formas de guerrilla urbana. Si bien el papel de los anarquistas en este periodo histórico, salvo pocas excepción, resultaba mas bien marginal, con un anticuado movimiento de anarquismo de síntesis, cada vez más fue tomando fuerza el anarquismo de acción directa, es decir, de grupos de afinidad y núcleos autónomos; experiencias similares aparecieron también en España, Inglaterra y Francia. Fuera de y contra las burocracias de cualquier color los jóvenes rebeldes trataron de combinar la crítica de la vida cotidiana con la subversión de los roles sociales impuestos.
En este escenario de autonomía proletaria y “bombas, sangre y capital”, por usar la expresión de un texto de la época, el anarquismo de Bonanno entrará en polémica tanto con las organizaciones neoleninistas, estalinistas y autoritarias, como con la ya rancia Federación anarquista tradicional. Igualmente, de la misma pluma se delineará una crítica de la especialización, del vanguardismo y del militarismo. Entre las disputas más significativas de este periodo se produjo entre el periódico “Insurrezione”, la revista “Anarchismo” y el grupo armado “Azione Rivoluzionaria”. Esta última fue una experiencia de lucha armada libertaria a la que se le reprocharon una serie de contradicciones, entre las cuales «[…] aquella sobre la función de la organización armada que persiste en verse como función “orientadora”, “principal”, en relación con el trabajo de masas, la realidad de la producción y la explotación; cuando en su lugar habría sido más acertado hablar de la indispensabilidad de la organización armada específica [en el sentido de perteneciente a un ámbito concreto, se entiende el anarquista, libertario – ndt] y de la simultánea importancia de la extensión del trabajo de masas sin que una esté subordinada a la otra o viceversa» (Contributi alla critica armata libertaria, Edizioni Anarchismo). [en preparación por Prometeo Ediciones]
En 1977 la radicalización y generalización del conflicto de clases se agudizaron aún más, y Alfredo publica La gioia armata (El placer armado) [gioia en italiano recoge tanto el sentido de placer como de gozo, alegría, juego, plenitud, desbordamiento de la vida – ndt], libelo escrito precisamente porque «[…] Parecía esencial impedir que las muchas acciones llevadas a cabo cada día por los compañeros contra los hombres y las estructuras de poder, fueran arrastradas hacia la lógica planeada de un partido armado, como las Brigadas Rojas en Italia.
Este es el espíritu del libro. Mostrar cómo una práctica de liberación y destrucción puede irrumpir desde una gioiosa lógica de lucha en vez de una mortal rigidez esquemática dentro de los cánones preestablecidos de un grupo dirigente». Sobre este libro, recordamos que «[…] El tribunal supremo italiano ordenó que se quemara. […] Fui sentenciado a 18 meses de prisión por escribir este libro.»
Pero es en 1978 cuando se produjo un verdadero escándalo en el mundo intelectual; Edizioni Anarchismo publicó Il mio testamento político, con la firma de Jean-Paul Sartre cuando en realidad se trata de un texto de 40 páginas de Joseph Déjaque, anarquista muerto en París en 1864. Un detournement [desvío – ndt] que a Bonanno le costará una demanda del filósofo francés. [en preparación por Prometeo Ediciones]
A comienzos de los años ’80, gracias a la telemática, empieza una importante fase de reestructuración del Estado y del capital, en pleno periodo “de emergencia”, la contrarevolución despliega todas sus fuerzas en un momento de fuerte reflujo del movimiento revolucionario y antagonista. La creación de cárceles especiales y las leyes sobre la disociación y el arrepentimiento abren un debate sobre la cuestión de la prisión política en Italia. Alfredo publica en 1984 E noi saremo sempre pronti a impadronirci un’altra volta del cielo (Y nosotros siempre estaremos listos a volver a tomar el cielo. [Contra la amnistía]), un texto contra la amnistía y contra la “rendición” preconizadas por algunos militantes comunistas. Ahora que se vislumbra el fin de la centralidad de los trabajadores y del Partido, la hipótesis armada podría revivir una vez más mediante la práctica del sabotaje generalizado y el ataque anónimo repartido por todo el territorio. Desde Londres, Alfredo escribe La rivoluzione illogica, donde se enfatiza la polarización de la realidad, la importancia de participar en las luchas intermedias, la organización informal y el proyecto insurreccional. Aún en Inglaterra, estuvo presente en la revuelta de Brixton de 1984.
Cuando uno observa los levantamientos irracionales que caracterizan a las sociedades capitalistas tardías, se vuelve obvia la insuficiencia de cierta visión decimonónica de la insurrección anarquista, que imagina banderas rojas y negras ondeando sobre las barricadas.
Mientras tanto, se comienza a experimentar con la formación de “núcleos de base autónomos” dentro de luchas específicas, en un esfuerzo por “unir” el movimiento específico (los compañeros) y el movimiento real (la realidad de los excluidos en lucha). Fue desde esta perspectiva que los compañeros participaron en las luchas de los trabajadores ferroviarios de Turín, crearon la Coordinación de Ligas Autoorganizadas contra la base de misiles de Comiso en 1987 y participaron en luchas antinucleares y manifestaciones antimilitaristas, todas con objetivos específicos de ataque.
En 1987 se crea a la revista “Provocazione” (1987-1991). Bonanno fue detenido con otro compañero por un robo en una joyería de Bérgamo en 1989. A propósito de acciones generalizadas y descentralizadas, cabe señalar que en Italia se derribaron unas 1.200 torres de alta tensión entre finales de 1977 y 1989. [en 2013 publicaba Passeggiate nel buio. Contro il nucleare, donde se recogen algunos sabotajes contra estas torres, además un método de serrado que parece se está volviendo a poner en práctica – ndt]
En estos mismos años, el anarquista siciliano describe la condición de Los jóvenes en una sociedad post-industrial y la división entre los excluidos y los incluidos:
«Hace un tiempo propuse la distinción basada en estos dos conceptos. Por un lado los “incluidos”, encerrados en su castillo “teutónico”, poseedores de la nueva tecnología, y, en cuanto tales, dominadores; al otro lado, los “excluidos”, destinados a un uso pasivo de la tecnología, desposeídos de algo que nunca será su arma de “trabajo” y, precisamente por esto, dominados.
He explicado, me parece que de forma exhaustiva, que esta distinción se adapta suficientemente (aun siendo un modelo de razonamiento) a la realidad post-industrial. La tecnología de hoy es la “riqueza”, mucho más allá del simple “capital financiero”, que irá disminuyendo cada vez más. Esta tecnología no podrá ser para todos. La mayoría (los excluidos) estarán habilitados sólo para un uso pasivo y no comprenderán nada más allá del simple apretar unos botones. Los menos (los incluidos) desarrollarán las investigaciones y gestionarán el poder a través de una posesión que les es exclusiva» (I giovani in una società post-industriale, “Anarchismo”, 1988).
Llegan los años ’90 y la descentralización de las estructuras de producción, la flexibilidad y la precariedad avanzan. El anarquismo es considerado cada vez más como una tensión ética individual que afrontar una realidad cambiante y un Dominio extendido por el territorio, descentralizado. Alfredo intenta explicar este cambio de la “nueva” democracia”, el paso de la primera a la segunda República, con La tensione anarchica (La tensión anarquista), un libelo sacado de una conferencia realizada en un instituto de Cuneo en 1995. También se organizaron conferencias similares en universidades griegas, que dan vida a Dominio e rivolta. Además fueron los años del semanario “CaneNero”, un periódico redactado en Florencia por Alfredo y otras individualidades, pero también los del llamado “Proceso Marini” de 1995, con nombre del magistrado que investigaba por una “banda armada” denominada ORAI (Organizzazione Rivoluzionaria Anarchica Insurrezionale), inventada por los investigadores y que tendría como jefe a Bonanno. Sesenta y ocho anarquistas fueron acusados de atracos, secuestros, asesinatos, posesión de armas y varios ataques a estructuras del poder. Alfredo se defenderá a si mismo en el juicio de Roma, los anarquistas hablarán de “montaje” y llevarán a cabo una campaña por la liberación de los investigados, y en “Canenero” se escribirá: «La insurrección tiene deseos y razones que ninguna lógica militar podrá comprender jamás» (“CaneNero” settimanale anarchico – 20 dic. 1996 – n.º 43). En cualquier caso, después de algunas duras condenas y muchas absoluciones, el teorema (existencia de una “banda armada”, con líderes, escondites, etc.) nunca desaparece.
En la Convención de Velletri, en diciembre de 2000, toma forma, aunque luego el proyecto nunca llegó a despegar realmente, la idea de «Pensar en una serie de relaciones estables en la cuenca mediterránea» lo que llevó al intento de crear la «una organización informal que reuniera a compañeros y grupos antiautoritarios»: la IAI (Internazionale Antiautoritaria Insurrezionalista).
Los veinte años transcurridos de este nuevo siglo verán a un Alfredo todavía activo y propagandista., dedicado a publicar sus textos y siempre moviéndose por Italia y el extranjero. Se imprimen Il tratatto delle inutilità, libro al que dedicó muchos años de su vida, las revistas “Senza Titolo” (2009) y “Negazine” (2017).
Alfredo es detenido en Trikala en 2009 por un atraco a un banco junto a un compañero griego, tras lo que recibe una gran solidaridad internacional.
Partiendo de una “teoría del individuo” Bonanno intentado superar, gracias al concepto nietzscheano de “trascendencia”, el “falso problema del individualismo y el comunismo”. Según él mismo admitió, nunca fue un nihilista sino más bien un comunista anarquista en plena continuación con la tradición de Bakunin, Kropotkin y Malatesta. En contra de todo intelectualismo especializado y académico, a pesar de un estilo de escritura no siempre sencillo y frente a un pensamiento teórico profundo, denso y articulado, muchas de sus lúcidas críticas y consideraciones han supuesto una enorme contribución al movimiento anarquista a nivel internacional.
Por lo demás, hay que decir que sus análisis desarrollados a lo largo de los años sobre “los nuevos giros del capitalismo”, las «transformaciones del mundo del trabajo y de la escuela», la «pérdida del lenguaje», la «miseria de la cultura», y «la represión y el control social», los vemos desgraciadamente materializarse en los acontecimientos sociales de hoy.
Consideramos que debe hacerse un paréntesis sobre su carácter internacionalista. Con respecto al actual contexto internacional de guerra imperialista que vivimos hoy en día (enfrentamiento EEUU-UE-OTAN y Rusia), o más en general en esta fase de nacionalismos (ahora rebautizados en clave soberanista), fundamentalismos religiosos y racismo de Estado, vale la pena citar la posición precisa adoptada en 1989 sobre la llamada “cuestión palestina”:
«[…] Por tanto, es preciso oponerse tanto al Estado israelí como al Estado palestino, por mucho que la lucha contra el primero, que existe y está en funcionamiento, se plantee en términos prácticos, mientras que contra el segundo, que sólo está ‘in nuce’ [1989], se plantee en términos políticos.
Es preciso apoyar la creación de una federación de comunidades de trabajadores, palestinos e israelíes, libres de federarse como quieran, de dotarse de sus propios programas, de tomar sus propias decisiones organizativas y productivas, al margen de las injerencias interesadas de los grandes Estados y, en particular, de Estados Unidos.
Es necesaria una cooperación práctica e ideal, productiva y cultural, entre los pueblos palestino e israelí, para poner fin a un conflicto nacional y racial que no tiene razón de ser, ya que en esas tierras hay espacio para los dos pueblos, conservando y superando las diferencias de raza, cultura, religión y tradiciones.
Es preciso estar al lado del pueblo palestino, pero también al lado del pueblo israelí, especialmente de los sectores más desposeídos y miserables de los dos pueblos a los que una política internacional de grandes intereses y explotación conduce a la matanza mutua».
A Alfredo le importaba profundamente la causa de liberación Palestina, habiendo participado en la lucha directamente en el territorio y habiendo sufrido una tortura por parte del Mossad.
Ha tenido gran coraje (en el sentido etimológico de la palabra cor, agis= actuar con el corazón) en este sentido, Alfredo, arriesgando toda su vida, consumiéndola con ardor –lento pero seguro, igual que arde la vela de la que nos habla Max Stirner– contra el abuso de poder y la dignidad ofendida, contra el embrollo ideológico y toda organización científica de este orden mortífero. La vida ilógica de Alfredo está toda aquí; en haber creado una ruptura dentro de la lógica racional y del mundo burgués, en haber trastocado el orden del discurso: «Toda la máquina de la tradición cultural de Occidente es una máquina de muerte, una negación de la realidad, el reino de lo ficticio que ha acumulado todo tipo de infamias y vejaciones, de explotación y genocidio. Si el rechazo de toda esta lógica de producción es condenada como locura entonces debemos distinguir entre locura y locura.»
Ante nosotros la fría y monstruosa realidad pero también la convicción testaruda y revolucionaria, en absoluto determinista, de que «[…] cada instante de nuestra vida, incluso el más pequeño soplo de esperanza, el simple rubor repentino por una sensación agradable de la que ya no nos creíamos capaces, estamos seguros de que todo esto no puede perderse y de que el mundo del futuro se construirá precisamente sobre estos materiales, no acumulables, no cuantificables, que producen aperturas ni siquiera concebibles» (Senza una ragione).
Hoy día, las cuestiones éticas y metodológicas planteadas en el pasado siguen abiertas: frente a la guerra y a la “Cuarta revolución industrial”, frente a la barbarie y a la violenta “Transición” en acto, entre drones e inteligencia artificial, explotación algorítmica y dominio digital, ¿cómo podemos detener la construcción de este tecno-hombre desrealizado y atomizado del siglo XXI?
«Un clima de aplanamiento y uniformidad, de penosa aceptación y agonía confundida con respiración y latidos. Rechazamos la pertenencia vital a esta muerte sustancial y por eso queremos ir más allá, por eso queremos afirmar la gioia como visión de la vida y no como un mísero atrincheramiento defensivo», escribe la revista “Negazine” en 2017.
Para concluir, lejos de querer reproducir servilmente un modelo, para evitar cualquier tipo de mistificación, Alfredo ha vivido una vida contradictoria, ilógica, como es la vida reservada a todos los que percibimos la ilógica realidad en la que seguimos inmersos.
Una vida atenazada por las pulsiones de muerte y por la voluntad de poder, afligida por las heridas de los golpes recibidos, pero rociada por los impulsos de amor desinteresado.
Por un lado, Alfredo fue simplemente un camarada entre tantos otros a lo largo de la larga historia de la lucha contra la opresión; por otro, llevó su discurso y su práctica al extremo. Un ejemplo de coherencia, una espina clavada en la moral, un “loco Don Quijote” para tantos moderados y pusilánimes, que ha pagado con años de cárcel y represión. Eclipsando la cuestión: «No soy un hombre, soy dinamita», habría dicho Nietzsche.
En definitiva, debemos seguir deseando, jugando, odiando a nuestros enemigos jurados y amando la vida.
Después de todo, es la pasión revolucionaria en pleno desarrollo, orientada hacia la autoorganización de los procesos sociales, la que forma la base necesaria de una revolución verdaderamente ilógica.
Porque, después de todo, sólo la autoorganización de los procesos sociales y la pasión revolucionaria en su pleno apogeo siguen siendo la base necesaria para una verdadera… revolución ilógica.
Simone LeMarteu y Nada Lestricon
TecnoMondo, diciembre 2023
*Nota. Siendo sinceros no queríamos correr el riesgo de hacer ni una fría biografía ni un pésimo compendio del pensamiento de Alfredo. Pero en cualquier caso hemos asumido la responsabilidad de poder caer en este peligro, quizás sin conseguir evitarlo del todo.
Hemos citado solo los textos más significativos para nosotros respecto a la gran cantidad de libros, apuntes, notas, conferencias. Como recuerda el propio Alfredo «además de mis dos tesis como era costumbre a la época, entre 1969 y 1997 he escrito cerca de 150 tesis para otros». Es verdad que Alfredo, rechazando cátedras y conocimiento académico, nos hablaba de la importancia de la cultura en varias ocasiones, y también nos advertía que «de las bibliotecas salen los matarifes»
Traducido de: ilrovescio.info
https://lucharcontrael41bis.noblogs.org/2024/01/09/una-vida-ilogica/
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Top ten (new) posts in August 2024
https://library.hrmtc.com/2024/09/01/top-ten-new-posts-in-august-2024/
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Cuando en el iPhone se tapona la rejilla del auricular o de los altavoces, NUNCA las perfores si usas una aguja, porque justo detrás están los micrófonos y sus membranas
son muy delicadas. Hay otras formas de hacer la limpieza sin dañar el terminal.
#iphone #auricular #microfono #sucio #suciedad -
Cuando en el iPhone se tapona la rejilla del auricular o de los altavoces, NUNCA las perfores si usas una aguja, porque justo detrás están los micrófonos y sus membranas
son muy delicadas. Hay otras formas de hacer la limpieza sin dañar el terminal.
#iphone #auricular #microfono #sucio #suciedad -
Cuando en el iPhone se tapona la rejilla del auricular o de los altavoces, NUNCA las perfores si usas una aguja, porque justo detrás están los micrófonos y sus membranas
son muy delicadas. Hay otras formas de hacer la limpieza sin dañar el terminal.
#iphone #auricular #microfono #sucio #suciedad -
Hoy le voy a dedicar la tarde a #Obsidian, me llama la atención que he usado ficheros #markdown durante estos últimos años para #catalogar averías y tips para las #reparaciones, peleando por como los clasificaba y resulta que Obsidian estaba ahí y no supe encontrarlo a tiempo. Al menos me va a costar poco adaptar lo que tengo y me ayudará a añadir nuevos datos fácilmente.
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Hoy le voy a dedicar la tarde a #Obsidian, me llama la atención que he usado ficheros #markdown durante estos últimos años para #catalogar averías y tips para las #reparaciones, peleando por como los clasificaba y resulta que Obsidian estaba ahí y no supe encontrarlo a tiempo. Al menos me va a costar poco adaptar lo que tengo y me ayudará a añadir nuevos datos fácilmente.
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Está es la #bateria de un #ipad. En la primera imagen se aprecia la #degradacion de las celdas por su rugosidad, lo que hace que su #capacidad mengüe hasta el punto de apenas almacenar energía. En la segunda imagen una batería nueva compatible. #derechoareparar
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Está es la #bateria de un #ipad. En la primera imagen se aprecia la #degradacion de las celdas por su rugosidad, lo que hace que su #capacidad mengüe hasta el punto de apenas almacenar energía. En la segunda imagen una batería nueva compatible. #derechoareparar