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La Torture des Ténèbres – Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor Review
By Dear Hollow
La Torture des Ténèbres, in spite of the sadistic propensity for aural flaying, offers a unique voice in black metal. A one-woman show with an aesthetic evoking dystopian urban shimmer, decopunk, classic science fiction, and the space age, it conjures images of glittering mile-high cities built on the backs of the impoverished, brave women overcoming the adversity of the stars, the sneaking static cutting through a dictator’s commands through the radio, the jazzy bombasts of the elite’s decadent galas – and the loneliness of it all. There is no overselling just how noisy and jarring this act’s sound is on the ears, but lone mastermind JK has concocted a trademark stew that makes it stand out in nearly every way. Episode VII arrives a mere five months after its predecessor, expressing a fusion of its aesthetics.
Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor deals in a sound that retains La Torture des Ténèbres’ signature style, the vicious rawness and lonely melodic tremolo leads while fusing its two aesthetic influences. 2016 began with the formidably raw and ambient spacefaring canon of Choirs of Emptiness and Acadian Nights,1 but was reinterpreted by the more dystopian Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods, which set the tone for the following releases up to last year’s V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista. In this way, Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor blends these two themes, dystopian civilizations set amongst the stars, its vast colonies and glorious cities plagued by inequality, sexism, and the hive mind’s whims.
La Torture des Ténèbres lives up to Revenge of Unfailing Valor’s description (“VOLITIONAL EXPLOITATION // SMOULDERING HIVES”) by channeling its trademark melodic template and ambient sensibilities into a fuller sound that amps violence while hinting at a tragic heart beneath machinelike mania. Its trademark is intact: the rawness and utter saturation of rawness is ubiquitous, as even its more placid moments of lonely melodies are scathing. However, one distinction is melodic motifs that tie the album into one cohesive whole: an ascending jazzy synth run (“Vast Black Claws Drag Her Back to Space,” “Metropolitan Warfare,” “Out of All the Years We’ve Come…”) and sanguine synth melodies (“The Second Piscean Abyss,” “Angels”). As always, this is communicated through the ebb and flow of three prongs of scathing second-wave blasting/tremolo/shrieking, lonely tremolo, and distorted vintage samples. This arsenal and dynamic are as intriguing as they are jarring, samples and melodies inviting comparisons to classic science fiction (“Vast Black Claws…,” “The Second Piscean Abyss”) and the roarin’ twenties worship of decopunk (“Breathe in the Fucking Sawdust and Die,” “Yes But Can a Camp Girl Do This”). The first act in particular utilizes a bombast of violent second-wave rawness in contrast with an over-the-top sample presence. A grandiosity pervades in a way that recalls predecessor V, but La Torture des Ténèbres‘ fuller sound adds to the assault – tinnitus is guaranteed.
The second half of Episode VII finds La Torture des Ténèbres taking risks – the samples are fewer, the melodies are far more tragic and empty, and there is rest to be found. The brutal mid-album climax in “The Second Piscean Abyss” allows for reinterpretation for “Metropolitan Warfare” and beyond, trademark and motifs carrying across in emptier and more tragic melodies and moments (i.e. the release of all sound but tinny tremolo and blastbeats in “Traditions” and total collapses into noise in “Out of All the Years…”). This reinforces the need for bulletproof songwriting rather than reliance on samples and jarring movements to do the heavy lifting, and JK is up to the task. “Angels” is placed perfectly, its minimalist, distorted, and aptly angelic sample providing rest for the weary ears – for the first time in La Torture des Ténèbres’ career.
La Torture des Ténèbres will not sway any naysayers of raw black or blackened noise. In fact, many will point to their ringing ears or pinched nerves2 and say “See??” after Episode VII concludes with the noise fadeout of “Out of All the Years…”. Those who are willing to endure will find treasures aplenty, an opus of hyper-atmospheric, excessively noisy, and endlessly tragic melodies and motifs. Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor sweeps you away to a universe yet to be explored; but even in the dead vacuum of space or within mankind’s hive-mind colonies, you can’t escape your humanity.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Released
Website: latorturedestenebres.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 7th, 2025#2025 #40 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #AtmosphericBlackMetal #CanadianMetal #Chaosophia #EpisodeVIIRevengeOfUnfailingValor #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Mar25 #Noise #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased
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La Torture des Ténèbres – Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor Review
By Dear Hollow
La Torture des Ténèbres, in spite of the sadistic propensity for aural flaying, offers a unique voice in black metal. A one-woman show with an aesthetic evoking dystopian urban shimmer, decopunk, classic science fiction, and the space age, it conjures images of glittering mile-high cities built on the backs of the impoverished, brave women overcoming the adversity of the stars, the sneaking static cutting through a dictator’s commands through the radio, the jazzy bombasts of the elite’s decadent galas – and the loneliness of it all. There is no overselling just how noisy and jarring this act’s sound is on the ears, but lone mastermind JK has concocted a trademark stew that makes it stand out in nearly every way. Episode VII arrives a mere five months after its predecessor, expressing a fusion of its aesthetics.
Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor deals in a sound that retains La Torture des Ténèbres’ signature style, the vicious rawness and lonely melodic tremolo leads while fusing its two aesthetic influences. 2016 began with the formidably raw and ambient spacefaring canon of Choirs of Emptiness and Acadian Nights,1 but was reinterpreted by the more dystopian Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods, which set the tone for the following releases up to last year’s V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista. In this way, Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor blends these two themes, dystopian civilizations set amongst the stars, its vast colonies and glorious cities plagued by inequality, sexism, and the hive mind’s whims.
La Torture des Ténèbres lives up to Revenge of Unfailing Valor’s description (“VOLITIONAL EXPLOITATION // SMOULDERING HIVES”) by channeling its trademark melodic template and ambient sensibilities into a fuller sound that amps violence while hinting at a tragic heart beneath machinelike mania. Its trademark is intact: the rawness and utter saturation of rawness is ubiquitous, as even its more placid moments of lonely melodies are scathing. However, one distinction is melodic motifs that tie the album into one cohesive whole: an ascending jazzy synth run (“Vast Black Claws Drag Her Back to Space,” “Metropolitan Warfare,” “Out of All the Years We’ve Come…”) and sanguine synth melodies (“The Second Piscean Abyss,” “Angels”). As always, this is communicated through the ebb and flow of three prongs of scathing second-wave blasting/tremolo/shrieking, lonely tremolo, and distorted vintage samples. This arsenal and dynamic are as intriguing as they are jarring, samples and melodies inviting comparisons to classic science fiction (“Vast Black Claws…,” “The Second Piscean Abyss”) and the roarin’ twenties worship of decopunk (“Breathe in the Fucking Sawdust and Die,” “Yes But Can a Camp Girl Do This”). The first act in particular utilizes a bombast of violent second-wave rawness in contrast with an over-the-top sample presence. A grandiosity pervades in a way that recalls predecessor V, but La Torture des Ténèbres‘ fuller sound adds to the assault – tinnitus is guaranteed.
The second half of Episode VII finds La Torture des Ténèbres taking risks – the samples are fewer, the melodies are far more tragic and empty, and there is rest to be found. The brutal mid-album climax in “The Second Piscean Abyss” allows for reinterpretation for “Metropolitan Warfare” and beyond, trademark and motifs carrying across in emptier and more tragic melodies and moments (i.e. the release of all sound but tinny tremolo and blastbeats in “Traditions” and total collapses into noise in “Out of All the Years…”). This reinforces the need for bulletproof songwriting rather than reliance on samples and jarring movements to do the heavy lifting, and JK is up to the task. “Angels” is placed perfectly, its minimalist, distorted, and aptly angelic sample providing rest for the weary ears – for the first time in La Torture des Ténèbres’ career.
La Torture des Ténèbres will not sway any naysayers of raw black or blackened noise. In fact, many will point to their ringing ears or pinched nerves2 and say “See??” after Episode VII concludes with the noise fadeout of “Out of All the Years…”. Those who are willing to endure will find treasures aplenty, an opus of hyper-atmospheric, excessively noisy, and endlessly tragic melodies and motifs. Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor sweeps you away to a universe yet to be explored; but even in the dead vacuum of space or within mankind’s hive-mind colonies, you can’t escape your humanity.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Released
Website: latorturedestenebres.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 7th, 2025#2025 #40 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #AtmosphericBlackMetal #CanadianMetal #Chaosophia #EpisodeVIIRevengeOfUnfailingValor #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Mar25 #Noise #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased
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La Torture des Ténèbres – Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor Review
By Dear Hollow
La Torture des Ténèbres, in spite of the sadistic propensity for aural flaying, offers a unique voice in black metal. A one-woman show with an aesthetic evoking dystopian urban shimmer, decopunk, classic science fiction, and the space age, it conjures images of glittering mile-high cities built on the backs of the impoverished, brave women overcoming the adversity of the stars, the sneaking static cutting through a dictator’s commands through the radio, the jazzy bombasts of the elite’s decadent galas – and the loneliness of it all. There is no overselling just how noisy and jarring this act’s sound is on the ears, but lone mastermind JK has concocted a trademark stew that makes it stand out in nearly every way. Episode VII arrives a mere five months after its predecessor, expressing a fusion of its aesthetics.
Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor deals in a sound that retains La Torture des Ténèbres’ signature style, the vicious rawness and lonely melodic tremolo leads while fusing its two aesthetic influences. 2016 began with the formidably raw and ambient spacefaring canon of Choirs of Emptiness and Acadian Nights,1 but was reinterpreted by the more dystopian Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods, which set the tone for the following releases up to last year’s V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista. In this way, Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor blends these two themes, dystopian civilizations set amongst the stars, its vast colonies and glorious cities plagued by inequality, sexism, and the hive mind’s whims.
La Torture des Ténèbres lives up to Revenge of Unfailing Valor’s description (“VOLITIONAL EXPLOITATION // SMOULDERING HIVES”) by channeling its trademark melodic template and ambient sensibilities into a fuller sound that amps violence while hinting at a tragic heart beneath machinelike mania. Its trademark is intact: the rawness and utter saturation of rawness is ubiquitous, as even its more placid moments of lonely melodies are scathing. However, one distinction is melodic motifs that tie the album into one cohesive whole: an ascending jazzy synth run (“Vast Black Claws Drag Her Back to Space,” “Metropolitan Warfare,” “Out of All the Years We’ve Come…”) and sanguine synth melodies (“The Second Piscean Abyss,” “Angels”). As always, this is communicated through the ebb and flow of three prongs of scathing second-wave blasting/tremolo/shrieking, lonely tremolo, and distorted vintage samples. This arsenal and dynamic are as intriguing as they are jarring, samples and melodies inviting comparisons to classic science fiction (“Vast Black Claws…,” “The Second Piscean Abyss”) and the roarin’ twenties worship of decopunk (“Breathe in the Fucking Sawdust and Die,” “Yes But Can a Camp Girl Do This”). The first act in particular utilizes a bombast of violent second-wave rawness in contrast with an over-the-top sample presence. A grandiosity pervades in a way that recalls predecessor V, but La Torture des Ténèbres‘ fuller sound adds to the assault – tinnitus is guaranteed.
The second half of Episode VII finds La Torture des Ténèbres taking risks – the samples are fewer, the melodies are far more tragic and empty, and there is rest to be found. The brutal mid-album climax in “The Second Piscean Abyss” allows for reinterpretation for “Metropolitan Warfare” and beyond, trademark and motifs carrying across in emptier and more tragic melodies and moments (i.e. the release of all sound but tinny tremolo and blastbeats in “Traditions” and total collapses into noise in “Out of All the Years…”). This reinforces the need for bulletproof songwriting rather than reliance on samples and jarring movements to do the heavy lifting, and JK is up to the task. “Angels” is placed perfectly, its minimalist, distorted, and aptly angelic sample providing rest for the weary ears – for the first time in La Torture des Ténèbres’ career.
La Torture des Ténèbres will not sway any naysayers of raw black or blackened noise. In fact, many will point to their ringing ears or pinched nerves2 and say “See??” after Episode VII concludes with the noise fadeout of “Out of All the Years…”. Those who are willing to endure will find treasures aplenty, an opus of hyper-atmospheric, excessively noisy, and endlessly tragic melodies and motifs. Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor sweeps you away to a universe yet to be explored; but even in the dead vacuum of space or within mankind’s hive-mind colonies, you can’t escape your humanity.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Released
Website: latorturedestenebres.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 7th, 2025#2025 #40 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #AtmosphericBlackMetal #CanadianMetal #Chaosophia #EpisodeVIIRevengeOfUnfailingValor #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Mar25 #Noise #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased
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La Torture des Ténèbres – Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor Review
By Dear Hollow
La Torture des Ténèbres, in spite of the sadistic propensity for aural flaying, offers a unique voice in black metal. A one-woman show with an aesthetic evoking dystopian urban shimmer, decopunk, classic science fiction, and the space age, it conjures images of glittering mile-high cities built on the backs of the impoverished, brave women overcoming the adversity of the stars, the sneaking static cutting through a dictator’s commands through the radio, the jazzy bombasts of the elite’s decadent galas – and the loneliness of it all. There is no overselling just how noisy and jarring this act’s sound is on the ears, but lone mastermind JK has concocted a trademark stew that makes it stand out in nearly every way. Episode VII arrives a mere five months after its predecessor, expressing a fusion of its aesthetics.
Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor deals in a sound that retains La Torture des Ténèbres’ signature style, the vicious rawness and lonely melodic tremolo leads while fusing its two aesthetic influences. 2016 began with the formidably raw and ambient spacefaring canon of Choirs of Emptiness and Acadian Nights,1 but was reinterpreted by the more dystopian Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods, which set the tone for the following releases up to last year’s V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista. In this way, Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor blends these two themes, dystopian civilizations set amongst the stars, its vast colonies and glorious cities plagued by inequality, sexism, and the hive mind’s whims.
La Torture des Ténèbres lives up to Revenge of Unfailing Valor’s description (“VOLITIONAL EXPLOITATION // SMOULDERING HIVES”) by channeling its trademark melodic template and ambient sensibilities into a fuller sound that amps violence while hinting at a tragic heart beneath machinelike mania. Its trademark is intact: the rawness and utter saturation of rawness is ubiquitous, as even its more placid moments of lonely melodies are scathing. However, one distinction is melodic motifs that tie the album into one cohesive whole: an ascending jazzy synth run (“Vast Black Claws Drag Her Back to Space,” “Metropolitan Warfare,” “Out of All the Years We’ve Come…”) and sanguine synth melodies (“The Second Piscean Abyss,” “Angels”). As always, this is communicated through the ebb and flow of three prongs of scathing second-wave blasting/tremolo/shrieking, lonely tremolo, and distorted vintage samples. This arsenal and dynamic are as intriguing as they are jarring, samples and melodies inviting comparisons to classic science fiction (“Vast Black Claws…,” “The Second Piscean Abyss”) and the roarin’ twenties worship of decopunk (“Breathe in the Fucking Sawdust and Die,” “Yes But Can a Camp Girl Do This”). The first act in particular utilizes a bombast of violent second-wave rawness in contrast with an over-the-top sample presence. A grandiosity pervades in a way that recalls predecessor V, but La Torture des Ténèbres‘ fuller sound adds to the assault – tinnitus is guaranteed.
The second half of Episode VII finds La Torture des Ténèbres taking risks – the samples are fewer, the melodies are far more tragic and empty, and there is rest to be found. The brutal mid-album climax in “The Second Piscean Abyss” allows for reinterpretation for “Metropolitan Warfare” and beyond, trademark and motifs carrying across in emptier and more tragic melodies and moments (i.e. the release of all sound but tinny tremolo and blastbeats in “Traditions” and total collapses into noise in “Out of All the Years…”). This reinforces the need for bulletproof songwriting rather than reliance on samples and jarring movements to do the heavy lifting, and JK is up to the task. “Angels” is placed perfectly, its minimalist, distorted, and aptly angelic sample providing rest for the weary ears – for the first time in La Torture des Ténèbres’ career.
La Torture des Ténèbres will not sway any naysayers of raw black or blackened noise. In fact, many will point to their ringing ears or pinched nerves2 and say “See??” after Episode VII concludes with the noise fadeout of “Out of All the Years…”. Those who are willing to endure will find treasures aplenty, an opus of hyper-atmospheric, excessively noisy, and endlessly tragic melodies and motifs. Episode VII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor sweeps you away to a universe yet to be explored; but even in the dead vacuum of space or within mankind’s hive-mind colonies, you can’t escape your humanity.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self-Released
Website: latorturedestenebres.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 7th, 2025#2025 #40 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #AtmosphericBlackMetal #CanadianMetal #Chaosophia #EpisodeVIIRevengeOfUnfailingValor #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Mar25 #Noise #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased
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La Torture des Ténèbres – V / The Lost Colony of Altar Vista [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]
By Dear Hollow
The breed of noise that courses through Ottawa one-woman act La Torture des Ténèbres is truly disorienting and off-putting,1 but it takes on a hypnotizing and triumphant quality when its curious blend of caustic and decadent settles into your bones. While 2016 debuts Acadian Nights and Choirs of Emptiness captured a predictable blend of raw black and spacefaring dark ambient, Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods found mastermind J.K. taking influence from classic science fiction and decopunk: raw black played as an accompaniment to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, perhaps. With this breed of raw punishment, discernment is a spiritual gift – V praises a grand civilization, The Lost Colony of Altar Vista laments it. Viciously raw, relentlessly noisy, and painfully discordant, while also beautifully grandiose and subtly tragic, La Torture des Ténèbres offers decadence and venom as few can.
April’s V is the more straightforward of the 2024 releases, reflecting its grainy album art basking in a birds-eye view of the grand metropolis.2 There’s a robotic quality about V that pairs neatly with its predecessor IV – Memoirs of a Machine Girl, as La Torture des Ténèbres saturates the palette of relentless blasting, dense and raw tremolo tinnitus, and tortured wails and harrowing shrieks with grimy feedback, noise, industrial ambiance, and the act’s trademark flaying melodic sensibilities. Reverb-laden melodic interludes would seem to offer reprieve during the punishment, but their blaring distortion and clipping only drive the knife deeper with a shrill and warped quality, like ringing sirens during the calm before the storm. Inspired by the shimmering deceptively utopian and futuristic civilizations, the juxtaposition of the grandiosity of tomorrow (“Accelerated Degeneration Descent,” “Valley of the Unclean”) and the horrors of today (“Descent into Suburban Hellscape,” “Catalyst of Tomb Reconfiguration”) only heightens J.K.’s themes. Lyrics detail paranoia, sexual oppression, obsession, and horror, idolizing beautiful cities built atop the broken backs of the ugly. And despite its triumphant ambiance, V is one of the ugliest black metal albums of the year.
October’s The Lost Colony of Altar Vista is a more lonely and contemplative affair,3 reflected in its artwork of the same city at a grimmer low angle and in a filthier light. La Torture des Ténèbres’ punishing palette and caustic rawness remain largely the same, but the empty tinny melodies contrast to the decadent gloss of V. Paired with experimental samples stuttered from audio clipping and perverted by distortion,4 the tremolo-picked melodies atop subtle ambiance and silence are more abundant and dwell more in somber countenance (i.e. “The Reflection of the Moon in Her Skyline Eyes”), with more complete collapses of noise (“Allison”) and doomed piano (“The Axis of the Exaltation and the Fall of Venus”). The Lost Colony of Altar Vista basks in its forlornness, its relentless rawness a jagged and jaded vessel for fragile pain.
V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista showcase both sides of La Torture des Ténèbres, streamlined with a propensity for vicious noise and flaying rawness. It’s completely unforgiving, painfully harsh, and alienating to even the most hardened black metal fans. It’s jaggedly pieced, tracks cutting off abruptly and samples seeming to have no relevance to the sound, but every element adds to the themes of dissociation of both the beautiful glimmer and filthy underbelly of this metropolis. Truly a thin glossy mask atop a horrific face.
Tracks to Check Out: ”Descent Into Suburban Hellscape,” “Phantoms Over Altar Vista,” “Allison,” “Spectres Over Altar Vista”
#2024 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #ConnieFrancis #IndependentRelease #JillianBanks #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Noise #RawBlackMetal #TheLostColonyOfAltarVista #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2024 #TYMHM #V
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La Torture des Ténèbres – V / The Lost Colony of Altar Vista [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]
By Dear Hollow
The breed of noise that courses through Ottawa one-woman act La Torture des Ténèbres is truly disorienting and off-putting,1 but it takes on a hypnotizing and triumphant quality when its curious blend of caustic and decadent settles into your bones. While 2016 debuts Acadian Nights and Choirs of Emptiness captured a predictable blend of raw black and spacefaring dark ambient, Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods found mastermind J.K. taking influence from classic science fiction and decopunk: raw black played as an accompaniment to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, perhaps. With this breed of raw punishment, discernment is a spiritual gift – V praises a grand civilization, The Lost Colony of Altar Vista laments it. Viciously raw, relentlessly noisy, and painfully discordant, while also beautifully grandiose and subtly tragic, La Torture des Ténèbres offers decadence and venom as few can.
April’s V is the more straightforward of the 2024 releases, reflecting its grainy album art basking in a birds-eye view of the grand metropolis.2 There’s a robotic quality about V that pairs neatly with its predecessor IV – Memoirs of a Machine Girl, as La Torture des Ténèbres saturates the palette of relentless blasting, dense and raw tremolo tinnitus, and tortured wails and harrowing shrieks with grimy feedback, noise, industrial ambiance, and the act’s trademark flaying melodic sensibilities. Reverb-laden melodic interludes would seem to offer reprieve during the punishment, but their blaring distortion and clipping only drive the knife deeper with a shrill and warped quality, like ringing sirens during the calm before the storm. Inspired by the shimmering deceptively utopian and futuristic civilizations, the juxtaposition of the grandiosity of tomorrow (“Accelerated Degeneration Descent,” “Valley of the Unclean”) and the horrors of today (“Descent into Suburban Hellscape,” “Catalyst of Tomb Reconfiguration”) only heightens J.K.’s themes. Lyrics detail paranoia, sexual oppression, obsession, and horror, idolizing beautiful cities built atop the broken backs of the ugly. And despite its triumphant ambiance, V is one of the ugliest black metal albums of the year.
October’s The Lost Colony of Altar Vista is a more lonely and contemplative affair,3 reflected in its artwork of the same city at a grimmer low angle and in a filthier light. La Torture des Ténèbres’ punishing palette and caustic rawness remain largely the same, but the empty tinny melodies contrast to the decadent gloss of V. Paired with experimental samples stuttered from audio clipping and perverted by distortion,4 the tremolo-picked melodies atop subtle ambiance and silence are more abundant and dwell more in somber countenance (i.e. “The Reflection of the Moon in Her Skyline Eyes”), with more complete collapses of noise (“Allison”) and doomed piano (“The Axis of the Exaltation and the Fall of Venus”). The Lost Colony of Altar Vista basks in its forlornness, its relentless rawness a jagged and jaded vessel for fragile pain.
V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista showcase both sides of La Torture des Ténèbres, streamlined with a propensity for vicious noise and flaying rawness. It’s completely unforgiving, painfully harsh, and alienating to even the most hardened black metal fans. It’s jaggedly pieced, tracks cutting off abruptly and samples seeming to have no relevance to the sound, but every element adds to the themes of dissociation of both the beautiful glimmer and filthy underbelly of this metropolis. Truly a thin glossy mask atop a horrific face.
Tracks to Check Out: ”Descent Into Suburban Hellscape,” “Phantoms Over Altar Vista,” “Allison,” “Spectres Over Altar Vista”
#2024 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #ConnieFrancis #IndependentRelease #JillianBanks #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Noise #RawBlackMetal #TheLostColonyOfAltarVista #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2024 #TYMHM #V
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La Torture des Ténèbres – V / The Lost Colony of Altar Vista [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]
By Dear Hollow
The breed of noise that courses through Ottawa one-woman act La Torture des Ténèbres is truly disorienting and off-putting,1 but it takes on a hypnotizing and triumphant quality when its curious blend of caustic and decadent settles into your bones. While 2016 debuts Acadian Nights and Choirs of Emptiness captured a predictable blend of raw black and spacefaring dark ambient, Civilization is the Tomb of Our Noble Gods found mastermind J.K. taking influence from classic science fiction and decopunk: raw black played as an accompaniment to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, perhaps. With this breed of raw punishment, discernment is a spiritual gift – V praises a grand civilization, The Lost Colony of Altar Vista laments it. Viciously raw, relentlessly noisy, and painfully discordant, while also beautifully grandiose and subtly tragic, La Torture des Ténèbres offers decadence and venom as few can.
April’s V is the more straightforward of the 2024 releases, reflecting its grainy album art basking in a birds-eye view of the grand metropolis.2 There’s a robotic quality about V that pairs neatly with its predecessor IV – Memoirs of a Machine Girl, as La Torture des Ténèbres saturates the palette of relentless blasting, dense and raw tremolo tinnitus, and tortured wails and harrowing shrieks with grimy feedback, noise, industrial ambiance, and the act’s trademark flaying melodic sensibilities. Reverb-laden melodic interludes would seem to offer reprieve during the punishment, but their blaring distortion and clipping only drive the knife deeper with a shrill and warped quality, like ringing sirens during the calm before the storm. Inspired by the shimmering deceptively utopian and futuristic civilizations, the juxtaposition of the grandiosity of tomorrow (“Accelerated Degeneration Descent,” “Valley of the Unclean”) and the horrors of today (“Descent into Suburban Hellscape,” “Catalyst of Tomb Reconfiguration”) only heightens J.K.’s themes. Lyrics detail paranoia, sexual oppression, obsession, and horror, idolizing beautiful cities built atop the broken backs of the ugly. And despite its triumphant ambiance, V is one of the ugliest black metal albums of the year.
October’s The Lost Colony of Altar Vista is a more lonely and contemplative affair,3 reflected in its artwork of the same city at a grimmer low angle and in a filthier light. La Torture des Ténèbres’ punishing palette and caustic rawness remain largely the same, but the empty tinny melodies contrast to the decadent gloss of V. Paired with experimental samples stuttered from audio clipping and perverted by distortion,4 the tremolo-picked melodies atop subtle ambiance and silence are more abundant and dwell more in somber countenance (i.e. “The Reflection of the Moon in Her Skyline Eyes”), with more complete collapses of noise (“Allison”) and doomed piano (“The Axis of the Exaltation and the Fall of Venus”). The Lost Colony of Altar Vista basks in its forlornness, its relentless rawness a jagged and jaded vessel for fragile pain.
V and The Lost Colony of Altar Vista showcase both sides of La Torture des Ténèbres, streamlined with a propensity for vicious noise and flaying rawness. It’s completely unforgiving, painfully harsh, and alienating to even the most hardened black metal fans. It’s jaggedly pieced, tracks cutting off abruptly and samples seeming to have no relevance to the sound, but every element adds to the themes of dissociation of both the beautiful glimmer and filthy underbelly of this metropolis. Truly a thin glossy mask atop a horrific face.
Tracks to Check Out: ”Descent Into Suburban Hellscape,” “Phantoms Over Altar Vista,” “Allison,” “Spectres Over Altar Vista”
#2024 #AmbientBlackMetal #AmbientNoise #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #ConnieFrancis #IndependentRelease #JillianBanks #LaTortureDesTénèbres #Noise #RawBlackMetal #TheLostColonyOfAltarVista #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2024 #TYMHM #V
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Je pense qu'on peut clairement donner un nouveau sens au terme #agroterrorisme . A l'origine c'est un terrorisme qui prend pour cible les productions agricoles. Désormais c'est la propension des syndicats agricoles majoritaires à terroriser la république.
Nouvel exemple, le 28/09/2023 les JA et la FDSEA d'Aveyron ont muré la trésorerie général des impôts de Rodez. Le lendemain, le 29/09/2023, ils aspersent de fumier la préfécture.
La réponse de l'Etat: le préfet leur fait la morale. -
C'è tempo fino al 31 maggio per rispondere al questionario legato alla ricerca Global Trends in Giving, che fotografa a livello internazionale la propensione al #dono. Compila e passa parola: ogni contributo conta! 👉 https://italianonprofit.it/global-trends-in-giving-2020/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gtgs_partner&utm_source=WikimediaItalia @Italianonprofit
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https://rizomatica.noblogs.org/2020/10/parretti-necessita-della-diminuzione-dellorario-di-lavoro/
Necessità della diminuzione dell’orario di lavoro
Le società più sviluppate si trovano di fronte le conseguenze di due dinamiche distinte:
lo sviluppo economico capitalista e
lo sviluppo dei bisogni umani.
Osserviamo le due dinamiche:
Esiste un processo per cui parte delle merci prodotte vanno ad aumentare il capitale esistente e questo permette, a sua volta, di produrre una maggiore quantità di merci.
Inoltre parte del lavoro sociale è dedicato a sviluppare conoscenze e tecniche che determinano una continua crescita della produttività e quindi la società è capace di produrre con la stessa quantità di capitale una maggiore quantità di merci.
Tale crescita della produttività dipende dalle risorse, ad essa dedicate, ma soprattutto dal livello di istruzione dei lavoratori stessi.
Quando questo aumento della produttività induce, a sua volta, una crescita dell’istruzione, il suo ritmo di crescita diventa esponenziale(1).
Allora, se questa capacità di produrre, a parità di capitale e lavoro, un valore sempre maggiore, non è accompagnata dalla crescita, nella stessa percentuale, di reddito speso per la soddisfazione dei bisogni, la crescita del capitale diventa impossibile perché il capitale esistente già sarebbe sufficiente a produrre più di quanto richiesto ed il capitale aggiuntivo diventerebbe inutile.
Da questo deriverebbe l’impossibilità di accumulazione del capitale e dei profitti e quindi la crisi del capitalismo.
Allora, la crescita del reddito, proporzioneale alla crescita della produttività, della maggioranza dei membri della società, cioè dei lavoratori, diventa la condizione necessaria al funzionamento stesso del sistema economico.
Esiste un’altra dinamica sociale, simultanea ed indipendente da quella appena descritta, per cui, man mano che le persone riescono a soddisfare i loro bisogni, cioè ad avere un reddito che permetta loro di acquistare i beni ed i servizi necessari a soddisfarli, maturano nuovi bisogni, la cui soddisfazione richiede un reddito sempre maggiore. Quindi una crescita del reddito determina una crescita dei bisogni, la cui soddisfazione implica, a sua volta, la necessità della crescita del reddito da spendere per la loro soddisfazione.
Ma quando le persone sono riuscite a soddisfare i loro bisogni primari, cioè quelli definiti dall’apparato sensoriale e pulsionale umano, geneticamente determinato, maturano nuovi bisogni in modo più lento per due ragioni:
1) una di natura economica: prima di spendere totalmente un maggiore reddito disponibile, le persone tendono a mantenerne una parte in forma precauzionale, come assicurazione contro possibili eventi negativi, che possano rendere insicura la soddisfazione futura dei bisogni primari. Ciò implica che la crescita di nuovi bisogni e la loro soddisfazione tende ad essere minore della crescita del loro reddito e quindi una parte sempre maggiore del reddito aggiuntivo viene risparmiata e la propensione marginale al consumo diminuisce al crescere del ritmo di crescita del reddito.
2) un’altra di natura psicologica: le persone devono prima osservare e sperimentare che esiste un modo più conveniente per soddisfare i bisogni preesistenti o un modo di soddisfare dei bisogni, prima non soddisfatti, e solo allora riescono a cambiare i propri comportamenti.
In altri termini, i nuovi bisogni emergono quando le persone intravedono la possibilità di soddisfarli e nuove forme di soddisfazione di bisogni già esistenti vengono adottate solo quando intravedono la convenienza di adottare i nuovi comportamenti, che le nuove forme di soddisfazione comportano.
Questo implica che, per far emergere nuovi bisogni ed introdurre nuovi soddisfattori, è necessaria un’attività di promozione degli stessi, altrimenti il processo di sviluppo e soddisfazione dei bisogni diventa estremamente lento.
Queste due dinamiche determinano un fenomeno paradossale, un aumento dei bisogni minore dell’aumento della capacità di soddisfarli(2).... (continua)
#lavoraremeno #redistribuzione #crisi #abbondanza #disoccupazione #consumi -
Joining us at #PyConUS? Come to our open space TODAY (Fri May 15)
3pm Room 202A — generative AI impacts on open source.pyOpenSci is researching this actively and building frameworks for
more intentional AI use in scientific open source. We want your
experience and perspective to shape this work.All backgrounds welcome. #Python #OpenSource #GenerativeAI #pyOpenSci
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MolPhase:
Yansong Miao and colleagues present an advanced algorithm for predicting #phaseseparation propensities of proteins - and apply it to phytobacterial type III effectors
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44318-024-00090-9 -
#SweetPotato Companions: Best #CompanionPlants For Sweet Potatoes
By Liz Baessler
last updated June 18, 2021Excerpt: "So what are some of the best companion plants for sweet potatoes? As a rule of thumb, root vegetables, such as #parsnips and #beets, are good sweet potato companions. Bush beans are good sweet potato companions, and certain varieties of pole beans can be trained to grow along the ground intermingled with sweet potato vines. Regular potatoes, though not actually closely related at all, are also good sweet potato companions. Also, aromatic herbs, such as thyme, oregano and dill, are good sweet potato companions. Sweet potato weevil, a pest that can wreak havoc on crops in the Southern United States, can be deterred by planting summer savory nearby.
What You Shouldn’t be Planting Next to Sweet Potatoes
The biggest problem with planting next to sweet potatoes is their propensity to spread. Because of this, one plant to avoid, in particular, when planting next to sweet potatoes is squash. Both are strong growers and fierce spreaders, and putting the two next to each other will only result in a fight for space in which both will likely be weakened. Even in the case of companion plants for sweet potatoes, be aware that your sweet potato vine will grow to cover a very large area, and take care that it doesn’t crowd out its beneficial neighbors."
Read more:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-companions.htm#SolarPunkSunday #GardeningKnowHow #CompanionPlanting #GrowingSweetPotatoes #Gardening #GrowYourOwnFood #GYO
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#SweetPotato Companions: Best #CompanionPlants For Sweet Potatoes
By Liz Baessler
last updated June 18, 2021Excerpt: "So what are some of the best companion plants for sweet potatoes? As a rule of thumb, root vegetables, such as #parsnips and #beets, are good sweet potato companions. Bush beans are good sweet potato companions, and certain varieties of pole beans can be trained to grow along the ground intermingled with sweet potato vines. Regular potatoes, though not actually closely related at all, are also good sweet potato companions. Also, aromatic herbs, such as thyme, oregano and dill, are good sweet potato companions. Sweet potato weevil, a pest that can wreak havoc on crops in the Southern United States, can be deterred by planting summer savory nearby.
What You Shouldn’t be Planting Next to Sweet Potatoes
The biggest problem with planting next to sweet potatoes is their propensity to spread. Because of this, one plant to avoid, in particular, when planting next to sweet potatoes is squash. Both are strong growers and fierce spreaders, and putting the two next to each other will only result in a fight for space in which both will likely be weakened. Even in the case of companion plants for sweet potatoes, be aware that your sweet potato vine will grow to cover a very large area, and take care that it doesn’t crowd out its beneficial neighbors."
Read more:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-companions.htm#SolarPunkSunday #GardeningKnowHow #CompanionPlanting #GrowingSweetPotatoes #Gardening #GrowYourOwnFood #GYO
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#SweetPotato Companions: Best #CompanionPlants For Sweet Potatoes
By Liz Baessler
last updated June 18, 2021Excerpt: "So what are some of the best companion plants for sweet potatoes? As a rule of thumb, root vegetables, such as #parsnips and #beets, are good sweet potato companions. Bush beans are good sweet potato companions, and certain varieties of pole beans can be trained to grow along the ground intermingled with sweet potato vines. Regular potatoes, though not actually closely related at all, are also good sweet potato companions. Also, aromatic herbs, such as thyme, oregano and dill, are good sweet potato companions. Sweet potato weevil, a pest that can wreak havoc on crops in the Southern United States, can be deterred by planting summer savory nearby.
What You Shouldn’t be Planting Next to Sweet Potatoes
The biggest problem with planting next to sweet potatoes is their propensity to spread. Because of this, one plant to avoid, in particular, when planting next to sweet potatoes is squash. Both are strong growers and fierce spreaders, and putting the two next to each other will only result in a fight for space in which both will likely be weakened. Even in the case of companion plants for sweet potatoes, be aware that your sweet potato vine will grow to cover a very large area, and take care that it doesn’t crowd out its beneficial neighbors."
Read more:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-companions.htm#SolarPunkSunday #GardeningKnowHow #CompanionPlanting #GrowingSweetPotatoes #Gardening #GrowYourOwnFood #GYO
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#SweetPotato Companions: Best #CompanionPlants For Sweet Potatoes
By Liz Baessler
last updated June 18, 2021Excerpt: "So what are some of the best companion plants for sweet potatoes? As a rule of thumb, root vegetables, such as #parsnips and #beets, are good sweet potato companions. Bush beans are good sweet potato companions, and certain varieties of pole beans can be trained to grow along the ground intermingled with sweet potato vines. Regular potatoes, though not actually closely related at all, are also good sweet potato companions. Also, aromatic herbs, such as thyme, oregano and dill, are good sweet potato companions. Sweet potato weevil, a pest that can wreak havoc on crops in the Southern United States, can be deterred by planting summer savory nearby.
What You Shouldn’t be Planting Next to Sweet Potatoes
The biggest problem with planting next to sweet potatoes is their propensity to spread. Because of this, one plant to avoid, in particular, when planting next to sweet potatoes is squash. Both are strong growers and fierce spreaders, and putting the two next to each other will only result in a fight for space in which both will likely be weakened. Even in the case of companion plants for sweet potatoes, be aware that your sweet potato vine will grow to cover a very large area, and take care that it doesn’t crowd out its beneficial neighbors."
Read more:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/sweet-potato/sweet-potato-companions.htm#SolarPunkSunday #GardeningKnowHow #CompanionPlanting #GrowingSweetPotatoes #Gardening #GrowYourOwnFood #GYO
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Ce mercredi 25 février est jour de conseil municipal à #Voiron. Le premier de l’année (enfin !), et le dernier avant les élections municipales de la mi-mars (aïe, ça risque fort de déraper, vu la propension du maire, #JulienPolat,, de transformer les CM en tribune politique).
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La qualità delle relazioni costituisce da sempre un elemento determinante per l’attività criminale
Le organizzazioni criminali a scopo economico e/o ideologico costituiscono da sempre un sottogruppo delle organizzazioni segrete. In quanto tali, esse pervengono agli studiosi come entità di difficile comprensione e studio per via dell’interazione fra la caratteristica del segreto e quella dell’illegalità <327.
La gestione congiunta di questa miscellanea di elementi ripercuote i propri effetti sulla natura organizzativa dei soggetti attivi imponendo agli stessi dinamiche mutagene e la proliferazione di trade-offs fra risorse in campo. Così, un problema comune alle due esperienze qui in oggetto investe, de facto, la configurazione organizzativa delle stesse e quel ventaglio di cointeressenze e legami instauratisi al loro interno. Gli interrogativi che si offrono al cospetto di uno studio dilettato dalle meccaniche che possono aver abitato simili processi interrelazioni rimangono molteplici. Come si organizzano i gruppi clandestini dell’Italia del tempo? Esistono somiglianze fra l’assetto mafioso e quello terroristico? La rete dell’una o dell’altra evolve e si ibrida a seguito di processi alterativi propri o risente di dinamiche esogene? Per ovviare a questi interrogativi la teoria dell’organizzazione nel corso degli anni ha dato grande rilevanza ad un’indagine sulle prospettive recondite delle reti (legami) e sugli schemi comparativi delle costruzioni strategiche in cui essi operano (strutture). Sulla falsa riga di ciò può, pertanto, rivelarsi complementare al dialogo fra scienza storica, sociologia e diritto la riflessione avviata dal sociologo Mark Granovetter sul delicato tema delle risorse sociali e del capitale sociale. Nell’opera “La forza dei legami deboli e altri saggi” <328 il padre della nuova sociologia economica intuì la possibilità di collegare il job matching analizzato nei suoi studi sulla disoccupazione -e gli andamenti di mercato- alle problematiche inficianti l’analisi dei networks. La tesi muoveva dall’idea secondo cui la scomposizione dei processi intercorrenti nei reticoli di relazioni interpersonali potesse fornire un fruttuoso ponte di collegamento fra il livello micro e quello macro-sociologico, mostrando l’esistenza di un diretta proporzionalità tra l’interazione su scala ridotta e le conseguenze su un piano sociale più esteso. La riproposizione del modello granvettiano al crime network nexus impone prioritariamente un ragionamento in termini di legami e non di scelte. Tale lettura non implica la predominanza di un’interpretazione (sui motivi dell’avvicinamento fra crimine e terrorismi) dettata dalla sola interscambiabilità di legami e relazioni bensì ci spinge, alla luce degli antecedenti cronistorici fino ad ora accennati, a diversificare il pulviscolo di rapporti oscillando da una prospettiva individuale ad una di comunità. Il punto diventa ancora più complesso se rapportato anche alle diversità congenite espresse dalle due generazioni del neofascismo eversivo e dagli stessi approcci metodologici posti in campo. Tenuto conto di tutte le criticità del caso diviene allora indispensabile procedere nella dissertazione con sistematicità e affrontare la dicotomia “legame-struttura” di cui si è accennato in apertura.
I Legami
La qualità delle relazioni costituisce da sempre un elemento determinante per l’attività criminale <329. Nell’ultimo ventennio gli studi sulla criminalità organizzata hanno catalizzato molte risorse nell’approccio alla materia (Patacchini-Zenou, Sciarrone, Storti) oltre ad aver dimostrato l’incisività di certi tipi di legame nell’incremento della produttività illecita. La distinzione fra legami forti e deboli, elaborata nel 1973 dal sociologo Granovetter <330, diviene la cartina di tornasole entro cui valutare la transitorietà dei flussi informativi e relazionali del network. I legami forti si contraddistinguono per intensità ed elevata frequenza nelle interazioni pur essendo, nella maggior parte dei casi, portatori sani di una ridondanza informativa o strategica provocata dall’elevata interdipendenza fra attori. Viceversa, essendo i weak ties rivelatori di una trascurabile intensità essi appaiono idonei a fornire nuovi canali, garantendo alla rete maggiore resilienza e connettività fra attori distanti, oltre ad un accesso alle risorse informative rimaste intrappolate fra i soli legami forti. Inevitabile segnalare come la mancanza di ridondanza favorisca il successo criminale del network tutto <331, in linea con la trasversalità di un’adiacenza tra mafie e terrorismo imperniata sulla tutela degli standard di segretezza e sulla proliferazione di legami ponte. Poiché per queste organizzazioni la gestione del segreto implica innanzitutto coordinare le informazioni, sia contenendo la diffusione di quanto si sa, sia nella ricerca di nuove informazioni (spionaggio), il trading richiederà una ragnatela di legami laschi, durevoli anche nell’extrema ratio della rimozione di uno di essi. Ove non esita una triade di rapporti fra soggetto A, B e C, nessuno strong tie potrà mai costituire un ponte, salvo gli sporadici casi in cui nessuna delle parti in causa abbia altri legami forti <332. Deduttivamente, allora, è intuibile la corrispondenza di ruolo fra ponte e legame lasco, ambedue impiegati per creare collegamenti più celeri all’interno delle reti e, in virtù di ciò, assunti ad unica alternativa praticabile per gli individui. Sicché, i soggetti meglio posizionati in una rete sono potenzialmente coloro i quali abusano di legami deboli e costituiscono ponti (c.d. trait d’union), l’analisi granovettiana troverebbe terreno fertile nel ricostruire, in una dimensione micro-individuale, la facilità celata dietro i cambi di casacca di numerosi interpreti della prima stagione eversiva dopo i decreti di scioglimento di ON e AN (Bellini, Dominici, Rampulla). E ancora: esegesi storica e indagine sulla forza dei legami trovano un’ulteriore punto di convergenza laddove la rimozione di un legame mediamente debole arrechi danni maggiori alle probabilità di trasmissione rispetto ad un vincolo forte. Il caso trova una sua simmetria storica all’indomani della diaspora dei militanti delle sigle sciolte (con decreto ministeriale) per tentata ricostruzione del dissolto partito fascista. La recisione di un vincolo forte per ordinovisti e avanguardisti non sortì gli effetti sperati dalle autorità inquirenti, le quali restarono focalizzate unicamente sull’abbattimento del contenitore associativo senza realizzare un inasprimento delle pene edittali per i singoli imputati. L’errore, comune nelle inchieste sul terrorismo, se da un lato esemplifica il grado di resilienza dei legami ponte celati dietro alle figure apicali della galassia eversiva, parimenti racconta la nascita di un’aura di eterna impunità che, nel corso del trentennio successivo, parificherà grandi boss della malavita organizzata e precursori del terrorismo stragista <333. Entrambe le figure resteranno accomunate da uno spiccato senso di adattamento al mutamento sociale, acuito da una gestione del patrimonio informativo correlata al bagaglio di legami laschi in loro possesso <334.
Esistono poi ripercussioni che i reticoli sociali possono ingenerare sui comportamenti dei singoli consociati. Il differente grado di densità assunta in zone del perimetro <335 circoscrive due porzioni di network: una dominata da rapporti amicali diretti e rinominata “a maglia chiusa”; ed un’altra estesa lungo tratti conoscitivi ignoti e battezzata “a maglia aperta”. In questa seconda circoscrizione Granovetter identifica l’esistenza di legami elastici propensi non solo a condizionare la possibilità dell’individuo di manipolare il reticolo ma, addirittura, idonei a veicolare idee, influenze o informazioni socialmente distanti dal baricentro del singolo attore. In un’impostazione all’interno della quale la centralità del legame debole impersonifica il ruolo di risorsa per la mobilità volontaria e di catalizzatore di coesione sociale <336, non meraviglia il fatto che militanti neofascisti, transitati fra le fila delle consorterie mafiose, abbiano potuto spostare non soltanto il reticolo di legami da un campo all’altro, bensì istituire un vero punto di snodo <337.
Infine, l’esame del fascio di relazioni rasenti una comunità può disvelare i motivi per cui certe strutture, in vista di obiettivi comuni, riescano ad organizzarsi celermente senza incappare in avversità logistiche. Una prima risposta andrebbe ricercata nella vocazione interclassista del terrorismo eversivo italiano. Mentre Granovetter per comprovare la relazione intercorrente fra una collettività molto attiva nel tessuto sociale e la densità di legami ponte utilizzò, quale canone di paragone, il confronto fra la reazione della comunità di Charlestown e quella di Boston ad una proposta di rinnovamento urbano, nel nostro studio è possibile sviluppare un ragionamento affine. Il network nero attinse, sin dalla sua nascita, potenzialità da mondi e sottosistemi sociali diversi <338, costruendo le condizioni esistenziali affinché potessero fiorire connessioni ponte. Mentre fino al biennio ’75-77 la galassia fascista ha esteso il suo ventaglio di relazioni coltivando rapporti trasversali con apparati dell’intelligence interno (SID e UAAR), mondo dell’imprenditoria, l’internazionale nera, il mondo istituzionale (MSI), fino ai grandi movimenti generazionali del ’68, nella sua seconda vita essa ha valorizzato in misura ridotta la genuinità dei suoi “bridge ties”, assumendo una posizione spontaneista che ne ha inevitabilmente modificato anche gli assetti strutturali. E così, applicando al nostro caso di studio lo schema teorico di comunità avanzato dal sociologo statunitense, pare calzante la lettura in base alla quale quanti più ponti locali esitano in una comunità, e quanto maggior sia il loro grado, tanto più la comunità sarà coesa e in grado di agire in modo concertato e impermeabile <339.
[NOTE]
327 M. CATINO, L’organizzazione del segreto nelle associazioni mafiose, Rassegna italiana di sociologia, gennaio 2014, pag. 262.
328 M. GRANOVETTER, La forza dei legami deboli ed altri saggi, Editore Liguori, Napoli, 1998.
329 F. CALDERONI, Le reti delle mafie, Vita e pensiero, Milano 2018, pag.62.
330 M. GRANOVETTER, The Strenght of Weak Ties, American Journal of Sociology, 78 n.6, pp. 1360.1380.
331 C. MORSELLI, P. TREMBLEY, Criminal Achievment, Offender Networks and the Benefits of low self-control, Criminology, 42, n.3, pag.782.
332 M. GRANOVETTER, La forza dei legami deboli ed altri saggi, Editore Liguori, Napoli, 1998, pp.123-124.
333 Si pensi alla figura di Massimo Carminati, leader di una delle due associazioni a delinquere coinvolte nell’inchiesta Mafia Capitale e uomo accreditatosi ai cartelli criminali per via del suo curriculum penale da eterno impunito. Il punto è trattato in: Tribunale di Roma, Ufficio VI, ordinanza n. 30546/10 R.G. Mod. 21, Gip Flavia Costantini, Roma, 28 novembre 2014, pag.42.
334 Per Granovetter “i soggetti meglio piazzati per diffondere innovazioni difficili nella rete, sono quelli che hanno molti legami deboli, in quanto alcuni di questi legami costituiscono dei ponti locali. Un’innovazione inizialmente impopolare, diffusa da soggetti con pochi legami deboli, avrà più probabilità di restare confinata in pochi circoli ristretti, quindi di morire sul nascere…”. M. GRANOVETTER, La forza dei legami deboli ed altri saggi, Editore Liguori, Napoli, 1998, p.127.
335 Definito da Granovetter quale “reticolato egocentrico”.
336 M. GRANOVETTER, La forza dei legami deboli ed altri saggi, Editore Liguori, Napoli, 1998, pp. 135-137.
337 Ivi cit., p.137.
338 Il punto sarà trattato nel sottoparagrafo successivo.
340 M. CATINO, Mafia organizations. The visible hand of criminal enterprise, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2019, pag.152.
Giuliano Benincasa, Criminalità Organizzata. Sviluppo, metamorfosi e contaminazione dei rapporti fra criminalità organizzata ed eversione neofascista: ibridazione del metodo del metodo mafioso o semplice convergenza oggettiva?, Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano, Anno Accademico 2020-2021#AN #criminalità #destra #FrancescoCalderoni #GiulianoBenincasa #illegalità #legami #mafie #MarkGranovetter #neofascisti #ON #organizzata #organizzazioni #qualità #relazioni #segrete #sociologo #stragi #terrorismo
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World at risk of collapse under the weight of increasingly enormous vehicles
"Parking spaces in Australia may soon become bigger as a response to the nation’s love affair with SUVs and large cars, but planners fear parking lots are at risk of collapse under the weight of increasingly enormous vehicles."
"Larger vehicles made pedestrians, cyclists and drivers of small cars less safe, as well as simply taking up more room on the road....Studies have found that children involved in a fatal crash are eight times more likely to have been struck by an SUV than a standard car...Our propensity to buy these vehicles is driving road safety backwards."
"More than 50% of new vehicles sold in the country last year were SUVs, a share that has almost doubled over the past decade."
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/15/australia-may-increase-standard-car-parking-spaces-as-huge-vehicles-dominate-the-streets
#Australia #consumers #choice #BigAnything #cars #FossilFuel #SUVs #carbon #emissions #safety #failure #ClimateCrisis -
A few hours ago, @nytimes wrote:
«"It is very clear that, if there is a middle of all of this hot mess of division, Americans want us to work together when we can and find common ground," Sen. Amy Klobuchar tells the Opinion writer Michelle Cottle.»
I'm going to pray that they've been sitting on that quote for weeks and that it's not the evidence of dangerous cluelessness by Klobuchar that it appears to be.
I think Americans want first for Congress to save Democracy, Amy. Because control of the public's attention is easily manipulated in social media, they may not realize it's in mortal danger, but it's Congress' job to know that fact.
If they, Democrats and Republicans alike, aren't describing it as a full-on assault on the Constitution, a coup, a sudden & complete dismantling of Democracy via a prior published & detailed plan, then they aren't solving the right problem and show no evidence of paying attention.
Even 4 years ago, on January 6, it wasn't "business as usual". We needed Congress on that day to continue a Constitutional government but NOT to hear budget debates and such mundane legislative things. We knew we were UNDER ATTACK.
This, now, today, is an ESCALATION OF THAT ATTACK, and she's talking like she wants to ignore it, treating this as an ordinary work day. Work together by IMPEACHING maybe, but nothing less. Do not underestimate the seriousness and urgency of what's going on. Do not get distracted.
If Congressfolk don't see this as an escalation, maybe because it's a "white collar" attack not (yet) involving guns, they can't respond properly. They must stop talking about this as something to legislate their way out of. We in the US are under a real time administrative assault. Stop taking weekends & holidays. This is not a schedulable event. They are preying on your willingness to pretend it can have a leisurely pace.
Congress has long been soft on white collar crime, treating it as a privilege of the elite, the donor class. Perhaps it's become invisible to them, even as it's far more sweeping and hurtful than much street crime. Maybe a white collar coup is then likewise invisible. We need them to wake up and SEE.
This time they're using ID cards to get into buildings they're taking over, but there's more to Constitutional government than right of entry. The Constitution spells out limits on power. They're violating limits so fast they can't all be checked fast enough. A Gish gallop assault on policy & power.
Sadly, I predicted this crisis on the ex-bird site Oct 13, 2016 (before 2016 vote). Talking Points Memo (TPM) had cited USA Today on Trump's propensity for legal challenges. I expected the same with Constitutional challenges. Just as happened. Our system barely handles a few challenges a year, not thousands.
#USPolitics #politics #USCongress #Congress #democracy #coup #TrumpCoup #oligarchy #fascism #authoritarianism #attack #assault #Jan6 #SCOTUS #Constitution #Lawless #Project2025 #TPM #Klobuchar #Senate #WhiteCollarCrime #WhiteCollarCoup #GishGallop
(This post is an expanded form of a thread I just posted to BlueSky.)
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Tzevaot – The Hermetic Way Review
By Thus Spoke
Oh, to have half the confidence of the average solo artist dabbling in the esoteric. Their avant-garde opuses can’t all be the status-quo-subverting masterworks of music and philosophy they claim to be. For some reason, I, Voidhanger keeps signing them, and for equally opaque reasons, we keep choosing to review their albums. Tzevaot is the experimental black metal1 project of an individual known only as The Orator, who in The Hermetic Way explores occult ideas purported to unveil “actual hidden mechanisms of reality,” with heavy inspiration from the magical tradition made popular by who else but Aleister Crowley. And while everything from the flowery promo blurb to the time-stamped lyrics2 and the solemn spoken-word poetry tries to convince you of its significance. The Hermetic Way completely fails to impart much more than consternation.
It’s difficult to know where to even begin with The Hermetic Way, and its brand of wisdom. At every turn, things somehow go wrong. The core sound is something akin to Esoctrilihum—barking screams, twisty guitars, and a propensity for echo on everything—only with a mix you’d barely forgive a bedroom project for, and a compositional style that makes said Esoctrilihum sound catchy. Tzevaot jumbles synths, piano, and guitars that seem to hit upon a genuine groove of Emperor-esque theatrics or Absu-level style completely by accident; the fact that the best melodies are never reprised only supports this theory. The drumming—which may well be a machine for all I can discern3—is flat and dull, buried by the wall of heavy reverb between the sharp stab of the vocals and the other instruments. This intensifies the feeling of aggravated confusion that defines the listening experience, as one struggles to keep up with the nonsensical rhythmic trades, sudden inclusion of solo synth or piano, and yet more spoken-word. This is not the nuanced placelessness of an intelligent, complex extreme metal, where discordance and strange rhythms develop impossibly but seamlessly into new forms; this is a mess.
As with many similar works of art, all of The Hermetic Way’s failures arise from the hubris of their creator. The indulgence of every idea, at the expense of their development, integration, and refinement, causes the record to swing pendulously between mind-numbing boredom and toe-curling cringe. Without fail, songs go in the most annoying possible direction, dropping tension like a hot potato and throwing out a rare good musical passage in favour of the most jarring refrains (“Solve et Coagula,” “Pyres of Meaning Light the New Aeon’s Way”), or another arrangement of noise to a jaunty tempo that makes a mockery of the previous composition (“Zosimos the Alchemist”). Elements are often so poorly integrated, that sections clearly designed for drama—stripped-back keys or solemn recitations—fail to land; the sample of famed occult author Lon Milo DuQuette is barely audible past the fickle interchanges of organs, riffs, and drums. The Oracle persistently delivers vocals in a monotonous, rapid-fire bark that gets grating fast, particularly when combined with Tzevaot’s fondness for stacking tempos and synth accompaniments like dominos one after another. But I would listen to hours of all the above barks rather than sit just once more through horror show “The Hero of Megiddo,” a skin-crawling ditty whose redemptive brevity is made moot by its being the only thing on the record with a memorable tune, causing the perverse singing and jangling chords to turn around in your brain like an inescapable merri-go-round.
Most painful of all is that The Hermetic Way could have been so much better. Tzevaot might try to borrow the label of “jazz” to elevate whatever’s going on with piano and cymbals at various points. While that’s not really justified, it’s nonetheless striking that every single isolated passage of good music on The Hermetic Way involves piano4 (“The Emerald Tablet of Thoth,” “Air Fire Water Earth,” “Metempsychosis”). These fleeting moments, which comprise approximately five percent of the runtime combine key slides and arpeggios in a stylish, interesting way that’s very cool, and variously reminiscent of Wreche, Vengeur, and once again Emperor. In an hour of music that is otherwise so exhausting, this is obviously not enough. By the time the best parts of the album arrive in closer “Metempsychosis,” you’re likely too checked out to care, if you’re even still listening.
The Hermetic Way’s title is apt. Not only as it divulges supposed profound truths through the visionary teachings of the self-imposed hermit, who has reached enlightenment through years of solitary contemplation. But also because that’s quite a good analogy for the solo metal musician of the esoteric bent. Maybe Tzevaot harbors real genius, and I’m simply too blind and deaf to see or hear it in their work. More likely it’s another case of talent foiled by delusion.
Rating: Bad
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 265 kb/s mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: November 14th, 2025#15 #2025 #avantGardeMetal #blackMetal #emperor #esoctrilihum #esotericBlackMetal #experimentalMetal #iVoidhangerRecords #nov25 #review #reviews #theHermeticWay #tzevaot
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Live and draw strength from the sunshine of your youth. ~nach Chr. Morgenstein #ThoughtOfTheDay #ThoughtForToday #QOTD #FKK #QuoteOftheDay #NaturistWisdom #Nudismo #BodyFreedom #TeamNaturistInternational PS: Youth isn't measured in years, but in the propensity to experience new things.
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Live and draw strength from the sunshine of your youth. ~nach Chr. Morgenstein #ThoughtOfTheDay #ThoughtForToday #QOTD #FKK #QuoteOftheDay #NaturistWisdom #Nudismo #BodyFreedom #TeamNaturistInternational PS: Youth isn't measured in years, but in the propensity to experience new things.
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Live and draw strength from the sunshine of your youth. ~nach Chr. Morgenstein #ThoughtOfTheDay #ThoughtForToday #QOTD #FKK #QuoteOftheDay #NaturistWisdom #Nudismo #BodyFreedom #TeamNaturistInternational PS: Youth isn't measured in years, but in the propensity to experience new things.
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Dearest Knoxville,
On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, the Knox County Commission held it's monthly meeting. The gathering had attracted quite a crowd this month, most of whom were there to hear and/or protest Commissioner Fox's presentation on "A Christian's Biblical View of Illegal Immigration", and some of whom spoke out in either support or disgust. One of the most striking moments, to my mind, came at the end of the presentation, when Fox was asked a question by Junior Commissioner Oriana Hall:Hall: When Christopher Columbus came, was he not treated with kindness?
Fox: I don't know. Christopher Columbus was not part of this presentation.
Hall: Would he not be considered an alien?
Fox: He was considered an explorer.
It was an incredible exchange, given the implications. When questioned directly on whether arrival in this land, to which Columbus was not native, spoke to his lack of belonging on this land, Commissioner Fox deliberately refused to accept that framing. But in implying that Columbus belonged here, Fox ascribes authority to make the decision of who belonged on the land either to himself or, more likely, Columbus. Whatever the case, this authority is a right reserved for the owners of the land, who were, in fact, native to it.
Unless, of course, it is understood that those native to the land did not own the land, and instead it was freely available for those with the power to take it. This appears to be Commissioner Fox's understanding of reality. In the English language, we have a word for objects taken under such an understanding. That word is thievery.
Now, while it must be said that the peoples indigenous to this continent have suffered much greater offenses at the hands of those who stole their land, I'd like to focus on the theft itself for a moment. Or rather, the Knox County Commissioner defending his right to benefit from it. You see, in processing what was said at the meeting, it struck me as odd that the Knox County residents who spoke out in support of Fox's view of immigration, many of whom professed to being in his district and having voted for him, for the most part spoke of their concerns of immigrants in the community taking public resources that should rightfully go to our "actual neighbors". They were arguing theft, spurred on by a Commissioner who had just aligned himself with thieves.
The assembly heard about overcrowded and underfunded schools, strained healthcare services, unpaid taxes and overworked law enforcement. In fact, Commissioner Fox had withdrawn a resolution—previously scheduled to be voted on at this meeting—to encourage the Knox County Sheriff's Department to work more closely with ICE after the Sheriff argued he simply lacked the resources to make it happen. There certainly seem to be some aggrieved parties here in Knoxville. So, who is to blame for the siphoning of our communities resources?
Well, if we were to ask Commissioner Fox, who, as previously discussed, aligns himself with thieves, he would argue that it is the people who exist in our community without authorization. In fact, he did, in a presentation that lasted 30 minutes, and revealed more about him than it did about any Christian's Biblical view on immigration.The Presentation
Intro
Fox began by quoting President Trump:Fox: "The first duty of American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens."
So how would the Commissioner have us protect American citizens?Fox: To me, this issue of illegal immigration is a simple matter of governance. We have a federal law that provides for: Who can come to this nation? Who can reside here? Who can visit, and who can't? And these laws should be enforced, not only by the federal government, but, to the extent possible, state governments and county governments. We must make Knox County, the state of Tennessee, and the United States inhospitable to people who are not supposed to reside here according to our immigration laws, so that they will return.
He would have us work with a federal agency whose "enforcement" operations quite obviously have more to do with race than law. Considering that the living Word of God makes no provision for a "racially pure" ethnostate that ICE is clearly pursuing, I can say with certainty that these intentions are not divine. They are lawless and immoral. They are the intentions of a thief.
Fox went on, asserting that opponents of this immigration crackdown are not people who associate themselves with Christianity. He cast that blanket assumption directly over no one, considering the only critics that he brought up by name all night, Matthew Nance and Jonathan Haskell. He then went on to bring up specific passages of Scripture he wanted to clarify.Leviticus 19:33
Fox: You have this principle drawn out of Scripture, from the Old Testament, and because of this principle the conclusion is: "Well, the United States shouldn't enforce it's borders. It's not 'being kind to the foreigner', and anyone who wants to be a citizen in the US, or just reside here, must be welcome and allowed to do so, and Christians should rise up against laws to the contrary, because otherwise you're not being a faithful Christian.
This statement came at the beginning of this section. Before he even started discussing the first passage, he brought up four premises he wished to argue the veracity of, in an effort to fight the strawman of: "If the Old Testament, specifically, demands kindness to foreigners, we must have completely open borders".The Premises
I. The United States is a Christian nation
The Commissioner declared this premise to be true, citing the existence of his strawman calling for open borders based on the Old Testament, the "reliance on the protection of divine Providence" of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution dated with "the Year of our Lord". He also cited the following, from former Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story:In fact, every American colony, from it's foundation down to the revolution, with the exception of Rhode Island, (if, indeed, that state be an exception) did openly, by the whole course of its laws and institutions, in some form, the Christian religion.
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States
Seemingly under the impression that the Constitution makes no substantial reference to religion at all, Commissioner Fox argued that although the Knox County official website makes no mention of the Tennessee Vols football team, the government's support of the team was evident in it's culture. Likewise, the culture of the Revolutionary period was a Christian culture, and the Constitution they drafted is inherently Christian in nature.
To state the obvious, this is untrue. Prior to the American Revolution, the colonies had an official state religion: Christianity. What Story describes is not cultural, but institutional. If the founding father's had wanted a Christian nation, they would not have amended the Constitution to the contrary.II. God's Word, the Bible, provides no limiting principles to the passages addressing hospitality to the alien
Fox started discussion of this premise by pointing out that Scripture says God established the idea of nations and borders, stating that, in the creation of nations, God was exercising his divine rights. Inherent in their creation was the right to secure their borders.
This is false. Nations came about as a natural occurrence in societal development. Here is the Scripture pertaining to the establishment of nations:These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
- Genesis 10:1-5
In any case, I do wan to expound upon divine rights. By their nature, divine rights cannot be claimed by any mortal human. Humans may be subject to a divine calling, but that calling must be interrogated by the followers of the divinity being invoked. When Commissioner Fox claims a Christian nation's divine calling to brutally police it's borders, that calling must be interrogated by those called to "a royal priesthood" in 1 Peter 2:9. Namely, other Christians.
In invoking the Moabites and Canaanites as examples of exclusion, Commissioner Fox revealed ignorance of our shared sacred text. The Son of our shared God is descended from Ruth and Rahab, Moabite and Canaanite of Jericho, respectively.
In arguing that critics of this federal wave of racial violence wish to return to Old Testament law, Commissioner Fox purposefully mischaracterizes the argument so that he, in turn, may return to Old Testament law. Of notable concern is his assertion that God calling on Israel to eradicate nations in the Old Testament, exercising his divine right, gives modern nations the inherent right to decide who exists within its borders. Here is one of the passages he was discussing:When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you,
2 and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.
3 “Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.- Deuteronomy 7:1-3
Here is what the Commissioner said:Fox: Those nations were so depraved that God ordained their destruction through the instrumentality of ancient Israel...because he didn't want them to be infected by the utter depravity of those nations. But obviously, the people from those nations could not reside in the nation of Israel. What can we extrapolate from this?...It's just inherent that a country can make laws about who can reside, who can even be inside the country itself.
This is a genocidal argument pretending not to have a target. Our elected leaders are not divine. Furthermore, the life of Christ is the New Testament against which any interpretation of God's will must be measured, and in my understanding of John 3:16, Christ does not discriminate against anyone seeking to enter the Kingdom of God.III. As a modern Christian nation, the United States must follow the pattern (laws) of ancient Israel
It was already past the ten minute limit that Commission Chair Gina Oster had given Commissioner Fox when he began to argue against this particular strawman. At that point, Oster interrupted and graciously offered him another three minutes, maximum. When the Commissioner questioned the Chair's authority to impose a time limit at all, Senior Deputy Law Director Mike Moyers was called upon to shed light on Commission Rules.Moyers: I believe that the time that any person is given to speak, including public forum, is at the discretion of the Chair.
Frustrated, Commissioner Fox threatened to continue his presentation in future meetings, Ultimately, he was allowed to carry on to completion, seventeen minutes later. To be fair, there were a couple of short interruptions later.IV. Laws creating borders and restricting immigration go beyond the boundaries God made for just government, and Christians should oppose them and are not bound to obey
Commissioner Fox quickly declared this premise untrue, and unilaterally declared federal immigration law to be just without engaging in any sort of examination. I'll use the opportunity to remind you: borders and nations arose as a natural part of human development. Debate about whether they are still necessary in the modern day, and to what extent, is reasonable.
In arguing that Christians must obey immigration law, Commissioner Fox implied that "being kind to foreigners" and "being a good neighbor" is against immigration law. It is not. Neither is non-participation in the voluntary 287(g) contract program. Neither is reforming our convoluted legal immigration pipeline. As it stands, our immigration laws are Kafkaesque.The Good Samaritan
Fox began discussion of this parable by classifying the traveler as a "Crime Victim". In describing him as such, Fox ascribed knowledge to the Samaritan that he simply does not have. The Samaritan cares for the traveler without knowing whether his assailant was a criminal or a Centurion.
Commissioner Fox then uses that "Crime Victim" classification to argue that immigration leads to the death of citizens, and therefore the Good Samaritan parable applies to the victims of immigration.Fox: So, here's Pierce Corcoran. Now, Pierce Corcoran, according to illegal immigration activists, he's not our neighbor. He's just some guy that was born here, and grew up here. Here's who they define as our neighbor. This is the guy that killed Pierce Corcoran when he drove the wrong way and hit him head on, and killed him. Supposedly this is who we're supposed to show mercy to. This is who we're supposed to show compassion to. This is who we're supposed to show justice to.
What happened to Pierce Corcoran was a tragedy. The fact that Francisco Franco-Cambrany was never tried, as the Corcoran family wished, was another. But the use of Pierce's story by Commissioner Fox, to dehumanize undocumented immigrants as an entire people group, was a disgrace.
At this point, Knox County Commissioner Shane Jackson chimed in with a question:Jackson: Are we supposed to show mercy and justice to a family that lives here in Knoxville that is supporting their family, working, and obeying our laws?
Fox: Well, I'm gonna get to who we should show justice and mercy and compassion to. And yes, we should show justice and mercy and compassion to our fellow citizens. When these laws are not enforced properly, they lead to tragedy. They lead to people being killed. And you are not showing justice and mercy and compassion to your fellow citizen, your actual neighbor, when you advocate against them and thwart the enforcement of immigration laws.
Fox went on to point out other deaths involving immigrants. Needless to say, Fox's openly racist behavior is not a Biblical approach to immigration at all. Apart from being hateful, it was also deceptive. In singling out crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, he made no mention of crime rate statistics reported by the US Department of Justice.Still, undocumented immigrants had the lowest homicide arrest rates throughout the entire study period, averaging less than half the rate at which U.S.-born citizens were arrested for homicide...Every other violent and property crime type the researchers examined followed the same general pattern. The offending rates of undocumented immigrants were consistently lower than both U.S.-born citizens and documented immigrants for assault, sexual assault, robbery, burglary, theft, and arson.
- Undocumented Immigrant Offending Rate Lower Than U.S.-Born Citizen Rate, National Institute of Justice
Instead, the Commissioner cited the TNDAGC Immigration Report, saying that undocumented individuals have a greater propensity to commit crime. However, he misrepresents the data, claiming that 2,183 undocumented immigrants committed violent crimes in 2025. Said report lists the number of charges brought against violent offenders last year, but not the number of offenders itself. There were a total of 2,183 charges of violent offense brought against an unknown number of individuals, all of whom must be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Only 39% of the total number of offenders reported, which was 11,340, could be tracked through the Tennessee justice system. Of the 4,412 cases included in the report, of both violent and nonviolent offenders, 352 (8%) have been dismissed outright, 321 (7.2%) have seen the charges dropped, and 2,281 (51.7%) remain open. Only 1232 people( 27.9%) included in this report have plead or been found guilty of any charge so far.
Due diligence is due for a reason. You may argue that we cannot be certain that Commissioner Fox was being purposefully deceitful in his presentation What I can say is that, in citing population data from the Migration Policy Institute, he included in his definition of "illegal aliens", quote:...those who entered the country without authorization and visa overstayers, as well as individuals who hold a liminal (or “twilight”) status such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), humanitarian parole, or Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as those with a pending asylum application.
For the record, this data, along with data from the American Immigration Council, which he also cites, were the first two results, in my search at least, for Tennessee immigrant population data. However, the AIC data is a lower, more current number that does not include people who are actively jumping through the hoops of our legal system. It would have been more accurate to use that data, and would have produced a higher crime rate. It appears to me, in using the MPI data, Commissioner Fox reveals his priorities.
The Commissioner went on to state what he says is the end goal of immigration law:Fox: People are saying: "Well, if there was only some way that we could keep criminal illegal aliens out, that would be an ideal situation". In other words, try to know who's coming in and out of our country. Kind of like this lady here, the anti-ICE activist, who proudly announced, without any self-awareness: "We are literally creating a place that we know who's coming in and out of our neighborhoods". This was in Minneapolis, and I say, yes. We want to do that for the whole country. We want to know who's coming and going, in and out of our country.
Pointing to ICE's dragnet, that trespasses rights spelled out in both the First and Fourth Amendment, as ideal immigration policy is certainly a choice, but it's not one he wanted us to dwell on.
Commissioner Fox quickly moved on to cartel exploitation of migrants unable to navigate our contorted immigration pipeline, as drug mules and/or sex slaves. He suggested that we should cut off immigration, instead of either fixing the pipeline or holding the true criminals accountable. We could, of course, simply do both of those things. His argument assumes the impossibility of a functional pipeline, and the immutable impotence of our justice system to pursue justice.
Fox then accused undocumented immigrants of stealing houses from documented individuals, blaming them for a failure of public policy, to which he has at least one personal claim. He goes on to state that the victim in the Good Samaritan parable was deserving of neighborly treatment because he had not violated any laws, here revealing that he believes kindness should be reserved for the legally innocent.Fox: Remember, the victim in the Good Samaritan parable, he broke no laws. He was minding his own business. He was just walking through the nation of Israel. He was not in violation of any immigration laws, he was not invading Israel, he was just attacked by robbers. So this conclusion, this Good Samaritan example, is inapposite. It's an invalid conclusion. It does not apply to illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are not our neighbors.
Christ's forgiveness of the criminal crucified beside him (Luke 23:39-43) stands in contrast with this attitude, as does historical context, leading Commissioner Shane Jackson to once again interject with a question.Jackson: Commissioner Fox, is the moral story of the Good Samaritan, isn't it more about treating others, who you hate, or dislike, as your neighbor? Because, you know, the basis of the Good Samaritan is Samaria, they were a sect of Judaism at the time, and they were hated because they thought they were the Chosen ones. So Samaritans were disliked, and the point of the Good Samaritan, I believe, is that, it is about treating others that you don't like, or that you would hate, or dislike, as your neighbor.
Fox: Well, there's something called ordo amoris and ordo caritatis, and these are orders of love and orders of charity, and you should be providing love and charity, first, to the people who are closest to you. And then, to the people in your community, and then to the people in your nation...What you're really doing, if you insist on thwarting the laws of the United States, when it comes to immigration, you're rolling the dice with the lives of your actual neighbors.
When Commissioner Fox cites "ordo amoris", he echoes Vice President JD Vance and trillionaire Elon Musk in arguing scarcity. They believe empathy can only go so far, and they claim authority to declare how far that is. That claim is invalid, as that authority belongs to the voting public. In insisting that undocumented immigrants cannot be cared for, they operate as thieves.Jackson: Do you not think you might be misinterpreting what the other side is arguing? That my side, the other side is arguing that it's a Christian perspective of: How do we enforce our law in a Christian manner, and treat others with kindness?...
Fox: We enforce it by deporting people, and returning them. what other choice is there? By enforcing it. That is the Christian thing to do.
Jackson: But should we also provide food for those who are hungry? And shelter for those who are-
Fox: No. We should not enable people to live here illegally. The answer to that is no. That's not being compassionate to your actual neighbors. Because if you do that, then you're going to attract people to come here. It needs to be inhospitable, so people have a disincentive—a deterrent—from coming here. Because America is for Americans. It's not for illegal aliens.
In seeking to assign "actual neighbors" in our community, Fox attempts to imbue a culture of othering into Knoxville that cannot go unchecked. In saying "America is for Americans" and arguing against a path to amnesty, he insinuates that immigrants are, by their nature, un-American. In his mind, there are those that deserve The Land of Opportunity, and those who do not.The Sheep and Goats (Matt. 25:31-46)
In discussing the sheep and the goats (Matt. 25:31-46), Commissioner Fox claimed that the passage refers only to interactions with Christians. One Christian group who treat needy Christians uncharitably (the goats) and another who behave in a Christ-like manner (the sheep). Having argued scarcity in an age of unbridled avarice, either Fox believes immigrants cannot be his brothers and sisters in Christ, or he is admitting to being a goat.
He then offered a conclusive summary of his presentation and offered to take any further questions. After a few moments, Junior Commissioner Hall presented hers:Hall: When Christopher Columbus came, was he not treated with kindness?
Fox: I don't know. Christopher Columbus was not part of this presentation.
Hall: Would he not be considered an alien?
Fox: He was considered an explorer.TL;DR
Knox County Commissioner Andy Fox is a white "Christian" nationalist. The idea of a "Sin of Empathy" is easy enough to tie to white supremacy and "Christian" nationalism, but if there was any doubt on what Fox is, a supporter's citation of Germany's AfD in declaring remigration to be the future will have erased it. He believes America belongs to the white "Christian" alone, for white is the Chosen race and "Christianity" the only valid religion. Anyone looking for honest solutions for their troubles would do well to avoid his suggestions, fueled, as they are, not by a sincere devotion to Christ, but by hatred.
Perhaps, instead, we should interrogate our government's relationship with the trillion-dollar man who led DOGE to gut the federal Department of Education. What ever happened to all the money on that wall of receipts? Or maybe we start closer to home, with Governor Bill Lee pushing for an expansion to a school voucher program that already dilutes our state's ability to support public schools, despite the loss of federal support. These thieves do not have the answers, for indeed they are the problem.
Drawing strength from God's will, with love enough to share,
Josiah Fernandez
#Knoxville #LocalPolitics #Apolitycse #WhiteChristianNationalism -
💬Le parti au tournesol 🌻 a souvent servi de succursale du macronisme. Les données compilées, entre autres, par Julia Cagé et Thomas Piketty, sont limpides : plus on grimpe dans les revenus, plus la propension à voter pour les Écologistes augmente. Interrogée par l’Humanité en 2024 sur le dépassement du capitalisme, Marine #Tondelier avait botté en touche. « Faudra m’expliquer ce que l’on fait à la place ».
Tout cela fait système.
https://www.hors-serie.net/emissions/verts-la-rupture/ -
💬Le parti au tournesol 🌻 a souvent servi de succursale du macronisme. Les données compilées, entre autres, par Julia Cagé et Thomas Piketty, sont limpides : plus on grimpe dans les revenus, plus la propension à voter pour les Écologistes augmente. Interrogée par l’Humanité en 2024 sur le dépassement du capitalisme, Marine #Tondelier avait botté en touche. « Faudra m’expliquer ce que l’on fait à la place ».
Tout cela fait système.
https://www.hors-serie.net/emissions/verts-la-rupture/ -
💬Le parti au tournesol 🌻 a souvent servi de succursale du macronisme. Les données compilées, entre autres, par Julia Cagé et Thomas Piketty, sont limpides : plus on grimpe dans les revenus, plus la propension à voter pour les Écologistes augmente. Interrogée par l’Humanité en 2024 sur le dépassement du capitalisme, Marine #Tondelier avait botté en touche. « Faudra m’expliquer ce que l’on fait à la place ».
Tout cela fait système.
https://www.hors-serie.net/emissions/verts-la-rupture/ -
Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
By Steel Druhm
Thus Spoke
My second AMG End-of-Year piece?! Didn’t I just get here? This is my typical reaction to life’s happenings. I’m blindsided by everything. You’ll probably notice that many of the below list entries ‘snuck up on me’ in how much I liked them, compared to everything else. The fact that we’re now halfway through the 2020s makes me feel a bit nauseous. I keep telling people I ‘just moved’ into the home I bought this year, but I’ve been in it since April. And that huge milestone—for which I feel immensely grateful and privileged to have achieved this side of 30—would have solely dominated my year were it not for two other facts: 1) I was finally diagnosed with and very recently started medication for ADHD; 2) 2024 has got to have been the strongest year of the decade so far for metal. So, time to talk about the music rather than myself.
My overoptimistic prediction that Ulcerate would release new music came true,1 and there was, in general, a particular influx of excellent material from the darker, more dissonant, and extreme sides of death and black metal. This was also the year I finally reconnected with my love of doom after a long period of lukewarm engagement. But I wouldn’t have known about half of it were it not for this gig, and the amazing people I share it with. Whether it was Dear Hollow, Kenstrosity, or Mystikus Hugebeard pinging across something they thought I might like, or a particularly potent review penned by a colleague, a commenter chipping in with some gem, or the group buzz around an album I might otherwise never have considered, there’s no better place to find and discuss metal. And speaking of community, if I ever needed a confirmation that this right here is the loveliest place on the internet, the rallying response to Ken‘s plight earlier this year from staff and readers was it.2 I couldn’t ask for better company.
I said as much last year, but I’ll probably say it every year: having this opportunity is wild and I feel so blessed. To be able to send my thoughts about music into the world where people read and consider them, that’s mad. Bumping into an AMG fan in the wild was also an affirming and heartwarming experience reminding me that there are actually real people out there who know who we are; and let me say, however enthusiastic and grateful you might be for us, the feeling is mutual. So to everyone reading this, to all the folks at AMG who make it possible for me to continually wax lyrical about stuff I love (and stuff I don’t love so much) and put up with all my overrating, to all of you: thank you. Shout out also to my list buddy Maddog, whose EOY write-up is bound to be more br00tal and much less flowery than mine, and whose in-person company I continue to have the pleasure of enjoying whenever he deigns to visit our little island up here. Oh, and thank you to the original creator and to Kenstrosity for my new avatar! I asked and you delivered. And if you actually read this far down, thank you for indulging me. But now, finally, it’s list time.
#ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – I unintentionally ended my reviewing year on a high with Pillar of Light. Or perhaps a low, if we consider mood. When a record evokes a genuine emotional response in me,3 as Caldera does, it deserves more than an Honorable Mention. So here it is. It’s one of those albums you experience that forever afterward remains tied to your particular life situation when you were first immersed, and for that reason, its longevity is increased and its impact amplified. Given how “Leaving” and “Infernal Gaze” leave me in pieces, it’s probably a good thing the misery comes down from 11 at other times. But on the next album, who knows? I’ll be ready at least.
#10. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – Much like Kenstrosity, author of the review, I have not historically been Replicant’s hugest fan. For some reason their music never stuck with me; I just didn’t get it. Infinite Mortality has been the enlightenment I needed. It’s undeniably fantastic. Brilliantly technical and ruthlessly efficient in execution, it manages to also be ridiculously groovy in a way that you wouldn’t expect from this flavor of extreme death metal. Suited, evidently, to desk sessions and gym sessions alike, given the range of play it got from me since its release, its balance of skronk and style proved why I should, long ago, have been paying attention to Replicant. Ken himself struggled to find a negative and so do I. Even interlude “SCN9A” is great, especially as it leads into monster “Pain Enduring.” Only the superlative strength of other contenders causes this to fall so low on the list.
#9. ColdCell // Age of Unreason – In a rare case of me underrating something, my review of Age of Unreason did not quite do justice to its strength. Not only have I revisited it often, but I have of late been struck ever deeper by its profundity. The honest, vulnerable lamentations on inequality (“Solidarity or Solitude”), hatred (“Discord”), and human selfishness (“Dead to the World”) go far beyond a jaded misanthropy and strike a real chord. In wrapping this up in an insidiously simple package of compelling, devastating black metal with a distinctive voice, ColdCell have made, I now recognize, a true masterpiece. Brutal in its own way, and beautiful in many more, this is a record I hardly realized had made such a strong impact on me until I saw just how many times I’d spun it. This year may have seen black metal that goes harder, or with more powerful atmospheres, but none that are as memorable as Age of Unreason.
#8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – What a behemoth. It’s hard to believe that—just for a little while—Sparagmos slipped my mind many months after its February release. Relistening brought it all back into horrifying clarity. This record throws a veil over the sun, stares at you with unseeing, ecstatic eyes of Dionysian worship, and forces you into terrified awe. I’m still blown away by how crushingly heavy and immersive it is; how it still manages to blindside me with sudden turns from ominous crawling into chaotic, chthonic tremolos and clustered, hideous vocals. A masterclass in patient, predatory ambush. Nothing else this year was like it, which is partially why I’ve had to return so often to its dark embrace. Every nightmarish track was at some point in the runnings for the Song of the Year playlist. In the end, only one could make it, and it is, as I said in my review, “as inexorable as death.”
#7. Hamferð // Men Guðs hond er sterk – I’m surprised as well. Before Men Guðs hond er sterk, I had never laid ears on Hamferð and I was quite stunned to find how instantly I loved them. It’s not often an album by a band you’d previously never spent time with claims a spot on your year-end list after one listen, but this was one of those rare occasions. Something about the sorrowful, yet also soaring, melodies delivered through the interplays of resonant chords and gentle plucks, and between caustic growls and clear, ardent cleans just transports me. I feel the solemnity, the fear, and the grief in alternately forceful and graceful heaviness thanks to these intricately woven compositions and ardent performances that make the fact the lyrics are all in Faroese completely irrelevant. And Hamferð cover breadth with such ease, the slowly rolling wave of doom rising with tremolos into new intensity; and yet still controlled, still patient. The closer and it’s sample used to bother me, but I’m long past that now. In short, as the Angry Metal Guy himself said, “the record’s flow is impeccable,” and “the writing is subtle but addictive”. He’s not kidding about that last part, I really can’t stop listening to it.
#6. Föhn // Condescending – I was not prepared for what Condescending would do to me. Like any funeral doom worth its salt, it’s massive, but its presence is not smothering, it does not suffocate. Instead, it dampens the sound of anything else, so that the lugubrious chords, vocals, and fraught, lamenting refrains reverberate inside your mind, alone. This presence is redoubled by the heart-rending devastation of the compositions it centers—lyrically and musically. Bleakly beautiful, crushing doom in all its low, slow, cavernous hell leads you into an almost blissful moroseness, just in time for the veil to tear and your spirit to crumble as haunting melodies spill in from impossibly delicate sources of saxophone, synth, or ringing strings. Condescending will not leave my mind, and as broken and misty-eyed as these songs make me—”A Day After” and “Persona” especially—I’ll keep returning to experience it again and again. Maybe I can only speak for myself; maybe you’re sensing a theme wherein I like albums that make me feel sad. Whatever the case, Föhn took my breath away, and I don’t want it back.
#5. Cave Sermon // Divine Laughter – It’s pretty irresponsible of me to put this in the list at all, let alone in this position, considering how late in the day I discovered it. But I’m not really known for being ‘responsible’ around these parts, so, what the hell. What some might pigeonhole as just wonky death metal, or blackened post-hardcore—or even post-metal, as Metal Archives confusingly stamp it—is really much more complex, deep, and unique. Gripping and strange, in a way that struck me on my very first listen, Divine Laughter is responsible for me going from never having heard of Cave Sermon to being an ardent fan in one afternoon. Every listen gives me my new favorite part and uncovers more and more of its treasures. Savage and beautiful and with unnervingly easy flow, large parts of it are total perfection (“Liquid Gol, “The Paint of An Invader”). I cannot get enough. It’s so good, actually, that it’s made me feel a bit anxious about how much I’ve still missed this year, though I am very glad that this made it to my ears, even at the 11th hour. Divine Laughter is simply one of the greatest things I’ve heard in 2024, and it’s a crime that more people aren’t talking about it.
#4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I was waiting for Blessing of Despair since January, and as it always is with things we have high expectations for, part of me was preparing for disappointment. That preparation proved unnecessary once I finally got my hands on this in the Autumn. Devenial Verdict delivered. This time, they amped up all their unique little idiosyncrasies that made me fall in love with Ash Blind, and added a criminally heavy helping of groove. This thing is atmospheric and punchy, providing soundscapes that are just as haunting and mysterious(TM) as they are stomping and cutthroat. Either way, these riffs will make you shiver. “Garden of Eyes”! “Solus”! Ahhhh! Even “Counting Silence” and “A Curse Made Flesh,” which I initially dismissed as a little understated, have this delicious melancholic presence I just want to be immersed in 24/7. Devenial Verdict’s slick mixture of mournful melody and menacing, barked growls; neck-snapping flicks of cymbal, and those resonant, aggressive chord progressions make for—almost—my favorite take on death metal that exists. The sole reason Blessing of Despair wasn’t my most-played album of 2024 is that I only started in September.4
#3. Selbst // Despondency Chord Progressions – Back in 2017 or so, I was struck by what at the time I considered the most gorgeous opening guitar on any song ever. It was “…Of Solitary Ramblings,” the first track on Selbst’s self-titled debut.5 From that day forward I was enamoured. The undercurrents of lamenting melodrama and a black metal interwoven with a distinctive style of flowing, weeping strums continue to make Selbst very special. But if I had thought that their depths of emotional poignancy and stirring, multi-layered compositions had been reached, Despondency Chord Progressions showed they had not. Cleans that some wrote off as unsavory, rather bring—in my opinion—a new vulnerability, and their rawness compounds the pathos of already intensely cathartic compositions. The album’s title is, as I noted, an apt descriptor for the musical themes, but really undersells the cry of grief and despair that erupts from the music with every shuddering, tremolo-shaken, surge and every plaintive, somber quietude. I stand by what I said back in April, that “[t]his is black metal at its most stirring, entrancingly beautiful, and existentially affecting.” The sheer magnitude of its impassioned peaks (“Third World Wretchedness,” “Between Seclusion and Obsession”) and the sting of its humanity (“When true Loneliness is Experienced,” “Chant of Self Confrontation”) are like nothing else in the genre.
#2. Amiensus // Reclamation [Parts 1 & 2] – Take it up in the comments if you think this is cheating; Reclamation is one work in my eyes. And what a masterpiece. Each part a gorgeous, immersive side of one breathtaking journey that is best experienced together. I remain stunned by Amiensus’ mastery of musical storytelling through a flowing, intricate soundscape—at turns triumphant (“Vermillion Fog of War,” “Sólfarið”), sorrowful (“Reverie,” “Leprosarium”), and always stirring. Everything about Reclamation is graceful, which is another part of its magic because it’s not as though Amiensus left the black metal behind. Rather they seem to have found the deepest essence of the genre’s unique propensity for raw emotional expression, and moulded its elements into what is hands-down the most beautiful thing I’ve heard at least this year. It is, as I noted in my write-up of Part 1, a distillation of pure joy, and uplifting no matter how wistful (“Sun and Moon”), or suffused with bittersweet longing (“A Consciousness Throughout Time,” “Acquiescence”). And with so much of it—albeit, a time that flashes by with thrilling speed—it’s impossible not to get lost in. “Sun and Moon” was so close to being my favorite song of 2024, and in another year, it would have been. For that matter, in another year Reclamation itself would have claimed the top spot on this list.
#1. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – What else could it have been? I worry that by this point I may have used up all of the words that are possible to describe this pinnacle of excellence. In reality, though, I’m not sure I even have the words to express it in the first place, not for lack of trying. Ulcerate have long been a behemoth in their realm within the larger world of death metal, but while distinctive, they have never settled, continually carving up the template of dissonance with varyingly-sized blades of atmosphere and melody, moving between their most barbed and chaotic (Everything is Fire) to their most somber and moody (The Destroyers of All) in just one album. Later Shrines of Paralysis—my former favorite—saw a turn back towards the urgency and aggression, but with this new harmonic undercurrent in place. With hindsight, I can see now that the deeply atmospheric, disquieting Stare into Death and Be Still marked a turning point, paving the ground for what could be their magnum opus. Distilling the tension and the turmoil, into tidal forces of incredible rhythm, and dark, brilliant melody, with Cutting the Throat of God, Ulcerate reach transcendence. Dire (“The Dawn is Hollow”), deadly (“Transfiguration in and Out of Worlds”), devastating (“To See Death Just Once,” “Cutting the Throat of God”). Its intricacies only continue to reveal themselves to me; helped, no doubt, by a phenomenal live performance that bewitched me anew this October. I had to upgrade this album’s score to Iconic, because it is. This is atmospheric death metal perfected, and if genre-mates weren’t already looking in Ulcerate’s direction, there’s hardly any choice now. Cutting the Throat of God represents, in the greatest form, “the savagery, authenticity, and more recently, beauty that makes this icon of the dissonant death metal world who they are.”
Honorable Mentions:
Gaerea // Coma – Despite having calmed down considerably from my previous Gaerea overhype, there’s no denying that they’ve really got something. With a new vocalist, they retain their distinctively melodramatic and intense style, while incorporating a little more vulnerability via some genuinely really lovely cleans. A great record that just wasn’t great enough for the ridiculously high standard set by this year’s fare.
Eye Eater // Alienate – I am immensely grateful for Dolphin Whisperer for bringing this to my attention. Much of this album feels like it was written specifically for me, because it uses pretty much all of my favorite things in metal. It’s atmospheric and dissonant, like Ulcerate and others in that vein; it’s kind of post-death-y, and replete with minor melodies, and a particular kind of urgency my brain associates with specific kinds of ‘-core’. I just didn’t get quite enough time with it.
Songs of the Year
“To See Death Just Once” – Ulcerate
“Sun and Moon” – Amiensus
“Solus” – Devenial Verdict
“Terminal” – Vorga
“Third World Wretchedness” – Selbst
“The Paint of an Invader” – Cave Sermon
“A Day After” – Föhn
“Ábær” – Hamferð
“Inversion” – Endonomos
“Death’s Knell Rings in Eternity” – Spectral Voice
“Leaving” – Pillar of Light
Maddog
It’s been a weird year, and this is a weird list. Last December, I lamented the emotional hollowness of 2023’s metal output. If anything, 2024 fell even flatter. My most anticipated heavyweights were competent but inconsistent (Alcest, Julie Christmas), and few albums moved me. Unfazed, death metal picked up the slack and made this year a pleasure. Led by a flurry of excellent releases from genre titans, 2024 helped rekindle my love for cantankerous death metal.
Even so, the brutality of 2024’s output shocked me. Despite my worship of Suffocation and Dying Fetus, most brutal death metal releases of the last decade haven’t gripped me. But 2024 pulled me onto the brutal train with creativity and pizzazz. Both the techy and the knuckle-dragging corners of that subgenre thrived, including several artists that didn’t make my list (like Gigan, Iniquitous Savagery, and Nile). After tending toward more emotive music and other poseur nonsense in recent years, I took a long jump back in 2024.
As if that wasn’t enough, this was a banner year for dissonance. That’s a sentence I never expected to type; even dissonant death metal’s classics tend to be hit-or-miss with me. In 2024, the skronk finally broke through, aided by many avant-garde bands drifting toward a more accessible sound. This year’s screechy screeds were cogent enough to grab my arm and unhinged enough to rip it out of its socket. It’s been a jarring but eye-opening year.
This comment from the Brodequin review doubles as a summary of my 2024 music picks:
I wonder if I, we, they or all of us have a screw loose.
Heading into 2024, I craved immersive soundscapes and misty eyes. Instead, I was met with discordant gurgling. I didn’t expect it, but I don’t regret it.
#ish. Hypoxia // Defiance – Defiance never gets old. This old-school death metal behemoth has been around for ten months and hails from a subgenre that’s infamous for monotony. And yet, like Monstrosity’s best work, it blossoms on every spin. Defiance sports 2024’s fiercest harsh vocal performance, and riffwork so potent that it could revive the Selbst baby. I don’t have anything fancy to add, so I won’t try. Defiance is a rare death metal record that’s simple, thrilling, and well-written.
#10. Dawn Treader // Bloom & Decay – The thought sometimes crosses my mind: Why does atmospheric black metal even exist? The musical possibilities abound; who would pay $8 for tremolo scales recorded in a rest stop bathroom? Records like Bloom & Decay jolt me out of my pretension. Dawn Treader’s underground gem is both a product and a peddler of overpowering emotion. Ross Connell unleashes a tirade against violence and oppression using grief-stricken guitar melodies. On the flip side, Bloom & Decay’s heavy use of major keys—my second biggest fear—blurs the line between despair and tentative hope. Most impressive is the album’s flow, which Itchymenace described better than I ever could: “The majority of Bloom & Decay is instrumental, but you hardly notice because the music has such a storytelling quality.” Bloom & Decay’s 53-minute chokehold on my heart is ineffable but unyielding.
#9. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Germany’s nameless Noise has built up a remarkable CV – 7 years, 3 bands, 8 albums. While I’ve often enjoyed his music, I never fell under his spell. Die Urkatastrophe was the last straw. A pacifist tirade told through first-person WWI vignettes, Die Urkatastrophe depicts nationalist violence and its aftermath. Armed with a sharp-edged blackened death foundation and surging chorus melodies, Kanonenfieber provides rewarding fodder even for unfeeling riff addicts. However, its excellence lies in its raw emotion. Both Noise’s lyrics and his songwriting embrace a “show, don’t tell” approach that brings the album to life. As the narrator’s cavalry offensive meets with a hilltop ambush in “Gott mit der Kavallerie,” Kanonenfieber’s upbeat riffs transform into a sudden dirge followed by frantic black metal. The epic “Waffenbrüder” evokes the wide-eyed optimism of childhood friends, the pride of enlisting, the tragedy of losing a companion, and the regrets of a life wasted. Die Urkatastrophe is both a transformative album and exemplary storytelling.
#8. Defeated Sanity // Chronicles of Lunacy – Chronicles of Lunacy is essential listening for any fans of extreme metal. Its greatest triumph is its fine mix of Defeated Sanity’s signature ingredients. Chronicles excels as pure brutal death metal through punishing caveman riffs and a tasteful dose of slam. Vaughn Stoffey’s guitars elevate this to an art form using wily fretboard acrobatics and seamless jazzy breaks. Led by kit-meister Lille Gruber, Defeated Sanity’s off-kilter rhythms and heavy syncopation miraculously aid the album’s staying power rather than hindering it. Put simply, Chronicles of Lunacy is 2024’s most vivid reminder of why I love death metal. I love its unforgiving brutality; I love its dazzling technicality; I love its groove; I love its genre-bending creative expression; I love its rhythmic feats of strength; I love its intellect; I love its idiocy. In other words, I love Defeated Sanity.
#7. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – It’s a match made in heaven: Cutting the Throat of God is Ulcerate for dummies, and I’m a dummy. Ulcerate continues to march toward more accessible ground, leaving behind the merciless dissonance of Everything is Fire. Powerful melodic themes peek through the chaos and take time to shine, offering both souvenirs and footholds. Despite Cutting’s lowbrow appeal, Ulcerate’s inimitable signature remains. Unease pervades the record, and Ulcerate’s cohesive songwriting transforms it from a concept to an emotion. In Thus Spoke’s words, Jamie Saint Merat’s drums are “more body than skeleton,” using their distinctive start-stop style to guide the mood. The album’s climaxes alone justify a purchase, as hypnotic melodies and frenzied dissonance coalesce into a tsunami. In short, Cutting the Throat of God captured both my brain and my heart.
#6. Hippotraktor // Stasis – I first heard about Belgium’s Hippotraktor from an insistent coworker, long before I discovered GardensTale’s well-worded underrating. Psychonaut meets Karnivool meets The Ocean meets Meshuggah in this pounding, beautiful prog/post adventure. Stasis’ hard-won achievement is that it navigates through disparate ideas with fluidity and flair. Psychonaut-drenched sludge forms a jagged backbone that sways between meditative and explosive. Meanwhile, Hippotraktor’s mastery of melody catapults them into genre royalty. “Stasis” uses this superpower for peaceful guitar jams, “Echoes” uses it for soaring As I Lay Dying vocal lines, and “The Reckoning” uses it for haunting continuity across its eight minutes. The djenty interdjections are well-written and screwed in tight, packing a punch even for listeners with severe djent allerdjies. Stasis is a bold statement from a new band, and it’s jostled up my list posthaste.
#5. Hell:on // Shaman – Hell:on’s folk-infused take on death metal stands apart. Shaman’s diverse influences complement each other and flourish in isolation. Phrygian themes, throat singing, and driving sitars steer the album. But despite Shaman’s folk roots, it’s an excellent slab of death metal. Hell:on’s riffs recall the threatening leviathans of Nile’s Annihilation of the Wicked, while the narrative song structures feel like a roided-out Aeternam. Even among such storied company, Shaman’s melodies stand out. Over the record’s runtime, Hell:on’s guitars shred, soar, flail, and wallop, evolving smoothly and dragging the listener along. As icing on the cake, Holdeneye’s review of Shaman features the most sobering and most badass introductory story of 2024. Hell:on demanded my attention and earned it.
#4. Pyrrhon // Exhaust – I started warming up to Exhaust on my first listen, but it took a while to diagnose why. Pyrrhon’s earlier releases didn’t click with me, but Exhaust is a trailblazer and a paradox. Pyrrhon rewrites the textbook on riffs, displaying a mastery of groove even in their wildest moments. And the noisier cuts, which remind me most of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and The Velvet Underground, are evocative narratives rather than lifeless technical exercises. The longer pieces intersperse hypnotic buildups with furious cacophony (“Out of Gas”), while the shorter tracks are simultaneously caustic and infectious. With a thick leading bass performance and a master that highlights every detail of the drums, Exhaust grows on me with every spin. Pyrrhon’s off-the-deep-end brand of experimental death metal isn’t my usual fare, but I can’t avert my ears this time. Both mellifluous and disgusting, both rifftastic and immersive, Exhaust is singular.
#3. Selbst // Despondency Chord Progressions – My first toe dip into Selbst made a lasting impression. Shortly after Despondency Chord Progressions came out, I spun it at the office. In the final minute of the opener “La Encarnación de Todos los Miedos,” I felt the involuntary tears start to flow, and I had to nuke the music and run to the bathroom to avoid worrying my desk neighbor. This embarrassing first encounter perfectly encapsulates the album. While it’s “merely” black metal, its gorgeous melodies and shrilling tremolos showcase the genre at its finest. Alternating between meditative dirges and howling chords, Selbst conveys both muffled sobs and hysterical bawling. Selbst’s fluid compositions captivated me at once and dug their claws even deeper over the ensuing months. The most heart-rending record of 2024, Despondency Chord Progressions showcases the paralyzing power of music.
#2. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Noxis’ debut is a remarkable blend of old and new. The album’s stomping riffs and popping snare drum root it in 1990s brutal death metal. Conversely, its exuberantly grimy bass tone, its proggy rhythms, and its surprise woodwind extravaganza feel unabashedly modern. Much like last year’s Ohio death metal highlight, Violence Inherent in the System succeeds by ripping throughout, whether with a vile Dying Fetus riff or with an adventurous bass melody. Although this is the longest record in my top five, its 46 minutes fly by. Boasting momentum that would make Newton blush, Noxis keeps the energy high from the barnburner “Skullcrushing Defilement” to the proggy old-school “Emanations of the Sick.” After six months of scrutinizing and adoring Violence, I still can’t fathom that this is a debut album.
#1. Wormed // Omegon – I’ve already said my piece on this, and nothing has changed. Omegon feels as thrilling, as alien, as robotic, and as human as it did in July. In a year where brutality and dissonance thrived, Wormed maxed out both dimensions. Omegon is at once a painstakingly crafted work of art, an all-consuming atmosphere, and 2024’s punchiest death metal record.
Honorable Mentions:
- Oxygen Destroyer // Guardian of the Universe – Redefining Darkness strikes again. Oxygen Destroyer’s latest death-thrash opus is a concise half hour of exhilarating riffs. The album sounds one track, but I don’t care; it gains steam as it progresses, and it lodges deeper on every listen. There’s no excuse for missing this.
- Brodequin // Harbinger of Woe – Despite its morose title, Harbinger of Woe is straightforward and riotous. Brodequin has honed a sleek archetype of brutal death metal, far from the likes of Wormed. It doesn’t aim to innovate; it just aims for high impact. It succeeds.
- Kryptos // Decimator – India’s heavy metal kings dealt me an irreplaceable shot of adrenaline. Decimator is Kryptos’ most melodically inspired work to date, an absolute scorcher, and the most viscerally satisfying production job of 2024.
- Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – Somehow, despite competition from In Aphelion and Necrophobic themselves, Necrowretch churned out the best Necrophobic album of 2024.
Songs o’ the Year:
- Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
- Hippotraktor – “The Reckoning”
- Kanonenfieber – “Waffenbrüder”
- Hypoxia – “Scorched and Skinned”
- Kryptos – “Fall to the Spectre’s Gaze”
- Wormed – “Protogod”
- Alcest – “Améthyste”
- Defeated Sanity – “Heredity Violated”
- Andy Gillion – “Acceptance”
- Selbst – “La Encarnación de Todos los Miedos”
- Pyrrhon – “Out of Gas”
- Ulcerate – “Cutting the Throat of God”
- Noxis – “Abstemious, Pious Writ of Life”
- Keygen Church – “La Chiave del mio Amor”
#2024 #Amiensus #BlogPost #Brodequin #CaveSermon #ColdCell #DawnTreader #DefeatedSanity #DevenialVerdict #EyeEater #Föhn #Gaerea #Hamferð #HellOn #Hippotraktor #Hypoxia #Kanonenfeiber #Kryptos #Necrowretch #Noxis #OxygenDestroyer #PillarOfLight #Pyrrhon #Replicant #Selbst #SpectralVoice #ThusSpokeAndMaddogSTopTenIshOf2024 #Ulcerate #Wormed
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Thus Spoke and Maddog’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024
By Steel Druhm
Thus Spoke
My second AMG End-of-Year piece?! Didn’t I just get here? This is my typical reaction to life’s happenings. I’m blindsided by everything. You’ll probably notice that many of the below list entries ‘snuck up on me’ in how much I liked them, compared to everything else. The fact that we’re now halfway through the 2020s makes me feel a bit nauseous. I keep telling people I ‘just moved’ into the home I bought this year, but I’ve been in it since April. And that huge milestone—for which I feel immensely grateful and privileged to have achieved this side of 30—would have solely dominated my year were it not for two other facts: 1) I was finally diagnosed with and very recently started medication for ADHD; 2) 2024 has got to have been the strongest year of the decade so far for metal. So, time to talk about the music rather than myself.
My overoptimistic prediction that Ulcerate would release new music came true,1 and there was, in general, a particular influx of excellent material from the darker, more dissonant, and extreme sides of death and black metal. This was also the year I finally reconnected with my love of doom after a long period of lukewarm engagement. But I wouldn’t have known about half of it were it not for this gig, and the amazing people I share it with. Whether it was Dear Hollow, Kenstrosity, or Mystikus Hugebeard pinging across something they thought I might like, or a particularly potent review penned by a colleague, a commenter chipping in with some gem, or the group buzz around an album I might otherwise never have considered, there’s no better place to find and discuss metal. And speaking of community, if I ever needed a confirmation that this right here is the loveliest place on the internet, the rallying response to Ken‘s plight earlier this year from staff and readers was it.2 I couldn’t ask for better company.
I said as much last year, but I’ll probably say it every year: having this opportunity is wild and I feel so blessed. To be able to send my thoughts about music into the world where people read and consider them, that’s mad. Bumping into an AMG fan in the wild was also an affirming and heartwarming experience reminding me that there are actually real people out there who know who we are; and let me say, however enthusiastic and grateful you might be for us, the feeling is mutual. So to everyone reading this, to all the folks at AMG who make it possible for me to continually wax lyrical about stuff I love (and stuff I don’t love so much) and put up with all my overrating, to all of you: thank you. Shout out also to my list buddy Maddog, whose EOY write-up is bound to be more br00tal and much less flowery than mine, and whose in-person company I continue to have the pleasure of enjoying whenever he deigns to visit our little island up here. Oh, and thank you to the original creator and to Kenstrosity for my new avatar! I asked and you delivered. And if you actually read this far down, thank you for indulging me. But now, finally, it’s list time.
#ish. Pillar of Light // Caldera – I unintentionally ended my reviewing year on a high with Pillar of Light. Or perhaps a low, if we consider mood. When a record evokes a genuine emotional response in me,3 as Caldera does, it deserves more than an Honorable Mention. So here it is. It’s one of those albums you experience that forever afterward remains tied to your particular life situation when you were first immersed, and for that reason, its longevity is increased and its impact amplified. Given how “Leaving” and “Infernal Gaze” leave me in pieces, it’s probably a good thing the misery comes down from 11 at other times. But on the next album, who knows? I’ll be ready at least.
#10. Replicant // Infinite Mortality – Much like Kenstrosity, author of the review, I have not historically been Replicant’s hugest fan. For some reason their music never stuck with me; I just didn’t get it. Infinite Mortality has been the enlightenment I needed. It’s undeniably fantastic. Brilliantly technical and ruthlessly efficient in execution, it manages to also be ridiculously groovy in a way that you wouldn’t expect from this flavor of extreme death metal. Suited, evidently, to desk sessions and gym sessions alike, given the range of play it got from me since its release, its balance of skronk and style proved why I should, long ago, have been paying attention to Replicant. Ken himself struggled to find a negative and so do I. Even interlude “SCN9A” is great, especially as it leads into monster “Pain Enduring.” Only the superlative strength of other contenders causes this to fall so low on the list.
#9. ColdCell // Age of Unreason – In a rare case of me underrating something, my review of Age of Unreason did not quite do justice to its strength. Not only have I revisited it often, but I have of late been struck ever deeper by its profundity. The honest, vulnerable lamentations on inequality (“Solidarity or Solitude”), hatred (“Discord”), and human selfishness (“Dead to the World”) go far beyond a jaded misanthropy and strike a real chord. In wrapping this up in an insidiously simple package of compelling, devastating black metal with a distinctive voice, ColdCell have made, I now recognize, a true masterpiece. Brutal in its own way, and beautiful in many more, this is a record I hardly realized had made such a strong impact on me until I saw just how many times I’d spun it. This year may have seen black metal that goes harder, or with more powerful atmospheres, but none that are as memorable as Age of Unreason.
#8. Spectral Voice // Sparagmos – What a behemoth. It’s hard to believe that—just for a little while—Sparagmos slipped my mind many months after its February release. Relistening brought it all back into horrifying clarity. This record throws a veil over the sun, stares at you with unseeing, ecstatic eyes of Dionysian worship, and forces you into terrified awe. I’m still blown away by how crushingly heavy and immersive it is; how it still manages to blindside me with sudden turns from ominous crawling into chaotic, chthonic tremolos and clustered, hideous vocals. A masterclass in patient, predatory ambush. Nothing else this year was like it, which is partially why I’ve had to return so often to its dark embrace. Every nightmarish track was at some point in the runnings for the Song of the Year playlist. In the end, only one could make it, and it is, as I said in my review, “as inexorable as death.”
#7. Hamferð // Men Guðs hond er sterk – I’m surprised as well. Before Men Guðs hond er sterk, I had never laid ears on Hamferð and I was quite stunned to find how instantly I loved them. It’s not often an album by a band you’d previously never spent time with claims a spot on your year-end list after one listen, but this was one of those rare occasions. Something about the sorrowful, yet also soaring, melodies delivered through the interplays of resonant chords and gentle plucks, and between caustic growls and clear, ardent cleans just transports me. I feel the solemnity, the fear, and the grief in alternately forceful and graceful heaviness thanks to these intricately woven compositions and ardent performances that make the fact the lyrics are all in Faroese completely irrelevant. And Hamferð cover breadth with such ease, the slowly rolling wave of doom rising with tremolos into new intensity; and yet still controlled, still patient. The closer and it’s sample used to bother me, but I’m long past that now. In short, as the Angry Metal Guy himself said, “the record’s flow is impeccable,” and “the writing is subtle but addictive”. He’s not kidding about that last part, I really can’t stop listening to it.
#6. Föhn // Condescending – I was not prepared for what Condescending would do to me. Like any funeral doom worth its salt, it’s massive, but its presence is not smothering, it does not suffocate. Instead, it dampens the sound of anything else, so that the lugubrious chords, vocals, and fraught, lamenting refrains reverberate inside your mind, alone. This presence is redoubled by the heart-rending devastation of the compositions it centers—lyrically and musically. Bleakly beautiful, crushing doom in all its low, slow, cavernous hell leads you into an almost blissful moroseness, just in time for the veil to tear and your spirit to crumble as haunting melodies spill in from impossibly delicate sources of saxophone, synth, or ringing strings. Condescending will not leave my mind, and as broken and misty-eyed as these songs make me—”A Day After” and “Persona” especially—I’ll keep returning to experience it again and again. Maybe I can only speak for myself; maybe you’re sensing a theme wherein I like albums that make me feel sad. Whatever the case, Föhn took my breath away, and I don’t want it back.
#5. Cave Sermon // Divine Laughter – It’s pretty irresponsible of me to put this in the list at all, let alone in this position, considering how late in the day I discovered it. But I’m not really known for being ‘responsible’ around these parts, so, what the hell. What some might pigeonhole as just wonky death metal, or blackened post-hardcore—or even post-metal, as Metal Archives confusingly stamp it—is really much more complex, deep, and unique. Gripping and strange, in a way that struck me on my very first listen, Divine Laughter is responsible for me going from never having heard of Cave Sermon to being an ardent fan in one afternoon. Every listen gives me my new favorite part and uncovers more and more of its treasures. Savage and beautiful and with unnervingly easy flow, large parts of it are total perfection (“Liquid Gol, “The Paint of An Invader”). I cannot get enough. It’s so good, actually, that it’s made me feel a bit anxious about how much I’ve still missed this year, though I am very glad that this made it to my ears, even at the 11th hour. Divine Laughter is simply one of the greatest things I’ve heard in 2024, and it’s a crime that more people aren’t talking about it.
#4. Devenial Verdict // Blessing of Despair – I was waiting for Blessing of Despair since January, and as it always is with things we have high expectations for, part of me was preparing for disappointment. That preparation proved unnecessary once I finally got my hands on this in the Autumn. Devenial Verdict delivered. This time, they amped up all their unique little idiosyncrasies that made me fall in love with Ash Blind, and added a criminally heavy helping of groove. This thing is atmospheric and punchy, providing soundscapes that are just as haunting and mysterious(TM) as they are stomping and cutthroat. Either way, these riffs will make you shiver. “Garden of Eyes”! “Solus”! Ahhhh! Even “Counting Silence” and “A Curse Made Flesh,” which I initially dismissed as a little understated, have this delicious melancholic presence I just want to be immersed in 24/7. Devenial Verdict’s slick mixture of mournful melody and menacing, barked growls; neck-snapping flicks of cymbal, and those resonant, aggressive chord progressions make for—almost—my favorite take on death metal that exists. The sole reason Blessing of Despair wasn’t my most-played album of 2024 is that I only started in September.4
#3. Selbst // Despondency Chord Progressions – Back in 2017 or so, I was struck by what at the time I considered the most gorgeous opening guitar on any song ever. It was “…Of Solitary Ramblings,” the first track on Selbst’s self-titled debut.5 From that day forward I was enamoured. The undercurrents of lamenting melodrama and a black metal interwoven with a distinctive style of flowing, weeping strums continue to make Selbst very special. But if I had thought that their depths of emotional poignancy and stirring, multi-layered compositions had been reached, Despondency Chord Progressions showed they had not. Cleans that some wrote off as unsavory, rather bring—in my opinion—a new vulnerability, and their rawness compounds the pathos of already intensely cathartic compositions. The album’s title is, as I noted, an apt descriptor for the musical themes, but really undersells the cry of grief and despair that erupts from the music with every shuddering, tremolo-shaken, surge and every plaintive, somber quietude. I stand by what I said back in April, that “[t]his is black metal at its most stirring, entrancingly beautiful, and existentially affecting.” The sheer magnitude of its impassioned peaks (“Third World Wretchedness,” “Between Seclusion and Obsession”) and the sting of its humanity (“When true Loneliness is Experienced,” “Chant of Self Confrontation”) are like nothing else in the genre.
#2. Amiensus // Reclamation [Parts 1 & 2] – Take it up in the comments if you think this is cheating; Reclamation is one work in my eyes. And what a masterpiece. Each part a gorgeous, immersive side of one breathtaking journey that is best experienced together. I remain stunned by Amiensus’ mastery of musical storytelling through a flowing, intricate soundscape—at turns triumphant (“Vermillion Fog of War,” “Sólfarið”), sorrowful (“Reverie,” “Leprosarium”), and always stirring. Everything about Reclamation is graceful, which is another part of its magic because it’s not as though Amiensus left the black metal behind. Rather they seem to have found the deepest essence of the genre’s unique propensity for raw emotional expression, and moulded its elements into what is hands-down the most beautiful thing I’ve heard at least this year. It is, as I noted in my write-up of Part 1, a distillation of pure joy, and uplifting no matter how wistful (“Sun and Moon”), or suffused with bittersweet longing (“A Consciousness Throughout Time,” “Acquiescence”). And with so much of it—albeit, a time that flashes by with thrilling speed—it’s impossible not to get lost in. “Sun and Moon” was so close to being my favorite song of 2024, and in another year, it would have been. For that matter, in another year Reclamation itself would have claimed the top spot on this list.
#1. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – What else could it have been? I worry that by this point I may have used up all of the words that are possible to describe this pinnacle of excellence. In reality, though, I’m not sure I even have the words to express it in the first place, not for lack of trying. Ulcerate have long been a behemoth in their realm within the larger world of death metal, but while distinctive, they have never settled, continually carving up the template of dissonance with varyingly-sized blades of atmosphere and melody, moving between their most barbed and chaotic (Everything is Fire) to their most somber and moody (The Destroyers of All) in just one album. Later Shrines of Paralysis—my former favorite—saw a turn back towards the urgency and aggression, but with this new harmonic undercurrent in place. With hindsight, I can see now that the deeply atmospheric, disquieting Stare into Death and Be Still marked a turning point, paving the ground for what could be their magnum opus. Distilling the tension and the turmoil, into tidal forces of incredible rhythm, and dark, brilliant melody, with Cutting the Throat of God, Ulcerate reach transcendence. Dire (“The Dawn is Hollow”), deadly (“Transfiguration in and Out of Worlds”), devastating (“To See Death Just Once,” “Cutting the Throat of God”). Its intricacies only continue to reveal themselves to me; helped, no doubt, by a phenomenal live performance that bewitched me anew this October. I had to upgrade this album’s score to Iconic, because it is. This is atmospheric death metal perfected, and if genre-mates weren’t already looking in Ulcerate’s direction, there’s hardly any choice now. Cutting the Throat of God represents, in the greatest form, “the savagery, authenticity, and more recently, beauty that makes this icon of the dissonant death metal world who they are.”
Honorable Mentions:
Gaerea // Coma – Despite having calmed down considerably from my previous Gaerea overhype, there’s no denying that they’ve really got something. With a new vocalist, they retain their distinctively melodramatic and intense style, while incorporating a little more vulnerability via some genuinely really lovely cleans. A great record that just wasn’t great enough for the ridiculously high standard set by this year’s fare.
Eye Eater // Alienate – I am immensely grateful for Dolphin Whisperer for bringing this to my attention. Much of this album feels like it was written specifically for me, because it uses pretty much all of my favorite things in metal. It’s atmospheric and dissonant, like Ulcerate and others in that vein; it’s kind of post-death-y, and replete with minor melodies, and a particular kind of urgency my brain associates with specific kinds of ‘-core’. I just didn’t get quite enough time with it.
Songs of the Year
“To See Death Just Once” – Ulcerate
“Sun and Moon” – Amiensus
“Solus” – Devenial Verdict
“Terminal” – Vorga
“Third World Wretchedness” – Selbst
“The Paint of an Invader” – Cave Sermon
“A Day After” – Föhn
“Ábær” – Hamferð
“Inversion” – Endonomos
“Death’s Knell Rings in Eternity” – Spectral Voice
“Leaving” – Pillar of Light
Maddog
It’s been a weird year, and this is a weird list. Last December, I lamented the emotional hollowness of 2023’s metal output. If anything, 2024 fell even flatter. My most anticipated heavyweights were competent but inconsistent (Alcest, Julie Christmas), and few albums moved me. Unfazed, death metal picked up the slack and made this year a pleasure. Led by a flurry of excellent releases from genre titans, 2024 helped rekindle my love for cantankerous death metal.
Even so, the brutality of 2024’s output shocked me. Despite my worship of Suffocation and Dying Fetus, most brutal death metal releases of the last decade haven’t gripped me. But 2024 pulled me onto the brutal train with creativity and pizzazz. Both the techy and the knuckle-dragging corners of that subgenre thrived, including several artists that didn’t make my list (like Gigan, Iniquitous Savagery, and Nile). After tending toward more emotive music and other poseur nonsense in recent years, I took a long jump back in 2024.
As if that wasn’t enough, this was a banner year for dissonance. That’s a sentence I never expected to type; even dissonant death metal’s classics tend to be hit-or-miss with me. In 2024, the skronk finally broke through, aided by many avant-garde bands drifting toward a more accessible sound. This year’s screechy screeds were cogent enough to grab my arm and unhinged enough to rip it out of its socket. It’s been a jarring but eye-opening year.
This comment from the Brodequin review doubles as a summary of my 2024 music picks:
I wonder if I, we, they or all of us have a screw loose.
Heading into 2024, I craved immersive soundscapes and misty eyes. Instead, I was met with discordant gurgling. I didn’t expect it, but I don’t regret it.
#ish. Hypoxia // Defiance – Defiance never gets old. This old-school death metal behemoth has been around for ten months and hails from a subgenre that’s infamous for monotony. And yet, like Monstrosity’s best work, it blossoms on every spin. Defiance sports 2024’s fiercest harsh vocal performance, and riffwork so potent that it could revive the Selbst baby. I don’t have anything fancy to add, so I won’t try. Defiance is a rare death metal record that’s simple, thrilling, and well-written.
#10. Dawn Treader // Bloom & Decay – The thought sometimes crosses my mind: Why does atmospheric black metal even exist? The musical possibilities abound; who would pay $8 for tremolo scales recorded in a rest stop bathroom? Records like Bloom & Decay jolt me out of my pretension. Dawn Treader’s underground gem is both a product and a peddler of overpowering emotion. Ross Connell unleashes a tirade against violence and oppression using grief-stricken guitar melodies. On the flip side, Bloom & Decay’s heavy use of major keys—my second biggest fear—blurs the line between despair and tentative hope. Most impressive is the album’s flow, which Itchymenace described better than I ever could: “The majority of Bloom & Decay is instrumental, but you hardly notice because the music has such a storytelling quality.” Bloom & Decay’s 53-minute chokehold on my heart is ineffable but unyielding.
#9. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Germany’s nameless Noise has built up a remarkable CV – 7 years, 3 bands, 8 albums. While I’ve often enjoyed his music, I never fell under his spell. Die Urkatastrophe was the last straw. A pacifist tirade told through first-person WWI vignettes, Die Urkatastrophe depicts nationalist violence and its aftermath. Armed with a sharp-edged blackened death foundation and surging chorus melodies, Kanonenfieber provides rewarding fodder even for unfeeling riff addicts. However, its excellence lies in its raw emotion. Both Noise’s lyrics and his songwriting embrace a “show, don’t tell” approach that brings the album to life. As the narrator’s cavalry offensive meets with a hilltop ambush in “Gott mit der Kavallerie,” Kanonenfieber’s upbeat riffs transform into a sudden dirge followed by frantic black metal. The epic “Waffenbrüder” evokes the wide-eyed optimism of childhood friends, the pride of enlisting, the tragedy of losing a companion, and the regrets of a life wasted. Die Urkatastrophe is both a transformative album and exemplary storytelling.
#8. Defeated Sanity // Chronicles of Lunacy – Chronicles of Lunacy is essential listening for any fans of extreme metal. Its greatest triumph is its fine mix of Defeated Sanity’s signature ingredients. Chronicles excels as pure brutal death metal through punishing caveman riffs and a tasteful dose of slam. Vaughn Stoffey’s guitars elevate this to an art form using wily fretboard acrobatics and seamless jazzy breaks. Led by kit-meister Lille Gruber, Defeated Sanity’s off-kilter rhythms and heavy syncopation miraculously aid the album’s staying power rather than hindering it. Put simply, Chronicles of Lunacy is 2024’s most vivid reminder of why I love death metal. I love its unforgiving brutality; I love its dazzling technicality; I love its groove; I love its genre-bending creative expression; I love its rhythmic feats of strength; I love its intellect; I love its idiocy. In other words, I love Defeated Sanity.
#7. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – It’s a match made in heaven: Cutting the Throat of God is Ulcerate for dummies, and I’m a dummy. Ulcerate continues to march toward more accessible ground, leaving behind the merciless dissonance of Everything is Fire. Powerful melodic themes peek through the chaos and take time to shine, offering both souvenirs and footholds. Despite Cutting’s lowbrow appeal, Ulcerate’s inimitable signature remains. Unease pervades the record, and Ulcerate’s cohesive songwriting transforms it from a concept to an emotion. In Thus Spoke’s words, Jamie Saint Merat’s drums are “more body than skeleton,” using their distinctive start-stop style to guide the mood. The album’s climaxes alone justify a purchase, as hypnotic melodies and frenzied dissonance coalesce into a tsunami. In short, Cutting the Throat of God captured both my brain and my heart.
#6. Hippotraktor // Stasis – I first heard about Belgium’s Hippotraktor from an insistent coworker, long before I discovered GardensTale’s well-worded underrating. Psychonaut meets Karnivool meets The Ocean meets Meshuggah in this pounding, beautiful prog/post adventure. Stasis’ hard-won achievement is that it navigates through disparate ideas with fluidity and flair. Psychonaut-drenched sludge forms a jagged backbone that sways between meditative and explosive. Meanwhile, Hippotraktor’s mastery of melody catapults them into genre royalty. “Stasis” uses this superpower for peaceful guitar jams, “Echoes” uses it for soaring As I Lay Dying vocal lines, and “The Reckoning” uses it for haunting continuity across its eight minutes. The djenty interdjections are well-written and screwed in tight, packing a punch even for listeners with severe djent allerdjies. Stasis is a bold statement from a new band, and it’s jostled up my list posthaste.
#5. Hell:on // Shaman – Hell:on’s folk-infused take on death metal stands apart. Shaman’s diverse influences complement each other and flourish in isolation. Phrygian themes, throat singing, and driving sitars steer the album. But despite Shaman’s folk roots, it’s an excellent slab of death metal. Hell:on’s riffs recall the threatening leviathans of Nile’s Annihilation of the Wicked, while the narrative song structures feel like a roided-out Aeternam. Even among such storied company, Shaman’s melodies stand out. Over the record’s runtime, Hell:on’s guitars shred, soar, flail, and wallop, evolving smoothly and dragging the listener along. As icing on the cake, Holdeneye’s review of Shaman features the most sobering and most badass introductory story of 2024. Hell:on demanded my attention and earned it.
#4. Pyrrhon // Exhaust – I started warming up to Exhaust on my first listen, but it took a while to diagnose why. Pyrrhon’s earlier releases didn’t click with me, but Exhaust is a trailblazer and a paradox. Pyrrhon rewrites the textbook on riffs, displaying a mastery of groove even in their wildest moments. And the noisier cuts, which remind me most of Pink Floyd’s The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and The Velvet Underground, are evocative narratives rather than lifeless technical exercises. The longer pieces intersperse hypnotic buildups with furious cacophony (“Out of Gas”), while the shorter tracks are simultaneously caustic and infectious. With a thick leading bass performance and a master that highlights every detail of the drums, Exhaust grows on me with every spin. Pyrrhon’s off-the-deep-end brand of experimental death metal isn’t my usual fare, but I can’t avert my ears this time. Both mellifluous and disgusting, both rifftastic and immersive, Exhaust is singular.
#3. Selbst // Despondency Chord Progressions – My first toe dip into Selbst made a lasting impression. Shortly after Despondency Chord Progressions came out, I spun it at the office. In the final minute of the opener “La Encarnación de Todos los Miedos,” I felt the involuntary tears start to flow, and I had to nuke the music and run to the bathroom to avoid worrying my desk neighbor. This embarrassing first encounter perfectly encapsulates the album. While it’s “merely” black metal, its gorgeous melodies and shrilling tremolos showcase the genre at its finest. Alternating between meditative dirges and howling chords, Selbst conveys both muffled sobs and hysterical bawling. Selbst’s fluid compositions captivated me at once and dug their claws even deeper over the ensuing months. The most heart-rending record of 2024, Despondency Chord Progressions showcases the paralyzing power of music.
#2. Noxis // Violence Inherent in the System – Noxis’ debut is a remarkable blend of old and new. The album’s stomping riffs and popping snare drum root it in 1990s brutal death metal. Conversely, its exuberantly grimy bass tone, its proggy rhythms, and its surprise woodwind extravaganza feel unabashedly modern. Much like last year’s Ohio death metal highlight, Violence Inherent in the System succeeds by ripping throughout, whether with a vile Dying Fetus riff or with an adventurous bass melody. Although this is the longest record in my top five, its 46 minutes fly by. Boasting momentum that would make Newton blush, Noxis keeps the energy high from the barnburner “Skullcrushing Defilement” to the proggy old-school “Emanations of the Sick.” After six months of scrutinizing and adoring Violence, I still can’t fathom that this is a debut album.
#1. Wormed // Omegon – I’ve already said my piece on this, and nothing has changed. Omegon feels as thrilling, as alien, as robotic, and as human as it did in July. In a year where brutality and dissonance thrived, Wormed maxed out both dimensions. Omegon is at once a painstakingly crafted work of art, an all-consuming atmosphere, and 2024’s punchiest death metal record.
Honorable Mentions:
- Oxygen Destroyer // Guardian of the Universe – Redefining Darkness strikes again. Oxygen Destroyer’s latest death-thrash opus is a concise half hour of exhilarating riffs. The album sounds one track, but I don’t care; it gains steam as it progresses, and it lodges deeper on every listen. There’s no excuse for missing this.
- Brodequin // Harbinger of Woe – Despite its morose title, Harbinger of Woe is straightforward and riotous. Brodequin has honed a sleek archetype of brutal death metal, far from the likes of Wormed. It doesn’t aim to innovate; it just aims for high impact. It succeeds.
- Kryptos // Decimator – India’s heavy metal kings dealt me an irreplaceable shot of adrenaline. Decimator is Kryptos’ most melodically inspired work to date, an absolute scorcher, and the most viscerally satisfying production job of 2024.
- Necrowretch // Swords of Dajjal – Somehow, despite competition from In Aphelion and Necrophobic themselves, Necrowretch churned out the best Necrophobic album of 2024.
Songs o’ the Year:
- Julie Christmas – “The Lighthouse”
- Hippotraktor – “The Reckoning”
- Kanonenfieber – “Waffenbrüder”
- Hypoxia – “Scorched and Skinned”
- Kryptos – “Fall to the Spectre’s Gaze”
- Wormed – “Protogod”
- Alcest – “Améthyste”
- Defeated Sanity – “Heredity Violated”
- Andy Gillion – “Acceptance”
- Selbst – “La Encarnación de Todos los Miedos”
- Pyrrhon – “Out of Gas”
- Ulcerate – “Cutting the Throat of God”
- Noxis – “Abstemious, Pious Writ of Life”
- Keygen Church – “La Chiave del mio Amor”
#2024 #Amiensus #BlogPost #Brodequin #CaveSermon #ColdCell #DawnTreader #DefeatedSanity #DevenialVerdict #EyeEater #Föhn #Gaerea #Hamferð #HellOn #Hippotraktor #Hypoxia #Kanonenfeiber #Kryptos #Necrowretch #Noxis #OxygenDestroyer #PillarOfLight #Pyrrhon #Replicant #Selbst #SpectralVoice #ThusSpokeAndMaddogSTopTenIshOf2024 #Ulcerate #Wormed