home.social

#haunts — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #haunts, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Checking out a new Big Bald Buddies Show in which JimJam and Jonny are on the road to Indianapolis for Haunt Season! Food and Haunted Nights are in store. #podcast #horror #haunts #food #podcast #roadtrip

    podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/

  2. Checking out a new Big Bald Buddies Show in which JimJam and Jonny are on the road to Indianapolis for Haunt Season! Food and Haunted Nights are in store. #podcast #horror #haunts #food #podcast #roadtrip

    podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/

  3. Checking out a new Big Bald Buddies Show in which JimJam and Jonny are on the road to Indianapolis for Haunt Season! Food and Haunted Nights are in store. #podcast #horror #haunts #food #podcast #roadtrip

    podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/

  4. Checking out a new Big Bald Buddies Show in which JimJam and Jonny are on the road to Indianapolis for Haunt Season! Food and Haunted Nights are in store. #podcast #horror #haunts #food #podcast #roadtrip

    podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/

  5. Checking out a new Big Bald Buddies Show in which JimJam and Jonny are on the road to Indianapolis for Haunt Season! Food and Haunted Nights are in store. #podcast #horror #haunts #food #podcast #roadtrip

    podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/

  6. e.g. #UTOPIA #anarchocommunism#narratives #Spuk #FixeIdee

    Spiritual people have something they’ve planted in their head that is supposed to be realized. They have concepts of love, goodness, and the like, which they would like to see actualized; therefore they want to build a kingdom of love on earth, in which no one any longer acts from self-interest, but everyone acts “from love.” Love is supposed to rule. What they’ve planted in their head, what is one supposed to call it other than—a #fixedidea? Indeed, it “#haunts their heads.” The most oppressive #phantasm is the human being. Just think of the proverb, “The road to ruin is paved with good intentions.” The intention to completely actualize humanity in oneself, to completely become human, is of such a ruinous sort; such are the intentions to become good, noble, loving, etc.

    Die geistlichen Menschen haben sich Etwas in den Kopf gesetzt, was realisiert werden soll. Sie haben Begriffe von Liebe, Güte u. dergl., die sie verwirklicht sehen möchten; darum wollen sie ein Reich der Liebe auf Erden errichten, worin Keiner mehr aus Eigennutz, sondern Jeder „aus Liebe“ handelt. Die Liebe soll herrschen. Was sie sich in den Kopf gesetzt haben, wie soll man das anders nennen, als – #fixeIdee? Es „#spukt ja in ihrem Kopfe“. Der beklemmendste #Spuk ist der Mensch. Man denke des Sprichwortes: „Der Weg zum Verderben ist mit guten Vorsätzen gepflastert.“ Der Vorsatz, die Menschlichkeit ganz in sich zu verwirklichen, ganz Mensch zu werden, ist von so verderblicher Art; dahin gehören die Vorsätze, gut, edel, liebevoll usw. zu werden.

    — Max Stirner

  7. e.g. #UTOPIA #anarchocommunism#narratives #Spuk #FixeIdee

    Spiritual people have something they’ve planted in their head that is supposed to be realized. They have concepts of love, goodness, and the like, which they would like to see actualized; therefore they want to build a kingdom of love on earth, in which no one any longer acts from self-interest, but everyone acts “from love.” Love is supposed to rule. What they’ve planted in their head, what is one supposed to call it other than—a #fixedidea? Indeed, it “#haunts their heads.” The most oppressive #phantasm is the human being. Just think of the proverb, “The road to ruin is paved with good intentions.” The intention to completely actualize humanity in oneself, to completely become human, is of such a ruinous sort; such are the intentions to become good, noble, loving, etc.

    Die geistlichen Menschen haben sich Etwas in den Kopf gesetzt, was realisiert werden soll. Sie haben Begriffe von Liebe, Güte u. dergl., die sie verwirklicht sehen möchten; darum wollen sie ein Reich der Liebe auf Erden errichten, worin Keiner mehr aus Eigennutz, sondern Jeder „aus Liebe“ handelt. Die Liebe soll herrschen. Was sie sich in den Kopf gesetzt haben, wie soll man das anders nennen, als – #fixeIdee? Es „#spukt ja in ihrem Kopfe“. Der beklemmendste #Spuk ist der Mensch. Man denke des Sprichwortes: „Der Weg zum Verderben ist mit guten Vorsätzen gepflastert.“ Der Vorsatz, die Menschlichkeit ganz in sich zu verwirklichen, ganz Mensch zu werden, ist von so verderblicher Art; dahin gehören die Vorsätze, gut, edel, liebevoll usw. zu werden.

    — Max Stirner

  8. e.g. #UTOPIA #anarchocommunism#narratives #Spuk #FixeIdee

    Spiritual people have something they’ve planted in their head that is supposed to be realized. They have concepts of love, goodness, and the like, which they would like to see actualized; therefore they want to build a kingdom of love on earth, in which no one any longer acts from self-interest, but everyone acts “from love.” Love is supposed to rule. What they’ve planted in their head, what is one supposed to call it other than—a #fixedidea? Indeed, it “#haunts their heads.” The most oppressive #phantasm is the human being. Just think of the proverb, “The road to ruin is paved with good intentions.” The intention to completely actualize humanity in oneself, to completely become human, is of such a ruinous sort; such are the intentions to become good, noble, loving, etc.

    Die geistlichen Menschen haben sich Etwas in den Kopf gesetzt, was realisiert werden soll. Sie haben Begriffe von Liebe, Güte u. dergl., die sie verwirklicht sehen möchten; darum wollen sie ein Reich der Liebe auf Erden errichten, worin Keiner mehr aus Eigennutz, sondern Jeder „aus Liebe“ handelt. Die Liebe soll herrschen. Was sie sich in den Kopf gesetzt haben, wie soll man das anders nennen, als – #fixeIdee? Es „#spukt ja in ihrem Kopfe“. Der beklemmendste #Spuk ist der Mensch. Man denke des Sprichwortes: „Der Weg zum Verderben ist mit guten Vorsätzen gepflastert.“ Der Vorsatz, die Menschlichkeit ganz in sich zu verwirklichen, ganz Mensch zu werden, ist von so verderblicher Art; dahin gehören die Vorsätze, gut, edel, liebevoll usw. zu werden.

    — Max Stirner

  9. Black Aleph – Apsides Review

    By Dear Hollow

    Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, while short, is nothing short of perplexing in its evasion of genre trappings, ultimately making some form of drone metal with folk instruments, imbued with post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. However, the value lies behind these descriptors, with a distinct ritualistic heart beating beneath as its Middle Eastern modal traditions guide the movements—a divine and otherworldly experience. Don’t misunderstand, Apsides will still crush you, but just as much in its serenity as its dense guitar riffs—the weight it conjures is a suggestion and anticipation of punishment rather than a rod brandished. The result is haunting and unique, but brimming with more potential than it capitalizes upon.

    Black Aleph is a trio from Australia, its Sydney- and Melbourne-based members comprised other acts from the country’s weirder underground offerings. Aside from respective solo offerings, guitar and effects wizard Lachlan Dale hails from maqam-centric acts like Hashshashin and the Arya Ensemble,1 cellist Peter Hollo lends his eerie drones in post-rock/electronic collectives like Tangents, Haunts, and FourPlay String Quartet, and dar player/setarist Timothy Johannessen plays in the folk-inclined Mehr Ensemble. Johannessen and Dale’s respective roots in Arabic, Iranian, and Persian folk music pronounce the motifs that Black Aleph utilizes. The trio has been compared to renowned experimental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Justin Broadrick, and Jesu, while associated with members of We Lost the Sea and Sunn O))). However, Black Aleph plays more in line with Hashshashin or countrymates Omahara in the blurring of drone and folk, ever-punishing and ever-organic.

    Black Aleph deals in a style that balances weight, tension, and melody. Just as in Godspeed’s Lift Your Skinny Fists…, chord progressions throughout Apsides are layered with tension, bated breath between dissonance and harmony. While layered with ominous droning doom riffs (“Descent,” “Precession”), the crescendos within its micro-movements prove the most intriguing. Whether it be its dancing and complex rhythms (“Return”), climbing arpeggios (the “Ambit” duo), or gradual uses of volume and curious motifs (“Separation,” “Return”) the best uses of the percussive daf are utilized in quieter moments, creating a pulsing undercurrent of mystery and frailty rather than the punishing drums they pretend to be in the more droning cuts. These more gentle movements gradually increase in girth with post-rock intention, erupting in satisfying droning climaxes (“Ambit II (Aphelion),” “Return”). While droning guitars are relatively straightforward, their acoustic instruments—setar, daf, cello, and violin2—provide Black Aleph an easy and effective bridge between droning metal and folk motifs, as the songs are constructed safely and neatly.

    Black Aleph’s voiceless music creates a greater impetus to focus on the songwriting, and unfortunately, Apsides suffers from moments of directionless meandering and awkwardly curtailed movements. In general, the lack of vocals is a critique depending on the listener. In a manner of songwriting, however, the best crescendo occurs in “Ambit II (Aphelion)” and no track following lives up to this peak, although others attempt to scale it (“Separation,” “Return”). While noodling occurs throughout (i.e. “Ambit I (Ascension)”), it overwhelms the moments of climax, leading tracks plummeting to the ground, especially in the limp closer “Occultation,” whose wonky rhythms and skronky setar rob the guitars of needed weight. Most frustrating with Black Aleph is that, although each track is neatly composed and competently executed, the album at large feels too short and abrupt. Apisdes’ thirty-minute runtime feels too short like Black Aleph missed the chance to adequately flesh out their ideas when eschewing drone metal’s tendency towards lengthy offerings.

    Apsides offers a unique sound, hindered by its own ambition. Although the songs are too short and performances can be shortsighted, Black Aleph has an endlessly intriguing premise and unique execution. Ritualistic rhythms, Middle Eastern motifs, droning riffs, and otherworldly drive collide in an album that largely succeeds. It’s good that I want to hear more of Black Aleph, because I think their next album will be better than Apsides.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
    Label: Self-Released
    Websites: blackaleph.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blackaleph
    Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

    #2024 #30 #Apsides #AryaEnsemble #AustralianMetal #BlackAleph #DoomMetal #Drone #DroneMetal #Folk #FourPlayStringQuartet #GodspeedYouBlackEmperor #Hashshashin #Haunts #Jesu #JustinBroadrick #MehrEnsemble #Noise #Oct24 #Omahara #PostRock #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #SunnO_ #Tangents #WeLostTheSea

  10. Black Aleph – Apsides Review

    By Dear Hollow

    Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, while short, is nothing short of perplexing in its evasion of genre trappings, ultimately making some form of drone metal with folk instruments, imbued with post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. However, the value lies behind these descriptors, with a distinct ritualistic heart beating beneath as its Middle Eastern modal traditions guide the movements—a divine and otherworldly experience. Don’t misunderstand, Apsides will still crush you, but just as much in its serenity as its dense guitar riffs—the weight it conjures is a suggestion and anticipation of punishment rather than a rod brandished. The result is haunting and unique, but brimming with more potential than it capitalizes upon.

    Black Aleph is a trio from Australia, its Sydney- and Melbourne-based members comprised other acts from the country’s weirder underground offerings. Aside from respective solo offerings, guitar and effects wizard Lachlan Dale hails from maqam-centric acts like Hashshashin and the Arya Ensemble,1 cellist Peter Hollo lends his eerie drones in post-rock/electronic collectives like Tangents, Haunts, and FourPlay String Quartet, and dar player/setarist Timothy Johannessen plays in the folk-inclined Mehr Ensemble. Johannessen and Dale’s respective roots in Arabic, Iranian, and Persian folk music pronounce the motifs that Black Aleph utilizes. The trio has been compared to renowned experimental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Justin Broadrick, and Jesu, while associated with members of We Lost the Sea and Sunn O))). However, Black Aleph plays more in line with Hashshashin or countrymates Omahara in the blurring of drone and folk, ever-punishing and ever-organic.

    Black Aleph deals in a style that balances weight, tension, and melody. Just as in Godspeed’s Lift Your Skinny Fists…, chord progressions throughout Apsides are layered with tension, bated breath between dissonance and harmony. While layered with ominous droning doom riffs (“Descent,” “Precession”), the crescendos within its micro-movements prove the most intriguing. Whether it be its dancing and complex rhythms (“Return”), climbing arpeggios (the “Ambit” duo), or gradual uses of volume and curious motifs (“Separation,” “Return”) the best uses of the percussive daf are utilized in quieter moments, creating a pulsing undercurrent of mystery and frailty rather than the punishing drums they pretend to be in the more droning cuts. These more gentle movements gradually increase in girth with post-rock intention, erupting in satisfying droning climaxes (“Ambit II (Aphelion),” “Return”). While droning guitars are relatively straightforward, their acoustic instruments—setar, daf, cello, and violin2—provide Black Aleph an easy and effective bridge between droning metal and folk motifs, as the songs are constructed safely and neatly.

    Black Aleph’s voiceless music creates a greater impetus to focus on the songwriting, and unfortunately, Apsides suffers from moments of directionless meandering and awkwardly curtailed movements. In general, the lack of vocals is a critique depending on the listener. In a manner of songwriting, however, the best crescendo occurs in “Ambit II (Aphelion)” and no track following lives up to this peak, although others attempt to scale it (“Separation,” “Return”). While noodling occurs throughout (i.e. “Ambit I (Ascension)”), it overwhelms the moments of climax, leading tracks plummeting to the ground, especially in the limp closer “Occultation,” whose wonky rhythms and skronky setar rob the guitars of needed weight. Most frustrating with Black Aleph is that, although each track is neatly composed and competently executed, the album at large feels too short and abrupt. Apisdes’ thirty-minute runtime feels too short like Black Aleph missed the chance to adequately flesh out their ideas when eschewing drone metal’s tendency towards lengthy offerings.

    Apsides offers a unique sound, hindered by its own ambition. Although the songs are too short and performances can be shortsighted, Black Aleph has an endlessly intriguing premise and unique execution. Ritualistic rhythms, Middle Eastern motifs, droning riffs, and otherworldly drive collide in an album that largely succeeds. It’s good that I want to hear more of Black Aleph, because I think their next album will be better than Apsides.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
    Label: Self-Released
    Websites: blackaleph.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blackaleph
    Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

    Show 2 footnotes

    1. Alongside running labels Art As Catharsis and Worlds Within Worlds.
    2. Courtesy of guest Natalya Bing.

    #2024 #30 #Apsides #AryaEnsemble #AustralianMetal #BlackAleph #DoomMetal #Drone #DroneMetal #Folk #FourPlayStringQuartet #GodspeedYouBlackEmperor #Hashshashin #Haunts #Jesu #JustinBroadrick #MehrEnsemble #Noise #Oct24 #Omahara #PostRock #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #SunnO_ #Tangents #WeLostTheSea

  11. Black Aleph – Apsides Review

    By Dear Hollow

    Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, while short, is nothing short of perplexing in its evasion of genre trappings, ultimately making some form of drone metal with folk instruments, imbued with post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. However, the value lies behind these descriptors, with a distinct ritualistic heart beating beneath as its Middle Eastern modal traditions guide the movements—a divine and otherworldly experience. Don’t misunderstand, Apsides will still crush you, but just as much in its serenity as its dense guitar riffs—the weight it conjures is a suggestion and anticipation of punishment rather than a rod brandished. The result is haunting and unique, but brimming with more potential than it capitalizes upon.

    Black Aleph is a trio from Australia, its Sydney- and Melbourne-based members comprised other acts from the country’s weirder underground offerings. Aside from respective solo offerings, guitar and effects wizard Lachlan Dale hails from maqam-centric acts like Hashshashin and the Arya Ensemble,1 cellist Peter Hollo lends his eerie drones in post-rock/electronic collectives like Tangents, Haunts, and FourPlay String Quartet, and dar player/setarist Timothy Johannessen plays in the folk-inclined Mehr Ensemble. Johannessen and Dale’s respective roots in Arabic, Iranian, and Persian folk music pronounce the motifs that Black Aleph utilizes. The trio has been compared to renowned experimental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Justin Broadrick, and Jesu, while associated with members of We Lost the Sea and Sunn O))). However, Black Aleph plays more in line with Hashshashin or countrymates Omahara in the blurring of drone and folk, ever-punishing and ever-organic.

    Black Aleph deals in a style that balances weight, tension, and melody. Just as in Godspeed’s Lift Your Skinny Fists…, chord progressions throughout Apsides are layered with tension, bated breath between dissonance and harmony. While layered with ominous droning doom riffs (“Descent,” “Precession”), the crescendos within its micro-movements prove the most intriguing. Whether it be its dancing and complex rhythms (“Return”), climbing arpeggios (the “Ambit” duo), or gradual uses of volume and curious motifs (“Separation,” “Return”) the best uses of the percussive daf are utilized in quieter moments, creating a pulsing undercurrent of mystery and frailty rather than the punishing drums they pretend to be in the more droning cuts. These more gentle movements gradually increase in girth with post-rock intention, erupting in satisfying droning climaxes (“Ambit II (Aphelion),” “Return”). While droning guitars are relatively straightforward, their acoustic instruments—setar, daf, cello, and violin2—provide Black Aleph an easy and effective bridge between droning metal and folk motifs, as the songs are constructed safely and neatly.

    Black Aleph’s voiceless music creates a greater impetus to focus on the songwriting, and unfortunately, Apsides suffers from moments of directionless meandering and awkwardly curtailed movements. In general, the lack of vocals is a critique depending on the listener. In a manner of songwriting, however, the best crescendo occurs in “Ambit II (Aphelion)” and no track following lives up to this peak, although others attempt to scale it (“Separation,” “Return”). While noodling occurs throughout (i.e. “Ambit I (Ascension)”), it overwhelms the moments of climax, leading tracks plummeting to the ground, especially in the limp closer “Occultation,” whose wonky rhythms and skronky setar rob the guitars of needed weight. Most frustrating with Black Aleph is that, although each track is neatly composed and competently executed, the album at large feels too short and abrupt. Apisdes’ thirty-minute runtime feels too short like Black Aleph missed the chance to adequately flesh out their ideas when eschewing drone metal’s tendency towards lengthy offerings.

    Apsides offers a unique sound, hindered by its own ambition. Although the songs are too short and performances can be shortsighted, Black Aleph has an endlessly intriguing premise and unique execution. Ritualistic rhythms, Middle Eastern motifs, droning riffs, and otherworldly drive collide in an album that largely succeeds. It’s good that I want to hear more of Black Aleph, because I think their next album will be better than Apsides.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
    Label: Self-Released
    Websites: blackaleph.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blackaleph
    Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

    #2024 #30 #Apsides #AryaEnsemble #AustralianMetal #BlackAleph #DoomMetal #Drone #DroneMetal #Folk #FourPlayStringQuartet #GodspeedYouBlackEmperor #Hashshashin #Haunts #Jesu #JustinBroadrick #MehrEnsemble #Noise #Oct24 #Omahara #PostRock #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #SunnO_ #Tangents #WeLostTheSea

  12. Black Aleph – Apsides Review

    By Dear Hollow

    Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, while short, is nothing short of perplexing in its evasion of genre trappings, ultimately making some form of drone metal with folk instruments, imbued with post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. However, the value lies behind these descriptors, with a distinct ritualistic heart beating beneath as its Middle Eastern modal traditions guide the movements—a divine and otherworldly experience. Don’t misunderstand, Apsides will still crush you, but just as much in its serenity as its dense guitar riffs—the weight it conjures is a suggestion and anticipation of punishment rather than a rod brandished. The result is haunting and unique, but brimming with more potential than it capitalizes upon.

    Black Aleph is a trio from Australia, its Sydney- and Melbourne-based members comprised other acts from the country’s weirder underground offerings. Aside from respective solo offerings, guitar and effects wizard Lachlan Dale hails from maqam-centric acts like Hashshashin and the Arya Ensemble,1 cellist Peter Hollo lends his eerie drones in post-rock/electronic collectives like Tangents, Haunts, and FourPlay String Quartet, and dar player/setarist Timothy Johannessen plays in the folk-inclined Mehr Ensemble. Johannessen and Dale’s respective roots in Arabic, Iranian, and Persian folk music pronounce the motifs that Black Aleph utilizes. The trio has been compared to renowned experimental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Justin Broadrick, and Jesu, while associated with members of We Lost the Sea and Sunn O))). However, Black Aleph plays more in line with Hashshashin or countrymates Omahara in the blurring of drone and folk, ever-punishing and ever-organic.

    Black Aleph deals in a style that balances weight, tension, and melody. Just as in Godspeed’s Lift Your Skinny Fists…, chord progressions throughout Apsides are layered with tension, bated breath between dissonance and harmony. While layered with ominous droning doom riffs (“Descent,” “Precession”), the crescendos within its micro-movements prove the most intriguing. Whether it be its dancing and complex rhythms (“Return”), climbing arpeggios (the “Ambit” duo), or gradual uses of volume and curious motifs (“Separation,” “Return”) the best uses of the percussive daf are utilized in quieter moments, creating a pulsing undercurrent of mystery and frailty rather than the punishing drums they pretend to be in the more droning cuts. These more gentle movements gradually increase in girth with post-rock intention, erupting in satisfying droning climaxes (“Ambit II (Aphelion),” “Return”). While droning guitars are relatively straightforward, their acoustic instruments—setar, daf, cello, and violin2—provide Black Aleph an easy and effective bridge between droning metal and folk motifs, as the songs are constructed safely and neatly.

    Black Aleph’s voiceless music creates a greater impetus to focus on the songwriting, and unfortunately, Apsides suffers from moments of directionless meandering and awkwardly curtailed movements. In general, the lack of vocals is a critique depending on the listener. In a manner of songwriting, however, the best crescendo occurs in “Ambit II (Aphelion)” and no track following lives up to this peak, although others attempt to scale it (“Separation,” “Return”). While noodling occurs throughout (i.e. “Ambit I (Ascension)”), it overwhelms the moments of climax, leading tracks plummeting to the ground, especially in the limp closer “Occultation,” whose wonky rhythms and skronky setar rob the guitars of needed weight. Most frustrating with Black Aleph is that, although each track is neatly composed and competently executed, the album at large feels too short and abrupt. Apisdes’ thirty-minute runtime feels too short like Black Aleph missed the chance to adequately flesh out their ideas when eschewing drone metal’s tendency towards lengthy offerings.

    Apsides offers a unique sound, hindered by its own ambition. Although the songs are too short and performances can be shortsighted, Black Aleph has an endlessly intriguing premise and unique execution. Ritualistic rhythms, Middle Eastern motifs, droning riffs, and otherworldly drive collide in an album that largely succeeds. It’s good that I want to hear more of Black Aleph, because I think their next album will be better than Apsides.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
    Label: Self-Released
    Websites: blackaleph.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blackaleph
    Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

    #2024 #30 #Apsides #AryaEnsemble #AustralianMetal #BlackAleph #DoomMetal #Drone #DroneMetal #Folk #FourPlayStringQuartet #GodspeedYouBlackEmperor #Hashshashin #Haunts #Jesu #JustinBroadrick #MehrEnsemble #Noise #Oct24 #Omahara #PostRock #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #SunnO_ #Tangents #WeLostTheSea

  13. Black Aleph – Apsides Review

    By Dear Hollow

    Black Aleph is a sonic experiment devoted to ritual. Debut Apsides, while short, is nothing short of perplexing in its evasion of genre trappings, ultimately making some form of drone metal with folk instruments, imbued with post-metal’s metamorphic crescendos. However, the value lies behind these descriptors, with a distinct ritualistic heart beating beneath as its Middle Eastern modal traditions guide the movements—a divine and otherworldly experience. Don’t misunderstand, Apsides will still crush you, but just as much in its serenity as its dense guitar riffs—the weight it conjures is a suggestion and anticipation of punishment rather than a rod brandished. The result is haunting and unique, but brimming with more potential than it capitalizes upon.

    Black Aleph is a trio from Australia, its Sydney- and Melbourne-based members comprised other acts from the country’s weirder underground offerings. Aside from respective solo offerings, guitar and effects wizard Lachlan Dale hails from maqam-centric acts like Hashshashin and the Arya Ensemble,1 cellist Peter Hollo lends his eerie drones in post-rock/electronic collectives like Tangents, Haunts, and FourPlay String Quartet, and dar player/setarist Timothy Johannessen plays in the folk-inclined Mehr Ensemble. Johannessen and Dale’s respective roots in Arabic, Iranian, and Persian folk music pronounce the motifs that Black Aleph utilizes. The trio has been compared to renowned experimental acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Justin Broadrick, and Jesu, while associated with members of We Lost the Sea and Sunn O))). However, Black Aleph plays more in line with Hashshashin or countrymates Omahara in the blurring of drone and folk, ever-punishing and ever-organic.

    Black Aleph deals in a style that balances weight, tension, and melody. Just as in Godspeed’s Lift Your Skinny Fists…, chord progressions throughout Apsides are layered with tension, bated breath between dissonance and harmony. While layered with ominous droning doom riffs (“Descent,” “Precession”), the crescendos within its micro-movements prove the most intriguing. Whether it be its dancing and complex rhythms (“Return”), climbing arpeggios (the “Ambit” duo), or gradual uses of volume and curious motifs (“Separation,” “Return”) the best uses of the percussive daf are utilized in quieter moments, creating a pulsing undercurrent of mystery and frailty rather than the punishing drums they pretend to be in the more droning cuts. These more gentle movements gradually increase in girth with post-rock intention, erupting in satisfying droning climaxes (“Ambit II (Aphelion),” “Return”). While droning guitars are relatively straightforward, their acoustic instruments—setar, daf, cello, and violin2—provide Black Aleph an easy and effective bridge between droning metal and folk motifs, as the songs are constructed safely and neatly.

    Black Aleph’s voiceless music creates a greater impetus to focus on the songwriting, and unfortunately, Apsides suffers from moments of directionless meandering and awkwardly curtailed movements. In general, the lack of vocals is a critique depending on the listener. In a manner of songwriting, however, the best crescendo occurs in “Ambit II (Aphelion)” and no track following lives up to this peak, although others attempt to scale it (“Separation,” “Return”). While noodling occurs throughout (i.e. “Ambit I (Ascension)”), it overwhelms the moments of climax, leading tracks plummeting to the ground, especially in the limp closer “Occultation,” whose wonky rhythms and skronky setar rob the guitars of needed weight. Most frustrating with Black Aleph is that, although each track is neatly composed and competently executed, the album at large feels too short and abrupt. Apisdes’ thirty-minute runtime feels too short like Black Aleph missed the chance to adequately flesh out their ideas when eschewing drone metal’s tendency towards lengthy offerings.

    Apsides offers a unique sound, hindered by its own ambition. Although the songs are too short and performances can be shortsighted, Black Aleph has an endlessly intriguing premise and unique execution. Ritualistic rhythms, Middle Eastern motifs, droning riffs, and otherworldly drive collide in an album that largely succeeds. It’s good that I want to hear more of Black Aleph, because I think their next album will be better than Apsides.

    Rating: 3.0/5.0
    DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
    Label: Self-Released
    Websites: blackaleph.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/blackaleph
    Releases Worldwide: October 25th, 2024

    Show 2 footnotes

    1. Alongside running labels Art As Catharsis and Worlds Within Worlds.
    2. Courtesy of guest Natalya Bing.

    #2024 #30 #Apsides #AryaEnsemble #AustralianMetal #BlackAleph #DoomMetal #Drone #DroneMetal #Folk #FourPlayStringQuartet #GodspeedYouBlackEmperor #Hashshashin #Haunts #Jesu #JustinBroadrick #MehrEnsemble #Noise #Oct24 #Omahara #PostRock #PostMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfReleased #SunnO_ #Tangents #WeLostTheSea

  14. Country Kids have to make their own fun. Here we are, camping out beside the "haunted" Civil War-era abandoned Girls' Seminary in Academia. No ghosts were apprehended. 1976. #1970s #1976 #bicentennial #academia #ruins #abandonedplaces #pennsylvania #camping #haunts

  15. Country Kids have to make their own fun. Here we are, camping out beside the "haunted" Civil War-era abandoned Girls' Seminary in Academia. No ghosts were apprehended. 1976. #1970s #1976 #bicentennial #academia #ruins #abandonedplaces #pennsylvania #camping #haunts

  16. Country Kids have to make their own fun. Here we are, camping out beside the "haunted" Civil War-era abandoned Girls' Seminary in Academia. No ghosts were apprehended. 1976. #1970s #1976 #bicentennial #academia #ruins #abandonedplaces #pennsylvania #camping #haunts

  17. Country Kids have to make their own fun. Here we are, camping out beside the "haunted" Civil War-era abandoned Girls' Seminary in Academia. No ghosts were apprehended. 1976. #1970s #1976 #bicentennial #academia #ruins #abandonedplaces #pennsylvania #camping #haunts

  18. Country Kids have to make their own fun. Here we are, camping out beside the "haunted" Civil War-era abandoned Girls' Seminary in Academia. No ghosts were apprehended. 1976. #1970s #1976 #bicentennial #academia #ruins #abandonedplaces #pennsylvania #camping #haunts

  19. #RestlessDreams

    Every#night I see you in my #dreams
    I #wish you're here in#bed
    I want to #feel your #body next to #me
    But I'm #numb right #now

    My #solitude can't seem to #fade away
    Your #love #haunts me until #now
    My #mind can't seem to #forget #you
    That smile and laughter

    Feels like It was yesterday
    I drove my car to search for you,
    I saw you with someone else
    Realizing the pain strikes me hard like concrete…

    allpoetry.com/poem/16048514-Re

    #fbeinghuman

  20. #RestlessDreams

    Every#night I see you in my #dreams
    I #wish you're here in#bed
    I want to #feel your #body next to #me
    But I'm #numb right #now

    My #solitude can't seem to #fade away
    Your #love #haunts me until #now
    My #mind can't seem to #forget #you
    That smile and laughter

    Feels like It was yesterday
    I drove my car to search for you,
    I saw you with someone else
    Realizing the pain strikes me hard like concrete…

    allpoetry.com/poem/16048514-Re

    #fbeinghuman

  21. #RestlessDreams

    Every#night I see you in my #dreams
    I #wish you're here in#bed
    I want to #feel your #body next to #me
    But I'm #numb right #now

    My #solitude can't seem to #fade away
    Your #love #haunts me until #now
    My #mind can't seem to #forget #you
    That smile and laughter

    Feels like It was yesterday
    I drove my car to search for you,
    I saw you with someone else
    Realizing the pain strikes me hard like concrete…

    allpoetry.com/poem/16048514-Re

    #fbeinghuman

  22. Every#night I see you in my
    I you're here in#bed
    I want to your next to
    But I'm right

    My can't seem to away
    Your me until
    My can't seem to
    That smile and laughter

    Feels like It was yesterday
    I drove my car to search for you,
    I saw you with someone else
    Realizing the pain strikes me hard like concrete…

    allpoetry.com/poem/16048514-Re

  23. #RestlessDreams

    Every#night I see you in my #dreams
    I #wish you're here in#bed
    I want to #feel your #body next to #me
    But I'm #numb right #now

    My #solitude can't seem to #fade away
    Your #love #haunts me until #now
    My #mind can't seem to #forget #you
    That smile and laughter

    Feels like It was yesterday
    I drove my car to search for you,
    I saw you with someone else
    Realizing the pain strikes me hard like concrete…

    allpoetry.com/poem/16048514-Re

    #fbeinghuman

  24. In a world where #AMC understood the value of #Shudder, ShudderCon could have been a thing the #horror community would have rallied around.

    Imagine... panels, maker spaces, screenings, #TheLastDriveIn live, #haunts - people would have lost their goddamn minds and it would be glorious.

    But all we have here is a missed opportunity.

  25. In a world where #AMC understood the value of #Shudder, ShudderCon could have been a thing the #horror community would have rallied around.

    Imagine... panels, maker spaces, screenings, #TheLastDriveIn live, #haunts - people would have lost their goddamn minds and it would be glorious.

    But all we have here is a missed opportunity.

  26. In a world where #AMC understood the value of #Shudder, ShudderCon could have been a thing the #horror community would have rallied around.

    Imagine... panels, maker spaces, screenings, #TheLastDriveIn live, #haunts - people would have lost their goddamn minds and it would be glorious.

    But all we have here is a missed opportunity.

  27. In a world where #AMC understood the value of #Shudder, ShudderCon could have been a thing the #horror community would have rallied around.

    Imagine... panels, maker spaces, screenings, #TheLastDriveIn live, #haunts - people would have lost their goddamn minds and it would be glorious.

    But all we have here is a missed opportunity.

  28. In a world where #AMC understood the value of #Shudder, ShudderCon could have been a thing the #horror community would have rallied around.

    Imagine... panels, maker spaces, screenings, #TheLastDriveIn live, #haunts - people would have lost their goddamn minds and it would be glorious.

    But all we have here is a missed opportunity.