As one half of the infamous Funeral Doom Metal band Bell Witch, Dylan Desmond is a musician renowned for powerful and contemplative soundscapes and is no stranger for emotive music. Following from the band’s Patreon launch a couple of years ago, Desmond has since been prominently experimenting with Ambient, synth-led music in part made to accompany segments of films (as anyone who has seen Bell Witch live will attest to their use of visual artistry in their performances). A further result of this is this solo output Je Est Un Autre, with a moniker taken from quotes of surrealist poet Arthur Rimbaud which, unsurprisingly, is a deep thought-provoking piece. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Drone
ALBUM REVIEW: The Sorrow Of Being Immaculate – Church Music for Satanists
It has been quite a long time since I last sat down and attempted to listen to something on the drone end of the Doom/Sludge Metal spectrum. Continue reading
Author and Punisher Books 20th Anniversary Mini Tour with Morne and Glassing
Tristan Shone, aka Author & Punisher has announced a short run of tour dates celebrating 20th Anniversary mini tour. Direct support will come from Morne and Glassing. Shone took his expertise as an electrical engineer and scientist to create his sound and light machines, creating unique Industrial Metal/Drone/Doom soundscapes. His last album was 2022’s acclaimed release Kruller (Relapse Records).Continue reading
INTERVIEW: John Hoffman of Stomach (Weekend Nachos, Sick/Tired) on “Parasite” and The Chicago Metal Scene
Ghost Cult caught up with John Hoffman (Weekend Nachos, Ledge) of Chicago Sludge/Drone band Stomach. Along with Adam Tomlinson (Sea Of Shit, Sick/Tired), the duo delves deep into Sludge, and Doom and Drone music that surpasses their history in many Chicago-area extreme metal and Powerviolence bands. We went deep on the evolution of the band, the growth from the two demos to their debut album Parasite out now from Hibernation Release, the challenges of John being a drummer and a vocalist, the scene, and much more!Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Jo Quail – Invocation – Supplication
Invocation / Supplication (By Norse Music), the new offering from experimental cellist Jo Quail, is actually a compendium of two connected three-song cycles. The first, Invocation, features the contributions of Heilung vocalist Maria Franz, plus brass instruments, percussion, bass and a choir assembled from crowdsourced mobile phone recordings of individual syllables. Supplication, on the other hand, is a less embellished affair, with just vocals from Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari and Koen Kaptin’s trombone parts to augment Quail’s cello and sound design.
INTERVIEW: Rebecca Vernon of The Keening (ex Subrosa) Breaks Down Her Debut Album “Little Bird”
Keefy caught up with Rebecca Vernon from The Keening. Her debut album “Little Bird” is out now via Relapse Records , and she shares with us life after SubRosa, writing new music, working through the creative process in a new way, coping with the new DIY artist realities after the last few years, and much more.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Keening – Little Bird
Ex-SubRosa leading member Rebecca Vernon embarks on a solo project journey four years after SubRosa’s disbandment under the moniker of The Keening, presenting a full-length consisting of Gothic Chamber Doom elements, accompanied by the feature of a handful of instruments, being flute, strings, harp, French horn, piano, organ, and hammered dulcimer – creating a vast multitude of echoed soundscapes.
INTERVIEW: Bruce Lamont of Yakuza Breaks Down His “Sutra” Album and The Economics of Tribute Bands
Ghost Cult caught up with Bruce Lamont of the long-running Chicago-based avant-guard Doom Metal band Yakuza! Their new album “Sutra” was recently released via Svart Records, and we chatted with Bruce all about the album, the current lineup’s contributions as a team, Bruce’s evolving approach to saxophone and vocals, his lucrative other gig in the Led Zeppelin tribute band Led Zeppelin 2, vinyl releases, and much more! Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Divide and Dissolve – Systemic – Invada Records
The duo of Divide and Dissolve are passionate about their beliefs. The question we shall explore here is does that equate to effectively making memorable music? Many musicians have strong beliefs that they feel drives their passion to create and having a conviction about those beliefs is admirable.
ALBUM REVIEW: Boris and Uniform – Bright New Disease
Over the last few years, we have been lucky to see so many collaboration albums between two bands/artists that absolutely knock it out of the park. The latest mashup comes in the form of Boris and Uniform putting together what they call, Bright New Disease (Sacred Bones). Through nine tracks at just over thirty-two minutes, each track has its own footprint for the greater collection. Punk, industrial, thrash, doom, and noise pop up throughout the record but not one influence really ever takes the spotlight more than another.