Short Story Cenotaph II

This week on the cenotaph: Encyrcle, Trenchrot and Morthus.

Encyrcle-

Today we start again in Scandinavia but with a band that actually released a second full length last year...and fucking broke up since. Hailing from Odense,Denmark, I initially had this band recommended to me by the fountain of knowledge himself, Asrok from Slægt.  When I heard it, I thought to myself two things - A. Wow that's some angry, wicked Speed right there and B. It makes total sense Asrok would like them.

Why? Because they have the trifecta of excellent Speed Metal down to the dot on the i. First of all the guitars are sharp and have that excellent rolling quality to them that is the hallmark of good Speed Metal since the days when Fredrick Barbarossa was king of the Holy Roman Empire and Running Wild was on their first three albums.  Second, their vocalist hits that sweet-spot between epic and Metal. He reminds me more of early Thrash vocalists with a splash of Maiden than full-on bordering Euro-Power which is not my thing.

Third and perhaps most saliently, their mix of elements gives the band a personality that's all their own. It's a bit Running Wild here, Maiden there but its never drowning in another band's personality. Recommended as all hell.

Trenchrot-

I'm not a massive fan of the current up and coming USDM scene, that's well attested, but Philadelphia seems to be an exception. There are a slew of interesting bands coming from the city of brotherly love and vehicular homicide at the moment and the scene at large has started waking up to it.

I'm sure you're thinking of Crypt Sermon and Daeva... actually you probably aren't because this section is titled Trenchrot. Anyway Trenchrot was a precursor band to those two acts in a lot of ways. Brooks Wilson who's vocalist of Crypt Sermon did both guitars and vocals for Trenchrot while Steve Jansson did guitars for both and Daeva. It really is a who's who of who has them, to quote Goniloc, googoo gaga riffs.

The best way I can describe Trenchrot is Asphyx adjacent but without the Doom elements. Brooks really outdoes himself vocally and manages to evoke that rough exhorting sound Martin Van Drunen perfected.  It all comes together in this grimy but sharp sense, like a brisk spring rain in a trench.

Morthus-

I kind of went back and forth on if I could include Morthus ethically. They were and are friends of mine to this day, but I was championing the quality of their music since before we became friends or even met. Seeing as the band's debut and last recording so far saw light in 2016, I feel I can. Plus it's my website so nananananana.

Well Morthus was a black/ death metal band from the Warsaw suburb of Warka. What drew me to the band, on the eve of their debut "Over the Dying Stars," were the very epic compositions being worked into a very organic sound. The band painted these massive soundscapes that incorporated everything from death metal to black metal and back again while recording live.  All while remaining catchy and etching my memory for good.

Besides the LP they released a demo called "Legacy of Asteroth" and an EP called "The Abyss." You can see how the beyond excellent guitar work and dynamic was present from the band's earliest days by digging deep into the discography. Of course the dynamic evolved, but songs like "Morbid Process" are so unique in their own right that that it makes the early work different and interesting but never obsolete.

Babalon's Note on the "Fate" sections- I decided to do away with these as I found myself searching for ways to rephrase "I don't know" three times. Reality is that bands appearing here are either in extended silence or broken up. If they weren't, they wouldn't be here. Simple as that

Short Story Cenotaph

Short Story Cenotaph - Drottinn, Aptorian Demon and Invidious

I always had a soft spot in my heart for bands that released one or two fantastic pieces and then took a long hiatus. Whether they end up returning or not. Because as I grow older, more knowledgeable, and finding hidden classic bands becomes more unlikely, those are the older pieces I end up chasing. It's become exceedingly rare for a band with a great discography to sneak up on me, and while I'd love for all these bands to have followups to match the debut, here are some that don't...(yet?)

Drottinn-

You'd think releasing 17 minutes of music would exclude a band from a club of one hour heroes, but you'd be wrong for two reasons. The first is that much like life and the American healthcare system, I am unfair. The second is that the idea of having a Vánagandr death metal equivalent to their peerless black metal makes me giddy. That was what Drottinn was poised to be. Sturla Viðar (ex- vocalist and guitarist for Svartidauði) and D.G (Misþyrming) getting together to record evil, cold death metal to shake caskets and trouble involved parents. Everything seemed poised for the band to make the term "Vángandr Death Metal" a reality and this demo puts their full potential on display. Three fucking songs and already a band to watch out for. Their demo tape was even distributed to a wide audience by Terratvr Possessions and they preformed their first and only gig at Howls of Winter VII.

Sadly, it was not to be, but if you can get your hands on it, "Í helgum dýrðar ljóma" is a wildly captivating and abrasive experience.

Fate-

The band doesn't exist anymore, and while I don't have any contact with the band, Ola of Terratvr told me in no uncertain terms to not expect any further releases.

Aptorian Demon-

Moving from the cold winter expanse of Iceland to... the cold winter expanse of Norway. Aptorian Demon was one of the early big names in the Nidaros scene we all know and love today. Forming in the mythical time of 2005, Aptorian Demon exemplifies the dark, claustrophobic sound that the scene would later be known for. A lot of the band's members would later go on to play for Mare, One Tail, One Head, Manii and Whoredom Rife amongst others.

The band released* an 7" entitled "Angst, jammer og fortvilelse" (Angst, Lamentation and Despair)  in 2005 and a full length entitled "Libertus" in 2012. Both are well worth the time of anyone looking for a uniquely aggressive and desolate dive into the Nidaros sound.

Fate-

Their Metal Archives page states that Aptorian Demon is active but seeing as they haven't released anything since 2012 and don't play live, I don't know how accurate that is. They accredit two different drummers who are both involved in other projects (Sundli in Mare and Beyond Man, and Gionata "Omega" of Darvaza and Chaos Invocation among many, many others) but the core members have been quiet.  That being said, between EP and LP the band took 7 years so I wouldn't put it past them to come in with a sophomore.

Invidious-

In what's quickly becoming a very Scandinavian first chapter of One Hour Heroes, we finish off in the warm and tropical lands of eastern Sweden. If you're anything like me, you'll take your In Solitude related Uppsala scene Metal wherever you can get it.  Well, Invidious was a short lived supergroup that involved the Åhmen brothers (ex-In Solitude, ex-Repugnant, No Future,) Hampus "Hampe" Eriksson (Degial, Unpure, and live guitar for Watain,) Andreas Meisingseth, and Andreas Bolldén (Black Soul Choir.) A later incarnation replaced Bolldén with J.K (Ensnared) on drums.

The band only released 14 minutes of music all together, a 2011 EP entitled "In Death". Well actually, 37 if you count the Katalysator demos, but I couldn't hunt those down. However, "In Death" in 14 minutes showed massive potential. It really harnesses a lot of the strengths of the member's other bands to put together something special. It has the aggressive ugliness from Degial, the murky dark atmosphere of In Solitude and hints and bits of every member's personality. It never eclipses their other bands, but seeing as they set the bar so incredibly high with them, it's still great for what it is.

Fate-

Definitely wouldn't hold my breath. Hampe is being kept very busy by Watain, Degial and Unpure. The Åhman brothers are both involved in a myriad of other projects. J.K is still doing Ensnared and in 2020 released a very interesting death metal demo with a band called Avlivad, a collaboration between a couple of figures from the Swedish scene and the Spanish one.

NOTE-

If anyone in the know wants me to update the story with news about these bands, feel free to use the contact me feature and I'll edit it ASAP

A Ballad for the Yakuza Soldier - Bōryokudan

(Occasionally I write about topics that I don’t see any use for in the near future. But every once in a while I write one I am particularly fond of and have no place to put it. From now on, I’ll post them here. Recently I’ve been reading about the Japanese Yakuza, and thought it’d be interesting to push myself into those shoes.

Please note that this isn’t some hyperrealistic examination of the topic or commentary on anything.)

Your altruism leaves no impression

Your whimpering complaints are not heard

I believe in the healing powers of instigation

I believe "violence" is not just a word

They say I'm petty

I like to think I'm thorough

They say I'm angry

But their big mouths won't see tomorrow

I don't have any big ideals

My mission statement isn't complex or wise

My story isn't an inspirational one

Few words are enough to surmise:

I joined a violent group because I'm violent*

I took the extreme way because I was bored+

I made the best of a losing hand in oicho-kabu ^

And set out to burn the world

*Violent groups or Boryokudan are what the Japanese police calls the Yakuza

+The extreme way or "gokudo" is an alternative term for the Yakuza

^the name of the Ya Ku Za 8-9-3 is derived from the worst hand you can draw in Oicho Kabu, a game similar to Baccarat

Babalon Explains II - Mahakali, Kali the Asura and Kali Yuga

A mistake I often see being made by bands trying to explore Hindu mythology is the conflation of Kali, Mahakali, the goddess of war, and Kali, the pudgy, big nosed demon king of sin. It's the latter who's associated with Kali Yuga, not the former. But it gets very confusing beyond the name - both are associated with war, are considered extremely powerful (for a goddess and a demon respectively) and both their names have somewhat vague origins. But lets separate the two in a digestible way-

Lithograph by an unknown artist of Maha Kali

Kali, or Mahakali (literally "Great Kali" in Sanskrit,) is a Hindu goddess who's ranking is somewhat polemical. Hindus generally agree she's important, the question is how important. Some place her as the Hera-style counterpart to the all important destroyer, Shiva, a personification of "ultimate power," the most powerful of the Mahavidyas (an order of ten Hindu gods, the Great Wisdoms, see that Maha again? Maha.) and the very agent of change in Shaktism. Others interpret Shiva's consort to be Parvati and see Parvati as the most important one.

That being said, - Mahakali is a dark-blue/black (Kali in her case derives from the Sanskrit Kāla meaning black) skinned goddess associated with war and change. She's considered a powerful source for good, unironically, even though she wears a necklace of 108 severed heads. I wish I could get away with that. Where's my fucking LiveAid?

Kali the Demon by Ravi Varma

Kali the Asura - or the Demon, is a different story altogether. First of all, why are they both named Kali? They aren't but the difference in Sanskrit is so minute as to be hard to capture in English. Broadly, Kali the Asura is pronounced with two short vowels, how you'd pronounce both the names in English more or less, while the Goddess is pronounced with an elongated A and I (had it explained to me as "Kaa-lee" but can't confirm.) The demon's name traces its root to the Sanskrit "kad," meaning to hurt or suffer.

Kali Yuga, loosely the "Age of Kali" theoretically was,is and will will be the last and worst age of four before the fulfillment of a complete cycle of the world. The yugas theoretically were, are and will be - the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapra Yuga and finally, Kali Yuga. The Satya is considered the best age, an age of truth, enlightenment and a consensus that Legion is the best Deicide record. Meanwhile, Kali Yuga is said to be an age of lawlessness, confusion and pain, where people refuse to admit that Disney making 86789421 movies in every franchise kills any chance for them to be memorable.

It is named for the asura both because it is said he will rule the world and because it is said to be an age of unbridled conflict, violence and sin. Kali the Asura represents this faithlessness and sin, a tangible embodiment of the disconnect between humanity and dharma. The vedas denote his abodes as gambling, prostitution, money and slaughter.  So ostensibly he's the Hindu god of joy as well but hey, what do I know? We're near the end and I still didn't get a Live Aid