Eskaton - 4 Visions (1979, France) Zeuhl

This is without a doubt my favourite Zeuhl album and probably universally the most accesible and enjoyable. It pretty much distills all of the small sub-genre's little quirks into solid tangible components of music thanks largely to some pretty pristine production for the late 70's. After a steady build it becomes clear about 2 minutes into the album why this one is a winner, the upbeat jaunt gives way to a thunderous bass riff, a commanding drum beat, heavy augmented organ chords and a synth lead that floats off into space - it's a formidable combo. This approach is repeated in the second song 'Attente' where the funky, dancable and jazzy drums and brutal throbbing bass forcably command the attention of the listener.

It's interesting to see that while a lot of the tracks start in a similar fashion they differ immeasurably as they progress. Once the music is up and going it travels through a dozen or more different parts without you even noticing - a great example of progressive songwriting done right.

The vocals are female, high pitched, operatic and French so it's a bit hit and miss in that department. I tend not to notice them these days and aside from not being a great fan of them stylistically there isn't anything particularly wrong with them - it's not like they sing out of tune and they're probably the only thing that is less than exceptional about this album.

Track Listings

1. Eskaton (10:24)
2. Attente (10:12)
3. Ecoute (13:00)
4. Pitié (8:44)
5. Le Cri (9:05)

Total Time: 51:25

Download Here: (Eskaton - 4 Visions, 320kbps)

Anaal Nathrakh - When Fire Rains Down From The Sky ...Mankind Will Reap What It Has Sewn EP (2003, U.K.) Grindcore/Black Metal

Armageddon. Heaviness is hard to describe. There are many things that contribute to it such as technicality, how downtuned and distorted the guitars are, how compressed the drums are, the nature of the vocals, how fast the music is to slightly more intangible things such as lyrical content, atmosphere and overall intensity. One thing is for sure there will always be an element of the extreme metal community that pushes these boundaries for better or for worse regardless of the consequences, resulting in music that doesn't serve any purpose but to push the envelope.

Anyway I could go on about heaviness forever, the point is this album is ridiculously heavy yet is still incredibly musically relevant and enjoyable to listen to, it's one of the heaviest things I've heard and certainly the heaviest thing I enjoy. The music is composed of a drum machine, heavily distorted bass, screamed distorted vocals and a gut ripping guitar that pretty much makes the album. The two masterminds behind the project VITRIOL and Irrumator have put deep thought into song writing and riffs here, the impact of this is that the music will depart from the all out blast-beat attack into a long breakdown with deep incantations (as seen in the outstanding opener 'Cataclysmic Nihilism') which gives rise to a sparse old-testament style plague ridden atmosphere and it is for reasons like this that I think this album is particularly heavy - more than the sum of its parts.

All that said this EP can be nauseating, on first listen I knew I loved it but I couldn't stomach more than 2 and a half tracks for quite some weeks. These days it can be a somewhat contemplative experience due to the overwhelming sense of despair conveyed by the uncompromising melodies and tortured screams set to the unrelenting blast-beat of a drum machine (tempered of course by some killer breakdowns).

This is a dangerous album, if you have the gall to withstand the onslaught you will probably end up loving this EP, if you don't it may grow ever so slowly on you or you may detest it completely. Approach with caution.

Track Listing:

1.	Cataclysmic Nihilism	04:48
2.	How the Angels Fly In (We Can Never Be Forgiven)	02:49
3.	Never Fucking Again	04:12
4.	Genesis of the Antichrist	04:29
5.	Atavism	06:06
6.	When Fire Rains Down from the Sky, Mankind Will Reap as It Has Sown	04:24
Total playing time		26:48

Download here: (Anaal Nathrakh - When Fire Rains Down From The Sky ...Mankind Will Reap What It Has Sewn EP, 320kbps)

Dün - Eros (1981, France) Zeuhl

Another great release from the French Zeuhl scene. Dün (taking their name from Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel 'Dune') give off a strong Zappa-esque rock orchestra vibe, due the rich instrumentation and the precision and class with which all these instruments are played, for some reason. This well considered instrumentation is coupled with the Zeuhl norms of pounding bass rhythms, virtousic jazz drumming and forboding melody creating a rich and diverse instrumental tapestry with vibes, flute and piano seeming to fit nicely against brutal throbbing bass.

Individual tracks are hard to single out as highlights given the fairly orchestral nature of the song writing, they all subscribe to a musical theme and are best viewed as a whole. The bonus tracks in the re-release version are great additions though and shed a whole new light on the compositions as they are significantly different from their album counterparts but of the same quality. This is one of the great Zeuhl albums, strongly recommended.

Track Listings

1. L'Epice (9:25)
2. Arrakis (9:36)
3. Bitonio (7:09)
4. Eros (10:17)
5. Bitonio (alternate) (10:20)
6. Arrakis (alternate) (5:07)
7. Eros (alternate) (7:11)
8. Acoustic Fremen (unreleased) (6:17)

Total Time: 65:22

Download here: (Dün - Eros, 192kbps)

Voivod - Killing Technology (1987, Canada) Technical Trash Metal

An amazing and unique thrash release. Probably the heaviest and most abrasive Voivod album, does a perfect job of conveying a post-apocalyptic robot infested landscape. I'm a big supporter of albums with a cohesive atmosphere that consistently elicits a similar kind of imagery from a listener.

I found this one to be quite a grower (as is the case with all Voivod for me) and once you get on the same wavelength as the technical and catchy riffs then you fully appreciate the greatness of this album. My favourites are the two opening tracks, the title track and 'Overreaction'. It's hard to describe the odd sense of melody present as it melds atonal, augmented and blues ideas and due to this odd amalgam it's definitely a love or hate kind of taste and for many it's certainly love. Highly recommended to fans of Tech-thrash (even though most tech thrash fans would already know about this classic).

Tracklisting:

1		Killing Technology (7:33)
2		Overreaction (4:45)
3		Tornado (6:02)
4		Too Scared To Scream (4:14)
5		Forgotten In Space (6:10)
6		Ravenous Medicine (4:23)
7		Order Of The Blackguards (4:28)
8		This Is Not An Exercise (6:10)
9		Cockroaches (3:40)

Download Here: (Voivod - Killing Technology, 192kbps)

Kaipa - Inget Nytt Under Solen (1975, Sweden) Symphonic Prog

Symphonic prog in the style of Yes, Genesis with a genuine scandanavian twist to it. Formed by Flower kKings frontman (or the Flower King himself) Roine Stolt before the aforementioned group formed. The music is very synth heavy and whilst some may find it slightly cheesy at times the brilliant song writing and musicianship outshine such shortcomings. 'Skenet Bedrar' is easily the best song, a beautifully crafterd 21 minute epic with some great upbeat jazzy passages in the middle. The title track (which translates to 'Blow hard all tradewinds' and is sung in English in the bonus live tracks) is my personal favourite evoking a very rare and genuine melancholy. Highly recomended to 70's/scandi prog fans.


Track Listing:

1. Skenet bedrar (21:41)
a) Uppvaknandet (2:43)
b) Bitterheten (3:10)
c) Hoppfullheten (4:44)
d) Överheten (8:12)
e) Vilseledd (2:52)
2. Ömson sken (3:17)
3. Korståg (5:19)
4. Stengrodornas parad (0:53)
5. Dagens port (2:53)
6. Inget nytt under solen (6:10)
Bonus tracks on cd release:
7. Awakening / Bitterness (6:08)
8. How might I say out clearly (4:02)
9. The gate of day (2:25)
10. Blow hard all tradewinds (6:17)
11. Skenet bedrar (Live) (14:08)
12. Från det ena till det andra (2:47)

Total Time: 76:00

Download Here: (Kaipa Inget Nytt Under Solen, 256kpbs)

Nuclear Assualt - Handle With Care (1989, U.S.A.) Thrash Metal

Ferocious thrash metal gem. Nuclear Assault are characterised by their rather high pitched (for thrash) lead singer John Conelly (also featuring thrash legend Danny Lilker on bass) and their absolutely killer breakdowns. The This is probably one of my most listened to thrash albums and every song solid as a rock - 'New song', 'Emergency' and 'Search and Seizure' are standouts as well as the quite different closing song 'Trail of Tears'. A very cathartic listen, great for driving too.

Track Listing:

1		New Song (2:58)
2		Critical Mass (3:19)
3		Inherited Hell (3:30)
4		Surgery (2:44)
5		Emergency (3:20)
6		Funky Noise (0:50)
7		F# (Wake Up) (2:58)
8		When Freedom Dies (2:34)
9		Search & Seizure (4:11)
10		Torture Tactics (2:22)
11		Mothers' Day (0:32)
12		Trail Of Tears (5:44)

Total playing time: 35:05

Download here: Nuclear Assault - Handle with care (1989).rar [52.83MiB]