100% Support: Name Your Neuroses
On May 1st, Bandcamp is waiving their purchase fees. This means that 100% of the money you’re going to spend on that day will be going to the label/artist. We’re going to be delving into some deep cuts later in in the week, but first, let’s take a look at some bigger names, including a special Name Your Price offer from Neurot Recordings.
Music Will Get Us Through – Pay What You Can
“Borrowing a great idea from Temporary Residence Ltd. , Neurot Recordings has decided to make one album Pay What You Want on Bandcamp every few days until a vaccine is discovered for COVID-19. We hope this will allow fans who may have lost their income to still be inspired and uplifted by the original and emotional independent music that we offer even if they can’t afford it right now. Those who do still have secure jobs and income can feel free to pay whatever they feel is fair or more. Stay safe and stay sane out there.”
The first album to be offered NYP was Neurosis‘ very own Given to the Rising, followed by Steve Von Till‘s latest solo offering A Life Unto Itself. As of writing this, the second half of Ufomammut’s masterpiece ORO, the Opus Alter, is being offered for any price you should desire. I strongly recommend you seize the chance, and keep an eye on Neurot Recordings’ Facebook & Bandcamp pages for follow-up news and special offers.
You should definitely also follow said Temporary Residence Ltd. on Facebook (since they don’t seem to have a collective Bandcamp homepage) for updates on their offerings, the most recent of which is Explosions In The Sky‘s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, but by the time you read this I will already be gone lost in the Woods of Ypres it will already have changed, since Temporary Residence Ltd. offers a different record EVERY DAY.
One of the earliest bands I wrote about for this page, Cirith Ungol was also one of the most remarkable names in heavy metal that never really made it. Though during their hiatus they were raised to cult-legends, and likened to gods, so bitter was their end that it did not seem likely they would ever return. And when they did, all I could do was fear the inevitable new material, that after almost 30 years, it could not be much more than a cop-out to capitalize on their status. Though last year’s “Witch’s Game” managed to alleviate some concerns, I approached Forever Black first and foremost with caution.
As luck would have it, all such concerns were proven unnecessary. Not only does Forever Black carry all the hallmarks of a great Cirith Ungol record, the half-doom/half-heavy metal plod, the massive proto-metal anthems and Tim Baker’s instantly recognizable voice, and though he remains more steadily in his comfort zone than in his youth (although we do get to hear some clean singing as well), he makes up for it with an all-time violent performance. Though I may miss Flint, I missed him on Paradise Lost and founding guitarist Lindström, who now shares the stage with PL guitarist Barraza for the first time, he does an awesome job in sharing the bass duties with newcomer Jarvis Leatherby of Night Demon.
If one of these old, now-classic names might deserve your money and attention on the 1st of May, I should think that, despite being signed to a (fairly) big label like Metal Blade, Cirith Ungol might just be it.
