Newsworthy Releases! Portal/Blood of Kingu Split and Buckshot Facelift Full-Lengths
On Black Friday, I was hanging out at my folks’ house, watching Godzilla with my dad and casually checking Facebook. Suddenly, something interesting caught my eye. The ever enigmatic Portal posted about a brand new split with black metal titans Blood of Kingu being distributed by the reliably kvlt Hell’s Headbanger’s. Intrigued, I scuttled over to the HH webstore to have a looksee. The split was being released solely on 7″ vinyl, rendering this particularly unholy piece of music particularly exclusive.
Thankfully, I happen to own a record player, so I immediately purchased the split (in garish gold, of course). I awaited anxiously for the split to arrive, and it finally showed up at my humble abode last week. Let me tell you, it is just as gritty and nasty as you’d expect from these two bands. Portal’s half, the cryptic “Trapezohedron,” sounds like some cosmic horror unearthed from the shiftin sands beneath Tutankhamun’s tomb. Angles collide and shift in non-euclidean space while the Curator’s murky howls coalesce like black tar over the thick morass of instruments. According to the webstore, “recorded in 1999 on a ‘crooked four-track device’ with the founding duo of guitarist Horror Illogium and vocalist The Curator, this unearthed gem literally sounds like time collapsing in on itself.” Good enough for me. Blood of Kingu’s contribution, “Destroyer of Everything Infinite and Timless” is no less menacing or infernal. “Recorded in Febuary/March 2014, the track is a surging, devouring pulse of absolute dread and terror.” Quite.
So why am I posting about this now. 1. I know a lot of you elitists out there own record players, and this is a must-have exclusive. 2. No one else has talked about it (aside from a blip on the Lambgoat forums and a review on Metal Observer). 3. I finally tracked down some digital music from it. Earlier last week, I found the tracks available for a stream on bandcamp, but it looks like that link has been taken down. Never fear though, because I located a youtube vid of the Blood of Kingu section. Jam below. I’ll keep you posted as to a further digital release, but make sure you pick up your vinyl copy here. Also, don’t forget to like Portal and Blood of Kingu on Facebook.
On another note, I saw the other night on Facebook that skronky hardcore bruisers Buckshot Facelift are now releasing some of their previous albums on bandcamp for free. No, not for “name your price” free, you cheap bastards, but for “free download” free. You can now pick up Anchors of the Armless Gods, Universal Goat Tilt, and the 2005 Demo for free. In my review for Living Ghosts of the North Shore, I gave Will Smith (of Artificial Brain) and co. high praise for their seething, chaotic blend of death metal and hardcore, and these previous albums certainly don’t disappoint. Be sure to toss them some money for Living Ghosts and the prior release Elder’s Rasp on bandcamp and give them a like on Facebook. Skronk!
(Photo VIA)
