{"id":61412,"date":"2017-02-01T15:00:40","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T21:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=61412"},"modified":"2017-02-01T15:01:43","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T21:01:43","slug":"embracing-the-gloom-of-hypnotic-dirge-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/embracing-the-gloom-of-hypnotic-dirge-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing the Gloom of Hypnotic Dirge Records"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Something about the winter months seems especially conducive to gloomy, melancholic music. After the holidays, January and February seem to fly by in a monotonous grind. Wake up, drink coffee, read the news (and feel especially, continuously, and progressively<\/em> fucking miserable), go to work, come home, drink beer, and repeat. With my time outdoors kept to a strict minimum, I\u00a0become increasingly bound to a variety of LCDs and often find my eyes burning and wrists aching. That said, it’s also an excellent time to dive into the depths of Bandcamp and other streaming services to find undiscovered gems of sonic despair. Toileteers, I present you with\u00a0Hypnotic Dirge Records<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those unaware, although that might be a mere few as we boast a fair amount of intelligent\u00a0and morbid readers, a dirge<\/a>\u00a0is a somber song typically played at a funeral or other venue of mourning. It is\u00a0an incredibly apt word to use regarding\u00a0the sounds of the bands found on\u00a0Hypnotic Dirge Records.\u00a0<\/strong>Their Bandcamp description elaborates on their goal to release “expressive and eclectic art through aural manifestations,” and I must say they’ve been great discovery that has provided a soundtrack for a winter that seems, for a variety of reasons<\/a>, darker and more miserable than most. I want to use this post to highlight three bands with recent releases that members of our community might enjoy, whether they feel especially miserable or not. Good jams be good jams, regardless.<\/p>\n

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Subterranean Disposition –\u00a0<\/strong>Contagiuum and the Landscapes of Failure<\/em> (2016)<\/p>\n

So far, this is my favorite release from\u00a0Hypnotic Dirge<\/strong>, although I have made it through only a portion of their offerings.\u00a0Made up of six tracks, all over 10 minutes in length (save for the introduction), the album is a\u00a0superb combination of doom, death, and psychedelic influences that ultimately adds up to more than the sum of its parts. After an atmospheric intro, the first proper track, “Wooden Kimono Fixative,” makes use of clean bass tones and guitar chords that combine with a melodic line from a saxophone. It then erupts into mid-paced death-doom trudge, reminiscent of some of the riffs from\u00a0November’s Doom\u00a0<\/strong>and similar bands, mixed with deep growled vocals. The experimentation with the saxophone and even different string instruments never fully goes away, which gives the album an excellent pace and variety. There’s also numerous other vocal styles, including more black metal-esque shrieks, voiceovers, chants, and even some operatic vocals from a guest singer. It is a heavy experience and I recommend listening to it in full if you can.<\/p>\n