The Asteroid Bullet Belt

Digging your own grave XVIII: Do not go gentle into that good night.  There often comes a point in an artist’s career where they release something that could very well be considered a pinnacle of theirs, be it on an artistic or personal level. With it, comes the question of “What now?”. Artist and audience are forced to reckon with the fact that a work of art has been so profoundly affecting for either or both parties, the former also having to ask themselves the daunting question of what is to follow. Does one try to outdo their masterwork, and risk turning into an Icarus, falling victim to their own ambition? Are they to look backwards and attempt to go back to basics, at the potential cost of sounding redundant to the outside world? Or should altogether ignore it, and move past it in an effort to explore different territory, in turn subverting whatever expectations might’ve been foisted upon them? In Μνήμα’s case, they’ve always opted for the third option, regardless of what one...

Digging your own grave XVII: A farewell to arms.  2022, despite being one of Μνήμα’s least prolific years, saw them hit a new milestone with each of its three releases, some artistic, and others more personal, their debut full-length being but one of them. The third and final chapter of the Gathering Sorcery…  series manages to slot itself into both categories, carrying with it a lot of history, not only a signpost in terms of the band’s musical development, but also marking the end of an era, both within the music and outside of it. Deceptively enough, Μνήμα keeps their true hand a secret for the first half, opting to lead the listener in by showcasing the EP’s musical approach, which actually does have some follow through with the preceding entry. Following an introduction dominated by croaking and retching, “V” throws itself into these ceaseless streams of fuzzy notes, the wasp-like guitar creating an ambience that hearkens back to the second entry of the series, albeit wit...

Keeping it trve is playing blast beats for an hour and a half.  I’ve never been the most punctual writer, and that’s a big mark against me when it comes to writing concert reports, the old adage of striking while the iron’s hot ringing true as ever in these cases. Yet, I find myself capable of evoking memories from shows, be they sounds or images, regardless of how long it’s been, not to mention that taking the occasional picture helps jog the memory a little bit. Besides, turning into a curmudgeon that hangs out in the back whenever I attend shows with my wife prevents me from concussing every single detail out of my head by thrashing myself silly in the midst of the crowd. It’s been a month and some change, but I find myself looking back at seeing Tsjuder and Ignominous with relative fondness. It was yet another mid-week show for the season, and it’s no secret that I’m more than a little apprehensive about those, especially when the opener itself is playing for 20-30 people at be...

Digging your own grave XVI: A spiritual laxative.  It took me 15 reviews, and perhaps way too much time, but at long last we’ve reached the catalyst for this entire series. It took Μνήμα 4 years of screaming out into the void, but they did kick 2022 off with their very first full-length, Disciples of Excremental Liturgies , and it’s the platonic ideal of what one would expect from someone who spent so much time and effort exploring and expanding their sound. Before I get into the review proper, I’d like to take a moment to discuss my connection to Μνήμα prior to this series. I actually originally stumbled upon the group back in November 2024, naturally in the context of Nothing But Black Metal November, a most fitting time to listen to this sort of music, the weather getting colder and grimmer as sunlight becomes more scarce. Though I did find myself enjoying the band’s 2 records, as well as some of their early work, I found myself gravitating towards other bands, mostly classics I...

Digging your own grave XV: This one actually has a name.  Names are a powerful thing. Through them, we ascribe meaning and value to our surroundings, objects and individuals alike. To have something remain nameless is to rob it of its identity and any significance it might possess. Perhaps indirectly, this is part of the reason why Μνήμα’s splits thus far have felt lacking to me. Their “names” were merely a list of the participants, rather than something that signified an identity beyond that. There was music, that much was certain, but did it really amount to much besides everyone contributing a song? Not quite. As we reach the end of the band’s 2021 output though, we are met with Conspiring in Blood-drenched Moonlight , their third split for the year, and the only one in their catalogue to be named. While I did approach it cautiously, as I’d been 0 for 2 with my overall enjoyment of Μνήμα’s split work thus far, I found myself positively surprised by what was actually held in stor...

Maybe I should start a food blog.  Although I don’t allude to it often in my reviews, I love food, and the culinary arts as a whole. Though I do employ the occasional writing cliché of “Too many cooks”, or write a preamble about street food, it's not what I’d call a stylistic cornerstone of mine. Despite that, I find that cooking and music have a lot in common when it comes to the creative process. The careful measuring of ingredients, their assembly and preparation, and obviously the time and place they’re made in. With that out of the way, I’d like to take a moment to talk about soup. To the uninitiated, it’s a simple dish, you just chuck a bunch of stuff in a pot full of water and let it boil for a while. Anyone versed in cooking will tell you though that the ingredients thrown in do matter, as does their preparation. If you just dump whatever’s in your pantry, any potential synergy between flavours will be obliterated, resulting in something that has a perhaps intense, but ulti...

"Shit has riffs, man."  Side-projects are a fascinating thing, but also a total crapshoot. For one, they can provide a glimpse into a different side of an artist’s sources of inspiration, or what might interest them besides their main source of creative output. People are complicated after all, that much is evident from all the black metal musicians who also have an ambient side-project. Yet at the same time, it does raise the question of how much effort has been put into it, especially when it appears to be a footnote in their catalogue. Συντρίμμια’s (Debris) Repulsive Inexpression piqued my interest owing to Ivan’s (of Kvadrat fame) involvement, not only as a musician, but also as a graphic designer. Seeing as the trio dropped this album back in 2023 without much fanfare, I couldn’t help but be a little curious about it. Was it a different take on deathgrind, a little fun thing to do on the side, or just an unremarkable album in the infinite ocean of the internet? One thin...