The Way Of The Weird post 4

A collection of posts about the strange, the unusual, the experimental and the odd in a variety of musical genres.

Celtic Frost - “Into The Pandemonium”
(Noise International 1987)



Having evolved into an appreciator of certain factions of extreme metal and then taking some plunges into stranger and more experimental realms, this record was a natural and held an appeal to me from the get go. I'd already become a tried and true Voivod fan and had become aware of their label mates Celtic Frost via the earlier “Morbid Tales” and the penultimate release “To Mega Therion”. I was impressed with their sludgy take on doom and thrash metal. But then I started reading Xavier Russell's glowing reports in Kerrang of the new weird direction they were taking with the new record. A friend of mine got hold of the record about 3 months after it was released and gave me a cassette dub. It had all the ingredients that made the earlier raw stuff great, but with a new layer of experimentation that the early records only hinted at. And it worked, it really did.

Gothic atmosphere without it being a 'goth' album, doom and thrash infused metal without it being either of those things, orchestral without being overly proggy and the best production to date from them, without being overly slick or polished. The combinations of all these elements gelled really well. Pretentious? Moi? Nah, I think this band always had this in them, it was just the first time they were afforded the opportunity to do it right. Choice cuts; “Sorrows Of The Moon”, the single “I Won't Dance” and the epic “Rex Irae (Requiem)”. We are also treated to the sample/drum machine piece “One In Their Pride” and the superb Wall Of Voodoo cover “Mexican Radio” along the way.
What came before and what came after all had their moments, (even one or two tracks on the misguided glammy follow up “Cold Lake”), but “Into The Pandemonium” stands as their masterpiece.



(Please note: the above post contains “Tristesses de la Lune” replacing “Sorrows Of The Moon”, the former being the strings and voice only version of the latter and did not appear on the initial release of the album)

Original vinyl release:
Side A
1. Mexican Radio
2. Mesmerized
3. Inner Sanctum
4. Sorrows of the Moon
5. Babylon Fell

Side B
1. Caress into Oblivion
2. One in Their Pride
3. I Won't Dance
4. Rex Irae (Requiem)
5. Oriental Masquerade

For more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Pandemonium

The Way Of The Weird post 3

A collection of posts about the strange, the unusual, the experimental and the odd in a variety of musical genres.

Cromagnon - “Orgasm”
(ESP-Disk 1969)



This is a record I only came across (pun intended) about 5 years ago. It is the only known release from this obscure experimental US project Cromagnon. They were essentially a duo of Austin Grasmere and Brian Elliot with a large 'tribe' of guests performing on the record as well. I once read an interview with one of these guys and there was some explanation of the process of recording this record, the 'band' as it were and the possibility of more records. Can't track it down right now, but in many ways it doesn't matter. This record is what it is without explanation and stands up on its own. It also sounds pretty unique for it's time and contains proto-versions of different 1980s genres such as Black Metal and Industrial, predating them by a couple of decades. When I heard this album, I was already pretty versed in experimental music and some of the more abstract example of psychedelic music and this record still stood out. There is a wide variety of styles on here and yet there is a wonderful “crazy basement” kind of unifying atmosphere to it. So as a body of work, it is a coherent listening experience. Dare I say “Orgasm” is quite an experience.



Side A
1. Caledonia
2. Ritual Feast Of The Libido
3. Organic Sundown
4. Fantasy
Side B
1. Crow Of The Back Tree
2. Genitalia
3. Toth, Scribe I
4. First World Of Bronze