Honorable Mentions from the Abyss #18: Ruin Lust/Miscarriage/Kuroi Jukai/Depressor

Hey brutalbangers,

the new episode of "Honorable Mentions from the Abyss" is particularly extreme, not only because it is entirely focused on some of the last releases by the Sentient Ruin Laboratories (a label perfect for everyone into "ugly" but unconventional sonorities) but also because you are going to know very sick bands. So, forewarned is forearmed!

ENJOY THIS ARTICLE and BE DEAF BEFORE THE END OF THIS QUARANTINE!

RUIN LUST - "SACRIFICE"

Maybe it's too late to talk about the sophomore album by Ruin Lust (Bandcamp page) since they released very recently a new album entitled "Choir of Babel" but, anyway, you MUST know the existence of this New York-based band. Born in 2011, this trio initially self-released on cassette "Sacrifice" in February 2019 but, after a while, they found a deal with Sentient Ruin Laboratories, that thought well to give to it a vinyl version, edited in December 2019.

I think that the Sentient Ruin thought a lot well to do it because "Sacrifice" is a 7-track album (with 2 instrumentals, included the intro "Summoner", that's maybe too lenghty) in which there is a bestial black/death metal able to be, at the same time, classic and unconventional. I said "unconventional" because, for example, of veeeery slow moments here and there and for some sick layered riffs. So, we aren't talking about an orthodox bestial black/death metal band like in the case of the Profane Order (an act currently belonging to the roster of the Sentient Ruin) but a band that, starting from classic ideas, wants to overcome the barriers of that genre in order to play in a more unpredictable way.

MISCARRIAGE - "IMMINENT HORROR"

Surely one of the most absurd bands out there, Miscarriage (FB page) released in the early days of 2019 a 5th album, called "Imminent Horror", that is a pure anthem to the agony, starting from its repulsive cover artwork that can remind you of "Reek of Putrefaction" by Carcass.

In fact, "Imminent Horror" contains 7 long tracks that literally drain the energies of every listener, also of the most brave ones, through a strange kind of funeral doom metal characterized by unhuman vocals fit for goregrind, chainsaw death/doom guitars that sometimes spew forth an apocalyptic black metal flavour, and a slow and agonizing pachydermic drumming. All this into an album lasting an entire hour. But do you know what is the most absurd thing? That the new album by this demented US/Swedish duo, "Fucking Disgusting", is composed of 92 ultra-short tracks!

KUROI JUKAI - "KUROI JUKAI"

The more something is mysterious, the more it's fascinating. This is the case of Kuroi Jukai (Japanese for "black seas of trees"), a very short-lived Canadian band that, supposedly, it was active only in 2015 and, after that, they completely disappeared. Fortunately, they left us some relevant traces of their (anti-)musical ideas because, in the same 2015, the power electronics label Aught\Void released on tape their homonymous mini-LP, that featured also some live songs taken from their first ever (and only) live show. 5 years later, the Sentient Ruin repressed it on vinyl, giving to it the right recognition to a wider audience.

Now, I must advise you that we are in presence of something very extreme and perfect if you have strong suicidal tendencies! I am saying this because "Kuroi Jukai" contains 13 tracks with no mercy towards the listeners' sanity, attacking them with a sick and black combination between powerviolence and noisegrind with homicidal influences coming from harsh noise and power electronics, for an audual terrorism of rare proportions and of a good originality. Shame that the live songs are completely absent in this re-release but, fuck that, if you want some noise, Kuroi Jukai will make you definitely explode your ears!

DEPRESSOR - "HELL STORMS OVER EARTH"

If your ears still work a bit for a lucky miracle, then I suggest also to give a try to "Hell Storms Over Earth". This is a compilation of the Bay Area band Depressor, featuring even 18 tracks taken from their various splits (also with the omnipresent Agathocles), demotapes and from their debut EP "Down with All Authoritarianism", covering a period ranging from 1998 to 2003. I confess I knew nothing about this band, that is still living today since 1992, so this compilation was very good to cover this gap of mine.

"Hell Storms Over Earth" shows a band playing essentially a sort of apocalyptic death metal with crust punk and industrial influences, that are regular if you think that Depressor started their career as an industrial metal band à la Godflesh. Some songs are really violent with blast-beats (i.e. "Body Count Rise") while other ones are characterized by strong experimentations (i.e. "The Hypnotist"), so expect a good variety by this cult band.