Alright everyone just like we promised here is the Nov/Dec issue of Cryptic Inscriptions.It's not as huge as the previous issue,but it still has a decent amount of material for you guys to check out.We hope you enjoy:
Reviews by Joe:
OM "Variations on a Theme" LP, ISIS "Oceanic" LP and Remains "Ruin Repeat" Demo
Reviews by Masami:
The Current Group "Plateau Meridians" LP and Memoryhouse "The Years" LP
Poems by Joe:
Self Proclaimed Martyr,As the Dead Walk Among Us and An Ocean Drift
Poems by Masami:
Therapy, As Stray Stars Wander About,The Woods of Abandon and Puzzled Pieces in the Pipers Paradox
New issue is being conceived.That's all for now see you in 2013 maybe?
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Puzzled Pieces in the Pipers Paradox
Puzzled Pieces in the Pipers Paradox
Beasts
in heat beat their aching breasts, Suckling like children off the nipples of
mother nature, Blissful as the wandering hermit who sits alone in a damp cave
beside the rising mists of a flowing waterfall, His body still as the earth
beneath our feet, With eyes serenely shut as the floating gaze of those who
gently sleep..... Awakened! By the bellowing voices of pounding drums, &
they dance ecstatically around the crackling flames of this roaring fire,
Wildly chanting in echoes the goddesses sacred name, & a priestess stands
before the foggy veil of these rising fumes of smoke, Drifting..... A visionaries
mask painted across her ancient face, Ingesting the sacrament to view beyond
time & space, An internal lycanthropy, a mental transfiguration, atavism of
a primal essence. That feral fox flying through a forest of mirrors, but slowly
they dissipated into a foggy shade. Black as the waters at the bottom of a
lagoon. That darkening cynicism cloaking us like nuns from that bare paradise
we'd once called Eden...... & Scribbling these notes in a little black book
that he'd kept close to his breast.He captured these memories through an opened
lens, That doorway these strangers had left ajar, Flowing with rhythms &
riddles enigmatic as this scene. Waking up in a cold sweat to realize it had
all been a dream......
An Ocean Drift
An
Ocean Drift
As I
immerse into the ocean drift letting myself go on my own free will. Connecting
with the elements around me I float to a better place. Away from the
constraints and the chains that hold me back I break free with every stroke
that I take. Seemingly endless waves block my paths, but I break past the
intensity. Calmly I embrace things that are to come, challenging obstacles head
on with the water as my guide. The place where life began. Should it end? There’s never really an end, just a new
beginning. Waves crashing on my face, I submerge in a state of unconsciousness.
The Woods of Abandon
The Woods of Abandon
The
sky is clear today, & What sobering beauty was felt through this open
horizon! Yet your
center was distant... For in this sphere I feel so far from the hand of warmth!
With a touch so tender... & a soothing voice calm as the cascading waves of
this azure ocean, Magnetize my mind with the simple grace that is your natural
charm..... So kiss this evening goodnight, As you tip your hat to the moon,
& You radiate with a quirky aura of laughter, Glowing like the earth
beneath this golden sun, Humbly bowing as the crimson mountainsides, With that
sense of serenity felt as you spin in circles amongst the trees,Deeply inhaling
those fresh aromas of sap, oak, & pine..... & Oh how childhood hours of
darkness led me to wander in these woods of abandon! Where not even the crowscould
perch upon our upturned brows.....
As the Dead Walk Among Us
As
the Dead Walk Among Us:
Parading
the streets, eyes locked in a gaze mesmerized by achievements that are far off
pipe dreams in the land of atonement. Paralyzed by an illusion, the stones are
set in place as the gatekeeper holds onto the keys of everlasting happiness. A
key that we all have, but yet are unaware of, material needs are but only
tangible objects filling the void of the intangible that we all fail to see.
As Stray Stars Wander About
As Stray Stars Wander About
There lies a hidden temple
beneath the black earth. Concealed within the forgotten chasms of this third eye. A
pyramid arched towards those vague constellations where stray stars wander about. As
Anubis points his pale finger to the shadowy depths below,these cyclical sands sifting
upwards & downwards, like the bellowing lungs of hungry tornadoes caught in this
shifting hourglass, & as the hour peaks its head over the lands they scurry like a million
mice over the plains of this barren desert..... & bloodstains the sands, Placing a Promethean
gift in your upturned hand.Set slashes the throat of Osiris,that radiant heart of the sun.
Only to have his breast pierced by the spear of Horus, oh how the cycle rolls on like a
gamblers pair of dice. For when Pandora's box has been opened this reflection will no
longer appear as a recognizable recollection.....
Self Proclaimed Martyr
The
Self Proclaimed Martyr
Begging
for attention, begging for salvation, leading others on the blind leading the
blind, the reaper sows the fields of everlasting contradiction. Seeds of
millions grow to repeat the same foolish mistakes.
Therapy
Therapy
Wearing
lab coats white as a cut bindle of blow, the circle of doctors diagnosed, casting
curses of a prohibition on the trembling hands of a fiend & gazing through
double bladed spectacles they critique his madness behind this one sided frame
of glass. As he rabidly foams at the mouth with a bloodshot glare... Gnawing at
these padded cell walls within this creeping paranoia crawls,that venomous
arachnid that numbly nestles throughout your veins. Screeching like violin bows
scathing along broken strings! So dig your sharpened nails into the bleeding
walls. As they silently sooth these aches with the trepid symphonies they
sonder.....
Remains "Ruin Repeat" Demo Review
Remains “Ruin Repeat” Demo
Jacksonville Drone/Doom
metal trio, Remains is a recent discovery for me. I stumbled upon their 2011
demo which features 4 songs of dark post-apocalyptic drone. The dark keyboard
and pain anguished screams of Clay, together with the mix of Jack’s tight
rhythmic drumming and Mike’s drone soaked guitars make this one project to
check out. The droned rhythms are very trance and psychedelic in nature, and
with the tortured screams and keyboards, it makes for a pretty unique sound. I like how the band manages to keep the pace
but somehow throw you off with weird guitar bends and tasteful drum fills. For me, my favorite moments were the clean,
melodic guitar line on “Apetra,” along with the keyboard solo and drum pickup
in “Eschaton.” What a great way to end
off this little 4 song album! I would
definitely recommend this for fans of Earth, Sunn O)))
and Barn Owl. From the ashes and remains, will a new beginning rise?...
Memoryhouse "The Years" LP Review
Memoryhouse "The Years" LP
Ontario, Canada's Memoryhouse are a fairly
recent musical outlet having started about five
or so years back. This creative outfit consists of the dual effort of artists
Evan Abeele & Denise Nouvion. Originally this project was intended to be a collaboration
between film, photography, & music. This entity eventually evolved into a
different state, while still retaining the essence of these elements. On
their first recording, “The Years,” one can't help but be enticed by the
dream-like reveries captured by Nouvion's silken voice & Abeele's liquid
rhythms. When you listen to tracks like “Lately” you can imagine yourself
drifting with the tide as memories past flutter behind your closed eyelids. As
for songs like “Sleep Patterns” or “To The Lighthouse,” the poetry of the
lyrics create vivid pictures of emotion through nature, surreal imagery, &
everyday occurrences. A somber sense of nostalgia is felt in each word
as it's beautifully backed by the calm melodies that flow in their wake. So on
a closing note, Memoryhouse's “The Years” will sooth listeners senses into a
surreal pillow of clouds, as they gently float above a calm sea of dreams.
ISIS "Oceanic" LP Review
IsIs: “Oceanic” LP
Atmospheric Post Metal outfit, IsIs has been
very influential in the genre that they helped expand,with each album, the band has showcased their
need for progression and evolution of the standard song structure. Their sound
is far from generic and boring. Something I have noticed with this particular
band that makes them stand out from the typical underground metal outfit is
that each album deals with a theme and a story.
It doesn’t stop there however.
Each album seems to coincide with one another, like a novel with many
chapters. On “Oceanic,” the theme
centers on a man who finds his true love and is driven to committing suicide
after he finds out about her incestuous love affair with her brother.
Guitarist/singer Aaron Turner definitely knows how to express his emotions
through both angst and tranquility. The
combination of harsh and melodious clean vocals are complemented with heavy
sludge-ridden riffs and melodic post rock guitars. Isis is the perfect blend of sludge/post
metal, post rock, electronica, and ambient.
To me, they sound like the heavier version of Pink Floyd, especially
with the way the songs seem to flow together. I like the fact that Isis can
take a set of songs and create this one long track broken into several parts.
That definitely makes for a sonic masterpiece. It’s a shame they broke up, but
at the end of the day, they came, they went, and they left an imprint in the
music scene that won’t be forgotten.
The Current Group"Plateau Meridians" LP Review
The Current Group "Plateau Meridians" LP
The Current Group's 2009 record “Plateau Meridians” has to be one of the most
abstract & artistically
original pieces I've recently stumbled upon. The album's downloadable off the bands
label Close / Far, which is home to all kinds of otherinteresting records and bands,
but I recommend ripping this one personally. The record begins with the track “For All
Time” which emits a meditative & ceremonial vibe. The song drones on with down tuned
guitars that create a liquid presence, backed by whispers & the echoes of
chants. On “Silver Equine Heart” the ambiance is a bit different. The track slowly
builds with the sound of dark jazzy trumpets, percussions that have the aura of some
monastic eastern practice, & surreal poetics that are gently sung that seem to emit from a
place of darkness & light.So as the poem ends the songcomes to an abrupt stop only
to fall back on the jazz like sounds that bring to mind a darker Coltrane type tune.With “Thine Eyes” that meditative aura is
captured once more putting the listener in a trance. The tribal percussions
throughout the song are as mesmerizing as the sounds of ticking clocks & raindrops
that trickle like shifting rattlesnakes. On “December 21, 2006 (For All Longing)” a very
haunting aura was realized. The percussion’s sound, like a room taken over by a playful
poltergeist as you imagine drawers opening by themselves and doors opening and shutting
quite frantically. The voice over it sounds either like a lonesome specter calling out
or the ravings of a madman in an asylum, repetitively shouting “Don't forget to come back!” On “Meridians” the listener feels themselves
becoming mentally disembodied in the depths of space as they float
along an invisible current of dreams. With “Nek Chand” you fall back into that
strange world of percussions that sound like chains and poetics that seem to vocalize from ten
different mouths. While in the next track “On The Salem Plateau”the electronic
effects seem to hover over the listener's head as the guitars create an atmospheric vibe felt
throughout the song. Another one of the more bizarre tracks on the record is “Boxcars (Story
Version)”, which starts with what sounds like an anxious mind thinking in silence as
eerie synth effects begin to envelop it. The breathing grows heavier as the lyrics twist in
strange directions and the sounds follow suit all climaxing into a paranoid piece of
perfection. On “Thine Eyes II” that schizophrenic voice returns disturbed as ever backed by
percussion’s ticking like the hands of a clock and melodious guitar rhythms. The final track
on this masterpiece is“Under The Dogwood” which flows with cascading sound
effects of shifting sheets as you twist and turn in your bed in a state of slumber. While all
the while holding that peaceful tranquility felt in a summertime dream.
OM "Variations on a Theme" LP Review
OM: “Variations on a Theme”
LP
The three song debut LP of
Oakland California's doom metal duo OM, definitely solidified the band’s position in
the doom/stoner metal scene. The one
thing that really drew me to these guys was the fact that the band only relies
on bass and drums. While some might
think that this would take away from the overall sound, it doesn’t. The solid
drumming of Chris Hakius and the crushing bass lines and meditative soothing
vocals of Al Cisneros (both members of respective Doom/Stoner outfit Sleep)
together makes a good sounding album. The opening feedback and bass line on the
title track sucks you in, and with each song, you become accustomed to the
initial theme of the band that is both meditative and spiritual. For me, the
album is both heavy and soothing, as well as aggressive and passive. After playing through several songs, it seems
refreshing and good to me each time I put it on. I would love to see this live.
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