Noise Not Music: Head Wound City, Ancst, Gnod, Puce Mary And More

Welcome back (after far too long a break) to the realm of Noise Not Music. The column has been revamped a bit to incorporate an ever-changing Spotify playlist, which I will update every couple of weeks with stuff that I like but haven’t necessarily found time to give the full treatment here. That, of course, will operate in tandem with the usual round up of all things heavy, weird and wonderful. Happy ear bashing!

Ancst – ‘Moloch’ (Halo of Flies)

It always makes a nice change to hear about a black metal band whose politics are explicitly to the left of centre. Ancst are an “anti-fascist, anti-sexist, anti-religion, death to NSBM” band currently based in Berlin, where they have witnessed first hand an alarming rise in intolerance in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Europe. This isn’t the reason I’m including ‘Moloch’ in this column, but it is no doubt the reason behind this record’s seething intensity.

There are plenty of bands around now infusing their black metal with crust influences, but Ancst manage to do this more convincingly than most. In part that is due to the pacing of the album. At 38 minutes it clocks in at a perfectly agreeable length, crucially while comprising tracks that vary their pace and textures. Then there’s the sense of very real anger and frustration that bleeds into each and every piece on the album, not least the brilliant closing trio of Human Hive, No More Words and Lys. For a debut full-length this is extremely impressive stuff. ‘Pale Dawn’ – the new LP by fellow Berlin black metallers Sun Worship – is also worth exploring.

Head Wound City – ‘A New Wave of Violence’ (Vice)

Sometimes you just want an album that does what it says on the tin without any messing around. You shouldn’t be under any illusions about what a band called Head Wound City sound like, especially on an album called ‘A New Wave of Violence’. Featuring members of the Blood Brothers, the Locust and – more surprisingly – Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Head Wound City have returned from inactivity with a short, sharp dose of punishingly spiky noise rock that occasionally veers towards grind. This won’t win any awards for originality but it should get a few for its unashamed dedication to punk vitality. Fun, but with a serrated razor blade at its heart.

Ghold – ‘Pyr’ (Ritual Productions)

Now with an extra member – guitarist Oliver Martin – London drone/doom trio Ghold are free to sound even more massive than they did on last year’s ‘Of Ruin’. If anything, the addition of a six-stringer to the line-up has managed to make Aleks Wilson’s bass sound even more cavernous. The highlight here is the astonishing closer Despert Thrang, which would be worth of the price of admission on its own. Over 21 and a half minutes it utterly obliterates the eardrums of any listeners hardy enough to make it through its three predecessors, which are pretty destructive in their own right. Essential.

Gnod – ‘Mirror’ (Rocket)

This probably isn’t what most expected from Gnod after last year’s colossal ‘Infinity Machines’. Where that release emphasised their weirdness to its most tripped out extent, ‘Mirror’ reasserts the band as – fundamentally speaking – a rock band rather than an experimental collective. This is no bad thing. Gnod are similar to Shit & Shine in that they have a rare ability to change their shape without sacrificing their own distinctive personality. ‘Mirror’ is somewhat reminiscent of what Part Chimp or Hey Colossus might sound like if they had a particularly long and dark LSD-fuelled night of the soul. With most stoner rock sounding increasingly watered down, it’s refreshing to hear a band take as much pleasure in slow and genuinely ominous jackhammer riffs as Gnod do here. That things all wind up back in the direction of ‘Infinity Machines’ on the exhausting closer Sodom & Gomorrah only adds to the entertainment value.

Graves at Sea – ‘The Curse That Is’ (Relapse)

It’s been a long wait for ‘The Curse That Is’ to arrive. Graves at Sea have been “around” (to use the word loosely) for 14 years now – a hiatus between 2008 and 2012 aside – but this is the group’s debut full-length album. Unsurprisingly ‘The Curse That Is’ sounds full of the bile and venom generated by this unhealthily long gestation period, in which the band has had to negotiate various personal and personnel issues. Right from the get-go ‘The Curse That Is’ doesn’t mess around. The colossal sludge riffs come adorned with the sort of progressive touches one might associate with early Mastodon and the vocals are cut from the same cloth as those of Eyehategod’s Mike IX Williams or Rwake’s Chris Terry. This is seriously corrosive stuff and, although overlong at 76 minutes across eight tracks, worth experiencing at least once.

Instinto – ‘Dimonis’ (Self-Released)

Catalan d-beaters Instinto are, for some reason, wallowing in the unknown when they should be getting more attention from fans of a genre that (and this is admittedly something of a casual onlooker perspective) usually seems to be full of also-rans. There’s something about the unwavering intensity that Instinto offer here that, to these ears, makes them stand out from that crowd a little bit. There’s almost a dose of Kvelertak-esque swagger in the way the quintet deliver these tunes that gives them an extra degree of credibility, as if they are aware of the inherent restrictions attached to playing this kind of music but don’t give a damn anyhow. Abysmal cover art aside, recommended. And it's available as a free download, too. 

Mirrors for Psychic Warfare – ‘Mirrors for Psychic Warfare’(Neurot)

Any new project featuring Scott Kelly and Sanford Parker is bound to get a fair amount of attention from the underground metal scene but – much like the pair’s Corrections House outfit – this is pretty far from the post-metal heavyweights both men are best known for (Neurosis and Minsk/Buried at Sea respectively). Instead we’re very much in industrial territory, replete with savage amounts of bass where appropriate (at Roadburn they were brilliantly, and sickeningly, loud at points). Kelly is in typically feral form vocally, and his guitar contributions hold the whole thing together like thick, treacle-esque waves of paranoia. Excellent stuff.

Puce Mary – ‘The Spiral’ (Posh Isolation)

‘The Spiral’ is – strangely enough – Puce Mary’s least noisy release to date, but it might also be her most unsettling. Whereas previous efforts ‘Success’ and ‘Persona’ soon dived headfirst into industrial unpleasantness, this time around Frederikke Hoffmeier withholds the pain until the second track. The effect is significant, and helps make a mockery of the incredibly boring male trolls on the internet who still insist on deriding Hoffmeier as a tame synth manipulator rather than an increasingly significant noise scene leader. ‘The Spiral’ continues as it starts. It’s full of uncomfortable lulls, in which Hoffmeier builds atmosphere more effectively than on her – nevertheless excellent – previous albums. The slow motion power electronics payoff that ends the album is all the more potent as a result. Essential listening.

Sumac – ‘What One Becomes’ (Thrill Jockey)

The new Sumac album starts by shattering into a thousand pieces, which is a good way to get going. If the band could be accused of a fault on last year’s debut release – ‘The Deal’ – then it was in the fact that they remained reliably on point for the album’s duration (even to the point of beginning and ending the album with quasi-ambient tracks). Here they start things off by crashing the car off the side of a cliff and what follows is heavier, more diverse and more thrilling than the band’s initial bow. Anyone still missing Isis should think again, because Sumac are rapidly evolving into the missing link between that and Aaron Turner’s other legendary metal troupe, Old Man Gloom. For anyone familiar with both groups that should be very, very exciting news indeed.

Weekend Nachos – ‘Apology’ (Relapse)

I’ve never really got into Weekend Nachos (probably because of the band name, let’s be honest) but on hearing they were calling it a day decided it was time to check them out before their set at Bristol’s Temples Festival (spot the flaw in that plan). Listening to ‘Apology’ you really do get the sense that this is a band that have spent their time well over the last 12 years, honing their craft to the point where it’s hard to criticise.

If anything, the problem with ‘Apology’ is that a couple of tracks perhaps sound a little sterile in comparison to the pure viciousness of their early powerviolence-oriented material, although that may just be how it sounds to someone who spent an afternoon on YouTube taking a crash course in Weekend Nachos. Either way, I’m the one who owes an apology here…to Weekend Nachos for letting their name get in the way the last few years. Check them out yourself before it’s too late. Guitarist Andy Nelson is also in the excellent Like Rats, whose recent album ‘II’ (out now on Southern Lord) is also highly recommended to those who like their hardcore doused in extreme metal.  

Wode – ‘Wode’ (Broken Limbs/Church of Fuck/Sell Your Soul)

Mancunians Wode have joined the (admittedly quite small) top table of genuinely excellent UK black metal bands with this self-titled debut LP. This is pretty old school stuff; so don’t go expecting anything too out there. Instead settle in as Wode do the best job they can of sounding like they spend their spare time burning down Manchester’s religious establishments (or, as we don’t really do wooden churches over here, let’s say burning down small replicas of them in public places). Cloaked in Ruin is a particularly impressive cut, sounding for all the world like a classic track from the early ‘90s (except with better production – get over it kvlters). Incredibly this goodness is available for name your price download from Wode’s Bandcamp, although various physical options are also available.

Related News