All Your Sisters
Uncomfortable Skin
Flenser (2016)
Starting out as the solo project of Jordan Morrison, All Your Sisters turned into an intriguing duo with the addition of Mario Armando Ruiz on bass and synths. The band draws influence from mainly from the '80s new wave scene, paying tribute to the post-punk and noise rock styles of the era, but with an industrial edge and an ambient … Read more
Black Wing
...Is Doomed
Flenser (2015)
The name Dan Barrett is well known to anyone following projects such as Have a Nice Life, Giles Corey and Enemies List (and quite a few more.) In his latest project, Black Wing, Barrett sets on a digital-only path. While the motto of his other project, Giles Corey, has been: “only acoustic instruments allowed,” Black Wing features only digital instruments. … Read more
Boduf Songs
Stench Of Exist
Flenser (2015)
Started as the acoustic project of musician Mat Sweet, Boduf Songs have been transforming throughout the years. The debut self-titled album of the band featured interesting acoustic compositions, recorded with minimal equipment in Sweet’s own room back in 2004, but soon enough bloomed into a darker, experimental act. Such tendencies were revealed in Lion Devours the Sun as the music … Read more
Bosse-de-Nage
Further Still
Flenser (2018)
The San Fransisco based band, Bosse-de-Nage, was one of the acts to popularize the post-black metal style in its current form. It all begun with their release of their debut, self-titled record in 2010, with the band showcasing not only a way of combining the nihilistic black metal tone with the haze of shoegaze, but rather a more holistic approach … Read more
Botanist
VI: Flora
Flenser (2014)
The whole concept of one-man black metal projects is quite old. From back in the ‘90s you would have acts like Burzum and Ildjarn (although they would feature also Nidhogg occasionally.) Those acts were great and it was quite nice to see that other musicians today would adapt the same philosophy and try to create solitary projects, with excellent examples … Read more
Cremation Lily
Dreams Drenched In Static
Flenser (2022)
It has been quite a journey for Zen Zsigo and Cremation Lily, a path defined by constant flux. It was back in the early ‘10s, that the initial demos of the project appeared. Back then it was all about textural harshness, with Zsigo pushing the power electronics ethos. The initial chaos would subside, and from there on Cremation Lily explored … Read more
Have a Nice Life
Sea of Worry
Flenser (2019)
Time changes us all. As people we are bound to the rules of time and how it moves regardless of whether we want it to or not. Music changes us. However, the rules surrounding how music moves us is on a different scale to that of time - one piece of music will affect ten people differently. Have a Nice … Read more
Kayo Dot
Coffins On Io
Flenser (2014)
Just last year, Kayo Dot were releasing one of their most ambitious and challenging albums, Hubardo. The US based band, led by mastermind singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Toby Driver, has made a career out of their crazy mold of different musical genres. Hubardo was the perfect example of the Kayo Dot vision, encompassing in its two disks elements of avant-garde metal, post-metal and … Read more
Loss Of Self
Twelve Minutes
Flenser (2013)
Loss Of Self first garnered attention following the release of their eponymous 2012 demo. With much acclaim following their unique take on the modern trend of positive sounding black metal, it was no surprise that genre label The Flenser saw potential in the lo-fi three-track effort. Now, with Twelve Minutes, the Melbourne-based outfit have set out a record that doesn’t … Read more
Mamaleek
Via Dolorosa
Flenser (2015)
The experimental black metal outfit from San Francisco has been able to create a veil of mystery around their existence. The origin of Mamaleek is traced back in 2008, and since then, these guys have been quite active. Their first couple of albums, the self-titled debut and Fever Dream, were released on a very limited amount of copies through (I … Read more
Mastery
VALIS
Flenser (2015)
The origin of Mastery, the one man black metal project of Ephemeral Domignostika, is traced back in 2005. Through the years, Mastery have released five demos, a compilation of which is found in Barbaric Usurpation of the Hypereonic Black Metal Throne, and a couple of splits with Palace of Worms and Skullflower. So it has taken the act quite a … Read more
Panopticon
On The Subject Of Mortality
Flenser (2011)
Many people (I was going to say all but did not want to over generalize) seem to have certain touchstones with regards to certain styles of music, and in one short year, Panopticon has become one of those “bands” (in quotes because this is really a one man project) for me; …On The Subject Of Mortality… is the record that … Read more
Panopticon
Social Disservices
Flenser (2011)
Did you ever just get constantly impressed with the evolution that an artist or group of artists make through the progression of their work and craft? Panopticon certainly is making that type of impression on me at this particular juncture as the one man political black metal project drops one of the more politically acerbic records that I have heard … Read more
Planning For Burial
Below The House
Flenser (2017)
Would you rather a musician be great live commanding all manner of powers that conjure spirits and whisk the entire gathering to a place of other or of temporary enlightenment, or would you rather that same musician be a paragon of studio craft, wielding instruments like a paintbrush and the studio like a canvas?I was standing on the side of … Read more
Planning For Burial
Desideratum
Flenser (2014)
We all have our dark places and those journeys to and through and from those midnight shores in the bleak silence of night can produce some of the most meaningful moments of one’s life whether it be a conversation with a person that you barely know or just sitting with your cat staring into its eyes wondering what its thinking … Read more
Sprain
The Lamb As Effigy
Flenser (2023)
One of the many exciting acts introduced through The Flenser, Sprain delivered an impressive work with their debut record, As Lost Through Collision. Introduced during the dark times between lockdowns in 2020, the album is a tour de force through noise rock and post-hardcore. With an off-kilter element and an allure for both the chaotic and depressing nature of no … Read more
Street Sects
End Position
Flenser (2016)
Austin, Texas duo achieve an unholy alliance of industrial music and punk rock in their debut album, End Position. In paper it feels that something like that would not work, and a failed attempt to produce something coherent would only end in hysterical laughter. Thankfully, this is far from the case here, and Leo Ashline and Shaun Ringsmuth unleash one … Read more
Street Sects
The Kicking Mule
Flenser (2018)
This deviant punk/industrial hybrid sprout onto the scene in 2014 with their EP Gentrification I: The Morning After the Night We Raped Death, introducing their aggressive, noisy and extravagant sound. However, it was their debut record End Position that saw them produce a succinct and complete offering presenting their full vision. Street Sects arrived with an intense and furious perspective, … Read more
