Posts Tagged ‘Aquarius Records’

Album of the day: Knut – Wonder

Posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Praise for Knut‘s Wonder (Hydra Head) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records:  It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Swiss heavies Knut, who we’ve always loved, their sound a head caving hybrid of mathy crush and epic post metal majesty, they were exploring Neurosis / Isis slow burn big blowout metallic post rock territory long before it became the flavor du jour.

But the real appeal was that they could craft these expansive dirgescapes and then explode into noise rock freakouts, or super complex mathy grooves. And if anything, on Wonder, it sounds like Knut have moved way further into mathy noise rock territory, which we’re actually pretty psyched about. Heck, the world has enough long songs that build slowly into epic metallic heaviness, and yeah, okay, maybe the world has enough gnarled grinding math metal juggernauts, but we think not.

And Knut are indeed masters, putting most other heavies to shame, really in the space of a single song. ‘Leet’ explodes in a frenzy of churning riffage and pounding chaotic drumming, bellowed vox, a deft chugging stuttering lurching start stop convoluted mathy workout, but infused with little bits of melody, some super cool, weirdly obtuse breakdowns, a relentless math metal freeforall that practically out-Don-Caballero-s Don Cab themselves.

There are a few tracks, where the bands reel in their insane time signatures and frenzied riffing, letting their sound ooze and sprawl, droning and buzzing, where they unfurl epic brooding heaviness, much like the above mentioned post metal. But even those moments are peppered with little mathy bursts, little gnarled and convoluted twists, there are a few interludes too, more sort of droned out guitar ambience, before they finish off with the 8+ minute ‘Wonder/Daily Grind’ –the first half of which is a gorgeously lysergic dronescape of layered slow motion chords and thick psychedelic guitar smolder, it does eventually lurch into some lumbering chug and pound, but just as quickly it slips back into some minimal ambient buzz and drone.

Some seriously awesome heaviness.

At 40 years old, Aquarius is the oldest independent record store in San Francisco. We try to only carry music we love, and we’re always searching for more new, cool, weird and wonderful music. All of which we then share with you, our loyal customers.

Tags: album of the day, Aquarius Records, Conspiracy Records, hydra head, Knut, Wonder
Posted in 2010, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | 3 Comments »

Album of the day: Bitchin Bajas – Tones / Zones (LP)

Posted on Monday, August 30th, 2010

Praise for Bitchin Bajas‘ Tones / Zones (Important)  from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: With a name like Bitchin Bajas you would expect some bratty lo-fi garage pop or ironic washed out rock, but sometimes the name and the sound can exist in two entirely different worlds, and with Bitchin Bajas ...read more

Album of the day: Detritivore – Pakt

Posted on Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Praise for Detritivore‘s Pakt (Lyderhorn) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Pakt is a harrowing, abject experiment in doom-ed blackness, the debut from this Norwegian duo, who weave a suffocating expanse of dense layered blackness, a dizzying hybrid of blacknoize, dark hypnotic dronemusic, and funereal doom. But even as a strange ...read more

Album of the day: Godflesh – Streetcleaner (Reissue)

Posted on Friday, August 20th, 2010

Praise for Godflesh‘ Streetcleaner (Earache) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: It really doesn’t take much for us to find an excuse to gush about this, one of our favorite metal records EVER, the industrial metal juggernaut that is Streetcleaner. A crushing sonic milestone by which all other heaviness must be ...read more

Album of the day: Cloaca – Lassitude

Posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Praise for Cloaca‘s Lassitude from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Lassitude is the very first release from the just launched UK label Lone Vigil, and is the debut of black industrial post metal doomlords Cloaca. Both the label and the band are fronted by Chris Naughton, he of doomsludge masters Atavist ...read more

Rodriguez – Cold Fact

Posted on Monday, August 16th, 2010

Praise for Rodriguez’ Cold Fact from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Pop quiz! Quick: who’s the “street poet” singer with no first name*, son of Mexican immigrants, born and raised in Detroit Michigan, whose debut album from 1970 sounded like a fuzz-soul-psych version of Bob Dylan and / or Donovan, and ...read more

Dzjenghis Khan – Hey You

Posted on Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Priase for Dzjenghis Khan‘s Hey You (Motorwolf) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Hey all right!! We hadn’t heard much from these local, long haired, lost-in-time rockers for far too long, ’cause their singing drummer moved away for a while, but is back in town, and now they have a new ...read more

Album of the day: Boris – Amplifier Worship (2LP Southern Lord)

Posted on Friday, August 13th, 2010

Praise for Boris‘ Amplifier Worship (2lp) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records:  FINALLY! The second album (originally released in 1998, then reissued in 2001) from this Japanese psychedelic sludge trio, now available on vinyl for the first time EVER, and we’re talking super fancy thick vinyl, with gorgeous heavy gatefold sleeves ...read more

Album of the day: Sir Lord Baltimore – S/T (LP)

Posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010

Praise for Sir Lord Baltimore‘s S/T from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records:  In the annals of the “early heavy”, the Sir Lord Baltimore (from Brooklyn) is up there with the likes of Dust, Bang, and yes Blue Cheer. Too bad their two albums have been pretty much out of print for ...read more

Album of the day: The High Confessions – Turning Lead Into Gold With The High Confessions

Posted on Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Praise for The High Confessions – Turning Lead Into Gold With The High Confessions (Relapse) from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Some ‘supergroups’ seem more likely than others, often made up of guys who already played together, or who had shared histories, maybe toured together, but then there’s this one, called ...read more