Gonkulator
Second War In Heaven
[Fudgeworthy]
Possibly the most sonically discordant and inharmonic band I've ever had the pleasure of hearing - if Beherit in their early years had been so heavily influenced by Brighter Death Now instead of Blasphemy, they'd sound a great deal like these screechy black noise horror movie maniacs. Needless to say, the old American "cast" (described later) are nothing short of incredible; with wave upon wave of haunting vehement feedback and methodically "harmonized" distortion, there seems to be an amazingly subtle but twisted pattern underlying every track. It almost scrapes along in some sort of bemired, surreal level, constantly interrupted by the most memorable of film samples (you should be able to recognize most of these!) and several simply bizarre tones which I'm still trying to figure most of out. It's as if the members of Gonkulator decided to take on roles of executive producers rather than musicians, and channeled the energy of their favorite classic screenplays into a chaotic sound representation.
It's all unlike anything I have ever heard before, and it eclipses most of it as well. The David Lynch of black metal!
That being said, I suppose the number of people who will actually love this like I do are approximately how many also watch Eraserhead on a frequent basis... indeed, most of those who seem to have even heard the band and given them a chance see it as little more than a joke. They look at "Gonkulator," the band photos, the cover art, and the lack of a nice, traditional frosty structure, and they give up, because most everyone these days is so fat and lazy and stupid and disgusting that having to figure something out would be like a true tragedy, so they quickly run to the FMP message board and post "Fuck Gonkulator, hail MOONBLOOD!!!" and then they can begin to breathe regularly again. However, I do know that there are still some credible people out there that listened to Beherit, Blasphemy, and Brighter Death Now prior to six months ago - so if you haven't already, give Gonkulator a try as well, because it could end up being one of the blackest and most extreme releases you've ever heard. It's still definitely not for everyone, but for those of you still drifting into those darker power electronic moods every now and then, it could be one of the most important pieces missing from your collection.
All that said, Second War in Heaven is actually quite a bit more restrained than most of the other Gonkulator material, being their most recent mcd (about 26 minutes long). Nevertheless, it's still nothing short of fantastic; opening with a phenomenal three minute intro called "Full Moon over Schlagen" (this is almost as good as the intro on Satan's Burial Ground, but not quite!), it kicks into a song called "Banish the Holy Trinity," which is a complete killer sort of reminding me of "Release the Bees." Tracks three and four ("Volitile Reponse to Religious Brainwashing," nice title) are very much of the same, but five seems to be the real highlight of the disc, commandingly entitled "Hail the Black Noise." It's the fastest and most energetic of the album, and the succeeding track, "Drowned in Black Blood," could of course immediately be seen as sort of a compliment to and taken inspiration from Beherit. Unfortunately I was disappointed to find this not ending with another great outro, and it does leave me wanting more every time, but I suppose it is an mcd after all.
By virtue of length alone and a greater number of timeless samples I'd recommend Satan's Burial Ground first, but if that one ends up entrancing you even remotely as much as it did me, I doubt it will be long before you grab this as well. I'm having a very difficult time doing this release any justice here. A simply remarkable band, one that grew almost immediately into a close favorite, and I only hope that they aren't someday grabbed by a bunch of 15-year old leeches that proclaim them kult, label them the American answer to Beherit, and then never give a fuck about their music at all (if they even hear it). That's never what Gonkulator set out to be, and it's nothing like what they are trying to convey. All hail the black noise!
© 2002 hando
That being said, I suppose the number of people who will actually love this like I do are approximately how many also watch Eraserhead on a frequent basis... indeed, most of those who seem to have even heard the band and given them a chance see it as little more than a joke. They look at "Gonkulator," the band photos, the cover art, and the lack of a nice, traditional frosty structure, and they give up, because most everyone these days is so fat and lazy and stupid and disgusting that having to figure something out would be like a true tragedy, so they quickly run to the FMP message board and post "Fuck Gonkulator, hail MOONBLOOD!!!" and then they can begin to breathe regularly again. However, I do know that there are still some credible people out there that listened to Beherit, Blasphemy, and Brighter Death Now prior to six months ago - so if you haven't already, give Gonkulator a try as well, because it could end up being one of the blackest and most extreme releases you've ever heard. It's still definitely not for everyone, but for those of you still drifting into those darker power electronic moods every now and then, it could be one of the most important pieces missing from your collection.
All that said, Second War in Heaven is actually quite a bit more restrained than most of the other Gonkulator material, being their most recent mcd (about 26 minutes long). Nevertheless, it's still nothing short of fantastic; opening with a phenomenal three minute intro called "Full Moon over Schlagen" (this is almost as good as the intro on Satan's Burial Ground, but not quite!), it kicks into a song called "Banish the Holy Trinity," which is a complete killer sort of reminding me of "Release the Bees." Tracks three and four ("Volitile Reponse to Religious Brainwashing," nice title) are very much of the same, but five seems to be the real highlight of the disc, commandingly entitled "Hail the Black Noise." It's the fastest and most energetic of the album, and the succeeding track, "Drowned in Black Blood," could of course immediately be seen as sort of a compliment to and taken inspiration from Beherit. Unfortunately I was disappointed to find this not ending with another great outro, and it does leave me wanting more every time, but I suppose it is an mcd after all.
By virtue of length alone and a greater number of timeless samples I'd recommend Satan's Burial Ground first, but if that one ends up entrancing you even remotely as much as it did me, I doubt it will be long before you grab this as well. I'm having a very difficult time doing this release any justice here. A simply remarkable band, one that grew almost immediately into a close favorite, and I only hope that they aren't someday grabbed by a bunch of 15-year old leeches that proclaim them kult, label them the American answer to Beherit, and then never give a fuck about their music at all (if they even hear it). That's never what Gonkulator set out to be, and it's nothing like what they are trying to convey. All hail the black noise!
© 2002 hando