Terminus Episode 57 - Blind Hate, Gallows, Thy Light, Hanging Garden

It was a dark and stormy night at Terminus HQ- in a literal sense, since this episode was recorded over the course of a couple days when TDMG's power was knocked out mid-recording. Dark forces conspire against us, but we drive ever forward in the name of Sword Boy Summer, now fully upon us. Today's theme? The return of "uncool" styles of metal from the mid-90s and 00s, just barely old enough to inspire feelings of nostalgia in your hosts, finally vindicated in their love of all the music they were bullied about in high school.

The episode opens with a Terminus landmark: The Black Metal Guy's first ever brutal death metal submission. Predictably, it's an odd one: Blind Hate operates in the deepest reaches of the Japanese death metal scene but takes their influences from the most thuggish and ruggish elements of NYDM circa '97. TDMG predictably spergs out, rushing to recommend all the OTHER bands his cohost now needs to listen to. Beyond the immediate love of creeping, crawling, crushing hardcore breakdowns, however, is a work of considerable depth which reveals more and more on subsequent listens.

In a twist of hideous irony, it's TDMG that brings spartan black metal to the table in the form of Gallows. This Salem, Massachusetts duo plays black metal that was nowadays when your hosts grew up but is now almost oldschool- the clattering, discordant strains of Under a Funeral Moon and the oldest work by Mutiilation could be straight out of the late 90s were it not for subtle gestures at modern songwriting standards. It's a fun record with both Unholy Black Metal style rippers as well as slow-burn stuff for the more refined.

We return from our interlude with a blast from TDMG's past with the new EP by Thy Light, a project from the last gasps of DSBM before that scene collapsed. Have you heard DSBM before? You've kind of heard this, then, but it's the little things that count- subtle harmonic color, wonderful rhythmic arrangements and- face-melting guitar solos? Two sprawling tracks announce the return of one of DSBM's unsung heroes, much to the pleasure of your hosts. Back in the day it was just Suicidal Black Metal! I can't handle you whippersnappers!

Concluding the episode is the newest release by Hanging Garden, a melodic, goth-inflected doom/death band drawn from the old Peaceville style who liven things up with remarkable poise and pacing. This is far outside of the usual Terminus wheelhouse but undeniably excellent, making new converts to the kvlt of clean female vocals and tambourine accompaniment. Terminus listeners are exactly the sort of weirdos who would love the transitional records by bands like Paradise Lost and Amorphis, so here's a band for you, who attempt to convert those awkward, fawn-like steps into a limestone-solid foundation to build upon.

 

0:00 - Intro

0:05:55 - Blind Hate - Shinbe - Expulsion of Foreigners (Rock Stakk Records)

0:46:35 - Gallows - 66 Black Wings (Katafalque)

1:21:59 - Interlude - Avsky - Fuck Your Values, Fuck Your Beliefs fr. Malignant (Moribund Records, 2008)

1:29:55 - Thy Light - Thy Light (Independent)

2:16:53 - Hanging Garden - Skeleton Lake (Lifeforce Records)

2:57:29 - Outro - Novembers Doom - Collapse of the Fallen Throe fr. The Pale Haunt Departure (The End Records/Candlelight Records, 2005, or you can find a hard copy of this one just about anywhere)

 

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