Songs Pulled at Random, Vol. 1
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
What happens when you refuse to choose a theme and leave the fate of your content up to the Gods of Randomness? That’s exactly what I’ve done here: put my Bandcamp collection on shuffle, then documented the results.
Songs Pulled at Random
“9, 10 Never Sleep Again” by Phantasm Nocturnes, from Terror Anthology
Sounds like: Nightmare on Elm Street meets Skinny Puppy
But you might ask, what version of Freddy Krueger shows up here? The wisecracker dropping puns and punchlines, or the dreadful killer? Oh, it’s the dreadful killer. Industrial beats clank beneath horror movie keys, scream queen shrieks, and Freddy quotes.
“Resurrection” by Dark Magician, from A Very Private Affair
Sounds like: raw, melancholic black metal
It’s not all wailing and gnashing and teeth, though. A shred of hope runs through “Resurrection,” with trem-picked, melodic chords floating above propulsive drums. Dark Magician would fit right in on a bittersweet black metal playlist alongside Trha and coffret de bijoux.
“II” by Human Malice, from Collective Trauma
Sounds like: a hell built from TV static
When you meet someone who says they listen to everything, play them this track and gauge their reaction. Then you’ll know if they really listen to everything. “II” gets right to it in classic harsh noise fashion, building and looping massive walls of distortion. No melody, no song structure, no mercy…no problem!
“Hypogelum” by Cara Neir, from Phase Out
Sounds like: A JRPG OST, but with grind/black metal/post-hardcore thrown in the mix
You boot up an early 90s JRPG, and you’re in the the isolated hut of ascetic wizard Magehat, and he says you must collect the five Esoteric Crystals to save the land of Eldertonia from the necromancer Draconis Adonis Mysterioso, and the soothing 8-bit layers of sound for some reason transition into grind, post-hardcore, and black metal, and damn, your first fight is a boss battle against a giant, cybernetic dragon with laser cannons mounted on its shoulders!
“Hypogelum” is like that.
“The Blood of the Wicked Shall Entomb the Earth” by Sacrificial Vein, from Black Terror Genesis
Sounds like: demented dissoblack
What we have here: the first song from a Name Your Price debut full of unsettling, dissonant black metal that brings Aosoth, Akhlys, and Deathspell Omega to mind. Total Dissonance Worship released Black Terror Genesis, so you know this is high-quality.
“Being No One” by Spukkopf, from Densely Coiled Layers of Illusion
Sounds like: an alternate soundtrack for Eraserhead
You know you’re in for a nihilistic time when you check out the Bandcamp page for an album, and it features a section from a Thomas Ligotti poem. “Being No One” makes the most of repetition with background static, factory/machinery ambience, and loops of pitched-down vocals. It’s the sound of being systematically ground down into oblivion as a speck on a conveyor belt.
The Non-Random Corner of Shameless Self-Promotion
I recorded a weird sci-fi ambient/noise/drone Spiral Cathedral song for a GoH Recordings compilation, Be Quick or Remain Silent. Check out this comp if you’re into noise, ambient, drone, or experimental electronic music.
I reimagined and stretched out the track to make the dark ambient parts…darker and the noise parts…noisier. The GoH comp has the original version, and the Dark Citadel Bandcamp page has the 23-minute droned-/doomed-out version.
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