Songs Pulled at Random, Vol. 2
It's another choice not to decide, and it still counts as a choice.
Back by unpopular demand, this sequel to Songs Pulled at Random, Vol I promises more chills, thrills, and spills than the original. Or it’s almost exactly like the original, just with different songs “selected” by my Bandcamp collection on shuffle.
Enter at your own risk!
Songs Pulled at Random - AGAIN
“Then There Was One” by SXAP, from total doom
SXAP gets right down to business with gurgling growls and slithering blackened death tremolo right out of the gate. The tone stays sinister throughout the 8+ minutes of this sci-fi epic, even when wandering into doom and ambient territory. Listening to “Then There Was One” is like venturing to Venus and letting the dense atmosphere crush your bones.
“Grotesque” by Vulvanic, from ブラックエンジェルの色合い / 秘密の夜の殺人者
Damn, that’s demented and raw! These Peruvian maniacs live in a world drenched in reverb and static. What you might not expect with the word “raw” involved – there are discernable riffs and solos going on here. There’s a psychedelic feel to this madness, as the short burst of “Grotesque” feels like part of a soundtrack to an LSD-driven art film.
“Painted Paradise” by Fleshbore, from Painted Paradise
Fans of Soreption, Archspire, and Psycroptic should enjoy the tech death stew cooked up by Fleshbore. Rather than focus on playing 64th note scales at 555 beats per minute, Fleshbore takes time to craft what you might calls actual songs (rather than exercises) like “Painted Paradise.” Yes, there are moments of jaw-dropping, intricate technicality, but the tempo slows enough to let the arrangement breathe.
Example: the jangly melody at around the two-minute mark gives way to a melodic solo before chaos descends again. The drums (by Robin Stone!) and bass (by Cole Daniels!) hold down the fort as Michael O’Hara covers a range of noises human vocal cords shouldn’t be able to make.
“Cursed” by The Ashen Codex, from The Curse, The Choice, The Healer
DECEPTIVE ARTWORK ALERT! The flame-tailed wolves, spiky bat wings, evil skeleton nun, and decapitated head might make you think The Ashen Codex worships at the altar of 2nd wave black metal. But that’s not the case.
Instead, “Cursed” comes straight from the ancient dungeons of synth, with mournful orchestral layers, keyboard choirs, and harpsichord. Militaristic snares kick in for the triumphant finale, and yes, I will be listening not just to this song, but the entire album (The Curse, The Choice, The Healer) the next time I read a fantasy novel.
“[re-terminated]” by Fabriker [101], from M.G.I. / F - [101] Split
As AI use increases, and we count down the days to OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS gaining sentience…you might wonder about an afterlife for machines. Fabriker [101] captures what technological hell would sound like: an avalanche of distorted drones rusting and decaying, robotic husks writhing in pools of crackling electricity, and oil-drenched industrial wires lashing the obsolete masses.
“Facilitation of Perineum Caedo” by Vituperate, from Dies Mali
Get out your BROOTALITY Checker for this Vituperate jam:
✅Non-stop blasting
✅The deepest gutturals
✅Song title referencing medical procedure
✅Looking up the song title to understand what it means
✅Released by New Standard Elite
✅That one part where everything slows down, and the chug riff slams so hard
Outcome: “Facilitation of Perineum Caedo” broke the BROOTALITY Checker.
Bizarro Books for Random Reading
You Only Need One Kidney, so I Removed One of Mine and Made It Into My Butler; Also, My House Is Haunted by the Ghost of Blockbuster Video by Douglas Hackle
We don’t believe in false advertisement here at Dark Citadel Substack HQ, and neither does Douglas Hackle. This outlandish novel delivers on its promises of a kidney butler AND a house haunted by the ghost of Blockbuster Video. Plus, the protagonist inherits millions from an uncle, then pursues his dream dream of becoming the banjo boy from Deliverance. I recommend into this one as blindly as possible, then letting the hilarity and wackiness wash over you like ectoplasm dripping from the sassy ghost of Blockbuster Video.
Donut Quest by Jerry Blaze
David, a rubbery man with no bones, can’t really start his day without a donut. But quite a lot gets between David and the bakery in his fever dream world of sex, drugs, violence, and chivalry. Just read this thing to erase the rational parts of your mind!
Rabbit Skin Glue by Elizabeth Bedlam
If you ever wonder how the wealthy spend their time, look no further than the scathing satire of Rabbit Skin Glue. Socialite Iris commissions a death painting to know how she will exit this mortal coil, as her her tragedy-stricken family has found increasingly tragic ways to get gone. Meanwhile, a rabbit grows inside Iris. While you peek behind the tattered curtain of her fractured mind, you might wonder what’s real and what’s a dreadful hallucination.
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