Fountains of blood, hordes of locusts, the Angel of Death cutting a swath through the male population: Passover is definitely the most metal of the Jewish holidays. In celebration of the religious observance that inspired “Creeping Death,” I’m pleased to offer some pretty rad Bandcamp downloads that are either completely free or “name your price” (in which case, toss them some shekels). Leavened bread may be forbidden, but headbanging isn’t!
Crumbling Ghost – Crumbling Ghost
I’m pretty sure crumbling isn’t a thing that ghosts do. Haunting, sure. Trying to avenge their untimely deaths, of course. Watching you in the shower? Well, I guess it depends on the ghost. Still, crumbling seems low on the list of activities that an incorporeal being would participate in. Ghosts also don’t normally rock out killer psychedelic doom, but this one does. I suppose that anything’s fair game at that point. Nuggets of post-rock, prairie psych, and old-school doom mix into this ectoplasm soup, and while that sounds disgusting, it works out pretty well.
http://witheredhandrecords.bandcamp.com/album/crumbling-ghost
anonymous4132 – 薔薇乙女 Rozen Maiden guitar covers
Because what’s more metal than guitar shred covers of songs from an anime series about adorable living dolls? Our anonymous benefactor does a pretty good job of translating orchestral pieces into compositions for nerd with guitar. Next step would probably be to put that talent towards original tunes, but hey, there’s a whole industry in Japan for this stuff. In the meantime, I couldn’t find any other things like this available on Bandcamp, so dude has that market to himself.
http://anonymous4132.bandcamp.com/
Arsenal of Empties – Arsenal of Empties
Crust punk from Canada! And here I thought that was a clean country. No, apparently they also have filthies stinking up their equivalent of VFW halls. Arsenal of Empties does nothing new, but they do it well. 11 songs in only slightly more minutes, this will pretty effectively scratch any itch you might have to listen to this stuff, and maybe even dampen the urge to grow dreadlocks and sew an Amebix patch to the back of your suit jacket.
http://moshpittragedy.bandcamp.com/album/arsenal-of-empties
BONUS TRACK:
Floor – Floor
Before there was Torche, there was Floor. A much more sludgy proposition, you can still see the ace songwriting skill and melodic sensibility they would bring to their more successful successor. There’s an eight CD box set with everything they ever recorded, but if you just want to hear their sole full-length album, here you go. Totally free!
http://undercityrecords.com/album/s-t-2
