POST #666: Lord Mantis - Death Mask (2014)

EY KIDS WASSUP?

I’m briefly back from the corporate trenches (it’s brutal out there) and, seeing as it’s been more than a month since I’ve written something on here, I figured I’d do well and contribute to the festering pit that TZEEEAC has become. I’m having a really hard time mustering enough energy and motivation to write here on a regular basis, but one post every once in a while is doable, especially as I’ve amassed a pretty hefty backlog of stuff I wanna share and talk about.

Also, this momentary return to form happens to be the 666th post on TZEEEAC, so I thought “hey, what better way to celebrate this milestone than with some fucking horrible death metal album that will creep everyone and their dog out?”

Thus I give you Lord Mantis. A relatively new death metal outfit bred in the sewers of Chicago that have gained quite a bit of accolades for their efforts, especially 2012’s Pervertor. This year, they have returned with their third album, Death Mask, and a lot of people seemed to have lost their shit about the cover art, mainly because there’s a dong on it. The artist responsible for this nasty painting is none other than Wrest aka Jef Whitehead aka that dude from Leviathan and more importantly Lurker of Chalice. It’s pretty cool, I guess, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the cover art on Pervertor, penned by the mighty Justin Bartlett aka VBERKVLT and which featured deformed creatures feasting on the remains of some sort of crucified Jesus-like abomination. Not sure why I just typed this entire thing, but you should definitely check out Justin Bartlett’s stellar work. Do so while also listening to Lurker of Chalice and now we’re in business.

As for the music itself, Death Mask is a really weird beast and the best I can describe it is a filthy, gooey mixture of death metal, oozing sludge and earth-shaking drone with a hefty dose of doom metal and some odd bits of noise and industrial-type stuff thrown in. Most of the time, the riffs are fuzzy, very repetitive, pummeling as fuck and drowned in reverb. The drumming feels like being run over by stampeding mammoths and the vocals are some of the most infected, distorted and vile snarls I have heard on an album this year. The songs are long enough to allow these combined elements to reach their full potential and effects and a complete listen of Death Mask will leave you feeling weakened and disgusted. Album closer Three Crosses brings in some – dare I say? – beautiful guitar leads, but the most fun I’ve had with this opus lies in the first three tracks, which caused me much dismay and also made me wonder if maybe Lord Mantis are pioneering a new genre of music situated at the crossroads between drone, noise and death metal. Body Choke is especially brutal – it feels like being choked and stomped on for nearly 9 minutes with no respite. Love every minute of it.

Not sure yet if this album will make my end-of-the-year list (although I’m convinced many online publications will have a rightful spot for it on their lists), but you should definitely check it out because it is one of the more unique-sounding death metal albums I’ve encountered recently and it’s oppressive enough to remind you of the first time you listened to Wormphlegm.

One Man Metal (2012)

Maintaining the trend of writing about other stuff than strictly music on TZEEEAC (and Marco copying my every move the next day because he's an awful Italian scumbag), I've seen One Man Metal some weeks ago and I've woken up today at 6.30 thinking "Hey, maybe I could write about that!". I'm not sure how many people care about metal documentaries but what the hell, I've got nothing better to do.

One Man Metal is a three-part documentary presented by Vice and Noisey that centers on three reclusive black metal musicians who have never before appeared or talked in front of a camera, much less give detailed interviews about their work, creation process, early life and so an. As you may gather from the poster, these one-man bands are Leviathan, Striborg and Xasthur. That dude had to travel to Oakland, LA and fucking Tasmania in order to track down these solitary artists and get them to confess in front of the lens, so it was a pretty difficult effort to shoot this thing. At one point, the presenter mentions that he had to get a Leviathan tattoo at Jef Whitehead's (known as Wrest) tattoo shop so he'd agree to appear in the documentary, which was pretty funny.

Jef Whitehead / Wrest (Leviathan)

If you're into any of  these bands, you've probably always secretly wished to get to know the guys behind the music. Given the type of music they play, I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anyone that these dudes are pretty fucked-up, miserable, lonely human beings who loathe social contact and would rather just spend their time indoors, away from people. The most "normal" of the bunch would probably be Sin Nanna of Striborg, just because he mentions he has a wife and kids, but then he puts on corpsepaint and a cape and goes to the woods, where he starts screaming inside a candle-lit cave, which was goofy as all hell. So obviously you have to take One Man Metal with a big pinch of salt.

Sin Nanna (Striborg)

Aside from all the inherently funny black metal staples, I thought the documentary did a pretty good job on shedding some light on these obscure bands. There are plenty of stories about Wrest's childhood and teenage years (and also the reason why there will never be another Lurker of Chalice record, which blows, since I have hoped for a new album for the past 4 years) and a part where he complains that he sold a logo to a company for 50 bucks and that 20 years later they're not giving him millions of dollars. The guy from Striborg has an Australian accent that's just impossible to associate with black metal, but at least he seems to be an okay dude and not totally insufferable to be around and talk to, so I guess that's okay. There are lots of shots of him walking through the jungle, which is pretty metal. Scott Conner from Xasthur comes off as a really harmless but hopelessly depressed guy who just wants to be left alone and create his music in peace and solitude, and I can definitely respect that. There's one moment where a cat enters his apartment and he's like "Oh gosh!" and there's this glimpse of joy on his face that's really genuine, so I think that's a very nice shot. There are also insights into each of them's recording space, creative process, influences and so on, so there's plenty of technical details that you've probably been interested in knowing.

Scott Conner / Malefic (Xasthur)

The entire thing is shot in black-and-white and it's very nicely edited and put together, with well-chosen music and a well structured narrative that focuses entirely on the musicians, without any filler. So yeah, I would recommend this to anyone who has even a passing interest in black metal. It's a pretty interesting watch and it only lasts for 45 minutes, so there are definitely worse ways to spend this time. I am also going to watch Until the Light Takes Us these days, although I have the feeling it will not be as tight as this. If you know of any other documentaries that are worth checking out, let me know in the comments or whatever.

You can watch One Man Metal in its entirety on YouTube, starting with Part 1. Don't get too suicidal.

Lurker of Chalice - S/T (2005)

American sweetheart Wrest is best known for his one-man black metal project Leviathan, which I'm sure most of you are already familiar with. Wrest's side project, though, is the one that really interests me. The mysteriously-named Lurker of Chalice is a musical entity that tries to provide another side to Wrest's music. Whereas Leviathan pukes forth hateful, misanthropic black metal about suicide and the world's end, Lurker of Chalice instead focuses on creating sonic landscapes and exploring the ambient side of black metal. It's a damn shame that Wrest chose to focus on his main project while leaving Lurker of Chalice to... lurk in the shadows, having released only one full-length album under this moniker. It had the potential to  become an amazing thing.

Wrest - black metal overlord and professional tattoo artist.
SICK!

The self-titled debut album is a highly atmospheric work, combining the harsh sounds of black metal with ambient elements and various vocal samples. It's not a particularly easy listen, as most songs tend to be on the long side, with repetitive guitar parts and monotone drumming, but giving it a careful listen is well worth the effort. The guitar riffs are dense and claustrophobic and they feel like a thick fog enveloping the songs, through which the drums and vocals are struggling to shine through. Wrest's vocals are deep, echoed growls which are sometimes counterbalanced by various chanting, as well as by the clear vocal samples he employs. The atmosphere, then, quickly becomes suffocating, transporting you to a place of deep sadness and despair, with just a touch of hope and optimism hidden under all the grime.

Songs like Piercing Where They Might, Spectre As Valkyrie Is or This Blood Falls as Mortal Part III are the absolute best on the album. The last one, in particular, has captured me in ways I never thought possible. The song begins with an ambient synth layer on top of which an ethereal female voice softly talks about feeling hollow on the inside. A brief piercing sound follows and gives the signal for the guitars and drums to kick in. The beautiful, moody guitars are cleverly outweighed by Wrest's nightmarish vocals, worming around in the background, while the drums follow a simple pattern that lends a hypnotic quality to the whole track. The song manages to draw you in and compels you to fall into a deep trance - which is why I heartily recommend you to listen to it at night. It'll be magical.

Or horrifying. 

There's no sign that Wrest is ever going to revive Lurker of Chalice, which makes me wanna reach the tenth sub level of suicide (see what I did there?) because this is one of those musical projects that has managed to bury itself deep inside my soul and chain me until the end of time. It's a damn shame, like I said earlier, but I'm retaining a faint glitter of hope that maybe, someday, LoC will make an unexpected appearance. It's possible. Stranger things have happened.

Sigh... Maybe I'll give True Traitor, True Whore a listen.