obtained

NOW Foods Olive Oil, Xtra Virgin, 100% Pure, 16 Ounce Bottle (Pack of 3)
$30.38
Olive Oil is a flavorful cholesterol-free oil that has been a mainstay worldwide since Biblical days. Our oil is produced to exacting standards of less than 1% oleic acid as well as many other oil components. From the FDA's website: Limited and not conc

The Shepherd and the Hounds of Hell
$16.98
It's initially quite shocking that this is the same band that released Soulblight and Witchcraft, which were very classically-leaning symphonic black metal. This is something else entirely. They've abandoned the keyboards, piano, and harpsichords so prominent in the earlier material. There is a lot more clean singing, but thankfully also still a lot of Pest's very raspy screaming. It's a lot more guitar-oriented and thrashy sounding without abandoning the technicality and odd song structures.

Surprisingly, I thought all the clean vocals worked pretty well here, especially on "Scrolls of the Shadowland," which is probably my favorite song on here. Great way to start an album, though there is not a bad song on this. There are just tons of great riffs here, even guitar solos, varying tempo changes, good drumming, it's just completely awesome. I'm glad there are no keyboards on this though, at times the previous two albums seemed like they just had too much going on at once. There times it feels like black metal and times it more closely resembles thrash or even heavy metal. It sure doesn't sound classical or symphonic though.

It's a damned shame the band broke up after this, I just can't get over how consistently good everything they did is. This is some of the best-written music I've heard in a long time.

From the Top of My Tree
$8.99
From the Top of My Tree
The Bodies Obtained
Finding You Attractive Records
Fashions come and go, but gloom and doom is timeless. Or so says The Bodies Obtained, and after spinning From the Top of My Tree, you'll probably be inclined to agree. The band's debut album is a giant dark cloud that encompasses everything from late-'70s post-punk to avant-garde electronics to industrial noir, somehow checking all those milestones without losing itself in any put-on nostalgia trips.
The Detroit band conceived From the Top of My Tree as a truly timeless effort that'd blend a bit of every artsy outfit over the past 30 years. Such attempts to unify the belts -- The Bodies Obtained somehow dabble with rock, various flavors electronica and art-rock all at once -- usually become too top-heavy before they even leave the gate and crumple inward under their own conceptual weight. Not so this time out.
The Bodies Obtained don't regurgitate the breadth of their record collection. They digest it. So while you're sure to hear everything from Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division to Brian Eno and Genesis P-Orridge's various projects, none ever emerge from the thick, dark cloud that is The Bodies Obtained's music. They're there, but it's the Bodies' signature sound everywhere on this album.
And if that's just a little intense and gloomy, that's just the point. Crafting intense and sometimes uncomfortable soundscapes, The Bodies Obtained shows just why stark, low-lit arrangements don't phase out as styles change. "Let the Worm Seize the Day" minces matter-of-fact vocals with all the aloof snarl of Public Image Ltd.'s first album with abstract, dissociated melodies descended from Eno's most successful ventures. "Looking for More" roars with the same barely restrained fury as the vintage industrial of Throbbing Gristle, but sets off the terror with textures skimmed out of electro-pop moments. "Skin Stuck to Bone" is a grim and atonal dirge full of squawking, hyperactive synths while "Hear and Believe" seems stuck somewhere between the world of classic British industrial and glistening krautrock.
Gloom and doom is here to stay. The Bodies Obtained prove that: Even in an era of optimistic hope for change, the dingy and dismal sounds from the past strike a chord with listeners.

- Matt Schild

Double Blind
$1.99