#ghost brigade

Dear comrades!

The Union of Combat Veterans of the Ghost Brigade will soon open recruitment of candidates for service in a unique unit -- the Military Rescue Squad, which is being created with the participation of the Union. Veterans of the Ghost Brigade and members of the Northern Military District have priority enrollment rights.

Those wishing to enlist in the service, write to the Union's official email: [email protected]

Details and nuances will be communicated in personal communication.

Council of Founders of the Union of Combat Veterans of the Ghost Brigade.

Уважаемые товарищи! МОО "Союз ветеранов боевых действий " Бригада "Призрак" в ближайшее время открывает набор кандидатов для прохождения службы в уникальном подразделениии - Военно-спасательном Отряде, который создаётся при участии Союза. Первоочередным правом зачисления пользуются ветераны Бригады "Призрак" и участники СВО. Контракт по системе БАРС. Желающие поступить на службу - пишите на почту Союза. [email protected] Подробности и нюансы будут доведены в личном общении.

Ghost Brigade – IV - One With The Storm (Season Of Mist, 2014)

The Daily Star is absolutely brutal about Sex, Death & The Infinite Void / Descending Angel era

Locrian: Territories (2010)

I can’t remember if Chicago’s Locrian took their name from the ancient Greek tribe from the Locris region (luminaries include Trojan War heroes Patroclus and Ajax the Lesser) or the seventh mode of the major scale (you guessed it, the Locrian Mode) which was of course named after the same people.

But I can tell you that they spent the first few years of their existence churning out bite-sized sonic experiments before committing their eclectic mixture of black metal, doom, drone, noise rock, and electronics to 2009’s full-length, Drenched Lands.

Today’s subject, the sophomore Territories, followed one year later and left no doubt that, even at a time rife with daring post-metal explorers (Isis, Mogwai, Cult of Luna, etc.) who were pushing musical boundaries with exciting results, Locrian’s sonic adventures took things to a whole ‘nother level.

Its opening statement (and yes, it’s a statement!), “Inverted Ruins” sets the stage (or, rather, rips it to the ground) with a snail-paced grind shrouded in decayed industrial textures à la Neurosis, capped by eardrum-piercing feedback that may have you thinking that your stereo is defective.

But no, this is quite intentional (see also “Ring Road”), and but one jarring facet  of Locrian duo André Foisy (a fellow Columbia Chicago alumnus) and Steven Hess’ discomfiting musical stratagem, which repeatedly puts the listener’s open-mindedness and sheer stamina to the test, and here’s how ...

There’s a thrumming, Eno-esque meditation awash with cymbal crashes and processed saxophone waves called “Between Barrows,” and a modern black metal showstopper of formidable violence and layered complexity in “Procession of Ancestral Brutality.”

There’s a Pelican’esque collection of echoed melodies and swarming atmospherics named “Antediluvian Territory,” and, for the finale, a hypnotizing combination of densely interwoven evil drones reminiscent of Sunn O)))'s Black One opus in “The Columnless Arcade.”

If anything, Foisy and Hess cram a few too many styles into Territories, but they’ve got help, calling on guest contributions from the likes of Yakuza’s Bruce Lamont, Bloodyminded’s Mark Solotroff, Velnias’ Andrew Scherer, and Nachtmystium’s pre-disgrace Blake Judd.

Hey, don’t judge; everyone’s got a friend they’re embarrassed about.

But, if you’ll forgive my reach, tying Locrian all the way back to the Locris Greeks and the Iliad, I would say that Territories is just tricky enough that it may feel like a Trojan Horse -- i.e. the original, bait-and-switch ‘Greek Gift’ -- to some unwary listeners.

p.s. -- Most of these words hail from my All-Music Guide review of Locrian’s Territories.