Tag Archives: worried

SKULL94

Posted on by
Reply

ZARACH BAAL THARAGH, Skull Face Exhumations  (demo, 2006)

The skull:
This French freakazoid has shown lots of love for big dumb skulls throughout his illustrious, infamous career, between this “band” and other projects like White Bastard and Skull Face. We spun the wheel and chose this one. It’s as good as any. This one boasts some real black metal chutzpah: pentagram, crazy logo, lots of dripping stuff, what appears to be a forest, and a very worried looking skull. Party! This skull is likely overwhelmed with the grief of appearing on one of this guy’s 100+ demos. It’s embarrassing stuff for any skull. No kidding, this guy has over 100 demos to his credit. What’s weird is he’s not produced any yet for 2013, as of this writing in late March. Is he still alive?

The music:
Typical one-man-band/bedroom-studio sort of stuff. That doesn’t always mean garbage, but it does here. There’s a fine line between something like this and Xasthur. This particular demo (ZBT’s 49th, apparently) features 22 different tracks all named “Exhumation.” Surely some folks have tried to convince themselves that this exists on some high-art level, but I know pointless black metal junk when I hear it, and this is the epitome of pointless black metal junk. Moving right along…
— Friar Wagner

 

SKULL2

Posted on by
Reply

PARALEX, White Lightning (1980, Reddingtons Rare Records)

The skull:
This is the first of several Worried Skulls in the Skullection. Looks like he’s fretting about something, perhaps because he forgot an umbrella, which he’ll need for that oncoming storm behind him. Super-crude artwork lacking all imagination, although there’s a nice bit brightness in the skull’s eyes, making his worried self look just that little bit more paranoid.

The music:
If I found this 12″ EP cheap, I’d buy the shit out of it and immediately re-sell it for big money.This is the kind of junk that New Wave of British Heavy Metal collectors uphold and praise, but probably because of its rarity rather than its musical quality. These three songs are what the British might call “naff”: trashy music, stumbling vocals, generic song writing. Maybe would have sounded dark and heavy in 1980, but it can’t compete with the stuff that was already around in 1980 and already 100 times better (Angel Witch, Iron Maiden). As obscure NWOBHM bands go, there are way better. The perfect pairing: a big dumb skull, big dumb music.
— Friar Wagner