- Home
- Welcome
- Community Blog
- JJ's Bizarre Blog #36 - Precious Gems Collection V...
Help Wizard
Step 1
Type in your question below and we'll check to see what answers we can find...
Loading article...
Submitting...
If you couldn't find any answers in the previous step then we need to post your question in the community and wait for someone to respond. You'll be notified when that happens.
Simply add some detail to your question and refine the title if needed, choose the relevant category, then post.
Just quickly...
Before we can post your question we need you to quickly make an account (or sign in if you already have one).
Don't worry - it's quick and painless! Just click below, and once you're logged in we'll bring you right back here and post your question. We'll remember what you've already typed in so you won't have to do it again.
FAQs
Please see below the most popular frequently asked questions.
Loading article...
Loading faqs...
Ongoing Issues
Please see below the current ongoing issues which are under investigation.
Loading issue...
Loading ongoing issues...
Help categories
Account & Payment
Using Spotify
Listen Everywhere
JJ's Bizarre Blog #36 - Precious Gems Collection Vol.1 - Mongolian Samurai Maid Cult Mega Acid Party
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Mute
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Permalink
- Report Inappropriate Content
Greetings folks! September, aka the Monday of the year, is rolling around, but don’t let that keep you down! There’s plenty of summer spirit to go around. Let me help you there with some awesome tunes. Last blog was made in a new glossary format and I personally really liked how that turned out, I hope you did too. So this time, I wanna try something similar, but for artists instead. You see, there are a ton of artists I wanna talk about in blog form but just cannot for a variety of reasons - maybe their discography is too short, maybe every album is just more of the same goodness so there isn’t really much to say or maybe I just don’t have enough information to give them the proper treatment. So I’ve decided to start making compilations – collections of obscure, smaller, lesser known artists that deserve some more attention. Think of this as me pulling some rare gems from my vast collection so I can show them to you. Or maybe like an In Our Headphones, but it’s just me. In any case, I hope you enjoy. I present to you a compilation of artists you should know about in no particular order.
I wanna start this one off with the enigmatic UK duo called Bone Cult. They are one of the primary reasons I wanted to do this, because they’re a very obscure band that I have been infatuated with for many years now and they’re so interesting that I wanted to talk about them, but their discography is still quite slim and not enough for a full blog. In any case, they deserve some more attention. Bone Cult are a genre-ambiguous act that mix a whole lot of influences into a sound like no other. They dub their own style “Death Electronica” and draw from techno, industrial, metal, hip hop, ambient, noise rock and more, complementing it with distorted vocals with many layers of effects. Their sound is weird and enthralling but still undeniably catchy and fun. Visually they make a strong impression too – two towering figures, their skin covered almost completely with extravagant tattoos and their faces obscured with their iconic skull masks with glowing neon fringes. These guys to me make the music of the future and I only wish bigger and bigger things for them. So far they have two albums to their name along with many singles prior and in between. All are unique and worthy of many replays.
In a similar vain are the Bulgarian experimentalists Abysmatic. They also draw from all kinds of influences to create a very diverse and unique sound that is never shy of pulling more ideas from any genre they like. In their own words “we’ve always struggled to find a fanbase – we’re too metal for the electronic crowd, too electronic for the metal crowd and too hip hop for either”. I personally enjoy all of those elements and the blend they create is amazing. They have several albums under their belt already and continue to boldly evolve and expand.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love cyberpunk artistry and everything around it. There was a reason why that topic graced my third ever blog. I’ve discovered many artists over the years that scratch this itch in musical form but chief among them is Mega Drive. Is this one person, a duo, a full band? I could never find out, personal info on the person or people behind this project is scarce to none, but what matters is the music. Every few years, Mega Drive will emerge from digital space to drop a new opus of synthwave bangers that perfectly capture the vibe of a dystopian cyberpunk cityscape. With imagery of rogue cyborgs, sentient AI, rampant crime, advancing technology juxtaposed by declining social structure, Mega Drive’s music is dense and immersive, dark and gloomy and yet melodic and uplifting. Heavy, powerful beats, punctuated by mutlilayered soulful synth melodies, all seasoned with varied effects and samples, all presented with flawless production. Mega Drive is the true master of cyberpunk music. CD Projekt Red, get hiring!
It’s not just futuristic technology that I like. I grew up in the mountains and always stay close to nature, physically and spiritually. I also love history and fantasy and one genre that has captured this imagination perfectly is the recent rise of dungeon synth. To me, none do this genre better than the equally as enigmatic Fief, who only recently came to Spotify. Almost always percussionless, punctuated by slow and gentle lyre strums, ripe with vast and diverse medieval instrumentation that both creates a dense atmosphere and flows with grand melody that transports you to a different place and a different time. The poignant song titles help with this a lot too. Each album, simply given a number, is a new fantastical journey to enjoy. Hopefully I can gather enough material to make a dungeon synth blog for you soon and you can bet Fief will be at the top of that.
While we’re on the topic of niche internet genres, I’ve been obsessed with the obscure movement that is maidcore. I’m still doing my homework in terms of albums but hopefully you’ll get a maidcore blog sooner rather than later. I can already tell you who my main obsession here is though – Chikoi the Maid. Another anonymous online creator, Chikoi is radio silent about personal matters but very frequently emerges from the mansion to deliver another masterpiece. Very guitar driven with heavy melancholic riffs and filled with somber synth lines, these songs capture such a distinct vibe that you really can’t put it into words, the only way to convey the felling is with the music. Chikoi is never shy of experimenting either as albums can be more melodic or more heavy, more catchy or more progressive. Nonetheless, this murky sound is oddly uplifting to me and there really is nothing else like it. This maid definitely helps me clean up my bad mood every time.
If you’re interested in some more heaviness instead, may I present to you one of the most underrated groove metal bands out there – Bulgarian riff masters Grimaze. Combining bone crushing guitar, skull cracking rhythms and powerful lyrics about self-improvement, "Bulgarian Gojira" have carved a niche all to themselves and their explosive live shows are sure to leave you sore in the best way possible. So far, they have only a single album, Planet Grimaze, and it’s a banger I’ve spun many times. They’ve only shot once, but dammit they didn’t miss. Pavka, if you read this, please make another album!
Thus we come to the other band that was the main reason for me to want to make this blog – Finnish maestros Whispered! These guys have become one of my favourite bands but sadly their discography is a bit short for a separate blog treatment. That fourth album has been cooking for many years now. Whispered are a thoroughly unique band that scratched a very specific itch for me. I love Japanese culture and samurai and I’ve wanted a typical folk metal band to show me that sound for a long time. I searched for a while and little did I know that the band I was looking for wouldn’t come from Japan but Finland instead. Whispered play a very potent and masterful form of melodic death metal akin to Children of Bodom – delicious dual guitar, fiery solos, catchy riffs, memorable choruses, varied and engaging songwriting, the whole shebang. The uniqueness comes for the combination with multilayered symphonics and Japanese folk instruments, including shamisens that the band make themselves, as well as lyrics about Japanese folklore, legend and life that create an amazing experience that is exactly the type of Japanese folk metal I was looking for. Each song is a journey through distant lands and an adventure that you can never forget, blessed with both the violent grace of a master samurai in glorious battle as well as the beautiful tranquillity of Mount Fuji rising above blooming cherry blossoms. They also end every album with a 10+ minute opus that is some of their best work. Whispered are one of the most awesome bands out there and I wanted to share my love for them some way. Banzai!
If melodic and epic compositions aren't your preferred flavour of samurai metal, consider checking out Japanese death metal warriors Gotsu Totsu Kotsu instead. While Whispered focus on a romanticized and almost cinematic approach to their tales, GTK showcase the pure unfiltered brutality of battle, playing with so much ferocity you can feel the bloodshed and chopped pieces flying all around. They are a classic death metal outfit, their sound built on top of a steady machine gun like drum beat accompanied by skullcrushing riffs, masterful solos and some of the most insane bass playing ever heard. Bass and guitar often viciously duel each other like master swordsmen fighting to the death over the drums of battle. Not to mention the wild vocals akin to a rabid beast. These three guys sound like a whole army marching into war and they will leave you devastated in the best way possible. The coolest thing is that, at the end of some of their longer songs, they pull back on their heaviness and transcend into these grandiose melodic passages that show another facet of their mastery and add terrific variety to their mighty sound. GTK are one of the best examples of the Japanese "more is more" approach and one of the best death metal bands out there!
While we’re on the topic of East Asian metal, a style that has enjoyed a surprising amount of success is Mongolian folk metal. One of the first and in my opinion the best in this style are the enigmatic Tengger Cavalry. They combine a hard hitting metal sound with hints of black and death metal with various traditional instruments like the morin khuur as well as the iconic Mongolian throat singing to create an aggressive yet catchy sound that is distinctly primal and wild, like the songs come straight from Mother Nature herself. I would gladly make a full blog about them, but they have one of the most confusing discographies out there with various re-recordings, re-releases, multiple versions, etc. I mean, who would think that The Expedition, Black Steed and Cavalry in Thousands are all three different recordings of essentially the same album. Sadly, bandleader Nature Ganganbaigal left us in 2019 so the band’s story has already concluded. In any case, the quality of their music still speaks for itself and that nomadic heritage rings true for many people. With the significant overlap between Mongol culture and that of the Bulgars I descend from, I feel especially close to this primordial sound.
And since I’m talking about Mongolian folk metal, let me include some more similar artists to scratch that nomadic itch for you. Many of these have exploded in popularity in recent years, garnering vastly more listens and views than there are people in Mongolia. The most famous one has to be The HU, who like to focus more on the folk rather than the metal aspect and create a very strong and distinctive style full of power and energy.
In music there are artists that burn briefly but brightly and they tend to be a very interesting story to explore. One such example are Louisiana legends Acid Bath. I’m not the biggest fan of the slow and macabre genre of sludge metal but I can appreciate some of the music there, Acid Bath being a prime example. With some disgustingly catchy riffs, amazing vocals, varied songwriting and twisted lyrics and imagery, these guys appeared on the metal scene, dropped two of the best albums of all time and then promptly dipped, never to be heard from again. Their music was in licensing limbo for a good while too so it’s good that it can be easily found and enjoyed once again now.
Lastly, let’s party into the night with some real heavy stuff courtesy of the wacky Party Cannon. They’re your classic slam death metal band with all the chugging riffs and biscuit tin snares to boot but their songs are unironically fun. They stand out amongst the greater death metal crowd with their cartoony logo that looks absolutely proposterous on any festival poster, their ironic lyrics with tongue so firmly in cheek it pops out the other side and with their generally jovial atmosphere. It’s always a good time when these Scottish party animals come around. I would gladly give you a full blog but every album is just more of the same so here you can enjoy a selection of their greatest hits. In general though, every album is a ton of fun and a blast from start to finish.
So there you have it, a selection of cool things from my collection. I really hope you enjoyed and that you found something you’d never think existed that tickles your fancy. I personally really enjoy a lot of popular stuff, there’s nothing wrong with sticking to the well known ones if it fulfills your musical desires. But time and time again, I find myself exploring the more obscure crevices of the musical space and running into these rare gems that feel just right. It’s not a conscious effort on my part to search for the lesser known, I just sort of naturally end up there and find interesting things. So I hope that now that you too have ended up there, you’re inspired to explore too. That’s my main goal with these blogs anyway. Happy listening and see you again soon!
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark as New
- Mark as Read
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Report Inappropriate Content