IN ROTATION: Our most played albums in January 2019

GOTH MARK’S MUSICAL STIMULANTS

Greeting and welcome to my January contribution for BAZ’s ‘In Rotation’ series. It’s the 31^st of January (at the time I wrote this, of course), and everybody is losing their minds in parts of the UK due to precisely 2.5 centimetres of frozen powdered water falling from the skies. Public transport disruptions abound, as the bovine idiot masses prepare for an imagined snowmageddeon whilst the likes of Tesco and Asda’s shelves are stripped bare by a bunch of hysterical panic buying locusts. Me? Well, I’m sat there smirking at it all – eating biscuits and laughing whilst I blot out the world with this month’s musical stimulants.

HECATE ENTHRONED – Embrace The Godless Aeon

So far, 2019 is off to a good start with black metal whilst the hotly anticipated ‘Embrace The Godless Aeon’ got released this month. Probably one of their best albums to date, with enormously catchy tracks like ‘Temples That Breathe’, Goddess of Dark Misfits’, and the breathtakingly anthemic ‘Whispers of the Mountain Ossuary’. Hecate Enthroned are on fine form, and will certainly set the metal world on fire when they tour and promote this album.

PERNICION – Seek What They Sought

It’s painfully obvious to see that Anil Carrier likes to keep himself busy, what with playing with Anaal Nakthrakh live, Binah, No More Room Left In Hell, and Towers of Flesh (to name a few bands he’s had an involvement in). He’s decided to team up with Dan Benton on vocal duties, and the duo have created a doom soaked, very grimy brand of death metal with Pernicion’s ‘Seek What They Sought’, a 5 track EP due to be released at the end of February 2019. Death metal is usually an overdone thing, but these guys have created something very interesting indeed. A review of this will be coming soon, stay tuned.

THE GLASS HOUSE MUSEUM – Tales From The Aftermath

Hailing from the West Midlands in the UK, The Glass House Museum are an intriguing 3 piece band comprised of Joe Cummings on vocals and guitar, Jon Cummings on guitar and programming, and Lee Meadows on bass and “programming wizardry”. Melting together the vibes of All About Eve and Faith and The Muse with a moody and mysterious flair of their own making – The Glass House Museum evoke the spirits of the post punk classics of yore whilst at the time sounding contemporary and fresh. An interesting band that deserves more exposure and your time.

FEN – Stone and Sea

Recorded in 2015, Fen have decided to release a very limited edition of the 3 tracks recorded on their split album with Sleepwalker on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl. This was something the band wanted to record “for themselves” as a break from releasing albums and to work on something that was “self contained”. Ethereal, and borderline psychedelic sounding – ‘Stone and Sea’ is the perfect thing for a quick blast on a winter Sunday morning with a cup of coffee, contemplating the oddness of the world. A pre-order to miss at your peril, due in March 2019 (on review for another website soon).

JAPAN SUICIDE – Santa Sangre

Hailing from Italy, Japan Suicide are a post punk band that cultivate their gothic chops with a haunting combination of cold beats, the indie styled riffs from The Jesus and Mary Chain, and a pinch of New Order for good measure. Invigorating, yet at times acerbic – ‘Santa Sagre’ is a highly charged album that’s perfect for stomping around in whilst breaking that pair of new winklepickers you got for Christmas. Nice.

Wildcard album of the month: Kajagoogoo – White Feathers

As mentioned in the ‘Guilty Pleasures’ Sunday feature recently where I mentioned the joys of Fashion’s excellent new romantic classic ‘Fabrique’ album, I go for days on musical voyages of whimsy; indulging in playing 1980s new romantic/new wave bands, and post punk/goth – made even worse by attending the Mirror Moves night in Liverpool specialising in such things. Hell, even my wardrobe dips back into the 1980s with an array of bad paisley and polka dotted shirts, velvet jackets, and a recently acquired pair of Cuban heeled winklepickers where I’ve now been able to achieve my “final gothic form”. Some days, it often looks like I’ve stepped from a time warp dating back to 1984, perhaps via the medium of driving a time travelling Ford Capri with a flux capacitor. Anyway, I digress.

Kajagoogoo’s ‘White Feathers’ is sheer 1980s brilliance, and I’ll deck anyone who says it isn’t. The combination of the extremely talented Nick Beggs on bass guitar, the keys of Stuart Neale, and the vocal talents of Limahl makes for one of the most iconic bands of the era. Naturally, ‘Too Shy’ is an absolute banger – but tracks such as ‘White Feathers’, and ‘Ooh to Be Ah’ and ‘Hang On Now’ encapsulate the sprit of an extremely magical era for music as a whole, reminding you of far more innocent times when the world felt young and less weary.