TERMINAL TRANSMISSION #38: STRANGER DAYS

 TERMINAL TRANSMISSION #38: 

STRANGER DAYS

by Chris La Vigna (@Chris_LaVigna)/ featuring a review from Ray Berly (@autopsyturvy)

Lenny Nero's seen some heavy stuff, man...

Today's broadcast of TERMINAL TRANSMISSION was a fun trip into the bleeding edges of my weird obsession with a random Kathryn Bigelow film from the 1990s. I guess I'm a sucker for grimy, turn-of-the-21st century, still-using-mini-discs cyberpunk aesthetics. Along with some tracks off the film's OST, I also picked songs that I felt were in line with the movie's dystopian neo-noir tone.

My "Bandcamp Pick Of The Week" was the absolute banger of a new track, "Displacement" by the boys in Maintenance, possibly the best band active in the 914 as of this writing. This track has so much energy, so much heart, so much range, I anticipate great things to come from the band's new lineup and evolved sound. I highly recommend throwing some money at this band. You can buy their last EP "Maladaptive Behavior" on Bandcamp or buy some merch, however you choose to do it.

As of the time I'm writing this post, they haven't posted the new single on Bandcamp yet, so that link will just take you to their general page, but as soon as they do post it, buy that single like your life depends on it! Big things are coming from the Westchester music scene, get in on the ground floor of it now!

I also played a song from Polish black metal band Biesy called "Nowa Transylwania" off of their 2020 album "Transsatanizm." The best way I can personally describe it is Industrial Black Metal, with some notes of Synthwave here and there. But Ray Berly, a fellow artist and music lover who is "in the know" on the black metal and extreme metal sub-genres, and who brought this track to my attention, has his own in-depth review:

"Biesy - Nowa Transylwania - Transsatanizm"

"While Nowa Transylwania is, by traditional standards, not the most metal or black metal, song on Transsatanizm it is the song that introduced me to this album. It’s also the song in which I feel all the album’s elements culminate into. Giving you a short spastic, yet entrancing electronic track. It contains a harsh, pummeling drum machine, razor sharp synth that shreds through the entirety of the track, and the distressed, shouted vocals of Faustyna Moreau. As Faustyna Moreau’s name implies, Biesy has taken all you've come to know and love and twisted, perverted, and distorted it into something monstrous, albeit incredibly…beautiful. 

Biesy's debut, "Noc lekkich obyczajów,” was a pretty straight up black/death metal album, not having much in common with Transsatanizm except for the black metal spine that runs throughout the entirety of the album. Now while Transsatanizm has these spastic elements from the electronic mindflayer of a track, Nowa Transylwania, to its other more definitive black metal tracks it still manages to maintain a sort of hazy, psychedelic feel to it. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Nowa Transylwania’s music video which, warning, will probably have the viewer convulsing as soon as it starts. Its rapid pulsing strobe lights, spastic cuts/editing, and bright colors are as disorienting, yet mesmerizing as the song itself. 

However, nothing is more eye-catching than Faustyna Moreau, which is primarily what I believe will take the average black metal listener into a state of confusion or a hyper-masculine frenzy. That’s because if you couldn’t tell by the name, Faustyna performs in the most eye popping (gouging), opulent drag. Dressed in a blue wig, gorgeous make up, a red leather dress, and to add that black metal aesthetic flare, bullet belts and a sword. 

If this song/album could take human form it would be perfectly embodied in Faustyna. This is a fantastic song on one of my favorite albums of 2020 and for sure a challenging listen. You can draw likeness to other black metal bands that have merged industrial elements with the genre such as Mysticum, Thorns, and Aborym, but neither manage to capture Biesy’s atmosphere and break from tradition." -- Ray Berly

See what I mean? The man knows his stuff! Look for more of Ray's recommendations/reviews in future broadcasts and posts.

If you missed today's live broadcast, you can stream the recording here via the Kpiss website. You can also catch up on past shows here. See y'all next week for the last show of January 2021! Go watch the flick STRANGE DAYS! It's good for ya!

TT #38 TRACKLIST:

Seatbelts - Tank! (Cowboy Bebop Opening)

Prong - Strange Days (ft. Ray Manzarek)

Lords Of Acid - The Real Thing

Maintenance - Displacement

Biesy - Nowa Transylwania

Trent Reznor+ Atticus Ross+ Mariuqeen Maandig Reznor - Fashion

KMFDM - Professional Killer

White Zombie - Black Sunshine (Indestructible 'Sock It To Me' Psycho Head Mix)

Kinuko Ohmori - 'Konya Wa Hurricane' (There's A Hurricane Tonight) (Bubblegum Crisis Opening)

Strange Fruit - No White Clouds

Peter Gabriel & Deep Forest - While The Earth Sleeps