Hydra Head Records: xasthur

Consider it the sonic equivalent of a beautiful case of seasonal affective disorder during a locust invasion ("it's raining murder!"). To create that patented quicksand cocoon, he uses sundry effects and pedals, cello, guitar (classical acoustic and electric) and bass, keyboards, an army of drum machines, and some mics to capture his brilliant howl. - Pitchfork Media

When I close my eyes and listen, I think of a heartbroken demon sitting beside these ashes in hell and really missing his girlfriend. It's like romantic death metal. The aggressiveness of his guitar riffs can be quite brutal. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's really clever. His flow is so authentically black metal; he knows how to make it orchestral and gothic. I don't know all the rules to metal, but he seems to kind of be above them. - Ryan Adams for the NY Times

All Reflections Drained is another step in Xasthur's slowly evolving descent into psychic isolation and misanthropic darkness. All of the usual symphonic contempt is present; bordering on blurred beauty and solitary misery. Recorded in 2007/08, All Reflections Drained marks yet another crucial transition for Xasthur, with the inclusion of guest vocalist M.H., but to say it is the next logical step would be an uneducated statement.

Malefic's musical progression is as reclusive and unsettling as the man himself, and that's a good thing.
* All Reflections Drained marks the first Xasthur release with guest vocalist and ambient afficionado M.H. The CD version includes a second disc of bonus material, tracklist to be released shortly but includes alternate versions, unreleased song and several covers. Though the extra songs should not be confused as supplement to the album proper, they do provide a rare glimpse into the process. The 2xCD is housed in DVD style digipack, with cover art provided by Tim Lehi and photography by Faith Coloccia.

All Reflections Drained Tracklist
1. Dirge Forsaken (5:42)
2. Maze of Oppression (5:16)
3. Achieve Emptiness Part II (4:59)
4. Masquerade of Incisions (15:53)
5. Damage Your Soul (4:53)
6. Inner Sanctum Surveillance (7:03)
7. Obfuscated in Oblivion (5:26)
8. All Reflections Drained (7:58)

Malefic's tortured roar, stacked against the head-hanging guitar melodies here, crescendos to an absurd extreme. Muffled shrieks of the asphyxiated at Pompeii. The hacking deathrattle of a peat-bog mummy. Puzzling, barely audible narration, like an obscene phone call from hell's fifth circle. - Dusted

An oppressive haze of mournful guitars, trudging drum-machine rhythms and super distorted vocals. - Time Out NY

Combining traditional black metal elements with forward thinking progression, Malefic has firmly cemented his place at the forefront of experimental, dark music. - Mouth For War

Xasthur hasn't done interviews for a while now, but we just came across this one today and figured we'd post it for ya'll.

Xasthur's new full length "All Reflections Drained" will be available through us next week on Cassette and 2xLP.

"Xasthur's reclusive and asocial Malefic gave us a few moments of time to ask some esoterica and rewarded his listeners with the following interview, in which he gives some analysis of the interconnectivity of thoughts inside and outside of the black metal "scene."

when you first started xasthur, what factor of the project made you most uncomfortable?

Hmmm, that's a real good question. There were two times when I 'first started Xasthur', the first time was a failure...constant losers,liars,trendies for bandmates; I was very upset. I felt that nobody believed in how serious I was in bringing forth a horrifing aura of blackness. The second time was just the same, but on the other hand better. I had totally given up on people, I admit I was uncomfortable when I decided to get a drum machine and do it all on my own, I didn't know if it was possible,and still alot of poser fuckers didn't believe in me, they thought their party heavy metal parking lot bands were more meaningful..well,the good news is that I'm planning on, and will have the last laugh!!! Another factor was the vocals, I had never done that before, but I knew that I would have to force myself to...it was never in my plans, but as a one person band, it had to be; other than that, everythng fell into place and I learned how to overcome certian difficulties such as drum programming, vocals, humans etc...

had you been in any bands or musical apparati before xasthur?

Yes, a couple death metal bands, back in 94-95 here in So.Cal..didn't really work out. There was always some differences, they wanted to be unoriginal, and at the time I thought it would have been quite possible to mix death metal with darkness and doom. I can't really get along with anyone in a band-like environment.

at the time, what bands inspired and/or motivated you? writers? visual artists? movies?

Mütiilation and the black legions, Burzum, Graveland (Thousand Swords), Manes, Shining, Forgotten Woods, Funeral Winds and too many to mention. Hmmm, I don't watch movies much...my favorite movie is Carrie (the old one from the 70s) as far as Visual Artists are concerned, whoever made the Aphex Twin video, what a perfect vision of the remains of an apocalypse, I always have that video in my head...but like I said ,I don't watch TV really...

where were you when you first thought the project had longterm potential for you?

In my house, as usual...looking out my window and there was nothing there, When I was finishing a song and it actually disturbed me. That was like looking into a mirror and not liking what I saw....when it refected a nightmare, I thought it had some potential...but for what?"
- Read the full interview byMartin Heidegger, Being and Time

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