Browse by Artist: DEAD RAVEN CHOIR

Artist:	DEAD RAVEN CHOIR
Title:	My Firstborn Will Surely Be Blind
Label:	AURORA BOREALIS (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$16.00
Catalog #:	ABX 019CD

"Smolken returns to Aurora Borealis in the guise of his perhaps better known Dead Raven Choir project. Since the release of Wolfmangler's Dwelling In A Dead Raven For The Glory Of Crucified Wolves Smolken has settled in Poland, and seriously begun to record as much as possible. Where Wolfmangler is slow and ponderous ('compost with a grudge' as Julian Cope stated in The Guardian last year) and could perhaps even be described as an obscure branch of Doom, how shall we classify Dead Raven Choir? An altogether noisier undertaking and unafraid of the heady heights of mid-tempo, Dead Raven Choir has baffled, irked and aroused listeners for a number of years now. An unholy cross of black metal and folk? Organically produced noise and scree? Doubtless many a consumer has been outraged by a lazily tagged Dead Raven Choir release, though with the countless CD-R and micro-label releases, there grows a veritable army of supporters, eager to have their preconceptions smashed and ears damaged once more with every hint of new material. My Firstborn Will Surely Be Blind grips the listener immediately and threatens to overwhelm them with its brute force. Clearly there is something to be said for the Eastern Bloc technologies that were so deftly abused, as this is truly a unique sound. Smolken has transcended the avant-garde and moved beyond: ladies and gentlemen, Dead Raven Choir has left the field."

Artist:	DEAD RAVEN CHOIR
Title:	Wine, Women, and Wolves
Label:	LAST VISIBLE DOG RECORDS
Format:	CD
Price:	$12.00
Catalog #:	LVD 052CD

"Another transmission from the Dead Raven Choir, the work of a Polish ex-patriot Texan who calls himself Smolken. Whispered, accented vox deliver the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, Hilaire Beloc, Charles Baudelaire, A.A. Milne and others over doleful strings and abstractly strummed guitar. Smolken seems to be a creepy, well-read Eastern-European version of Jandek, and he's a master of atmosphere, going totally over the top with minimal means. Every note played, and every hiss between notes, turns the blood colder. If an album could sound cursed, this is it. Fans will of course pick this up, but if you haven't yet delved into Smolken's haunted sound-world, perhaps this is the one to try. The clincher, perhaps, is that aside from Smolken himself, the only other musician to appear on this recording is Jewelled Antler stalwart Glenn Donaldson (Thuja, Blithe Sons, Birdtree, Skygreen Leopards, etc.)." -- Aquarius. Weird avant-garde polish 'psychedelic' folk that can't be compared to much short of Jandek.

Artist:	DEAD RAVEN CHOIR
Title:	Cask Strength Black Metal
Label:	WEIRD FOREST
Format:	3LP BOX
Price:	$52.00
Catalog #:	WEIRD 666LP

"The most insane black metal release ever!!! Three, yes three vinyl LPs of the harshest sounding evil, atmospheric off-kilter black metal. Call it black metal folk. The loudest, noisest, crazy, insane-sounding blasts of skree with strange folky melodic undertones of banjo, cello, mandolin, and percussion and the most frightening vocals ever dared to be recorded. Many traditional folk songs shrouded in blasts of white noise armageddon. For fans of twisted, unique, raw black metal with a very bent edge. Pray (no, commit ritual sacrifice) to the underworld that your stereo survives! This release compiles the 'Sturmfucklinglieder,' 'Grand Ravishing Extravaganza,' 'Sevenfold Songs Of Death,' and 'Sheath And Knife' EPs, all previously released in very small pressings and all long, long gone!" Limited to 999 copies on pitch black vinyl with 7 inserts in a beautiful dark forest-clad box.

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