Servile Sect
Glowing [10-inch; King of the Monsters]

Servile Sect retain a nearly insurmountable artistic distance. An outgrowth of their refusal to commit to an established sound may be their relative obscurity, but a legion of dark-noise/black-metal freaks back them to the bone. You know you’re going to get a challenge from the Servile Sect camp anytime you invest in one of their surprisingly limited (in other words, they’re not one of those bands flooding the market with tapes) releases. The question is, will their interests of the moment intersect with your own? In my case, they always have, Glowing yet another adventure that seems to be keeping time to my heart. Side A is broken into three slices, both with molten melted lo-fi goo spilling over the side when you slice them and serve them to your speakers. The first section is comprised of an impressive synth-blur of a stomp bolstered by vocals that can only be uttered from within the folds of a droopy black cloak. Yet it’s bouncy and almost playful, replete with blazin’ lazers, when compared to Servile’s somber catalog (which includes releases by side projects like Sadness Saturn/Golden Raven and the insanely of-the-moment Ash Borer). The second entry (OK so there are three tracks total on this thing and I count four; bear with me) is more a meditation on dark noise than anything, sparklers always lit and throats always torn. Side B delves even farther into the depths of bleached-out bliss. It’s like one of those 3D posters that never seems to work; I keep waiting for something to jump out but it’s all one big corroded mass. When the charred BM riffs start to saunter from the lake of noise it’s entrancing and more than worth the wait, however.

Cerberus

Cerberus seeks to document the spate of home recorders and backyard labels pressing limited-run LPs, 7-inches, cassettes, and objet d’art with unique packaging and unknown sound. We love everything about the overlooked or unappreciated. If you feel you fit such a category, email us here.

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