Here's one way out of left field for you. Most Sea of Tranquility readers should be well familiar with William Kopecky, bass virtuoso from here in the US who has played and recorded with countless prog, fusion, rock, and avant-garde artists over the years. Well, here he's teamed up with Bulgarian black metal singer/musician Dimitar Dimitrov for a duo known as Haiku Funeral. Their latest platter of mayhem, and also their third release overall, is called If God Is A Drug. To say it's not what we've come to expect from Kopecky is an understatement, but sometimes it's quite good to be pleasantly surprised, which is certainly the case here.
If God Is A Drug is a strange mix of black metal, industrial, avant-garde, psychedelic, and ambient styles, which might sound like an odd brew but it works for the most part. Bubbling electronics and sound effects permeate the mix, leaving room for Kopecky's brooding bass lines and Dimitar's blood curdling screams & rasps. At times things get quite creepy, like on "The Trees Are Killing The Sky" or "City in the Sea", either of which could be the soundtrack to a horror movie. Some of the pieces are minimalist in their approach, and have somewhat of a droning nature, which is going to limit the audience for this release quite a bit, but when the duo blast off into violent black metal themes, as on "Izkuplenie", the doomy "Fungoid Moon", or the venemous three part title track, things get rather interesting. Through it all, Kopecky's booming bass is integral to the overall template, as his jazz-fusion lines cut through the psychedelic washes of avant-garde and black metal dissonance.
Haiku Funeral are without a doubt not going to be for the weak at heart, but if you have an ear for some terrorizing and experimental sounds, If God Is A Drug certainly might become your 'drug' of choice.
Track Listing
1 Izkuplenie
2 The Holy Connection
3 Fungoid Moon
4 If God Is A Drug pt1
5 If God Is A Drug pt2
6 If God Is A Drug pt3
7 Seven
8 The Trees Are Killing The Sky
9 City In The Sea
10 Bright Red Seeds
11 Infected
12 They Dreamt Of Coffins
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