"We're not in the business of making flippers a living." Jack White

Sembler Deah is one of many projects that you will find in the colossal parallel universe that is Church of Ra. Church of Ra is an eclectic group of artists, musicians, and writers. One of the more popular groups in the Church of Ra collective is the mighty five-piece AmenRa. Sembler Deah sees Colin H. Van Eeckhout and Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove from AmenRa joining forces with the French Dehn Sora from Treha Sektori. So yes, we have a bunch of super talented, weird, spaced out religious zealots making some of the most beautifully haunting music I have heard this year. This is the debut of this three-piece, and the promotional blurb gives us a tiny glimpse of what we will find in these 35 minutes, divided into four different tracks. “Gathered by a sole ambiance. Between ethereal soundscapes. Knotted drones and falls. A three-headed hand surrounding a light in a cold. Engulfing and ardent prayer”.

I couldn’t of said it better myself, even though it sounds like an over-jaded old priest trying to describe the days of yore. Prepare to take a breathtaking journey down a beautiful, dark, and twisted road with only a couple fleeting seconds between tracks to catch your breath. This four piece’s work is fueled by many layers, demanding every second of your attention. This is a complex piece of art/music. This is not your typical ambiance/drone album where you throw it on for some nice background music and walk away. To fully enjoy every little detail, I recommend a pair of nice headphones, a cup of coffee, and an unclouded mind. Let the layers unwrap and take it all in.

This album has been pressed on 300 copies of wax. 100 copies on Clear and the other 200 on Black. As of now the only place to order the Clear edition is straight from the Hypertension Records label.

I highly recommend not only keeping tabs on Sembler Deah but the whole Church of Ra institution, you will not be disappointed!

Recordflipper recommendation: Buy & Hold!

Full disclosure: Clear gripped and on its way…

- Jake -

Year One is the debut full-length album from Holly Hunt, South Florida’s acclaimed two-piece instru-metal behemoth!

Recorded by Jonathan Nuñez (Torche), mixed by Ryan Haft (Capsule) and mastered by Nick Zampiello and Rob Gonnella at New Alliance East, this 39 minute-long, 10-song suite is constructed upon sonic architecture ornate as a royal catacomb and stunningly epic, like an ancient city frozen in time under a heavy sheet of black, hardened lava.

In their first 365 days as a band, drummer Beatriz Monteavaro (Floor, Cavity) and guitarist Gavin Perry became the undeniable sweethearts of Miami’s disparate music scenes. To paraphrase a description of 80s movie hero Ferris Bueller, “The punks, the metalheads, the art-rockers: they all think he’s a righteous dude.”

In the grand tradition of Monteavaro’s previous musical endeavors, Holly Hunt champions heavy metal’s potential to transcend genre and become a physical experience. Though stripped down to the most bare essentials, the duo’s innate technical chops, strong dialogue, and incredibly deep relationship to their gear produces a sound and style far beyond rudimentary tags like “heavy,” “hard,” or “brutal.”

Year One captures the band’s brilliant signatures – the meditative power of repetition; the ecstatic joy of tempered variation; infinitely undulating riffage; psychedelic drone paired with rock n’ roll rhythm – in full splendor.

The first 100 come with a pair of Holly Hunt earplugs, a free digital download, and a pouch… Enjoy the beautiful mind-melting sonic assault!

Recordflipper Recommendation: Buy & Hold
Full disclosure: On the way!

- Jake -

It took Witch Mountain over a decade to release their sophomore album, and less than a year to record its follow-up. A rolling stone gathers no moss, after all, and once this Portland quartet finally got moving, they kicked right into high gear, and haven’t slowed down since. 2011′s South of Salem seemingly came out of nowhere; it took critics and doomheads alike by surprise, and launched the band into the very narrow metal spotlight. Witch Mountain’s name began to pop up all over the place — at Scion shows, in rave reviews, upon Adult Swim compilations, on tour dates with Wino’s Premonition 13 — and a record deal with one of the bigwigs, Profound Lore, soon arrived to sweeten their success. Now, with Cauldron of the Wild, they are doing their damndest to capitalize on that buzz, and ride the waves of positive energy as far as they’ll go. Luckily for them, and for us too, their new album is more than worth the trip.

Cauldron of the Wild is the third full-length album and in spite of a fairly staid discipleship to the School of Sabbath, there’s just enough room around the edges for the band to break that mold and carve out a niche of its own. The biggest reason for that is frontwoman Uta Plotkin, whose howl at its best recalls a raspier Ann Wilson more than it does any metal singer. Her relatively feminine approach to the female metal vocal grants songs like album opener “Lanky Rae” — about an awkward, seven-foot-tall female sharpshooter — a gendered perspective absent from the usual occult tales that dominate albums that sound like Cauldron of the Wild. Guitarist Rob Wrong and drummer Nate Carson don’t push their way to the front of the mix, either. This is Plotkin’s band, and Wrong’s songwriting is built for her voice and personality. Even when the band goes epic, as on the 12-minute “Aurelia,” it’s as much about the vocals and lyrics as it is the atmosphere being built. It’s that kind of acceptance that gives Witch Mountain a leg up in the crowded field of Sabbath-and-Sleep worshipers. If you have a strategic advantage, you’d might as well use it. As long as Uta Plotkin is around, it seems that her band will do just that.

I grabbed a couple copies of the first album “South of Salem” based off of pure speculation alone… Low and behold the album was sold out everywhere in a couple months time and I got to reap the benefits! This time around they are not fooling anyone and their debut of Profound Lore presents us collectors with a nice purple vinyl to match that beautiful cover art. These are limited to 1000 and wont be available in stores for another couple months. Here is your chance to pre-order this badboy before it even hits shelves. I love this band and its bands like this that keep my interest piqued in such an over-saturated genre.

The album will not be officially released until February of 2013. It will NOT be in stores or on Bandcamp until then. BUT, if you pre-order now, we will mail yours to you in December (as soon as they arrive from the pressing plant). Most people should have these before x-mas. And as a bonus for ordering direct from the band, pre-orders will receive the Scion 7″ of Bloodhound included FOR FREE.

How to Order: Please Paypal $20 + Shipping ($5 US, $10 Canada, $15 Rest of World) to MountasticRecords AT Gmail DOT com

RecordFlipper Recommendation: Buy & Hold
Full Disclosure: Its going to be a purple XMAS!

- Jake -