Brown Angel-S/t LP (2010)

Country: USA

Genre: Post hardcore, noise rock

Label: Thunderhaus

Brown Angel feature seven horrifying eruptions of sexless, glacial metal punishment from Pittsburgh. Most of the older buildings in that city have a toilet in the basement – just a toilet, not a full bathroom – and the music of Brown Angel sounds as if it seeped out of one of those, coated the concrete floor in three feet of muck, ate your pet and climbed up your stairs; by the time you come home from work, your house is busting at the seams with living sewage, and everything you own is ruined. Slow and methodical, the music owes a great debt to groups like Godflesh, particularly in the drumming and songcraft – John Roman’s long, measured hi-hat hits count a deathmarch over hangnail riffage on tracks like “White Flight” and the torturous “Celibacy Pact.” Elsewhere, guitarist/vocalist Adam MacGregor exercises his love of Indian culture through music, creating a somewhat Eastern take on metal chanting that resists the temptation of psychedelic flourish, looking instead towards the sort of desolation and destruction of monsoon season. Grey sleet, nuclear winter, debilitating bouts of depression … this one captures it all in metered, exacting strokes. Features members of Creation is Crucifixion, Pay Toilets and (((Microwaves))), and while we’re being honest, I released some previous recordings by people who were in this band, so if you can’t take my word for it, then fine. For what it’s worth, this album sat around unreleased for several years before the group decided to reconvene. They’re active once again and playing shows locally in support of this beast, limited to a scant 150 copies. Each comes in a silkscreened sleeve with an ingenious two-sided insert, printed on clear acetate, and mine also included a photo of a distraught mime sitting on a commode, in a town square somewhere in Europe.

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Brown Angel-S/T Lp (2010)