Eartaker

Checking for new releases from the excellent Bedouin Records is worthwhile any year. 2018 was no different and here we have one of the reasons – Eartaker. This is a surprising outfit from Japan, combining the likes of Goth-Trad, Masayuki Imanishi, and Die Suck. Their album Harmonics offers listeners a refreshing concoction of oppressive atmospheres on slow industrial beats, the noise mastery of Imanishi, and the monstrous, extreme metal-inspired (but much weirder) vocal performances of MC Die Suck. Eartaker once again gives us a reason to admire Goth-Trad – someone with a distinct and uncompromising style even in the heyday of dubstep and one of the few who survived the – some might say – demise of that era to create some of his best work. Perhaps the roots of Eartaker can be traced back to Goth-Trad’s metal-flavored Boris collaboration, but at the same time Harmonics is also completely unlike anything else.

In the records

STM 276 is one of the most fitting ways we can hope to start 2019 for it is unlike any other mix we’ve had in the series. This is a wild compilation that takes us from brooding sections of brilliance to noise experiments and fountains of bloody gore. The mix gives an equal amount of prominence to works chosen by all of Eartaker, hence we get to experience a universe where musique concrète can introduce meaty bursts of classic ‘90s death or doom metal, such as Cenotaph, Grave, or Cathedral. Unafraid to defy expectations and unashamed of having a laugh at inappropriate moments, the mix from Eartaker is a good reflection of the project. As Neil Gaiman does in Sandman, Eartaker places delirium right next to delight. It’s a short ride, but the emotions are pure and uncut, just as this year will be. Take it all in!