LUDICRA – The Tenant CD
Profound Lore Records
Black Metal from San Francisco yeah right and the next thing you’re gonna tell me is that Rob Halford is gay. He’s a biker and they wear lots of leather, ride motorcycles and do guy stuff. ?????? Eh ok so LUDICRA are from San Francisco and they’ve been around for a few years now. Their first full length, Hollow Psalms, came out in 2002. This is the first release I’ve heard from them thanks to Profound Lore Records home of everything brave ears can handle. They put out a few releases on Alternative Tentacles Records. Now I have to do some backtracking just to see what some Punk Rock mags had to say about em. Back in the nineties you had snot nosed, spiky haired children calling Jello Biafra a sellout in the pages of Maximum Rock and Roll aka: Maximum Butt Wipe. I always laughed at that one. Alternative Tentacles helped shape that scene and you had a bunch of kindergarten Marxists attacking him for making a buck. Cruel world and I hope all those kids are dead.
First reaction, female fronted black metal and about time the US got into the act since the Europeans have a small contingent most notably from Greece and Turkey. Off the top of my head I can only think of two other US BM bands, DEMONIC CHRIST and ARTEP, who are fronted by women. I’m sure there are more but not so high on the radar. I’ll probably get feedback from some guy who’ll say “My little sister sings for a black metal band and she’s great, you bastard.” Fine, when they’ve got a few releases out call me and practice CDs don’t count. There are women in black metal but usually regulated to playing bass, or as with some California bands, stuck behind a set of keyboards wearing outfits that pump out their cleaves. Personally I wouldn’t have a problem with that if I was just going through puberty but now I think it’s just for eye candy promotional purposes and demeaning. Actually there are two women in LUDICRA, lead vox and the other on guitar.
LUDICRA are a big surprise and this release I must say is an exciting listen. While the lion’s share of black metal I listen to has one objective and that’s to kill. LUDICRA have the power of resurrection and accessibility to their sound. It’s black metal that crosses paths with other extreme metal genres which is enjoyable to anyone who likes some variety. The vibe on The Tenant is melodic and there’s an instrument very prominent being played which you don’t hear very often in black metal. I think it’s called the bass. But anyway, Laurie Sue Shanaman has incredibly perfect vocals when she rasps. Kinda reminds me of an aunt of mine who had throat cancer. She’s dead you know. But on here Shanaman also tosses out some clean choir like choruses to boot. The structure of the songs varies from almost standard seventies hard rock painted black to partial doom brushed from the same can. You could also toss in some thrash and NWOBHM styles. It’s exciting as themes weave in and out almost like PMS but without the screaming and crying.
www.profoundlorerecords.com
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