SKULLFLOWER - 'The Spirals Of Great Harm'

CSR225CD (6 February 2017)
2 x CD in 6-panel double digipak
Barcode: 0641871744787

The new sprawling double disc from black noise classicists Skullflower – referencing Inferno 17, Dante and Virgil’s spiralling descent into the abyss on demon Geryon. Full of harsh beauty and hymns for lost Albions, battle songs against the homogenisation of modern ‘lyfe’ – fuck the new estate!

“Hedgerows, tapestries, dream woods, dragon lands. After “Draconis”, we have been released to roam through the multiverse, fashioning trinkets and ornaments from jewelled sounds, and leaving them as waymarkers on our astral travels. We seem to be circling, encountering familiar territories, yet always changed, because these circles, from a true perspective; are all part of a great averse spiral, our pattern, our map, which is the terrain itself. You will hear hints and echoes of native keening, lush prog romanticism, and the charcoal textures of noise, but all subsumed within our alchemy, the unmistakable wellspring of sound that is SF”.

Track listing:

Disc 1:
 
1. Khepsh (6:59)
2. Furthur (4:43)
3. Tangled Light Of Isis (8:22)
4. Furfur (4:18)
5. Thunder Dragon (11:04)
6. Nectar And Venom (9:13)
7. Fuck The New Estate (8:41)

Disc 2:

1. Rotting Jewelled Stormclouds (5:32)
2. And Carthage Must Be Destroyed (11:57)
3. Khephra (6:50)
4. Ice Nine (10:51)
5. The Firebright And Linda Show (13:57)
6. Yuggoth Within (10:06)

Reviews:

*Best Of 2017, Musique Machine

"Kneeling in worship at the altar of the underworld, stacks of amplifiers in tow, Bower and Davies have crafted another indispensable addition to their canon." (Tiny Mix Tapes, 2017: First Quarter Favorites)

"Degradation and decay weave their filthy tendrils through each of these monster compositions... incredibly meditative and, bizarrely, uplifting. This, to me, is the true power of pure noise." (Heathen Harvest)

"Skullflower continue to expound on the magic, mystery, mythology found within and outside in the rolling hills, lakes and countryside of Cumbria where the members of Skullflower reside. On The Spirals Of Great Harm Skullflower's blackened squall is adorned with an intricacy and subtlety that makes the descent into the abyss both alluring and powerful." (Compulsion)

"...like looking at a minimalist painting but then of a brutal nature... Like hell, it is probably eternal suffering... and with that in mind I had this on repeat for the entire afternoon" (Vital Weekly)

"To listen to these drones and noise as they rise and fall... is to let the ears get lost in their sonic coils, to pull the rest of the senses into a state where nothing else makes sense because there is just so much of it alive" (A Closer Listen)

"A dark, sinister tumult of noise which swells and sighs and drones and groans, and which seems to emanate from the very bowels of hell... It’s harsh, it’s atonal and it’s noisy: exactly as it should be." (8/10, Whisperin' & Hollerin')

"...this could be one of those recordings that is not only deep conceptually but that the sounds may actually change the chemistry of your brain... The Spirals of Great Harm is perhaps a purposely unsettling recording but pulls the listener into it with a barrage of sounds... an effective soundtrack to the descent." (The Noise Beneath The Snow)

"Skullflower uses grim sounds to convey the descent into the abyss... two discs worth of intriguing drones, noise, and avant-garde instrumentation, this duo adds another well deserved notch to their belt. And, with great artwork, Cold Spring's release is definitely worth picking up." (4/5, Musique Machine)

"Wer mit Skullflower, Theologian und Sutcliffe Jugend warm wird, der kommt um diesen Doppelanschlag nicht herum, für den sich Cold Spring Records verantwortlich zeigen, wo Skullflower natürlich hervorragend in das Beuteschema passen." (Raben Report)