Maldoror - Burn After First Listening! tape '09

Maldoror [fra] - Burn After First Listening! compilation/"jubileum" tape 2009
The Sumptuous Wine of Her Bleeding Majesty demo
1) Intro
2) Crepuscul
3) Zoooooori
4) Sleeping with the Dormant Witch
5) Join Us!
6) Ode to the Rising Moon
7) Funeral March
8) Rumours
9) ortuO
Rehearsal Tape 7 November '93
10) Dawn of the Moribund
11) Carpatsi
12) Black Ocean
From Rehearsal Tape 25/6/7 January '94
13) Sleeping with the Dormant Witch
Improvised Rehearsal Tape February '93
14) Mary, Seize Me by the Horns Pt 1
15) Funeral March / Mary, Seize Me by the Horns Pt 2
From Rehearsal Tape 28 January '94
16) Crepuscul
17) Zoooooori
From Rehearsal Tape 19 May '96
18) Centrum of Cosmos
19) Ode to the Rising Moon
20) Lunar Commands

Depositfiles / Mega

Let's do another big post today, shall we? It's also somewhat an anomaly again as it is a recent release, dating to 2009 but I've an excuse as it was released as a cassette and contains only old stuff by the French Maldoror, whom should not to be confused with the Italian metal band who later changed name to Thee Maldoror Kollective and went avant-nuts. Non-metal, inhuman unmusic for almost 80 minutes is not probably everyone's idea of good time as many of the readers who acquainted themselves with the (notably shorter) Christs Nails compilation may attest to. And to be honest, this is kinda similar as it is mainly piano-driven neoclassical dark ambient with rasping, growling, groaning and croaking vocals, spiced with movie samples, sound effects and some parts borrowed from Chopin (yeah, Funeral March yet again!). However, despite Maldoror's self-labeling of his material as "unmusic" it is generally more accessible and, well, musical than the Dutch duo's musickness and such standout hits like "Sleeping with the Dormant Witch" are actually catchy.

The main course of the tape would probably be "The Sumptuous Wine of Her Bleeding Majesty" demo, which was the main reason I actually bought this, having had that tape on my to-be-heard list for a ridiculously long time. The other material is compiled from rehearsal tapes, most dating to '93 and '94 with the exception of last three songs which date to '96. As you can see from the tracklisting, yes. The November '93 rehearsal tracks are a bit on the wild side, sounding actually somewhat crazed thanks to the mainly shrieking, howling and giggling voices used. They also feature distorted stringed instruments prominently and are much less easy listening than the demo part. '94 rehearsal version of the hit "...Dormant Witch" is quite pleasant again but the vocals sound this time as if he'd stuffed something into his mouth instead of the deathly grunts on the demo version. Being an unmusical lout I'm not 100% sure of his instrumentation here either, is he utilizing a guitar too? The improvised rehearsal parts from February '93 are mostly piano and growled vocals that drag on somewhat (read: much) longer than necessary yet not nearly as bad as one might first think it to be. The next two tracks, again dating to January '94, are two more demo tunes in slightly different versions and then finally the last three tracks from '96 feature two new, longer ones and a re-recording of another demo hit song. Vocals here sound more like sullen, spoken word piece than anything else with less play with effects and styles, though the last track does feature growls too. But that's enough, the rip should be decent enough quality so if you feel this sort of music might appeal to you go ahead and download it.