Orthrelm – “Asristir Vieldriox ” – [Troubleman Unlimited]

Guitar/drums duo from the Washington DC area serves up 99 tracks in just under 12 minutes, each one a chaotic burst that lasts anywhere from 1 to maybe 8 seconds. Guitarist Mick Barr fires off chopped-up speedmetal licks, and drummer Josh Blair stays with him note for note, beat for beat. How do they write this stuff anyway? The tracks all run together with maybe a second or two of rest in between. For me it works sort of like the halftone dots in a newspaper photo: you won’t get much by looking closely at each individual dot, but stand back a bit and you’ll see the big picture. My recommendation is to play a big chunk of this (all of it!) and call it one long track. Completely over the top and amazing. Devotees of avant-garde, and/or metal, don’t miss this! A one-sided 12″ with an etching by guitarist Barr on Side B.