Istanbul, Pt. 2

One thing I like about Istanbul in general is that it is like any regular city (at least to me) only all the squirrels have been replaced by cats who like being pet.


And just like that I'm leaving tomorrow. This visit has ruled. A major highlight was taking the metro, and then a funicular (I didn't know those existed until I got here) and then a tram to Gulhane (all of this is still inside Istanbul, which is outrageously big) to walk around in the park before I went into Topakapi Palace, which used to be the Ottoman seat of power but is now a fittingly gigantic museum. That place was nuts. It was total sensory overload, I couldn't even believe how stunning the architectural features and exhibits were. Google that. All that amazement was fatiguing.

Moving on...

I present: a brief featurette on Turkish metal. All of these bands are from Ankara. For that matter, Ankara seems to be the place for metal here, as all the forthcoming bands that I happened to listen to well before coming here came from that city. I'm making a rough estimation but it would seem as though maybe a whole fourth of Turkey's metal bands hail from the capital. Cool! Here are three..

Cenotaph



CENOTAPH formed in the nineties and plays grinding, slamming, gurgling murder music, that makes them right at home on Sevared Records. Speaking of "Cenotaph,"are all these bands (and trust me, there are plenty) named after that Bolt Thrower song or is that a thing? I've never bothered to look that up. Digression. Their most recent release, Putrescent Infectious Rabidity was a personal favorite Brutal Death Metal release for me last year owing to its excellent performances across the board (featuring the dude from Defeated Sanity on drums). If you're into Disgorge, Cerebral Effusion and all those other relentlessly crushing bands, well.... you know what you like, and you know you will like this.

Next is a band who's song titles are almost as absurd as Absu's or Emperor's

DECIMATION




DECIMATION play a hyper-technical, convoluted, rhythmically-complex, vaguely "Eastern" sounding, brand of death metal. To state the obvious, this band is pretty Nile-esque but don't write them off just yet. Places where Nile becomes tiring, like during some of their pointlessly long and seemingly directionlessly written songs are generally avoided on Decimation's 2010 album, Anthems of Empyreal Dominion (which has no reviews on the Metal Archives, wtf??). One thing that kind of grates me is how high the vocals are in the mix, as well as their general froggy-ness. Disclaimer: I LOVE Wormed.

Burial Invocation



BURIAL INVOCATION is my favorite of the bunch and features (ex??) Cenotaph members, though they couldn't sound any more different, as you can already tell. Rituals of the Grotesque is a perfect EP. I've been dying for more ever since. To me, the quickest point of comparison would be the morbid middle ground between the menacing, crushing weight of Grave circa Into the Grave and the disgusting, cavernous, evil stench of pre-Shitfun Autopsy (Okay, I think I've made it abundantly clear how much I like Grave and Autopsy..). Fuck, this band fucking rules. I bought this, which is rare. What can I say? I'm a product of the information age. This band is relatively new and this is their only release, you'd be doing them a solid if you ordered the ep as well.

I'm le-sleepy and I have to prep myself for a full day of sitting around on airplanes. If my flight on Turkish Airlines is anything like the last one I took to get here, there will be a million screaming babies and the interior will be Easter Egg colors.

-W.F.