Wrnlrd - Cperadt

You know when your sink is clogged and you reach down through the bilge water to dig out the obstruction? Cperadt (Small Sacrifice, 2007) is like that. Its production is absolutely filthy, but in a good way, retaining low end even while its midrange sprouts hairy palms and female moustaches. This is probably the most disgusting description I've ever written about a record.

Blood
Circle of Soot

But the album is enjoyable not in spite of, but because of its dirt. Details are shadowy, as they often are with one-man black metal bands. Here's what I can glean: Wrnlrd hails from Arlington, VA. Cperadt is his fourth full-length; he's already working on a fifth, and plans are set for a sixth. The album was recorded in two days, Christmas Eve and Day of last year. Evidently, the methodology was improvisation, though the tracks carry definite riffs and melodies within their murk. Evidently, also, this material is more metallic than previous dark ambient leanings (which surface here occasionally).

There's not much to speak of here in the way of songcraft, but the horrible sound is delightful. I also dig the occasional chugging, slower passages. This is a pleasantly discordant 37 minutes of rolling in mud. Sharp-looking old-school artwork (think Albrecht Dürer) by Wrnlrd himself rounds out the package. Cperadt is available inexpensively from Small Sacrifice and Wrnlrd's MySpace.