Well, it had to happen. The prefix of 'Post' has found its way into our beloved Slam. It happened with rock (Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Stereolab, Mogwai), and it's happening – to far worse results – within black metal (Deafheaven, Alcest, Ghost Bath, Myrkur… blah, blah, blah).
Like it or not, experimentation within any given sub-genre is bound to happen, as boredom gets the best of creative individuals who then push the limits of their chosen genre and fuck with convention. More often than not, these romps into musical research and development prove to be little more than over-inflated, haughty attempts at ingenuity. If, like me, you aren't part of the 1%-ers who like eccentricity-for-eccentricity's-sake in their metal, well, then, yeah, some of this shit just sounds… weird.
That being said, occasionally, there comes one of these weirdos whom you can truly relate to – a weirdo that you don't mind strapping on the old weird boots and weird hat, travelling to weird places while sipping his/her weird musical Kool Aid.
For today's purposes, the "weirdo" in question is North Carolina's Travesty Of Mankind. Of course, like any true innovator, TOM – consisting of one Zack Glaeser – prefers to work alone, deep within the vexing, twisted nonlinear recesses of the frontal and parietal regions of his brain. I've gotta say, the shit this guy poops outta his right hemisphere is near genius.
Enough chat. Let's take a chronological journey through Zack's many releases, starting at the beginning. Fore those already familiar with Zack's work, you will not be left agape at the diversity and complexity of the tunes on display. For those visiting Zack's Slamworld ™ for the first time, well, don't come expecting straight-up, earthquake-droppin slam. Nope. Travesty Of Mankind is soooooooo much more. If you stick with it, we guarantee you will not be disappointed… or bored.
Also, buy Zack's stuff here. Dude is the hardest working muthrfukr in slam… behold a true slamtellectual!
LIFE AND DEATH (February 2015)
UNIVERSAL PRODUCT (March 2015)
SPLIT (August 2015)
JOSEPH: THE DREAM READER 2.0 (September 2015)
CAVES REMASTERED (October 2015)
THE PLANTING OF A DANGEROUS SEED (March 2016)
DEMO 2017
CO*CKTOPUSS RAMPAGES CITY (August 2016)
UNREAL (October 2016)
