Not for Our Feet

Bone Awl Not For Our Feet
Klaxon Records 2007 KLX-008

Not For Our Feet was originally released on cassette and pic disc in 2005 by Nuclear War Now! Productions. This version is the vinyl rerelease by Bone Awl's Klaxon Records. Bone Awl has released quite a few recordings in their five years theyve been together. Most releases have been on their own Klaxon Records label, and all releases have been on cassette or vinyl formats only, and usually limited to only a few hundred copies or less.
The music of Bone Awl is absolutely true black metal boiled down to its lowest common denominator. Guitar, bass, drums and vocals, just two members, He Who Gnashes Teeth and He Who Crushes Teeth. Catchy d-beat stomps, hyperspeed grinding blasty parts, buzzing, hypnosis-inducing guitar riffs repeated over and over again, along with death-rasp vocals are all present in this release. Raw minimalist black metal art. The overall production sound of this album is totally crusty and grimy and stripped to the bone (although Bone Awl does somehow manage to get even more raw sounding on later releases!)
Where Bone Awl truly radiates is with their lyrics. And more so even than just the content but how the lyrics are further illuminated and framed by the music. I suppose this is one of the primary objectives of any songwriter, yet it is still amazing how few songwriters are actually capable of grasping this. The lyrics are poetic and highly introspective explorations of a nihilistic, yet not completely resigned world view. They are apocolyptic in nature, yet pastoral in actual prose. Depressive, disconnected, disassociated, lavish, vivid, imaginative, angry, sad, resolved.
The album art and design reflect the layered yet minimalist attitude of the music as well.
Not For Our Feet is highly recommended.