The Last Surrealist/Post Life Music/2014 Full Length Review

  The  Last  Surrealist  are  a  1  man  band  from  Pennsylvania  that  has  been  feature  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  atmospheric,  depressive  and  experimental  form  of  post  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2014  album  "Post  Life  Music".

   A  very  atmospheric  ambient  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  powerful  sounding  synths  which  leads  up  to  some  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  and  on  the following  track  you  can  hear  some  elements  of  goth  and  80's  electronic  musical  style s  being  added  into  the  musical style  of  the  recording.

  You  can  hear  a  good  amount  of  dream  pop  and  post  rock  influences  in  the  songs  as  well  as  the  acoustic  guitars  bringing  in  a  neo-folk  music  feeling  to  all  of  the  tracks  and  on  the  3rd  track  the  music  starts  getting  a  lot  more  heavier  along  with  some  grim  black  metal  screams  and  melodic  guitar  riffing  which  they  mix  in  with  the  other  musical  genres  that  are  present  throughout  the  recording.

  All  of  the  drum  beats  are  programmed  and  there  is  a  good  amount  of  variety  presented  throughout  the  album  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  both  heavy  and  clean  parts  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  sees  spoken  word  parts  being  added  into  music  briefly  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  while  the  black  metal  elements  are  not  present  on  all  of  the  tracks  they  do  make  a  return  at  times  and  also  bring  a  more  raw,  grim  and  darker  when  they  are  utilized  and  they  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  brutality  when  the  music  goes  into  a  faster  direction.

  The  Last  Surrealist  bring  in  a  variety  of  many  different  musical  genre s into  their  sound  ranging  from  black  metal,  ambient,  post  rock,  alternative  and  electronic  music  and  creates  a  style  he  calls  'post  life  music'  and  their  is  also  a  great  amount  of  progresses  musically   from the  previous  recordings,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  life,  death  and  the  potential  for  rebirth.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  The  Last  Surrealist  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  post  black  metal  or  music  that  cannot  really  be  categorized,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  The  Morning  Our  Bodies  Will  be  Nothing"  "Eyes  Wide  Open  (Suffocate  Until  the  Fire's  Annihilation"  "With  Stretched  Out  Nihilistic  Hands  We  Embrace  Suicide..."  and  "When  A  Ghost  Embraced  The  Dust".  8  out  of  10.

https://thelastsurrealist.bandcamp.com/

The Last Surrealist Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the project for those that have never heard of you before?

The Last Surrealist is a one man black metal project out of Eastern Pennsylvania. It is, more or less, an outlet for the expression of my personal nihilistic views as an attempt to create a surreal reality for myself so existence is possible. It is more complex than this for me as I sit down and create music, but there is no real need to dive too deep into my work as the surface is amusing enough. 

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

At the core of the sound is a fairly staple black metal sound. In some ways I follow suit of more atmospheric artists in the genre like Wolves in the Throne Room, but then I diverge out into electronic/trance, symphonic, and folk music to add more diversity to my tracks. Indeed, this may throw off the black metal elitists among us, but they are not necessarily who I am attempting to cater to. For me, the surrealistic aspect of my music requires alternative sounds as my dreamscapes are not just in black and white, nor are they consistent of just treble guitars and blast beats. In the future as I continue to expand my music I hope to bring in more influence from Brian Eno and similar ambient/soundtrack artists. 

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

In general I explore fairly common depressive black metal lyrics and themes, however I have a tendency to divulge and, at some points, add a fair bit of ironic black humor as well as touches from my personal experience. On the VOID EP the track "With Stretched Out Nihilistic Hands We Embrace Suicide..." explores my suicidality and depression, and simultaneously the death of my youngest sister. In a sense, it is a track of longing while being consistently submerged by thoughts of suicide and bitter emptiness. The track "She is Clenched in the Teeth of Zombies" goes in a different direction as it was written with the idea of zombie B-movies in mind. The lyrics are somewhat depressing but ultimately fairly humorous, particularly the stanza referencing fucking a zombie with a dildo. 

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the projects name?

The band name The Last Surrealist has a cool aesthetic appearance, and this is the primary reason I chose it. I also feel the word "surreal" invokes an atmospheric image into the brains of those who read it. I will allow you to read into any additional reasons you think I have for choosing this band name as you so desire. 

5. Currently there is only one member in this project, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you choose to remain solo?

It is possible that I will want to expand into a larger band in the future, but I am very picky with what I want and will not settle. In my area it is difficult enough to find black metal artists, and even more difficult to find people into the effeminate type of music I tend to create. As such, I am a solo artists simply because I am able to relate to my own musical and philosophical ideals and create them to the best of my ability. If anything, I may look into getting a sound engineer as I am not the best in terms of production design. 

6. Currently you are unsigned, have you received any label interest or looked for a label?

I have no received any label interest. I don't even know where to begin with searching for a label myself. Personally, I don't give a huge fuck one way or the other. 

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your recordings by fans of black metal and experimental music?

It is difficult to gauge. I've received quite a bit of positive feedback in the form of comments on Youtube videos and oddly enough a few emails. I've also seen my EP show up on a variety of torrents, which I suppose is more positive than negative. As a musician I do wish more people who explored my tracks would leave feedback, whether positive, critical, or utterly against my work. 

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this a full time line up?

Yes. I have another solo project wherein I create "lighter" music merging electronica, folk, and post rock stylings entitled The Horizon of a Dream. A year or two ago I released a self produced album "Surrealistic Suicide," but have been taking some time away from that project as I want to get more into extreme musical forms and finding the beauty there. 

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

I expect that my music will be similar, but I hope to bring in better production quality and just "more" of what I am seeing now. 

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

While I am primarily influenced by philosophical ideals in some strange way, a few bands that come to mind when asked for "influences" include Agalloch, Vindensang, Rome, and Brian Eno. Essentially, if the music is atmospheric it can positively influence the outcome of my work.

I find myself listening to a lot of post rock, classical, and neo folk music these days. I don't listen to a lot of black metal anymore which may be surprising to some. 

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I opt for a relatively simple and secluded life. While I do work and socialize as is necessary, I typically enjoy being alone. I enjoy hiking and just disappearing on family and friends. 

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

I think I am out of words at the moment. For those interested in checking out more of my work you can download and stream my music via my Bandcamp page. Feel free to "like" my page on Facebook for future updates.

http://www.thelastsurrealist.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Last-Surrealist/478715428866630

The Last Surrealist/Void/EP Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  The Last  Surrealist  with  the  musical  style  being  atmospheric  black  metal  mixed  with  post  rock  and  experimental  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2013  ep  "Void".

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  present  on  this recording,  while  the  synths  has  a  very  dark,  atmospheric,  psychedelic,  and  experimental  sound  to  the  recording,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  atmospheric  and  melodic  sounding  with  some  raw  and  primitive  elements  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  post  rock  influences  in  the  riffing  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  and  leads  present on  this  recording,  as  for  the  classical  and  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  enhance  the  darkness  of  the  recording  while  also  adding  in  folk  elements.

  Vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  and  grim  sounding  black  metal  screams  that  have  a  depressive  tone  to  them  at  times  with  some  clean  singing  that  further  enhance  the  folk  and  post  rock elements,  while  the  lyrics  cover  nihilistic  and  existential  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sound  recording  from  The  Last  Surrealist  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental  and  atmospheric  sounding  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK "She  Is  Clenched  In  The  Teeth  Of  Zombies".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

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The Last Surrealist/A Death Demonstration/2012 Demo Review

  The  Last  Surrealist  are  a  1  man  band  from  Philadelphia  that  plays  a  very  experimental  and  atmospheric  form  of  depressive  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2012  demo  "A  Death  Demonstration".

   Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  utilized,  while  the  synths  bring  a  very  dark, atmospheric  and  experimental  sound  to  the  recording  along  with  some  elements  of  electronic  music,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  are  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  atmospheric  black  metal  riffs  that  are  very  raw  and  primitive  sounding  with  some  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  as  well  as  some  post  rock  influences  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  add  more  experimental  and post  rock  elements  to  the  recording.

  Vocals  range  from  grim  sounding and  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  to  clean  singing,  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  nature  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  primitive  sound  to  it  with  the  last  song  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  The  Last  Surrealist  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  atmospheric  black  metal,  experimental  and  post  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Like  A  Snow  White  Morning  Burning".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.    

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