I didn’t agree to do any premieres today. I thought I would be in Texas for events related to my day job (I know you’ll mentally insert an F word before “day job” and maybe before “Texas”, so I didn’t bother). But as things turned out I didn’t make the trip, though I do have to make appearances by Zoom (insert another F word). Today’s appearance isn’t until mid-day here, so I used the free time to whip up a roundup.

Tomorrow’s Zoom thing from Texas will start much earlier and last much longer, and for some reason I did agree to a premiere, so no Friday roundup. My crystal ball cracks a lot, but at this point when I look into it I see enough free space in my life to do the usual Saturday SEEN AND HEARD. Even after today there will still be a ton of things to catch up with.

THANTIFAXATH (Canada)

The boundary-pushing Sacred White Noise (reviewed here) really rang my chimes (as it did a lot of other listeners), and seeing Thantifaxath perform live cemented my own fandom. Their follow-up EP Void Masquerading as Matter (which I reviewed here) pushed the envelope even further.

I certainly didn’t expect we’d then have to wait six years for something new from this Toronto group. At least what they’ve done in the interim is a new full-length to make up for the lost time. It has a good and timely title: Hive Mind Narcosis. Continue reading »