BEASTMILK - White Stains On Black Wax / Use Your Deluge

October 29, 2014, 9 years ago

(Magic Bullet)

David Perri

Rating: 7.0

review heavy metal beastmilk

BEASTMILK - White Stains On Black Wax / Use Your Deluge

Finnish deathrock purveyor Beastmilk impressed widely with last year’s full-length debut Climax, as the band’s dystopic take on spirals that circle downwards was critically acclaimed for its near-perfect songwriting, meticulous execution and gravitas that comes only from graves and gravesites. In the wake of Climax’s success, Magic Bullet has reissued Beastmilk’s 2010 demo, White Stains On Black Tape (here re-christened White Stains On Black Wax, to reflect its newfound 7” status), and the group’s 2012 EP, Use Your Deluge, for the swath of newcomers who surely weren’t around when Darkthrone’s Fenriz declared Beastmilk his band of the week back at the beginning of this decade (an honor he also bestowed on current major label darling Ghost... clearly Fenriz should be in A&R;, though he would no doubt laugh endlessly at the idea). Magic Bullet has done the right thing in reissuing this material, as both releases have long been out of print and contain material that deserves to be spotlighted alongside Climax: to let this demo and EP slide into the quicksand of obscurity would be unfortunate, and unfortunately disconcerting.


Beastmilk’s absolute success is precisely as a result of its absolutes. This band is absolutely committed to its sound and absolutely committed to the aesthetic that is demanded of its rituals. Laying the next-generation groundwork while standing on the shoulders of Killing Joke (especially circa Night Time), Katatonia, Sisters Of Mercy, The Church and all of Manchester/Factory Records in 1980, Beastmilk writes in ways that create surreal impressions: how is it, in our time of wifi and immediate connection of any kind, that songs so representative of an entire era - an era where isolation and desolation were actually possible - have been proclaimed, and proclaimed so goddamn profoundly? How is it possible that in a 21st century filled with distraction and unsubtle diversion on top of endless static, a band is able to have such a disarming and captivating impact and effect?


That said, those looking for any sort of follow-up from these two Climax precursors will immediately be disappointed. White Stains On Black Wax contains a very primitive version of Climax’s “The Wind Blows Through Their Skulls” and the Misfits inspired “Blood Under The Mill” acts as the literal b-side. Only when one reminds that White Stains On Black Wax is but Beastmilk’s initial demo (i.e. barely a sketch of where the collective was heading three years later with Climax) is the aforementioned criticism muted. Without the context of Climax acting as a shadow, White Stains On Black Wax brills with death disco intensity. As always, Fenriz knew something the rest of us didn’t.


Use Your Deluge, appearing two years after White Stains On Black Wax, marks a monumental step forward for Beastmilk. Featuring two tracks, “Children Of The Atom Bomb” and “Red Majesty”, that would not be out of place on Climax, Use Your Deluge is represented by these four songs that are pure promise, in both senses of that word.  Overcast skies and grey fogs have never loved such miserable company.



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