I bought one of these things (a Korg Monotron Delay)

Korg do a range of really cheap analogue synthesisers. This is one of them. I plan on massively overusing it on the next Kastchei thing, and for live sets (if that happens). I'd recommend this to anyone who likes kitschy sci-fi sounds.

Sutekh Hexen are just the best.

I was going through my room and  found this. It's a note that Sutekh Hexen included with some stuff I ordered from their webstore a couple of months ago. I guess it's some sort of magic spell. Sutekh Hexen have been a massive influence on what I've done with Kastchei so far, and I genuinely think they're one of the best bands playing in any genre right now. More bands and labels should be doing stuff like this!

Some bands that are way better than Kastchei...

I don't have much to say about Kastchei for now, so here's a bunch of stuff I've been listening to recently. Some of it's black metal, most of it isn't. There's probably more screamo than anything else to be honest. This is all pretty recent, or at least by bands who are active right now. All of these bands are far more established than Kastchei so they don't exactly need my support, but I guess there's an outside chance that someone could stumble across this blog without following UK/international hardcore/metal/punk that closely.

Crows-An-Wra - Kalopsia
Progressive punk/screamo with spacey guitar work and spooky melodies. Mindblowing.
https://crows-an-wra.bandcamp.com/album/kalopsia

Iron Eagle - On The Attack
Bolt Thrower/Entombed/Integrity/Ringorm worship from some people from a few other decent bands. The good type of deathcore.
https://ironeagle.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-attack

We Came Out Like Tigers - Ever-Crushed At Peckett's Well
Passionate, political screamo/black metal with whispy bits of folk.
https://wecameoutliketigers.bandcamp.com/album/ever-crushed-at-peckets-well

Magic Moments - Don't Fall For Me
I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that these guys are also in a black metal band, but I don't know which black metal band. This is pretty cool stuff anyway. They sound like the bands your dad used to listen to when he wore more makeup than your mum.
https://magicmoments.bandcamp.com/album/dont-fall-for-me

Healing Powers - self titled
Solid live band, some of the prettiest music coming out of the UK right now. Play it for your friends who like indie and watch their disappointment as the vocals come in.
https://healingpowers.bandcamp.com/album/7

Moonknight - Death Card
This is tagged as dsbm on Bandcamp, but it's nowhere near as messed about with and self-consciously miserable as most of that stuff. This got a mention on Pitchfork, so I guess he doesn't need my help, but if you like raw, full-sounding wall-of-sound black metal it doesn't get much better than this.
https://risingbeast.bandcamp.com/releases

knifedoutofexistence - Immaturity Of Movement
I've seen two knifedoutofexistence sets and expected this record to be a half-hour wall of noise. It's actually a surprisingly subtle set of songs (can you call them that?), with evocative guitar work and subdued ambience.
https://knifedoutofexistence.bandcamp.com/album/immaturity-of-movement

Charlotte Light and Dark - self titled
Creepy Pg. 99 style screamo. Decent.
https://charlottelightanddark.bandcamp.com/album/charlotte-light-and-dark

Vermapyre/Vehrmöedr - split
Spooky noise/black metal/blues. It's on Holy Terror, so I'm assuming at least one side of this is a Dwid Hellion solo recording.

https://holyterror.bandcamp.com/album/vermapyre-vehrm-edr-split-7

Carrion Sunflower - a whole bunch of stuff
Neofolk with a vague occult/holy terror vibe to the lyrics. All of this stuff is cool, and it's recently been made free/pwyw to download. Super creepy live.
https://carrionsunflower.bandcamp.com/

Leviathan/Krieg - split
I really don't need to say anything about this, I'm just posting it because it's slipped under the radar a bit in the wake of the new Krieg LP (which is really good too, but you already knew that).
https://holyterror.bandcamp.com/album/leviathan-krieg

Best album cover ever (probably)

I've only listened to one track off this album (it's pretty damn good), but I just wanted to share it here because the artwork is just mindblowing:

https://swallowed.bandcamp.com/album/lunarterial

Ritual Vol. 1 Digital Mixtape

I am very pleased to announce that Kastchei's song "Days Of Iron" from Hydronymy is featured on Ritual Vol. 1, a digital mixtape put together by Death Of A Modernist. I've not had chance to listen to it all the way through yet, but based on the tracklist it looks pretty damn good. Download it here:

https://thedeathofamodernist.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-vol-1

On a related note, since there isn't going to be any new Kastchei material for a few months, I'm going to keep this blog active by posting links to cool bands as and when I feel like it. Watch this space.

Update: There is no update

I'll have Kastchei related news to report in about two weeks. In the mean time, go and listen to this because it's fantastic:

https://nucleardevastation.bandcamp.com/album/nuclear-devastation-ramlord

Hydronymy demo, online now

The new demo is now on Bandcamp for you to stream, download or ignore completely. Constructive feedback appreciated.

https://kastchei.bandcamp.com/album/hydronymy

Hydronymy Release and Artwork

The new demo, entitled "Hydronymy", will be online on Monday next week (that's September 15th).

The Return...

A quick update on the status of the second demo: The songs are just about finished, there's just a bit of tinkering/noisemaking yet to be done. The artwork should be ready towards the beginning of next week, and the whole thing should be on Bandcamp soon afterwards.

I'm pretty pleased with this recording. It's sounding much more intense than the first demo, but still very raw and a little bit experimental.

Until next time,
Kastchei

A Brief Explanation

I've set up this blog because, due to the nature of Kastchei as a project, I'm not convinced that a Facebook presence is the best way to promote my music. It's been a year since the first Kastchei demo, with the second to follow in the coming weeks. Outside of the few weeks surrounding each release, there isn't really much to report on which directly relates to the project, and so I can't provide the constant updates expected on social media. I'll be keeping this blog updated on all things Kastchei as and when things happen with the project, which basically means you can expect an update whenever a new release materialises. I plan on making Kastchei much more productive from here on in, with a provisional goal of at least one release every three months. This will include further black metal recordings, as well as noise and ambient works. I'm also planning on investing in some slightly more professional recording equipment towards the end of this year, and will probably be waiting until the beginning of 2015 before recording any more black metal. My plan is that by writing all this on a publicly viewable website, I'll be motivated to take this project seriously so that I can keep up with the promises I make here.

Here's hoping for many years of miserable music
Kastchei