Dean Blunt - BLACK METAL 2 (2021) [Hi-Res]

Boomkat Product Review:
"Flaws are discontinuities that act as tiny fissures, allowing the dim and distant, diffused gem light of pre-creation to slip thru - it is this that music existed for - a signpost, a reminder, a note.” Rudy Tambala / A.R. Kane

One of those releases/events that makes you feel like no other music exists for a hot minute, Dean Blunt returns with a second Black Metal album for Rough Trade, delving deeper into his somehow entirely unfathomable yet completely approachable and direct take on slow-strumming, bass heavy, visceral x melancholic folk-pop.

Aided on most of the songs here by (we think) Joanne Robertson - though at the time of writing we have no sales notes so not 100% - these songs once again connect directly to AR Kane’s distinct approach to the avant grade and the pursuit of imperfection. In effect, it feels like Blunt once again attempts to squeeze all the sterile, perfected sheen out of overly tasteful music, leaving a throbbing mass of flesh, blood vessels, nerve endings - exposed and beautiful. It’s what AR Kane called ‘Kaning’ (see Dhanveer Singh Brar’s excellent 'Beefy's Tune’ book for more on this) - and effectively provides a vital riposte to a world in which so much “art" is presented and consumed as a form of numbing.

Black Metal 2 is as real as it gets.