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Looks Like the Transcendental Maggot’s Kid Has a Chip on His Shoulder

Many moons ago, there was a compilation called Transcendental Maggot. It was released on Meconium Records and boasted, among a slew of grinding noise acts, contributions from Sourvein and Benümb. That was 2001. Fitting enough, then, that 10 years later, on Tsuguri Records – the new name of the label helmed by Jon Cox of Seven Foot Spleen – there should appear the 20-track, 67-minute slaughterfest Son of the Transcendental Maggot with songs from the likes of Russian stoner punkers The Grand Astoria, North Carolinian psychedelic mavens U.S. Christmas and Atlanta sludge dwellers Sons of Tonatiuh. There are a total of 13 bands for 20 songs, and along with the familiar names – the aforementioned, plus The Wayward, who once proliferated their tech-punk mayhem in the form of a 2006 self-titled via Black Box Recordings, the label founded by Mike Hill, now of Tombs – there are a host of lesser-known acts, among them Oakland chuggers Pigs, the remarkably under-produced Ahleuchatistas, Akris, Enoch, Yellowthief, Yuugen Syndrome and Shit and Shine.

It is, if nothing else, a diverse gathering, but what draws the bands on Son of the Transcendental Maggot together is a consistency of rough production – even the U.S. Christmas track is a demo – and basic element of amplifier worship. More exploratory acts like the tech-jazz Yellowthief (who submit six tracks for a total 6:12 run time, more than half of which is dedicated to the last one, dubbed “Gzilimpur Gbgda?a”) and Ahleuchatistas, whose guitarist Shane Perlowin also contributes the subdued opening cut, “Buried Histories,” are offset by some of the more straightforward material. The Grand Astoria submit an Ash Ra Tempel cover of “Light: Look at Your Sun,” and U.S. Christmas’ 2009 demo of “Fonta Flora,” which later showed up on the much-heralded Run Thick in the Night full-length, provides a moment of subtle psychedelic build. Theirs is the longest cut on Son of the Transcendental Maggot by nearly two full minutes. On the other hand, the later-arriving spastic grind of Yuugen Syndrome’s “JAAJAN” is unsettling nestled between Enoch’s “Robbie’s Song” and Sons of Tonatiuh’s two donations, “Consumed” and “Chain Up the Masses.” It’s just two minutes, but it’s not an easy two minutes by any stretch.

Among the bands here I’ve never heard before, I’m most drawn to Virginian duo Akris and Asheville, North Carolina, natives Enoch. Each band has just one track on Son of Transcendental Maggot, and where Pigs’ crunch on “Lurch” isn’t without it’s charm, the riffier side of Enoch’s “Robbie’s Song” and Akris’ scathing “Kentucky Russian” keep an excellent balance of contempt and heaviness without overdoing it on either or on self-indulgence. Like everything here, the actual sound is something to sift through, but there’s an undercurrent of songwriting that remains strong. Ditto that for Sons of Tonatiuh, whose self-titled full-length was heavy enough to justify its gorgeous two-headed-bird album art. Their two songs, “Consumed” and “Chain Up the Masses” – both of which also appeared on said self-titled – are the bone thrown to the sludge contingent, and where The Grand Astoria’s vocals are high over the über-fuzz psych guitar, with Sons of Tonatiuh, the abrasion is almost perfectly presented. For what it is. We’re still talking about sludge here. Wouldn’t want it to come off too pretty.

Shit and Shine cap off the proceedings with four solid minutes of unlistenable noise (as fitting an end as any could have been) in “Youth Led Worship,” and though I’m very much reminded of how much I hate reviewing compilations because one never really gets a sense for any of the bands or the overall flow of the thing from the writeup, Son of the Transcendental Maggot’s takeaway is that there’s plenty to dig into here for heads riled in underground worship. Some of the material (I’m looking at you, Ahleuchatistas) is pretty assaulting, but on the other hand, there’s The Asound’s “Liver Puffin’,” which adds an element of riffy plod to hold the scales in check. I don’t know if there’s something for everyone here, but between the music and the excellently disturbing Tanabe Yorichika artwork, Son of the Transcendental Maggot is every bit the absurdist, post-modern societal breakdown the name implies.

Tsuguri Records

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