Review / 200 Words Or Less
Litany for the Whale
Dolores

Teenage Disco Bloodbath/Perpetual Motion Machine/Molsook (2009) Michael

Litany for the Whale – Dolores cover artwork
Litany for the Whale – Dolores — Teenage Disco Bloodbath/Perpetual Motion Machine/Molsook, 2009

John Cage was an avant-garde composer, poet, music theorist, artist, printmaker, etc. that was popular in the early part of the 20th century. "Litany for the Whale" was one of his many compositions. While I'm not certain this is where they draw their namesake from, California's Litany for the Whale offer up atmospheric, noisy, hardcore that pushes the limits of "hardcore" on their debut EP, Dolores.

The seven songs that comprise this EP are dark metallic hardcore that draw from the inventiveness of Converge mixed with d-beat punk of His Hero is Gone, all interspersed with various noise elements. "A Wake" and "Lord of the Gallows" are volatile hardcore akin to Cursed, meanwhile "Die Alone Unloved" and "Rotting on the Shoreline" are more loose and drone-oriented - see Buried Inside, Cult of Luna. And then there are "Philistines," a two-minute acoustic interlude, and closer "Lonesome God," which incorporates post-rock guitar noodling.

Dolores is a solid debut EP from Litany for the Whale. The instrumentals work well in the context of the album, but I definitely would have preferred more songs as opposed to the filler. I'll be keeping tabs on them as I'm definitely looking forward to their next offering.

8.0 / 10Michael • December 10, 2009

Litany for the Whale – Dolores cover artwork
Litany for the Whale – Dolores — Teenage Disco Bloodbath/Perpetual Motion Machine/Molsook, 2009

Related news

Litany For The Whale Pre-Orders Launched

Posted in Records on June 17, 2009

Recently-posted album reviews

Painkiller

The Great God Pan
Tzadik (2025)

Painkiller, the trio of John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris shows no signs of slowing down. The Great God Pan is their third full-length, since their reunion in 2024, and in many ways it is an unexpected offering. In keeping with their interests in the metaphysical realm, Painkiller find inspiration from the famed Arthur Machen horror novella. Here, the … Read more

Painkiller

The Equinox
Tzadik (2025)

Painkiller sees three absolute masters of extreme music join forces. John Zorn of Naked City and a billion other projects, Mick Harris who transcended from Napalm Death drummer to illbient guru with Scorn, and producer extraordinaire Bill Laswell. Their first two records, Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets are strange meditations traversing between free-jazz, grindcore and dub. Still hungry … Read more

Dauber

Falling Down
Dromedary Records, Recess (2025)

The lazy approach would be to call Dauber "ex-Screaming Females," but that barely scratches the surface. If I had to pick one band to namedrop a comparison to, it would be labelmates Night Court. They play a familiar style but with a lot of quirks that set it apart from the genre standard-bearers. It's driving and energetic -- more importantly, … Read more