[Toilet & Bowels]

I've been meaning to a thread about Hekaloth Records for a while, it's a label that puts out orchestral heavy metal but it is to orchestral metal what the shaggs are to rock n roll, and certainly hearing a Hekaloth release for the first time was a strange and mind warping as hearing the shaggs for the first time.
And I'm pretty sure all the "bands" on the label are all solo projects by the same dude.

Blurb from their website:

Hekaloth Records is a new recording label located in Vancouver BC. Canada. Our specialty is orchestral metal that employs epic themes. We are partial to music that puts a strong emphasis on the instrumental side of things. We want to expand the boundaries of metal by attempting fuse it with classical orchestral music, jazz or even world music. We are intrigued by the idea of combining elements of metal with the sounds of instruments not traditionally heard in that genre. especially when this is accomplished by the use of a single instrument, the guitar synthesizer. We believe that the guitar synthesizer represents a new frontier in music. While guitar synthesizers have been since the late 1970's, they've never guite been harnessed in the way that artists on our label have.

http://www.hekaloth.com/

and here are some MP3s
http://www.hekaloth.com/Freebies.html

Remember when listening to the MP3s that these bands are playing heavy metal, the same style of music as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Morbid Angel, etc.

[Pookie]

Most of this stuff sounds like all those novelty Moog records from the sixties. The rest sounds like those novelty Moog records with raspy vocals.

[Pookie]

Oh, and some sound like those novelty Moog records from the sixties with raspy vocals and twiddly guitar.

[Toilet & Bowels]

i can see the similarity but none of the moog stuff i've heard is as plain weird as this

[Pookie]

True enough. I was being a bit harsh. Although a lot of it is a bit too 'novelty' for my liking, there is some really good stuff worth listening to.

[Death & the Maiden]

I downloaded one song by each band as well as the first part of the E Minor Symphony. The songs by Thursar, Xynfonica, Gluttony, and Shevalreq all had parts I liked, but the Symphony is a bit much for me. The medieval ones remind me of Burzum. It's weird hearing a guitar play a metal sounding solo, backed by a bassy sort of instrument playing really slowly. And having black metal vocals over the top of an Asian or medieval sounding instrument.

[ni'k]

... nardwuar?