Luke Henley
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My name’s Luke Henley, and I’m a Tucson, AZ native currently finishing up a writing degree at the ripe age of 26 (late bloomer). I guess it would be silly to point out that I’ve been listening to music since I was born because I think that’s true of everybody, but I can tell you that I’ve probably spent at least a quarter of every paycheck I’ve ever made on music. I’m not saying I’m a good decision-maker, but I am an unabashed music addict – everything from Townes van Zandt to Immortal. I’ve also been writing and recording music since high school, most recently solo as Girl Brains and in the band Tree Stars. I dropped out of NYU to move back to Arizona and work in a record store in 2008 which ended up being an ace career move (I did manage to pick up some great vinyl and make some lifelong music geek friends while I was at it). From there I went on to do social work for a while and got to hang out with some really incredible kids and their families. Right now, however, I live in Santa Fe, NM where I spend most of my time cooking chorizo and grits, drinking coffee, and listening to black metal. It’s almost like being retired!
I’m really happy to have a chance to share some of my thoughts on music – especially black metal/doom/all the other ugly and perverse forms of extreme music out there – and I’m psyched to be a part of the Ech(((o)))es and Dust family!
Articles by Luke Henley
It’s hard to pinpoint where the band is coming from, how far in their cheek do they keep their tongues, and that’s part of what makes it such a delicious puzzle of a track. – By Luke Henley
The Notwist has always been a band that thrives on evoking mood. It’s clear from the opening song that while their sonic palette has changed, their core has not. By Luke Henley
Luke Henley had an in depth interview with Tom Void and Em Støy of Australian black metal band Thrall, which resulted in a long but very interesting read.
What has been given is an album that captures a great band in a moment. But it’s not a definitive moment; there is no triumphant victory lap being taken. – By Luke Henley
“I started to gravitate toward music that made me think I was falling into Hell; once I felt like I was no longer in control, I relaxed…” – Luke Henley on the Mortal Kombat Soundtrack. Don’t tell us you saw that one coming.
Each side provides something suitably heavy for those who have skin in the game for new meditations on “the riff”. – By Luke Henley
The album aims to become a definitive statement of the GarageBand Generation. What is on full display here is the power that can be harnessed when limitations are used as challenges or parameters, prompts for the artist to create something that reaches beyond their own means. – By Luke Henley
As metal reaches wider audiences, critical analysis of older bands tends more toward the dismissal of traditional aesthetics which are often derided as cheesy and outdated. Within that context it becomes a bold statement to fly the raw Satanic thrash banner proudly rather than rely on current trends of introducing unorthodox textures and genre mash-ups as several modern metal bands are doing in greater numbers. – By Luke Henley
Abyssal are not well-known for their eagerness to give interviews, and so I count myself as extremely lucky to ask some questions to the band on the heels of their excellent release Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius. – By Luke Henley
Each chord, each pound of the drum becomes a confident and unwavering step toward something from which most of us try to hide but that the band refuses to ignore. – By Luke Henley
This is simply very good, extremely melodic black metal. It is well-crafted, gorgeous, and often emotionally moving. – By Luke Henley
There are moments of pure emotional bottoming-out, whose cog teeth join perfectly with moments of harmony and triumph all at a pace which is at once manic and stately. – By Luke Henley
With the shearing off of some of the raw edges they once flaunted proudly, they’ve lost just a bit of what made their music so exciting in the first place. – By Luke Henley
Luke Henley asked Miasmyr of Australian black metal project Moon some questions about the new album The Nine Gates, the occult and Australian metal.
In a world that’s increasingly reverent of “singles”, even when that word becomes more useless in describing how music is distributed and consumed, an album that rewards the listener for taking in the work as a whole stands out. – By Luke Henley
