Back in 2010, Italian blackened grindcore band The Secret caught my attention with their blistering third album, Solve et Coagula. And a couple years later, the even more intense Agnus Dei. Thanks to those albums I started looking around to see what other violent Italian punk ’n’ metal bands I was missing out on, and that’s how I first stumbled on ferocious "deathpunk" horde Hierophant. I unpacked Hierophant’s latest album for you here, but I also thought that I might as well mention a couple of other storming releases of a similar ilk from Italian metallic hardcore bands Nomura and Zeit.
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| Artwork by Blessend |
Post-rock adds that extra special something to Italian blackened hardcore quintet Nomura’s Inerte Affondare EP. In fact, if not for that additional element, Nomura might well have been lost among the oceans of metallic hardcore on Bandcamp. But the band clearly appreciate that it’s the subtle variances in tempo, tone, and even genre itself that can provide the all-important hooks or handholds when otherwise pitch-black and warp-speed music goes flying by.
Bookending Inerte Affondare are two great examples of just that. The first track "Nebbla", and last song "Apnea", are the most atmospheric and multifarious tunes on the EP. Both mix howling black metal with screaming vocals and hard-hitting hardcore. But it's the melodic undercurrent of post-rock/metal that rises and falls on those tracks that makes them so interesting. That said, Nomura also sound pretty goddamn appealing when they're just tearing it up with the kind of neck-wrecking metallic hardcore and that would make any Converge fan happy on "Foschia", "Vento Contro" and "Ageusia". So I guess that's the best of both worlds, then. Inerte Affondare annouces a band that's well worth keeping a close eye on in the future.
FFO: Hessian, Oathbreaker, Young and in the Way, The Secret, Hexis and Converge.
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| Cover Artwork by SoloMacello |
Venice-based four-piece Zeit coat their hardcore in a thick metallic crust. But it’s not the usual 'blackened' metal fuelling their sound. Grindcore and mathcore are what drives the propulsion systems on Zeit's recent Monument EP, and much like the band's full-length debut, 2015's The World is Nothing, Zeit's aggressive new EP hurls sonic barrages at you in a rapid and unforgiving fashion.
Along with three new original tracks, the Monument EP also features a ripping cover of At The Gates’ "The Swarm". That adds melodic death metal into Zeit’s sonic repertoire this time round, and that’s a pretty good indication of a band being open to developing their sound further. Monument is volatile and vitriolic, and it serves as great introduction to Zeit. But don’t forget to also check out that excellent debut, The World is Nothing.
FFO: Rot in Hell, Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Napalm Death and all the bands above.