Beaten to Death - Agronomicon

By Matt Hinch. Back in 2011, this crazy-ass Norwegian band called Beaten to Death decided they were going to take up permanent residence in my head with Xes and Strokes. Seven years, two albums and a live release later, the “melodic grindcore” outfit return.

By Matt Hinch.


Back in 2011, this crazy-ass Norwegian band called Beaten to Death decided they were going to take up permanent residence in my head with Xes and Strokes. Seven years, two albums and a live release later, the “melodic grindcore” outfit return with a pretty swell Christmas present in Agronomicon.

In keeping with their vision for the band, Agronomicon was recorded 100% live. Also, as usual, they bend grindcore at will with their spastic enthusiasm. It's infectious. Their tempo change strategy must revolve around firing a rubber ball around the room and switching when someone gets hit in the head. Dirgy, death metal pummelling, ding, blasting grind, ding, groovy romp, clunk, Telecaster twang, thump, CHAOS. It seems like it should give my straightforward brain a headache but B2D just do it so well. Perhaps they do it too well and have spoiled bands with similar approaches. Names have been omitted to protect the innocent.

There's just something great about an album that can have you circle-headbanging one moment, throwing elbows the next, then swaying your hips and looking for a dance partner until you're spun back into a maelstrom of intensity and cathartic energy.

No matter how gut-wrenching B2D can get at times there's always another time that's totally uplifting. Or how angry they can sound, or disgusting, there's a jangly bit to throw open the shutters and dispel the darkness.

Speaking of gut-wrenching, angry, and disgusting, let's not forget about those vocals I love so much. Not just the leads but the well-timed gang shouts too. They're a good source of involuntary muscle contraction. All of the muscles. I hope I'm not the only one that connects with the vocal Hydra. Piercing screams, experimentation, and that growl. Oh, that growl.

The nature of that feral growl is my spirit animal. That makes about as much sense as building a house with an inflatable hammer but what I'm trying to say is deep down, that's what my inner beast sounds like. That's what this album does to you, man. Scrambles your brain. Like an egg in a frying pan on those old anti-drug ad campaigns. Without all the legal trouble and just as much social stigma.

Time and time again I'm wowed by how Beaten to Death can pack such intensity and creativity into such a short runtime and still infuse it with melody and movement. It's like a dramatic comedy stage play sped way the fuck up. It's definitely not mindless. I think it's their uniqueness that puts them over the top. No one sounds like this. Agronomicon throws more wood on the fire heating their melting pot of crazy fun grind. Why isn't this band more talked about? Or am I just too busy listening to them to hear the noise? I mean, it's like standing in a boxing ring taking endless body shots while being thrown from corner to corner all while laughing with euphoria. Doesn't that sound great?

Mad John the Wise - Voyager

By Calen Henry. Dominic Sohor’s eye catching Voyager cover jumped out at me during a dive into Bandcamp’s “progressive sludge” tag. While definitely progressive and stoner rock, Mad John the Wise are hardly sludge, but they're all the more interesting for it.

By Calen Henry.

Artwork by Dominic Sohor.

Dominic Sohor’s eye catching Voyager cover jumped out at me during a dive into Bandcamp’s “progressive sludge” tag. While definitely progressive and stoner rock, Mad John the Wise are hardly sludge, but they're all the more interesting for it.

For Mad John, "progressive" means cherry-picking approachable elements of alternative rock, punk, stoner rock, and folk into a surprisingly cohesive melting pot of sounds and influences. They cite the usual stoner metal influences, like Mastodon, High on Fire, and Baroness, as well as an eclectic mix including Bad Religion, Kvelertak, Jethro Tull, and Bob Dylan. Though they never actually sound like any of those bands, the heavy, riffy genre hopping of Kvelertak and Priestess comes to mind as their closest conceptual touch point.

Over its run time Voyager gets heavier while staying melodic and catchy. Songs get longer and slower, bringing some truly crushing riffs while maintaining the genre experimentation of earlier tracks. Album opener “The Only Chance” sets the stage with an extended clean guitar intro before breaking into rock. “Knee Scratch”, a punky ode to truancy, keeps the momentum going into “Whisper’s Load”, a riff-focused rock stomper and the last track before things break apart into weightier tracks. “The Karman Line” builds up atmosphere before adding a lead violin to play off the lead guitars, a highlight of the album. “Call of the Wild” continues the slow-burn portion of things, a slower, more drum-driven track featuring Eleni Papalitsa’s vocals to give it a unique feel. “Banishment” kicks things into high rock gear again before the one-two punch of “Monolith” and “The Way of Grace”, the two longest songs on the record and two of the most diverse. “Monolith” ebbs and flows through riffs and rhythms, always grounded in their accessible hard rock, while “The Way of Grace” brings back the folky feel (and violin) of “The Karman Line” before a glorious pop-punk interlude gives way to a guitar break hearkening back to "The Only Chance" to finish out the album.

Mad John just don’t care about genre baggage, which sets them apart the most from peers. Like Kvelertak, first and foremost, Voyager rocks. It’s chock full of head-nodding riffs, and if the riffs are generic, they're only academically so. It’s a playbook of big, catchy riffs from any genre the band happens to like. Sections sound like they could play on the radio or MTV. It’s a refreshing take in a scene that can sometimes get wrapped up in being “underground-er than thou” and worth a look for anyone who hasn't disowned their gateway hard rock and metal bands in favour of the trve kvlt.

Outre - Tranquility

By Hera Vidal. I haven’t discussed a lot of Polish black metal lately and decided to pick something atmospheric yet adventurous that would get me hyped for the week. Enter Outre and their 2013 EP, Tranquility, and how their run time belies the thunderous music.

By Hera Vidal.


I haven’t discussed a lot of Polish black metal lately and decided to pick something atmospheric yet adventurous that would get me hyped for the week. Enter Outre and their 2013 EP, Tranquility, and how their run time belies the thunderous music.

Even for an EP, Tranquility is rather short - 19 minutes of run time - but they get a lot done in that time frame. For one thing, they allowed themselves to fully give reign to their various ideas, creating a primordial soup of sound that shows a foundation for something bigger. What I love most about this EP is their relentless energy in their musical composition, as they pull you deeper and deeper within the thralls of their music. It makes the listener feel like they are watching the band play, as music is being constructed out of thin air. But of course, nothing about the music sounds out of place - the composition is planned and executed extremely well - but it’s easy to imagine how the band came together while testing new ideas. There is a lot of thrash undertones and even a saxophone solo, that really sold the album to me.

All in all, Tranquility is a good start into Outre’s discography, as they have a penchant for the dramatic and the consistent. Everything about this EP is fantastic, well-constructed black metal that needs to be played loud and for long periods of time. This was a truly great find, and I am looking forward to see what else I enjoy about Outre.

Farewell to Fallen Empire

By Justin C. Fallen Empire has announced that they plan to stop releasing new music by the end of this year or early 2019. The label has long been a source of some of the most mysterious and outre metal out there. Focusing on primarily black metal and black metal-adjacent sounds

By Justin C.

Fallen Empire has announced that they plan to stop releasing new music by the end of 2018. The label has long been a source of some of the most mysterious and outre metal out there. Focusing on primarily black metal and black metal-adjacent sounds, Fallen Empire has been a beacon of no-fucks-given releases. Albums appeared with little promotion or forewarning, and information on the artists has been mostly scant. For all I know, some of these releases have been made by particularly kvlt cats, perhaps by my own corpse paint kitty.

Marshall.

A look at our archives shows that we’ve been fans for a while, but as a final tribute, I wanted to talk about three recent releases that will in all likelihood be some of the last music that Fallen Empire puts out.


Arkhtinn’s latest album, 最初の災害, which Google translate tells me means “First Disaster” in Japanese, is an interesting case. They call this their debut, although they’ve put out at least six releases before. That said, this is the first album of theirs that I’ve really gotten into, so maybe their choice to call this a debut isn’t an arbitrary distinction.

On the album's two 20+ minute tracks, Arkhtinn uses sheets of black metal sound. Electronic storms start the first track, before layers and layers of more traditional black metal sounds wash over you. Screeches fight their way to the surface. But as dense and impenetrable as this can sound, there’s a strong melodic line as well. The second track is a bit different--here the band keeps their signature sound, but plays with different levels of complexity vs. directness. The track occasionally drops down to simpler, chugging riffs, and even a mournful piano/synth/organ passage, before spiraling off again into even higher levels of intensity and pure old meanness. I’ve liked parts of their previous releases, but I think this track is really what finally sold me on this band.

Cover art by Adam Burke.

Andeis’s Servants of the Cold Night is apparently the work of two individuals, referred to as Laignech and Verwoesting, and their Bandcamp page says that the project has been in development from 1999 to 2016. Yes, that’s a full 17 years. It’s anyone’s guess as to why the gestation period was that long, but I’m glad it finally saw the light of day before Fallen Empire went away.

Andeis also falls squarely into the lo-fi black metal category--Fallen Empire’s bread and butter--but unlike Arkhtinn, their music is a more direct, stomping affair. But that doesn’t mean simple. Under the dirt and grime, there’s a distinct, gothy tinge to the music. For example, there are some chant/moan-like vocals in “Wintrus hailagaizos aggwiþos,” followed up by some old school, horror movie-style organ. What could be lost in a sea of other similarly styled bands jumped out at me as something with an interesting twist.

Artwork by Karmazid.

I had the feeling Krukh would be a special release, because it’s yet another one of Markov Soroka’s projects. I’ve reviewed his work before, including his barely-there black metal space project Aureole and the meatier, blackened death of Tchornobog. This first album by Krukh, titled Безглуздість! (which appears to roughly translate to “Absurdity!”), fits somewhere between the two.

If you’ve spent any time with Soroka’s other work, it’s easy to recognize his stylistic touches on this. The first track features an addictive push-pull dynamic between two rhythmic figures while Soroka uses more of a “bellowing/hollering” approach to vocals than what we typically expect from black metal. The album largely deals in mid- to fast-paced black metal with a heavy emphasis on melody, but I also initially got a strong sense of what I’d describe as extreme emotional frustration mixed with sadness permeating these tracks--a sense that’s reinforced by track titles like “Thoughtlessness,” “Lost,” and “Grief.” “Lost” hammers this point home by pitting a lonely guitar against sounds of rain, and the final track offers contemplative acoustic guitar that fades into silence. The band themselves describe the album as being about the struggles immigrants to the U.S. face, which of course is a particularly fraught topic right now, making the range of emotions that comes through the music even more powerful. It’s possible I’ve just become a Soroka fanboy, but I’m continually impressed with the range and quality of the music he’s put out, and it’s a fitting release for the last batch of Fallen Empire records we’ll probably ever hear.

Veldes - Storm Borrower

By Hera Vidal. As I become more and more open to black metal EPs, there is a sense of comfort in being able to find music that you can listen to despite the length of it. However, many EPs are becoming more like albums; while there are fewer than five songs

By Hera Vidal.


As I become more and more open to black metal EPs, there is a sense of comfort in being able to find music that you can listen to despite the length of it. However, many EPs are becoming more like albums; while there are fewer than five songs on the record, the song lengths surpass the 10-minute mark. It’s an interesting blur that is happening frequently, and it’s amusing to see. This brings me to the three-song EP Storm Borrower, which showcases a distinct blend of ambient tones and black metal that makes it a bit dreamy.

Right off the bat, the beginning of Storm Borrower sounds like if Saor’s Guardians and Unreqvited’s Disquiet got together and made sweet music together, unleashing this into the world. First track “The Songless Forest” has the atmosphere that makes you want to relax and take some time out of reality to just let your mind wander. The growls in the song do nothing to take you out of the atmosphere, allowing the listener to just drift off elsewhere, transcending to some far off place. The surface-level simplicity hides a deeper complexity that caught my attention. For one thing, while the pacing set on the EP almost never changes, the tones buried underneath the melody and the way the voice adds flair to the space outside of the melody’s main reach makes an interesting tonal texture that feels oddly satisfying.

Atmospheric black metal can still sound interesting and new despite the over-saturation of the subgenre itself, and Veldes shows how that can be done. Storm Borrower is a highly enjoyable EP that transcends even the smallest of doubts. It captures your attention and holds it long after it ends. The atmosphere is sublime and dream-like, and you can’t help but smile a little as you come towards the end. Perhaps, at the bottom of it all, this record is meant to be heard when you are by yourself, when you need a pick-me-up that no substance or activity can provide. It is inherently calming.

Holy Terror - Total Terror

An Autothrall Classic. Where so many bands in the late 80s were trying to take the formula presented by Metallica and Megadeth and add some accessibility for success, there was another side to the thrash scene entrenched more firmly in the influence of Slayer

An Autothrall Classic. Originally published here.

[On Dissonance Productions' Bandcamp you can find an awesome compilation of late 80s thrashers Holy Terror's entire output. Here is the mighty Autothrall's review of their first full-length, Terror and Submission from 1987.]


Where so many bands in the late 80s were trying to take the formula presented by Metallica and Megadeth and add some accessibility for success, there was another side to the thrash scene entrenched more firmly in the influence of Slayer, Possessed, Venom and the emerging German scene. Holy Terror belonged to the latter, and they had a sound that, by 1987 standards, was quite intense. Filthy, aggressive thrash metal which mastered both the elements of chaos and precision into a violent experience, like a Mad Max road race through the outlying deserts of the abyss. Keith Deen's apocalyptic vocals gave the band a grisly edge, but what really explodes off this recording are the guitars, which peel the rust off the abandoned cars that litter this hellish highway. Just as fast as Exodus, or Possessed, and about as complex.

The intensity showcased across Terror and Submission was a wise decision for Holy Terror, because unlike so many of their peers, they produced an effort that could be remembered fondly. This is still pretty fucking wild by today's standards, and the cult status of this band is well deserved, while so many other, safer thrash metal upstart albums of the 80s languor in the black hole of memory. I can't say that the entire effort is packed to overflow with memorable riffs, but taken as a whole it's 42 minutes of pleasure and pain for any thrash magnate who seeks the less traveled path.

"Black Plague" is disgustingly fast and will hit you like an 18-wheeler on demon auto-pilot. Don't like it? Then don't hitchhike on Rt. 66, motherfucker. The speed blisters and swells like the friction sores that must have caused great injury to guitarists Kurt Kilfelt and Mike Alvord, as their riffs buzz through the recording like a pair of buzzsaw wielding killers in a competition to see who can decapitate the most college students. The leads are just spastic, awesome nonsense, and Deen's vocals range from a harsher style to some clear wailing, but always around the same range. "Evil's Rising" is deep and crushing, but picks up to the same level of speed, with some great vocal howling and drumwork courtesy of Jack Schwartz. "Blood of the Saints" dials back the speed for a crude and rude opening rhythm, but sure enough, it returns to road worthiness with a surprisingly anthemic chorus section. "Mortal Fear" explodes into more chaos at the expected tempo, but "Guardians of the Netherworld" has an old school metal tint, pumping pace where Deen really gets to shine, basically Holy Terror doing ancient power metal.

A war is raging on inside us, guarded by the horde
With lesser gods of higher rank, prodding them to war
No Father, Son, or Holy Spirit
Nor defences from the foe
All are battered, tortured, shattered
Allegiance without death is woe

The lyrics to much of the album read like a poor man's Paradise Lost, much more serious and well written than other bands of the era were capable of delivering. "Distant Calling" has some great power melodies that wind up before the verse, and it's another of their classic metal charge pieces and one of the very best songs on this album. "Terror and Submission" features a kickass, burning lead over the dense, grinding melodies, and "Tomorrow's End" is just sheer, crashing momentum, like a windstorm approaching across a desert at 10x the normal speed. The bridge has a hyper, ascending rhythm that swerves back into the lightning verse, and there's a crunchy thrash breakdown in there as well. "Alpha Omega - The Bringer of Balance" is perhaps my very favorite track from the album, with a wealth of amazing riffs that are both caustic and beautiful, creating an epic atmosphere of desperation and warfare.

Terror and Submission has one of the best 'apocalyptic' tones of any thrash or speed metal album in history, right alongside Holy Moses' Finished With the Dogs or Znöwhite's Act of God (the latter of which came out the year after this). It's completely aggressive without needing to sacrifice good songwriting or musicianship, and I truly wish more bands had gone this route instead of going all Metallica lite. This is a great record, that belongs in any true thrashers collection, and it would not be their last...

[Autothrall also likes Holy Terror's second album Mind Wars.]

Domkraft - Flood

By Matt Hinch. When I saw Domkraft's name pop up in my email I took notice. I couldn't immediately remember what their previous album (The End of Electricity) sounded like but I knew I was excited. This was more than an “oh yeah, I remember that band” moment.

By Matt Hinch.


When I saw Domkraft's name pop up in my email I took notice. I couldn't immediately remember what their previous album (The End of Electricity) sounded like but I knew I was excited. This was more than an “oh yeah, I remember that band” moment. As expected, digging into their new album, Flood was no disappointment. Note also that this is the first release on a new label called Blues Funeral Recordings. Gotta keep an eye on that. I mean, it's run by Jadd Shickler of Meteor City/Magnetic Eye fame so I'm not worried about quality.

Domkraft deal in the psych/stoner/doom/sludge realm with emphasis on the psych doom. Obviously they prefer to keep the song lengths long, giving the hypnotic, repetitive riffs time to become superglued inside your head. We're not talking mind-numbing repetition though. In fact, the word “prog” has been thrown around in reference to Domkraft. They're no King Crimson but there is a complexity beyond the pulsing, head-nodding doom riffs that swirl and snake around you, enveloped in a fog of red-eyed delight. (They're probably fans of King Crimson though.)

Those bone-rubberizing riffs form a sturdy backbone. They're heavy and dark and a little mean but not gothic or depressing. Part of that may also be from the vocals. From the gut, and more bellow than anything, they berate the listener from the middle distance making Flood sound epic and open while the rest of the sound feels right on top of you.

I know they're not alone in this but Domkraft have a way of keeping things simple enough to remain grounded but it's laced with enough of the good stuff to at least evolve the mind into a state of higher being. They'll mix a measured pace and consistent volume with sneakily powerful builds, affecting psych, and percussive energy.

This unheralded Swe-doom band can compete with the likes of say, Conan and even Sleep. Flood should take you to the same places or even a little further on a somewhat different path given they deal with porous borders. (Not a political statement.) Domkraft set themselves apart with a more colourful atmosphere (and album cover). Even though they don't totally weird out the pervading feeling of tonal bliss and psychedelic aptitude maintains a consistent buzz for the whole 40+ minutes.

By the time you get to album closer, “Dead Eyes, Red Skies” you can even pick out the more overt blues touches. Just one more twist in the plot. Throughout, this many tentacled beast continually feeds on the kind of riffs you want to let soak in. Just open all your pores and feel it penetrate, working the psych magic from within. Domkraft may be doombringing riff miners but they have a depth outside of that. But who in their right mind is going to tell them to stop digging? There's always a demand for gold!

Vvilderness - Devour the Sun

By Hera Vidal. The news has been dark lately. There have been enough mass murders and killings in America to make one almost desire to tune out the world and hide under the covers, waiting for the end to come.

By Hera Vidal.

Cover art by Vvildr

The news has been dark lately. There have been enough mass murders and killings in America to make one almost desire to tune out the world and hide under the covers, waiting for the end to come. It also makes one hyper-aware of what could potentially kill them, especially when they fall under a certain label or group that someone wants to destroy. There have been too many instances of death and destruction and, for one glorious moment, we all want to disappear. Because most of us cannot afford to leave society’s confines, we have to find other ways to escape, and one of those ways is music. While black metal continues to churn out controversy after controversy, it can still heal us. It can still make us feel something akin to hope despite the dumpster fire that continues to burn into the concrete of our homes. This brings me to Vvilderness’s album Devour the Sun, an album that brings hope and good tidings to the table through the melodic tones of the music.

Even though Devour the Sun starts off with a melancholy that can chill you to the bone, the second track “Sól” brings some color to the dreariness of what you first heard. While the black metal remains embedded in its core, “Sól” creates a majestic tonality that elevates the music to another level, taking advantage of the listener’s awe as the music weaves in and out of airy notes and contrasting layers of acoustic instruments. This continues on the third track, “Devour the Sun”, continuing the theme of acoustics as it weaves more sounds together, creating a warm dissonance that doesn’t seem to be out of place within the scheme of things. Devour the Sun reminds me of the album Infinite Ocean by M.H.X.’s Chronicles, as they both have a dissonance that acts in accordance with a theme. With Infinite Ocean, it had to do with the sea. With Devour the Sun, it has to do with purification and reincarnation, and considering the softness of the sounds at work here, there is something highly ritualistic that Devour touches. It almost feels like you are moving through parts of a ritual, as if you are being cleansed by listening to this.

As the album moves onward, the music takes a turn for the dreary and the melancholic. Gone are those bright, melodious tones that have been part of the general structure at this point. Now, it has shifted to a folk-like aspect, as if the music is preparing you for what’s to come. Whether it is burning your body into a pyre or becoming dust on the ground, it feels like you are being led to your final destination, and you can only walk towards it. With the closing song “Aftershine” – a song that spans 10 minutes, filled with strings that reverberate and echo throughout it – the listener is taken through a deeply sonic journey that is filled with warmth and joy that doesn’t let up until about halfway through. Once the joyous sounds are gone, you are left within this sonic abyss where the music drones, as if you have reached your destination and you are about to be sent elsewhere. However, unlike the droning I am familiar with, which fills you with dread and uncertainty, it makes you feel comfortable. It feels like you have fallen asleep and have just opened your eyes, now awake to embrace your reality, whatever that may be.

All in all, Devour the Sun is an album that comes close to purifying your world from the destruction you live in. For that moment in time, you exist in the sounds of hope, joy, and ritual, and you can only hope to take that with you once you are back in reality. This is an album I will definitely come back to – there is something that makes me want to explore it once more, as if no one can resist the siren’s call of hope.

[Devour the Sun is also available in a vinyl remaster. It's a little cheaper, and it has two songs - one for each side of the LP.]

P.H.O.B.O.S. - Phlogiston Catharsis

By Ulla Roschat. Once again the French band P.H.O.B.O.S. live up to their name. With their 4th full length album Phlogiston Catharsis, which they released in September this year through Transcending Obscurity,

By Ulla Roschat.

Artwork by Synckop

Once again the French band P.H.O.B.O.S. live up to their name. With their 4th full length album Phlogiston Catharsis, which they released in September this year through Transcending Obscurity, they scare the living daylights out of you in about 47 minutes and 8 songs. You can even choose among your inner fears and demons, choose which they summon.

With their mix of Industrial Doom and Black Metal they conjure an atmosphere where the good old filthy, evil demon, that goes for your flesh and bone, your heart and soul, leaping out from the dark and obscure, feels at home as well as the SF nightmare that transforms yourself from a human being into a biomechanical "cyborgian" monstrosity. The horror is complete either way, combine them and you'll enter a new dimension of angst ridden insanity.

Right from the start you're immediately thrown into an atmosphere that is uncanny and terrifying. Relentless drums grab, pull and push you, while a distorted, oscillating guitar sound and echoing drones create an industrial kind of oily grimy, stenchy, nausea inducing sludge. But soon P.H.O.B.O.S. establish a hypnotic and compelling groove as well, the only hook to hold on to, and rather sooner than later to get hooked on - a psychedelic edge that somehow insists on the existence of independent humanity, or at least organic life, opposing the intrusion of mind and body by programmed machines.

With every minute that the album progresses the biomechanical and brain altering metamorphosis does the same, Once the program has started it drives on inexorable and merciless with glacial precision and evil impetus. Disturbing eerie noises and vocals like beastly, demonic snarls grab for you through veiling smoke to choke you, rip your heart out or rearrange your brain cells.

Unrelenting, propelling drums, dissonance, menacing drones all flow together and grow into a maelstrom of terror and insanity. The mechanic atmosphere is soaked with a sense of twisting, warping and shifting of inner and outer worlds. The subtle, underlying psychedelic vibe comes to surface from time to time, with repetitive, mesmerizing rhythms that carry spiritual, even religious aspects, as if to claim the last remaining traces of humanity.

Phlogiston Catharsis immediately grabs you and hurls you into another world, into atmospheres and soundscapes that are overwhelmingly dense and intense, and especially the omnipresent duality of disturbing chaotic dissonances and hypnotizing repetitive rhythms makes it as terrifying as it is beautiful and compelling.

The Foundry

Cutting edge contemporary heaviness displayed and discussed. By Bryan Camphire. With Vitrun Carpe Noctem return after a five year spell and exceed the high standards set on their excellent previous full length, In Terra Profugus. The six songs on offer

Cutting edge contemporary heaviness displayed and discussed.

By Bryan Camphire.

Artwork by Stephen Wilson

Carpe Noctem - Vitrun
Iceland. 6 songs, 52 minutes, Code 666, October 5th, 2018.

With Vitrun Carpe Noctem return after a five year spell and exceed the high standards set on their excellent previous full length, In Terra Profugus. The six songs on offer this time around twist and turn with many minor key melancholic melodic sections. The guitars make ample use of ebow and and tremolo arm, bending stretching and smearing pitches all across the band's darkened soundscapes. The third track, "Og hofið fylltist af reyk" (and the temple was filled with smoke), is a highlight for me; midway through the music reaches a fever pitch, and just when it seems that the band could not possibly ratchet the tension any higher, the song explodes like so many collapsing steeples being reduced to ash. Vitrun is the Icelandic word for vision, and this combined with the record's harrowing album art might suggest that the band is interested in exploring themes of the tangled aspects of perception. This much is certain, Vitrun is a strangely beautiful offering from these high caliber black metal experimentalists.

Artwork by Babar Moghal.

Ars Magna Umbrae - Lunar Ascension
Poland. 8 songs, 36 minutes, Independent, October 5th, 2018.

This one man band's name translates as The Great Art of Shadow. What struck me most about this release upon first listen was the strange innovative guitar work. Sinister snaky lines evince feelings of dread from the very start. Subsequent listens revealed that Lunar Ascension places a heavy emphasis on composition, with strong dynamics and drastic tempo changes in nearly every song keeping things interesting. There is a murderousness on display here that’s reminiscent of early Blut Aus Nord. When looking for how black metal has moved forward in 2018, consider this record.

Artwork Mar.A.

Cultes des Ghoules - Sinister, or Treading the Darker Paths
Poland. 5 songs, 55 minutes, Hells Headbangers, September 23, 2018

"Is it you, my master, whatever your name is, or is it just me, filled with divine bliss?" If you want to be filled with divine bliss of which the singer of Cultes des Ghoules speaks, listen to Sinister. This is yet another excellent offering to the band's weird catalog of releases. Slow lurching repetitive mesmerizing music to listen to around a fire in the woods whilst making animal sacrifices to unholy divine beings. The guitars are toothy and full of grit. The bass cuts through the mix nicely and will set fists swinging. The drums are commanding and in the pocket sans frills. I like to think of this singer as what Ozzy might sound like if he began releasing music for the first time in present day Poland instead of, you know, being the great grand father of heavy metal. There is something special and mysterious about this release, the band's thirteenth offering in thirteen years...

Soul Dissolution - Stardust

By Hera Vidal. Oh, boy, where do I begin with this one? Right off the bat, don’t be fooled by the way the album cover and the first track look and sound like. It might be a set-up for something atmospheric and cosmic that sounds like

By Hera Vidal.


Oh, boy, where do I begin with this one?

Right off the bat, don’t be fooled by the way the album cover and the first track look and sound like. It might be a set-up for something atmospheric and cosmic that sounds like the myriad of atmospheric black metal without substance, but the track “Circle of Torment” jumps straight into what I like to call Woods of Ypres territory. While Woods of Ypres was highly atmospheric and sad, “Circle of Torment” takes that essence and dials it back a bit, emphasizing the bite of atmospheric black metal and letting it assault you throughout its run. Granted, there are moments of reprieve – there is a soft yet tonal reverb – but the music remains constant throughout the track, a testament to Soul Dissolution’s sonic aesthetic and their preference for long, repetitive passages of music that hold the listener’s attention. There are a lot of sonic references to Woods of Ypres; in fact, some of the guitar parts sound a little similar. However, they are able to add their own flair to it, as it lacks the deep, guttural sadness that was prevalent in Woods of Ypres.

Despite this, there is something highly emotive about the way everything is set up. Everything, from the musical structure to the actual layering of the music and vocals, is constructed to maximize the emotions behind it. There is awe, wonder, and confusion all rolled into a spectacular cohesion that you can’t shake off. You can only sit there in bewilderment and splendor as the album plays, as you hear footsteps walking through the woods, as you wonder where else Stardust will take you. As you come to that thought, Stardust takes a sharp right turn and begins to show you a more playful side to its music – if you can call anything atmospheric playful – one where you are allowed to bask in the guitars’ warm notes and the contrast between what sounds like the keyboards and the vocals that echo throughout the album.

Unlike most atmospheric black metal I am acquainted with, where either vocals or the instruments add to the atmosphere of the music, neither of those are actually what creates the atmosphere. Something about the presence of the album’s aesthetic and its triumphant mix of emotions and catharsis really speaks to the listener. There is something wonderfully bizarre that is worth paying attention to, something that hides underneath the orchestrations, the emotions, and the harsh vocals that reverbs through the music. Perhaps that is the key to Stardust: a bizarre feeling that cannot be explained and needs to be explored via this album as a medium.

All in all, Stardust is an album that takes everything atmospheric black metal stands for and throws it out the window, melding aesthetics together that creates substance and memorable music that stands with you until the end of its run. I will definitely come back to this album at a later time. However, in the meantime, I can only say good things about it. In the crossroads of bewilderment and aesthetic, Stardust exists, filling a void that I don’t think anyone saw until this moment.

Evoken - Hypnagogia

By Karen A. Mann. I admit I didn’t know much about World War I until recently. But with the recent centennial of the war, which began with the 1914 assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, I’ve gained a new appreciation for this most grisly of wars

By Karen A. Mann

Artwork by Adam Burke.

I admit I didn’t know much about World War I until recently. But with the recent centennial of the war, which began with the 1914 assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, I’ve gained a new appreciation for this most grisly of wars, in which national identities were born as empires collapsed. Millions of average men died in squalid trenches as horrifying new technologies, including the use of poisonous gas, the widespread use of the machine gun and the armored tank were deployed. Not only did the earth became a putrid wasteland of unburied corpses but the war was directly responsible for spreading the virulent Spanish Flu, which killed millions around the world. World War I was so bad that it was called the War to End All Wars, because people thought that certainly no war could be worse. Instead, the political instability unleashed continues, like an unbroken thread of terror, in parts of Europe and the Middle East to this day.

It’s against this hellish backdrop that New Jersey’s long-running elegiac funeral doom quintet Evoken have set their latest album, Hypnagogia. On a battlefield during that horrible war, an anonymous soldier muses bitterly on his impending death. He records his thoughts in a journal, then strikes a deal with a malevolent spirit to leave part of his soul behind to attach itself to -- and drive to suicide -- whomever chances to read the journal. With each successive death the spirit becomes stronger and more deadly, weaving an unbroken tale of terror through the century.

Evoken has always been completely unafraid to push the boundaries of metal further than they can go, and then some. I had the distinct pleasure of seeing them perform an experimental set with Merzbow for the Hopscotch Festival in Raleigh back in 2013. Brian Sanders, who contributed cello for their 2012 release, Atra Mors, returns on Hypnagogia, and at times plays a starring role. The album begins with an ominous string arrangement from Sanders, along with a distant chorale. The feeling is deep, dark and foreboding; lush and natural. A peal of squalling feedback introduces the crushing mechanical elements, bringing to mind primitive iron tanks rolling over and subjugating all that is natural about the land. Through eight songs, the band chugs through scathing doom with gnarled, blackened bits, serpentine riffage and eerie keyboard melodies, and pastoral, mournful passages with evocative vocals and stately string arrangements.

The album includes two short instrumentals -- aptly titled "Hypnagogia" and "Hypnopompic," that act as interludes in the action and represent the soldier's death and rebirth. The term “hypnagogia” refers to hallucinations a lot of us experience in the moments just before sleep when our bodies are paralyzed but our minds are still active. By contrast, “hypnopompic” is when we have paralyzed hallucinations upon waking up. If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night thinking there’s an intruder in your bedroom and unsuccessfully tried to scream, you’ve had a hypnopompic hallucination. Both songs have a hallucinogenic, disorienting quality and provide fitting bookends to the album's most adventurous song, "Ceremony of Bleeding, " which features a haunting, operatic choir ensemble in the middle. The album’s final song, “The Weald of Perished Men,” begins with ambient noise of crickets, wind and the sound of digging before easing into a clean, uplifting guitar melody that weaves its way through the entire song. A mournful cello and keyboard passage follows, with the soldier questioning what will become of him, then segues into crushing guitars and scathing vocals.

Fittingly released on Nov. 9, just before the centenary of war’s end on Nov. 11, 2018, Hypnagogia is an elegantly bleak, yet strangely warm and uplifting, ode to one lonely, anonymous man who found an ingenious way to live on, while repaying the world for the futility of his death.

Cult Leader - A Patient Man

By Justin C. Cult Leader, formed by the members of the defunct Gaza, made relatively quick work of establishing themselves as their own band, not just a continuation of Gaza with a roster change. Gaza officially disbanded in 2013, and Cult Leader put

By Justin C.


Cult Leader, formed by the members of the defunct Gaza, made relatively quick work of establishing themselves as their own band, not just a continuation of Gaza with a roster change. Gaza officially disbanded in 2013, and Cult Leader put out Nothing for Us Here the very next year, followed by an EP and full-length in 2015. They took a little bit of a pause after that, but 2018's A Patient Man was worth the wait. It finds the band expanding their sound even further, while still building on their hard-to-categorize baseline.

You'll see Cult Leader still labeled with variations of "hardcore" (and that seems to keep them out of The Metal Archives, for good or ill), but I think that's just a holdover from their Gaza days. What I hear in the band now is a mix of sludge's heaviness but without the murk, and grind's technicality but without the extreme level of chaos that tag usually implies. Add to that a new level of expansiveness in song structure, and A Patient Man makes for an album that took me many listens to wrap my head around.

The album starts off with a blaze. Punch your steering wheel and shout along with the growled refrain "HEAL ME!" in the opener, "I Am Healed." "Curse of Satisfaction" follows a similar path of tech-ish brutality, but the third track, "Isolation in the Land of Milk and Honey," starts to showcase a wider palette of sounds as it progresses, and the the album takes a hard right turn at "To: Achlys." This track prominently features a cleanly sung baritone, and it's a vocal style that dominates "To: Achlys" and the following track, "In a World of Joy."

The clean singing isn't new to Cult Leader. They used it in "A Good Life" on A Lightless Walk, and the haunting closing track of Useless Animal, "You Are Not My Blood," also used similar styling. What immediately struck me with "To: Achlys," though, is how prominent the clean singing is. To my ear, this style was pushed back in the mix a little bit in the band's previous albums, but here it is front and center, often with very minimalist backing.

It's a bold choice. "To: Achlys" and "In a World of Joy" are two of the longer songs in the album, and they veer into what I might call "dark folk" for a solid 12 minutes smack in the middle. I wasn't sure how I felt about this at first, but the more I listened, the more I was willing to follow them. These songs are filled with regret and isolation, and the vocals are earnest and almost primitive in a way. It's not a virtuoso vocal performance, but I don't think that would have been nearly as effective. I'd also argue that, in spite of the drastic stylistic difference, there's never any sense that these tracks are experiments. It's the same band, and maintaining your band's core identity in two very different modes is no easy task.

Cult Leader may switch back to the heavy churn after those tracks, like in "Share My Pain," but they're not done with their new expansiveness. The title track and the album closer, "The Broken Right Hand of God," are truly something else, and I'd be lying if I said I'd had a chance to fully absorb them. Listening to this album has been a journey for me, and I'm curious if it will get the attention it deserves in a distracted, I'll-listen-to-30-seconds-and-then-move-on scene, but I hope it does get that attention.

Madder Mortem - Marrow

By Kevin Page. 20 years these quirky Norwegians have been kicking around the metal scene. After a 7 year wait between prior albums (2009's Eight Ways and 2016's Red in Tooth and Claw) they've taken pity on us with only 2 years between releases.

By Kevin Page.

Artwork Thore Hansen

20 years these quirky Norwegians have been kicking around the metal scene. After a 7 year wait between prior albums (2009's Eight Ways and 2016's Red in Tooth and Claw) they've taken pity on us with only 2 years between releases. This album is a definite 'grower' as it took a few more spins than usual for it to sink in. But your patience will pay off in the long run. Here is my track by track breakdown.

After a brief intro, the album kicks off with "Liberator". The band doesn't waste any time getting right to the point. This track centers around a big fat juicy riff that weaves its way into your frontal lobe. For long time fans of the band, this would be the "My Name is Silence" of the album.

"Moonlight Over Silver White", one of my favorite songs on the record. There's something about that main guitar riff that tickles me with excitement. Masterfully woven together with smooth jazz and melodic metal, it bounces back and forth between two worlds.

"Until You Return" can be considered the most tender song the band has done to date. I could envision them in suits in a dark smokey lounge noodling away. But in typical Madder fashion, it's punctuated with fits of rage before returning to its casual beauty.

"My Will Be Done" is the most oddball/divisive track on the album. Essentially a groove metal bro dude tune with screamo vocals, interjected with the sonic feelings of present day Gojira/Mastodon on the pre-chorus and interspersed with Agnete's signature voice. I'll be damned if it didn't win me over in the end though. I'm not going to claim it's my favorite track or anything, but for something I initially thought stood out like a sore thumb (or even a down note), I'm totally fine with it. Consider it somewhat of a palate cleanser.

"Far From Home" is heavily reminiscent of "Armour" from Eight Ways. Soft, gentle, ends on a high note with Agnete's soaring vocals.

"Marrow", the title song and my 2nd favorite track. Not only is this a full on metal jazz song (with overtones of "Changeling" from 2006's Desiderata). It's another number I can see them playing in a nightclub lounge. Yet after lulling the audience into a false sense of security with "Until You Return", the utter shock and dismay of the unsuspecting crowd would be a glorious sight to see.

Photos by Aline Meyer.

"White Snow, Red Shadows" is fairly straightforward, at least for a Madder Mortem composition. Punchy and upbeat from start to finish. This is the only time I've heard Agnete vocally trying to keep up with the music.

"Stumble On" really snuck up on me and turned out to be my clear cut favorite. The backbone of song is a slice of Midwest Americana folk (with shades of "Hangman" thrown in for good measure). Featuring some of the finest vocal and lyrical work by Ms. Kirkevaag to date, it elicits that chemical reaction in my brain that moves me emotionally. The galloping drums and the build to the final crescendo is a thing of pure beauty.

Threads of purpose through our life
We will stumble on
Blinding darkness and endless light
We will stumble on

This is the time when shadows grow longer
When sharp blades grow blunt and you need to be stronger
This is the point where you don't run for cover
When everything's urgent and nothing is over
This is the truth and the heart of the matter
If you cannot hold, then everything SHATTERS

"Waiting to Fall" is the closer with a bombastic 9 minute run-time that ties together all the varied textures and emotions of the songs that came before it. Again, as a callback to previous albums, you'll get a distinct "The Eighth Wave" vibe here.

In my review of their prior album, Red in Tooth and Claw I felt the band had essentially let it's hair down and become fully comfortable in their own skin. Now with Marrow they have taken that a few steps further with a seemingly "we don't give a shit, here it is" attitude. Yet with an expertly crafted production (you end up learning a few things over two decades) they do indeed care.

Morne - To the Night Unknown

By Calen Henry. To the Night Unknown’s cover sets the tone; band and album name in simple typeface with a stark greyscale photo of flowers. It is stripped to the bone, but those bony fingers stretch toward epic heights.

By Calen Henry.


To the Night Unknown’s cover sets the tone; band and album name in simple typeface with a stark greyscale photo of flowers. It is stripped to the bone, but those bony fingers stretch toward epic heights. Morne take the slow burning riffs and the expansive guitar leads of doom metal and combine it with the bludgeoning slow build of post-metal and the minimalist composition of crust. Crushing bare-bones riffs, led by powerful drumming, underscore mournful leads and howling vocals. It’s as tightly focused as it is expansive.

Many a stoner or doom band hammers out a riff for several minutes and calls it a song. It takes a special band to make that approach work. In lesser hands, Morne's stripped-down approach could end up that way. “Less is more” says vocalist/guitarist Milosz Gassen. Like the album cover, riffs are as minimalist as can be but structured and arranged to create an engrossing whole.

Album opener and title track “To the Night Unknown” sets the album’s sonic palette; a crushing two note riff forms its backbone and its forward momentum. The riff twists and turns through variations upon which the band layers lyrical leads and supporting riffs, maintaining a balance between smothering menace and wailing agony. The focus is razor sharp, but the skill with which it all unfolds is mesmerizing. It’s an album to get lost in.

The lyrics feature a similar laser focus. All the songs speak of sadness and loss, darkness and cold, and loneliness and fear. They’re the perfect fit for the instruments giving life to the mood of the music.

The songcraft is excellent, and the album is thoroughly engrossing for those so inclined. The album length coupled with the band’s devotion to minimalism will polarize listeners. On top of the potentially divisive dichotomy of epic doom and stripped down punk aesthetics, To the Night Unknown is 67 minutes long.

Morne’s singular approach is worth it, though. They’re a unique metal voice accomplishing exactly what they set out to do. They will be exactly what many are looking for, though some may come away unmoved.

Thrawsunblat - Great Brunswick Forest

By Calen Henry. Though Thrawsunblat followed 2016’s Metachthonia with the two-song acoustic Fires in the Mist EP, an acoustic full length follow-up is a bit of a surprise. Thrawsunblat have long pulled from a folk song tradition

By Calen Henry.


Though Thrawsunblat followed 2016’s Metachthonia with the two-song acoustic Fires in the Mist EP, an acoustic full length follow-up is a bit of a surprise. Thrawsunblat have long pulled from a folk song tradition as much as folk instrumentation, and upon hearing Great Brunswick Forest, acoustic is a natural transition for the band. The band have managed to maintain the density of their sound, exemplified on Metachthonia. Here layer upon layer of acoustic instruments replace layers of palm muting and tremolo picking atop blast beats, giving a similar feel to the previous album.

Much of the approach remains unchanged; epic folky metal songs with a unique Eastern Canadian spin. This time, with the exception of some distorted rhythm guitar on a couple of songs, acoustic instruments take front and centre. The composition is still deeply rooted in metal, though. The riffs are down-tuned and pulled from metal, but played on acoustic guitar or mandolin. The riffs are expertly intertwined with the folky lead work, all played on acoustic guitar, mandolin, and violin.

Violin is common in folk metal, but here it’s no afterthought. There are the expected lyrical lead passages as well as harmonized backing parts, but they also explore the instrument's rhythmic potential with staccato backing parts and even some pizzicato work. It makes the violin integral to the album and meshes perfectly with the rest of their sound.

The other big change from prior releases is the drumming. It’s much more laid back with more of a rock than metal vibe, no blasts or double kick, which complements the instrumentation wonderfully. The drums are lively and give the songs drive, but they don’t push them back into full metal territory.

The vocals match the move to acoustic: no black metal rasps, just singing. The vocals are often harmonized and show an impressive range, from a clear tenor to baritone backing. Again, it’s an extension of the clean vocals on previous releases, but massively fleshed out and extremely epic. Lyrically, the shift is natural. Thrawsunblat have always sung about the majesty of nature and mixed pastoral imagery with lamenting the loss of nature. Now the music completely lines up with the subject matter.

With Great Brunswick Forest, Thrawsunblat have distilled their prior metal sound into acoustic folk metal without losing their musical identity. In fact, by going acoustic, they’ve really thrown their musical chops into sharp relief. Folk metal bands are increasingly common, and successfully “going acoustic” really sets a band out from the crowd. Indeed, it might actually be my favourite of their albums.

Marsh Dweller - Wanderer

By Justin C. Marsh Dweller's last album, The Weight of Sunlight, offered a unique take in the broad musical area of melodic/atmospheric black metal. A mix of influences and some serious guitar riff worship made for a pleasant departure

By Justin C.


Marsh Dweller's last album, The Weight of Sunlight, offered a unique take in the broad musical area of melodic/atmospheric black metal. A mix of influences and some serious guitar riff worship made for a pleasant departure from a lot of what was going on at the time (and continues to go on).

The title of the second album, Wanderer, might lead you to believe there will be more atmospheric black metal to come. Maybe some tastefully applied "crunching leaves in the woods" sound samples? But Marsh Dweller's sole member, John Owen Kerr, had something different in mind. Wanderer sees Marsh Dweller move into full post-metal territory, complete with all the crushing, layered riffing interspersed with sparse interludes that particular subgenre implies. In fact, Kerr himself said that Cult of Luna's Vertikal was a big inspiration for Wanderer.

So how does that translate? Pretty damn well, actually. A lot of the melodic sensibilities and sonic choices from Sunlight show up here, so this doesn't sound like the work of a completely different band, although if you had your heart set on an expansion of that sound, you may walk away disappointed. "Wander I" erupts with the sound of siren-like guitar line before moving into a hefty, chunky riff, a riff that gets built upon, churning and evolving as the song progresses, while still making room for some wide-open, clean-ish guitar work in the middle of the song. Kerr lets his vocals range from a lower, almost Ihsahn-ian croak up through harsh highs and, later on in the album, some chant-like cleans.

"Wander I" is a proper post-metal length, coming in at just over 9 minutes, but that's just a warm up for the purely massive "Wander II," which comes in at well over 17 minutes. It's a bold choice for the second track of the album, risking breaking the listener too early on. Reasonable people could argue as to whether this is really one song or more of a connected suite, but to my ears, it works as a single piece. Trippier guitar work opens the track with a bit of swirling effect, before moving on to a progress of riffs that build and release, layer upon layer, topped with a mix of growling styles. I'd be lying if I said I thought this song was as tight as it could be--there's a tremolo/white noise/sampled sounds section about two thirds of the way in that I might have cut down if my editing advice was sought, but if it overstays its welcome a little bit, it's not so much that it derails the song.

Recounting all of the details of all the songs would make this album sound fractured, which it definitely is not, but there are more surprises to come. "Coalesce," true to its title, acts as if it's almost falling apart in the middle, with guitar and drums seemingly at odds, before coming back to a unity at the end. "Wander III," another behemoth of a track, plays with tempos that are almost in the realm of funeral doom and includes dueling female vocals with dueling growls, all building to a furious ending.

As I've hinted at, this album runs the risk of pushing away some fans of Marsh Dweller's last album. When I first realized the direction Kerr was taking this particular album, I have to confess that I moaned inside a little--I need my post-rock/post-metal to be in the top 99% of its class to hold my interest--but after giving this a chance, I was able to put aside preconceived notions of what this would be and go along for the ride. Stay open minded and give this a fair shot--you may find a lot to like.

Deadbird - III: The Forest Within the Tree

By Nate Garrett. There’s a reason why bands that come from Arkansas are so powerful. The entire area is haunted. Ask certain people there and you’ll get certain explanations. Their theories will range from spirits carried along the river

By Nate Garrett.


There’s a reason why bands that come from Arkansas are so powerful. The entire area is haunted. Ask certain people there and you’ll get certain explanations. Their theories will range from spirits carried along the river, to restless Native Americans reaching out from their burial mounds. No matter what you call this ominous force that permeates the Natural State, Deadbird has always been one of its strongest channelers. The band has been dormant for a decade, and now it has returned with its best album.

Opening track “The Singularity” features intimate acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies reminiscent of the dark melancholy of Alice In Chains. A swirling undercurrent generates a sense of foreboding beneath the beauty of the music. According to guitarist/vocalist Chuck Schaaf, the sound in question is a recording of a massive glacier calving (look it up). This is a fitting introduction to the album, as the looming end of humanity has always been an inherent theme of the band’s music.

“Luciferous Heart” is a romping rock and roll masterpiece. Layered guitars exchange classic hard rock riffs under a barrage of harmony vocals that sound like The Allman Brothers if they were from hell. The mid-tempo swing is disintegrated by a pummeling gallop during the bridge. This section resides somewhere between Black Sabbath and High on Fire, yet remains distinctly southern. The song then slows to a crushing crawl, proving that Deadbird is still among the best bands in the world as far as southern sludge is concerned.

“Heyday” is another epic track that runs the gamut of Deadbird’s creative arsenal. Like its predecessor, this song features haunting vocal harmonies, impossibly heavy riffs, soaring guitar harmonies, and enthralling dynamics. Next up is “Alexandria,” the most unexpectedly catchy track on the album. This is the closest thing to a single Deadbird has ever recorded, and it works. Remember when Baroness was more brawn than brains? That might get you in the right ballpark. The verse/chorus structure is streamlined for maximum potency, and the vocal melodies are as infectious as they get.

“11:34” is an instrumental, a compelling bassline awash with guitar harmonies that wouldn’t sound out of place on a classic Metallica or Priest record. But as always, Deadbird carves its own path, and the music is accompanied by the nighttime sounds of an Arkansas forest. You can almost feel the ghosts I mentioned earlier in this review. “Brought Low” is a heartfelt, bone-deep song about depression, driven by expert control of dynamics. It thrives upon the interplay of light and shade that bands like Led Zeppelin understood was so crucial. The verses are vulnerable and fragile, and the chorus is pure aggressive release. This song ends with one of the best riffs you’ll hear from Deadbird, or any other band for that matter. The last section in particular manages to be unpredictable and still viscerally moving at the same time. “Bone and Ash” is the most overtly heavy song on the album, connecting the dots between crust and post-metal. This track is pure aggression, an assault of d-beat brutality counterpointed by the groove of southern-fried doom. “Ending” is both the conclusion of the album, and the final chapter in the trilogy of subdued interludes. It’s the closing movement of a masterfully constructed piece of music.

Deadbird III: The Forest Within the Tree is a sprawling portrait of the heartache, longing, joy, depression, exhilaration, magic, misery, and hope that informed all the greatest music from the American South. This is the blues by way of Neurosis, southern rock via His Hero Is Gone, gospel that praises the best of classic metal, and soul that only life experience can produce. Deadbird lives.

Nate plays in Spirit Adrift and Gatecreeper.

Scorched - Ecliptic Butchery

By Matt Hinch. Back in August, I saw Scorched play at Migration Fest. I knew enough about the band that I wanted to stick around and watch them instead of going to a bar with my friends. That says A LOT. It wasn't an easy decision but it turned out just fine.

By Matt Hinch.

Arwork by Misanthropic-Art.

Back in August, I saw Scorched play at Migration Fest. I knew enough about the band that I wanted to stick around and watch them instead of going to a bar with my friends. That says A LOT. It wasn't an easy decision but it turned out just fine. 2016's Echoes of Dismemberment made enough of an impression that I was happy to reacquaint myself with their brutal style of death metal in the live setting. A mere two months after that earplug workout they've released another exercise in gruesomeness with Ecliptic Butchery.

Here we see the Delaware death crew taking the horror off the planet. They brought all the gore with them though. Blood still sprays in zero gravity! Just look at the song titles. “Blood Splatter Eclipse”, “Exhibits of Torture”, “Barbarous Experimentation”, “Dissected Humanity”, you get the idea.

Sound wise Scorched keep things pretty brutal. More California death than Florida to these ears. That's just how I hear it anyway. Heavy either way. While they have the chops to pull it off if they kept it fairly standard, they don't keep it standard at all. There are more than enough tempo changes to keep things interesting and some sci-fi synths/samples give it flavour. A song like “Mortuary of Nightmares” has it all. It's a total neck-breaker with galloping riffs, a sludgy part, chugging beatdowns, and percussion that kicks you while you're down.

Elsewhere they channel Cannibal Corpse (and not just with the vocalist's circling headbanging), work in some creepy organs, fall into a pit of doom, and even rub up against some d-beat rhythm. Throughout though the atmosphere one feels is truly dark and horrific. They don't necessarily do anything specific to set that feeling up. It's just part of the whole package. Well, save for the cavernous death growls. They suck all light from the room and enhance the death/doom quality woven into their precise instruments of aural torture. Let's not forget the slick, incisive solos that tip their hat to the mighty Slayer though, as they strengthen a certain familiarity. In my opinion anyway.

It's also my opinion that if you're going to play death metal with a sci-fi twist, do it like this. Keep the brutality. Keep the groove. Keep it death metal. Give the listener something they can sink their teeth into and chew on for a little while. That way if you aren't the kind of person that can discern lyrics, you can still wrap your mind around everything else hurtling you towards your demise. 2018 has been a pretty solid year for “traditional” death metal and with Ecliptic Butchery Scorched add their name to the list.

Abysmal Torment - The Misanthrope

By Bryan Camphire. Maltese metalheads Abysmal Torment churn out mighty intense brutal death. Their music is ultra complex, and their releases are totally unrelenting from start to finish. They play their own brand of brutal death metal

By Bryan Camphire.


Maltese metalheads Abysmal Torment return with their fourth full-length in a dozen years. Their music is ultra complex, and their releases are totally unrelenting from start to finish. They play their own brand of brutal death metal with an extra emphasis on the moshpit. Yet, this new record, The Misanthrope, doesn't divulge its secrets easily. The torrents of blast enshrine the majesty of this release like the walls of a fortress shield the riches of the keep.

With The Misanthrope, Abysmal Torment have upped the ante on all levels of their music including the production, squashing the mix with massive amounts of compression so that it sounds as loud and as in your face as can be. It's easy to view this type of production with disdain: it's very modern; it's the type of thing done by nauseating bands like Metallica today. Truthfully, I had to lower the bass on the equalizer on my car stereo while listening to The Misanthrope just so that I could hear more of what was going on with the guitar work on this release. I can not think of any other musical release I've heard that has this much kick drum in it, both in volume level and in quantity. This was off-putting for the first few spins. Then it drew me in. The bold-faced velocity of Abysmal Torment's full frontal assault beckons me inwards to look for subtlety in the eye of their mile-wide mayhem.

Indeed, subtleties abound in the music of The Misanthrope. The intricacy of this set on display more than makes up for its lack of dynamics, like a church ceiling that transfixes you despite your lack of faith. No doubt the sheet music for these songs would be liable to make a person cross-eyed. The details are dizzying, yet ever so meticulously composed and executed. Abysmal Torment are surgeons of slam, precise and exacting after they lay you out flat.

The emotional thrust of this brickmason-like music is what becomes so surprising about it over repeated listens. Tracks three four and five are a highlight for me, and each of them make me feel like Beavis and Butthead on speed as I listen. This is one of the bands best slight's of hand: amidst their unrelenting onslaught - riddled with odd meters, delivered at blistering speed - it's the groove they deliver that hooks you and riles you up.

I became such a big fan of Abysmal Torment over the years that I've scoured the rosters of many a record label that peddles this type of brutality - including Pittsburgh's venerable Willowtip Records, home to this release - and have found no other band who produces this sound with such finesse. They almost make it seem easy. If you're a fan of hyper complex rhythms, listen to the first track on Abysmal Torment's 2009 release, Omnicide, and try to count it. That song continues to mesmerize me many years after first hearing it.

The band has stayed true to their trademark density on The Misanthrope. Like Abysmal Torment's colossal records before it, I'm certain The Misanthrope will trickle clues to its mysteries that will seep slowly into the consciousness for many years to come.