Abigail Williams - Walk Beyond the Dark

By M.A. Spiro. The enigmatic extreme metal collective that is Abigail Williams once again marshals forces to produce a fifth, and likely their most blistering, full-length recording yet. Walk Beyond the Dark, has been released on the group’s new label, Blood Music of Finland.

By M.A. Spiro.

Artwork by Mariusz Lewandowski

The enigmatic extreme metal collective that is Abigail Williams once again marshals forces to produce a fifth, and likely their most blistering, full-length recording yet. Walk Beyond the Dark, has been released on the group’s new label, Blood Music of Finland.

Championed by lead guitarist, vocalist, and primary composer Ken Sorceron, Abigail Williams’ new recording delivers a massive dose of rage-tinged pathos. The seven-track album spins a glistening narrative with themes of despair, longing, and destruction. Prepare for songs like “Black Waves” to tear your heart out and hand it back to you -- still beating. Brace yourself to be swept away by songs like “Born of Nothing,” which harkens back to the most unforgiving sections of the group’s 2012 offering, Becoming.

I reached out to Ken to talk about the album’s creation in detail. He composed most of the songs on Walk Beyond the Dark during the last five years in between contributing his talents to other musical endeavors, such as Cobalt, The Faceless, and Lord Mantis. Some of the songs reflect the black metal intensity derived from the places where he’s been spending much of his time: the otherworldly beauty found in the Pacific Northwest and the arid desolation experienced in the Texan outback.

I wrote all the songs except “The Final Failure,” which was a song that Ian Jekelis (Aborted) brought to the table back in 2014 when he was in the band. It morphed into what it is now after I fucked with it for years.

The everchanging lineups for Abigail Williams have always featured some of the most phenomenally talented musicians around. Joining Sorceron this time are drummer Mike Heller (Fear Factory, Malignancy,, Raven); bass player Bryan O’Sullivan (Altar of Plagues, Mortichina), and classically trained cellist Christopher “Kakophonix” Brown (ex-Empyrean Throne, Hvile I Kaos). Not since the album Becoming have the talents of a cellist been featured so prominently. In addition, Justin McKinney (ex-The Faceless) provides a guest guitar solo on the track “Ever So Bold.”

Unlike The Accuser (2015), which included guest vocals from Neill Jameson (Krieg) and Charlie Fell (Lord Mantis, Cobalt), Walk Beyond the Dark features Sorceron singing every tune. Listeners may be surprised at the fair amount of clean vocals employed here, but they don’t overpower the riffage.

Recording for Walk Beyond the Dark took place in Washington, New York, and Dublin, Ireland. Mixing and mastering were accomplished by Lasse Lammert of LSD Studio in Lübeck, Germany. Where the last two albums demonstrated a transition and maturation of the group’s sound, could one say that Walk Beyond the Dark most closely represents the Abigail Williams’ sound? Ken seems to think so.

It really has elements of all four previous albums in my opinion, so in that regard it’s the most ‘Abigail Williams’ sounding album to date. I think it’s a good culmination of everything I’ve done. All those sounds come together to create this album. The production is top notch while still retaining raw qualities. It’s dreamy and atmospheric when it needs to be and punchy and clinical when the song calls for it.

Like the master craftsman that he is, Ken never expresses complete satisfaction with anything he’s accomplished, and the evolution of Abigail Williams is no different. As a musician, he says, he’s

gotten shittier at some things but better at others. I’ve stopped listening to other bands, for the most part, and I’ve just been doing my own thing.

Has Abigail Williams attained its final form? Not likely. For now, Walk Beyond the Dark presents fans with the most accurate snapshot of the level of excellence that American black metal can achieve today. I am pretty sure this will be my album of the year or at least close to the top.

Wolvhammer - The Monuments of Ash & Bone

By Matt Hinch. It feels like it's been longer than four years since the last Wolvhammer release. I didn't forget about them though. New album, and first for Blood Music, The Monuments of Ash & Bone definitely made the wait worthwhile. I admit I haven't gone back and reminded myself

By Matt Hinch.

Artwork by Brian Sheehan.

It feels like it's been longer than four years since the last Wolvhammer release. I didn't forget about them though. New album, and first for Blood Music, The Monuments of Ash & Bone definitely made the wait worthwhile. I admit I haven't gone back and reminded myself what their previous records sounded like but sometimes context just isn't in the cards. Besides, this album hasn't left my phone in a solid year.

In my humble opinion, or rather, as pertaining to my personal tastes, Wolvhammer are upper tier USBM. Never mind your basements and bullshit necro recording techniques. Monuments sounds great. Sounds huge. Sounds nasty. There's no doubt to the black metal base here but it's not all blasting and arctic wind riffing. Atmosphere plays a part, as well as varied tempos and pacing. It's not “black 'n' roll” though.

As you may or may not know vocalist Adam Clemans also sings for Skeletonwitch. When he was announced as Chance Garnette's replacement my initial reaction was basically “COOL!! That guy kicks ass!” Kick ass he does. Most of the time he rips ears with his signature snarly rasp. Clean vocals aren't out of the question but his chilling delivery mates perfectly with the bulldozing riffs and energetic percussion. Guitarists Jeff Wilson and John Porada, bassist Andrew Gerrity, and drummer Garry Naples round out the new lineup in case you were wondering.

Most of the album is fast enough. Militant, biting, gnashing and fierce. Physical and bruising. Wolvhammer drag the listener through the darkness on the back of their infectious riffs and feral energy. Stand out track “The Failure King” is so powerful. It came on the PA between sets at a Goatwhore show and I was just as excited for that as anyone actually on stage. Closer “Solace Eclipsed” though slows it down, bringing in plenty of atmosphere and those clean vocals. The tone of this track feels more morose and cold, a change not met with listener resistance for the album's waning sounds. It still has some pounding moments to inject a sense of determination the listener can take with them. As well as a desire to start it all over again!

The Monuments of Ash & Bone is fantastic. Wolvhammer's sense of motion and conviction doesn't go unnoticed. There's nothing to complain about. Its aggression and dynamics hit the sweet spot and give me the sense that their live show is something to witness. USBM doesn't get much better for me. I'm already yearning for their next offering but this one provides plenty to chew on (and burn through) until that day comes.

Chaos Moon - Eschaton Mémoire

By Ben Handelman. Chaos Moon, once a relatively inactive outfit, has grown increasingly active and prolific since its reemergence in 2014. With the release of last year’s ferocious Eschaton Mémoire, the band has staked out territory

By Ben Handelman.

Album art by Jef Whitehead

Chaos Moon, once a relatively inactive outfit, has grown increasingly active and prolific since its reemergence in 2014. With the release of last year’s ferocious Eschaton Mémoire, the band has staked out territory that should take it from buzz band to “must-hear” status, if anybody’s taking proper note. The sinewy "The Pillar, Fall, and The Key" begins the assault in a proper fashion. There are shades of ambiance that neither comfort nor soften, but rather add to the general queasiness, especially as things begin to deteriorate halfway through. It's in the moments where things drop out that Chaos Moon's loose and limber take on haunting (or perhaps haunted) black metal shines its brightest, as the density is harder to fully appreciate until an element is peeled back momentarily. The true face may remain unknown, yet the individual components of it all rise up from the burbling unease, allowing just enough clarity to keep the listener from complete unawareness.

Cryptic phrasing aside, what Chaos Moon does best is remove the listener from present space and create another entirely. The album’s three lengthy tracks flow into places beyond one’s active mind, creating a hypnotic result in even the most focused audience. Music that interacts with the listener in an almost visual way is inherently more potent, and this is the territory much of Eschaton Mémoire covers. It’s delicate and deliberate, almost fluid in quality, yet when it decides to snap, it’s the most pointed sensation. These separate moods circle each other constantly, channeling something that would seem otherworldly, yet is innately animalistic and painfully human.

Is Eschaton Mémoire good? Undeniably. It is one of the most cathartic black metal albums to come out in recent memory. Is good the goal, though? Probably not. This isn’t about being good or bad, although a review inevitably forces the author to pass some sort of judgment. Instead, this is about feeling. There is so much happening, especially in the twenty minute sprawl of the title track, which is an emotional and spiritual ride. From the truly feral vocal approach to the subtle strains of tortured melody that creep in through both synthesizers and brittle guitar leads, there’s almost more than can be contained or conveyed with mere words. Sure, on the surface this is a black metal album, and there won’t be any specific sounds that can’t be understood here, but as an experience this is worth a deeper visit. Headphones on, world tuned out. Get into it and let it get into you.

Dynamic Metal Roundup

By Calen Henry. Metal is loud and abrasive, but metal fans like it that way. Over the past 25 years, there has risen a pernicious side to the loudness of metal (and music in general). Dynamic range compression has

By Calen Henry.

Metal is loud and abrasive, but metal fans like it that way. Over the past 25 years, there has risen a pernicious side to the loudness of metal (and music in general). Dynamic range compression has drastically increased in a phenomenon called the Loudness War.

Simply put, during mastering much contemporary music is altered to raise the volume of all parts to the same level as the loudest part, often the drums. The resulting loss of dynamics decreases the overall impact of the music; when you turn it up everything gets super loud, instead of some parts being accented.

A loud master doesn't necessarily ruin an album, and poorly produced dynamic albums can still sound terrible, but there are essentially no examples of more dynamic masters sounding worse than the louder version, provided other factors are not also drastically altered.

Thankfully, since I started paying attention a few years ago the trend has been toward more dynamic masters for metal, though it's far from standard. That being said, a few artists really stand out in both their commitment to dynamics and their excellent music.


I'm a sucker for concept albums and Vainaja take it even further; they're a concept band. Comprised of The Preacher, The Cantor, and the Gravedigger they play absolutely crushing death doom, in Finnish. The concept revolves around Wilhelm, a mysterious (and fictional) cult leader believed to have risen from the dead to corrupt the townsfolk with his blasphemous sermons. The albums are based upon unearthed excerpts of his writings.

Musically, their first album Kadotetut is pretty straightforward death doom while the second Verenvalaja expands the sound with more interesting arrangements and some guest guitar work by Hooded Menace's Lasse Pyykko. On music alone Vainaja have made a name for themselves, but going above and beyond, they've released digital versions of the vinyl mixes for both Kadotetut and Verenvalaja and they sound incredible. Vainaja was the catalyst to write this roundup.

Death doom is far from the first genre one thinks of in relation to dynamics, but the dynamic mixes sound incredible. The drums in Verenvalaja are absolutely thunderous and every filthy guitar note is clearly audible. Plus the dynamic master makes it positively easy to blow through the whole album in one sitting. It will make you yearn for a vinyl mix of every album

Bordering on a household name, at least in the metal community, Horrendous inject just the right level of "progressive" into Old School Death Metal to make super interesting albums without leaving the bounds of "OSDM". In contrast to full on progressive death metal Horrendous stick to the OSDM sound but shake things up with truly interesting melodic compositions. Their two most recent albums, Anareta and Ecdysis were some of the earlier of the "New Wave of Dynamic Metal" and they sound fantastic. Everything from the buzzsaw guitars to the powerful drums and lush acoustic passages sounds phenomenal.

Like Vainaja, Be'lakor made a name for themselves based on their music, then released vinyl masters of older albums. Widely praised for injecting new life into the somewhat stale Melodic Death Metal scene, the vinyl masters of Stone's Reach and Of Breath and Bone sound stellar. Each individual part of the music, right down to the individual drum and cymbal hits comes through with amazing clarity adding another level to already fantastic albums.

Kuaun's latest album, Sorni Nai, sees the Finnish singing Russian band craft a concept album about the Dyatlov Pass incident. In 1959 a group of 9 skiers in Russia disappeared then were found dead with bizarre injuries and the whole story is still unknown. Sorni Nai is a cinematic album flowing through doom, black metal, post rock and even sections broaching on classical. It's all delivered with a huge dynamic mix and is Pay What You Want on Blood Music's Bandcamp (like all their releases).

Auric are another fantastic anomaly on this list. The Arkansas based band play blackened sludge with echoes of early Mastodon (they use the same tuning) and Pallbearer. Their most recent full length, Empty Seas, is absolutely jaw dropping and criminally underrated. They employ an Elder-like ability to incorporate aspects of Stoner metal, sludge, black metal, and post-rock into a cohesive whole, and bless it with a hugely dynamic mix. The drums, though have an oddly compressed character which stands out strangely during slower passages, but helps preserve clarity during the some of the lightning fast sections. Of particular note is the track "Backlit", where they take a filthy sludge riff and build all sorts of levels of melody over top of it. So good.

If this list piques your interest in dynamic metal it's worth noting that Earache records has a large back catalog of classics ranging from the death metal triangle (US, Sweden, Britain), to grindcore available as Full Dynamic Range versions; digital versions of the vinyl mixes. It's worth revisiting classics like Carcass' Heartwork and Entombed's Left Hand Path to hear the dynamic mixes.

Old and new Blood: Scum - Garden of Shadows / Setentia - Darkness Transcend

By Steven Leslie. Who doesn’t love Finnish death metal? From Amorphis to Demilich and everywhere between, Finland has produced some world-class death metal bands despite rarely getting the same level of credit their Swedish counterparts receive. Scum is one of those unheralded bands from the early Finnish scene

By Steven Leslie.


Who doesn’t love Finnish death metal? From Amorphis to Demilich and everywhere between, Finland has produced some world-class death metal bands despite rarely getting the same level of credit their Swedish counterparts receive. Scum is one of those unheralded bands from the early Finnish scene who did manage to release a couple of solid full-lengths between 1994-95, before seemingly dropping off the face of the planet. Now, 20 years later, their third full-length Garden of Shadows has finally been released through Blood Music. Don’t be fooled by the timeframe though, this is not some has-been band coming back after years away from the scene to try and cash in on some underground nostalgia. No, this album was actually recorded 1996 and is just seeing the light of day.

Kudos go to Blood Music for recognizing that this little gem deserved to be released, even if it was a few decades late. Falling on the more melodic side of the spectrum, Garden of Shadows offers forty odd minutes of classic sounding death metal. The focus here is not on brutality or speed, but on creating striped down catchy songs that will embed themselves deep into your limbic system. Despite the lack of tempo variation, most songs stick to a doomy mid-pace cadence, there are enough quality riffs and memorable moments to ensure that you won’t get bored. Tying the album together is a somber, almost gothic overall vibe, which fits the music perfectly and helps it transcend the technical elements. For example, while the riffs and solos are excellent throughout, the rhythm section is quite plain and offers very few surprises, but do not detract significantly from the overall experience, as the emotional power over the music outshines any performance deficits. Overall, Garden of Shadows is a memorable slice of death metal history that any fan of early death metal will be happy to sink their teeth into.

Artwork by Roger Moore

Who doesn’t love New Zealand death metal? Okay, maybe it doesn’t have the history of Finland or Sweden, but come on, Ulcerate alone makes up for all of that right? Ulcerate is in fact a great place to start with this six-piece wrecking crew, as the band have been labeled as Ulcerate clones by some of their more vocal detractors (as if having more Ulcerate would be a bad thing). While there is certainly some crossover, especially in the angular, bludgeoning riffs they create, there are also some areas where the band diverge.

First, and most significantly, Setentia aren’t afraid to inject a little more melody into their songs. It’s this melodic element that make their quite technical riffs really stand out from the pack and allow the songs a unique character many of their modern death metal compatriots lack. Even with the extra focus on melody, they never sacrifice any of the suffocating atmosphere that makes this kind of death metal so powerful. Setentia excel at striking a balance between atmosphere, complexity and brutality, and Darkness Transcend is all the better for it.

They also aren’t afraid to let their music breathe a little bit, which allow those crushingly dense moments they share with Ulcerate to do even more damage. It’s akin getting your head out of the water just long enough for you to think you can get a breath, before another wave slams you back down with a lung-full of water as you are submerged back into your watery grave. If I have one complaint about the album, it would be the overly triggered/replaced sounding drums, which is an all too common problem in modern death metal. Despite the issue I have with the drum sound, Hugo Gravelle’s performance behind the kit is top notch, providing a rock solid backbone for the music to flow around. With Darkness Transcend Setentia have given New Zealand’s favorite sons a run for their money and established themselves as a band to watch in the pantheon of modern death metal.

[Today, Friday the 3th, Bandcamp will donate 100% of their share of any purchase you make to the American Civil Liberties Union. Additionally Blood Music will donate their share of all digital downloads purchased to ACLU, Doctors Without Borders, and No One Left Behind]

Label Spotlight: Blood Music

By Kevin Page. There's eclectic and then there's Blood Music in Finland. Since it's humble beginning in an attic in 2011, there seemingly hasn't been anything too experimental for them to get behind. Death, black, progressive metal, jazz, or avant garde

By Kevin Page.

There's eclectic and then there's Blood Music in Finland. Since it's humble beginning in an attic in 2011, there seemingly hasn't been anything too experimental for them to get behind. Death, black, progressive metal, jazz, or avant garde, most of their roster defies typical classification. Which brings us to 2015 and three bands that once again are fresh and unique.


Apparently synthwave is a "thing" and there is a burgeoning scene to go along with it. But what Gost seem to be doing differently is adding a horror element to its sound. Baalberith, the sole member of Gost, has a history of playing in metal bands, but was always an electronic music fan. So it comes as no small surprise that even though this isn't a metal album, Behemoth, speaks to me. It feels like a soundtrack to all those 80's horror movies I'd watch with friends at sleepovers in my youth. Throw in some evil album art and the package is complete.




I'm a fan of Gautier Serre and the thoroughly warped, Igorrr, so I anxiously awaited this side project of his, Corpo-Mente. Featuring the lush operatic vocals of Laure Le Prunenec (Öxxö Xööx, Rïcïnn), it's much more, shall we say, "normal", than Igorrr (then again, most bands are by comparison). It's a classical journey of baroque, trip hop & acoustique. But it's also beautifully haunting and mysterious, like some twisted noir. It's by no means aggressive or in your face, but that doesn't stop it from being one hell of a piece of art.

Artwork by Luca F. Carey

Yes, another synthwave band. Although Dan Terminus prefers the term cyberpunk or 'darksynth' (coined by Perturbator, another band of the genre who is also on Blood Music and you can check out here). While it firmly sits in the same genre as it's fellow labelmates, The Wrath of Code has a much more overall sci-fi feel. Think Blade Runner and an the endless amounts of old school video games. For the most part its an uptempo affair, but it does slow down to mix things up on occasion. Perfect cover art really encapsulates the sound and feel of this album.

Kauan - Pirut

Written by Sean Golyer.


Anybody who knows me well knows I have a borderline unhealthy obsession with this artist. I loved the quirkiness of Kauan’s first endeavour, Lumikuuro from the first time I heard it. It was the strangest mix of doom, folk, electronic, and even a little jazz recorded on what was probably a shoestring budget. But it didn’t matter, it had an unforgettable charm to it. As the project progressed, there were shifts towards heavier electronic and post-rock elements, which in hindsight seem natural. I remember the first time I listened to Aava Tuulen Maa I was actually a little disappointed. At the time I was still on a very metal kick and wanted everything to be heavy. But I really wanted to like it, I had invested like, 25 dollars just to get this CD from Europe. If you’ve ever been a broke college kid, you know that’s basically the equivalent of “I guess I’m not eating this week”. Thankfully it really grew on me, to the point where it’s been my favorite release. I think it all clicked driving through a snowstorm while listening to this in the car on repeat for hours. The mix of snow-covered forests and prairies of my home state with that album just melded so perfectly, it was damn near spiritual.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Kuu.. released a couple years later. As well as personally investing in the project during its production, I bought just about every piece of merch I could afford. This time around it was an even stronger push into the realm of electronic post-rock, but the movements and motifs were just as hooky and emotional as they’ve always been. But it was the very end of the album that left me a little excited for the future. Nearly 4 years since the release of Tietajan Laulu we got our first taste of doom. A fan can dream that Kauan may revisit those themes, right?

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Enter Pirut. While Kauan has always retained some elements of doom throughout their discography, one would be hard pressed to actually call any release since Tietajan Laulu metal. I don’t mean to say that disparagingly either, I truly believe Pirut would not be the masterpiece it is without these last 6 years of stylistic shifts, it’s all great music. Having that context in mind really puts this album in a whole different perspective, and I highly recommend listening to the entire back catalog. There are tons of melodies and compositional choices that are strongly reminiscent of both Kuu.. and Aava Tuulen Maa, much to its benefit I might add. I’m envious of such a beautiful mix too. The guitars are heavy, powerful, and foreboding, enough to make any doom fan crinkle a wretched smile. There’s a non-stop ebb and flow to the album with plenty of room to breath and take in the sonic landscape Kauan has so carefully laid out for us.

It should be noted there aren’t any “songs” in the traditional sense on this album, it’s merely divided up into a series of movements. It rewards a patient listener and fans of the “concept album experience” who are willing to sit down and listen from start to finish every time. Often times when I hear of albums such as these I worry about there being a great deal of “atmospheric filler” in-between otherwise decent songs, but no such filler exists here. It’s not a doomy jam album, it’s a non-stop, living, breathing piece of music, seamlessly shifting from one set of movements and motifs to the next, more akin to a 40-minute classical performance than a metal album.

Pirut genuinely offers us something special. The sweeping synths and haunting piano work, heart-wrenching string melodies, ear-smashing guitar riffs, and each vocal performance (language barrier be damned!) all comes together to make one impressive and moving piece of art. Kauan always has been and continues to be a statement of how powerful music can be, regardless of language or culture, and Pirut is one of the finest additions to their catalog to date.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Note: All of Kauan's previous albums are available as name-your-price downloads on their BadMoodMan Music Bandcamp page.