Short and to the point 1

MOBILE PREVIEW

By Aaron Sullivan.

Artwork by Dusty Peterson

Behold! The Monolith return with their third full length, Architects of the Void. This marks the first album with their new line up since the passing of bassist/singer Kevin McDade. Initially they tried to go as a three piece with guitarist Matt Price doing vocals and new bassist Jason Casanova. But the final line up was formed when Jordan Nalley was added to handle vocal duties.

It may have taken a while to solidify the new line-up. But this new album proves it was worth the wait. All the things you’ve come to love about this band are all still here. The outstanding musicianship, the heavy sludge, the progressive nature of the songs, and the balls out thrashing assault. An ass kicker from start to finish.

Blake Green is one half of Wolvserpent. He also has an Ambient side project called Aelter. We'll add one more to that list. His black metal project called Il'Ithil who’s first offering, Ia'Winde, was one of my favorites of 2015.

This is raw atmospheric black metal. Songs are bleak and fast paced. So cold and frostbitten you may feel the need to put on a coat. Buzzing guitars layered over beautiful melodies. His harsh vocals perfectly drowned in the mix. Only two songs, but it leaves you wanting more. For fans of Striborg and ColdWorld.

Painting by Aron Briggs

Volahn’s Aq'ab'al album was another of my favorites of 2014/2015. I saw these guys open for Wolves In The Throne Room in 2014 and was blown away. So when I picked up this album my expectations were high, and they were met.

Raw, uncompromising, in your face black metal. Vocals are throaty and remind me of a howling wolf at times. Songs feel progressive, never really staying in one place with one riff for very long. The addition of acoustic passages add great dynamics to the albums. Had the pleasure of seeing them live twice last year and the songs were even better live.

From Montreal come Big|Brave and their album, Au De La. To describe this album is no easy task. As they take from Post-Rock, DOOM, Noise and sprinkle in a few other genres for good measure...

A three piece with no bass. Songs are heavy and sparse. Guitars go back and forth from droning ambience to crushing riffs. Drums are HUGE in sound and scope. Vocals waver between chants and blood curdling screams. When brought together they become songs that hypnotize the listener. An amazing album.

Illustration by Viral Graphics

From my local scene comes Trapped Within Burning Machinery with a new album titled, The Filth Element. As you read the title I’m sure you are reminded of the film The Fifth Element. That is no coincidence. In fact each song title is a character from the film with each telling their story.

As they are a local band for me I was able to sort of witness the progression of this band from their first album and it is breathtaking. Hearing these songs for the first time I knew this album was going to be stunner. The emotions contained within this album are brought forth in way I had not heard from a band like this since the days of Asunder. The ability to go from these beautiful melodic guitar harmonies to crushing riffs is a thing to behold. With a single sustained note they go straight to the heart. They prove once again that even when quiet, music can still be heavy.

Volahn - Dimensiónes del Trance Kósmico

By Dave Schalek.. Volahn, a member of the Black Twilight Circle, is a one man project from California with a single full-length album, Dimensiónes del Trance Kósmico. Originally released on cassette in 2008, Crepusculo Negro recently gave the album a release on Bandcamp.

By Dave Schalek.


Volahn, a member of the Black Twilight Circle, is a one man project from California with a single full-length album, Dimensiónes del Trance Kósmico. Originally released on cassette in 2008, Crepúsculo Negro recently gave the album a release on Bandcamp.

Consisting of low-fi, tremelo picked, fast black metal, Dimensiónes del Trance Kósmicoo, a descendant of the Norwegian Second Wave, sounds as if it was released in the mid ‘90s. Lots of fast riffing, an intentionally low-fi, thin production, and plenty of blastbeats typify the songwriting approach, but Volahn also very wonderfully incorporates Spanish guitar pieces into his music. These pieces provide, for example, both a very pleasing intro and outro to the album, as well as periodically appearing throughout the album. The acoustical passages are revealing; I suspect that Volahn has a musical background with classical influences. A very light application of keyboards also appears on tracks such as “Soledad En Despertar”, an album standout.

Shataan - War Cry Lament

Shataan's War Cry Lament is as far removed from orthodox frostbitten Black metal as you can get. It opens with a two minute flute instrumetal, after which you are treated to... well, electric folk music really. The Cvlt Nation review labels it "blackened folk drone" and that works. The guitar playing by Shataan is almost aggressively clean, in surf guitar kinda way, and the drums by Murdunbad are primitive but serviceable. Shataan's mix of spoken word and eerie howls, tells the tales of the annihilation of the native people, the destruction and subsequent rebirth of civilization, and the passage of the soul through Limbo. But it is Vohlan's flowery bass lines and little melodies that lifts War Cry Lament musically. Check out the bass riff at 4:30 in "They Who Died for the Ghost Dance", and the intricate bass and guitar interplay in the frenetic conclusion to "Passage of Limbo". An interesting album.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Axeman - Arrive

Today is Volahn day at Metal Bandcamp! Now, who is this Volahn?, you ask. According to Metal Archives he is Eduardo Ramírez; a member of many bands within the infamous Black Twilight Circle. He is also the man behind Crepúsculo Negro (Black Twilight in Spanish), the cassette label created to document the artistic endeavours of the Circle.

However Volahn is also Axeman. And on Arrive demo from 2010, he is the sole purveyor of very blackened and thrashy death metal; replete with scorching guitar histrionics, galloping rhythms worthy of a demented Iron Maiden, and croaky vocals spitting out venomous fare about ancient Aztec rituals.

a river filled with scorpions
a river filled with blood
a river filled with pus

enmity of hatred discord of life
ancient world of the dead
crossroads of four
to confuse and beguile

It's primitive and raw sounding, you can hear the lovely sound of the amplifiers hissing and moaning, but it is also quite epic and psychedelic. As the song describes your souls journey through the ordeals of the Aztec underworld, the drumming turns decidedly unhinged, and Volahn goes nuts in a furious death metal assault. When you finally end up in Xibalba - the place of fear - he celebrates with more demented galloping, and a blazing solo. And all of this is happening during the first song "Metnal"

The other two don't have quite that scope. "Kosmic Death" is steadfast blackened death metal, with lyrics about priests drawing blood "from tongue & phallus" and offering it to the gods. "Attestor of Doom & Rebirth" is like the crazy whirlwind version of the unhinged parts of Metnal. As this review from Metal Archives says "The whole thing sounds as if Volahn is fighting with demons in his head and body over who's going to play all the instruments all at once". I think it's safe to say that you'll find some delightfully intense music (and lyrics) on this short demo.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]