Just the Facts - March 2016

By Kevin Page. Welcome to another installment of Just the Facts. That means less nonsense and drivel you have to endure from my keyboard while getting right to the music at hand.

By Kevin Page.

Welcome to another installment of Just the Facts. That means less nonsense and drivel you have to endure from my keyboard while getting right to the music at hand.

Band:	Rebel Wizard
Location:	Australia
Genre:	Black/Heavy Metal
Formed:	2013
Did you know?:	Sole member, NKSV, is actually Bob Nekrasov of the long standing atmospheric/ambient black metal band, Nekrasov.

Band:	Scumripper
Location:	Finland
Genre:	Black/Thrash/Death Metal
Formed:	2015
Did you know?:	ANYTHING? I can't find a word on this band. I messaged then to give me something, but no dice I'm afraid... Update: One of our Finnish readers has told us that Scumripper features Niko of Lord Fist on guitar and vocals.

Cover art by Luciana Nedelea

Band:	Ecferus
Location:	USA (Indiana)
Genre:	Black Metal
Formed:	Unknown
Did you know?:	Sole member, Alp, is responsible for all instruments/vocals. Even though the formation date is unknown, they have now released two full lengths (both mastered by Colin Marston), along with a split and an EP, since 2015.

Inverloch - Distance | Collapsed

By Justin C. Inverloch's debut EP, Dusk | Subside, came out way back in 2012, right around the time I was getting seriously back into metal (and also around the time my very first review appeared on this site).

By Justin C.


Inverloch's debut EP, Dusk | Subside, came out way back in 2012, right around the time I was getting seriously back into metal (and also around the time my very first review appeared on this site). Inverloch was getting some good attention, in no small part because it featured two former members of the short-lived but very well-regarded funeral doom progenitors Disembowelment. I didn't really "get" Disembowelment at first, because I think my ears just weren't ready for how low and slow funeral doom can get. I eventually came around to Disembowelment, but at the time, I found Inverloch's death/funeral doom mix much more accessible.

Now, four years after that first EP, we finally get a full length from Inverloch, Distance | Collapsed. Now, there are plenty of bands that mash up "x genre" and "y genre," with varying degrees of success, but Inverloch's rumbling death metal and funeral doom mix is damn near flawless. It's easy to jolt a listener with a quick change just for change's sake, but Inverloch never makes a misstep that way. I'm never drawn out of the music because of an awkward transition. Take the opening, sort-of-title track, "Distance Collapsed (in Rubble)." The stomping death metal eventually gives way to sad slowness, but you never get that jarring feeling of, "Wait, what just happened?" Sure, you can pin down the shifts in sound if you're looking to dissect the songs that way, but it's just as easy to be carried away, leaving intellectualism behind. Sometimes, they even put the two sounds right on top of each other, like the churning riff over the slow doom in the middle of "Lucid Delirium." It's a fantastic pairing overall, never letting you get too doomed out or, conversely, numb to the death rampage. This album is a relatively trim 40 minutes, but I could easily listen to 80 minutes of death/doom this good.

I've already shot my mouth off about what album(s) might rule 2016 for funeral doom, so I'm going to stop saying dumb stuff like that, especially since we're only in March and I've already been blown away by yet another doomy offering. But we've definitely got another standout here.

Aeon - Aeons Black

By Natalie Zina Walschots. Swedish underground death metal slayers Aeon have chosen an even more apocalyptic than usual approach with fourth full-length Aeons Black. There is a black metal-esque, cadaverous glee in the way they approach blasphemy

By Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here.

Cover art by Necrolord

Swedish underground death metal slayers Aeon have chosen an even more apocalyptic than usual approach with fourth full-length Aeons Black. There is a black metal-esque, cadaverous glee in the way they approach blasphemy, but trade none of their meaty death metal riffs for the hissing, reedy chill. There's also a smoky crustiness to the tone that aligns Aeon more closely with death metal in the Southern states, such as Deicide, than their Swedish death metal countrymen.

There is grandness to the scale of the songs that's new to Aeon, like the towering riffs that open "The Glowing Hate," giving Aeons Black a dark majesty. Vocalist Tommy Dahlström puts in a particularly fine performance, his lyrical delivery at once bestial and perfectly articulate. Aeon rely on superior songwriting (such as on the stunning "Garden of Sin") rather than brute strength to set themselves apart from their peers, and have carved out a successful niche for themselves as intelligent monsters.