Metal Bandcamp

Written by Justin C.

If you find funeral doom to be a bit too languid at times, Lycus has the solution to your problems. Their new album, Chasms, is a particularly intense kind of melancholy. Sure, there are the clean chant-like vocals, as found on their last outing, Tempest, but there are also growls and blackened rasps. There are plenty of slow-and-low riffs, but there are also high-flying tremolos. There are plenty of drums that sound like a cliffside collapsing, but there are pulsing rhythms and frantic blasts as well. And you'll usually find all of these over the course of any given song.

Lycus 2014. Photo by Carmelo Española.

Listening to Chasms back to back with 2013's Tempest reveals that the band hasn't abandoned any of their strengths or drastically changed their approach, but the song complexity and atmosphere have both been ratcheted up. The opener of "Mirage" is like the soundtrack to a late night drive in a big city, but before the two-minute mark, that car is slowly coasting off the end of a pier. While on fire. "Obsidian Eyes" has some great overlapping guitar lines that almost seem like they're shifting in and out of phase with each other. The ringing guitar and the subtly shifting drums in the opener to the title track would be interesting enough on their own, but they're joined by a cello winding a melody over them. There's an almost-symphonic feel to the compositions, but with all the discordance and crushing heft you need from metal.

Lycus 2014. Photo by Carmelo Española.

I went through a bit of an evolution listening to this album. The monumental heaviness and emotional punch drew me in immediately. I did find myself missing some of the melodic hooks from Tempest that stuck so easily in my ear, but the shifts and complexities in Chasms dig into your brain in a different way. It crawls like funeral doom, but it's restless and ever-changing in a way that might not be apparent on first listen. I find myself wanting to point out all the intricacies that have caught my ear, but you'd be better off discovering those for yourself. 2016 is going to have to be a hell of a good year for funeral doom for anybody to top this one.

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Written by Calen Henry.

Artwork by Russell MacEwan / Force Majeure Art

Tristan Shone’s Author & Punisher might be the most literally metal band in existence. Shone makes his brand of industrial metal almost exclusively with custom machines he designs and fabricates.

The sonic character of Shone’s machines is wholly unique, but oddly familiar. The machines have bizarre metallic sonic palettes but are employed to replicate the guitar and drum assault of “normal” industrial music. That coupled with Shone’s Marilyn Manson style shout-singing make for “comfortable” music with an abrasive undercurrent unlike anything else.

If there’s a complaint to be leveraged it’s that over the course of an entire album the music can blur together somewhat, but this could be a personal observation coming from someone who isn’t entrenched in the industrial sound.

Photos by Jason Ernst

The music itself is a straightforward mix of Godflesh style industrial droning and 90s Nine Inch Nails melodic industrial music. But that's part of what makes Melk en Honing so successful. It’s sonically adventurous but musically straightforward.

Shone consciously reigns in the musical experimentation instead crafting memorable songs with distinct instrumental and vocal hooks and letting the unique sonic texture of his machines shine through. It’s a much more successful approach than experimenting with both the sounds and the music. The listener is able to immediately “get” the music to the point where the provenance of the machines is icing on the cake rather than the main attraction.

If you prefer a different electronic approach to machine industrial metal there’s always Pretty Eight Machine.

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Written by Craig Hayes.

This is the third in a continuing series of posts highlighting recent releases from Oakland, California-based label Transylvanian Tapes. I first encountered the label back in 2013, when the decidedly fetid and pile-driving death metal found on Caffa’s bruising debut, Day Of Disease, caught my ear. Since then, Transylvanian Tapes has issued a bunch of impressive cassette and digital releases. So let’s dive into some more of that riotous noise.

Cover art by Zachary Lopez

The last marshalling of recent releases from Transylvanian Tapes was a doom heavy affair. Releases from Beira and Devoid made an appearance in Vol. 3 of this series, as did the formidable debut from doom titans Chrch. However, this time round we’re kicking off with a couple of releases that are far filthier, infinitely more diabolic, and both deliver their ungodly sermons at whirlwind speed.

First up is Northern Californian trio Defecrator, who certainly score high on the black-hearted villainy card with their debut, Tales of Defecration. There’s certainly no hand-wringing or worrying about whatever enlightened rules heavy metal has to adhere to this week in Defecrator’s sound or aesthetic. There’s just scorn and bile. And a marked hatred of you, and me, and seemingly every-fucking-thing.

If the sacrilegious and bestial roar of uncompromising bands like Archgoat, Proclamation or Blasphemy is something you enjoy, then you’re likely find that Tales of Defecration fits the bill too. There are three brain-battering and hellbound hymns from the twisted minds behind Defecrator on the release. As well as cover of “Condemned to Hell”, originally performed by veteran Finnish troublemakers Impaled Nazarene. Essentially, Defecrator just ram black and death metal down your throat with swarms of jagged riffs, turbo-speed percussion, and throat-slit growls intoning more-evil-than-evil prose on Tales of Defecration. So, you know, if you're seeking subtlety and grace, look elsewhere.

In all, Tales of Defecration is one seriously fucking ugly debut. And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. It’s a murderous and decidedly coarse release too. And it's ruthlessly vitriolic.

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Next on the list of horrible noise to emerge from Transylvanian Tapes’ grotto at breakneck speed is the debut from Hallucinator. The band’s Primeval Power demo is chock full of blistering metal that's similar in tone and velocity to the pitch-black thrash of bands like Desaster and Deströyer 666, or O.G fire and brimstone henchmen Aura Noir.

Primeval Power features plenty of scorching black metal and hyper-aggressive thrash, and there's even some Hammer Horror keyboards throw in, just to amplify the eeriness. Everything is delivered at a lightning-fast pace. It's all bleeding-raw, and sawtoothed round the edges. And full-throttle tracks like “Mad Reaper” and “The Hiss in the Skull” are a raucous reminder that sometimes the most unrefined and strident metal is also the most enjoyable of all.

Primeval Poweris ragged as hell. But all that unhinged and unbridled energy shows a lot of promise for Hallucinator’s future endeavours.

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San Francisco-based trio Brume bring some damn tasty bluesy and fuzzy metal to the table with their five-track release, Donkey. The band’s debut features abundant stoner swagger, and plenty of spliff-friendly doom. All of which isn't too dissimilar to the kind of slow-baked psychedelic metal that bands like Witch Mountain or Windhand have produced.

Certainly, Brume frontwoman Susie McCullan’s voice has the same entrancing magnetism and power that we've heard from Windhand’s Dorthia Cottrel, and Witch Mountain’s ex-vocalist Uta Plotkin. The rest of Brume are no slouches either. Drummer Jordan Perkins-Lewis pounds the skins and cymbals with gigantic concussive strikes on Donkey. While guitarist Jamie McCathie dishes out gargantuan Sabbathian riffs that rumble and reverberate for an age.

Transylvanian Tapes have released a number of doom albums so far, and Donkey is right up there alongside Chrch’s Unanswered Hymns as the best of the bunch. Brume might not reinventing the wheel with Donkey, but the album crashes and smashes with enough aplomb and creative thunder to awaken the Gods. It's gloriously heavyweight and enthralling music. And kudos to Donkey producer Ryan Massey, because this album sounds massive.

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Notes: Most of the links points to the band's own Bandcamp pages. For the tape releases go to the Transylvanian Tapes page.

Written by Sean Golyer.

Artwork by Thomas Neulinger

Latitudes is a band that has largely (and criminally) flown under the radar amongst metalheads for far too long. Even I admit to this guilt having only discovered them in late 2013, but I've never looked back since. Old Sunlight sees them quite possibly at their best, so now is as good of a time as any to get on board. If you're already familiar with their past material, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect here: a marriage of progressive, black, and sludgey riffage in a mostly instrumental presentation that defies genre classification. Not much has changed in this regard, nor should it, and is instead a refinement of all the best parts of their last two albums into something more engaging.

Their production has always been excellent since their debut, and the mix on display this time around is no exception. Layers upon layers of guitar weave a wealth of many timbres: crunchy, thick, meaty, saturated, and dissonant, all interchanged throughout for a dynamic listening experience from moment to moment. The drums are warm, boomy, and all-encompassing across the stereo field, keyboards are used to great thematic effect and never come across as corny or unwarranted. The bass mix is my only personal complaint. I know it’s there, I can feel it, but I have a tough time hearing or distinguishing it. It could be that the guitars a bit more down-tuned and sludge-y than past albums, thus eating up space normally occupied by the bass, or that they’ve toned back on the edge/distortion they’ve used on the bass in past recordings. Either way, it’s not quite as present and aggressive like it was on such tracks as “Myth Cathexis” or “Dreamland Precipice”. Regardless, this album still gives my sub a run for its money.

The masters I heard did tend to lean towards a more “compressed” Dynamic Range score (roughly DR 7 on most tracks), but I never really felt this was hurting the master in a way that was detrimental to my listening experience. At worst, the drums do tend to feel a bit “buried” and tame and could use some more headroom for its transients to breath, but this could just as well be the result of a guitar-dominant mix. There’s really great pacing in the songwriting to break up the heavy and soft moments which alleviate any concerns over ear fatigue. Overall, I personally felt it was a fairly pleasurable album to listen to.

As mentioned earlier, this is a mostly instrumental affair much like their past work. This can understandably lose some listeners’ interest without that driving, human element. Arguably their best songs are the ones they do actually utilize their vocalist, something that also happened to ring true in the past. I really do find myself wishing they’d be more willing to utilize vocals more often. Regardless, I can say with confidence that the musicianship and songwriting is at its tightest and most engaging since their inception. Every song is a journey all its own, waiting for you to explore every little nook and cranny along the way. There’s rarely a dull moment and they never really stumble into the classic prog-metal pitfall of being technically proficient while devoid of life and soul. There are plenty of moments to soak in the atmosphere and emotion, allowing you to feel the breadth of the sonic picture they’re creating between the all melodic chaos.

Ultimately, this is a solid third effort from Latitudes that’s more than worth your time. I may have focused on some of my personal nitpicks, but that should not be interpreted as me not enjoying this album. Rather, they’ve set a high bar for themselves up until this point, so I expect great things from them. Old Sunlight more than satisfies my thirst for more material from them, and generally emphasizes all of their most interesting and catchy elements into a densely-packed, 45-minute experience.

Recommended for fans of: Cult of Luna, Krallice, (old) Mastodon

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Audio Disclosure

-Promotional 320kbps mp3’s were used in the making of this review
-MP3’s were converted to .WAV files to come up with DR scores

Referenced on:
-Sennheiser HD600 headphones through Digidesign Mbox 2 headphone pres + AD/DA
-Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers

Written by Dave Schalek.

The holidays are a distant memory. The demos are coming at me fast and furious, let’s get right to them, shall we?

Here’s a three song demo from Kriegzittern, a German duo mining primitive death metal for inspiration. Falling somewhere in between early Swedish death metal and Incantation along with other, like-minded dark death metal bands, Kriegszittern show their familiarity with the genre quite nicely. Frostbite features three heavy songs backed up by a rough, yet deep and organic, production. Kriegszittern also display variety in their songwriting with tempo changes, catchy riffs, and gruff vocals. Not exactly original, but Kriegszittern are sure to please death metal fans as they obviously know their way around the genre. An earlier, untitled demo from Kriegszittern is also available at their Bandcamp page.

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Don’t ask me how to pronounce it (or spell it; I’m cutting and pasting here), and information about the band is scarce, but this Byelorussian outfit plays brutal death metal with burped vocals and plenty of blastbeats to go along with riffs and a noodling bass that occasionally borderlines upon technicality. The production is rough on this two-song demo, but the songs are catchy enough to pique your interest. The demo is available for $4 US on their Bandcamp page (which seems a bit pricey to me), but information about other releases is not mentioned. The Bandcamp mentions a full-length debut being in the works; I’ll let you be the judge in determining whether or not it’s worth tracking down.

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A duo with numerous connections to New York- area death metal bands (including Disma), Wall Of Water formed with a stated intention of transcending genre boundaries within heavy metal. That they have done with this two-song demo, a mash up of doom, black metal, grindcore, and noise. A bleak atmosphere pervades the music with a thin production, and a wide range of tempos is employed to shift the lines between genres. Vocals range from a growl, to a shout, to a screamed rasp, and the music occasionally devolves into moments of noise-like incomprehensibility. The result is rough, but is obviously intended as a preview for what may be to come if an eventual full-length is in the offering.

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Written by Ulla Roschat

Disguised as the second full length atmospheric black metal album of South African four piece band Wildernessking, “Mystical Future” is in reality… a dream… a sweet dream, a sad dream, a violent and furious dream, nightmarishly scary and of poetic beauty.

With the opening song "Wild Horses" it sneaks into your sleep. Gradually, almost slowly and cautiously it expands and unfolds itself in your sleeping brain and builds, from what initially feels sort of minimalistic, into rich atmospheres and the song leaves you with a promise of melodic beauty and exciting dynamics.

Already deeply intrigued by this intro, the next song "I Will Go To Your Tomb" starts to grab and tear at your heart and soul. With enthralling furious riffs, harsh aggressive vocals and a breathtakingly propelling drumming it unleashes a whirlwind of raging moods juxtaposed to the gloomy fabric of the melodies, yet complementing them ever so wonderfully.

And as if the dream wants to avoid the risk of waking you up by its unsettling dynamics, it wants to be dreamt to its end after all, the next song "To Transcend" is a contemplative break bringing back the minimalistic feel from the beginning. But make no mistake, the song has its own kind of intensity bringing a slightly eerie ethereal atmosphere to the music, created notably by the softly echoing vocals here.

Wildernessking 2012. Photos by Luke Daniel

The following "With Arms Like Wands" is all furious aggression again, and the combination of a great songwriting and the musician's ability to play off each other perfectly well creates a strong dynamic of build ups and complex sound.

The closing song "If You Leave" takes up the doomy brewing mood of the first song and female vocals are introduced here. They beautifully mingle with and complement the vicious male vocals and both lead you into the world between dream and wake.

The perfect balance of black metal violence and melancholic melodies, woven into well and tightly structured songs lets the album find its own flow into an organic cohesion that's totally spellbinding and of a deep emotional impact!

Although Wildernessking is a rather young band, they formed 2011, and their discography is still small (one debut full length album and two EPs ) “Mystical Future” sounds like the mature manifestation of a unique brand. Not only does it show an evolution in their songwriting, their sense of progressive dynamics and ridiculously beautiful and catchy melodies, not only does it show their capability to create unique and captivating atmospheres, this album seems to call out: This is Wildernessking!

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Written by Justin C.

I've gotten into a somewhat unfortunate pattern lately, ending each year with some unpleasant surgical procedure. Luckily, I've also gotten hold of album promos around the same time that have provided some comfort. Last year, Lotus Thief got me through a rough patch of recovery, and this year, it was Wildernessking's turn to figuratively babysit me with their new album, Mystical Future. Stylistically, these two bands don't share a lot of sonic territory, but both have that all-important power to take you to other places.

The intricacies of how Wildernessking fits into the vague "post-black metal" category has been covered elsewhere, and our friend Andy Synn at No Clean Singing does the topic much more justice than I could. That said, I have to admit that I came to be a bit obsessed with perhaps the least black metal track on the album, "To Transcend." This would be a lovely piece of music that would probably easily translate to almost any genre, although of course there are some far-away-yet-still-harsh vocals deep in the mix, keeping things black and frosty. The delicate instrumentation puts me firmly in mind of walking down an abandoned beach in the cold off-season. And believe me, I clung to that feeling during a December bone biopsy when a doctor was literally using a hammer to chisel away a piece of my hip bone under only a local anesthetic. So somewhat unfairly, this album will always have a close tie to the feeling of someone trying to pound a railroad spike into my pelvis, but on the plus side, this wide-ranging music was an excellent refuge, and I think it will easily outlast any unsavory associations.

"To Transcend" might be more delicate than the rest of the album, but it's part and parcel with the overall feeling the band has achieved here. At times, I hear strong hints of shoegaze, particularly in "With Arms Like Wands," but it's been truly absorbed into the band's unique sound. The melodies are aching and powerful, and they often come in on waves of sound. There's still plenty of black metal to be found, of course, but the throat-burning vocals, melodic tremolos, and blasting drums, when present, all serve a very particular vision of songwriting, making detailed discussions of influence and stylistic cues beside the point. In fact, I had plans of a more detailed, perhaps even academic breakdown of the band's progression, but I ultimately abandoned that idea. The album is so expansive, and oftentimes wistful, that it seemed like a more analytic approach would be like teaching an art appreciation course focused solely on the chemical compositions of the paint used. The five tracks make up a cohesive whole, in concept and sound, and teasing it apart wouldn't do it justice. Wildernessking are pushing on the boundaries of black metal, which does the whole genre a great service, and Mystical Future is a remarkable gem to kick off 2016 with.

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Written by Andy Osborn.

Finland has a complicated history with heavy metal. While it’s clear Oz’s 1983 classic Fire In The Brain was the birth of the genre in the country, few bands kept the tradition alive over the next couple of decades. Sure, groups like, Lordi, Apocalyptica, and Tarot held a certain appeal, but their popularity can hardly be attributed to their songwriting skills as they largely relied on gimmicks to win their fans. With few heroes to look to, the genre was largely ignored and Power, Death and Black metal largely captured the nation’s attention. But a few years ago something changed. A new breed of heavy metal youngsters started to appear and start paying homage to the glory days of old. Bands like Speedtrap, Lord Fist, Aktor, and Ranger proved that Finnish heavy metal never died, it simply went dormant.

So I’m excited to report that the movement those bands started lives on in 2016. This month, two short releases stand out that that prove the scene is growing ever stronger is Finland. Both - named after the trials of evil deities - keep the fire alive with tricks that are both familiar and exciting.

Satan’s Fall’s Seven Nights Demo is a quick foray into what makes classic heavy metal so enjoyable. With a charismatic lead singer, deft songwriting chops and memorable hooks, it’s a very promising start for this brand-new band. “Poisonhead” is a world-class rocker of a tune, with fiery leads constantly playing off of each other - it’s clear they have have a classic guitar duo in the making. It’s short, to the point, and impressive; everything a demo needs to be to get the attention of the world.

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Living in the same fantasy realm, but in a class of their own, Typhon’s Doom occupy the land home to heroes like Manilla Road - meaning they’re a scrappy band of traditionalists who aren’t necessarily the most technically proficient or or concerned with a slick production. Their charm comes from their dedication to the craft and the fun atmosphere they’re able to produce with a relatively small sound. The eight-minute epic “Gate to a New Reality” is the perfect example of this. It relies on a brilliant galloping riff that twists and churns throughout the song and gives a sense of adventure and might to the track that few bands can achieve. It’s a perfect nostalgia trip for those seeking old sounds, but still wanting something new.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Both bands are brilliant in their own way and have clearly done their homework. The fundamentals of guitar-oriented badassery are omnipresent in their work - and that’s what heavy metal is all about. It may be just a small taste of what the country has to offer, but combined with other recent outputs, it’s a sure sign a new age of heavy metal is bursting forth in the land where it seems all other genres reign supreme.

Full Disclosure: Andy is now an employee of Bandcamp, but he swears on all that is unholy his recommendations come with only the best intentions for the bands in mind and not the company’s bottom line.

Written by Professor D. Grover the XIIIth.

Artwork by Paolo Girardi

Chthe’ilist sound like Demilich.

There, we’ve gotten that out of the way. Greetings and salutations, friends. Today, we will plumb the depths of a madness emanating from Quebec in the form of Le Dernier Crépuscule (French for "The Last Twilight", presumably not a reference to Breaking Dawn) and the Finn-worshipping Chthe’ilist. As I mentioned (and as has been mentioned in likely every article regarding the band in the history of time), Chthe’ilist draw no insignificant amount of influence from infamous Finnish oddballs Demilich. It’s an unavoidable comparison, given both bands’ predilection for off-kilter riffs, but to simply dismiss the band as pure Demilich worship is pure folly.

While we’re addressing misconceptions regarding Chthe’ilist, let’s not forget that despite the band’s name and apostrophe-ridden song titles like "Vecoiitn’aphnaat’smaala" and "N'triiodctuion'to Iagorsmataanph" (from the similarly apostrophe-ridden Amechth'ntaas'm'rriachth demo), none of the band’s material is drawn from the Cthulhu Mythos. This is not to say that the band’s lyrics aren’t influenced by the works of Lovecraft, because the influence is clear on lyrics such as these:

A lone traveller gazes at the stygian horizon, as twilight fades below the distant mountains. Slowly, shades of darkness descend upon the desolated plains before him, and a sense of dread plagues his mind: the certitude that something is lurking amidst the withered trees, haunting him ever since the sun has vanished.

But it is important to note that the lyrics are almost entirely based on original works by the band.

You will notice, of course, that I said “almost entirely”, and that is where we come to one element of Chthe’ilist’s work where there are no misconceptions. If the title of the album’s final track, "Tales Of The Majora Mythos Part 1", doesn’t make it abundantly clear, Chthe’ilist have written songs based on The Legend Of Zelda (specifically, Ocarina Of Time and Majora’s Mask). The deeply unsettling tone of the lyrics may seem a bit at odds with the atmosphere of the Legend Of Zelda games initially, but the combination is incredibly effective in practice:

A cursed moon hangs low in the tumultuous skies, glowing ominously over plains of arid desolation. A stone tower stands before these haunted lands, its structure perpetually ascending toward the heavens. Bitter lamentations from lingering spirits echo through the valley, speaking of a forgotten aeon. Rumours of ancient men, and their war against the gods, bridging their world to the sacred realm.

Musically speaking, I mentioned the similarities to Demilich, and I also mentioned how Chthe’ilist are far more than a mere Demilich clone. The bands share a predilection for odd compositions and unconventional, sometimes discordant riffing, and there’s a technicality to the music that bears certain similarities, but Chthe’ilist draw a great deal of influence from a number of other classic death metal bands, from Gorguts and Convulse to Adramalech and Incantation. (Certainly, vocalist Philippe Tougas bears more of a sonic resemblance to Craig Pillard than Antti Boman, aside from some moments and interludes that find Tougas creating some truly alien sounds with his vocal cords.)

Chthe’ilist are comprised of Tougas (who provides lead guitar, bass, and synths in addition to vocals AND plays in a number of other bands, including Serocs and the underrated First Fragment), Claude Leduc (who handles guitar, synths, and some occasional bass), and Philippe Boucher (an insanely talented drummer who is also in Beyond Creation). The trio are incredibly talented and rise admirably to the challenge of creating such challenging, compelling material, layering unusual riffs with eerily beautiful leads, the occasional dash of slap bass, held together by some astoundingly versatile drumming. The production is simultaneously spacious (thanks to some well-implemented reverb) and suffocating, but none of the musical elements are lost in the mix and everything is distinct without feeling sterile or robotic.

If I had a complaint about the album, it would be that the music is by its very nature rather inaccessible and difficult to wrap one’s head around. Without a number of repeat listens, the songs can be difficult to remember and may turn off the more casual listeners. However, digging beneath the surface and immersing one’s self in the music can be incredibly rewarding, revealing an album that stands out from a sea of squeaky clean tech death bands and HM-2-wielding Swedeath revivalists. The investment in time is well worth it.

So, as I said earlier, Chthe’ilist sound like Demilich, and that’s okay, but it’s important to remember that there’s much more to Le Dernier Crépuscule. This is one of the deepest, most inventive death metal creations you will hear all year, and to miss out would be to do yourself a great disservice.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Metal Bandcamp proudly presents our first ever full album premiere, featuring the new, and final, Urgehal album Aeons in Sodom, which will be released February 12 on the Season of Mist Bandcamp.

Urgehal, one of the most consistently well-reviewed long running bands on Metal Archives, were struck by tragedy in 2012 when band leader Trondr Nefas passed away. Now the band has collected his final material into one last album, one last savage blast to honor his memory.

The press-release reads: "Nefas' masochistic screams are too unique to replace, so the band have enlisted the services of venerable Scandinavian metal scene icons to contribute vocals. Featuring the unique vocals and personas of Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), Nattefrost (Carpathian Forest), Nag (Tjusder), Niklas Kvarforth (Shining), Hoest (Taake), Mannevond (Koldbrann) and more"

Aeons in Sodom is full of ripping black/thrash riffs and slithering solos (always an Urgehal specialty); combined with the veritable smorgasbord of black metal vocalists it is a fitting testament to Trondr Nefas' legacy and also a monument to the origins of Norwegian Black Metal.

Note for the curious: The Bandcamp player utilizes the new "exclusive embeds" feature. Read more about it here, but in short it allows you to set up an embedded player that only allows streaming from a specific website.

Written by Kevin Page.

Unspeakable Axe Records hailing from Athens, Georgia got its start in 2013 as a sub label of Dark Descent Records. Their primary focus are bands with a more thrash oriented sound than its parent label but there's still plenty of death metal and crossover on their roster. Every release is a pure homage to its respective genre. No experimentation, no avant garde, just pure unapologetic wear your influences on your sleeve like a red badge of courage metal. On that note, here's 3 of their recent releases for you to check out.

Existing in one form or another since 1985, bay area death/thrash act, Insanity, return with original vocalist/guitarist, Dave Gorsuch leading the charge. Since their debut album in 1994, Death After Death, they've released 3 compilations, a demo and an EP. Now 21 years later and they have their sophomore full length, Visions of Apocalypse. It's cliche to say a band has an old school sound/feel/production, but this album sounds like it was written and recorded in the late 80's and just finally released. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking, so give it a listen and see if I'm wrong.

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Cover art by Ryanimator

Atlanta, Georgia three piece thrash band, Sadistic Ritual, return with their second EP, Edge of the Knife. Sorta an Americanized version of old school Kreator meets Destruction (musically and vocally) with enough slop and dirt to keep the catchy riffage from sounding too 'happy go lucky'. Pure thrash metal that doesn't require anymore adjectives or run on sentences from yours truly. Get crackin'

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Cover Art by Rachel Truskolawski

Scorched, from Delaware, serve up some meat-n-potatoes 1990's death metal on their debut self titled demo. I'm not really sure why they're calling this a demo since the production is perfectly acceptable for an EP. Normally, back in the day a demo was 2-3 songs, but here they give you 6 tracks over 17 minutes. There's nothing original going on here yet they don't really sound like any one particular band. It's like they took everything about 1990's death metal and threw it into a blender and the cohesive elements rose to the surface.

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Written by Karen A. Mann.

Listening to Black Snow Desert, the debut from Ukrainian instrumental doom/drone/blackgaze duo Nonsun, is like taking a pilgrimage through a constantly changing landscape. The journey is long, and at times quite arduous: The album comprises two CDs, with the shortest song topping out at 8 minutes. The sounds contained often fit the album’s title: dark, cold and empty. Songs build slowly, and often plod to their crescendo. There’s no shortage of scraping, screaming and crashing sounds. But after those crashes, the sonic landscape often shifts, and moments of pure, shimmering beauty emerge.

What makes Black Snow Desert such a compelling listen is the band’s ability to create opposing ideas -- harsh vs. soft, dissonant vs. melodic, empty vs. full -- and mold them into a coherent yin-yang fabric of sound that demands engagement from the listener. This isn’t music that you can just turn on as background music and then go about your business. There’s too much to miss, and the payoff from fully immersing yourself in the sound is too great.

Black Snow Desert begins with “No Pity for the Beast, No Shelter for the Innocent,” a 15-minute plus opus that slowly builds with droning guitars and distant cymbals. Veering into shoegaze at its warmest, fullest parts. The album alternately plods and glides along, through colorful, shimmering and exotic passages on “Peace of Decay, Joy of Collapse,” and scraping destruction on “Heart’s Heavy Burden.” It finally throbs, then explodes to an end on the final track, “Rest of Tragedy.” You can’t help but feel slightly spent at the conclusion of Black Snow Desert, but as with any good trip, you’re eager to make the journey again.

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Written by Professor D. Grover the XIIIth.

Greetings and salutations, friends. I, your venerable Professor, have joined you today to discuss a band near and dear to my own heart, Spokane-based instrumental trio Odyssey. I've been a vocal proponent of the group since hearing their Schematics EP several years ago, and an album and two additional EPs later we find Odyssey releasing a second full-length, titled Voids.

Over the past few years, the trio (consisting of guitarist Jerrick Crites and the Brothers Hilker, bassist Jordan and drummer Lukas) has been quite active, not only with Odyssey but also as three-fourths of the instrumental rock group 3H, a band that also features the talents of the Hilker clan patriarch Fred. In a remarkably short time period the three have honed their considerable talents to a fine edge, expanding their prog-metal sound with rock influences and establishing a solid identity as artists.

This brings us to Voids, a release that pulls together the stages of the band's evolution into a single cohesive package. Voids deftly mixes the bass-grounded heaviness of the early years with the more guitar-oriented experimentation of the group's recent releases, and the finished product is a perfect culmination of everything Odyssey has been building toward to this point. The album features some of the band's heaviest material since Schematics ("Before There Were Eyes To See", "Delineation"), but there's plenty of room left for extended guitar soloing and stripped-down melodic passages.

Odyssey have never been shy about their influences, and Voids seems to derive a fair amount from Dream Theater and Rush, but these influences are never heavy-handed and don't feel forced. They're a natural part of the band's DNA, an insight reinforced by familiarity with Odyssey’s previous work, and like any great band, the integrate the music that has inspired them without becoming mindless imitators. Crites and the Hilkers possess the necessary level of talent and creativity to pull off such an integration and make it look easy in the process.

In a previous review, likely from the long-defunct Number of the Blog, I discussed how Odyssey play music for the love of music, because there's not really a lot of money in prog metal, and I stand by that statement now. Listening to Voids along with their previous works, it's really apparent that there's a constant drive to better themselves as musicians and songwriters, to progress their sound organically without losing the identity that makes them unique. They create this music out of passion for their craft, and although it may seem like a cliche, that doesn't make it any less true.

It's been my great pleasure to witness firsthand (well, sort of) the evolution and growth of Odyssey. With the sheer number of bands fighting for your attention on a daily basis, it’s easy to become jaded and cynical when it comes to music, grumbling about the good old days (even if you were in diapers for the good old days). But it can be comforting to know that there are still bands like Odyssey who are out there making quality music for the simple joy of creation. To borrow a phrase from The Stranger in The Big Lebowski, “I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' they're out there. Odyssey. Takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners.”

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Written by Andy Osborn.

Cover Art by Alex Tartsus

The term ‘Dissection clone’ gets thrown around a lot. While not necessarily an insult, it attempts to classify the many bands trying to recreate the glory of Storm of the Light’s Bane; one of the most game-changing albums in modern extreme music. It may not have been the first to fuse gorgeous melodies with the frostiness of black metal and death metal guitar wizardry, but it certainly was (and arguably still is) the best. The album immediately and obviously influenced Dissection’s Swedish cohorts like Dawn, Vinterland, and Sacramentum, but its grasp reached much further than those short-lived bands of the 90s. A second wave of these talented tremolo titans later appeared with the likes of Thulcandra, Dark Fortress, Istapp, and - of course - Watain.

It’s not hard to see why this sub-sub-genre is so often emulated. It’s complex, intense, and absurdly fun. The songs are built upon ridiculously catchy guitar leads that are ever-changing, and most bands make a game out of how they can construct, rearrange, and inject more intrigue into the foundations. There’s a defined set of ingredients, but the recipe is open-ended enough to allow for endless experimentation. But for every one of the well-known acts that do the style some sort of justice, there are ten more that play a sloppy, second-rate bastardization of it. It can be hard to wade through the murk.

So it’s rare when a debut comes along and nails the sound, but Hyperion did just that. Hailing from - nevermind, you can guess where - their debut, Seraphical Euphony, is an absolute monster, and the result of hard work and patience. Sticking it out in various forms for almost a decade, they waited until the stars (and their tumultuous roster) aligned before putting this amazing record together over the course of two years. It’s something the world was waiting for, we just didn’t know it yet.

While the aforementioned slur certainly applies, the band does so much more than play a sound that’s been obsessed over for two decades. The six-piece dive in with full force, worship their masters, and attack the style with such confidence it feels like they’re one of the progenitors. What they bring to the sound is a bag of tricks that seems to never end. The most prominent of these, acoustic guitar interplay, was featured on the original Great Work, but Hyperion use it to an extent that never feels contrived or thrown in because they ran out of ideas. For once it actually works as in intro to an album, and it acts as a perfect homage to “Where Dead Angels Lie” on “Flagellum Dei”.

Rare for the style, keyboards also appear throughout the album, though they’re used appropriately; as an Emperor-esque accent rather than a bombastic crutch. But the secret weapon Hyperion employ is one that just makes so much sense for their sound: a triple guitar attack. The fact that this isn’t just studio trickery and can (I assume) be replicated live is a dedication few bands have. Their melodic leads are brought to a whole new level when doubled in size and can shift to play counterpoint off each other while the rhythm section barrels forth without any loss of harmony.

It’s not only these flourishes or even the songs themselves that impress, but the album as a whole. It’s presented in such a way that proves it wasn’t random assortment of tracks thrown together. While the first three proper tracks are fairly similar is style and substance, Hyperion switch gears halfway through the album as “Moral Evasion” first soothes with some light piano then explodes into epic melodeath to keep things interesting and show they have a few more influences at play.

After this halfway point the band tries a few new things and, unsurprisingly, they work. There are more solos, tempo shifts - okay, maybe a tad too much acoustic guitar - and the band even tries their hand and gang vocals at one point. It’s as if they’re growing over the course of the release and exploring who they are as a unit, and it’s beyond impressive. “Blood of the Ancients” closes out the whole thing with a brilliant finale as every member launches a full-scale assault on the senses to overwhelm before abruptly disappearing.

Hyperion set out to play a style that’s easily dismissed, and they impress on every level. For a debut to be so precise in its intent and execution is rare, and this new Swedish guard is doing much more than making their countrymen proud - they’re forging a new path out of old tools. Every second is engaging, and the album's individual parts are just as rewarding as the sum. If Seraphical Euphony isn’t the best work in this style in its twenty year history, it makes a damn convincing claim for it.

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Written 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Written by Calen Henry.

Cover artwork by Gary Tonge

Tanagra sounds like five guys who met while playing Magic: the Gathering, discovered they were all also into Sci-fi, history, and power metal and thought it might be cool to start a metal band. Surprisingly, not only did they actually start the band, they self-released a phenomenal record.

Tanagra are from the US, but play power metal that’s deeply indebted to the European masters of the genre (as evidenced by their fantastic throwback album art and band logo). The album is chock full of catchy riffs, singalong choruses and awe-inspiring shredding but they’re not simply slaves to the genre forefathers. Tanagra's not afraid to shake things up, and that’s what elevates them from solid power metal to the single best “indie power metal” band I’ve found on Bandcamp.

Tanagra write about the future, Back to the Future, Magic: The Gathering and the American civil war, but have an edge to almost every aspect of their music that makes their earnestness seems more badass than silly. Power metal can sometimes come off as almost laughably earnest, both subject matter and delivery, but the dark side Tanagra show keeps that at bay.

The guitars sound dirtier than usual for the genre and delve into black and death metal riffs complete with blast beats. The vocals are delivered in a lower register than power metal's usual falsetto with some grit reminiscent of Chris Black’s vocals in Dawnbringer, prior to Night of the Hammer. This is mixed with some great backup harmonies like those employed by Woods of Ypres and Thrawsunblat. There’s the odd falsetto accent too, but they actually accent the songs, rather than taking them over.

The musical variety is held together by excellent song writing. Riffs and vocal hooks flow seamlessly together. Each part of each song is in service of the songwriting, rather than showmanship. Near the end of "10:04 PM", for example, the song breaks into a 5/4 riff that I didn’t notice till I’d listened to it about a dozen times. Probably because the main riff in the song is so excellent.

The production deserves credit as well. Everything sounds clean, but not sterile and the album measures a nice DR 8, which isn’t amazing but is certainly better than average from the genre

To top this all off the album is Pay What You Want on Bandcamp. Trust me, you want to pay something for this gem.

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Written by Karen A. Mann.

Artwork by Pär Olofsson

You can get a sense of what Suppressive Fire has to offer just by looking at the cover art for their debut full-length, Bedlam. In a burning, apocalyptic urban landscape, a snarling wolf stands his ground in a circle of masked fighters as a Kylo Ren-esque overlord towers over the scene.

This is nihilistic, blackened military thrash; inspired by the Teutonic masters Kreator and Sodom, as well as Death and Toxic Holocaust (Joel Grind mixed and mastered the album).

Photo by Karen A. Mann

There’s no build up, interlude or anticipation with this band. Instead Suppressive Fire blasts you right in the face with the first note of “Ceasefire,” then slams you with a full-on tremolo-picked assault. The only mood you feel is sheer adrenaline-rush fight-or-flight terror as you’re thrust headlong into the blood-and-flesh-filled trenches.

Photo by Karen A. Mann

Bass player/vocalist Aaron Schmidt delivers lyrics like “the war will never end” and “death, the only goal” in a caustic death growl. Each song feels like a new battle where the nameless and faceless will be mown down mercilessly with blast beats and searing guitar. The war continues on songs like “The Hellwraith,” “Nazi Face Melter” and “Coup d'état,” which showcases some Thin Lizzy-inspired licks.

Suppressive Fire does occasionally slow down, as on the opening, doomy riff of “Thy Flesh Consumed,” and the beginning of the final song, “Bedlam.” But such interludes only offer a brief moment to catch your breath before being sent back into battle.

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Check out Karen's blog for more photos and a live video of “Nazi Face Melter”.

Written by Justin C.

Art by Nate Burns

So this is the part of the review where I need to tell you what sub- or sub-sub-genre this album belongs to so you can decide whether you hate it or not and move along accordingly. But Eight Bells' newest, Landless, presents that problem I'm always happy to have: an album that exists in its own little universe. Gun to my head, I'd say it's a mix of doom and psychedelia, but it's not typical of either of those.

As on their last album, The Captain's Daughter, Melynda Jackson handles guitar and vocals and Haley Westeiner is on bass and vocals, but they're now joined by Rae Amitay (see also, Immortal Bird, Thrawsunblat) on drums. Landless may be a step down in heaviness from The Captain's Daughter--although you'll still find some choice outbreaks of vocal and percussive violence--but it's several steps up in composition and songwriting. The songs all have a familial resemblance to each other, but without falling into the trap of being repetitive. There's a melodic sensibility that weaves through all the songs, and it's a sensibility that all the instruments carry.

The riffs alone are a masterclass in theme and variations. Jackson throws out a riff, then revisits it as a tremolo version, or a staccato version. Sometimes the band lets a song break completely, like "Hating" at the five-minute mark, but bits and pieces of the song's main themes float through the ambient section, riding on the bass and distant drum swells. Remember how I said this album isn't typical of doom or psych? This is the place where that line is drawn. There's some trippy stuff happening here, but it's not some jam band's 17-minute-long free-jazz exploration or an endless doomy slog. Likewise, the slow build in the album's longest track, "Landless," is just the right amount of anticipation before the screaming/blasting/tremolo explosion. And you'd be hard-pressed to find an earworm as persistent as the delightfully off-kilter riff in "Hold My Breath" from most pop bands, let alone a doom or psych outfit

Jackson and Westeiner's chant-like vocals, sometimes in unison, sometimes harmonized, sometimes drifting apart completely, adds an ethereal vibe to the proceedings. In a way, the album feels like a 40-minute-long meditation, or maybe a soundtrack that's broken free of its movie, insisting on being front and center. It might put you in mind of a lot of different things, but in the end, it's weird, engaging, lovely, and brilliant.

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Written by Kevin Page.

Iron Bonehead Productions of Germany has scoured the earth since 1995 to find all that is evil, disgusting and nasty to release for our listening pleasure. There seemingly isn't a month that goes by without a new band serving up their debut demo, EP, or full length album of vile filth. So on that note, here's 3 bands and their initial recorded material for you to enjoy.

Hailing from Poland/Germany, Chthonic Cult has spit forth from the raging hellfires, I Am the Scourge of Eternity (what a great title, isn't it?). Raw and bestial black/death, which is what you come to expect from an IBP band, but with enough doom and restraint to prevent it from being a sloppy and unpolished affair. Normally music of this ilk doesn't reside in tracks ranging from 8 to 14 minutes, but somehow it works.

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Cover art by Ryanimator

Spanish blackened death metallers, Altarage, serve up two songs of ugly misery over the course of 10 minutes. Blasting drums, soul ripping vocals and heaving guitars. Consider this as an introduction to the band, which already has its full length ready to be released on February 26th [which will include the two songs presented here]. If you remotely like this on any level, the follow up will melt your insides.

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Artwork by Paolo Girardi

With Italy's Blasphemonger currently on hold, vocalist/bassist R.R. Bastard found something else to keep himself busy: Ripping Death. Thrashy death metal is the order of the day on Tales of the Ripper and a band sounding like it's having (dare I say this about an Iron Bonehead release) FUN. Filled with bouncy and catchy riffs, the first three songs just roll right into the next. Rounding out the package is a cover of Cianide's "Rage War" along with some sweet Paolo Girardi artwork.

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Written by Matt Hinch.

Artwork by Josh Thieler from Slaves BC

I've known about Slaves BC due to their heavy Twitter presence but that's as far as it went. Until now. All is Dust and I am Nothing will make even the most time-strapped of posers stand up and take notice. The concept album based on the Book of Ecclesiastes shows up as the first entry beside “vicious” in the dictionary. And viciousness is a virtue Slaves BC refuse to deny from beginning to end.

The opening salvo “God Has Turned His Back” wastes no time subjecting listeners to the aural tortures riddling the album. Caustic vocals berate as hammering guitars and harried drums raze the ground in a maelstrom of sludge and hardcore. That combination is a common theme but not the only one to surface.

Slower, more doom-ridden tempos pulverize while black metal runs swarm and distort. That sort of fervour courses through the album casting a misanthropic shadow over the prevailing savagery. As a testament to the overall intensity, even when Slaves BC prolong the agony they still drive hard exerting an inexorable pressure on the listener. Not oppressive so much as a stranglehold.

It's basically an all out assault. Steamrolling riffs methodically assert a death metal presence, feedback burns synapses, dissonance hides in the wreckage, and those unrestrained vocals leave absolutely nothing on the table.

Slaves BC move effortlessly from speedy hardcore derivatives into groovy sludge or blackened hybrids keeping the listener on their toes and looking over their shoulders. But that thrill of “anything goes” is what will keep the listener firmly defending the “Repeat All” button.

For such a complex company of genre styles, the battle plan is relatively simple; show no mercy and leave nothing but a path of destruction through heavy, infectious riffs and dark atmosphere. And anything you catch from this diseased album is going to be fucking nasty and incurable.

Prepare thy selves. Lace up your Doc Martin's, put an eternal scowl on your face, load up on painkillers and hide that sweatpants boner because it all boils down to one word: KILLER.

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Lycus - Chasms

Author & Punisher - Melk en Honing

Label Spotlight: Transylvanian Tapes. Vol. 4

Latitudes - Old Sunlight

Dave’s Demo Roundup Vol. VIII

Wildernessking - Mystical Future - 1

Wildernessking - Mystical Future - 2

Satan's Fall - Seven Nights / Tyfon's Doom - Yeth Hound

Chthe'ilist - Le Dernier Crépuscule

Premiere: Urgehal - Aeons in Sodom

Label Spotlight: Unspeakable Axe Records

Nonsun - Black Snow Desert

Odyssey - Voids

Hyperion - Seraphical Euphony

Short and to the point 1.

Tanagra - None of This Is Real

Suppressive Fire - Bedlam

Eight Bells - Landless

Label Spotlight: Iron Bonehead Productions

Slaves BC - All is Dust and I am Nothing