Glass Shrine - Lapidary

By Hera Vidal. Lapidary is a term used to refer to the craft of cutting gems or polishing jewelry. It can also mean the conciseness or the precision of an object. Considering how Glass Shrine has chosen this term to title their album, it should come as no surprise that the album should be concise in nature and should reflect the various layers of a cut jewel.

By Hera Vidal.

Artwork by D.L. from Glass Shrines.

Lapidary is a term used to refer to the craft of cutting gems or polishing jewelry. It can also mean the conciseness or the precision of an object. Considering how Glass Shrine has chosen this term to title their album, it should come as no surprise that the album should be concise in nature and should reflect the various layers of a cut jewel.

Lapidary doesn’t begin with your traditional flavor of black metal. It starts off with what sounds like bird noises and synthesizers in the background. Apparently, this is an album that doesn’t want to overwhelm you at first; rather, it wants to slowly wade you in the atmosphere of the music so you can soak it in. Another thing that one may notice is the backing melody. While your typical black metal elements exist—the blast beats, the tremolo riffs, the harsh vocals—there are also other interesting tonalities that make the album seem more vibrant that what I have listened to thus far. There are some screamo and metalcore influences that are weaved into the music, giving this album more of a punk/hardcore feel. It makes the album sound lively, which is not the point of most black metal.

Now, let’s focus a bit on the singing. Throughout the album, you can hear what sounds like throat-singing and chanting, which adds layers to the harsh vocals and to the music. It’s completely unexpected, but when it comes out, it’s welcoming to the ears. There are also instances of clean vocals, which sound like the kind of vocals that wouldn’t be out of place in surfer rock or, more conveniently, on a Ved Buens Ende album. They are avant-garde, but not the avant-garde that borders on nightmare fuel. I actually enjoy the vocals, not harrowing and warm as they are.

In short, Lapidary is an album that is warm and fuzzy, and sounds like a good time. This album masterfully blends black metal with surfer rock, metalcore, and screamo, giving it a layer of liveliness that black metal seems to lack. It makes it shine and stand out more than anything else. This album shows us that black metal can be fun, and doesn’t need to fall into any aesthetic if it doesn’t feel like it.

From The Metal Archives Vol. 9 - Transcending Obscurity Records

[Welcome to this special edition of From The Metal Archives, meant to showcase two things that happened on the Transcending Obscurity Records Bandcamp page. One, in January ALL albums are available as name-you-price downloads!

By the reviewers from The Metal Archives.

[Welcome to this special edition of From The Metal Archives, meant to showcase two things that happened on the Transcending Obscurity Records Bandcamp page. One, in January ALL albums on the page are available as name-your-price downloads! Two, the label released a massive sampler with 52 tracks meant as a "contemporary annual preview of the new music that we're working with and what you can expect in the times to come".

I also found two earlier death metal releases that were well received by The Metal Archives reviewers. One is better known and more progressive than the other, both are great examples of the breath of death metal found on the Transcending Obscurity roster.]

Artwork by Alex Tartsus.

[The Metal Archives reviewer Chris Jennings said]

One of the UK’s leading death metal acts return with album number 5, and De Profundis haven’t sounded this focused and this ferocious in years. Perpetually progressive, subtly melodic and yet as savage as they come, De Profundis sound rejuvenated here and The Blinding Light Of Faith is an eye-opening blast of technical death metal brutality.

[read Chris Jennings's full review here]

[The Metal Archives reviewer TheStormIRide said]

While band’s lyrical themes may be rooted in the realms of human thought and emotional experience, their music is a real it gets. The band describes themselves as old school death metal, but a more apt description would be the steamrolling, oft-militant school of Bolt Thrower or Hail of Bullets. Despite ascribing to that style, the band brings an extremely varied songwriting style to the table. The seventeen minute album spends most its time hammering your skull with a mix of fast paced, chunky riffing and angular chord progressions, but the band slows things up with a few crawling tempos that could sink ships.

[read TheStormIRide's full review here]

Artwork by Turkka Rantanen.

[Taken from the Transcending Obscurity Bandcamp page:] This is our most ambitious and diverse label sampler yet. The bands have been carefully handpicked to represent what we feel is the best expression for that particular genre and as such this sampler is segregated as per the different styles we're specializing in. There's death metal, grind/crust, technical death metal, black metal, sludge metal, doom metal and of course the avant-garde bands. Here's a rough demarcation of the genres where possible:

Tracks 1-23 - death metal/grind/crust
Tracks 24-26 - technical death metal
Tracks 27-31 - sludge/doom metal
Tracks 32-41 - black metal
Tracks 42-48 - doom/death metal
Tracks 49-52 - avant-garde metal

Mist of Misery - Absence

By Hera Vidal. Black metal has no shortage of influences, whether it is Lovecraftian works or someone’s own personal struggles. However, there aren’t many bands that perfectly meld together the romantic atmosphere of Gothic fiction and black metal. I enjoy moments where those things actually work together, creating beautiful music with an atmosphere that lets the imagination run wild.

By Hera Vidal.

Artwork by Alex Tartsus.

Black metal has no shortage of influences, whether it is Lovecraftian works or someone’s own personal struggles. However, there aren’t many bands that perfectly meld together the romantic atmosphere of Gothic fiction and black metal. I enjoy moments where those things actually work together, creating beautiful music with an atmosphere that lets the imagination run wild. After all, if this is good enough for Dracula, then it’s good enough for me.

Absence is Mist of Misery’s second album, and they have moved towards creating a more emotive kind of black metal. There are ranges of symphonic metal that shine throughout the album, mainly through the heavy usage of keyboards. It almost makes me want to have a full orchestra support the band if they ever decide to tour live. This highly symphonic aspect is what allows the album to transcend the listener elsewhere, allowing them to see things in their mind’s eye. This album is a mood setter, and with half of it being instrumental, it’s easy to get lost in the beautiful music and the emotive atmosphere it creates.

Absence isn't as bombastic as most symphonic black metal albums, instead it's intricate and peaceful. I do wish there were more symphonic aspects to it but it’s still fantastic. The atmosphere is what gets me; it reminds me of cold, dark, rainy nights, with candlelight lighting a room, and with a peaceful quiet that is broken by thunder.

All in all, Absence is a fantastic album that is incredibly straightforward and very beautiful. If you prefer the quieter aspect of symphonic metal, this album might be right up your alley. I am surprised that I didn’t hear this album sooner, but I know I am bound to come back to it again.

Ellende - Todbringer

By Hera Vidal. Ellende returns to form with their second album, Todbringer (“death bringer”), which brings back their florid passages in High German, their emotionality, and, of course, their musicianship.

By Hera Vidal.


Ellende returns to form with their second album, Todbringer (“death bringer”), which brings back their florid passages in High German, their emotionality, and, of course, their musicianship. Everything that made Ellende fantastic is brought back on this album, only on a greater, broader scale. However, on this album, they seem to have dialed back on the black metal and have decided to mostly focus on the backing elements of the album. There is a lot of acoustic elements that can be heard throughout the album, but they aren’t left in the dust by the resounding black metal or by the impressive build-ups the songs have. In fact, they tend to bring some color on an album that reeks of death and destruction. One can even claim that Todbringer is possibly darker than its predecessor, and with good reason.

Once again, we return to the musicianship and emotional range of the album itself. Unlike Ellende, which seemed to use more strings than actual electrical instruments, the roles are switched this time. While the acoustic elements exist, they are not the focus. Even on the quieter aspects of the songs, they are still in the background, adding color and light into their music. Of course, the whole album is now built on the vocals and the emotional range, which are harsher, darker, and almost unhinged. There is something to be feared in the contrast between the slow, almost ethereal music and the screeching, harrowing vocals that come and go between passages of music. The pain is almost unbearable and it sucks you into only feeling what Ellende is feeling. The music becomes heightened, the vocals become heightened, and the urgency that strikes only cements what you already know: by the end of this, the speaker—or someone else—is going to die.

Photos by Skimaniac.

However, as the album progresses, the music becomes melodic and hopeful, negating the aspect of death. Towards the end of the album, there seems to be an acceptance of some sort. Whether the person has accepted their death or has accepted that, despite the urgency and the need to die, they have decided to remain hopeful. The music is no longer aggressive and filled with woe; rather, it employs softer elements and focuses more on the musicianship. In the beginning, everything was about the musicianship in regards to the vocals and the emotional range the vocals and the music provided. Now, the musicianship takes center stage, allowing the listener to fully bask in the beauty of the music. 50 minutes isn’t enough to get a full experience; you have to listen to it again to fully understand it.

All in all, Todbringer is a testament of Ellende’s skill and vision. Ellende may be a one-man project, but the people Lukas has collaborated with are fully with him to share his vision. He know what he wants out of it, and he knows what he wants to make with his group of musicians. Once again, Ellende proves that, sometimes, expert musicianship is all you need to make something beautiful, even when the language barrier exists. I have high hopes for Ellende and I am quite excited to see what else they bring in the future.

Frozen Gate - Behind the Dark Ice

By Hera Vidal. Frozen Gate are a band from Switzerland, which doesn’t bring up the image of black metal in the slightest. When I think of Switzerland, I think of Sybreed and Celtic Frost—one of the major pioneers of proto-black metal—

By Hera Vidal.


Frozen Gate are a band from Switzerland, which doesn’t bring up the image of black metal in the slightest. When I think of Switzerland, I think of Sybreed and Celtic Frost—one of the major pioneers of proto-black metal—but they are not on the top of my list for black metal. However, this band is relatively new—they have been active since 2013 and Behind the Dark Ice is their debut album—but the scheme of this album is ambitious, which says a lot about most black metal I have listened to.

Everything about Behind the Dark Ice screams “grandiose”: they have a black metal sound with a huge, orchestral and choral backing. It sounds cold, and the deafening wall of sound is enough to overwhelm the listener. The first two tracks, a two-parter of a piece named “Evangelium”, are impressive and reel the listener in to listen to the rest of the album. Each track is also a little over four minutes—with some exceptions—and they are laden thick with music that pulls you in. The orchestral backing is massively woven with black metal tonalities—the blast beats, the harsh vocals, and the frigid atmosphere that the music seems to evoke—creating a theatre of sound that uses every instrument and voice at their disposal. Xeonyr from Ne Obliviscaris and Roger Rüfenacht from Bloodstained Ground make appearances on the album, their respective appearances add flair to the music, and their vocals alone are enough to make their songs standouts.

Frozen Gate also doesn’t shy away from creating an atmosphere for each song. For example, “Enter the Gate” uses pounding drums to create an assault of sound before lapsing into softer sounds, generated by a guitar and a piano, before returning to the backing keyboards, vocals, and strings that give this album life. This is what true symphonic black metal should sound like: heavy, dark, and with enough orchestral power that could fill an entire concert hall. There is power behind Behind the Dark Ice and it shows just ambitious the band is about their music.

In short, Frozen Gate’s Behind the Frozen Ice is a grandiose yet stark album whose relentless power is impressive within its scale. This album is long—almost an hour of heavy, powerful music—and filled with gorgeous melodies. There is a lot to keep the listener engaged, but it runs risk of being repetitive. I am surprised the album didn’t falter the entire time I was listening to it, but it goes to show that the band wasn’t messing around when they decided to make their debut a powerful one. After all, sometimes, you have to go big or you go home.

Furia - Księżyc milczy luty

By Hera Vidal. The more black metal continues to progress, the more it allows bands to experiment with both sound and technique. It allows these bands to break from the standard mold of black metal and let them do what they want while keeping

By Hera Vidal.


The more black metal continues to progress, the more it allows bands to experiment with both sound and technique. It allows these bands to break from the standard mold of black metal and let them do what they want while keeping it in the genre. When I heard that Furia had released their newest full-length album, Księżyc milczy luty (“Moon Silent Severe”), I was intrigued but time was not my friend. Now that I have some time and I slowly going through all the albums I missed, I decided to visit this album and see why everyone was in love with it.

Księżyc milczy luty begins with “Za ćmą, w dym”, which is quite a quiet start to a black metal album. It reminds me a bit of Chopin, especially since a lot of the Chopin I know tends to border on the quiet. However, as the track progresses and the guitar riff continues to repeat in order to accentuate the atmosphere, you realize that the song creates a sense of weightlessness. The music sounds airy and catchy, and the vocals here are deep enough to send chills down your spine. The weightlessness, however, drops on “Ciało” and it becomes heavier. It almost feels claustrophobic, as if you are losing air the more you continue to listen onwards. Considering how the album is about the moon, it makes sense to lose some air the higher in space you get. It’s emotional, bleak, and it almost feels like you are about to lose consciousness. However, you are rewarded with the rage of “Tam jest tu”, which reeks of fire and brimstone and makes you scared of what is to come. “Tam” is melodic and beautiful, and it doesn’t shy away from the usage of heavy guitars to make its point for the listener. Apparently, life on the moon is not as simple as Furia makes it out to be.

Things begin to get darker in “Grzej, where the listener gets a blast of black metal, especially in the vocals. There is a restrained rage underneath the surface before the vocals, with their howling, kicks in. This song is incredibly somber and it doesn’t shy away from using all of its pent-up rage to make the listener understand and empathize with some of the strong emotions we hear on the track. “Zabieraj łapska” reminds me a lot of Ved Buens Ende in how the usage of vocals creates a sonic atmosphere that is alien and overwhelming. The listener begins to appreciate the quiet moments the track has, because the vocals can literally scare the shit out of you when you least expect it. The song also has a lot of impact and the vocal assault is almost zealot-like, as it continues to hammer into you until the music stops. Album closer “Zwykłe czary wieją” has a lot of thrash metal tonalities that makes the song enjoyable to listen to. The vocals are between clean and harsh, and they chant throughout the track, as if they are worshipping whatever lives on the moon. There is a high level of distortion to the song that builds in intensity, but allows the melody to continue. When the song ends, the music hits feedback, allowing the listener to breathe once again.

All in all, Księżyc milczy luty is a melodic yet claustrophobic album that impresses you with its beauty and its brand of black metal. It’s as if they took Chopin, wrung it through death and moon worship, and created something foreign that makes the skin crawl. This isn’t Furia’s first rodeo, and they know full well what they are doing. I like it and I want to spend more time with it. Kudos to Furia and I look forward to what they will put out next!

The Beastwars Trilogy

By Calen Henry. None of the Beastwars albums are new, but in the fall the band made all their albums Pay What You Want on Bandcamp (until April 2018) to support singer Matt Hyde's cancer treatment so it seems like a good time for a retrospective on their trilogy of albums.

By Calen Henry.

None of the Beastwars albums are new, but in the fall the band made all their albums Pay What You Want on Bandcamp (until April 2018) to support singer Matt Hyde's cancer treatment so it seems like a good time for a retrospective on their trilogy of albums.

Thus far the band has recorded a trilogy of albums focusing on a combination of apocalyptic description and introspection; either describing destruction or musing on coming to terms with the resulting death. The albums aren't exactly concept albums but along with the overarching concepts there are recurring images; birds, mountains, rivers, and magic that represent the struggles with life and death on which the band focus. The band's original goal was a trilogy so it remains to be seen if they keep going. Either way, they've recorded an exciting trilogy of albums like no other band, in a crowded and sometimes boring genre; stoner doom.

Artwork by Nick Keller.

Beastwars came to my attention in 2013 with Blood Becomes Fire but I didn't really get them until I went back to the self-titled, specifically the opening song "Damn the Sky".

It is as fine a manifesto as any band could have, summing up the band's unique take on stoner doom, with a layer of grunge, in one track. Anchored by a mid-tempo guitar pseudo-gallop and the band's characteristic crunchy bass, Matt Hyde's vocals shine. Like no other vocalist he careens between a gravelly smooth croon and a god bothering howl introducing tenets of the band's world:

Take me to the top of the hill
Where the birds refuse to fly
Raise your hands your hand to the damned sky
Watch those twin moons collide

Photos by Mark Derricutt / Chalice of Blood.

Artwork by Nick Keller.

Beastwars appears to be set in a time of magic and myth with references to ships as well as magic, while Blood Becomes Fire is set in the future and features the point of view of a time traveling astronaut. It also marks a musical shift for the band; both noisier and more melodic.

Where Beastwars takes the band's mantra, "Obey the Riff" pretty literally, Blood Becomes Fire anchors the huge guitar riffs with more angular bass (and sometimes guitar) riffs but introduces more melodic guitar leads. It takes the band's unique spin on stoner doom to a new level, really giving the band a sound like no one else. It also works with the lyrical shift, from impending doom to the aftermath of apocalypse.

Artwork by Nick Keller.

The final album in the trilogy, The Death of All Things, mellows out the band's overall sound but maintains a level of ferocity, especially in the vocals, that makes for a sound unmatched in modern metal.

Though the album features the band's lyrical touchstones like mountains, rivers and magic, the album is less concerned with description and more with thoughts on the death of all things. The lyrical shift, combined with the musical shift makes the album all the more successful. The more mellow, deliberate tracks are a master class in stoner doom composition. Most bands can only wish to write one track as good as "Witches', let alone a whole album.

I'd also be remiss to talk about Beastwars without mentioning Nick Keller's fantastic cover art for each album. His vivid paintings give the slight visual push that helps transport you to the worlds the band creates. I'm sure the LP sleeves are amazing.

The only blemish on the band's catalog is production. All three albums are mastered very loudly. It's only truly a detriment on the first record which has noticeable clipping, but it can make all three records, back to back, an exhausting listen. And, at 40 minutes apiece, the albums beg to be binged.

That aside, Beastwars are something special. They took a tired genre back to its roots and built a characteristic sound through three musically and lyrically cohesive albums, each having its own sonic identity. Anyone with even a passing interest owes it to themselves to check them out and let’s hope there's more to be heard from them.

Dynamic Metal - Round Two

By Calen Henry. The previous article in this series got good traction so I'm back with a few more bands that do more than just make great metal. They also make great sounding metal. Solstice play Epic Doom Metal, a genre that is really big in 2017.

By Calen Henry.

The previous article in this series got good traction so I'm back with a few more bands that do more than just make great metal. They also make great sounding metal.

Cover art by Harry Clarke.

Solstice play Epic Doom Metal, a genre that is really big in 2017. New Dark Age, though, was originally released in 1998 and the dynamic CD master is on Bandcamp. It measures in at DR 12 and absolutely crushes. Their epic, melodic medieval approach to doom can be heard in numerous newer bands. Darkest Era sound like Solstice + Primordial. Khemmis take epic doom and apply the "kitchen sink metal approach" to blending the genre. Bands like Atlantean Kodex simply sound like Solstice. Plus, their "archaic language about castles and monsters" approach is everywhere in metal now.

Apart from simply being fantastic doom metal New Dark Age is eally elevated by the folk influences. The riffs, vocals, and lyrics are extremely folky and the album features numerous fantastic tracks that are straight up folk songs with no metal whatsoever. This commitment to "folkiness" can make the vocals seem a bit off putting at first. There are some sections that feature harmonies not usually used in metal. Bands like Darkest Era have much more approachable vocal styles. But the vocals on New Dark Age complete the sound and after an acclimatization period I found myself to be a big fan.

Album art by Dymond Starr Austin.

Dreadnought play the proggiest metal to ever prog. They might be best described as "blackened prog rock" All the prog rock trappings are there. Their albums are an elemental cycle with the title track from their newest album being 17 minutes long. They use flute, piano, organ, and saxophone as well as lots of clean vocals. They mix that with vicious blast beats and snarled vocals.

Lifewoven is the first in their elemental cycle, being earth themed. It is also, unfortunately, the only dynamically mastered album in their catalog measuring DR 10. Bridging Realms (aether themed) and A Wake in Sacred Waves (water themed) are both excellent albums but they are not at all dynamically mixed both coming in at DR 5 and DR 6 respectively.

Lifewoven sets up Dreadnought's sonic template from which they don't much deviate on later albums. Long songs with complex multi layered sections flowing between prog rock and black metal. Though sounding nothing alike their long form immersive approach to songwriting brings to mind Elder, and is part of why I like both bands so much.

Album artwork by KolaHari.

Æther Realm are part of an amorphous wave of new American (and Canadian) metal taking influence from myriad styles but always with a bit of melodeath, folk, and black metal. Thrawsunblat play the blackest version of it, Wilderun are the folkiest, and Xanthochroid are the most symphonic and cinematic.

Æther Realm, hailing from North Carolina, exhibit the strongest melodeath links but mix it with black metal, a bit of folk, a symphonic edge, and phenomenal production. The master for Tarot is DR 10 and it sounds incredible. The drums, in particular are punch of give the music a great visceral quality, like Vainaja (though sounding almost nothing like them). The mix doesn't emphasize guitars over other instruments so everything comes through wonderfully.

Tarot is an album that piqued my interest on production but really sells the music as well. The musicianship and composition are excellent as well and improved, rather than hampered by production.

Dead Congregation's Promulgation of the Fall is a modern old school death metal classic. It also sounds terrible. It's incredibly dynamically compressed (DR 4), to the album's detriment. Amazingly they followed it up with a two song EP that incredibly dynamic (DR 12). It's also, unsurprisingly, excellent. Hitting a sound between Ominous Circle and Vainaja. Worth a look for any death metal fans wanting great sound to go with great music.

Artwork by Anni Buchner.

Ruff Majik sound like The White Stripes weaned on stoner rock. The vocals are very "Jack White" and the music has the same frantic raw feel of early White Stripes but with a metric tonne of fuzz. The band also records their material live in studio which gives the music an organic spontaneous feel at the expense of some fidelity. So far the band has a trilogy of animal themed EPs and are working through releasing four parts of an album to coincide with the change in seasons. They're South African, though, so the season changes are opposite to what us northerners are used to. Of their catalog The Swan appears to be the only release with a dynamic (DR 12) master, but musically it's all great.

Sol Sistere - Unfading Incorporeal Vacuum

By Hera Vidal. I have had my run-ins with Chilean metal over the years and they are probably best known for their thrash metal, given both the speed of the music and the freedom the subgenre gives them for creating music.

By Hera Vidal.


I have had my run-ins with Chilean metal over the years and they are probably best known for their thrash metal, given both the speed of the music and the freedom the subgenre gives them for creating music. In this scene, a lot of bands wish to reach some mainstream prominence, whether it is getting signed to a major label (prior to their split, Mar de Grises was signed to Season of Mist) or being well-known around the world (Pentagram Chile comes to mind due to the underground tape trading circuit). However, some of the best bands are actually underground.

I used to have a silence manifestation
Directly outwards explodes your mind
When you reset your reality
Mind destruction is the authority

Sol Sistere is one of those underground black metal bands that already have so much experience in the Chilean metal scene, given how all of its members have been in bands prior to this one. However, what makes this band—and this album!—stand out is just how ballsy they are with their music. Unfading Incorporeal Vacuum sounds like an atmospheric black metal album, but it has the ferocity of classic black metal that doesn’t let you go away. However, unlike classic black metal, where anger seems to be the default emotion that can be heard, there is a sadness that shrouds the music. “Death Knell” sounds like a death tone, something you play to let everyone know that someone has died.

From that point, the music just seems to get sadder with each track, although the emotional range that is found within each track is something of note. For example, “Sight of the Oracle” starts off with constant guitar picking and backing bass before launching into a flurry of desperation that takes over the track. However, it quickly goes back to that atmospheric quality that we see a lot of in black metal and it makes sure to bring that emotional range back to peak. The vocals here are a work of art; they are not overwhelming and are thought to be more of an accent piece. Because of it, the focus is usually on the music and the atmosphere it brings to the listener. If you don’t feel something at the end of it, then you need to listen to this again.

Despite all of this, there is something that Sol Sistere lacks before they can be considered to be one of those classic metal bands. The problem with reaching peak during an album is that it doesn’t offer something new in the music. One of the faults of atmospheric black metal is the fact that the music can drone on forever without anything changing its structure or its tone. In such cases, atmospheric black metal should value quality over quantity. However, despite its constant musical structure, Unfading has the emotional backing to make this one of the most enjoyable albums I heard in 2016.

All in all, Unfading Incorporeal Vacuum demands your attention with its brand of straightforward, atmospheric black metal and emotional range. There are moments where the album flatlines a bit, but it picks up and continues to soldier on. This band is young, and I do have high hopes for them as they continue to specialize in black metal. They may be called South America’s best-kept black metal secret, but they still have a lot to prove to everyone. Kudos to Sol Sistere!

clipping. - Splendor & Misery

By Calen Henry. Last year one of the records I listened to most was a sprawling, experimental, science fiction concept album, but it wasn't Terminal Redux. It was clipping.'s Splendor & Misery.

By Calen Henry.


Last year one of the records I listened to most was a sprawling, experimental, science fiction concept album, but it wasn't Terminal Redux. It was clipping.'s Splendor & Misery.

clipping. don't make metal but they are metal. Check out their playlist, "Some metal from 2016". Their Sci-fi cred too is beyond reproach. Splendor & Misery is up for a Hugo award; the first album since 1971 to be nominated.

clipping. are a deconstructionist hip-hop group. Using a backdrop of noise and power electronics they create rap songs both in opposition to and reverential of mainstream hip-hop. Splendor & Misery is where, for me, everything clipping. does comes together perfectly. The noise backdrop, the story, and the varied vocal approaches work beautifully to create a truly compelling concept album in which I keep discovering new details even a year after its release.

In a mere 37 minutes Splendor & Misery tells the story of the sole survivor of an intergalactic slave ship rebellion, the ships's computer that falls in love with him, his rise to intergalactic outlaw, his fight against space and time as the computer abandons him and ultimately his embrace of hope and trip to a "better place". The story itself is interspersed with vignettes that flesh out the world. The story is told through every aspect of the music, building up a fractured narrative that demands attention but proportionally rewards it.

The noise soundscapes, the backdrop for the story, layer Vangelis inspired synths with industrial pounding and all manner of static creating exactly the right mix of oppression, urgency, awe, and desperation to communicate Cargo #2331's plight. Each track sounds like a hulking empty spacecraft hurtling through space but different sounds are layered to create different moods within that spectrum before the lyrics even hit.

Daveed Diggs lyrics and vocals give a huge emotional range to the story. Depending on the voice, whether Cargo #2331, the ship's computer, or story vignettes the cadence and delivery changes as does the post processing applied. Rounding out the story are the excellent gospel vocals from Take 6. The caveat to all this is the album really only works as an album and demands attention to really unpack. It's certainly not light summer listening, but it is essential listening for those at all interested in sci-fi, concept albums, or any kind of experimental music.

Friday funeral doom shopping list

By Manny-O-War. In a brief amount of time, say a few short months, it’s become a tradition on Thursdays to open up the lines of communication that social media affords us and play some Desert Island. Each week we select a genre

By Manny-O-War.

Artwork by Lars Simpkins

In a brief amount of time, say a few short months, it’s become a tradition on Thursdays to open up the lines of communication that social media affords us and play some Desert Island. Each week we select a genre, sub-genre or other category of music and each “contestant” (no one really wins or loses) selects five albums that they would bring with them to a desert island. Recently, we tackled the slow, undulating genre of funeral doom. It was met with much joy and participation, odd given the genre’s monicker. It was also a week where many people shared new bands and experiences with each other. And that’s the real motivation behind the desert island game on Thursdays: to allow people to explore categories of music they may not have previously delved into. It’s easy, using a hashtag on Twitter or a post on Facebook, for people to learn about any number of exciting artists held dear by people they respect, don’t know or perhaps are pals with. While not every desert island week leads to music purchases, it’s encouraging when someone takes the initiative to learn about bands and purchase the music directly from the artist.

That’s where Bandcamp comes in. It’s likely that you’ve seen the ##metalbandcampgiftclub hashtag floating around. Maybe you’ve been gifted a record or two, maybe you’ve gifted a record or two or maybe you’ve just seen the hashtag around. Regardless, you can read more about that here if you’re so inclined. Desert Island has given us yet another way to use Bandcamp as a sort of social networking application. It’s an easy way to find, stream and purchase works by artists that you’re interested in checking out. And, this Friday, August 4, 2017, Bandcamp has done something unique: they’ve committed to donate 100% of their profits, for the entire day, to the Transgender Law Center, a nonprofit organization that works tirelessly to change law, policy, and culture as well as defend transgender individuals who may suffer from those who seek to undermine their legitimacy. Bandcamp did something similar previously when it donated all proceeds to the ACLU. These are trying times not only for Americans suffering under a rigid, unwielding and hateful administration but also throughout the world where religion and government are often interchangeable institutions. It’s commendable that Bandcamp is willing to be such a proud supporter of human rights and it’s inspiring to see such a business as a beacon of hope in this oddly commerce-centric culture.

[Max: these albums are simply my shopping list gained from perusing Manny's #desertislandfuneraldoom posts. A few classics, some major releases from recent years that I somehow missed, and most excitingly: a handful of great albums I've never heard about before.]

[Bonus album: I just picked up this excellent mix of drone and funeral doom from Norway's Hjarnidaudi. As this short review from Metal Archives states "Fuzzed out guitars guitars flying everywhere, big walls of slow dirge rhythm, stuff that's melodic and disturbing and generally awesome".]

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.

Thy Worshiper - Klechdy

By Hera Vidal. I like my black metal the way I like my relationships: straightforward, but with emotional complexity and the occasional bout of dramatics. Black metal dramatics, however, are best found in the music, usually in the atmosphere the album sets to create.

By Hera Vidal.


I like my black metal the way I like my relationships: straightforward, but with emotional complexity and the occasional bout of dramatics. Black metal dramatics, however, are best found in the music, usually in the atmosphere the album sets to create. In this case, Klechdy is a definite black metal gold mine filled with the dramatics and bombastic atmosphere black metal nowadays seems to lack.

Thy Worshiper is a Polish black metal band based in Dublin, Ireland, which adds a lot of flavor to its rich, folk sounds. Klechdy is an album filled with complexity and excellent musicianship that does not disappoint. The way it incorporates black metal, folk, and melodic tranquility into its music is just off-the-charts amazing, and this album deserves the praise it has received. The most interesting part of the whole thing is that it is a whopping 79 minutes long, and it delivers from beginning to end. Beginning with the opening track, “Gorzkie zale”, the album seems to elevate into a sense of quiet, atmospheric pulling that doesn’t change, but it never reaches peak. It is incredibly soothing and you start to lose track of yourself as the album slips into melancholy. The folk tones and the female vocals are the main driving force of the music, and they seem to emphasize a sense of peace, of acceptance. It’s quiet and it’s so emotionally complex, you have no idea how to deal with the cold warmth it brings.

However, things change toward the end of the first of the half of the album. With the sixth track, “Wschody”, the black metal elements that had been used sparingly jump into the album and set the tone for the remaining half of the album. Everything becomes harsher—the male vocals are harrowing, the music has the blast beat quality of black, and the female vocals begin to wail. The dramatics get to 11, and they stay there for the remainder of the album. It’s such a change that it takes a while to get used to, but, when you do, it is an absolute delight. It’s dark, a bit jazzy, and heavy, with flowing passages of music and beautiful vocals. At the heart of the matter, the vocals are the best part of the whole album, and the exquisite touches of other instruments, such as the violin, really drives the melancholy home.

An interesting note: the lyrics for each of the tracks can be found in both Polish and English, and they offer a window into the album’s themes. I do suggest looking into them to see what the album discusses and what you, the listener can get from it. There is a lot of religious imagery and commentary on death that is evident, which reminds me a bit of Batushka’s Litourgiya. It almost feels like Klechdy is Litourgiya’s more open-minded and flamboyant sibling.

All in all, Klechdy not only pushes the envelope forward on black metal boundaries, but it also bends them a bit so that the music can gravitate anywhere it pleases. The excellent musicianship shows that the band has built on its reputation on its composition and orchestration, and the fact that the music never wavers shows the stamina the band has to create compelling, beautiful music. There are no boring parts in Klechdy and it’s worth its 79 minute-running time. I would not be surprised if this album achieved classic black metal status down the line.

Tints of Obsidian

By Justin C. And before anyone asks, no, of course I didn't steal the idea for the title of this post from No Clean Singing's "Shades of Black" feature. Just look--they're completely different words! I was introduced to Noltem

By Justin C.

And before anyone asks, no, of course I didn't steal the idea for the title of this post from No Clean Singing's "Shades of Black" feature. Just look--they're completely different words!


I was introduced to Noltem via a Facebook post by John Kerr, whose Marsh Dweller project got a lot of attention last year. The post simply said, "In case you missed it, here's a Tree Album we put out in early 2016." The "we" includes Mr. Kerr on drums and vocals and Max Johnson on keyboards and stringed instruments of various kinds, and the Tree Album in question is an EP called Mannaz, released in the summer of 2015.

"Tree Metal" turns out to be pretty apt, especially considering that Panopticon's Austin Lunn helped record the drums out in the woods of Minnesota. The intro to the EP's second track, "Windhall," shows off some particularly cool folk-ish/tribal drumming. Beyond that, this is a particularly well-done chunk of atmospheric USBM with satisfying mid-range roars and plenty of acoustic guitar accents. I don't usually do "recommended if you like"-type statements, but it's hard to imagine anyone who likes Marsh Dweller, Panopticon, or Falls of Rauros not also digging this.

Varaha's self-titled EP is a bit trickier to pin down in terms of genre. Definitely post/black/dark metal, but to my ear, the opener, "Cubicle," definitely has some gothy undertones. Here's the point I'm going to fail you as a reviewer, because I just don't know goth well enough to pick out influences. The clean vocals that the song opens with, the melancholy lyrics, and the melodies put me in mind of something with an 80s goth feel, though. Not that the song stays there--some serious growls break out before the track is done.

"La Mela" is an instrumental interlude, and although this is a somewhat strange statement, I'm going to go ahead and nominate it for "Interlude of the Year." This is how you make an interesting breather. It has waves of saxophone intertwining and crashing into each other in waves and echoes.

The EP closer, "It Takes a Ghost to Kill a Ghost," is a different animal from "Cubicle." There's still some soaring clean vocals, but the high rasps that come in after the two-minute mark are particularly vicious, and the song breathes into fiery life. There's still a hint of goth here, but this song is an insanely catchy bit of black metal. It makes for a slightly schizophrenic EP overall, but I think this is a band that's still refining and distilling their sound. if they keep writing songs like "It Takes a Ghost," though, I'm more than happy to let them grow.

The look on Laurie Shanaman's face in the art for "Dead Metaphors" is a lot like the face I made when I found out about Ails. If you don't recognize Shanaman's name, then shame on you: She was the vocalist of the late, great Ludicra. In Ails, Shanaman is joined by guitarist and fellow Ludicra alum Christy Cather. The regard Ludicra has in the history of USBM is well earned, so a new project by two of its members is worthy of celebration. There's a warm glow of familiarity when you hear their clean, harmonized vocals at the beginning of "Dead Metaphors," and as the song ramps up, it's time to start running around like a maniac. The first variation of many riffs to come pairs a tremolo with a sludgy/thrash riff that should somehow be made solid and turned into one of those stress-reliever balls. And of course Shanaman's vocals are as powerful as ever. Check out her scream at 6:35. When I first played it in my car, it tore a hole in space and time and I traveled to worlds as-yet unexplored.

The other track they've released so far, "The Seven," is a lo-fi demo, but the rougher sound makes it feel even more feral than "Dead Metaphors." Sure, there's a "gentler," eastern-tinged intro, there are some sweet guitarmonies, and the guys in the band add some clean background vocals for texture here and there, but this song as a whole is as intense as any BM you're likely to find this year. I can't say enough good things about this quick taste of new material, and I can only wait on pins and needles for what's (hopefully) to come.

öOoOoOoOoOo - Samen

By Professor D. Grover the XIIIth. Greetings and salutations, friends. This is a review that has been in the works for months, in part because of my status as both a chronic procrastinator and as a Grown Up with Many Important Adult Things To Do (like Raising My Kids, Trying To Sell My House, and the old classic Working All The Fucking Time).

By Professor D. Grover the XIIIth.

This is the uncensored cover, not available with the download (click for full size).

Greetings and salutations, friends. This is a review that has been in the works for months, in part because of my status as both a chronic procrastinator and as a Grown Up with Many Important Adult Things To Do (like Raising My Kids, Trying To Sell My House, and the old classic Working All The Fucking Time). However, it’s also in part due to the nature of the album I’m reviewing. You see, France’s öOoOoOoOoOo (aka Chenille, which is French for Caterpillar, and now the name makes sense) is the sort of band that is nigh impossible to describe because of the varied nature of their music. This is one of those rare chameleonic bands that changes styles numerous times throughout the course of a song, and how do you put something like that into words?

In the absence of a simple and concise way of describing öOoOoOoOoOo’s music, we can at least start with a few similar-ish bands to give us at least a point of reference. The most obvious is the ever-popular Mr. Bungle, and while the comparison isn’t exact (öOoOoOoOoOo tends to have more of a basis in metal and isn’t quite so scattershot), there’s a lot of common ground between the two, especially in the vocals (more on that in a moment). The next, somewhat obvious parallel would be in the French oddball duo Pin-Up Went Down, mostly because öOoOoOoOoOo vocalist Asphodel was also PUWD’s singer, but also because they shared a similarly wacky musical style. There are also parallels to the likes of Diablo Swing Orchestra, Pryapisme (whose drummer Aymeric Thomas handles session duty for öOoOoOoOoOo), Carnival In Coal, and the late great Unexpect, but make no mistake, öOoOoOoOoOo stands on its own.

öOoOoOoOoOo is a collaboration between the aforementioned Asphodel and French multi-instrumentalist Baptiste Bertrand, along with the session drumming of Aymeric Thomas. If you’re unfamiliar with Asphodel’s prior work, it cannot be stressed enough that she may be one of the most versatile vocalists in music. I mentioned before a comparison to Mr. Bungle, specifically to the voice of Mike Patton, and I can say in all fairness that Asphodel is at least Patton’s equal when it comes to sheer depth and breadth of vocal weirdness and range. This is not hyperbole; one needs simply listen to "Chairleg Thesis" or "Bark City (A Glimpse Of Something)" to get a taste of what Asphodel can do. Her voice soars to operatic highs, dips to lounge singer lows, detours to guttural grunts, and occasionally goes full-on childlike. It’s the sort of vocal performance that you honestly won’t find anywhere else.

It’s also the sort of vocal performance that needs appropriate accompaniment to reach its maximum potential, and on Samen Asphodel has found an effective counterpart in Bertrand, whose songwriting prowess is impressive for an unknown (I did some brief Googling and was unable to find any previous work in his name, making this an exceptionally impressive debut). There are moments when öOoOoOoOoOo goes full-blown death metal, but those moments are relatively rare and all the more precious because of it. Much of what Bertrand does plays off the vocals perfectly, finding moods and twists in the songs and bringing them out, from the lurching orchestral swing of "No Guts = No Masters" to the electronic underpinnings of "Fumigène" to the melancholy outro to "LVI" (I think that’s a xylophone). Bertrand’s musical prowess is absolutely essential to Samen, aided by the able drumming of Thomas (no stranger himself to weirdness thanks to his tenure in Pryapisme, a gloriously odd band in their own right).

Describing Samen, even in a track-by-track fashion, would be an exhausting and overwhelming task, and ultimately it would be pointless. This is not the sort of album that can be easily described in words any more than you could explain the color orange to a person blind from birth. This is the sort of musical adventure that needs to be experienced firsthand. It is, however, one of 2016’s most rewarding, refreshingly odd releases, and one well worth multiple listens. Stay weird, my friends.

Short and to the point 8

By Aaron Sullivan. From the great Rising Beast label comes the latest from Dargar, The Shores of Space. They originally started as a Blackened Noise band. Very in your face aggressive and gritty. I loved it. Then came a split (that unfortunately did not see a physical release but can be downloaded on the label Bandcamp) and they changed up their sound quite a bit.

By Aaron Sullivan.


From the great Rising Beast label comes the latest from Dargar, The Shores of Space. They originally started as a Blackened Noise band. Very in your face aggressive and gritty. I loved it. Then came a split (that unfortunately did not see a physical release but can be downloaded on the label Bandcamp) and they changed up their sound quite a bit. They became more atmospheric and elements of Shoegaze and DSBM were sprinkled within. Then I heard they were going to go further with that on the next album. The results are amazing.

The Shores of Space as an album encapsulates everything I love about music. Dark, atmospheric, experimental, layered, and with just enough rawness to not sound over produced. The foggyness of the opening track. The chanting vocals closing out "Seething Gold". The gothy hypnotic feel of "Vast". The Jesu-esque feel that starts off "No More Skies". With "Hammers of Minutiae" they return to their Noise roots with an Industrial opener that slowly dissolves as the song progresses. What Pete did vocally is also awesome. From DSBM style, to clean, to distorted Industrial, to gut wrenching Death Metal. Every track is better than the last. Cohesive and yet each song presents it’s own feel. The layers only compel the listener to multiple listens. The more I heard this album I kept asking myself what it reminded me of. Only one album kept coming to mind, Lurker of Chalice, an album I happen to revere very much. Not that Dargar ripped off the album. What they did was something I’ve never heard a band do, capture Lurker's essence, it’s experimentalism. The Shores of Space is a huge step for these guys and it pays off, especially for the listener.

Up next Germany’s Downfall of Gaia and their album Atrophy. I was first introduced to them seeing them live a few years back and was blown away. I had their self titled compilation on rotation for some time after. Their brand of Atmospheric Sludge was right up my alley. But for some reason I lost track of them. I caught back up with them with this album, and I’m so glad I did.

This is a huge step from what I heard originally and liked. It’s more focused and hints of Black Metal are added with great effect. The production is in your face. You feel as though you are surrounded by the musicians as they pummel you with their sonic assault. There is a definite whiff of White Tomb era Altar of Plagues that flows through this album. This was an album that would no doubt be on my 2016 album of the year list. But I stupidly waited too long to include it. Don’t make that same mistake. Wait no longer. Click the link and enjoy.

There are bands that just scratch a certain itch that no other band can. Worm Ouroboros is that band for me. My first encounter with them was their opening for Agalloch. I was hooked, or rather transfixed. The interplay of Lorraine and Jessica’s vocals coupled with Aesop’s delicate and deliberate drumming was like nothing I had ever heard. I couldn’t get enough.

Last year they released their third album What Graceless Dawn. All that you love about their mix of DOOM and Folk is found within. It get this feeling when listening to them like I’m on a small boat going along a calm dark river at night. Aesop drumming is the steady rowing of that boat and the Jessica and Lorraine’s vocals are the cloaked sirens on shore warning me of what’s to come. Sometimes calm as the water and other times, as the danger grows so does the tempo. But I know as long as I follow their voices I will find my way to the light. They can be heavy without ever having to go to 11. They do it through dynamics and emotion. Another of the great albums 2016 had to offer.

Cover art by Valnoir

Admittedly Blackened Death Metal is a genre I stay away from. But knowing nothing of Nidingr accept for the interesting album cover I gave their new album The High Heat Licks Against Heaven a shot. Proving judging a book (or album in this case) by it’s cover can work.

Within the first seconds of the opener I was hooked. Immediate and pummeling are what come to mind. Vocals, a throaty hardcore shout, and at times the music reminiscent of Wolverine Blues era Entombed. But only 4 songs in and they begin to shift gears with the song "Gleipnir" with it’s doomy psychedelic feel. Then back to the pummeling with "Sol Taker". Then comes the dirgey "Ash Yggdrasil" featuring Garm of Ulver fame. A song that really does feel like a collaboration not just a ‘come do vocals’ thing. Followed by two more barnburners and then the final song featuring the ever divisive Myrkur. Another slow doomy dirge. While it may feel somewhat formulaic it really works to help the album feel diverse. The heavier songs sound heavier and the faster songs sound that much faster.

From the island of Tasmania comes the prolific Striborg and his newest album A Procession of Lost Souls. Prolific fits him better than most in the Black Metal scene having released over 20 albums since 1997 sometimes releasing new albums twice in one year. The thing I’ve always loved about him is his willingness to experiment. Not just from album to album but sometimes within an album or even with in songs. He can go two songs that are raw and sound as if they were recorded in a cave and the next six songs sounding professionally recorded (or as professional as one man Black Metal can be). This sort of experimentalism may not sit well with some. I in fact don’t enjoy all that he does. But admire it nonetheless. He’s truly one of a kind.

With A Procession of Lost Souls he returns to familiar ground after his last two albums that consisted of mainly Dark Ambient and Power Electronic songs. The title track opener is raw as most of catalogue. Guitars are buzzy, cymbals hiss, and vocals are gurgled shrieks soaked in reverb. Dark atmosphere is a staple of his music and this album is no different. If you're a fan you’ll love it. If you're new this may be an album that makes you a fan or at least peaks some interest. There’s even a Siouxsie & The Banshees cover to finish off the album.