AUTOTHRALL'S AVIAN FLU ANTICIPATORY ALBUM EXHIBITION

I've got a top 100 metal albums of 2024 and another 100 backup albums for 2024 posted over at my RYM page, so there's much fun to be had! But ultimately...

 My Top 24 Metal Albums of '24

A list of EPs forthcoming, and maybe non-metal albums too..

You've made the naughty list!

 

Holiday Break! Be back in January with a new discography review series. - autothrall

Satyricon & Munch (2022)

You could see Satyricon & Munch as the second half of the experiment they started with Live at the Opera, but while the former was a direct interpretation of the band's black metal sound into some choral and grand, this is instead an attempt to translate the works of expressionist Norwegian painter Edvard Munch into a dark musical context. This is far less accessible, granted, though there are some parts with acoustics or other softer moments that make for perfectly acceptable background as you're browsing through the deceased collaborator's artwork. It's a curious mash-up of mediums reminiscent of Metallica's Lulu with Lou Reed, only this isn't so tragic, poetic and vocal, but rather minimalistic and sees Satyr and Frost branching out into new styles themselves.

LOTS of ambiance and noise here, and I can honestly say that they do a decent job getting their feet wet in that genre, and in fact some of those brooding moments are the most immersive of the experience. There are a few drones which grow obnoxious as drones do, and some light industrial-feeling percussion that often breaks out in the distance to cool effect. Orchestrated keys, slight dissonant or distorted guitars and rolling percussion often give the record some martial qualities, and there are also some very minimal, spacious synth parts which are quite absorbing when they arrive deeper into the track. Oh yes, this is just one track, almost an hour long, and I think that presents the biggest hurdle towards appreciation, since you have to take the more somber or soothing moments along with the bizarre and annoying all in a single sitting, but if I'm being completely honest with you, I'd say there are probably 30-40 minutes here which I found to be a pleasant or perturbing escape, and the rest is chaff that does little more than extent out the length of the album.

Of course, I'm not standing at a museum exhibit while hearing this in the background, I can only sift through online images of Munch's works, so the maximum impact might be one you had to witness at a particular time and place, and I can forgive the audio work that much. However, I can't at all find fault with the willingness of these longstanding black metal mavens to involve themselves in these sorts of cultural projects which not only open the minds of others who might have a dim view of black metal, but also can expand Satyricon's own portfolio of sounds they can integrate into their future material, and I hope to an extent they will. This might be the most 'outside' thing Satyr has worked on since he was in the folksy Storm, and though I can understand while few will enjoy it, and I myself even had a negative reaction the first few times I listened, it has a few moments of sublime impact like the art it is providing tribute to and accompaniment for. A very Ulver move, gentlemen, and if anyone was into Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell they might want to give this a try.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.satyricon.no/

Satyricon - Deep Calleth Upon Deep (2017)

Deep Called Upon Deep, the ninth full-length from Satyricon, is one I struggled with a little upon release. It brought back the full on black & roll of Now, Diabolical, and the Age of Nero, but for whatever reason it didn't immediately hook me like those. That said, it's grown on me through the years because of the newly 'progressive' ideas it brings into that style, and the emotional depth and maturity it harbors. This isn't some brazen record loaded with ear candy that will stick to your lobes on the first couple listens, but something with a more laid back, mellow vibe that you can eventually lose yourself into. That's not to say its elements are all that different from earlier releases, but the tunes just don't seem to stick it straight to your face like the evil of "K.I.N.G." or "The Pentagram Burns". There are choices here, like the title track, which almost seem like they have been drafted over from those earlier sessions, but even here you get a little more.

Examples are the use of the proggy melodies and harmonies in "Blood Cracks Open the Ground", which even has a bit of a clinical vibe cutting through the more expected rocking rhythm guitars and the truly nihilistic barks of Satyr, thanks to the mellotron. Or "The Ghost of Rome", with that slight operatic vibe hovering just above the harshness. There are unexpected instruments all through this album, from cello and violin to saxophone and bass clarinet, and while a lot of purists and gatekeepers might cringe from the idea, I rather enjoy it especially when such things don't intrude upon the core sound. Satyr's riffs here aren't individually all that impressive, but they perfectly suit the direct but gloomy atmosphere, and when taken as a whole they keep the record just varied enough to maintain its compelling nature. Frost's drums are intense as they ever need to be, by far the most 'extreme' part of the recording, yet they are likewise serviceable onto to the song structures and don't sound like the guy is about to fly off the handle and escape the less intense style of composition.

In fact, the kick drum and fills sound pretty awesome and organic along with the sparser dissonant riffs in tracks like "Black Wings and Withering Gloom". The rhythms in general seem more experimental than The Age of Nero, with choppier timing and no interest in strictly repeating themselves beyond that obvious black & roll stylistic disposition. The lyrics are pretty good, some recalling the earlier epic natural majesty of albums like Nemesis Divina, and others the more recent personal diabolism on the handful of records running up to this. Production is again straightforward, with all the atmosphere being cultivated through the guitar tones and additional instruments, clean but not entirely polished, and adding an air of mysticism and ritual to the flow of the 44 minutes. Deep Calleth Upon Deep might be a 'grower' more than an initial 'shower', but in the end it definitely inspires me more than the previous s/t and just as much as the last few I had enjoyed...and does so in a way that shows an appreciable level of evolution that doesn't alienate the direction they had been headed in past their purer black metal years.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.satyricon.no/

Sordide - Ainsi finit le jour (2024)

I had already run across Sordide's last record a couple years ago, but even with an expectation of their style this one started off so spiky and chaotic that it spun my head around a few times. They've got a similar dissonant approach to some of their better known peers like Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega, but in a different context where it's more like straight-ahead black metal tempered with these odd chord choices, swerving bass lines and vocals that feel pretty turbulent and organic, not only incorporating the rasps typical of the genre but some other raving barks that feel more vicious and sporadic. But what I like about this record more than its predecessor is just how much more they lean into these differential chords consistently across the material as if they're starting to adapt them into their own nasty language.

Perhaps not as much as those other bands I mentioned, or like the mighty Canadian sci-fi thrashers Voivod who pretty much wrote the book on how do to that, but there are some similarities in style, and they piss out enough unusual writing that Ainsi finit le jour compels through much of its 53 minutes. Structurally, it's got your basic variety of blasting and then some slower, grooving chords almost like Darkthrone or Hellhammer, but then they clamp on that strangeness and it becomes just left of center. The slower tunes like "Sous vivre" are murky and offsetting, while the up-beat stuff like "Banlieues Rouges" has these great guitar licks sliding all over with a freakish disposition. The bass seems much more grounded than the roiling rhythm guitars, and that helps anchor the festivities to give them an occasional 'warm' vibe despite how tormenting the chords can feel.

As a result, I think this record (like their last) can have some crossover feel to fans of weirder post hardcore bands or dissonant jazz-fused black metal stuff like Imperial Triumphant, in addition to the groups I mentioned before. But the skeleton of the music itself is much more obvious, and if you'd fused together these riffs a little differently you'd have something approximating more traditional BM. At any rate, while this isn't always that interesting, it's a solid step past Les idées blanches and if they continue to develop this uncanny atmosphere being sloshed around by the guitars they might really be onto something. Cool disc.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://sordide.bandcamp.com/

Satyricon - Live at the Opera (2015)

It is the hubris of many a rock or metal band to perform with an opera or orchestra in either a live or studio setting, to record it for posterity (or bragging rights), and lucky are the few who get to do so. Whether it's through financial ability, or knowing the right people, it's hardly a rare occurrence, and when Satyricon got their chance they decided to do it with style, the product of which is a DVD and double audio CD along with the Norwegian National Opera Chorus, as part of a cultural series that I assume other acts got to participate in. I'll be honest, I'm a little envious, not because I want to do something like this for any of my own music, but because I only dream that a lot of North American extreme metal bands would get to try it. Imagine Cryptopsy or Cannibal Corpse playing alongside an orchestra? I'd love to hear it.

But it's an even rarer occurrence that such a mash-up of musical mediums actually manifests into something as interesting as this effort, one that transforms material from across the Norwegian duo's career into something more multi-dimensional without losing all of its original characteristics. The material has been elevated into a dark-lit escape, a "Carmina Burana" dosed with black & roll guitars, Frost-ian thunder drums and Satyr rasping. I think a lot of the band's slower material off the 4-5 studio albums just before this one lend themselves pretty well to the layering in of the choirs, which is where so much of the content is drawn, with the earliest albums pretty much untouched. Something like "Den siste", which already had choir vocals and such on The Age of Nero, isn't terribly different, but it sounds much more epic in this setting, whereas tracks from the middling eponymous album from 2013 actually are quite elevated..."The Infinity of Time and Space", "Phoenix", "Tro og kraft", all take on new life and I wonder if I just would have preferred that album had it been all orchestrated...

The big one for me, of course, was hearing "Mother North", and this also sounds cool, how the choir voices lift through the faster tremolo riffing. I don't know if it's ultimately necessary to bolster such an already-impressive piece, and the drums feel a bit subdued and mechanical here and elsewhere on the track list, and it does seem a little cluttered as they're trying to weigh down each moment with the added chorus, but when Satyr shouts 'Oslo...' you can tell the audience is into it and this might be the very number the audience was also waiting for. But I think the better uses of this accompaniment come with some of the simpler tracks where it's applied more subtly. As for the video itself, this might be the better way to experience it all, since it's more or less a standard Satyricon live show only with the choir looming behind them, so the obvious passion of the performance makes up for any of its overbearing qualities, especially the more contemplative, evil moments. All together, though, a cool project that isn't wasting anyone's time or money, and one best left to a solitary product like this one.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.satyricon.no/

Time Lurker - Emprise (2024)

Much like Time Lurker's eponymous 2017 debut, Emprise is long on transforming atmospherics into something that smacks you straight in the face, not to say it lacks in riffing and intricacy, but these are tools used to contribute bleedingly to the material's dark, streaming vibe. Paired up with the howling, tortured vocals of Mick, which clearly follow in that Burzum vein exclusively, you've got an effort that is best experienced in full when you're seeking out something desperate and transcendent, almost like you were to filter some strain of post rock through a blasting, tremolo picking filter. I think the cover artwork selected for this couldn't be more apt, because it really just feels like your conscience is escaping your pallid corpse to realms dim and hopeless and obscure.

To be clear, there are some fairly catchy licks driving pieces like "Cavalière de feu" and "Poussière mortifère", but they both have their segues of surging spaciousness interwoven with the aggressive, forward momentum. Whether this is just hyper-riffing stretched out into the void while the drums drop out, or a dire acoustic/clean guitar intro, they've got this balance of intensity and calm almost like a yin and yang across the 34 minute runtime. One track, the titular intro, is a pure swell of ambiance with what sounds like subtle vocals and snarls shoved up against some cosmic radiance or engine-humming, and it was appreciably enigmatic and dread-inducing. But despite having a consistent conceptual feel to it, there is actually a decent level of variety to the songwriting. "Disparais, soleil" stands out for being very calm, with slower guitars that ring off into the atmosphere, ethereal female vocals hovering just on the edge of your consciousness, and some nice tribal drumming to bind it all into a trance. They also balance out the faster, cutting stuff with a lot of mid-paced or slogging moments.

The vocals are going to be an acquired taste like other bands that use them, they are very traumatic and might fool an uninitiated listener into thinking they are making some mockery of the style, but they are well implemented here and definitely give you that illusion of being stabbed somewhere out in a wintry waste until the steam rises off your leaking blood. It's not meant to be comfortable, but to convey the pain and emotion of someone lost in the esoteric pocket dimension in which this musician explores. I'm not sure I'd place this quite at the equal of the Time Lurker debut, but it's close, and there are some departments in which this exceeds it...such as emotional impact, melodic grace, and diversity. This continues to be another rich new voice to experience on the French scene with dreadful potential.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://timelurker.bandcamp.com/album/emprise

Rebel Souls - Leviathan EP (2024)

The gap between the Leviathan EP and Dawn of Depravity was a bit smaller than that between their two full-lengths, but I actually think the four tracks here show a little more of a progression for Rebel Souls. The material is not quite as intense as the prior album could often get, with the possible exception of the closer "Cognitive Warfare", but even there you're getting a tune that is more rhythmically interesting and dare I say catchier. The vocals still have that same guttural hammer to them, and the musicians are capable of exploding whenever necessary, but the writing is reined in a little and the result is awesome. I still picked up a lot of vibes from Vader, Deicide, and so forth, but you'll also here an injection of more mechanistic grooving ideas akin to modern Pestilence, not to mention some more escapist, atmospheric riffing like the shell that sparks the lead guitar in the titular opening track.

Each of these pieces felt more distinct from one another, although clearly set in the same stylistic mold. "Leviathan" is a formidable exhibition of how the band can switch between its bedrock death metal fundamentals and the hints of more progressive ideas; where "The Philanthropist" might be my favorite in their whole catalogue, a lurching juggernaut with those Pestilence dynamics I mentioned, only it's packed in with all these explosive, controlled fills and some great swap-ups to old school, evil death metal riffing. The leads likewise kickass and feel slightly more adventurous or experimental than past efforts. Another interesting cut is "Warmonger" with an intro lick that almost sounds more like swaggering heavy/groove metal with little death metal licks breaking out across the bow, but then accelerates to a much more intense level with the leads and rhythms, climaxing with this majestic harmony during the bridge. The closer has some Voivod-like dissonant chops in the verse but otherwise brings the material back around to the speed and ferocity of Dawn of Depravity. Again, some killer leads in this one, and the weird outro riff is also pretty badass.

While hindered a bit by it's shorter length of around 17 minutes, Leviathan definitely succeeds at casting a broader net than its predecessors, or rather exploring in between the gaps of their more intense writing with something inventive, progressive. There are definitely bands that took these rhythmic excursions to a much more technical extremely, say a Soreption, but rather than dizzying the listener, Rebel Souls packs just enough into the material to keep it interesting, replayable, and worth tracking down if you enjoy the very 'craft' of death metal, inspired by numerous substyles over the decades, but nonetheless forward thinking within their own trajectory.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/rebelsouls.deathmetal/

Revocation - Netherheaven (2022)

It seems like such an eternity since I first got to meet and play with local stalwarts Revocation, they've now built up such an international respect though touring and eight studio albums that they're a household name, at least for any fan of contemporary death metal or deathcore. They also really fucking deserve it, because say what you will about any wavering quality from album to album, they maintain an intense level of studio canny, professionalism and musical proficiency that is never in doubt. I though the last two albums before Netherheaven, namely The Outer Ones and Great is Our Sin, were damned solid if not exceptional, and the opening handful of tracks off this new album do not disappoint. I'm not saying these are timelessly memorable tunes, mind you, I think that Revocation's true masterpiece might yet await us, but this is beyond workmanlike and at least the first piece, "Diabolica Majesty" is a scorcher.

And that's because, in addition to the modern death and thrash elements, I almost caught a whiff of melodic 90s death or black metal in this one that integrated very well with the chugging breakdowns of clinical melodies that the band are well known for. It's a fresh approach that really pays off once that mid-paced thrashing erupts and puts you back in familiar territory. Other highlights here were "Strange and Eternal" with some interesting breaks in between the furious barrage, and "Galleries of Morbid Artistry" with its moody escalation and some great melodies woven through the carnage of the chorus. It's almost like you took a few of the cooler Revocation albums prior to this and wound in a bit of Dissection or At the Gates and it feels fresh, whereas some of their earlier efforts could often get formulaic. You've still got plenty of technicality to gawk at, and shouldn't be disappointed if you've followed them up to now, but this album seems like it justifies itself a lot and offers in-roads to further progression or side-gression.

The band can still play the shit out of everything, with Ash & Brett forming a flawless rhythm section into which David Davidson can inject all of his ideas, which are considerable. The leads might not be the most immortal you've heard, but they're consistently catchy and atmospheric, and never show off to the detriment of the rest of their aggression. Vocally I've often thought there was something lacking, or rather the delivery was a bit stock for death metal or metalcore, but I actually found hid vocals on Netherheaven to be some of the strongest or heaviest he's done, not that there's a lot of variety in the intonation or meter of the lines, but it pretty well suits the intensity of the instruments. Recording is courtesy of Jens Bogren who has worked with a lot of European greats, like the recent At the Gates post-reunion records, and it's as slick and clear as you'd wish without becoming too poppy. Artwork is great, the prolific Paolo Girardi and frankly one of his more cohesive offerings of late, encapsulating the tightness and effectiveness of Revocation's style. I think this one sits right alongside The Outer Ones, even it it doesn't set a new standard, it's a fun enough listen.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://revocationband.com/

Rebel Souls - Dawn of Depravity (2022)

The sophomore Rebel Souls outing sees the German/Spanish act digging deeper into that aggressive balance they struck on their 2017 debut The Forces of Darkness, falling somewhere between the brutal and technical edges of the death metal spectrum, capable of both extremes but never diving too far off either cliff. Instead, we get that same songwriting emphasis we hear from many of the acts in the Polish scene, a comparison I've drawn before in this particular case, that holds even truer here than the previous disc. This is a band that shows a love and knowledge of their genre and executes that with an expertly wrought amalgamation of evil riffing, intense drumming, over-the-top leads and enough variation that you'll never get bored listening through this, even if there's nothing about it that stands out as strikingly original.

The production here is mint, perfectly clear but allowing for an ample impact of the crunching mid paced riffs as they vault back and forth with the outbursts of blasting and tremolo-picked madness. I liken them a lot to Vader, one of my favorite bands, but a lot of the riffing structures throughout tunes like "Poisoner of the Harvest" and "Sea of Crises" definitely recall American bands like Deicide, Malevolent Creation and Morbid Angel. The bass lines are fat and agile enough to stand out from the rhythm guitar brickwork while never intruding upon the endless barrage of riffs, and the drumming of Arnau Martí is as patently absurd as it is professional; the footwork and blasts are worthy of almost any of his peers, but he's always got some nice beats and fills to help support the breakdowns and grooves so they're never mired down in tedious repetition. Stefan Hielscher's vocals definitely have a bit of the guttural Glen Benton/David Vincent style to them, but they layer them up with some solid backups or multi-tracking to once again hover above the din of monotony or predictability.

There isn't a large dynamic in song quality, most of them flow around the same level: exciting, with all-around admirable musicianship and breakout leads that bore them a little deeper into your memory. I wouldn't say it's always the catchiest material riff-for-riff, but just an overall sort of package which you can depend on for the full 42 minutes of its existence. I'm actually going to nudge Dawn of Depravity slightly past The Forces of Darkness, it's a little more 'veteran', polished and extreme and confident, but at the same time I wouldn't say it's that much of a songwriting leap beyond its predecessor. Easily recommendable to fans of Polish acts like Vader or Behemoth, or the Floridian forebears that I mentioned earlier. No bullshit, no gimmicks, non-trendy death metal which earns its marks in all the important departments for this style, timeless blunt force ear-to-brain flossing with enough musicality to endure.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/rebelsouls.deathmetal/