ALBUM REVIEW: Allfather, ‘And All Will Be Desolation’

By: Daniel Jackson


Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 7/9/2018

Label: Rotting Throne Records

With ‘And All Will Be Desolation’, Allfather appear to be poised to be the spiritual successor to Crowbar this generation needs and deserves. This is heavy music stripped of all pretenses, given to us to remind us that while innovation is important for forward progress, conviction and a deadly riff are all you really need.

 

‘And All Will Be Desolation’ CD//DD track listing:

1. Black Triangle

2. Citadels

3. Lord Betrayer

4. By Sword, By Famine, By Plague

5. Jackal's Night

6. Inherit The Dust

7. Lampedusa

The Review:

I’ve spent entirely too much time trying to figure out how exactly to categorize Allfather. There are elements of sludge, hardcore, doom, and even more besides in play here. But at a certain point, I came to realize that none of that really matters. What matters is that Allfather, and their new album ‘And All Will Be Desolation’ are rotten with riffs, and catchy ones at that.

With the possible exception of the album’s opening clean guitar passage, every moment of this album is spent wringing every last ounce of gut-wrenching vitriol out each new riff. ‘And All Will Be Desolation’ strength is in its simplicity. Nothing gets in the way of immediacy and impact. Each of these songs is clearly communicated; its language is universal. These are the kinds of stomping, thrashing, hammering songs that cemented my love of heavy metal in the 90s. The music here is incredibly earnest, shouting from the rooftops an unabashed love of anything and everything heavy.

The emphasis on groove here can’t be overstated. Everybody in Allfather is working overtime to make sure you feel the weight of each and every crunch, every downbeat; the conviction behind these songs is so devastatingly present that it practically radiates from the speakers. Even the guitars feel like they’re a part of the rhythm section at times, with so many of the album’s highlights built around heavy palm muting and deep pockets of groove. Whether it’s something thrashier, like “Citadels” where the grove takes on a similar feel to that of some of High On Fire’s faster songs, or the brilliantly melodic swing of “Inherit The Dust”, rhythm is the crux of Allfather’s sound.

As strong as the album is collectively, “By Sword, By Famine, By Plague” is the band’s best song to date. The opening riff wields both a massive hook and a menacing atmosphere, eventually giving way to a devastatingly simple but powerful palm muted section that’s bound to snap a neck or two live. The second half of the song is loaded with sludgy swing, building to a massive climax where a scintillating guitar solo takes center stage. The song is a fucking journey, with its closing moments dedicated to a swampy southern crawl, and the perfect end to one of the year’s better songs.

With ‘And All Will Be Desolation’, Allfather appear to be poised to be the spiritual successor to Crowbar this generation needs and deserves. This is heavy music stripped of all pretense, given to us to remind us that while innovation is important for forward progress, conviction and a deadly riff are all you really need.

“And All Will Be Desolation’ is available here

Band info: Facebook

SLUDGECAMP #5: A deep dive into the newest black/death metal releases on Bandcamp w/c 17/08/2018

By: Daniel Jackson

Rebel Wizard

Welp, it didn’t take long, but life got in the way and I missed several weeks worth of “Sludgecamp”. I don’t believe this is going to be a recurring thing, so hopefully I’ll be a lot more consistent from here on in! This week is another largely black metal affair, with a bit of death thrown in for some balance. It’s also heavy on new pre-orders as opposed to albums released this week. As always, I hope you find something to love here!

Released this week:

1). Rebel Wizard, “Voluptuous worship of rapture and response”

This album is garnering plenty of praise and hype, and with good reason! The music is an infectious blend of NWOBHM and black metal, housed within the harsh, fuzzy production B. Nekrasov has favored from the project’s inception. With wild song titles (“Drunk on the wizdom of unicorn semen”, for example) and brilliantly crafted riffs, Rebel Wizard feels like something of a sure bet, with each new release improving over the last. When you combine this kind of excellent songwriting with flashy lead guitar work, and then wrap it in this kind of bat-shit crazy exterior, the appeal seems so obvious that greater success feels like an inevitably at this point.

2). Ladnah, “Within Dark Realms”

Coming to us from Greece is Ladnah, with the two tracks available offering two very different experiences. “The Awakening” has a very strong Emperor vibe, circa ‘Wrath of the Tyrant’ and the self-titled EP. The other song, “Belial Rises From The East” has much more of a current day Sargeist kind of feel to it, but both are well done. This is a total throwback, and would have fit in amazingly well as one of the super underground bands featured in one of those old Blackened compilations back in the 90s. This is well worth checking out if you have an affinity for that mid to late 90s symphonic black metal sound.

New Reissues on Bandcamp:

3). Mactätus, “Provenance Of Cruelty” (Napalm)

In something of a fun coincidence given the previous band’s similar stylistic choices, underrated symphonic black metallers Mactätus have made their way to bandcamp via their old label home Napalm Records, and they’re ready to rouse your late 90s symphonic black metal nostalgia as only they can. Released originally in 1998, this album strikes a nice balance between the early Emperor material and pre-Galder Dimmu Borgir. 

New Pre-Orders:

4). Dödsrit, ‘Spirit Crusher’ (28th of September)

Prosthetic Records has been on something of a tear this year with well-regarded albums from Skeletonwitch, Monotheist, and now this week’s Rebel Wizard all under their belts this year. They’re coming back very quickly with another can’t miss album. This time, they’re presenting us with a brand new Dödsrit album; less than a year following their remarkable debut, and the preview song plain old fucking kills. Their last album was on my year end list, and by the sound of this, they’re damn well likely to be there again this year. If you have any interest in atmospheric black metal, crust, or both: buy this. Immediately.

5). Mutilated by Zombies, ‘Scripts of Anguish’ (5th of October)

Awesome old school death metal, though of a different sort than you might be thinking. This one should appeal more to the Morrisound, Florida death metal devotees of the world, offering that early Deicide viciousness with the rhythmic chops of prime Dying Fetus and Deeds of Flesh.

6). All My Sins, ‘Pra Sila - Vukov Totem’ (23rd of September)

Raging melodic black metal out of Serbia, and self-described as “South Slavic Black Metal Mysticism”. The relentless blasting here is paired with icy tremolo riffs with a touch of folk sprinkled in throughout, with the end result approaches something like the current day Finnish black metal sound, only at hyperspeed and with a cleaner production. “Vetrovo Kolo”, the song available to preview, rarely stops long enough to let you catch your breath, but the ride is well worth the exhaustion.

Band info: Ladnah || Mactätus || DODSRIT || Mutilated By Zombies || All My Sins

ALBUM REVIEW: Extremity, "Coffin Birth"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/07/2018

Label: 20 Buck Spin

To put out an album that stands out in what feels like a tidal wave of high quality releases is no small achievement, and the band should feel immense pride in what they’ve created here. This is mandatory listening.

‘Coffin Birth’ CD//LP//CS//DD track listing:

1. Coffin Birth / A Million Witches

2. Where Evil Dwells

3. Grave Mistake

4. Umbilicus

5. For Want of a Nail

6. Occision

7. Like Father like Son

8. Misbegotten / Coffin Death

The Review:

As seems to happen every so often, we’re in the midst of a gigantic death metal resurgence. Top notch albums are coming out from across the globe and the songwritings as good as it’s ever been. The added benefit this time around is that it isn’t all from one particular sub-style. In the past we’ve seen resurgences in early Incantation worship, Stockholm sweddeath, and others beyond. This time around, it just seems as though death metal as a whole is experiencing an uptick, with a number of bands putting it all together at the same time, across a range of styles.

In a way, Extremity embodies the entirety of death metal’s 2018 rebirth. The sonically massive recording, the inclusion of a wide range of influences, but all under death metal’s larger umbrella. As the album goes along, the songs invoke something familiar, but never outright worshipping a specific band. You’ll hear something that would feel at home on a Bolt Thrower album, or something that would feel at home on a Carnage or Unleashed album, and even early Death rears its head in some of the harmonized guitar leads. On ‘Coffin Birth’, Extremity takes all of these different sounds, and brings them together into a single, cohesive whole, and it fucking rules.

Each song on ‘Coffin Birth’ feels like a journey, rather than a compilation of great riffs. The band rarely ever dwell on the same idea for long, and each new place a song end up keeps the song interesting. Just looking at “For Want of a Nail” as an example: the song opens up with a lurching, climbing double kick section, before the tempo kicks up somewhat as twisting, limber riffs keep up with Aesop Dekker’s thrashy beat. After that, the song launches into an utterly crushing breakdown, in which Aesop Dekker’s masterful sense of groove and feel take center stage, the moment made all the more powerful by a breakdown riff that’s up there with “Master Butcher’s Apron” off of Carcass’ ‘Surgical Steel’, meaning it’s among the best of this decade. That’s not to mention the fantastic solo work that immediately follows, though I’m not certain which guitarist to credit Marissa Martinez-Hoadley or Shelby Lermo for it.

There’s so much going on in each and every song, and none of it ever feels forced, nor do the transitions ever feel unnatural. Each song is an ever-mutating creature unto itself and yet unified as one greater whole. ‘Coffin Birth’ is the work of musicians who’re at the height of their creative powers, standing out and claiming their own piece of an exceptional time in death metal history. To put out an album that stands out in what feels like a tidal wave of high quality releases is no small achievement, and the band should feel immense pride in what they’ve created here. This is mandatory listening.

‘Coffin Birth’ is available digitally on CD, LP, or Cassette here.

Band info: Facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Inexorum, "Lore of the Lakes"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 27/07/2018

Label: Gilead Media

This is an exceptionally composed and fully realized project. This is one person putting together all of these different elements and insuring that they work together to create something powerful in unison and for that reason I can’t recommend this album to you highly enough. 

‘Lore of the Lakes’ LP//DD track listing:

1. Raging Hearts

2. Let Pain Be Your Guide

3. Years in Exile

4. To Omega

5. Lore of the Lakes

The Review:

‘Lore of the Lakes’ feels like an album made specifically with me in mind. Its sound, courtesy of Inexorum’s sole member Carl Skildum, is a rich mixture of melodic black metal and melodic death metal. It’s a style that mixes the deep sorrowful melodies of bands like Sacramentum and Vinterland, and reinforces those melodies with the heavier death metal side of things, like an In Aeternum or early God Dethroned. But these comparisons are only to get you in the general ballpark; Inexorum has a sound all its own.

‘Lore of the Lakes’ has what I like to call a “world building sound”. The trem-picked melodies here are the kind of atmospheric that has more to do with creating images of natural landscapes or fanciful scenes in your mind than it does with keyboards or heavy effects on the guitars. It’s in that sense that this album displays just how beautiful extreme music can be. Even as the opening moments of “Raging Hearts” see the drums blasting away in properly brutal fashion, the guitars weave their way through the beat in a way that evokes a sort of melancholy fantasy. The locomotive double bass that follows is complemented by fretwork that is more nimble than before, and it all builds to an emotional climax of harmonized guitar leads that soar atop the commotion beneath them.

That’s just one specific example of something that is true of the whole album: this is an exceptionally composed and fully realized project. This is one person putting together all of these different elements and insuring that they work together to create something powerful in unison. Even at what is often an unrelenting pace, the music takes on different dimensions, sometimes feeling hopeful or driven, others feeling even whimsical. But the heart of the album is the sense of wonder it creates, bringing the listener into a world built with evocative chords and harmonies. That it does this despite being largely a guitar/bass/drums-centric affair speaks volumes about Skildum’s ability and imagination.

So yeah, ‘Lore of the Lakes’ is fucking great. It’s the kind of album that made me want to yammer on incoherently about worlds and fantasy and whatever the hell else. And when an album makes you want to talk about the deeper emotional and cognitive impact of music, even if you’re woefully ill-equipped, as I am, then it has to be an album worth investigating. There are scores of albums with great riffs. But it’s not every day you have an album come your way that actually encourages you to use your own imagination as you listen to it. And if that’s something you value; I can’t recommend this album to you highly enough.

‘Lore of the Lakes’ is available here

Band info: Facebook

SLUDGECAMP #4: A deep dive into the newest black metal releases on Bandcamp w/c 13/07/2018

By: Daniel Jackson

Stíny plamenů,

Welcome back to “Sludgecamp”! Summer is in full swing, so of course I’m about to recommend you a bunch dark, depressing, downright bleak music to ruin all the good energy the life-enriching sun is blessing us with on these long, hot days. Whereas last week was particularly death metal-heavy, this week is essentially an all black metal extravaganza! As always, I hope you find something to love here!

Released this week:

1). Stíny plamenů, ‘20 let kanalizačních zmetků’ (Czech Republic)

 
Stíny plamenů is a name I’ve heard over the years, and it’s one I’ve wondered about each time I see it, but I’ve never really pulled the trigger until now. I’m glad I did this week! Though weirdly obsessed with sewers (so much so that it’s the first theme listed in the band’s lyrical themes on Metal Archives), the music is an awesome throwback to that speed-crazed late 90s black metal sound. The riffs here have depth and personality, stabbing and twisting as the songs roll along, all with a touch of melody. The performances here are so precise and yet so natural, which makes this an absolute joy, especially if you’re a big fan of the more melodic side of 2nd wave black metal.

2). Svältvinter, ‘Att Öde Vara’ (Trollhättan, Sweden)

 
This is some pretty straightforward black metal, but with an obvious eye on whatever the greenest pastures of the genre might be. The songs are written specifically to stick in your head and make an immediate impression. It’s a brilliantly stipped-down, nearly punk rock approach that gives the band plausible deniability when it comes to selling out, while being immediately accessible in a way you might have expected from an early 2000s Moonfog Records band. The vocals are absolutely venomous here, and lead off track “Skogsbrand” even features something approximating gang vocals. The EP concludes with an uncharacteristically atmospheric song, swinging along in a way that almost gives it a folk metal feel. Great stuff all around, if you don’t mind an especially “basic” songwriting style.

3). Kryptamok, ‘Profaani’ (Finland)

Blood Harvest this week brings us a delicious gritty black metal EP, via Finland’s Kryptamok. Where reinventing the wheel clearly isn’t the goal here, the band succeeds in a big way by taking a classic, established sound and just doing it in way that feels raw, vital, and coursing with frenetic energy. You’ve likely heard something that sounds like this, but it’s rarely done this well.

4). Qafsiel, ‘The True Beast’ (London, UK)

 
The band have self-tagged themselves as blackgaze, and I get that this might appeal to fans of that genre somewhat, but truth be told there’s a lot more going on here, and none of it strikes me as Alcest or Deafheaven worship. So what is going on here? It’s dense and heavy for a black metal band, and the atmosphere here comes across as more powerful than the more delicate vibe you tend to get in a blackgaze band. Really, this is current day atmospheric black metal that should appeal to folks to like a band like Mgła as much or more that it does a fan of Lantlôs or the like.

5). Codex Daemonicum, ‘Doctrines of the Fallen’

    

Simplified in a similar manner to Svältvinter, though much more atmospherialc bent overall, is Codex Daemonicum. These riffs will often straddle the fence that resides between prime 90s Marduk and ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’. The songs immediately feel familiar, but with a character of its own. As with our last band, the name of the game here is immediacy. Codex Daemonicum seems content to let their classic 2nd wave guitar work take center stage, as the vocals are drowned in reverb and mixed quietly enough that they take a back seat to almost everything else going on. It’s a unique tactic for a band that favors this specific black metal sound, but it works well here. Bonus points to Blood Harvest for having two strong releases come up in one week like this.

6). Solitary Key, “Sulphosfurous”

Raw, lo-fi, punk-ish, and dripping with schlocky charm, Solitary Key are probably the most fun album on the list this week. The key (sorry) here is the purposefully cheap-sounding keyboards, which give the whole thing an almost cartoonishly spooky feel; the stuff of local horror hosts’ late night movie marathons, rather than something more stoic and grim.The riffs here are catchy as can be, with Solitary Key feeling like the kind of band that would fit in nicely on a bill with Carpathian Forest or Emperor in their demo years.

7). Mythic Dawn, ‘En Svunnen Tid’ (Sweden)

To get right to the point: this stuff is super by-the-book. It’s so basic that I’m having a hard time explaining why I’m so drawn to it. There’s something powerful in being this doggedly committed to a subgenre’s orthodoxy. Its black metal stripped down to only its essential core elements. Fans of Darkthrone, Judas Iscariot, etc. have a good shot at enjoying this. It’s cold, fuzzy, harsh, and unabashedly grim, and that’s more than good enough for me!

New Pre-Orders:

8). Dauþuz, “Des Zwerges Fluch’ (25th of August)

With so much to talk about from the albums released this week, I felt it necessary to focus on just one pre-order this time around, so I’m going with Dauþuz. Naturmacht Productions released the band’s excellent ‘Die Grubenmähre’ last year, and they’re already back with a new release next month. It’s the same sort of powerful, pitch black melancholy that made ‘Die Grubenmähre’ so great. In fact, if I’d heard it before the end of the year last year, it would have almost certainly made my year end list. The track we can stream now bodes well for ‘Des Zwerges Fluch’ in 2018!

Band info: Stiny Plamenu || Svaltvinter || Mythic Dawn || Dauthuz

SLUDGECAMP #3: A deep dive into the newest black/death metal releases on Bandcamp w/c 6/7/2018

By: Daniel Jackson

Insignium

We’re back for a briefer-than-usual edition of “Sludgecamp”! The ongoing upswing in death metal’s creativity and strength of output is here in full effect this week, with strong showings in a number of the subgenre’s various niches. One of the things I’ve loved most about this column so far is that there’s always someone who’s just put up something brilliant or interesting or exciting, and it can come from anywhere on the planet. There’s so much creativity in the world, and so much brilliant music just waiting to be found and appreciated. I hope you find something to appreciate here.

Released this week:

1). Svartkonst, ‘Devil’s Blood’

 
This is some damned nasty, filthy, blackened death n’ roll. I’m having a hard time thinking of anyone they’re directly similar too, but this album features some excellent song arrangements, a delightfully grimy-yet-razor-sharp production, and riffs for weeks. They’re listed as unsigned/independent currently, but there’s no way on earth that lasts very long unless sole member Rickard Törnqvist wants it that way. This is simply too good to stay hidden for long.

2). Xvarmart, ‘Xvarmart’

 
On the other end of the spectrum is this Iranian duo, drowning their grim and bitter black metal in layers of reverb creating a resonant, cavernous atmosphere. Sure there are bands out there doing something similar musically, but this is a great version of that minimalist, lo-fi black metal sound. This absolutely gut-wrenching if you’re in the right mood for it.

3). Nazrak, ‘Cantiques Funèbres’

    

A little under produced, but more in the sense that it has that thinner mid 90s production to it. The key here is that the riffs, while familiar in style are clever and memorable, and the keyboard work and clean vocals are done tastefully, and offer a very complete listening experience. Even if the recording itself is lacking a bit of heft, the music more than makes up for it if you’re into black metal with a bit of whimsy to it. (Note: The bandcamp page indicates that the album is still a pre-order, even though it says it was released on the 5th of July, so I’m not sure what’s happening there.)

New Reissues on Bandcamp:

4). Pyre,  ‘Human Hecatomb’ Released 3rd August 2018

 
This tasty slab of old school death metal was originally released by Chaos Records several years ago, but thankfully Redefining Darkness, is stepping up to bring the album back into circulation on CD with an eight page booklet and bonuses in the form of demo tracks and a strong cover of Slaughter’s “Nocturnal Hell”. The songwriting here sets the band apart from the pack, and with this being an edition limited to 300, you’ll probably want to get your hands on a copy sooner rather than later.

New Pre-Orders:

5). Heads For The Dead, “Serpent’s Curse” Released 24th September 2018

     

Members of Wombbath, Ursinne, and Revel In Flesh make up this new death metal band with a love of classic horror. The artwork rules, which always helps, but the riffs back it up big time. The pre-release single is the album’s title track, and it paints Heads For The Dead as providing some killer death metal with both a flair for drama and atmosphere, as well as a keen sense of melody when called upon. Transcending Obscurity has gone above and beyond for this album with special edition box sets in LP and CD format, if you’re looking for some extra goodies from a band that puts a lot of thought into visual presentation. Well worth your attention.

6). Insignium, ‘Infamie und Urgewalt - Wenn Altes sich erhebt’ Released 31st August 2018

Some very promising melodic black metal coming from Apostasy Records, with elements of thrash and classic heavy metal woven into the tapestry as well. People will point to that classic Dissection sound as a point of reference, but there’s plenty more variety beyond that, as the song available in advance makes abundantly clear.

Band info: Svartkonst || Nazrak || Heads for the Dead || Insignium

ALBUM REVIEW: Immortal, "Northen Chaos Gods"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 6/7/2018

Label: Nuclear Blast

Fans of each era of Immortal will find something that speaks directly to them, and as a beginning for a new era in Immortal’s career, it’s an obviously strong one.

‘Northern Chaos Gods’ CD//CS//LP//DD track listing:

1. Northern Chaos Gods

2. Into Battle Ride

3. Gates to Blashyrkh

4. Grim and Dark

5. Called to Ice

6. Where Mountains Rise

7. Blacker of Worlds

8. Mighty Ravendark

The Review:

The story surrounding ‘Northern Chaos Gods’, Immortal’s first new album in nearly nine years, is all about what transpired during their long hiatus, and the absence of their longtime and charismatic front man Abbath. It’s a difficult thing, trying to move out from under the shadow of someone whose personality and voice were so intrinsically linked with the band’s very existence. On social media, the announcement of this album was plagued by comments from long time fans deriding the very thought of Immortal continuing without Abbath. It felt like an impossibility to them, like trying to imagine Motörhead without Lemmy.

Heavy metal history is brimming with stories of bands trying to continue on without legendary vocalists: Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and so on. And we know that those stories rarely end with the band continuing to succeed at a similar level once that change is made. But there are exceptions to that rule. The most prominent example of this, at least from an extreme metal perspective, is probably Cannibal Corpse. Corpsegrinder has proven to be a more dynamic vocalist and an equally, if not more engaging live performer. It’s hard to find the basis for an argument that the band’s popularity has suffered without Chris Barnes, as you won’t find any evidence supporting that idea based on comparing sales for last year’s Six Feet Under and Cannibal Corpse albums.

Making predictions for something like this is never easy, but the Cannibal Corpse analogy may hold water still, even though they and Immortal represent different subgenres. Cannibal Corpse’s first post-Barnes album was ‘Vile’ in 1996, an album that was met with mixed reviews from fans. And while it’s pretty likely that ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ will fare somewhat better in its reception, there are some issues with the album that deserve consideration.

The main concern I have with ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is what I’ll call “going to the same well too many times” with certain compositional choices. In specific, it’s using very similar-sounding triplet-based clean guitar parts in several songs throughout the album. They first appear early on in the song “Gates of Blashyrkh” and show up again and again as the album goes on. Directly related to this is Demonaz’ continued love affair with viking-era Bathory, which in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. But the way that slower, epic sound manifests itself here causes the album to lag somewhat as we get late into the album. By the time “Mighty Ravendark” ends, we’ll have heard the “clean triplet guitar interlude into epic Bathory” device in three separate songs. For those who remember Demonaz’ solo album ‘March of The Norse’, you’ll remember that nearly every song on that album featured the same central rhythm. The man gets a specific musical idea in his mind and isn’t afraid to invest huge chunks of an album to that one idea, exploring it from every possible angle over an album’s duration. The repetition isn’t as difficult to sit through here, but it definitely warrants discussion.

Where ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ shines brightest is when it’s going full speed ahead. The lead single and title track was absolutely the right choice to showcase up front, with its callbacks to the pitch black frenetic energy of ‘Battles in the North’. ‘Into Battle Ride’ is another blast fest, sticking out in particular because it’s the only song on the album in which large sections of it are in straightforward 4/4 time, with the triplet rhythms waiting nearly a full minute before coming into play. “Grim And Dark” is a great combination of the two central styles of the album, with blast beats giving those giant chord progressions some extra energy via Horgh’s blistering speed.

‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is largely a great album. I’ve spent a large section of this review pointing out the album’s faults and hammering Demonaz for dwelling on a certain compositional style, and that’s because I think that’s a valid criticism of what he’s shown us as a composer between his solo album and now this album. But even keeping that criticism in mind, this is still a better album than Abbath’s solo album, which hasn’t held up especially well as time has gone by. Abbath’s album definitely holds the advantage in variety, but ‘Northern Chaos Gods’ is better as a fully realized listening experience. Fans of each era of Immortal will find something that speaks directly to them, and as a beginning for a new era in Immortal’s career, it’s an obviously strong one.

“Northern Chaos Gods” is available digitally here and on CD/CS/LP here. 

Band info: Facebook

SLUDGECAMP #2: A deep dive into the newest black/death metal releases on Bandcamp w/c 22/6/2018 & 29/6/2018

By: Daniel Jackson

Necrophobic (2018)

Welcome back for another round of “Sludgecamp”! This batch is a mix of the raw and primitive, the sharp and precise, the tried-and-true and the fresh and new. Hope you find something you can sink your teeth into!

Released the w/c  22/6/2018 & 29/6/2018:

1). Eskhaton, ‘Omegalitheos’

   
Fucking hell! It’s hard not to get hyperbolic about something like this. ‘Omegalitheos’ is powerful, vicious, and chaotic in a way that your garden variety Blasphemy worshippers can’t really compete with. It’s a destructive force of nature in musical form. Call it death metal, call it war metal, but whatever your descriptor of choice: you need to hear this.

2). Arthedain, “Infernal Cadence of the Desolate”

   
Some really strong black metal here, alternately melodic and dark. This sound relies more on doing a tried and true sound really well rather than reinventing the wheel. Fans of that Dissection/Naglfar/Necrophobic style will so well to check this out!

3). Archemoron, ‘Year of the Harvester’

   
Highly technical and super-tight, Archemoron has riffs for ages, and should appeal immediately to anyone into ‘Armada’ era Keep Of Kalessin, although this is engaging and interesting in a way that KoK hasn’t been in years. Some truly fantastic guitar work here, but everybody is an absolute maniac on this album.

4). Ancestor, ‘Age of Overload’

     

Some super fun German-style thrash coming out of China! Nothing that reinvents the wheel, but this an excellent execution of a well-worn style. Anyone with a love for early Kreator or Sodom should be all over this!

Newly available through Bandcamp:

5). Necrophobic, “Remastered Classics!”

   
Hammerheart Records is putting out remastered version of Necrophobic’s  first 4 classics, ‘Nocturnal Silence’, ‘Darkside’, ‘The Third Antichrist’ and ‘Bloodhymns’ on vinyl and cassette! The “Darkside” remaster in particular sounds much beefier than before. Well worth a look if your physical collection is missing one or all of these albums!

Pre-orders:

6). Twilight Fauna, ‘Where Birds Sing My Name’

 
Harsh, atmospheric and deeply intertwined with his beloved Appalachian home region, Paul Ravenwood’s Twilight Fauna is always a fully immersive experience. Ravenwood’s own words on the album:

“This is an album about family, my home, and the things I love about this often painful existence. It’s about rebuilding your life after tragedy and finding a small piece of contentment in a chaotic world.”

7). Mortuary Drape, “Necromantic Doom Returns”

   
This new compilation combining the band’s “Necromancy” demo from 1987 and ‘Doom Return’ demo from 1989 are an excellent way to experience this legendary band’s formative stage. The sound is ugly and unforgiving, but absolutely capture the grim brutality of its time.

8). Hadal Maw, ‘Charlatan’

Some absolutely gargantuan progressive death metal here. The riffs coming out of the preview track, “Idolatry” come at you fast, with depth and complexity to spare. I have to imagine we’re going to be hearing A LOT about these Australians as we get closer to release date.

Band info: Lava Dome || Arthedain || Archemoron || Ancestor || Necrophobic || Twilight Fauna || Mortuary Drape || Hadal Maw