Spirit Possession - Spirit Possession (2020)

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Here's another album flying under the venerable Profound Lore Records label, a well-oiled machine run by Chris Bruni who always seems to be ahead of the curve, and it's another album that will be heavily listened to by yours truly – The sound and production is exactly what I'm looking for right now, albeit I have only listened to the only two tracks released, I am staunch in knowing that this album nails down primitive sounding black metal.

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A sound that harkens back to the cold and primeval sounds of 90's black metal, with angular riffs, shrill atmosphere, ghostly production at its centre, and on the sonic periphery a torrent of influences takes shape in the form of heavy metal that borrows perfectly from early hardcore, in the same way that Razor did back in the late 80's during the festering metal scene of Toronto until they unfortunately and unceremoniously faded away into obscurity… It was a perfect. This to me is everything going right for forward thinking black metal. Imagine fusing together the best elements that make up Hellhammer, Mercyful Fate, Negative Plane, Razor, mid Darkthrone and Finland's (underrated and under appreciated) Swallowed and you will come up with a sound that is comparable to Spirit Possession's impressive, maybe immaculate, self-titled debut. What a release!

It's also worth noting that the vocalist/guitarist in Spirit Possession is the same vocalist/guitarist that makes up the band KNEEL, of which I posted about a few days ago and another release I think is basically perfect. Some accounting for taste for sure.

Spirit Possession (bandcamp)

Couch Slut - Take a Chance on Rock n' Roll (2020)

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Couch Slut have been around for the last 6 years quietly making a lot of noise in the form of noise-rock mixed with a healthy amalgamation of influences and soundscapes running the gamut of punk, doom, sludge, hardcore and throwing in glimpses of anything else they can get their grubby mitts on – experimentation. Amidst the chaos, Couch Slut have managed to create a sound that is almost wholly unique in their delivery and I can't help but find myself reaching to hit the play button. If sonic aspects of Brainbombs, Indian, Jute Gyte, Converge and Iron Lung were distilled into a singular sound it might come out sounding like this.

Take a Chance on Rock n' Roll (bandcamp)

KNEEL - Infinite Worship, Slaves Eternal EP (2020)

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Probably one of the finest EP's cut from the cloth of black metal I've heard this year, and if it were instead a full-length I'd probably say it was up there with one of my favourite releases of the year so far by virtue of it's sheer ferocity and unyielding production.

KNEEL offer up their first musical output on the sacrificial altar, and it's in the form of absolutely nailed-down raw black metal with a clear influence in ethos and sound from the more caustic aspects of punk. Not in the same vain as Raspberry Bulbs or Okkultokrati, where emphasis and structure is more simplified and unison but more akin to Morbid Insulter or Bone Awl who have traded the affects of simplicity for intensity and are built around a thicker viscosity, with more layers and dimensions floating around the bones of the songs.

Musically Infinite Worship, Slaves Eternal charges through 3-songs of densely layered black metal that pulls heavily from elements of bestial death metal a la bands like Swallowed, Teitanblood and Triumvir Foul so sonically and atmospherically everything is bloated and caked in grime and the vocals lurch between schizophrenic howls, belches and grunts which is something if not recorded and executed right it just sounds like a mess, but this is spot on. Everything is spot on!

Infinite Worship, Slaves Eternal (bandcamp)

Hank Wood and the Hammerheads - Use Me 7" (2020)

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Hank Wood and the Hammerheads might be the last bastion of defence in the realms of sonic austerity, in the swirling ether of New York garage punk, amidst the grime of the sewage causeways and alleyways there is definitely a beating heart that still rides under a tattered and torn banner proclaiming rock and roll in all its authenticity, and Hank Wood and the Hammerheads have been a clear, albeit modest, part of that ticking heart.

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Use Me continues along with the bands progression in sound and explores some untrodden territory within its grooves and has moved even further away from the more feral and caustic sound of their earlier releases but what it gives up in speed and ferocity it hits back with equal force in musical heft and the hooks go so deep. If you're unfamiliar with the bands earlier releases and ignorant to the sound they helped pave, stop reading this now and go do a deep dive because it's absolutely worth it. This new record is still crass and charged full of jangling energy, but it's a different energy source, drawing from the well of The Stooges, Richard Hell, MC5, but with an attack plan that's more akin to Germany's Dean Dirg rather than the former studs. Still snotty and shooting out phlegm behind poignant if not potent words is Hank Wood and if you ever saw these guys play live you were enthralled, filled with vim and vigour and you wanted to do something about something… You just forgot what it was. Get into this, or forever accept defeat!

Use Me 7" (Bandcamp)

Warp Chamber - Implements of Excruciation (2020)

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Chris Bruni of Profound Lore Records has always had his hands on the pulse of death metal, feeling for signs of life and then giving that life existence on the planes of sonic annihilation. He's had a few misses during his tenure (my opinion) but other than that, Profound Lore Records is one of the most consistent record labels out in the abyss of all things metal or tied to that which is heavy.

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Warp Chamber come out swinging on their debut full-length, a full-bodied attack of churning and cavernous death metal with a predilection for fetid guitar tones, bloated vocals and a backdrop that sounds nothing short of putrid. You get the point I'm not so subtly making, yeah? implements of Excruciation isn't reinventing the wheel or anything, but the integrity and brute force in which they will pummel you for thirty straight minutes is a thing to behold. There isn't a single second of filler floating around in these caves of churning riffs and vocal belches, it's absolutely filthy, and the way the drumming manages to bob and weave its way around with adept blasts and fills restores a fragment of my faith within 2020's ability to impress upon me. One of the better releases of the year so far, and it's not even close.

Implements of Excruciation (bandcamp)

Spectral Lore / Mare Cognitum - Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine (2020) [split]

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This split is blowing so many releases out of the water – It's less of a split and more of a joined-collaborative of full-lengths between two gladiators in the arena of discordant black metal with a penchant for the esoteric and cosmic – Between the two of them, Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum are punching way over their weight on Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine with a total running time just shy of 2 hours. It's colossal in full sway of the word and It's a lot to digest in one sitting and though it might even be guilty of being lofty at times you should pay attention. If not, you're getting it all wrong.

Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine (bandcamp)