Det Eviga Leendet - Reverence (2022)

•  †  •

The sophomore release by Sweden's hidden treasure, Det Eviga Leendet, came out a few days ago through the impenetrable forces that are Amor Fati and Mystískaos and the result is a potent blast of cold and unwavering black metal. The overall sound is cloaked in a dizzying atmosphere of reverb and transient gain, which is only compounded by a drape of layered guitars that weave in and out of inspired riffs and whirring chords as if it were trying to find the sonic equivalent to hypnosis—Another hallmark of success on Reverence is the way the drums sound, in the way that they are played and in the way that they're mixed, a compelling barrage of dynamic fills and blasts that have great interplay between a wall of tone and timbre.

Det Eviga Leendet - Reverence (bandcamp)

Dire Omen - Formless Fire Embodied (2018)

•  †  •

I've posted this EP up on here before (closer to when it came out in 2018) but I'm posting it again because I have been revisiting the very small offering Dire Omen put out before their eventual disband (in 2019?), and I really like where they were heading within the genre of black/death—Nothing being reinvented, more like reformulated. The potency of Dire Omen's energy has always been at the helm of what made them great. A dense swirling churn of mirky black/death metal with great riffs and an undeniable atmosphere. So much reverence for what Dark Descent is doing!

Dire Omen - Formless Fire Embodied (bandcamp)

And in lieu of being fully prudent, here is their only full-length album put out back in 2014.

•  Ω  •

Dire Omen - Wresting the Revelation of Futility (bandcamp)

Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave (2022)

•  †  •

Here's another album I'm looking forward to based off the teaser tracks on their respective bandcamp page, Cloakroom's third full-length, Dissolution Wave. I can deduce, by unpacking what I'm hearing in these three songs that this shit is going to be a scintillating coast down sonic highways traversing shoegaze, drone, bits of sludge and indie with helpings of stoner rock and post-punk (just to namedrop a few more genres into the fray).

I would be jumping to conclusions to speak any more factually without actually hearing the full album first, but it sounds like it's the bands most cohesive effort yet, which is saying something for me because I was never really gung-ho about the two previous albums fully. Again, speaking preemptively, it sounds as if everything has come to full bloom on Dissolution Wave. The songs are robust and the production is right on the fucking money—when it needs to pack a hammer, it does so with force, when it needs to float in suspended animation, it gently sways along beautifully, when we ask it to marry the two forces, it answers with complete fluidity.

I find it tiring to read about music in an overly-intellectualized way, so I'll try to say this succinctly. The overall tone is a shifting one. Unfurling riffs and tone that hit like a megaton hammer towards gradually cascading into ephemeral shoegaze and drone that inevitably sputter into moments of dream-pop. Which is only to be cut back into a vast doom like territory filled with more crunching lo-fi guitars and reverb. Highly recommended!

Cloakroom - Dissolution Wave (bandcamp)

Μνήμα - Disciples of Excremental Liturgies (2022)

•  †  •

I wasn't privy to black metal noise terrorists, Μνήμα's new album until I found it through the esteemed Arson Cafe's newest post—If you're not aware of his spot already, bookmark it because he's one of the very last bastions of defence when it comes to keeping the underground lit, and further more, putting words and flavour into what is normally rife with banality and feigned interest into blogs, zines and websites that rely on promotion more than integrity.

•  Ω  •

I digress, Μνήμα have finally committed to a full-length album after a deluge of EP's and Demo's have been released since 2017, and it's more of the same assault on your auditory meatus, but with more tact and focus on letting the melody poke through the wall of screeching reverb and commotion. I can imagine old fans of Μνήμα being divided into two camps when it comes to this decision: Those that oppose their decision to refine their sound, and those that are not in opposition at all.

Me, I'm on the former, as I am sure most fans of Μνήμα are. It's not as if this choice has fundamentally changed their sound… Μνήμα are still incredibly raw and blown out, and the predilection to infuse traditional black metal with even more noise is still prevalent and in some cases even bolstered. Disciples of Excremental Liturgies is not casual listening, its inherent goal is in alignment with early black metal, a complete and utter rebellion to clean sound, and though they have taken a few liberties when it comes to the purity of black metal, it's still just and isolating as it needs to be to retain its potency. Go head first into THE BLACK VOID!

 Μνήμα - Disciples of Excremental Liturgies (bandcamp)

Deathless Void - Deathless Void (2022)

•  †  •

In the endless sprawl of death metal, a new presence materializes out of The Netherlands thanks to the venerable Iron Bonehead—its form takes shape through a torrent of death metal and black metal which seems to mine from the same ore as bands like Aosoth, Bölzer, Abyssal and even Dephosphorus in the sense that it is as explorative and vacuous as it is frenetically delirious and crushing. 

From the singular track that exists through the Iron Bonehead bandcamp page we can easily take stock of the obtuse intensity that will come from the bands first album, and though I am carefully optimistic, I'm definitely looking forward to its whole release on February 04, 2022.

Deathless Void - Deathless Void (bandcamp)

Nocturnal Triumph - Nocturnal Triumph (2022)

•  †  •

Amor Fati is quickly becoming the primary spawning ground for consistently putting out spirit inducing black metal that is simultaneously straddling the fine line of traditional and forward-thinking—And within a genre as worn out and tired as black metal has become since the late 90's, its a welcomed effort. Not to imply that black metal has gotten worse since its stave church burning days, I think that would be fatalistic and lazy to say, but it absolutely has become an over-saturated genre that's tripping over its own feet trying to rip off early Mayhem riffs and chasing clout.

That being said, Nocturnal Triumph's newest album came out a few days ago and it's right on the fucking money—Rife with a reverberating energy and a whole fjords worth of cold as hell riffs against a barrage of tightly produced black metal drumming. Mixed exactly right. The overall mix isn't quite blown-out enough to be lo-fi, but it's raw and foaming with a war chest full of compelling riffs.

Nocturnal Triumph - Nocturnal Triumph (bandcamp)

Verbum - Exhortation to the Impure (2022)

•  †  •

I gotta say I am pretty eager to get my mitts on this debut Verbum record tomorrow. Most things Iron Bonehead Productions are high up on my radar and judging from the two-song teaser currently up on the Iron Bonehead bandcamp page it's going to be a trip through sepulchral like doom with murky death metal of the highest order—Arcane and primitive shit! 

Verbum - Exhortation to the Impure (bandcamp)

Grinning Death's Head - Cataclysm (2021)

•  †  •

Youth Attack Records always has my attention. It's consistently putting out crude and bile filled records running the gamut of hardcore, punk and metal with rudimentary attempts to step outside the box. The box isn't important, only devastating bursts of ferocity count for something here—Mining the vein of anything and everything in between caustic and tameless.

This two-track EP by Grinning Death's Head made a big impact with very little last year, building upon what JW has already established over the years—something between hardcore and raw black metal. I don't know if I'm chomping at the bit yet, but I get it… It sounds like a cross between early Cobalt with healthy nods to acts like Bone Awl or Serum Dreg. I'm not convinced with the use of the synth in track-two but who am I to yuck your yum.

Grinning Death's Head - Cataclysm (bandcamp)

Direct Threat - Direct Threat (2021)

•  †  •

There was a decent crop of angry and demented hardcore that was released in 2021 (omitted from my best of list mostly due to the amount of good metal albums floating around last year and the length in which these albums ride under—10-15 minutes) and this self-titled (demo?) is among them. 10 minutes of righteously pissed off hardcore with a sound that is just as much raw punk. Chomp down on this!

Direct Threat - Direct Threat (bandcamp)