Fōr - The Life Feeding Flame (2021)

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The Life Feeding Flame is an album that has tremendous output sonically, in that its energy is vigorous and full of weight behind it. Seriously this album has an elemental power running through it, like it's been forged through magma rather than written and performed. I don't know how to make sense of that but in the same way bands like Hate Forest, Bølzer and Irkallian Oracle capture and exude a formidable energy, this album manages to do something similar.

It's a potent and ferocious bid at fusing funeral doom and death/black metal, and maybe that's where the source of its strength lies… In its ability to use the slow and heavy moments with the bolstered through a dense and cavernous atmosphere of driven guitars (with a surprising amount of melody behind them) and though the album lingers somewhere between mid-tempo and plodding it's an unrelenting and vicious ritual of the feral side of metal.

Fōr - The Life Feeding Flame (bandcamp)

Reveal! - Doppelherz (2021)

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Here's an album that is absolutely refusing to be pigeon-holed by arm-chair bloggers and critics alike, a giant fuck you to those of us who feel a compulsion to tie everything down with one of our genre packages—Sweden's Reveal! are one of the rare groups impure and brazen enough to traverse a rarely contested musical swath of influences running the gamut of everything declared under the banner of "Extreme Metal".

Doppelherz is a colourful mosaic of sounds both old and new, borrowed and invented, frenetic and calculated.—Throughout its entirety, creaky cathedral chords reminiscent of Negative Plane and Funereal Presence can be heard, which is not entirely uncommon, but definitely dubious when it's pressed up against something that sounds like early speed/heavy metal a la Mercyful Fate or disoriented black metal and thrash riffs in the vein of Obliteration or Spirit Possession… But somehow these guys fucking pull it off with gusto!

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I'll spare the multitude of comparisons and say this, it feels like this record shouldn't work. Like there's a little too much going on and too many things being pulled and implemented for it to even feel cohesive, but there's just enough structure and swagger to make it work. And I'll be the first to admit, not having this album in my last years top albums of 2021 was an impermissible misstep, but as it usually goes with very late releases in the year, I overlooked and under-appreciated Doppelherz when it dropped mid December.

Reveal! - Doppelherz (bandcamp)

Hässlig - Guillotine (2021)

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Somehow this debut release completely flew under my radar all of last year until a few weeks ago, where I have been over-listening to it ever since. Crude and primitive black metal punk a la a similar attack as Raspberry Bulbs and Bone Awl, with emphasis on raw aggression and a firm grip on how to effectively use unpolished riffs and chord progression to take something simple and make it compelling. I found this through the reliability of the Mystískaos bandcamp page, check it out or forever be a dud!

Hässlig - Guillotine (bandcamp)

Grinning Death's Head - Cataclysm (2021)

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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)

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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)

Warloghe - Three Angled Void (2021)

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Warloghe's newest album Three Angled Void came out of the fucking abyssal ether, without mention or promotion. A spectre out of nowhere carrying a barrage of frozen riffs and a landscape built around pillars of jagged guitars and drums that don't feel any compliance to the constant blast-beat quota which might seem ubiquitous in the genre. Not to say you won't find any of that on here, you will, but it's not heavily leaned on—In fact, the drums are mixed in perfectly to my liking. Pure abominable class!

It's not unlike me to say this, but it's exceptionally rare for me to listen to an album and know right off the opening track that it will be a favourite of mine… There's always massive disappointments and pitfalls, but Warloghe is Warloghe, and every so often there are sure things. Three Angled Void is that. One of the best black metal albums released this year, in my opinion, and will be overplayed into oblivion for the rest of the year and well into the next. Cold chaotic energy.

As of right now, no streams or bandcamp downloads are available. But I will link a download to the album courtesy of the esteemed Finnish Black Metal blog.

Warloghe - Three Angled Void (DOWNLOAD)
Warloghe - Three Angled Void (YouTube)

Succumb - XXI (2021)

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SHOM has been keeping a finger on the pulse of San Fran's Succumb since their debut record in 2017 which (like this album) saw its release made possible from the consummate and enigmatic The Flenser—which in my books, is a breath of fresh air in a saturated world of music where sterility and originality are celebrated and touted.

I digress, XXI picks up right where it's 4-year old predecessor left off: Down a serpentining pit of crust, grind and death metal with a sound that encompasses a lurching energy which simultaneously feels unique and familiar—Not much parsing needs to be done to hear a broad musical soundscape that harkens back to Converge, Gorguts, Mitochondrion, Caustic Wound, with tinges of Disfear.

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This album is going to end the year in high ranking with me… I think for all intents and purposes, this record is flawless. You've got to be bent to not get the appeal, brutish ferocity and whirling doom packed into 30+ minutes of abyssal death metal.

Succumb - XXI (bandcamp)

Michael Beach - Dream Violence (2021)

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Australia is an absolute uncontested hotbed in the realm of toothy rock and roll and Michael Beach is just yet another fish in the pond of energetic and woollen post-punk from Melbourne. Angular guitars pervade through a post-punk sentimentality that isn't at all afraid to traverse the sonic highways of a multitude of different genres and ideas, experimenting between tracks that harken to The Velvet Underground, Joy Division, Solid Space, Nick Cave and even a track in 'You Know Life Is Cheap' that sounds like something Timber Timbre would write with its wobbly bayou dirge. 

Michael Beach - Dream Violence (bandcamp)

Skourge - Hardcore Up Your Ass (2021) [EP]

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New Skourge EP is right up my alley! Nothing new being invented here, in fact it's more of a regurgitation of things already out there  (I mean this in a positive way), because it is a mish-mash of all that good stuff in the early 90's—Exxxtremely heavy and up your ass hardcore with half a foot in the early metal scene of thrash. A pivot from the production of 'Spiritual Disrepair', trading in murkiness for a bit more bottom-end and heft? Make sense? Doesn't matter. 'Spiritual Disrepair' is very worth your time, to say the least.

I can't find a damn thing anywhere on this album except the album uploaded on YouTube.

Cerebral Rot - Excretion of Mortality (2021)

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It should come as no surprise at all that I like Cerebral Rot. Death metal of this ilk, putrefying and almost garish, can sometimes be executed with such incredulity that it's totally bereft and unconvincing, and though Cerebral Rot isn't pushing boundaries in the same way that Irkallian Oracle or Funereal Presence might be, they are maintaining an old guard in the way that death metal is meant to sound. A sonic sentinel in the way of repugnant hymns—Excretion of Mortality is extremely foul and heavy death metal and though I haven't gotten around to overplaying it I will most definitely be revisiting it often (even though I can't stop listening to the new Antediluvian record) and I'm sure you will too.

Cerebral Rot - Excretion of Mortality (bandcamp)

Abstracter - Abominiom (2021)

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Abstracter are no joke. No whimsy to be found. "Abandon all hope" is the message written on the wall followed by a "Eat dick, shit face" scrawled heinously next to an inverted cross. Abstracter have been quietly making a lot of noise within the cavernous walls of underground death metal, churning out the type of bloated death metal that is uncompromisingly bestial and bleak in its bones but somewhere in its DNA it is much more intelligible than its fully neanderthal counterparts, Canada's Revenge for example are full troglodytic death metal—and all forms are accepted with zeal by me.

In 2018 Abstracter released 'Cinerous Incarnate' and it snuck up on me as one of the better releases that year, its ferocity was unmatched by most riding under the banner of bestial death metal and it became more cohesive over time, when the froth of grime and swirling guitars gave way I understood the only goal is not obliteration, but obliteration through formulation. There's really only one song to preview so far on that albums follow-up, 'Abominiom', but I am optimistic it will be equally as potent.

Abstracter - Abominiom (bandcamp)

Sesso Violento - Mondo Perverso (2021) [EP]

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Incredibly janky and blown out punk with a black metal backbone that manages to find a good foothold in sounding catchy and bleak at the same time, despite being so stripped down and crude. Emphasis on primitive energy instead of aesthetic and pretension. Sonically it mashes these influences in a way that is less like Ash Borer and a lot more like early Raspberry Bulbs, highly recommended for fans of this ilk!

Sesso Violento - Mondo Perverso (bandcamp)

DEFACEMENT - Defacement (2021)

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This is one of those albums that drags you through the abyss—A serpentining downward spiral through cavernous death metal that is equal parts technical, murky and experimental. 'Defacement' touches upon black metal in more ways than one, notably drawing from the well of the second wave of black metal as its reach has almost become ubiquitous in the sphere of forward-thinking underground metal.

As is always the case with anything I, Voidhanger Records, their is an inherent energy to be found on 'Defacement', something completely ambitious and janky, with a structure that is far more freeform and gelatinous than it is formulaic. Atmospherically it is bestial and primitive with emphasis on dissonant churning guitars, cavernous vocals that don't pierce through the mix in a typically garish way and a drum sound that is mixed in just right and played with the velocity of a meteor shower. The inclusion of ambient passages isn't always an accepted accent in my palette, but on 'Defacement' its presence gives the album space and a sense of purpose beyond barbarity.  

Something between a cross of Mitochondrion, Chaos Moon, Yellow Eyes, Portal, Altarage, etc. 

DEFACEMENT - Defacement (bandcamp)

Crypto Order - Destructive Strategies for Sustainable Living (2021)

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An album that at first glance would be way out of left field for Severed Heads Open Minds but upon further inspection into Crypto Order's sonic aggression in the arena of off-kilter industrial electronic and hallucinatory rave songs you could deduce a host of similarities to boundary acts like Gnaw Their Tongues, Daughters, Mamaleek, Jute Gyte, etc.

Much like Death Grips in the sense that there are perceived as well as sighted influences from a cornucopia of bands that revolve around feral energy like Revenge, The Doors, The Microphones, Lightning Bolt, The Jesus Lizard and things that feed off the dark and dismal. You will find much of the same energy on Crypto Order's Destructive Strategies for Sustainable Living.

Listen around on Italy's Democide Products page and those without a "strictly blast beats" mentality will find an arsenal of songs and albums worth your time.

Crypto Order - Destructive Strategies for Sustainable Living (bandcamp)

Septage - Septisk Eradikasyon (2021)

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One close look at the cover of this album and you would be outta your skull to think this will be anything less than a putrid and rotting slab of death metal with a predilection for blood, fascia, tendon and offal… Only a muppet wouldn't admit the garishness an album like this imposes on the listener but sometimes in the creases of our being we are more fossil hominid than we are homo sapiens. My taste for death metal is mostly in another direction, but it's been a while since I have gone down the rabbit-hole of gore inspired Death Metal, moreover it's an appropriate follow-up to the Taphos post a few days ago as 1/3 of Septage shares a member with Taphos. 

Septage - Septisk Eradikasyon (bandcamp)

Taphos - Blood Plethora (2021) [EP]

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I've posted about Denmark's Taphos before, particularly when their debut album was high up in my Top Albums of 2018 list… and I have kept both ears on them ever since, eager for the next thing. I guess I'll have to settle for this 2-track 7" they released a bit ago featuring some admirably terrible cover art? It looks like something conjured up out of 1994 Microsoft Paint. The quality of death metal more than makes up for the dismal album art though, Taphos are somehow still flying under the radar which is equally about others' desire to seek things out as it is bad taste. Take a listen, and pay attention!

Taphos - Blood Plethora (bandcamp)

Ancient Tome - Final Tomb (2021) [EP]

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I'm really digging the way this album is coming across like a mixture between the murky sludge and drone saturated doom of Meth Drinker and Cult of Occult with major emphasis on hanging glacially paced riffs. The drums are burly as hell and the cymbal work is noteworthy for me, plodding along like a dirge without ever feeling stale nor exhaustingly repetitious. Haven't heard anything prior from these guys, but this EP is pointing in a promising direction for the sonic landscape of Ancient Tome.

Ancient Tome - Final Tomb (bandcamp)

Qrixkuor - Poison Palinopsia (2021)

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Qrixkuor have had what some might call a tumultuous upbringing, with a forced hiatus in activity  spurred on by multiple changes in cast and location, a debut album has been long on the horizon of the abyssal plane… but that debut album, Poison Palinopsia, is finally upon the altar. For us to play judge and juror. Appreciator and benefactor.

In lieu of being too verbose, Qrixkuor's changes have seemed to irrefutably benefit the overarching sound and direction of the band, and with the addition of New Zealand's revered V. Kusabs (of Vassafor, Irkallian Oracle, Temple Nightshade, etc.) at the helm of song-writing you would sure as shit have to bet on the sonic scope of Poison Palinopsia to be a downward spiralling mix of cavernous death metal and black metal with tinges of doom and other various forms of entropy.

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This is some seriously heavy shit. A 50-minute, two track plunge into a hallucinatory ether of mangling guitar chords, bestial drums that punish every inch of cymbal and skin with a sadistic, schizophrenic like fervour, and a vocal delivery by S that has its own personality crisis, matching the same intensity and barbarity as Teitanblood or Swallowed. Since there are only two monolithic tracks, each song has ample room to explore atmospherics and space, in way of tempo shifts or fugacious ambient passages (none of which are sampled but individually conjured and recorded) that explore sepulchral like tones.

The production isn't as overall murky as others of this ilk, but suffice it to say it completely evades that plastic like shit with no dynamic range and maintains an overall sound that is both utterly bestial, yet coherent. It's a welcomed and perfectly delivered execution. With no shortage of letdowns, missteps, nice tries and copycats, Poison Palinopsia delivers a breath of fresh air in a genre that has seen a recent resurgence! Fans of Mitochondrion, Teitanblood, Bestia Arcana, Grave Upheaval, Spirit Possession, etc. will find much to appreciate on here, so get towards the bands bandcamp page and do your thing.

Qrixkuor - Poison Palinopsia (bandcamp)

Amulets - Blooming (2021)

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You know when you go out for sushi and you eat a fresh piece of ginger in-between your meal as the sort of palate cleanser to maximize the impact of flavours between bites? Blooming is the sonic equivalent to that practice. At least when it comes to the curation of this blog and what it is I choose to post in-between what. It can't just be a consistent deluge of black/death metal posts… you should take the palate cleanser.

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What Blooming is is a floating audio piece comprised of mixing ambient drone, shoegaze, experimental electronic, tape loops—Utilizing the imperfections of analog tape to traverse a soundscape that leaves the listener quite open to its own interpretation. Whenever something is presented minimally, we will often use the empty space to fill in whatever emotion or thought we experience in that thing. The same could be said of Blooming—It's an open black room, and you're free to move around in it in anyway you see fit. Enjoy.

Amulets - Blooming (bandcamp)

LLNN - Unmaker (2021)

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Danish post-hardcore and sludge outfit, LLNN, are trying to get back to what they accomplished on one of the better releases in 2018 (among good company) with their new full-length, Unmaker. LLNN draw from a wide well of musical influences, pulling from their ambient soundscapes that serve to maintain an atmosphere, almost lulling and mollifying the listener before an inevitable wave of crushing metallic hardcore (with a prominently post-hardcore angle) and sludge berate the ear canals. It's forward thinking, but not wholly unique, but it's a welcomed breath of fresh air in a overcrowded palette of other bands trying to do the same thing and falling short. We only have two songs to go by now, until it releases in September, but I remain optimistic. 

LLNN - Unmaker (bandcamp)