Häxenzijrkell - Urgrund (2022)

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Häxenzijrkell's, Urgrund, is some far out there black metal, heavily entrenched in a angular and obscure atmosphere that practically exhales something arcane… something at the very least, different then what we've all come to accept under the banner of black metal. A whirling plume of esoteric sounds swirl around here in a woozy haze of mesmerizing black metal, at times feeling like a mid-tempo cross between the obscurity of Cultes Des Ghoules mixed with the psychedelic downward spiral of Wormlust built upon the janky foundation of Urfaust.

Angular guitars which mostly move away from the typical frenetic tremolo picking and into a territory that is far more glacially paced and hypnotic, are the backbone on Urgrund, but the driving force to me is the interplay between the ritualistic like drumming and the way MK (of Rraaumm) delivers his charged (at times anthemic) vocal howls, anguished and from the larynx.

Leave it up to Amor Fati Productions to bring into the light this piece of obscure and ritualistic like black metal. Go and show your support!

Häxenzijrkell - Urgrund (bandcamp)

MORTUUS INFRADAEMONI - Inmortuos Sum (2022)

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This record came out a few days ago through the always promising Iron Bonehead Productions, and since then, I have been listening to it every day picking it apart in my head. At first I thought this was going to be another black/death record with a penchant for the avant-garde, but upon the 4 minute mark of the first song (excluding intro) it was clear to me that this album was going to wonder around in some weird musical territory. Which it does. It lives there.

After over a decade deep sleep, MORTUUS INFRADAEMONI return with a third album and its fucking banner is already hanging in the halls of great black metal records! Inmortuos Sum exists as a strong pastiche to 90's black metal, with a sound that nods to all the progenitors and early adopters but not without heavy experimentation—Obscure sonic landscapes are painted with bubbling atmospheres thick with angular and bubbling guitars building upon that putrid energy of the past but not withholding the nuances of influences that come from the newer legions like Funereal Presence, Cultes Des Ghoules, Spirit Possession or Warloghe. With the added experience from their early days in Germany's Lunar Aurora. Great band with a great track record, in my opinion. 

An off-balance freneticism often found in these newer acts permeates each track, moving feverishly between blistering, cold and garish into something slow, gurgling and decaying. It's a balance often failed by over zealous bands who don't take the time to understand the how and why of these sounds. Anyone around long enough can tell the difference. Thankfully the drums on this record are mixed perfectly, sounding as drums should, primitive and trance inducing…As is the whole production, murky, raw and potent!

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If you're a fan of both old and new Darkthrone I can see no good reason you can't get into Inmortuos Sum. It has the entire wide-range of influence both Fenriz and Nocturno Culto cultivate and utilize. 

MORTUUS INFRADAEMONI - Inmortuos Sum (bandcamp)

Festung - Der Turm (2022)

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Well articulated raw black metal drawing from a deep well of sonic intentions running the gamut of dungeon synth, ambient black metal, atmospheric black metal and I'd even make the argument for an early black metal/punk inclusion somewhere in the fray as well. This album as a sound is definitely monolithic but the length too is a monolith, standing in at 80 minutes of towering black metal, which only serves to bolster the immensity of it as a whole. This was one of those listens that instantly gripped me and impressed from the start to its billowous end… This comes highly recommended, don't sleep on it!

Festung - Der Turm (bandcamp)

Fyrnask - VII: Kenoma (2021)

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Fyrnask is a band that was turned on to me back in 2013 following their smouldering release 'Eldir Nótt', which much like this new offering, was uncompromisingly good. Fyrnask are something of an anomaly these days in the sense that they are able to blend the floating lurch found within ambient soundscapes with the cavernous heft found within doom metal and then transmute that sound into a break neck gallop found in second wave black metal and then further pair that with other nuances and flourishes found within the ranks of the genre wheel… All without succumbing to that infectious defect of gussying up the sound to be more palatable to the masses. Fuck all of that.

You won't find any such placating here on VII: Kenoma, instead Fyrnask use their raw energy as a means to build upon layers of atmosphere, which takes on many shapes throughout the dips and swells of each sizeable track ranging from cacophonous and feral to thought-provoking and poignant. Imagine mixing equal parts early Ash Borer with Misþyrming and Altar of Plagues, and then interspersing flecks of Morne and Bölzer.

This comes highly recommended!

Fyrnask - VII:Kenoma (bandcamp)

Mountain Witch - Extinct Cults (2020)

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It's hard not to call any band that sounds like Mountain Witch a Black Sabbath worship band, since any band worth their salt probably worships Sabbath anyway, especially when their sound is dripping with that THC soaked doom and tonal psychedelia that Black Sabbath very well created… so I'll resist the urge to do so. Mountain Witch are pure Black Sabbath worship. Fuck.

I'd be remiss to call it there, there's more to Mountain Witch than just another copy-cat band that only wants to play heavy and riff out in a sea of retro doom with flourishes of heavy metal, they do well to explore some refreshing territory with light synth use and the drums sound meaty and varied (no gated snare!) which if done poorly weigh a band like this down to the point that no amount of tight riffing can make up for. Thematically I'm all in too, lyrically dabbling in the esoteric and the occult and a healthy presence in the foothills of campy Horror that you'd expect out of this ilk. Even though I do them from time to time, I dread trying to contrive comparisons, but let's just call this a loose mix of Hour of 13, Captain Beyond, Blood Ceremony, Ghost (early) and Purple Hill Witch.

Extinct Cults (bandcamp)

Vulture - Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves (2019)

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If you're familiar with Vulture's denim dad past you'll know that they are the musical equivalent to microwaveable burritos, The Creep Show and stud laden leather vests all moving at the blurring speed of Satan. This amalgamation of heavy/speed metal with minces of old school thrash and hardcore are right up my alley, especially when it's executed with such Bavarian zeal as Vulture. I wish I went to house parties where the walls dripped sweat of cheap lager, the carpets stunk of cigarettes and Vulture's filth and sleaze was blasting through haggard speakers, and you should too.

Vulture - Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves (bandcamp)

Sun Worship - Surpass Eclipse (2013)

Sun Worship of Germany got in touch with me about a month or so ago, asking me if I would be interested in reviewing Surpass Eclipse for SHOM. They offered to send me their vinyl in the mail, which built up a significant amount of pre-cum because I knew this was an album that would sound incredible on vinyl. And it does…

Upon receiving the package in my mail, the first thing I noticed was a note attached thanking me for taking the time to listen to their record, really it was I who should be thanking them. The second thing I noticed was how rad the packaging was; The artwork is printed with metallic bronze ink on a thick textured cobalt grey card stock (Patrick Bateman would go off on this), and the 180g vinyl itself is adorned with a super sweet illustration silk screen on it! It's quite unique from all my other records, which for any type of collector or elitist dickhead alike, is appreciated.

Sun Worship sound like the end of days, playing a blend of ambient (post) black metal that has a few coats of noise drenched in the mix. Nothing is crystal clear, nothing is overly polished nor anything overly dominant in the mix. They have hit black metal equilibrium, they have put the proverbial nail in the coffin with this EP. Two tracks spanning for 15 minutes of aphoristic black metal; Beautifully spiraling riffs which sometimes hoist that 'nekro sound' and at other times that whirring ambient sound, and drums that are bulky which I find to be quite unique bit effective within their sound. Don't be surprised to hear riffs that would make Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Krallice turn a shade of red from blushing.

Surpass Eclipse comes highly recommended, support these dudes anyway you can. I'll throw up the Bandcamp with the awesome "name your price" option as well as the option to purchase the vinyl. If you do plan to get the vinyl, let me know, I'm more than sure the band would be willing to sign it in metallic ink along with maybe a scribbled penis or pentagram on it.

Download (Zippyshare)
Bandcamp ("name your price" + Vinyl purchase)

Kokomo - S/T (2013)

I just drank two heaping cups of coffee, which for me is the equivalent to dropping three pints of raw ether and washing it down with a bottle of bourbon… Bear with me as I search my scattered brain to formulate cohesive sentences. Also, I saw the remake for Evil Dead last night so 80% of my body's blood flow is still directed straight into my raging erection. Again, bear with me fuckface.

This is what I had to say about Kokomo's "If Wolves" a couple months back, and it still applies;

"Kokomo make use of no words. They speak through instrumentation in a whirring blend of ambient post-rock, and boy do they speak LOUDLY. It's as if you are watching the world end from a birds eye view… It feels bigger than you, it's beautifully somber and bleak and you can't look away.

The bread and butter of If Wolves is the atmosphere, a dizzying hypnotic drone of palpable emotion, it all feels profound and you can't understand it, you just feel it. Maybe you don't, but maybe you're vanilla as fuck. Listen to it for yourself, if you don't once become entrenched in a series of thoughts, or feel the unsettling yet uplifting ambiance through your blood, check your pulse - you're dead."

•  •  •

The recipe seems the same this time around for Kokomo's 2013 self-titled release, only this time seemingly more focused on something more minimalist in sound. It is still evocative, expansive, forlorn and entrancing as it ever was… It's not physically released yet, but the digital download is up for a 'name your price' option on the bands bandcamp. I paid a measly $2, well worth it.

KOKOMO (bandcamp)

UNRU - Demo MMXIII

I've been digging into UNRU's demo quite a bit since I got my mucky hands on it - My first thought was 'This shit is the shit!', my second thought was 'I'll definitely offer this up to the SHOM scum'… unfortunately my third thought must've been 'First I'll eat a full bag of Doritos watch No Country For Old Men and put off posting this for a couple weeks'. Now if you were smart, you would be following Forever Cursed (which is infinitely better than my blog anyway), and you could have had this sucker a week ago among a bunch of other releases I think are really good but never got around to posting.

Amidst the furious pummeling of curdled d-beat and raw black metal Demo MMXIII is caked in a glorious crust with plenty of bell rides, ambient interludes, buried howls, cave stench and some radical riffs that at times remind me of Yellow Eyes.

(Below you will find descriptive words intended to entice you into listening and supporting this fucking stellar demo up for 'name your price' on Bandcamp.)

Godzilla, rampart, lobotomy, morass, guano, barbarity, minotaur, C.H.U.D., feral,

MMXIII (Bandcamp download)

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult - Necrovation (2013)

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, a name as serious as they come. I'm sure it means something. Describing a black metal album is a task that becomes as banal and moth-eaten as the watery placeholder terms and adjectives used to delineate them. Fuck it.

I usually relish the opportunity to spew hyperbole and smart-ass remarks, but tonight I'm about as interested in that as I am entering myself into a Bolivian fisting competition… I'm not that Interested in such things.

For real though dudes, this albums is a black motherfucker that bathes in moonlight and the blood of goats… And the blood of Jesus Christ, and the semen of Satan, and the tears of Mormons, and the hideous act of munging. In the name of the mother, moon, the unholy spirit, amen.

Necrovation

Defeated Sanity - Passages Into Deformity (2013)

God fucking damn shit mother of fuck. Defeated Sanity once again have man-handled their way into everyone's ear holes, sodomizing your ear canals with their pulverizing brutallus death metal! The technical accuracy of a wizard surgeon from the future, heavier than the weight of a dead son, filthier than your grandmothers bathtub and more devastating than child rape appears Passages Into Deformity.

It walks that fine edge of disgusting slop and musical mastery, beating you senseless, taking your lunch money and buying a pack of menthol's and 40oz of Olde English to wash it down. Wormed, fellow label mates are going to be a contender with Exodromos out in March, and if their EP Quasineutrality is anything to go by prepare to be slammed into cosmic oblivion.

I want to keep my blog so I won't be posting a download link… Though those Pirate Bay dudes are scummy enough to, I think, probably.

Bandcamp

Charon - Sulphur Seraph: The Archon Principle (2012)

I have my work cut out for me on here, soon I'll be posting a part of my top metal albums of 2012. I'm more into showing you guys the more overlooked shit of 2012 until then, rather than post Pig Destroyers Book Burner I give you guys Charon of Germany with their first full-length since being a band for fifteen years.

This wretched spew is titled Sulphur Seraph: The Archon Principle and it is festering in its own filth of bestial death metal, a concoction of cavernous riffing, marching drums, bellowed growls and tortured shrieks all wrapped up in a dank atmosphere.

Grab if you like: Mitochondrion, Teitanblood, Witchrist

Sulphur Seraph: The Archon Principle (mediafire)

Von Drakus - The End (2012)

The End is really just the fucking beginning. Von Drakus of Germany set out to play agile and pissed of jams in the form of hardcore that dips its hands in the cauldron of black metal, punk, crust and some other shit, interpret it as you will! It's pretty short, That is why we have a repeat button on just about everything. Use it. I listened to it 4 times in a row and my room looks like downtown Syria, okay I lied, I didn't mosh around in my room. But my room is a fucking sty right now, I should probably clean that up, you know what they say… 'busy environment, busy mind'. You know what else is messy? This album, chock full of noise enshrouded in a sea of filthy vibes.

"The earth was created in 6 days… so to, shall it be destroyed!"

Download free via Bandcamp! (how nice of them!)

Purchase the awesome looking vinyl!

Kokomo - If Wolves (2011)

Kokomo make use of no words. They speak through instrumentation in a whirring blend of ambient post-rock, and boy do they speak LOUDLY. It's as if you are watching the world end from a birds eye view… it feels bigger than you, it's beautifully somber and bleak and you can't look away.

The bread and butter of If Wolves is the atmosphere, a dizzying hypnotic drone of palpable emotion, it all feels profound and you can't understand it, you just feel it. Maybe you don't, but maybe you're vanilla as fuck. Listen to it for yourself, if you don't once become entrenched in a series of thoughts, or feel the unsettling yet uplifting ambiance through your blood, check your pulse - you're dead.

 If Wolves (Zippyshare)
Bandcamp/Buy