Rorcal & Earthflesh - Witch Coven (2021)

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Collaborations don't always pay off, and more often than not I find myself indifferent to the attempt, which maybe has more to do with how I am a fatalist contrarian with no cause and no guiding star rather than the material itself. In this case, I'm for it. Much like when Merzbow teamed up with Full of Hell a few years back, the absolutely raw and grating ambient soundscapes of Earthflesh lend an even thicker layer of density to Rorcal's already crushing mixture of Doom, sludge and post-hardcore. The output is a two-track release running 30 minutes in length and it's worth your time if you're looking for something to assault your auditory senses with great heft. 

Rorcal & Earthflesh - Witch Coven (bandcamp)

Lykhaeon - Opprobrium (2021)

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Opprobrium has come as a pleasant surprise to me, this being my first listen through of Switzerland's Lykhaeon, despite being familiar with the duo's other gigs (namely Arkhaaik and Ungfell) I wasn't privy to this release until very recently when I noticed the unmistakable album art of Elijah Tamu stamped on here as a promising omen.

The total sum of this album is a cascading force of equal parts bestial death metal and black metal, with much serpentining throughout between shifting tempos and bubbling atmospheres which traverse an array of barbaric soundscapes that sometimes land directly on the festering underbelly of some hellish pit. With aplomb Lykhaeon are able to circumnavigate their way through these monolithic tracks without succumbing to the "heard that before" like boredom that comes from a lesser mix. Fans of Bestia Arcana, Vassafor, Temple Nightside and Mitochondrion will enjoy everything on Opprobrium with great zeal.

Lykhaeon - Opprobrium (bandcamp)

Ungfell - Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz (2018)

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Most pieces of music that fall under the umbrella of folk/black metal tend to scare me away these days, but Ungfell's sophomore release has quelled my fear and restored a flake of trust back into the melding of these genres. The folk elements aren't abrasive and dummied-down caricatures of traditional folk so it weaves into the music well. I've been listening to a bludgeoning amount of gurgly death metal lately, so these shrieky vocals are a good change of pace. Fans of Myrkgrav, Havukruunu, Moonsorrow, will find joy here.

Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz (bandcamp)

Mumakil - Flies Will Starve (2013)

Mumakil (moom-a-keel) consider their music "blastcore", which is as fitting as it is fucking stupid. Gravity blasts and blast beats don't cause for pioneering another genre, so fucking what. "Nintendo-core" was stupid then and is sure as shit stupid now. Anal Cunt didn't profile their music under the moniker of "banging out heroine, getting blowies and stealing riffs - core", even though they were fucking qualified… Come to think of it, "Anal Cunt - core" is probably fairly accurate anyway.

I digress, besides genre inventing I have nothing but good things to say about Flies Will Starve, just as I did about Behold The Failure. The formula is simple, fast fucking tunes surrounded by a barrage of blasts, buzz-saw guitar work and vocals that your dad would fucking hate.

Pick this up. I have a pretty hefty queue of new and exciting tunes to bring to this blog so stick around, or not, but stick around because this blog will be fresher than your grandma's freshly douched… Just stick around fellas.

Eat shit.

Sincerely,


Chris D'Alessandro

PS; Flies Will Starve (Zippyshare)