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)

Chasm Shroud - Manna From Heaven (2022)

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You peer into the void. You see nothing, but hear faint sounds in the distance emanating from the yawning maw of black space…

Manna From Heaven came out of nowhere, suddenly appearing (no demos or EP’s prior) and carrying with it some of the most intriguing black metal I’ve heard all year—It’s hard to pin down exactly, but a strange energy circulates here, like it’s been ritually charged and imbued with unknown intent.

The above statement might feel hyperbolic or even trite, but the overall sense is something palpable—An ominous portent of oblique black metal soundscapes reverberating around hypnotic dirges in a hallucinatory haze of frenetic dissonance. NAME YOUR PRICE, don't be a knucklehead!

Chasm Shroud - Manna From Heaven (bandcamp)

Negativa - 04 (2022)

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It's been in black metal's DNA to be dissonant, harsh and cold, but this record takes those fundamentals and beats you over the head with it for 40-straight minutes, which to those of us who beckon punishment, pounce on it like a werewolf.

Spain's Negativa has channeled these characteristics with aplomb throughout their entire discography, and the result of it has amounted to some of the densest black metal around today—Invoking a wall of sound built upon cascading guitar tones that whirr and drone between war hammer drums which favour force over speed and vocals that struggle to penetrate a thick layer of fog and noise.

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It hearkens back to last years output by Voidsphere and Sulpur, both of which released albums in 2021 that were in my top 10—Which might say something about how highly I regard this particular form of black metal, spirit inducing and relentlessly oppressive. Don't sleep on this record, unless you want to be a dummy idiot, then go right ahead.

04 is 'Name your price' on Bandcamp, put that coffee money to something worthwhile and toss these guys (and their label, Mystískaos) a few bucks and help keep the underbelly of metal well lit!

Negativa - 04 (bandcamp)
Download (Zippyshare)

Lure - Morbid Funeral (2020)

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This was just unearthed on Halloween and I don't think it's too early to call this one of my favourite purely black metal records of the year. Lure consists only of Pierre Perichaud, an accomplished illustrator and tattoo artist within France and evidently knows his way around writing frigid forward-thinking black metal. I know this is technically supposed to be a demo and all, but this is 45-minutes of some of the best black metal you'll hear all year. I want to say the last time I enjoyed a purely black metal release this much was when Akitsa released 'Credo' in 2018… or maybe I'm just being obstuse.

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This is exactly what I'm looking for in black metal today, which might lend itself to the fact that I'm pretty tired with most things passing under the banner of black metal these days. I don't think myself some jaded purist who is stuck in the past of a genre spinning its wheels, it's just that when it comes to something as down-trodden as black metal or death metal I want to hear something straddling the line of paying homage to the intended essence of the genre while simultaneously finding new ground. Lure's 'Morbid Funeral' does exactly that for me with absolute poise. The production is spot on, murky enough to still sound good but it's sure as shit cold, raw and feral sounding. The vocals are another really strong point of what make this record so great, shrill and dismal as they battle through a wall of churning guitar riffs and drum fodder… It feels lame and trite to dig into the details of vocal-work, but really, just listen to the range of emotions being summoned by Pierre here, it sends shivers down your fucking spine.

Only 250 copies of these were pressed and sold out pretty quickly and I'm seriously bummed I missed out on this limited run. If you snagged one, lucky you. If you snagged one and want to trade though, let me know. This album is 'Name your Price' on bandcamp right now, you'd be out of your skull not to shill out a few bucks to support an often thankless gig. Dig in!

Morbid Funeral (bandcamp) 

Death Fortress - Reign of the Unending (2018)

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Death Fortress were heinously late to the end of the year release bukake party in 2018 putting out Reign of the Unending December 26, 2018 but I still squeezed them into my top 30 year-end list because Death Fortress sounds like a stadium of troglodyte brutes scrapping over mating rites to a gurgling harem of virgins.

it's a dense wall of churning bass and guitars, both dizzying and ferocious, weaving in and out of cannon-fire like drumming in an arena where the orator is a gargantuan ancient beast, snarling proclamations of cosmic war and  misrule. J. Aversario's vocal belch is what drives the sound beyond its predecessors (in terms of heft) and what makes it almost a grinding chore to get through its entirety… and yes, I do mean that as a good thing.

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I have yet to buy this album on bandcamp, but as per usual with Fallen Empire Records, this album is set to a 'name your price' option which is more than generous considering labels have to pay for; Production/mastering, studio, artwork/layout, pressing/distibution, website, on top of other miscellaneous costs… 'name your price' download is essentially free if you input $0, but at the very least input a $1 to show a modicum of appreciation for the DIY, and then take it further and browse through the rest of the venerable Fallen Empire catalog and buy those as well. Give what you can, and you'll be richly rewarded by Belial. I'm going to be buying this album as soon as I post this (among others).

Death Fortress - Reign of the Unending (bandcamp)

Bad Energy - Dead Magic EP (2014)

Bad Energy brings the good energy. Dead Magic brings the living magic. Hailing from where cheese steaks are best (Philadelphia, dummy), one can obtain the grittiness you get when you live in the asshole of the United States, surrounded by abandoned heaps of wood that once stood proudly as somebody's home. I guess I'm really describing where chicken wings are made best (Buffalo, idiot). Though Pennsylvania is pretty gritty as well man. Whatever. This EP is good, listen to it and dig it if you are into punk/hardcore.

If you want good punk from Buffalo though, Brown Sugar and Bad People are killing it.

EP is up for "name your price" on bandcamp, which is pretty much the best thing to happen to music since The Mojomatics introduced a harmonica to their music. If you can't afford anything, input 0$ and enjoy sucker!

Dead Magic

Half Goon - TERRORIZER EP (2013)

Listening to TERRORIZER will be your personal reminder that you're fucking 10-ply bud. But don't worry, you can harden that over exfoliated sun sheltered skin just by listening to this album.


Half Goon play an infectious blend of noisy post-punk/hardcore with some other musical shit in there for you to nit-pick at. It's hard not to draw comparisons to acts such as METZ and Pissed Jeans for the almost industrial like noise drone, the gritty and THC soaked biker riffs of The Coltranes and the feral attack of old Ceremony – But Half Goon bring something entirely unique to their sound, a potent energy and a unabashed sense of experimentation.

It's short, spanning only 14 minutes over 7 songs, but it packs enough clenched-fist hate to justify using that repeat button. Stop being soft. I'll tell you what, I wouldn't dare fucking miss these dudes play if they came around to Toronto.

It would be righteous if you picked the EP on the bandcamp for a name your price option, but if you're a truly broke bastard just input an amount of $0.

TERRORIZER EP

Sun Worship - Elder Giants (2014)

Ever since Sun Worship got in touch with me to review their EP Surpass Eclipse I have been a huge fan, watching their every move, which consisted of a split with German country-mates UNRU, whom I'm also completely and unequivocally a fan of, obtain all their shit!

I digress, Sun Worship are one of my favorite bands circling this big blue ball we're stuck upon. What the fuck is there not to love? They play an incredibly poised blend of ambient black metal with notes of other musical subtleties that could range from shoegaze, drone, noise, to a post-rock atmosphere. They are independent and fuel their own music in a DIY way and they put their albums on bandcamp for a "name your price" option so you can pay what you can afford.

Elder Giants is a giant itself, and one of the best this year. Climb out from under that rock and buy it.

Elder Giants on Bandcamp (name your price)
Here is the review for Surpass Eclipse

Youth Avoiders - Self Titled (2013)

Parisian punk fucks Youth Avoiders have been rad since their demo tape released in 2010, and remain rad with their debut self-titled LP! Fast and frantic punk that is so fucking twangy and trebly you'll think you've got Parkinson's disease. Filled with righteous hooks and melodies despite the raucous song structure, though some of the wicked over-the-top vocal melodies I loved on the demo are gone but I don't give a shit as long as that guitar tone sounds as groovy as it does.

I don't post a whole lot of punk around here, but I am going to start posting more. I like punk, get over it.

I  gave a buck towards the "name your price" option on the bands bandcamp page, feel free to do whatever you feel is right or feel free to do nothing until I post a brutal space slam death metal album.

Youth Avoiders bandcamp