Cer - The Conjuration of Nebula (2022)

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The Conjuration of Nebula has seemingly flown under everyone's radar and it's a crucial misstep because Cer's newest (and apparently last) output has done all the right things, and has done them with total fucking control! Two tracks running three-quarters of an hour of blown-out ambient black metal annihilation.

The entire aural experience is drenched in a lo-fi tonal warmth, dancing between hypnotically dissonant chords and drums that sound like they're out of the metazoic period—Raw and primordial. Nothing is being reinvented on The Conjuration of Nebula but it redoes what's been done by many, albeit with considerable consideration towards the power of simplicity and not doing too much. This blend of mesmerizing black metal is best when it's given space to breathe and just be crude. I just bought this for a few bucks, give it a listen and consider doing the same if you can afford it.

Cer - The Conjuration of Nebula (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)

Μνήμα - Disciples of Excremental Liturgies (2022)

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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.

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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)

Vorpal Sword - Omens (2021) [Demo]

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My comrade and crony for all things reverb soaked Dream pop/Shoegaze has released another gem of uncompromisingly raw black metal under the prolific umbrella of his label, Rising Beast—And not unlike everything else he puts out, it's right on the fucking money!

Omens musical landscape is one with sparse foliage or places of refuge amidst the expanding sprawl of heavily blown out black metal, that is in personality and ethos, equal parts raw and musing—But it's terrain isn't totally devoid of life, not at all, peppered throughout the hanging guitars and thick fog of noise are delicate ambient passages (created by the Korg Monotron?) which offer a brief respite from the proverbial sonic deluge. It's all very intentional and cohesive. Now without being pedantic, the love Horus has for dream/noise pop and shoegaze are on full display here, with absolute tact and grace. 

If you're unfamiliar with Vorpal Sword, check it out. And while you're at it, check out everything else under the banner of Rising Beast and toss in a few bucks into whatever strikes you down—Do your part in keeping the underground lit!

Vorpal Sword - Omens (bandcamp)

Cult of Thaumiel - Palaces of Iniquity (2021)

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Completely blown out and sonically malignant is Cult of Thaumiel's newest offering, it sounds rightfully evil and barely straddles that line of what most would consider to be "unlistenable", but we here at SHOM know ripe fruit when we see it. The pacing is at best frenetic and the structure is at worst crumbling, and I do mean these things to be taken as assets to the sound on Palaces of Iniquity, the entire backbone of the genre relied on the rebellion against a cleaned up and polished sound. Raw and absolutely abrasive, check it out and keep your ears to the ground on its full release on October 01, 2021. Hail motherfuckers!

Cult of Thaumiel - Palaces of Iniquity (bandcamp)

Imperial Cult - Spasm of Light (2019)

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Been listening to the new Mork album a decent amount, on top of a handful of other releases that will soon get their brief moment in the spotlight over here at SHOM soon enough, until then, satiate your need for raw and unrelenting black metal via Holland's Imperial Cult—Spasm of Light is a highlight of 2019 to be sure—Something about the current looming dread has caused me to have returned to it quite a bit as of late, and just assumed you might want to as well… and if not, that's just bent, man. One 35-minute track of downward spiralling black metal heavily entrenched in a wall of sound and atmospheric armageddon served on a brass platter next to the goats heads soup. No inner peace.

Imperial Cult - Spasm of Light (bandcamp)

Kringa - Feast Upon The Gleam (2019)

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I've posted Kringa on here before and I'll continue to do so so long as they keep making forward thinking second-wave black metal like this. Severely underrated, underrepresented, understand? Probably not, but that's okay, because you're here now reading this and within a few choice and overused adjectives I'll force your hand into looking into Austria's underbelly gemstone, Kringa and their debut LP Feast Upon The Gleam.

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Okay so now for those choice adjectives. Cold as a witch tit.
That's one.

Secondly, despite each chord, snare pop, and shrill bellowed being coated in Austrian frost, the overall feeling is one of ennui and pandemonium which is only in emphasis by the raw way in which this was recorded and mastered, which we (I) here appreciate accordingly. It's raw but not at all flat in its dynamics, I don't know man, I didn't goto music class, but it sounds like a rock n' roll gas station! Listen to the middle of the track 'Eroding Passage' for the summated experience, riffs haphazardly clanging together while the most simple drum pattern somehow is more fitting than a typical blast beat, and Kringa knew that and so did Neil Young. The split vocal deliveries from Spectres and Teeth standout in that they run the gamut from a frail and flimsy howl to orator of an underground sewer cult. This album is full breadth and creativity within the arena of black metal.

Go forth and listen.

Kringa - Feast Upon The Gleam (bandcamp)

Sielunvihollinen - Ruttokieli (2013) [demo]

 

I know what you're thinking, "Man, I really should have went to illustration school so I could draw infanticide and other various phallic imagery for black metal bands…" and you're right, you should have because the world sure as fuck doesn't need anymore nubby fingered, grease-ball accountants.

Raw black metal from Finland that showcases some evil riffing and cold, stripped to the bone sound.

Ruttokieli

Bandcamp

Gethsemane - S/T (2013)

Raw black metal from The Netherlands, I mean really raw, may as well be the sushi of black metal. 99.7% of the world's population would deem this noise and they wouldn't be too far off… A swirling chasm of blasting drums, floating guitars and anguished howls that just barely pierce through the ensuing maelstrom.

At times it reminds me of GGUW's 'Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit', if not for it's archaic nature then for its untamed plod. Unequivocally not the same, as Gethsemane boasts a much more minimal stance to GGUW's antediluvian dynamism. I won't/can't praise this like I would GGUW (I fucking love that EP), but this demo is certainly worth your time.

Gethsemane (Zippyshare)