Moloch - Love Songs (2019)

•  †  •

Moloch and Severed Heads Open Minds have a long and consistent history throughout the inception of this blog, in all of its gestation periods, I have posted up Moloch albums on here a few times since 2012 and even interviewed a few of the members a long while back. For some reason I'm always reminded of Meth Drinker, and I'm not too sure why the two bands are always in the same conversation with me, but it's likely to do with the absolute immensity each of their songs have while retaining this crust of pure filth draped over each song; Completely fetid and bloated sludge, no strings, no gimmicks, no frills and certainly no regard for your well being.

With that being said, here's a measly two-track EP from Moloch for you to suck on, until there is more.

Moloch - Love Songs (bandcamp)

Deflect - Mass Delusion (2019)

•  †  •

Found these Deflect a couple years back when they released the EP Downward Spiral and wasn't entirely sold upon first spin, I remember that much… something about the vocal cadence and delivery was off-putting, which is funny, because it's exactly those things that I like most about Deflect now. First Impressions are wolves in sheep clothing and should be questioned rigorously before entering the gates to poison your well. The vocal cadence and off-kilter howl is the refreshing take against the backdrop of Deflect (much like Unified Right), which plays a blend of hardcore, pulling stylistically from 80's thrash and punk with a sound and approach that still lends itself to sounding unique and interesting in a musical arena where the walls have been battered and pounded by copycats.

Deflect - Mass Delusion (bandcamp)

Ekulu - Half Alive (2019) [EP]

•  †  •

Second EP is by Ekulu, and man do these guys know how to draw salivary molecules out of your tongue through the power meat and potatoes alleyway hardcore, which is a convoluted way of saying, Ekulu of New York hardcore pride, bring the floor stomp, and if you had to share a house with these wild boars, you'd better pray to the gods of riffdom that you live upstairs and not below them otherwise, because there is no way in shits hell that each member of this band doesn't walk around like a gang of agitated minotaurs in steel-toe boots carrying sledgehammers and chains around their necks… They are that heavy, and they swing that hard.

NY Hardcore without a single flaw. Every element firmly in its rightful place, executed by a group that understands the inner and outer facets of what makes raw hardcore and thrash such a likeable sound. Listen to their flawless self-titled EP released in 2018 back to back after this one, and make sure none of your grandma's breakable ceramics from Romania aren't around when you do. Enjoy.

Ekulu - Half Alive (bandcamp)

Triumvir Foul - Urine of Abomination (2019) [EP]

•  †  •

Going to throw up a few EP's into the blog piss pot for you slugs to sip on and Urine of Abomination is the soup de jour for today. Unfettered death metal filth as grimy as a pigeons basement and as loving as a cornered wolverine high on PCP is this 16 minute blast from Triumvir Foul, a band that seriously succeeds in serving up death metal deep from within the sewer gutters of the sonic atmosphere. The totality of its intensity is bolstered by how raw and unpolished it all sounds as if its been floor reordered deep within a salt cave. It goes without saying that I've been enjoying this one, and how about the drummer loving to ride the bell on his cymbals… slimy.

Triumvir Foul - Urine of Abomination (Bandcamp)

Kaleikr - Heart of Lead (2019)

•  †  •

Icelandic metal has garnered the attention and reverence of many, predominantly in the underground bestial arenas–most likely, I would imagine, due to the intellectually impetuous execution of the sound and the brazen Icelandic ethos when it comes to writing music (I've had my ear to the ground with Icelandic music since my visit in 2010 and have attended multiple Iceland Airwaves festival since) and their unmatched ability to amalgamate between sounds and influences in a way that remains true to its purist form while pushing boundaries in a way that fails to be contrived.

Let's quickly pay heed to all of Iceland's impressive successes within the last few years;

Sinmara, Svartidauði, Misþyrming, Kaleikr, Wormlust, Ljáin, Carpe Noctem, Naðra, Zhrine, Mannveira, Örmagna, Almyrkvi, Auðn, Skáphe (partially)

Notable company for a windswept country of only 300, 000.

•  Ω  •

Kaleikr were instantly interesting for me, being that they are another metal band from the quiver of Iceland, a new metal band to sink my teeth into and digest and judge, to enjoy or condemn, etc. In summation, once I noticed the progressive tag slapped to the pigeon-holing process of applying genre tags to music, I winced and cringed, mostly because most pieces of progressive music I'm turned onto never really strike any chord with me or are too farcical to take seriously. That being said, I am still no stranger to the genre so I kept my closed-mind open-minded.

Kaleikr's take on fusing death metal, doom, black and flourishes of the grandiosity of atmospheric pagan metal with the tumbling structure of progressive metal has been thoroughly enjoyable. Heart of Lead manages this concoction with an expertly ease, an acumen in genre melding; At times i'm reminded of something like Panopticon and Saor (mostly akin to the drumming nature), to Be'lakor and the psychedelic tinged moments of Wormlust, etc, etc.

Before I get to verbose with my keyboard fingers, I'll leave this post with this and only this; Though things of this sonic nature are slightly under my own personal radar these days, I dig almost everything in and around Heart of lead, a very tight debut, at the very least. 

Kaleikr - Heart of Lead (bandcamp)

Teitanblood - Purging Tongues (2011)

•  †  •

This is just a friendly reminder that this EP is still out there in the ether, and if you're not privy to it you're missing out on some seriously heinous death metal; brittle to the bone, bestial to the core and downright barbaric in its sonic assault.

This still might be my favourite thing Teitanblood has ever released, as a whole, a 15-minute slab of nefarious death/black metal with a strong foothold on a sound that is bigger that the sum of it's parts; It's just downright feral in sound and unequivocally dense and heavy, especially from 04:45 - 06:15 into the song, that's insane. All while paranoid sermons weave in and out in Spanish like its been sampled out of some raw Spanish horror flick. I'm not sure why, but it just really floats my boat.

Here is that translated excerpt over at Anvil of Doom. Read on my wayward sons.

Teitanblood - Purging Tongues (bandcamp)

Cara Neir - III / IV (2019)

•  †  •

This album has quickly worked its hooks into me; Discordant jangly guitars bounce around a cavern of technical drumming, weaving out odd time signatures with prickly rhythms against a barrage of shrieky growls. The combined method is bizarre, throwing everything in the blender from post-rock and math-rock to black-metal and D-beat. Something to that effect. It as a whole is actually really difficult to nail down, and it's brazen attempts to meld everything together is confusing, but it's refreshing, and I'm enjoying the experience of listening to its entirety. Which is the whole point, right?

Name your price on bandcamp. Enjoy, or don't.

Cara Neir - III / IV (bandcamp)

Sinmara - Hvísi Stjarnanna (2019)

•  †  •

Icelandic metal has garnered the attention and reverence of many, predominantly in the underground bestial arenas–most likely, I would imagine, due to the intellectually impetuous execution of the sound and the brazen Icelandic ethos when it comes to writing music (I've had my ear to the ground with Icelandic music since my visit in 2010 and have attended multiple Iceland Airwaves festival since) and their unmatched ability to amalgamate between sounds and influences in a way that remains true to its purist form while pushing boundaries in a way that fails to be contrived.

Let's quickly pay heed to all of Iceland's impressive successes within the last few years;

Sinmara, Svartidauði, Misþyrming, Kaleikr, Wormlust, Ljáin, Carpe Noctem, Naðra, Zhrine, Mannveira, Örmagna, Almyrkvi, Auðn, Skáphe (partially)

Notable company for a windswept country of only 300, 000.

•  Ω  •

Sinmara's latest Hvísi Stjarnanna is proving to be another Icelandic release worth paying attention to this year. As I write this I have only listened though it's entirety once so far, and I'm liking everything I hear… Though I questioned if I would prefer a slightly murkier production (a la maybe Misþyrming) for this ilk but It's quite in line with their previous releases which proved to be on the money. I digress, nit-picking aside, Hvísi Stjarnanna is a formidable beast in the realm of forward-thinking black metal among the upper echelon of Icelandic metal.

Hvísi Stjarnanna features whirring guitars that pirouette through a curtain of dissonant riffs that often bloom into these bright flourishes which lend a melodic atmosphere amidst the bludgeoning backdrop of drums and fills–I like the use of the cymbals to bolster rhythm beyond the skins, something that metal cut from this cloth underutilizes in my opinion… The vocals are what you'd expect, but that's not to undersell them, it's well met and mixed in in a way that doesn't overbear and snuff out the brooding atmosphere that dips and swells throughout.

I found myself notably impressed with the bridge at 04:07 on the track 'Crimson Stars', is there a whiff of Bel'akor like melody to be heard? Maybe. Probably not, but I find myself impressed to find it on here nonetheless.

I will be posting more new Icelandic metal in the days to follow. Enjoy it, or don't.

Sinmara - Hvísi Stjarnanna (bandcamp)

Death Fortress - Reign of the Unending (2018)

•  †  •

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.

•  Ω  •

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)

Best albums of the Year in MMXVIII (2018) 1/15

It’s been far too long since I’ve submitted my own year-end list, due to many varying reasons, none of which I accept and none of which are viable excuses. But it happened. And almost every year I would go through the arduous process of compiling (and frivolously rearranging) an accurate account of albums I think surpassed and exceeded its musical cohorts, and every year I would fall short of posting them here on SHOM… Reasons varying from; Anxiety, frustration, complacency and something that looks like total Nihilism.

2018 was a weird year in my existence; Ear-marked with things good and bad, but mostly bad. I’ve never enjoyed pity parties so I’ll spare you the invite into what was mostly a year of loss, tough-lessons and vacuum like suckiness and isolation. 

I don’t mention the above as a sympathy piece (self-pity has never suited me) I mention it because my choices for the best albums of 2018 are almost directly indicative to these experiences and the flux of my state, suspended animation. My tastes have always favoured the fetid and suffocatingly angry, but now it’s become an ichor, something to turn to when theres nothing else to turn to. It all sounds very serious when reading it over, it’s not, all I mean to suggest is my picks are very much conducive to that.

I know you’re not here to read a block of text, so here’s the first fifteen releases to my top 30 of MMXVIII (2018)

•  †  •

15) Erdve - Vaitojimas

A brooding amalgam of dissonant hardcore against a gnashing punk backbone with a stout mixing of noise-ladened sludge and doom. Vaitojimas is instantly likeable, from the dark and foreboding dissonant guitars and the expansive atmosphere it creates down to the satisfying snap of the snare drum. You’re not listening to this why?

14) Mahr - Antelux

I posted this album up on Severed Heads Open Minds when it came out, and haven’t looked back since. Again, to repeat what I’ve been saying, is nobody listening to this? Forward thinking Black metal that won’t disturb purists. It’s overwhelming, bleak and crafted with a total understanding of what makes this genre so appealing.

13) Primal Rite - Dirge of Escapism

Wasn’t everyone creaming over the Power Trip release last year? I’m scratching my head, has nobody heard Dirge of Escapism? An album that nails down 80’s crossover with zeal and an approach that is quasi-unconventional; Utilizing the raw ferocity of Japanese and Scandinavian hardcore punk as influences and the filth of old-school death metal for an encompassing sound that is in its nature, primal, almost sounding like a cavernous neanderthal stomp. It’s hard as nails, heavy as a sledgehammer to the nose, and I’m into its core sound much more than the Power Trip release. So there.

12) Serocs - The Phobos / Deimos Suite

I’m super into this, and I don’t think I have been this into a brutal technical death metal album since Defeated Sanity released ‘Chapters of Repugnance’ back in 2012. That’s the bonafide litmus test for me. I normally just feel bored and unmoved by the sheer prowess, intricacies, speed and wankery from the bulk of this ilk but not with The Phobos / Deimos Suite though, not for one second, I’m dialled in, feeling putrid and fowl and wanting a giant meteor to ride into the earths crust through the cacophony of gravity blasts, frenetic growls, galloping riffs and a rich bass sound sturdy enough to hang your pukey leather jacket on. I’m still reeling at the closing minutes of this album, it’s pure, unmitigated sonic assault.

11) Daughters - You Won’t Get What You Want

You won’t get what you want, if what you want is Daughters of the past; This isn’t Hell songs, it’s definitely not Canada Songs and it’s certainly no cousin to the self-titled. A monumental shift in sound, a total rebirth and shedding of the skin for Daughters and the directional result is a potent piece of art. Something entirely bleaker, heavier and more self-aware than anything Daughters has created before.

10) Mizmor - Mishlei 

Another release so many have neglected in lieu of missing out on one more play through of Yob’s ‘Our Raw Heart’ was Mizmor’s Mishlei. Mercilessly slithering through one-hour and fifteen minutes of labyrinth woven doom/black metal with a strong grip on a raw production and a uniquely harrowing atmospheric curtain. Mizmor as a sound is the sonic embodiment of isolation, depression, anxiety and all things black, dreary and sucky.

09) Ilsa - Corpse Fortress

I’m thinking Ilsa might be the best example of a band that can claim filth on all fronts of their framework; Their production has always been bloated and grimy without sacrificing detail to a wall of noise, the vocals of Orion are of a desperate primordial howl and something that seems to have no exact duplicate within its ilk. I can go on and on about what makes Ilsa great, which is why their so high up on my list and why I feel rocks in my chest at the lack of appreciation circulating this band… Ilsa’s feedback-laden antediluvian doom, occult soaked, bile encrusted crust walked all over so many of those highly touted albums you guys have been complacently drooling over.

08) Hissing - Permanent Destitution

Hissing’s take on death metal is that of a churning, spiralling plunge into the bestial ether with a heinously swampy production and frenetic song structure, a downward (almost whirring) plunge into the fetid abyss of cavernous bloated vocal belch and dizzying hypnotic guitars… I’m reminded of Mitochondrion’s Parasignosis, which is something of a blanket statement, I’ll admit, but the comparison comes to mind. Severely overlooked and mangy death metal for you to start listening to, you’re welcome.

07) Akitsa - Credo

I don’t know what’s in the well water of Quebec but its vast and bleak soil has produced another trumpeting success in executing black metal of the 90’s with a refreshing take on second wave black metal. The riffs are frigid and hypnotizing and the tone is spot on, the vocal shrill is that which raises the hair on the back of your neck and push a wave of desperation into you and this is some of the best sounding drums I’ve heard on any recent black metal album. The underlying punk quality is unequivocally present, not in a Raspberry Bulbs type of approach, but in its simplicity and cadence. This one was obvious for me, raw shit.

06) LLNN - Deads

Another obvious placement in this list is Deads… Denmark’s LLNN are as impressive sonically as they are tenacious, releasing a new full-length every year since their inception in 2016 with ‘Loss’, and everything they touch is right on the money. Weaving a musical fabric of dark and brooding hardcore with flourishes of doom, sludge and post-metal into a masterfully paced album that at times is devastatingly heavy and visceral while at times floating through sections of beautifully sci-fi-esque ambient passages that let LLNN’s tonal assault breathe and gestate into a crude force. 

05) Convocation - Scars Across

The very first time I played through the entirety of Scars Across I was as sure as shit isn’t always brown that this album would linger somewhere high up on my albums of the year list. Monolithic doom with a gargantuan atmosphere that is both crushingly isolating and expansive. Listening to this in its entirety is the only way to be suffocated by its sheer heft, and yes, you want that. Or something.

04) Cult Leader - A Patient Man

I initially had A Patient Man sitting at 7th on the list - and honestly, most of the albums in this top 15 are nearly interchangeable - but just recently as I was revisiting it, something resonated and forced my attention on how good everything is; There is a magisterial pacing under its weight and the contrast between the ferociously heavy and fast balance well under the tracks that lean into a more gothic, grunge tinged doom, which still yields a crushingly heavy and bleak sound. The dance between these two sonic realms is seamless and the marriage between them is something I’m really into and it’s for this reason this album is one of the most devastating and impressive albums of the year.

03) Craft - White Noise and Black Metal

Probably the best example this year of moving Black metal in a direction that doesn’t point towards uncreative sterility, puritan boredom, silly pageantry of gimmicks and overcomplicating things for the sake of doing it. White Noise and Black Metal is cold as hell. Endless riffs poured over Craft’s revered take on a sound that many fall so very short of.

02) Obliteration - Cenotaph Obscure

What a fucking beauty Cenotaph Obscure is… It’s perfectly executed winding and mirky death metal with a festering old-school black metal carapace. I can’t find a single flaw with this album, all the way down to how the kick drum is used. There is a definite heir of punk ethos woven throughout it’s crude framework and moments of simplicity, and this amalgam of good taste speaks for itself. Cenotaph Obscure is impetuous…Listen to Detestation Rite, and give thanks to the gods of Obliteration.

01) Thou - Magus

2018 was the year of Thou, just as 2017 was the year of Amenra (Nothing was even close). Thou chewed, clawed, spat, pummelled and worked with an unmatched fervour this year (like most years); Releasing 3 Ep’s, one split with Ragana and this monolith of a full-length, all of which are acutely executed and brilliant in their own right. Magus was the album I needed to be hearing most this year, and I did, I listened to it a lot. I stewed and marinated in in the palpable vitriol, I basked and banged through its churning heft and I grit my teeth and coughed up phlegm under its unearthly weight and felt my blood turn thick with sludge. Magus was basically uncontested. Thank you 2018 for Magus and Mandy.