Sonny's Forum Replies
Here's my review:
This 2018 album was CHRCH's second full-length album and, for me, a step up from their still impressive debut. One of the most striking strengths of CHRCH's music is the simplicity of the melodies and I don't mean that in a negative way. Despite the lack of complexity they are delivered in such a way that the effect is shattering. The opener, the twenty-minute "Infinite Return" for example, begins with a really simple melody picked out by guitar with very little distortion to produce a beautifully clear sound, accompanied by Eva Rose's clean-sung vocals for a gorgeous, calm opening that we all know just can't last. As guitar and vocals are joined by the drums, beating out a distant-sounding militaristic tattoo, the ominous atmosphere builds like gathering thunderheads. The guitar becomes increasingly insistent as the vocals get more desperate-sounding until the storm hits around the seven-minute mark and the riff crushes all before it as Eva shrieks and snarls and the drums hit the fore like a seven-pound sledgehammer. Around the midway point the maelstrom passes and a similar, but more hesitant-sounding, melody to the one at the beginning of the track is picked out and the calm returns, albeit now with a lost innocence as notes of dissonance insert themselves into this gentle refrain. This too cannot last and another, albeit more triumphal and anthemic, crescendo is reached, as if the victims of the first have now become the perpetrators of this second atrocity. What an opening twenty minutes - possibly one of my favourite slabs of doom metal ever - and a real high mark for the rest of the album to follow.
Second track Portals weighs in around the fifteen minute mark and kicks off with a weighty riff from the outset, but despite this it manages to become increasingly heavy as the track buids, filling all available space and threatening to collapse under it's own weight. Again this main riff is quite simple, but is deployed in such a way that it seems to be more complex than it actually is as the listener's mind grapples with the crushing weight of it. The vocals once more run the whole gamut from ethereal and angelic to savage and demonic. The soaring, distorted guitar solo towards the end of the track feels like the Comfortably Numb solo being torn apart and destroyed by the mass of an errant supermassive black hole. Final track Aether is the shortest at nine and a half minutes and has a riff and tone that sounds remarkably like Warning's Watching From A Distance album, at least until the last couple of minutes anyway, which are just utter madness as everything must go before album's end! Before concluding I must make mention of Adam Jennings drums, they sound phenomenal and as good as any doom drum performance I can recall. In fact, the production as a whole is superb and is a major factor in the success of the album.
This has jumped right in as one of my absolute favourite doom albums. To use a sporting analogy, it sounds like an album where the band have "left everything on the field" and absolutely given it everything. If I had any criticism at all it would be very minor - with the epic Infinite Return up front, the rest of the album is overshadowed slightly. I would have liked to hear the running order of Portals; Aether and closing with Infinite Return ending the album with a real triumph. FFO Sub Rosa, Warning, Pallbearer and any "no fucks to give" doomhead. If you have any love at all for real doom metal then you need this album.
5/5
So, it appears that this is Mechina's debut album, released in 2005, a year after the band formed. I understand that they later went down a more symphonic path with their industrial sound, but here they have gone for straight-up classic Nineties-era Fear Factory worship. The riffs are decent with a meaty guitar tone FF fans will feel comfortably at home with, although I don't think Mechina's riffs have the same high memorability factor as the LA legends achieved on their best material. Where they do score well though is when they use synths to add an additional, thin layer to their sound, such as during "Afterimage" or on the title track. "War Fog", which connects the two tracks, is a short, synth-driven interlude which is also quite evocative and further illustrates the band's nascent atmosphere-building prowess. Vocalist David Holch also has a creditable crack at reproducing Burton C. Bell's growling bark as the main vocal, but where he comes unstuck is with the complementary clean vocals which, in all honesty, sound terrible, as if he can't carry a tune at all. They are so bad that I can't believe no one advised the band to re-record them or get a guest in to help out.
Ultimately, for me, this is an enjoyable enough slab of Fear Factory worship, irreparably tainted by very poor clean vocals, that I am unlikely to turn to in the future unless the FF back catalogue suddenly disappears from the face of the Earth.
3/5
February 2025
1. Bathory - "A Fine Day To Die" (from "Blood Fire Death, 1988) [submitted by Sonny]
2. Dark Funeral – “My Dark Desires” (from “Dark Funeral” E.P., 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
3. Kampfar - "Kledd i brynje og smykket blodorm" (from "Mellom skogkleedde aaser", 1997) [submitted by Karl]
4. Novembre – “Let Me Hate” (from “Dreams d’azur”, 2002) [submitted by Daniel]
5. The Great Old Ones - "Me, the Dreamer" (from "Kadath", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
6. Keep of Kalessin - "Obliterator" (from "Reclaim", 2003)
7. Black Anvil - "On Forgotten Ways" (from "As Was", 2017) [submitted by Sonny]
8. Ragnarok - "Minner om svunne tider" (from "Nattferd", 1995) [submitted by Karl]
9. Imber Luminis - "We Are Not Free" (from "Nausea", 2017)
10. Ellende - "Ballade Auf Den Tod" (from "Todbringer", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]
11. Al-Namrood - "Kail be mekialain" (from "Wala'at", 2020)
12. Aggressa – “VooDoo Doll” (from “Nuclear Death” E.P., 1988) [submitted by Daniel]
13. Kvlthammer - "Hounds" (from "Kvlthammer", 2014)
14. Gehenna - "Morningstar" (from "First Spell", 1994) [submitted by Sonny]
15. Bestial Warlust – “At the Graveyard of God” (from “Vengeance War ‘Till Death”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
16. Angantyr - "De dødes valg" (from "Indsigt", 2024) [submitted by Karl]
17. Impaled Nazarene – “Steelvagina” (from “Suomi Finland perkele”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
18. Barshasketh - "Nitimur in vetitum" (from "Antinomian Asceticism", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]
19. The Black – “The Black Opal Eye” (from “The Priest of Satan”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
20. Смрт - "U raljama košave" (from "Na utrini", 2024) [submitted by Karl]
21. No Point In Living - "The Path To the End" (from "The Cold Night", 2017)
February 2025
1. Burn Down Eden - "Fake News for Breakfast" (from "Epiphany", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
2. Dismember – “Fleshless” (from “Indecent & Obscene”, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]
3. Nile – “The Underworld Awaits Us All” (from “The Underworld Awaits Us All”, 2024)
4. Gorguts – “The Erosion of Sanity” (from “The Erosion of Sanity”, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]
5. Siderean - "The Sacred Sea" (from "Spilling the Astral Chalice", 2024) [submitted by Karl]
6. Bolt Thrower - "Celestial Sanctuary" (from "The IVth Crusade", 1992) [submitted by Karl]
7. Coffin Curse - "Reeking Filth of Ages" (from "The Continuous Nothing", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]
8. Dissection - "Retribution" (from "Storm of the Light's Bane", 1995) [submitted by Karl]
9. Revocation - "Lessons in Occult Theft" (from "Netherheaven", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]
10. Blood Incantation - "The Stargate [Tablet III]" (from "Absolute Elsewhere", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]
11. Vitriol - "Flowers of Sadism" (from "Suffer & Become", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
12. Diabolic Oath - "Oracular Hexations Leeching" (from "Oracular Hexations", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]
13. At the Gates - "Windows" (from "The Red in the Sky Is Ours", 1992) [submitted by Karl]
14. Avulsed – “Morgue Defilement” (from “Dead Flesh” compilation, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]
15. Mortician – “Brutally Mutilated” (from “Brutally Mutilated” single, 1990) [submitted by Daniel]
16. Exhumed – “Oozing Rectal Feast” (from “Dissecting the Caseated Omentum” demo, 1992) [submitted by Daniel]
17. Pathologist – “Progression of Putrefaction” (from “Forensic Medicine & Pathology” demo, 1992) [submitted by Daniel]
18. Eucharist - "Floating" (from "A Velvet Creation", 1993) [submitted by Karl]
19. Black Curse - "Ruinous Paths…" (from "Burning in Celestial Poison", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
20. Atomic Aggressor - "Faceless Torment" (from "Sights of Suffering", 2014) [submitted by Sonny]
21. Slaughter Lord – “Die by Power” (from “Taste of Blood” demo, 1987) [submitted by Daniel]
22. Antagonyze - "Deadly Sorrow" (from "Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness", 2024) [submitted by Karl]
23. The Fallen Prophets - "Beneath the Veil of Flesh" (from "Beneath the Veil of Flesh", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
24. Illdisposed – “When You Scream” (from “1-800 Vindication”, 2004) [submitted by Daniel]
25. Embalmer – “Rotten Body Fluids” (from “Rotting Remains” demo, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]
26. Invocation - "Hypnosis" (from ""The Archaic Sanctuary" (Ritual Body Postures)", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]
February 2025
1. Paradise Lost - "No Forgiveness" (from "Shades of God", 1992) [submitted by Vinny]
2. Avatarium - "My Hair Is on Fire (But I'll Take Your Hand)" (from "Between You, God, the Devil and the Dead", 2025)
3. Smoulder - "The Sword Woman" (from "Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring", 2019)
4. Electric Wizard - "Legalise Drugs and Murder" (from "Legalise Drugs and Murder" single, 2012) [submitted by Sonny]
5. Impaled Nazarene – “Quasb/The Burning” (from “Suomi Finland perkele”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
6. Boris - "Farewell" (from "Pink", 2005)
7. Woods of Ypres - "Shards of Love" (from "Woods 4: The Green Album", 2009) [submitted by Vinny]
8. Iron Monkey - "Misanthropizer" (from "Spleen & Goad", 2024)
9. Marthe - "Victimized" (from "Further In Evil", 2023)
10. Hypocrisy – “Apocalypse” (from “The Fourth Dimension”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
11. World Below - "Gilgamesh" (from "Repulsion, 2006)
12. Ufomammut - "I" (from "Eve", 2010)
13. Chained To the Bottom of the Ocean - "One Last Dream" (from "Sisyphean Cruelty", 2024)
14. Orphaned Land – “My Requiem” (from “Sahara”, 1994) [submitted by Daniel]
15. Daevar - "Amber Eyes" (from "Amber Eyes", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]
16. Toadliquor - "Tenderloin" (from "Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain", 1993)
17. Slimelord - "The Hissing Moor" (from "Chytridiomycosis Relinquished", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
18. Sepulcros - "Vazio" (from "Vazio", 2021)
Winterfylleth - The Dark Hereafter (2016)
The Dark Hereafter was the fifth full-length from the Mancunian black metallers and marked a slight tonal shift for the band. It also courted some controversy amongst fans, not for its musical progression, but for the fact that it had a mere forty minutes runtime and only five tracks, one of which "Pariah's Path" was already available as a bonus track on the previous The Divination of Antiquity album. The closer, "Led Astray in the Forest Dark" is a cover of Ulver's "Capitel I: I Troldskog faren vild" from their iconic Bergtatt album, so The Dark Hereafter only actually delivered three new tracks, yet at full price!
Anyway, down to the music. Side one comprised three tracks of the sweeping and melodic atmospheric black metal we were familiar with from Winterfylleth's previous output. Opening with the title track, the pummelling blastbeats tell us we are on solid ground, especially when the expansive tremolo riff sweeps us away to windblown moors where opposing warrior bands face off against each other. The lyrics of this opener and also "Ensigns of Victory" feed very much into that aesthetic with tales of Anglo-Saxon resistance against Norse invaders in Dark Age England. Along with the aforementioned "Pariah's Path" these two tracks comprise side one, their familiarity easing us fans into the album. I must, however, point out at this point that I felt something a little "off" here and decided it comes down to the production which seems to mute the higher registers of the tremolo riffs and renders the cymbals almost inaudible. It's not a big deal as such, but it is sufficient to be noticeable.
With the two tracks on side two the Mancunians depart somewhat from their usual approach. "Green Cathedral" is a much slower affair than we are used to from the band, straying into post-black metal territory, spending much of its opening five minutes building from a sparse beginning with thin synths, a clean, almost liturgical chant and a hypnotic, chiming guitar phrase into a mournful-sounding middle section with plodding drumbeats and a ringing tremolo riff accompanied by Dan Capp's harsh vocals. The final third of "Green Cathedral" sees the synths sweep in and the liturgical voices join with the harsh shrieks to provide a quite epic and melancholy climax, eventually ending with a clean-spoken eulogy to a departed soul, which I personally found to be quite haunting and affecting.
The album then closes out with the Ulver cover, "Led Astray in the Forest Dark" which is faithfully reproduced by the Mancunians as a tribute to an album that they claim was very influential on them. It has a bit more meat on its bones than the thinly-produced Bergtatt original, but otherwise it is a faithful rendering of the Ulver classic. Small quibbles aside regarding whether this is worthy of full-length album status and a niggling issue with the production, it is nevertheless an interesting release in the Winterfylleth discography and is probably worth it for "Green Cathedral" alone, although the rest is certainly up to the band's usual standards musically. Interestingly, this is the first Winterfylleth album to involve Mark Deeks and, in light of some similarities between "Green Cathedral" and some of Deeks' work under his Arð banner, I can't help but wonder if he had a big impact on the band's songwriting at this point. It may also be salient to acknowledge that the next album was the pure folk album The Hallowing of Heirdom and The Dark Hereafter may have been a case of the band clearing the decks before a new phase in their development.
4/5
If you are looking for really dark gothic country then I highly recommend Black Claw's "Thieving Bones" album.
Wędrujący Wiatr - O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach (2016)
Wędrujący Wiatr are a polish duo comprising W. (aka Swaikstan), who is also a founder member of Sworz, and Razor (real name Tadeusz Jurzec). Both play guitar and contribute folk instrumentation with Razor performing vocals and playing drums and keyboards, whilst W. is the band's bassist.
"O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach" is black metal that is completely rooted in the natural world, its title translating as "About the Peaks, Lakes and Night Trails". From its panoramic, sweeping soundscapes with their pipe-like accompaniments to the restrained, clean-picked folk interludes and field recordings of natural sounds such as birdsong, wind and running water, this is a celebration of the Great Outdoors in all its splendour. There is a richness to the sound that gives it more solidity than the ephemeral and thin production often associated with the frostier versions of atmospheric black metal, as if to emphasise the permanence of the mountains and lakes when compared to the mere fleeting passing of seasons. The vocals contribute to this fuller sound, Razor's voice being a lower-pitched, ragged bellow rather than the harsh shriek often employed by black metal vocalists. It is still pushed down slightly in the mix to give it a more distant quality, as is common, but it retains sufficient power to bolster the depth of the overall sound.
Instrumentally, the tremolo riffs swell and recede like the mountain peaks they portray, with some gorgeous melodies that speak of the immense majesty of the natural landscape. The sound is filled out further with the incorporation of several folk instruments, particularly pipes, it appears, and with a restrained application of keyboards which gives several of the tracks, especially the opener-proper, "Wołanie z granitowych twierdz", a Celtic flavour, reminding me very much of Andy Marshall's Saor project. Razor's drumming is mostly blastbeats and cymbals, driving the tracks and adding impetus to the riffing to ensure the dynamic sweep of the tracks never flounders.
With "O turniach, jeziorach i nocnych szlakach" these Poles have turned in exactly the sort of album that hits my atmospheric black metal sweet spot, its paeons to the natural world being both uplifting and inspiring, this is black metal with a positive spirit for those who feel any kind of connection with Nature.
4.5/5
Looks like the venue owners were deceived by duplicitous bastards. If nazis are so proud about who they are why are they so fucking sneaky about it?
It sounds like the venue did the right thing shutting it down as soon as they realised what was going on.
Maybe your band could talk to the venue owners about putting on an anti-fascist show or something?
With how things are panning out, it was probably openly promoted on X with full approval of Mr. Musk. I have a feeling black metal acts won't be the only nazis coming out of the closet in the next four years.
It still sucks though.
1. Deep Purple - "Bloodsucker"
2. Uriah Heep "Look At Yourself"
3. Diamond Head "Am I Evil?"
4. Motorhead "English Rose"
5. Blitzkrieg "Blitzkrieg"
6. Iron Maiden "Wrathchild"
7. Black Sabbath "Children of the Grave"
8. Venom "Countess Bathory"
Removing Rainbow for no other reason than when I saw Rainbow with Dio back in 1979, sulky-faced Ritchie Blackmore decided that the crowd hadn't worshipped him adequately and refused to play an encore, so fuck him (oh yes I can carry a grudge for a long time). Replacing with Blitzkrieg's brilliant eponymous track, one of the most vital and energetic tracks of the NWOBHM era.
1. Ash - "Midnight Witch"
2. Black Sabbath "Snowblind"
3. Burning Witch "Sacred Predictions"
4. Sleep "Dragonaut"
5. Eyehategod "New Orleans is the New Vietnam"
6. Electric Wizard "Funeralopolis"
7. Year of the Cobra "Lion and the Unicorn"
8. Buzzo*en "Hollow"
Nice enough though "Rip Van Winkle" is, particularly the guitar leads I am going to drop it for Year of the Cobra's "Lion and the Unicorn", the opener from their "...In the Shadows Below" album. YotC are husband and wife duo who don't use guitars. As a bassist yourself, Zero, I thought you might appreciate Amy's stoned-out psych-heavy basslines.
OK Sonny explain it to me, what is the thing with "Am I Evil"? I've never really gotten on with that tune or with Diamond Head.
Really? Lightning to the Nations is one of the best albums of the entire NWOBHM era and Am I Evil? has one of the greatest intros outside of Hell Awaits as well as being one of the tracks that encapsulates the metal spirit for me.
I know I am the only one, but I fucking love "War".That said Holy Moses are pretty damn great too, so I will give this a spin later.
I agree Daniel that Angel Witch the track is a little bit hokey. I've drunkenly sung along to it a thousand times and live it always got the crowd going, but of all AW's debut it has aged least well.
1. Deep Purple - "Bloodsucker"
2. Uriah Heep "Look At Yourself"
3. Diamond Head "Am I Evil?"
4. Motorhead "English Rose"
5. Rainbow "Run with the Wolf"
6. Iron Maiden "Wrathchild"
7. Black Sabbath "Children of the Grave"
8. Venom "Countess Bathory"
Removed Rocka Rolla. It is perfectly fine, but has never been one of JP's anthemic numbers. My replacement is "Am I Evil?" Why? Because it's " I Am Evil? " of course.
Truth be told I am also not a huge Uncle Acid fan, I like them well enough but they wouldn't be absolute favorites. Their inclusion here is partly for being right on theme, and mostly because my wife loves that song. Gotta check out some Burning Witch when I get home if they are as nasty and trippy as you imply here.
I don't know about trippy, but nasty, most definitely and liable to induce a bad trip in any unsuspecting acid head.
Great set Zero. Another one where I don't really want to change anything.
1. Sargeist "Black Fucking Murder"
2. Burzum "War"
3. Nargaroth "Possessed by Black Fucking Metal"
4. Satyricon "Mother North"
5. Immortal "Blashyrkh-Mighty Ravendark"
6. Darkthrone "In the Shadow of the Horns"
7. Mayhem "Freezing Moon"
8. Bathory "One Rode to Asa Bay"
But, CF are probably the weakest of a great bunch and I will replace them with Sargeist's BFM which just about sums up the cold hatred and pure evil of the best scandi-BM.
Daniel, you must check out Mexico's Stenched and their "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin" album before the closing date. I came upon it by accident and it is utterly filthy and rotten sounding OSDM that has got me proper fired up. Fuck all this fancy bollocks, this is the shit.
What a great playlist, Zero, I almost don't want to change it as I had seen all of these bands live back in the day and it would be a great playlist for a bit of reminscence.
1. Uriah Heep "Look At Yourself"
2. Judas Priest "Rocka Rolla"
3. Motorhead "English Rose"
4. Rainbow "Run with the Wolf"
5. Angel Witch "Angel Witch"
6. Iron Maiden "Wrathchild"
7. Black Sabbath "Children of the Grave"
8. Venom "Countess Bathory"
However, I have heard Doctor Doctor roughly one billion times and it isn't a patch on Rock Bottom or Lights Out, so has to go. I am replacing it with a well-known, but lesser-acknowledged band and my favourite track of theirs, Uriah Heep and the title track from their 1971 album.
Also, the British aren't coming - we have always been here!!
1. Black Sabbath "Snowblind"
2. Burning Witch "Sacred Predictions"
3. Sleep "Dragonaut"
4. Eyehategod "New Orleans is the New Vietnam"
5. Weedeater "Long Gone"
6. Electric Wizard "Funeralopolis"
7. Witch "Rip Van Winkle"
8. Buzzo*en "Hollow"
I am not a big fan of Uncle Acid, so I will drop them first and replace them with one of the ultimate "bad trip" bands, Burning Witch. Even the very thought of dropping acid whilst listening to Crippled Lucifer makes me feel like I am gonna have a panic attack, over thirty years since I last did psychedelics!
1. Cannibal Corpse "A Skull Full of Maggots"
2. Neuropath "Incantations of Decrepit Nihilism"
3. Morbid Angel "Where the Slime Live"
4. Mortification "Terminate Damnation"
5. Cryptopsy "Phobophile"
6. Atrocity "Hold Out (to the End)"
7. Death "The Philosopher"
8. Carcass - "Ruptured in Purulence"
Carcass were by far at their best when they hit the midpoint between grindcore and death metal that was Symphinies of Sickness. I have never been a fan of Heartwork and their later stuff. It may have been a fine album by somebody else, but this is Carcass here. "Ruptured in Purulence" is one of the filthiest-sounding tracks they produced and is much more my particular cup of poison.
Is this to stay within the Horde remit, Zero, or basically anything metal?
Just finished reviewing Mayhemic's Toba and yes, that is the thrash metal album of the year for me. I have given the Hemotoxin a couple of listens but I don't yet think of it as highly as even the Critical Defiance album. Maybe that will change, but so far I'm not that impressed.
Mayhemic - Toba (2024)
Mayhemic guitarist and vocalist Noctumbra may be better known by his real name, Javier Salgado, ex-mainman of Parkcrest, guitarist with Hellish and one of the leading lights in the chilean thrash metal scene. Unsurprisingly then, Mayhemic encapsulate the archetypical chilean thrash sound, which is typified by white-hot, hyperkinetic riffs and an influence from black and death metal. Toba marks the band's debut full-length after an EP in 2019 and a split album with Hellish in 2020. The band have undergone a number of lineup changes since they formed in 2018, with Noctumbra himself switching from drums to guitar in 2022 and only he and guitarist Doom (Nacho Pérez) remaining from the band's previous releases.
I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that chilean thrash metal is well and truly in the vanguard as the standard-bearers of the modern thrash scene. As the genre enters its fifth decade the sounds coming out of Santiago and Valparaíso are the most vital and energising thrash metal has known since its heyday ended in the mid-nineties. Salgado himself, and by extension his bands, are prime examples of just how the chileans have been able to inject new life and energy into the mouldering corpse of thrash metal. Toba is just the latest in a string of releases that have redefined what thrash metal means in the 21st century. The members of most of these Santiago thrash bands are almost invariably members of several others, so are constantly either recording or playing live, honing their skills with every performance to a point where these guys are absolutely razor-sharp technically, wrangling every ounce of energy and vitality out of their instruments and laying it down for us all to marvel at.
Toba is a relatively short album by modern standards, only running for thirty-six minutes, yet it doesn't feel particularly short due to the sheer effusive energy it radiates throughout its runtime. In the main, Toba's eight tracks are high velocity affairs chock-full of lightning fast and precise riffs that slash at the listener like a flurry of rapier cuts. They may like to rein back on the tempo and drop into a mid-tempo, groovier riff, with most songs involving several such tempo changes, but the main impression Toba leaves is that this is absolutely blistering stuff. The riffs are well-written and are pretty damn memorable, not merely blurs as they flash from speaker to ear and are designed to wreak maximum neck-wrenching damage. There is a certain infectious ebullience about Mayhemic and, for me, that is most aptly illustrated by the frantic and searing guitar solos which howl with an effusive elation at being unleashed upon the unsuspecting listener. These are not just the standard Hannemann / King short, sharp shocks that became pretty much the standard for the more extreme styles of thrash metal, but are wild expressions of metal's irrepressible ability to excite and thrill, each sounding exuberant and unique.
Noctumbra and Doom share vocal duties. with Noctumbra leading on tracks 1, 3 and 8, Doom on 2,4 and 6 and both contributing on Olduvai's Lullaby. Both are ragged and aggressive bellowers with Noctumbra having a slightly shriller, black-metal influenced shriek and Doom having a similar, but lower-pitched style. In truth there isn't a huge amount of difference between them and I wouldn't really say one is better than the other as both suit the material equally well. Drummer Leviathan (Javier ''Crow'' Buzeta), who has since left the band, is beastly behing his kit, unleashing salvo after salvo of thrashbeats and busy fills, driving the tracks along with precision and powerful kit work. He is ably supported in the rhythm section by bassist Magelis (Ítalo Sánchez). A feature of many chilean thrash releases is a very prominent bass presence, but here the bass takes up a more traditional position in the mix. It is nevertheless perfectly audible, but not as noticeably intrusive as it sometimes is within the chilean scene.
With Toba Mayhemic may not have produced the kind of original and unique thrash release compatriots like the superb Demomiac and even Salgado's previous crew Parkcrest managed, but with a blackened snarl, shredding strings and a withering and pummelling rhythm section, they have captured the essence of what makes metal so damn thrilling and attractive in the first place.
4.5/5
^^^^ Sonny, please report directly to this release as I feel that you'll love it.
Oh yes indeed. Is this all these guys ever did?
Vinny, as it is just me and you now suggesting tracks for the Fallen playlist you may now submit up to 50 minutes worth (I will reserve some time for less popular sub-genres that you and I don't cover with our submissions).
Submissions by 15th April for May's playlist please.
Vinny, Karl, Xephyr, as Daniel has stepped back from the playlists and features you may now submit up to 30 minutes of suggestions.
Please submit your suggestions by 15th March for inclusion in the April playlist.
Vinny & Karl, as Daniel has stepped back from the playlists and features, you may now both submit up to 40 minutes worth of suggestions for the playlist.
Please submit them by 15th February for inclusion on the March playlist.
Daniel, if you still want to submit some then that is fine by me, your knowledge of the clan far exceeds my own and your picks better informed as a result, so are always welcome.
I guess a few dystopian novels such as 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse 5 and I, Robot have been quite influential on metal themes too.
I believe the book that’s had the most influence on metal lyrics & themes is by this dude called God. It’s an old one. I forget the name but I think it starts with a “b”. Some bad ass atrocities transpire in it too by all reports. Metal as fuck!
Or another by Anton LaVey if we are talking about black metal!
HP Lovecraft is a staple in certain areas of the metal world, but he is more of a short stories guy than novels. At the Mountains of Madness is one of his longer stories which I often think of when listening to funeral doom.
The In Her Name series of books by Michael R. Hicks are also very "metal" in subject matter.
Not sure what you mean Rex. Do you mean novels related to actual metal music or novels that cover the themes and spirit that metal thrives on, such as fantasy for power and heavy metal, horror for death metal and the occult for black metal?
If it's the latter then I have always thought of William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer as thematically quite metal. Any of Michael Moorcock's Elric series are definitely metal fodder - Cirith Ungol often use Elric cover paintings as their album covers.
Here is my review:
Knowing nothing of Code, I did my due diligence and it turns out that they are from the UK, or at least founding member (and only remaining member of the lineup that recorded Nouveau Gloaming), Aort, is. He began the band as a solo project called Seaonal Code in 1998, recording a number of demos before shortening the name to Code and expanding the lineup by bringing in fellow Brit Kvohst as vocalist and recording a further demo in 2002. Further expansion to a five-piece with the addition of US guitarist, Vyttra and a norwegian rhythm section of bassist Viper and drummer AiwarikiaR, saw the release of this, their debut, in 2005.
An initial, cursory listen-through reveals something a little unusual with Nouveau Gloaming, which is the liberal use of clean vocals on what is, essentially, a black metal album. Not exclusively, to be sure, but enough to make the listener sit up and take notice. Kicking off with opener, "The Cotton Optic", things begin fairly conventionally with a very tightly-performed slice of conventional black metal which has a memorable, medium-paced riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a Satyricon album. Very soon, though, things take a different turn with second track "Brass Dogs" being the first to feature the aforementioned clean vocals. It starts and ends with a crackling sound and those clean vocals, recorded very thinly, as if playing on an old record player through cheap speakers. A fairly ominous and slow-tempo tremolo riff joins in along with sluggish drum beats to provide accompaniment to the, obviously deliberately, oddly-produced and slightly disorientating vocals. This is quite a stange track and it does have a kind of disconcerting effect on the listener, which, after the fairly conventional and accessible opener made me wonder where Code would be taking us next.
"An Enigma In Brine" has a post-black feeling to it, with the tremolo riffs forming a wall of sound, alternating clean and harsh vocals and a slow tempo, with lumbering drumbeats, eventually building in tempo and intensity. This is followed by "A Cloud-Formed Teardrop Asylum" which begins with a liturgical chant vibe and those increasingly familiar clean vocals before turning in a progressive black direction that feels a little like the kind of track latter-day Enslaved would be very comfortable with, sounding both epic and poignant, although I felt it ended a little too abruptly.
I think by now you get the picture that this is not exactly your typical black metal album, but something far broader in scope, with a diversity of structure and texture from track to track. It must be said, however, that the album as a whole, despite the individual tracks' diversity does have a coherent and cohesive tone and atmosphere, with a general feeling of discomfort and unease generated by the feeling that something is somehow amiss. I see that the band later went in a more progressive direction and that is certainly hinted at here in their earliest work as even this early on they seem to be seeking to breach the boundaries and constrictions of their chosen genre. Technically the band sound consumately accomplished to my untrained ear and their songwriting is forward-looking and ambitious, building a fairly unique atmosphere with their musical abilities rather than relying on production techniques to do the heavy-lifting atmosphere-wise as some are wont to do. The production is exceedingly clear and allows each member ample exposure in the mix.
I must admit I am very pleasantly surprised by Nouveau Gloaming as I was unaware of the UK having been the home of such a unique black metal release. It is both accessible and thoughtful, whilst still generating the kind of uneasy air that great black metal is so consummately suited for and is one of the UK's more interesting black metal efforts.
4/5
OK, so after some further consideration I have decided to follow Vinny's lead with the Pit and move to issuing a new playlist every three months, thus allowing me to produce one a month, rather than trying to cram more in than I may be able to handle. I intend to stagger the three playlists for the clans I am responsible for, so here are the main points and schedules:
1. I will release new playlists for all three clans, The Fallen, The Horde and The North on 1st February
2. The next new playlist for the Horde will be released on 1st March and I would like any suggestions for this playlist in by 15th February please.
3. So the release schedule for the Horde for the rest of 2025 will be:
1st March 2025 with suggestions in by 15th February
1st June with suggestions in by 15th May
1st September with suggestions in by 15th August
1st December with suggestions in by 15th November
Let us see how this pans out and then take it from there. Sorry for the change of mind, but I think this is for the best.
OK, so after some further consideration I have decided to follow Vinny's lead with the Pit and move to issuing a new playlist every three months, thus allowing me to produce one a month, rather than trying to cram more in than I may be able to handle. I intend to stagger the three playlists for the clans I am responsible for, so here are the main points and schedules:
1. I will release new playlists for all three clans, The Fallen, The Horde and The North on 1st February
2. The next new playlist for the North will be released on 1st April and I would like any suggestions for this playlist in by 15th March please.
3. So the release schedule for the North for the rest of 2025 will be:
1st April 2025 with suggestions in by 15th March
1st July with suggestions in by 15th June
1st October with suggestions in by 15th September
Let us see how this pans out and then take it from there. Sorry for the change of mind, but I think this is for the best.
OK, so after some further consideration I have decided to follow Vinny's lead with the Pit and move to issuing a new playlist every three months, thus allowing me to produce one a month, rather than trying to cram more in than I may be able to handle. I intend to stagger the three playlists for the clans I am responsible for, so here are the main points and schedules:
1. I will release new playlists for all three clans, The Fallen, The Horde and The North on 1st February
2. The next new playlist for the Fallen will be released on 1st May and I would like any suggestions for this playlist in by 15th April please.
3. So the release schedule for the Fallen for the rest of 2025 will be:
1st May 2025 with suggestions in by 15th April
1st August with suggestions in by 15th July
1st November with suggestions in by 15th October
Let us see how this pans out and then take it from there. Sorry for the change of mind, but I think this is for the best.
I don't think that rotating all nine clans will appeal to some, certainly not Andi, but I do think there is a lot to be said for rotating the three clans I am going to be running, giving a new playlist every three months for each clan and I think I may go with that. I will still try to get all three out for 1st February, then rotate them on a monthly basis thereafter. I will think on it and then repost the details in the specific clan list suggestions threads.
Any contributions you may make would be very welcome, Daniel.
With Daniel stepping back from aspects of the site and Ben no longer having time to compile the playlist for the North, rather than do away with them I have volunteered to take on responsibility for compiling and updating the playlists for the North and Horde, as well as continuing with the Fallen.
I wouldn't be able to produce three playlists every month, so I am proposing to change the frequency to every other month. I should be able to get new ones out on 1st February due to work already done on them, but following that, new playlists would be released on the 1st of April, June, August, October and December.
I would still like any sugfestions to be submitted by the 15th of the month following a new playlist being released, so by the 15th of February for inclusion on April's playlist.
I know it is a significant change to the scheduling, but necessary I believe in order to keep the concept alive. Let me know either here or via PM if this is a problem, or if you have any other comments regarding the changes.
With Daniel stepping back from aspects of the site and Ben no longer having time to compile the playlist for the North, rather than do away with them I have volunteered to take on responsibility for compiling and updating the playlists for the North and Horde, as well as continuing with the Fallen.
I wouldn't be able to produce three playlists every month, so I am proposing to change the frequency to every other month. I should be able to get new ones out on 1st February due to work already done on them, but following that, new playlists would be released on the 1st of April, June, August, October and December.
I would still like any sugfestions to be submitted by the 15th of the month following a new playlist being released, so by the 15th of February for inclusion on April's playlist.
I know it is a significant change to the scheduling, but necessary I believe in order to keep the concept alive. Let me know either here or via PM if this is a problem, or if you have any other comments regarding the changes.
The Horde is my fourth clan and I do not have the breadth of knowledge of death metal in it's multiple forms as Daniel and, indeed, most other Horde members have, but with the help and contributions of the usual suggestion submitters, I will endeavour to put out the best playlists I can.
With Daniel stepping back from aspects of the site and Ben no longer having time to compile the playlist for the North, rather than do away with them I have volunteered to take on responsibility for compiling and updating the playlists for the North and Horde, as well as continuing with the Fallen.
I wouldn't be able to produce three playlists every month, so I am proposing to change the frequency to every other month. I should be able to get new ones out on 1st February due to work already done on them, but following that, new playlists would be released on the 1st of April, June, August, October and December.
I would still like any sugfestions to be submitted by the 15th of the month following a new playlist being released, so by the 15th of February for inclusion on April's playlist.
I know it is a significant change to the scheduling, but necessary I believe in order to keep the concept alive. Let me know either here or via PM if this is a problem, or if you have any other comments regarding the changes.
In no particular order:
Motorhead - Overkill
Slayer - Raining Blood
Darkthrone - In the Shadow of the Horns
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Diamond Head - Am I Evil?
Iron Maiden - Phantom of the Opera
Autopsy - In the Grip of Winter
Daevar - Amber Eyes (2024)
Daevar are a german trio playing a version of stoner doom metal with female vocals that will be instantly familiar to any fans of Richmond's Windhand. Amber Eyes is their sophomore full-length, following hot on the heels of 2023's Delirious Rites debut. Thick and syrupy, heavily distorted, downtuned riffs are the order of the day here, crawling from speaker to ear like lumbering behemoths with such weight and heft that it feels like you can lose yourself in them and let them just carry you along. Vocalist and bassist Pardis Latifi has a very pleasant voice and croons and cajoles, mesmerising the listener into a hypnotic, dream-like state. In other words, this is the very essence of stoner doom and it is executed impressively. Pardis's elephantine bass lines and drummer Moritz Ermen Bausch's thunderous, but spare, drumming slowly heaves the tracks forward and provide the thick foundations required by the ponderous weight of the uber-distorted riffs. Guitar solos are quite sparingly used and are efficient in their execution, not becoming excessively noodling or swamped in psychedelic explorations.
The songwriting is very good and the tracks are quite catchy, particularly the title track and opener Lilith's Lullaby and these are the sort of songs that may find you humming them to yourself long after you have stopped listening to the album itself. Stoner doom can sometimes become self-indulgent, but Daevar's songwriting is fairly economical and none of the tracks are extended unnecessarily and never seem to drag, quite the opposite in fact. As I said at the beginning, they are very reminiscent of Windhand and some may say too similar, but if you are going to ape anyone's style then it may as well be the best in your given field and it isn't like blatant Band X-worship is rare in the metal world, is it? I enjoyed this far more than I expected to going in and with us entering the seventh year without a new Windhand album, then Daevar provide me with a nice warm and fuzzy hit of that particular doom metal drug I have been craving for so long.
4/5
Severoth - By the Way of Light (2024)
Severoth is the atmospheric black metal solo project of Ukraine's Illia Rafalskyi, also known as Galdur (dungeon synth) and Morok (conventional black metal). I only caught up with this project with the release of previous album, Vsesvit, back in 2020, very much enjoying it's sweeping soundscapes that struck me as similar to Andy Marshall's Saor, a project I have an enormous amount of time for. By the Way of Light continues in similar vein, the shortest of it's five tracks being just shy of nine minutes in length, so ample time is allowed for the epic and expansive atmospherics of the tracks to take root and fill the imagination with images of wild and wind-blown, remote panoramas where nature is given full reign.
Instrumentally, the album consists of thin, repetitive tremolo riffs and programmed drums, overlaid with lush synths which provide added depth via their sonic layering. Skirling lead work suggests the accompaniment of folk instrumentation, such as pipes for a sweeping, folk-centric atmosphere which fans of Saor will certainly recognise immediately. The vocals are ragged howling shrieks, pushed down in the mix slightly suggesting distance both metaphorical and real, apart from a couple of clean sung sections, one in the second half of opening track, "Sunrise Will Come", and another during "To the Stars!" which are more to the fore and in an epic folk style.
It is impossible to listen to the album and read the lyrics and ignore the context in which they have been written. As a resident of Dnipro in Ukraine, Illia is obviously seriously affected by the war and the album, in particular the first two tracks, reflects the mindset of Ukrainians caught up in the horrors. "Sunrise Will Come" with lyrics such as "Sunrise will come, and with it’s own light reveals to us, this new brave world" is certainly a reference to the fact that the current situation cannot last forever and a belief that things will end well. "Sons of Steel Will", the album's most aggressive-sounding track, meanwhile pronounces, "In blaze of the battle, by heat of the bloodshed, We are Sons Of Steel Will" paying tribute to the Ukrainians' indomitability.
In truth, there isn't a whole deal you haven't heard many times before, but it is artfully put together and very competently performed with a steely heart that says, even in the depths of horror, hope and beauty can be found. I found it to actually be a very uplifting album, it's sonic depictions of wide-open natural expanses allowing the listener to metaphorically fill their lungs with the glory of nature in the midst of their busy everyday lives, which is a gift that none but the best can pull off this effectively. If a whole people can be inspired to this in the midst of war, then surely we can in the context of our (thankfully) humdrum lives. This is probably an album for the more romantically-inclined black metal listener rather than the trve kvlt hordes, but if you have any kind of empathy or love of the human spirit in your heart then give it a listen.
4/5
Oh, man, I am so sorry to hear of your health issues Daniel. I fully sympathise as I have suffered with tinnitus for over thirty years, not just from listening to metal at high volume, but also from working in a steel rolling mill in the 80s when health and safety was less of a thing. I find I am often unable to tell what people are saying if I am not facing them directly, which is frustrating, so I understand your decision to protect your hearing.
I agree with Andi that I would love to keep the playlists and features going as they contribute a lot to what makes the site great, at least for me anyway. As a suggestion, how about changing the frequency of the playlists to every quarter, ie four a year, rather than doing away with them altogether. That way, if Vinny is willing to keep going with the Pit then I don't mind taking over the programming for the North and Horde playlists in addition to carrying on with the Fallen. As for the features, again we could change the frequency to every other month.
I think I speak for us all when I say that we apppreciate the amount of time and effort you have put in to making the site what it is, Daniel, and it is a sad day both on a personal level for you as a friend and for the site itself which will be much reduced by your absence. I sincerely wish you all the best going forward with whatever you do in the future.
I might give this a try as I have enjoyed one or two deathcore bands I have heard recently.
Pallbearer - Mind Burns Alive (2024)
I feel I need to recalibrate my approach to Pallbearer. Since their imperious debut, Sorrow and Extinction, they have moved further away from that album's massively crushing and melancholy doom metal in a more gentle, doomgaze-y direction that has found me becoming increasingly disappointed with the results. Mind Burns Alive continues that direction of travel and it is now apparent that the days of Sorrow and Extinction are well in the band's rearview mirror.
Firstly, the production has a light touch, without doom metal's usual focus on the bottom end and with a clear, clean sound that enhances the gentler material, but which, lightens the doom riffs when they hit, preventing them from attaining the overwhelming crushing weight which is most often the point of focus for doom acts. Songwriting-wise, it seems that Pallbearer are steering in a more post-metal direction, achieved by incorporating influences from 1990's and early 2000's alternative rock. A track such as "Signals", for example, has a very alt-rock intro, bringing to mind bands like Radiohead or REM and even when the doom riff kicks in, it feels as much like the heavier alternative or noise rock bands of the turn of the century as it does doom metal. It must be said though that Brett Campbell has the perfect voice for this style, his reedy and nasal delivery is very much suited to that particular alternative rock sound and feels just as much at home with the gentler material as it does the heavier.
I have a feeling that Pallbearer may be taking a leaf out of Patrick Walker's book and taking an emotionally redolent version of doom metal such as Walker perfected on Watching From A Distance and moving in a shoegazey, alternative direction, similar to 40 Watt Sun. As I said at the beginning, I think a reappraisal of Pallbearer is required at this point because, after multiple listens, by which time any lingering preconceptions have been shorn away, Mind Burns Alive is revealing itself to actually be an interesting album and may now even sit as my second-favourite by the band after the mighty debut. The previous few albums, certainly those after Foundations of Burden, have felt incomplete, like a band casting around for a signature sound without exactly knowing where they are heading, but I think Mind Burns Alive has seen Pallbearer arrive where they truly want to be and feels more complete and coherent as a result. Their's is now an emotionally-charged version of doom that builds from gentle, often non-metal, beginnings up to a crescendo whereby the heavy doom riffs act as a kind of catharsis for the fear or sorrow openly displayed during each track's earlier sections. The band are obviously very technically sound, but use this ability to build atmosphere and poignancy within their music, rather than to showcase their technical chops. The guitar solos, for example, sound mournful and full of yearning, used to elicit an emotional reaction rather than wow the listener with the musician's dexterity.
Did I even mention the saxophone solo that jumps out at you during "Endless Place" yet? I'm not completely convinced said solo was entirely necessary, but it does help to illustrate that Mind Burns Alive is actually a lot better and more interesting than I originally gave it credit for. To properly appreciate it, however, I have had to shift my perspective on not only this, but the band as a whole. I wouldn't say this is a perfect album by any stretch, certainly not for my particular taste profile, but it finally sees Pallbearer getting comfortable with a particular sound that plays to their strengths and which is even capable of swaying the opinion of a cynical old bastard like me to their way of thinking. In all honesty, I had been getting a little bit bored of certain sections of the doom metal scene's predictability over recent months, so it is great to hear something that has defied and redefined my expectations.
4/5
Yeah, I don't mind them too much and still like the debut album, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, along with my personal favourite Middian and Nymphetamine is OK. I don't really think they have been classed as black metal for many a year now, gothic metal being the most usual tagging for them.
Hi Ben, can you add Cryptal Echoes and their s/t EP from 2024. It only has 15 ratings on RYM and it looks (and sounds) like a demo, but it is an official release with a CD version available on Morbid Chapel Records. Thanks in advance.
Cryptal Echoes - S/T EP (2024)
Cryptal Echoes are a young death doom band from Klagenfurt in Austria and this self-titled, almost thirty-minute, EP is their first release since forming in 2021. At the time of the EP's recording they were a four-piece band, but a couple of lineup changes have since seen them reduced to a trio. They worship at the altar of the old-school death metal gods, with a thoroughly filthy and cavernous sound, which is exacerbated by a very raw, little better than demo-quality, production job. Heavily distorted, lumbering riffs accompanied by deep-throated growls and bellows for vocals are very much the order of the day for the band, punctuated by more uptempo bursts of deathly aggression. This is very much death doom rooted in the genre's early-nineties beginnings with no concession to the progressive tendencies or external genre incorporation of more modern death doom bands, delivering a pure and unfiltered, genuinely old-school death doom experience.
When the band let loose and increase the tempo into out-and-out death metal territory, the raw production values and heavy guitar distortion see things getting a little bit messy and start to blur into one deathly rumble, with the snare drum being the main discernible instrument still propelling the tracks along. I don't necessarily have a problem with this, having listened to a lot of lo-fi stuff over the years, but it could well be a deal-breaker for those raised on modern, crystal clear production jobs. The riffs are decent, although if you are familiar with a lot of early 90's death metal then you won't find them at all original, although that is never the aim here. Cryptal Echoes know exactly what they want to do and that is recreate the original death doom sound as faithfully as possible, a feat they pulled off very convincingly.
Of the six tracks on the EP, four hover around the six minute mark and these are where the meat of the album lie. There is a bit of a departure with tracks four and five, with the sub-two-minute "Spiritual Torture" verging on grindcore and short instrumental, "Dreaded Chasm" being a gently noodling breather prior to closing track, the lumbering and hulking "Desolate Return" with which the band finish in great style. This is my favourite of the six, it feeling the classiest and most developed track with the release's coolest riffs left until last.
This is probably one for hardcore death doom fanatics with a penchant for the old-school, but if that is you then you may well find enough raw meat to sink your teeth into with this.
3.5/5