Sonny's Forum Replies

Hi Ben, could you please add portuguese one-man project Sardonic Witchery. Thanks!

Sardonic Witchery - Barbaric Evil Power (2024)

Released 4th January

Sardonic Witchery is a solo project of Portugal's King Demogorgon (Ricardo Mota) who used to be one half of black metal duo Infernal Kingdom. After a, frankly awful, intro, King drops the hammer on some reasonable blasting black metal with riffs that sometimes fly close enough to traditional metal that they almost come over as black 'n' roll. He has quite an acerbically harsh, roaring style of singing that comes across more as angry than evil at least until Merciless Warrior of Steel when he just sounds hokey as he tries to pull off some kind of Tom G Warrior-like "death grunts".

The production of the album is good, with the bass lines being nicely presented and boosting the riffs well, although the snares are pushed forward and get a little bit annoying after a while. There's not really a whole lot more to say, this is a decent enough piece of black metal that is best when it's blasting hardest, but which is also prone to fly close to black 'n' roll grooviness with trad metal influence shining through and some inherent cheesiness. As such it treads familiar ground, albeit mostly with professional aplomb. There aren't really enough stand-out moments that will keep you wanting to respin this, with the duo of Barbaric Bastards of Mass Destruction and Horizon's End being the section that meritted most attention from me and had me wishing the quality of those two tracks was reproduced throughout the album's almost forty minutes rather than being confined to a mere ten. So, ultimately I guess, it will end up on the pile of releases of the year marked "solid if somewhat unremarkable black metal" - and I am sure it won't be the last.

3/5

Some really nice, raw-sounding shit this month Vinny, especially the first tree tracks and, of course, Darkthrone's glorious closer. Others that caught my ear were Epidemic, Droid, Diabolic Night, Torture and Legion of the Damned. Honourable mentions go to Malokarpatan, Thrashback and Witchaven. Suicidal Tendencies was really the only one I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for - I have always preferred the hardcore punk of their debut to any of their metal offerings. Nice list again Vinny, thanks mate!

Sunn O))) - The Grimmrobe Demos (2000)

Sunn O))) were formed in 1998 by Goatsnake's Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley, who was looking to form a new outfit after the splitting-up of Burning Witch, their name intended as a pun on Earth's moniker as the drone pioneers were huge influences on Anderson and O'Malley. The Grimmrobe demos were released in 2000 as the band's debut release, with the duo's worship of all things Earth resulting in the album containing a track called "Dylan Carson" after the Earth mainman. The sound on Grimmrobe Demos is heavily based upon that explored by Carlson on Earth's debut, the seminal "Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version" with super-slow tempos, heavily distorted and downtuned guitar tones and feedback, all designed to present a monolithically towering sound with which to swamp the listener. Drums are entirely absent as there is no percussion required here, the tempo being so slow and crawling as to render any sort of timekeeping irelevant. Even for Sunn O))) there is little variety offered here, these are unflinchingly slow and crushing primal soundscapes, with zero evidence of the experimentation the duo were to introduce on some of their later releases. This is the music of nature, the music of tides, the music of tectonic plate movements and I imagine, in my more fanciful flights of fancy, that this is what it would sound like if you could get close enough to a star to hear those awe-inspiring cosmic furnaces burning off their plasmic fuel.

I have touched on elsewhere how busy experimental and technical metal often causes me difficulties because of the challenges I often experience with sensory overload, well Sunn O))) are a perfect antidote to that for me, these bassy and monolithically repetitive aural experiences enveloping like a comforting blanket, providing a calming and meditative experience that I don't often find elsewhere. I get it that these guys really aren't for everyone, or even most people, but they are amongst some of the best at what they do and personally I would hate to live in a world where Sunn O))) didn't exist.

4.5/5

Hi Ben, could you please add Richmond, VA. sludge/doom band Lair and particularly their new album, The Hidden Shiv?

Lair - The Hidden Shiv (2024)

Released 1st January

Richmond three-piece, Lair, are back with their sophomore, four plague-ridden years after the self-titled debut. They play bereft and pissed-off sounding sludgy doom metal that sounds very much like a band with an axe to grind about many things, but particularly the bleakness and futility of existence, so if you come into this with a sunny disposition, then don't expect to leave it feeling the same!

First off, it does plug into the post-pandemic, confused and bereaved mental space very well, giving vent to a hopelessness and desperation borne of things out of one's control as expressed in heavy, towering and slothful riffs, primitive-sounding drum beats and a vocalist who's throat-wrecking howls to the sky are the epitome of bleakness. So, if that doesn't float your boat then you are definitely looking up the wrong alley here, but for those who worship at the altar of acts like Eyehategod, Acid Bath or Toadliquor, then come on in my red-eyed friend and pull up a chair. OK, so the vocals do become a bit samey and you find yourself wishing for a change in delivery or inflection and the riffs aren't the most inventive, but this type of sludgy doom is more about the overall aesthetic than individual moments, the repetitiveness seeking to add layer upon layer of despondency upon the listener to achieve that atmosphere of alienation, desperation and anger, that anger being the prime ingredient of good sludge metal I would suggest. Even saying that, this isn't completely monolithic, with an instrumental breather in Something’s at the Door, it's gentler sound setting up the faster, almost death metal of (To Step Into) A Noose of One’s Own. Although normal service is soon resumed and they get back onto the dreary, doom-laden and sludge-filled treadmill for the final three tracks.

The Hidden Shiv is a fairly solid slab-o'-sludge that ticks a lot of the right boxes and, in all fairness, is growing on me the more I listen to it, but I wouldn't speak of it in the same tones as the earlier-mentioned sludge flag-bearers. But that said, they have come on a fair bit since I last checked them out via their 2018 EP "In Exile" and they are definitely moving in the right direction.

3.5/5

Deconsekrated - Ascension in the Altar of Condemned (2024)

Released 1st January 2024

Another quality outfit from the Chilean metal scene, death metal four-piece, Deconsekrated, have now unleashed their debut album upon the world. They aren't reinventing the wheel here, or really doing anything that hasn't been done hundreds of time before, but it is skillfully executed and full of vitality and energy, with the occasional breakdown into a more considered death doom pacing providing tempo variation. Vocalist Gûl Evokator has a harsh barking growl that gives the vocals a convincing howling abyss-demon quality that sits very well within an old-school-influenced death metal context. Alongside that there are a couple of ritualistic-sounding ambient, chanted parts in the intro, "Invocation" and the first part of the album's longest track, "Litany of the Blasphemous". Mostly though, it must be said, this is pummelling, no frills, blasphemous death metal, a style of DM that I am very much at home with and can appreciate for it's lack of pretension and focus on providing neck-wrenching blasts to inspire even the most reticent of moshpits.

The production is spot-on with the riffs sounding beefy and precise, aided by the muscular rhythm section of bassist Fides Naash and drummer Rigor Mortis (something tells me these guys may be using pseudonyms) who sounds at times like he is pounding on the inside of the listener's own skull! Guitarist Agorh Skullptor unleashes the odd short, Slayeresque solo, but nothing indulgent or ill-fitting to distract from the impending battery. There are plenty of lines to be drawn to OSDM classics like Mental Funeral, or Diabolical Conquest, but with a more modern production which may not deliver the full cavernous experience, but does sharpen up the riffs and provide a sharpness to the sound that gives it a focus away from a deathly, foetid atmosphere and more onto musical precision. The strength of chilean metal is that it shows a reverence for metal's former glories whilst unafraid to adopt a modern approach and production that ensures that the material has relevance. And so 2024 kicks off in solid style with the chilean scene showing exactly why it is growing in reputation within the metal world.

4/5

Hi Ben, could you please add chilean death metallers Deconsekrated and their debut album, Ascension In The Altar Of Condemned, which was released today.

I cannot lay any claim to being a source of much knowledge when it comes to death metal, having come to it quite late on. I turned away from metal during the nineties and was listening to hardly any, let alone the burgeoning death metal scene, at the time of the release of Neuropath's two demos in '95 and '96 that make up the contents of this compilation. Luckily for us all, we have the inside track on this release from the horse's mouth, so to speak, in the shape of Academy co-creator Daniel, lead guitarist and songwriter with the Sydney brutal DM pathfinders. From the CD liner notes and the interview with Hessian Firm, it is apparent that Daniel and vocalist Mark see the evolution between the earlier demo, Nefarious Vivisection, and the later, Desert of Excruciation, as a quantum leap in both technical and songwriting abilities. I certainly would not disagree with this assessment as the technical skills on show are obviously much improved and the songwriting has matured with an increased emphasis on technicality and complexity that is testament to the hard work and dedication that the guys put into the band during what amounts to just a few months between the recording of the two demos.

Now I don't know if Daniel and the rest of the band may consider this blasphemous, but I must sheepishly admit that I like the tracks from Nefarious Vivisection a bit more than the Desert of Excruciation material. I guess it has become apparent that I am a bit of a caveman when it comes to my taste in metal, the more technical, avant-garde, experimental stuff often leaves me cold and I would much rather have something relentlessly brutal and bludgeoning than any number of time-changes and finger-knotting guitar leads and to this end Nefarious Vivisection fills my criteria perfectly. The filthy-sounding riffs stick in my head better than the more complex stuff of the DoE tracks, Masticated Cadaver and the closer here, Rectal Palpitation, being the favourites that stick with me most. Then the clincher is the absolutely fucking brutal vocals supplied by Mark that are some of the best death metal vocals I have ever heard, rivalling Reifert, Vincent, Chuck and even Demilich's Antti Boman.

I really love digging through early metal demos and, sure, there are a lot of poorly-recorded shit out there, but sometimes you find a genuine pearl or two and I would suggest that is exactly what we have here, a rugged, uncut death metal diamond. I now have a CD copy with pride of place in my collection, nestling next to Diabolical Conquest and Altars of Madness where it belongs!

4.5/5

Cirith Ungol - Dark Parade (2023)

Cirith Ungol were originally formed in 1971 and split in 1992 after releasing a string of reasonably well-received albums. They reformed in 2015 like so many other legacy bands, but unlike a lot of those their first album after reforming, 2020's Forever Black was actually pretty good. Three years later the guys are back with another offering, having once more defied the odds and turning in a terrific album that is even better than Forever Black and stacks up pretty well against the band's '80's "classics", King of the Dead and One Foot in Hell which is good going for a band that is over fifty years old.

Dark Parade is chock full of hooky riffs that stick in the memory and give us old metalheads some decent headbanging action, often switching down gear to a more considered, almost trad doom, pacing to give our aging neck muscles some respite. The riffs aren't all there is to DP though, there is plenty of nifty and often extended soloing that should satisfy the most demanding of six-string enthusiasts, in a couple of places reminding me a bit of Blackmore's brilliant soloing during Rainbow's Stargazer, especially on second track Relentless and the later Sacrifice. The Blackmore reference isn't the only Deep Purple related influence though, the fast section of the album's epic Sailor on the Seas of Fate, with it's soaring keyboard overlay takes me back to the days of Highway Star and Burn.

Of course you can't talk about Cirith Ungol without addressing the elephant in the room that is Tim Baker's vocals, his screeching style not being to everyone's taste. Personally I have got used to him and now even view him as having a distinctive and unique style that works really well on it's own terms. But even if you aren't the biggest Baker fan, I think you would find his singing less irritating here, maybe age has mellowed his voice to a degree and rendered it less grating.

All in all this is a really good trad metal album that flaunts it's roots whilst still sounding modern and vital, which is quite a feat for a band four-fifths of whom are well into their sixties (yes even older than me). Gives me great hope that metal blood is never diluted!

4/5

My submissions for February, Vinny:

Anthrax - "Armed and Dangerous" (from "Spreading the Disease", 1985)
Frightful - "Spectral Creator" (from "Spectral Creator", 2021)
Gama Bomb - "Mask of Anarchy" (from "Bats", 2023)
Hellish - "Goddess Death" (from "The Dance of the Four Elemental Serpents", 2022)
Terminalist - "Frenetic Standstill" (from "The Crisis as Condition", 2023)

Hi Ben, my suggestions for February:

Mare Cognitum - "Pyre of Ascendance" (from "An Extraconscious Lucidity", 2012)
Taake - "Et uhyre av en kniv" (from "Et hav av avstand", 2023)

Thanks, Vinny - I've just sprayed hot tea out of my nose with laughing!!!

My submissions for February, Daniel, are:

Bolt Thrower - "Cenotaph" (from "War Master", 1991)
Coffin Nail - "Trash Future" (from "Charnel Visions", 2020)
Demilich - "The Echo (Replacement)" (from "Nespithe", 1993) - on Spotify on the  "20th Adversary of Emptiness" compilation
Fossilization - "The Night Spoke the Tongue of Flames" (from "Leprous Daylight", 2023)
Morbid Angel - "Pain Divine" (from "Covenant", 1993)
Nile - "Lashed to the Slave Stick" (from "Annihilation of the Wicked", 2005)
Repulsion - "Slaughter of the Innocent" (from "Horrified", 1989)
Tomb Mold - "Flesh as Armour" (from "The Enduring Spirit", 2023)

January 2024

1. Early Moods - "Last Rites" (from "Early Moods", 2022)

2. Kaunis Kuolematon - "Elävältä haudattu" (from "Mielenvalta", 2023)

3. Obscure Sphinx - "Nothing Left" (from "Epitaphs", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Cathedral - "Ebony Tears" (from "In Memoriam" demo, 1990) [submitted by Daniel]

5. Lord Vigo - "Eternal Saviour " (from "Blackborne Souls", 2017) [submitted by Morpheus Kitami]

6. Remina - "The Endless City" (from "Strata", 2022) [submitted by Ben]

7. diSEMBOWELMENT - "Extracted Nails" (from "Mourning September" demo, 1990) [submitted by Daniel]

8. Dopelord - "Evil Spell" (from "Songs for Satan", 2023) [submitted by Sonny]

9. Ocean of Grief - "Imprisoned Between Worlds" (from "Pale Existence", 2023]

10. Madvro - "We Worship" (from "We Worship", 2019)

11. Shepherd - "Stereolithic Riffalocalypse" (from "Stereolithic Riffalocalypse", 2015)

12. YDI - "Black Dust" (from "Black Dust", 1985)

13. The Angelic Process - "The Promise of Snakes" (from "Weighing Souls With Sand", 2007)

14. Hexvessel - "Ring" (from "Polar Veil", 2023) [submitted by Vinny]

15. Convocation - "Procession" (from "No Dawn for the Caliginous Night", 2023) [submitted by Ben]

16. Reverend Bizarre - "Doom Over the World" (from "II: Crush the Insects", 2005)

Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (2023)

First off, I have to say that this is an enjoyable slab of metal but, in truth, it isn't really any more than that and I'm not sure I can get onboard with all the hype that has been behind this release. I think people are playing up the black metal content because, beyond the shrieking vocal style I don't think there is too much by way of black metal here. What it is is high-octane speed, thrash and good old heavy metal with a shit-ton of energy and vibrancy that exploits an assosciation with black metal by utilising black metal vocals, allowing an out-of-fashion musical style some relevancy within the modern metal scene.

Obviously James McBain, the sole muso behind Hellripper, is one hell of a talented guy and he can write riffs and hooks seemingly effortlessly as he glorifies fist-pumping metal hedonism, to which end his soloing is energetic and over-the-top. He certainly can't be accused of being boring or lacking ideas, but maybe therein lies the rub. It feels ocasionally like a pick'n'mix metal comp of Eighties worshipping retro-metal bands where every track works really well in isolation, but when consumed all together it becomes a bit too much. The only truly consistent factor is James' shrieking black metal vocals which do work very well in most instances.

Like I said at the start this is enjoyable stuff and I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon for saying it, but I really can't feel it enough to get me reaching for those higher scores. Maybe it just doesn't chime 100% with what I look for in my metal listening nowadays but it can't be ignored and has rightly has earned much praise for it's creator.

3.5/5

Thanks for such a forthright and honest reply, Daniel. Sorry for being so damn nosy, I promise I'll stop bugging you about it now.

One final question, Daniel. Do you think you moved away from metal altogether and into the club scene because of a disenchantment with metal following the demise of Neuropath and the lack of a strong support structure for death metal in Sydney, or  because you felt your need to create would be better served by the club scene, or was it something different altogether?

P.S. I hope no one took my comment about Mark as a negative, he seems like a really cool guy and someone I feel I could get along with (which isn't actually that many people usually).

Just checked out the interview and never having been near to being in a band myself, I found it really interesting listening. I don't know, but having zero musical ability I have always put those who do have it on a pedestal, so it was great to hear how a gang of normal kids actually went about putting a band together and making it work. I have heard endless stories of bands' origins obviously, but when you hear it from household names like Ozzy or Lemmy or whoever, it is still very hard to relate to, yet your explanation of Neuropath's beginnings and, indeed, ending was very relatable indeed. It was a bit of a surprise to me that Sydney didn't have a big death metal scene back then, again probably because my own personal experience is of shitty little industrial towns and I always thought every big city had almost everything!

It seems ironic how Mark, who wrote the lyrics and by extension projected the band ethos, seems to be quite reserved in conversation (a bit like myself I might add). He seems like a guy who only speaks when he really feels he has something to say. It had puzzled me why you hadn't carried on in the metal "biz" when you obviously had so much ability and an affinity for it, but that seems much clearer now.

It's also funny how you build up a picture of people in your mind's eye and I've got to say, Daniel, you look far more "normal" than I had pictured!!

Update to my list:

1. Panopticon - The Rime of Memory

2. Árstíðir Lifsins - Hermalausaz

3. Ebony Pendant - Ebony Pendant

4. Profane Order - One Nightmare Unto Another

5. Imperium Dekadenz - Into Sorrow Evermore

6. Taake - Et hav av avstand

7. Tilintetgjort - In Death I Shall Arise

8. Thy Darkened Shade - Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya

Yay, my CD has arrived. Not bad, just over two weeks from the other side of the world, it took nearly that long for my brother's xmas card to get to him in Scotland from here in England!

Enjoyed reading the liner notes and hearing how the band was put together and, unfortunately, disbanded in the end. The trials and tribulations of a life in metal. Great photos too, so I've got to ask Daniel, in the picture on the video above, which is you?

Hi Ben, any chance of adding Árstíðir Lifsins' latest release, the Hermalausaz EP?

Very little from me by way of Pit listening this year with Demoniac predictably being my thrash album of the year. I gave Trastorned a quick listen and quite liked what I heard, so will revisit it at some point. I'll have to give a few on your list a go, if only for completions sake, Xephyr.

Árstíðir Lifsins - Hermalausaz (Released 21/12/23)

Árstíðir Lifsins have become one of my favourite pagan black metal bands over the last few years, mainly due to the quality of their two Saga á tveim tungum (Story in Two Languages) albums and their ability to craft sweeping nordic epics that stir the blood and lift the soul. Their latest release, Hermalausaz, supposedly an EP, consists of two lengthy tracks, Ýrr and Þistill, with a total runtime of over forty minutes, which once again illustrates the Icelanders' ability to compose saga-like epics as befits their own cultural heritage. The lyrics are written in Old Norse poetic form, as were the sagas of old and are, as is revealed on the EP's Bandcamp page, "inspired by the runic inscription of the western Norwegian Eggja rune stone", which is a rune-carved grave-covering from around 650-700 CE, the runes upon which tell the tale of a shipwreck caused by a mighty sea-creature and the journey of the lost to the land of the dead.

The instrumentation is first and foremost powerful and epic-sounding black metal, with quite a thick bottom end over which the tremolo riffing can sweep and soar and featuring a variety of vocal styles from throaty, shrieking howls to harmonised, baritone nordic chants. The pummelling double kick drums and punishing blastbeats of Árni Bergur Zoëga's drumming propel the tracks along with an intense fury borne of raw, old-school black metal. However, interspersed within this sweeping, metallic maelstrom are folk-inspired, mournful-sounding acoustic sections, that are mercifully bereft of the inherent cheesiness often associated with folk metal, but rather serve as tonal contrasts, representing the rising and falling of the narrative threads within the tales and allowing moments of respite from the black metal intensity. Other times a slower, melodic theme will take over, often with a piano or keyboard accompaniment, to introduce a different narrative thread and further variety within these epics' tonal pallette.

I see Árstíðir Lifsins very much as the torch-bearers for a narrative style of black metal championed by Enslaved on their early releases such as Vikingligr veldi's "Lifandi lif undir hamri" and Eld's "793 (Slaget om Lindisfarne)", although those were more stripped-back than Hermalausaz' powerful-sounding production, there is still a direct line of epic-storytelling running from one to the other. With only three members and only two being instrumentalists, the music Árstíðir Lifsins' put out is testament to the technical proficiency and adaptability of the band members, sounding like a veritable horde of norse heroes on a musical rampage through some poorly-defended coastal enclave. A massively underappreciated band with a glorious and epic vision of what they are about and the music they want to produce, I hope they ultimately get the praise they deserve.

4.5/5

My Black Metal AOTY will ultimately be the Panopticon one too, Xephyr, but so far I have been reluctant to review it as it resonates with me so much that I don't think I could ever do it justice.

I've been checking out a few Fallen-related releases I am looking forward to that are coming out in 2024 on Bandcamp and a couple of old favourites of mine have albums out soon.

The Obsessed release "Gilded Sorrow" on 16th Feb and those familiar, gravel-voiced, fuzzed-up guitar tones are all present and correct. A couple of preview tracks are up, the brilliantly titled "Stoned Back To the Bomb Age" and "It's Not OK".

Also Saturnalia Temple have a new album, "Paradigm Call", out on March 1st. The preview track, "Revel In Dissidence" and it's sludgy stoner doom sound has really got me stoked for this one!

Vinyl pre-orders have already gone in!!

Again, not really very many new death metal albums for me this year.

1. Torture Rack - Primeval Onslaught

2. Fossilization - Leprous Daylight

3. Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit

4. Obituary - Dying of Everything

5. VoidCeremony - Threads of Unknowing

And that's about it so far...

Cirith Ungol and Smoulder's "Violent Creed of Vengeance" are the only Guardians releases that have caught my attention this year, both being very good.

Taake -Et hav av avstand (2023)

Taake mainman Hoest is an interesting and somewhat underappreciated contributor to the history of Norwegian black metal. Beginning the band in Bergen as Thule in 1993 he has been around that infamous scene since it's earliest days. Whilst undoubtedly taking his cues from those raw, primal black metal beginnings, he has always been an artist who treads his own path. He has never shied away from longer tracks, having several clocking in around ten mibutes, but here he goes all-in with the album's 42 minutes being taken up by just four tracks, with opener "Denne forblaaste ruin av en bro" and following track, "Utarmede gruver" running into each other and coming off as one long twenty-minute-plus epic.

The album is jam-packed with tremolo-picked riffs that are generally quite catchy and melodic, yet Takke's skill is in not making it sound at all like a melodic black metal album and believe me when I say that this is jam-packed with riffs then you had better believe it, the tracks switch from riff to riff like a hyperactive toddler in a Coca-Cola factory. Despite his riffs incorporating influences from everything from trad metal to post-punk, he still imbues them with enough true black metal rawness to leave no one in any doubt that this is indeed a norwegian black metal album. That aesthetic is more than ably reinforced by Hoest's searing, screeching vocals, that provide that quintessentially authentic nordic black metal vocal experience and leave you in no doubt as to what type of album you are listening to.

The opening diptych is followed by the album's shortest track, Gid sprakk vi, which is the most obviously black metal of the tracks here, it's icy blasting reaching reaching for us through the years from the time of Darkthrone's unholy trilogy and producing a shiver down the spine of real black metal afficianados. That blast of nostalgia is followed by the closer and the album's longest single track, Et uhyre av en kniv. This has a progressive feeling to it with an overarchingly melancholic atmosphere, sounding to me a bit like something you may have heard from Ihsahn early in his solo career.

In summation I would say that Hoest has pulled off quite the trick here, releasing an album that is atmospheric, melodic and progressive, but that wears the monochromatic clothes of blistering and raw true norwegian black metal, leaving the listener with a decidedly original experience. I don't suppose this will receive too much attention but it really should as I think it is a wonderously creative slice of modern black metal that appeals to me far more than the preponderance of unlistenable dissonant and avant-garde black metal that everyone seems to be championing nowadays.

4/5

It is quite timely for an Isole feature, as they have had a new album out this year, with Anesidora hitting the shelves back in March. For me, Isole have been on a bit of a downward trajectory since their late-2000s high water mark and listening to Bliss of Solitude and Anesidora back-to-back gives an illustation of why. The latter release feels stripped of any real emotional weight, with the band seemingly seeking a sound more palatable to the mainstream, stoner doom crowd.

So, enough of what went wrong and let us focus on what the band were doing well fifteen years ago, with Bliss of Solitude and it's follow-up Silent Ruins. After forming in 2004 the Swedes released a couple of solid doom metal albums in 2005's Forevermore and '06's Throne of Void, but it was with 2008's Bliss of Solitude that they found themselves nearing the summit of the doom metal mountain. Obviously they were influenced by Candlemass' bombastic style of epic doom metal, but that was certainly not the full extent of what Isole were about, that bombast being tempered by a sorrowful, emotionally resonant side like that being displayed by the likes of Patrick Walker's Warning. The result of this for a release like Bliss of Solitude is that it sounds at once romantically triumphant, but also heart-rending and mournful, like the emotions of the victors of a savage battle won at great cost.

The production is spot on and producer, drummer Jonas Lindström (also of Ereb Altor), have fashioned a perfect guitar sound, being at once huge and weighty whilst still possessing a sorrowful emotion that also keeps it quite personal-sounding. Additional weight is provided by the thundering basswork and Lindström's well-pitched drumming, which act as a perfect foundation for the emotionally-charged dirges of the riffs. The band employs dual guitarists / vocalists in Daniel Bryntse and Crister Olsson, their style of esoteric, layered clean vocals being another source of the album's essential melancholy, particularly on a slower, more inward-looking track like "Imprisoned in Sorrow" or "Dying".

There is a classiness to Isole's best work, of which this is definitely an example, to which not all doom bands are able to aspire. This isn't just about playing super-slow riffs, dragged-out to inordinate lengths, but it is about portraying sadness and sorrow in a relatable and humanly resonant way, being able to express negative emotion in a manner that hints at both redemption and hope without sounding trite or insincere. Bliss of Solitude is a classic slab of emotionally-charged doom metal that deserves a larger share of the praise that is heaped on lesser releases and as such is a perfect choice for a feature release. Nice work Ben.

4.5/5

Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit (2023)

I really enjoyed Tomb Mold's previous album, 2019's Planetary Clairvoyance. TM have evolved their sound even further since that album, branching out in a more technical and progressive direction, even dabbling with the ever more fashionable sorties into jazz metal territory. Whilst I understand and respect the band's desire to evolve and challenge themselves in both songwriting and technical expertise, it doesn't necessarily mean that I am fully on board with it. I have never made any secret of my lack of enthusiasm for the more technical style of metal and as for jazz, it generally has very little to do with me and is something I tend to keep at arms length. That said, the basis of TM's sound is very much in line with my preference for old-school, cavernous death metal and as such enables me to give them the benefit of the doubt. As I am exposed to repeated runthroughs, The Enduring Spirit is beginning to win me over, using the OSDM sound as a handhold I am finally coming to grips with Tomb Mold's continuing refinement of their direction.

In truth most of the evolution on the album is not as jarring as I first thought and is limited to some technical flourishes in the riffing and overall guitar work with the songwriting moving in a more progressive direction rather than a technical one, the band never going full-on Gorguts, which I am thankful for. Will of Whispers is the track I struggle with the most as the smooth jazz-like tone it employs in places is so at odds with the band's death metal roots and my own personal preferences, especially when the growling vocals are performed over the jazz sections (from around the four-minute mark), that it just sounds "wrong" to my ears. More generally, though, the technicality adds some spice to the riffing and battery that is the band's core sound, the technical aspect of the riffing on Fate's Tangled Thread, for example, gives an extra kick to what is actually already a bit of a killer and the more expansive and adventurous soloing in the latter half of the track is most definitely a cool direction to take it in. Tomb Mold almost seem like what would have happened if Autopsy had followed Death's career trajectory.

I think that for me the major takeaway from The Enduring Spirit is that this is not an album that deserves a rush judgement, it reveals more with every listen and I am definitely thawing to what I think the band is trying to achieve here. Most importantly, it still retains the ability to kick ass, no matter what it's technical or progressive intentions and that will always carry a metal album a long way with me.

4/5

If you enjoy Raphael Weinroth-Browne, Vinny, I strongly recommend you check out The Visit's 2015 album Through Darkness Into Light. It was my AOTY for 2015 and features Weinroth-Browne on cello and piano with vocalist Heather Sita Black. It's a beautiful album that deserves to be much more highly acclaimed than it is. In fact, I am going to go and listen to it again now.

Fossilization - Leprous Daylight (2023)

I had a few reservations about Fossilization's 2021 EP, He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten, going into it with the feeling that it was definitely something that should really appeal to me. It was from members of a band I really enjoy (Brazil's Jupiterian) and they were playing my favourite style of death metal, the cavernous old-school version, so it should have been a no brainer, yet I felt there was sadly something lacking. Maybe my expectations for a couple of members of Jupiterian were misplaced, anticipating a more doom-filled approach to their death metal that didn't really transpire.

So, two years on and I am going into their debut full-length with my eyes much more wide open and my expectations held in check. Initial impressions were that little has changed and I still felt a bit short-changed, yet... As exposure to it increased with additional playthroughs, I am beginning to overcome my reticence and am actually really starting to enjoy this M-F. Although there are a number of doomier moments during the runtime, this is far more effective when it is pummelling the loving shit out of you, such as during the faster sections of the title track or The Night Spoke the Tongue of Flames, where it feels like you have thrust your face in front of a sandblaster! The guitar sound is a real down and dirty old cavernous sound that has been dug up from some music production graveyard, ably boosted by thundering basslines and infernal blastbeats whilst Vakka's hoarse growling roars threaten to strip away your sanity with tales of demonic delight at the destruction of the world we know and the advent of hell on Earth.

The album is quite short, it's eight tracks only amounting to a 36 minute runtime, but this is to it's credit as it doesn't outstay it's welcome, which I think a longer album of this intensity would. The band wield a consummate savagery that evidences their South American lineage, no one quite does metal viciousness like the South Americans do they? Ultimately, through sheer adrenaline intensity and technical adroitness, the duo have won me over and I take back all my earlier misgivings.

4/5

Dirge - Dirge (2023)

Dirge are an Indian sludge metal five-piece, formed by members of hardcore punk band Death By Fungi in 2014. After almost ten years, this self-titled effort is only their second release, but they must have been busy honing their craft over the last decade, because this is a very accomplished slab of atmospheric sludge metal that certainly flicks all the right switches, at least as far as I am concerned.

Playing up to the sludge metal tag, this has thick, smoke-wreathed, stonerized riffs that serve as one half of their dual attack, in combination with Tabish Khidir's taut, throat-shredding roar, this is an example of the cudgel and the blade wielded with impressive adroitness and clinical skill upon the listeners aural sensibilities. Don't let me give the impression that this is relentlessly aggressive however, no there is more to Dirge in the songwriting department than that. They are equally adept when luring the listener into a misleading sense of calmness with gentler, soothing sections before unleashing their pent-up anger once more, such as during Malignant where the hypocritical politicians and businessmen of the world stumble into their lyrical sights and feel the full weight of Dirge's spleen being vented upon them (not as it bothers the bastards much I don't suppose, but you can't knock the band for trying).

I did label this as atmospheric sludge, but I mean that more as a description than in relation to the actual genre. Dirge don't exactly adhere strictly to the post-metal convention of build-build-release, but rather use gentler sections as a counterpoint to the general agressiveness of most of the runtime and thus render their conventional sludge metal more atmospheric as a result. I certainly wouldn't lump them in with Cult of Luna or Neurosis, but a better comparison for me is Germany's Hexer. The production absolutely nails the requisite sound, imparting a huge amount of weight to proceedings that an album like this stands or falls upon. I don't know too many Indian metal acts I must admit, but of those I am familiar with, Dirge top the tree.

Super-solid 4/5

I  hadn't really noticed that you had reduced the focus on newer material, Daniel.  Is there any particular reason for it?

I've got an idea what most of those niche genres are, but wtf is mincecore?

I find that the efficacy of demo tracks within a playlist depends a bit on the other tracks around them. If they are quite a bit quieter, or excessively messy-sounding and the tracks around them have crystal clear or beefed-up production then the transition from one to the other can be a bit jarring and take the listener out of their headspace, but reasonable-sounding demos that fit in with the other tracks can be pretty interesting.

I've not done much stat examination for a while and so I have been looking at some stats relating to the Clan charts.

For each clan I looked at how many releases were on the chart with a minimum of 5 ratings and then how many were in each clan with a minimum of 4 ratings, thus seeing how many were a single rating away from making the 5 rating minimum chart:

The Fallen - 180 / 257 = 77

The Gateway - 98 / 161 = 63

The Guardians - 344 / 471 = 127

The Horde - 242 / 346 = 104

The Infinite - 237 / 326 = 89

The North - 249 / 362 = 113

The Pit - 232 / 312 = 80

The Revolution - 60 / 101 = 41

The Sphere - 57 / 71 = 14

I think for the New Year I will set myself to the task of converting whichever of those fours I can into fives, at least for my clans anyway.

I'd love to see one of the clan charts get to 500 entries.

Nice work, Daniel, I think this may be my favourite Horde playlist to date. There were only the Imperial Triumphant and the last couple of tracks that I really didn't like.

Standout for me was the Nihilist track which, considering I am a bit uncommited when it comes to Entombed, was a nice surprise. Other big-hitters that I am less familiar with were Universally Estranged, Gates of Ishtar, Theory in Practice, Tenebro, Wharflurch and, of course, Neuropath are well worth their place on here. Thanks, man.

The last day or so of listening has seen me make a couple of changes to my Fallen top 20 of 2023:

Isole and Tribunal drop off the bottom of the list.

Edit: A further edit is the inclusion of Indian band Dirge's self-titled at #9, costing Hamds of Orlac a place in the top 20.

Godthrymm - Distortions (2023)

Godthrymm were formed by vocalist and guitarist Hamish Glencross who, along with drummer Shaun Taylor-Steels, was a member of My Dying Bride for some of their most iconic albums. Unsurprising then that they sound heavily influenced by the Yorkshire gothic death doom pioneers. The lineup is completed with Sasquatch Bob Crolla on bass and Glencross' wife Catherine was brought in as keyboard player and full-time female singer in 2022, after guesting as vocalist on a couple of tracks on the debut.

Although the MDB influence is apparent, this is nothing like as sorrow-ridden and mournful-sounding as the seminal Peaceville acolytes. The riffs aren't universally crushing and although they do carry sufficient weight, there is also an intangible airiness concealed within them that allows the tracks to breathe rather than being stultifyingly uncompromising. This effect is also enhanced by the concentration on clean vocals, not just Catherine's female vocals, but also Hamish's cleans seem to soar rather than bear the listener down. The rhythm section of Bob's bass and Shaun's drumming also keep things driving forward and are relatively busy for a doom album, providing further variation within the overall doom aesthetic.

The album as a whole and the individual tracks themselves are longer than on Reflections and so allow for more development and atmosphere-building with the songwriting seeming to have received an upgrade in the interim between albums. Overall, I would say that this is an album that takes a classic doom metal template and weaves lighter melodies within the riffing whilst harnessing a gothic aesthetic to produce an album that still manages to remain quite heavy, whilst delivering a refreshing and expansive atmosphere. It may not appeal to everyone, but I think it provides something a little bit different whilst not departing enormously fom what doom metal afficianados would be justified in expecting.

4/5

I thought the same thing Sonny.

Nothing wrong with it, enjoyed it for a listen, but I've had zero want to go back to it. It scratched the itch for some classic stoner tunes at the time but like you said, it feels hard to get truly excited about something like this. 3/5 as well from me, hence why it didn't make it onto The Fallen 2023 roundup list.

Yeah, like I say, it is a shame, because the band are very competent and I don't like to slag off albums solely for sounding like other albums, especially in a genre like stoner metal where basically everyone's ripping Sabbath off to a greater or lesser degree. I guess the problem's mine, not the band's and over-exposure to the genre is the main culprit. 

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs  - Land of Sleeper (2023)

Pigs x7 are a Geordie stoner band, their sound based around fuzzed-up Sabbathian riffs and a passing nod to 1970's hard rock. Pretty much par for the course I suppose and no, they don't break the mould of stonerized doom metal, but it is pretty enjoyable and more than passes the requirements of heaviness that we stoner doom disciples expect. I must admit that when I hear an album like this nowadays, I think that the band are probably more enjoyable in a live environment than on record, not because there is anything at all wrong with it, but because it is based around riffs that are 50 years old now and the lack of originality is less of an issue in a live setting.

I do find it hard to get over-enthused about a lot of stoner metal these days and Land of Sleeper doesn't do anything to change that attitude. I feel a bit bad about heaping such faint praise upon this, because there really is nothing wrong with it at all, and it does occasionally hint at a darker side, but there is just so much familiarity contained within the grooves of the album that it is hard to get overly excited about it, If you are new to stoner doom, or are just a stoner obsessive, however, then you may well enjoy this a lot more than I did and I hope there are plenty of you because these guys deserve it, unfortunately I'm just not feeling it.

3/5

Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - Obsession Destruction (2023)

Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean are an anonymous, four-piece sludge metal crew from Massachusetts. Their name is apt as a metaphor for the crushing weight of their material, bearing the listener down as surely as those many, many metric tonnes of pressure exerted at the ocean's floor. That monicker is, of course, taken from a Thou song and that is hardly surprising as they sound remarkably like their obvious influence, yet they are proficient enough, both songwriting and performance-wise to stand on their own two feet and stand clear of the shadow of the Baton Rouge sludge masters.

The band have a devastatingly thick, distorted guitar tone that is very much based on Thou's signature sound, but as I absolutely love Thou's guitar tone, then that is just fine by me. The vocals are painful, ragged howls with their origins in both hardcore and black metal, that shred the ears with their shrieking roar and tear at the soul with their heartfelt desperation. It has to be admitted that this is quite simple metal, there are no fancy tricks, technical gymnastics or attempts to surprise the listener, but that is all to the good as far as I am concerned, because this is metal for those who want to engage with the music on an emotional and visceral level rather than an intellectual one. This is as visceral a sound as any high-intensity death metal or febrile black metal, it's just that this is bludgeoningly heavy rather than rapier sharp and will result in crushed limbs rather than savage flesh wounds and ultimately it is music so heavy it feels like it has some physical effect on reality itself.

Though I say that this is fairly simple in structure, that doesn't mean that it is monolithically dull or unimpressive. There is enough variation in tempo and tone to keep the mind engaged, often turning to a post-metal style of atmospheric tension building and release that gives the listener a well-deserved payoff by track's end. Ultimately, it must be admitted, if you have no love for Thou and their extended sludge metal outings, then Obsession Destruction will probably leave you cold, but for those of us who view this style of throbbing, crushing sludge as manna from heaven and who enjoy being swamped and overwhelmed by the listening experience, then this is 66 minutes of pure gold.

4.5/5

I've just gone to "Releases" and put in 2023 Fallen albums that I haven't rated and have just realised how slack I have been with new releases this year as there are loads I would like to check out still and over 100 that I haven't heard at all. I guess my focus has been elsewhere ths year!

Convocation - No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (2023)

Finnish duo Convocation inhabit that sector of the metal Venn diagram where the arcs of funeral and death doom overlap, which also happens to be one of my favourite shades of metal. For latest album, No Dawn for the Caliginous Night, they lean more towards the funeral doom side of things, ultimately taking a leaf out of the mighty Esoteric's book. One danger of funeral doom that these Finns avoid is in overcooking things and allowing tracks to drag along without much variation, producing arse-numbingly long albums in the process. Convocation rarely go beyond the 12 minute mark for individual tracks and their longest album is fifty minutes, this one clocking in at forty-eight. They also like to bring in some textural and tonal variation, whilst still maintaining the slow, funereal pacing from whence the genre derives it's name.

The production is excellent, allowing the heaving chords to provide a huge wall-of-sound which towers over and threatens to smother the listener with sheer sonic immensity and even though there is an undoubted crushing power to the tracks, there is much more to them than just that, with string accompaniment and vocal and guitar melodies providing a striking countepoint to the fundamrntal heaviness of the instrumentation. Opener, Graveless yet Dead, features Shape of Despair's Natalie Koskinen as second vocalist, whose soaring, angelic vocals provide perfect contrast to Marko Neuman's bellowing roars as he rails against his fate as a cursed, undying soul, fated to forever wander the Earth. The album features another couple of guest vocalists, Corpsessed's Niko Matilainen on second track, Atychiphobia, and Dying Fetus / Misery Index singer Jason Netherton guesting on closer, Procession (which also sees Ferum's Samantha Alessi providing a spoken narration).

The eye of the album's storm is the instrumental track Between Aether and Land which sits at the heart of the album and which has a less dense feel to it, being woven through with a nice melodic thread that makes it sound less despairing and hopeless than the opening twenty minutes, allowing a shaft of light or a glimpse of open countryside to infiltrate the ominous and despairing atmosphere of the remainder of the album. Naturally this is short-lived and Lepers and Derelicts hits with the full crushing force of a tsunami of hopelessness, sucking all air and positivity out of proceedings and feeling all the more forceful for it's contrast with the preceeding track, Marko Neuman's howling roars sounding increasingly desolate as he bellows the protagonists hatred of his own existence as a torturous demon, bedevilling mankind. On closer, Procession, Convocation really reveal their hand with a track that has a massive epic quality to it, with superb compositional and atmospheric flourishes, from guest Antti Poutanen's cello accompaniment to Samantha Alessi's narration and the melodic guitar work that threads it's way through those hefty, intimidatingly massive chords. Ultimately the track (and by extension, the album) sheds it's horrors and ends with a much more serene feeling as cello and picked guitar along with the closing narration seem to offer the consolation that eventually all horrors must pass.

With No Dawn.. Convocation have truly cemented their place as one of my absolute favourite funeral / death doom bands and I would claim this as a classic of the genre, making them fit to take up their place alongside genre greats like Esoteric and Evoken.

5/5

Another top list this month, Ben. I don't know if it's because the winter is here and the music suits the mood so well, but the last couple have been very good indeed. In fact there wasn't a single track I could say I disliked. Sure there were a couple that were a bit more melodic than I prefer, but they were still fine in their own way. I'm with Vinny in thinking that Faidra track was a particular highlight. Deiphage, Ebony Pendant, Fork Of Horripilation, Glemsel and Auriferous Flame were fantastic too. And let's face it, any playlist with Mayhem, Emperor and Darkthrone is going to kick ass anyway. Nice work Ben and everybody who submitted their selections.

Hands of Orlac - Hebetudo Mentis (2023)

I was quite the fan of Hands of Orlac's debut album, even scoring myself a vinyl copy. Their split album with The Wandering Midget was pretty good too. However, I was intially a bit reticent about their new release. The production sounds washed-out and it robs it of any heft or weight to a degree, with Ginevra's vocals particularly sounding quite weak. The early tracks are a bit lukewarm songwriting-wise too, lacking any speacial kind of hook or particularly interesting idea and ultimately failing to grab my attention.

Things take an upward turn after the short instrumental title track at the midpoint, however, with Malenka sounding much more like the sort of thing I have come to expect from the Italians. Frostbite is a much more interesting track too, with the flute adding some nice variation and giving it more of a paganistic, Blood Ceremony vibe. The lengthy closer Ex Officio Domini (The Executioner of Rome) weighs in at just under fifteen minutes length and is a bit of a proggy, psychedelic doom epic where we get to hear some nice soloing at last.

Overall a step down from their earlier material for me, let down by weak production and two or three formulaic and uninteresting tracks early on. I am glad I persevered though, because the last three tracks are very good and make the album overall a worthwhile listen.

3/5

Benthic Realm - Vessel (2023)

I have been a fan of Krista Van Guilder's turns in bands like Warhorse and Second Grave for some time now and was very contented with the direction of latest band Benthic Realm as indicated by their first couple of EPs released in 2017/18. However things had gone quiet on the BR front while the world battled the Covid-19 pandemic, but now they are back with their debut full-length, five years after their last EP hit the shelves. Well, the band have certainly not been sitting back and I've got to say up front, this is possibly my favourite release from bands Krista has been involved in. The guitar sound is perfect for this style of doom metal, with a powerful, booming tone that imparts a huge amount of heft to the riffs. The bass and drums provide a rock solid foundation upon which these booming riffs are built, providing a dense, all-enveloping quality to the sound. Then over all this soars the heavenly vocals of Krista herself. These aren't the ephemeral, airy vocals associated with a lot of female singers in the doom metal scene, but powerful and authoritative with a gorgeous tone that perfectly complements the weight of the riffs with a strength of their own, providing both melody and power in equal measure.

The songwriting is very good also, being instantly relatable to any doom metal veteran fan, whilst still retaining a vibrancy and identity very much of their own. No, Benthic Realm don't throw away the doom metal rulebook, but they are so proficient as songwriters and performers that Vessel sounds anything but tired and derivative, feeling like a shot in the arm to a scene that often retreads old ground with solid, but indistinguishable releases. If you only listen to one female-fronted doom metal album this year then you could do much worse than grab a copy of Vessel.

4/5

Thanks Ben. I must check out that Convocation album myself, as I am a big fan of their previous two.

Ben, do you have any suggestions for January's playlist?

Much appreciated Sonny. Feeling very honored that you would invest your hard-earned money in our little release. Wait till you see the band photos on the inside cover. :)

I must admit, the booklet is one of the big reasons I wanted to get hold of a physical copy. I'm looking forward to reading it.