Sonny's Forum Replies

Well, it was going really well up to Overkill's The One, but after that it went a bit Pete Tong for me. I'm not a big fan of groove metal and most things that sound like Pantera get up my nose, so there were a few tracks in the middle section that didn't do it for me - Lazarus A.D., Mnemic and, unsurprisingly, Babymetal didn't impress (although I resisted the temptation to FF which was quite an effort with a couple of them). Zimmers Hole's “When You Were Shouting at the Devil…We Were in League with Satan” did make me raise a chuckle though and is an absolutely brilliant title.

Things got back on track with Autoneosis and although I wasn't a massive fan of the album, here on the playlist it works. The one-two punch of Deviated Instinct and Hellshock was a playlist highlight for me and though I wasn't massively taken with the Feared track, the three closers gave the playlist a terrific, powerful climax.

I must admit, I'm starting to wonder of The Pit still holds the attraction for me that it used to. However, I just can't imagine giving up the clan that holds Reign In Blood, Master of Puppets, Among the Living and so many other albums that were fundamental to the expansion of my metal taste in the eighties. Just have to take the rough with the smooth I suppose. Anyway, great work Vinny and I did hear some stuff I need to look into further - Slaughter Messiah and Hellshock in particular.

Well, The Ending Quest must be a specially kept secret of the death metal cognoscenti, because this sole full-length from Sweden's Gorement is an absolute classic of nineties death doom and it's various ingredients are like sonic vitamins that ensure the listener's mind and ears will grow strong enough to withstand the onslaught of extreme metal, yet I have never even heard of it before which is a shame because this is most definitely up my particular strasse and I am super-stoked to finally have made it's acquaintance, so thanks Daniel for nominating it. On reflection it is unfortunate that I dropped out of metal circles in the nineties because there was no end of underground-ish shit coming out that I would have lapped up if life had been a little kinder and this is absolutely one of those. It is an absolutely filthy-sounding record with some authentic sloppiness to the playing that reminds us we are listening to human beings and not machines which I always find far more endearing than absolute precision.

I agree that this feels more like a genuine death doom hybrid rather than a "death metal album with slow bits" from the likes of Autopsy and early Asphyx, rather it is more of a "death doom album with fast bits". They successfully combine the brutality of that Autopsy-like death metal with some really quite catchy doom-like melodies, but the primitive production never makes it actually feel that catchy, until you find yourself humming along to it that is!

Vocalist Jimmy Karlsson has a great line in sounding like an extremely irritated abyssal demon and the riffs are absolutely dripping with effluvium which is precisely the flavour I love in death doom metal and I will take it over that poncy, gothic-flavoured stuff any day. I joke of course and, in fact, there are times when this feels heavily influenced by Paradise Lost, such as on the excellent (but possibly too short) Silent Hymn (For the Dead). I know I am no death metal (or musical) expert and the genre has thrown out loads of precision-driven and technical masterpieces and I enjoy many of them, but this filthier, more primitive-sounding version of death metal is where I feel most comfortable and which fulfills something inside me that the more modern stuff doesn't touch.

Now I need to get my hands on one of those re-release copies. [Edit] Yay, Amazon have got if for £15, so should be arriving tomorrow!

4.5/5

I will go with just one addition please Sonny (thanks again for letting me get in on the action this month).  I will go with:

Monolord - "Larvae" (from "No Comfort", 2019)

No problem Vinny. It will be added.

I would suggest that we reduce our limit for The Fallen track nominations to 24 minutes each from next month Sonny.

Agreed. Let us go with that then going forward.

Svartidauði's is a name I have seen banded about occasionally, yet I haven't taken the plunge with them before, so other than the fact that they are Icelandic and the preconceptions that come with that, then I didn't really know what to expect. Well, for a quick summation, Revelations of the Red Sword takes the best of Deathspell Omega and Blut aus Nord and forge them into an energetic and invigorating black metal maelstrom. It has the edge that dissonance provides, yet it doesn't alienate a more conservative listener like myself by being overbearingly so, but rather it weaves a jagged wall of sound from the disparate threads of dissonance around the framework provided by the pummelling drum battery. And those drums are something to behold - Magnús Skúlason deserves much praise indeed for his constantly shifting, complex and technically superb skinwork that underpins the entire endeavour.

Further praise must go to vocalist/bassist Sturla Viðar Jakobsson whose basswork is great, but his vocals are even more so, sounding more like the howling roar of a wounded beast than the piercing shrieks more usually associated with black metal. The lead guitar work sounds exceedingly complicated and really does feel like guitarist Þórir Garðarsson is weaving disparate strands of sound from the ether and  providing a direct line of communication through to another dimension of reality.

I have found myself becoming irritated at times over recent years by the seemingly endless flow of black metal albums trading in dissonance, but what has come to me like the revelation of the title whilst listening to Revelations of the Red Sword is that what is really annoying me is that too many bands are treading the dissonance path without the necessary skill to do it effectively and so just sound, well, a bit shit. Svartidauði, however are the real deal and this is one killer of a black metal album and many thanks to Vinny for nominating it for this month's feature.

4.5/5

I intend finishing the March Fallen Playlist on Friday or over the weekend, so if you want to suggest a track or two up to, say 20 minutes total duration, Vinny, then that's great. Just let me have any suggestions by Thursday evening and we should be OK. Of course if you don't wish to then that is fine too.

I just noticed that yourself, Daniel and I all have the same 4 clans. If Sonny were to add a fourth clan, I wouldn't be surprised if he joined us.

I guess it's not surprising, given they're generally the four most extreme clans.

Yes, Ben, you are right. I have been meaning to reopen my assault on the Horde's Death Metal: The First Decade clan challenge, but I just haven't been able to squeeze it in yet with the feature releases, draft reviews, playlist compilation and a project I am doing on RYM. But I intend to start soon and hope, ultimately, to join you guys in The Horde.

Zemial - In Monumentum (2006)

I was virtually unaware of Zemial prior to this, other than seeing the name occasionally. Quick research shows them to be a one-man outfit from Athens, or maybe not, it's hard to tell. The main man is multi-instrumentalist Archon Vorskaath, who seems over the years to have involved a number of others in the project, including his brother, Eskarth the Dark One. The brothers are also sole members of melodic black metal act, Agatus and look to have moved around a fair bit, moving from their native Athens to Adelaide, then to Germany, back to Athens and now the UK! Coincidentally, Archon Vorskaath was also guitarist with fellow February Draft nominees Varathron for a time.

Despite forming in 1989, 2006's In Monumentum is actually Zemial's debut full-length, although they had put out a number of EPs in the preceeding years. It consists of medium-paced thrash with blackened vocals in the main, that is kind-of familiar within Greek black metal circles, but which never really grabbed or particularly convinced me. The production is kind of muted and the addition of occasional keyoards just seems to muddy things up even more, but most importantly the tracks seem to lack fire and feel terribly pedestrian to my ears. I like to hear black metal bands sound like they mean it, whether they are spewing vitriol at organised religion or praising the majesty of the natural world, but this feels like it lacks passion and dynamism.

My favourite track here is the closer, In Monumentum / Stone of the Ages, which isn't black metal at all, but is an epic, almost progressive, heavy metal track with clean vocals and here the band feel more interested in the material than in the previous half-an-hour's blackened thrash - and therein lies the issue with the album for me.

Not terrible, but an unconvinced 3/5 for me.

All hail to brother Vinny - a much heralded addition to the ranks of The Fallen!

Black Oath - Behold the Abyss (2018)

I had actually forgotten that I do have some previous history with Black Oath, having checked out their debut when it came out, back in 2011, and awarding it 4 out of 5 stars, so I must have found it to be pretty decent. The fact I couldn't remember it didn't bode well going into this review of their fourth album, Behold the Abyss, but I did my due diligence and revisited it with a real positive result as it is indeed a cracking slab of trad doom that any fan of said genre should dig. The years intevening between the debut and Behold the Abyss have seen their sound become more epic and here it sits somewhere between the out-and-out doom of Pallbearer and Monolord and the epic doom of, say, Solstice and Krux, with the inclusion of faster-paced sections and an increased number of guitar solos. On fourth track, Once Death Sang, they even introduce clean female vocals, in the vein of Shape of Despair et al, as provided by guest Elizabetta M, to even greater increase the epic atmosphere.

The album sounds great, with a real clarity that suits this more epic sound, the riffs boom out of the speakers and the solos sear through the listeners ear 'oles, while both bass and drums are functional without being overly showy, yet are suitably positioned in the mix and are clearly audible. Vocalist and bassist/guitarist, E.A. Zorath, whilst no Messiah Marcolin or Morris Ingram, possesses a voice that suits the material quite well and thankfully never resorts to embarrasing histrionics. The songs are well constructed and, whilst playing it quite safe within the doom/epic doom template, they come up with some terrific riffs and nice melodies - in fact tracks like Chants of Aradia and Lilith Black Moon are fairly catchy affairs.

Look, this is no envelope pusher, but if you dig on solid and satisfying epic doom fare, then you will be well served by Behold the Abyss. Also, it has reminded me of the debut's existence, which I have now boosted another half star, and which I personally prefer, but don't take my word for it, try them both out and see!

4/5

An exploration of The Pit without early Metallica, Slayer or Kreator seems somehow... incomplete, Andi!

My original review for A Pyrrhic Existence didn't really do it justice, so I have produced  a new one for this month's feature:

From the earliest days of the NWOBHM, through the 1980's thrash boom, the end of that decade's transition from thrash to death metal and into the nineties' black metal explosion, via bands like Venom, Slayer, Possessed, Morbid Angel and Darkthrone, metal had endeavoured to become more and more extreme by constantly striving to be faster and heavier (and more evil-sounding) than all that had gone before. Yet in the very early 1990's a small number of visionary metal bands, notably Switzerland's Mordor and Finland's Thergothon realised that true extremity lay in slowing things down to a snail's pace, utilising huge, crushing chords that seemed to last aeons, employing vocalists who barely registered on the human vocal scale and placing huge emphasis on repetition and a funeral-like atmosphere. One of the first funeral doom acts to form in the wake of demos from Thergothon and Mordor and to completely embrace the funeral doom aesthetic were Birmingham's Esoteric. That was back in 1992 and it is a testament to the band's quality that they still sit at the apex of the genre thirty years later.

I would have to peg Esoteric as one of my top five metal bands of all time. They are one of those metal acts who just refuse to compromise. When I say this, I don't mean to say that their sound hasn't evolved, but rather that, despite fundamentally playing funeral doom for the entirety of their thirty year career, unlike other long- established bands who started out playing this most mournful of metal genres, they haven't forsaken the style completely by moving in an entirely different direction. Over recent years they have certainly incorporated elements of post-metal into their sound and they have always been a more than a mere funeral doom band, but they are still unashamedly committed to the genre and their commitment to it has made them, arguably (well, for me, inarguably), the premier exponents of the style.

Having released only seven full-lengths in their thirty years, aptly for a funeral doom act, they are not a band to be hurried and A Pyrrhic Existence was their first new release in eight years, as Greg Chandler had been concentrating on his avant-garde black metal project, Lychgate, so anticipation for the album was high. Of course, Esoteric didn't disappoint and if they never release another album then A Pyrrhic Existence will stand as a fitting swansong for the UK's best extreme doom metal act.

A Pyrrhic Existence, in common with several of the band's previous full-lengths, is a long album, although at 98 minutes it's about an hour shorter than your average Marvel Universe movie and is a million times more rewarding (although it does have less throw-away one-liners and spandex, that much is true)! It is an album that is heavily predicated on atmosphere. To this end, Esoteric also incorporate elements of post-metal into their sound that fans of Cult of Luna or Neurosis may instantly feel at home with and that, along with the lightness and airiness of the lead guitar work, when combined with the immense, seismic chords and Greg Chandler's harrowing vocals, presents a huge contrast of light and dark that sits at the heart of what A Pyrrhic Existence is about. Opening track, Descent, is one of my favourite metal tracks of all-time and delivers an unrivalled atmosphere to match it's title, as it genuinely feels in places as if the listener is falling earthward as if from a great height, which kind of epitomises the light/heavy dichotomy into a truly compelling atmosphere. I have rarely felt so utterly consumed by a track as I do every time I listen to this modern metal classic, a track that is genuinely breathtaking (almost literally, not merely metaphorically).

Greg Chandler's vocals really are something to behold. He alternates between a deep growling that sounds like boulders splitting under the pressure from some huge subterranean force and a ragged shriek born of black metal, the overall effect of which sounds like some sort of primal demon that has been possessed by another, even more deranged, demon. For my money Chandler is one of the very finest extreme metal vocalists and for him to still be able to produce such an extreme vocal performance after so long in the game is impressive. This is also a ridiculously heavy album, even though it has those contrasting lighter sections, it is still crushing when it needs to be. There are occasional daliiances with chugging death doom riffs and in the middle of the track Culmination they employ a riff that sounds like they took the intro to Am I Evil?, brutalised it, then supercharged it and made it their own. Drums have (often justifiably) gained a reputation of monotony in funeral doom, but the performance of drummer Joe Fletcher is powerful and precise and is another element that elevates A Pyrrhic Existence above it's peers.

For me this is the epitome of modern extreme metal, particularly from the viewpoint of an old doomhead, but as with any extreme form of metal, it doesn't provide an instant high and it certainly isn't for everyone, but it is one of those sublime albums in which it is possible to lose oneself and especially using headphones it is like I imagine it would be to be immersed in a sensory deprivation chamber. For those open to it's charms, this is likely to be a thoroughly rewarding experience if you have the patience.

5/5

Hi Vinny. My suggestions for the March playlist:

The Accüsed - "Distractions" from "Oh Martha!" (2005) 

Anthrax - "Time" from "Persistence of Time" (1990) 

Bulldozer - "Fallen Angel" from "The Day of Wrath" (1985) 

Exhorder - "Legions of Death" from "Slaughter in the Vatican" (1990) 

Hellish - "Black Stones" from "The Dance of the Four Elemental Serpents" (2022) 

Thanks Ben. Nice choices!

Ben, are you going to be submitting any suggestions this month?

Good luck Daniel. Rather you than me!

As I stated in my review, I found the vocals to be the most compelling ingredient of the album. I enjoyed it most when it was at it's least thrashy because I just don't think it works at all well as a thrash album. Interesting exactly how divisive a release it has turned out to be though. Just goes to show that even if two people agree that a release works (or not), it can be for completely different reasons, proving that in music everything is subjective.

Hi Ben, my submissions for the March playlist are:

Ovnev - "Oracles of the Eternal Wisdom" from "Incalescence" (2017)
Imperium Dekadenz - "Truth Under Stars" from "Into Sorrow Evermore" (2023)
Gloosh - "Swampsong" from "Sylvan Coven" (2021)

I haven't paid much attention to Anacrusis over the years and so I wasn't quite sure what I would be getting with Screams and Whispers. Well one thing I did get was an interesting listen that's for sure. This is definitely not one of those thrash albums that jumps out and grabs you by the throat, but it requires a degree of investment on the part of the listener in order to unpack and digest what is going on here. Thrash metal can often be a very immediate experience, but a single, or even a couple of listens would never do an album like this justice. It is true that by the time of Screams and Whispers release there were several bands trying to move thrash metal on into a more progressive or technical direction, with varying degrees of success and it's fair to include Anacrusis amongst their number.

One thing that did stand out immediately were Kenn Nardi's vocals which don't come on like most other thrash vocalists who try terribly hard to sound as aggressive as possible, although he certainly shows at times he is capable of vocal aggression, it is not his only recourse. There is a gothic tinge to his vocals and even, I might venture, a touch of grunge about his singing. Most often, he comes off as a cross between Suicidal Tendencies' Mike Muir and Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman, although he can let rip when the material requires it.

Musically Screams and Whispers is a real mixed bag and to call it simply a thrash album is not telling the whole story. I guess progressive metal may cover it, but there really is a shedload of different influences going on here and from track to track, like with Forrest Gump's proverbial box of chocolates, you're never quite sure what you're going to get. Anacrusis seem to take delight in catching their listeners off-guard with a succession of curveballs, whether it's a gothic metal-like track such as the opener, Sound the Alarm (probably my favourite track), or the accessible melodies of tracks like Release that are exceedingly catchy in places, to the keyboard flourishes that sound like they were rented from Yes' Owner of A Lonely Heart that rear their heads on more than a couple of occasions, and the Killing Joke-influenced Division, this is certainly an unpredictable thrash metal release.

But, does it work? Well, I am a man of simple tastes and it could be that this is just too cosmopolitan for me but, no I'm afraid it doesn't always work and on a few occasions the constant change of direction hints at a work that doesn't really know what it wants to be, other than different from the herd. The constant and sudden changes of direction I often found frustrating and a little bit irritating, with it ultimately residing slightly outside my enjoyment zone. Don't get me wrong, there are tracks I enjoyed, the aforementioned Sound the Alarm and Division for example, but for me it isn't sufficiently coherent and those constant curveballs ended up distracting more than engaging me. What does make this album for me and are what I will take away from it are Nardi's vocals which lift the album higher in my regard than I think it would have with an inferior singer, so although I found the whole a bit disappointing, the vocals made it a worthwhile experience nonetheless.
3.5/5

Over recent months I have been neglecting both the Metal Academy monthly playlists and black metal generally, so this afternoon the weather was kind enough to allow me to spend an afternoon in the garden carrying out some much-needed maintenance and thus providing an excellent opportunity to check out this month's playlist for the North. First off, bang-up job Ben, I really enjoyed it and I think it has helped restoke my black metal fire! I was never once tempted to hit the skip button and considering the list contained both Summoning and Gnaw Their Tongues, that is saying something, although both tracks were interesting enough and count as better ones from those two acts, at least for me anyway.

The Drudkh and Leviathan tracks nailed it for me (unsurprisingly as they were both my suggestions in the first place) and the new Thy Darkened Shade track is excellent - as is the album. I quite enjoyed the Deafheaven track which seemed more aggressive than I remember them being and both Vinny's suggestions of Barshasketh and Svartidaudi, along with Nocte Obducta (who I have never heard of before) really piqued my interest. 

I have been looking forward to checking out the Hoplites album, with the track here adding to that anticipation and I am a big fan of Melechesh, so a track from Epigenesis will always be welcome. The only real disappointment was the Satanic Warmaster track - it's ok, but not on the same level as their previous album (from all of eight years prior).

Nice work, Ben and much appreciated. Hopefully I will now be able to keep up with the playlists a bit more going forward.

It was a comparitively quiet year for new releases for me last year as I only rated 61 of the hundreds released in 2022 that were added to Metal Academy (I have been averaging a couple of hundred in the previous few years). I don't know if it is because of this or not, but I didn't consider last year a "great" year for metal - solid, but not great. Funnily this year already seems to be shaping up better from my point of view, with some really great releases already. There is, however, still a long way to go so it remains to be seen if this time next year we are lauding 2023 as a classic year for metal!

Anyway, my top releases for '22:

1. Dvvell - "Quiescent"

2. Messa - "Close"

3. Monolithe - "Kosmodrom"

4. Epitaphe "II"

5. Deathspell Omega - "The Long Defeat"

6. The Otolith - "Folium Limina"

7. Mournful Congregation - "The Exuviae of Gods: Part I"

8. Shape of Despair - "Return to the Void"

9. Satan - "Earth Infernal"

10. Russian Circles - "Gnosis"

11. The Funeral Orchestra - "Funeral Death - Apocalyptic Plague Ritual II"

12. Critical Defiance - "No Life Forms"

13. Conan - "Evidence of Immortality"

14. Blut aus Nord - "Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses"

15. BlackLab - "In a Bizarre Dream"

Dvvell definitely gets a thumbs-up from me as Fallen AOTY. It was one of only two to get full marks from me last year, the other being Messa's Close and while that is a brilliant album, it didn't make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck like Quiescent did.

Apparently the only Gateway release I rated last year was by Thornhill and it only got a couple of stars (and I can't remember anything about it now), so, obviously, The Gateway is not really a clan I care that much about.

Surprisingly, for me, I actually didn't mind The God Machine. It was as decent a power metal album as I have heard in ages, so I can get behind that win, although for me, Satan's Earth Infernal was the best album from under The Guardians' umbrella last year.

Only four Horde releases from last year rated - I thought it would be more - and Immolation's Acts of God was my pick with Desolate Shrine's Fires of the Dying World coming in a close second. I haven't heard the winner.

I understand why Cult of Luna won the award for The Infinite as they are indeed a class act, but my winner in the clan would have to be an album I must thank Vinny for putting me onto - Russian Circles' Gnosis.

I'm a bit surprised that Blut aus Nord took the North crown, even though I enjoyed it myself, as it doesn't seem to have received a lot of praise here on Metal Academy. My personal favourite was DsO's latestThe Long Defeat, with Hate Forest a close second.

I have neglected The Pit recently with only three 2022 releases rated from that clan, but my easy winner, in common with everyone else it seems, was Critical Defiance's No Life Forms.

Unsurprisingly for me, considering my loathing of -core genres I rated no Revolution releases from 2022, so have no opinion.

I only rated one Sphere release from 2022, but luckily it was the winner, which was a damn fine album and deserved it's win.

Ghost - "Meliora" (2015)

Yep, I know what you're thinking. Isn't this album a hard rock/heavy metal record? Well sites like RYM would certainly have you believe so but that's more of a reflection on the RYM audience than it is the reality because I can assure you that this is a progressive metal/progressive rock hybrid. There isn't a genuine hard rock song on the tracklisting & there's really only one heavy metal tune too. I'd actually never heard a Ghost album before now but this one isn't too bad at all. Sure, it's a very lightweight & accessible version of metal but the riffs are definitely there & there are some pretty decent hooks in there too. I think I can dig this shit actually. It's conceptually quite an ambitious record & is really well executed. The unintimidating vocal delivery strangely possesses a noticeably American twang & I'd probably prefer something a little dirtier but I can see why Ghost appeal to so many people, even if they're probably a little too user-friendly for this particular metalhead.

3.5/5

I must admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for Ghost's debut album, Opus Eponymous. Sure, it's quite lightweight, occult-flavoured rock, but it has some real ear-worms on it and, let's face it, not everything has to be super-earnest and earth-shatteringly heavy does it? Oddly though, I hated the follow-up, Infestissumam - go figure!

Ahab - The Coral Tombs (2023)

Released 13th January on Napalm Records

German doom metal titans Ahab are back with their fifth full-length, eight years since previous album, The Boats of the Glen Carrig, hit the shelves. In common with all their previous releases, The Coral Tombs is a concept album based on a nautical-themed literary source. This time the aquatic source material is Jules Verne's classic science fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Ever since their debut, The Call of the Wretched Sea, with each successive release Ahab have been steadily moving further away from their funeral doom beginnings and on The Coral Tombs, as with Glen Carrig, the band have adopted more of a straight-up doom metal sound similar to the likes of Monolord and Pallbearer, although the real touchstone here is Warning's classic Watching From A Distance, with both Daniel Droste's vocal and guitar phrasing sounding heavily influenced by Patrick Walker on that all-time classic - and anyone who knows anything about my musical preference knows that that will instantly grab my attention!

This doesn't mean that Ahab have abandoned extreme doom metal completely of course and there are several well-placed death doom moments when Droste's guttering growls replace his melancholy cleans and the riffs start their deathly chugging, though usually they are used now as a counterpoint to the mournful sadness of the cleaner sections, such as on Colossus of the Liquid Graves. During a track like this Ahab strike me as a death doom Opeth with the band sounding like they also want to push their progressive credentials a bit. I think Opeth is a fair comparison as I always considered the Swede's to be technically one of the best bands in their field and I think the same is true of Ahab, their instrumental skills and songwriting ability seem to be well in the upper echelons of the doom metal fratenity.

Over the course of their five albums Ahab have done a sterling job of capturing the feeling of being adrift on (or under in this case) the vast and uncompromising oceans of the world, with a loneliness and lack of control over one's destiny that is tangible within the notes of the band's music. This adroitness in so successfully creating such an oppressive, and yet at the same time beautiful, atmosphere is the mark of fantastic songwriters. There are times during The Coral Tombs when you can just picture the Nautilus sailing over breathtaking subterranean vistas, it's crew utterly entranced by the strange beauty of the previously unwitnessed ocean depths, so successfully do the band create these narrative pictures. One of the standout tracks for me is The Sea as a Desert where the band still exhibit some of their funeral doom tendencies, but ally this with a soul-wrenching mournfulness when Droste's cleans sound most like Patrick Walker and make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck!

There are a couple of guest vocal appearances on the opening and closing tracks - Chris Dark of Ultha adds his black metal shrieks to Droste's gutteral utterings on the explosive opening moments of Prof. Arronax' Descent Into the Vast Oceans (which then actually slows to a much more sedate and gentler atmosphere) and Esoteric's Greg Chandler helps out on The Mælstrom with his trademark growls. Neither guest slot is gratuitous and both bring something that Droste obviously felt he couldn't manage alone, but that the music required. So yet again Ahab prove that they are a top-drawer doom metal act, not restricting themselves, but rather drawing on several of it's sub-genres to enable a more expansive and rewarding experience for the listener whilst still presenting an unarguably doom metal release that is both haunting and crushing.

4.5/5

Ah, that will explain it. I will update using my tablet in future as that has the app on it.

I really loved Holy Moses' 1987 album, Finished With the Dogs, but I never followed up by listening to anything they put out later, so I would be interested to hear how they sounded in 2001. So Holy Moses' Master of Disaster is my pick.

Will anyone be brave enough to pick the Gnaw Their Tongues album!?

Sorry Ben, but not me. I am going to go with the Zemial album thanks.

Over to you Vinny...

Daniel, "Hubris" by The Otolith was actually featured on the January playlist. Do you want to make another selection?

February 2023

1. The Hounds of Hasselvander - "The Ninth Hour" from "The Ninth Hour" (2011)

2. Black Tomb - "Turning Worm" from "Black Tomb" (2016) [submitted by Sonny]

3. Fvneral Fvkk - "Chapel of Abuse" from "Carnal Confessions" (2019)

4. Mansion - "You Are Suspicious (Extended Version)" from "You Are Suspicious (Extended Version)" (2023) [submitted by Sonny]

5. Orange Goblin - "Snail Hook" from "Time Travelling Blues" (1998)

6. Ahab - "Colossus of the Liquid Graves" from "The Coral Tombs" (2023)

7. Admiral Angry - "The Illusion of Strength" from "Buster" (2009) [submitted by Daniel]

8. Hexer - "Bathyskaph" from "Abyssal" (2023) [submitted by Sonny]

9. The Howling Void - "Impenetrable Gloom" from "Into Darkness Ever More Profound" (2023)

10. The Old Dead Tree - "We Cry as One" from "The Nameless Disease" (2003)

11. Noothgrush - "Hatred for the Species" from "Noothgrush / Corrupted Split" (1997)

12. Fimir - "One Eyed Beast" from "Tomb of God" (2021)

13. Paradise Lost - "Frozen Illusion - Frozen Illusion Demo 1989" from "Drown In Darkness - The Early Demos" (2009) [submitted by Daniel]

14. Buzzov•en - "A Lack Of" from "...At a Loss" (1998)

15. Temple of the Fuzz Witch - "Bathsheba" from "Temple of the Fuzz Witch" (2019)

16. Khanate - "Skin Coat" from "Khanate" (2001) [submitted by Sonny]

17. Void of Silence - "Opus VIII: Universal Separation" from "Criteria ov 666" (2002) [submitted by Daniel]

Good choice Ben, I love that album. I will take the Black Oath album.

OK, thanks Daniel. 

Imperium Dekadenz - Into Sorrow Evermore (2023)

Released 20th January on Napalm Records

At one point I found myself over-saturated with black metal and consequently for the last year or so I have paid it very little attention, other than for a few releases from acts I was already familiar with. So to a new year and I feel ready to put black metal back on the menu and as fate would have it, the first release to cross my path was the new album from German atmospheric black metal duo, Imperium Dekadenz. My only previous contact with the band was via 2007's Dämmerung der Szenarien album which I found to be a solid, if not especially earth-shattering, effort, so it has been a while since I paid the band heed.

Well, even after a solitary playthrough, Into Sorrow Evermore had a firm hold on my attention as it was immediately apparent that this was a cut above your run-of-the-mill atmospheric black metal release and was one that demanded further scrutiny. Most of the tracks here tread a line between atmospheric and uptempo melodic black metal, erring more on one side or the other depending on the track and are atmospherically epic and expansive. There is plenty of variety, though, with a couple of tracks that have a slower tempo and a greater emphasis on post-metal-derived melancholy, almost channelling a doom metal sensibility, in the vein of the stuff someone like Deha produces on a regular basis. The riffs are great with a fairly meaty sound for black metal, with each being sufficiently melodic and memorable that they live long in the memory, a trick too many atmo-black bands are unable to replicate. Vocalist Horaz has a great line in washed-out shrieking that fits the blasting and riffing perfectly and it is always great to hear real drums on an atmo-black album, they just give it a natural authenticity that programmed drums are unable to reproduce convincingly.

Thematically the album is on solid ground, the lyrics comprising a philosophical contemplation of the implacable majesty of the natural world and Man's place within it, a subject any atmospheric black metal fan will be extremely familiar with. There is no compulsion on the part of the duo to push boundaries and you won't be overwhelmed with layers of dissonance or overly complex rhythms and song structures, but Into Sorrow Evermore bears the hallmarks of a band who have been honing their craft and songwriting skills within their own field of expertise and if you are a fan of classy, natural-themed atmo-black in the nature of Wolves in the Throne Room you will find much here to revel in. For me, Imperial Dekadenz have definitely given me a big push to climb back aboard the black metal express and for that I am extremely grateful.

4.5/5

I'm with you here Vinny, I find The 3rd and Mortal to be a bit of a drag to be honest.

Thy Darkened Shade - Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya (2023)

Released 10/01/23 on World Terror Committee Productions

It has been over eight years since the unholy Hellenic duo, Thy Darkened Shade, released the first part of their "Satanic Book", Khem Sedjet, but finally they are back with the second volume, entitled Mahapralaya. This latest instalment is an interesting combination of the accessible and the dissonant that has a distinctive Greek flavour and a progressiveness that gives the whole a narrative feel, as if the band are regaling us with an epic tale of satanic adventure. The songwriting is key to this feeling of progression through a narrative as it's complex and interesting structure leads us organically from one chapter of infernal doings to another.

Whilst there is a degree of technical dissonance employed throughout, the band are unafraid to resort to melodic passages and riffs, reminiscent of the recent, more accessible side of Deathspell Omega and symphonic flourishes to add a sweeping epic quality to the album. Personally, I find this more palatable than out and out dissonant black as I often find myself overwhelmed by that form of black metal and I find it difficult to fully absorb what is going on, but here I think TDS have struck a superb balance between the melodic and the dissonant which makes the experience much less alienating, although whether that is a good or bad thing depends on how unforgiving you like your black metal to sound.

Technically, the band sound excellent and with crystal clear riffs this is no raw as fuck demo-quality blaster. Drums are provided by guest musician, Hannes Grossmann, who is the current drummer with Triptykon and who provides a precision and skill that only enhaces the already impressive musical endeavours of multi-indtrumentalist Semjaza. Vocally there is plenty going on, from all-out black metal barks to almost spoken-word snarls and and on to choral flourishes that further expand the sound into more epic territory without ever sounding overdone or cheesy.

Overall, I found this to be a compelling listen with just the right level (for me) of dissonance to keep it from feeling too "cosy" without it tipping over into wilful angularity and there are sufficient hooks to allow it to remain in the memory after the disc has stopped spinning. The progressive songwriting leaves no possibility of boredom setting in as repetition is not an issue with Mahapralaya, yet it remains well-structured and coherent. I haven't been paying much attention to newer black metal over recent months, but with Thy Darkened Shade's latest my attention has been firmly attracted.

4/5

The RYM tags for this are Power Metal, Symphonic Metal and Neoclassical Metal which, when chanted together, sounds like a shamanic curse against me personally, so Fellowship and me are off to a bad start. I have my boiling vats of bile and venom ready to pour onto the efforts of these upstart southerners, so let's get to it. Well, er... actually I didn't really mind it that much. It isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I have certainly heard plenty of other power metal that has offended my ears far more than this. It's faintly ridiculous, but I really can't bring myself to hate it (and I fully expected to). It is overblown, but more in a Queen-like way than a Dragonforce one, which makes it less irritating as it doesn't seem as earnest and po-faced, which is instant death for a genre as ridiculous as power metal can be. Another reason for my lack of vitriol aimed it's way is the vocals - the guy just doesn't piss me off with OTT vocal histrionics and is far more bearable than the vast majority of European PM singers I have heard. Don't get me wrong - I will, in all likelihood, never, ever play this album again, but it was kind of... OK. [shrug] so shoot me!

3/5

I definitely want to check out the Hate Forest album, although it isn't on Spotify dammit. I must confess to having hit saturation point with black metal this year and so I haven't listened to very many new releases at all. I seem to be in a minority of one with being a massive fan of DsO's The Long Defeat, the only other couple of releases I have heard that I would recommend are Wiegedood's There's Always Blood at the End of the Road and Archgoat's All Christianity Ends EP. I think I also probably enjoyed the BaN release more than most too, mainly due to my love of psych metal.

On the downside, the latest Saor was my disappointment of the year and I'm not digging that Autonoesis as much as everyone else seems to be. I found the Celeste to be boring and Scarcity's Aveilut was just horrible. So not a standout year for black metal for me personally I'm afraid - I'll try harder this year!!

Hi Ben. Could you please add Finnish doomsters Mansion's latest album, Second Death.

It seems like this is the album that has grabbed everyone's attention as far as thrash metal goes in 2022 and I know little about it or it's creator, so check it out I must. The opening track sounds so much like Planet Caravan that I'm surprised Sabbath's lawyers haven't slapped an injunction on it, so it is hardly off to a genre-defying start. The title track follows and this is much more like what I would have expected and really hits the spot, until... what the fuck is smooth jazz elevator music doing here in the middle of an ass-kicking black metal track? Oh, but things get worse my friend as that snoozy interlude is followed by a migraine-inducing neo-classical guitar solo that is less than welcome in my earphones and I'm left scratching my head as to what is going on here and whether I even have the right album on! So I checked and yes, Spotify confirms that this is the record everyone is so stoked by. I'd better stick with it then I think with a sigh, but this could be a long hour. Luckily, the title track is the most egregious, although not only, example of Autonoesis wanting to be everything all at once so the low point has been passed and it should be plain sailing from here on.

Indeed, Raise the Dead is much more up my street with it's uncomplicated blackened thrash appealing far more to my palate. There is a short exuberant solo towards the end of the track, but it falls far short of the neo-classical excesses of that exhibited during the title track. Generally speaking I did enjoy the rest of the album, when it blasts and thrashes is when it appeals to me most, although the viking-ish instrumental Valhöll did manage to capture my imagination somewhat too. The washed out shrieking vocals were pretty decent and certainly sounded effective enough. I just get the feeling that there was too much of a concerted attempt to cram as many influences into the tracks as possible, which often sounded contrived and distracted from what should have been a fucking good blast.

As I have indicated often enough before, I don't like getting into discussions over genre minutiae, but I think if, for example, Moon of Foul Magics was to become The Pit release of the year then it would sit uncomfortably with me as I think it is much more of a black metal than a thrash record, although there are undeniably thrash elements present. Overall it is an interesting enough release, not always for the right reasons and when it is good it is very good, but there is just too much inconsistency of vision which ultimately I found frustrating.

3.5/5

What you're describing there is very much the post-rock component of the atmospheric sludge metal sound Sonny. That characteristic without much in the way of genuine sludge metal is generally regarded as post-metal.

Ah, right you are! Like I've said before, I'm not much of a theorist so you will have to excuse me if I miss the obvious.

Thanks for mentioning the Satan album, Xephyr, as I missed it first time around. I didn't think it was still possible to produce a pure heavy metal album this good. It manages to harken back to the band's NWOBHM roots whilst still sounding fresh and relevant. I have this pegged at a 4.5 currently, but I absolutely love each and every track and I don't hear anything I don't like, so it may make it to a perfect 5.0 yet! This would definitely be my nom for The Guardians' crown.

The Otolith - Folium Limina

Released 21/10/22 on Blues Funeral

Initial thoughts after three or four playthroughs, although I suspect this is an album that will reveal itself more fully as I become more familiar with it:

SubRosa were one of my favourite 21st century bands, their three albums released in the 2010s being among the very best doom metal from that decade, More Constant Than the Gods in particular lodging itself very near the summit of my 2010s metal list. So it was with great disappointment that I learned of their disbanding in 2019 and the apparent loss of a singular-sounding metal band. However, three years later, in this winter of 2022, the bulk of Subrosa's members return with a new album under the name The Otolith, to much rejoicing from yours truly. Thankfully Folium Limina retains all the ingredients that made SubRosa such a compelling listen, be it Levi Hanna's thick, crunchy doom metal riffs, Sarah Pendleton's seductive vocals or the atmospheric and unsettling violin work of Sarah and Kim Pack overlaying proceedings. As with the classic albums, the tracks all clock in at around the ten-minute mark, so give themselves plenty of time to develop without becoming self-indulgent and overstaying their welcome.

Where Otolith differ from Subrosa is that they lean more heavily on post-metal / atmospheric sludge metal songwriting and it's reliance on building atmosphere, rather than a straight-up doom metal approach. They also feature harsh male death doom vocals as provided by bassist/vocalist Matt Brotherton who is also bassist and vocalist for atmospheric sludge crew Huldra, and I am guessing his presence in the band may be the influence for a more post-metal style of songwriting. It also feels like the classical strings take a more prominent role during Folium Limina's run time, often being pushed right up front rather than acting as a provider of atmospheric layering as was it's main purpose in SubRosa. These differences are not at all jarring however, and The Otolith are very much a continuance of the sterling work begun by SubRosa and I would be very surprised if any fans of the latter didn't enjoy Folium Limina as it still contains those idiosyncrasies that made SR such a compelling and singular doom metal act. Personally, I don't think it is quite up there with the very best of SubRosa, especially More Constant Than the Gods (not much is though), but it is certainly a strong follow-up to SR's final album, For This We Fought the Battle of Ages and is a very welcome continuation of the SubRosa legacy.

4.5/5

Your review sparked my interest Sonny so I checked out "Folium Limina" over the last few days & really enjoyed it. It's probably not something that I'd generally regard as falling into my musical comfort zone but it simply sounds so fresh & is so well executed that it easily won me over in the end. I find it interesting that it's being tagged as a combination of doom metal & atmospheric sludge metal because there's very little sludge metal here other than some sparingly used hardcore vocal yelps. To my ears this is more of a hybrid of gothic metal, doom metal & post metal. The doom riffs are there is droves. The post-metal tag is warranted given the use of stripped back atmospherics & alternative instrumentation while I find it strange that no one has put two & two together as far as the gothic component goes as there's a clear ethereal wave influence to both the female vocals & the instrumentation. Regardless, the six lengthy pieces are all of a high quality, even if they do test your patience a bit. I'd imagine that Ben will probably enjoy this one.

4/5

Where I quoted atmospheric sludge metal was more with respect to the songwriting rather than suggesting that it contained any sludge metal. Rightly or wrongly, I always associate atmo-sludge with songs that have a lengthy build to a climax, which is what I was getting at here.

Ben, do you have any suggestions for February?

Here's my selections for Febtruary, Vinny. Hope I'm not too late.

Acid - "Lucifera" from "Maniac" (1983)
Blessed Death - "You Are Nothing" from "Hour of Pain" (2006)
Critical Defiance - "Misconception" from "Misconception" (2019)
Razor - "Legacy of Doom" from "Evil Invaders" (1985)
Slayer - "Hallowed Point" from "Seasons in the Abyss" (1990)

Another new release Ben. Could you add Ahab's The Coral Tombs please.

The Howling Void - Into Darkness Ever More Profound (2023)

The Howling Void is a funeral doom metal solo project and is the brainchild of Ryan Wilson, who is a member of many other projects, including the underrated funeral doom duo, Excantation, veteran grindcore band Intestinal Disgorge and black metallers Endless Disease, to name just a few. I have been somewhat of a fan since 2013's Nightfall album but whilst the four albums prior to this are solid slabs of mournfulness, I have never exactly considered The Howling Void to be an upper echelon funeral doom outfit. This isn't about to change any of that, but it is possibly my favourite release of his to date, although I have still to check out his more highly rated first three albums.

The four tracks crawl along at a snail's pace, but don't possess the crushing heaviness of an Esoteric, rather their mournfulness is expressed in a more wistful and reflective way than the often desperate-sounding and world-shaking grief of the genre's premier exponents. This is not a criticism, per se, there is definitely room in the funeral doom world for lighter and less crushing version and it gives a different perspective on the style that may appeal to those put off by the unremitting weight that they may otherwise be confronted with. I have said it before and it bears saying again, I feel there is a correlation between this lighter form of funeral doom and atmospheric black metal where both use very different means to achieve a similar airiness of atmosphere. Third track, Deeper, Darker Waters, even employs a tremolo picking technique reminiscent of atmo-black at various points, whilst retaining the plodding funereal drumbeats.

There is liberal use of keyboards, yet thankfully without overdoing it and straying into symphonic metal territory and theguitar work possesses a reasonably melodic quality. The vocals are servicable, although I prefer them a bit deeper and gruffer myself, but they feel a little buried in the mix at times and I find I really have to concentrate for them to register sufficiently. So, essentially a good album with some nice atmospheric touches that doesn't, for me, quite deliver the soul-crushing weight I love from my funeral doom, but is still nonetheless a reasonably satisfying listen and represents a different side of the genre that certainly has it's place.

4/5

Could you add Thy Darkened Shade new album (released two days ago), Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya, please Ben.

Hi Ben, a belated happy new year and could you please add The Howling Void's brand new album, Into Darkness Ever More Profound.

Any one of these would be a worthy winner Ben.

Darkthrone - Astral Fortress (2022)

If I was backed into a corner and was forced to choose my favourite metal band, then I would probably choose Darkthrone. Not just because of their classic black metal albums (although that is reason enough), but also because of their obvious passion for and love of metal that I too share, their absolute refusal to compromise in their musical endeavours and their lack of concern as to how they or their music are perceived by the outside world. Let's face it, how many metal bands would dare even think of putting out an album with a cover that is merely a photograph of the drummer ice skating?

So, anyway, Fenriz and Nocturno Culto return with their 20th studio album and continue with their crusty, blackened take on doom and heavy metal that came to the fore on previous release, Eternal Hails. This one is a take on late-80's, early-90's underground trad doom fed through a blackened crust filter, but updated with better production and, in truth, it differs very little from it's predecessor to the extent that they could both have been released together as a double album and no one would have batted an eyelid. I know most metalheads now want to shit on Fenris and Nocturno for not endlessly recycling A Blaze In the Northern Sky, but this is what they do now. Is it as good as their 90's stuff? Well obviously not, but I quite enjoy this tiny niche that the duo have carved out for themselves and their more recent material is kind of quaint in it's lack of pretension and total disregard for trends or adherence to the zeitgeist. For those who know of it, Fenris and Nocturno Culto kind of remind me of Lance and Andy from the BBC show Detectorists with their dogged refusal to be affected by the world at large and their almost idealistic existence in their own little corner of the globe.

Where I feel Darkthrone succeed most, is in their ability to gradually reshape their music in directions that interest them whilst still embracing a unifying "sound", as in the blackened crust that still forms the backbone of what they are about, whatever other genre thay may be focussing on otherwise. This continuity gives us diehard fans a way into whatever it is they are doing and with it comes a kind of surety as to what you are going to get. Darkthrone seem uninterested in suddenly changing direction for the sake of it and are unlikely to throw out too many jarring curveballs to their audience. Of course, this is much to the chagrin of a lot of the online metal community, whose almost ADHD-like desire for continuous change and intellectual challenge (from albums the majority will only listen to once or twice) makes a band like Darkthrone anathema to them and attracts huge amounts of criticism as the keyboard warriors vent their spleen against the duo. But of course by then, Fenriz is off skating up some frozen fjord and couldn't give two fucks what some music know-all from gods-know-where has to say about it!

Astral Fortress start out very strongly with Caravan of Broken Ghosts which has a great crusty trad doom main riff that gets even better when the duo put their pedal to the metal on the speeded up section that used to be one of the staples of trad doom, the track as a whole coming off as a necroticised version of Pentagram or early Saint Vitus. I think Nocturno and Fenriz take their feet off the gas a little on the next couple of tracks, Impeccable Caverns of Satan and Stalagmite Necklace. They are decent enough and I really like the main black 'n' roll riff of the former, but they lack dynamism and start to drag the album down a bit, sounding as they do like outtakes from Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales that didn't make the cut. So, despite side one tailing off to some extent, side two is a much more convincing experience. Kicking off with the bizarrely named The Sea Beneath the Seas of the Sea, the track itself is bookended by an intro and outro that sound a bit like very early (circa Fly By Night) Rush - believe it or not! The track as a whole is Darkthrone's own particular take on a ten minute trad doom epic that sounds like it's been dug up after thirty or forty years of decay. Next up, Kervorkian Times is my favourite track on the album with a killer main riff and Nocturno Culto spitting fire and bile, proving that even in their fifties these guys are still underground metal legends. A short instrumental and we're into final track Eon 2, which doesn't on the face of it have anything to do with the instrumental Eon off of Soulside Journey, but which does contain a Maiden-esque galloping riff before it settle back into the doom-pacing of the rest of the album.

Nocturno Culto's vocals are undiminished by time and he still fires out riffs left, right and centre and Fenriz is a complete legend so, to me, the world is a much better place with a band like Darkthrone and their love of metal and refusal to compromise still in it. So what I'm trying to say is "fuck the haters".

4/5

Elegiac - Vampiric Odinism (2019)

The frenetic release output of Elegiac is the first thing that caught my eye when researching this review. This one man bm outfit (Zane Young) has released 4 EPs, 15 splits and 9 full lengths since 2014. That is pretty prolific output who has eight other "active" projects on the go on top of Elegiac. The New York based artist deploys a good mix of conventional black metal fodder with a heavy dose of black 'n roll added for good measure on his seventh release, Vampiric Odinism from 2019. Looking at the artwork that adorns the release and pictures of Zane online I had expected a more shamanic or ritualistic offering than is actually the case. Although there are some distinct parts where this is the case the more catchy moments are actually the better ones.

I would loosely assign Behexen and maybe Sargeist as influences I hear in the sound although they like the scathing attack of Behexen and are lacking some of the primitive elements of early Sargeist to say the least. There are occasions were the vocals take more of a front seat and sound like the breathy incantations of any credible atmo-black artist but in the main it is the tremolo that rules the roost here with Zane's vocals a rasping accompaniment with a background setting of very basic and sometimes barely audible drums.

Overall, Elegiac offer very little in the way of impressing more than any other USBM artist. The deep voice that Zane adopts on occasion to (I assume) add some threat or menace to proceedings is laughable in all honesty and the whole release just bubbles instead of reaching boiling point all that much. The shamanic/ritualistic parts sound lazy and disinterested and when some sense of momentum or energy does start to form it gets killed by them on a consistent basis. Left to power on through the tracks with their heavy metal-esque drive (Sacrifice) then things take on a much more impressive shape and sound and it is a shame there is less of this to enjoy overall.

3.5/5

Similar to Rafn on my draft selection, I think some of these insanely prolific one-man black metal projects would be better served with a bit more quality control. Some of them would benefit massively from other collaborators who could help steer them towards a bit less quantity and a bit more quality, rather than releasing their every musical notion upon an unsuspecting (and often uncaring) public. Most of the metal world's most impressive albums are made up of tracks that have been worked through tirelessly and honed, sometimes for years, yet these guys churn out new releases within mere weeks of previous ones. There is no denying that a significant number of these one-man projects are talented guys, but they just need a bit of self-editing and polishing of their work to achieve more recognition. Solo BM projects like Austin Lunn's Panopticon and Andy Marshall's Saor have released exceedingly well-regarded albums over recent years, because they have the discipline to work on and improve their material until it is ready for release, rather than rushing it out so they can clear the decks for their next half-formed idea.

Well that's my two-penny's worth, what do other Academicians think?