Great horror, filth, madness, chaos, death, destruction, and doom are all things I want to pop into my head when I’m listening to death metal, and if it doesn’t, I generally walk away disappointed. Not that there can’t be exceptions to that rule, and most definitely there have been over time, but for the most part, I want those things from the music and I want to feel the world being darkened.

Having tons and tons of upcoming metal releases at my disposal, it isn’t easy picking the 4-5 albums to highlight each week, and it’s even tougher trying to find great death metal, simply because there is so much to consider. But now and again you put on something like “…Smouldering,” the first effort from German death merchants Abyssous, and you realize you don’t have to look much further to find something filthy and infernal enough to satisfy your darkest urges. Iron Bonehead Productions apparently felt the same way, taking the band’s 2012 demo and giving it proper vinyl treatment, along with two previously unreleased tracks for good measure. The result is 30 minutes of absolute horror, underground death metal at its fertile stage before it’s ready to fully engulf the earth in its glorious embers. Or, if that’s a little too elaborate a description for you, it’s heavy, brutal, and pulverizing, perfect fodder for helping you release negative feelings.

Abyssous only have been a band since 2011, which makes their debut being such a fine piece of work that much more impressive. Three people dot the lineup, that being bassist/vocalist Deathtrader (Heretic), guitarist Jonty Lava (also of Heretic), and drummer Assassor (formerly of Chornyj Woron). Together, the band creates metal that would make the pioneers of the genre proud, for they have a grasp on the bloody, ugly roots that made this sound what it is. They also add their own dark twists and turns, remaining suffocating, soot-covered, and uninviting to those who don’t understand their craft or what these black arts are about. Those people can remain at arm’s length while the rest of us enter the swarm of chaos, which will capture you immediately.

“Entering the Cave” is a fitting name for the opening track, an eerie ambient cut that does, in fact, make you feel like you’re getting ready to head down a long cavern into the bleak unknown. “Abominations” follows and gives a first real, poisonous dose of what this band’s all about. The drums crush your heart and soul, the guitar riffs are chunky and full of bone fragments, and the vocals are a low-level growl that sound menacing and fearsome. Ah, so that’s what you’ll meet inside the cave. “Burial Sea” starts with guitars bubbling, then charging and galloping right for you with reckless ambition. The song has an old, early ’80s thrash feel, and the soloing that literally erupts from the pockets are deafening and razor sharp. Toward the end, murk settles in and everything gets cloudy, but then it explodes again and ends on quite the savage note. “Invocation” rips itself open at the start and force-feeds you its guts, with guitars chugging away and Deathtrader’s vocals sounding tortured and morbid.

“Black Pyramid” keeps the terror fires burning, with a flurry of guitar lines that could leave you dizzy and scorched, and crushing, charging melodies that continue to deliver the violence. Their bursts of speed on this song, and elsewhere on the album, have a firm grasp on classic death and thrash, and from someone who grew up in that sound’s heyday, it’s most welcome to hear this band nail that kind of delivery. “Profaning Intrusion of…” is another instrumental cut, itself quite spooky, but also a lead-in for “The Inverter,” a punchy, scathing, perverse dose of death built on whinnying guitars, out-of-control playing, and complete darkness. “Exanimation Rites,” a song I thought they misspelled at first, has a wonderfully sinister opening, and it’s packed with total madness, harsh, hellish growls, and metallic churning that draws a great deal of blood. Closer “Abscondence” is a weird, scary outro piece that feels like it was transmitted from deep space, where who knows what kind of creatures lurk, with our planet’s demise potentially in its plans. It’s an unassuming yet fitting end to this thrilling storybook of morbidity.

Abyssous was a great find for Iron Bonehead, who know a thing or two about plucking dark gems and thrusting them into the public conscious, and the band itself sounds like it’ll be a world beater if they continue along this hellacious path. “…Smouldering” burns and scrapes like it should, and it satisfies that need for death metal with a black heart and damned soul. I’ve made no secret I want more death metal just like that, so I’ll happily follow Abyssous along their destructive path.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.abyssous.de/

To buy the album, go here: http://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/merch

For more on the label, go here: http://www.ironbonehead.de/

I feel like we’ve gotten back to stoking some heavy metal tradition around here, what with last week’s round of reviews and some of what we have planned for this week. For someone who has grown up and developed along with metal in my ears pretty much at all times, it all washes over me like waves of nostalgia, even if we’re talking about new bands.

It has seemed over the past few years that there is a concerted effort from a lot of bands today to rediscover older sounds, be it thrash or death or the strains of NWOBHM, but a lot of times it feels like it’s more of a marketing gimmick. But you know when you hear a band that really feels and believes in what they’re doing, and I always got that sense from Argus, a band that hails from Franklin, Pa., and who certainly have played a good bit in my hometown of Pittsburgh. In fact, the band was just here a few weeks back opening for Dawnbringer on a bill of bands that have a strong grasp of the roots of metal and how to reinterpret the sounds that built the genre (Ladybeast being the other band that night).

That evening in question at Howler’s, Argus also rolled out some new cuts from what was their their forthcoming new LP “Beyond the Martyrs,” their third effort overall and follow up to 2011’s “Boldly Stride the Doomed.” The new cuts seemed to hold up just fine against their older material (in fact, some fared even better), and while I didn’t go into that show a huge fan of Argus, the appetizers of new songs at least made me interested to hear what they came up with for “Martyrs” (and the on-stage endorsement of the record by Chris Black sure didn’t hurt either). Having had a few weeks to absorb the new album, I find myself liking it more and more each listen. Yeah, it’s a little silly at times (and really, you could say the same thing for predecessors Iron Maiden, Dio, Black Sabbath, Pentagram) and Butch Balich’s vocals can be a bit over the top, but that’s part of the fun, I think. This is one of those bands that refuse to put their tongue in their cheek, and they deliver heavy metal goodness the way it was intended. I respect that, and I’ve found myself becoming a fan of this band because they hold all the same ideals that I do as a listener. Plus they make me think of swords.

OK, so we mentioned Balich, and he’s a pretty commanding presence live simply through the sheer power of his voice and the fact that he is fucking into it, and along with him are guitarists Erik Johnson and Jason Mucio, bassist Andy Rampage, and drummer Kevin Latchaw. All these fellows ply their trade in other bands as well, including Molasses Barge, Oh Shit They’re Going to KIll Us, and Penance, but when they converge under the Argus banner is when all members seem most at home. By all means, pour yourself a nice dark stout (preferably one with a high ABV), turn down the lights, burn the candles, think about demons and sorcery, and tackle this record in a place where you can let your metal inhibitions run free.

“By Endurance We Conquer” opens the record with images of frost and ice, a mission to cross Antarctica, and the dawn of the first global war, with Ernest Shackleton’s famous words giving the track its title. The song has a pure ’80s power metal feel, with Balich pushing the story along, and the rest of the band backing him with strong lead guitar work and metallic glory. “No Peace Beyond the Line” chugs and hammers its way forward, with some grittier vocals and a really strong chorus. That leads to “The Hands of Time Are Bleeding,” a song with an ominous title and dark words drizzled over the steaming pile of epic power, with Balich howling, “Dark by my heart, take all this pain from me.” “Trinity” also charges pretty hard, with steaming guitar work and some really weird melodies that make this track stand out from the rest of the “Martyrs” pack. It also feels a little off in spots and, while it’s interesting, it’s not the strongest song on here.

“Four Candles Burning” picks up the pace big time, however, with a commanding song that would make Dio proud. The guitar work slices a path forward and dashes full speed ahead, and Balich’s vocals shine the brightest here, with him calling, “To walk the hall of nevermore.” This is a really killer track. “The Coward’s Path” delves deep into doom territory, one of the darkest moments on this record, but then it pushes back into power metal balladry (not in a bad way at all), with Balich delivering vocal lines that sound inspired by the great Bruce Dickinson. Like all songs of this type, the song kicks into high gear toward the end and goes out in a total blaze of glory. “Cast Out All the Raging Spirits” is heavy and menacing, as you might imagine from its name, and the song is thrashy and razor sharp all the way. The vocals take complete control, and the band practically stands on the edge of cliffs with torches, ready to conquer the world. The closing title cut is an instrumental track that travels all of their influences, from the NWOBHM strains to epic power to dark doom, giving you a little taste of everything as they bring the record to its end.

“Martyrs” is by no means a perfect record, but it’s one hell of a good time, especially if you pine for the early days of heavy metal when bands still were laying the foundation for what we all enjoy today. Argus take you back to a time when the metal roads weren’t exactly paved yet, but the pioneers had the bravado and fire to blaze their own trails. They stay true to that spirit and add their own righteous contributions to the cauldron, making them a band to which you should raise your glass and thank them keeping tradition alive.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.argusmetal.com/home/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=640

For more on the label, go here: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/