When people think of daring collaborations involving metal artists and those outside that circle, most people’s minds likely will turn to the unmitigated disaster that was “Lulu.” Even the idea of Metallica and Lou Reed working together seemed like a bad concept before the final product came down, but people with the highest of hopes perhaps thought it could transform Metallica’s creativity. Yeah, not quite.

There have been plenty of other times when metal artists reached outside their boundaries to create something new (Merzbow’s many collaborations in the scene, Boris’ criminally under-appreciated project with Ian Astbury), but sadly the bloated corpse “Lulu” likely always will be the thing that rises to the top of the conversation. But maybe that doesn’t always have to be that way. Maybe we can change that talking point. I offer a new touchstone in the stunning new combination of doom-drone warriors Sunn O))) and former-teen-heartthrob-turned-avant-garde-artist Scott Walker on the incredible “Soused.” Now, here’s one that on the surface already brims with promise. Yet, you have to hear this thing to truly appreciate the melding of the minds and to experience the unexpected results of these two forces coming together. If you’re expecting Walker’s confrontational, warbling voice over a basic Sunn O))) record, prepare to have your mind blown. It isn’t that at all. Yeah, sure, you do get waves of it here and there, but it isn’t the dominant trait. Instead, each side works with each other, coloring and expressing what comes to heart and mind, and forming a different machine than what may have expected. It’s unbelievably exciting but also frightening at the same time.

As for Sunn O))), Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson are no strangers to collaboration, having released a set this year with Nordic dreamers Ulver and also having worked with the likes of Boris and Nurse With Wound. They obviously bring the thunder and smoke to this thing, but they also show more flexibility and out-of-the-box thinking than ever before. And these aren’t exactly guys who stick to a script. As for Walker (real name Noel Scott Engel), this is yet the next step on the experimental trail for the 71-year-old singer. Having initially made his mark in the pop realm in the 1960s with the Walker Brothers (along with John Maus as John Walker), he’s carved out a career later in his life as a daring, ambitious, even uncomfortable artist, finding even more acclaim and adulation with his last two surreal, menacing records “The Drift” (2006) and “Bish Bosch” (2012). This union makes all the sense in the world, and the excitement drummed up before this record was released is matched and surpassed now that the music is in our hearts and haunting our dreams.

Opener “Brando” is inspired by actor Marlon Brando, and it opens with Walker’s operatic-style crooning ripping the lid right off. He’s joined by warm guitar lines that actually sound inviting, but that doesn’t last long, and the drone curtain drops heavily and lets extreme darkness envelop that area, while Walker goes on to poke, “A beating would do me a world of good.” Along with his lines of tribute, a bull whip cracks in the background, guitars stab and taunt, and a strange noise almost like whistling add to the odd environment. The drone rises up again at the end, with Walker calling, “I’m down on my knees,” before the sound finally dissipates. “Herod 2014” is an ominous one, with bells chiming and an effect that sounds like a propeller in motion. “She’s hidden her babies away,” Walker wails, as drone fires up in spots and horns tease the tension. There is some incredible wordplay by Walker on this one, especially lines such as, “Bubonic, blue blankets, run ragged with church mice,” delivered with equal amounts of playfulness and dread. The song is eerie and full of danger, and it’ll stick with you long after it ends.

“Bull” blows open from the start, and oddly enough, it has a conventional rock feel to it for its first minute or so. Eventually things melt down, noise begins to whir heavily, and Walker sings over the murk, urging, “Keep moving on,” while the violence swells in the background. The last few minutes of the song let the doom rise and waft, retching and smothering until it finally comes to its end. “Fetish” is a confrontational one, with Walker barking, “Red, blade points knife the air,” with horns snaking behind the terror and horrifying sounds making the picture even more nightmarish. The narration is coolly crooned, while industrial huffing creates even more tension and abuse. The drone hits again, with a tremendous psychotic breakdown giving way and the guitars working back to drill hard. The tempo and power rise and fall in the final minutes, with Walker’s singing allowing everything to fade away. Closer “Lullaby” helps whatever hairs that haven’t risen to this point stand at attention. Walker matter-of-factly notes, “Tonight, my assistant will pass among you, his cap will be empty.” There is an uncomfortable calm and deranged music setting the scene, but when Walker howls, “Lullaby!” it gets ever chillier. The song progresses back and forth, always circling to its beginning and taking another run through the mist, and the track and record finish with noisy chirps and Walker’s singing standing as the last thing you hear.

For fans of Sunn O))) or Walker, this is a must-hear record, the combination of two great forces that make magical, terrifying things happen together. If you’re not familiar with one or either and don’t have daring tastes, this will be a tough listen similar to being beaten down in a pool of your own blood. But hey, maybe a beating will do you some good. “Soused” will prod, poke, agitate, and offend, and certainly this union wouldn’t have it any other way. This is the epitome of collaborative art, and a chance to give two equally dynamic artistic giants a chance to melt together and bleed for us all.

For more on Sunn O))), go here: http://sunn.southernlord.com/

For more on Walker, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scott-Walker/409779832435562

To buy the album, go here: http://shopusa.4ad.com/

Or here: http://sunn.southernlord.com/products

For more on the label, go here: http://www.4ad.com/

You know when you’re hearing something a little extra special that separates itself from the pack of other music inundating your senses. Especially as a writer, who hears the bulk of new metal releases each year, it’s not every day something really grabs and forces you to pay attention to every moment of what’s going on. Trust me, it’s easy to nod off, as much as I don’t want to do that.

Luckily, bands such as Swallowed come along now and again and inject that passion for discovering new music back into my bones. The Finnish death/doom act are such a refreshing breath of air, albeit one full of rot and fire, and the way this group goes about what it does feels so loose and alive, it’s really easy to get caught up in their fury. Their debut full-length “Lunarterial” doesn’t like a band that fucked around with a bunch of computers, click tracked the shit out of things, or did whatever they could to come up with some glistening, polished product. This sounds raw, edgy, and dangerous, and it should be remembered as one of the most exciting debut records by any metal band this year.

Swallowed is a two-headed beast, with Samu Salovaara handling guitars and vocals and Ville Kajonen on drums and vocals. This six-track, 53-minute slab of charnel madness definitely will do its damage, but it also provides a fascinating adventure into an opus built on pure violence, infernal creativity, and an animalistic inhibition that powers this thing from front to back. It’s an exciting listen, one that feels organic and nasty, and a record that excites folks like me who are sticklers for death and doom that sounds threatening and is worried more about the power and aggression and not that it’s easily consumed by the masses. The fact this album is out on Dark Descent (in conjunction with Me Saco Un Ojo, who are handling the vinyl) is no shock. They’re been so far ahead of the pack in finding true underground death and doom behemoths, that it isn’t even funny.

“Opening of the Key” sounds like a proper introduction to this record, as the brief cut is built on crazed noise, buzzing drone, swirling voices, and crashing cymbals, and that mashes into “Reverence Through…” The track is slow driving and menacing, with throaty growls, deranged melodies, and the song eventually blowing open into full-speed gashing. The vocals sound spat out, while the music is utterly pulverizing and catastrophic, with tortured wails and a thick psychedelic fog underneath it all. In fact, that element comes back quite often on “Lunarterial.” “Arterial Mists of Doom” is utterly clobbering, with the band hitting on quick bursts of speed that always end up giving way to more lurching. The vocals sound like Gollum choking on his words, with the music sitting back and thrashing heavily. There are several more tempo explosions as the track winds through its murk, and the vocals often flip back and forth from monotone wail to strange growls.

“Black Aura” would be the monster of most records at 9:52, but it’s a mere baby compared to what caps off the album. More on that later. The opening is trippy and loopy, with the doom spread thick over the piece and the melodies causing the room to spin and you to grasp for the walls. The vocals are belchy and vicious, with the guitars creating a violent haze that rises up like a poisonous fog. The playing creates a vortex that gets more insane as the song starts winding down, and the sounds keep spinning and killing right up to its finish. “Black Phlegm” is a warped, bizarre piece, with water dripping like we’re situated in a dank basement, then the riff rising in pure Black Sabbath worship. The music gets spacey and bendy, warbled whispers create a dizzying effect, and the whole thing feels damn claustrophobic. Oh, so I mentioned the ending of the record would be something mammoth in scope? That would be the 25:13 “Libations,” a track that’s utterly unforgiving and builds and twists through its huge running time. Naturally, you get a heaping serving of everything Swallowed do so well, packing ominous growls and whispers, eerie tones, vicious firing, and slowly meted out punishment into the stew. There is some fiery lead guitar playing that keeps the smoke building, psychedelic bubbling is present to alter your mind and blast your brain open, and the vocals have moments where they are completely unhinged. With just five minutes left, the song gets turned on its face, pouring strange cosmic dust into the sound, piercing guitar work, and smothering doom that keeps pressing until the song finally runs its barbaric course.

Swallowed will sicken, push, and agitate you, but at the same time, they should thrill those out there who relish death and doom bands with a firm grasp on the roots. “Lunarterial” is one hell of an exciting, devastating record, and the fact that it’s just this band’s debut is pretty frightening stuff. They will seize you like a demonic monster in the night and hold you captive while they torture you psychologically. You have no choice but to submit to their power, and once you do, you’ll find yourself completely transformed. Or at least you’ll start demanding more out of your death and doom bands.

For more on the band, go here: http://blackphlegm.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/store/

Or here: http://www.mesacounojo.com/store/

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

And here: http://www.mesacounojo.com/

Blut Aus Nord have been on one of the most impressive creative cycles of any band in recent memory. Great ideas and magical blackness appear to be pouring out of their headspace in France, and the results have been several years of some of metal’s most impressive, thought-provoking recordings. Right now, they seem unstoppable.

Ever since 2011 and the start of the “777” trilogy, the band has given us four full-length records, three EPs, and a split recording with P.H.O.B.O.S., all of which are quality. The latest of that run comes in the form of “Memoria Vetusta III: Saturnian Poetry,” which follows up their last first full record, 2012’s bizarre and daring conclusion to the “777” piece, “Cosmosophy.” “Vetusta I” was their second record, released in 1996, while “Vetusta II” followed in 2009.” If you were getting a little impatient with the band’s experimentation and trips into dreamier, spacier territory, “Saturnian” is a return to form of sorts, with the band sounding heavy, channeled, and scary at times. But if you were turned off by the band stretching itself creatively, what exactly was your issue? Those “777” albums, the finale in particular, were wondrous works, some of the finest, most varied work in the metal landscape the past decade, and they proved just how willing Blut Aus Nord are willing to push the limits to deliver their message and perform their cosmic exploration. But if heavy is what you require, consider yourself served until you burst with the new one, the band’s 11th.

If you were a fan of these guys throwing caution to the poisonous win, don’t be worried. While the band moves back to center (granted, their own version of that point), they remain as imaginative, creative, and mind-blowing as ever. “Saturnian Poetry” is a fascinating listen from front to back, and it’s one you might find yourself lost inside of again and again as you research every crevice. And why not? Band mastermind Vindsval (guitars, vocals, bass, keys, concepts) remains one of metal’s most elusive, compelling, and engaging personalities, and his partner Thorns (drums) helps paint a horrific, but also dreamy picture that is the perfect backdrop for this band’s mission. Simply, this is one of, if not the finest, black metal band anywhere in the world, and they sound nowhere near climbing down from that throne.

Breaking this record down track by track is more difficult than usual, mainly because the seven tracks almost act as one opus broken up into separate movements. That starts with simply titled “Prelude,” a murky, foggy piece that sets the mood for what comes next. “Paien” is the first full cut, blasting open with strong, mesmerizing melodies that encircle you, and monstrous, creaking growling that fees like they’re being delivered by a ghoul in the night. Clean calling comes in, as it does on most of these cuts, giving the singing multiple personalities, and the song keeps twisting and turning until its wintry finish complete with wafting synth and spacious imagination. “Tellus Mater” has piercing guitar lines, gurgly growls that sound like they’re bubbling from tar, and penetrating melodies that get inside of you. The track is equally dream-inducing and sinister, with a compelling finish that should have your head spinning. “Forhist,” an 8:56 cruncher, comes on as more aggressive at the start, upping the ante on heaviness. The playing bends and twists in ways you won’t expect, while the underlying menace swims along the surface, always warning it could snatch you underneath at any moment. The singing feels alien, the song has a renewed sense of punishment in its back end, and the finish is devastating.

“Henosis” has a spindly beginning, with the guitars creating a vortex effect, abrasive growls leading the way, and surging singing eventually taking over the messaging. The track is complicated and cataclysmic, with the song building layer upon layer and new elements slipping in and taking over the wheel. The whole thing ends on a sharp, blinding note. “Metaphor of the Moon” goes 8:12 and is tornadic right off the bat. The growling is ferocious, with the music cascading dramatically, and the whole thing has a mystical feel, like you’re coming upon a ritual in the deep, misty woods. The 8:27 closer “Clarissima Mundi Lumina” is a fitting final salvo, with off-kilter melodies toppling your balance, and forceful growls erupting and trudging over everything. The clean singing is as soulful as it is anywhere else on the record, which might be a strange way to describe that element, but I think it fits. The textured, tortured playing rises and falls throughout the song, the drumming begins to hammer harder than before, and everything bursts into a deep, high ember before fading out, leaving only a cloud of ominous smoke behind.

How long Blut Aus Nord can keep up this incredible streak of creativity is anyone’s guess, but it sure doesn’t seem like they’re running out of steam. “Saturnian Poetry” is another dose of black metal greatness so far and away from what so many other bands are doing, it’s like they’re not even creating the same style of art. Blut Aus Nord’s goes far and away from this planet into other galaxies not yet broached by mankind. They are the leaders, and though many may get behind them to follow their path, no one can equal their majesty.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/blutausnord.official

To buy the album, go here: http://www.debemur-morti.com/en/12-eshop

For more on the label, go here: http://www.debemur-morti.com/en/

If you’re a metal writer, you’re sitting upon an embarrassment of riches right now. September and October have burst at the seams with really good releases, and figuring we handle one per day, there’s no way to get a grasp of everything noteworthy that’s out there for consumption. No complaints. I guess.

We’ll take a look at a few string records that have come out or are about to be unleashed on the world, starting with Horrendous’ tremendous second full-length “Ecdysis.” These guys may hail from the United States, but they have plenty of Euro influence to go along with them, and their embrace of the disgusting and ugly only serves to enhance their style. This album, the follow-up to 2012’s “The Chills,” catapults the band into the upper echelon of underground death units and should be one of the most talked-about groups going. I say “should” because people aren’t always paying the proper amount of attention. No worries. Guitarists/vocalists Damian Herring (ex-Fields of Elysium) and Matt Knox, along with drummer Jamie Know, sicken, pulverize and mesmerize on this 10-track, 43-minute mauler.

The 7:24 opener “The Stranger” makes it clear just how much their game has changed. This is a real challenger, letting the band space out musically while still keeping it mighty brutal, and it’s an inventive piece that combines modern and classic death influences. From the first time I heard it, I couldn’t believe how good it was, and it gives you true insight into the abilities this band holds. From there, you get a good thrashing, from harsh and punishing “Weeping Relic”; to the wild howls and skin-splitting lead guitars on “Resonata”; to doom-encrusted and ghoulish “Nepenthe” that puts a real chill in the air while it gnaws at your bones; to the slow-driving tragedy that is closer “Titan,” with howls of, “Carry me home!” that seeks not comfort but the total end. This is a devastating step ahead for Horrendous, and it is a record that should make them a contender for the U.S.’s most compelling and crushing acts. Go get this right now, preferably on vinyl.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/HorrendousDeathMetal

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/

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

SEMPITERNAL DUSK, self-titled (Dark Descent) — While we’re discussing bands on the great Dark Descent label, that takes us to Sempiternal Dusk. The latest doom monster from drummer/vocalist Tim Call (also of Aldebaran, Nightfell, the Howling Winds, among many others) is heavy and unforgiving, and this is certainly worth your time. Also including bassist TG (of Shroud of the Heretic) and guitarist JH (The Warwolves), this band decimates you over five tracks that lean toward epic length and should satisfy anyone looking for horrific darkness. Starting with the 14:56 opener that includes a sample from the film “Bad Boy Bubby,” the track smothers you as it trudges along the land, claiming bodies and severely injuring others. “Upon the Gallows” really should need to further explanation, as you can imagine the lumbering terror and fury within that’s paid off in full when Call howls, “I am the eater of worlds!” at the end. “Seclusion of the Bereaved” grinds, burns, and buries, as it pounds away and encircles you with menace. This band is as heavy as they come, and really, anything involving Call deserves your consideration.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/SempiternalDusk

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/

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

SOL INVICTUS, “Once Upon a Time” (Prophecy Productions) — Tony Wakeford is one of those artists who really needs no introductions. But we’ll give him one anyway. The leader for the past nearly 30 years of one of the most influential bands of all time in Sol Invictus, he has created his own world, philosophies, and poetry over the course of the group’s 18 full-lengths. The latest effort “Once Upon a Time” is another fascinating entry into this band’s lore, and their mix of neofolk, prog, classic rock, and metal never sounded this fully realized before. This time, Wakeford is joined by musicians including old partners Caroline Jago, Lesley Malone, Eilish McCracken, Renee Rosen, and guest guitarist Don Anderson (of Agalloch), whose playing is one of the main highlights of this 15-track adventure. Wakeford’s unique voice, somewhere between a bellow an a croak, drives home these great stories and songs, especially “Devil on a Tuesday,” where he wryly notes, “Now my head’s in a noose/Now I swing like a pendulum”; the unforgettable title track that will get stuck in your head; “The Devil’s Year” that feels like modern Opeth at times; biting “Our Father”; and “The Path Less Traveled,” a song that sounds like an ongoing diatribe, where he urges to look among “the banker and the beggar, between the spires and the fire,   between the winner and sinner” for the path less traveled. Tremendous effort from a band that’s still at the top of their game.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/solinvictus.official

To buy the album, go here: http://www.theconnextion.com/prophecy/prophecy_index.cfm?

Or here: http://en.prophecy.de/shop/

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

ALUNAH, “Awakening the Forest” (Napalm) — Over the past four years, British doom unit Alunah have been making some of the most alluring, powerful music in metal. Sadly, they’ve flown way under the radar in America, but that could change with their tremendous new opus “Awakening the Forest.” This is easily the best, most elegant of all of their records, and they really hit on something during these six cuts. Vocalist/guitarist Sophie Day is an absolute revelation, as she commands while delivering her vocals, refusing to let you drop your attention for even a second. The tracks range between six and nine minutes long, with the band keeping you engaged throughout, and people into groups such as SubRosa could find a lot to like here. As good as all of the tracks on this album, the centerpiece title track stands the tallest of all of them. The music builds the piece perfectly, and Day’s tremendous vocal melodies and domination of the hook takes the track over the top. There are a lot of doom bands out there today, and it’s never easy to pick and choose the good ones. But Alunah is on a powerful streak of consistency, and they’ve never sounded a great as they do on this album.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.alunah.co.uk/

To buy the album, go here: http://shop.napalmrecords.com/

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

DOOMBRINGER, “The Grand Sabbath” (Nuclear War Now! Productions) — Behemoth aren’t the only ones making hellish noises and raising the ire of the faithful in Poland. Doombringer have risen with their debut full-length “The Grand Sabbath,” and this project that combines members of Bestial Raids and Cultes des Ghoules is a punishing, black thing that is the first salvo from what could be metal’s next great underground band. There is zero relent on these seven tracks, and the thing just gets nastier and more furious as it goes along. Comprised of vocalist Medium Mortem, bassist/vocalist Old Coffin Spirit, guitarist Tribes of the Moon, and drummer Sepulchral Ghoul, the band uses death metal as a base but mixes in black metal, doom, and thrash, making for one effective, devastating machine. From the 7:10 opener “Labyrinth of Everlasting Fire,” you’re thrust full force into the furnace with crushing, doomy playing and infernal growls, and from there it’s on to feral yet atmospheric ritual “Ominous Alliance”; “Nocturnal Assembly” that builds tons and tons of riffs on top of strange melodies, speed, and vocals that sometimes sound like chants; “Children of Moloch,” a boiling, punchy killing with bizarre singing that could freeze your flesh with fear; to the outright Sabbath-worship-meets-demonic-violence of “Grand Sabbath Reaps Souls” that is nasty, deranged, and outright punishing. This record is a devastating statement that Doombringer are here to be feared and that they’ll steamroll the weak.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/doombringerofficial

To buy the album, go here: http://nwnprod.com/shop/

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

When I was 15, I suffered through two severe bouts of strep throat in the same summer. In fact, it was nearly in the same month. Both were miserable, horrible times where I was as sick as I’d ever been, but that second experience broke my psyche. I remember lying in panic, clutching at my throat, being unable to breathe or swallow, and my anxiety absolutely crashing down on me.

To compare my health matters that terrible summer with what Margaret Chardiet experienced between the release of her debut record “Abandon” and her new release “Bestial Burden” would be foolish and bullshit. She was assaulted internally by her body, suddenly and violently, and that led to her having major surgery that involved removal of an organ. Makes strep seem like an allergy attack. But that horrifying occurrence also pushed Chardiet forward with her project Pharmakon, and she said seeing photos of what was going on internally during her procedure made her more aware than ever of the network of systems inside our bodies keeping us alive and ticking and just how compromised we can be if that goes awry in any way. She knows better than anyone, as she sustained and ultimately survived the attack, and that fright and panic completely drape “Bestial” in psychological chaos.

What happened to Chardiet could happen to any of us. In fact, it will happen to all of us eventually when our shells decide they’ve had enough. She became attuned to the idea that our physical and mental selves aren’t always close partners, working in concert to keep us alive. Often times, when we’re in pain or ill, we lose that ability to get a grip and calm down and exercise any control. Because we have none. Body wins; mind loses. Those ideas got her writing this new record that is a real step ahead from her excellent, noise-driven debut. This record, if you let it, can act like your body betraying you. The concepts infect you, the terrifying shrieks, industrial panic, and fire-breathing emotions could and should make you feel not just uncomfortable but eternally grappling with a sense of unease. It’s one of the scariest records of the year, metal or not, because it’s borne of real things that happen to real people, and we are powerless to stop our bodies, or foreign invaders that compromise it, from killing us.

From the opening of “Vacuum,” you’re thrown right into this thing, as the track is built on Chardiet gasping, choking for breath, with her lungs absolutely freaking out as they thirst for air. It’s absolutely panic inducing, and it’s only the start of the record. “Intent or Instinct” runs 8:30, and it sinks into a penetrating noise swell, beats that snap and smack at you, and sonic whines that sound like guitars dying. Chardiet’s vocals are animalistic and in the midst of furious survival, as she howls over hypnotic rhythms and throws herself into a feral explosion that feels like she’s clawing at her chest, pounding at her heart, forcing everything back in place. “Body Betrays Itself” begins with sounds surrounding and then pulsating, with her yelling in desperation, before her voice deteriorates into fiery cries and screams. Chilling keyboards spill into the picture, making you feel like your body temperature has plummeted, and the final strains of horror hang in the air, refusing to loosen their grip.

“Primitive Struggle” is like the second half of “Vacuum.” It’s not an easy listen, and the track itself could sicken those with weakened stomachs, as Chardiet hacks, coughs, spits, and writhes in pain. Sounds mix in with this that make this thing feel like the moments before you lose consciousness against your will. “Autoimmune” has beats crashing down and static zaps that remind of Canadian terror unit WOLD. Piercing yells stab through the murk, going back and forth from commanding wails and retching growls. The music keeps on pounding and adding more pressure to your chest, with driving hammering that sound militaristic in tone with an underlying sense of dread. The 7:06 closing title cut is the portrait of someone who has had enough, with Chardiet repeating the mantra, “I don’t belong here!” in a way that goes from almost cheerful to frightened to resigned to exploding with rage. The way that line transforms as the song builds is astonishing and arresting, and the music echoes, murmurs and melts down along with her, letting an industrial charge stomp away as Chardiet clutches her body one last time and lets you have a final thrashing of horrible reality.

Much as I love Pharmakon and “Bestial Burden,” one time is often enough for me. I can feel my lungs grasping at oxygen, my heart palpitating, and my mind going way too deep into a dark corner as I imagine struggling with my mortality. Luckily for us all, Chardiet survived her ordeal and found a way to channel her pain, fear, anger, and vulnerability into her impeccable art. This is one of the most unique projects in all of heavy music, and a trip with Pharmakon is one you won’t soon shake or forget. It’s up to you if that’s for better or worse depending on your mental condition after you’ve faced this beast.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/pharmakon

To buy the album, go here: http://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/releases/products/sbr117-pharmakon-bestial-burden

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

In the past 15 years or so–and maybe even longer–the idea of a band with a distinct, can’t-mistake-them sound has eroded. With the tidal wave of music at our disposal and the amount of like-minded bands popping up like a rapidly spreading rash, homogenization has become the rule, and the era of the unique performer has died a slow, painful death.

That is what makes bands such as Occultation so special. They don’t exactly have a swelling resume quite yet (their debut “Three & Seven” only dropped in 2012), but already they have mastered their own sound and personality, and there is no confusing them with any other band in metal. Their psychedelic, doomy, atmospheric sound is so difficult to pinpoint, because there is so much going on in their music and so many influences at work. Friends with opposing music viewpoints, one awash in early Sabbath and Mercyful Fate, the other a devout follower of the Cure and Sioxsie and the Banshees, could unite and find spiritual middle ground with this band and their enthralling second record “Silence in the Ancestral House.” Comprised of guitarist E.M. (also of black metal orb weavers Negative Plane) bassist A.L.., and absolutely commanding vocalist/drummer V.B., this band has created something very special and quite dark in their time together. That pays huge dividends on this second record, an album that deserves to be heard in the pitch black if your mind can handle the psychotic horror of it all.

That’s another thing that makes this record so fascinating, morbid, and magical. It sounds like it is soundtracking a ritual or séance. It doesn’t sound inspired by those activities. It sounds like it is interpreting dark spiritual actions going on at that very moment, with minds wandering beyond the limits of this plane of existence. It’s easy to say the music is perfect for this time of the year (not that it’s stopped me in the past), but it really is. It’s gorgeous, haunting, dangerous, and born of fire. And just to go back to V.B.’s work, she is absolutely on top of her game. Every word that comes from her mouth, every ghostly line takes you prisoner and pulls you into a world you probably never have explored before. She’ll give you chills and seduce you, and there is no other choice than submit to her call. Oh, another interesting fact is Kurt Ballou produced this one at his Godcity Studios, standing as the most unique recording that’s ever marked his resume.

Simply titled opener “Intro” sets the stage nicely, with chimes and bells ringing out and the guitar work ramping up and leading into “The First of the Last.” This track is situated in a particularly dark melody, with guitar lines buzzing and the band loading their cauldron with mud and guts. The vocals vibrate over the horror, like a strange voice summoning you in the night, while as the song reaches its conclusion, things speed up, there are words of weird premonitions, and you’re carried right over the bloody finish line. “Laughter in the Halls of Madness” is perfectly named and engages you right away, with guitars you can’t help but blindly follow and an incredibly engaging, classically dark composition. The band launches into a furious gallop that tramples over old Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate territory, and satisfyingly so, while the singing seems ritualistic. “All Hallow’s Fire” spills organs into the scene, with fiery melodies that should make you feel uncomfortable and in danger. There are great, smoky passages that refuse to leave your bloodstream, and as usual, V.B.’s singing bewitches and makes you feel like you might freeze to death.

“The Place Behind the Sky” is a 7:14 trip into complete mental submission, with the band making you feel like you’re able to push beyond the earthly realm and into somewhere previously unexplored. The guitars are spindly and later absolutely fire-breathing, while V.B. is in complete control telling her tale, pushing off into the cosmos, and paving a path for the guitars to charge up once more and stomp a dagger into the end of the track. This is a must-hear piece. “The Dream Tide” is a heavier track, with guitars snaking through the thing, evil sentiments afoot, and amazing interaction between E.M.’s melodies and V.B.’s expressive emotion. It’s an awesome piece where everyone’s psyches are totally aligned. “Intermission” is a brief, tranquil bridge that leads to “Forever Hereafter,” an elegant, spooky song that has really intense vocals and a tempo that speeds up as it leads into the chorus. In fact, things gets ever faster as the song goes on, adding a new edge to the band’s style and proving they’re willing to steamroll you if the situation calls for it. The 8:25 closing title cut has a gentler feel at the beginning, with even V.B.’s voice sounding lush and calming. But that doesn’t last, as the song breaks open into something of a psychedelic lullaby and then keeps swirling and gaining steam from there. The song is arresting and luring, with the vocals returning to their entrancing power, the bass pounding harder underneath, and the track eventually bleeding away into the night, leaving a sticky trail behind.

Occultation’s trademark sound and natural progression into darker realms make “Silence in the Ancestral House” a real step ahead for the band and one that could earn them more loyal followers. They have a way of getting inside you and haunting you wholly, leaving you cowering in a corner, begging for the mercy of light. It’s not a put on. It’s the real thing. This band has cornered the market on dark, mind-altering doom, and they’re a group whose music you need to engage with if you want to journey into the darkest regions of existence and beyond.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occultation/127574070630828?fref=ts

To buy the album, go here: https://www.profoundlorerecords.com/products-page/

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

Chicago’s Oozing Wound burst out of nowhere last year to deliver one of the thrashiest, outright fun records of the year in “Retrash.” That Oct. 15 release brought us killer, morbidly hilarious tracks including “Everyone I Hate Should Be Killed,” “Welcome to the Spaceship, Motherfucker,” and “Sustained By Hatred (Rambo 4).”

Now, nearly a year after that record, the band is back with even-more-awesome “Earth Suck,” an album that crushes, mashes, and entertains fully over its seven tracks. This band should be on the tip of the tongues of all people hailing some of the finest new bands in metal, but you know how jerks are. Guys are funny, have a blast while they’re playing, must be something wrong. Nope. The dudes are tried and true, and guitarist/vocalist Zack Weil took time to talk with us about the second record he made with his bandmates—bassist Kevin Cribbin, drummer Kyle Reynolds—why they lean toward humor in their songs, if they consider themselves thrash, some of the very relatable subject matter behind their music, and what the FUCK is with that hilariously monotonous final few minutes of “Earth Suck” finale “False Peak.” Look, these guys rule, and this new album should scratch what itches cranky old thrash lovers like me who can’t find new bands that get it. These guys do, and “Earth Suck” is a black comedy gem that’ll make you feel OK throwing a lamp out a top-floor window at work.

MEAT MEAD METAL: The new record is called “Earth Suck,” which I’m sure you’re aware of. Sounds like it could be a pretty tongue-in-cheek title. Is that the case?

ZACK WEIL: Well, the idea of the “Earth Suck” is all the bullshit of life that holds you down like gravity. That’s the “Earth Suck.” Everything we do has a degree of tongue-in-cheek to it because I mean, we give a shit, but we kind of don’t. It’s a fine line, because we don’t want to come off as some jokey band, but at the same time, we’re not these all-black-wearing, angry motherfuckers who only want to have a bad time. I sometimes feel like that’s what people want out of metal, and we’re definitely not going to give them that.

MMM: Yeah, I mean, the way I’ve always looked at metal is there’s definitely a place for fun. Like, there’s no way you can listen to Iron Maiden and not have fun.

ZW: Yeah, there’s that total ’80s metal vibe where you try to have a good time. But there are those people who are just a bummer. I mean, with black metal, there are people who take themselves so seriously that it’s funny.

MMM: Hey, you guys are wearing face paint and you’re out in the forest.

ZW: (laughs) Look, I like the forest as much as anybody. But you know, just because you do take something seriously doesn’t mean it also can’t be funny. That’s sort of the mentality that we bring. If people think our concept is totally jokey, then that’s just their take on it. To us, life is funny and fucking horrifying at the same time. I mean, we could be a really depressing band easily, because we’re all bummed out by a bunch of stuff, but we’d rather not go that route.

MMM: I’m sure it’s a coping mechanism as well. Look at the amount of comedians who are funny as shit but have such dark histories that bleed into their work.

ZW: Dude, that’s exactly it. Look at Louis CK. That stuff that he talks about is so fucking dark, and so amazing. It’s like for him, saying it out loud makes him realize just how absurd everything is. And when you really think about it, those are the types of things that end up getting stuck in your head and need to get out.

MMM: Well, what are some of the things you tackled on this record from a subject standpoint that you tried to put sort of a darkly comic spin on?

ZW: I know for a lot of people, lyric writing is a cathartic exercise to get out whatever personal demons you hold inside. But I can’t confront it that easily without reading it and thinking, “Man, I’m going to sound like I’m 14 forever.” (laughs) So how I’ve dealt with that is by coming up with characters or just free writing until something emerges that I feel is an interesting concept that could be a fun song or interesting song or that is obtuse enough that people won’t be able to figure out exactly what I’m saying. Really, they all could be allegories for not wanting to go to work anymore. Yet there’s another about Lady Bathory picking a virgin she is going to sacrifice and bathe in her own blood. Will you know that from reading it? Probably not. There’s also stuff about politicians wanting money. I mean, “Hippie Speedball” about a roommate who could only go to work high. But it’s not just about that. It’s also about how work sucks.

MMM: Yeah, I wanted to ask you about “Hippie Speedball” and were that comes from. Because the band also had that one promo photo where you guys are just holding a bunch of pot.

ZW: Oh, the High Times photo, yes.

MMM: So I was wondering if it was autobiographical or fantasy or a mix of the two. But it sounds like it does have a definite origin.

ZW: I definitely relate to a lot of the stuff I’m singing about, but it’s not necessarily me. From a personal standpoint, I don’t go to work high. That sounds like the worst fucking idea ever. It’s mixing pleasure with this thing I fucking hate. For some people, that’s the only way they can deal with it. But for me, it’s not what I want to do, especially if I have to talk to people all the time high. That sounds awful.

MMM: I don’t know if you guys actively label what you do as thrash metal. That’s kind of what I get the most listening to Oozing Wound.

ZW: Everybody calls it thrash. We kind of fight against it. What thrash means to me is 1983 and like five bands in the Bay Area playing faster versions of speed metal who also wanted to incorporate hardcore into it. It’s a movement as much as it is a sound. So to me to say that we’re thrash in 2014 makes me feel like we’re trying to be rehash revivalists or that we’re trying to do the same thing with white Reeboks and no laces and tight skinny jeans. That’s why I’m saying that we fight against that because we’re not writing from that standpoint or that mentality. We’re not trying to be a faster speed metal band. We’ve all played in heavy bands and all come from the noisy weirdo scene, and for us there’s been this refinement process of coming up with riffs and obviously we play with distorted guitars that not really punk and it’s fast, so it’s probably going to come off as metal. I mean, we don’t fight against that.

MMM: Well, for me, I feel like Oozing Wound does have that true thrash feel. It doesn’t sound like one of the younger bands that kind of tried to go through the steps and doesn’t get the heart of it. It sounds like you guys do.

ZW: Well, that’s awesome. I mean, we didn’t try to sound like any particular bands. Like you have all of those bands that tried to imitate Nirvana and they all ended up sounding like Bush. We didn’t want to go and try to imitate, say, Metallica, because it wouldn’t have sounded right. I respect the hell out of all those record, and I love a lot of ’80s and early ’90s metal. But I have no personal connection to that time or those themes, and to try to do something like that would feel completely disingenuous.

MMM: You guys followed up “Retrash” pretty quickly. Did you guys just have a lot of ideas flowing that it was time to get to work on something new?

ZW: We never really stop writing. When we did “Retrash,” part of that was we had an opportunity to record. A friend of ours was an intern at Electrical Audio, and he had a free day there. So we pretty much recorded the whole record in one day. So by the time that “Retrash” came out, we already had half of “Earth Suck” written. We actually originally intended to have the record out in August for the sake of having knocked out two records in one year. Hey, cool people have done it, and we wanted to be cool. (laughs) But it didn’t quite work out that way. But we also had the song (“Drug Reference”) we did for “Adult Swim” and we already have four or five songs worked out that we’re looking to maybe have out in the spring. Hey, we don’t know how long the band is going to last! Our drummer got married last week, and we’re all around 30. People tend to stop wanting to be in bands around that age. We’ve been in enough bands to know it’s not forever.

MMM: Jumping back a little bit lyrically, the first song on the record “Going Through the Motions Til I Die” kind of struck me as about trying to be productive but at the same time not really giving a shit. Am I on the right track?

ZW: (laughs) I try to keep it vague enough that you can read into it and interpret it the way you want to. I think in a lot of cases, the author’s intent is not the most important thing you can pull out of it. But I would say (your explanation) makes sense. It another one where it’s a character-driven thing, and there are a lot of angles you can look at it. I mean, even if that wasn’t the original intention, the three of us are stuck in retail and service industry jobs, and we probably will be forever. Well, until people start buying our records. (laughs) But knowing what I know now about the bands I grew up idolizing, I don’t think anyone ever gets away from a day job. And that is part of the “Earth Suck.”

MMM: Another track that jumps out is “Colonel’s Kernel,” not only because it’s a great title, but also because it isn’t necessarily just a thrash metal song. There’s a lot of punk and noise in there. And do you keep yelling, “I suck”?

ZW: It’s “I’m stuck,” but I like, “I suck” just as much. (laughs) It’s funny, but from a lyrical standpoint, a lot of times I just try not to fuck up the song we’ve come up with. Lyrics, vocals, it’s all about trying to make the riffs more interesting. It’s a song about a man stuck in a bed, so (“I suck”) could make sense, too.

MMM: OK, another song “False Peak (Earth Suck),” I don’t know if this is supposed to be funny, but the song ends with you guys playing the same part over and over again for about two minutes. People who hear it on vinyl might think the record is skipping. Again, I found it hilarious, but is that one of those things that also kind of builds on the concept of monotony?

ZW: If you found it hilarious, I think that’s great. We were jamming a lot, and sometimes when you’re jamming, things sound awesome to you. I have practice space recordings of that song where some versions are nine minutes and some are 10 (NOTE: Album version is 7:41). That was more about refinement and getting it to the right place. But yeah, that’s a part of it. There definitely is an overriding theme on this record about repetition. But when it comes to that ending, and you don’t know we’re going to do that and you don’t have a timer that’s tracking along with it, you won’t realize how long it’s going on. In the studio, hearing it play back, it was giving us all anxiety. There’s also this viola you can’t really hear that our friend Whitney (Johnson of Verma) was playing, and she does some really crazy shit that you really can’t quite focus on. I think that’s just the coolest thing. But yeah, those last three minutes are the embodiment of the “Earth Suck,” the sound of everything collapsing and blowing into some black hole. So were you laughing when you were listening to it, because if so, I think that’s great.

MMM: I was! I had no idea what was going on or where this was headed. It was just so absurd, but in a great way.

ZW: It feels awful sometimes. It’s such a cool feeling to control that.

MMM: I can just imagine the look on people’s face in a live setting.

ZW: I’d like to see that, too. We haven’t seen that yet because we’re usually headbanging too hard. (laughs) I think we’ve only played that song four or five times tops.

MMM: You should just do a really long live version that just goes on and on.

ZW: I’ve mentioned that idea. We should do a set that’s just that one song and then that last part for 30 minutes straight. Let’s see how long people can stand it.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/oozingwound

To buy the album, go here: http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/Oozing-Wound/Earth-Suck#.VDH9Z_ldXD8

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

I have a tendency toward anxiety. I’m medicated. I deal with it. But it’s something that’s always creeping behind me and can snag me when I least expect it. After too much caffeine, after too little food, during cold and flu season. It’s lurking at all times, and I try to do my best to steer clear from anything that triggers those feelings.

That’s one of the reasons I’m so perplexed by my interest in Phobocosm, the Montreal-based death metal band that is offering up its first full-length effort “Deprived.” It is 48 minutes and eight tracks of absolute penetrating, slow driving, panic-inducing fury, and every time I experience this album, it makes my brain tighten, my fists clench. Weirdly, records and bands this claustrophobic tend to signal those tendencies toward anxiety. I’m talking bands such as Portal, Paroxsihzem, Mitochondrion, Abyssal, groups I can file Phobocosm alongside and feel OK with the decision. The music feels like it’s trying to press you down, turn gravity against you, and trap you against your will. I also am not a fan of close, tight spaces, and this music makes me feel like that’s where I’m being stored. Yet, as unpleasant as sensation as that may sound coming from “Deprived,” it also is enthralling and a way to face those issues without the real threat of having something to fret about. It’s cathartic in a sick way.

As noted, Phobocosm is a new effort, comprised of four incredibly accomplished musicians–vocalist/bassist Etienne “E.B.” Bayard, guitarists Samuel “S.D.” Dufour and Rob “R.M.” Milley (also of Neuraxis), and drummer Jean-Sebastien “J.S.G.” Gagnor–who have joined forces to create something mind altering and completely dark in nature. There is an astonishing level of technicality to this band but never at the expense of the savagery and suffocating ambiance. The band committed itself to churning out dark death metal, something they accomplished with great precision, but there are many other elements thrown into the mix such as doom, spacey strangeness, black metal, and so on. So it’s not pure death through and through, but that sure as hell is the base. And it is outright terrifying at times.

The terror begins early with “Sleep Deprivation,” a murky, swelling instrumental that sets the tone for the record and could have you suffering from a lack of slumber via your heart pounding too hard. That bleeds into “Solipsist” that’s built on boiling doom, sticky black melodies, and harsh vocals that sound painful to emit. The guitars rise up and threaten fire, with some crushing riffs spilling down, and the final moments of deep trucking heads right into an unforgiving pit of mud. “Knives in the Senate House,” which sounds like a dream scenario for some people frustrated with their own nation’s politics, begins with bendy guitar work that could cause head tilts, infernal growls, and depressingly dark tones that drape everything in horror. The band manages to kick into an even more brutal gear as the song winds down, with the fury reaching a fever pitch. “Solar Storm” feels like just that, with a raucous dizzying opening, chunky bits of thrashing designed to break skin, and throaty growls that collide with a composition aiming to tear down satellite communications and leave the world in the dark.

Speaking of which, “27 Days of Darkness” lands with a charnel thud and no hint of mercy on the horizon. The track is crunchy as hell and thrashes away during the verses. Elsewhere, the guitar work floats into the clouds and charges up the atmosphere, while the vocals lurch like a fatally injured beast. “Drowned” lets noise bleed all over, making the terrain slippery and gooey, and the track is full of sickening punishment that could make you feel like you’re being swallowed alive by a black body of water. Finality arrives when the band starts experimenting again, getting a little gazey in the last few minutes of the cut. “Awaken Unconscious” pounds away from the start, drubbing relentlessly, with the vocals sounding monstrous and bloodthirsty. The run of this is nasty and bizarre, with odd noise zaps leading into the finale “Forever in Doubt.” That weird interference acts as a launching point for this one, before those strains are blown to bits when the song ignites. Grisly vocals combine with heavy, massive doses of chaos that eat away at your mind and induce a final wave of panic. The darkness they create is smothering and impossible to overcome, as the guitars switch back and forth from blazing over top the track to grinding beneath the oppressive rhythm section that’s also doing its finest burying you for good. The final moments play like impending doom, a rogue star bringing extinction, a raging fire devouring terrain, or simply your mind turning against you and robbing you of the ability to reason.

Death metal should be brutal and scary, and Phobocosm’s debut “Deprived” certainly lives up to those standards. It gets your nerves in a bundle, your pupils dilated, and you possibly reaching for medication. On top of all that, it’s also a fantastic record that’s just the first step for this devastating band. They have the chops, a properly dark demeanor, and a sense of dread in their music, and if they continue to go down the rabbit hole they’re in now, their next record might be able to put you into a full-blown anxiety meltdown no drug could possibly treat.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Phobocosm

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/store

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