It’s no question 2020 gave us a lot of total bullshit that still is free flowing into 2021, a year that so far is high on the potential cancellation list after last week. Holy hell. But in the interest of not trying to sound too sad and pessimistic about things, there was a handful a good things that came from last year, the association of Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle being high on that short list.

Lucky for us, the two sides still had some good content they were holding back, and we get that now in the form of four-track EP “The Helm of Sorrow,” a collection that treats us to the rest of the songs they came up with together. Will you be shocked to learn this thing is great, just the thing we need to power us past the darkness we’re all experiencing? On top of that, we get one of the best cover songs we’ve heard from a heavy band in some time, but more on that later. Again, just like their collaborative full-length “May Our Chambers Be Full,” the music is a true meeting point for both sides as they craft a sound that’s truly their own thing, with hefty influences from each participant that meld together perfectly. If you liked the full record, there’s no way in hell you won’t love this one.

“Orphan Limbs” starts off with calm water and Emily McWilliams taking lead vocals, as her voice soars into the atmosphere. She sings of “the puzzles of deformity, ugly and grotesque” as the momentum slowly picks up and finally is full bore in a storm as Thou’s Bryan Funck’s howls enter the picture and take over. His shrieks hammer as Rundle calls in the background, and the band smears you with power before finally relenting. “Crone Dance” is a barnstormer as Funck lurks out front wailing as the band delivers a doomy charge, jabbing and pounding. Rundle slips in behind, adding a level of dreaminess to the brutality, and then sludgy menace crawls ominously, winding its way into hell. Funck and Rundle join up and punish together before the track fades into a bed of acoustics.

“Recurrence” starts in a dark, echoing pocket before vicious howls mar the calm, and the track feels like vintage Thou. Rundle emerges more forcefully on the chorus, injecting even more life as the filth gathers. The growls then get more muscular as the track crashes to a spiraling finish. “Hollywood” is a cover of the Cranberries track, and it’s a fucking volcano of emotion. Rundle handles the verses eloquently, matching Dolores O’Riordan’s quivering intensity, and then the chorus just combusts. Both Rundle and Funck wail away, howling, “Run away, is there anybody there?” blasting fiery magic into song, capping this great EP with this unreal take on an underappreciated cut from a band lost too soon.

One of the real blows of 2021 is losing Migration Fest and Thou’s performance with Rundle, which is something I was looking forward to with great excitement. This “The Helm of Sorrow” EP is at least a nice consolation gift that is a powerhouse for sure, with that absolutely killer Cranberries cover at the end. This collaboration has been an amazing success and resulted in two awesome recordings, and let’s just hope this is the start of a long-running association for both sides. And maybe we’ll all still get to revel in their combined presence live one day.

For more on Emma Ruth Rundle, go here: https://www.facebook.com/emmaruthrundle/

For more on Thou, go here: http://noladiy.org/thou.html

To buy the album, go here: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/sba008-emma-ruth-rundle-thou-the-helm-of-sorrow

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

We’re probably all a little tired of wallowing in terror and darkness and hopelessness for an entire lifetime after the past 12 months, but metal doesn’t abide by ordinary laws and ideas, and the genre is going to force-feed us pain and misery as long as it’s around. But at least when it comes to metal, it isn’t going to give us a lethal pathogen. It’ll just beat the shit out of us psychologically.

We say that as Aberration’s debut self-titled EP is about to be in our laps, and it’s nasty and pounding and feels like hell slowly creeping across the earth. It’s but three tracks long, but the weight of this thing and the way it mashes the planet is not just something you can shake. Your best bet is to strap in and go along for the ride as the band—guitarist/vocalist JH (also of Void Rot), bassist/vocalist DH (also of Suffering Hour), guitarist AW (of Nothingness), and drummer EC (of Tvaer)—rumbles across the earth, crossing the streams of death metal, doom, sludge, and black metal into a sickening cauldron that, if we’re being honest, kind of smells awful. But the music is fucking killer.

“I” burns into the picture as the track begins to rumble, and the growls bring menace. Infernal hell erupts as the pace scrapes along, collecting flesh behind it, and the guitars begin to boil and give off wilting heat. The playing then gets gazey as it lets loose, letting fires rage as the band clobbers with force, beating you down until everything bleeds into dust. “II” keeps the tempo trudging as furnace-style heat burns your face, and the low end absolutely pummels. Growls hiss as the playing drills into the earth, building to a violent crescendo that eventually combusts. “III” ends things in a wave of total violence that unloads as nasty doom works its way into the mix. The guitars gain momentum as hell is unleashed, and monstrous growls wrestle you into the dirt. Atmospheric leads erupt and spread through your bloodstream as the battering continues until they finally grant you submission.

Aberration’s initial slice cut into this world is a deadly one, seemingly promising that things only will get meaner and heavier as they progress into their full creative realization. This self-titled first EP is just a taste of what this band can do when having their way with death and black metal, as well as doom, and it’s a frightening storm of power that’s contained here. This is a great start, and I can only imagine what’s coming from them next.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://sentientruin.com/releases/aberration-aberration

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

There was a time, and not that long ago, when black metal had a very strict boundary from which bands didn’t often veer, and if they did, it could be detrimental to the artists in the event they go too far beyond where they stand. Luckily, we’ve moved the goalposts in the last few years, chances are taken within black metal’s confines, and we’ve been better off for it, to be honest.

We have another shining example of that progress with “Of Sleep and Death,” the second record from Austria’s Transilvania, a band that doesn’t seem all that concerned about obeying rules. And good for them because this record, which landed on the first day of the year, is an exciting, vicious, sprawling display that’s a blood rush from beginning to end. There also are roots that have grown from Transilvania into metal’s formative years, but it’s there as a texture and not as a commitment to the past. It all makes for a remarkable effort by this band—bassist/vocalist P. Čachtice, guitarists O. von Schwarzenberger and D.D. Stumpp, drummer H. Paole Grando—one that takes what they established on 2018 debut “The Night of Nights” and takes that even further into the stratosphere to mesmerize us all.

“Opus Morbi” stirs from the start as organs swirl and the guitars awaken before everything is ripped to shreds. Melodic fury and explosive growls send ripples, while crunchy and disorienting playing make your eyeballs hurt. A fiery charge keeps hammering away, racing before everything burns off. “Hekateion” has guitars mashing and gruff growls staggering as speed and melody unite. Complete savagery is fueled by adding gasoline and echoing shrieks as the playing takes on a classic metal feel as guts are stomped into the ground. The title track arrives amid spellbinding guitar work and splattering vocals as the pace is a lightning jolt to your system. The pace is pummeling, but it eventually is vaporized and chills the atmosphere as guitars boil and again delve back into classic era terrain, which makes the heart swell with drama. Everything explodes anew as the track races, the simple, effective chorus strikes again, and the track ends in a cloud of smoke. “Lycanthropic Chant” lands stiff punches as everything comes to life, and the chorus fattens lips. The drums hammer and leave everything powdered while the guitars scrape at scabs and end the track in heated fashion.

“Vault of Evening” has riffs snarling and the pace clubbing away as things get speedy and volatile. The leads bleed color as the assault trickles into a hazy dream, turning your brain into warm mush before the attack is under way again. From there, the offensive is on as the leads glaze and melody buries you in shallow soil. “Heart Harvest” has a punchy start as the growls lacerate, and the howls attack your central nervous system, causing your heart to race. The guitars heat up as the growls eat into your psyche, tunneling toward your anxiety as gang shouts echo, warm leads rush, and the track bleeds its last.  “Mortpetten” has riffs going for broke and challenging speed records while raw growls pick at flesh, and the tempo relentlessly gallops. The leads destroy as the vocals bludgeon, causing vertigo as the track finally relents. “Underneath Dying Stars” is your closer that bleeds into the picture as Čachtice bellows before the track comes unglued. The entrancing pace plays tricks while the guitars go off and unleash hell. Grisly growls turn into furious roars as the pace speeds along, and the drums power the song to its devastating end.

Sure, there remain those people who hold black metal to silly ideals born like three decades ago, but more and more artists are doing whatever they see fit, and Transilvania are one of them. “Of Sleep and Death” has its share of death metal, thrash, and even gothy shadows, but its base is undeniable, and it remains heavy and ashen dark. This is one hell of a record containing music that pays off the imagination and wonder it promises at the front door with its cover art and continues to expand the idea of what it means to play the heaviest, darkest music on earth.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/of-sleep-and-death

For more on the label, go here: https://invictusproductions.net/

When thinking of some of the more frigid areas in the United States, places cold enough to inspire death metal that feels like it’s freezing your bones in order to break them into dust, you’re probably considering Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Colorado, etc. Your brain isn’t automatically going toward Dallas, but it looks like we’re all going to have to recalibrate how we answer that question.

Frozen Soul hail from Dallas, though you’d never guess that after taking on their destructive first record “Crypt of Ice,” being released by metal giants Century Media. But despite not being in what most consider frigid territory, they somehow breathe freezing sentiments into these 10 tracks and 39 minutes of bruising power that leave you ravaged behind them. The band—vocalist Chad Green, guitarists Michael Munday and Chris Bonner, bassist Samantha Mobley, drummer Matt Dennard—imagines all angles of wintry torture and demise, as they unfurl snarling death that leaves bruises and mental wounds behind. It’s a dawn-of-the-year excursion into the weather most of us feel outside right now, with us trying to avoid falling victim to the reaper’s blade. It’s a fucking muscular record.

The title track starts the record with strangeness before the guts are torn out and spilled into the snow. Grinding death pummels you as the leads cut through, the growls gurgle blood, and the trudging pace thrashes shreds muscle. “Arctic Stranglehold” has slithering growls and chunky power as the growls slither through madness as Green vows, “Your time has come.” Slow-driving fury picks up the pace as growls boil and the playing mashes until it fades away. “Hand of Vengeance” has keys dripping in before the whole thing lights up and explodes. Forceful playing rattles your brain inside your skull as growls sound scraped from Green’s guts, the leads catch fire, and the final moments melt flesh. “Wraith of Death” begins ominously as doomy muck gathers and spills through cracks in the walls, and the playing takes on a deliberate tone. The track crushes and ushers in darkness, ending in beastly carnage. “Merciless” ramps up quickly and gets super heavy in a hurry, chewing up flesh in its gears. The playing lays in a beating while the growls open wounds, and the track is devoured by an unforgiving wind.

“Encased in Ice” brings with it whipping gusts and a slower beast, though everything is just heavy as fuck. Raw growls make their way as vicious bludgeoning cracks skulls, the guitars push you to the limit, and everything ends in an icy grave. “Beat to Dust” is frigid from the outset before the pace begins to clobber, and crunchy death savages its victims. The growls mash amid a thrashy wave, battering through mud and slush before ending abruptly. “Twist the Knife” lets loose strange growls that echo in the atmosphere before the playing opens fully and kills. The bass is thick as hell, feeling like it’s coming for your throat, while complete misery is served with bloody coldness, slaughtering all the way to the end. “Faceless Enemy” has its riffs carving pathways to damnation as grim growls set a darker tone, and a stomping fury loosens the earth. The chorus smashes through rock while thick riffs add pressure, and the meanness of the tempo adds insult to your pile of injuries sustained. “Gravedigger” caps off the record by setting up a synth gaze before everything comes unglued. Animalistic rage and massive fury make a formidable duo while gritty vocals lay waste, and sinister guitar work burns everything to ash.

Entering just their third year of existence (though each member has plenty of experience elsewhere), Frozen Soul already have captured the attention and commitment of one of the biggest labels in metal and issued a killer debut with “Crypt of Ice.” This is especially suiting the season we’re experiencing in the Northern Hemisphere (where it’s already been snowier and icier than in many years previous), so this record is hitting even harder as we strive to stay warm. This is a promising debut by a band that is starting the year with a supreme dose of death metal served cold, and it’ll be really interesting to see how their profile increase as this year matures.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://centurymedia.store/store

For more on the label, go here: https://www.centurymedia.com/

Music goes hand in hand for me with weather as there are artists that remind me of certain times of the year based on how their music or records strike me. Or it could be the time of the year when I was first introduced to the artist. For example, Arckanum always will feel like the dead of winter for me because that’s when I got into them. Windhand is a good autumn band because that’s always when I’ve seen them live.

Ukrainian one-man black metal project Severoth never really had a definitive style of weather attached to them in my head before, but their new record “Vsesvit” changed all of that. My first experience with the record took place in mid-December during a rather dark period for me when it also happened to be in the midst of a heavy winter-style storm. Taking in these five tracks and 64 minutes of atmospheric black metal power was rather breathtaking at a time when I was feeling morbid and lost as I was able to escape into what’s going on here and feel the frigidity in all of my extremities, making me feel as alive as I was going to be able to at that time. Severoth said the record’s original intent was to spread brightness and even help people recharge, though things that happened to him along the way of creating this fourth album helped add some darkness and ripples that basically mirror real life. I don’t understand the words he’s calling because I don’t speak Ukrainian, but the spirit of these songs overcomes that, as it’s impossible not to be emotionally impacted by this album   

“Вище неба” starts the record mystically as horns cut through strangeness before everything bursts to life. The pace staggers as the leads light up, leading into a brief woodsy calm before the track explodes again. Clean vocals barrel as the playing rushes to the surface, melodies lap, and harsh cries leave damage. Wondrous playing opens your lungs as the keys drip, the breezes pick up, and the track fades into glory. “Ненаписані листи” hammers with life as the guitars lather, and the vocals wrench before strange tidings take over. Murky blasts team with clean singing, as the chorus digs deep into your chest. Wild cries rip out as the pace hammers the earth, melodies gain intensity, and the storm clouds rush overhead as the darkness engulfs the light.  

“Порожнеча” begins with rains falling and the playing slowly building before an atmospheric punch blasts, and a wrenching pace acts as a backbone of this 15:17 track. The track feels like a steady storm soaking you as hypnotic tones make your head spin, and a deep synth coat works alongside scraping guitars. The music then creates a sort of whiteout feel as the leads burn brightly, and the scene slowly fades out of sight. “Срібні зорі весни” enters with birds chirping and cawing before slashing melodies pummel along with wrenching cries. A halo of sound envelops you before the playing stampedes, the growls crush, and bellowing speaking gets into your brain. A gothy fog gets thicker and more oppressive as shrieks pummel, the playing pumps up its chest and heads right for you, and everything bows out in a flood of weirdness. “Холодна ніч чужих облич” ends the record by trickling in through the mists, playing eerie before the thorns are exposed and fierce cries open wounds. Melodies bring heat as steam rises, and then the riffs accelerate as a deluge of power arrives, the vocals gush, and keys plink as everything retreats into mysterious shadows.

Severoth’s ambiance makes it easy to think about listening to this record in deep winter when the snow and ice can be both breathtaking and frigidly overwhelming. The music on “Vsesvit” can captivate your imagination and take you on a journey into nature as you crunch over frozen branches and icy ground, your lips chapping from the oppressive winds. This is black metal that sounds exactly right based on the elements, and considering many places are in seasons of deep freeze, this could not have come at a better time.   

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.sound-cave.com/it/band/severoth/vsesvit-splatter-vinyl

For more on the label, go here: https://avantgardemusic.com/

At first, I was thinking we’d ease into the year with a smaller release, something to get our juices flowing again and to set a tone for the coming 12 months. But that plan only partially worked as the demo we’re featuring today is a shorter release, but it’s also thunderous and heavy as hell and contains members of many other bands we’ve discussed on this site before.

The beauty of Bandcamp is you can find cool shit there that isn’t necessarily going to end up in your inbox from a publicist or label, and that’s how I came across Morbid Sphere’s introductory “Demo I,” released on the first day of the year, delivering mind-warping black and death metal that makes it feel like you’re losing your grip on reality. Formed by members of Vanum, Ruin Lust, and Yellow Eyes (among others), these two tracks give a hint to what’s ahead for this band—guitarist E. Priesner, guitarist S. Bennett, bassist J. Wilson, drummer/vocalist A. DeMaria—that being relentless chaos and black and death metal that feels like it’s going to cave in your head and chest.      

“Red Sluice” starts with strange, spacey noises wafting over as the drums open and clobber, and the band utterly unloads. The vocals crush as sinister hell boils over, disorienting as the riffs spiral before the violence is truly unloaded. Death snarls lurk before the growls engorge as things get feral in a hurry. The attack rains down panic, noise sizzles, and the final moments enrage the fire and scorch flesh. “Into Form” runs 10:47, 26 seconds longer than the opener, and thunderous chaos melts into deliberate power, drums crashing into filthy hell. The leads sting as things continue at a massive, smoldering tempo, swimming in insanity. The playing eventually brings numbness to the extremities before the power hints at fading, only to reignite on the other side as furious guitars lead the strike. Weirdness mixes with crushing intensity as feedback builds up dangerously before the song fades away.

Morbid Sphere’s fiery, noise-slashed first gust into the metal world is a promising one as this initial demo proves over its two lengthy tracks. This isn’t a surprise considering the forces involved with the project, and their punishing penchant for brain-mangling death and black metal hints at the larval stages of what could be another subgenre-warping band we’ll all be talking about before the end of 2021.

For more on the band or to buy the album, go here: https://morbidsphere.bandcamp.com=/