You can’t always hear a band’s name and know exactly what you’re to expect, but more often than not, reading into what you can expect works really well in metal. But the first time I ever heard of Witch Vomit, I anticipated filthy, guttural death metal that stabs at you with no mercy and a penchant to disgust, and goddamn if they don’t nail that very thing every time out.

Lucky us, we’re blessed with a new four-track EP from these Seattle beasts in the form of “Abhorrent Rapture,” their first new music since 2019’s killer second full-length effort “Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave.” We kind of know what to expect anyway since the band has a deadly track record, but even from the first time hearing those two words that comprise their name, it was easy to imagine what they had in mind, and we were disgustingly pleased with those results. The band—guitarist/vocalist Tempter, guitarist C.L., bassist J.G., drummer Filth—waste no time getting in, creating unreal carnage, and getting out, leaving veins squirting blood all over the room. This might not be a full-length record, but their power and violent intensity certainly don’t take it easy on you, unveiling old school death metal that brings no mercy or concern for your well being.

“Purulent Burial Mound” starts things with a strange movie clip before we rip into death metal’s worm-infested heart, devouring it whole anyway. Growls creak as the playing speeds up, going guttural and ugly, leaving waste behind. Guitars stir and crush, your stomach juice sloshes, and the track ends in a pit of blinding hell. “Funeral Purgation” brings twisting riffs as ugliness is belched out, even pulling into doom’s hallways. Leads light up as the lava flows, and then things get disturbingly calm before the riffs stab back, and the beastly assault leaves you writhing in your own piss. “Necrometamorphosis” guts as it trudges by, and an evil feel works into your bloodstream. Monstrous stomping comes to life, the leads twist guts, and the rampage gains even more steam, wrecking your psyche. Guitars squeal as the growls grunt in fury, and everything ends in a cloud of dust and unspeakable horror. The title track ends the collection by rumbling the ground beneath us all, and the growls grip at your throat. The pace races before the ambiance turns exploratory, soaring into space and leaving you dizzied. Reality then returns, the assault is reengaged, and the track ends in gargantuan terror.

Witch Vomit follow up the tremendous momentum they built with “Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave” with this destructive EP “Abhorrent Rapture,” 18 minutes of pure death metal chaos. People already were mentioning Witch Vomit in the conversation of modern death metal powers, and they only serve to strengthen their case with these four songs. This is death that bathes in horror and doom that leaves you nauseated but weirdly satisfied.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/witchvomit

For more on the label, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/

For all the records we visit every year, and it’s in the hundreds, there comes a time maybe once every 18 months or so where we get to something where it’s like, what are we really going to tell you that you don’t already know? Yet, we write it anyway, because there are some bands that we just feel honored to get to discuss, and today we have one of them.

There is nothing about legendary Nordic duo Darkthrone that you don’t already know or have heard, and far more capable voices than mine have used their own words to etch them into history. Oh, there is one thing, but it’s more an annoying reminder: This band isn’t doing black metal. They haven’t in forever, and really, I think we all should have come to terms with this so we don’t put stupid expectations on their records, like their awesome 18^th album “Eternal Hails,” one of my favorite titles of the year so far. Nocturno Culto (guitars and vocals) and Fenriz (drums and vocals) have spent the better part of the last several records planting their flags even harder into metal’s past, and each time out, they give you punishing, filthy, fun anthems that serve no theme other than the glory of heavy fucking metal.

“His Master’s Voice” gets things going with the guitars ramping up, the drums crumbling, and raw metal blasting at you, absolutely galloping. The vocals are gruff and blistering, as expected, with Culto howling, “Tied to the mast with his master’s voice, this will never last, hearing his master’s voice.” Things progress into thrashier terrain, with these guys sounding loose and spry, continuing to get meatier until the track fades into clean guitars. “Hate Cloak” has strong riffs and curdling growls, getting punchier as the tempo builds. The drums mash as the pressure builds, slicing into strange echoes, and then a bellowing howl of, “Eternal hails!” adds the perfect exclamation to the end of this jarring ride.

“Wake of the Awakened” brings speedy riffs and drums that aim to crumble rock, playing fast and rough, going into a guitar wash that delivers new intensity on the other side. The riffs trudge and trample as the drums cave in your head, all the elements suddenly align and hammer you, and raw howls take their final shots before the track leaks away. “Voyage to a North Pole Adrift” begins in dissonance before things slowly get fired up, with dark undertones increasing the shadows. The playing keeps upping the intensity speed wise, feeling like your heart is being jabbed before thick atmosphere rises. The spacious aura leads to the fires raging again, an incredible solo blows down doors, and voices echo as the track rampages to its end. “Lost Arcane City of Uppakra” caps off this awesome record with guitars storming, the growls slashing, and gruff elements meeting up with strange air pockets. Creaking speaking bellows as a chilling, alien synth line arrives and keeps looping, playing tricks with your mind. That fills the senses, ensuring your rocky path ends with you floating among the stars.

Look, it’s a Darkthrone record, and by now we all should have come to the realization this isn’t a black metal band anymore, hasn’t been in a long time, and we’re all better off for it. Records such as “Eternal Hails” prove that. These guys are metal lifers having created and absorbed more magic in this genre than just about anyone, and they blast back once again with a killer record that makes you feel good amongst your internal rot once it’s all over. Eternal hails for sure.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Darkthrone-101075189934422

To buy the album, go here: https://darkthrone.lnk.to/EternalHails?fbclid=IwAR2CiEYo1HvxJZpK1bvmWBBTzQMGxQiBPpypLDytuVJZRsr4m5NPwXZB-xw absolutely

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

It’s a perfect time of the year to find music that relates to nature, or that makes your time surrounded by that world that much richer. As much as I love music that relates to winter and all the possibilities with it, there’s something about being able to breath fresh air and be amongst greenspaces that makes it feel like life is bursting and everything isn’t hopeless.

My first experience with “The Intimate Earth,” the debut record from folk-infused black metal band Felled, did not occur when I was in nature, but it didn’t take me long to feel like I was amid thick trees, human-made trails, and oxygen not sickened by industry. The more I listened, the more I realized I was completely overcome by this record, and that the band—guitarist/vocalist Cavan Wagner, violin and viola player/backing vocalist Brighid Wagner (both of Poet), bassist Isamu Sato (ex-YOB, currently of Omnihility), drummer/vocalist Jenn Grunigen (Cerridwen)—could transport me wherever, no matter where I was locked physically. It’s also just an amazing sounding record full of highs and lows, softness and heaviness, and heartfelt performances that just flatten you in the best possible way.

“Ember Dream” opens with guitars and strings merging, creating an interesting ambiance that immediately arrests. The riffs then unleash some darkness as the growls devastate, and everything sweeps you up in the drama. The drums crash, the violins come to life and exert energy, and all elements burn together, leaving ash behind. “Fire Season on the Outer Rim” stirs up some solid riffs, the strings surge, and mangling growls strike down, adding menace to the elements of beauty. Grunigen’s calls then haunt as the drama continues to unfold, slowly dripping before things kick back into gear. Emotions jolt as Grunigen’s vocals settle back in, the growls add uglier dashes of color, and the strings thicken, adding to the rustic aura.

“The Rite of Passage” has guitars trickling in as the strings sweep, and the guitar work dawns on the horizon. The track then bursts as the growls explode, turning vicious, and then the growls begin to pick you apart. Black metal-style guitars inject huge melodies, the growls destroy, and the powers increase before settling into the earth. “Sphagnum in the Hinterlands” is the longest track on here, running 10:58 and starting with guitars poking in before everything is just engorged. All powers align and rumble your core as the guitars crawl over you like long, spindly spiders, and a brief gasp of calm opens into animalistic fury. The strings come to life, the skies darken, and cold rains give away to massive horrors that get pushed into the winds. “The Salt Binding” is the closer, a 9:06 being that opens amid arresting strings and psychologically jarring guitars. Grunigen’s singing emerges again as an emotional toll is paid, guitars weep, and the melodies flood. The voices combine as one as the track bleeds with power, feeling like a bloody folk tale, pushing every one of your buttons. The guitars soar gloriously, the voices sound as if they’re chanting to the beyond, and the strings create a bed in which you lose consciousness.

Ever since my first experience with “The Intimate Earth,” I instantly feel in love with the music and the worlds created by Felled. It’s not like there aren’t other bands seamlessly combining folk and black metal, but this band does it with such charm and striking creativity, that it feels like their music lives in your bones. This is an excellent debut from a band that already has won over my undying devotion.

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/

Or here (Europe): https://transcendingobscurity.8merch.com/

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

Death metal isn’t and really shouldn’t be limited in scope when it comes to sound and subject matter, and we’ve seen so many bands branch out and do crazy shit, that sticking to the roots almost seems complacent. But that’s a lie. The roots matter, they always should, and any band that truly drinks from that insect-buzzing, disgusting swamp keeps the basis of this sound alive, well, and dangerous.

That brings us to Cerebral Rot, the lurching, ferocious death demons from Seattle who have been making ugly, gruesome metal that pays homage to where this stuff came from in the first place. Adding to that perverse glee is the band isn’t afraid to get slimy and gross (their Metal Archives profile lists death, decomposition, and feces as regular lyrical themes), and there’s something so satisfying about that, even while you’re holding back your vomit. That carries over on their devastating new record “Excretion of Mortality,” a seven-track, 47-minute excursion into the grossest, most detestable subject matter, and it all sounds so creepy and good. The band—guitarist/vocalist Ian Scwab, guitarist Clyle Lindstrom, bassist Zach Nehl, drummer Drew O’Bryant—isn’t shy to open veins and bleed you heavily, making you lose consciousness as you slip into a putrid pool of the unspeakable.

The title track opens and brings stirring riffs and trudging agony, while the growls are so gnarly, they practically hiss. The melodies get more progressive, and doom clouds even darken the skies, the band rips you apart at the waist, and the leads tangle before everything dies in humidity. “Vile Yolk of Contagion” (um … gross!) rips open as deeply lurching growls slither, and absolute menace spreads its wings. The band then drubs you into oblivion before speed attacks, ugly, intestinal growls smear, and everything comes to a vicious ending. “Spewing Purulence” unleashes guitars ripping holes in steel, thick bass barreling like a cement truck, and savage growls that crawl up your spine. The leads squeal as the playing gets meatier, swinging into something I can only describe as swaggering doom. Growls return and leave blisters, and the leads scorch, turning everything to ash.

“Bowels of Decrepitude” slaughters right off the bat as the growls leaves welts. The leads go off and do ample damage while faces are melted off onto the floor, as the playing mauls and numbs you, twisting your muscles before signing off. “Drowned in Malodor” continues the theme of delivering thick, rich doom that’s also kind of nauseating, letting growls roll in and weird speaking hypnotize. Feedback bleeds, the bass plods, and the track goes into a death spiral, rumbling to the end. “Retching Innards” brings guitars carving pathways, trudging before it really amps up the intensity. The track bashes away as the drums rumble the earth, pulverizing and wrecking psyches. The leads fire up and merge, scrambling brains, finally letting you up for air. “Crowning the Disgustulent (Breed of Repugnance)” is the closer and longest song of the bunch, running 11:05. They make the most with their time as after a spooky opening, the guitars unload, the pace dices, and we’re fully into gusting fires and devastation. That sends the power to the center as the leads swarm, and the violence increases, with the growls finally arriving about 6 minutes in. From there, flesh is mangled as the playing churns and twists guts, and the whole thing ends with the drums taking over, ending things in a haze of echoed double kicks.

Everything about “Excretion of Mortality” is a festering wound burning in the sun, stinking and letting disease set into the flesh. That’s what we’ve come to expect from Cerebral Rot, and they deliver in disgusting amounts, creating death metal that is vile and putrid while also satisfyingly heavy. This is a record that, once it’s fully out in the world and absorbed, will be on the tip of everyone’s tongues when discussing this year’s best slabs of true death metal.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/cerebralrot

For more on the label, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/

There’s an ominous aura behind the idea of “awakening a sleeping giant,” a saying that dates back to World War II and at the time meant that the United States had been provoked into joining the fight. However, we can use that saying today for something a lot less destructive from the standpoint of human lives lost and instead put that weight behind a band that’s finally showing its beastly power.

Icelandic black metal force Mannveira, have been around for a little more than a decade now, but we’re finally getting their debut full-length record “Vitahringur” 11 years after the project came to be. The world got something of a taste of what they had in them on a 2014 EP and a split effort in 2016 alongside Ellorsith, but this five-track, 35-minute crusher is the real indication of what this machine is capable of doing, and it’s clear they’ve spent their silence sharpening their blades. This band—vocalist Illugi, guitarists Örlygur and Sindri, bassist Óskar, drummer Jón—brings caustic and devastating power, a force that adds to their homeland’s impressive array of heavy bands, proving they are as hungry and bloodthirsty as the rest of them. Maybe more so.

“Ópin rjúfa þögnina” opens with dark blasts and guitars stinging as gruff growls march, and disorienting melodies cause your head to spin. The pace then picks up as the playing gets nastier, shoving you in the mud as the track drowns out. “Í köldum faðmi” bubbles up front before weird grunts greet you, and beastly wails signal the coming savage assault. That brutality eventually turns more atmospheric before things get animalistic, with guttural howls peeling back flesh. The guitars get airy but still open wounds, fury and mysticism unite, and things crush to a static-filled finish.

“Vítahringur” starts spacious as the guitars open, with the storm looming. Slow-driving misery pivots into vocals scraping and black melodies flooding and flowing. The track keeps gaining momentum as the guitars swim through psychological weirdness, and then raw growls punch their way in, leading the track to its noise vortex resting place. “Framtíðin myrt” lets growls escape as a numbing pace picks up the momentum, and the guitars tangle. Things feel properly hypnotic at times, bringing immersive calm, but then the rains crash down again. Leads gush melody, the growls scar, and everything fades into a nightmare. Closer “Kverkatak eilífra martraða” is disorienting as it begins as growls wrench, and a dizzying aura takes hold. The vocals go for the throat as the band begins trucking hard, and the growls turn to roars. Things slow and get disorienting, giving off an intoxicating vibe, and all of that dissolves into the atmosphere, disappearing forever.

I’ve never been to Iceland, but I imagine that majestic nature of the place would be in direct contrast with the misery-inducing, mangling black metal that Mannveira presents on “Vitahringur.” This is a devastating, molten record that feels like it sends lava flowing through your bloodstream, leaving you in abject torture. The atmospheric elements are disarmingly sinister, the heaviness bludgeons, and this band leaves you heaving in a pile of sweat and piss.  

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

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

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

Heavy metal is a world in which no topic is off limits, though that also could mean troublesome waters for bands that delve into, say, outright fascism. That always sucks. But there’s so much out there in this universe in which to concentrate, so many possibilities to explore and mine that really, anything could be topical for a heavy metal record. Even converting vector layers into pixels.

OK, I know. What? But look, this makes so much sense, especially from a technological standpoint. Metal musicians aren’t morons, despite decades of people deciding that’s the case, so why not head into areas such as rasterizing, the technique described above. That’s the rich territory explored by Canadian death metal travelers Perilaxe Occlusion, whose new EP “Raytraces of Death” takes you into mind-tangling terrain like no other creator before them. The band delivered a very well-received demo late last year, their means of introducing you to metallic bursts about 3D modeling, but these three songs go even further into the vortex. The band—guitarist/bassist XT, drummer/cellist XE (they’re joined by guest vocalist Ti)—pulverizes you with bizarre chaos and complicated strangeness that might take some time to wrap your head around but also delivers the goods in such a wonderfully strange way.    

“Fracturing the Voronoi” gets things started with doomy misery hanging overhead as the growls bury you in thick death. The track is punishing and ugly as the drums decimate, thick bass slithers, and the soloing goes off, scorching faces. We head into sludgy terrain, the band mashes bodies, and everything disappears into feedback streaks. “Incalculable Thresholds” brings the drums crashing in and a punchy, thrashy vibe that aims to leave bruises. Growls rumble as the guitars churn hard, getting strange and eerie and making you wonder what just happened. Things head into a strange pocket before re-emerging with black metal-style playing as the guitars spiral, and a heavy stomp directs the track right into hell. “Geometric Dismemberment” closes things, starting with doomy drubbing before things explode into total chaos. Cavernous growls bury as the guitar angle and drip, and your body is pummeled. Guitars rain down, dressing things with mournful tones, while the shadows thicken, pushing the track into a murky, uneasy mist.

Perilaxe Occlusion didn’t sit around and wait after their demo was so well received, and “Raytraces of Death” is a collection that builds on their promise and shows just how deadly their machine can be. This is an incredibly satisfying display, a quick look at where this band is expanding, and how they’re growing more sinister before our eyes. More of this over a proper full length is something I’m very much anticipating in the future.  

For more on the band, go here: https://perilaxeocclusion.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.bloodharvest.se/

Or here (North America): https://debemurmorti.aisamerch.com/

Or here (Europe): https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/12-eshop

For more on the label, go here: http://www.bloodharvest.se/

And here: https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/

Some bands insist on calling their shows rituals, and that’s not the most offensive thing in the world, but oftentimes that just means you’re putting on a show, and you’ve come up with a cute name for it. For other bands, that title makes sense, as seeing them in the live setting is more a spiritual experience than your average show. There also are artists that can make their records feel the same way, like you’ve gone through something profound and spiritually altering.

For the past 21 years, Belgian beasts Amenra have defied convention when it comes to their band and their creations. Members comes and go, all of which eventually get indoctrinated into the Church of Ra, meaning they’re always part of the body, and until now, their full-length creations have been labeled a “Mass,” ranging from I to VI. That last part changes with the release of “De Doorn,” which translated means “the thorn,” their first album that deviates away from a mass but never sacrifices any of the spiritual linking that solidified this band—vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout, guitarists Mathieu Vandekeckhove and Lennart Bossu, bassist Tim De Gieter, drummer/percussionist Bjorn J. Lebon. They’re joined by backing vocalist Caro Tanghe (of the mighty Oathbreaker) on this five-track, nearly 47-minute album that centers on the themes of dialog and the passing of knowledge, which is given more intense treatment through the dual vocals and long passages of speaking, that often feel like a hush. Musically, the band still delivers heavy, doom-style storming, but there is more delicacy and atmosphere than usual, making this a true full-boded musical experience.

“Ogentroost” emerges from the mist and lets sounds waft over, numbing you as guitars drip in, and a long section of speaking pushes the plot. The track then opens and scorches, delivering heavy blows as Tanghe calls out in the background. The track keeps finding new ways to break open, the shrieks rain down hard, and a huge emotional deluge takes you prisoner, scraping your psyche before leaking into “De Dood In Bloei” where sounds envelope in an ambient cloud. The pressure soothes as Tanghe speaks through layers of time, almost like a prayer, capturing your imagination and treating your wounds. “De Evenmens” begins with shrieks striking and frantic pounding making your heart race before more dialog clouds your senses and helps you melt, language barrier be damned. Clean singing collects as the pressure begins to build, quaking the earth. The storm blasts with a fury, the band keeps piling on the emotional toll, and the track finally drowns out into the earth.

The final two tracks are the longest, beginning with “Het Gloren” that’s a healthy 11:31. It opens slowly as the doom collects, giving off a strange haze. As the playing starts to swell, the shrieks devastate, and fiery chaos licks the surface of the earth, with the vocals continually ripping hard. The guitars drip as the track begins to move more quietly, contemplating its next move, and then the ground swallows you whole, the playing floods with madness, and the whole things ravages, leaving nothing behind at all. “Voor Immer” is the closer, bleeding for 12:42 and starting in a heavy murk as guitars drip and quiet singing trickles. The bulk of this track is quite reflective, an exercise in patience as you await the highs and lows. There is even a gentler pace at times, letting you float along as the guitars drain. About 8 minutes in, the hammers drop and wild shrieks peel back flesh, leaving you exposed. The playing clobbers, the vocals mar psyches, and static mauling mixes into a cosmic haze, melting into stars.

Amenra exist in truly unique territory where their albums feel less like a collection of songs and more like a spiritual event where you cannot just drop in and drop out, because without the surrounding context, you can’t really assign proper meaning. These five songs are not attached to a “Mass,” yet they still feel just as ritualistic, just as emotionally gripping as they work their way through each layer of the puzzle. It’s great to see Amenra move up in the world with their alliance with Relapse, and hopefully more eyes and ears are open and welcome to the Church of Ra, a structure where your pain and emotional baggage is welcome as you grow into a better self.  

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

To buy the album, go here: https://store.relapse.com/b/amenra

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

There probably isn’t a more fitting way to mark the continuing normalization of our daily activities than to get your faces ripped off by music that feels like it’s been boiling for 15 months, waiting to explode. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like the first time I’m back in a room with people witnessing heavy music live, as I slip into the back of the room to avoid being kicked in the mouth.

I’d imagine once Wanderer can get back on stages, it’s going to be fucking war. This Minnesota-based D-beat-powered metallic beast is delivering their first full-length album “Liberation From a Brutalist Existence,” a collection that had to wait to come to full fruition based on the goddamn pandemic, but now the music is here to rip you limb from limb. The band focuses on topics such as escapism, suicide, self-reflection, dealing with abuse, and existential issues on a molten 10 tracks spread over 23 minutes. The band—vocalist Dan Lee, guitarist/backing vocalist Brent Ericson, bassist Jack Carlson, drummer Mano Holgin—are joined by a slew of guests including vocalists Sanjeev Mishra (Straya), Mollie Piatetsky (Closet Witch), and Brandon Carrigan (who Lee succeeded on vocals), as well as engineer Adam Tucker (he recorded, mixed, and mastered the album), who added auxiliary percussion. It’s a rabid, furious album, one that’ll wake you from your stupor easily.

“Marionette” starts the record by chugging away and eventually letting loose as Lee’s growls rumble, and the D-beat-fed tempo rips you up. The shrieks rip, the feedback burns your flesh, and everything ends in sludge. “Mind Leash” is a quick basher that punishes with fast, chaotic playing dressed in boiling growls and scathing madness, and then it’s into “Abrasion” where the guitars jolt, and muddy playing makes it tough to come up for a breath. The track hulks as the growls punish, and then a burst of atmosphere leads to heavy crunch, a smothering chorus, and guitars heavily lingering. “Bloom” brings thick bass trudging and every other element following suit, bruising bodies. The guitars fire up as the melodies ring out, heading into a spacious pocket that picks up and drives right into “Decay” that continues agitating the fires. The track speeds and pulverizes, the pace bashes skulls, and the body burns into ash.

“Hellhole” pounds with filthy guitars and oatmeal-thick mashing, while a heavy doom cloud hangs overhead and darkens the ground. Then, the band just flattens you deliberately, collecting static and feedback that spits power. “Simone” brings pummeling guitars and burly death growls from Lee as the drumming decimates. Wild shrieks from Piatetsky get into your system and devastate you while the playing feels incredibly thick, splattering to its inevitable end. “Frost Cage” opens in the midst of punishing drumming and guitars stabbing violently, with heavy growls to boot. That all blasts into the ground, the growls carve, and flesh is beaten into submission. “Bourn” clobbers with sludgy power and flattening playing as hardcore-style violent splits faces. The guitars scorch as the playing gets thrashier, the violence increases, and it all ends in panic. “Contented” closes the album, the longest track of the bunch, running 3:56. Guitars char and the bass flexes, and then the playing slows but maintains pure heaviness. Abrasive howls make their impact as the guitars scorch, the low end crushes ribs, and the track is sucked into a noise vortex in the sky.

Who amongst us hasn’t had to wait excruciating periods of time for good things to come to fruition through this hellish pandemic? But I can imagine from the volatile nature of the music, Wanderer must have been bursting at the seams to release “Liberation From a Brutalist Existence.” There is plenty to leave you heaving on the floor, and if you work your way through the lyrics, there’s a lot to parse through and apply to your own existence. This record is a fire breather, 23 minutes of metallic wrenching that will be the best workout you have all day.  

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

To buy the album (vinyl), go here: https://entelodonrecords.limitedrun.com/

Or here (cassette): https://badmouthrecordings.bigcartel.com/

Or here (digital): https://wanderermn.bandcamp.com/

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

And here: https://badmouthrecordings.bandcamp.com/

The last few months have been kind of nice in a weird way, like we’re crawling out from the fallout of an extinction event, seeing the sun beam for the first time and feeling lucky to have gotten out in one piece. But look closer, and the wounds are there, and they’re deep, and they’re painful. We will never be the same again. Normal means something entirely different to so many of us now.

The two members of Hellish Form—Willow Ryan and Jacob Lee—have spent a lot of the time trying to do their own introspection and battles with pain as they’ve suffered through the same pandemic we all have. In fact, they have released two full-length records since the hell virus struck, and the latest is coming in the form of four-track beast “Remains.” There certainly are tenets of the members’ other respective bands (Body Void, Keeper, Skull Incision), but these two, who recorded the music while living on opposite coasts, is doom misery where some hope snakes through every now and again. They examine self-torment and absorbing one’s own wounds on a path to rebirth, a journey many have to walk based on what we just experienced, light at the end of the tunnel be damned.  

“Your Grave Becomes a Garden” opens the record, a 14:14-long beast that begins in a thick doomy haze as shrieks rain down, and the slowly building power meets up with a synth glaze. Keys drip as the agony thickens, spreading the gloom as wrenching hell is unleashed, feeling like a vicious and stationery storm. The vocals come in forceful wails as mournful guitars thicken, the synth collects like a thick fog, the emotions flood, and the final bludgeoning disappears into a strange sheen. “Ache” has guitars weeping in madness as the playing soars into the clouds, and the vocals crash down as the synth stretches. It feels like you’re lost in a mist as moody pounding increases, your heart is squeezed, and the shrieks rip out guts, leaving them strewn on the floor.

“Shadows With Teeth” runs 12:17 and is utterly morbid when it begins as the shrieks cave, and the playing slowly pummels. Synth boils as the playing blasts forcefully, doom collects overhead, and it feels like you’re being beaten deliberately and insultingly as you beg for mercy. A synth bed glimmers, the playing is dreamy and emotional, and the wail of, “The pain in my chest will never fade, but I’ll carry it with me until my dying day,” buries the dagger. Closer “Another World” runs 10:43 and unleashes a wave of doom drone and mesmerizing synth, giving off a strange vibe as the shrieks land shots. Spacey keys hypnotize as the drums hammer hard, and the doom cauldron heats up, with shrieks pounding hard. There’s a bizarre magical feel that floats, the vocals tear into flesh, and the pressure builds until it finally pops, and everything ends in mystery.

We’ve all been through some serious shit the past 15 months, and Hellish Form channel all of that misery and torture into “Remains,” a bicoastal effort that came together while the pandemic raged. The death, fear, and longing built into these songs also are here to help burn everything down from the past and build back up into a stronger self that is more calloused just from surviving. This is a wrenching, powerful affair that rarely relents and always looks at building your strength through psychological chaos.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://translationloss.com/products/remains

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

How does one celebrate a landmark occasion 18 years in the making that, along the way, was comprised of you releasing tons of groundbreaking releases from metal artists as diverse as any roster on the planet? Can’t really do big festivals at the moment, as unless you’ve done a ton of leg work, it’s hard to put together. So, what are your other logical options?

For long-running label Debemur Morti, they decided to celebrate 200 releases with one of their most visionary, creatively channeled bands for a special EP release that’s as long as some grindcore LPs. White Ward, who delivered 2019’s stunning “Love Exchange Failure,” our second favorite record of that year, stepped up and delivered Debemur Morti release no. 200 with an EP of the same name, a two-track, 17-minute excursion that is imaginative and challenging, another hint that this band is continuing to morph into their real form. The band—vocalist/bassist Andrii Pechatkin, guitarists Yurii Kazarian and Mykola Previr, drummer Evgen Karamushko, sax player Dima Dudko, pianist Mykola Lebed—are joined by guest vocalist Lars Nedland (of the great Borknagar), and together they put together a fitting tribute to their label home and music that truly embodies the spirit of the assertion “we are death.”

“Debemur Morti” fittingly begins the record with sax swirling and keys layering, while the atmosphere is torn apart and engulfed with chaos. Fierce shrieks strike as the playing gets more savage, thrashing and trudging hard. Nedland’s clean singing bellows, adding a new texture, while the power increases, the sax swoops in again, and then things halt as a quote from the film “Reformed” plays, asking about god being able to forgive humankind for destroying the world. That sends chills as the track basks in slow tempos and darkness before exploding once more, letting the sax slice in and everything bleed its last. “Embers” is the closer and unloads synth and more sax pumps, as jazzy bass slinks in, and an ambiance is established. About 4 minutes in, the track exudes destruction as vicious shouts rumble, and a slow, drubbing pace adds to your collecting bruising. Sax pushes in as the band keeps gutting you, punishing and soaking in elegance, simmering in psychedelic sounds and warmth, bowing out to whipping winds.

White Ward is an ideal band to be responsible for Debemur Morti’s 200^th release, as this is one of the most inventive and creative bands on a really ambitious roster. These two songs have everything a White Ward devotee could want from jazzy heat to black metal fury and a lot of things in between. We’ve long been huge fans of White Ward, and this release only solidifies that passion.

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://debemurmorti.aisamerch.com/

Or here (Europe): https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/12-eshop

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