10. THE KEENING, “Little Bird” (Relapse): Rebecca Vernon’s new solo project The Keening arrives with debut offering “Little Bird,” a six-track record that felt perfect amid oranges, yellows, and browns of autumn, as well as cold rains that chill the bones. Rising from the dissolution of SubRosa, Vernon goes in a slightly different direction, dressing the music with dark folk flourishes and American Gothic bones. These are dark tracks for trying times, enhanced by Vernon’s incredible lyrical content that takes you through stories about unsatiable wolves, witnessing a murder and being hunted by the suspect, and, of course, the fall, whose days are running short.

“Autumn” opens in acoustics with strings swelling, Vernon calling, “Every face that I see reminds me I’m just passing through,” as sober an admission as anything. The darkness keeps moving, even amid cooler breezes signaling the changing of seasons, the ache living in the guitars, her voice, everything, resting finally in the shadows. “Eden” soaks in organs, rainy strings, and a woodsy ambiance, the pace and volume growing, the singing coming along with it. “The Hunter I and II” work together, Vernon’s protagonist escaping in the night, her calling, “I just have one question–Are you in love with me?” There’s a reason for that question, which she follows with, “Because only lovers are so intimate in their destruction, only lovers are so intimate in their complete possession.” “The Truth” runs 17:30 and is one of the most gripping pieces Vernon ever created. Starting cold and inky, guitars gather energy, and Vernon tells awful tales of a family threatened by mobs, a woman murdered by her heartless husband, and people seeking heights that, once they reach it, don’t give off satisfaction, her always asking if truth set them free. A storyteller like Vernon doesn’t come around often, and we’re lucky she’s returned with this fascinating project. (Oct. 6)

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.relapse.com/pages/the-keening-little-Bird

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

9. BULL OF APIS BULL OF BRONZE, “The Fractal Ouroboros” (Fiadh Productions): Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze have been upfront from the start about their identity as an occult ritualistic black metal band that fights in the face of injustice and abhors the capitalistic society in which we’re entrenched. On their devastating second full-length (literally out today) “The Fractal Ouroboros,” the band—vocalist/synth player Achaierai, guitarist/bassist/synth player Athshean, drummer Yaeth—exposes the ugly roots of colonialism, the oppression of capitalism, the violence enacted against Indigenous people, and the hard truths we must face in order to make real changes in the world in which we live.

“Trophy” opens in a thick drone, spiritual drumming reverberating, then the track igniting as wild shrieks hammer like baseball-sized hail. The playing is tornadic, which is something that is a sonic blueprint that’s built into most of the songs on here. “Suffocate o Earthen Lungs; They Now Lungs of Ash” explodes with ripping guitars and shrieks ablaze, decimating the senses, lowering into wrenching hell. A storming tempo ignites as the howls scathe, turning madness into a freezing front, spitting electricity as the playing swirls around your head, robbing you of breath. “Liberation Ritual” echoes with crackling fires, drums vibrating in your brain, spoken chants adding a spiritual element. Throat calls send chills and get into your blood, increasing the hypnosis as Achaierai calls, “As light, our chains fall away.” The record ends with the longest cut, the 15:57-long “Ekstasis, Enstasis, and the Fractal Ouroboros” that scrapes with a giant gust of energy. The playing is sudden and forceful, wrecking with soaring chaos, the speaking making your flesh crawl. This is a stunning end-of-year record from one of black metal’s most intense justice-seeking warriors who refuse to give an inch to oppression. (Dec. 21)

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

To buy the album, go here: https://fiadh.bandcamp.com/album/the-fractal-ouroboros

Or here: https://vitadetestabilisrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-fractal-ouroboros

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

And here: https://www.facebook.com/vitadetestabilisrecords

8. GHOROT, “Wound” (King of the Monsters): Taking on blackened doom trio Ghorot’s music reminds me of enduring an oppressive, brutal heat, feeling like you’re being baked alive as their manic noise and gargantuan riffs weigh down on you, making breathing a competitive sport. On their crushing record “Wound,” their second, they manage to make things heavier, nastier, riffier. As soon as the five-track record opens, you’re mangled by sonic eruption with the band piling layer upon humid layer of desert-like heat, the punishing thrashing you’re taking feeling even more intimidating as your fear for survival consumes.

“Dredge” gets started with feedback scorching, growls boiling, and the doomy fire growing and raging in time. Shrieks cut through as the pressure builds, pummeling as noise peels off and takes chunks of flesh with it, eating away with acidic pummeling. “In Absentia” rips open with scathing riffs, a blistering force, and a rhythm section that pounds away, disassembling bodies bone by bone. The growls slither as the brutality accumulates and corrodes, lashing with a devastating force that’s impossible to avoid. “Neanderskull” guts with sound before sludgy madness digs into ribcages, slowly brutalizing with oppressive heat and banshee wails. The guitars bleed heavily and then coat with iron ore, the sounds wrench and combust, and everything ends in a panicked terror bathing in manic energy. The brutality and psychedelic firepower on this record are impossible to shake, and your bones will ache for days after the music ends. (Oct. 6)

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

To buy the album, go here: https://ghorot.bandcamp.com/album/wound

Or here: https://laybarerecordings.com/release/wound-lbr046

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

7. KRIGSGRAV, “Fires in the Fall” (Wise Blood): “Fires in the Fall” might sound like an album title that has destruction at its heart, and in some ways it does (it comes from a Robert Louis Stevenson poem). But Texan black metal/doom trio Krigsgrav weave in the reminder that even at the worst of times, we can find ways to discover hope. The fact that this band enshrouds those ideas in music that sounds like a raging storm pouring ferocity onto the earth is what makes the record so profound. This is a band that needs to be in more people’s awareness, and hopefully this album, their seventh, is what gets them there and keeps them in focus.

“An Everflowing Vessel” opens the record with sweeping power, stomping and crushing, glorious black metal and doom melding and creating something mighty. “The World We Leave Behind” heats up as the playing swells, the growls menace, and the coldness becomes a greater factor, chilling bones. “For I have lost the humanity I had, and now I shall be one with the earth,” vocalist/guitarist/synth player J. Coleman howls, clobbering hell trudging and chewing, your senses flooded with chaotic blood. “Shadowlands” begins ominously before the fuel spills and aggravates a blaze, down-tuned mashing making your bruising feel more pronounced. Closer “Alone With the Setting Sun” dawns with acoustics, the solemnity increasing before the force chugs, and the band flexes. Everything continues to get more harrowing, the drums explode with delirium, and the wrenching growls pull your guts from your body. This is a triumph of an album, music that illuminates the skies and fills your heart with an energy not encountered before that stays in every one of your cells. (June 23)

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://wisebloodrecords.8merch.us/

Or here (international): https://wisebloodrecords.8merch.com/

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

6. MARTHE, “Further in Evil” (Southern Lord): Marthe is the solo black metal project from artist Marzia, who before this effort was active in the anachro punk and riot grrrl scenes, creating music that aligned with her politics. Marthe is something altogether different, and the band’s debut full-length “Further in Evil” is her sort of exposure therapy, sinking into darkness so she can get stronger and create a sort of armor from these things. The result is a storming six-track display that feels like it burns a torch for early 1990s black metal but also has some folk strains and glimmers of her work elsewhere.

“I Ride Alone” is the 11:14-long opener, and it’s a hell of a journey, guitars dripping like tar, the drums pacing, then everything engulfed and roaring with life, Marzia’s howls scarring with dangerous heat. Synth beds send a chill as the vocals go into primitive black metal territory, which is a rush and a thrill. The playing then goes cold, numbing your nerve endings, going into mystical winds as the shrieks rip out and dominate. “Dead to You” starts eerily before the drums kick in and loosen teeth, swallowing you whole with grisly intent. The howls are raw and direct, Marzia repeating, “Dead to you!” like she’s forcing that admission into your brain. “Victimized” runs 9:12, slowly building its force, chugging and bruising, launching an electrifying riff that storms shores. The playing is pulverizing, threatening with evil and terror, the howls smashing down on you. Siouxsie and the Banshees cover “Sin In My Heart” is the closer, and it’s a heater, hovering as keys drip, Marzia singing the title repeatedly in order to hammer home her point. It’s absolutely hypnotic. This is a thrilling, hammering album, one that can ignite the black metal spirit in your heart and also harden you so that nothing can harm you ever again. (Oct. 20)

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

To buy the album, go here: https://southernlord.com/band/marthe/

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