How surprised would you be to wake up tomorrow morning and find yourself in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world, your life completely undone, and survival is something that doesn’t come naturally. Yeah, not sure how you slept through that, though I get it. I’m a heavy sleeper. How do you proceed? Do you give up? Do you make the best of a horrible situation and try to scrape by no matter what?

Guiltless is a new project that brings together members of bands such as A Storm of Light, Battle of Mice, Generation Vipers, and Intronaut, and their debut EP “Thorns” imagines a world that follows a society that follows a mass extinction event and what follows. Yeah, it’s bleak, and if you look at that list of other bands in which its members are involved, you have a good idea of what to expect here sonically. The band—vocalist/guitarist/noise master Josh Graham, guitarist/noise maker Dan Hawkins, bassist Sacha Dunable, drummer Billy Graves—immerses you in darkness and chaos, bringing along with them a doom-infested, post-metal assault that isn’t run of the mill and feels like a gathering a subgenre powers looking for new ways to expand this sound into a world on the brink of collapse.

“Devour Collide” dawns amid thick fog and sludge, gruff howls turning into full-throated cries, the heaviness rumbling the Earth beneath you. Sounds scorch and pulverize, menacing and bludgeoning, Graham wailing, “Devour! Collide!” as the power finally dissolves. “All We Destroy” brings atmospheric pressure, battering as the vocals corrode, bringing total devastation. Sounds ache as scathing howls ripple with energy, leveling with weighty chaos, delivering a calculated beating on its way out. “Dead-Eye” opens in decay, pained howls leaving bruising that cuts deep, the synth storm coming to a head. The might is punishing, slowly crushing with enormous gravity, a doomy cloud cover blanketing everything with darkness. Closer “In Radiant Glow” is immersed in noise buzz, moody playing stretching, growls dragging you over hot coals. The tone is ominous and violent, drubbing mercilessly, bringing insurmountable pressure, the sounds ricocheting, guitars dropping the final curtain.

Picking up the pieces of a global extermination isn’t the far-fetched idea it might have seemed at one time, and Guiltless plaster those harrowing ideas all over their debut EP “Thorns.” You can feel it packed into these four songs and in the heaviness both musically and lyrically, and nothing is bound to feel the same when it’s all over. This is but a start for this band, and already they have set the bar high, the mood violently low, and where they morph from here only can live in our imaginations until that time comes.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://neurotrecordings.merchtable.com/?

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

There are videos all over the internet where you can watch people taking very dangerous chances in order to gain some kind of clout, only to fail spectacularly and pay the ultimate price. Sure, it’s sad seeing people spend their final moments in incredibly violent fashion, but it’s something that easily could have been avoided by, you know, not doing the thing that led to their demise.

Seeing life slip from one’s grasp is the main inspiration behind German black metal power Farsot’s new record “Life Promised Death,” one of their most varied creations to date. Over seven tracks and 51 minutes, the band—vocalist X.XIX, guitarists III.XXIII and I.XVI, bassist/keyboard player XX.VIII, drummer/percussionist XIX.XVII—does their most exploration yet, digging into the numerous means in which people and their lives can be separated. Some of these acts are ones of hubris, others are things that wear away at mental health, still others brought on by selfishness, making it seem like a deserved end.

“Nausea” opens in static, snarling before kicking into gear, throwing psychic punches as the shrieks crush your gaze. Keys glaze as clean singing enters the mix, the feeling heading into atmospheric range, vile howls landing before hitting its end point. “Buoyant Flames” is daring and tornadic, the vocals digging under fingernails, guitars racing and making blood pump. The singing coats with warmth, acoustics mix into the chaos, and a thrashy burst increases the drama. Keys drip as the howls sicken, going dreamy and rustic, settling amongst the stars. “Into Vertigo” starts with speaking swirling, then shrieks arriving with great weight, fantastical playing adding a gust of adrenaline. Sounds breeze even as fiery playing increases the heat, guitars glide, and the singing swells. The tempo surges as howls slice through bone, clean notes wash through the electricity, and everything slowly fades.

“Chimera” starts gently, the singing inviting the darkness before turning into shrieks, spacey jolts activating cells. The playing is airy and exciting, acoustics explode, and whispery words drizzle the ground, setting off to ghostly heights. “Stray Dogs” lights up with strong riffs and purposely monotone singing, progressive fires spreading as the voices warble. The pace trudges as throaty howls ignite, singing slinking in behind the carnage, giving off an essence that reminds of vintage Voivod, disappearing into noise. “Descent” permeates the senses, X.XIX wailing, “Why does this happen? What has happened to this place?” Growls retch as a vibrant pace lights up the sky, breezing into progressive waters, growing more propulsive by the second. Acoustics then lean in, washing away the dust. Closer “Lost Momentum” blasts open, growls marring, the calculated pace detaching you from reality. The playing soars and then trudges, howls scrape rust from the walls, the drums punishing your body. Sounds splatters as keys glimmer, the pressure building in your chest and brain, the final moments finally letting up and bringing rest.

“Life Promised Death” not only is a sobering statement on its own, but it thematically powers this record and makes the messages contained within even more powerful. Along the way, Farsot have grown as a unit and spread their progressive and avantgarde powers into their music that has grown in leaps and bounds. This likely is not a record you visit every day; it might be better for situational listening when your mind is aligned to our finite existence and you need a medium to get you into the proper mind frame.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://lnk.spkr.media/life-promised-death

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

Over death metal’s more than three decades of miserable existence, it’s gone through more changes and shifts than most metallic subgenres. From the early days in the gutters and swamps to the technical explosions to the progressive flex into mind-altering territories, there are so many ways to play death metal that the possibilities are limitless.

When it comes to Oregon death metal crushers Petrification, they have their boots entrenched deeply in the mud and bloodied roots of the early days. On their beastly second record “Sever Sacred Light,” the band—vocalist Jason Barnett, guitarists WarVest and David Pruitt, bassist Nukes, drummer Mario Thunder—digs deep into the most brutal and punishing territories imaginable, feeling like the proper band to pick up the war hammer Bolt Thrower left behind. On these eight tracks, you’re put to the test, squeezed for all the life you have left in you, your face bloodied from the assault. Yet, it’s a satisfying ache, one that scratches an itch you didn’t know you had until you heard this record.

“Twisted Visions of Creation” opens cold and twisted, guitars burning, Barnett’s brawny growls cracking through chest cavities, reminding a lot of Karl Willetts. The pace is punishing and constantly re-engages, dragging you face-first through the dirt. “Oneiric Obscurum” brings boiling guitars that simmer in doomy death, decimating with gigantic riffs and rumbling bass. The lower end of this track is muscular as hell, chugging and destroying, ending abruptly. “Temporal Entrapment” smashes and batters, throaty howls laying waste, the playing tearing you apart limb from limb. The pace then spatters, roaring with speed until the pace pulls back and ends in mystical fog. “Cadaverous Delirium” simmers in blood as strange speaking chills, hypnotic gasses turning into a burst of chaos. The playing crushes and batters, howls scar, and then the guitars go off the edge, the menace thickening, hammering away at prone bodies until only goo and ground flesh remain.

“Sepulchral Lesions” runs at a slower pace, but it’s no less heavy as the bruising sets in deep, doomy leads swagger, and the power is sinewy. The growls add pressure as the playing lathers in balmy madness, coming back with a final burst that’s sooty and devastating. “Seething Cosmological Dread” is ashen and jolting, blood blazing the walls, a ruthless, savage attack that goes for the throat. The guitars layer as the muscular texture thickens and rises, going for broke as the pace stampedes, ending in vicious horror. “Transmissions of the Unseen” opens with synth heat spiraling, the leads snaking and exploding, destroying everything in its wake. “Evil will prevail! It exists within!” Barnett howls as the pace pulls back and forth, the guitars smoke, and everything slithers into hell. Closer “The Hourglass Dissolves” opens with gruff howls, decimating terror, and soaring guitars that char flesh. The force is ominous, the guitars glazing and intoxicating, exploding with planetary pull, blinding and echoing, tearing off into oblivion.

“Sever Sacred Light” feels like a record that could have landed in 1994 and been right at home, yet here we are 30 years later, and it fans the flames of old-school death metal that’s come to the forefront. But this isn’t worship music; it’s a slab of the good stuff that Petrification mine and make as deadly as possible. This is massive and mangling, a death metal attack that puts meat on your bones and terror in your heart.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.svartrecords.com/en/product/petrification-sever-sacred-light/11973

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

Doom metal wasn’t really designed to be pretty. Scary, unsettling, fucking evil? Sure, all of those things apply to that subgenre that crawled from the darkness half a century ago. But it never was a style of music that was meant to be widely palpable, something that brought assholes together with cheap light beer and high fives. This is supposed to pound in your head, make you bow your head in sorrow, and worship the riff.

York, Pa., pounders Cultic have mastered the ideal of doom being both something that makes your bones shake and a form of art that doesn’t have an ounce of beauty. We’d have it no other way, and the band is back with a stellar new EP “Seducer” that feels like it is burying your head in a cavern of fuzz and power. The band—vocalist/guitarist Brian Magar, drummer Rebecca Magar, bassist Andrew Harris—released this collection last year, but Crucial Blast stepped in to give it expanded treatment with adding on the songs from the “Prowler” demo as well as some live cuts, which makes for a generously served, brutal collection. These songs combine primal doom with soundscapes from old B sci-fi and barbarian movies and mix them into a satisfying, punishing serving.

The title track is the first of two new songs, and as anyone with knowledge of the band would expect, it’s sooty and dripping with dank basement water. The synth breaks through a noxious cloud as wild howls punch, and the metallic burst smears your face with blood. The chugging bathes in reverb, lurching and smashing as cries and cackles melt your face, and then guitars let loose and increase the smoke cloud, lashing out into the cold darkness. “Seduced” revels in synth beams and a strange aura before the muddy pounding takes over, beastly howls coming at you like a runaway boulder down a hillside. A monstrous force puffs its chest, blistering hell leaves welts, and the final moments bury you in the dirt. The demo version of “Seduced” follows, and it sinks ever further into dream-inducing keys, swimming through a fantasy mist that is a precursor to the grim, beastly assault. Doomy echoes crackle in the sky, organs glaze, and Magar’s wild howl of, “You are seduced!” jams a hammer into your chest. The expanded release also includes “Cruel Orders” and “Prowler” from the 2017 “Prowler” demo, which is nice to have tacked onto this, important building blocks that led to “High Command” and “Of Fire and Sorcery.” Then live cuts of “The Conqueror” and “Seducer” give you a raw, punishing sample of what this battalion is like in the flesh, where you’re sure to walk away bruised and deafened.

“Seducer” is both a fitting introduction for newcomers to Cultic’s magic and a meaty tide-over release for their upcoming third full-length album. This band is a crushing unit, but it’s also different than a lot of other modern doom machines in that they’re hypnotic and nearly suffocating in the best possible way. This is as mighty an EP as you’re going to find anywhere and a promise that the future is barbaric and physically unforgiving.   

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

To buy the album, go here: https://crucialblastshop.net/album.php?ID=10046

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

It’s strange to look at the sky at night and realize the stars you’re seeing emitted that light eons ago. There are worlds we’ll never see, never hope to visit, and what is illuminating the overnight hours might not even be there any longer. The universe is so vast, that who knows what lurks beyond, in the reaches no human ever could hope to traverse?

Swiss cosmic black metal trio Darkspace also cannot physically go to these places, though the music they’ve made over a quarter century of existence might make you think otherwise. They’ve been silent for the past decade, taking universal sojourns in their heads, and now they’ve returned with their fifth full-length record “Darkspace – II.” At 47:12, it’s their shortest album by far and the first that’s comprised of just a single track. The band—guitarist/vocalist Wroth (also of Paysage d’Hiver), guitarist/vocalist Yhs, bassist/vocalist Zhaaral—creates a dreamscape of an adventure, a track that settles into your brain and makes you able to envision these mysterious pockets, chilling your mind and body.

“Dark -2.-2” starts like a strange transmission reaching out from well beyond our galaxy, a woman’s voice warbling, something that snakes through the entire 47-minute song. Pressure builds as the voice continues to worm into your brain, drudging through a hypnotic sheen as the drum programming belts, gushing energy, the beams frying. A synth cloud surrounds as the growls curdle, the atmospheric trauma settling in, zapping and cooling, sometimes pulling way back, entering a dreamlike vortex. Growls retch as the spaciness grows sooty, the keys washing down like a great wave, the playing chugging and trudging as the alien strength builds. The keys get murky just as things grow more dramatic and regal, soaring past worlds, lathering with power, driving with more force into the distance, swarming with majesty that sounds like it’s about to break. The mesmerizing powers cascade, beats circulate, and the faceless voice returns, disappearing into the ice.

Darkspace inhabit a universe all their own, and “Darkspace – II” continues their mission into the coldest, most isolated stretches of the great beyond to witness an existence we can’t even imagine. As a several-movement singular piece, the band is demanding your attention, and they’re likely to get it with their all-immersive approach to cosmic black metal. The decade-long wait was more than worth it, and this album is further proof that this three-headed beast is operating on a level no mere mortal can realize.

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://shopusa.season-of-mist.com/band/darkspace

Or here: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/darkspace-dark-space-ii

For more on the label, go here: https://www.season-of-mist.com/

We write about tons of bands every year, and the amount of them that we deem as having promise is too numerous to count. That also makes it sound like the band or artist isn’t doing great work yet, which isn’t necessarily the case. It just means there is something there that could push the band into rarified territory if they keep adding to their foundation and find a formula that truly puts them over the top.

Black metal force Hulder is one of those, a project helmed by its namesake and creator that has been on the cusp of true greatness. That level has arrived with the band’s second full-length “Verses in Oath,” an album that captures the spirits of the style’s formative years three decades ago but that burns and bleeds right now, culling current influences and the power of nature into the project as well. This 10-track, 40-minute opus is a fantastical wonder, fully alive in black metal glory and adding more frigid symphonic elements to the music that give the album an extra level of enchantment. Hulder handles vocals, guitars and synth, and her voice goes deeper here, giving a bloodier, raw feel to her expression. She’s joined by bassist Necreon and drummer CK on a record that pays off that promise we knew she had inside of her and now has fully realized on this amazing collection.

“An Elegy” opens with birds cawing and winds whipping, an intro track that pushes into “Boughs Ablaze” where we get an instant taste of the ferocity of this storm. The riffs are glorious, and Hulder’s vocals register the aforementioned deeper growl. Keys chill bones as acoustics blend into the mix, the fire slowly coming to a close. “Hearken the End” brings a mystical sheen, icy playing, and singing that freezes your flesh. Growls then smother as the playing goes dramatic, a symphonic blaze picking up energy, bringing back memories of the early 1990s. The playing then pulverizes, destroying with fiery chaos, blending into the deep night. The title track attacks with vengeance, the drumming plasters, and the vicious tempo shakes your guts violently. Then wintry hell suddenly takes over, bringing scraping howls, frosty synth, and chaotic swirls, the blistering drumming leaving behind rubble. “Lamentation” is a brief instrumental with warped, operatic singing, static spitting, and ghostly wonders chilling your bones.

“An Offering” also is an instrumental track, complete with funereal orchestration, solemn singing, and a thickening sorrow, blending into “Cast Into the Well of Remembrance” a melodic force that attacks with a bloodlust. Growls scorch as the black metal power lurks, pulling back and forth with violence, the ground quaking dangerously. Acoustics sweep in and offer relief, and a wondrous front dashes into oblivion. “Vessel of Suffering” is thunderous from the start with vicious growls pounding and drawing blood, keys glistening, and a cavernous display making you feel like you’re trapped in the heart of a mountain. Mystical fires burn as the playing rampages anew, the growls gut, and the final moments drive the last nails. “Enchanted Steel” brings molten riffs and a blast furnace of intensity, the synth enrapturing and ushering you into the murk. The keys storm as infectious playing chars, drums stomp, and a frigid jolt leaves everything dead in its tracks. Closer “Veil of Penitence” is glorious from the start, the guitars blinding with force, trudging through tornadic weather fronts. Growls engorge as the brutality batters without mercy, crushing and pressing, ending with an iron fist to the chest.

Hulder as a band is growing in leaps and bounds, and “Verses in Oath” is a record that remembers grim and frostbitten are terms that meant something because they were turned into memes. This is a wintry beast raging toward you, a record that is steeped in black metal tradition but also forges a blazing path toward the future. This is a coming-out celebration of a record, a portrait of a band that held and showed incredible power and promise and have put it all together seamlessly on their amazing second record.

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

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

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

We don’t get to live here on Earth for a terribly long time. We’re mere blips to history, and even the most accomplished and well known among us one day will fall victim to the passing of eons. Therefore, holding onto poisonous relationships or traits or behaviors is an utter waste of time, and in order cut ties and to improve ourselves, we must rely on what we know, where we are now, and where we want to go in the future.

Chelsea Wolfe musically is a constantly evolving force who goes into each album with a different sonic idea and philosophical approach, which makes each new release something more exciting than just hearing new music. Her seventh record “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” is another bold reinvention, one that was formed on the basis of her present self reaching out to her past version and what she envisions for future in order to grow, change, and attain guidance. Musically, this is an ambitious, experimentally leaning record, but one that doesn’t betray her core and likely will hit hard with long-time listeners. I am one of those, and this album took me a few trips in order to absorb and align with what she does here, though every listen was an enthralling one. Wolfe again worked with multi-instrumentalist Ben Chisholm, drummer Jess Gowrie, and guitarist Bryan Tulao on these songs that find her warping, shredding, and reassembling these creations into new beasts that breathe fresh air, circulate hotter blood.

“Whispers in the Echo Chamber” begins with a squall and then agitated beats, Wolfe’s singing quivering, sounds enveloping. Guitars rupture as the chorus sweeps, Wolfe calling, “Undone, cut the cords, cut ties to yours,” as the scalding playing sweeps away. “House of Self-Undoing” is propulsive and punchy, the drums spattering, the synth playing games with your mind. The singing is muscular at times, breezy at others, the synth blares as the chugging playing chews at muscle, finally subsiding in the night. “Everything Turns Blue” is moody as beats reverberate, sounds mar, and you feel trapped in a strange dream. “To smoke, to dance, to fly, to breathe into the night,” Wolfe sings over the chorus, smeary and dreary melodies making your vision blurry, everything dissolving into a sound bath that makes you light headed. “Tunnel Lights” arrives with electro pulses and echoes, the singing glazing and entering into a fog, spirited into cloudy keyboards. It feels like deep nighttime has you in its clutches, moving even deeper into darkness as slumber calls you away. “The Liminal” brings gentle beats and Wolfe calling, “A voice to sing this aloud, let go of limits and doubt what, did you say all you wanted to say? Did you do all you wanted to do?” There are hushed moments but also some of Wolfe’s more direct singing as the playing haunts and swells, and finally the ambiance stokes fires as Wolfe finishes with, “I’m in your dreams, I’m in your song, now everybody sings along.”

“Eyes Like Nightshade” opens as beats trigger, sounds clash, and your mind feels like it’s being wiped. Blips laser as Wolfe’s singing crawls into your imagination, disrupting brain waves, making you reconsider your emotions. “Salt” mesmerizes with hypnotic singing, moody darkness spreading, the drums echoing and ricocheting off walls. “Salt, salt in our tears, salt, salt in our memories fall like ribbons of time,” Wolfe sings over the chorus, lapping like chilled waves, making your muscles quiver as the playing blends into time. “Unseen World” opens with drums pulsing and synth drizzling, a rush of sound acting like a sweeping wind that ripples your body. The atmosphere swells and becomes a major factor, the playing buzzes and creeps under your flesh, jolting and sizzling away. “Place in the Sun” dawns with fuzzy keys and solemn singing, Wolfe calling, “Safe with the one not so toilsome to love, I am safe in this body, safe in this heart.” The playing coats the mind, and Wolfe goes for a higher register in spots, dark energy spits, and then we’re hurtling through the cosmos, ending in heavy emotion. Closer “Dusk” is noise marred as the singing numbs, and the sounds take your imagination hostage. “Angels, vampires, one breathes life unto the other, branded, baptized by your love and by your hunger,” Wolfe calls, the gothic tones lathering in shadow. The guitars blaze, an element used judiciously throughout the record which makes them more impactful here, sounds zap, and everything is raptured in mystery.

Every time Wolfe releases new music, you practically need to get to know her all over again because she rarely ever does similar things more than once. “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” is another reinvention, this time in a phase that finds Wolfe presenting her magic in a dream-inducing, time-warping gasp, slicing and reattaching moving limbs into different forms that work as new beasts. This is a record that takes a few trips to fully digest, and even at that point, you still uncover things you didn’t the previous trips as this music keeps giving one precious gem after another.

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

For more on the label, go here: https://i.chelseawolfe.com/SROTSROTS

To buy the album, go here: https://www.lomavistarecordings.com/