10. THOU, “Umbilical” (Sacred Bones): Being a human itself is a daily gamble, a push and pull of influences and decisions that make up just about every second between waking and sleeping. We’re constantly fighting against the power structure. Long-running doom brawlers Thou know this very well, as they are a band that never has participated in digestible art, mainstream opinion, or compromising visions. On their thunderous sixth (and that number is arguable) primary release “Umbilical,” the band unleashes all of their vitriol, their passion, and their fire and plasters that all over 10 tracks and 49 minutes of unforgiving power.
“Narcissist’s Prayer” charges up from the start, Bryan Funck’s acidic howls barreling toward you, grimy heaviness increasing the pressure. The guitars jolt as sludgy power flattens, the ground quaking as the band doubles back and buries you in smoke. “Emotional Terrorist” is thick and heavy, the vocals smearing as a bruising chorus jars your face and jaw. The playing slowly batters as the menace increases, wrenching as the playing punishes slowly, burning off. “I Feel Nothing When You Cry” has a ripping pace, something energetic and colorful, a heavy brawler but something a little different. “The Promise” bathes in feedback, and then a weirdly melodic attack takes place, Funck’s shrieks feeling catchier even as your muscles are bent in unnatural ways. “Siege Perilous” writhes in place, noise buckling, guitars coating with muscular grit. The playing lumbers as the riffs snarl, bringing menace and mud, the howls lacerating limbs as the track rounds into sinewy hell, corroding into a disfigured beast. (May 31)
For more on the band, go here: https://www.instagram.com/thou_band/
To buy the album, go here: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/frontpage/products/sbr342-thou-umbilical
For more on the label, go here: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/
9. VEMOD, “The Deepening” (Prophecy Productions): “The Deepening,” the first new record from Vemod in more than a decade, is one of those creations that makes one who is a half century into life feel thankful for the continual pursuit of new music. Every subsequent visit has only amplified that feeling. Black metal remains a base, but they go in such thought-provoking, stimulating new areas and enrich what already was a very robust recipe, into a touchstone album. Every moment is captivating and immersive, and I can tell this is music that will stick with me deep into the year and beyond.
“Mot oss, en ild” opens gently, as if ensconced in a fog, the moodiness building and trickling into “Der guder dør” that is dramatic and clashing as it greets you. Howls creep in as the playing grows more adventurous, melodies swelling and warming your bones, the atmosphere suddenly wrenching. “True North Beckons” stirs and quakes, the growls overwhelming, melodies glowing and then gushing. The howls penetrate as warm guitars glimmer, eventually mashing and causing bruising, the leads simmering and pulling into dusk. The closing title track is the longest piece at 16:14, and it’s a wonderful use of time, surging with clean singing that turns into acidic growls, spacious textures transforming into gnarly speed. The vocals grow harsh and foreboding, creaking with moodiness, gushing with dark energy, crushing with spacey atmosphere. For those also immersed in transformation and growth, this is a record that can live alongside you on that journey, injecting your spirit with much-needed inspiration. (Jan. 19)
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/vemodmusic
To buy the album, go here: http://lnk.spkr.media/deepening
For more on the label, go here: https://en.prophecy.de/
8. KRALLICE, “Inorganic Rites” (self-released): Getting a new Krallice record during a given calendar year no longer is a surprise. And that’s a good thing because this prolific band never seems to run out of creative energy or ideas. “Inorganic Rites” dropped over the summer with no prior warning, and it turned out to be one of their more memorable records out of their last handful, all of which were stunning. This carries over a lot of the space synth we got on “Porous Resonance Abyss” and pushed that to its limits, making this record jar your cosmic nerves to the limit.
Opener “Parataxis” spends the bulk of its lengthy run time building an atmosphere, once that boils in the primordial ooze of black metal it keeps exploring every fold of the universe. It can take you apart if you allow it. “Flatlines Encircled Residue” basks in the alien environment from which it spawned, basking in keys and jolting chaos that erupts and joins hands with black metal gnosis; “Here Forever” is a science experiment gone awry, the compounds blasting and smashing boundaries, the possibilities of heaviness showing you realms you never expected to see; “Universe Ancestral Talisman” is a buzz of science lab keys and smoke that eventually meet volcanic residue; and “Fatestorm Sanctuary” folds your mind, keys layering, the storm eventually landing as experimental hazes gather, your existence hovers, and the unimaginable becomes tangible, the science fiction urges turning into your new reality. (July 5)
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/krallice
To buy the album, go here: https://krallice.bandcamp.com/album/inorganic-rites
7. OPETH, “The Last Will and Testament” (Reigning Phoenix Music): “The Last Will and Testament” is the 14th record from legendary Swedish progressive death metal warriors Opeth, and this is a concept piece based in post-World War I where a family learns the hidden truths of its freshly deceased patriarch. Yes, let’s get the obvious out of the way: Mikael Åkerfeldt is growling again after having spent the past four releases singing purely in his honey-rich clean voice. But growls do not make a record. The music has to be there too, and there’s a ferocity and mystery back that the band uses to plaster their sound with electricity.
“§1” opens with footsteps across as room, the opening riff tangling and looping, Åkerfeldt’s clean singing morphing into death roar. “Alas, my time is at an end, I have wallowed in self-pity, and I confess to you as part of my final plight,” Åkerfeldt roars, moving into a weaving, warped section of smeared synths, haunting singing rousing apparition, children chattering as oblivion calls. “§2” enters in funereal keys, the growls battering with the call of, “A dreadful daughter of wretched martyr, sick to marrow and to bone,” some clues slipping out. “§4” has the bass slinking low, growls bursting through the crust, light and dark entangling. The track gets chambery and elegant, the legendary Ian Anderson’s flute piping, the guitars then exploding with lava. “§7” begins with guitars cutting, organs spilling, Anderson reading the matriarch’s will, growls crunching and wrenching as keys flood in a tornado of grays. The heartbreaking closer “A Story Never Told” blows the entire storyline and record into oblivion. (Nov. 22)
For more on the band, go here: https://www.opeth.com/
To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://shopus.reigningphoenixmusic.com/
Or here: https://atomicfirerecords.omerch.com/
Or here (Europe): https://shopeu.reigningphoenixmusic.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://reigningphoenixmusic.com/
6. CRYPT SERMON, “The Stygian Rose” (Dark Descent): “The Stygian Rose,” the third record by Philly-based epic doom creators Crypt Sermon, is one of those that felt destined to sit above most, a collection that has a comet-into-earth impact on first listen. It just ripples even harder each subsequent visit, and if you’re like me, there will be many of those. Here, the band creates a story about an unnamed character inspired by Paschal Beverly Randolf, an American spiritualist and sex magician whose views on gender identity were well before his time. Here, the character longs to find his possibly dead/definitely lost female equal, who is believed to be waiting for him beyond in the hollow.
“Glimmers in the Underworld” emerges from beyond, tearing open with sprawling doom and Brooks Wilson’s dramatic singing at an apex, calling, “I’ll die with my eyes open just to get a good look at hell.” “Down in the Hollow” is misty as it charges up, Wilson’s singing feeling both muscular and scathing, dark and ominous melodies working up your spine. The playing charges up as the fluid assault pulls you under, Wilson lashing, “They know my name, she knows my name,” as chugging punches leave deep wounds. “Scrying Orb” is a standout track, much like “Christ Is Dead” from “The Ruins of Fading Light” or “Heavy Riders” from “Out of the Garden,” that one track that stands out above the rest and makes a case for one of the modern era’s best metal songs. The 11:10-long closing title track opens with piano dripping, the cosmos opening its jaws, dark guitars mixing with keys that leave an ominous glaze. “The black bloom will be restored,” Wilson insists, the guitars picking up and jarring anew, the melodies mixing with eerie fogginess. `(June 14)
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/CryptSermon
To buy the album, go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/
For more on the label, go here: https://www.facebook.com/DarkDescentRecords/
Meat Mead Metal 