Humanity is at a pretty low level, at least in my lifetime, and there are myriad problems plaguing us right now that should be laid right at our collective feet. The planet is in trauma, authoritarianism is on the rise, and social media has become a pox on humanity instead of an incredible tool for advancement. We are not great stewards.

Death metal superpower Grand Cadaver are paying close attention to this and giving their fiery reaction on their new EP “The Rot Beneath.” Chaos, death, destruction, and injustice are flooding the planet, and as time goes on, political leaders are doing their worst to try to seize power and never relinquish it. The band—vocalist Mikael Stanne, guitarists Stefan Lagergren and Alex Stjernfeldt, bassist Christian Jansson, drummer Daniel Liljekvist—contains members of heavyweights such as Dark Tranquillity, the Halo Effect, and Katatonia (well, a former member), and though they have an EP and two full-lengths on their resume, this is their most intense, agitated release so far, and the lyrical content surely puts the extra bits of venom into the mix.

“Blood-Red Banner” starts fairly viciously, a fury builds through mangling howls and wrenching playing, keeping their level of vitriol noticeably higher than they achieve with their other bands (which is not a slight, by the way). Guitars spiral as the pace slows, bass chugs through smoke, and everything comes to a sooty end. The title track is the highlight, guitars charging up, the vocals ripping at flesh, punishment wrapping around a massive, melodic chorus. “What are we if not the cause of the problem?” Stanne wails righteously, seeing the decay in our ways of life, melody piling up as he laments, “We’ve got to fight ourselves.” “Endless Dead” is fuzzy and frenzied, a raucous, yet simple chorus landing blows, the power leaving blisters. Stanne’s howls get throatier as the playing turns molten, the rhythm section guts, and the final blazes burn off. Closer “Darkened Apathy” is shadowy at first and then speeds up, flattening as guitars spill over, the emotion getting to a boiling point. “We’re a perfect storm of moral decay,” Stanne blasts as guitars sting, screams smother, and the devastation turns to numbing waves.

Grand Cadaver aim right at the heart of the problems on “The Rot Beneath,” a quick, deadly EP that makes a sobering realization that humankind is the source of our problems, and an internal battle might be the only thing that saves us. The frustration and disillusion bleed through perfectly on these songs, and it hopefully can act as a wake-up call for some before it’s too late. That’s not likely to happen, but you can’t say that Grand Cadaver didn’t warn us in the most forceful manner possible. 

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

To buy the album, go here: https://grandcadaver.bandcamp.com/album/the-rot-beneath

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

There’s a strange phenomenon in parts of our society that eschews taking care of one’s mental health and talking to an expert who can help with healing. There are people living with trauma and other mental wounds that make everyday life difficult or downright torturous to endure. The struggle can be crippling.

“Hollow Fangs,” the first full-length release from black metal force Oskoreien in nine years, is a very personal one steeped in survival in the wake of trauma and the moves one must make in order to take better control. Long a project helmed by Jay Valena (vocals, guitars, drum programming, bass, synthesizer), this five-track, nearly 40-minute opus instantly captures you in its fiery, immersive spirit, a record that addresses serious depths of human darkness but also tries to find a light at the end of the tunnel that can come from observing and understanding the pain. On this record, Valena is joined by guitarist Rashid Nadjib (formerly of Wovoka) and bassist Matthew Durkee to round out a record that should feel like a storming experience for any listener but especially for those also dealing with trauma and its monstrous aftermath. 

“Prismatic Reason” gushes open, melody grasping you in its claws, raw growls leaving you scuffed and bleeding. “The grand and the mundane, the sacred, the profane delusions, emphatic confusions prismatic,” Valena howls as vicious guitars lather, and some pretty great riffs activate your bloodstream. Things turn vibrant and adventurous, the leads soar, and everything comes to a jarring end. “Bernalillo Sunrise” ramps up and ravages from the start, raspy wails leaving welts, the pace splattering as the beast storms. The pressure pulls back a bit as more atmospherics gush, and gazey fusion turns into a drubbing pace that leaves you breathless. “Psychotischism” starts warmly before churning, the howls scarring as drums crash and the tempo growing more convulsive. Growls dig deeper, even hissing at points, as Valena wails, “Heartless invective can’t you hear yourself? Or is the chaos of your cognition too great a burden to bear?” The playing growls as delirious guitars melt, the haze making the air thicker.

“Fragments” has guitars scuffling and tingling, washing over as bones are mashed by the force, mesmerizing floods of sounds soothing your psyche. Just then, the guitars get more active, the smothering growing to an alarming peak, Valena howling, “Harboring the knowledge deep within your psyche of the hollow fucking void at the center of your soul,” which is as troubling a statement as any. Clouds then roll in and block out the light, feedback torching prone nerve endings. Closer “To Kiss the Viper’s Fang” speeds into sight, destroying as guitars snake and toy, rupturing with an emotional flood. “Behold: betrayal, mockery, succubus, treachery. Beware: deception, cowardice, desolation, vampirism, desolation, misery,” Valena warns, staticy melody working into dusty corners, the energy then bursting back to life. Guitars ignite and melt rock, leads swim through silver waters, guts are spilled, and cataclysmic emotion leaves a pile of smoldering ash.

Being put to the test physically and mentally never is a pleasurable challenge, and coming out the other side stronger and more able to cope isn’t a guarantee. Oskoreien capture that and its myriad trials and tribulations volcanically and humanly on “Hollow Fangs,” a record that has huge impact even if you don’t indulge in the messages contained within. For those who can relate to this path, it’s acknowledgment, catharsis, and iron sharpening iron in a record not bound to lose its grip on your any time soon.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://oskoreien.bandcamp.com/album/hollow-fangs

Things are so bleak and seemingly hopeless that you kind of have to laugh at it sometimes. What a shit pile. What goddamn parasites we have as our leaders. What a sickening society those bottom feeders have developed. If you can’t make a joke about it or be morbidly sarcastic, then it’s just horrors through and through. That can’t be good for you.

Irish death metal power Malthusian stared into the same dark abyss as we have, and they’ve used that disgust to conjure “The Summoning Bell,” a goddamn great record in a time of endless tumult. Draped over this record is death metal that feels warped and stretched into psychosis, and while the content here is pitch black, there also is dark humor wrapped into this, something you might miss if you don’t have the words. The band—guitarist/vocalist MB, guitarist TMK, bassist FB, drummer JK—builds on their already molten foundation they set on their 2018 debut “Across Deaths” and ensures that everything they create is encased in concrete and is ready to handle any oncoming attack.

“Isolation” is an instrumental opener awash in eeriness and strange auras, giving off a bit of a fantasy feel, but in an apocalyptic sense. Then we’re toward “Red, Waiting” that delivers instant fury, beastly playing driving your face into the earth, growls corroding alongside gutting power. Guitars stir as the pits of lava bubble, crumbling as roars send punches under your ribs, doomy fires spreading. The last moments are torn apart, folding on each other before disappearing into the earth. “Between Dens and Ruins” unloads, guitars storming as the roars mash, a relentless attack laying waste to your body and mind. Vile howls tear into sanity as the universe feels like it’s being torn apart, everything zapping into endlessness. The title track pours more doom thunder, the growls aching as the density multiplies, soot building up in your lungs. The leads destroy as hellish pressure causes dizzying conditions, monstrous howls buckle your knees, and a spiraling fury ends in a pool of horrors.

“The Onset of the Death of Man” is a quick instrumental, a chance to regain your footing as guitars trace in the dark, and the fog builds to troubling levels. “Eroded Into Superstition” attacks right away, the growls smothering, clubbing with viciousness and guitars that lather before going mystical. The pace reignites as the growls strangle, wild yells fold into psychosis, and the finish swallows you into hell. “Amongst the Swarms of Vermin” is a mammoth at 15:31, and it’s dark, trudging, and heated coming out of the gates, thrashing as guitars choke, and the shrieks rain fire. Meaty chaos arrives as guitars jar and melt, the pace then grinding a little slower but just as oppressively. Growls corrode as the guitars continue to fray, bruising as the tempo feels a little off kilter, increasing your body temperature. Guitars dart as growls mangle and choke, delivering a final gasp of infernal chaos that blackens eyes. Closer “In Chaos, Exult” is a strange one, a mostly instrumental piece (you can hear detached cries in the mix) that forms like an alien being, surrounding your mind with blackness. The back end feels like a fever dream, disturbing visions clouding your mind, keys layering and making your comfort levels plummet, slowly melting into time.

Malthusian’s death metal feels like it takes over every cell in your body, weighing down on you, making breathing a chore. “The Summoning Bell” is quite the force to behold as it’s a record that pours generous amounts of darkness and embodies the harshest elements of death metal when inspired by ashes. This is as heavy as it comes, and if you let it consume you fully, it’ll take forever to dig yourself out of your own grave.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.relapse.com/pages/malthusian-the-summoning-bell

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

Couple of weekends ago, I was having a beer that wasn’t quite doing it for me. My fridge isn’t normally decked out with beers as I only chill a few each weekend  because portion size even counts when you’re drinking. So, I went back to see if I had anything else cold, and all I had was an 8-ounce Belgian. Fuck, if it wasn’t exactly right.

Same could be said for Crypt Sermon’s new EP “Saturnian Appendices,” a four-track affair that still clocks in at nearly a half hour. The band—vocalist Brooks Wilson, guitarists Steve Jansson and Frank Chin, bassist/backing vocalist Matthew Knox, synth player Tanner Anderson, drummer Enrique Sagarnaga—had some material left over from the sessions that produced their excellent third album “The Stygian Rose,” and that is presented here as three new songs and a very intriguing cover of a black metal classic. Anyone subscriber to the Decibel flexi series has heard two of these cuts already, and for everyone else, this is fresh new material that hits just right. The serving size doesn’t matter; the quality does.

“Only Ash and Dust” fittingly has a fantasy vibe, the track trickling in before bursting in full. The playing is driving and dark, the chorus soars, guitars charge up as the pace blisters, “oh-oh” calls power, and a galvanizing spirit brings everything to a raucous end. “A Fool to Believe” is powerful, classic-style riffs taking off, the playing chugging and bruising bones. Guitars burn as the pace fires up harder, the chorus making blood jet through veins, Wilson’s tortured wails taking you down as he calls, “We’re here alone.” “Lachrymose” has keys dripping and the riffs blazing, gothy moments bubbling to the surface on the chorus, and even some deeper singing reaching into the guts. The tempo storms as soloing cuts laser-like into metal, and as Wilson howls, “There’s no tomorrow, so I spit on hallowed ground,” you can feel the energy and power in your bones. We end with a very different take on the Mayhem classic “De Mysteriis Doom Sathanas,” one that takes the drama into a slower, more shadowy realm. Wilson’s bellows work into the cracks, the playing sometimes feels liturgical, pacing the ritual, and the performance both pays homage to the creators and ends with something more sinister.

Even an appetizer from Crypt Sermon is worth stopping what you’re doing and indulging in full, as “Saturnian Appendices” fully delivers. While it may be a stop gap between records, the material here thrives and continues to add to the band’s legend, feeling fuller than many other full-lengths from other artists. This is a strong display that is well worth your time, even if it doesn’t demand as much of it as usual.

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

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

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

Metal and heavy music have enough bands that stick to their formulas and never stray too far from what helped make them. There’s a lot of sense in that as it can help build an audience that always comes back for more. But the ones that challenge all of that and constantly shred expectations are a little more interesting.

Canadian trio Völur have been making long-form doom dressed in violin and many other different sounds for more than a decade now, and their latest creation “Breathless Spirit” teams them with producer and sound designer CARES (James Beardmore) on another sweeping drama. On this record, Völur—Laura C. Bates (violin, electric violin, viola, cymbals, vocals), Lucas Gadke (electric bass, double bass, harmonium, keyboards, tanbur, clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals), Justin Ruppel (drums, percussion)—inform their folk-dusted doom with an Icelandic tale from the 13^th century called The Saga of Grettir the Strong about an outlaw hunted to the edges of the world. Over six tracks (some versions have eight), the band spills into inspiration culled over the centuries and turned into a metallic adventure that keeps taking twists and turns.

“Hearth” opens with string aching and rain following, the playing breezing as it feels moody and gentle. Cymbals crash as the playing swells, static builds tension, and things finally subside in the same precipitation. “Windbourne Sorcery I” feels folkish, its Persian and Kurdish elements coming to the front, a dusty path beaten as wordless chants permeate. Electric violin activates as deep Western vibes arrive, even if not intended, and wild wails break the peace, stirring and squeezing into “Windbourne Sorcery II.” There, the violin carves as softer singing chills flesh, working into echoes and calm as woodwinds bask in the sun before things are electrified again. Strings mourn as shrieks gnaw, the playing spiraling and paying off the anguish. The title track blurs as growls sink in their teeth, bruising with doomy playing, the chaos forming a mound of ash. The playing suddenly feels drawn into a cyclone, the playing mauling anew, jazzy keys making nerve endings activate. Gadke’s deep singing bellows before he’s joined by Bates, and they take the reins for the next stretch before the tension breaks, the violin scars minds, and everything blends into the horizon.

“On Drangey” rings out, calming strings putting your mind at ease, a mesmerizing atmosphere multiplying and making it feel like you’re in a dream state. The haze thickens as sounds quiver, melting into a fantasy land. “Death in Solitude” feels frigid, cold wind whipping, things taking a doomy turn into blackness. Growls hulk as a castle vibe is achieved, the melodies feeling sinister and trancey, and then the heat becomes a bigger factor. Howls menace as a death-like push gets harrowing and dramatic, chorals feeling angelic before the final combustion. Some versions have two bonus tracks, the first of which is “Glamr” that whirs and sparks hypnosis, haunting speaking intoxicating, distorted playing pulling at your mind. The mauling fury surfaces and spews like lava through cracks, smearing and eventually dissipating. “Flutterby Numbers” has the violin tracing memories, a classical feel permeating as if it was three centuries ago, the pressure mounting and eventually settling, slipping into mystery.

Völur’s creativity remains astonishing as they pull elements from throughout the ages from all parts of the world and melt that into their dramatic doom cauldron. “Breathless Spirit” is another interesting turn in another direction, a record that fills your imagination with possibilities and new colors you perhaps didn’t expect to encounter. Each Völur release is an adventure and cannot be properly anticipated sonically, which makes each time they return another unpredictable sonic gift.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://blackthroneproductions.com/en-us/products/volur-cares-diehard-edition-bundle

For more on the label, go here: https://blackthroneproductions.com/en-us

Any time you can put on a death metal record and instantly think it’s a declaration of war, that’s an experience you don’t forget. The power coming at you with a ferocity that explodes from deep in the guts can make your blood boil and motivate you want to pick up arms yourself to fight the good fight.

Canadian death metal horde Hedonist land in death metal’s pantheon with “Scapulimancy,” their flesh-pounding first record that could have slid into place in the early 1990s and been right at home. This record is a destroyer, 10 tracks of raw, feral death metal that can stare down any force in its path and never blink. The band—vocalist/bassist AJ, guitarists JP and AA, drummer CB—wastes no time unleashing hell and pouring it in generous amounts as they scorch flesh and dump napalm in alarming portions. The album is punishing from the start, but subsequent visits unlock even more torment and animalistic fire, making this incredibly sticky as well. 

“Execution Wheel” absolutely obliterates the senses when it dawns, AJ’s howls strangling with a killer’s might, an element that is one of the band’s most arresting. Death ravages as the guitars spill into beastly tones, and everything barrels forward the reckless abandon. “Heresy” is blinding, growls decimating, sounding nearly inhuman, the guitars standing up as a battering force with no mercy. The leads explode as the pace chugs, a hypnotic gaze conjures might, and everything burns into a cloud of dust. “Barbarian” is sickening and ferocious, trudging over bone and blood, growls sinking teeth deep into veins. The leads boil over as melody makes the path more hypnotic, the final moments breathing fire. “Abominated Void” is doomy as hell, the growls frying in the sun, the gutting power rising to the surface and blackening eyes. Guitars hang as the heat spreads, the bass chugs with deadly force, and everything bleeds away. “Parasitic Realm” starts with trickier guitars that mesmerize before the earth is scorched, deadly growls grasping throats. There’s a total Bolt Thrower worship spot that absolutely destroys, and that pushes into explosive and gutting tension that cuts open bellies.

The title track has riffs that spiral, a melodic haze that tricks the senses, and sooty growls that feel delivered from the gut. The playing tears open as the growls choke, the guitars sprawl and smother, and the final moments create utter decimation. “Engines of War” unloads guitars burning, growls slithering, and primitive pounding caving in rib cages. The playing jars loose as melodies wash over, snaking through and injecting venom before fading to dark. “Cremator” spews chugging bass and a thrashy attack that sends dust flying. The growls maim, the leads navigate through the chaos, and the end gurgles and spits out poison. “Profanation” is fast and ugly from the start, throaty howls totally commanding, infernal fury making the temperature rise dangerously. The pace blisters and tortures, taking on a bit of a D-beat feel before finally choking you out. Closer “Hidden Corpse” is mashing, aggravating flames and delivering abject heaviness. The pace is vicious as hell, riffs immersing themselves into liquified steel and coming out a new machine, shrieks stabbing, and the end sinking into molten pools.

Hedonist’s brand of classic death metal is violent for sure, always challenging, twisting into a chasm that should make your brain and body ache afterward. “Scapulimancy” is a raucous, ravaging debut record that you might find yourself indulging in over and over again as I did. This might take a few visits to really sink in, but when it does, it’s fucking over for you, and Hedonist will be your new master.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://southernlord.com/store/hedonist-scapulimancy-pre-order/

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