Hearing something different or uncommon in an art form you’ve digested for decades can feel all kinds of different ways, good, bad, or indifferent. It’s the best when it hits something strange inside of you that reacts favorably, even if it leaves you disoriented for a listen. Or two. But you keep going back, and eventually it sticks.

Finnish duo Death Obvious attack with a dense, dizzying, reality-altering power on their self-titled debut record, and it’s from the beginning that the band—vocalist Lea Lavey, multi-instrumentalist Sima Sioux—approaches heaviness in a threatening, beastly way. The eight tracks on this album smother and tease, spill you into a weird dream world that contains an aura from which you struggle to wake. Yet, you’re drawn right into its center point nonetheless. There are doses of death metal and doom, and it’s blended into a miasmal, blunt assault that, while uncomfortable, also drags you to its heart. 

“Mercury Off Axis” is scarred by noise before formless chaos unloads, feeling like your brain is taking on interference. Howls stretch as the smoke rises, the guitars scuff, and sounds pierce. The vocals continue to slice as howls warp, and a drubbing, bizarre aura suffocates. “Santuario” trudges and takes dramatic swipes, howls gurgle in a corner, and the power combusts, stirring out of control. Strings tease as beastly mangling squeezes throats, guitars swelter, and the finish disorients. “The Great Gate Theory” floats overheard before guitars chug, drums sprawl, and some gnarly riffs add mud to the equation. Deranged howls chew nerve endings as the playing openly sprawls, hulking amid tortured cries, eerie strangeness, and an icy conclusion. “Total Heavenly Desolation” quivers before digging in, buried howls coating your psyche with ash, the playing bubbling to the surface out of a pit of blackness. Melting keys drip through time as guitars warp, and a gothy, wrecking push cripples your balance.

“The Third Eye Burning” pummels, blasting through walls, howls echoing through a mangling reality. Sounds swirl and hover as the vocals dislodge any sense of relief, the wails and moans sounding tortured, mucky, gurgling sounds robbing you of air. “Suffer the Spectacle” has numbing guitars and a sudden burst, growls choking on bile, every element marring as the guitars suddenly make extremities tingle. Horrifying wails disrupt sanity as things turn humid and then frigid, stirring up chaotic pressure that whips into a frenzy. “As Absence Expands Over Everything” has guitars opening their veins, keys turning, the vocals burning as melodies rain diamonds. The menace expands and blackens, spellbinding playing makes the room spin, and a chill overfalls everything, fading into strange echo. Closer “Catechismus for the Plagued” runs 8:30, and it stirs and blazes, howls stabbing with urgency, the playing strangling before coming to a halt. Guitars and keys seap out of that, the melodies coating windows with condensation, acidic screams eating into muscle. Noise ripples jar the earth, the drama increases and spins dangerously, and the final nail pounds into compromised flesh.

Death Obvious do nothing, um, obvious on their debut album, and by that I mean they take metallic sounds and do nothing at all that you might expect. This Finnish duo has found an undiscovered portal into the bizarre, and while you might recognize the elements at play here, you will not know the form they’re in on these songs. That’s for the best as something this unpredictable falling so late in the year is a gem to be discovered, a work that might lurk under the surface now but is bound to break the water as violently and unexpectedly as the band’s music.

For more on the band, go here: https://deathobvious-label.bandcamp.com/

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

Or here: https://eu.tometal.com/

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

Old man time, yeah, so shut the fuck up. There was a time when heavy metal was basically one style, or at least a primary style with some offshoots. You knew it when you heard it, and it was awesome. It was music that you played as loudly as you could from your car and added a lot of juice to your Saturday nights. It was fucking cool even though I didn’t make it sound like that very well.

Indianapolis traditional metal band Sacred Leather are from that era. Not literally. They were not functioning as a band until, as early as we know, 2014. But their style and play are right smack in the sweet spot. Dokken, early Whitesnake, Judas Priest, early Def Leppard, as evidenced by their new record “Keep the Fire Burning.” That kind of thing. The band—vocalist Dee Wrathchild, guitarists Lynn St. Michaels (lead) and Cvon Owens (rhythm), bassist Magnus Legrand, drummer Don Diamond—masters the adventurous guitar work, the grit, the sky-high voice, the danger the earliest wave embodied, and no, there is no “and with an updated viewpoint” coming. This is all vintage, and no one should accept it any other way.

“Resurrection” is a fitting, steamy instrumental opener with glorious guitars rising into “Spitfire at Night” that is a total gas pedal stomper. The thing erupts, electricity exploding from every corner, a huge chorus Wrathchild sells huge, which is hardly an isolated instance. The energy peaks as the soloing tears into metal, the heat rising from there and only coming down after another raucous chorus. “Phantom Highway (Hell Is Comin’ Down)” drives hard with a vintage Priest feel, the singing blaring as the elements unload. The playing is fast and crunchy, adding to the whipping winds that brush burn your face, the chorus powering hard as the riffs pump more blood. “Wake Me Up” has the drums activating and the guitars melting before the pace is pulled back just a bit, Wrathchild showing off the lower register of his voice. But he hits the highs as well, guitars blaze with a fury, and then things cool, water dripping down your spine, humidity taking its toll on you. “Fallen Angel” has guitars zapping and the drums getting juices moving, deeper vocals adding a grittier texture, everything picking up as the chorus strikes. The soloing is fiery and channeled, and forces pushing and pulling for domination, the singing piercing flesh as the final moments rain down.

“Flatline” is an instrumental that opens with acoustics and some classical-style playing before everything ends in, you guessed it, a flatline. “Tears of My Heart” has heated leads and a slower-driving attack, feeling like a classic metal ballad but not in a sappy way at all. There’s a massive chorus and chugging guitars, the momentum picking up and slowing as the journey sees fit. Strong soloing bursts as the emotional tumult is achieved, the guitars chugging and burning amid the caterwaul. “Malevolent Eyes” is a little darker and sinister, guitars torching as Wrathchild’s vocals go into deeper water again. The chorus is moodier, and evil cackles remind of chaos, spurs embedded into the track, the playing smearing with power before subsiding. The title track has the drums launching and the playing going faster again, the singing hitting glimmering highs, a pulsating chorus following everything. Guitars dominate as the drums punish, Wrathchild’s banshee wails tearing through minds. Closer “Mistress of the Sun” starts clean, the singing cooling off the heated edges, the elements picking up and adding fuel to the growing fire. Leads smolder as the chorus chars, everything trudging harder and heavier, guitars blazing over an ending that reeks of vintage class.

Metal often isn’t made in the vein of Sacred Leather anymore, or at least it isn’t conjured this tried and true that it feels like it could have originated 40 years ago. Which is a good thing as far as “Keep the Fire Burning” is concerned. This feels like an album for open-highway driving, late-night beer sessions, or simply just enjoying the full-force power of heavy metal the way it was intended to sound in the first place. 

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

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

Or here (U.S.): https://kingvolume.8merch.us/

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

Or here (International): https://kingvolume.8merch.com/

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

And here: https://www.kingvolume.com/

Every time black metal seems like it can’t evolve any further, we’re all proven wrong, and some band twists the DNA to an absurd level and creates something previously unheard of in this form. Or a band manages a way to make the subgenre a little more flexible and add some colors that normally aren’t seen in this setting.

New Orleans-based Burial Gift come to mind more in the latter example as they aren’t rewriting code or anything but are finding ways to keep this style more fertile and open. They released their “MMXXV” earlier this year on their own, but Eihwaz has risen from the ashes in the final month of the year to give this a proper physical release on cassette. The band—vocalist/guitarist Ty Hebert, guitarist Sam White, bassist Nathan Bergeron, drummer Alex Babineaux—is sinister and devastating enough, but adding some sludge elements as well as other sonic deviations make this release one that should snag your attention and keep it. I’m excited to hear what this band can do with a full-length release.

“Sear” blasts open, furious melodies spewing forth, guitars surging as the vocals are mean but also kind of catchy. The murmur boils into a gazey flow, guitars cascading downward before things rip open again. Chaos spills and erupts, screams detonate, and everything disintegrates into a mist. “Elegy Azure” opens with the drums blasting, blood rushing through veins, and a surging pace that loosens screws. The tempo gets thrashier as each element fills your mind, melodies washing over you. There’s a huge burst as the guitars overflow, drums blast, and the melodies explode, feeling fiery and effusive. The energy is impossible to defeat, overwhelming in the best way, finally exiting in a perfect blanket of feedback. “Hollow Bloom” ends things, guitars echoing as vile howls ripple, a cold front gathering before jarring you where you stand. Emotional melodies flood as things go cold, the bass buzzes, and a prog-style pathway is trampled, the active centerpoint making your heart race. Soloing melts into effusive energy and colors, electricity powering every corner, howls swarming before everything combusts.

Burial Gift may be new to some (I am one of them), but after taking on “MMXXV,” you’ll likely be an easy convert to the band’s brand of black metal and atmosphere. It’s not that they’re rewriting the style of music or anything, but they bring some intangibles and other powers to plaster to this artform that gives it a huge shot in the arm. This is but their first foray into what’s possible for Burial Gift, and their future creations will be awaited with great anticipation.

For more on the band, go here: https://burialgift1.bandcamp.com/

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

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

It’s the time of the year when new releases aren’t as plentiful as other months, and revisiting music we missed along the way is a good way to play catch up. Look, we can’t get to everything (we can’t even get to most!), so things are bound to fly under the radar. Luckily, today’s release was brought to our attention by the band itself, and we’re glad they knocked.

Rochester, NY, death pounders Order of the Dead released their second full-length “Captives” back in June, and it’s a follow-up to 2018’s “The Jackals Hold Us Captive” as well as two other EPs in that time frame. What you find here is straight-forward death metal with some thrash tendencies as well as a channeled attack that rarely releases its grip on your neck. The band—vocalist Zach Barney, guitarists Earl Treese Jr and Jody Roberts, bassist John Malone, drummer Joe Lionti Jr—hails from a town with a nice death metal breeding ground that includes Undeath, Contrarian, and Blood Desecration, so they are adding a noteworthy and solid addition to that city’s blood output.

“Into Nothing” fades in before going for the throat, leads racing as howls smear, melodies basking in the glow of twin-guitar assaults. The tempo grows grim and harrowing, ravaging as guitars char, and the morbid adventure comes to an end. “A Black Curse Comes” charges in, vicious playing rippling, Barney wailing, “We’re reaping what we’ve sown!” The chorus is doused in black metal-style melodies while raw speed and even some thrashiness flexes muscles and blasts into oblivion. “Ritual Magick” smolders and smashes, the growls crushing as a relentless pace overpowers and tangles your brain wiring. The guitars race as the howls char, mashing bodies and bones, the words spat out in a poisonous clip. “Tetsu No Ame” is based on the 82-day World War II Battle of Okinawa, and the tension and hell is well represented. Guitars jab as the cries of, “Exterminate! Annihilate!” send chills down spines. Melodies gush even as “neverending hell on earth” spews forth, leads snaking, a strange warmth filling your guts before fading.

“Reaggravate” is the longest track at 8:09. and it boils while the bass plods, tearing open as the vocals scorch everything within their scope. The leads dart through fire, the power chugs, and electrifying soloing spills over and coats the marring shrieks. The pace mashes as guitars drive deeper into madness, trudging and demanding total submission. “Pit of Snakes” has speedy riffs and a jarring pace, the vocals scraping over congealing wounds, the playing bubbling to the surface. The leads get colorful and more adventurous, speeding up before a furious finish. “Illusions” blasts apart, techy riffs building, howls turning everything to dust just as the guitars become more illuminated. The strength guts as vitriol is poured on an already aggravated situation, start/stop mashing bruises, and the acid pours down the drain. Closer “A Grand Design” cites the Tower of Babel and the ensuing chaos, and they color that in with swimming guitars and shrieks tearing at limbs. Strong soloing blows down walls as the playing blazes even harder, powering the final moments that turn to ash.

Hey, we don’;t always get to every record that deserves attention during a calendar year, so it’s nice to give Order of the Dead’s “Captives” some glow as the year winds down. This is promising stuff, death metal that feels pretty modern but isn’t overly polished and still remembers to drop the fucking hammer. This band is on the right path, and with more records like this, they’re bound to be popping up in more feeds and on more shows as they continue to build their resume.

For more on the band, go here: https://orderofthedead322.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://orderofthedead322.bandcamp.com/album/captives

A trip into the cosmos is not in the cards for me. I’m too old, I don’t think I’d do well with the training activities you have to endure to get ready, and I don’t have the knowledge base. But when accompanied by the effects of certain legal substances, my mind can wander beyond here and imagine places and planets no one ever will visit.

Blut Aus Nord’s music always seems to come from somewhere not of this plane or maybe even this universe, and their intergalactic ambitions never have been a secret. On their 16th record “Ethereal Horizons,” the band—vocalist/guitarist Vindsval, bassist GhÖst, drummer/keyboard player/electronics master W.D. Feld—continues to dip into the great unknown and create another adventure that can be absorbed mentally and psychologically. It’s an album that fits nicely alongside their last couple but also branches deeper into other elements, not all of them metallic in nature. They continue to add to the machine in productive, inventive ways, and each new release is another chance to push the mind to ultimate exploration.

“Shadows Breathe First” starts rather gently, serenely almost, and it takes a few moments before the storm situates itself, the familiar detached snarls echoing in the background of a star system. Clean singing wafts, reminding a bit of Robert Smith, while the power zaps through with illuminated edges, the playing growing progressive, growls gurgling before the energy swoops away. “Seclusion” is dark and cold at the outset, a spellbinding display pulling you to the center of the vortex. Howls crumble as synth sends sheets of ice, clean calls battling with desperate wails for control. The shrieks increase as the feel gets more atmospheric, elegant melodies pouring silver streams into oblivion. “The Ordeal” charges in, pastoral chants making your mind tingle, guitars churning, the vocals boiling in an open cauldron generating heat. The playing bubbles before hypnotizing, stretching the expanse across galaxies, eventually succumbing to a numbing, hazy stratosphere, everything consumed by gray.

“The Fall Opens the Sky” explodes with melodic gust, stomping through wiry guitars and elegant, angelic keys that dash constellations across the night canopy. The playing takes on a fantasy vibe, the guitars blasting new holes into reality, the whole animal gushing new blood, drums smashing as all the elements crash to the ground. “What Burns Now Listens” is infectious with ghostly clean singing, later replaced by crushing howls. The pace speeds up noticeably, guitars daring you to take them on, blistering through a weather front laced by jolting lightning strikes. “Twin Suns Reverie” is a brief instrumental with haunting keys and what feels like a deep dream state, calming and settling deeper into space. Closer “The End Becomes Grace” runs 12:23 and instantly stirs, shrieks attacking, the playing dissolving into weird, rubbery noises that lend a deeper alien feel. Guitars split the vision in two, charging as the singing swells, feeling frothy and gothy, landing with a weightiness that defies gravity, Then cosmic winds blow harder, leading to a hypnotic final few minutes that are enveloped in ice and drop into the void.

“Ethereal Horizons” is Blut Aus Nord at its most varied and adventurous, a record that has black metal as a base but soars so far beyond those realms that they cannot be trapped in any place. This feels like a BAN record the whole way through, but as they’ve grown accustomed to doing, they dress things in different shades and threads to keep you guessing. This is great music for deep concentration or simply going on a journey beyond this planet in your mind, from which this strange trio might actually hail.

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

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

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

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

Humankind fears death. It’s the ultimate ending. It’s terrifying. It’s final. It’s a mystery. Medical advancements and improvements in nutrition, sanitation, and cleanliness have helped people live longer and longer, but nothing can stave off what faces us all. Still, some are  hellbent to try, and now the tech industry is spewing more terrifying shit.

The plight to extend life, no matter the means and cost to others, is splashed all over “Gateway,” the new album from Montreal death metal punishers Phobocosm. Building off themes from their last record “Foreordained,” the band—vocalist/bassist E.B., guitarists S.D. and R.M., drummer J.S.G.—digs into the rot of trying to topple expiration, especially those with desires beyond living forever. Those people only have the worst of ideas in mind, and even they will fall victim to the scythe eventually. This record, by the way, was recorded alongside “Foreordained,” thus giving it similar vibe. It also notes what this signals what the band calls an end chapter for this phase of Phobocosm.

“Deathless” opens in a surge, feeling whirry and weird, disorienting as the sounds hover over ominously. Then your digits are crushed, growls smearing and scraping over a din of smoke, ugly and sooty power corroding, the intensity spiking before whirring away. “Unbound” has the drums openly destroying, beastly growls slithering beneath the carnage, molten guitars boiling over and threatening. Growls gurgle as the morbid pace sweeps you under the floor, blackness permeating your senses and making a grim exit. “Corridor I – The Affliction” is the first of a trilogy of instrumental tracks, this one basking in fog, the playing jerking you awake, blazing with humidity before quietly fading.

“Sempiternal Penance” blasts through, growls crushing, an infernal force making the temperatures unmanageable. Chaos erupts as the growls engorge, a relentless fury stabbing forward, the nasty, inhumane growls peaking and melting into “Corridor II – The Descent.” Here, guitars burn and swarm, the impending power drawing air out of your lungs, the embers slowly losing heat. “Beyond the Threshold of Flesh” has guitars simmering and growls retching, a rhyme scheme feeling somewhat bouncy even as it digs in the blade. Skies darken as the playing decimates, calculated power combusting and sending shrapnel, growls lashing as the bass coils. Oil oozes from the cracks as the tempo gets thicker and nastier, crushing as it lures an eerie silence. Closer “Corridor III – The Void” snakes as guitars light up, soot is caked into mouths, and the steam grows heavier and more suffocating.

“Gateway” is a portrait of humankind devolving into worse versions of themselves, using technology as a guide to extend life and misery at the same time. Phobocosm pay that off with a brutal, mind-fogging experience that makes these horrors happening in real time even more disgusting. The world is an ugly place, and this band isn’t ducking away from calling out all of its human-made warts.

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/?s=PHOBOCOSM&post_type=product

Or here (Europe): https://ddmsuo.eu/

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

Volatility can be a welcome element in music as long as the listener is in the right mind frame to handle the experience. That can mean a lot of different things depending on the audience, but bands and records that seem to be barely holding onto their sanity hit home for me, not that I want real people to be suffering. But a little can be good and it can make for great art.

Coffin Apartment’s third record “Lesion Plea” sounds like one of those created under duress, rapid-fire takes, and disasters that popped up along the way. That’s because that’s what actually happened and might be what makes these seven tracks so sticky to me. The band—vocalist/guitarist Johnny Brooke, bassist/synth player Taylor Lauritsen, drummer/vocalist Justin Straw—piles more heaping helpings of doom and death into their manic puzzle here, and each track lures you into the madness and refuses to release its grip until you’re satisfactorily impacted. The record is hypnotic, ghastly, gurgly, unsettling, and warped in the best possible way. It’s like the portrait of a temporary breakdown committed to tape forever.   

“Duplicitous Offering” opens with guitars hanging like a phantom, and then the drums pummel, and warped howls dig deep into your psyche. The playing gets burly and harsher, battling through sludge, the drums crashing out and making your ears bleed. “Evade the Knife” starts eerily, Alex Juarez’s sax blasting, the playing swimming in ether before the pace picks up. Guitars drip and then kick into higher gear, growls smear as the tempo races into a snarling fury, doom landing heavily in the back end before melting into cold guitars. “Nocturnal Slope” has chimes carrying over from the previous track, strange energies gathering, pained howls crawling over an elegant guitar stream. Things grow darker and uglier as the howls scar, guitars slicing and bubbling before stomping the gas pedal. The attack thickens and batters, cold notes slithering down spines and into the darkness.

“Accumulated Guilt” fries your brain upon entering, sax marking a path, drums echoing as crooning from Dry Wedding’s Davey Ferchow lurches through the scene. You can’t help but shake the strange pulses traveling your spine, screams striking as hypnosis is achieved, swarming through the last gasp of emotional detachment. The title track has guitars heating to a boil, growls curdling as the playing chugs, the air growing thicker and grittier. The pace strangles before moving to a slow battering, a thrashy push driving everything to the brink. “Topography of Pain” starts as a clean and strange form, and then it combusts, the vocals devouring sanity, snapping with whip-like intensity. The guitars turn a shade of black metal as harsh cries pull down walls, hurtling toward a tornadic buzzsaw that bludgeons and darkens eyes, moving into closer “Drowning in the Centuries.” The guitars lines helicopter as screams strike and tighten their grip, simmering in a gap of psyche heat. Thick waves batter with chrome as the filth multiplies, speed strikes, and vicious screams tangle with echoes, bring a modicum or mercy to your heaving mental state.

“Lesion Plea” sounds as manic and nerve-shredding as the bio information indicates, and honestly, that just makes the record even more volatile and combustible. Coffin Apartment feel as if they’re making a statement while hanging from a ledge over an unsurvivable fall, which makes the energy contained there that much sharper. This is a hell of a listen both musically and mentally, and it might be a good idea to have an a high ABV beer ready afterward so you can calm the fuck down. 

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

To buy the album, go here: https://coffinapartment.bandcamp.com/album/lesion-plea

This is a pretty grim time to be alive, though obviously it’s not the first time that has been said. But shit is volatile right now. Humanity has grown in such strange directions that it’s hard to say what we’ll even be like as a species centuries from now. If we’re still here. That’s what really should turn our stomachs and give us a reason to writhe in terror.

Croation death/doom maulers Decrepit Tomb aren’t necessarily consumed with that on their debut EP “Egregious Defilement,” but that title certainly would describe how we’re treating our surroundings and how power structures are aiming to crush. This is three tracks full of misery and suffering that the band—vocalist/bassist Vitan Bukvić, guitarists Matej Pećar and Denis Balaban, drummer/guitarist Matej Kiš—crafts and unleashes on an unsuspecting world. It’s a brutal, unforgiving display that twists flesh and muscle and makes you realize the pain and misfortune that plague so many.

The Festering Depths” starts with water dripping before chilly eeriness sets in, notes falling as the doom hammers crush. Growls lurch as the guitars have a dizzying effect, soot crowding the air as the pace rots and carves. A psyche sheen spreads as the band mauls with ferocity, howls retch with disgust, and the final drops bleed into “Beckoning of the Moss-Ridden Tomb” that snarls right away. Doom smokes as the playing drubs, growls crushing as the sweltering tones make breathing harder. The guitars get swampier and dizzier, disorientation spreading like a fog, the bass clawing nails from fingers. Closer “Fields of Flayed Skin” (don’t forget to plant yours in the spring!) stomps through dirt as a hulking pace makes way for glowing leads and a slow-driving menace that strengthens its grip. Guitars ring out as elements of sludge work through tired veins, the growls level, and vile torment becomes a heavier factor. The final moments feel like auditory torture, stretching your will to survive until everything fades into infinity.

Decrepit Altar make a mangling, devastating impression on “Egregious Defilement,” an EP that’s as physically draining as a full-length but in half the time. This death/doom concoction is deadly and suffocating, leaving no room for light either than a pin prick here and there. This is a promising offering, one that might pave the road for grislier actions and more traumatic beatings in the future, for which we will be here.

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

To buy the album (North America), go here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/shop/decrepit-altar-egregious-defilement-12/

Or here (Europe): https://ddmsuo.eu/

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

Metal has a very storied history at this point, and it’s funny to think of the people who, when I was much younger, telling me the music would never survive and it would be laughed at in the future. Of course, we know that’s nonsense, and things have only grown in leaps and bounds, and the possibilities are endless.

Take for example Charlie Anderson, a violinist most people in our audience would know best for his string work with Panopticon and Waldgeflüster, where he added even more atmosphere and dramatics to those projects’ sprawling black metal. I was surprised to learn of Weft, his new black metal project where he handles vocals, bass, guitar, strings, electric violin, synth, piano, and additional percussion. What, no Wurlitzer? Lazy! Joking aside, the project’s debut record “The Splintered Oar” is a goddamn revelation, an inspiring, mind swelling collection that is an incredibly bright star in black metal’s crowded sky. Accompanied by Panopticon’s Austin Lunn on drums and other guests we will discuss later, Anderson steps into a world he had a smaller, albeit crucial, part in before and made this place his own. It’s a stunning debut, one that I cannot get over no many how many visits I make.

“Leaves” opens awash in acoustics and strings, and on first listen not knowing what to expect (I never read the bio before initial spins), I figured a whole album of this would be quite stirring. Man, was I pleasantly surprised nonetheless. This one picks up, adding extra layers on top of emotions, sweeping and glazing, mournful melodies falling, piercing the night. Then, things change. “False Kingdoms” begins ominously, strings moving  and drums encircling, setting up a Western vibe, and then the blade hits your abdomen, the whole thing opening in full bore, howls crushing, black metal fury enveloping every inch of this song. Orchestral fires spread as the speed injects further madness, atmospheric crunching breaks sticks beneath heavy boots, and then things return to calm, fleeing on a murmur.

“The Hull” launches heartfully, violin scarring, the playing feeling like red streaks across an evening sky. The power storms as throaty wails flex, smashing harder as the guitars take off for the clouds, echoes swimming in the storm, acoustics landing and adding a breezy cool. Harmonized singing melds, calls of, “All that remains are empty hands,” riveting as the power combusts and a dramatic, smearing force exits. “Red Dawn” tears open, the vocals marring as clean notes drip through soot, shrieks lashing and wrenching along the way. The playing is burly and spacious, feeling like you’re entering into the dream realm before being rocked awake by raw howls and streaking strings. Calm arrives as notes stretch into eternity, reaching for far-off sections of sky. Closer “Dream of Oaks” is a stunner, basking in folkish melodies as Jordan Day’s singing reminds of a mix of Sturgill Simpson and Lawrence Peters, violin aching in the spacey echo. Andrea Morgan’s voice enters the fray and brings ghostly beauty before the power ruptures, blasts ravaging, everything spiraling into a smoldering fire and back toward dusk. Growls echo as the playing spills over, drilling heavily as the harshness multiplies, burly tones add more grit, and a breeze of choral calls and rushing water take everything home.

Anderson’s direction and artistic dreams are far loftier and volcanic than many of us had realized, and “The Splintered Oar” gives a deep look into just what he’s capable of accomplishing. Even with a team behind him helping him bring this record to life, it’s clear that it is Anderson’s blood flowing through these veins, revealing a more advanced beast than we’d met before. I didn’t know what to expect when taking this on, and it turns out it is one of more promising projects to emerge in some time, one that hopefully has a long, volatile life ahead of itself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

As I write this, it is cold and gray, rain falling and pattering against the windows, a sight a lot of people would term ugly or dreary, but I always liked it. Certainly it isn’t going to brighten people’s days like an abundance of beaming sunshine, but having time like this helps us appreciate the warmer, kinder weather and also provides a sort of hiding place to recover.

It’s the type of vision I imagined with my first and each subsequent listen to “What Remains When Hope Has Failed,” the debut full-length from English black metal force Nemorous. Rising from the fallen spirit that was Wodensthrone (of which half of its members were a part), the band—vocalist Nick Craggs, guitarists Michael Blenkarn and Rob Hindmarsh, bassist Phil Heckles, keyboard player Alexandra Durning, drummer Ian Finley—picks up with their sweeping intensity and adds even more atmospheric and earthy elements, often making you think of, yeah, a chilly, stormy day. It’s perfect for that, but it’s not a prisoner to that setting. They deliver rousing, blistering sound wrapped in ethereal beauty that helps enhance the blistering corners. It’s imaginative and inventive, fitted for a chilling journey into the forest once the trees have shed their leaves.

“The Wyrm at World’s End” opens in chilling fluidity, darkness enveloping as shrieks ripple, complemented by beastly roars, a stomping force demonstrating its strength. The playing drives harder, emotion flooding to the surface, growls boiling, and then a calm arriving and washing away the pain. “This Rotten Bough” storms through, howls menacing, destroying with an engulfing coldness, bubbling over until ghostly speaking merges into an adventurous push. The fury toughens, the wails sicken, and the spirit flourishes, torpedoing into a daring finish. “Sky Avalanche” flushes with energy, harsh growls blasting as the atmosphere increases and informs the devastation. Vocals swarm as the melodies wrench, the guitars gushing expanded colors, flowing with a pressure front that comes to a surprisingly breezy end.

“Quiescence” starts clean and serene before the heat intensifies, charging up and racing, harsh cries heaving through the night. Guitars surge, and the vibe and essence remind of vintage Agalloch, the vocals tearing through like jackals. There’s a spell of numbing serenity, mellotron adding an elegant glaze, the heaviness building and fluttering, turning comfortably warm and fading. “Bereft Part 2” is an interlude that is softer and solemn, bleeding into psychedelics and turning into a fading spirit. The closing title track starts as a dark, dreary journey, and then lightning strikes, raw howls belting, the playing taking on a seismic force, the drums sawing through bone. The leads then soar, the playing bolting over mountain tops, beastly vocals flexing muscle, the guitars creating sunbeams. The pace explodes anew, the howls scraping and choking, hurtling toward the stars as the final melodic fires crackle into the night.

“What Remains When Hope Has Failed” is a triumph of a record, one that fills you inside with full-fledged emotion and energy, finding a great landing spot as autumn peaks. Nemorous is a force that took a couple years to fully form, but it is a spirited beast that roars into existence and swallows you into another world that envelopes you in full. The road they go from here is anyone’s guess, but if it’s anything like what brought them to this debut, it’s going to be worth whatever wait we must endure.

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

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

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