It’s not strange now to say you miss a lot of things and people, because we’ve had a year unlike any other in our lives, and disconnection and distance are things we all have in our relationships. People reassure each other that one day this thing will be over, and we can gather and party and just hang out again, but it feels so far away.

Yet, the arrival of “Pleine Noirceur,” the latest record from grind/death beasts Fuck the Facts, almost made it feel like reuniting with a friend again who has been gone for five long years. It was 2015 when they last destroyed us, with Juno-nominated “Desire Will Rot,” so we definitely were missing the band—vocalist Melanie Mongeon, guitarist Topon Das, drummer Mathieu Vilandre—who has created some of the most interesting and unhinged heavy music over seven previous albums and six EPs. FTF have created a 12-track, 42-minute mauler that isn’t grind from front to back and is a bit more atmospherically experimental than what they’ve done in the past. Even in their bio, they suggest you made need a few listens to fully digest. I loved it from listen one, but the more you visit, the more it works into your bloodstream and chews into your brain.

“Doubt, Fear Neglect” open the record in a sift of noise that feels like it’s building momentum before a ridiculous, bulldozing riff sprawls, and Mongeon’s shrieks erupt and pound away. The track is wonderfully reckless and digs its claws into the earth before melody evens out, and a thick haze situates, feeling foggy before a violent end. “Ailleurs” is a quick one, a 1:17-long grinder that completely destroys, with the bass driving, speedy madness exploding, and the track mashing out into noise toward the title track that unloads a cool riff and plodding bass. The verses crush as Mongeon’s isolated yells jolt your cellular structure while the boulder keeps rampaging down the hill. Melody clouds the violence as the guitars let off interesting colors, the shrieks hammer, and the track has a gut-wrenching end. “Aube” is another fast one, a 1:24-long adventure into mystery while guitars create a strange mist, and the shrieks jab from out of the darkness. “Sans Lumiere” delivers stirring guitars and a ground-and-pound pace that opens wounds easily. The track gets filthy while Mongeon’s vocals send ripples of pain before the track halts in its track, rebirthed on the other side as a different style of beast. The vocals rampage as the growls get ugly before a tempered pace carries the track away. “Sans Racines” is 38 seconds of chaos as every element splatters the madness, riffs scuff, the vocals peels back flesh, and the drums leave dust.

“Everything I Love Is Ending” starts with a gritty riff and wailed yells as the pace begins to get more aggressive. “It feels horrible, everything I love is ending!” Mongeon wails as the track hit the gas pedal, power gushes, and the track ends in dark echo. “A Dying Light” bleeds into the picture as the guitars glimmer before the power kicks in, and gloomy energy drags heavy clouds overhead. Mongeon’s cries ripple while warmth picks up, and the back of the song ignites and folds into the earth. “Dropping Like Flies” has molten riffs and devastating shrieks, while the pace feels irreparably charred before weirdness arrives. From there, the bass thickens, the guitars are fluid, and everything dissolves in a sound cloud. “L’abandon” basks in playful guitar work before the band shreds the senses, atmosphere thickens, and then we soak right into “An Ending” that feels solemn right out of the gates. The pace brings shadowy sorrow as Mongeon’s vocals grind you into the dirt, with the leads shuddering in pain. Sounds create pools of blood before the final moments are devoured by erosion. “_cide” closes the album, a track that starts off lightheaded, but you know damn well the hammer is coming. Sure enough, when it does, a driving force bores into your chest as Mongeon’s vocals sound like they’re scraped from the bottom of her bruised heart, emotions charge, and the final blows finally take your consciousness.

Fuck the Facts’ return after five years proves some things are worth the wait as “Pleine Noirceur” is so incredibly satisfying and absolutely beats you down. The record isn’t full throttle the entire time and demonstrates more of FTF’s tool set they’ve built over the years, but when they light the powder keg, it’s as explosive as anything in their catalog. It’s great to have this band back in our periphery, and while they can’t deface us live right now, this record is enough to ensure our muscles are nice bruised in the meantime.

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

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

There’s a good chance our lives never will go back to the way they were before. We’re suffering through a pandemic that has left some people in total isolation, it has robbed us of live performances from bands, having lunch with friends, and celebrating holidays and major occassions with family and acquaintances. It’s impossible to even grasp how things were last year at this time.

Looking back at our civilization and the changes we have had to endure make up a large part of “Dialetheia,” the collaborative effort combining black metal/doom mauler Mizmor and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Black (he’s a live member of Mizmor), a record that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s because A.L.N. and Black could not create this music in the same room together and instead had to work with file sharing and building on the sounds that way. The two artists imagined what it would be like to look back on our old ways and traditions and act as observers on those actions, and the music in immersive and hypnotic, the type of thing that could make you drift off and experiencing the old world yourself, taking note of what you’ve lost and what has been altered. Album artwork, by the way, was created by the amazing Emma Ruth Rundle.

“Looking At | Looking Through” opens the record, running 16:12 and basking in accumulating noise and eerie keys. The ambiance expands its reach as guitars emerge, poking through the clouds, while cosmic keys woosh through, and light zapping opens as a calming aura rushes. Keys drip as echoes search, the air feels damp, and the track dissolves into a haze of white noise. “Nostalgic Dystopian” closes the record, a 14:31-long track that has a different feel with guitars buzzing and ominous tones filling your blood. Moody doom surfaces as the guitars call out, and ghostly voices gather and send strange vibes. Things slow down as the track is buried in sound, settling into a drizzle of nighttime keys that fade out into the blackened sky.

This is an interesting piece from Mizmor and Black, a true collaborative experiment that really needs to be visited numerous times before the ideas begin to germinate. “Dialetheia” may not be heavy sonically, but the themes and the weighty emotion certainly push you to pay the price as you navigate each murky channel of this creation. This is perfect for listening in the evening, perhaps in a hot bad with a soothing substance as you reach out to the universe and try to align with the energy coming back at you.  

For more on the Mizmor, go here: https://www.facebook.com/whollydoomedblackmetal/

For more on Andrew Black, go here: https://andrewrblack.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/collections/gilead-media-releases

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

I’ve never been through a massive earthquake (yet!), but I’ve experienced some minor ones. This is not a complaint, by the way. But I’d imagine if I ever was in one that was tearing the earth apart, it might remind me of how I felt the first time I experienced French beasts Subterraen, who feel like a seismically vital addition to the annals of doom.

“Rotting Human Kingdom” is their entrance into my consciousness, and holy shit, if this four-track, nearly 49-minute crusher didn’t crush me, at least metaphorically. Really, it’s three mammoth cuts and one interlude, so it should be clear that they set up shop and stay a while, with you as their willing victim. In all seriousness, this is prime sludge-splashed doom, a record that feels ugly and weighty, and filthy at the same time, and if you love this style like I do, it’ll be a revelation to you. The band—vocalist/guitarist Clem Helvete, guitarist Chris KKP, drummer Milvus—provides no mercy as the record is gargantuan and makes it feel like what a full-fledged earthquake might be like.

“Blood for the Blood Gods” slowly emerges over the horizon like a beast of destruction as the playing swirls and sickens, growing larger before the doom drops. The track pounds away with precision as the low end chews, noise rises, and a violent eruption spews earth into the sky. The shrieks send icy shivers as the playing grows cold and hazy, bathing in a thick fog you practically can taste before the track gushes again. Melodies deliver dour hell while the vocals rip apart guts, and burly pain gathers before the track finally relents. “For a Fistful of Silver” lathers in steam before the chaos arrives, as the band stomps over the earth. Vocals pierce the skin as noise hangs in the air, and the drums rumble heavily, ushering in waves of anguish. From there, the playing gallops heavily, agitating fires and moving into pulverizing feedback as the pressure mounts. Clobbering force breaks through as everything goes cold, and nighttime swallows the daylight forever.

“Oceans are Rising” is a quick instrumental that swims in frigid waters as the guitars lightly coat your face with mist, draining away into a strange pocket. “Wrath of a Downtrodden Planet” is the closer and the longest track here, clocking in at 18:20. Doom just levels everything as the growls follow and destroy, letting hellish cries creep up on you. The bass buzzes as the bottom drops out, and fiery hell makes its way across the earth and leaves blackened soil behind. The track bruises slowly, making you feel each drop of lava, while the track cuts into bone. The leads begin to glimmer, setting off blinding light, while vile growls spread, and doom waylays, leaving you buried face first in the ground.

Doom is not meant to be pretty, and Subterraen have no intentions of changing that idea on “Rotting Human Kingdom,” a record that basks in relentless heaviness. Everything here feels like you’re going through a battle in a heat-soaked terrain where the sun is just as big an enemy as your combatants, and it feels like your body is going through the ringer physically. This is a powerful record from a band that only has its worst intentions at heart and just might tear the world in two.     

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

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

Or here (international): https://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.de/shop-en

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

For the first time in a long time, things are looking up around here, and even though the next two months are going to be utter bullshit, there’s a slight light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this, right? Anyway, you’d think the need for brutal, devastating music might be on the back burner, but I didn’t realize how good it would feel when things were actually better.

Basically that means that vile and disgusting death metal can be just as menacing when our mood isn’t in the fucking toilet, which we found out in smashing precision with “Floating in Timeless Streams,” the excellent new record from Finnish force Lie in Ruins. The band might sour on me aligning their corrosive assault with being in a good mood, so don’t get me wrong. This record is awash in madness, it cuts right for your throat, and you will feel like you endured the losing end of a Texas death match once you’re done with these 10 tracks and about 41 minutes. If you’re familiar with the band—vocalist/bassist Roni Sahari, guitarists Roni Ärling and Tuomas Kulmala (also credited with vocals), and drummer Jussi-Pekka Manner—you’d realize 41 minutes is their shortest record to date (2014’s “Toward Divine Death” clocked in at 71 minutes), but it’s also explosively punishing and an ideal serving for their mission.

“Earth Shall Mourn” opens with drums rumbling and the pace clobbering while devastating growls begin to tear down walls. Filth spreads as melodies stir, growls reopen wounds, and the track comes to a furious finish. “Spectral Realms of Fornication” has riffs swirling in a storm as the growls engorge, and everything bleeds with a fury. The leads spark as hypnotic playing arrives, making your head spin before the pace explodes, and the playing electrifies before we’re back to the soot, black growls, and into a tunnel toward “Interlude I.” Quiet guitars lurk amid eerie sounds, and then it’s on to “(Becoming) One With the Aether” that delivers a piledriver to the cement as it kicks off. The senses are smashed as animalistic growls attack, and the speed rages toward ugly hell. Punishing trampling eventually gives way to a noxious fog, and out of that, the playing mangles, tearing off flesh as we head into “Drowned” that’s an outright assault. Mauling growls chew up muscle while the leads pick up and burn, leaving off fumes. The heat intensifies as morbid destruction spills over like a horrifying stew, and the drums snap necks, leaving behind scary echoes.

“The Path” gets off to a slower pace, feeling nightmarish and like something that slipped out of your dreams into real life. The track trudges hard, offering crunch and terror as dirty tones leave mud. The growls crush as the muck builds, and the doom floods your lungs. “Descending Further” unleashes sweltering riffs and deep growls that scrape the guts, with speed erupting out of the madness. The track settles into ugly gnashing while the guitars ignite, destroying again as the walls crumble down. “Suffocating Darkness” rips into the picture with guitars ringing out, blasting apart as the band thrashes heavily. Leads dominate as the growls corrode, feeling vile and dangerous. The guitars explode again, jolting your body as everything ends up in a shallow grave. “Interlude II” slips in with organs swelling and keys dripping, draining into closer “Where Mountains Sleep,” as riffs reign and spatter the walls with blood. Growls maul as the pace gets rowdier, while doom bells strike, and the guitar work opens and gains momentum. Barbaric hell reigns as heavy doom clouds choke the sun, while dreary misery flows like a diseased river, and storm winds carry the stench into the night.

Slimmer and trimmer than their last record, Lie in Ruins make excellent use of the more compact run time on “Floating in Timeless Streams,” their most muscular effort yet. This band delivers death metal with a worm-infested heart, always reveling in ugliness and making you experience every inch. This is a killer effort from a band that seems ready to tear off some heads.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/store/

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

We’re at a volatile standpoint when it comes to the health of our world, but 68 million people this week decided that wasn’t dealbreaker enough not to vote for someone standing in complete opposition of that idea. But if you listen to scientists, you’d know we’re making a devastating impact on the world in which we live, and we don’t have much time to react.

That all comes to mind when talking about “Death Cult,” the new record from Canadian trio Völur, and one of the best recordings of their run. The record was partially inspired by Germanic tribes near the Baltic Sea in the earliest days of A.D. sacrificing slaves via drowning to their goddess Nertha. That whole idea conceptually is something we’ve never shed. You know, the whole “God will save us” idea instead of humans banding together to take actions to affect change. The band—vocalist/electric violin player Laura C. Bates, bassist/vocalist Lucas Gadke, drummer Justin Ruppel—realized it was a trap that’s followed us through time and led to things like our world decaying, people denying viruses are real things that need to be battled, and faith put into bad leaders only here to milk a buck out of their followers. So, yeah, it’s something of a political album but one that tackles issues in a completely different manner, dressed in their classical, free jazz-influenced doom that will shake your foundation.

“Inviolate Grove” begins with Bates’ strings sweltering as the playing begins to pump, and melodies enrapture. Both Bates and Gadke sing as the violin makes inroads into your soul. Ominous tones float as the singing feels haunting while the track lights up, and Gadke’s growls break through barriers. The track erupts and bleeds as the violin lathers up and hypnotizes, while the vocals explode, the drama spreads, and the path burns right to “Dead Moon” that simmers in eerie choral circles and a bed of strings. The first portion is rather calming, with the violin quietly shuffling like a ghost before they begin to soar and ache. Bates’ shrieks then strike and tear through flesh as the playing is utterly gut wrenching, continuing to add power as the strings sweep, and the main melody line flows through again. A heavy haze settles over everything as the growls punish, and a huge deluge brings the track to its end.

“Freyjan Death Cult” runs 11:20 and begins mysteriously as woodwinds send chills through the trees, while the strings scrape, melting into a bluesy sequence where Bates sings and Gadke bellows behind her ritualistically. She then unleashes growls as the pace picks up, later switching back to clean vocals, while Gadke’s bass adds steam and tramples through the madness, as a psychedelic edge sinks in its teeth. Noise spits and rumbles while the growls sprawl, and a furious uprising increases the heat. Explosive rage hammers as the shrieks cut to bone, the playing floods dangerously, and the final moments disappear into the fog. “Reverend Queen” is your closer, bathing in feedback before the strings loop in, and a choral section opens its jaws. Things turn ugly as the growls hammer, melodies stir, and Bates’ violin strikes back and blares with agitation. But then things pull back, a solitary violin creates a horizon line, and the final moments bask in heavy sorrow that leads you into what lies in shadows.

Völur remain one of heavy music’s most unique bands, and by the way, if you ever have a chance to see them live (I know, I know), definitely make that happen for yourself. I’d be excited to hear how the tracks from “Death Cult” sound with this trio at the helm, breathing their Neoclassical, metallic fire into each piece. This is an arresting, adventurous record that contains some of the finest work of Völur’s career, and they’ve yet to unleash anything on us that isn’t exhilarating.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://prophecy.lnk.to/voelur-death-cult

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

I said this once already this week that having the stench of death metal hanging in the air has helped me handle the chaos we’re experiencing in America. We still don’t know who won the presidential election, and despite people demanding we have hope, it’s easy to lean back into negativity and outright loathing. For just a little while, we’ll do just that.

Actually, “outright loathing” perfectly sums up “The Tides of Blood,” the debut full-length album from Canadian destroyers Ceremonial Bloodshed, a display of filth-ridden death that feels like it was eaten and then regurgitated by a machine. Everything here is pitch black and horrifying, and anyone who’s stopping by for infectious melodies and hooks probably should move on to something else. Instead what this band—vocalist/guitarist D.M., guitarist G.C., bassist Adam Sorry, drummer A.C.—does is create nightmarish storms that eat their way into your brain and create new fear mechanisms that increase your anxiety thousandfold. Though I feel like my anxiety is so off the charts this week that this album is helping quell the nerves by creating visions that somehow are more horrifying that modern reality.

“Command Sacrifice” is an eerie intro cut that swirls in noise echo, feeling like a demented dream as “Primitive” gets moving. The track blasts as the vocals blur the lines of death, and the playing is devastating. Annihilation spreads its wings, slowly driving holes into your soul as blinding hell is unleashed. The drums destroy everything in its wake, smothering and pummeling to the end. “Book of Black Blessings” is living hell as it gets going. Blasting hard through storming chaos and riffs sinking their teeth into sinew. A snarling groove strikes oddly, cutting through guts, while the playing lashes back and leaves blood at the back of your throat. That playing then chars, unloading and blasting into “The Throat of Belial” that has a maniacal pace as the drums just slaughter. The vocals shred the mind as raspy howls strike, and the thrashing blackens eyes. “Hordes of Demons Feeding” has guitars unfurling as a calculated pace does damage before the explosions create havoc. The guitars feel like they’re spraying blood and innards, some of it getting into your mouth, as a steam bath makes you feel lightheaded, giving the guitar work a chance to level you. Violence and terror sprawl as hypnosis sets in, and your brain starts to melt from your ears.

“The Void Staring Back” is strange as hell as synth clouds surround you, and a sheep bleating in the background dissolves into “Hammer Throne” that burns and stomps from its introduction. Furnace-like filth coats your lungs, leaving you gasping, as the guitars smoke through as the riffs flex defiantly. The growls feel like they’re gashing DM’s throat as the drums kill again, and the track tears into a death chasm. “Seven Wells” runs a healthy 8:08 and enters in a gloomy yawn as the guitars work begins to spiral. The senses are totally squashed as disorienting, tornadic riffs blast toward you, maiming and strangling their way into a sludgier attack that is mounted that delivers menace. Growls carve away as bones are stomped, detonating into a delirious front that destroys to the end. “Ceremonial Bloodbath” is the longest track, killing over 8:26 and delivering relentless doom. The carnage floods, sending off disorienting jolts that leave you grabbing the wall for support. The track turns into a nasty syrup, warping its way down rock before a war-torn tempo brings you back to alert. The growls smash through your rib cage, as the playing remains steady and heavy, raging with flame toward ending sequence “In the Depths” that is a strange chasm with penetrating voices gnawing at you, haunting before the end comes suddenly.

As vile as they come, Ceremonial Bloodshed hack and grind through penetrating, filthy death metal that feels like it’s only here to see to it you suffer as much as possible. This is becoming a strain of death metal that is finding my sicker sweet spots, and the madness and insanity feels like it dials up all that’s meant to make one feel dead inside. This is relentless and bloodthirsty, the ideal death metal record for when you’re at your lowest, and the only answer is unfiltered morbidity.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://sentientruin.com/releases/ceremonial-bloodbath-the-tides-of-blood

For more on the label, go here: http://sentientruin.com/

With the luxury of having written this a few days ago, I have no idea what happened in the election, and really, by the time this runs, I still may not know. But for some head-clearing therapy, death metal has been an ideal antidote to calm the nerves, perverse as that sounds, and the feeling is we’re going to need ever more of it as the next few days transpire.

Likely sitting over in France and laughing as our farcical political theater are Sépulcre, a death metal force offering up their debut demo “Ascent Through Morbid Transcendence” that is being released in physical form by Invictus Productions. This band—vocalist/guitarist/bassist KD, guitarist HW, drummer JW—digs deep down into the filth and guts with their style, reveling in ugliness and chaos, and over these four tracks and about 15 minutes of run time, they leave no question as to how hard they’ll turn the screws, taking no real interest in alleviating your levels of pain.

“Intro-Sepulcrascent” simmers in noises that stew in their own juices, feeling cavernous and weird as the pathway opens to “Invocation of Plague Ridden Entit” that immediately begins with sidewinding riffs. The growls gurgle as the speed picks up and rampages, ripping through you with total chaos. The tempo stampedes heavily as guitars wail, and hypnotic tones bleed out and make your head spin dangerously. Drums engulf and spits chards of bone as the assault works its way toward “Morbid Transcendence” where guitars hang and sting before sinking the knife. Harsh growls reign as the pace explodes, and the playing smashes through the violent verses. Growls mash as the playing snarls, ripping out of the guts of a doom haze. “Drowned in Impure Semen” not only ends the record, but it’s the best song title of the week. Riffs club as the growls push through, and then the music encircles as the band keeps hitting harder. The pace is ugly and smashing, heading into humid dizziness as the guitars stream with rivers of blood, smothering violence crawls, and the growls deliver the final wounds.

“Ascend Through Morbid Transcendence” is an absolutely disgusting demo by this promising band Sépulcre, and though it’s four tracks and 15 minutes long, it’s enough to scar your psyche. This is a devastating display of massive, grinding death metal that isn’t trying to win style points and instead is here to maim. That mission is accomplished over and over on this beast, and it’s only a demo!

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/S%C3%A9pulcre-114775230366403

To buy the album, go here: https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/ascent-through-morbid-transcendence

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

Sacrilegious as this may sound, there are things more important than metal. Today brings one of those moments for us here in the United States as we get ready to hold our 59^th presidential election, this one potentially the most terrifying of most of our lives. So, we are pausing our normal coverage on Tuesday to put all our strengths there and hoping the outcome gives us hope for 2021 and beyond.

That doesn’t mean we’re breaking from metal today, because there is just too much good stuff out there to bring you the rest of the week, and don’t forget, this genre has given us a nice share of content that is in reaction to politics and society at large. Metallica’s entire “…And Justice for All” album. Rage Against the Machine’s entire catalog. Lamb of God’s landmark “As the Palaces Burn” record. Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze’s incredible “Offerings of Flesh and Gold.” Anything from Ragana or Thou or Redbait or Closet Witch or Woe. That’s just off the top of my head. Let it sink in and fuel your actions.

This also serves as a reminder that this site is a friend and defender of anyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+, people of color, those who battle for women’s rights, those who are trying to ensure police stop killing people (especially minorities), and basic human rights and decency for all people. We stand steadfast against racists, fascists, abusers, sexual abusers, and power structures designed to hold people down. We end this by saying fuck Donald Trump and what he’s done to this country, and may he be humiliated and destroyed and spend his days in a prison cell.  

When I was a kid, my friends and I would go on and on about what would happen if Jason Vorhees from the “Friday the 13^th” series battled Freddy Krueger from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise and what that would be like. The bloodshed! The horror movie high spots! The victims that suffer along the way! Of course, when we got it, it was … meh.

Still, a meeting of powerful forces is what we get in musical form when Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou met up to create “May Our Chambers Be Full,” a seven-track collaborative record that brings them together into a singular expression that feel likes their union is cosmic. By the way, this record is a million times the superior of the “Jason vs. Freddy” movie, but it’s Halloween and all of that. That thought of major powers meeting remains relevant though as putting these two together on paper seemed like a really captivating idea, but in execution, it surpassed even what we held in dreams thinking about this album. Rundle and Thou—vocalist Bryan Funck, guitarists Andy Gibb, KC Stafford, and Matthew Thudium, bassist Mitch Well, drummer Tyler Coburn—create their own world here. This is not Rundle singing over a Thou record; this isn’t Thou pounding into an ERR creation. This is an experience only possible through DNA from every member mixed and allowed to fully realize their combined vision.

“Killing Floor” starts with guitars rising from ashes before the track bursts open, and Rundle’s voice leads the way. Funck plays more of a back-up role here as his growls complement the singing, while the chorus trudges on, and Rundle calls, “Move your body from this place.” The voices then switch roles as shrieks scrape, and the gaze burns off, leaving scorched earth behind. “Monolith” is crushing and clobbering from the start as Stafford takes lead, adding their dusky tones to the mix. The pressure keeps building as Stafford’s singing swelters, with the back end picking up filth, and the track mauling on its way out. “Out of Existence” is sweeping and dreamy as it blossoms with Rundle’s voice floating above the chaos, and then the bottom drops. Funck’s growls tear through guts, feeling animalistic as the playing matches. A deep fog opens and covers with thickness while moody leads lean in, Rundle’s voice powers, with the track ending in a sound warp. “Ancestral Recall” starts Rundle opening the track before the growls swallow serenity whole, and the guitar work spirals and mystifies. Rundle whips back in and she and Funck join in true duet mode, blood streaking clouds, letting the intensity fill your chest with emotion.

“Magickal Cost” starts rusty and like something that crawls out of the evening dusk, a track that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of Rundle’s solo albums. Guitars echo and moan as the sun sets and splashes oranges and purples across the sky, and then the ugliness rears its head as Funck digs into the center, with guitars glimmering. The drums hammer as the dual vocals mash together, leaving a power surge in soft echo. “Into Being” starts in a hush with Rundle’s singing mixing with Funck’s harsh tones, with strings drizzling honey over hell. The crunch arrives with the chorus lighting up the night while the leads take off and blaze, charring the ground and evaporating into the mud. “The Valley” ends the album, and it’s a monumental track, an 8:58-long rush of emotion that makes your heart cry out. Strings swell as Rundle’s singing slithers into the murk as she calls, “The fear of giving up is in the valley.” Drums echo as the violin slowly melts, feeling like it’s about to wither away before the power is charged up. Rundle and Funck join swords, giving their words two different textures and perspectives, causing you to quake where you sit as souls are destroyed, hearts diced and splattered.

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou coming together already felt like a dream from a parallel universe, but “May Our Chambers Be Full” is even more immersive and magical than anticipated. The fact that both these forces meld together so well feels like they were meant to create as one, and every moment of this record should have you wondering if your heart and ravaged body can take anymore. This may be ERR’s and Thou’s first full journey together, but I really hope it’s nowhere near their last.

For more on Emma Ruth Rundle, go here: https://www.facebook.com/emmaruthrundle/

For more on Thou, go here: http://noladiy.org/thou.html

To buy the album, go here: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/collections/releases/products/sba007-emma-ruth-rundle-thou-may-our-chambers-be-full

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

Having a lot of music being made and more options for listeners is a great thing, and you’d have to try awfully hard to seek out something that’ll move you and fail completely. That’s ideal for a listener who can pick and choose what they want to hear, but when you’re writing about it—yes, this again, get your own site, then—the ocean of releases can be intimidating and exhausting.

When I got the promo package for “Glow,” the second record from UK-based Countless Skies, I wasn’t really bursting with excitement off the bat because progressive melo-death isn’t really something that makes me all that excited. But I try to stay open-minded, and I trust Willowtip, so I dug in, and if I’m not a complete judgmental asshole! This record is absolutely nothing like what I thought at all, and I’ve been fully immersed with each trip I’ve taken alongside these seven tracks. While, yes, progressive in nature, this band isn’t noodling the fuck all over themselves and instead find ways to work interesting patterns into their melodic death, which is gritty, satisfying, and soaring. That Countless Skies—vocalist/guitarist Ross King, guitarist James Pratt, bassist/vocalist Phil Romeo, drummer Nathan Robshaw—pull this off with such precision and actual human heart is impressive, and while it might not be edgy enough for some, I really like the mix of spacious and devastating, dealt in balanced servings.

“Tempest” starts the record with waves crashing before the crunch hits, and then spacious playing rushes along with King’s growls setting in. The chorus is huge with clean singing surging, with keys fluttering after that, and a total prog assault arriving. Emotion floods as guitars explode, with the song draining out. “Summit” begins with rich gothy keys and a chugging pace as huge vocals explode, and the growls utterly swelter. The chorus feels gigantic and gets your blood going as we head into a fog with the bass swaggering, synth zapping, and grisly growls taking the track to its end. “Moon” starts in a noise haze as the keys drive, and a crunchy fury pokes holes in the walls. The chorus is sweeping and massive as progressive winds push, and the guitars burn openly. The final moments allow for some final bursts as the track disappears into the horizon. “Zephyr” trickles in coldly as the keys set up shop, and the bass actively wrestles its way through the weeds. The vibe is solemn and fitting of the early evening, when the skies grow sleepy, as the final minutes break out and explode with crazed fire.

The record is wrapped up by the “Glow” triptych, which runs over a healthy 20:29 and starts with “Part 1” that emerges out of a thick haze as bass trickery unleashes its strangeness. Guitars darken as clean singing swelters, with the growls bursting behind that like a beast in the night. Guitars smear as the playing boils, with parts of the track soaring, other sections diving deep into ocean waters. Guitars give off the day’s final rays of light, mixing into “Part 2” that jolts with energy and atmosphere, with King’s singing firing off energy. Growls add an element of ugliness as the leads take off, and a heartfelt gust of playing kicks up dust, cold keys chill, and we head into the final segment “Part 3.” Acoustics sweep with synth bursts as King’s singing opens and fills your chest. The melodies swirl as the guitars send electrical charges, and the fiery pace is on, with the playing quaking the earth. The growls scrape at flesh as the pace dizzies and clobbers, and the final hammer is dropped as the light fades.

Countless Skies aren’t concerned with pure savagery at all corners, as their commitment to melody and true human emotion make “Glow” a record that isn’t just here to get you maimed. This is a really energetic album, one that gets inside of you from the start and lets you explore every corner of the world they create. Granted, the world seems flooded with bands mixing prog into melodic death metal, but few do it with the precision and heart that are shown by Countless Skies.  

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.willowtip.com/store/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.willowtip.com/home.aspx