The amount of people who inhabit earth who have been to outer space is shockingly small, which probably is for the best. Yeah, OK, because you need years and years of training, and you have to have the proper mentality to go out there. I mean more because we’re such horrible stewards of our own planet, the rest of the galaxy doesn’t need us destroying anything else out there.

While I’m pretty sure no members of Blut Aus Nord are a part of any space program (hey, I could be wrong), I have a strange suspicion its members have visited the deepest reaches of the cosmos and have used their records to report back and deliver that energy. It takes no time at all to dig into their new 14^th record “Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses” to think they’ve done some travelling beyond this rock. This seven-track, 46-minute album is one of the strangest yet most immersive of their nearly three-decade run, which is mind blowing considering the creative clip this band has been on from the start. If you’re not prepared, this thing will break you brain as this trio—guitarist/vocalist Vindsval, bassist GhÖst, drummer/keyboard player/electronics master W.D. Feld—rewire your expectations of these black metal wizards who long ago left behind convention and rules. My first listen was after some mind-altering substances, and fuck, was I not ready for this. I’ve had repeated listens in various states, and every one of them has been unique as I’ve uncovered new layers I didn’t before.

“Chants of the Deep Ones” gets the record off to a rapturing start, the melodies swirling through the cosmos, and on my first listen, this was a total adventure. Growls hiss behind the wall of chaos, riffs continue to slip into stardust, and the track slowly dissolves into your blood. “Tales of the Old Dreamer” amplifies the psychosis as it punches into smeary fire, filling your brain with strange tales unfolding before you. The guitars explore and hurdle power jolts, and your dreams spill from your eyes as the magic catapults and swallows you whole. “Into the Woods” enters in a disorienting aura as the playing drips and melts, the guitars moaning out of intergalactic stimulation. Hisses are hidden behind the ghostly presence that continually increases as choral sections infect, and the bizarre final moments snake through your psyche.

“Neptune’s Eye” brings warped riffs and time seemingly consumed in front of your eyes. The drums splatter as the growls emerge, and the numbing presence that gains steam increases the pressure and the imaginative hell that’s unraveling around you. “That Cannot Be Dreamed” starts with guitars gusting and the atmosphere getting more volatile, your brainwaves bending wildly. Growls gurgle as the weather patterns threaten, the pace pulls back, and sounds whir and flow into nightmares. “Keziah Mason” swims in deep space rock oceans at first, moving through shadows and onto alien surfaces that feel inviting. The playing smears as electronics sting, a hypnotic attack spins your brain, and the final strains mix into a sound haze. Closer “The Apotheosis of the Unnamable” is miasmal goo creeping near you, the pummeling working to increase your madness. Guitars work into a thick fog, and the playing slowly chugs until psychotic spirits engulf, alien rubber proves more flexible than guessed, and the last minutes slip into a chemical spill and turn to unrecognizable elements.

Blut Aus Nord don’t seem to have an off button as far as their extraterrestrial creativity that is smeared all over “Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses,” their challenging and haunting 14^th record. This creation is following on the same astral pathways as their last couple records but finds new ways to be wonderfully warped and something that makes you feel disoriented for your entire journey. There’s no sign this band is anywhere near slowing down, proof of which is in this stimulating record that’s something only this entity could create.

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

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

Or here (Europe): https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/12-eshop

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

Pain and misery are two elements in which we are swimming as there feels like there is an abundance of people suffering and situations that are bleak and dreary. Even as summer is about to burst here in North America, our gloom remains for so many, and just because the heat and sunshine are raging back, that doesn’t heal the blackness that rests in so many hearts.

Australian doom-death crushers Malignant Aura sink their teeth heavily into the seamy side of existence on their massive debut full-length “Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped Upon Me,” an album that actually tells you all you need to know thematically from its name. But there’s even more behind that as the band’s dour and ferocious doom hammers you, piling smothering riffs and cataclysmic growls on top of you, hardly letting you get a glimpse of light. Mastered by the always trustworthy Arthur Rizk, this band (whose identities I had zero luck finding) adds pressure and merciless pain, forcing you to wallow deep in the endless gloom and come face to face with horrors that’ll take apart your psyche.

“Malignant Aura” opens with eerie throat singing before an incredible riff crests, and the playing slowly bludgeons, taking its time to move over you. The guitars pick up as the pace bashes away, the temperatures swelter, and pressure increases on your chest, agitating your panic level. Guitars moan as the growls lurch, a wave of noise adding corrosion. “In a Timeless Place Beneath the Earth” is immediately sorrowful as guitars gain heat, and the growls crush your will to move forward. The playing speeds up and pummels, and that punishment claws away as the guitars catch fire, blinding you with the blazing. Growls hiss, heavy blows are dealt, and the emotion collects as everything comes to a wrenching end. “There Is Blackness in the Water” is the longest song here, running 12:04 and leaning right into double-kick drum ferocity and crushing growls, later melting from the heat. Hypnosis swells as the darkness thickens and threatens, and then the earth implodes, volcanic force becoming an insurmountable factor. From there, the pace clobbers, doomy guitars layer the soot thick, and everything slowly but surely fades into the night.

The title track begins with a clip from the 1981 film “Possession” before hazy riffs drop, and the growls hulk thickly, the growl of, “I am nothing but a remnant,” digging into your mind. The playing delivers sooty doom punishment until things comes apart, and the guitars enter a full hellish assault as the riffs encircle, burning into oblivion. “Soliloquy Beneath the Sepulchure” runs a massive 10:15 with guitars raining down, the growls pouring generous amounts of misery and sorrow. Vicious heaviness leans in and makes the weight unbearable, and then the heat increases, making breathing something of a chore. Elegant guitars spill, the double kick drums pummel, and everything ends in streams of ash. “…And So It Was That I Lay Down Forever” closes the record by melting iron gates and stomping forcefully, delivering a devastating pace. The slowly burning fury is massive as noise rings, and the mouth of doom begins to consume the earth whole, bringing a full serving of physical and mental destruction. The playing chews on muscle as authoritative speaking booms, slowly but surely bleeding away for good.

Malignant Aura’s brand of death-doom goes down perfectly on their debut “Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped Upon Me,” a record that should unite younger fans with those who have been dining at the subgenre’s dank halls ever since the beginning. This is a collection that’ll darken your soul and mind but also move your heart to beat faster with excitement and force. This is a masterful debut record, an album that overdelivers and brings the might of the earth to drive you to your knees.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.bitterlossrecords.com/malignant-aura

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

I commonly spend time after the sun has gone down staring into the night sky as I have my dog outside for her nightly activities. That goes beyond just looking into the clouds but well beyond into the stars, wondering what’s going on currently on those tiny needlepoints of light and imagining anyone or anything there is looking back. This is the intro for a black metal record in case you’re confused.

For the members of newly formed Nattehimmel, which is Norsk for “night sky,” they’re making that trip not just mentally but musically on their three-track debut demo tape “The Night Sky Beckons.” Those involved with this band are no strangers as the Botteri brothers Christian (guitars) and Christopher (bass), both founding members of legendary In the Woods… and Green Carnation, join with vocalist James Fogarty (also formerly of In the Woods… and Old Forest among countless others) as well as drummer and long-time collaborator Sven Rothe (Strange New Dawn) to plant new seeds into the black metal and pagan metal terrain, hoping to reap a full harvest soon with their upcoming first full-length album. In the meantime, we have this exciting start that definitely has plenty of DNA from their past projects but also soars into new areas and auras that make the future extremely exciting.

“Astrologer” gets off to a spirited start, promising a blast of energy they’re more than willing to deliver. Clean vocals spread and later are consumed by powerful shrieks, the playing trudging and storming before hypnosis takes over. The leads take charge, the playing has a fantastical edge that’s super sticky, and the playing cascades over the final moments, leaving your body heaving. “Mountain of the Northern Kings” enters amid key layers and then a sinister, dramatic push that’s heavy and immersive. Vicious wails punch in as the playing burns hard into a synth cloud, clean guitars give a spacey aura, and then the menace returns and darkens skies, slowly trickling out until everything fades. Closer “Nattehimmel – The Night Sky Beckons” starts with guitars picking up, taking on a forceful black metal spirit, and the drums just erupt, pulling bodies apart violently and without mercy. Guitars rise and glimmer, giving off great energy, the playing spirals and floods, and the track spends its  blistering and last stretch battering and leaving you to wonder what exactly just hit you.

Nattehimmel pay enormous homage to their own roots and paths they’ve blazed in metal and prepare the world for what they have left in them on “The Night Sky Beckons,” their promising debut EP. Everyone here has a resume that’s more than impressive and can match up with just about anyone’s, and this band ripples with promise, warning that this is just the first strike. I’m excited for what Nattehimmel create from this point, and no matter where that is, there will be this crucial first building block sitting in the center of the foundation.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://hammerheartstore.com/collections/all

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

Black metal is a strangely inhabited forest with plenty of trees, the ground fertile and overflowing with vegetation and bloody soil, and the opportunity to truly separate oneself from everything else something of a struggle to get right. That’s a bizarre way of saying there’s so much dotting the black metal landscape that it’s easy to lose sight of the bands worth your time and attention.

Australia’s Thrall have been going at things for some time, scorching the early for more than 15 years but remaining eerily silent for most of the past nine. That silence is about to end with the arrival of their fourth full-length record “Schisms,” a scathing album that’s packed with the virulent power the subgenre expects but also manages to rise above the flood with creativity and heart. The band—guitarist/vocalist Tøm Vøid, guitarist Ramez Bathish, bassistJonno Cachia, drummer Jared Mawdsley—delivers tyranny and explosive emotion on these hefty eight songs, their spirits as darkened and forlorn as the cloak figure wandering the shadows on the album’s cover art.

The title track opens the record, spilling filthy black metal into your lap, cries rupturing the peace. Sounds boil as vicious vocals lace against your flesh, melodic fury driving hard to the end. “Tyrant” tears into the flesh and charges hard, the vocals chipping away at bone. The aura is blistering and full of energy, and then things go hypnotic and strange, making your head spin and body chill, and then an explosion strikes as the gas pedal is jammed. The leads heat up as the melodies rush with chiming noises echoing and dissolving. “Veils” pounds away as the vocals tear into your ribs and the speed strikes with hammering velocity. Guitars jolt and leave bruising as a mystical force sets in, the fires rage anew, and the furious pace leaves you in the dust. “Hollow” enters amid dark riffs and a blasting force, fast playing punishing and flattening until a brief respite brings temporary calm before the ferocity increases again. Shrieks dice as echoes pull back the terror, numbing the mind before some final fireworks batter your nervous system.

“Nihil” bleeds open into a hazy, hypnotic feel, the vocals crushing while all the other elements disorient. Later, the playing mauls and holds you over the barrel, your brainwaves begin to short circuit, and that lets your senses melt out and into “Abyss” that enters to jangly guitars and the skies lighting up brightly. The guitars chug as the vocals choke on cinders, and then mysterious winds gather and spread, feeling ghostly and weird even as the vocals begin to take it to you again. The final moments attack you like a buzzsaw, preparing you for “Epoch” that punches its way in and swims in the melodies. Scathing howls leave marks as drums crush bones, and the guitars explode and lather, feeling a little bluesy along the way. The vibe gets chunkier and more violent, charging relentlessly into stormy winds that pull you under. Closer “Dust” basks in stormy atmosphere as the guitars heat up, and the playing rumbles. Again, the melodies take over and cause your heart to surge, and the elements get menacing and threatening, the growls wailing on your exposed wounds. The playing envelopes as the pressure increases its chokehold, the final embers disappearing into eerie mystery.

Thrall manage to deliver black metal that is immersed in darkness and also swelling in infectious vibes that make your blood rush harder. “Schisms” is more than a solid effort, it’s a step forward for this Aussie unit that keeps finding new ways to energize and confound listeners who likely will need multiple visits with these eight songs to turn over and find what’s under every rock. This is a record that can scorch and enthrall, leaving wounds that hurt but ultimately leave the body stronger.  

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

To buy the album, go here: https://impuresounds.bigcartel.com/

Or here: https://brilliantemperor.bigcartel.com/

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

And here: https://www.facebook.com/BrilliantEmperorRecords

It probably sounds like a back-handed compliment to say someone has a gift for delivering misery, but try to argue Mournful Congregation don’t possess exactly that. They didn’t invent funeral doom, but I can’t think of a band that’s done it better for a longer period of time than this Australian force, one you should absolutely pursue seeing in a live setting if that fortune finds you. It’s an experience.

Seeking to bridge 2018’s “The Incubus of Karma” (our No. 1 record of that year) with their next full-length effort, the band is putting out two EPs, the first just about to arrive with “The Exuviae of Gods – Part I.” It’s kind of comical referring to this three-track release as an EP as it still runs a beefy 37 minutes, full-length run time in many subgenres, and as expected it’s a thorough serving that leaves you rotting and broken inside once you’ve experienced the whole thing. The band—vocalist/guitarist Damon Good, guitarists Justin Hartwig and Ben Petch, bassist Ben Newsome, drummer Tim Call—locks in with their trademark slow excursion into misery, delivering compelling and psyche-wrenching power that no one creates quite like they do and that feels excruciating but necessary to digest in whole.  

“Mountainous Shadows, Cast Through Time” is the 14:05-long opener, and it starts with organs sprawling and growls lurching, a slow storm brewing and moving across the land. Breezy leads cause your flesh to crawl as the guitars layer heavy emotion, the growls crumbling along with an elegant haze. Leads burst and sprawl, detached speaking echoes in your brain, and the playing clouds and mars. Guitars work back in as whispers grow greater, the music fading into time. The title track is a 7:11-long instrumental that begins with acoustics and warm electrics, changing the pace back and forth. Strange vibes work in and change the atmospheric pressure, the leads glow, and the heat melts the thickened ice. Closer “An Epic Dream of Desire” is the longest track at 15:47 and starts with restrained heat, the speaking coming in lurches. The playing slowly moves as the aura gets darker, the guitars slowly dissolving into acoustics before synth strings stretch their wings. The power begins to gather, the guitars churn, and the speaking sends chills down your spine, haunting and ringing. The mood thickens as the pace picks up, the strings explode, and everything disappears in a dramatic gust.

Even a smaller serving of Mournful Congregation is as meaty and nourishing as other band’s full-length efforts, and “The Exuviae of Gods – Part I” is one hell of an appetizer. This band’s grasp of funeral doom is tight and suffocating as they have turned their sound into something almost entirely theirs. It’s great to have this three-track beast and just as exciting to know there’s another volume coming before we head into their new mammoth full-length crusher.

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

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

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

Death metal is a ridiculously deep pool with a lot of swimmers, some of them only marginally above water, and to get into that mix takes some guts to be honest. But death metal exists, and as long as it does, bands will try to add their touch to that sub-genre, and we encourage that, even if it means we’re inundated with mundane bands. But not all of them are that way.

Polish death metal squad Clairvoyance just are getting their boots situated into the bloody soil, but if their debut EP “Threshold of Nothingness” can be trusted as a, um, clairvoyant into their future, things are bound to get gory and ugly. Over 5 tracks and about 24 minutes, the band—vocalist Maciej Cesarczyk, guitarists Lukasz Lipski and Denis Didenko, bassist Kacper Pawluk, drummer Adrian Szczepański—absolutely delivers, sounding relentless and snarling, dealing power and menace the way some bands emit glory and elegance. Everything is ugly, with wounds promising to turn into scars, and these first five tracks threaten to be the start of a long-running, physically intimidating campaign.

“Decline Into Oblivion” rips open with death metal rolling hard, the vocals crushing as the emotion bubbles over. The track then switches up as the speed collects and takes off, the band mauls, and the deadly final strains blend into “The Curse” that steamrolls right away. Death chugs unleash violence and unforgiving pressure while the guitars shriek, doing damage to your eardrums. The growls dig into the soil looking for a place to bury you, and the playing is only too happy to load you into the ground as the fires rage toward “Chronicles of Emptiness” that feels doomy and infernal as it starts. The pace increasingly picks up and delivers devastation, and then things turn on a dime, the thrashing changing its approach but not its blood lust. The drums are turn rock to powder, the guitars drive the blade, and everything ends in blood spatter. “A Cairn of Souls” is speedy and relentless, going for a murderous spree that gives you no time to take cover. It feels like the earth is rumbling beneath you, the mud thickens, and nothing is left but blood and bone. “Tarnished Vessel” is the closer, starting hazy and humid before the machine kicks into high gear. Beastly growls combine with a murderous pace, the guitars smearing mud on your face and into your mouth. The playing gets burlier, shedding blood through open wounds, and then the guitars hang dangerously in the air, leaving scorched earth behind.

“Threshold of Nothingness” is a quick glimpse of a band coming into its own, delivering death metal inspired by decades gone past but treating it with a modern bloodthirst that’s impossible to avoid. Clairvoyance already have a stranglehold on their sound, and every moment of this 24-minute EP is spilling over the edges with gore and pain, proving they have the meddle to be a major force going forward. This is a punishing first foray into metal’s shark-infested waters, and they have the tenacity and power not only to survive but to dominate.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.bloodharvest.se/?s=Clairvoyance&post_type=product

For more on the label, go here: https://www.bloodharvest.se/

Getting a second chance to do the thing you love is not something that should be taken for granted, and it doesn’t happen to everyone. It’s not uncommon for great things to end prematurely, often for reasons beyond the grasp of those involved, and getting a second wind to make things right or continue the path toward goals not yet achieved is a gift that should be torn open with great enthusiasm.

Many people know the story of Cave In, the long-running, impossible to truly classify band that tore into the world on the wings of fire-breathing, wildly influential debut “Until Your Heart Stops” and has changed colors and sounds throughout the past two decades. The death of bassist Caleb Scofield in 2018 seemed, at the time, to be the potential end of the band, and their 2019 record “Final Transmission” appeared to verify their final days. But the fires were still burning, their love and respect for Scofield forever flowing, and they decided to carry on, create again, and they’ve returned with their amazing new record “Heavy Pendulum.” This album is a triumph on every level. The remaining members of the band—guitarists/vocalists Stephen Brodsky and Adam McGrath, drummer John-Robert Conners—united with longtime ally Nate Newton (Converge, Doomriders) to take bass and added vocal duties and turned on the lava flow, delivering a mammoth 14-track double album that is sure-fire album of the year material. It’s a huge, heavy, infectious, energetic record that not only pays proper homage to Scofield but pushes the band onto a new course with the future open and exciting.

“New Reality” is a killer opener, the perfect way to prepare you for what’s ahead with big riffs chugging, catchiness surrounding you and Brodsky calling, “New reality, never knew would be, dawning on me.” The soloing scorches toward the end, and the final moments leave you in the dust. “Blood Spiller” makes the perfect next step, the second half of a 1-2 punch that smokes and smashes, the chorus of, “Fresh kill or the killer, you can choose only one,” digging into you. The band mashes heavily, the guitars get spacious, and Newton gets in on the action, howling, “Watch it run!” “Floating Skulls” keeps the heat on high, Brodsky’s singing often taking on a James Hetfield feel as he barks away. The riffs swim, the chorus is a big one that’ll be a fire starter live, and everything zaps through space before the track comes to a bludgeoning end. The title track pulls back some, though it’s still intense, going moody and mid-paced, Brodsky delivering some of his best singing. Things shift later and get hazier, the chorus rounds back, and that simmers off into “Pendulambient,” a quick instrumental that meanders through the clouds and resets the mood. “Careless Offering” is another destroyer, pummeling and bleeding as Brodsky warns, “Someday we’ll be coming for the blood on your hands,” a vow that is repeated several times. The guitars take off into the stratosphere, and Newton’s wails punish again, the track chugging off into the stars. “Blinded By a Blaze” runs 7:39, the second-longest track on here, and it bleeds in feeling moody and reflective. “Sunsets explode, scorching our view, long is the road leading to you,” Brodsky calls in desperation, later moving into psyche guitars that numb your brain and pull you down with it. The guitars heat up as the pace increases, tangling with emotion and tumult.

“Amaranthine” is a track that lyrically was built from Scofield, so he’s very much a part of this record. Fittingly Newton takes the bulk of the vocals here, paying homage to the man whose shoes he’s filling, doing so with rage and passion. “We make peace with our sins, raise our shields to the sun,” Brodsky sings over the chorus, the energy flowing through the entire band, the guitars blazing, and everything ending in fittingly strange colors. “Searchers of Hell” bludgeons with grit and venom, the guitars smothering, your mind simmering in blood. Newton’s vocals split lips while heaviness reigns and ends in a pile of soot. “Nightmare Eyes” goes 7:05, and it’s a personal favorite, bristling and glowing. “Kill the head, watch it roll, into black hole, kill the head, body dies, dropping like flies,” Brodsky calls as some bluesy playing rears its head, and so much of what’s going on here tingles and activates your cells, living inside your blood. “Days of Nothing” is an instrumental interlude that feels a little like medicine head, and then it’s on to the weird and grungy “Waiting for Love,” the snarling wah pedal playing with your mind. The track trudges and bruises, the longing feels palpable, and the metallic teeth chew on muscle leave you heaving and trying to calm your heart pattern. “Reckoning” is a rare political statement by the band, and it hits hard, McGrath jabbing, “You swore on your bible with pages worn and distressed, how about a revival without getting too complex,” his voice taking on an uncharacteristic but pretty cool twang. The track takes on a dreamy feel later, burning off and landing in a bed of acoustics. Closer “Wavering Angel” is the longest song, a 12:09-long cut that feels quite uncharacteristic coming from Cave In. It’s quiet, delicate, and pained, Brodsky quivering, “Have you ever held somebody too close? Took ‘em like a drug, then you overdose,” his hurt dripping. The track remains solemn and lightly storming, Brodsky calling, “Heavy, heavy wet weather, twisting, turn to the never,” as the pace begins to pick up, and eventually the heaviness lands. The guitars do battle, the melodies increase and cascade, and the emotional high and hypnotic haze reach their apex, slowly fading into vapor.

Luckily “Final Transmission” was not Cave In’s last excursion into the world, as “Heavy Pendulum” shows a band reborn with heavy energy, a channeled and motivated band that is doing some of the best work of their storied career. This is a record that sounds great on first listen, and then with each subsequent visit, it grows on you, stretching inside your body and infecting your blood. This band has survived unspeakable tragedy only to come out even more battle tested, muscular, and exploding with an energy and hunger than should make every other band shake with fear.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://store.relapse.com/cave-in-heavy-pendulum

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

Life is a hellscape, and unless you’re an ultra-rich white conservative, you’re feeling the same way. Let me clarify that: If you fall into that category, you’re actually in a worse state of self-loathing and hatred that probably makes you violently vomit at your image in the mirror every day. But OK, look, we’re in a strange and terrible time, and we have been for quite some time.

Good news/bad news is Come to Grief finally have delivered their debut full-length “When the World Dies,” building off the stellar reputation Guilt built decades ago in as scathing manner possible. The bad news? The world sucks, and you are immersed into the gut of that reality on this smoking, slaughtering record. But look, the music is what matters here, and of course they deliver the goods, and it’s nasty and scathing, and you won’t feel any better about the planet or its people when it’s over. Building off the smoldering ashes Grief left behind, this band—vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Hebert, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Terrenza Savastano (from the original Grief), bassist Jon Morse, drummer Chuck Conlon (also from Grief)—not only follows up what their original band and debut record of the same name offered the world, they push it further into psychological horrors you must face or otherwise suffer in silence.

“Our End Begins” is a slowly drubbing instrumental opener that opens the door to the punishment ahead, and that bleeds into “Life’s Curse” that delivers crushing riffs and shrieks that dig under your fingernails. Burly hammering speeds up as the heat melts flesh, the playing takes on a bigger burden toward bruising you, and the band blasts into your chest, dragging you across the cinders. “Scum Like You” untangles riffs in a calculated manner, and the vocals curdle, making your intestines crawl. The riffs feel drunken but also sharp, like it has clarification in the fog, and the vocals absolutely mangle, rushing into a quick false finish before reopening. From there, they pour lava into wounds, and the vocals gut before finally relenting. “Devastation of Souls” smothers and trashes you, bringing ominous riffs that chew away at your mind, the playing encircling dangerously. Screams dice your sanity, killer riffs stomp all over the earth, and the viciousness finally ends when one last riff enters and splatters.

The title track is scary when it dawns, the guitars fry maddeningly, and the bass plods, your skull bouncing off each step along the way. Crushing heaviness meets up with a thickening haze, and things are allowed to cool until the temperature threatens, and spacious misery sinks into the ground. “Bludgeon the Soul/Returning to the Void” has noise hanging in the air before the vocals start to boil, and the pace drubs hard, slithering through broken, bloody glass. The shrieks rip as the band thrashes wrenchingly, and the guitars then glow with a sort of apocalyptic sheen with everything laid to rest. Closer “Death Can’t Come Soon Enough” hints at its despair from the title, and then you dig into this track, which hammers away with pure misery. The vocals eat through bone, the intensity continually increases, and slow-driving madness collects, meeting with a churning pace and devastating cries that melt out with the volcanic pressure.

“When the World Dies” is a record with which to be reckoned, a seven-track pounder that is so massive and devastating that you feel markedly worse when the thing finally ends. That’s not a negative. Come to Grief have paid proper homage to their roots and created a blazing fire into the future that only can be quenched by blood and pain. This record takes you to the woodshed over and over, and you’ll have wounds you can’t explain for weeks after your initial bout ends.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://orcd.co/whentheworlddiesalbum

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

Oh fuck, he’s going to talk about the pandemic again. How much mileage is he going to get out of this? If you think you’re tired of me leading with that, imagine how I feel? I’m tired. But it is what it is, and there’s really a good reason for this today, and I’d say there have been a lot of justifiable diversions we’ve taken toward plague because we are living in the arms of death.

Southwestern black metal force Predatory Light are not backing off a disease that’s spreading the earth and mutating, and they lean hard into the eyes of horrors on their long-awaited second record “Death and the Twilight Hours,” their first for 20 Buck Spin. Their celebration of death and fear amid times of pestilence are woven through these four tracks, or hymns as they call them, and the band—guitarist/vocalist L.S., guitarist/organist K.M., bassist D.J., drummer D.M., all members of the band Superstition—is fully immersed in the terror and anxiety that accompany invisible assassins that can show up at your door when you least expect it. The music is strange and ghostly, a perfect representation of the art on the Giovanni Boccaccio cover that should cause you to cower in fear of the unknown.

“The Three Living and the Three Dead” is the 13:47-long opener, starting with chilling vibes and carrying into guitar echo and then a ferocious spray of harsh cries. The playing is hypnotic and blistering, causing disorientation, and atmospheric heat precedes the band stampeding again, angling into steamy guitar work and hazy confusion. Doomy fury mixes with strange mists before the pace kicks back in, pushing everything to a gusting finish. “Wracked by Sacred Fires” teases with riffs and scathing vocals, the playing spindling and making the room spin. Growls smear as your brain is consumed by clouds, the guitars spiral and jolt, and speeds zaps in and ends in savagery.

The title track runs a healthy 11:20, and it twists the knobs and attempts to rewire your mind, the bass slithering through the murk. Leads turn through the cosmos as a strange aura welcomes cold guitars that raise your flesh, and things get gnarlier and more unhinged. A huge finger-tapped guitar assault consumes, the band thrashes wildly, and L.S. vows, “The kingdom of death has come!” amid the flurry of punishment. “To Plead Like Angels” closes the album and also plays games with your psyche, sweeping insanity swallowing you whole. The vocals feel like a knife through flesh, the guitars steam and wilt, and then things speed up to a relentless level, pushing vicious chaos into a sound haze, the cloud cover consuming all and leaving everything in darkness.

We still exist in the fist of plague, no matter what some may think foolishly, and Predatory Light feast on that terrifying, negative energy on “Death and the Twilight Hours.” Its presence is like a phantasm worming its way into your mind. We’ve all lived in the face of pestilence and fear, and our lives have been impacted forever. This record is a harsh reminder that death is ever present, it can’t be defeated, and it will continue its reign until we’re all gone for good.

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

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

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

There is music that just feels like it lives in the earth around where the art came to life, and as time goes on, that gains legend and magic. Norwegian black metal feels like it exists amid the forests; Cascadian black metal rages among the mountains and fog; classic death metal bubbles in the swamps and branches, ready to pull you under. That immersion in location adds that extra level of spirit.

Ever since they came to be, Nechochwen have brought to life in their music the Appalachian region, the areas that stretch over West Virginia (where they call home), Ohio, and Pennsylvania. That continues on their long-awaited fourth album “Kanawha Black,” the title inspired by a county in West Virginia, and the music delves into historical and anecdotal frontier and pre-American happenings, events that shaped the region where they live and long has bled into their music. But this record, their first in seven years, certainly has musical ties to what preceded it; but there are new energies and sounds, increased atmosphere, and something that jolts your insides a little harder than before. This duo—Nechochwen (guitars, vocals, flute), Pohonasin (drums, bass, hand percussion, jaw harp, vocals)—sounds as moved and inspired as ever, pouring every bit of themselves into the music and experience.

The title track opens the record, and it’s a killer, jolting with guitars and great energy, Pohonasin’s infectious singing over the chorus delivering the same power he supplies with Icarus Witch and Ironflame as he bellows, “The answers still remain unknown.” Excellent opener. “The Murky Deep” begins with hearty acoustics and a gentle flow before the pace picks up, and the power bursts. Sweltering clean vocals and harsh cries combine, and the leads increase the rousing spirit, rushing to a breathless end. “I Can Die But Once” is delicate and folkish when it dawns, and more great singing makes your heart race, the fires burning brightly. Harmonized vocals add new textures, and then the electrics bustle again, giving the back end of the song a blistering prog finish.

“A Cure for the Winter Plagues” is rustic and crunchy before the guitars bleed in, and the clean calls pave way for the growls dive bombing. The pace keeps picking up as the song progresses, the playing gets increasingly hypnotic, and colors fill your head as the track comes to rest. “Visions, Dreams, and Signs” trudges and battles, speeding up and sending rock and mud flying, fiery vocals tearing into the terrain. The drums maul as the playing blasts, the leads slice a path through the wilderness, and the animated approach gives the song an electrified folk feel, telling stories lost to history in as aggressive a manner possible. “Generations of War” begins with reflective guitars and flutes signaling a deep-forest feel, almost as if your boots are crunching branches and leaves alongside them. A thrashy burst gets the juices flowing as the playing mashes, and sinister guitars increase the pressure, with Nechochwen noting, “When every stand is your last,” paying off the blood and debt paid to win the battle. “Across the Divide” is the closer, entering with acoustics dancing as the playing rushes open, the vocals swelling and paying the price. Speedy jabs and soaring leads work into an acoustic field that settles the mind, but around the next bend is another attack, spilling savage new blood into the dirt. The final minutes quake and dash, combusting dangerously and burying everything in a pile of smoldering ash.

Nechochwen’s return after seven years is a most welcome one as they’ve long been a favorite at this site, and “Kanawha Black” is yet another reason why that’s the case. The roots of their earlier material remain, but they’ve expanded their vision, never compromising their heart or their heaviness, always trying to morph into something more devastating and always thought provoking. The band’s heart is buried deep in the soil where they live, and their homage to those who came before them spills from their veins and into their art that never has sounded stronger.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.bindrunerecordings.com/products/nechochwen-kanawha-black-lp-pre-order

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