It’s easy to get bogged down in loss and grief, common themes the last year and a half for all of us, and I’ve written about it extensively based on my own experiences and pain. Getting lost in it might seem natural, especially when it feels like everything around us is negative, and that can cloud our eyes from the good that’s going on around that can be reinvigorating to our spirits.

Oakland-based post-metal quartet Daxma often wrote about philosophical and anti-capitalist political perspectives, all of which we support wholly, but this time they turned their focus inward on “Unmarked Boxes.” The title is taken from 13^th century Persian poet Rumi’s work of the same name that basically says don’t grieve as the things you love come back in other forms. Not that grieving should be avoided, but one should keep in mind that positive energies shift and change, we find things of wonder and beauty in other places, and we can grow and heal through those ideas. The band—Isaac R. (guitars, vocals, bass), Jessica T. (violin, vocals, guitar, piano), Forrest H. (guitar, bass), Thomas I. (drums)—spreads these sentiments and emotions over six charged, riveting tracks that visit dark and light, misery and revitalization, all of which fill you with varied energies that help you find some sense of recovery.

“The Clouds Parted” runs 13:25 and opens unassumingly with keys dripping and teasing before the track powers open. Isaac’s vocals settle over everything, injecting power, while the drama builds and strengthens its hold. Jessica’s voice enters the fray as we have dual voices moving, amplifying the darkness, sending a deluge of sounds to swell the high point. The playing fades into dark before reemerging in a gaze, spilling slowly and bleeding away. “And the Earth Swallowed Our Shadows” moves with precision as noise moans and keys slither, and then the water rush, keeping you afloat on your journey. That leads into a murk that finally settles in echo, and then we’re into “Hiraeth,” a 13:29-long epic that’s majestic from the start. Sounds swell as Jessica’s voice explodes and drives the plot, synth sways, and strong jolts get your blood racing. The violin play amplifies and makes your mind soar, while graceful melodies encircle, the playing rains down, and everything submits to the sunset.

“Saudade” enters with acoustic guitars and some thick cloud coverage, echoes filling your mind. Gazey wailing creates a syrupy drip that enters your veins, and the gears move into “Anything You Lose,” an 11:21-long journey that starts in psychedelic clouds. Alien strangeness clouds as breezy night winds take hold, and dual vocals increase the dreaminess. As the playing unloads, it feels regal and driving with the strings calling before the guts get ripped out. The playing goes from calming to punishing, stomping and rising with a fury as frigidity takes over and smears into 9:43 closer “Comes Back in Another Form” where strings hover like a storm. Ominous bashing and a heartfelt deluge unite and increase your adrenaline while the melodies crush hard, feeling energetic and jabbing. The temperature changes for a stretch as the strings sting and the storm promises a soaking that finally arrives and bleeds into morbidity that sends endless chills down your spine.

Daxma’s power and energy are forces with which to be reckoned on “Unmarked Boxes.” That’s not just musically, where their might is apparent, but also thematically as the band gives you a place to deal with pain, loss, and regret and make sense of these darker elements. For those of us suffering, especially the ones who have been for extended period, this record is a great place to center yourself and absorb these forces and turn them into positive energy.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com/product/daxma-unmarked-boxes-2xlp-with-etched-d-side

Or here: https://www.bluesfuneral.com/collections/releases

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

And here: https://www.bluesfuneral.com/

If someone had come to you in February of 2020 and explained what things would look like in November 2021, how many people would have outright decided to just opt out of that whole experience? It’s been an awful stretch of existence that have robbed so many of us of our sanity, our safety, and even worse, our loved ones. It’s not over, nowhere close, and so many seem to not even care to try.

Apostle of Solitude have been carving out their doom path for almost two decades now, and they’ve been a source for some of the darker elements in life, sometimes in uncomfortable form. But you never could question their intent, and as time has gone on, their sound rounded into something larger, more melodic, and that peaks on their new record “Until the Darkness Goes.” Right away, longtime listeners will notice some changes in that there are fewer songs than usual and that their playing has grown richer, but there’s something even darker inside. They, too, were impacted by the pandemic, and one of their members lost both parents, something that also has happened to me. Therefore, the songs this band—vocalist/guitarist Chuck Brown, guitarist/vocalist Steve Janiak, bassist Mike Naish, drummer Corey Webb—created for their fifth album hit even closer to home for them as this is the product of pain and suffering they very much endured and likely have to face every day when they wake up. It’s a struggle and a burden, and that comes across ion the music.

“When the Darkness Comes” dawns with strong guitar work wailing and bleeding in misery, barreling through as Brown’s singing wells in your chest. The playing travels through cold that makes your bones shake, the bass snarls, and burly crunching makes your heart feel heavy as Brown calls, “There is no way we survive,” as the track bows out. “The Union” is muscular and burns slowly while the center point pounds away. “From this truth we are taken, we all die alone,” Brown wails, making your existential heart ache as the song enters a low-end pummeling, and things buzz deeply until draining away. “Apathy in Isolation” takes time to mold and develop a mood, letting you swim in the waves. “It’s too late for sorrow, the sand’s run out,” Brown levels as the track slips into colder waters. The chorus is simple but effective as the guitars cascade, the sadness flows, and the final moments punch out.

“Deeper Than the Oceans” begins with clean riffs before things begin to buzz, and the misery spreads as Brown notes, “The requiem has begun.” The burning picks up in earnest as the soloing takes flight, and things slip into a sun gaze, giving off a late-day desert vibe. Morbid power rises, and the last gasps melt into the night. “Beautifully Dark” is a brief, yet fitting instrumental that is elegant and sunburnt, later letting the chill take over. It feels like staring into a late-afternoon winter sky, leaving you shivering as the band heads toward “Relive the Day” that immerses you into a downtrodden mood right away. “Our house of cards starts to fall, we all fall,” Brown notes as guitars hang in the air, and the shadows stretch. “Sail on alone, on and on alone, you will suffer,” Brown calls defiantly, challenging death, while the playing is somber and chilling as it bows its heads for the last time.

An Apostle of Solitude record definitely is not a great place to retreat if you need solace from the pain in the world and your own life, and if anything, records such as “Until the Darkness Goes” can compound your woes, making you face them. This brand of doom has spread its wings as of late, and its success is due to bands such as Apostle of Solitude building a solid foundation and continually applying steady blocks as time has gone on. This is another strong entry from a band that still does not get the credit and adulation they deserve.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/index.php?route=product/search&search=apostle%20of%20solitude&description=true

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

My mouth is an endless source of misery for me, the one horrible trait I have inherited from my ancestors that haunts me and my banking account to the ends of the earth. No matter how much care I do, no matter the amount of cleaning, no matter the money dropped at the dentist, I never seem to get any sense of relief.

That’s no fault of the mangling death metal squadron Teeth, but damnit if I don’t cringe every time I see their name because of that. Hey, it’s not their fault my anxiety causes me to ruthlessly grind my soft teeth at night, but records such as their new EP “Finite” might not be helping. And that’s too bad because there is brutal and precise death metal that drips in doomy pools to absolutely ruin any mental well-being you have left. This is the band’s first release since 2019 full-length display “The Curse of Entropy,” and these five songs find the band—guitarists/vocalists Erol Ulug and Justin Moore, bassist Peter King, drummer Alejandro Aranda—in ridiculous form, twisting your brains and injuring your muscles with their clobbering savagery that, while it might leave you scarred, is a pretty good time.

“A Garden of Eyes” opens the record, and it’s the longest song, running 7:22. The track enters from a haze before it bursts, and the growls take hold and drub you, pulling you along the way. A beastly fury unloads as zaniness goes off, the waters get muddied, and the track trudges and enters an eerie sequence. Melodies are traced along the air before the next explosion, leading to a mangling assault that drowns you. “Dreamless Hieroglyphs” is ugly and driving with nasty growls slaughtering and the playing getting heavier. The band melts into rage as the earth is ground into splinters, and then we’re into “Concubine” that cuts right through you. Gargantuan mashing bruises your face as unglued thrashing sends sparks and shards of bone flying as the earth is shaken to its core. “The Fog of Futility” clobbers immediately with the growls knifing through your chest, bludgeoning as the menace hulks closer. All hell is unleashed as the band enters a monstrous phase that fries your mental circuit board.  “Scornful Nexus” finishes things off by unloading on you, peeling back your flesh and pouring copious amounts of salt inside. The playing is destructive and dizzying before cold waters rush, and a thick bassline snakes through. The band emerges from the mist with a final steely push that stomps away and leaves only refuse behind.

Even a smaller release from Teeth is mightier than most as these 22 minutes are formidable and rattling. “Finite” is direct and menacing, a five-track collection that wastes no time getting you opened up and bloodied, making sure you have no time to recover. That’s what makes Teeth such an intimidating, impressive force in that they can take half the time to leave you a crumbled mess.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://translationloss.com/collections/teeth-collection

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

It’s always amusing seeing NFL teams ramp up and sign all the big free agents after the season ends, the fanbase gets all lathered up, and then they do fuck all when the next season comes. Washington Football Team was legendary for that back when their team name was way more racist, and it was clear the formula of just getting a ton of big names together wasn’t a very good one.

That could have come to a head when Converge teamed up with myriad musicians including Chelsea Wolfe, Ben Chisholm, and Steve Brodsky (Cave In) on collaborative effort “Bloodmoon: I,” but they avoided any possible negative traps and instead put together one hell of a record that showcases what they all do best. It’s not that these forces are foreign to one another: Brodksy long has had ties to Converge, playing bass on 1998’s “When Forever Comes Crashing,” and this entire crew performed reworked Converge songs at 2016’s Roadburn. But pulling together to create fresh material is much different, and having everyone involved writing and contributing not just their own parts but others as well shows just how flexible everyone involved here truly is. Wolfe and Brodsky tend to share the largest portion of the vocals here, though Jacob Bannon’s unmistakable howl also lifts heavily, while everyone else—Converge is rounded out by guitarist Kurt Ballou, bassist Nate Newton, and drummer Ben Koller—mixes hardcore, metal, Western-style dreaming, noise, and post-rock gazing, often with all of that in the same song. It’s also a little weird that this is called a Converge record and not some collaborative name, but it’s likely easier from a marketing and recognition standpoint, so I get it.

“Blood Moon” opens the proceedings, slowly coming to life as the music clears its eyes to see the world more focused. Wolfe leads, but as the track gets rougher, Bannon emerges with his trademark yelp, and the track pushes and pulls from light to dark. Things get grislier, the intensity pours generously, and finally the structure burns down, left in a pile of soot. “Viscera of Men” splits off and feels more like a Converge track, leaving you in the dust. As the mood settles, Wolfe pushes in and lends her otherworldly voice, group vocals chant behind her, and the emotional pall thickens and becomes frosty, ending frozen in a cube. “Coil” is awash in acoustics and a gentler tone with Wolfe and Brodsky sharing vocals. “It’s like a serpent coiled inside of me,” they both call as the storm thickens. Shrieks strike hard as the pace increases, and the track comes to a riveting finish. “Flower Moon” has keys dripping and slide guitar haunting with Brodsky taking lead. The track is sinewy and mysterious, slithering darkly as the emotion thickens, with the final moments devoured by static. “Tongues Playing Dead” starts with the bass trudging and shrieks playing off the zany guitar work that increases your blood pressure. “We go silent, so, so silent,” Brodsky warns as the playing goes for your guts, electrocuting with sharp riffs and ending with a jolt of power.

“Lord of Liars” starts with guitars jarring while Wolfe’s singing and Bannon’s gutting shrieks combine and hammer. Guitars tangle as disorienting speed has its way with you, stymying and sizzling, stomping with a Zeppelin-style grit. “Failure Forever” mixes gruff with elegant, giving a different vibe as Brodsky calls, “Constant reminders of failure last forever.” Isn’t that the truth? Shrieks land hard as the track remains a grim reminder of the things that weigh on our psyches before melting into the clouds. “Scorpion’s Sting” is prickly and steely, a perfect opening for Wolfe to come on and drive the dagger deeper. The track is slower and stormy, a fiery solo lights the sky, and sounds reverberate as the song has consumed fully the dusk horizon. “Daimon” starts with anxious breathing before Wolfe knifes the surface as acoustic snaps and power jolts coexist. “Your children will answer for your crimes,” Wolfe scolds coldly as the leads come in and add to the foundation. Wolfe and Brodsky combine forces, delivering horrific imagery as quiet playing tries to wipe away the torment. “Crimson Stone” delivers guitars blazing as Wolfe and Brodsky team up again, moving into slower, disheveling territory. Bannon’s shrieks rip at flesh over the singing, your heart gushes with power, and lush and effusive playing emerges and spreads over the landscape. “Blood Dawn” is the closer and basks in a Western vibe, the declining sun still streaking the sky. Wolfe leads as chant-like vocals lather, echoes make you question your grasp on reality, and calls of “blood moon” create seismic waves that work down your chest and into your guts.

Putting together so many heavy forces could have gone to hell in less capable hands, but what Converge, Chelsea Wolfe, Ben Chisholm, and Steve Brodsky, do with these songs leads to a late-year classic, something that’ll register well into 2022. Hearing this dream finally come to fruition is rewarding as hell as this album is a surprise from front to back on the first listen, with other layers revealed on later visits. While they all have plenty of business with their own projects, hopefully this is a venture that has legs, isn’t a one-off, and perhaps opens its gates to other powers on subsequent journeys.

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

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

And here: https://www.facebook.com/CaveIn.Official

To buy the album, go here: https://kingsroadmerch.com/epitaph-records/

Or here: https://deathwishinc.com/products/converge-bloodmoon-i

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

And here: https://deathwishinc.com/

Our brains and the internet have something in common: They’re both the best and worst things to ever happen to us. We grow up with a sense of self developed not just by us but by people around us, by traditions, by societal structures that do not apply to everyone. It’s easy to get down on oneself when we don’t think we’re measuring up to this imagined set of rules, and our minds drive us into the void.

A lot of this thinking flows through “Deceiver,” the excellent fourth record from doom-inspired classic heavy metal band Khemmis, and these six songs certainly are the darkest of the band’s run, even when they burst with glory. Mental health has taken a beating for so many of us, so not only do we struggle with whether we’re living up to expectations, we also have the burden of being able to cope with depression and anxiety, which the band—guitarist/vocalist Phil Pendergast, guitarist/vocalist Ben Hutcherson, drummer Zach Coleman—has plenty of experience managing themselves. There also are loftier hopes for the band with their move from 20 Buck Spin to Nuclear Blast, but this record absolutely delivers, even showing off some of their heaviest playing to date.

“Avernal Gate” gets things started, and it packs with it a surprise, namely some tasty melo-death riffs that sound decidedly Scandinavian. The vocals soar, though Hutcherson is there with his gutting growls where need be, and that element has a bigger role on this record. “These faded lives are all we have to find our way through shadowed lands, we stumble on with broken backs, holding hearts in calloused hands,” Pendergast calls as the guitars heat up and gush, violence sprawls, and the track ends in glowing embers. “House of Cadmus” begins with clean lines trickling in, and then things open in full, pushing the tempo harder and faster. There is heavier darkness, especially vocally as the moon beams are strangled, and then the growls engorge, scraping through ugly and morose as the track trickles out in pain. “Living Pyre” fires up hard as Pendergast’s singing soars with him wailing, “Outside the storm rages, injustice, bold and ageless, while I’m alone in the cold.” The track remains lit up as growls enter the mix and scrape with cinders, and the ugliness complements the elegance ideally. “I’m drowning in a mind that’s always caving in, the rivers rise and surround me,” Pendergast levels as the track burns off into the sky.

“Shroud of Lethe” starts a little doomier as it moves slowly and deliberately with Pendergast wondering, “Why should I atone and wash away the pain? I can’t trust the memories leading me astray, still I hold on to what I know are lies, written in stone.” The guitars swim and push as all the energies clash, growls peel paint, and the tempos shift into darker water, exploring its pitch-black surroundings. “Obsidian Crown” delivers sinister riffs and then slips into sorrowful terrain, clouding your heart. Great vocal melodies rise as the shrieks add a sense of terror and volatility, the blood runs cold, and the violent jarring takes over and buries the last moments in mounds of powdered bones. “The Astral Road” closes the album with clean playing, echoing leads, and a classic metal assault that emerges and takes over the land. The pace gets exciting and digs even harder, great leads flex their muscle, and Pendergast calls, “I’m praying for the rain to take it all away.” Pendergast and Hutcherson trade solos as things warm up but also start to sting, and then the shadows get thicker and smothering. “If I could throw the guilt aside, I’d let myself be washed away from the chains of pride, into the love that I feel today,” Pendergast wails as the tides rise, the playing scorches, and the final drops sink beneath the waves forever.

If anyone was worried about Khemmis falling victim to pressure because they’ve signed with metal’s largest label, you can forget those immediately as “Deceiver” is a tremendous record, one that ups the ante from their three killer releases that preceded this. The edges are darker and sharper, and the power that always was prevalent in their blood has an even greater role. This will be the band’s introduction to many listeners based on their union with Nuclear Blast, and Khemmis absolutely put their sharpest blades forward, slicing their way to even more hungry hearts and minds.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html

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

There was a time when heavy metal wasn’t divided by subgenres and people guarding the gates of each with silly requirements. It was just a gigantic force that united every band under the same banner because everyone was fighting for similar things. It’s good that things splintered because metal got to see exactly what it was capable of doing, but if would be fun if there could be more pure coexistence.

Maybe there is and I just have been in the house for too long, but I got to thinking of metal’s glory era when taking on “Shock to the System,” the second record from NYC bruisers Tower. The music they create mines the good stuff that’s been aging in barrels for decades, and they do their best to prove a modern band can capture that same magic. They also have a secret weapon with vocalist Sarabeth Linden who is so good it makes me angry. I’m not as good at anything in my life as she is at using her insanely powerful voice, and it makes me feel bad about myself. By the way, go find the Two Minutes to Late Night clip of Linden singing Boston’s “Long Time” and just sit in awe. But the rest of the band—guitarists James Danzo and Zak Penley, bassist Jeff Filmer (Jack Florio now handles these duties), drummer James Jones—more than hold up their end with playing that’s absolutely on fire and makes your brain melt down based on the majesty of true, glorious heavy fucking metal.

“Blood Moon” kicks things off with the proper amount of energy with Linden giving off the first indication of her goddamn ridiculously strong vocals. “It’s shining like the sea, it’s taking over me tonight,” she wails as the band pummels and sends you off heaving. “Prince of Darkness” is a little, uh, darker with the guitars firing up and hearty “woah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh” calls getting your blood going. Things stay on fire as the track stampedes toward the finish line. “Metatron” is an instrumental, and there’s nothing wrong with it at all, but it’s kind of like running a big play without your best player. It’s decent, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and then it pushes into “Running Out of Time” that gets the juices flowing properly again. The riffs push as the tempo kills, and Linden warns, “You better run, you better hide.” The soloing explodes with power and chugs hard, the chorus jolts, and the track simmers in flames. “Lay Down the Law” lets the bass pace as the guitars get churning, and Linden’s vocals echo over the verses, feeling a little spooky. The track really comes to life as the singing is a little raspier, with Linden calling, “Sometimes you know you got to lay down the law.” Point taken. Killer track.

“Hired Gun” has a dirtier open before the guitars take hold, and the track blasts through the gates. The soloing ignites while the playing stampedes, kicking up dust as the singing reigns over everything. “The Black Rose” has a speedy start and a pace that can dice flesh, and the simple chorus of the title called back is effective and should get over live. The soloing blisters and makes your nervous system come to life, the chorus races again, and the track has a smoldering end. “On the Line” gallops right away with Linden admitting, “Can’t hold on, but I want you.” That bridge leads to a great chorus that explodes with Linden declaring, “You are mine, you are the one that I love,” as the guitars give off steam and race to the finish. “In Dreams” is the longest track, running 6:58, and the riffs go off, though things turn moodier later. “I need your light,” Linden calls as the playing has a frosty edge before the guitar work melts through the ice. The tempo tramples as the playing splits your chest in two, and Linden wails, “I feel your light inside,” as the track hammers closed. “Powder Keg” is your closer, and it’s one last chance to soak in your adrenaline as everything lights up. “Here comes to wrecking ball,” Linden warns as the soloing jabs your ribcage, things glisten, and the track blasts out for good.

Tower is a great classic metal band with a goddamn incredible singer in Linden, and they make the most of “Shock to the System,” their eye-opening second record. This is a really fun album, something that should bridge generations as gray hairs and newer listeners can find a lot to love with these songs. As good as the record is, I’d imagine it’s even stronger live, so let’s get our shit together so that can become more of a reality.

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

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

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

Not every piece of art is intended to land with impact for every person who encounters it, and that really is the way it should be. Could you imagine if every person on earth understood and loved, say, Mr. Bungle? Sleepytime Gorilla Museum? Hell, what if every human actually loved Taylor Swift? The record plant backlog would be forever unsolvable, and we’d legit be living in the very real Bad Place.

It’s for those reasons that I appreciate the hell out of Vertebra Atlantis, a strange beast mixing the darkest, most dissonant of black metal with rabid jaw-dripping death metal in a fashion that might be unapproachable for the vast majority of humans. That’s a good thing. The world is fucked up enough as is that a crusher such as the band’s debut record “Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss” need not inhabit all of our brains. No, only those who truly can align on an artistic and psychological level will be able to do the heavy lifting it requires to navigate these seven tracks of unspeakable chaos. The band—G.G. (guitars, synths, vocals), Vrangr (bass), R.R. (drums, vocals)—combines experience crafted from other warped entities including Cosmic Putrefaction, Spells of Misery, and Homselvareg, and they meld their strange powers on an album that’ll take a few visits to begin to understand, even more to ideally absorb.

“Agoraphobic Solipsist” starts as a spacious maw as strangeness bubbles, and the vocals open their sinewy muscles. Spindly leads tangle and add spicy elements while savage playing tears limbs apart, gritty vocals punish, and the track leaks into an eerie abyss. “Carnal Denouement” unloads dizzying riffs and a pace that bursts, melding into hovering synth, and then the vocals turn into alien creaking. Things meet a weird vortex as the guitars splinter, and mangling vocals mess with your mind. The playing drills hard as the track ends abruptly, and then we’re on to the title track that simmers in a low-end stomp. The riffs take a dip toward the sinister as a death assault unfurls, causing your blood to surge as deep growls penetrate, and the sounds slip into a bizarre cavern to rest its scorched flesh.

“Altopiano Celeste” is an instrumental piece that feels like you’re entering a dream sequence in media res, as fantastical waters rush, vicious pummeling slips into a mist, and a final surge is drained of its blood. “Spiritual Onset” clobbers right away as speed bursts, and the vocals belch otherworldly horrors. A feverish aura stabs with intent, the playing destroys bones, and fiery chaos ensues, burning until only ash is left. “Saw Thee Quietly Inurned” lands with maniacal howls and a pace that shreds, leaning into monstrous activity. The drums are murdered as pure death comes unglued, and a quick halt to the storm spills into the final moments where guitars sting and usher us toward closer “The Hermit Strums a Mournful Dirge.” There, guitars boil as clouds hover, and heavy blasts shake your skeletal structure. The power is relentless with your body going into protection mode, pushing toward madness that’s over the horizon. The vocals turn up later in the track, grim punishment is achieved, and the track rips off into space, where it can find its proper home among the stars.

“Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss” not only is a really fun title to say out loud, it’s the name of a record that will leave you challenged and probably a little bit frightened over the mental toll you just paid. Vertebra Atlantis purposely complicate matters and make you take journeys into dark tunnels you’d otherwise have avoided. This is a bizarre experience, and it’s not something for which you can prepare in advance in any meaningful way.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://i-voidhanger.com/shop/

For more on the label, go here: http://i-voidhanger.com/

I’ve been to the dentist a lot this year. A LOT. For all the wonderful traits I inherited from my ancestors, shitty tooth health is one of the less desirable ones I acquired, so I tend to have to do more work than usual in order to keep everything healthy and operable in my stupid mouth. I can only imagine what it would be like if I had more teeth than what was deemed necessary.

So, that was a fairly uncreative way to walk right into “Hideous Entity,” the new record from Hyperdontia, the band whose name is derived from the condition where people have too many teeth in their mouth. Brutal. Speaking of which, this band has helped corner the market on that term with their brand of death metal, but that’s not all they bring to the table. The band—vocalist/guitarist Mathias, lead guitarist Mustafa, bassist Malik, drummer Tuna—tangles you in intricate and strange compositions that’ll both make you ache all over and have your imagination run wild. They make this second record a pretty severe step up from their great debut “Nexus of Teeth” that introduced the world to the hideous formulas cooked up by this Turkish/Danish beast.

“Snakes of Innards” dawns with a doomy pall before the death hammer drops, and the growls mar as they eat into your psyche. The leads begin to charge as the pace brawls hard, the guitar work scorches, and the drums mash to a furious finish. “Trapped in the Void” is beastly as it begins its path, attacking and ripping hard, bringing imminent death. The playing bludgeons as the growls tear at muscle, and the soloing goes off, with the final moments seeded in violent treachery. “Beast Within” opens with great riffs, and then the monster tracks through mud as the playing sautés your brain. There’s a swagger to this thing as the leads fire up, and chaos bursts and drags you to the finish. “Coils of Wrath” has guitars slithering as the pace pummels, and savage thrashing tears your hair from your head. The bass trembles as animalistic pounding and crazed growls unite, and the track has a brutal finish.

“Grinding Teeth” is a pure death assault as the growls penetrate your senses, and vicious pounding has its way with you. Thunderous hell arrives for the second half, the riffs carve wounds in your flesh, and the final moments rip the breath from your lungs. “Lacerated and Burning” tells you all you need to know from its title, and it’s relentless, a slaughter that sprays blood. The growls destroy as the playing feels like it’s trying to stomp your guts out of your body, and there’s an unexpected proggy section toward the end that’ll make you tilt your head in confusion. “Wretched Mockery of Creation” tangles your muscles as the mashing playing hits a fever pitch. The leads soar as grimy death collects, and the tempo runs roughshod, blasting and crushing until its final second. “Impervious Veil” closes the proceedings and brings the pressure, blistering and shaking you relentlessly. A mid-tempo burn makes the pounding hurt that much more as the bass hammers you, and the charging increases. Eerie guitars lead into hellish visions, and the track trickles away like a cold sweat snaking its way down your back.

“Hideous Entity” is peak Hyperdontia, death metal that’s both recklessly pummeling and astonishingly well played. There’s not a moment of downtime on these eight tracks, and even when they aren’t going full speed, they’re delivering dour assaults that choose to scar the mind rather than the body. This record is a like having a tooth removed sans Novocain as you’re left to writhe in the chair with your adrenaline doing nothing but keeping you conscious through unspeakable pain.

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

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

Or here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/vinyl-cds-merch/

Or here: https://desiccatedproductions.com/shop/

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

And here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/

And here: https://www.facebook.com/Desiccated-Productions-102676771618364/

I’ve long thought that music you have to earn is what tends to stick with you over the months and years after you first encountered said art. It’s also great if a record or a band gets you right away without much lifting on your part. But something that’s complicated and challenging, making you spend time getting comfortable with the music and developing awareness is incredibly rewarding.

Sole creator K.M.’s Ars Magna Umbrae project is one of those that creates art that likely will take a little while to land, and what he’s doing is anything but straightforward. That spills over on his third record “Throne Between Worlds,” the place where it feels like this music exists because its meaning is not held out in front of your face. Over six tracks of mind-altering, brain-tangling black metal, K.M. reaches to forces beyond most out our comprehension to find something to fan these esoteric fires. At the end of these 37 minutes, you’re likely not going to have a massive grasp on what you just experienced, but repeat visits begin to open those doors and transfer the information you need to grow.

“Into Waters of the Underworld” enters amid watery leads and growls that smear data in your mind as everything begins to collect and swelter. Calm interjects itself for a stretch before the heat reignites and spreads, the playing flutters, and angelic calms collect and exit in a cool mist. “Consecrating the Shrine of Undoing” mashes your muscles right away and creeps in a mid-tempo crunch before the lid is blown off. Shrieks shred your brain while a foggy trickle only adds to your psychosis with melodies floating in the clouds. Then the guitar work scorches again as the track heads out. “Beyond the Stellar Gates” gushes and mangles as the vocals gurgle at dangerous levels. An elegant glaze is drizzled over the carnage as vicious roars send shockwaves, and the riffs twist logic. The pace picks up and absolutely torches as the violent mystery stomps out into the night.

“Treader on the Dreamless Path” has a dreamy start, meandering in your mind before the walls come down. The playing destroys and disorients, robbing you of any sense of normalcy as the mauling stings wounds. Later, there are mystical elements that play games with you before the track blurs out in noise. The title track is a bit frosty as it starts, then the guitars stir and agitate, spreading like an impenetrable fog. The track carves around bends feeling both fluid and jarring, flooding your mind, and sending you away reeling. “Metempsychosis (Transmigration of the Soul)” ends the album, an 11:11-long track that starts with dizzy riffs and vicious growls, delivering a disorienting pace. Melodies race, and even when cooler temperatures arrive, there’s torment on the other end, pounding you and folding you into blackness. Infernal shrieks arrive and grasp at your flesh, weirdness multiplies and challenges, and the guitars quiver, with the song finally resting in black pools.

K.M. continues to build worlds only he can comprehend, with that continuing on “Throne Between Worlds,” itself as strange concept that pushes the mind. Each Ars Magna Umbrae album itself is a chance to expand your relationship with heavy music and journey into the center of something almost impossible to absorb. There’s nothing wrong with music that’s easy to digest; but the records you must earn are the ones that tend to offer the richest rewards.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://i-voidhanger.com/shop/

For more on the label, go here: http://i-voidhanger.com/

Black metal, and metal in general, is generated from tons of different places, a lot of them predictable. And predictability isn’t a negative, necessarily, as long as the music has the proper spark. But when the music comes from somewhere unexpected, or just different, it could be enough to make you sit up and take notice. Again, if the art itself is worth your attention.

As far as “Corpus,” the new record from Swedish black metal entity Astrophobos, the expected can be tossed out the window, because they hardly fell back on old traits. Instead, they immersed themselves in different art forms for their third record, namely sculpture, photography, and music, as well as Lisa Wallert and Morgan Norman’s work that helped the band—vocalist/bassist Micke Broman, guitarists Martin Andersson and Jonas Ehlin (drums were performed on a session basis by Simon Samuelsson)—realize their vision for these songs. What’s contained is black metal that is channeled and destructive, but it also feels like a cut above the rest, likely due to the inspiration that drove their performances.

“Corpus” gets off to a ripping start with Broman’s vile growls hanging in the air alone, carving at you, and once the rest of the band kicks in, it’s off to the races. The riffs stir as the atmosphere gets dangerously cold with the vocals digging into guts, the leads slicing, and everything ending the way it started, with Broman croaking into the void. “Utrotning” rips open with no warning, hammering you with melodic guitars and an approach that aims to deface. The track is both savage and pretty damn catchy as the riffs encircle and enrapture, and the vocals dig in those final daggers that stick under your ribs. “Till djupet” enters with clean guitars, and then the guts are ripped anew as vile growls make their way through the mud. A forceful path is carved as the guitars swirl with reckless abandon, the bass thickens and cuts tributaries, and the track trickles out into space.

“Nattvard” delivers huge gusts and whipping melodies as the guitars lather, and gruff growls add to the bruising. The playing feels like it hurtles through the stars as vicious growls mangle, and the track speeds toward an abrupt end. “Svärta” is clean and eerie as it begins, and the playing mesmerizes as the storm begins to collect. The vocals deliver a dagger as your bloodstream is activated, and the track keeps gaining momentum until it bleeds into noise. “Liktal” drills viciously as the riffs pulse, and the growls stagger through blood. The guitars carve away, and then the melodies get more colorful, paving the way for catchy growls, creaky punishment, and a furious finish that leaves you dizzy. “Under jord” closes the album with sorrowful guitars piercing before the playing tramples, and the growls aim to agitate wounds. The delirious playing has a folk-like vibe to it, crushing and seething, going into pockets of numbing heaviness. Clean female choral sections chill the flesh and leave your mind wandering, leading you out to conclude your journey in misery.

“Corpus” is a headier record than your average slab of black metal as Astrophobos use their diverse inspirations to craft something dangerous and alluring, an experience different than merely a delivery of seven new songs. The playing is savage and inspired, and there is plenty of infectious power that keeps your imagination working from front to back. This is a punishing and thought-provoking record that might help more adventurous listeners to expand their artistic palates as well.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://astrophobos.bandcamp.com/album/corpus

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