We’ve all seen and been through some shit the last year and a half, and there are very few of us who have not been impacted in some meaningful way. One of the hardest parts of that has been the inability to see people for so long, the limited chances to do the things we love, and just the mystery surrounding safety and whether getting back to something of a normal routine is a good idea.

Building on some of those ideas of living in uncertain times and trying to find strength and perseverance, classic metal warriors Spirit Adrift return just when we need them most with killer three-track EP “Forge Your Future,” their first exclusively for Century Media after years with 20 Buck Spin. These tracks lift you up and make your adrenaline surge in the best way possible as they capture you with the undeniable power of heavy metal and help you find some level of power, even when it’s tough to do so. Nate Garrett’s vocals continue to get even better with each release, and his songwriting chops and fiery guitar work are getting further chiseled, while longtime drummer Marcus Bryant keeps the power humming, driving energy through your bones. Preston Bryant added wizard-like synth work to these songs, supplying a neat spacey texture, and bassist Sonny DeCarlo will join the band on the road to help present these killer songs.      

The title track gets things going with clean lines and then punches open with some great guitar work and the verses driving the emotion. “I think of every choice that I have ever made, and every road that led to them,” Garrett commands on the bridge, before powering on the chorus, wailing, “I saw the future and it set me free, the stars aligned and cleared the way.” It’s impossible to not get this damn thing stuck in your head. Later, searing soloing gets your blood rushing anew, group “oh-oh” calls instill classic metal spirit, and the track trickles out into a stream of energy. “Wake Up” is another great one, starting with riffs chugging and metal’s deep roots surfacing. The verses punch, the melody is overwhelming in a good way, and the chorus is another scorcher that’ll be massive live. “Wake up, who don’t you open your eyes? Wake up, why don’t you open you mind?” Garrett implores, easily sticking to your ribs. The track gets more and more adventurous, digging back into that old Ozzy/Dio terrain, but in a way that honors their legacy and builds it into the future. Just an awesome song. “Invisible Enemy” is the closer, starting with drums blasting and building its tempo with alluring force. The track is big and defiant, with Garrett warning, “The world will see your fate, there will be no escape,” over the brimming chorus. Everything keeps churning until a wave of serenity washes over, with the guitars cooling and coating with ice. Things pick up again with the band charging and the fires blazing, and alien synth joins the mix at the end, slipping out into strange cosmos.

This might just be a steppingstone EP to Spirit Adrift’s next full-length, the title of which obviously will start with a G, but “Forge Your Future” is a vital release with some of the band’s best work. Feel like we say that every time out, but Spirit Adrift is one of those rare bands that manages to improve and refine with each record, growing stronger and solidifying the sinew. This is a great three-track collection, one that’ll stick inside your head long after it ends.   

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

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

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

The late pro wrestler Big Van Vader was always fun to watch in the ring, but maybe never more so than when he was working a squash match, a contest against enhancement talent who was basically was supposed to obliterate. One time, he broke a dude’s back by accident. Just brutal stuff. But it was incredible viewing, even if his opponents still were taking a beating in a worked sport.

That wasn’t my first impression tackling “Disavowed, and Left Hopeless,” the new record from Our Place of Worship Is Silence, but after a few trips, I could not help but think of having two gloved fists utterly battering my face and chest, and me being devastated until mercy finally was given with the eventual three count. This band—guitarist/vocalist Eric, drummer/vocalist Tim—always had that violent streak, but this third record takes that to a whole new level, one that’s terrifying and feels like it won’t quit until you do. Permanently. Everything here is amplified from their work that precedes this album, and if you aren’t prepared for the devastating toll, you’ll be buried in no time with their furious smash of death and black metal.

“The Conspiracy Against Cruelty” starts with utterly grim guitar work that grinds at you, the pace pummeling relentlessly, and the band thrashing away, smothering with its instrumental power. “Covenant of the Fallen” has beastly vocals and wild chaos erupting, wasting away your muscle and bone. This is pure brutality as the shrieks destroy, the playing trudges, and the splattering makes it impossible to breathe, burning out into madness. “Fury Divine,” featuring Elog Ulug from Teeth on guitars as it clubs and punishes with insane vocals working into your brain, mixing shrieks and growls that compete for your psyche. The playing is mangling and violent, splattering blood and other mysterious juices, while the guitars absolutely scorch. Things keep getting more abrasive, molten slaughtering eats away, and everything jolts and melts into a fog.

The title track immediately sinks its claws, the shrieks go off, and things spiral and eventually mash your bones. The scene gets weirder and storms in a haze, the maniacal pace scrambles your brains, and the growls slash, leaving you battered. “Mdłości II” is just delirious with strong guitar work flexing, and atmospheric melody touching down, making your mind tingle. The pace piledrives from there, spiraling into madness, crashing to the earth as the guitars twist and turn, ending in a foggy gaze. “From the Noisome Pestilence” opens gargantuan hell as the guitars carve away, and animalistic insanity arrives and sickens. Chaos storms as the shrieks pelt, the pace heats up, and hypnotic guitars add a new element that begins to melt, ringing out into the night. “The Scourge” is the closer and starts like a mammoth stomping relentlessly, the shrieks mar, and your flesh feels like it’s going through a grinder. Total insanity is unleashed, weird guitar tones make your nightmares come to life, and things keep getting uglier, ripping into your chest. The playing chugs its final mangling burst, the tempo brutalizes, and the track rips out into time.

Our Place of Worship Is Silence sounds absolutely unhinged on “Disavowed, and Left Hopeless,” a record that tells you all you need to know from its title. We are indeed awash in truly dark, deranged times where the human experiment has unraveled out of control, with no way to truly cut off the death convulsion. This record is a deadly, unforgiving document that feels like it hints at the end of days, whenever those are, and promises a finish that bathes in violence and misery.

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

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

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

There’s an attraction that the darkness holds, something seductive and exciting that we know we probably should not visit, but it’s sometimes just so hard to look away. That’s something that has powered heavy metal from its earliest stages and remains a vital part of the style’s DNA today, because its invitation is often too tempting from which to turn away.

Chad Davis accepted his invitation a long time ago, and he’s committed so much to the heavy metal genre over the past two decades, that he really deserves to be mentioned by more people when discussing the genre’s true masters. Hour of 13 is one of his main projects, the one where I first learned of him, and that force is back with powerful new album “Black Magick Rites.” This album is the fourth Hour of 13 album and the first in nine years, and if you’re already tied into this band’s totally dark DNA, you’ll be right at home with these seven songs. The album is chock full of classic-style heavy metal thunder and shadow, feeling like music that could have originated decades back and been right at home, yet we’re getting it fresh in modern times. It’s a really strong, infectious album that is full of power.

“His Majesty of the Wood” kicks off with strong riffs and echoes soaring as the track is dark and alluring. Davis’ vocals are as melodic and dangerous as ever as he punches along, sweltering with sorrowful melodies, a rush of emotions, and everything burning out into sight. “Return From the Grave” unloads with gloomy leads and the vocals crawling in the soot as Davis warns, “Tonight I rise.” The guitars pick up along with him, delivering a strong retro vibe that gets into your system, mesmerizing and crunching, and more ominous lines such as, “Within your sin, I live again,” dig in its claws as the track bleeds out. “House of Death” has a driving pace, with the doom clouds hanging overhead, the vocals sweltering, and a chorus that sends chills down your spine. The riffs are strange and dizzying as the leads cut through flesh, the vocals haunt, and your mind shrouded, with Davis inviting, “Come into this house of death,” as the track burns off.

The title track arrives with swaggering riffs and vocals echoing, feeling spooky and weird. Crunchy leads and a great chorus unite as the skies further darken, guitars dice muscle, and the cut bows out to the night. “Within the Pentagram” chars wills, chants lift for Satan, and the riffs pile up, with Davis calling, “Say the name by candlelight,” and later poking, “I am death incarnate.” The playing wells up like lava, the guitars keep eating away at your nerves, and the voices wash in echo, falling out into time. “Harvest Night” has guitars swirling and a chorus that feels like it’s coming for you without mercy, basking in ritual and death. A truly old metallic feel permeates the cell structure, the guitars heat up, making you shield your face, and a doomy pall blots out the sun, disappearing into the fog. “The Mystical Hall of Dreams” is the closer, bringing deeper vocals and sinister intent, with Davis wondering, “What awaits in the night?” almost like he knows but is teasing. Hazy guitars hang as your mind is twisted, the soloing opens and binds, and the track topples into the dark side, burning into the sky.

Davis’ mission with Hour of 13 remains firm and strong, basking in the evil and washing its hands in blood on “Black Magick Rites.” His retro style predates many of the tons of other bands trying the same thing, and he remains an utter master at it, because he has eaten from the roots for so long. This is a record that makes your bones shake, the body temperature lower, and you reaching for any modicum of safety you can find.

For more on the band, go here: https://hourof13official.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com/pre-orders.asp

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

I have been accused by many people close to me that I am too invested in routine, and anything that gets in the way of that tends to knock me off my comfort. This is a reason why there’s a chance I’m living with undiagnosed ADHD. Anyway, those accusations are correct, as I do tend to freak out if things go away from rigid plans, and I’d be better off taking some chances now and then.

Dutch black metal force Fluisteraars are taking the exact opposite approach with their new album “Gegrepen door de Geest der Zielsontluiking,” a quick follow-up from last year’s awesome “Bloem,” but it’s a completely different beast. The band—vocalist/lyricist B. Mollema and multi-instrumentalist M. Koops—embraced the idea of self-transcendence and animalistic urge, spilling their energies into three swelling tracks that they pulled back on the experimentation and tinkering and instead decided to see through in their rawest form. The band created one song per day, did no overdubs, added no synth, and followed these in their most skeletal form, which turned out to be a brilliant idea. This is an overwhelming record, one that just soars with maximum power.

“Het overvleugelen der meute” opens with a drum roll that reminds me of the theme song for the old World Class Championship Wrestling show, which can only be a good thing. The drumming is great throughout this track, and the playing gushes into the atmosphere, changing in the air, taking on new forms as it goes. The power surges as the howls register, the playing feels like it fires into a cavern, and the noise quivers, rumbling out and bleeding into “Brand woedt in mijn graf” that is frenetic and fluid, mashing out of the gates and ripping into wild howls and swelling melodies. The ambiance is a rush and makes your mind race as tornadic playing and gashing shrieks team up and spit bolts. The music is infused with another gasp of air, feedback simmers, and the noise angles, cooling your flesh and ringing out into the solar system.

“Verscheuring in de schemering” is the 20:15-long closer that starts moody and cold before the guitars charge, and the melody breaks through. The riffs penetrate the earth, and the track begins to rip harder, with the energy surging through your skeletal structure. Cold calm washes over and creates heartfelt playing and vibrant emotion, with the music boiling and the drums blasting bone and teeth. Noises carve as the melodies lather, with the energy making your heart blast. Growls rip as storms swirl, the music fires up heavily, and a gigantic burst of noise picks you up off your feet, leaving you bent in half but ultimately enthralled.

Fluisteraars jumping in with full force, taking things organically, and refusing to overcomplicate things turned out to be for the best as “Gegrepen door de Geest der Zielsontluiking” is a new age for this band, one that hints at an even more daring future. This album opens itself from listen one and swallows you into their world, helping you connect with the same animalistic power that fueled this record. This collection is proof that sometimes throwing the formulas into the trash and following your bristling spirit truly is the way to go, and this unhinged, exciting record provides all the proof anyone really needs.  

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

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

Or here (Europe): https://store.eisenton.de/en/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.eisenton.de/

A terribly disturbing report that just came out this week indicates our world is on serious trouble, and we humans have played a large role in accelerating the damage to where it’s at. None of this is a surprise as we’ve long been told these things, but to see this in such dire wording and to know we’re on the brink of no return is sobering and infuriating considering some still live in denial still.

Long champions of the natural world around them, especially the majesty of the Pacific Northwest, black metal dreamers Wolves in the Throne Room continue to jolt our bloodstreams and capture our imaginations with their incredible new record “Primordial Arcana,” their seventh but first for new label home Relapse. The title itself harkens back to ancient, archetypal energies that flow through their veins, but there still is a major foothold within the outside world, the place that nourished us for so long, a favor we have yet to return. The band—vocalist/guitarist Nathan Weaver, guitarist/vocalist Kody Keyworth, drummer/synth player/vocalist Aaron Weaver—manage to still unfurl magic unlike any other band in their forest of sound. After carving so many paths for atmospheric black metal, especially in this country, they still find ways to surprise and enthrall, and this record is an absolute gift to be cherished.

“Mountain Magick” starts the record, slowly ushering a spiritual vibe that is thick and ever present before great riffs unload and tangle you, pulling you into the heart of the song. Shrieks wail as the skies seemingly open as savagery rushes with great force, with synth sheets bringing a chilling texture, and the sounds rushing out into the wild. “Spirit of Lightning” starts with acoustic guitars and dulcimer, striking a primitive tone before the guitars open into a swirling storm. The shrieks hammer as tornadic hell touches down, sending winds, rain, and chaos spreading. Blood rushes as the synth sheens, the gaze spreads over the land, and the power haunts as the acoustics stretch again, and everything is swallowed into the heart of nature. “Through Eternal Fields” is ominous and chilling as it starts as the shrieks push in, and the guitars spread into melodic showers. This spills into atmosphere as the drums come alive, and then the burst happens with shrieks penetrating and turning savage. Tribal drumming emerges, the riffs slither, and everything disappears into a fog. “Primal Chasm (Gift of Fire)” punches out of the murk as the vocals unload, and the riffs zip around, with the drums clobbering. That crumbles into death-style growls that smother, and then things explode again with the synth cooling flesh, the guitars enrapturing, and everything sucked out into a vortex, with only chirping birds behind.  

“Underworld Aurora” runs 7:31 and starts with synth whirling and acoustics picking before the track is torn open. Beastly vocals make their presence felt as the power increases, soaring into the stratosphere as the music captures imaginations. A mesmerizing blur takes hold and makes dreaming possible before the power surges anew, folding in melody and violent drumming that ravages spirits. That chaos continues to increase until everything pushes into the cosmos, swimming in the stars. “Masters of Rain and Storm” is the longest track, running 10:44 and tearing open with the guitars showing meanness. The track crushes and gets muscular, trading ferocity with the woodsy folk moments and spacey synth that pays homage to the precipitation. Shrieks punish as the guitars boil dangerously as the blows withstand the acoustic beauty, the vocals blast through your rib cage, and everything builds up and detonates, sending its DNA into the atmosphere. “Eostre” is a quick instrumental outro track with a fluttering synth bed, a dreamy vortex that captures you, and a rush of waters designed to soothe and reconnect you to the earth. Some versions have a bonus track “Skyclad Passage,” another instrumental that delves into forest-embedded spirituality, trancey ritualistic passages, and angelic wonder that works its way into your skeletal structure.

Wolves in the Throne Room continue to mesmerize and surprise, delivering their most intense and personal yet on “Primordial Arcana.” You’re not just getting an emotional, spirit-rushing record from this band; you’re getting an earnest and intense connection back to the old times and the old ways, a hand reached out to the past to harness energies long forgotten. That is felt in every moment of this incredible record, one that I’m still trying to fully grasp countless listens later.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://store.relapse.com/b/wolves-in-the-throne-room

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

From the time human civilization could tell stories, there have been tales about the gods. Every civilization has them from the Vikings to the Greeks to the Romans, and so many people have had their lives shaped by the essence of these mythologies. Many of them endure today—sometimes to our detriment—and those stories have been a part of heavy metal lore from the start.

Austin-based doom quartet Witchcryer jumped headfirst into the tales of the deities on their excellent new record “When Their Gods Come for You,” an eight-track collection that is powerful and sultry, their finest moment so far. This concept piece visits with the aforementioned sagas we’ve heard from multiple civilizations throughout history, touching on Faustian tales, Anglo-Saxon and Greek stories, and even the origin of the Blackfoot creation god among a rich batch of tracks that open up all kinds of portals. The band—vocalist/lyricist Suzy Bravo, guitarist Jason Muxlow, bassist Marilyn, drummer Javi Moctezuma—maintain a doom baseline but push that in other directions, mixing in bluesy steam and even some power metal stomp into this killer collection.

“The Devil & the Deep Blue See” opens with some dark energy and Bravo’s powerful vocals, all circulating in a strange sheen. The bass unloads and the riffs tangle, the verses are just killer, and things bubble up, rounding back as the song sinks in its last dagger. “Hellmouth” pummels as the guitars chug, slaying as Bravo’s vocals slip into psychedelic power. The chorus is simple but effective, one that’ll be huge live, and the playing is smoking, delivering gut punches that send ripples and bury you in that energy. “Sisyphus, Holy Roller” has guitars churning and a daring pace, with Bravo declaring, “I am your holy roller, baby.” The track delves partially in doom rock but also in bluesy allure as Bravo promises, “I can give you what you want, I can set you free,” calling out before the song punches away.  “Nemesis, the Inevitable” feels dangerous and dark, letting things get steamy before Bravo wails, “I am vengeance and retribution,” and later jabbing, “I will take you down.” The pace keeps picking up, getting more sinister and stirring, driving you into hellish waves that rips out into huge amounts of power.

“Quetzalcoatl” starts with Aztec chants before the energy kicks in, feeling a little like an Iron Maiden battle anthem. The theme of fighting for one’s people permeates this track as Bravo calls, “They knew their time was ending, prepare to die with dignity,” as the band keeps adding fuel to the fire, making your blood surge as the fighters are paid the ultimate homage. “I Rise!” has slick bluesy leads and pummeling verses, with the dirt kicked straight into your mouth. The chorus soars, the band thickens the mud flow, and the track ends with a fiery, great finish. “Blackfoot Creation Story/Spirit Power” has warm psyche riffs and Native American-style melodies that get into your cells and fill you with that spirit. It’s an ancient storyteller on a record full of great tales, touching on the theme of passing on tradition to the next generation and calling out the “big black bird,” with Bravo pleading, “With the strength of your wings, lift me up,” as the track ends in solemnity. The title track ends the record with a slow-driving, bass-driving pace and leads that just fly for the sun. Bravo delivers a warning about retribution as she cuts, “The righteous fall just like the fools,” a sobering thought for us all. The track is defiant and sweltering, the guitars burn brightly, and the track ends in smoldering piles of ash.

Witchcryer really catapult themselves into a new level with “When Their Gods Come for You,” an absolute blast of an album that gets better with every listen. Bravo’s vocals and lyrics are a real highlight, as she’s stepping forward as one of the great voices in metal, and the rest of the band more than hold their own, lighting fires and tending them to make these tracks explode. This is one hell of a strong effort, one that should jerk open eyes and ears everywhere to this awesome doom force.

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/products

Or here (Europe): https://en.ripple.spkr.media/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.ripple-music.com/

Without dumping 200 words about my current life situation and the absolute hell I’ve lived in for the past nine months, let’s just say I’ve gotten a sobering battle with handling stress and trauma, trying to figure out how to live without crushing anxiety and complete lack of safety eating away at me. It’s a major reason why people trying to give advice like “suck it up” is particularly infuriating.

It was an ideal moment for “Fawn” the new EP by Disemballerina (their fifth studio release overall) to fall into my lap, because when art tries to dig into the darkness and find meaning, it can be cathartic and massively helpful. The band describes their music as “queer outsider chamber music,” and the three tracks on here can both soothe and help identify with the shadows, working their way into your bloodstream. The band—Jennifer Christensen (cello, harp), Ayla Holland (bajo quinto, electric and acoustic guitars, ebow), Myles Donovan (viola, harp, marxophone, glass harp)—uses each of the tracks to highlight fight, flight, and freeze, the three survival modes when one is facing a panic or trauma event that can be crippling to one’s everyday life. The music here feels like it embodies each level, helping you face them and make sense. And while the band is not metallic in the traditional sense, there’s a heavy sense of doom at the heart of this, creating a jarring aesthetic with which many heavy music fans are bound to identify.   

“Pancada” gets started as the strings trickle, and sounds grow and spread like a mysterious fog, quivering in calm but foreboding spirit. Things pick up as the strings lean and strike, slowly plodding the steps as the dramas swells underneath. Dark waters wash over wounds, the ambiance swells and darkens, and calls pulsate with chimes as the track fades out. “Somnambulist” has strings shivering as acoustic guitars add a new texture, and a woodsy folk flourish sends shivers down your spine. Then, gentle waters sooth wounds, your flesh cools off, and echoes rumble as the final moments bring balance. “Garnets” closes the EP with melodies dancing and the power rushing along, flushing into ominous haze. Elements pelt like tiny ice daggers, shadows thicken and get more immersive, and everything slowly ashes into the horizon, delicately letting go of your hand.

The elements of fight, flight, and freeze are things many of us can understand, and our reactions to trauma can be quite varied, which Disemballerina focus on with the hushed and lovely “Fawn.” Their chamber-friendly instrumental creations can border on doom at times and definitely simmer in clouded waters, but the music  can be helpful for anyone going through these struggles who just need a place to reflect. These three songs are the perfect bed in which to lie, connect to what’s challenging your mind, and give yourself some space to understand the struggle and figure out a way to fight again.

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

And here: disemballerinapdx.bandcamp.com

To buy the album, go here: https://riffmerchant.bandcamp.com/album/fawn

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

I’ve been to exactly one movie at a theater this year, and it was a socially distanced work event where we rented out a screen and watched “Godzilla vs Kong,” a gigantic battle you really should see on a big screen with a supreme sound system. I have a soft spot for the old Japanese Godzilla movies because they’d play on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid, and they both terrified and enthralled me.

Seattle titans Oxygen Destroyer capture a lot of that monster movie mayhem in their music, which is very much on point, and that rushes to the surface on their explosive new record “Sinister Monstrosities Spawned By the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind,” a title long enough you likely need a breath after saying it. Their pummeling death metal pays homage to the old titanic battles that could consume entire cities (their name comes from the weapon used to destroy Godzilla in the original 1954 movie), and this new record focuses half on Japanese kaiju films and half on American and UK movies such as “The Giant Claw” and “Gorgo.” The band—vocalist/guitarist Lord Kaiju, guitarist Joey Walker, bassist Paul Wright, drummer Chris Craven—packs these eight tracks and 29 minutes with enough vicious power to make you wonder if you haven’t just watched two behemoths tangle.

“Merciless Embodiment of Everlasting Death” gets things off to a horrific start with animalistic battles and screams before the track drills open, and splattering fury just goes off. Savage chaos rips through you, the leads ignite, and speed is unleashed before the track comes to a furious end. “Possessing the Putrified Remnants of the Unholy God Incarnate” rips apart with vile growls and stampeding thrashing that makes the earth feel like it’s imploding. The growls hurl buildings while the drumming destroys with the leads heating up and charging. Fluid guitars clear your mind for a moment before the torment returns in full and explodes. “Slaughtering the Guardian Monsters” has beasts snarling and a punchy tempo that comes right for you. The vocals do significant damage while the pace feels like a battering ram, and then great guitar work emerges and blocks the sun, as everything comes to a menacing finish. “Sons of the Necrobeast” is awash in insanity as it dawns with the growls blazing and the playing turning rock to rubble. Nasty violence explodes, the drums maul, and vicious riffs take over and smash lights.

“Enduring the Maternal Rage of the Amphibious Monstrosity” has a strange, disembodying open before the riffs arrive and the drums rumble, with mauling growls leading the way. Chaos stampedes over everything, the band mangles you, and every element does its job to smash away at buildings. “The Plague Spreading Horror from 20,000 Fathoms” dashes amid monstrous growls and playing that stomps innards as the drums come unglued. The guitar work dizzies as the bottom end thickens and spacious hell envelopes your mind, destroying everything in its path. “As Big as a Battleship” starts off with the ominous UFO reports from the aforementioned film “The Giant Claw,” and then the madness is realized, and things fire up in a hurry. Guitars sizzle and send fire as the blasts jam your insides, and the lava bubbles and flows forcefully, raining down devastating blows as the song ends. “Their Reign Has Begun” is the closer that mashes massively as the guitars twist and mangle, and fierce wails send seismic waves. Total slaughter is achieved as the band keeps battling, the tempo packs on some nasty firing, and the final moments shroud everything with smoke and fire, with the city being given its last rights.

There is no way to hear “Sinister Monstrosities Spawned By the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind” and not envision great beasts doing battle in the center of a major metropolis, with human forces scrambling to figure out how to save humanity from the aftermath. And that’s just the point of Oxygen Destroyer’s music, which is purposely heavy and utterly terrifying in the best way. This is great, cataclysmic fun and a total beast of death metal hell.

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

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

Or here (cassette, coming soon): https://headsplitrecords.storenvy.com/

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

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

For the past several months, I felt like I had lost the ability to dream. I’m sure I had some rapid-fire visons as I slept that don’t recall, but the presence of full-bodied, strange stories my brain tells me felt like they had disappeared into the back if my mind, robbing me of one of the highlights of sleep where I could travel into weird labyrinths as I lie motionless all night.

Things have changed a bit recently as lucid dreaming has returned, and I’m wondering if it has to do with having to cut out THC due my weird anxiety. This is relevant to what we’re talking about today, namely “Deconsecrate,” the second record from death metal ghouls Ænigmatum. These eight songs spread over 45 minutes made my brain charge and the morbid ends of my imagination start to fire, almost like I could have a dream during the day as I took on their mind-rumbling, progressive death metal. The band—vocalist/guitarist Kelly McLaughlin, guitarist Eli Lundgren, bassist/synth player Brian Rush, drummer/backing vocalist Pierce Williams—keeps you fully engaged as they drag you through warped horror rooms, past carnival mirrors, and into the strangest mental stimulation you can handle as they unleash some of the most ridiculously proficient, heavy sounds they can manage.

“Forged From Bedlam” is led in by drum rolls before things are torn apart, the growls shred, and the music is propulsive and exciting. Ugly carnage mauls hard, the bass playing crumbles time, and the leads calculate and attack, heating up with nasty growls and disarming speed. “Undaunted Hereafter” pounds away as the bass slips in, and the carnage explodes. The drums unload as the playing gets more daring and thrashing, tearing into your flesh and even lighting some progressive fires. The track chugs anew as a massive assault is mounted before the phantom releases its grip. “Disenthralled” is disorienting and tangling as the growls scorch from behind. The leads jolt as things get even trickier, charging through your mind into fluid, fertile terrain before the track gets thrashier, the growls mar, and the chaos bleeds into “Fracturing Proclivity” that basks in ominous tones. Speed later makes your head spin as absolute insanity lands, completely scrambling your brain as the guitars jettison off into the horizon. The drums clobber, the skies darken, and the piles of ash dissolve into the earth.

“Floods Within a Splintered Cortex” is a weird, spacey instrumental piece that lets the clouds slowly burst, the pace crumble, and the synth jolt before pulling into “Larker, Sanguine Phantom” that has the guitars stabbing from the start. Things gets relentless and frantic, which feels frightening at times, and the crushing madness spills into great intensity and chaotic charging that makes your blood rush. The back end clobbers as throaty growls reign, ending everything in ravenous crunch. “Despot of Amorphic Dominions” is whirring and strange as it greets you, exploding in rubbery ferocity and explosive leads that ignite with energy. The power suddenly pulls back as hypnotic strangeness overtakes the ambiance, numbing before the daggers fly again, and an insane tempo forces you to try to make sense of what you’re experiencing. The playing topples, a spacey vibe stretches, and everything tumbles into an ashen abyss. “Animus Reflection” closes the album, starting with break-neck power and stirring madness, with a zany atmosphere to boot. The playing carves bone as your limbs are tested, the bass slinks and slips, and the leads both ignite and chill, churning your bones and ending things with intoxicating fumes.

“Deconsecrate” is one of those albums where on one hand you can lead a listener on a path of expectation with these eight songs, and on the other it’s like I don’t know what the fuck to say that’ll make this make sense, which I love. Ænigmatum brings imaginative, jarring death metal that is challenging and progressively devastating, music that you likely won’t fully absorb the first time through and maybe not even the 10^th. This album is further proof that death metal hasn’t been fully mastered yet because artists such as these still generate sounds and auras not yet discovered, proving there’s still so much left to unearth.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063560651573

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

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

Operating in mystery can be frustrating or exhilarating in your music, depending on where you come from as a listener. As a writer, it can give you something on which to dig your teeth a little deeper because you’re not necessarily bound to a philosophy or set of themes, so you can delve into the art in a different means so that you can gleam some of your own meaning.

Multi-international force Qrixkuor, named after a bird from Kenneth Grant’s 1997 book Against the Light, unleash “Poison Palinopsia,” a record engorged with occult leanings and outright strangeness that are packed into two epic-length tracks. They aren’t directing you to specific topics, they’re not commenting explicitly on the state of the world, and it’s easy to just simmer in their thunderous gloom and let that shape your own journey. Its members—vocalist/guitarist S, bassist VK, drummer DNH—populate other bands such as Temple Nightside, Grave Miasma, Vassafor and plenty others, but here they focus on truly dark death metal that soars into the deepest caverns, travels through madness, and tests your will as you take on this mentally ravaging experience.

“Serpentine Susurrus – Mother’s Abomination” starts things off, running 24:11 and basking in sound beams before strange growls and mind-altering playing make your blood race. Guitars soars and twist as your psyche is squeezed, chaos swirls, and animalistic shrieks do damage to your mind. The playing keeps rounding back, assaulting your guts, and the guitars start fires they’re not necessarily keen to control before things take a doomy turn. Smoke thickens, the drums break through the earth, and the playing begins to smother, pairing up with the mangling growls. Everything builds into a weird fury, the drums turn stone to dust, and the intensity spikes before the track melts away.

“Recrudescent Malevolence – Mother’s Illumination” is the closer and the longest of the two, running 24:31 and starting in a strange haze with synth clouds and eerie sound warps. Melodies slowly melt, taking on a plodding pace that’s nevertheless heavy as hell. The pressure builds as the vocals get nastier, the leads charge, and the playing just melts, rumbling in echo. Orchestral synth sweeps hard, the hellish tones get dizzying and brutal, and the growls begin to kill as the punishment heavily crumbles. The playing shifts to slurry and strange, cavernous pounding penetrates, and the power overwhelms the senses, mixing into synth weirdness before the final moments bend to warped hell.

Taking the plunge into “Poison Palinopsia” is not something to be taken lightly as it’s not a collection of songs you’re encountering, it’s a full-fledged psychological experience. Qrixkuor are not opening a portal into sinister sounds that any other death metal band could own and operate. This is a full commitment to the void, a trip through the unseen that might be unmanageable for some, intimidating for others, but something that’ll leave its mark long after you’ve left its warped kingdom.

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

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

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