What if you woke up one day and found out that the things you love to do the most suddenly were going to become a great struggle, if they are activities you’d even be able to do at all for the rest of your life. How would you deal with that, and how would you fill that void in your life?

That’s what happened to Aaron Edge, guitarist, drummer, and graphic designer who played with bands such as Rote Hexe, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, Grievous, Hauler, and Roareth when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis earlier this year. The very things he loved to do the most soon would become impossible to carry out as the autoimmune disease spread its pain with him facing a long road of treatments. So he took on the project Lumbar as his final musical excursion where he’d be the brainchild behind what was going on sonically. While some people may have lamented and wallowed in their condition, and understandably so, Edge was having none of that and set out for one last great experiment that would wind up producing one hell of a mind-blowing album with “The First and Last Days of Unwelcome.”.

Edge wrote and performed all of the music and penned the lyrics, and he’s also joined in the excursion by two huge presences in Mike Scheidt (YOB, VHOL) and Tad Doyle (of the great Tad, as well as Brothers of the Sonic Cloth) who add their own personalities and spirits to the music, becoming ideal partners for helping Edge carry out this project. The music is heavily doom- and noise-infused, although unlike many records from those subgenres, the songs aren’t all that long (the lengthiest is 5:04) and the record itself clocks in just under 25 minutes. That may feel like EP territory for a doom album, but once you experience this, you definitely will not feel short changed. Nor should you anyway. It’s quite a journey to take, and just knowing what Edge was experiencing and that he had to put his whole heart and soul to this final living document adds yet another level of emotion to the album.

By the way, there are a few ways you can grab this album. Southern Lord is offering the record on vinyl and digitally. Holy Mountain Music has the CD and cassette version of the album coming soon, as well as some pretty rad T-shirt choices. All of the band’s proceeds are going to help fund Edge’s medical expenses, so be cool and go buy a copy of this. You won’t just be helping an artist who really needs it, you’ll also getting a really unique, compelling collection of music at that. You really can’t go wrong. See links below for more, and keep checking back for the cassette, LP, and CDs as they aren’t listed yet.

The seven songs simply are called “Day One” through “Day Seven,” and the record begins with a clip from the “Twilight Zone” episode “The Little People.” Then the music opens into spacious doom, Scheidt’s high-reaching vocals erupt and scrape the ceiling, and some bluesy playing slithers in, undercut by vicious growls and drubbing. “Day Two” rumbles open, with noise simmering and hanging in the air, stretching into a full blast of chaos. The song hammers you slowly and impossibly heavily, and the dueling wailing and growling that mix together might make you feel a little dizzy. “Day Three” has some guitar whinnying at the start, and then it dissolves into earth-crushing sludge, with yowls, maniacal shouts, and toward the end, the sound starts to ramp up before is whooshes out at the end. It’s a really interesting track.

“Day Four” gives you more of an early hardcore or noise rock feel, kind of like Unsane or something along those lines, with muddy riffing and shouts of, “Why are you here? Who sent you?” The song is crushing and violent, and it’s the most straightforward, direct punch to your face of all the songs on the album. Then “Day Five” lands like a buzzing, angry nest of insects, spreading ambient noise and haze over its 2:07 running time and a nightmarish experience altogether. “Day Six” lets the classic doom smoke rise, with grimey drone settling behind everything, riffs rising out of the ash bent on devastation, and Scheidt’s wail muscling its way back into the picture and taking everything into the stars. There is bluesy playing, hulking riffs, and another exit into a bed of noise. Closing “Day Seven” is eerie and slow moving at the start, before the bottom drops out and fires begin to rage again. The song might make you feel like the walls of your house and closing in on you and getting ready to fall, and if you have the end of this track raging at full volume within your confines, that might actually be the case. The finish is just devastating, the perfect way to top off this fantastic effort.

We wish all the best to Edge in his future, and thank him for all of his contributions to the music world, including this unreal final endeavor Lumbar. Who knows what the future may hold and what he may go on to do, but Edge, Scheidt, and Doyle make for an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime dream group that will keep its creator’s spirit and fire burning long into the future like it very much deserves. Not to be lame, but, long may you run, Aaron Edge.

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

To buy the cassette or shirts, go here: http://holymountainprinting.bigcartel.com/category/lvmbar

To buy digitally from the band go here: http://lumbarsl.bandcamp.com/

To buy the LP, go here: http://www.southernlord.com/store.php

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

There are those bands that, no matter how much music they release, you always know what you’re going to get. If that’s a good or bad thing, that’s up to you. Then you have those that change things up as they go along and kind of keep you guessing as to what they’re going to try on each new recording. Then there is Finnish band Circle.

Anyone who knows anything about this band knows you can’t expect anything when they put out a new album, except for music in some form. Over countless recordings (good luck trying to figure out how many they actually have, though I saw the number 27 full-length albums somewhere), this band that specializes in what they call New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal does whatever they want. It could be anything. Power metal, thrash, Krautrock-splashed rock, prog, you name it. Whatever they’re feeling at the moment, that’s what ends up on their albums, and there is no way at all to tell what you can expect until you put the record on and let it hit you. Hell, just compare 2012’s “Manner,” that was released by Hydra Head, and the album we’ll discuss today “Incarnation,” which is back on the Ektro label. They don’t even sound remotely like the same band. Well, that’s because they’re not the same band anymore.

Another tenet of Circle is the roster shuffling, and there has been a full dose since that last recording. Uh, wait. Let me back up. We’re talking the last full Circle full-length record. There was that split release this year with Mamiffer in which Circle was a mere two members, to equal the members of their collaborators, and that lineup was Jussi Lehtisalo and Mka Ratto. Those two guys don’t appear on the new Circle album because they’ve moved onto their Falcon project (think weird, synth-laden 1970s rock and a bunch of other weird shit), so yeah, what you’re left with is a new lineup since the Circle name is “on loan” to other artists. Yeah. So Circle is kind of a different band altogether now, and this formation has come up with something unforgiving and maniacal. God, this is strange and hard to explain.

“Incarnation” is one of the most grisly, violent record in the Circle arsenal, and the five guys who put this thing together really must have been tapping into their darkest, muddiest side when it came to making these songs. Elements of sludge, death, black metal, and even wildly varied experimental sounds make up this five-track album, and as used to weirdness as Circle fans have become, this record might even surprise most of them. Maybe the fact an entirely different band operating as Circle will be strange to some, but the five guys in command here–Rami Simelius, Ville Valavuo, Tommi Sookari, Markus Hietamies, and Jussi Rajala–knock this shit out of the park and keep the long-standing moniker in damn good shape.

We kick off with the mangling title cut, a song full of ugly, doom-riddled chaos, infernal growling, long stretches of penetrating drone, and maddening tension that could remind some of Neurosis’ more infernal moments. The thing feels lead heavy and threatening and could throw you for a loop if you have even the slightest of expectations. “Infamy” is built on a tough-as-nails guitar riff, with doomy, burly smashing, ferocious death metal-style growls, eventually a faster tempo that leans into hardcore terrain, and tasty guitar soloing that adds a bit of showmanship to this black cauldron or torment.

“Transcending” has long periods of stretched-out noise, weird, chilling chants, and a relentless period of pounding and drubbing, that eventually meets a high dose of mud and leads to one mean meltdown. The band just lets loose, pouring on the punishment, with screams and shrieks sounding beastly and from the woods, with an untamed spirit giving the song its animalistic magic. Then the record gets weird for its final two cuts. “Bloodstreams” doesn’t even reach two minutes, and it’s a hulking bulldozer of beastly death metal, gruff growls, and killer chugging that’ll leave bruises. Then there’s the wacko closer “Burden,” the song that most sounds like one from Circle’s past, with a purposely repetitive pace, chants and calls, warbling that seems to come stream of conscience, proggier playing, and a lot less harshness. It’s long at 11:21, and it takes its time doing what it does, and when the song finally reaches its end, the strange space jam and final hisses of noise seem like the perfect way to end this eclectic record.

Who knows who will be behind the Circle moniker the next time around, but if it’s this crew, I’ll be pretty happy to hear where they go next. Naturally, they’re going to need to switch things up if they do another one, because that’s just how the Circle machine goes. But for this one, they hit on all the right ugliness, tear the right amount of flesh, and keep things just weird enough to justify and rubber stamp their existence as Circle.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.circlefinland.com/

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

For more on the label, go here: http://www.ektrorecords.com/ektro.php

I may have asked this before, but what the actual hell is going on in Australia? I mean, I’ve seen Outback commercials before, and everything seems so cheery and fun there. No one ever frowns. Ever! OK, all joking aside, we Americans do get a sunny, happy outlook when it comes to Australia, but the land’s metal output seems to indicate something different.

Most of us already know of Portal, the hellish, costumed death metal demons that brought a new sense of terror to the subgenre and remain one of the most mysterious bands of our time. We also have Mournful Congregation, kings of funeral doom who make some of the most emotionally anguished sounds going today, and every one of their albums is a journey through psychosis, trauma, and suffering. That’s just scratching the surface of Aussie bands not named AC/DC, that also includes Assaulter, Bestial Warlust, and StarGazer, showing the uglier, more violence side of that part of the world.

Now we have one of the ugliest, most terrifying bands to date to slither out of Australia with Grave Upheaval, a band that sounds like what it might underneath a hundred million tons of burning coals, as you’re suffocated and charred. Their music is hard to describe accurately because it’s more like a presence than a composition. It stands still and just drone and bores through your soul, with no intention of dazzling you or getting your energy to a higher level. They simply want to pound away over and over until you have no choice but to tap for submission. The closest comparison is Portal, but without the dizzying musicianship buried underneath all the layers of filth. That’s not to suggest these guys don’t also have those chops (after all, they share a member with that band and Impetuous Ritual), but their mission is to crush and kill. Period.

OK, so as noted, this band has a tie to Portal with their drummer Ignis Fatuus, who plays the same with this band but handles guitars and vocals for Impetuous Ritual. He takes no name in this band. The other member, who also goes nameless, handles everything else, including those smothering vocals, and the songs on the record don’t even get names. Neither does their debut full-length, out on Nuclear War Now!, which only helps to build the mystery and terror behind this band. Their style is not going to be for everyone, and it takes a certain headspace to embrace and identify with this music (is it scary that I do?), but if you get it, you’re fully committed.

The first track gets the record off to a ripping start, with frightening drone and vocals that sound like a demonic hiss rising from the earth’s crust. The guitars are thick and clubbing, and if you’re not attuned to what this band is doing, your head is already spinning. The second track is menacing and drowns in soot, drubbing you slowly but heavily, like hell has opened up and coated the Earth’s surface with fire. As the song reaches its finish, the music grinds to an even slower pace and strengthens the grip around your neck. Track three opens with sludgy doom riffs, and production-wise it’s the cleanest sounding song on the whole record. That doesn’t mean it’s pristine or pretty, by the way. Just a little less encrusted in dirt. Anyway, the vocals return to their whispery haunting, and the band continually goes for your throat.

The fourth track veers into blinding madness, with the drums just erupting, the vocals sounding as demonic as ever before, and the guitars wearing away. Then, the growls reach a screechy level, eerie drone chants float behind, and the devastating tempo boils over. Anyone who says this band shows no variety–and that stupid complaint is out there–apparently skipped over this song. The fifth track has a numbing pace, with the tempo pounding and tortured wails driving home the pain and agony. The sixth track wastes no time delivering buckets full of punishment, with a doom finish to the music, and a catastrophic wave of feedback that pierces the mind and soul and turns them black. The closing cut is the longest, at 10:15, and it takes its time setting up its mission and sucking you into its vortex. The drubbing remains mostly at the same speed, with elements poured over it such as melodic nuances, more doom creepiness, grinding death hell, and a dizzying final few minutes that should leave your room spinning. It’s a record that, if it hits you in the right spot, could end up on repeat for hours as you examine each inch of its chaos.

Grave Upheaval’s hopeless, tortured death metal won’t excite everyone, especially those who think this subgenre’s centerpoint is teen clothing shops and summer package tours. Those people are flat out wrong, by the way. That’s not an opinion. This band is frightening, overtly violent, and should make your guts go frozen in no time which, if you’re a true fan of death metal’s essence, should provide a lifetime of morose happiness.

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

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

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

The best split releases are ones that give you something that excites you and offers an appetizer serving of music from bands that have a bit of commonality but aren’t really cut from the same cloth. If you’re getting two bands that do the exact same thing, then what’s the point?

One of the year’s best and most satisfying splits is ready for release next week, a bright gem in the late year burial ground of releases where not a whole lot of noteworthy releases pop up. That would be the one that pairs up Noothgrush, the eccentric, go-at-their-pace sludge doom warriors from Oakland, Ca., with Japanese death cult Coffins. These bands do not have a ton in common sonically, and they have even less in the manner in which beach releases music. But when paired together, it works. Noothgrush is a band with an extensive amount of releases but only one proper full-length, that being 1998’s “Erode the Person.” On Coffins’ end, they, too, offer up a bunch of mini releases, but they also regularly put out full-length recordings, their most recent being July’s “The Fleshland.” These bands smartly combined for this devastating split being released by Southern Lord that is well worth your time and money.

Noothgrush

Noothgrush got a nice reintroduction to a wider audience a couple years ago with their live compilation “Live for Nothing,” also released by Southern Lord, and last year they contributed a song to a split with Suppression. The three songs available here provide their most extensive work in years and hopefully a sign the machine is moving full bore again. The lineup is mostly the same as we’ve come to know over the years, with Gary Niederhoff on bass (he also has done guitars and vocals over the years), Russ Kent on guitars, and Chiyo Nukaga on drums. The big change is the addition of new singer Dino Sommese, who carved his path with bands such as Asunder, Ghoul, and Phobia. The refurbished unit sounds hungry and powerful, and these three cuts are a real treat.

We open with “Humandemic,” a bluesy, slithering, savage cut that is crushing, sludgy, and mean. Sommese’s vocals work really well with it, and the band sounds right at home. That leads to an updated version of “Jundland Wastes,” a band trademarked Star Wars-referencing cut that has been featured on other releases but gets new life with this 2013 version. The song remains filthy and awesome, the grooves are just as nasty, and this update is earth-crushing wonder. Closer “Thoth” pays tribute to late Bay Area DJ Cy Thoth and includes warped, paranoid, but really fun samples of his voice, warning of all kind of atrocities and opining that the world is a prison. The song is full of slow-driving doom, furious, snarling vocals, noise ringing out and piercing your ear drums, and all-out, muddy violence. It’s a hellacious finish to these three cuts, and one of the great surprises of the year in that we actually have new Noothgrush material. Hopefully there is much more to come in the near future.

Coffins

Coffins, of course, have made a name for themselves due to their ugly, gory, hellacious death metal, and they have been work horses, touring relentlessly and adding tons of releases to their already bustling canon. Aforementioned “The Fleshlands,” their Relapse debut, was another dose of blood-splattered fun and doom-coated fury that highlights what this band does so well. The Coffins fellows, in case you need an update, are vocalist Ryo (who switched over from drums), guitarist Uchino, bassist Koreeda, and drummer Satoshi, and as you’ll hear on their two songs on this split effort, they have no problem churning out a ton of material and keeping everything fresh and brutally savage.

“Drown in Revelation” greets you with impossibly heavy thrashing, a mean, nasty disposition, and throaty, animalistic vocals that truly hammer home the violence and horror of Coffins’ way of life. Every time you think the song can’t possibly get heavier, it does, and these guys just blow shit apart and let the body parts land wherever gravity places them. “The Wretched Path” has gurly, throat-mangling vocals, a killer pace, and a totally nasty death groove that just pulverizes. Razor-sharp lead guitar work snakes over top the chaos underneath, some bluesy hues erupt from the carnage, and the song ends with a pocket of devastating death metal that’s some of the heaviest you’re going to hear anywhere.

This split just obliterates, and at 29 minutes, you’re going to get just enough to keep you full and no more than that. Leaving people wanting more always is a good idea, and no one in their right mind would complain if these songs are merely here to tide you over before new chaos comes at you from these two hulking beasts. Go grab this filthy bastard and make your Thanksgiving week as morbid as it can possibly be.

For more on Noothgrush, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Noothgrush/193662010656114

For more on Coffins, go here: http://www.coffins.jp/

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

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

It was only a couple years ago that an album called “As Time and Tide Erodes Stone” ended up in my inbox, before it was pressed by The Flesner on vinyl and when the California-based band Lake of Blood still were an underground mystery to most people. But there was something there, and that album stuck with me for a while, ending up a go-to when I needed something to hear while I was on a long walk or drive when I could fully and properly absorb the music.

Now, two years later, the band is back with an astonishing late-year album “Omnipotens Tyrannus” that’s out in cassette only for the Cult of Melancholia label, and does it ever up the ante over their full-length debut album. Not only is it that much more realized musically and astonishingly heavy, it’s also one hell of a lengthy listen, with seven cuts stretched over 80 minutes and guest appearances by the mighty Wrest (Leviathan) and former member Sutekh Hexen member Scott Miller, whose nightmarish soundscapes add a chilling element to this collection. It’s the sign of a band truly coming into its own, and while it takes a nice commitment of time to get through the album, you’ll find yourself better off for it once it plays out in full.

It’s easy to hear, even with a cursory listen to “Omnipotens Tyrannus,” just how much this has band has grown as songwriters and how much more they understand what they’re trying to do philosophically. The atmosphere is rich and thick in their style of black metal, almost as if you could reach out and touch mists from the oceans or furious winds whipping off the shores near the coast, and the thunderstorming that’s weaved into their music also feels like they’re trying to give a proper soundtrack to that event and give it even more quaking power. There’s such a noticeable difference in the band–and they were damn good on their debut and other split and mini releases–and they sound on the cusp of heading down the road to long-term greatness. If that does happen and this band does blossom, you can mark this album as their first real step.

Yes, the band has two pretty notable guests on this album, and perhaps that’ll open them up to a wider audience that they deserve, but the credit for this amazing album sits squarely in the laps of the five who made this thing possible. Vocalist Haagr, guitarists Samael and Nordic, bassist Krajavic, and drummer Xsithis have really come together as a unit, channeling their rage where it needs to be, getting the most out of every second of this album, and going back and forth between moods organically,making you anticipate every crushing high and slip into each emotional valley. It’s an album that continues to give and reward, and it’s so easy to get caught up in the majesty of this thing and wonder where the hell the past 80 minutes have gone.

“Blood and Mercy” opens this opus, and right away you get a good idea of what awaits you on the rest of the album. The song erupts out of a body of noise, with black metal-style wailing, howling vocals, and charged up melodies that serve to infect. The cut keeps twisting and turning over its 11:13 running time, always keeping the drama high, and eventually drowning out in the noise from which it came. “He Who Becomes” is an interesting one, as it shows more prog tendencies, colorful acoustic guitar passages add texture, and once the hellish storm dies down several minutes in, a long woosh of noise eats up the final minutes of the track, immersing your brain in cloudy wonder. “In Wells of Shadows,” at 13:30, dips into doom, with a somber opening and slow-driving melodies before it really hits its stride. The vocals hit a punishing wail, the song bursts apart and lets a flood of dark colors bury the sun, and a bed of total decibolic violence bleeds over, keeping up with the competing melodies insistent on infusing beauty. It’s quite a struggle between light and dark, and a damn rewarding one for the listener.

“Agape” will make you feel slurry and dizzy from the start, with its weird, medicine-head opening that might make you think the song is going somewhere it isn’t. Of course, shit blows up, with some spirited, killer chugging and vocals that rear infernal levels of scorching, and an awesome pace that should keep your blood pumping and … then unpredictable changes that take the song back to eerie and spooky. This section will chill your blood cells and have you seeing spirits, but then the madness blasts in again and erases that temporarily, before acoustic guitar and piano drops take you out. “Tyrannus” trickles into the scene before it hits its stride, with more texture coming by way of the acoustic guitar work, melodies that surge and burst in incredible colors, and a finishing few minutes that go from brain-picking prog rock to flesh-ripping black metal that eventually dissolves into more doom. “Omnipotens” is the longest cut at 16:15, and it provides the perfect curtain dropper, even though it technically isn’t the final song. There’s a buzzing, driving force that brings the song out of the shadows, and over its running time, it visits each tenet of what Lake of Blood do so well, from sooty, evil black metal, to melodic and adventurous playing, to clean, yet jarring sections that lets your mind wander, but only so far. A doom fog settles over everything and threatens to suffocate, but in the final moments, the song comes alive again and ends on a note of total menace and fury. Closer “Reflect and Suffer at the Paw of Grace” a 3:43 come down, is a great summary title for the album, and a proper closer, as it’s a lush bed of noise and atmospherics, with weird music and a voice mumbling wearily behind it. The track feels like the final moments of a hellacious storm, where you’re first looking out your windows to inspect the aftermath. Sadly, there are people doing just that this week.

Lake of Blood are a force, one with which to be reckoned, and they’re coming for us all. The advancements they have made from album one to two are almost impossible to believe, yet here’s your evidence. “Omnipotens Tyrannus” is the first major step of a really special band threatening to take black metal and stretch its boundaries even further, purists kicking and screaming be damned. This record will open your mind, compel you to imagine, and enrapture you in its power. This band has arrived, and it’s hard to predict where Lake of Blood will go next. But rest assured, it will be somewhere earth-shattering.

For more on the band, go here: http://lakeovblood.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://cultofmelancholia.storenvy.com/

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

I have had a weird history with metal, one where I spent a long stretch of time not really listening to it. Once I got to college and starting working as a radio DJ, my tastes started to change, and I got way more into indie rock and far less into metal. So I missed a nice chunk of time.

The past decade and a half, or so, I have been fully back and immersing myself in all things metal, but because of the time I spent away, there’s still a bit of catch-up that I sometimes have to do, even for some music that was released during times I’ve been fully participating. That’s why reissues are always exciting for me when it comes to records I either missed or never got to get a proper version to appreciate.

Today we have two records that fall into that category for me, and maybe they do for you, too. Or maybe you’ve always been into these releases but would like a fresh new copy. I’m always game for that aspect, too, which is why I acquired all-new versions of all the Carcass albums when Earache did their reissue run, because I like to have the best possible copies of records that I hold dear.

YOB’s “Catharsis” lineup

Let’s start off with “Catharsis,” the second record by the mighty YOB which is now being reissued by Profound Lore, the label that put out the band’s most recent two studio crushers “The Great Cessation” and “Atma.” Funny, but I didn’t get into the band until a year after this record came out when Metal Blade sent me a copy of the band’s 2004 album “The Illusion of Motion.” From that point I was hooked by this band, but it’s not until now that I’ve fully gotten to experience “Catharsis” in this manner. By that I mean, not on a substandard burned copy, not hearing someone else’s copy in the car or something. This is a remastered version of a record that’s become to be known as a cult metal classic (complete with new artwork), and if you absorb these stunning three epics, you’ll know why people who hold this record dear feel that way.

Of course, Mike Scheidt is front and center and the visionary of this incredible band, and he really stretches the sonic qualities of his voice here in a way we’d all come to expect on future releases. Added to that his guitar work not only is full of doom power but also bluesy humidity and psychedelic wonder, really letting you stretch your brain while listening. Joining him are drummer  Gabe Morley and bassist Isamu Sato. They open up with “Aeons,” an 18-minute boiler that stays in its pace and really burns over its running time. It’s a mind-altering, weird, bubbling cauldron of power, with Scheidt switching back and forth from his Ozzy-like high-pitched cries and guttural growls. “Ether” is the short one of the bunch, only clocking in at “only” a little over seven minutes. It’s sludgy, punishing, crushing, and still will warp your mind when you hear it. The soloing is molten and blazing, and the final few minutes of mauling might make you want to hit something with a hammer. The 24-minute title cut closes the album, and is it ever a mauler, taking its time to get going, with the bottom dropping out, devastation sweeping across, only to give way to calm again. The song continue in that manner, building astonishing highs, with Scheidt’s voice reaching for the tallest mountains, and returning to the guttural again, with menacing growls and chaos, building to the final few minutes where the band lets loose and speeds things up, ending the record on a crumbling crippling note. Holy shit.

If you never got your hands on this record and need to complete your collection, or you just want to hear what is, still today, one of the most forward-thinking doom metal albums in the world, “Catharsis” will open your eyes and help you see metal in a way you never have before. That’s what makes this a full-fledged classic.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.yobislove.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/products-page/

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

On a completely different end of the metal spectrum are Iceland’s Solstafir, a band that you can witness in person at next year’s Maryland Deathfest and whose sound has become more of a post-rock-influenced style. Their most recent album is 2011’s “Svartir Sandar,” released by Season of Mist, and if that was your first exposure to the band, you might be surprised by what you’ll hear on their reissued debut album “Í Blóði og Anda.” You pretty much had to be at the right place at the right time in order to have a copy of the original version of the album, because it basically disappeared right afterward, but Season of Mist are releasing this much sought-after album, along with a second disc or record of demo and rehearsal cuts, so this tremendous album can be back in circulation.

“Í Blóði og Anda” (translates to “In Blood and Spirit”) does have elements of post-rock and black metal, but there’s just as much post-hardcore and classic screamo influences as well, making this one hell of an interesting mix of sounds and one of the most passionate albums in their collection. The nine-track, 56-minute album is sequenced pretty weirdly, with the shorter songs dominating the first half of the album, and longer ones, beginning with “Ei Við Munum Iðrast” and ending with sweeping closer “Árstíðir Dauðans,” complete with atmospheric passages and a female voice adding the right texture. Also in that stretch of epics is “Bitch in Black,” a folk-infused smasher rife with references to a woman with “eyes that glare like burning churches” and ritualistic activities. The front half is more immediate and to the point, with highlights coming on the punchy and fast title cut, that ends in a pocket of space rock; “The Underworld Song” that also reaches the cosmos and is played with undeniable passion; as well as “Tormentor,” that’s rife with punk rock energy.

There’s a lot to like on “Í Blóði og Anda,” and raw and untested as this band was at the time, clearly they were onto something and had the heart and drive to make it so. Having this record available—finally—on wide-range basis is something the metal world needed, and it’ll even make you see this band a little differently. Perhaps another benefit is younger bands might finally hear this record and understand how to deliver music with honesty and passion, something so sorely lacking today.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.solstafir.net/

To buy the album, go here: http://e-shop.season-of-mist.com/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.season-of-mist.com/

Messy and filthy, punishing and violent. Those are really good traits if you’re describing a relatively new metal band to an audience that might not yet be familiar with the artists, and since I’m doing that today, I’m pretty comfortable with those words as descriptors for Serpent Omega.

The Swedish sludge band has been in operation for only two years now, and before their debut, self-titled record dropped earlier this year, they had only a demo to their name. But for having such little time together as a band, they’re already making some impressive steps forward with this seven-track, 36-minute album released by Mordgrimm that is finally moving its way across the world and bringing the group’s fury to more and more people. There are some easy touch points if you want comparisons before digging into the band’s music, so think of the earlier years of both Kylesa and High on Fire so you can know what to expect philosophically. Or maybe quit screwing around and put this bastard on as loud as neighborhood decibel limits will allow and get with a band that’s just at the beginning of their campaign.

While the band heavily revels in sludge, they also mix in classic doom, black metal, and noise into their cauldron and are a true force to behold. In front of the band is Pia Högberg, whose vocals are menacing, forceful, and totally in command. Not to take anything away from her bandmates, but she is the primary reason you’re bound to be sucked into Serpent Omega, because she’s that impressive of a force, and she sounds as mean and powerful as anyone else in the genre. The rest of the lineup is rounded out by guitarist Andreas “Jonsson” Westholm, bassist Tomas “Brief” Westberg, and drummer Sakke Sexton, who bring the devastation and fiery charm to this killer debut record.

The album opens with unmistakable doom swagger with “Skullwand,” a vicious, unrelenting cut where Högberg’s voice is full of grit and menace as she drags you along through the dirt, kicking and screaming. Toward the end, she really lets loose, yelling and howling, while the band delves into blackness, with killer guitar work and near-blast beats. “Smoke Ritual” begins with ominous tones and slips into slow-driving murk that sets the mood. The music is melodic and catchy, but Högberg’s voice remains tough, and when the song really hits its stride, chugging guitars and smokey power take over and suffocate you. “Hammer” opens with some chilling chants before it launches into a volcanic rage, bringing back those High on Fire comparisons, but there also are some guitar parts that remind of the very early days of Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil. Högberg’s vocals reach a nasty shout, where you practically can imagine her pointing an accusatory finger in your face, and the final minutes of the song are so threatening, you might think death is near.

“Warmachine” is aptly titled, because the song sounds like it’s soundtracking a sword-wielding combine coming right at your face, ready to spill blood and destroy flesh. The song gallops and maims, while Högberg’s vocals reach a banshee shriek full of terror. “Red Sun” has a foggy, disorienting opening before it ignites into full-steam-ahead thrashing, with forceful shouts, gale-force-wind storming from the band, and a bloody, lava-filled explosion that again exposes the band’s raw power. “Serpent Omen” is the shortest song on the record, and it’s the one that feels a little too much like everything that came before it. The track’s not bad, but it doesn’t really stand out among the rest. Luckily the epic closer “Konflux” brings it all back together again, starting with static and tribal drumming, eventually slipping into a slow-driving tempo, and letting the leads slice inside and make their own trails. The song slowly builds the drama, letting the tempo swell organically, the scuzz to build up at the base, and the sludge hammer to begin swinging at full force again, pushing the song to its mauling, molten finish. What a way to slam an exclamation point at the end of their statement.

Serpent Omega are still an underground gem waiting to be fully discovered, and considering they’re just starting out, the thunder and chaos is bound to get more destructive from here. This debut is a promising, smoking slab of sludge that you should try to get your hands on so you can get in on the bottom floor of this band’s run. Serpent Omega have the power and fury to be a  major player in the underground metal world, and this album likely is just the first devastating shot before they deliver the knockout punch in the future.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.serpentomega.com/

To buy the album, go here: http://mordgrimm.bigcartel.com/

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

Black metal certainly has grown beyond its initial campaign points, despite so many trying to hold down the genre and make it be about one particular sound. But there are not supposed to be rules when it comes to black metal, and chaos should be allowed to explode beyond its boundaries to keep things fresh and interesting, so why not keep expanding?

French maulers Glorior Belli never met a boundary to which they paid heed. They tend to shove them down, piss on them, and then set them ablaze, and they’ve been expanding their ideas ever since they entered the world in 2002. The band’s sound started off more conventional and aligned with original black metal ethos, but as time’s gone on, they’ve gotten, dirtier, more chaotic, and even bluesier. That’s right, these guys have immersed themselves pretty heavily in American-style blues, and if you didn’t know any better, you might think this band originated in the Deep South, where humidity and violence are part of the culture. They’re that convincing.

While Glorior Belli have been moving in this direction for some time now (hints are smeared across 2009’s “Meet Us at the Southern Sign”), they really committed to the cause on 2011’s “The Great Southern Darkness,” that was put out by Metal Blade. Now with their fifth record “Gators Rumble, Chaos Unfurls” landing by way of Agonia Records, the band’s staying on that same, filthy, dusty path, proving this is their signature sound now and not just something they’re playing around with. Face it, longtime leader and founder J. Infestuus (or Billy Bayou, as he’s now known) and his band of heathens (guitarist Q, bassist S, and drummer JHM) are full-fledged bluesmen now, and the have found a way to mix their interest in the roots of metal into a modern black inferno and really make it work for them. This album rocks pretty hard in a traditional sense, meaning non-metal fans might even find some things that’ll hook them, but also maintains their sense of darkness and morbidity for which they’re known. They’re still black metal at their core.
The 11-track, 45-minute album kicks off with “Blackpowder Roars,” a lean track as far as run time goes as it’s under three minutes, but it gives you a good look at what’s ahead with bluesy melodies and even some clean vocals. “Wolves at My Door” erupts in its wake, with a pure black metal assault, but also some slick Southern blues licks intertwined and ugly, gritty vocals. When Infestuus howls, “Come on!” right before the band hits the song’s mid point, it’s him really fitting into those bluesman shoes. Pretty fun. “Ain’t No Pit Deep Enough” has a heaping helping of swampy guitars, really interesting lead lines that pack a wallop, and a soulful sense of rock and roll fun that makes this track stick to your ribs. “A Hoax, a Croc!” is slow moving and doom infested, and once it opens up a little more, it also infuses some power metal glory into the thing. The vocals are creaky and raw, but Infestuus also tries out his croon a little more, which works effectively. “From One Rebel to Another” is the one cut on here that doesn’t work as well as the rest. It’s not a terrible song, but it’s just missing something.

“I Asked for Wine, He Gave Me Blood” brings the emotions back to a heavy boil, with a blast of black metal chaos and savagery, nasty, punishing growls, and excellent guitar work. This is the heaviest, meanest track on the whole record, and it kills every time. “The South Will Always Know My Name” has a long instrumental opening that’s dizzying and slurry, but a good way through the song, it begins to chug and bruise, with monstrous vocals to boot. “Le BLackout Blues” is murky, muddy, and dark at first, but then the tempo kicks in and leads more toward pure rock terrain, not unlike Queens of the Stone Age. It’s damn catchy and one of the most spirited doses of fun on the album. “Backwoods Bayou” is a filthy and ominous instrumental, with sprawling guitar and spacious ambiance that’s creepy and slithering. “Built for Discomfort” has swaggering, attitudinal guitar work, a ton of crunch and madness, and the vocals practically spit evil intent. The closing title track is a great finale for this collection, with psychedelic-leaning melodies, creaky, spooky growls sprawling from Infestuus’ mouth, and a thunderous storm cutting a path toward the swamps, where gators are ready to strike, and insects ready to coat your body with wounds and disease.

Glorior Belli’s refusal to adhere to black metal’s template, combined with their hunger to answer their southern blues muse has resulted in some of the most rewarding music of their run and a really strong fifth record. This record could help bring rock and metal fans together under darker, more ominous banners, and Glorior Belli a much larger, hungrier base to feed on their hellish messages. If that all comes to pass, then mission accomplished.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.gloriorbelli.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.agoniarecords.com/index.php?pos=shop&lang=en

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

Horrors has been a part of death metal from the very beginning. We’ve been inundated with images of gore, entrails, blood, skulls, you name it, and all of it is there to spark an emotion, to make you feel something morbid, to excite you for the brutality of the music. But let’s face it: Cool as that stuff is, it’s not all that realistic when it comes to everyday lives. At least I hope not.

I’ve always found the psychological horror the most captivating and most terrifying. There’s nothing scarier than what can go on inside your head and what years and years of torment can do to the body, soul, and mind. That’s one of the things that struck a huge chord with me on Vastum’s debut “Carnal Law.” On the outside, with no research, it may sound like the band is writing about sexual depravity, and they are. But not of the slasher film, skeleton-feasting-on-a-female’s-genitals kind of way. Instead, they examine what’s going on in your head, how these things can form you and warp you as a human, and the very real, very scary things that go on in this realm every day. Some people go over the edge dealing with these issues. Some turn their darkness on other people. Some suffer in the panic waiting to break.

Vastum’s incredible second record “Patricidal Lust” goes even deeper into these issues. Let’s start with the title itself, something you might think is there just for shock value, to get death metal tongues wagging. But dig into the title song, what’s going on there, and the real, lifelike violence being portrayed that makes you realize it isn’t fantastical. These things happen, these thoughts occur, and even though the primary storyteller in the title track is carrying out something heinous and unthinkable to most, there seem to be very valid reasons beneath the surface. Fucked up reasons? Yeah, but that’s the point. We’re all wired differently, and there’s only so much we all can take before something that seems like the most outlandish action we can imagine becomes something we’re doing with our own hands. It’s nothing to celebrate. It’s something you should hope never crosses your mind.

That’s just scratching the surface of this record, and I encourage to absorb these six songs along with the lyric sheet to get the proper experience. It’ll make you ill inside, the portrayals of involuntary celibacy and the mental anguish that coincides with that, the guilt that is ingrained in so many of us when perverse thoughts or feelings inhabit our brains, and other real, physical suffering brought on by enduring these things, be it for real or in our heads. It also needs to be pointed out these are not pornographic songs. No one’s here to get off. But they are disturbing, probably as much as what’s on any other death metal record released this year, and  the experience is like no other. You can decide if that’s a good or bad thing.

Musically, there is no question of this thing’s ferocity and power. At the front of this mighty group is Leila Abdul-Rauf (Hammers of Misfortune, Amber Asylum) on guitars and vocals and Daniel Butler (Acephalix) on vocals, as well as bassist Luca Indrio (also Acephalix, Lawless). The rest of the lineup remains in a state of flux currently, but on the record Adam Perry handled drums and Kyle House played guitar. The creative process itself was something of a nightmare for the band as their producer Jef Davis was killed in a motor vehicle accident, robbing the band of a collaborator and friend. Luckily, Greg Wilkinson came up and carried this album to its conclusion and did a damn admirable job getting the best out of the scarred, damaged songs.

“Seasons in the Claustrum (The Libidinal Spring)” gets the record off to a filthy, gritty start, smothering the thing with doom and menace, with dual vocals splattering the ugliness. Butler’s and Abdul-Rauf’s vocals mesh together brilliantly, each conveying the terrors with their own perspectives, and the nightmarish speaking that slips in at the end just chills everything over as guitars blows open the finish. “Enigma of Disgust” is heavy with guilt and dark feelings, as guitars chug and the voices add enormous punch. Lines such as, “Inherit the shame, disrobe in disgust, mask the odors of your lust,” deliver the heavy psychological burden and pain with great impact, ground under the deeply lurched growls. The guitars sizzle and penetrate, drilling into your mind and perhaps seeking that place inside of you that you’ve kept hidden and don’t want out. “3 AM in Agony” speaks more to the physical pain brought on by acting on one’s inhibitions, and maybe I’m reading this wrong, but it seems like the pained thoughts of one given an unwanted ailment by the very person they lie alongside. I get that from the mention of dysuria and the lines such as, “Drops of fire flush away from me, alone in my infection.” It writhes in pain lyrically, while musically the song hits a pestilence-ridden death groove that’s easy to get sucked into, and growls and wails that convey the pain of admissions such as, “Drops of fire slice me where I came.” Not comfortable.

“Incel” is torture of a different variety, telling of the mental torment of involuntary celibacy. This is nothing that comes from religious guilt or some sort of moral clause, but instead a total lack of connection that robs one of release. The music is fittingly suffocating and harsh, with chugging guitars dissolving into sections of abject fury that threaten to immolate. The vocals howl, the guitars slip into murk, and the track eventually dissolves into eerie shadows. The title cut is one of the most disturbing cuts yet, and one of the darkest, most morbid in the death metal annals. That’s no hyperbole. Sit with these lyrics, lines including, “Spill your seed into my father’s tears, his suffering all over my body,” and, “Emergence from his rectal cage, to breathe the stench, the air,” and you get a true sense of the terrible happenings that led to such decision. These are no “high-five your bro” style of death metal lyrics, but instead ones that should cause you to hang your head and feel sorrow for someone who had to live with such torment. The song itself is chilling and violent, with incredible guitar lines that work alongside each other like vintage Slayer, and while there is a weird warmth to some of the music, that’s really a misleading sense. The song just crushes you, and it’s the most savage thing on this record. Closer “Repulsive Arousal” is full of ghostly, horrifying reflections on undesired nocturnal emission, psychological submission, and, again, guilt. The tempo is devastating, stained with charcoal, and grisly. Once things go into sludgy mud at the end, there’s no other choice than to give in and be suffocated by the song’s will and power. Kind of like what the figures in the dream do to the narrator.

I feel like I could go on and on about this record and its themes, and I hope I haven’t interpreted anything incorrectly. But that’s part of what interests me about dissecting records like this because it gives you the torture inherent in death metal, but also something to roll around in your head to consider what it means to you. Bottom line musically is this is a savage, infernal collection that’s the second straight great effort from this band, one of the most unheralded in all of death metal. People need to know this band and appreciate their power, and even if the themes are uneasy, they are things we need to realize are real and happen every day. This is one of the scariest death metal albums of the year, and absolute must hear, and another bloody step in this great band’s tormented path.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vastum/440192535391

For more on the label, or to buy the album, go here: http://www.20buckspinshop.com/

Having a tenacity and fury that’s practically physically tangible is a rarity in metal these days, which is really sad. When the seeds first were planted for death, thrash, and black metal, every band sounded like they meant every ounce, and you wondered if you met some of those people in a dark alley if you’d survive. Yeah, it was mostly fantasy thinking, but those bands made me think that way, and now most of them don’t.

But sometimes you come across a band like Norwegian death maniacs Obliteration, and you get that feeling of danger all over again. They practically explode from your speakers or headphones, like they’re carrying weapons along with the instruments, and that they could maim you at any moment. Would they? They’re called Obliteration. How perfect is that? The band has a savage essence to themselves, a raw hunger, and an untamed, heathen approach that you can feel deep inside yourself. Over the course of three records, they’ve brought back an animalistic quality that’s faded away from so many parts of metal, and their new record “Black Death Horizon” is one that grabs you by the throat and forces you to pay attention to them and adhere to their campaign. It is infectious.

This fiery new document is so devastating that it has two labels behind it. Always reliable Indie Recordings is handling the release in Europe, while the mighty Relapse is putting the record out in America, which should give them a big boost domestically. If you’re new to the band, think of the finer points of Hellhammer, early Celtic Frost, Aura Noir, and Darkthrone, and you’ll have pretty good grasp of what to expect. Yet nothing can fully prepare you for Obliteration, because reading about them and actually experiencing this crew of maulers are totally different things.

Obliteration are made up of four Nords with blood on their lips and ill intent in their hearts. Sindre Solem is on vocals, and his maniacal delivery sounds like he was unleashed from a life in the wild. He’s an insane person with his heinous growls and shrieks, and his work is one of the major reasons this record is so good. Joining him in this madness are guitarist Arlid Myren Torp, bassist Didrik Telle, and drummer Kristian Valbo. All four members are veterans of other bands, but they bring their thunderstorming best to “Black Death Horizon.”

Opener “The Distant Sun (They Are the Key)” takes a little bit to get off the ground, but that’s because the guys are building a chilling mood, with guitars churning slowly, Solem’s shouts lurching from his mouth. But then the track catches fire, gallops, and destroys, with the crazed shrieks scorching the earth as the band metes out its punishment. “Goat Skull Crown,” a track released earlier in the year on an EP of the same name, is dangerous and fast from the start, building the fury and tension, and making your blood boil. There are eerie moments, a section of chant-like singing that you wouldn’t want to hear at night while you’re outside alone, and a molten, crushing finish that ends things on the right note. “Transient Passage” is a fun one and is feverishly haunting, with doomy slime rolling down the walls, and boiling guitars creating an impenetrable haze. Of course, there’s plenty of bloodshed as well, as the playing grows more rabid and angry, and the track has a tasty old school metal vibe that warms my heart while it’s strangling it. “Ascendance (Sol Invictus)” opens with a razor-sharp guitar assault reminiscent of early Slayer, when you still believed the devil was their primary influence, and that swarm grows heavier and more destructive as the song builds. Solem goes off again, sounding like a man unhinged, and the band matches his intensity with channeled playing and blazing soloing.

“Sepulchral Rites” will make any Tom G. Warrior fan smile with Solem’s opening “oooh,” and the track feels like it crawled out of a dusty crypt buried in 1985, here to spread its pestilence in the modern era. The band totally kills here, whipping up the black thrash and dark spirits, and when the song fades into dust at the end, you’ll be looking over your shoulder waiting for it to return. The title cut rages for 7:40 and spills more tarry doom blood onto the floor for them to track everywhere. The pace is fast and relentless, slashing through the ages back to when death metal and thrash were at their screaming infancies, and yet again, Solem is there to drive home the message in an unstable a manner as possible, bringing back that though they these guys might really mean to do you harm. As this pit of war draws to a close after a thunderous finish, a bed of noise drizzles into the finale, and an instrumental called “Churning Magma” starts off with a flurry of finger tapped guitar like some evil Eddie Van Halen is at work. Then the song divides into two weird pieces running alongside each other, with the bottom half mucky and brutal, and the guitars hovering and making black magic over top of the rest. It’s a spooky ending to the record, and an unexpected one that leaves you woozy and disoriented.

So, if you’re finding your faith is fragile when it comes to the current state of metal, have no fear. Bands like Obliteration are here to inject a dark, evil spirit back into the music you love and might even scare the hell out of you with their wavering psyches. “Black Death Horizon” bring me back to my impressionable youth, when I learned of fiery, scary new bands while I was listening walking through the woods, waiting for them to jump from behind a tree to slay me. It’s not easy to suspend disbelief these days, but Obliteration get me damn close.

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

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

Or here: http://www.omerch.eu/shop/indierecordings/

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

Or here: http://www.indierecordings.no/