It’s a new year, and we have a lot of new music with which to visit, but not everything last year had to offer got its just due. So, in early January, before things get too out of control (which should be next week), let’s put some focus on a burly motherfucker perhaps you missed like we did.

OK, and truth be told, this isn’t even cheating, because Mortal Incarnation’s EP “Lunar Radiant Dawn” didn’t get a physical release in 2019, though Sentient Ruin is changing that in 2020. The two-track, 16-minute mauler is being given cassette and vinyl (release for this is TBA) treatment so that the Tokyo-based death-doom destroyers can creep into more people’s brains and leave them in worse shape than they found them. I know there’s a lot of death-doom stuff out there, and if you’re at overload, trust me, we understand. But you want to give “Lunar Radiant Dawn” some consideration because it’s a psyche-scarred journey you’ll take, and the band—guitarist/vocalist Septic Necrovoid, guitarist Goatlord, bassist R$Y, drummer Miasma Vortex (all their given names, might I add!)—waste zero time luring you into their vortex and, once you’re there, laying waste to your mental well-being.

We get started with “A Dismal Propagation Into Decay” with its smothering darkness and doomy soul. Vicious growls roll underneath the mire, while weird psychedelic melodies swim below the millions of layers of filth. Blinding pain ignites as burly riffs pummel and draw blood just as dreamy strangeness melts into the DNA just before dark curtains drop again. A solo detached from humanity sits in the clouds as a strange ambiance rises and disappears into the sky. “Infinite Consciousness” deals piledriving black doom that shifts through mucky riffs, though off in the distance, you can hear a bell ringing eerily into the morning sky. The riffs turn their knives on you and carve paths, utterly destroying, while a voice warbles behind the wall of pain. It suddenly feels like your mind is settling into an impenetrable fog, leaving nowhere to move, as strange paths pull you forward right into the heart of an incinerating explosion of insanity that burns everything to the ground.

You’ve got plenty of time to start putting things on that best-of 2020 list, so why not go back and enjoy some time with Mortal Incarnation, who will burn your soul to a crisp? “Lunar Radiant Dawn” might not have gotten the attention it deserved when it surfaced last summer, but the physical versions coming up should help inject new life into these songs that reek of death. It won’t even take you 20 minutes to absorb, and it’ll char your insides in a way that’ll hurt really badly but leave you wanting more.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://sentientruin.com/releases/mortal-incarnation-lunar-radiant-dawn

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

We try to celebrate and shine a light on many different styles of metal at this site, and I think it’s one of our strengths that you’re not bombarded with the same type of stuff over and over. That said, there are certain styles that don’t quite get us in the guts the way others do, and one of those is technical death metal. This is a tremendous lead in for the record we’re discussing today…

The Bay Area’s Odious Mortem have been making just that style of metal for more than two decades now, and yet despite what we said just a minute ago, their music always has worked just fine for us over here. Yeah, they’re techy for sure, but not at the expense of a heart and soul, as their stuff always sounds written by humans, played by humans. That continues on their great third album “Synesthesia,” their first in 13 years following 2007’s “Cryptic Implosion.” Comprised of three former members of Decrepit Birth, this band pounds you with expertly played stuff that is destructive and imaginative at the same time. The band—vocalist Anthony Trapani, guitarist Dave Eggers, guitarist/drummer KC Howard, bassist Joel Horner—sounds like they haven’t missed a second as they’re tight and ferocious on these 10 cuts that combine for about 38 minutes.

“Dormant Retribution” punches its way open as fierce growls strike while the riffs twist and snake toward its prey. The bass bubbles over as the playing goes into wrecking mode, ending in a smeary death assault. “Condemnation Foretold” lets the riffs go off to the races while the playing twists brains, and gruff growls skin knees. The track heads into a proggy cloud as things work into deep space, complete with sci-fi-led trails. Back on earth, the drums bash away, and the track ends in rubble. “Ruins of the Timeworn” is speedy as hell as growls splatter, and the pace shifts violently, bringing about a new savage pace. This track also sounds hellbent for the stars, with cosmic leads adding unexpected warmth. “Replenish the Earth” pulverizes from the start, eating through walls as the riffs soar. The band thrashes heavily while the vocals are spat out, and the track grinds into hell. “In Abominable Form” unveils contorting leads and monstrous vocals designed to maim. Everything blisters out of control as the music confounds and leaves minds a melting mess.

“Eagle’s Tower” opens with cleaner guitars flowing before the bass sparks an ignition, and the guitars trample all over the place. Growls rupture, and your thinking is pushed into overdrive before the soloing explodes, and the track ends in a blaze of hell. “Cave Dweller” is punchy and menacing as the riffs tangle each other up, and the playing sweeps and deals further damage. The playing builds in calculated manner while the tension splits, bringing everything to a death-defying halt. “Spirit Hole” totally blasts off from the start as the music charges hard, with the guitars travel at dangerous speeds to make their impact. Beastly growls leave bruising, while the fuel is touched off and leaves shrapnel sticking into chests. “Synchronicity” has a classical-style start, as the playing goes in loops, bringing you into a premature sense of ease. Then the hammer drops halfway through, and the beatings commence, twisting everything into a bleeding, painful mess. “Dissonant Theology” closes the book on the record and simmers in popping bass before destruction arrives. The playing is staggering in its violent power, serving growls engorged with blood, leads breaking time, and a dizzying finale that’ll make the room spin out of control.

Odious Mortem’s power and surgical precision remain and splatter all over “Synesthesia,” a very welcome return to the death metal battlefield. Hearing bands that are incredibly capable musicians but who don’t lose themselves while they’re dazzling you aren’t quite plentiful enough in the tech death field, but this band certainly hasn’t let that become a part of their translation. Their music is violent and mind-blowing, as it’s here to outright flatten your senses.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://willowtip.com/bands/details/odious-mortem.aspx

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

If there’s a thing we can say definitively about us as humans it’s that we sure as shit like to kill each other. From wars to cold-blooded murders to crimes of passion to pure revenge, we don’t really cower from spilling each other’s guts when we feel the time calls for it. Happy New Year, by the way.

Bay Area metallic sound benders Lotus Thief never have shied away from the violent and tragic, and they sure don’t pull their punches on “Oresteia,” their third overall and second album for Prophecy Productions. Often pulling from Greek tragedies that they apply to modern times (scary how that works, by the way), this time they focused on Aeschylus’ trilogy of the same name, a story that balances dealing with murder, revenge, and justice. In our country alone, we deal with killings in schools, churches, malls, movie theaters, you name it, and when it comes to our foreign policy, bloodshed often jumps from people’s tongues before trying to consider diplomacy. We haven’t changed at all. And we probably never will. The band also examines gender roles based on the story, and they add extra nuance to their music as we have both a female and male perspective vocally to hash all of this out. Bezaelith (lead vocals, bass, synth, guitars) has been in the front of this band from the start, as she has navigated the band through murky but always stimulating waters. She’s joined there by AJL (additional vocals), Romthulus (guitar, vocals), Tal R’eb (guitar, synth, vocals), and Kore (drums, violin) on a record that’s packed with power and surprises, as well as that bloodshed we’ve been kind of hinting toward.

“Agamemnon” begins with Bezaelith reading from The Watchman section of the tale as the track slowly opens and reveals itself. The singing swells, though growls simmer beneath it all, and then the pace explodes. Harsh cries ring out in the fog, while the pace swoons and is shredded again, and then synth creates a fog. “True prophetess, true paramour, Woman, what deadly birth, what venomed essence of the Earth,” Bezaelith calls as the track punches and swirls into smoke. “Banishment” is a quick interlude piece that basks in atmospheric waves as the cloud cover builds, and the sounds blend into “Libation Bearers.” The song lets synth unfurl as the track situates in fluttering singing before the track explodes, and the playing goes back and forth between fire and ice. The track gets heavier, with prog waves pushing in, as Bezaelith calls, “Hear me, O father, child upon thy sepulcher, each, each, where thou art lowly laid, still stands doom invincible.” Growls inject menace, as things get even more vicious before the singing reestablishes itself, overwhelming and bringing about an icy haze that pushes into “Woe” that immediately strikes ominous tones. Murky sounds stretch their wings as light pounding thumps, bringing about a cold front that ices bones.

“The Furies” opens with wordless calls, slow drumming, and the song slowly coming into existence before things starts to chug. Synth breezes blow as the playing snakes, and Bezaelith’s devastating, powerful singing again takes center stage. The track quakes the ground beneath it, and keys and noise unite and create a stormfront, while the singing drives, pushing the plot and bringing alien synth that flows into “Reverence,” a 54-second interlude that is a sorrowful and crumbles your psyche, simmering in fog and echoes that leads the way toward “Sister in Silence.” Strings feels both woodsy and Celtic, welling up with Gothic spirits, as Bezaelith’s singing again swells and lets the emotions caterwaul, taking a neck-jerk turn, crunching the ground beneath it and tearing apart serenity. A sweltering storm settles overhead as Bezaelith calls, “Liars, may ten thousand horses break your name, vile laws of men, half-blinded visionaries all be devoured.” The track returns to calmer waters, though the track remains intense as hell, before the song rolls off into a cosmic shimmer. “The Kindly Ones” closes the album with keys murmuring and a sense of dread, as Bezaelith channels Athena’s judgment, singing, “The thirsty dust shall nevermore suck up the darkly streaming gore, of civic broils, shed out in wrath and vengeance, crying death for death!” as noise jolts, drums pound, and everything rumbles away.

Having a new Lotus Thief record so early in the year surely will help a typically slow January feel a lot more enthralling, as “Oresteia” serves up an experience that you might have to visit a few times before you fully get what’s happening here. And that’s OK, because I often find the music that stays with me the most is that which I have to earn as a participant, though this one nailed me right away. Lotus Thief continue to push the boundaries of heavy music, what we can expect from them as a unit, and the themes that have created who we are as humans, even if that means that we really haven’t changed all that much.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://prophecy.lnk.to/lotus-thief-oresteia-rervm

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

I have to laugh uproariously every time someone claims when a metal band, or one that’s slightly adjacent, gets shit for making music that’s too catchy or leans hard toward rock n roll. Like metal and rock n roll haven’t been entangled in a sordid affair since the very beginning, and if you poll an honest death or black metal musician, they’re going to tell you that’s where their roots lie as well.

So, it is that we have “Mind Freeze,” the brand-new record from Haunt, their third, and the first album we’re even reviewing in the year 2020. What started as a solo project for Trevor William Church while working with his other band Beastmaker turned into a full-blown band with a complete lineup and now three charging records released between 2018 and now. They’re practically as prolific as the bands to which they’re often compared (Priest, Dio, Maiden, etc.) as “Mind Freeze” lands a mere 10 months after last year’s “If Icarus Could Fly,” itself a rock-solid collection that only amplified the band’s name. This nine-track, 37-minute record is properly portioned and should strike the sweet spot of anyone who has been lured in by this band—Church is joined by guitarist John Tucker, bassist Taylor Hollman, and drummer Daniel “Wolfy” Wilson.

“Light the Beacon” begins with sci-fi synth before the track starts punching, and the strong vocals from Church hint at remembrance of people he’s lost. “I only wish I’d said goodbye,” he calls following a crushing solo and seriously catchy guitar work. “Hearts on Fire” bursts open as synth washes in, and the track is off to the races. “I see the future in my sight,” Church sings as a killer chorus gets the blood flowing, and blazing soloing fans the flames before the chorus returns and takes us out. The title cut has a tremendous riff attached and synth generating fog before Church wails, “It is freezing in my mind.” The track feels a lot like an early ’80s Ozzy song, which fills the heart with nostalgia, with Church wondering, “The frost is taking over, how long will I last?” as things burn to a close. “Divide and Conquer” has riffs surging and the pace kicking up before keys slither through, and the leads roar. The playing splatters all over before things come to a rousing end.

“Saviors of Man” leads in with the synth driving, the verses catching on, and the track pulsating, with Church urging, “If someone would save us from ourselves.” The track then speeds up before a solo burns, and the chorus drops the curtain. “Fight or Flight” opens up and just soars with the verses delivered more forcefully, and the vocals sounding a littler grittier. Dual leads deliver metallic glory before things come to a punishing end. “Have No Fear” delivers keys that sound like they’re conjured from three decades ago (which is a plus) before the track gallops hard, and Church delivers the song’s simple, effective message over the chorus. Guitars and keys mix and rumble together as the chorus brushes back, and the song blasts mouths on its way out. “On the Stage” has a glorious start that keeps building its intensity with the leads lighting up and fluttering and the track blasting you in the chest. Adventurous “Voyager” ends the set and starts when drums awaken, and synth blends into the mix. The verses fire up as the chorus is fun and blistering, with the guitars and keys trading off. The drums again pound hard while soloing spreads before the track surges and fades away.

Haunt definitely feel on the verge of exploding with “Mind Freeze” (a Decibel cover story also should help out the cause), and once people get their hands on this music, the mania is only expected to rise. This is well played and executed, but it’s also a blast of fun to hear emanating from your speakers, your headphones, what have you. This band obviously has its tank full of fuel and passion, and it won’t be shocking in the least if “Mind Freeze” has a younger sibling later this year or next.

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

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

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

Picking a no. 1 record each year isn’t always easy. This year was one of those because there were so many great releases that meant something to me and resonated that isolating just one proved more difficult than I imagined. At the same time, when it became clear to me that “Cairn,” the third long player from Mizmor, was that choice, it seemed like all the mental wrestling I had done to come up with what record should stand out front was actually obvious from the start. So, here we are, and Mizmor is in its rightful place as our favorite metal record of 2019, the final year of this decade.

There are many reasons why “Cairn” sits in the top spot. First, the music on this four-track, hourlong album are some of the most devastating of sole creator A.L.N.’s run under this banner, which is a weighty statement. He’s also been a master of spilling black metal and doom into a melting pot and adding his own personal chaos, which has kept his music important and core-shaking, which you can’t shake after spending time with “Cairn.” The second reason this was such a massively vital record is from the psychological torment that went into the lyrics: the struggling for meaning of one’s existence, the crisis of faith, both things with which I’ve personally struggled. These songs touched on a lot of that, as I was able to identify with a so much of what went into informing these songs, making it feel like I had a sort of musical companion to my own torment. I can’t stress enough how huge that is for me.

“Desert of Absurdity” starts with acoustic waves before the track tears open, and the waves begin to lap violently. A.L.N.’s growls penetrate the surface as melody swims, and elegant doom crashes to the ground in drops of acid. The screams lurch and the sounds echo and sting, meanwhile the surface of the Earth is scorched, guitars well, and then coldness reigns, with the final moments feeling utterly sorrowful. “Cairn to God” runs a mammoth 18:03, the longest track on here, and things unfurl with noise flooding, all elements rising up, and shrieks tearing the walls apart. Doomy stomping is mixed with mystical sounds, while raw growls scrape at open wounds, and the track moves into slow-boiling hell. “Cairn to Suicide” goes right for the throat with devastating playing and vicious growls bruising bodies. A heavy cloud cover threatens with darkness, and a low rumble makes it feel like you’re being dragged through a dank basement toward whatever that dripping sound is. As the song moves on, acoustics mix into the fray and spread before another explosion that spits ore and bones, causing pain and confusion before the final moments bring crashes and acoustic blur. “The Narrowing Way” closes the record, pushing over 16:40 and opening with an air rush and quiet trickling. The playing builds into a deluge complete with slithering pacing and growls crushing and slowly working to cut off air supplies. The playing pounds away and fills your head with noise, while drone rolls through, and jarring shrieks rob you of any sense of solace. Strange chants pass through ghoulishly, the vocals turn to death growls, and the leads glimmer and scream.

Mizmor’s power and meaning cannot be understated, and “Cairn” is a masterful record that accomplishes its musical blackness and hammers home its philosophical tones perfectly. This record gnaws at me, lives with me, and continually takes up space in my mind as I battle with the same forces that occupied A.L.N.’s thinking. This is an album that’ll take time for some to fully engage and absorb what’s going on, but once that happens, your brain is imprinted with this music for good. (Sept. 6)

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

To buy the album or for more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/

Deep relationships with black metal albums largely don’t start by letting them sink in while you’re staring at the Atlantic Ocean while sitting on a beach in nearly perfect weather. But that’s our story with “Love Exchange Failure,” the second album from Ukrainian black metal band White Ward, who inject a world of musical texture and emotion into a genre that used to scoff at such things (well, some aspects of the listener base still feel this way, having not grown up). It was in late August, while vacationing in Delaware that I spent my initial time with this album, and it washed over me mentally and physically, as I sat and listened over and over, once on a very early morning sojourn to just reflect.

In creating the thematics for the record, the band thought about how involved our lives have become, how many people have lost the ability to love (not sexually, necessarily) other people, and how that affects us mentally. It’s a heavy thing to mull, and when you think of how our lives have devolved, especially socially, the idea is worth considering because we’re likely all guilty. That is why they named the record “Love Exchange Failure” because it observes people using more hatred than love when dealing with other people. Using this record, that is a seven track, 67-minute epic, lets the band apply different sounds and textures to their atmospheric black metal, another way in which they—vocalist Andrii Mai, guitarists Yuriy Kazaryan and Mykola Jack, bassist Andrey Pechatkin, drummer Yevhenii Karamushko—dig into your mind and make you think of things in ways you maybe haven’t before.

The title track starts the album with the sounds of urban life as sirens cry in the distance before keys and sax meet up to add to the ambiance. Three minutes in, the song explodes as Mai’s vocals rip out, and emotional trauma is spread heavily. Calm later returns as the music breezes and keys drop, and then the fires ignite anew, with wrenching vocals and pulsing drums. The track continues to punish as guitars and drums charge, but then things are swallowed into a jazzy mist as the song fades into the night. “Poisonous Flowers of Violence” has gazey dripping that sets the mood before things fully erupt. Melodic riffs and spiraling playing join with Mai’s harsh cries, with the song utterly waylaying with power. Gruff growls give off a guttural jolt before rain picks up, and the soft sax arrives again. “No Cure for Pain” revels with delicacy as the track takes time to get moving as a mood is established, and at about 3:35, the playing get shredded with growls smashing and the tempo destroying. Sounds mash into an epic solo that again brings back the feelings of metal’s glory years before the hammers drop all over again, and the vocals pelt the flesh. Sax playing mixes in with the thrashing as the group joins up in rousing “ah-ah” calls, and deep crooning from Vitality Gavrilenko goes for the chest before the shrapnel is spewed all over again. Closer “Uncanny Delusions” also brings different winds, as clean guitars flow generously, and vocals from Ivan Kozakevych (with his thick Ukrainian accent) add a brassy, elegant feel to the song. Eventually things blow apart, and the metallic attack arrives, complete with Mai’s wrenching screams. The meaty mashing always melds back with shadowy playing, feeling like a fog is taking you to a haunted place. This is a mesmerizing experience, a true example of how elegant and emotionally devastating a black metal record can be here at the end of the decade. (Sept. 20)

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

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

Or here (Europe): https://debemurmorti.aisamerch.com/

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

Does death metal exist in space? I’m not really sure. I’ve never been there before. But if it does and it spirals its way across the galaxy, it’s likely being carried there by Toronto beasts Tomb Mold, who blasted back at us this year with their third full-length album “Planetary Clairvoyance.” Their profile has been building for a few years now, and if you’ve ever seen them live, you know they are devastating. This record continues the power they’ve been building, and what’s even more impressive is that it feels like these guys never take a break.

Tomb Mold are on an impressive clip, delivering three devastating records in as many years, the latest, obviously, this seven-track, 38-minute record. Here, they generously deliver more smothering goodness from a band that has justifiably been referred to as pone of death metal’s finest forces. The power is relentless, and the twists and turns on this album could jerk your neck out of place. The band—vocalist/drummer Max Klebanoff, guitarists Derrick Vella and Payson Power, and bassist Steve Musgrave—has truly come into their own as a unit, and the display they unleash on this beast is overwhelming and so goddamn infectious you can’t help but keep coming back.

“Beg for Life” starts the record in a cloud of space haze before the guitars light up, smashing bodies and letting riffs devour everything. The playing is spindly and savage, as the drumming begins to decimate, and the guitars chug through the gates. The track halts as classic acoustic guitars slip in, and as the song rambles back to life, things crush anew. The drums destroy bones, the growls scar, and the guitars shoot off into space. The title cut rips through as riffs play tricks on you, and filthy guitars spread soot over the chorus. The leads chew while the growls boil, sending the track into dust. But wait! A fucking nasty new riff comes in and lays waste to everything, killing as the track comes to its end. “Infinite Resurrection” utterly wrecks shit as massive, nasty growls pummel the earth, and the band starts to decimate everything. The pace thrashes and stomps violently, while the guitars melt through rock, the drumming crushes wills, and everything ends in a delirious assault. “Accelerative Phenomenae” smashes bodies when it starts its run downhill, as the growls suffocate, and mean thrashing eats away at your rib cage. Closer “Heat Death” does a good job living up to its name with its melodic violence as the guitars go for the jugular, and gruff growls hulk their way toward you. The guitars twist and shift, the playing rearranges faces, and the song is sucked into a gross vortex of sound. “Planetary Clairvoyance” is the best death metal album of the year, and it’s actually not even close. (July 19)

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

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

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

At some point in 2004, Cult of Luna’s “Salvation” came into my life and destroyed it. In a very good way. Funny, but I didn’t own that record on vinyl until a couple months ago when I found a pristine used copy at a local record shop, and I’ve been re-indulging ever since. That all leads to the band’s seventh album (well, eighth if you include their awesome collaboration with Julie Christmas “Mariner” in 2016) “A Dawn to Fear,” which worked its way into my bloodstream from the moment I first heard it. This album has utterly arrested me, in a way a CoL record hasn’t since “Salvation” and “Somewhere Along the Highway,” and they’ve had really great stuff since then. That’s how good this is.

“A Dawn to Fear” is an absolute mammoth at eight tracks and 79 minutes. If you don’t have the patience and willingness to immerse yourself in something that demands that long, you’re going to miss one of the most fascinating and crushing records of the year, one that belongs next to Cult of Luna’s finest moments. The band—vocalist/guitarist Johannes Persson, guitarist/vocalist Fredrik Kihlberg, keyboardist/vocalist Kristian Karlsson, bassist Andreas Johansson, drummer/percussionist Thomas Hedlund, drummer/studio engineer Magnus Lindberg—didn’t set out to create a straight narrative and instead let things be looser when creating what you hear, and the result is fiery, fluid, and kinetic, an album that doesn’t feel as long as it is.

“The Silent Man” opens the record with noise swelling before the music begins pounding, and Persson’s growls start to settle in. The keys leave a strange film as the journey whirs along, unloading chaos before things get equally mesmerizing and crunchy. “Nightwalkers” trickles as the bass begins to plod, sprawling and mashing with growls scarring. Strange keys wash in and make your mind feel strange with the growls returning, the pace boiling and steaming, and the organs acting like a slow-release drug. “Lights on the Hill” is the longest track here, clocking in at 15:07, and each second is well spent. The front end has a psychedelic Pink Floyd feel, with the song slowly unfurling, bleeding and crawling into an extended instrumental section. The vocals finally rip in about six and a half minutes into the song, and from there the monstrous theatrics continue to pile on. “The Fall” is the closer, opening slowly and letting the first section of its 13:13 get settled. Finally, the track bursts with the growls scraping, as the wrenching pace and the hammering music batters everything. Melody slides into fog, washing through the unknown, and then the song explodes dangerously again. Cult of Luna remain an amazing entity that has the energy and ambition to keep redefining themselves as long as they need to do so. (Sept 20)

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

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

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

I realized this year that I hadn’t done enough work here to celebrate the work Tridroid Records has done, but I realized part of that reason is their cassette releases often drop after I’ve written up a record after it had been released on other formats elsewhere. Luckily, they snuck one up on me with “Offerings of Flesh and Gold,” the debut from Colorado/Washington black metal monsters Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze, and it absolutely floored me. It still does some months after absorbing the promo they sent my way and the Bandcamp version I immediately purchased so I could have it with me anywhere I went. This is a revelatory experience that, if you haven’t visited with it yet, stop and do that now.

This album is three tracks spread out over 46 minutes that seem to go flying by, and the experience you will have will be unlike anything else you took on this year. That’s how confident I am that once more people hear this record, it’ll be a watershed moment. The band—vocalist/synth player Achaierai, guitarist/bassist Athshean, drummer Yaeth—without question embrace anti-fascist and anti-capitalist thinking and urge listeners to look within themselves for power when battling against such insurmountable odds. It’s a noble stand, and even though that’ll grate at some people, good. Not like those folks are having a banner year with credibility and humility anyway.

“O! Smile of Blood” starts the record with noise pounding, the spirit spreading quietly and dangerously, and an ambient haze washing itself over everything, as throaty buzzes emerge and terrify. About 4:30 into the 13:10 mauler, the first words are uttered as Achaierai warbles, “From the cacophonous roar, beauty springs, a blood-streaked rose rising from a pile of shit.” The track then catches fire as the growls blaze, the guitars go into tornadic convulsions, and maniacal lurching keeps the assault bloody and real. “What Awaits Us (A Void Is But an Open Mouth)” starts with clean guitars trickling, light drums tapping, and then a sudden opening into crazed shrieks and guitars beginning to stampede. The track encircles you and easily could bring on panic when serenity sets in for a moment, letting the wounds heal before the pace jolts again. The howls hover like a hungry vulture, the feeling is menace and torture, and the track ends in a smoking pile. “Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze” ends the record and is a mammoth at 22:13, of which each second is used wisely. Sounds pulsate, clean guitars bleed, and the first lines are spoken with Achaierai pointing, “We cover our heads in reverence, and so our station is known, what we do today will reverberate throughout eternity.” Once its mercy is delivered much later, you’ll be devastated emotionally and mentally, and you’ll also realize you’ve witnessed one of the best black metal records of the entire calendar year. All hail Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze, and here’s to much more. (June 21)

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

To buy the album, go here: https://bullofapisbullofbronze.bandcamp.com/album/offerings-of-flesh-and-gold

Or here (CD): https://amomentofclarityrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/offerings-of-flesh-and-gold

Or here (cassette): https://tridroid.bandcamp.com/album/offerings-of-flesh-and-gold

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

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

10. VASTUM, “Orificial Purge” (20 Buck Spin): Vastum’s death metal consistently has been centered on sex, but not in a sleazy way. Instead, they’ve always centered on the psychological angles, the damage many people face, and the perversion, and that obviously resurfaces all over on their fourth LP “Orificial Purge.” You could simply put this album on, forget the words you’re hearing, and enjoy it for a vicious, pounding slab of dark death metal it is. But spend time with the words, and you might not sleep at night. Not because of some boogeyman or monster tale, but because of the acts and ideas you hear conveyed in their lyrics. They’re real. They happen.

“Dispossessed in Rapture (First Wound)” kicks off the record with strange, pained moans in the background before things comes to, um, life. Riffs pummel while the dual vocals work from Daniel Butler and Leila Abdul-Rauf act as a vicious tag team to batter you around. “I on the Knife (Second Wound)” is bloody and devastating, as the words describe endless self-inflicted injuries with a blade, as the instructional lyrics practically taunt to derive obedience. “This wound is your life, knowing, cutting, sever your head, now you sit on the knife, burning pleasure, unknowing death,” is a horrifying wake-up call. “Reveries in Autophagia” has growls menacing, while the words come at you directly and in sobering tone, while the band causes your bones to crumble. “Whittling down my flesh to the most vile of excretions, dining on my psychesoma, I serve up another limb,” is enough to make anyone shudder with dread. “His Sapphic Longing” mercifully ends the record as strings moan, riffs slowly fold in, and then the animal is on two feet, walking upright toward hell. The vocals trade off, describing unfathomable situations, ending with, “Reach beneath the cloth (slip inside me), nobody will save you (from this rapture), his sapphic longings gagged and bound, inside the phallic tomb his father gave unto him.” Yeah. It’s upsetting shit, and Vastum remain one of death metal’s most provocative forces. (Oct. 25)

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

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

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

9. FALSE, “Portent” (Gilead Media): If Minnesota-based black metal crusher FALSE release a record sometime during a calendar year, there’s an excellent chance it’s ending up high on our year-end list. Not because we pre-ordain their music. It’s because anything they put out won’t reach people’s ears until the six lights making up this band are wholly satisfied it suits their vision like their massive second LP “Portent.” Once again, the band poured everything they have into their record, with Rachel’s snarling growls even taking on a new dimension.

“A Victual to Our Dead Selves” begins the record with a haze settling, creating a sound well, and a tension you just know is about to burst. Then it does as the song begins to clobber, albeit with an atmospheric glow, as Rachel’s snarls begin to bite as she wails, “Have you ever felt the pain of possession, of self-worthless obsession? Of your heart being siphoned through the mouth of Beleth at his best, white horse and trumpets blaring and all?” “Rime on the Song of Returning” tears open as harshness spreads and Rachel’s vocals rip through a chasm of mystical chaos. Guitars soar and surge, as Rachel snarls, “Your ego dripping around my thighs, send the darkness, eyes smelling the wooded path, hands slipping in and out, feet boiling with blisters in the rain, if only the rain would wash away your sin, you are sin.” Synth melody emerges and embraces the shadows while the drums begin an assault, and everything else goes for broke. “The Serpent Sting, the Smell of Goat” slowly reveals itself, as the music uncurls, letting proggy beams into the room as the playing begins to boil. The guitars go on an exciting run, ferocity spreads, and the scathing violence extends its reach. Guitars crush through the crust, chugging hard, with synth mixing in and the vocals leaving welts. “Postlude” is a keys-driven conclusion to a record that strengthens the band’s union and their dark powers, making them unlike any other black metal force in existence. (July 1)

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

To buy the album or more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/

8. CRYPT SERMON, “The Ruins of Fading Light” (Dark Descent): Crypt Sermon’s epic doom falls into the league of bands such as Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, and even Dio-era Black Sabbath and Fates Warning (I know they’re not a doom band…), and their Biblically influenced storytelling centered on life, loss, and limits of faith as well as their absolute command of their style are astonishing. It also should be noted that singer Brooks Wilson is an absolute revelation here. As good as he was on their debut, he’s absolute world league here, one of the best voices in metal now and one of the record’s main events. The rest of the band—guitarists Steve Jannson and James Lipczynski, bassist Frank Chin, and drummer Enrique Sagarnaga—are stellar as fuck as well.

“The Ninth Templar (Black Candle Flame)” starts with eerie sounds and hoofs pounding the ground before the song opens in full, trudging away. “For every kink in our armor there is a notch in my hilt,” Wilson declares, before going into a simple chorus that’s easy to call back and is infectious. A huge solo kicks out as Wilson wails, “Burn!” with the track coming to a rousing end. “Key of Solomon” has a great riff and a pace that chews bone with Wilson in command, calling about “signs and sigils painted on the floor.” Another great chorus strikes, which is another that gets into your chest, as the guitars go off and spill into chaos, bringing the track to a burning end. “Christ is Dead” is a stone-cold classic. Everything about the song is massive, from the guitars to the singing to the drama, and the chorus absolutely puts it over the top. Closer “The Ruins of Fading Light” is a disarming ballad that plays like a warning to life’s dangerous twists and turns. “Life is a foolish game we play, o, child,” Wilson warns, as the track delves deeper into life, loss, and failure. Amazing work from a band that’ll never forget their roots. (Sept. 13)

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

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

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

7. IMMORTAL BIRD, “Thrive on Neglect” (20 Buck Spin): You know how sometimes you put on a record and it feels like you practically experienced the pain and anger, it’s that well conveyed? Immortal Bird’s second long player “Thrive on Neglect” is one of those, as it’s apparent pretty much from the get-go that you aren’t going to be comfortable, things are not going to be sugar coated, and you’re going be left to wither in the ruins along with them. On top of that, the music just crushes, as this record is one that took them from a band with a world of promise to one calling their shots and delivering death blows with insane precision.

“Anger Breeds Contempt” kicks off the record and drills you intensely, with the bass thickening, and Rae Amitay’s vocals scraping old wounds. “I, I am, I am not, lost, I am, not a lost, cause,” she phrases deliberately and ferociously. Guitars stream clean for a stretch, even getting jazzy, before the blows land again. “House of Anhedonia” begins with Amitay declaring, “We are cursed!” before guitars loop around and bring disorientation, the band pushes back with gale force, and the drums splatter the senses. “Avolition” is a firestarter that gets off to a calculated start before it begins tearing down walls. Riffs pile on as the intensity builds, with the vocals absolutely crushing bodies, the music cutting you down, and Amitay calling, “You will assume I let you go, but I jumped right after you fell.” “Stumbling Toward Catharsis” finishes the album by fading in before the savagery erupts and mixes with ethereal dreams. The track begins to thrash you alive, with Amitay admitting, “I saw my years without you as ruined hollow shells,” before the track kicks speed into high gear. The playing gets impossibly heavy, destroying what’s in front of it. This is their finest hour, a record that’ll etch out their future and swell further their base of followers. (July 5)

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

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

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

6. OBSEQUIAE, “The Palms of Sorrowed Kings” (20 Buck Spin): Not many records make think of ripping out my old Masters of the Universe action figures and creating bizarre battles for Castle Grayskull, but Obsequiae’s third record “The Psalms of Sorrowed Kings” sure got me close. Silly as that sounds, it’s a huge compliment, as the band again unleashes their Medieval-style black metal for another round with castle-storming goodness that sounds like no other band out there. Or that ever walked the earth. I’m getting fired up just writing this.

The album has harp passages performed by Vicente la Camera Mariño woven throughout, and one of those, “L’autrier M’en Aloie,” opens the record. “Ceres in Emerald Streams” brings glorious leads that emerge from the mists, while melodic shrieks set the tone, and the intensity is multiplied. Leads burn and sprawl, unleashing a chugging fury that ends in a fiery burst. “In the Garden of Hyacinths” comes out of a smokescreen while cool riffs and bustling drums team up and begin the march. The pace is punchy for the most part, while the chorus is swelling and energetic, bleeding into rushing terrain. Shrieks compound while the soling goes off, leaving a trail of ash behind. “Morrígan” begins with birds chirping before the riffs awaken, bringing burly playing and gruff shrieks. The leads feel like they soar over the mountaintops, with savagery cutting in and a glorious haze putting over the final attack that makes up the  finish. “Lone Isle” blasts open as the guitars flow like lava. Shrieks rain down as the molten playing keeps raging forward, as the drums take their turn dealing shots. The playing just surges from there, bringing the track to a smoldering end. “Asleep in the Bracken” reveals gothy synth sheets, intricate leads, and a folkish vibe amid a pool of heaviness. “Emanations Before the Pythia” slowly dawns as a dialog begins to show itself, feeling dreamlike, before a burly riffs flexes and shrieks scrape your skin. The track is both melodic and aggressive, fiery and combustible. Get your sword, baby. We’re storming the gates, and only the good guys will come out alive. (Nov. 22)

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

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