Photos by Jeff Byckal

Amazing what you can accomplish these days without creators even being in the same room as each other. We’ve all read and heard about bands writing entire albums through file sharing, and many of us collaborate on projects with people and resources spread out all over the place. Technology: It’s not always used to making humanity seem like the shit worst!

International doom band Culted have made that model work for more than a decade now, and over two full-lengths and two EPs, they’ve spread their horrifying shadows. Their latest EP is the more-than-a-mouthful-titled “Vespertina Synaxis – A Prayer for Union and Emptiness,” a three-track display that finds the band moving into noisier, grittier terrain washed down by electronic horrors. Its creators—Matthew Friesen (guitar, bass, keyboards, noise and percussion), Michael Klassen (guitar, bass keyboards, noise and percussion), Kevin Stevenson (drums and percussion), Daniel Jansson (vocals and noise)—are not deterred by 3/4 being in Canada and the other member hailing from Sweden, as their darkness unites them and spills terror over these harrowing and unforgiving three tracks.

“A Prayer for Union” starts things off, and it’s a dark, shadowy instrumental that weaves in narration from the show “Rectify,” adding to the warped nuances of the piece. As you delve deeper, your mind grows unsteady, things ramble off the rails, and we’re into “A Black Chalice” that lets the slurry doom collect like molasses. Jansson’s vocals are like whispery growls before things erupt at the center, and his approach turns to guttural wails. Chugging heat takes over and wilts flesh as the tempo drives and gets uglier, and the guitars continue to char. The pace changes a bit with the leads glimmering and offering strange light, but then sooty power reemerges, and a psychedelic edge is applied. That leads to a hellish inferno illuminating the basement-dripping horrors, and then acoustics wash in and provide relief, and the words come in hisses. “A Prayer for Emptiness” ends the EP by leaking strange organs and buzz, and the vocals feel like they sit in the clouds. The riffs trudge as the temperatures rise, and Jansson’s static-filled roars pound away. The tempo repeats and rumbles, drubbing you into psychosis, as mad screeches and noise combine to whip everything into a frenzy. The organs return ever so gently while growls echo, and everything buries itself in a pit of drone.

Culted’s return to making hideous, doom-encrusted sounds is a welcome one, though I guess we can forgive them for their long absences considering the distance between them. “Vespertina Synaxis – A Prayer for Union and Emptiness” is still a pretty beefy offering despite it being an EP, and it’s an ideal tide-over offering until the band comes back with another ashen full-length. It’s a great way to get a small taste of what we missed as we look forward to their surely mind-slicing future.

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

To buy the album, go here (North America): https://shopusa.season-of-mist.com/

Or here (International): https://shop.season-of-mist.com/

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

You know how they say you shouldn’t discuss religion and politics with family and friends? Whoever came up with that saying was a very smart person with very little understanding for how humans live to agitate one another. Not that it’s a bad thing. Having healthy debate or arguments over topics that can be controversial helps extend the conversation and sometimes changes minds.

Just hearing the band name Polemicist might make heads turn just at the very idea of what the word means. But again, I don’t think polemic ideals are a bad thing, and if you read any of my Twitter feed (no idea why you would) you’ll know I engage in the very activity from time to … OK, always. But we’re here to talk about the Philly black metal band of the same name, and just labeling them as merely black metal isn’t fair. There is so much more going on here with their debut “Zarathustrian Impressions.” If that title sounds familiar, it likely should as the record is a concept piece based on Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (specifically books II and III), a work created between 1883 and 1885 that is far too complex to dissect here. Just look it up. Anyway, the band—vocalist/guitarist Josiah Domico, guitarist Lydia Giordano, bassist Sam Zettell, drummer Jacob Nunn—turns in a stunning performance that might be black metal at its base but has so many other sounds worked in, that it’s difficult to really put a finger on. That just makes it more enthralling to hear.

“Zarathustra’s Theme” starts the record in a synth fog with orchestral winds, an intro piece that sets the stage for what’s ahead. “Concerning the Rabble” opens with blasts and surging vile growls, utterly destroying the ground. The pace kicks up as weird chants enter the fray, delirious guitars turn the room upside down, and imaginative playing stabs an exclamation point at the end. “Revenge of the Tarantulas” has guitars stymying, blasting power sending cinders flying, and creaky growls flattening its foes. The guitar work goes all over the place in a frenetic pace, while a strange transition settles, bringing eerie heat. From there, crushing blows are dealt, while the track crumbles to the ground. “Life Overcoming Itself” lets guitars crush, drums rumble, and dramatic black metal-style melodies reign. The power increases as things go on, as everything in wholly destroyed, blending into a gazey mire that ends in sizzling trauma.

“On Redemption” punches and lets the tempo rush you as the growls sicken bowels, and the playing ignites. The creaky singing helps push the plot while crazed cries, tornadic playing, and burning soloing take command and bring the song into the blades. “The Vision and the Riddle” tramples with intricate riffs and stern thrashing, while black metal blood is shed and drips all over the ground. The madness unfurls as classic metal melodies burst through the doors, the drumming leaves welts, and the track bleeds out in fire. “The Convalescence” doesn’t pull back on the intensity a bit as the band stomps guts, the growls scrape, and the guitars cause extreme vertigo. The music later has a dark carnival vibe as savage fires explode, and the track punishes to the end. “Return to Solitude” concludes the album by unleashing a thunderous attack, while the band liquifies your mind with their imaginative playing. The bulk of the track feels like a dark storm hanging overhead, saturating the earth and blasting its way past the ramparts to claim your soul forever.

Much like their name indicates, Polemicist present difficult material they translate through their hyper-intensive music, which makes “Zarathustrian Impressions” one of the most interesting black metal-style records to come out this year. I know that sounds hyperbolic, so my suggestion is spend time with this record and see for yourself. My visits have twisted my brains and left me with furrowed brow trying to put everything together.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.folkvangrrecords.com/products/647488-polemicist-zarathustrian-impressions

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

Is it just me, or does it seem we’re exploding at the seams with really good death metal? That’s not a complaint or a problem, because there were times not very long ago where you practically had to mine for this stuff, so having an abundance of great bands playing this style is something to cherish now since it won’t last forever. Right?

Anyway, our latest dose of the quality filth comes from Portland, Ore., maulers Witch Vomit, who have reached back with their second full-length “Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave,” itself a terrifying idea to behold. If you were around for their smashing 2017 mini LP “Poisoned Blood” or their 2016 debut “A Scream From a Tomb Below,” you’re going to find the crops have only grown rottener and more putrid since that time. This record is seven tracks that crawl over nearly 28 minutes, which is an ideal length for this thing. It gets in, destroys your body, and gets out without overstaying its welcome. There’s something to be said for that, as more bands should go this route than do the bloating overstuffed thing. A development for the band is they added a second guitar player C.L. to go along with guitarist/vocalist Tempter, bassist J.G., and drummer Filth to round out this solid, punishing lineup.

“From Rotten Guts” opens the record, which is fitting because it sounds like that’s where this music originated. Weird synth fires up before the track bursts at the seams with vicious growls and a barreling assault. The track rumbles in ugliness, a vile cackle pokes fun at your wounds, and riffs encircle, making your upset tummy even more acidic. “Despoilment” has a crunchy start as the guitars flurry and growls simmer in the muck. There’s a cool, swaggering transition that brings in delirious riffing, rubbery melodies, and everything is swallowed into a weird transmission nailed home by a clip from the movie “Prince of Darkness.” The title track follows by hammering bones and unleashing spidery guitar work that crawls into doomy terrain that chugs and chews. The leads burn while the growls punch in, and the vicious mangling comes to a violent end.

“Dead Veins” has drums blasting and a charging riff pushing face-first into the gravelly growls. The playing is fiery and gross as the body crushes, and the guitars go into a screaming assault that stings the ears. Guitars then well up and drip slowly, coming to a slurry end. “Dripping Tombs” devastates right away, as sludgy guitars thicken things, and there’s a run that reminds me a Black Tusk’s southern nastiness, which might not make sense to anyone but me. The track is fiery as it comes to its end, with massive growls sinking in the final daggers. “Squirming in Misery” is a brain-melting instrumental that bathes in dizzying riffs, surging power, and even some catchiness. The track thrashes hard, strange snarls add venom, and things spin out in a haze of alien keys. “Fumes of Dying Bodies” ends the record by landing heavy blows right off the bat, the growls tidal wave in blood, and everything funnels into pure hell. Later on, the pace gallops as things get more dangerous, the growls reopen congealed wounds, and everything ends in a gurgling pool.

Our cups run over with great death metal this year, and Witch Vomit’s contribution definitely will not go unnoticed. “Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave” is a massive, threatening collection that will make your stomach churn and you dry heave with the nauseous emissions they’ve created. This band has traveled a little under the radar, but this album should solve that problem once it infects more ears.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/collections/witch-vomit-buried-deep-in-a-bottomless-grave

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

It’s nearly impossible to do a site about metal and not fall into clichés or easy descriptors every now and again. Because of that, sometimes the words we use could get misconstrued if a person doesn’t read deeper into a story (read the text beneath the headline, you know?), so we often have to be really careful when using certain terms that won’t give people the wrong idea.

I hesitate to describe Eternal Storm as melodic death metal because, let’s be honest, that’s going to put a certain picture in people’s head. Or, more accurately, a certain sound. In this case, we simply mean death metal that has melody infused in its DNA, and not some commercially slick package that would slot the band on a six-band bill at whatever of your local venue stages all-ages shows. One trip with “Come the Tide” will demonstrate this Spanish band, here on their first record, are so much more than that. They combine skull-dragging power with playing that could make your heart swell, and their overall presentation doesn’t wallow in the darkness, which is a breath of fresh air, to be honest. The band—bassist/vocalist Kheryon, guitarists/keyboard players/backing vocalists Daniel Maganto and Jaime Torres, and drummer/backing vocalist Mateo Novati—are joined by guests from bands including Wormed, Nexusseis, Asgaroth, Kaos Vortex, and others to create an album that is sweeping and full bodied, a far more realized offering than you’d expect on a debut.

The record starts with “Through the Wall of Light Pt. I (The Strand)” that bleeds in from the cold, letting frost build before the song bursts to life. Melodic charges and growled vocals from Kheryon fill heads before a quick breeze arrives, infusing more atmosphere. Then things get heavier, as a prog-fueled section adds excitement, and a quick switch back to calm leads into “Through the Wall of Light Pt.II (Immersion)” that continues the serenity as clean calls remind, “Your inner voice will never be heard.” Sax adds texture, and then the track bursts. The playing surges, while the soloing gets your juices going, and then wrenching growls from Kheryon remind, “We always walk by your side,” before the track melts into nautical waves. “Detachment” erupts from the water with punchy verses, growled lines that scrape, and a tempo that eventually brings chills. Passionate soloing catches fire as heart surge, the growling strikes, and the playing is a tidal wave that soaks deep shores. “The Mountain” is a crusher that explodes from the gates as vicious, throaty growls and hammering playing make a formidable team. The band slips into jazzy currents, bringing new hues before the violence returns. Blazing fires roar in the night, as the track destroys and spits shrapnel to the finish.

“Of Winter and Treason” runs 10:35, starting with fire crackling and acoustic runs making things feel rustic. As the track moves, a power surge ignites that’s both adventurous and punishing, with gruff growls leaving bruising on your ribs. A dreamy haze later settles over, with jazzy playing returning and making head swim in the clouds. Thunder then strikes as the fury thrusts itself, the growls roll, and the tracks ends up in a strange, mystical fog. “Drifters” is a quick interlude that lands just as you need a break, and it’s built by echoes, crashes, and whispers. “The Scarlet Lake” wrenches and begins to lay waste, as the verses smoosh muscles, and the chorus makes blood rush to the head. The track keeps gashing the flesh with daggers, while the guitars spiral, and plenty of twists and turns amplify the drama. The final moments are emblazoned with color as the energy smothers and things disappear into a mist. Closer  “Embracing Waves” is the longest cut, clocking in at 11:17, and like its title suggest, we start immersed in waves. The track rams through the gates as clean singing and harsh growls entangle, elegant guitars drizzle, and the pace pushes back and forth from forceful to tranquil. As the song builds toward its crescendo, all the elements you heard before this team up again and cause a great flood, as clean and grisly vocals appear, the music slams the gas pedal on emotions, and the track retreats back into the waters from where it originated.

While Eternal Storm offer no shortage of heaviness and grisliness, the band also packs a ton of drama and melody into their style of atmospheric death metal. “Come the Tide” is the perfect example of that, a record that’s gnarly enough to turn on harsher death metal listeners but also can fire up people who like a little more variety in their heavy metal. This is an interesting, immersive record that takes a few visits to fully absorb and will make you want to come back often to understand it even better.

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

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/

Or here (Europe): https://tometal.com/store/

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

Having a Bandcamp account is a strong way to keep up with music that isn’t popping up in your inbox if you’re a writer. There is only so much on which one person can keep up, so either missing new records or not realizing bands are about to drum up new material easily can be solved by Bandcamp sending you weird notifications about it. This isn’t a Bandcamp ad.

Anyway, last week, I got an e-mail explaining there was something new from The Howling Wind, a band I’ve personally followed for years now and who has been awfully silent the past six years. That was 2013’s “Vortex,” which they released on their own, so when I got this notification, having no idea the Howling Wind was working on anything new, I assumed it was cool merch or a reissue. Instead it’s their fifth full-length record “Shadow Tentacles,” the first for Ryan Lypynsky on his own (Tim Call played drums on their previous releases) and a collection packed with 10 compact blasts that makes up the project’s shortest work yet—it clocks in a little over 31 minutes. That makes the music sound more violent than before and far more drastic, giving you barely any room to breathe as you’re pulled through charnel tunnels comprised of death and black metal with some tinges of industrial soot.

“The Psychic Executions” opens the album in pure insanity as the riffs flood everywhere, Lypynsky’s harsh growls crush, and melodic hammering finds its way underneath. The track is a mangler with guitars rising and things coming to a smashing end. “Exiled in Oblivion” has the drums hammering and the riffs driving before things take a weird turn. The playing gets dizzying, robbing you of your breath, before a delirious panic unloads. Cool winds blow in, confounding and strangling before sizzling out. “Invisible Warfare” makes it feel like the song is coming through the ground before a doomy drubbing unloads before the track ups the thrashing ante. Dark riffing penetrates later as Lypynsky howls violently as the track comes to an end. “Fumes Excreted Out of Hell” is a weird one as the pace sneaks around, and whispery growls sound mysterious and eerie. It feels like the nighttime is spreading thick as a strange transmission combines with an industrial fury, and then it slides into “Decline in All Substantial Life” that’s eerie and echoey at the start. Strange cries and sooty playing set the stage before things begin to freeze, and the nightmare is sucked into space.

“Decomposing Future” barrels in with reckless abandon as destructive thrashing sets off explosions as the growls crush, and the heaviness feels like it could split skulls. The track continues to get heavier and scarier, pounding away before the chaos finally subsides. “Exhume” emerges out of noise, as the tempo is mean and nasty, and meaty riffs help add to the bruising. Some strange guitar work makes the hair on your arms rise, while the yells are bathed in echoes, and the song bleeds out in static. “Awaiting the Exterior Beings” has mechanical winds and chilled guitars, while the howled vocals send reverberations and instill fear. Detached speaking spreads over top, while the song expires in a halo of sounds. “Manipulated and Rendered” has a spooky, violent start as the song races dangerously downhill as blows are dealt generously. Rhythmic stomping and wild riffs explode, while the screams open wounds that bleed profusely. Closer “Never Run Towards the Light” is the shortest song, clocking in at 1:56, and an industrial storm arises from the start. Savage screams from Lypynsky and a flood of sounds boil as everything corrodes and slowly slips away.

The return of The Howling Wind after six years is one that caught us a little off guard, but we’re totally not complaining considering how punishing “Shadow Tentacles” is from front to back. Lypynsky on his own is a firebreather, which comes as no shock, and the urgent, punishing songs on this record feel cataclysmic and urgent. This is a record that’s landing at just the right time, when societal hell is at its apex, and we just need something to burn everything down to the ground again.

For more on the band or to buy the album, go here: https://thehowlingwind.bandcamp.com/

Not all powerful things ultimately succeed. Even the most powerful of forces are put to the test, and just because you have strength and momentum on your side, it doesn’t mean things are going to work out. Perfect example is Finnish black metal band Vorum, who faded into the night after just four releases, only one of them a full-length.

That might have been the end of Vorum’s brief, albeit promising, history, but that wasn’t the end of the story for some of its members, as they went on to form the monster that is Concrete Winds. I don’t know which of Vorum’s members are participating because their online profile is sparse, and there isn’t a lineup that I could find, but that doesn’t really matter. What’s important is their volcanic, violence debut “Primitive Force” wrecks bodies, as these nine tracks blast by on under a half hour, which gives the record an extra sense of urgency. The riffs are insane and plentiful, while the vocals scorch flesh, feeling like something from an older, darker era, though the music sounds fresh and raw.

“Infant Glow” tears the lid off the record with hammering riffs, vile screams, and soloing that catches fire. Smothering hell follows that before the song briefly halts only to explode into a rage before ending. “Sulphuric Upheaval” begins with the title being wailed before the band smears your face into the insanity, dizzying madness bursts all over, and a crunching fury paves the way toward speedy playing that’s downright cartoonish. Savage vocals strike before a fiery final assault tries to take off your head. “White Cut Manifest” is blistering as the guitars begin to punish, and a destructive path is carved. The playing gets fucking zany in spots, splattering blood and guts and ending in a devastating burst. “Primitive Force” is piledriving as the guitars crush bones, animalistic growls shred psyches, and brutal growls meet up with thrashy hell. The riffs burst into sickening fuzz, while everything gets locked into a bloody inferno before everything ends furiously.

“Tyrant Pulse” is melodic but damaged as it tears through into a vortex, the growls squeeze muscles, and the strong riffing blows down the doors. The track gets tornadic and bustling, dumping gas on the fire before everything ends. “Dissident Mutilator” also has its title snarled at the start before a splattering pace ignites, leaving you dizzy and grabbing for support. Gnarly vocals and speedy guitars take things from there, bringing the song to a blistering end. “Volcanic Turmoil” is perfectly named as that’s what it sounds you’re in the middle of as the guitars go racing, and the vocals are spat out. The tempo shreds nerves, later recharging before total insanity takes things to its end point. “Angelic Laceration” has the drums destroying and complete destruction meted out. Things are fast and mangling as beastly growls strike before everything ends in a noise assault. Closer “Death Transmission” has tricky guitars, raw growls, and a flood of strangeness that sickens. That makes the room spin before the chaos comes back for a final burst, weird playing confounds, and the track melts away in a pit of noise.

Vorum may have disintegrated into the earth, but out of that Concrete Winds delivered a completely different devastating supply with their first full-length “Primitive Force.” This 25-minute bruiser feels like a product of the past in a good way, as it feels like it’s digging into the graves of death and black metal’s original graves. This is an enthralling, shit kicker of a record that’ll get your blood surging in no time.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.sepulchralvoice.de/shop/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.sepulchralvoice.de/

It should be well established that we have a pretty loose definition for the word heavy around here. It doesn’t have to be music that destroys your mind and body with volume and speed; it just has to be something that weighs massively on you and makes you feel something that impacts your heart and guts no matter how the music sounds.

While metal comprises 99 percent of what we do around here, we have a soft spot for dark waves of Americana, dusty music, folk, murder ballads, that type of thing. Sterling Serpent’s lineup includes members from other bands that do delve in metal, but here, they create music more along the lines of, say, Handsome Family, as their work drips blackness from every seam, and it feels the product of deep psychological wounds that have no chance of healing. Their debut self-titled EP is a four-track appetizer that hopefully is the first steps toward a full-length effort that I’d devour whole. Comprised of members of Bell Witch, King Dude, Serpentent, and Terminal Fuzz Terror, the quartet of David Alexander Nelson, Joey Roaringblood D’Auria, Anne K. O’Neill, and Dylan Desmond bring a shadowy ambiance and cold dreams that gnaw at you for days.

“Violet” starts things off with a dusky western feel and the deep singing from Nelson pushing the plot. O’Neill harmonizes with him, and at times, this song reminds me of Murder By Death. “Hold up your head, ignore the others,” Nelson calls while the compelling chorus swells with the line, “Hold me tight, don’t you die,” as the song spirals out. “Eternity” echoes as steely guitars drip, and dual vocals give this song a haunting aura. “My name is eternal,” is wailed as the song kicks into higher gear, and the guitars awaken. Primal barks jostle spirits as the volume swirls, O’Neill’s voice chews into your muscle, and she speaks over the final moments. “Bones” is dusty with desert-style guitars, rich baritone vocals, and a spirited chorus that gets your bones going. The track gets heavier and more aggressive later, ending this short, but explosive song perfectly. Ballad “Evelyn” ends the album with acoustic rushes and echoes as Nelson sings and weaves his narrative, crooning, “My love is chronistic, but that was long ago.” Synth gazes over the song, the chorus rears its head again, and the track ends in gentle arms.

Sterling Serpent’s debut EP is a stirring, jarring adventure, the type of music I’d imagine listening to driving lonely highways in the middle of the night, with only my ghosts as companions. It’s not heavy in the classic sense when it comes to metal, but it sure weights down on you during the entire journey. This is music that enhances your loneliness, makes it sting inside, and oddly makes you feel a little more battle tested when your indulgence ends.

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

To buy the album or for more on the label, go here: https://www.van-records.de/

Photo by Desi Hermann

At the risk of sounding way ahead of myself, it’s almost the time of year for the most disgusting and evil forces to converge upon us again and let us revel in blood and guts. OK, so it’s still, like, two months away. But this is the pre-gaming season, for lack of a better term, and preparing for the madness ahead is the only responsible way to ensure we’re all prepared for the madness.

Seattle’s Cerebral Rot are more than willing to get you there, and their vile death metal congeals and coats the surface on their savage debut LP “Odious Descent Into Decay.” Nine tracks spread out over 45 minutes are plenty enough to make your stomach turn and to fill you with psychotic visions that no normal person possibly could convey. These are scenes that are animalistic and deranged, as their style of death almost has a stench to it, one you can’t hope to ignore over its running time. That sounds unpleasant, and perhaps to a sensitive ear it would be, but this record is actually bursting at the seams with doom-infested death metal that we don’t hear often enough these days. The minds responsible for this insanity—guitarist/vocalist Ian Schwab, guitarist Clyle Lindstrom, bassist Zach Nehl, and drummer Drew O’Bryant—really go for broke on this thing, and all the talk of disgust aside, this is a damn powerful album that will leave a gaping hole in your chest and your psyche.

“Odious Descent Into Decay” has an eerie start when acoustics wash over, and the track slowly emerges from its dirt tunnel. The track pounds away, as guttural growls chew at your guts, the pace is thrashing and slashing, and the violence smears grossness over the course of its seven-minute run. A haze of ’90s-style soloing tears into your flesh, as the track bashes out in echoes. “Swamped in Festering Excrementia” has guitars crushing right away, disgusting growls, and playing that feels monstrous and alien, as its teeth sink into you. The drums really hammer away here, while the guitars launch into the atmosphere, and things fade into synthy madness. “Reeking Septic Mass” has a cool pace before the violence bustles in, the growls choke, and the tempo stomps away. The pace goes right for the throat with the leads pushing into the killing fields, and things get swallowed by a chilling fog. “Cerebral Rot” is their title song, and it starts violently with a trucking assault and menacing growls. Guitars are unleashed and splatter as clubbing blows are dealt, soloing burns through massively, and a raucous pace restarts and comes to a blistering halt.

“Putrefaction Eternal Decay” has a crushing open that feels like the walls are caving in, and the growls feel like they’re weighing down on you. There’s a slow-driving haze that shows up later and pushes your mind, but the tempo picks up, guitars swirl, and things come to a damaging finish. “Sardonic Repentance” is the longest track, clocking in at 7:07, and it arrives in a doomy mist that hulks along in a calculated manner while the drums begin to clobber. The growls sound like they’re boiling in blood as the wave of doomy death gets heavier and thicker, and the track situates itself in a driving muck that threatens to suffocate. The track keeps getting heavier and meaner, ending in a pile of rubble. “Repulsive Infestation of Cadaver” has a mangling start with the growls bubbling and the band openly assaulting everything in front of it. Violent shrieks and a devastating assault team up and drive the track into a raging fire. “Primordial Soup of Radioactive Sewage” sounds gross as shit, and sure enough, it sounds like it’s swimming through what its title describes. Vile punishment and maddening growls unite, while the leads go off and blind with their light, and the track ends in hell. Closer “Foul Stench of Ruination” unveils its slaughter immediately before slipping into doomy waters, momentarily slurring, and then upping the ante again. Soloing scorches while the drums smash through bones, and a thrashing assault and deep growls flow into an unexpected acoustic ending that acts as a sort of bookend for how this monstrosity began.

If you’re sitting there wondering if your weakened guts can handle “Odious Descent Into Decay,” perhaps you’ve already answered your question, and the horrors will be too much. If you’re feeling up to this, Cerebral Rot might be your new go-to band anytime you want to visit abomination and depravity in ways that won’t land you in prison. This is a sickening, lurching serving of death metal that won’t taste good in the classic sense but will leave you full and strangely nauseous.

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

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

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

On Lingua Ignota’s new record “Caligula,” there’s a line on the song “IF THE POISON WON’T TAKE YOU, MY DOGS WILL,” where Kristin Hayter reaches out to Aileen Wuornos and sings a painfully stinging line, “Life is cruel, and time heals nothing.” It’s something worth considering, whether the passage of days and months and years does in fact heal us or if the wound is there forever, bleeding.

It’s a central point to “Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back,” the new collaborative effort between Uniform and The Body that wonders whether loss ever heals and if pain goes away. That concept also is borrowed from James Elroy’s 1996 work My Dark Places that posits that tragic loss never can be overcome, and the pain and suffering is there forever in some form. You’ll be forgiven if you don’t feel uplifted by that idea, but you should know that these two bands rarely, if ever, bring the sunshine, and it’s an idea worth examining, as uncomfortable as it may make us feel. The title of the album is lifted from Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” album, specifically from the song “Atlantic City.” This effort follows the bands’ 2018 record “Mental Wounds Not Healing,” itself a famous lyric that can feel awful out of context, and here the two forces—Uniform is comprised of vocalist Michael Berdan and guitarist Ben Greenberg, while the Body is guitarist/vocalist Chip King and drummer Lee Buford—meld their fiery beings into one again with devastating results.

“Gallows in Heaven” lets noise settle in before things stir mechanically, beats are applied, and Berdan’s fiery shouts later are joined by King’s world-slicing shrieks. As the two voices combine, guitars unload, and the final moments are marred with damage. “Not Good Enough” bathes in static and electronics before wild howls from Berdan shake the foundation as he wails, “There’s nothing left to say when I’m dying on the vine again.” King’s shrieks deface everything, while the keys deliver mesmerizing numbness that floats to the end. “Vacancy” has synth warping and beats striking as King’s voice drills into cement, and an industrial fire engulfs the world. Underneath all of this is a catchy melody that snakes while the track keeps delivering blows. “Patron Saint of Regret” has speedy shouts delivered by Barden lacing overtop smoldering guitar work and a pace that keeps building. Angelic vocals float behind, making it feel like your soul is stuck between heaven and hell, as everything ends in a strange haze.

“Penance” sits in a synth bed as King goes off, Barden shouts from his guts, and the sound sickens. Strong riffs barrel through as mystical synth lines fall in sheets, fading into clouds. “All This Bleeding” has beats poking, cool guitars bringing chill, and static lapping over like waves, as the shrieks come tumbling down. Doomy solemnity and dark melodies merge, fading into a deep sleep. “Day of Atonement” has a slowed-down sample looped through the entire piece, giving it a ghostly feel, while beats sizzle, screams shatter windows, and slow-driving chaos pushes you to your limits. “Waiting for the End of the World” is a strange, haunting track that has a dreamy slush ambiance, as members of Assembly of Light Choir (I assume, at least, but I haven’t seen them attributed to the album) recite the Violet Flame Decree as if they’ve been reprogrammed who are now robots devoid of humanity. It’s chilling and works to a stunning degree. Closer “Contempt” has noise boiling, samples pulsating, and Berdan’s shouts getting under your fingernails. King’s fury in his shrieks is unnerving as the track sits in smothering hell, and all noises well up and create a sonic force that ends its assault with a wave of alien zapping.

The union of Uniform and the Body pays off with damaging goods yet again on “Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back,” one of the most sobering, shocking records of the year. It’s here to make you confront that pit in your stomach, the one that never seems to go away and at times grows so big, it’s hard to move on. I can’t say that’s going to put a smile on your face, as it shouldn’t, but the music at least provides an ample destructive foundation on which to smear your frustration.

For more on Uniform, go here: https://www.facebook.com/uniformnewyork/

For more on the Body, go here: https://www.facebook.com/thebodyband/

To buy the album, go here: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sba003-uniform-the-body-everything-that-dies-someday-comes-back

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

The world can be a miserable, dangerous, horrific place. Just this past weekend in the United States, we saw two more massacres in an endless line of them, and once again people are trying to find answers and a way through even more pain. It can be a lot to navigate sometimes, and just having a distraction or something to bring good feelings into the mix is needed desperately.

While they might not be able to solve all the negativity people feel all over the world, two UK bands Pijn and Conjurer are at least attempting to scrape from joy’s barrel and spread it to whoever wants to hear them. The band combined for a four-track joint effort “Curse These Metal Hands” that purposely pushes away from the darkness and more toward things that can be fulfilling and not utterly soul sucking. They also point out the merits of getting stoned and hearing dogs snore which, if you don’t at least like the latter, you might need a huge dose of what these bands are bringing to the table. Combining Dan Nightingale and Brady Deeprose from Conjurer, both on guitars and vocals, and Joe Clayton (guitars/vocals), Nick Watmough (drums/vocals), and Luke Rees (bass/vocals) from Pijn, the two forces put together some heavy, emotional, utterly rewarding songs that really do a wonder if you’re feeling dark shit lately. It’s not going to cure you, but it might get your blood flowing better for a while.

“High Spirits” opens the record with calm and breezes, letting the atmosphere take over before the hammers begin to strike. The track explodes into a burst of emotive playing, as raspy singing drives the way, and then powerful screams join the fold to add some grit and danger. Later on, things are punishing but colorful as guitars soar through the air, two leads bring a wave of metallic nostalgia, and the track comes to a glorious finish. “The Pall” has cool riffs and slinky playing before the track turns gazey. Just then, things take a sludgy turn as cement-thick trudging arrives, and mouths are bloodied. A brief respite from the madness leads to howls returning, the drama building, and everything ending neck deep in a giant pool of mud.

“Endeavor” is the shortest track at 2:21 and the only one that doesn’t clock at least eight minutes. It makes the most of its time burying you in melodic sludge as growls put you in a hammerlock, bodies are shattered, and the track comes to a volcanic end. “Sunday” closes the album, and it’s the longest song, clocking in at 10:17. The track has a huge feel as a deluge of sound overflows before temporarily going calm. Out of that comes massive roars, punchy playing, and a wall of ferocity that’s impossible to avoid. The track’s blood then runs ice cold, as guitars chime and echo, and the flow bleeds further toward serenity. Then the track re-engages with its power as heartfelt playing fills the room, the pounding makes your chest heave, and the track slowly winds down with twin guitars cutting through and the end acting as the cathartic crescendo you didn’t even know you needed.

Metal and heavy music tend to revel in negativity and pain as a whole, because that’s what it happens to do really well. But Pijn and Conjurer prove on “Curse These Metal Hands” that it can be healthy and productive to take a break from that and try to see the positives. It’s sometimes nearly impossible to do that, so it’ll take some work, but the end result is a rush of sound and two bands that are trying their best to help you through, if only for a little bit.

For more on Conjurer, go here: https://www.facebook.com/conjureruk

For more on Pijn, go here: https://www.facebook.com/greatpijn/

To buy the album (U.S.), go here: https://deathwishinc.com/collections/holy-roar/products/pijn-conjurer-curse-these-metal-hands

Or here (Europe): http://www.holyroarrecords.com/releases

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