Photo by Joey Maddon

This has been a rare week where grappling to figure out what to place in the Pick of the Week spot was like fucking Wrestlemania. Um, a good Wrestlemania. It’s a great problem to have when you need to write about four of your favorite records of the year in a single week, but that’s what we have here, and what we decided on was a no-brainer regardless of how strong the content was this week.

We’ve been following the path of Spirit Adrift for a few years now, and it was clear from the band’s 2016 debut “Chained to Oblivion” that something really special was going on here, and when vocalist/guitarist Nate Garrett assembled a full band and returned a year later with “Curse of Conception,” that the vision was coming into focus. Now, three years after their debut comes “Divided By Darkness,” another impressive display by this band and one that pulls them mostly out of doom metal waters and safely lands them in classic metal territory, the place it always seemed they were headed. At eight tracks and 41 minutes, it’s the leanest Spirit Adrift record yet, but it’s also the one that’s bound to break them to more people. Garrett’s singing has gotten even stronger and more nuanced, while the rest of the band—rounded out by Jeff Owens, Chase Mason, and Marcus Bryant, though Garrett handles all instrumentation (except drums) and vocals on the record—stands ready to roll out this metallic mission live, armed with a fucking great record.

“We Will Not Die” gets the record off to a ripping start as the track builds up majestically, with drums erupting and the fire beginning to rage. Things finally kick into high gear and we’re off, and the chorus just swells with Garrett wailing, “Shatter reality, sever our ties, invisible war being waged in our minds.” Great soloing fires up, and then we’re back to the chorus, with the declaration of, “They cannot live, we will not die,” blazing the way. The title track pushes in as a burly beast, trudging with filthy riffs and a slow driving, heavy tempo. “Must reconnect with our divine,” Garret urges, “explore dimensions with senses beyond sight,” as guitars lather and we come to a clean end. “Born Into Fire” has muscular riffs flexing and a thrashy feel to everything to get the juices going. “I am the serpent intertwined, I am the wolf prepared to strike,” Garrett warns amid blistering playing that eventually cools a bit and gets gazey. After some reflection, the track relaunches, sets off fireworks, and finally gives way to calm. “Angel and Abyss” is a goddamn treat. It’s a soft-loud ballad that pulls on metal’s roots, while the verses are icier and the chorus thunders up. “Losing sight of what I’m searching for, is this the end or the beginning?” Garrett calls, as the emotions run high. Later, the track goes off, the guitars chug like a monster, and an echoed cackle that just reeks of Ozzy (in the best way possible) sends a chill up your spine before stampeding out.

“Tortured By Time” has solid singing, riffs that spiral, and an approach that sets you up for being trampled. Garrett reflects on the passage of time and the long stretch of the past, as the soloing scorches, and the track takes on the adventurous nature that mirrors our existences. “Hear Her” unloads an awesome riff, and it’s one of the catchiest songs in the band’s catalog. There track is eerie and punchy in spots, with Garrett urging, “Hear her voice and live again, risen from the dead.” Its mystical nature continues with leads erupting and the undercurrent being crunchy as hell, with it breathing fire all the way up to the end. “Living Light” wastes no time getting going as aggressive riffs blast their way in, and the verses swelling and leaving bruising. “Fulfillment of totality, it is watching as it must,” Garrett calls over the chorus, while things go into a  psyche haze. Out of that, doomier waters collect, breezier singing adds color to the edge, and guitars and organ swell meet up and fight toward the finish. “The Way of Return” is a spacey instrumental that ends the record, built by cosmic keys, guitars that light up the night sky, and an ascension into the stratosphere closing the album on a breath-taking note.

It’s been a pleasure listening to Spirit Adrift grow and develop over the past year years, and one of my top live show moments of last year was hearing these guys slay at Migration Fest. With “Divided By Darkness,” the music that truly should catapult this band into the upper echelon has arrived, and it gets more infectious with each listen. This band is one of metal’s handful of true great bands that should help carry the torches for the next 10+ years, and with more records like “Divided By Darkness,” Spirit Adrift will continue to cement a resume that no one alive could question.

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

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

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

Photo by Rachel Cheng

A lot of heavy music is based on more, heavier, fuller. You’re bombarded with sound and riffs, and the whole idea is to make the music sound as devastating as possible. Often that takes a lot of elements to make that come to fruition, but sometimes it’s even more impressive when a band does the opposite.

Canadian trio BIG|BRAVE have made more with less for nearly a decade now, and even since landing with Southern Lord three albums ago, the band has developed a wider audience among many different pockets of folks who like heavy music. They opened a lot of eyes and ears with 2015’s great sophomore record “Au De La” and stellar follow-up in 2017’s “Ardor,” and now they’re back with “A Gaze Among Them,” a five-track album that resets what you expect when you sit down with a heavier record. The band mixes post-rock, drone, and atmospheric doom, and on this album, they let things breathe more and the oxygen envelop their creation. The band—guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie, guitarist Mathieu Ball (both use a variety of guitar and bass amps), and drummer Loel Campbell—takes a more minimalist approach to these creations, and in doing so, they manage to make this music sound like it developed in the heavens and poured down in black storms that saturate the earth and your body.

“Muted Shifting of Space” opens the record with slow drumming, guitars awakening, and everything building into the mix. The track conjures a dream state, as Wattie’s singing bounces over top the din, and the track gets numbing, with her vowing, “You don’t get to continue,” and later more forcefully declaring, “You don’t get to do this.” The pace is calculated, with noises crashing, and the track easing off. “Holding Pattern” has drone ringing in, Wattie’s voice piercing, and the drums picking up, adding to the rumble. “They took the names, all!” Wattie delivers purposefully, while the intensity and volume expand from there. The noise quivers and breaks before drums bask anew, and Wattie yells, “Body and blood!” repeatedly as the track keeps unloading, with the guitars finally stabbing their last.

“Body Individual” hums and foams, with the sounds building a fog wall and the vocals calling out into the mystery. Guitars jolt like lighting through a heavy storm, while the drums flatten the path, and the music lathers. Feedback meets echoed singing, as your eardrums are tested, and then the volume slowly picks up as the vocals push back, and the song slowly disintegrates. “The Deafening Verity” is the shortest song here at 2:56 (nothing else is shorter than 7 minutes), with spacey noises spreading, alien vibes being set, and Wattie’s singing hovering over ghostly, buzzing drone. “Sibling” closes the record as sounds soar and sting, whipping back at you, and burly waves continue to crash down and over the band during the entire song. That’s done while the vocals have a deliberate vibe, the playing keeps pumping, and your senses are beaten and driven into hypnosis while the song gently fades away.

There are many different settings that are perfect for BIG|BRAVE’s music, thought I prefer isolation in dark reflection, letting emotions splash over me and soothing the senses. “A Gaze Among Them” is another strong record from this band that’s been on a steady creative bend, always coming back with something different from the time before. If you haven’t seen this band live yet, definitely change that first chance you get, as the experience is even more immersive. Until then, let this album destroy your expectations of what immersive, emotionally crushing music can be.

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

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

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

If I was to ask you to name classic metal albums off the top of your head, you’d likely come up with any number of choices. You could come up with tons of different options, ranging from great works from Maiden or Priest or Mercyful Fate or Death or Morbid Angel or whatever. We could be here all day, and what they’d all have in common is they were steppingstones for the genre and those bands.

One record that definitely belongs in that category is the 1985 barnstormer that is “Seven Churches” by Possessed. Not only is that record a foundational brick for death metal as a genre, but it has influenced thousands and thousands of other people to follow in its steps. But what makes it different from other classics is it never really got to live its full life, nor did Possessed. OK, sure, “Beyond the Gates” followed in 1986, and it’s actually a fine album, but “Seven Churches” and the band’s chance to shine faded when frontman/bassist Jeff Becerra was paralyzed from the chest down after being shot in a robbery shortly after “The Eyes of Horror” EP was released in 1987, and the band never really got a chance to capitalize on what they started. Yet Becerra, despite his physical limitations, long period of addiction, and battles with death, refused to let go. He restarted the band in 2007, and over the years, he’s put together a new version of the group that fucking kills. And now they’re back with “Revelations of Oblivion,” their first record in 33 longs years, and holy shit is it a good one. Just having any Possessed record would be a triumph, but the fact this 12-cut, nearly 54-minute album rules as hard as it does is just a gift from below. Becerra surrounded himself with great talent—guitarists Daniel Gonzalez and Claudeous Creamer, bassist Robert Cardenas, drummer Emilio Marquez—and he sounds in tremendous voice and charisma as he brings more evil and hell to a metal scene that severely lacks what he has.

“Chant of Oblivion” starts the record with bells, weird chants, and the feeling of a horror score, not unlike the opening moments from “The Exorcist” on “Seven Churches.” Then “No More Room in Hell” steamrolls into the room, with thrashy hell and Becerra raspily waling about “when churches burn to dust, and the demons rise again.” Becerra’s voice is a little clearer but still savage, especially when he vows, “I’ll bring you pain, fire, and hell,” as guitars go off and deliver destruction. “Dominion” is a damn good one, too, as the song charges and Becerra threatens, “Pray to your god above, bow to your sin down below.” The track is thrashing and crushing, with the vocals buzzing and everything crashing down around you. “Damned” smashes through the gates, with Becerra sounding like an evil Lemmy at times, the guitar work spidering all over, and devastation being spread like dust. “Demon” starts with a killer riff, and from there, the track delves into filth, the tempo blows up, and even some groove is achieved. The chorus decimates your mind while a violent burst arrives, the bass playing bloodies the waters, and a weird sci-fi-style solo chills blood. “Abandoned” ignites with a furious pace as Becerra howls, “Satan’s legions rising up from the pit of hell.” The track blasts hard, and it all ends with Becerra frantically yelling, “Abandoned!”

“Shadowcult” is another standout track that opens with weird voices circling before the crunch lands hard, riffs entangle, and the song gets tricky and devious. The chorus is simple but memorable, and rock-solid soloing ties up the back end before trudging home. “Omen” is pretty different from the rest, starting with eerie gothic keys before things pick up and stampede. The vocals are gravelly as Becerra calls upon the old gods and brings more visions of hell. The guitar work feels like classic metal, which is a nice touch, and there are moments where this is even catchy and not just bloodthirsty. Becerra’s repeating cries of “Omen!” over and over at the end just compounds the psychological terrors. “Ritual” gets off to a fast start as blasts destroy, the guitars chew up the scene, and Becerra howls, “We are damned, it is our fate,” amid the scene of Lucifer rising to claim souls. “The Word” has guitars rampaging, the pace galloping, and grimy vocals leading the way, leaving behind trails of blood as the song ends in power metal-style glory. “Graven” has insects buzzing as if feeding on a corpse, and Becerra’s words are spat out as he howls about, “666 on the head and the wrist.” The track is a forest fire of madness that only subsides once its host is devoured. “Temple of Samael” is a quick outro piece with strange noises, clean guitars, and the sense that your damnation is pretty much assured.

Possessed finally are getting to tell their next chapter with “Revelations of Oblivion,” an album that’s on par with “Surgical Steel” as a comeback record that doesn’t just measure up, it destroys the senses. The fact Becerra has survived all he’s been through and refused to return until he had a record worthy of the Possessed name is a testament to his strength and courage. This is a triumph on every level, one of the better metal records you’re bound to hear this year, no matter the genre.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://media.nuclearblast.de/shoplanding/2019/Possessed/revelations.html

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

Photo by Alvino Salcedo

It should be no secret to anyone who has visited this site with any regularity that we love heavy bands that take things in a completely different direction than everyone else. Fresh ideas and new perspectives are what keeps the blood in the machine vibrant, and going against the script should be encouraged as long as the artists have the capability to pull of their vision.

I instantly became a fan of Colorado-based progressive metal machine Dreadnought when I heard “Bridging Realms” a little after it came out in 2015, and it instantly drew me into its center. Progressive metal is a messy, often misused and misunderstand term that makes it sound like a bunch of people getting together to noodle and disappear up their backsides. Dreadnought never have been that way. Their music—as indebted to Kansas and Yes and anything metallic—have done an amazing job bridging the gap between atmospheric and surreal with savagery. That continues on their great fourth record “Emergence,” their first for Profound Lore and another unfurling journey into fiery destruction of the earth’s life cycle. This is the final movement of their four records focusing on each element, and the fire record envisions charring what’s here only to create a path for rebirth. The band—Kelly Schilling (guitars, flute, vocals), Kevin Handlon (bass), Lauren Vieira (keys, vocals), Jordan Clancy (drums, sax)—uses these five cuts to tell their story but also to envelop you in a metallic world maybe you didn’t think possible.

“Besieged” starts the record with charges and an deluge of sound as breezy singing works its way in, and elegant keys drip like rain. The track then calmly floats, with tension bubbling to the surface, shifty riffs, and Schilling’s shrieks tearing a hole in the night. Clean calls then soar while keys splatter, guitars subside, and everything disappears into calm. “Still” is a quicker cut with spacey essence, horns echoing, and a warm, jazzy stream trickling as the result of a light storm. Softer singing and airy sounds then push into “Pestilent” that has aggressive guitars and strong singing making an early dent. Shrieks blow though while proggy keys emerge, and flutes bring a calming texture that soothes before the doom tar pours briefly. Harmonized singing and lush melody become front and center until heavy growls return, keys add more drama, and sweeping singing mix with steely guitars to bring a rusty edge. The track then feels like Western dusk, with the skies mixing orange into purple, as the band brings the song to a destructive, vicious ending.

“Tempered” runs a healthy 10:31 as melodies break through the surface, a sharp progressive angle is achieved, and propulsive singing adds heart and even more emotion before organs start to swell. Growls then land some unexpected blows, blasts send shrapnel, and the leads open up and gallop over the land. The bass trudges, while Schilling’s horrifying shrieks make flesh crawl, and synth zaps like beams from another world before things end in a mystical fog. “The Waking Realm” closes the album by working itself in quietly, unassumingly as the ambiance is established, and sax blows in like a star falling through the sky. There’s a psychedelic edge that stares you down at first, and as we move ahead in this 13:52-long epic, the track bursts with fire, driving forcefully, with the guitars cutting pathways. The singing entrances, melting into the mixing colors, before the storm catches again and threatens safety. Shrieks makes your teeth chatter while the keys glimmer, and the track combusts and hints at the promised end. Schilling’s growls blast trough skin and bone, doomy exhaust leaves a curtain of blackness, and the track slowly fades, with rebirth promised on the other side.

Dreadnought’s adventurous, mind-teasing compositions make “Emergence” anything but an average metal release on the weekly schedule. This is one that stands out, as all of their records do, because they’ve taken heavy music as an idea and fearlessly pushed it into other worlds. Bands such as Dreadnought are going to be the ones remembered a decade from now in helping inform where heavy metal was able to travel, and “Emergence” is likely to be one of those touchstone albums.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://profoundlorerecords.merchtable.com/

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

There are endless reasons people listen to music. It can be used as stimulation. It can calm one down after a period of tumult. It can get one’s excitement level up for an activity or a task or a mission or what have you. It’s literally there for every reason one could possibly imagine, and one of those means are wholly right or wholly wrong for anyone.

Then there’s the element of sound worship, albeit one of the weirder, at-arms-length causes for musical enjoyment for people, and the members of that group tend to stand out a bit from the rest. Same goes for those who make music that’s meant to be absorbed into your pores and driven though your central nervous system, and if you guessed it’s time to talk the latest creation from drone lords Sunn 0))), you’re right on the money. “Life Metal” is the band’s eighth full-length record, following 2015’s “Kannon,” and it also marks the band’s 20^th anniversary together under this moniker—the Sunn 0))) name took shape in 1998 after the band spent two years as Mars. Its primary creators Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley have created some of the densest, loudest, most fearsome heavy music known to humankind, and it’s literally the definition of “not for everyone” when it comes to appeal. For those who worship at their massive walls of amps, there’s nothing like this band, and there’s truly nothing in the band’s catalog quite like “Life Metal.” Recorded over two weeks with producer Steve Albini, these four tracks maintain the group’s dense black backbone, but there also are some of their most vibrant, even positive sounds ever captured before. The duo (they’re joined by a small group of other players on this record, though Attila Csihar is absent from the proceedings this time around) also took time to celebrate their two decades together and create something truly special, music that creeps inside the soul and stays.

“Between Sleipnir’s Breaths” begins with a wild horse whinnying before the drone curtain drops heavily, and the riffs begin to scrape away at the earth. Weird rays of light poke through the thick surface, as Hildur Guðnadóttir’s voice settles in, singing verses culled from ancient poetry, giving the track an added dose of haunting secrecy. Hints of melody break through in tiny streams through the enormous dam of sound, and an illuminated section of playing is met with more singing from Guðnadóttir, as sounds sting and cause imbalance, fog blankets, and that horse returns to call out again. “Troubled Air” trembles in light, chimes ring at perfectly spaced intervals, and melody rises above the murk. Noises act like lasers, slicing the thick noise cloud in sections while the void continues to add mass, and a heat ray makes living nearly impossible. Composer Anthony Pateras adds organs and other sounds to thicken the fear, while the track continues to swell, the atmospheric pressure topples, and the engine bristles to the very end.

“Aurora” runs a healthy 19 minutes and opens with deranged moans that give way to the guitars entering and centering the body. The riffs apply abrasion and add to the grimy boil that’s slowly collecting, while the doom laps in waves, noises pierce the flesh, and impossible weight gathers on your chest, making breathing an anxiety-ridden chore. Guitars then sound like they’re steel swords clashing, the sounds tangle, and eardrums shake, no matter your headphone volume. Monstrous 25:22 “Novae” closes the proceedings as the ignition charges and Tim Midyett’s bass coils and strikes, lurching underneath the punishment. Riffs then lap and threaten safety as the weather system gets gnarlier, and a black storm rains down with merciless fury. Another fog, this one pitch black, envelops, and then things subside, letting Guðnadóttir’s scratch out the next few minutes, establishing a rustic, yet also timeless quiver. The sound builds itself back up again slowly, buzzing and adding heat, riffs moving mountains, the noises making your head swell as the sun spits red before the track releases its hold.

Sunn 0)))’s impact and effect on heavy music cannot be overstated, and the work they put into “Life Metal” gives the band rays of positivity you don’t often get from their music. If you’ve never seen the band in a live setting, definitely change that, and be prepared for your entire body to vibrate and pulsate as their might and volume crush your organs (I’m only slightly exaggerating). These four songs are revelations that unveil new pathways, added beams of light that help you understand Sunn 0))) in a way you probably never considered before.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://southernlord.com/store/life-metal/

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

It felt like it was just yesterday that we were talking about how apocalyptic themes seem to take up a lot of time on this site. That’s because it was yesterday, and here we are, 24 hours later, and that point is being cemented home again. Though this is not the same kind of end, a totally different means to bringing humankind to an end.

It’s been a little while since we’ve visited with the Verdant Realm, home of the Botanist, the main character of dulcimer-hammered green metal band Botanist, one of the most interesting and consistently bizarre bands in all extreme music. Botanist now have signed up with Aural Music, a place that seems as good a home as any for them since musically they align. As a part of that, Botanist (led by creator Otrebor, though he’s flesh out the lineup over time) are looking a new full-length efforts and a series of reissues, the first of which is 2015’s “Hammer of Botany” that got a limited release and now is being rolled out to a larger audience with a mammoth new song tacked on at the end. For those who don’t know, the epic of Botanist’s music revolves around the Botanist, a crazed man of science who isolated himself in the Verdant Realm, away from the toxic machinations of mankind as he awaited the end. Demon Azalea is portrayed as the entity that speaks to the Botanist (the whispered vocals) and directs him on how to help bring about the fall of mankind and the rise of the Plantae Kingdom.

“The Footsteps of Spring” has drums rattling, whisper-based growling, and a haunting aura as the voices spread, and the melodies turn mind-numbing in a good way. The vocals creak while the miasma of colors unfolds before the song fades away. “Flame of the Forest” has a rapid heartbeat to start, with wild shrieks scraping, rhythmic drums ticking away, and whispers then mixing in with the brutality. The track delivers heavy drama, as darkness unfolds and envelops the region, an ominous spirit tracks its way, and the track blasts back out again and sends reverberations. “Upon the Petals of Flowers” is a quick track but effective while it lasts. The track erupts, letting the drums smother, whispered vocals haunting and growing inside the Botanist’s head, and everything ending vibrantly but abruptly.

“Stachys Olympica” begins with sticks cracking and a moody setting pulling over everything, as a choral treatment treads lightly underneath the waves, and warbled vocals generate confusion. Then the song gets a little brighter and about as poppy as a Botanist song is bound to get, bouncing along its path gloriously while it rises and falls. “Pelargonium Triste” had drums pummeling, the dulcimer lines glimmering, and a cold, freezing vibe that makes your skin burn. The pace buzzes amid spoken-style growls, while the track ignites again toward the end before the track rolls out. New track “Oplopanax Horridus” runs 12:50 and is Otrebor alone, and things gets started with growls and strange choral parts intermingling as a weird, Medieval feel makes this feel like something from the Middle Ages. The track morphs and alters itself, spilling into drama and elegance, with the song getting darker and damper as it goes. Cries reach out as the drums crumble, and the song hits a faster, crazier pace that sounds like it’s sound tracking a train robbery or big escape in an old black and white silent movie. Weird way to describe music about a botanical uprising, but it’s meant from a good place.

Having a wider range for “Hammer of Botany” allows it to find more people, spread its message, and find like-minded listeners intoxicated by these strange sounds. These six cuts comprise an interesting turn in the Botanist’s story, one that demonstrates the richer texture the music has gained over the years. This is the start of a new Botanist journey, one bound to take us deeper into our natural fate.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.botanist.nu/

To buy the album, go here: http://www.auralwebstore.com/shop/index.php

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

It’s another day, another world-ending scenario here at Meat Mead Metal, a place that has become synonymous with music about the cessation of humankind. So often, that music sounds utterly bleak and hellish, which makes total sense considering we are talking world extermination, a thing that hardly needs to sound accessible.

What if I was to tell you not all extinction-level metal had to sound dark and bleak, and that there’s a chance it can be catchy as fuck? After all, we’re dying. Why not have some fun and dine on some fucking riffs. That’s where two-headed Murg are coming from on their third record “Strävan,” which stands for “striving” or “endeavor.” It’s also the culmination of a triptych of albums that have been telling the story of the fall of humankind and the utter domination of cosmic forces seeking to choke out our kind for good. Here, the mysterious team—bassist/guitarist/vocalist Vargher, guitarist Urzul—envision of race of beasts that rise up once all humans have been eradicated, with their sole goal to sacrifice themselves to end the entire universe. It’s dark and morose, right? Yet, this band does it with so much color, emotion, and melody, it’s easy to forget you’re considering a scenario where we’d all be long dead, and the universe would consume all. Not that the band doesn’t also enshroud you in darkness; it’s just easy to be misled by the riffs that you don’t even see the mouth of hell in front of you.

“Ur Myren” trickles open, letting the first stream make way before it bursts through like a gigantic wave with growls lacerating and glorious melodies creating a huge atmosphere. Strong black charges quake the ground before the song comes to a crushing, abrupt end. The title track follows and rains down, soaking the soil before gazey playing envelops like a fog. Spacious clean sounds brighten the picture as the sound hangs, and then a giant deluge breaks down the walls. The growls crush, the song drops the hammers, and the track is rocked in the midst of a storm before settling in ash. “Berget” is glorious right away, with huge riffs pounding and a spirited assault adding dashing bright charges that cause you to shield your eyes. Things fade for a time before the track kicks back into gear, bursts and surges, and electrifies with power. That brings calmer winds that stick around until the sounds bleed away. “Renhet” is heavy as hell as the growls penetrate and catchy rhythms push into rumbling guitars and noises that swim in your head. The growls tear through the background as fiery playing ignites the torches, birds call out, and the energy fades.

“Korpen” has darker riffs and ominous tones instilling a sense of fear and danger which, as we know, definitely lurks here. The pace is relentless, storming heavily over all, creating an emotional tumult that boils and leaves a path of devastation smoking and choking out the air. “Tre Stenar” has a boatload more colorful riffs to add to the picture, with the pace staying more calculated. Growls scrape while the music keeps tunneling, as ferocity stings the air, and the music spirals into the cosmos. “Altaret” has great guitar work that sweeps you away from the start, as the body of the cut is melodic as hell, washing over and leaving you numb. The vocals fire up in the form of vicious howls as wills are destroyed, a maniacal haze stretches over the world, and animalistic howls fire up the final moments of the track before it’s consumed. “Stjärnan” ends the record by beginning in a noise sizzle and then setting the way for a hypnotic tempo that makes the room spin before a thrashy assault murders everything. Huge backing melodies give a grandiose feel while the pace chews and spits out everything in its path, building to a gigantic crescendo that sends space matter, blood, and bones sprawling into the relentless gears of total nothingness.

Murg long have championed the idea that humans are an intolerant, destructive race that deserves to be wholly destroyed by nature, and “Strävan” is their final attempt to nail the bloody nails in the coffin lid forever. This is a great-sounding record, pure black metal that pushes for the end of everything, the ushering in of the void where our meaningless existences disappear forever. We haven’t been great stewards of this earth, and Murg’s vision has us paying a dear, well-deserved price in the end.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://nordvis.com/en/murg-a-11

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

If there’s one annoying part of being a metal fan and having people around you know that, it’s that it’s always assumed that you don’t listen to any other music. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had to yell, “I listen to other things!” when people bring up other forms of music, and my participation is waved off because what could I know about it? I don’t know. I was only a pop music critic for years and years.

I don’t know if the members of Vaura have experienced the same things. Among them, they count membership in bands including Gorguts, Dysrhythmia, Kayo Dot, and Tombs, yet their music here could not be any more opposed to what they do in their other camps. Especially on “Sables,” their new record and first in six years that totally corrodes away any hint of their metallic allegiances elsewhere. Yeah, the music is dark, but not in the same vein. The band exudes darkwave gothiness, a distinctly Euro-forged sound that makes me think back to my formative years listening to New Wave in the 1980s before metal really reached its way into my life. On these eight tracks, you get a rainy urban vibe, like watching the window get plastered on a gray, miserable afternoon, where this record works the best. Its members—vocalist/guitarist/synth player Josh Strawn, guitarist Kevin Hufnagel, bassist Toby Driver, and drummer Charlie Schmid—create ear worms that creep into your psyche and make you feel the damp chill. This also is a great-sounding record as it’s dynamic and pops with life even while projecting the heaviest of morose shadows.

The record cracks open with “Espionage” as beats snap, and a synth cloud develops overhead. “A fatal desire, a union of all that was separate and strange,” Strawn calls amid a cool solo with a silvery vibe and a dash of water that sends chills. “Zwischen” has sheets of synth and a mechanical mode that develops a strange aura. The music bubbles with panic sending cold jolts of nostalgia, and then the bass drives the song into a tunnel lit up by warm guitar leads. “Lightless Ones” has beats rattling, the keys spreading out, and the chorus here is really strong and sticks in your brain, as Strawn sings, “Zones of shadows turn to passageways.” It’s easy to have this one rolling in your mind for hours after you hear it. “The Ruins (Hymne)” has cosmic keys zapping and soaking guitars, with Strawn calling, “Can you feel the road that’s on the way?” I may have that line wrong, as I don’t have a lyric sheet. Anyhow, pits of sci-fi calm soothe in spots, while the track ends up in a mystic vapor.

“No Guardians” leads in with rock-solid drumming, a killer synth riff, and some acoustics sending breezes underneath the din. Strawn sings of “calling from the underground to remember who we are,” as guitars soar into the inky horizon. “Eidon” is a cold, but steady wind, an emotional song that has soloing ripping out and an overcast essence all the way. The guitars smear colors later on, and the simple chorus—the title repeated in rhythmic pattern—keeps your brain cells tingling while the story reaches its end. “Balisick (The Infinite Corpse)” has knocks tapping away, and a strange feeling is cast over all, while the track goes purposely robotic, with voices following suit. The track is murky and mysterious as fog develops, and your flesh is left cold and damp. The closing title track has an ominous sound, as Strawn sings that “the circular mirror never breaks.” Later on, the song lands some heavier punches, as the chorus rounds again, your BPM increases, and the track heads down the drain.

Anyone accusing the members of Vaura of not knowing what’s going on beyond their heavier bands are in for a rude awakening when they take on “Sables.” This third record sounds like the band finding its true footing and digging into the soil with full dedication and a fiery purpose. It doesn’t have to be raining and cold for this music to work, but it helps when the weather matches your and their inner turmoil that bubbles over the surface and crusts on the ground.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://profoundlorerecords.merchtable.com/

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

People fall in love with and follow heavy metal for many different reasons. For me, it was an escape into a different world, a way to retreat from the things that bothered me and find a way to gain some sort of power, no matter if that was just in my head. As a result, bands that make me feel that way again often are the ones to which I gravitate because my reason for loving this genre never went away.

That takes us right to Finnish power/speed metal warriors Chevalier, whose debut full-length “Destiny Calls” delivers all the ammunition one needs to feel alive inside the realms of metal. Having dealt two EPs and a split effort ever since their formation in 2016, the band is mining the fields planted before by very early Helloween, Warlock, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and bands of that ilk, but in their own way. They don’t regurgitate what those bands did at all; instead, they display their inspiration with a raw power that feels like they recorded these tracks in a cold basement surrounded by meat hooks. The band—vocalist Emma Grönqvist, the guitarists Tommi and Mikko, bassist Sebastian Bergman, drummer Joel—keep things fired up and bloody the entire time, making it feel like they’re sound-tracking a group of warriors honing their skills and getting ready to head into life-or-death battle. This record and band let the blood charge, and there’s not a moment here where they don’t go for the throat, with total dominance in mind.

The record starts with “Introduction,” a strange little thing built with synth and guitars poking their way in, all making for the grand opening for “The Immurement” that has a huge start. It’s chaotic and drenched in echo, with Grönqvist belting out her commands in a way that’ll never make you think of turning your head away. This track feels like pre-Kiske Helloween in spots as it’s raw, punchy, and delivers soloing that’ll burn your goddamn face off. “The Curse of the Dead Star” has guitars calling out, a strange voice speaking over top (that element returns again and again like a narrator from a long-lost epic) and then things rip to life. The song gallops as Grönqvist’s vocals tear through flesh, the soloing blinds eyes, and the track totally stampedes through everything in its wake. Crazed banshee wails cut through veins, with the song bashing skulls to its end. “Road of Light” begins with dialog before the track hits on a vintage Maiden path, with Grönqvist wailing, “We shall never yield!” The track takes you into the heart of battle as guitars make their rounds, the pace plays games, and the back-end blazes with intensity that demands everything of you. “As the Clouds Gather” is a quick interlude piece that combines dark guitars and heavy rains, leading into what comes next.

That would be “Stormbringer” that delivers thunderclaps, a driving bass, and a push into confrontation. “Hear the thunder roar!” Grönqvist cries as guitars take their lead, the killer chorus rounds back, and savage screams ring out into the night. “In the Grip of the Night” follows, as the drums launch an assault that leaves you reeling, and the band wastes no time getting you actively involved. “The spell was cast upon me, there’s nowhere out of this nightmare,” Grönqvist calls, as speed begins to reign, the bass clobbers, and then we’re into calm. Murk rises and develops a fog that’s later ambushed by a punishing assault, keys smearing over top, and everything making one last stand to crush foes. “Prelude to the End” is a quick instrumental with guitars steadying the pace, leading into “A Warrior’s Lament,” a chugging, heavy cut that tells the story of battle and fate. Grönqvist sings of “my quest for glory or death” as the song punishes, torches are lit, and blood is spattered. The track sinks into a dream sequence, with the deep, warped narrator voice returning, before a ferocious guitar assault is unleashed. “Unraveled are the secrets of time,” Grönqvist cries, as the band gets ready for one final blast that knocks down the castle walls. A brief “Outro” allows time for everything to sink in, as guitars stagger and melt away.

Chevalier’s speed and power metal assault reminds of a simpler time, when we just called this “metal” and didn’t assign genre tags. “Destiny Calls” feels like one of those albums that would have tracks being featured late into Headbanger’s Ball’s run time, when they’d take more chances and play bands that were making serious waves in the underground. This band is dangerous and fun at the same time, and this is music that feels like you’re wielding the sword, waiting to make contact with any prone section that your adversary foolishly leaves prone.

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

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

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

It’s not easy for bands not avoid tethering themselves to a particular sound. They have an idea for how they want to operate going in, often times, and as their careers go on, usually the members stick to a certain path and only veer off here and there. Then there are those who have no particular journey in mind and let the music take them wherever the hell it will.

Puget Sound-based trio Helms Alee are the classic unidentifiable band sound wise, because they change what they do not just from song to song but from section to section. Typically sludgy and agitated, the band is heavy enough to lean into the metal world but, for the most part, they operate on the edges and dump in anything that works for them. A bastard creation of the Melvins and the Breeders (that’s kind of close, right?) is the best way I can think of a way to describe them, and that’s only tangentially. They again prove the perfect chameleons on their great fifth record “Noctiluca,” named after bioluminescent marine algae that glows when excited. That’s likely how you’ll feel when taking on these 10 beasts that all have different personalities and DNA, created by the masters of disguise—bassist Dana James, guitarist Ben Verellen, drummer Hozoji Matheson-Margullis (they all do vocals)—who have guided this band through the past 12 years and kept their sound dynamic and unpredictable.

Interachnid” kicks off the record with a surge and a howl of, “You can’t stop what you can’t move,” before the track gets into a weird trippy section before spiraling out of control. “Beat Up” is sludgy and punchy as Verellen roars away as James and Mathseson-Margullis add their own colors to the mix while the guitars stretch out. The music may make you feel a little light headed as wild howls rumble, and a muddy psyche jam brings the song to a close. “Play Dead” buzzes and pounds, as they all take turns on vocals, with the cut feeling poppy and fun, and the demand of, “True friends don’t let friends play dead,” repeating before everything bleeds away. “Be Rad Tomorrow” has a cool riff and a mid-tempo push, with the singing soaring and reminding of Veruca Salt. Verellen’s howls rejoin the mix as sounds fall, the drums circle, and the cut comes to a chilling end. “Lay Waste, Child” has drums opening fresh wounds, as all of the voices meld together over a calculated, rhythmic pace. The vibe remains steady while the singing mesmerizes as the song melts into the ground.

“Illegal Guardian” also spills psychedelic colors as it builds slowly with an icy texture and the singing freezing blood cells. Guitars sting while the growls start to punish, and the call of, “If you kill it, you have to eat it, wear its skin, know its secrets,” delivers bruising before chaos erupts and consumes everything whole. “Spider Jar” has killer drumming leading forward, guitars trickling, and harmonized singing that leads the way to an awesome chorus that kicks up dust and makes your skin crawl. “Pleasure Torture” has the bass swirling as James and Mathseson-Margullis command with their voices, heads swim in the atmosphere, and then the guitars set fire and torch the place. The track explodes with power as Verellen howls savagely and blasts the door shut. “Pandemic” has guitars smearing, psyche-rich singing, and a sun-drenched ambiance warming up your body. Breezy vocals push into the mix, jamming and pulling before bleeding into closer “Word Problems” that instantly bashes in heads. The pace is faster, the vocals nastier, and the intensity hotter as the band brings everything to a proper, raucous conclusion.

Helms Alee continue barreling wherever their swashbuckling hearts take them, and “Nocticula” is another stuffed serving that’s paced just right and is a blast to take on from front to back. It’s the something-for-everyone style of heavy music album that could find followers in any corner of a room, which is a testament to the group’s creativity and daring passions. This collection will blister you during its duration, and you’ll feel like you’ve gone on a smashing adventure when you reach the end.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/helms-alee

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