We’ve made no secret over the years that we’re a Pittsburgh-based site, even though our reach is worldwide, and we write about bands from every corner of the Earth. But we represent Pittsburgh, and this coming weekend, one of the finest metal festivals going will emanate from here. To say we’re excited is a vast understatement.

The festival came to life six years ago as Gilead Fest, and it took place at Gilead Media’s home headquarters city of Oshkosh, Wisc. The event returned to the same place two years later (which was my first experience there) before Gilead joined up with 20 Buck Spin to create Migration Fest, which took place in Olympia, Wash., in 2016. The event highlights most of the artists from both labels’ stellar rosters, as well as some hand-picked favorites. This year’s event takes place at Mr. Smalls in Millvale, which is just a few minutes north of the city limits, this Friday through Sunday, July 27-29, with a pre-show event taking place at Cattivo Thursday night in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh (if you go, do NOT fuck up and forego the pizza). If you see me at the fest and want to say hello (and I don’t know why anyone would care to, but whatever, I’m socially anxious), please do. I’ll have on a black denim vest with a huge Sunn 0))) backpatch and other assorted shit. I mean, I’ll have other clothes on, too. Anyway, you’re here for the bands, so let’s talk about them:

Thursday, 8 p.m., Cattivo. Pre-show:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/nieWMf9yGtL2

PYRITHE: A relatively new band (their first show was New Year’s Eve), this foursome creates some of the most interesting and progressive sludge anywhere. That’s not even a great description because it’s so much weirder than that. Definitely make sure you get there early to see this band, who might come at you with one of the strangest Metallica covers of all time.

Listen: https://pyrithe.bandcamp.com/releases

SLAVES BC: This band has been lightning rooms on fire in Pittsburgh for several years now, and they just put out their hellacious new album “Lo, and I Am Burning,” which finds the group moving even closer to black metal terrain. We talked about it several months ago when it was released, and the record keeps getting more and more devastating with each visit.

Listen: https://slavesbc.bandcamp.com/

BUILDINGS: One of the few bands on this festival that really isn’t metal at all, which is cool, because you need a change of pace. These guys build noise rock, post-hardcore, punk, and many other styles into their formula. Their third record “You Are Not One of Us” was just released by Gilead Media last year, and not only does it pack a punch, it also has really strange album art, which is always a plus.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/you-are-not-one-of-us

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE: Very little is known about this band other than it contains members of Mournful Congregation and folks from Broken Press, and their music is a very strange and cosmic mix of synthesizers and beats. This is going to make for a fascinating experience, especially since so little is out there about the band so far. Lucky for us, there’s a Bandcamp page.

Listen: https://somafreeinstitute.bandcamp.com/releases

 

Friday, 4 p.m., Mr. Smalls Theatre:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/X7J23bcvhnP2

CLOUD RAT (4:20): Michigan grinders Cloud Rat could not be a more explosive way to kick off the formal festival, and they will melt the place down pretty quickly. Their blasts of chaos and melody center on subjects such as women’s rights, veganism, and other social issues of that ilk, and their passion for that can be heard in their killer music. If you miss this, you’re an asshole.

Listen: https://cloudrat.bandcamp.com/

COUCH SLUT (5:10): If there’s a chance of any of the band members on this entire tour getting injured, it’s got to be Couch Slut’s devastating vocalist Megan Osztrosits, though we definitely hope she doesn’t see her own blood again. This band’s noise and metal combo is blunt as fuck and pulls zero punches, as their music is punishing, sobering, sometimes funny, very often sad. Oh, and grab a copy of their re-pressed “My Life As a Woman,” and def let your neighborhood conservative bore see the cover art.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/contempt

FORN (6:00): These purveyors of doom will enshroud the room in total darkness as they rip out their mentally abusive material. They have a new record “Rites of Despair” coming out in September, and no doubt it’ll be another trip into human misery and suffering that will leave you hanging on the edge of sanity.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/weltschmerz

DERKETA (7:00): This legendary Pittsburgh death metal institution was severing heads alongside other genre giants Death and Incantation in the early 1990s, and they are recognized as the first all-female death metal band ever (they do have a dude doing the drumming now, but history is history). Their first full-length “In Death We Meet” landed in 2012, and it’s a fucking beast, as is this band. All hail.

Listen: https://derketa.bandcamp.com/

YELLOW EYES (8:00): This NYC-based band has proved there still are creative ways to play black metal, and it just takes some imagination and a little ingenuity. Their “Immersion Trench Reverie” was our No. 1 album of 2017, and it’ll be super exciting to see these guys do their thing on an even bigger stage. Get ready for riffs that’ll tangle you in knots.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/immersion-trench-reverie

BONGRIPPER (9:00): Why Bongripper didn’t get the 4:20 slot is beyond me. All kidding aside, this Chicago instrumental doom band returned this year with the scorching “Terminal,” the follow-up to 2014’s “Miserable.” If you’re in the mood for amp and riff worship, this band is for you. If you happen to have some edibles on hand, even better.

Listen: https://bongripper.bandcamp.com/

KHEMMIS (10:00): This band is slowly rising above the underground, and their mix of classic metal chops and traditional doom is making headways. Their latest opus “Desolation” just came out, and it’s a glorious ride that pairs sounds of old with modern issues such as loss, grief, and remorse. Don’t let the cover art fool you: This isn’t D&D shit. This is real life served with killer riffs and powerful singing.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/desolation

ZOMBI (11:10): We close out night one with another Pittsburgh favorite in the form of synth warriors Zombi. This band was pulling out B-movie sci-fi anthems way before this latest patch of darkwave artists emerged, and this will be a mesmerizing, fantastical way to end the night, as the crowd is treated to a haze of soundtrack-style cuts that’ll make your skin crawl and mind wander.

Listen: https://zombi.bandcamp.com/

 

Saturday, Mr. Smalls, 2 p.m.:

IMMORTAL BIRD (2:30): Chicago death metal maulers Immortal Bird were a late addition to this lineup, and a totally welcomed one at that. This band has played our fair city pretty frequently, and this will be their biggest appearance to date. Their last time here, they played stuff off their “Akrasia” EP and “Empress/Abscess” full-length, as well as some killer new cuts, and a rock-solid Samhain cover. In addition, they’re Grade A nice people.

Listen: https://immortalbird.bandcamp.com/

SCORCHED (3:20): Pittsburgh got an early helping of this Delaware-based death metal band when they opened up for Demilich on their spring tour. Expect gut-wrenching, throwback death with some really fun wizardry at guitar, and a beating you’ll feel far into the next day. Their second record “Ecliptic Butchery” is due in late September on 20 Buck Spin.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/excavated-for-evisceration

MUTILATION RITES (4:10): Mutilation Rites have pulled their burning wagon out of black metal’s trenches for the time being and rocketed that thing right into grisly death metal on their third full-length “Chasm” that just was released. They’re also back fully with Gilead Media after a sojourn with Prosthetic. Probably for the best. These guys revel in underground rot anyway.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/chasm

THE OMINOUS CIRCLE (5:10): One of the farthest travelers for this event, Portuguese death and black metal phantoms the Ominous Circle will bring haunting gems from their heavily underrated 2017 debut record “Appalling Ascension” and who knows what else? I’m really intrigued to hear this band in a live setting, which might make for the deadliest set of the festival.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/appalling-ascension

DEADBIRD (6:10): The Deadbird flies again! We haven’t heard from this band in many years, with their last full-length record “Twilight Ritual” dropping a decade ago! Luckily, this sludge/doom machine returns with a new record “III: The Forest Within the Tree” in October on 20 Buck Spin (check the label’s social today to hear a new track!), and we get to experience them in person. This is one of my personal most-anticipated sets.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjLEpXmzbnY&list=PLLyOa5Z9M9VxszAC7EF-urOy4C-dAjax2&index=1

SPIRIT ADRIFT (7:30): Spirit Adrift have been one of the great feel-good success stories in metal, and sorry if that sentence isn’t metal enough for you. Nate Garrett emerged from a life-threatening battle with alcoholism to create this project that explodes with classic metal and doom. Their first two records “Chained to Oblivion” and “Curse of Conception” both are modern classics (at least by our ears), and it’ll be great to finally see this band in the live setting.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/curse-of-conception

MIZMOR (8:10): The product of sole member A.L.N. (it’s technically spelled מזמור), the project’s punishing, immersive black metal, doom, and drone is thick, impenetrable, and troubling. Mizmor’s second full-length “Yodh” was released two years ago, and it’s taken all that time to work through the murky labyrinths contained within its grimy gates.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/yodh

PELICAN (9:40): Chicago-based instrumental powerhouse Pelican is one of the bands not associated with either label, and they’re pretty much here because they rule. We haven’t gotten a new record from the band since 2013’s “Forever Becoming,” but they have a stealthy, magnificent back catalog from which to serve the hungry masses. I’ve also never seen them live, which makes no sense.

Listen: https://pelican.bandcamp.com/

KRALLICE (11:00): The mighty Krallice will bring an end to this stellar day with what’s sure to be a mind-blowing performance from a band that almost assuredly must be space aliens. It’s the only real explanation why they can craft black metal this unique and harrowing without sounding like any other band, even for a second. They’ve also become strangely prolific, releasing two full-lengths last year alone. Here’s a link to the most recent one.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/go-be-forgotten

 

Sunday, Mr. Smalls, 2 p.m.:

PYROLATROUS (2:30): If you didn’t get your fill of drummer Lev Weinstein while he was massacring you during Krallice’s set, he’s back with this relatively new blackened death metal project that also contains guitarist Nolan Voss of Anicon, Joe Merolla on bass, and Nicholas Palmirotto on vocals, guitar, and effects. Their debut “Teneral” dropped on Gilead Media last year and went a little unnoticed. Let’s help change that.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/teneral

DAEVA (3:20): Philly blackened thrashers Daeva have but a single EP to their name (last year’s deadly “Pulsing Dark Absorptions” that has a mangling cover of Mayhem’s “Deathcrush”), and their arrival at Migration means that a lot of people will be hearing and absorbing them for the first time. If an even grimier Aura Noir is your thing, then be prepared to be decimated.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/pulsing-dark-absorptions

TOMB MOLD (4:10): If you haven’t yet heard Tomb Mold’s new record “Manor of Infinite Forms,” click the Bandcamp link below and listen to it. This story literally will be on this site for years. You have time. This record is one of, if not the best, death metal albums of the entire year in a slew of strong ones, and its “Bloodborne” themes and disease-infested filth will make this one of the absolute must-see sets of the entire festival.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/manor-of-infinite-forms

THE CANCER CONSPIRACY (5:10): Curveball of the day comes from Vermont-based math rock band the Cancer Conspiracy, who ceased existence in 2003 following their van being robbed and equipment being stolen. They reunited to play in 2017, and only this show and the Caleb Scofield tribute are on their agenda, so we’re pretty fortunate to land this one.

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nAGBf8qq90&list=PLvFDD-_FhPP0TniTwihmfo3nVb__CCTo6&index=1

HELL (6:00): Sole creator M.S.W. returned last year with a self-titled, seven-track record that pushed the band more into doom and sludge, as if Sleep and High on Fire crept slowly into the creative process. It made for a swaggering new look for this morbid beast and one that actually is fun in spots. That’s a big change from his past work that absolutely reveled in drone torture and doom fury that buried you and left you for dead.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/hell

FALSE (7:10): One of Gilead Media’s most noteworthy bands, FALSE deliver black metal that crushes your soul but also delivers rays of melody and turns into progressive rivers. Vocalist Rachel looks like a caged animal when she performs, and the rest of the band offers tight, bloody, often epic-length songs that capture you, punish you, and leave you a heaping mess on the floor. Oh, they also tried their hand at shorter songs and killed it. Link below.

Listen: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/hunger

THOU (8:10): Those internet motherfuckers have released a ton of stuff already this year in the form of a noise EP, an acoustic EP that recalls the best of “Jar of Flies,” a grunge EP, and their upcoming fifth full-length “Magus” that already contains some of my favorite lyrics of the year. No two Thou shows are the same, and this band absolutely delivers menace and strangulating doom with the very best of them. Actually, Thou ARE the very best of them.

Listen: https://thou.bandcamp.com/album/the-house-primordial

MOURNFUL CONGREGATION (9:20): The winners of the band-that-traveled-the-furthest contest is won handily by Australian funeral doom giants Mournful Congregation. Their latest record “The Incubus of Karma” is an absolute masterpiece of ridiculously slow-moving, absolutely elegant doom that captures heart and soul. This set might be three songs long, and it could go an hour easily. This and our final band are on my do-before-you-die list of artists to see live.

Listen: http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/the-incubus-of-karma

PANOPTICON (10:30): What better way to send everyone home happy than with Minnesota-based black metal band Panopticon, one of the most emotional, hearts-on-their-sleeves groups in all of metal. The Austin Lunn-led group just put out two records this year: “The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness I and II.” Part one is his traditional black metal, while the second is made up of bluegrass and acoustic-heavy songs that you just know have been gnawing at Lunn forever. If you’ve any beer left when they take the stage, salute these guys and be thankful you’re there to witness them live.

Listen: https://thetruepanopticon.bandcamp.com/

For more on the festival, go here: http://migrationfest.com

For more on Cattivo, go here: https://www.cattivopgh.com/

For more on Mr. Smalls, go here: https://mrsmalls.com

Our existence isn’t meant to be easy, and trying to stay the course can be impossible to manage sometimes. Whether there is chaos in our lives or we’re looking tragedy in the eyes, managing hardships and pain can ask every ounce of us and drain us of our beings. Not everyone is capable of responding and staying strong, and the ones that do often come out changed on the other side.

Trying to take matters into our own hands to guide our journeys is a major theme of “Lore of the Lakes,” the magnificent debut record from Inexorum, a project initially envisioned as a solo endeavor for Carl Skildum (you know him from Antiverse and Threadbare, and he has played guitar in a live setting for Obsequiae), this album is a celebration of melodic riffs, a record that should cause your bloodstream to surge, whether you simply digest the songs or also tackle the subject matter. Joined by bassist and RIAA-certified-gold producer Matt Kirkwold, the duo unleashes a positively hellacious recording that drinks heavily from the early ’90s black metal streams but does not just regurgitate sounds. They are in homage, sure, but they deliver their own version of this sound, an explosive, rushing album that sounds like it will be considered a modern classic once it ages a bit. That sounds hyperbolic. Admittedly, yes, but there’s a feel in this music I can’t fully describe, and it makes me believe it’s the beginning of what will be a special band.

“Raging Hearts” is a blistering way to open the record as the riffs take hold right away, catapulting chaos and meeting up with fiery melody. “We forge our own way!” Skildum wails, all the while the music gallops triumphantly, with more razor-sharp riffs leading the way to the very end. “Let Pain Be Your Guide” has guitars knifing through muscle, with the leads surging, and the growled verses spraying cinders. “Will I ever be the same again?” Skildum wonders, surrounding that mystery with playing that feels full of Viking rage, reminding of an even heavier early version of Amon Amarth. The guitars are fluid, while the drums decimate, and in the midst of rage, Skildum howls, “Light the flame and hold it high,” ending the song on a defiant note.

“Years in Exile” runs a healthy 7:22, and it begins with a deluge of guitars and verses that are a little grislier than what preceded it. The track storms hard, giving off a classic metal edge along the way, and delivering another heaping helping of catchy riffs. Later, the drums thunder, twin guitar lines intertwine, and things spiral to its end. “To Omega” has a meaty start, with the guitars trudging ahead, and growls that go from harsh to cavernous within the same stretch. The music rises gloriously, making adrenaline burn, while vibrant melodies crash to the ground, and the song comes to a breathtaking end. The closing title cut is the longest song, clocking in at 8:46, and it allows an atmosphere to develop slowly, while waves lap the shore. The power then emerges, chugging and chewing, before the song ignites and hits full intensity. “From shore to shore, hear the voices of those who have gone before,” is a refrain Skildum repeats, each time with added emotion, as the music develops into a fiery storm. The final stretch finds the guitars setting up one final assault, the drums cracking the earth, and everything dissolving into a bed of acoustics that deliver a rustic, woodsy finish.

This first dose of triumph from Inexorum jolts the earth and makes seismic waves on debut record “Lore of the Lakes.” It’s an album that will thrill the hell out of those who dine hungrily on the riffs, as well as those who also find substance and relatable messages in the lyrical content. This is a fantastic record, one of the best debuts of the year, and we’re pretty sure we’ll still be enjoying this thing once that snows fall and our bootsteps crunch beneath us.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/lore-of-the-lakes

For more on the label, go here: http://gileadmedia.net/

Records aren’t always intimate portions into the creators’ lives, especially when it comes to metal. This genre normally is more concerned with death, destruction, devils, social unrest, and topics such as that, because it’s pretty natural to make angry-sounding music about those areas. When we delve into more personal realms, that when the real-life juices can flow.

Paul Ravenwood’s Twilight Fauna project has spent time reflecting on his Appalachian home and the music that comes from that region. He treated us to a nice helping on last year’s opus “The Year the Stars Fell,” and he follows that up with a new seven-track helping “Where Birds Sing My Name,” an amalgamation of black metal and folk music that can draw comparisons to Panopticon, at least on the surface. Ravenwood long has etched a rough, gruff patch over the course of his project’s previous seven full-lengths (all of those since 2012), not caring about precision and polish and instead going from the gut. He’s again joined by drummer Josh Thieler (of Pittsburgh’s Slaves BC) as well as a slew of other players who handle banjo, fiddle, and additional vocals, to make for what amounts to an around-the-fire display that lets loose spark and ash, rising up among the mountaintops.

“As Autumn Turns to Spring,” based on “Tiger Creek” by J.P. Mathes II (who handles banjo on this track and elsewhere on the album), begins the record with banjos sprawling, violins licking the dust off the windowsills, and a jubilant feel that aims to bask in Appalachian celebration. “Crooked Road” follows, a lo-fi dose of creaky black metal that features drums blistering, and the fierce storm hanging overhead. Ravenwood’s harsh growls make bones shake, while the melodies wash over with a gaze, hissed wails cut through, and melodies and pounding bleed to the end. “November’s Cold” trickles like a cold stream, as Kendal Fox adds her singing to the mix, conjuring a lullaby-style trance. Hazy guitars rush in, while cymbals are crashed, and then the awakening comes in a deluge. Wild cries and wrenching screams mix, lulling you under the surface of the water. The track goes unhinged, releasing animalistic spirit as it sprawls and brawls into the shadows.

A raw take on Clifton Hicks’ “Crying Shame” follows, adding a quivery view into mountain roots, and then we’re into “Chasing Shadows” that starts with clean guitar and piercing singing. Guitars bubble as the pace gains steam, and then the music heats up and smothers, while harsh growls and sound squalls do battle before a cold spell strikes. From there, the tempo is tugged back and forth, while the drums blast, and a grisly burst of hell carries the track away. “Reflections” has a properly somber start, floating gently and getting fuzzy, before the song explodes with colors. Emotionally rich guitars bleed all over the ground, while a static screen arrives, and open veins pump their vital fluids. “The Path Home” closes, as birds call, banjos are plucked, and gruff and rustic singing puts the story to bed.

Twilight Fauna’s emotion and guts constantly are on display, and with “Where Birds Sing My Name” not only is a rushing second chapter on the band’s homage to home, it’s an ideal next step from “The Year the Stars Fell.” There’s a charm in the band’s music where they lean to roughness and avoid polish, as it gives what they do an authenticity you can feel. This is a heartfelt album that lets you have a glimpse into Ravenwood’s world and gives you a chance to connect to your own.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://twilightfauna.bandcamp.com/album/where-birds-sing-my-name

We live in harrowing times. There is unrest as far as the eye can see. The news each night is a sobering collection of things that happened that pretty much defy common sense. Part of the United States feels like it’s locked in the clutches of a faith cult, where they can’t separate news events from their strange ideology. There’s never been a scarier time to be alive for so many of us.

It’s fitting, then, that The Lion’s Daughter return with a stirring new record “Future Cult” that’s steeped very much in the present but also in the past. With the advent of darkwave, these guys have found something profound in that sound and mixed it into their dangerous, sludgy doom metal that hits as hard as ever. The horror movie synth that’s become a major part of their sound on this record also feels  like an escape. It reminds me of a simpler time of my youth when the scariest thing in the world was a masked slasher and not the goddamn president of the United States and his blind followers. This used to be a beer/metal/pro wrestling site, and now we’ve added politics. Anyway, it’s added a fascinating element to this band—guitarist/vocalist Rick Giordano, bassist Scott Fogelbach, drummer Erik Ramsier—one that makes them more exciting and riveting, which they didn’t really need, but damn it if it doesn’t make this record stand out in the crowd.

The title track gets us going, as electronics and riffs collide, synth whirs, and growls penetrate, giving us our first terrifying view that ends in static and barrels into “Call of the Midnight Animal” that lets loose knocks and a haze. Then shit just explodes, with an industrial-powered assault, the band blasting in the mud, and then a fog emerges that pulls a blanket of confusion over the terror. Noise echoes out of that, before the band delivers a bludgeoning end. “Die Into Us” lets loose the synth darkness, as guitars spiral, and harsh calls leaves bruises. “We cannot speak, we cannot dream!” Giordano wails, as the riffs catapult, speed becomes a factor, and the synth takes us into the darkness. “Suicide Market” has keys surging as the mud builds and becomes hard to traverse. The assault is blunt and dangerous, as thick basslines bruise faces, and we end in a shadow of eerie darkness. “The Gown” begins clean, with acoustics sprinkled in, as spacey synth creates strange clouds, and the riffs clobber. Harsh growls make their way into the chaos before darkness rises up and fades.

“Grease Infant” opens with a similar wave of keys before the guitars outright gut you, and tough vocals
blast their way into the picture. There is weird, gut-wrenching power on display, with murky keys giving the song an urban nighttime feel. Leads blur and bleed, with the song fading into the shadows. “Galaxy Ripper” has filthy riffs, speedy punishment, and the band stabbing away, leaving oozing wounds before its blunt finish. “Tragedy” has keys causing confusion before riffs and blurry sentiment twist your brain. The vocals bludgeon, as the keys spread and send chills, finally fading into mystery. “Girl Autopsy” is a quick instrumental built on noise waves, synth strikes, and strangeness, ideally paving the way to finisher “In the Flesh.” Right away, knife edges scorch the skin, as the pace devastates, and the synth freezes the flesh. Guitars dizzy as a chilled sci-fi feel arrives, with the band lobbing hammers, Giordano screaming, “Terror in the flesh!” and the track ending in a bed of real-life horrors.

The Lion’s Daughter remain a punishing, bludgeoning band, and their addition of darkwave synth to their stew makes them heartier and bloodier. “Future Cult” is a really imaginative, terrifying record that, despite its name, is very much relevant to right now. It’s a horrifying time for humanity, and this record hammers that point home to an uncomfortable level.

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

To buy the album (North America), go here: 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/

Every August here in Pittsburgh, the Renaissance Festival comes to town and gives us modern folk a chance to get a taste of what things used to be like. Last year, a guy dressed as a beggar made fun of my shirt. It’s a good time. It also brings to mind certain types of music that are chambery and mystical, feeling like it’s actually transporting you to that era.

I’m not sure how Canadian atmospheric black metal band Finnr’s Cane will take being compared to the Ren Fest, but hopefully they embrace with the affection with which it’s intended. The band’s music, while soaking in current black metal waters, also has many threads to bygone eras with their instrumentation. They eschew bass guitar for cello, and the use of woodwinds creates an environment unlike much of what’s out there in extreme music. There is an element of poetry to what they do, and that’s present and accounted for on their great new third record “Elegy.” This trio—vocalist/guitarist The Bard, cellist/keyboard player The Slave, drummer The Peasant—pushes on with their first music in five years back to rustic, thorny terrain they created on their first two records and makes that world even more expansive and imaginative. This is a hearty, immersive album that’ll swallow you whole.

“Willow” opens the record in a gaze burst, as riffs slowly burn and wash their way into acoustics. The power then arrives, with a proggy push going, whispering and singing uniting, and the music bathing in the fog. Harsh growls erupt, and then things come to a sudden end. The title track takes its time burning its path, as dreamy singing emerges, and the sound of chirping birds sends calm. Growls then rip into the body, while the music gets moodier, and the guitars start to punch. The drama flows from there, eventually disappearing into mystery. “Strange Sun” has doors creaking open, with a prog-fueled arrangement arriving, and synth sounding like battle horns. Then, hard growls punish, while the pace gets speedy and dangerous, and the harshness piles on like a storm. Guitars drip coldly, as the back end goes from violent to warm and jazzy.

“Empty City” flares up fires, as flutes breeze through, giving the song a folkish ambiance. The track flows gently for much of this before the music tears open, wrenching growls destroy, and everything rumbles to an end. “Earthsong” has a glorious start, charging and rushing into the forefront, as it reveals death metal majesty. Savage growls split lips, while the metallic energy heads into a flush of acoustics that brings the temperature down a bit. Heartfelt soloing emerges out of that, keeping the blazes furious, before things come to a massive finish. “Lacuna” has keys plinking, with guitars rushing, the vocals burning like acid, and keys blending in to add different colors to the mix. The music takes a massive twist from there, as the final moments are blasting and momentous before a sudden end. Closer “A Sky of Violet and Pearl” feels like it awakens at dusk, splashing orange and purple across the sky as it comes to life. Harsh growls and powerful guitars crack before a mid-tempo takes over, turning the song murky and mystical. Keys drip, as a classic feel emerges, with the song bowing out in calm, as you drift into your dreams.

Finnr’s Cane return to recording music is another boost to what’s been a really good year for heavy music, and “Elegy” stands apart from so much of what we’ve already heard simply with its personality. This band makes me think of swords clashing, quiet trips across grassy terrain that take all day long, and some of what we’ve lost over the years as we’ve been overcome by technology.     This is a fine record by a different type of band, and we could use more fresh thinking like this in metal.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://prophecy.lnk.to/finnrs-cane-elegy

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

It sucks when perfectly good things, at least on the surface, come to an end. When the members of Agalloch were dismissed by that band’s “visionary,” and Giant Squid were buried under the surface of the water, it removed two of metal’s most interesting, inventive bands. It gutted the world of two sets of artists who burned their own kind of fires in the underground, and losing them hurts.

Luckily, out of the dissolution of those two landmark bands comes a new project Khôrada that joins three quarters of the fallen Agalloch—guitarist Don Anderson, bassist Jason Walton, drummer Aesop Dekker—with former Giant Squid guitarist/vocalist Aaron John Gregory. There already was a huge bit of anticipation and hope for this new band when it was announced, and now that their debut full-length “Salt” is here, we have the answer to what this union would sound like. Turns out the answer is nothing like what one might expect. Yes, there are elements of both aforementioned bands, but Khôrada is a totally new idea. It’s not a continuation of anyone else’s band and is instead yet another inventive group that’s thinking and creating in places many are afraid to tread. There are elements of black metal, prog, doom, straight-up rock, and other sonic elements, forming something atmospheric, jarring, magical, and personal. Lyrically, the record addresses the chaos that met the world post-Trump, what’s become of our society, our relationship to the environment, and family. It’s a stunning album, and it may take a few listens to totally digest everything going on here.

“Edeste” begins the record on a hauntingly calm note, but what’s contained inside is anything but. Gaze clouds lead to guitars charges, while Gregory’s smooth croon washes over the track. Horns light up and give off lonesome notes, feeling like you’re at the center of a dust bowl, watching the world crumble. “Flood and flame and hurricanes, clearing her slate again,” Gregory warns, while the track hurtles off into the stars above. “Season of Salt” has mystical riffs before things get thunderous and heavy, bringing on a fog cover. Moody deathrock bubbles to the surface, while Gregory points, “The damage is done.” From there, the track erupts, as if the Earth has turned, with the track feeling nautical in spots, as a rock n roll vibe emerges, and melody floods the blistering end. “Water Rights” rumbles in the distant mist, as drums open up, and Gregory takes on a gravelly course, with some of his most unique phrasing on the record. Psychedelic colors rush (making me think of the album art) before the band goes into a relentless pace, causing quaking and havoc. The singing drives, the keys swirl, and everything washes away from shore. “Glacial Gold” is the center point and my personal favorite cut. The singing is quiet at first, as folky melodies feel rustic, and then Jackie Perez Gratz (Gregory’s wife) lends her striking cello, adding sorrow to the tale. The track slowly builds, as the intensity laps like lava, with Gregory howling, “Gold exposed, shorn from newborn bluffs,” which aligns with topographical pains. The track’s final minutes are incredible theater, with everything reaching a crescendo that pounds your heart.

Then arrives “Augustus,” one of the most personal and emotional songs on the record, where Gregory sings of family of three becoming four (which also could stand in for the band). Birth and deep sorrow follow (if I’ve read it right), with quiet guitars and rich harmonizing. It’s a soul-stopper. “Wave State” is anchored at first by steady horns before the drums kick up and drive the pace. Guitars cut through, with the brass following, as passion arrives in waves, with each of Gregory’s words gushing with emotion, at one point singing, “We are the mange to be cleansed and washed away,” as he explains our fragility to someone much younger and smaller. Riffs continue to encircle, and the gates break, with the horns trampling their way before we return to a mid-pace. From there, serenity flows anew, as the sea and cosmos become one, and alien synth takes us to a plane beyond. “Ossify” is the 11:31-long closer, flowing out of its predecessor as a solid dose of space rock. It feels like a straight-up rock song, as synth whirs in the air, and the track becomes pretty damn catchy. Amid all of this, Gregory envisions the end, one sure to be met by disappointment by those who find us as he notes, “How disappointed they’ll be when unearthing the truth, they will dig through our plastic cocoons, they will have to theorize how we died.” Less-harsh riffs soar, blistering and hitting a fever pitch before its spirit gives up its being to the stars.

Khôrada’s entrance into the world was born out of chaos, but their existence is breathing new life into metal in all different forms. Their initial offering “Salt” is one of the most astonishing debut records, in any form of music, in some time, and their sounds should have a ripple effect downward as people respond to their creative burst. This band sounds like it was meant to be together from the start, and all it took was two landmark bands crumbling in order for it to happen.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://prophecy.lnk.to/khorada-salt

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

Classic, blood-soaked fury should be enough of a descriptor to lure anyone with metallic tastes to the band Mutilation Rites. They’ve spent the past several years slowly building their violent empire, going from the underground to a stint with Prosthetic Records and back to their skull-crushing roots, all the while compromising absolutely nothing.

The band has returned with the filthy third record “Chasm,” a collection that veers far closer to the charred fields of death metal that dabbles in black metal, all the while practically suffocating the listener. This is the first record we’ve gotten from the band since 2014’s savage “Empyrean,” jointly released by Prosthetic and their long-time label home Gilead Media, and it’s an album that never relents for a second. The band—guitarist/vocalist George Paul, bassist/vocalist Ryan Jones, guitarist Michael Dimmitt, and drummer Emmett Ceglia (Tyler Coburn of Yautja handled drums on the recording)—sound like a hellish, evil horde here, imagining torture and death and lathering their music with that madness. It took a few listens for the thing to really set up its terrors fully, but each subsequent visit has opened up bloody guitar routes not realized before and devastating assaults that make themselves clearer, right before they take off your head.

“Pierced Larynx” starts this destruction rightfully with feedback scorching and the guitars trudging to life. The growls scrape viciously, barely able to be deciphered, while the violence rumbles over and through the chorus. The track hits a spot where it boils and gives off steam before bursting again and mangling at the final gates. “Axion Destroyer” is dangerous from the start, burning a path of savagery and unleashing hellacious growls about watching the torture of a loved one. The track thrashes and makes you choke on mud before coming to a blistering end. “Ominous Rituals” soaks in darkness at the start, as guitars swirl and bring chaos, and then the bombs drop. The riffs rip a hole in the goddamn universe before they settle into a killer section that’s even a little proggy. Death growls melt while the pace heats up, punishing and bruising as it drags you to the end.

“Post-Mortem Obsession” has drums bustling to life as a killer riffs meets up with it, and then we’re into furious speed. The death growls are hellish and bloody, and later on, the song adopts some rock n roll swagger, adding attitude to your bloody wounds. Things then get disorienting before the band outright mauls you again before roaring to its end. The title track has delirious, dizzying guitar work, as well as raw, razor-delivered growls that hurt to absorb. The band bashes with reckless abandon, with the vocals clashing with your psyche, and the song coming to a destructive end. Closer “Putrid Decomposition” is the longest cut, a 10:59-long monster that has black metal strains at its front end before it blends into tricky and melodic waters. Again, the vocals are delivered with rusty saw carnage, while the drumming devastates, and the punishment builds. The guitars hang like a poisonous cloud, threatening a heavy storm, and once the clouds break, raspy wails are spat like nails, the pace is hammering, and the unforgiving beating fades along with your consciousness.

Mutilation Rites’ reign has been rock-solid throughout their three records and nearly a decade together, and “Chasm” continues to up the ante as to what these guys are capable of conjuring. Every inch of this record is coated in filth, and you might find yourself gasping and choking through tears as you take this trip. This band never had a concern about your physical or mental well-being before, and they sure as hell are not about the start now.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/chasm

For more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/

If you were to make two lists, one with bands that never had issues or turnover and one with bands that did, the one with constant issues would be way, way longer. Sometimes that’s for the better. Trimming the bad influences or members whose hearts aren’t in it can be good for creativity, and it could mean new life for the music.

For Athens, Ohio, natives Skeletonwitch, the upheaval they experienced a few years back was for the better. Skeptical? OK, so take on “Devouring Radiant Light,” the best goddamn album this band ever released, and tell me I’m wrong. Guitarist Nate Garnette had to push his brother Chance out of the band after an incident we don’t care to detail here, and that could have meant death for the band. Instead, five years after “Serpents Unleashed,” and with new vocalist Adam Clemans (Wolvhammer) in tow, they put out their defining album, a record that restarts the entire machine and delivers a classic record into their arsenal. They’ve put out good records before. This band is no slouch. But the material they—the band is rounded out by guitarist Scott Hendrick, bassist Evan Linger—deliver here is unstoppable, undeniable, and that of a band that looked its demise right in the eye and spat in it. This is a tremendous record, and, despite the seriousness of what pushed Chance from the band, they’re better off now.

“Fen of Shadows” starts the record in the arms of classic-style guitars before the track launches in full. Clemans’ corrosive growls rip open healed scabs, while a punchy/melodic chorus injects energy. A moment of calm breezes in before the leads catch fire, and everything resolves in the eye of a storm. “When Paradise Fades” begins with Judas Priest-style glory, speedy playing, and a punk-fueled tempo. The vocals burn, while the bulk of the track surges your blood, with even some tasty spurts of black metal. “Temple of the Sun” has a blistering start, as the growls maul, the playing floods the senses, and melody and savagery duel it out for supremacy. A killer solo kicks in later, giving off a trad metal vibe, and some strong clean singing adds a lighter nuance that leads into a halo of chaos. The title cut starts with serene guitars before things trickle open, and the guitars begin to shred. Clemans’ vocals are in full command, especially over the punchy chorus, while the riffs deliver battle blows, and things bleed away emotionally.

“The Luminous Sky” stampedes open, with the growls mangling, and the band jamming the speed pedal. Clemans’ delivery turns guttural and ugly, while the pace punishes all the way to its finish. “The Vault” is the longest song, clocking in at 8:52, and it starts on a somber note, setting its atmosphere before lightning strikes. The song floods the gates, with the vocals crushing and the band delivering utter mayhem designed to tear you apart. Black metal-style melodies take hold, as the intensity builds, sending blood and guts rushing everywhere. “Carnarium Eternal” is a total assault, with Clemans wailing, “Rise! Rise! Rise!” and the guitars going into battle mode. “I will consume all that’s inside,” Clemans vows, as the song is consumed by war. Closer “Sacred Soil” has guitars spinning, black metal-style gusts, and the vocals wrenching. The tide subsides for as bit, letting some warmer guitars into the room, but then it’s back to a full darkness blitz. The melodies race, there is a deluge of power, and finally the song is swallowed into the abyss, left to float in an endless haze.

Whatever you thought of Skeletonwitch before now, rethink it. This is a new band with a new lease on life, and they put their hearts, souls, and guts into “Devouring Radiant Light.” This is a record that should solidify their stronghold and even bring in skeptics watching from the outside. This band always has been for real, and they have a bloody, punishing new record to again prove their prowess.

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

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

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

There is something great about blood-and-guts death metal that’s just here to devastate, test wills, and bring about the ugliest possible sounds one can muster. It doesn’t always happen that way anymore, as the borders of death’s kingdom expand musically and philosophically. But when a band can make it seem like you’re drinking from the early ’90s swamps, there’s something fun about that.

We were introduced Extremity last year on their appetizer “Extremely Fucking Dead” EP, an effort that was brought to you from metallic veterans who know a thing or a million about this type of thing. Now, a little more than a year later, we have their full-length debut “Coffin Birth,” a record that sounds like what its title implies. It’s ugly and violent, it’ll make you think of the vilest of horror movies you’ve ever absorbed, and it is, yes, extremely fucking death metal. The trio involved—guitarist/vocalist Marissa Martinez-Hoadley (Cretin), bassist/guitarist/vocalist Shelby Lermo (Vastum, Ulthar), drummer Aesop Dekker (Khôrada, Vhöl, and formerly of Agalloch)—wastes no time trying to be pretty or polished and instead soaks your head right into a sticky bucket of blood and innards on this eight-cut, 40-minute pounder that can act as a template to how this shit is done.

“Coffin Birth/A Million Witches” starts on an eerie note, as organs swell, old haunted house screams chill your blood, and then the demolition arrives, with guitars chewing toward your neck. Vicious growls punish, while the thrashy pace adds ample bruising, and a burst of speed strikes before the cut settles into filth. “Where Evil Dwells” has burly riffs and growls that hammer your fingers, as the tempo delivers punishment and decay. The bulk of this is grisly and mean, as the guitars chug and cut through to the song’s core. “Grave Mistake” has a properly ugly start, as twin guitars unite, and then they go right for the guts. Martinez-Hoadley and Lermo battle back and firth with their guttural growls, while the guitar work takes off later in the song, smothering you with a coat of ash. An angry-mob chorus riles dead minions before the song ends in a blaze. “Umbiculus” has a savage start, as the vocals are spat out, and the attitude is fast and nasty. Chewy riffs punch, while the track gets more aggressive, the growls are dually delivered, and everything ends viciously.

“For Want of a Nail” has warbled words at the start, coming in like a hazy nightmare, before the track kicks up and dumps particularly gross growling. Amid the sinewy guitars come flushes of acoustics, while the final minute ups the ante of pain, as weird voices echo, and things come to a massive finish. “Occision” erupts, as the verses speed past, stopping by for wrenching growls and total chaos. The leads blur and bleed, mixing violence with confusion, leading you face first into a bludgeoning. “Like Father Like Son” has strong riffs at the front end, meeting up with some mystical strangeness that arrives after the verses. The band slows it down at times, still delivering a hell of a beating, twisting and warping while you seek a modicum of mercy that never arrives. The record ends with “Misbegotten/Coffin Death” an ideal bookend with the opener. It opens acoustically, sounding like the start of a classic old ’80s thrash album, and then the power comes. It’s heavy and commanding, a track that feels like a battle cry, with a chorus that just rules. Martinez-Hoadley and Lermo again combine forces, and the song absolutely punishes. This is legit save-the-best-for-last territory, as this track slays, and this band is the old school death metal you didn’t realize you needed this badly. Oh, and the ending is fucking creepy and may keep you up at night.

Extremity’s well-traveled members sure as shit had nothing to prove to anyone, but that didn’t stop them from making “Coffin Birth,” a 15-round battle with death and horrors. The music is like taking a claw hammer to the back of the head and, perversely, really enjoying it. This record is a punishing display of death metal the way it’s meant to be played, which should be enough of a selling point alone.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.20buckspin.com/search?type=product&q=EXTREMITY

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

There used to be a time bands loved to get their music into big-box retailers in order to have their records accessible to more people. With that came compromise, be it censored album art, “clean versions” of albums sold a stone’s throw from DVDs containing murders and graphic sex scenes, and what have you. Then, there were bands whose very names pretty much disqualified them.

I’m assuming, if they give a fuck at all about their music being sold in Walmart, that you’d never find a Bongripper album next to whatever shitty pop country albums they’re shilling. Though it would be amazing. Instead, they have to make their way selling records the “hard way,” whether that’s in a record shop or at their shows on from their website. Lucky for all of us, they have new product in the form of “Terminal,” a two-track, 43:25-long ripper that’s going to tear off your goddamn head, but in the chilliest way possible. This, their seventh full-length in 13 years as a band, is more of the smoking good stuff from the Chicago-based instrumental quartet (guitarists Nick Dellacroce and Dennis Pleckham, bassist Ronald Petzke, and drummer Daniel O’Connor). You don’t necessarily have to drop out of life, bong in hand, to get with these songs, but I’m assuming it makes this beast even more enjoyable. Oh, and if you’re headed to Migration Fest later this month, these guys will be there to melt away your pain.

“Slow” kicks off the record, a 25:10-long behemoth that arrives out of a cloud of dust and unleashes burly, muscular riffs. The track is slow moving and heavy, sometimes channeling proper Sabbath worship along the way and often getting muddy and ugly. The track goes dreamy for a second, with sunburnt melodies finding their way to the surface, before steely guitars take over and ease things in a gazey haze. That builds and grows louder, while the band starts to hammer away, with the riffs utterly destroying. Devastation reigns, while sludgy playing clogs arteries, and a relentless barrage of damage lays waste. The guitars lather, while the sound cloud spreads, and everything comes to a simmering, which naturally spills its way into 20:06 “Death.”

Pushing through a noise tunnel, the song boils while cosmic gusts float overhead, and it sounds as if the machine comes to a slow, painful demise. But then the riffs tear into you like a sudden burst of thunder, crashing and thrashing, rumbling over everything that stands before it, burning toward its core while riffs kick everything into high gear. The music tramples over your prone body, chugging heavily while noise screeches peel your flesh from the bone. The path is beaten forward, with the drubbing feeling like it’s chewing away at an already prone wound, and sounds strike to add to that aggravation. The guitars flood the scene, noise clashes and disorients, and everything bleeds away into a black hole of confusion, leaving you there to succumb to force.

The four years since “Miserable” that we waited for “Terminal” sure feels worth it after indulging in this blazing instrumental exercise. Bongripper remain at the top of their game, smoking you out with their powerful ways and torching the hairs on your arm when you get too close. Whether you’re looking to zone out and get your nose bloodied, these guys keep providing ample opportunity to do one or both.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://bongripper.bigcartel.com/

Or here: https://bongripper.bandcamp.com/