J. Read

Chaos and fury are constants in the world of metal, and sometimes it seems like bands are trying to outdo each other by going to more ridiculous levels to be extreme. Of course that’s not really a criticism because the heavier and more brutal one can be really is a measuring stick. Yet some do it better than others, and others stand on top of the wall, watching the contenders try to match their grit.

Revenge is one of the bands at the top of the wall, hurling skulls and shrapnel at those trying to oppose them and beating back the surge with unforgiving terror. The band’s name is Revenge. The band’s music sounds like revenge. It works perfectly. Over the past 15 years, this Edmonton-based band has been carving out a reputation as one of the nastiest, most dangerous in underground metal. They have succeeded with explosive leaps and bounds. The music, from their very beginning with their introductory 2001 EP “Attack.Blood.Revenge” all the way to their new full-length “Behold.Total.Rejection” has been a constant barrage of noise, horror, and smothering. They don’t relent, they don’t waver, and they don’t compromise, which is what makes this band so revered. The new record is just more of the same. Which should make all Revenge minions very happy.

Revenge remains the hellish creation of J. Read, who handles all music and lyrics, as well as plays drums and does all of the vocals in the studio setting. With him is Vermin, who plays guitar and bass and also handles vocals in a live setting. They are a formidable, punishing duo in any setting, and on this fifth record (their first for Season of Mist), you will feel like you are in the middle of a war. The tempo is pretty much the same from the start to the finish, and there is no room to breathe at all. These 10 songs are on a constant, filthy rumble, with the band sounding as rough around the edges as ever but also completely devastating, just in case anyone was worried they would change with their upgrade in record label. It’s the same Revenge, which is a damn good thing.

“Scum Defection (Outsider Neutralized)” bursts immediately, almost as if the record happens to open on an assault that’s been well under way. The track is hellish and clubbing, with the vocals sounding like mechanical gurgles and snarls, with sounds splattered all over. “Shock Attrition (Control in Decline)” is raw madness, with the drums clobbered, the tempo speeding along, and infernal shrieks meeting up with blood-curdling growls. Soloing rips out of the frenzy, while the pace scorches. “Wolf Slave Protocol (Choose Your Side)” is like the opening salvo of war, with the sound exploding, and the band whipping through with reckless energy. The vocals sound like they’re boiling in blood, as doomy riffs arrive, and shit flies everywhere. “Mass Death Mass” hits a slight death groove, one of the few deviations from the all-out barrage, though that later melts away and insanity strikes again. This one is bloody and short, served just right. “Mobilization Rites” also has some muddier guitar work, as total annihilation arrives and rains down fire. Everything burns and smokes, with the band thrashing heavily, and chaos being released to stomp all.

“Silent Enemy” has bass thundering and poking through right before the pace detonates, with every element smothering and the vocals sounding like they’re delivered by an attacking Balrog. The growls become rhythmic belches amid a pace that crushes wholly. “Desolation Insignia” is thrashy and meaty before it is blown to bits. The drums rattle, the growls decimate the throat, and the whole thing feels outright beastly. “Hate Nomad” has guitars spiraling out of control, dizzying and disorienting right before the blades arrive. The vocals are a mix of growls and grunts, while the bulk of this thing is numbing. “ETHR (Failure Erased)” is 1:26 of smearing violence, an animalistic display of aggression that’s terrifying and oddly sobering. Closer “Nihilist Militant (Total Rejection)” is savage and blood-thirsty right away, mauling with a purpose and eventually dragging you into a strange noise haze. Out of that, feral grunts arrive, the drums are beaten without mercy, and passages where the band drags you through tar make the journey feel that much more painful. As the track reaches its end, the growls sound warped, and the band pounds away until consciousness slowly fades away.

Revenge are not easy to digest, and many times it feels like you’re under a constant assault on “Behold.Total.Rejection.” Likely, that’s exactly what the band had in mind, as they did their best to put the feeling of bloodshed into song. They remain one of the deadliest bands in the world, their intensity is at frothing-at-the-mouth levels, and it’s clear the only thing on their mind is total and complete vengeance.

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

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

Or here: http://shop.season-of-mist.com/

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

When I was a weird kid, growing up with few friends and not many prospects to add to that collection, I was obsessed with professional wrestling. Actually, much of what I wrote applies to me now. I’m just realizing that. Anyway, in the times between Wrestlemanias IV and V, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage formed one of the greatest alliances alive in the Mega Powers. It was a dream come true, padding the disappointment of being a giant loser because Hogan and Savage were a team!

For some reason I remembered those times when sifting through the new collaborative piece combining The Body and Krieg. It’s hard to imagine these two gargantuan forces combining to make great racket together, but that’s just what happened, resulting in this devastating eight-track new album. Luckily, their union isn’t likely to be derailed by their respective love for Miss Elizabeth (got really bad news for them if I’m wrong), but the idea of two massive sides coming together to create something colossal certainly remains and looms ever so largely. The two sides act as a true team, making sounds that bring their respective talents together and doing their best to damage your psyche and hearing. But, amid all of that, the musicians involved branched out and created something far greater than just The Body + Krieg.

The Body—guitarist/vocalist Chip King, drummer Lee Buford—have been making horrifying sounds for some time now, taking death, doom, and noise and raking their eyes until all parties involved beg for mercy. In fact, the creation of this collaborative piece occurred between the recordings of the band’s terrifying high-water mark “Christs, Redeemers” and “I Shall Die Here,” and they remain one of the most unique, you-know-it-when-you-hear-them bands going. Krieg is the longtime project of Neill Jameson (you may have read some stuff he wrote on the internet), a black metal force that has spanned two decades now and released myriad splits, EPs, and full-lengths, the most recent in that category being last year’s “Transient.” This effort does include elements of what you’d expect from each band, with King’s and Jameson’s voices smearing together and trading off hellish vocals, but what’s less expected is the smear of noise that scuffs and bruises these songs.

“Bottom of the Bottle, Bottom of the River” infuses waves of doom and noise right from the start, with King’s horrifying shrieks and Jameson’s growls bloodying your face. The track is abrasive and corrosive, with strange sounds plinking away, waves of synth noise, and the fury storming before it fades. “Carved Out and Caved In” lets programmed beats spray, with wild growls over top and creepy melodies sinking into a nightmarish trance. Sounds sizzle as wails rain down, with the track melting under the heat of a solar crisis, King howling away, and the doom returning to unleash more blows. “Fracture” opens in noise-encrusted hell, with the dual vocals causing havoc and panic, mixing together and taking monstrous strides, while the music goes cold and spacious, bleeding out to the sound of King’s anguish. “Celebrate Your Shame” is a mauler with Jameson howling over top and the tempo jerking around. The sounds cascade hard, crunching and bashing, with both voices flailing out.

“Never Worth Your Name” is immersed in mournful synth and solemn darkness, with Jameson crying desperately, with King joining in and scraping his way. The sounds devolve into zaps and terror, burning over top as the funereal melodies bubble and spill over, with mad shrieks punishing before the track fades. “Gallows” stabs and jabs, with deep growls smothering and an industrial hellstorm breaking out and marring the environment. Burly doom riffs cut into bone, and both voices meld together to increase your anxiety and awareness of danger. “A Failure Worth Killing Yourself” is grim just from its name alone, and then it pays off with cosmic blips, both vocalists unleashing torment, and all of the sounds swimming together in a pool of murk. Machine-like tension rises out of that, and it all spills over into closer “The Final Nail,” where black guitars smudge, carnage floods over, and noisy clubbing takes command. Melodies bleed underneath the horror, slowly releasing their grip and letting in an infusion of spacey weirdness, disorienting blips, and a cloud of dizzying power that wafts until the track gasps away.

The intensity and quality of The Body and Krieg bound together as one is not a surprise at all. This is as punishing as anyone familiar with these bands should expect, but the noise effect and the industrial wasteland in which this album trudges brings the element of surprise. These are two great, tumultuous bands when they’re on their own, and together, that psychosis wells up overwhelms anyone in its wake.

For more on The Body, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/the-body/334047229514

For more on Krieg, go here: https://www.facebook.com/officialkrieg

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

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

Photo by Katie Hovland

All of us have encountered situations that have angered and disgusted us, and our reactions to those things likely are all over the board. Do you lash out at what you see? Report it to authorities? Approach the people in the wrong? Walk away and assume what you witnessed is none of your business? There really is no right or wrong answer, and it all depends on you and the context.

Society’s reaction to people’s worst, most vile actions is something that long has fascinated musician/composer J.R. Robinson and fueled the latest chapter in his Wrekmeister Harmonies project. For “Night of Your Ascension,” he looked at two gruesome cases, one from many centuries ago, and one from recent times. Combining with a cast of many noted musicians including Marissa Nadler; Lee Buford and Chip King of The Body; Mary Lattimore; Sanford Parker (Buried at Sea and noted producer); Dylan O’Toole and Ron Defries (both formerly of Indian); Chris Brokaw (Come); and a bunch more in order to make his ambitious piece see the light of day. Over two compositions that last nearly 50 minutes combined, Robinson and his cast create haunting, moving, horrifying visions that will shake you, break you, and make you see portions of humanity perhaps you haven’t cared to face.

Two subjects gets covered on this album, the first being Don Cardo Gesualo, a 17th century musician long thought to be shockingly ahead of his time. But his brilliance is countered by an act of brutality so graphic, it likely could not be depicted in full on a movie screen without an NC-17 rating. His status enabled him to escape prosecution, though some would argue the torment he suffered the rest of his life, as well as the terrible death he suffered, was at least a price paid. For years, people have balanced whether it is just to pay homage to the man’s creations (and people think Varg is bad!), and the reaction many have had to this conundrum is something that fuels the 32-minute title cut.

The track opens with drone spreading, with Nadler unfurling her haunting vocals, hovering over the song like a ghost. Her calls continue to grow, enrapturing as the song develops with her, as she leads you by the hand into the mysterious night. Synth and noise meet up to create a haze, while strings arrives, are plucked, and then sweep over the body of the track. The sounds glimmer like gold, as choral arrangements give a chilling, yet pastoral ambiance, and then guitars begin to rumble as the worst of it all arrives. The track rips open, and as hell bleeds through cracks in the earth, we head through pockets of calm surrounded by tumult. Furious growls rip through everything and shock the system. Howls are running wild, as the music takes weird twists and turns, the situation remains grim and violent, and cosmic blips sink in, making your head feel not quite right. Then the shrieks grow deadlier and more deranged, chants mix in with the terror, and the end comes in a storm of clatter and panic.

Our second subject is Father John Geoghan, a Roman Catholic priest from the Massachusetts area who was accused of sexual crimes involving more than 130 youths during his time as six parishes over 30 years. He was one of the primary figures whose actions exposed the church’s problem with sexual crimes toward the end of last century and into this one, and Geoghan didn’t serve the entire decade-long sentence to which he was sentenced. That’s because he was murdered by cellmate Joseph Druce in horrific fashion via strangulation and having his chest stomped in. People questioned the decision to place the pedophile priest in the same area as violent white supremacist Druce, and the track “Run Priest Run Extended” is a horrific replaying of those events.

The 16:47 run time of this track essentially follows Geoghan in his cell and moves through to his grisly murder. Static and eerie strings flow, with wordless harmonies and chants setting the stage for what is the brutal end. Noises begin to churn and guitars threaten, as the tension begins to build, and as the track develops, it gets cloudier and uglier. The choral parts remain, but they begin to sound pained and suffering, slowly making their way toward the inevitable as they push and pull through the first 11 minutes. But you know the killer is near, and once King unleashes his unmistakable, inhuman shrieks, you’re aware the moment has arrived. The drums pound away, imitating the beating, and noise swells, with King’s parts tearing away at your psyche, completely unnerving you as you as you follow each deadly blow. The piece folds into absolute chaos, with spacey noises zapping, keys plinking, and the fading of life mirrored in the sudden calm that takes over, envelops the scene, and slowly, but surely, fades away.

Absolutely blood-curdling in spots, hauntingly beautiful in others, and always crushingly sobering, “Night of Your Ascension” is the most gripping Wrekmeister Harmonies release yet, one that made me dig way deeper into the stories of those involved. Great records with deep content make you do that, and it also has led me to examining each situation and how I would react to them. As cut and dried as each seem, there is far more beneath the surface. Such is life, which is why every action could be met with myriad reactions depending on the witness.

For more on the band, go here: www.facebook.com/wrekmeisterharmonies23

To buy the album, go here: http://www.thrilljockey.com/products/night-of-your-ascension

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

There are those times where no matter how hard you work, no matter how much you care, you spin your wheels. It’s frustrating as hell, and it can send you back to the drawing board a million times to try to figure out what you’re doing wrong. Personally, I wake up every day trying to be a certain type of person and trying to fit that into the crumbling world around me and my own shortcomings. It’s easy to feel you’ve gotten nowhere at all.

That may not be exactly what Gold are going for on their second record “No Image,” but perusing the assorted biographical information included with the album, and listening to the music itself, it brought me back to that thought. The band already has done some interesting things with this new album, including their amusing, relentless use of emojis as well as the shocking, upsetting video they released for the first song on the record “Servant,” itself a tour de force. The band is digging into the idea of wanting to move ahead and progress through life, yet always being pulled back by other forces normally out of the person’s control. Also, especially with that video, sometimes there are things you can’t unsee or erase from your memory. Elements of seclusion, confusion, isolation, and hurt permeate these songs, and this collection is one you can’t help but revisit over and over, always peeling back new layers.

Gold hail from the Netherlands, and their stunning debut record “Interbellum” landed early last year. The group mixes various sounds together from dark and death rock to goth to doom to very tasteful pop, always ending up in the gloomiest sections. Yet even when things are utterly drab, the songs burst with life, energy, and catchiness, making what can seem like a hopeless situation feel a little sticky. Out front is vocalist Milena Eva, whose incredible presence and stabbing charisma really fuels this music. Along with her are guitarists Thomas Sciarone (formerly of The Devil’s Blood) and Nick Polak, bassist Tim Meijer, and drummer Igor Wouters, who add style and substance to the album and pour gasoline on the fires. It’s not a metal record, per se, but it’s still damn heavy.

Aforementioned “Servant” kicks off this record, with Wouters driving the track with his steady, swaggering beats, and Eva pouring her dark essence, wailing, “Dark and narrow, deep and narrow are my dreams.” The chorus is one you won’t remove from your head, and every bit of this is totally alluring. “Old Habits” blisters, with the Theremin floating mysteriously, the tempo pulsating, and Eva repeating, “Old habits die hard,” on yet another chorus you won’t be able to stop repeating. There is cosmic noise, static squall, and guitars that bubble dangerously. “O.D.I.R.” begins in a pocket of noise before it punches open, rambling ahead and claiming prisoners. Eva is in full command, and at times she reminds of a really sinister version of Shirley Manson. “Shapeless” is a straight-up rock song with guitars scraping and melodies shimmering, and it piles into “Tar and Feather,” where the music pops you and Eva’s singing pokes and prods. Violence and torment bleed into the scene later, with the singing digging deeper, and the scene getting even darker.

“The Controller” starts with a Western noir feel, with the music later feeling gazey and dreamy, and the signing floating above the din. The guitars get more active as the song slowly starts to open up, with the volume piling, and the noise blaring and raking at your skin as it reaches its end. “The Waves” is faster and more aggressive, with the vocals and music bulldozing equally as hard, and the colors causing your head to spin. They leave you no time to take a breath or prepare, as the music weighs down, and Eva belts, “There ain’t no way out of here.” “And I Know Now” owes its beginning to raw punk rock before the track pulls back and get more atmospheric. The path gets easier and kind of gentle, showing a new side to the band, but as the track winds down, the singing and playing start blazing. “Don’t” lets guitars strike out, as Eva’s voice quivers dangerously, as she weaves tales of longing and desire. The track plods and bruises, pulling you over each rock on the road, with the track blowing open as it nears the finish line, buzzing and leaving chills. “Taste Me” gallops out of the gates, with Eva’s voice fluttering, the guitars chugging, and the melodies poking at elegant pop. The singing leads the way, a bright, blazing light in the night, as the music burns beside her, and everything fades into oblivion.

Gold are an alluring, seductive band that sucks you into their vortex and never lets go. “No Image” is a really strong, darkly fun record that always gives you something new and exciting with each listen. These are dark times, hopelessness is in every corner, and bands like Gold are here to take you by the hand into the night so you can try to find some sense of glory together.

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

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

Or here: http://www.van-records.de/shop_content.php

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

And here: http://www.van-records.de/

Photo by Michael Ray Sheets

I’m going on this tangent again, but finding new fresh acts in the metal world whose sound makes you sit up and pay attention is rare. Really rare. It’s the spoils of having so damn many bands from which to choose and about a hundred million records that land in writers’ inbox each year that makes people like me feel this way. When special ones come along, it’s a joyous occasion.

As you may have guessed, we are in the company of one of those today. Seattle’s Eye of Nix certainly have a lot about them that sets them apart from much of the metal world. For one, they have a drama and excitement to them that lives in their music. This isn’t a group that’s here to blow you over with brutality. And that’s fine because we have plenty of groups out there trying to do just that. This group instead works to create interesting songs, weave together parts that’ll keep surprising you, and in front of them, they have a pretty great weapon that makes them even more special. That would be vocalist Joy Von Spain, whose operatic abilities grab you instantly and force you to pay attention. She has amazing pipes, no doubt, but she also knows how to use them. She doesn’t overpower the music, as many singers with abilities such as her have a tendency to do, and she’s a really unique, very powerful presence in front of this impressive band.

Eye of Nix formed three years ago, combining aforementioned Von Spain along with guitarist Nicholas Martinez, bassist Gerald Hansen, drummer Justin Straw, and noise artist Masaaki Masao. The band put out a four-track demo while also taking on tours and strengthening their live sound. They released their debut full-length “Moros” earlier this year, following that with an extensive Western U.S. tour and a video clip for “Elysium Elusive” that was made alongside filmmaker Michael Ray Sheets and butoh performer Vanesa Skantze. It’s been a pretty full year for this band, and now “Moros” is getting re-released with two bonus songs added, giving people who missed out the first time around a chance to catch up. What you’ll find is something not easily described, as the band mixes doom, noise, prog, and Von Spain’s amazing singing that injects Siouxsie Sioux/Jarboe/Kate Bush-style theatrics into the music. It’s a really cool element, though it should be pointed out when Von Spain needs to get destructive, she can belt out ferocious growls and shrieks with the best of them.

“Elysium Elusive” opens the collection, with darkness sprawling, Von Spain’s voice swelling, and the band taking on a calculated pace, as they slowly overpower you. The cut eventually starts to blister, with the operatic singing climbing over top and leading the way through the darkness. The song keeps progressing, building layer upon layer, until it all bleeds out into the night. “We Perish” starts with quiet playing, as Von Spain takes on the role of storyteller (or so it seems), as the track slowly devolves. Heavy growls erupt, as the track gets thornier and the noise elements get nastier and more aggressive. Toward the back end, the doors blow off, the band starts pummeling, and her voice rips into wild, harsh wails that leave a ton of bruising. “Veil” gets off to an eerie start, as tricky guitars enter the scene, and the track takes on a post-metal feel. Growls signal the arrival of dark forces, while the music gets vicious and sludgy, mauling right up to the unexpected calm. Birds chirp and all seems serene, but the music starts to buzz again, and while it has a dreamy essence, you can tell that not all’s right in the universe. “Turned to Ash” has jangly guitar work, a punchy tempo, and a nice infusion of moodiness. As it rolls along, it takes on heavier qualities, with bursts of power, Von Spain’s enrapturing singing, and a close that’s catchy and furious.

“Shroud” has a much proggier bend, which is a nice change of pace, though Von Spain goes for blood here as her she belts out growls and shrieks that will terrify you. From there, the song gets more unhinged and deadly, with the vocals leaving welts, but then the track suddenly trickles into beauty. It’s a track that shows both their light and dark sides. “Optimo Vero” begins with chants before the guitars start prodding, and the whole thing takes on a ceremonial ambiance. The band then starts to strike hard, with the vocals coming out like pained wails, and the tempo of the track beginning to drub you. Von Spain goes from horrifying screams to abrasive growls, showing the might of her voice, while the band strikes over and over, thrashing and mashing, with everything sizzling out of control. “Blood in Fire” is the first of two bonus tracks, with Von Spain’s delivery leaning toward jazzy while the band slinks along with her. The track slowly begins to corrode, with the singing turning to growls, and the band slipping into experimental weirdness before they round back to swinging again, ending the track in a wonderfully bewildering way. “Rome Burned” caps the album, and it’s arguably the angriest track on the record. Amid clips about protesting authority and corrupted power, complete with the recitation of the SLA line, “Death to the fascist insect that preys on the life of the people,” the fires really get moving. The band settles into a nice, furious groove, as Von Spain lets her voice rip, riots break out in the background, and the playing pays off the emotion and unrest lingering within this track. This is one hell of an ending.

Eye of Nix slowly are making their mark, and hopefully “Moros” getting a boost of new life will help them jar awake more people. This is an inventive, mesmerizing band that sounds like no other, and they’re lucky to have a singer who is in the upper echelon when it comes to discussing some of metal’s new voices. The universe is the limit here, and hearing this band morph and change in the future is going to be pretty damn interesting.

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

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

Or here: http://eyeofnix.bandcamp.com/album/moros

The world can be a horrible place with terrible things happening with or without sense and logic. People can be terrible beings, and as far as we’ve come with technology, medical advancements, and other accomplishments, humans never fail to find new ways to be despicable and horrible.

Dragged Into Sunlight and Gnaw Their Tongues are two acts in extreme music that understand this greatly and have poured this into their respective music. They are two of the most unnerving, raw, violent acts in the entire world, and the thought of them combining forces should be something that drives chills down spines. Well, either fortunately or unfortunately (depends on your outlook), they have melded forces for the terrifying new combined effort “N.V.” (stands for negative volume) that brings their horrifying worlds together in a way that only can mean devastation and psychological woes. Over five songs, they poke and prod at the worst of humanity in a way only these two acts could do this shockingly. If you can imagine what these bands would create together without hearing the results, you likely will land on what they do here. There are no surprises really, and that’s not a negative. This effort is scary, penetrating, and bloody, just like I’d hoped it would be.

For those a little behind (or if you just need a quick refresher), Dragged Into Sunlight is the mask-bearing horror squad out of the UK that smears death and black metal together in a sooty, clobbering way. They have two smothering full-lengths to their name (“Widowmaker” was one of our favorites of 2012) and generally keep their shadows over the seamy underbelly of society, focusing on killers and abuse, all the things that make life so wonderful. Gnaw Their Tongues is the long-time black noise project of Dutch musician Mories that is responsible for a shit ton of releases (we visited with “Abyss of Longing Throats” earlier this year) since this idea was started a decade ago. These two acts combining together to make music makes too much sense, and the result is as gross and disgusting as expected.

“Visceral Repulsion” has that DIS focus on serial killers at the forefront (it’s a recurring element here), with Richard Speck warbling on over noise and then crushing death. There is a mix of harsh growls and ear-splitting shrieks that work to create madness, as the noise spitting and thrashing fury meet up and create a dangerous storm front. Later, Michael Bruce Ross, also known as “The Egg Man,” speaks of his terrible acts while eerie soundscapes bubble up, and the two entities work to pound you into submission over the final minutes. “Absolver” completely crushes from the start, with fierce growls splitting out and black melodies drizzling down. The vocals later turn burly, matching the muddy pace, and as the track goes on, it keeps getting more and more ferocious, ripping apart sanity, crashing down, and later bleeding out. “Strangled With the Cord” is an obvious one, isn’t it? It starts with slow-driving punishment, echoing growls, and more words from killers. Parts of this simmers and steams, with the end torn out later, the bands pelting you with foreign objects, and the vocals sounding inhuman and unhinged.

“Omniscienza” erupts right away, as if you’re being sprayed with nails, and the vocals are utterly savage. We hear more killers speak, as the bands create an atmosphere that should make you shake with fear. The vocals pierce and slash, as the bands keep piling on sounds and tons of weight, with the tempo mashing, and the collective power making your head spin as you grab the wall to prevent a fall. Closer “Alchemy in the Subyear” lets the elements build up and threaten, with swarming sounds coming from every corner and the playing crunching your puny bones. Noise haze situates itself over the scene, like a poisonous cloud slowly stretching over a terrain, while chaos erupts elsewhere. The guitars sink their claws, as the track unleashes punishing thrashing, delivering shot after shot until the thing ends abruptly, as if your lights have been put out with you even realizing it.

So yeah, there’s nothing about this record that will put a smile on your face or uplift your spirits. Dragged Into Sunlight and Gnaw Their Tongues have the market on psychological torment pretty much cornered, which they prove on “N.V.” This is the stuff that, as gruesome and unfriendly as it is, you can’t turn away from it. It’s the horror that, as much as it will turn your stomach, you have to immerse yourself in and splash in every bloody bit.

For more on Dragged Into Sunlight, go here: https://www.facebook.com/draggedintosunlight

For more on Gnaw Their Tongues, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gnaw-Their-Tongues/128655237208690

To buy the album, go here: http://prostheticrecords.limitedrun.com/

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

Metal is a territory that has a lot of horrific imagery tied to it, and for outsiders, that’s mostly what they know about this form of music. Ultimately, a lot of it is really cartoonish, sometimes on purpose, and there are so many outlandish covers, song titles, and lyrics, it’s hard to be shocked or surprised by most of it. That’s not really a criticism. It’s just how it is.

I find psychological anguish and tangible horrors a lot more impactful, because these are things that actually could occur in one’s life. Yeah, I guess I possibly could wake up one day to find a skeleton eating my entrails, but I’m not really fretting that one. That’s one of the reasons I find Vastum so fascinating. Ever since their formation six years ago, the band has explored matters of sexuality and the horrors, pain, guilt, and terror that can go along with that terrain, as well as matters of abuse and psychological wounds. No, we aren’t talking cartoon eroticism here. You walk away feeling bruised and shaken, just like many of the would-be narrators in these songs who have seen things and suffered punishment that goes blind to many people. This is one of the things that really set Vastum apart from many of the other bands in death metal, and this is before we even dig into how their music sounds.

Vastum’s third record “Hole Below” is arriving, and it’s one of their darkest, most deranged collections in their already scathing discography. The follow-up to their excellent 2013 record “Patricidal Lust,” “Hole Below” contains six more tracks that dig way below the surface of subject matter most don’t even care to acknowledge. The band—vocalist Daniel Butler, guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf, guitarist Shelby Lermo, bassist Luca Indrio, and drummer Adam Perry—turns out 37 minutes of bruising death metal twisted with morose visions, disturbing lyrics, and a sense that all is not right in the world in one of grimiest, most internally digested senses. You cannot walk away feeling good about yourself, and if there is suffering and degradation within you, don’t be surprised to see your own emotions come spilling out in a pool of piss as your guts twist inside of you.

Strangeness is present from the very start as “Sodomitic Malevolence” begins in a pocket of buzzing noise, with voices moaning in the background as if in misery. Once the track really gets moving, you’re blown over by guitars shredding away, grinding fury, and warbles and growls that trade off melting your face. The song manages to get even heavier toward the end of the track, with faster playing, a few moments of serenity, and the madness fading out. “Amniosis” is a death march from the beginning, with coarse growls gurgling, and the lead guitars breathing fire. The band mashes your fingers as they make their way down the path, with more deranged howls sitting behind the muck, and Abdul-Rauf ripping in with her authoritative, scary growls. “In Sickness and in Death” gets off to a slow maul, with both vocalists blending together to create an ugly, scary mix, and the band chugging ahead. The guitars singe what stands in front of them, while the muck bubbles to the surface and mars the scene, trudging hard to what ends up being a pretty eerie finish.

“Intrusions” has a mangling start, raging forward as Abdul-Rauf injects horror and violence into the song with her growls. The song lurches hard, with strong lead guitar work bubbling over top and some tasty thrashing landing. Detached speaking arrives, feeling like ghostly and chilling rants, and the back end of the song takes its time doing its damage. “Hole Below (A Dream of Ritual Abuse)” slips into a filth death groove, as the psychological torment spreads its wings and infects. The vocals scrape and expose bruised skin, while the band sets off all sorts of morbid color with their playing, leaving you a heaping pile on the floor. Closer “Empty Breast” is packed with pain and torment, as the guitar works commands the effort, and later the track folds into aggressive thrashing. The guitar work is outright fierce, as the vocals smear soot in your mouth, the music starts to set up a bizarre atmosphere, and the same strange noises that opened the record return, creating a disarming bookend. It’s a devastating, bloody exclamation point at the end of a morbid journey.

Vastum are one of the heaviest, most interesting, most disturbing bands in modern death metal, and much of that has to do with them poking into wounds that are very real and could happen to anyone. “Hole Below” is flat-out black-pit ugly, a drubbing serving of pain that could make you feel like you’re voiding fire and rolling in your own dirt. It’s a sobering, searing record that’s scarier and deadlier than any old death record poking at the bones of Satan or graveyard terror. That’s because this is the real, miserable thing.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://www.20buckspin.com/collections/music

Don’t roll your eyes, please, but I don’t mind when I find metal records calming or tranquil. The reason bands such as Cynic, latter Anathema, and Ulver always resonate with me is because they are something beyond the brutal and devastating and instead put their music in a more imaginative, sometimes dream state. I don’t need thrashed all the time, and when a record can move me from the inside, that’s a welcome experience.

Digging into “Prisoner of Sunlight,” the debut full-length record from Austaras, gave me that exact feeling. While there is rocky terrain and explosive sections, so much of this record make it feel like I’m catapulting through the clouds, on my way to the sun. Violence isn’t on the tip of my tongue. Instead, I find I’m stretching my mind and immersing myself in the band’s liquidy passages. While post-black metal remains a part of the band’s base, they’ve really pushed much further on this record, fully embracing soaring prog rock, jazzy sounds, and also some stormy weather to keep you aware of your surroundings. It’s easy to get swept away during these songs, and this has been a record I’ve turned to quite a bit the past two weeks as work has piled up on top of me.

Austaras, based in Chicago, have been active nearly a decade now, but the only other release they have under their belt is a 2011 EP “Under the Abysmal Light.” This new effort is not as dark and thorny as that one, but as noted, it trades some of those elements for a path more cosmically enlightening. The band is comprised of primary members John Becker (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, analog synth), Adam Hansen (vocals, drums, percussion), and Shane Hill (guitars), as well as Jeremy Eberhard (synth, piano), and Richard Stancato (bass), who were a crucial part of the studio creation. The band’s work here seems like fluid, ever-changing being itself. You never know where you’re headed next, be it straight down into a murky valley or right into the sky, but that’s part of the adventure. The vocals almost are entirely devoid of growls, and the combination of Becker and Hansen’s singing gives this a softer, more reflective touch that sets the band apart.

“Deserter” is the first taste of Austaras’ expanded sound, complete with elegant guitar playing, synth waves, and eventually a charged-up tempo met with rich clean vocals. “Desert the path honored by ruins,” it is urged, as the band slips in spacious solos, prog twists, and a nice bit of crunch at the end. “Thrones” has spacey keys that surge into bursts, with soulful, soaring guitars shooting out like beams of light, and the singing blending right in. The drums rattle away, while the band takes some colorful angles, the synth feels like a cool breeze, and acoustic guitars settle before one final burst. “Refractions” is a slow-moving piece, with clean sounds trickling, the guitar work glimmering brightly, and a moody sentiment creating a shadow over the song. “Threshold” has a damn nice riff that brings you in, sticking with you and pushing you into a more rock-oriented segment. “Enter and be judged,” as the singing takes the reins, the song gets edgier as it goes, and a melding of synth and power at the end is punctuated by the first gnarly growls of the record.

“Ossify” has clean guitars dripping, moody, gentler passages sprawling out, and even a woodsy sequence that gives the track a little bit of a rustic feel to it. “Fractures,” which runs 10:05 and doesn’t feel nearly that long, then erupts from the gates, blistering and making impacts on the ground. The singing once again is really strong here, as the track goes from the volcanic to settled and back again, with the urge of, “Sever your mind from all physical borders,” hanging in the air and circling your mind. A synth fog settles in, and out of that comes some great soloing that cuts its way through and toward the rousing group callback of, “Into the fractures we shall fall, never to return.” Really good track. “Reflections” brings things back down again, as it is filled with acoustic strumming and wordless harmonies, leading you into the instrumental finale “Seaworthy.” Here, clean guitar, looping bass, and jazzy rhythms take hold, creating a foggy picture. Guitars take a heavier role as the song progresses, burning brightly over everything, and then things really open up and chug about halfway through. The scene gets murkier and serene as the track winds to a close, with waves crashing, a mist creating a film over your face, and the album floating off into the distance, ever so slowly until you no longer can make out its image.

Austaras’ work is indicative of a band that, while metal at heart, doesn’t feel the need to be a slave to any one sound. They put so many different colors and textures into “Prisoner of Sunlight” that is really is a record that has new things to discover with each listen. This is a really enjoyable, adventurous album, and Austaras is a band whose future direction really is anyone’s guess. And it’ll be pretty awesome following them on that ride.

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

To buy the album (available Nov. 6), go here: https://austaras.bandcamp.com/

Nerrath

We probably all feel like we have way too much to do every day and not enough time to get it done. Work, home responsibilities, trying to eat right, taking care of your family, that all takes a lot of time and effort, and I know there are tons of times when I wonder if I can do it all.

Well, German musician Nerrath probably reads all of that and laughs. Not that I know what the guy does every day or how he makes ends meet, but apparently he hasn’t let any of that get in the way of his creative output. Not only does he have a new record out for his solo project Horn, he also got together with his other band Cross Vault and completed a new album with them. Both of those efforts are unleashed upon us puny weaklings this week, and each one satisfies different aspects of the metal universe. But if you’re one that has a strong affinity for raw, yet rustic black metal and emotional doom, then you’re bound to have even more to do when you sit to absorb both offerings.

Horn has been around for 13 years now, and ever since 2005, Nerrath has managed to put out a new full-length every few years, with new “Feldpost” being his sixth record under this banner. According to the bio materials, this is the first one Nerrath has recorded in a proper professional studio, and the music benefits from a richness and atmosphere that does nothing to compromise the darkness and fury of the music. The music also is very emotional and infectious in spots, with parts woven in that’ll replay in your mind long after the music stops playing. Thematically, Nerrath digs back to tales from the two world wars, and all of the material is sung in German only. So if you’re not familiar with the tongue, you’ll have to go on the majesty of the music. Also, two of the tracks here are carryover cuts from the 2010 “Distanz” album re-recorded for this effort.

“Drei Spaten am Grab” opens the record, feeling a bit like early Primordial, as it fires up with harsh growls, swelling melodies, and some bellowing vocals that come ripping out. ”Die Würfel rollen wieder” surges, with vicious, creaking growls mixed with spirited singing, riveting playing, and a heavy storm settling in toward the end, as the track comes to a volcanic finish. ” Wache schreibt…” has guitars spiraling, melodies flooding to the surface, and all the elements cascading. There’s a relentless pounding to part of the song, yet later it slips into folkish territory, adding rustic texture to the pumeling sounds. ”…und keiner wüsst’ von Flandern” opens with dark and ominous tones, presenting itself as one of the harshest cuts on the album. The song is delivered slowly, with coarse vocals bubbling up, and then a spirited, really emorable section of melodic singing bursts through the gates. That part really sticks in my head and has so ever since the first visit with this record. Finally, we end with the two redone cuts from ”Distanz,” as ” Überall und über allem” is a little bit longer than the original version, remaining thrashing, slattering, and punishing; while ”Die verlorene Rotte” closes this great effort with heavy riffs, rolicking bass, abrasive growls, and more folk elements mixing in with the total blackness.

For more on Horn, go here: https://www.facebook.com/HornOfficial

Cross Vault

If you’re looking to feel dark and near tears, that’s where Cross Vault comes in handy. The feeling of horrible loss and mournful darkness is impossible to avoid on “The all-consuming,” their second record, with Nerrath (or N, as he is known here) sticking to English for his words and vocals. He and his bandmates—M on guitars and bass, B on drums—dig deep into the guts for what they conjure here, spilling slow-boiling doom into these tracks but also countering with folk lushness elsewhere to add even more heart and texture to these songs. The songs can feel solemn and hopeless in spots, gargantuan and crushing in others, and it’s the strongest of the band’s two albums (last year they released “Spectres of Revocable Loss”). This is a band that hasn’t really made a huge impact beyond their underground lair, but all it takes is more ears before Cross Vault’s name dances on more tongues.

These tracks are filled with anguish and pain, starting with “Revocable Loss,” a 10:19-long epic that starts with calm, reflective guitars that set the stage for the heart-ripping impact and Nerrath’s clean singing bellowing. Later the song goes cold, growls emerge, and strong soloing fires up, paving the path for some elegant playing and Nerrath calling, “We will forever be weightless.” “Simple marksman in the pines” is slow and melodic, one hell of a mammoth cut that’s rich with emotion. More stellar guitar work, quiet acoustics, and gut-wrenching playing all have a part, with the crushing tale unfurling before you, and dark clouds accumulating and drifting off into the distance. “Amber Nights” sounds exactly like what its title indicates, a delicate, lush passage that veers into folk, singing that sounds delivered from the depths of Nerrath’s guts, and later a deluge of sound that pays off the sense that the drama is building forcefully. The title track delivers punches right away, staying as dark as anything on here and later allowing gorgeous guitars to slip into the scene. Gritty singing that dissolves into growls, dreary guitar work, and expression that bleeds away slowly highlights this cut. Finally, closer “The words that pierce no soul” is an 11:22 song built on morose melodies, punishing emotions, and Nerrath, at the end of his rope, admitting, “Here I stand with nothing more to give.” If you walk away from the record unaffected, you have no heart.

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

These records might not serve the same audience necessarily, but there darkness that stretches across both that certainly could unite listeners of each band. Nerrath has a lot to show for this burst of creativity, both what he did on his own with Horn and what he and Cross Vault created together. These are two damn formidable releases that and worth your while, brain cells, and whatever you have left of your hearing.

To buy either album, go here: http://shop.northern-silence.de/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.northern-silence.de/

I have a weird affinity for wanting to feel uncomfortable and a little bit on edge. I was terrified by a lot of things growing up, including alien abductions, what lurked in the dark woods surrounding my childhood home, ghosts, you name it. Having an overactive imagination didn’t help matters much, because I always found new and more disturbing ways to imagine each of those scenarios.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve embraced those things that made me feel so strange as a kid. In the fact, in the potential TMI department, I still take showers in the pitch black because that used to fill me with anxiety and fear as a kid, and I want to recapture some of that feeling now. Maybe it’s some twisted form of nostalgia for me. Anyway, music that that sparks some of those uneasy feelings inside always end up being stuff to which I gravitate. That’s what made me love Pink Floyd as a kid (the spacey synth terrain always gave me goosebumps), Zombi, and now Pinkish Black. Ever since hearing their imaginative, woefully morbid debut record “Everything Went Dark” that landed in 2011, I have been hooked on the band’s strange passages that feel like they arrived here from another era, another dimension, right smack in the middle of the night when everything is tenuous.

The band—Daron Beck (vocals, keys, synth, mellotron) and Jon Teague (drums, synth)—are back with one of their darkest turns yet in “Bottom of the Morning.” If you’ve been on the ride with the band ever since they rose from the ashes of The Great Tyrant (more on them later), they’ve been making sounds that would sound perfectly played at top volume, late at night, while you drive down a desolate highway toward nothingness. The band always has had tragedy at their fingertips (hell, the very reason for their name, which we covered before, is marred with horror), and the past few years have been no different. “Bottom of the Morning” right away feels like a record you wouldn’t want to hear at your most vulnerable, for you might disappear down the drain with the band. Even the strange cover art—that brownish rainbow arching over a city—feels unsettling, like everything you know has changed and been replaced with something so alien, you can’t help but feel out of your element.

“Brown Rainbow” fittingly begins the record, with dark, doomy keys spilling forth and the music practically intoxicating. “The end is here to stay,” Beck mournfully, but coolly wails, with the murky strangeness flooding over, into your veins, and straight to your mind. “Special Dark” actually has some buried shrieks at its front end, as if panic has struck, and then the song bursts open further. Beck’s singing is a rich baritone here (well, it is most places), as the music achieves a chilling swirling effect. There is a fierceness to this one, a mission to make you feel as unwell as possible, and all of the sounds blast out and head right toward “I’m All Gone.” The keys smear, with the singing coming as a low register, deliberately delivered and bringing with it personal destruction you can reach out and practically feel. “Burn My Body” is eerie and claustrophobic, with the dramatic first minute or so feeling like the introduction theme for a villain slipping in through the fog. The vocals burn slowly, while the music achieves the essence of a late ’70s sci-fi film, feeling murky and strange right down to its core.

“Everything Must Go” has a rambling, zombie-like pace, feeling playful on one end, threatening on the other. The keys bounce and pulsate, tearing open and letting a UFO beam rip your eyesight apart. The noise keeps building, while laser sounds zap all over the place, lighting up every corner. The final minute is frantic and anxiety inducing, and it sets the stage nicely for the record’s 9:31-long title track. Here, synth fog rolls in, with the vocals coming softly and disarming. The sounds start to build up and rollick, with nightmare synth oozing and a trippy, psychedelic window opening you up to a world of colors you didn’t know existed. The drums crash down, key strikes hit like asteroids, and the manic pace spills over into quiet admission of, “Everything’s the same again,” a line that stirs over and over before the track slips into dizzying dreams. The closer “The Master Is Away” is an instrumental track that find keys dripping down, almost whimsically, while beats splash, synth envelops, and a thick haze rises and sets, making everything in front of you impossible to see, yet you head into the void anyway.

We mentioned The Great Tyrant earlier, the band in which Beck and Teague played with Tommy Wayne Atkins before his untimely demise. Their second and final record “The Trouble With Being Born” finally is being released on a limited basis by Relapse. The record is rougher around the edges, confrontational in a much different way, and certainly the obvious genesis for what was to come with Pinkish Black. Coupling this record with “Bottom of the Morning” gives you a great perspective on which bizarre cloud this band was formed, and how far it has come in the past half-decade. Both records have their own merit, with “The Trouble” being an ominously named record that still scars, and “Bottom” being one of the finest things Teague and Beck ever did together. Get ready to feel like you’re having an out-of-body experience from which you may never awake.

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

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

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