I’m commonly in a bad mood. Maybe bad isn’t the right way to put it. I’m often in something that borders on complete frustration and total malaise over having to deal with other human beings. What’s a guy to do in that situation? Mope? Complain? Be an annoyance to everyone in which he comes into contact? In short, yes. To all of those.

But I do try not to be a complete pain in the ass all the time, so if I feel my mood needs a bit of a shift, music can be a help. This exact thing happened lately as I was dealing with a work project that got fouled up a bit, and the thing needed turned around pretty damn quickly. I went to my arsenal that is my Haulix account and turned on something that was on my review schedule coming up, and wouldn’t you know it, mood totally turned around. So if I ever get an e-mail giving me a thumbs up for a job well done, I’ll be sure to remind them to thank Twin Lords and their riotous debut record “Devastating Planetary Shift.” Holy shit if that seven-track, 41-minute slab of infectious noise didn’t point me in the right direction, and while it isn’t totally metal through and through, I think a great deal of you reading this space regularly are going to find a lot to like here.

As perhaps hinted in their name, there are two fellows making all the damage here. Dan Alex Rivera is your bassist/vocalist, while Andrew Hernandez handles drums, and together they make enough racket for a whole bunch of people and certainly more instruments. Their riffs are strong, the playing is delirious and spirited, and the gruff vocals remind of Lemmy at his most agitated. In fact, while comparisons are hard to come by with this band, I’d day anyone into bands such as Lightning Bolt, the earlier years of DFA 1979, and, yeah, Motorhead are going to be pretty amped by this display.

The record gets kicked off hard with “Rise,” as weird noises bubble, fuzzy riffs start to spiral, and gurgled cries erupt, making the song both catchy and annoyed at the same time. The band settles into proggy grooves here and there (as they do often on the record), and the final moments are fiery and blurry. “The Guilt of One Man” tears open, with crunch causing bruising and the riffs again served family style, in that there’s enough to make everyone fattened up. The melodies get loopy and strange, the vocals feel unhinged, and we end up in a bath of sludge. “Til Times End” begins in a weird fog, as a bizarre dialog plays, but then we’re off to the races, with the bass buzzing, the growls expanding to shrieks, and plenty of body punches thrown before the whole thing bleeds out. “Arithmaphobia” is a fun instrumental cut, with echoey voices calling out, noise spitting sparks, a muddy path being dug, and the cymbals just being crushed.

“Stoned Cutter” has the bass thumping you, the growls sounding pushy and mean, and the melodies causing a hypnotic effect. There are stretches that are crushingly slow, as you’re whipped by penetrating pounding, and the back end rages to life, with fiery, daring playing, and the bass scorching you, like it’s literally about the set fire to something massive. “The Fear” is a quick one, but it makes its presence known in short order, as the band blasts into a speedy tempo, the shrieks are packed with panic, and Rivera vows, “An eye for an eye for an eye!” Closer “Why Am I” is the longest cut at 6:43, and it takes some time to build itself up. Waves crash down, long echoes set the stage, and the riffs finally arrive, moving at a calculated pace. The vocals go for the kill, sounding raspy and stressed, especially when Rivera notes, “As I wait for nothing to arrive.” The intensity keeps boiling until the final moments, when the sounds bleed out and misery finally comes to an end.

This is a promising new band that already has a stranglehold on how to control noise in their favor. “Devastating Planetary Shift” is a smoking record, and Twin Lords seem content to bash away and make everyone either enthralled with rage or completely uncomfortable. I identified with it right away as it got me going and fueled my productivity. I’m not sure that was Twin Lords’ goal or anything, but damn it if they’re not to credit for one hell of a booming work week.

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

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

Or here: https://twinlords.bandcamp.com/album/devastating-planetary-shift

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

There are records that you need to hear to fully understand. Anyone can tell you how something sounds. Hell, we do that every day at this site, hoping to give you a glimpse into the music we are hearing. But hearing is believing and understanding, and the band we’re going to talk about today you must absorb in full.

A few months back, scribe friend of mine Chris Dahlberg (check out his rad site Cosmos Gaming) asked me if I heard this album “Unanswered Hymns” by doom crushers Chrch, and to that point, I hadn’t. So I got onto the Internet machine, discovered their Bandcamp site, and have been listening to their three-track debut with alarming regularity after legally downloading the thing. From the first listen, I was completely captivated by what I heard. There’s a lot of doom and atmospheric metal out there, and I like a whole ton of it, but not many bands put these elements together quite like Chrch. As noted in the opening, I’m going to try to give you a capsule view of this record, but you really should tackle it yourself. You won’t be sorry you did, and the music on here will catapult you into other worlds.

Chrch (they recently deleted the “u” from their name) only have been a band for about two years now, and already they have a full-bodied, enthralling style that, while doom at heart, should appeal to metal listeners of many styles. The Sacramento-based band formed in 2013 and have been crafting their honest, haunting sound ever since. The group consisting of otherworldly singer Eva, guitarists Chris and Shann, bassist Ben, and drummer Matt actually released “Unanswered Hymns” several months back, hence why it’s been there for the purchase on their Bandcamp (via digital or cassette), but the music now is being issued on vinyl by Battleground Records. While I haven’t heard it yet in that format, I would think the vinyl experience would be the optimal one for this record. This practically demands you stretch out, devote your mind, and take this amazing trip along with them.

This nearly 45-minute record begins with 19:16 opus “Dawning,” a track that swaggers open with a gritty riff and some dreamy singing that sets a mesmerizing ambiance. It might feel like you’re floating on air before the song hits sludgy terrain, with the vocals turning into ugly, gut-wrenching howls and the band leveling you before a huge gust of air sweeps back into the scene. The track slows down some, letting you have time to get your bearings, and then the sounds stretch and get even more spacious. Psychedelic colors begin to flood, while Eva’s singing echoes like it’s coming from the center of a dream. The guitars start to fire up again, as the volume builds, and with a few minutes remaining, everything bursts again. The band chugs heavily, the fury builds, and the singing transforms into vicious screams that smear you with terrifying visions. Amazing track.

“Stargazer” has a cold, frosty start before the sparks fly and Eva’s shrieks crush you. The track is slow-driving and full of anguish, as the music hits an emotional high, and the singing rises and stings your senses. As the track goes along, the elements get heavier and heavier, with doom fires raging, wild cries dashing into the night, and a punishing finish taking you from sky high to a face-first crash into gravel. Closer “Offering” wastes no time getting started, and it’s the most vicious cut on the album. Eva’s singing is powerful and emotional, as she cuts through sounds in some points and lets her words hover in others. The pace begins to smother you, with the band reaching into the depth of horror, the tempo hulking along, and a scary, hellish display taking shape. For as breathtaking and picturesque as Chrch’s music can be, this is where they show their bloody side, letting sounds sizzle, their playing penetrate your soul, and the final few minutes pulsating, simmering, and eventually bleeding out.

Those are a lot of words above, and I’m not sure they properly get the point across about this record. Chrch are one of the brighter stars in doom’s dark sky, and their “Unanswered Hymns” is an excellent debut record that makes their future pretty damn exciting. This is pulverizing, thought-provoking, intelligent, and well executed, and if you get your hands on the record, carve out time in your busy schedule to fully ingest their music into your bloodstream.

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

To buy the album (vinyl), go here: http://battlegroundrecords.bigcartel.com/

Or here (digital): https://churchdoom.bandcamp.com/releases

Or here (cassette): http://transylvaniantapes.bandcamp.com/album/church-unanswered-hymns

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

Anticipation can be a giant, miserable asshole just waiting to put the dampers on something you’ve really been looking forward to hearing. Yet, it comes with the territory when a band builds a reputation and a fanbase, and despite it ramping up people’s hopes to sometimes unattainable levels, it still means you’re doing something right.

Ever since I learned Windhand would unleash their third album this year, I’ve marked off the days (not literally … I’m not a psycho) until that music would be in my possession and their latest work would be rummaging through my head. Look, sites like mine aren’t always going to be on the top of every publicist’s priority list, but I try to take some chances sometimes. As soon as I got the first press release announced the band’s “Grief’s Infernal Flower” I inquired about a promo, and wouldn’t you know it, about 15 minutes later I was listening to it. That gave me ample time to pore over this thing, a record that either would crush me with disappointment or satisfy my high hopes, and luckily, the latter is what wound up happening. The nine track on this new opus are slow driving, murky, and smoldering, and it arrives at a perfect time when the weather starts getting chillier. I always delve more into doom during this time of the year, and this record could be the album of the autumn.

No doubt Windhand drink deeply from the chalice of Sabbath (you can hear it in the riffs and drubbing pace), and the presence of vocalist Dorthia Cottrell takes this band to a new level. Her smoky delivery and bloody honest tales sound like the perfect companion for a dark night by many candle lights, cobwebs blocking the corner of the window, and you visiting the ghosts in your head. She is one of the modern era’s most captivating, recognizable vocalists, and her singing can entrance and splatter in the same line. Along with her are mighty duel guitarists Asechiah Bogdan and Garrett Morris, bassist Parker Chandler, and drummer Ryan Wolfe, and they’ve created a new record that should elevate them even higher among doom’s elite and hopefully put them in front of larger audiences.

The record’s opening track “Two Urns” starts with crackling fire and riffs opening up. Once the track really gets moving, Cottrell’s singing drives the way, ripping into a soulful chorus where she pleads, “Go on and do something good for me now.” The lead guitars charge up and bring oppressive heat, while the track rounds back to the chorus, and the song slowly trudges to an end. “Forest Clouds” has sounds sizzling and guitars digging into the dirt, with Cottrell ominously weaving, “I made your bed, I pulled the covers down, I tucked you in, I put you in the ground.” There soloing really catches fire and rages forward, the smoke builds, and the track rivets right to its end. “Crypt Key” has a misleading start, as acoustics are strummed, but then the song bursts open, with a really strong chorus that’ll stick in your head, and sticky riffs that bring you along for every wave of the ride. “Tanngrisnir” is another that easily sticks with you, with fuzzed-out riffs creating cloud cover, a catchy, noisy tempo, and a simple refrain Cottrell hammers home with her delivery. The song gets into muddy territory later, with the soloing ripping out and torching you all over again.

“Sparrow” is a bruised, beaten, death-love song, an acoustic-driven cut that lets Cottrell have the spotlight, as she calls, “I love a man whose love is violent,” and it unravels from there emotionally. Her voice is naked and vulnerable, as she admits, “Our love is running out of breath.” “Hyperion” tears out of that with guitars chewing the ground and a major Sabbath-style assault. The vocal melodies are infectious, and the guitar work fills your lungs with dust. “Hesperus” is the longest track on the album at 14:27, and it has a slow, bluesy edge, with Cottrell’s words naming the album’s title. The track mauls in a calculated manner, making the most of its run time, and Cottrell sings through the fog, later warning, “I am the love that only devours.” The track takes a trippy turn, with the final few minutes filled with spirited, channeled playing. “Kingfish” runs 14:19, and it’s the one area that feels a little flat at first. The riffs seem a little like ones we’ve visited before, though the vocals inject life into the first half. But at about the halfway point, things change, and song fully develops. It erupts into a psychedelic haze, shifting into strange echoes, spacey weirdness, and the feeling like you’re floating off into the clouds, with the band supplying you with a bizarre flying machine to get there. Nice comeback. Closer “Aition” is a dark lullaby, once again featuring Cottrell and an acoustic guitar, as she puts the final, creaky sentiments on this record, tucking you in and burying you underground.

Windhand faced some lofty expectations with “Grief’s Infernal Flower,” and they do a damn good job meeting, and in some cases exceeding, them on these nine songs. The band sounds confident and full of power, and the songs should come off even heftier and burlier live. The leaves will be dead soon, crunched beneath our feet, and the air will grow chilly, meaning it will be a perfect time to have Windhand in your ears.

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

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

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

Photo from Troest.nu

Being in the throes of personal darkness can feel like a million pounds are sitting on your chest. Seeing a bright light off in the distance is practically impossible, and nothing but anguish feels real. There is no way to escape the darkness and no hope of ever climbing into positivity again.

Taking on “Aeons in Tectonic Interment” can feel much like that, and Tyranny have created a body of work that feels like total mental torture. The Finnish funeral doom band is as heavy as they come, a challenging, torturous duo that haven’t been terribly prolific but have made their efforts count. We last heard from them a decade ago with their debut record “Tides of Awakening,” and since then, they disappeared into the darkness, save for their live appearances. In that time, the funeral doom segment of the wormy underground has expanded significantly, yet Tyranny remain a class act among all of these bands, which you can witness on these five wrenching songs and 51 minutes of hell.

Tyranny is a musical union of former members of Wormphlegm in Matti Mäkelä (also of Corpsessed, Profetus) on guitars, vocals, and samples, and Lauri Lindqvist, who handles vocals, bass, and keyboards. These guys have a stranglehold on the most vicious, unforgiving sounds there are. Their music will make any mood teetering on the border of madness to go fully over the edge, and anyone with a dark, hopeless frame of mind likely will find a kindred spirit that feels the same type of morbidity. The band’s music sludges along at a snail’s pace, dragging a trail of blood and entrails behind them and bringing you face first into the filth. At the same time, there is a deranged quality to their work, a feeling like the creators are trying to get in touch with the worst elements inside of them.

“Sunless Deluge” opens the proceedings, a 10:42 mauler that begins with creaking noises and the feeling that ancient spirits have entered the room. The growls roll out sounding full of pain, with the guitars burning, the pace slithering, and the background feeling gothically splashed. Some of the atmosphere here feels nautical, like your bowels are being sloshed back and forth, and toward the end, the intensity builds, sounds pulsate, and the path comes to an abrupt end. “A Voice Given Unto Ruin” rumbles for 12:29, the longest cut on the record and one that opens right into a doomy sprawl. The dynamics burst a little more here, with weird, spacey chants swirling and bizarre ambiance clouding your vision. The drums are tapped ploddingly, calming the pace, but then the track tears open, with massive gurgling growls firing up and the band playing as aggressively as they do anywhere on this record, ending the track in a thick cloud of smoke.

“Preparation of a Vessel” is the shortest track at 7:36, with a massive opening that gets your blood flowing. The track feels downright monstrous, with morose melodies spilling in like waves, elegant guitars cascading, and the growls pummeling your insides. The music feels like a black drape being dragged over everything, with the back end crushing and finally subsiding. “The Stygian Enclave” goes 9:40 and drives ever so slowly, with synth strains blazing down and the gruesome growls taking you into murky, torturous territory. The music strangely glimmers at times, a beacon in the darkest tunnel in the world, and then the keys turn cold. From there, the bass recoils, the guitars churn, and the frosty ambiance takes you out. Closer “Bells of Black Basilica” starts with a storm of noise, static crackling, and a weird scraping that leads into ferocious destruction. The melodies once again turn mournful, while the growls hammer home a world of pain, the smothering sound is filled with psychological stress, and the final gasps are made of inescapable trauma, giving some final gashes before you’re deposited onto the opposite end of their hell.

Tyranny’s return is much welcomed, and their massive new record “Aeons in Tectonic Interment” feel like the world caving in around you. It’s slow, brutal, and punishing, a feral dose of funeral doom that reminds the world just how much misery one possibly could pack into a record. Hopefully it won’t be another decade before we get new stuff from Tyranny, but if we have to wait that long, there is enough to examine and digest on “Aeons” to keep all of us plenty busy.

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

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

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

Photo by Juha Karvonen

There are bands that could just show up—be it in a live setting or in a studio—and their followers would be happy with no matter what resulted. Admittedly, I am that way with Iron Maiden, though I think my excitement over their latest album and subsequent plans to tour are based just as much on quality as on my deep devotion to them.

One band like that is Skepticism, the pioneering funeral doom band that made an all-time classic in 1995’s “Stormcrowfleet” (if you’ve never heard that record, stop reading this and return once you have) and is one of the most revered in all of doom. Their appearance at this past spring’s Maryland Deathfest was one of the unquestioned main events and the reason many people (including me) traveled to the event in the first place. The fact that they played in blinding sun in late afternoon made no difference. Seeing them and experiencing them was what mattered the most. And that live experience with the band was a total life achievement unlocked. Ever since their aforementioned legendary debut and through their three records that would follow, the band developed a sterling reputation for good reason. They are the gold standard among funeral doom, and any new record or live performance is something to behold just because it isn’t something that happens every day.

Not long after MDF, word came that a new Skepticism album was on the horizon, and that document soon will be in all of our hands in the form of “Ordeal.” But there’s a bit of a catch, and a good one. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill studio excursion. The band actually recorded the new material in front of a live audience Jan. 24 in Turku, Finland, so you have a combination fresh album and concert record all in one. It certainly is an interesting idea, figuring they had to nail this thing in one take, and the result is raw, exciting, pulsating, and so very Skepticism. Here, you get six brand new tracks, as well as two older tracks tacked on, for an eight-cut, 77-minute experience. Here we find the band—vocalist Matti Tilaeus, guitarists Jani Kekarainen and live member Timo Sitomaniemi, keyboard player Eero Pöyry, and drummer Lasse Pekonen—in fine form, delivering a very interesting new record that should hit all the necessary buttons for any Skepticism devotee.

The record begins with “You,” a track that takes some time to unfurl, but once it does, its majesty is apparent. Tilaeus’ croaking growls are at a desperate state here, as the guitars unfold to pack his wails with dark power, the keys add levels of morbidity, and the clean trickling makes it feel like a cold rain is drenching you. This 9:21 dirge is thick, ominous, and full of sorrow, with the guitars burning brightly as the song comes to its tragic end. That bleeds right into “Momentary,” and it feeds off the black energy with organs swelling, almost sounding like a morose carnival. From there, the atmosphere grows thick, with the growls sounding tortured and raw, the song going in and out of light and dark, and the keys blowing back steam. The final moments build a crescendo that can only end in tears, letting the intensity slowly bleed out, only to be met by the audience’s adulation. Nice touch, by the way, keeping the applause as part of the sound. “The Departure,” a 9:53 bruiser, comes next, and the organs blare right from the start, with the pace lumbering along and Tilaeus’ growls lacerating. The sentiment here is total loss, with the doom punishment thickening, the growls growing deadlier, and blackness being poured on dump trucks at a time, leaving no one above the surface of their dark waves.

“March Incomplete” is the longest of the new cuts, slithering for 12 minutes on the nose and starting with a sense of hush. There is no hurry here, and why rush an atmosphere anyway? It all pays off as the guitars march slowly and the vocals pierce old wounds, bringing new blood to the surface. Thick cloud cover blows in, with an eerie dialog slipping underneath, and as Tilaeus urges, “Let them die!” the song bursts anew, with scintillating soloing raging, and the band squeezing and churning every bit of this thing. From there, we head toward “The Road,” the shortest of all the cuts at 6:58 and one of the most forceful. The guitars chew their way across the scenery, with organs wailing, the melodies surging, and Tilaeus wondering, “Have I passed the ordeal?” The riffs kick back in, the song hardens, and swirling keys and chocked vocals take us to the finish line. “Closing Music” is the final new track, and it’s given a very fitting title considering what’s contained in this 10:20 cut. The guitars crash down as the drums come to life, and the organs pour a nighttime full of texture. The melodies are thick as fog, setting a scene that feels hopeless and tragic, folding their way almost halfway through the song before Tilaeus howls a single word. The drama is intense and tangible, with the music giving off mysterious bursts and Tilaeus, uncharacteristically, yelling his final lines over top the chaos, finally ending with, “There’s only silence …” which is followed by just that. And then applause. The band adds “Pouring” from “Stormcrowfleet” and “The March and the Stream” from “Lead and Aether” for good measure and to round out this riveting, breathtaking performance.

Credit to Skepticism not only for making six great new songs but also for eschewing conventionality on “Ordeal.” They remain as important and relevant today as ever, and this new collection only hammers that home as forcefully as possible. Yes, just having anything new from Skepticism is a great gift. Having something this good and inspired only makes things that much more enjoyable in the most depressing manner possible.

For more on the band, go here: http://www.skepticism.fi/

To buy the album, go here: http://svartrecords.com/shoppe/

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

As much as I enjoy summer’s descent into fall and the coming winter months, they also fill me with a degree of anxiety. For it also is the coming flu and illness season, and with that will come me over-washing my psoriasis-ridden hands and avoiding places I generally don’t during spring, summer, and early autumn months. I’m a good time over winter. Just ask wife person.

I got to thinking about this for two reasons: First, it’s been the first stretch of days here in my section of the East where temperatures barely are making it to 65 degrees, and the skies are charcoal gray. Second, I’ve been spending a lot of time with “Darkness Evermore,” the second record from Nightfell. See, this new opus, every bit as dark and foreboding as their debut record “The Living Ever Mourn” (funny, but you pair both of their album titles together in a sentence, and they sound like the blackest lyrics of all), focuses on a tale of humanity being ravaged by a plague, and its survivors are forced to seek shelter underground in order to remain alive. Once there, they realize they’re trapped themselves in a sort of underground prison, bringing new levels of hell to their existence. Terrifying, because I’d probably be the first person running for the hatch. Maybe I need to rethink that one.

Nightfell, in case you are unaware, is a pairing of two relentless forces who comes from different ends of the underground spectrum respectively but find common quaking ground here. Todd Burdette is best known from his work in bands such as Tragedy and His Hero Is Gone, and he teams up with Tim Call, who has made his name known in Aldebaran, Sempiturnal Dusk, the Howling Wind, and plenty more, as well as running the awesome Parasitic Records. Here, the two creators meld doom, death, black metal, and cold atmosphere, and each step of “Darkness Evermore” feels like a new, more hopeless chapter in their story, as you can feel the decay and erosion.

The tale begins with “At Last,” which opens with clean guitars, Julia Kent’s dark cello, and the last gasp of light before the song truly opens and the tumult begins. The pace mauls slowly, with Burdette howling over the din and the riffs coming down in dark waves. The song, much like the record, feels like it is building blocks, with the melodies twisting and turning into new beasts, and the story cutting its way through. The final minutes go cold, with guitars trickling, the cello piercing again, and Burdette delivering a morbid dialog. But then the fury re-emerges, coloring the end with fire. “Ritual” is a quick, murky interlude, with strange chants and a chilling ambiance, and then it’s onto “Cleansing,” which starts with a doom-infested charge. There are hints of black metal in the melodies, and the drums beat down on the senses. Burdette’s growls are raw and violent, and the tempo pushes with conviction until it pulls back and lets a foggy atmosphere leak into the room. The serenity doesn’t last long, as cataclysmic melodies swell, the riffs pummel, and the track comes to a mud-caked ending.

“Rebirth” takes its time to establish itself, but once it does, the smothering doesn’t take long to set up and come right after you. The leads guitars churn and burn, the growls sound grim and monstrous, and another coverage of chilled winds blow in you give you a breath before everything boils over again, from the guitars, to the throaty howls, to the drums being decimated. The chaos finally comes to an end in a swampy, tar-thick path, and that rolls into “Eulogy.” This isn’t so much an interlude as it is a shorter plot point along the way, with a deathrock feel to the plodding melodies, the drums echoing, and Kent’s cello giving a haunting feeling. Finale “Collapse” should be clear thematically from its title, and it doesn’t disappoint with tales of bloodshed and panic. The riffs take over right away, as the song dominates every section of your mind, and it also delves into dirtier, grittier passages. Every element is poured on thick, with the guttural growls telling the story’s last act, and the music splattering blood, filth, and glorious terror, with the record closing rather suddenly, like a final death blow has been dealt.

Nightfell are on a pretty impressive roll, with two blistering full-length records in less than two years. “Darkness Evermore” builds on what the band created on “The Living Ever Mourn” and also gives us a terrifying vision of something that truly can come to pass. Pummeling music and a sobering apocalyptic visions make this record demolishingly satisfying and completely anxiety inducing all at the same time.

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

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

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

Drama and over-the-top expression are almost expected in heavy metal. Some of the greats—your King Diamond, your Mercyful Fate, your Iron Maiden—went above and beyond to add passion and theatricality to their music, and they became legends for it. At the same time, if you go too far, you’re going to lose people.

Howls of Ebb are one of the modern bands adding many emotional, cinematic dashes to their work. You don’t just put on one of their records and zone out. You have no choice but to engage with them, and if their target is a little off the mark for you (or a lot), chances are digestion will be impossible. The San Francisco-based death/black metal hybrid might take some getting used to at first. Or if you’re like me, the moment you sink your teeth into their music, you find yourself a willing passenger on their morose journey. On their brand new MLP “The Marrow Veil,” the band bookends their piece with two epics that sound like nothing else you will hear in extreme metal, as well as one eerie passage that acts as a segue between doses of madness. Another weird personal note for me: My first experience listening to this EP wad during a driving rainstorm. My last trip with this before writing my piece on it? You guessed it. Driving rainstorm. Perfect setting for taking in this insanity.

On top of the unique expressions the band creates, they also identify themselves and their duties in ways that will make you scratch your head. Zelevthand is responsible for vibrations, polysyllabic mysticism, and synthetic magikx; Benign Blight is charged with 5th dimensional undertows; while Rotn Bliss is credited with cadence of limp, duress, and bronze winds. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what means what here, but hey, it’s a fun quirk to an already out-there band. “The Marrow Veil” is the first thing the band has released since their challenging debut album “Vigils of the 3rd Eye,” but this one takes matters even further and surely will provide plenty of bizarre punishment and misdirection.

“Standing on Bedlam, Burning in Bliss” starts oddly enough, with chilling dialog and the music spilling out of that feeling absolutely freezing. In fact, the first several minutes of the 19:45 song completely fuck with you. The pace crawls like an earthworm, with odd, buried howls adding to the sense you are being frozen to death. Now and again, a spark of ferocity will surge forward, only to be sucked back into the vortex. And then it happens. The tempo explodes, swaggering riffs maul you to and fro, and the fierce, forceful growls do the storyteller/epitaph reader mode ideally. The guitars pierce and jab at the ribs, while the rest of the track floods your mind with morbidity. Suddenly, everything slips back into its shell again, but you know an attack is coming on the other side. Sure enough, it hits, with weirdly jazzy soloing and a panicked assault from an assailant that knows it better finish you off lest you walk away able to breathe its name to any other living being.

“Dusks Tyrannical Love” is a quick one, running just 2:28 and acting a perfect bridge to the final act. Here, hushed, tornadic sounds and eerie speaking swallow any sense of sanity. Noises sting your ears and help to build your anxiety, spilling nicely into finale “Iron Laurels, Woven in Rust.” The drama remains thick and penetrating, as the band works to eat away at any inhibitions you have left, unleashing strange, cavernous noises. The track lurches along, feeling a bit like a Deathspell Omega track for a time, taking on weird and suffocating ambiance. Out of a pit of groans comes a jerking, dissonant assault that smears and confounds, with the monstrous growls stymieing all sense and the ugly music churning. There is hypnotic, spacey interplay, with melodies looping and the band heading into some of the heaviest thrashing on the record. There also are progressive tendencies, with the bass feeling rubbery and strong soloing working alongside. Drone hum takes over for a stretch, while all forces rise back up, things blaze anew, and all of the warped magic disappears down the drain toward from the hell where it originated.

Yeah, it stands to reason that this band isn’t for everyone. Howls of Ebb likely aren’t trying to lure in everyone, though, and would be perfectly content to sicken the minds of those who embrace their hellish underworld. “The Marrow Veil” is the type of effort that sticks with you, hauntingly so, making it tough to comprehend your worldview afterward. The band also is a refreshing beacon of creativity in a world often lacking it, and their future sojourns are ones we will anticipate with great curiosity and wonder.

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

To buy either album, go here: http://www.i-voidhanger.com/mailorder.htm

For more on the label, go here: http://www.i-voidhanger.com/

Waging war might not be humanity’s greatest attribute, but alas, it’s seemingly what we do. Over land disputes, religious disagreements, fossil fuels, or just for the hell of it, we’re always tearing at someone’s throats. And as long as we have heavy metal around, there always will be bands that will write about it.

Kansas City, Mo., trio Ares Kingdom is one of them, and their nasty, wholly destructive sounds have amassed followers and admirers the world over. Maybe not as well-known as like-minded bands such as Bolt Thrower, Hail of Bullets, and Asphyx, this band is just as nasty and violent as anyone else out there. Their blistering, penetrating style has become their trademark for the past two decades, and over three full-length releases and a slew of compilations and EPs, they have become a go-to band for ideally translating the hell of battles and the struggle for dominance into their drilling death metal. It’s not pretty, but weirdly, it can be quite catchy to take in. Those riffs, right?

The band’s latest record “The Unburiable Dead” is more from their bloody vault, and it certainly will please anyone who’s been along for the whole terrifying ride with the group. This record is seven tracks spread out over 45 minutes, and there is nary room to breathe during the entire excursion. Ares Kingdom—vocalist/bassist Alex Blume, guitarist Chuck Keller, drummer Mike Miller—have been doing their thing ever since formation in 1996. Over the years, they’ve blasted out their 2006 debut album “Return to Dust,” as well as 2010’s world-toppling “Incendiary,” finally returning five years later with their current work. It’s just as heavy and menacing as anything in their arsenal, and it’s bound to get your blood flowing hard.

“Ubique” tears the lid off this thing, blasting open and pouring buckets of molten steel and heavy death thrash into the mix. The growls are gruff, and the howls of, “Wave upon wave upon wave upon wave!” over the chorus not only provides perfect shout-back fodder, but actually seem to describing what you’re witnessing before you. The soloing catches fire and charges gloriously, while the final moments explode with power. “Nom de Guerre” has rapidly-spat vocals that drub you, as well as blinding and vicious playing that leaves welts. The drums are just crushed, while the mauling gets thicker and thicker, and soloing tears out of the final moments, leaving everything scorched. “Salient and Redoubt” has a nice helping of tasty riffs, with menacing thrashing and vocals that sound like they’re trying to destroy Blume’s throat. The pace is savage and fierce, with everything fading out in a pool of noise. “Demoralize” has gigantic, surging riffs, with classic-style thrashing, a simple chorus where the song title is bellowed over and over, and soloing that just torches the skin. More gut-wrenching growls come out of that, with the track ending in blistering hell.

“Writhe: Fettered to a Corpse” is a skull-mashing instrumental, with meaty riffs meeting up with glimmering guitar work. The song is plenty heavy, and even without any savage growls from Blume, the level of violence is unquestionable. The title cut follows, with clean notes echoing out and the track taking on a slow burn. “Death gives life its meaning,” Blume howls, as the band lets loose every piece of their sweltering artillery. Closer “Stultifera Navis (Armistice and League)” is the longest cut on the album at 11:08, and its super-thick bassline runs headlock into the charging guitars, kicking up a suffocating cloud of smoke. The song has a great give and take over the course of its epic run, leaning into vicious clubbing one moments, pulling back and letting the atmosphere breathe in others. Tribal-style drums surface at one point, with voices swirling, and later on the guitars rise up and show their dominance again. The darkness shifts into the scene, with the sound of an old warship creaking, and the track keeps building the intensity until the fire hits its apex and the fury melts away.

As raucous and fire-breathing as ever before, Ares Kingdom sound punishing and gut-wrenching on “The Unburiable Dead.” The record never stops, piling body upon body, blast on top of blast through its run time. This is one of the most consistent, molten of all death metal bands, especially those painting bloody horrors of battle. They’ve yet to let us down, and this new opus indicates their fires are far from being extinguished.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://nwnprod.com/shop/

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

We are ensconced in an era where everything must be super serious. No fun, man! None at all. Every record must live up to some bizarre standard, and if for some reason people might have fun listening to your record instead of contemplating everything that is true during its run time, then it is something that must be run into the ground.

That’s a big issue with being a metal fan and scribe in 2015. Certainly there are plenty of bands whose sole purpose seems to be to fulfill lives, and their albums get waves of adulation that sometimes go overboard. But not every band has to change the world or live up to some preordained rules in order to be legitimate and strong. That’s not to suggest that Christian Mistress don’t belong in the aforementioned conversation, because they’ve put out some damn good music during their run. But as of late, they’ve being shoved into that territory where the internet doubts them and their mission is cast with dismissing comments. I have no idea why, but that’s what I’m feeling simmering in social media filth. But that’s harsh as Christian Mistress always have been a loose, strong, fun heavy metal machine that reaches back into the 1970s and 1980s for inspiration and have done so again on their third full-length effort “To Your Death.” They make damn good records, and I seriously they doubt where people slot them on the metal tree of woe anyhow.

“Neon” kicks off the record with catchy riffs and the feeling we’re jettisoning back to three decades ago when the power of metal was more important than philosophical nit picking. “I don’t care anymore,” Davis bellows over the chorus, as some strong dual guitar lines spill in, the band chugs out, and the line, “If we meet in the dark, everything is all right,” hammers home the exclamation point. “Stronger Than Blood” has a Thin Lizzy feel to it, and the intensity keeps building, especially when Davis belts, “We’re ready to fight, are you coming along?” The song is commanding and sticky, remaining in your head long after it’s done playing. Guitars light up immediately at the start of “No Place,” as dual playing lights the way and Davis warns, “They’re going to take it all away.” “Walkin’ Around” is not as light as the title may suggest. In fact, there are dark matters going on here as the song takes its time to build, but as Davis gets going on the verses, the guitars strike along with her. She lets on not all is well, though, as she admits, “Looking for something to hold, you’re giving me nothing at all,” and she and the rest of the band show their defiance.

“Open Road” is the first single from the record (Davis directed to video clip for the track), and it’s a pretty catchy one. There’s a journey to this one, which you can tell just from Davis’ words and singing, and the band injects the right amount of energy. “I want you back in my arms,” Davis wails over the chorus, and the soloing charges up and soars down the burning pavement. “Ultimate Freedom” changes things up a bit, as the beginning of the song is quieter and more reflective before it rips open. “Suddenly I am free,” Davis declares, as the guitars rise back up and give chase, the tempo swings back and forth, and eventually the power bleeds out. “Lone Wild” also pulls up on the reins, with Davis leading with singing that’s a little different than her usual raspy howl, and the track eventually getting louder. Acoustics settle in, letting things get calm, but then we’re back to bursts, with Davis admitting, “Maybe I’m just wasting my time,” as the quaking continues, the emotions push and pull, and the song comes to an abrupt finish. Closer “III” is an instrumental that’s glorious and steaming, with riffs piling on top of each other and the group taking you to a melodic surging conclusion.

Christian Mistress’ music may not be doing this on purpose, but it truly pays homage to metal’s roots, when you could drown in riffs and have a great time doing so. “To Your Death” is a little different than the band’s previous work, and it does take a bit more time to sink into your bloodstream. But once it takes its hold on you, you’ll want to be blowing down the same highways with the band, with dust and wind in your hair.

For more on the band, go here: http://christianmistress.blogspot.com/

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

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

After spending a decade engulfing the underground with their classic-tinged, churning death metal, Cruciamentum finally have a full-length record for you to hold in your hands. All that time, all the praise heaped upon them, and they are putting their decrepit money where their rotting mouths are with their debut long player “Charnel Passages.”

With all of the talk this band has generated, and the promise of one of the year’s most vital death metal releases from their label Profound Lore, there is a lot on the line. And holy hell, do Cruciamentum ever deliver the goods on this seven-track, nearly 45-minute album. Due to writing for a national magazine, where lead times are much shorter, I’ve had the luxury of immersing myself on this album for the past couple months, and from the first listen on, it has blistered my senses. Boatloads of riffs, furious growls, and sounds that basically echo the record’s title are what await, and sure enough, this is one of the year’s finest death releases. Much of that is in execution, where these guys are furious reapers, with a stranglehold on their style and approach to the music. Not only is it a brutal listen, it’s also dangerously infectious, with many of these parts etching their way into your head and carving their DNA in your brain.

The UK-based band planted their roots back in 2005 (though the lineup wasn’t solidified for several years), delivered a couple of well-received demos in 2008 and 2009, as well as teaming up with Vasaeleth for a split release in 2011. That same year, they put out their first EP “Engulfed in Desolation,” and then the band went into creative hibernation. But now four years later, the band—vocalist/guitarist D.L., guitarist R.C., bassist B.C., drummer D. B-H.—have put together a focused, fiery, massive release that was worth the wait. Drinking deep from the bloody streams created by bands such as Incantation, Cruciamentum continue mauling in the same repulsive way as the genre’s pioneers and should light the fires of anyone who pines for the true tenets of death metal.

The album opens with “The Conquered Sun (The Dying Light Beyond Morpheus Realms)” that has a frosty start before guitars tears open the sky and the riffs begin raining down. In fact, these are some of the stickiest, most memorable riffs on the record (they constantly run through my head), and provide a skull-crushing element to the song. The vocals are gruff and mean, while the drums are obliterated, and as melodies roil, murky synth arises, soloing blazes, and the raucous pace eventually fades away. “Necrophagous Communion” stomps heavily, with hellish growls terrifying and strong leads blinding. Parts of the song trudge in the mud, while other have a mystical glow to them all while boiling in blood. The final moments strike suddenly, with the tempo racing hard, and then the thing ends abruptly. “Tongues of Nightshade” has guitar squeals and squalls, with the pace again bringing thunder and the growls conveying rage. The band thrashes viciously, with the vocals getting screamier, and the guitars tearing out your guts. “Rites to the Abduction of Essence” has a foggy, doomy introduction before the band starts chugging and the vocals take a turn for the nasty. Dark shadowy keys lurk beneath the terror, while mystical gasps and punishing bursts fade into the mist.

“Piety Carved From Flesh” tears open immediately, while guitars rampage massively and humid melodies take over. The pace is just relentless, with the growls destroying and the lead guitars hitting a spiral. The band mashes over and over before the track grinds to a sudden halt. “Dissolution of the Moral Perception” has chilling synth spilling over, and then riffs blast out of that to a tempered pace that leads into a dizzying assault. The entire scene is carnage, as the drums are demolished and the guitar work splatters over top. The track turns gut wrenching, but later the lead work becomes exploratory and cosmic, the path gets muddy, and crazed wails lead you out. Closer “Collapse” takes its time to build, but when it hits its peak, it starts to grind and churn. The song continually gets wilder, incinerating what’s in front of it but then getting weirdly playful and adventurous. But then the track catches fire again, the growls and howls sound almost spoken, a bizarre cloud hangs overhead, and all elements slowly trickle away, leaving you thoroughly punished.

Cruciamentum’s true arrival may have taken some time, but now that they’re here, it’s time for skulls to be crushed and the hellish put that is classic death metal to swallow up the pretenders. All of the praise showered on this band was well worth it and were not wasted words. They may not be rewriting death metal on “Charnel Passages,” but they are reminding people of the way this music is played, which is deadly, massively, and with razor-sharp precision.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cruciamentum/285239791946

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

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