There’s something to be said about doing something really well for a long time and rarely making a misstep along the way. Not many people can say that about their work and lives. It’s another thing to pull this off and fly slightly under the radar, compiling an incredible resume and doing it while others get accolades for content that isn’t as powerful.

For more than three decades now, Swedish doom/death crushers Runemagick have created darkness and metallic punishment that measures up with anyone, but their name is not nearly as quick off the tongue when most folks discuss this subgenre. From their 1998 debut “The Supreme Force of Eternity” to their new, 13^th record “Beyond the Cenotaph of Mankind,” the band has compiled crusher after crusher, remaining true to their art and leaving a trail of ash behind. With “Cenotaph,” the band—vocalist/guitarist Nicklas Rudolfsson, guitarist Jonas Blom, bassist Emma Rudolfsson, drummer Daniel Moilanen—opens a tunnel into exploring personal darkness and turmoil over six tracks and 48 minutes that force you to pay the price, which you’ll only be too happy to do. It also should strengthen their case that they’re one of the best bands at this style, and it’s time to shine a brighter light on that.

“Archaic Magick (After the Red Sun)” opens the record with sounds swarming and doom swirling, growls lurching over the bloody path. The pace charges up as the gore builds, chugging heat as the guitars drill, and the playing exposes ugly mangling. The track thrashes with energy, and the pace surges and mauls, cosmic whirring making it feel like you’re leaving the earth, slowly draining into the stars. “Endless Night and Eternal End” opens in eerie chants and tornadic playing causing the room to spin, powerful riffs teaming with savage growls, thick and bubbling playing working up your spine. Gothy clubbing darkens the aura, the guitar work stokes the fires, and splattering doom coats the walls in blood. “Revocation of Spectral Paths” is haunting when it opens, flexing its muscles, driving slowly through thick tunnels and monstrous stomping causing tolls to be collected. The fury builds as the growls dig into your guts, unloading massive waves of devastation before everything disappears into the fog.

“The Storm Rode Beyond the Firmament” delivers clobbering vocals and a mysterious atmosphere that thickens and swallows you inside. Smashing and guttural, the playing warms the senses as the storming increases, causing mud to collect, the warm guitar work and trudging crumbling away. “Nocturnal Deities of Winter” drips in as strange doomy power collects, morbid growls lashing as the track slowly comes into form. The playing then unloads, weighing down and delivering bolting speed, the sweltering heat destroying your mentality. Leads glisten as your nerve endings begin to tingle, bleeding strangeness as it fades into the distance. The title track ends the record and begins cosmically, taking you on a bizarre journey before the growls set in and twists muscle. The cloud cover increases as the guitars send flares into the stratosphere, Rudolfsson wailing, “Not of this world,” as the track buries itself into the earth.

13 albums into their run and three decades plus of scathing death/doom hasn’t slowed down Runemagick, who prove their tank is pretty fucking full on “Beyond the Cenotaph of Mankind.” The power and occult visions are strong as ever, and their ability to make you feel physically and mentally raked over the coals is unwavering. This band operates in legendary territory, and their presence in the metallic world is both vital and enthralling as they hammer us yet again.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://hammerheartstore.com/collections/vendors?q=Runemagick

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

The winter months bring on the phenomenon known as seasonal depression, a mental health struggle that occurs when daylight is at its least generous, and the dark emotions have an easier time taking over our psyche. But it’s not like spring is some kind of cure-all that extinguishes the dread and sadness. Those forces remain, and it can be disheartening to realize a season change wasn’t an antidote.

That comes to mind as we settle into “Corrosion of Hearts,” the long-awaited third record from Australian depressive black metal force Austere that ends 14 years of full-length silence. While it’s a triumphant return to the metal world, it’s not like the shadows aren’t as thick and foreboding as they were before. The band—guitarist/bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Mitchell “Desolate” Keepin and drummer/keyboardist/vocalist Tim “Sorrow” Yatras—fleshed out their sound and added even more atmosphere and psychotic stress. But buried in that majesty is a dagger that opens up parts of the heart and mind that have kept you buried beneath insurmountable waves.

“Sullen” is the 11:55-long opener that takes its time to develop an aura, but it sure as hell does. Shrieks mar as the colors change before your eyes, their wrenching doom working into your psyche. Clean calls reverberate in the darkness as the atmosphere thickens, continually working into razor-sharp tumult, creaky howls mixing with great power. The singing swells as the shadows cascade, crashing down with electricity before burning off. “A Ravenous Oblivion” navigates through an oppressive fog, growls and clean singing uniting and delivering different versions of the same message. The weight continues to grow as gargantuan wails quake your insides, the pace chugging steadily, the storm continuing to threaten. The vocals wrench harder as the playing continues to soak the ground, washing you away with an attack that relentlessly saturates with gloomy tidings.  

“The Poisoned Core” has keys dripping as the darkness unfolds, the plodding pace putting the screws to you and fastening you to the ground. Synth thickens as the vicious howls dig into you, eventually working into calmer waters for a stretch before a mauling force returns. The vocals pummel, a frosty force sweeps over, and then the playing soars into the highest levels, the playing dissolving into strange energy. Closer “Pale” is the longest track here, running 13:39 and beginning in deep space, solemnity spreading into other galaxies. Wild howls whip through damp terrain, emotional caterwauling increasing, swimming through crashing waves and into jarring madness. The playing penetrates as melodic guitar work gets stickier, hypnotic melodies make your brain spin, and the dissolution happens slowly but steadily, leaving a bizarre mist behind.

“Corrosion of Hearts” is an experience as much as it is a record, and it’s something you should let wash over you and take you to wherever the music guides your brain. Austere always find a way to channel immersion and make you feel the psychological pressure and at the same time let you deal with your own psychosis. This album isn’t an easy lift, but if you allow yourself to take the trip and submit to this music, you’ll be left transformed and seeing your challenges in a different light.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://lnk.spkr.media/austere-corrosion

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

Watching a vision come into focus can be an incredibly exciting thing, that is when the direction makes sense and isn’t going to destroy the whole thing. It happens that away a lot with bands that going through metamorphosis with each album cycle as you can see the parts coming into place, and you just wonder where their ambitions eventually lead them.

As for Chrome Waves, this is a band that’s in constant motion. From the early strains of their 2012 self-titled EP to their thrilling last full-length “The Rain Will Cleanse,” their biggest sonic departure yet, the band seemed to be finding their true identity, ensuring all avenues for exploration were open to them. Now we land on record three “Earth Will Shed Its Skin,” and it’s an example of all of the elements coming together, constructing all of the parts into a greater machine that we see on these six tracks. The band—vocalist/guitarist/synth player James Benson, guitarist/synth player Jeff Wilson, bassist Zion Meagher, (Garry Naples handles drums on the recording)—finds a solid path and reveals it on this album, one that still could reshape in the future but sure seems on solid footing.

“Forward” opens like a morning into the fog, punching in as the shrieks tear into flesh, the leads soaring into a lush chorus that stands against the verses. The playing rips apart, howls crushing, the guitars rushing through the air, wooshing and disappearing into immersive colors. “Under the Weight of a Billion Souls” is spacey and glazing as it opens, pushing into darker waters where Benson’s howls eat away at you, howling, “We close our eyes and pray.” The chorus brings the album’s title into the mix, Benson calling, “The earth will shed its skin,” as the playing gets immersive, churning as the pressure builds. The playing whips into a frenzy as siren-like noises swirl, the final moments fading into a vortex. “The Long Rope” pummels with vicious howls and a crashing tempo, an increasing haze eventually marring your vision, slashing away at sanity. Howls echo as things speed up, the synth wooshes, and cosmic forces make their way deep into your psyche.

“What Desperate Looks Like” brings ominous tones and guitars dripping ice water, clean singing helping create a haunting aura. The track continues to develop and lets freezing winds into the room, dark melodies swell, and synth creates a thickening storm that soaks the ground. “The Nail” slips into a synth haze, the track churning under a western feel, the detached singing having Benson calling, “Seeking mercy in the end.” The mist grows more oppressive, synth squeals, and horns echo, the pace then gaining speed. Shrieks rain down, the playing blisters, and the final rush makes your head feel ample pressure. Closer “Broken” simmers in darkness, strings crying, harsh howls leaving bruising. Emotions build as the intensity carves away at you, the playing finding a way to take you apart limb from limb but also enchant your mind. The darkness doubles as the journey continues into mystery, the playing spindles in the shadows, and the final bursts drain into horizon.

“Earth Will Shed Its Skin” is and isn’t a departure from “The Rain Will Cleanse” as it maintains a lot of the foggy and mysterious chemistry of that record but also digs back into the band’s black metal past. There’s so much interesting ground mined here, and it feels like Chrome Waves are finding themselves even more in their music, becoming something sharper and more dangerous. Wherever this journey is taking the band, going along with them is going to be tumultuous and cloaked in darkness.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/store

For more on the label, go here: https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/

Taking vengeance upon someone typically means that person wronged you, hurt you mentally or physically, stole from you, or committed some other deed that did damage. Responding in kind to that person is to ensure they never do that again. It also can be done to punish someone who stood by and let it happen, making them guilty by association.

That bloody act is the centerpiece of “Violent Creed of Vengeance,” the second record from metallic force Smoulder, making this their deadliest hour. Over these seven tracks, the band—vocalist Sarah Ann, guitarists S. Vincent and Collin Wolf, bassist Adam Blake, drummer Kevin Hester—used their razor-sharp speed and power metal to drive their means of payback. Ann directed her rage toward rapists and abusers, as well as the support system that enables this behavior, and she imagines violence unspeakable and the desire to entirely extinguish these evil forces. This is done by entrenching these warnings within fantastical storytelling and an era where the blade is a primary weapon, promising those who try to force their power on others will meet their final day in agony.  

The title track kicks in with riffs charging and Ann’s soaring singing, as she goes a register higher than she did on much of Smoulder’s debut “Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring.” The band is in total command, telling dark and fantastical tales, the fluid assault taking you to task and injecting energy into every ounce of this track. “The Talisman and the Blade” is speedy and jarring, the vocals pounding away, the energy palpable. “To fathom the witches riddle, power is nothing if given to you, let the forces of furies unite for justice, for light, and life,” Ann wails over the chorus as the guitars charge up and ignite the power, the drums pounding, and the bass slicing a thick path. “Midnight in the Mirror World” enters amid spiraling riffs and churning playing, the singing soaring, ominous “oh oh” calls darkening the skies. The song then takes on an even more epic feel, mashing boundaries, the fires blazing and disappearing into mystic steam.

“Path of Witchery” explodes with jarring riffs and a stomping pace, the chorus once again shining brightly as one of the most alluring parts of the track. Punches land as the leads take on more fury, the soloing giving off blinding flashes, the singing feeling immersive and sinewy, everything sweeping through to a dramatic end. “Victims of Fate” runs 7:41, driving a knife through your chest, taking off with plodding strength. “Chosen for the greatest task, where the future will meet the past, I’ll soon forget all that I saw amongst swirling visions beyond chaos and law,” Ann howls, getting inside your blood and changing your chemical makeup. Glorious and humid, the track keeps building, the story evolves, and Ann calls out (in reference to the center city in Michael Moorcock’s multiverse), “Tanelorn, I wish for release, Tanelorn, will I find you in?” as the power drives into the sky and fades away. “Spellforger” hits the gas pedal right away showing great fire, the vocals blistering as Ann gets an even higher level. The playing is relentless as the storming rages, ending in a vicious surge. Closer “Dragonslayer’s Doom” runs 9:51 and lights up before hitting a tempered pace, getting more molten as things progress. The pace chugs as the guitars go off on a journey, Ann standing with blade in hand as she adds more muscle. The second half continues to expand the journey, the singing bellows, and guitars scar as everything ramps up for a titanic finish that ends in the jaws of fantasy.

Smoulder’s legend continues to build on “Violent Creed of Vengeance,” a record that both complements and stands alone from their powerful debut album. The fact that these songs both tell new legends and also put the knife to the throat of oppressors and abusers is both exciting and righteous, making for an album that accomplishes so many things. This is a band that cannot be denied, and their second album is one that drives home the fact that they’re ascending to a throne no one can prevent them from taking.

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

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

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

The bulk of music we cover here tends to bask in negativity and chaos, the feeling the world is a hellscape and danger is around every corner prevailing. But it doesn’t all have to be that way, and it’s refreshing when bands come along with a different viewpoint. Just because the music is heavy doesn’t mean the pressure has to be, so being able to feel something brighter can be a serious boost.

Progressive metal power Dawn of Ouroboros spent their half decade together pushing their art into regions not always heavily explored, and that continues on their alluring second record “Velvet Incandescence.” Seeking a place to find solace in the darkness and a place to call home (be it a physical location or a mental one), the album thematically exposes these ideas and acts as a brighter star illuminating their musical universe dressed in black and death metal leanings. The band—vocalist Chelsea Murphy (also of Cailleach Calling), guitarist/synth player Tony Thomas (also of Cailleach Calling and Botanist), guitarist/pianist Ian Baker (Red Rot), bassist David Scanlon (Deliria), drummer Ron Bertrand (Botanist, Red Rot)—brings together ample experience from other forward-thinking groups, but they go above and beyond with this imaginative and devastating project. Each of these 46 minutes is gripping, thought-provoking, and pummeling, giving your mind and body a workout.

“Healing Grounds” begins delicately, dreamy singing flowing over you, the playing slowly developing. Then things open up, the shrieks pierce eardrums, and the emotion spirals into chaos. The playing goes from wild and ripping to oddly calm, sludgy attacking jabs, and leads sweep as things disappear into the cosmos. “Testudines” is an energetic burst, Murphy shrieking, “Plague the mind like fungus sporing and spreading, through guarded gates of a protected mind.” The hammering makes your flesh bruise as savagery connects, and even the breezier moments feel volatile and about to burst. The prog energy swells as the playing thunders through, and the unhinged howls have seismic impact. “Iron Whispers” is chilled and devastating as it starts, building a strong atmosphere as the vocals unhinge their jaws and swallow you whole. The song gets more soulful, hitting guttural lows and atmospheric highs, Murphy singing, “Free your spirit to explore these grounds, absorbing wisdom of ancestor past Interlocked hands, with strength we take our stance.” “Levitating Pacifics” starts clean and hazy, synth creating a wall, the metallic burst going through your guts. A melodic gush liquifies as Murphy calls out, speaking and then singing, punchy jolts crunching bones and pulling teeth.

“Rise from Disillusion” rips open with ferocious madness, vicious playing beginning to twist your muscles into unnatural angles. The shrieks mash as a black metal-style assault unloads, the singing rising and increasing the passion, fiery hell unleashed that melts your pain away. “Castigation” is murky, Murphy speaking, calling out, “Warmth radiates, energizing, filling heart to limbs, a crescent upon face, stretching upwards and expelling tears like memories, rain from lush colored eyes.” Then the floor drops as raw howls and gnarly power unite and shred, every element mangling and suffocating. Manic shrieks rain down, the melody swells, and the final moments find some solace also marked with tribulation. “Cephalopodic Void” opens with strange chants, the track taking on a New Age feel in which your brain swims. Spacious leads swallow whole as the growls pick at wounds, the playing angles into space, and immersive echoes write the final lines. Closer “Velvet Moon” dawns in shimmering keys and then charred chaos, emotions rushing along with the simmering guitar lines. “A gift from the velvet one, simmer down into a puddle of one-sided consciousness, ice covered numbers of time pleading to stay, to wake the past again, to be home with you,” Murphy gushes as you find your heart pumping a little more forcefully. The playing turns lush and effusive, group singing makes your spirit rise, and a cloud cover adds a level of comfort as you find your way home again.

Whether we admit it or not, we all seek a place where the dark forces of the world can’t get to us and we have a safe place where our hearts and minds can heal from trauma. “Velvet Incandescence” is a way for Dawn of Ouroboros to both provide that to listeners and achieve it for themselves, making it a little easier to manage our own struggles. The fact the music is a progressive dream, jolts bolts loose from iron, and creates an adventure not easily achieved is just as heavy, and it makes for an album that could hit you differently each time you hear it depending on where your mind fixates.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.prostheticrecords.com/products/dawn-of-ouroboros-velvet-incandescence

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

I’m fairly convinced in the existence of aliens, and I would not be surprised if some live among us. No, this is not some stupid conspiracy-level question about who really controls the government or anything like that. We cannot possibly be the only sentient beings in the universe, and there’s some cool shit on Earth that is so mind-blowing, it has to be the product of someone from somewhere else.

The music made by death metal juggernauts VoidCeremony is just one example of something that very well could have been created by non-humans, as it’s just too fucking loopy and astonishing to understand. Yet here we are, with album number two “Threads of Unknowing,” and we’re served with more genre-stretching, mind-destroying creations that split your psyche in two. Wait, I just remembered drugs exist, so that could explain things, but certainly I accuse no one of this mind-warping unit. The band—vocalist/guitarist Garrett Johnson a.k.a. Wandering, vocalist/guitarist Phil Tougas a.k.a. Hyperborean Apparition Mind (Atramentus, Funebrarum), bassist Damon Good a.k.a. The Great Righteous Destroyer (Mournful Congregation, StarGazer), drummer Charlie Koryn a.k.a. C.K. (Ascended Dead, Bloodsoaked)—serve up six tracks over an economical 37 minutes that defy sense, change gravity, and set the death metal bar so high no human possibly could measure up.  

“Threads of Unknowing (The Paradigm of Linearity)” opens the record and immediately robs you of breath, the bass splitting cell structures, the roars crushing brain impulses. The pace gets swampy and sludgy, the growls menace, and then everything is laid to waste, ending in a pile of ash and bone. “Writhing in the Facade of Time” fades in from the universe before absolutely rampaging. The playing consumes as nastiness takes a greater role, speeding up as the growls gnaw into flesh. The guitars begin to explore before turning soupy, sweeping through the stars as cosmic winds begin to sting, cavernous melodies increasing the pressure on your brain. “Abyssic Knowledge Bequeathed” unloads with beastly precision, the growls scraping over wounded flesh, the bass stretching through eons, infernal spirals caving in your chest. Melody wells as the speed ignites, exploding and going for broke, scrambling your mind along the way.

“Entropic Reflections Continuum” clobbers, the pace stomping your spinal column, the growls speeding downhill like a boulder shook loose, hungry for destruction. The playing slows for a bit before it snarls anew, the guitars open up and soar, and your senses are just shredded, leaving you shaken and uncertain where to turn for mercy. “At the Periphery of Human Realms (The Immaterial Grave)” brings warmer guitars that float and a strange aura spreads and begins to take over your brain. The rumbling quakes the ground and the melodies repeat, going cyclical and hypnotic, making your nerve endings tingle as the instrumental piece slowly disintegrates. Closer “Forlorn Portrait: Ruins of an Ageless Slumber” runs 11:05 and creeps into the room, adding a progressive energy, the growls splattering on the walls. The darkness increases as the playing feels like it folds in on itself, blistering and destroying, the guitars turning into something alien. The playing gets weirdly elegant and even calming for a stretch, but it’s temporary as the growls go for the neck, the aura rolls into a thick haze, and the growls blister, everything ending in a pit of confusion.

VoidCeremony create death metal you can’t quite explain; it’s something you have to experience to understand, and even then it’s quite the journey to connect points. “Threads of Unknowing” is something that seems to originate on another plane, a different planet, and somehow we’re expected to deal with this and make sense of what we’re hearing. This is challenging but also a blast to tackle, a creation so fucking weird and wired, it leaves you bruised, but gleefully so.

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

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

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

A long time ago when heavy metal was in its infancy, it seemed like a world where you could let down your inhibitions and get lost in the power and magic for a night. It’s not like that element was completely stamped out, but as the genre has changed and grown, cynicism has festered, and any band that’s trying to put smiles on people’s faces gets ridiculed. Like, who did Ghost ever hurt?

Not to be deterred, Salt Lake City-based force Blood Star feel like a band that originated 40 years ago and has the sense of rebellion over the reaction from the general population pointing their accusing fingers and their desire to unite the music’s followers. Yet, it’s 2023, and what they do on their exuberant, goddamn great debut record “First Sighting” is create something that is worth fighting for, music that lights your heart and soul on fire in the name of metal. The band—vocalist Madeline Smith, guitarist Jamison Palmer (also of like-minded Visigoth), bassist Noah Hardnutt, drummer Al Lester—unloads all of their blood and sweat into these eight tracks, taking you on a ride to the heart of metal over 33 minutes that capture you and deliver endless excitement.

“All for Nothing” is a fiery kickoff that drives with vintage power that gets into your bloodstream. Smith is a killer out front with a great voice and delivery, calling “Was it really worth it in the end?” over the rousing chorus. The guitars breathe fire, the path is jolting and clobbering, and everything ends in a blaze. “Fearless Priestess” delivers mashing riffs and a simple, but effective chorus that sinks in its teeth. Again, the singing is off the charts, and the solo just ignites, sending energy through your veins, putting on a glorious sheen. “No One Wins” is speedy as the singing spits bolts, completely commanding and quaking the earth. The guitar work slathers as things trudge and bruise, turning everything over onto its neck. “The Observers” is a real highlight, Smith’s singing going for a huskier, deeper register, the darkness spreading. “My thoughts are not my own, I know I’m not alone,” she calls as the playing flexes its muscle, belting with passion before the vocals echo out.

“Dawn Phenomenon” is a quick instrumental built on acoustics guitars, synth glaze, and a cosmic chill that washes over you and pushes into “Cold Moon” that opens in a total gallop. Smith once again is a force with which to be reckoned as the guitar work leaves streaks of fire across the sky, the chorus gets your heart rushing, and everything burns off into the light. “Going Home” starts with clean guitars before the energy gets a heavy boost, and another simple chorus proves less can be a lot more as it is sure to be something yelled back live. The guitars explode and then liquify, and a darker edge bleeds through, the chorus hits back again, and everything disappears into the stars. Closer “Wait to Die” blasts off, fast and certain, rampaging through center as the drums pummel. The soloing takes off, Smith’s work is a total blast, and everything ends in flames and excitement.

Yes, there are a ton of bands trying to unearth glory from decades past, but bands such as Blood Star prove that if you have the knack for it, you can hit it out of the park. “First Sighting” is a tremendous, enthusiastic debut record that not only puts them on the metal map but paves the way for them to do some really special things in the future. This is a killer record, one that’s a blast to experience and will remind you that metal can be fun again.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com/pre-orders.asp

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

I have no idea if there is any level of existence beyond this plane, and despite being raised in a Catholic environment, my mind never was made up. Having since eschewed all strains of that belief system, the thought of such a thing has taken on a different tone, as I wonder where we could end up if life on earth isn’t truly the end and who might be watching our every step. It’s sometimes chilling to imagine.

Funeral doom dreamers Mesmur were on that line of thinking when creating “Chthonic,” their fourth album to date. Over five tracks and 48 minutes, the internationally based band—vocalist Chris G, guitarist/synth player Jeremy L, bassist Michele M, drummer John D—truly pushed into the beyond to color in this journey. The increased use of cosmic synth and contributions from Brianne Vieira (viola and cello) and Kostas Panagiotou (organs) of fellow funeral doom act Pantheist make this one of the most realized and imaginative of the entire Mesmur catalog. Progressively, this is a mammoth record. Hairs will stand on your neck, strange chills will move up your spine, and the energy of the stars and whatever beings lie beyond fills you with possibilities you perhaps never considered before. 

“Chthonic (Prelude)” jars open, churning with mournful tidings, bubbling into a spacey aura that leads to “Refraction” that greets with chilling synth swirls. Growls mar as the pace burns, feeling burly and hazy, the keys adding a glaze of atmosphere. The playing gets more crushing and imaginative, and the growls wrench as the elements take off, moving into isolated keys that sweep among the planets. The playing tingles as the power increases, striking a murky tone that drains out at the end. “Petroglyph” makes your senses activate, the band slowly trudging as mystical carnage is unleashed, and the melodies dig into deep sorrow. The growls turn cavernous as the music stretches over the cosmos, making your cells react to each movement, the pressure continuing to mount. The growls challenge wills, eerie sounds increase their presence, and the final strains head deep into the universe.

“Passage” is the longest track, running 18:57 as the tendrils begin to branch in calculated fashion, the growls burning, your brain feeling like it’s melting out of your ears before cooler winds blow. The playing bleeds as the vocals sink their teeth deeper, clean guitars arriving and bringing a misleading sense of calm, the playing feeling like it’s dripping in from another dimension. The guitars then add crunch, the melodies soar, and voices warble, adding confusion and strangeness, the steam wilting your flesh. The pace crawls into the void, and a final gust of visceral mashing lands hard, eventually tunneling out into alien terrain. Closer “Chthonic (Coda)” enters liturgically, organs ringing out, the clouds parting to let through beams of light. The atmosphere feels like a soul rising to the heavens, then guitars open and bleed, feeling like a dirge that stings openly and solemnly. Zaps fill the sky as the stratosphere crumbles, leaving hypnotic sounds to make way for disintegration.

Mesmur reaching into the spirit world to color the body and being of “Chthonic” makes absolute sense just from hearing the music, which feels like it reaches far beyond to tell its tales. The deeper immersion into progressive waters and the extraterrestrial elements that smear over these five songs feels like a spiritual journey to touch the face of those existing beyond. It’s a powerful, chilling record, Mesmur’s most imaginative and satisfying creation.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://www.aestheticdeath.com/releases.php?mode=singleitem&albumid=5799

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

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

And here: https://www.facebook.com/solitudeprod

The pressure surrounding our lives have so many different elements involved, some of them social, others financial, still others existential. We all struggle, we all feel pain coursing through us from time to time, and the battles we face in those periods can help define us. Do we wallow in negativity and anger, or do we use this as self-reflection to increase our levels of compassion toward others?

Pittsburgh-based musician V started his project Vale in 2015, and over the course of his first two records (2018’s “The Folklore of Man” and 2020’s “Our Denouement”), atmospheric, folk-led black metal flowed forth, calling out to nature and aligning with certain seasons. On the latest Vale record “A Senseless Procession,” the waters and winds rush generously, taking on elements of the spring, breathing new life into this band’s power. Along the way, the eroding earth is mourned, searches are made for one’s place in existence, and making sense of one’s emotions blast to the forefront. Musically, these five songs are packed with humanity and chaos, darkness and beauty, and it’s an incredibly rich journey.

“Parturition” enters amid chirping and waters rushing, feeling calm and spacious before the guitars begin flooding. V’s howls tear into your chest, the playing storming hard, adding even more atmospheric pressure. “Mother is in pain, earth whimpers softly, a child cries to leave this world,” V howls, filling your heart with vivid emotion. Percussive strikes get your blood flowing, and the howls stretch, mystical harshness poisoning the waters before dipping into acoustics, a moody gaze returning to nature’s heart. “Monadic” is the longest track, running 13:35 and starting with lush acoustics and drizzling piano. The swirling melodies ease you into the picture before the playing ignites, the vocals crushing and heading into tornadic insanity. The emotions build as shrieks cut under your nails, splattering and rampaging, the playing blasting with life. Echoed calm and trickling guitars emerge, but it can’t calm the black chaos that explodes anew, burning deep into the earth to rest finally.

“Sprigs” is a quick interlude with acoustics, immersive whispering, and a haunting essence, getting into your bones and moving toward “Carnation” that continues the same aura. Acoustics move as piano creates a glaze before animalistic intensity strikes and rains down carnage. The shrieks devastate as doomy mangling lurches, twisting and digging into long-healed wounds. Wild cries ring out as the playing flows and searches, melting away in calm notes. Closer “Mother” begins with reflective clean guitars and elegance unfolding, feeling like a tribute and a dirge all in one. The playing also feels moves through the seasons, beginning with wintry haze, enveloping you before the ice begins to thaw. “I’ve been thinking too much again, I’ve been dreaming too much again, how can I love if I don’t love myself?” V wails, and then the pace intensifies. The transition rips with molten cries and the playing leaves ash behind, churning before things calm, the path comes to a rest, and chirps rise and float off into the distance.

“A Senseless Procession” leaves a lot for one to contemplate from the state of our planet to one’s own position within the human race, to the devastation of simply being. Vale deliver black metal that levels deep gusts of atmosphere, primal rage within the heart, and a titanic display that isn’t afraid to feel and invites you to do the same. This is intense and personal, a record that feels like it leaves you deeply impacted, realizing you have a lot to think about.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://valeband.bandcamp.com/album/a-senseless-procession

Black metal long has been changing despite the kicking and screaming from those who want to keep this savage art form in the dark ages. You still can find plenty of the traditional stuff and bands that remain steadfast in that dingy basement aesthetic, but you have a wealth of artists pushing the boundaries that never should have been there in the first place. Afterall, lawlessness doesn’t thrive under rules.

Icelandic force Altari certainly have black metal as a base, but on their debut offering “Kröflueldar,” they prove their concoction contains so much more than that. Smeary and psychedelic, twisting and disfiguring, these seven songs feel like alien creations in a way. The band—I can’t find a reliable lineup but I do know from the promotional materials that Ó.Þ. Guðjónsson handles vocals and guitars, K.R. Guðmundsson plays guitar and also created the album’s artwork, and their ranks contain members of Sinmara—stretches into punk, noise, atmospherics, and spacey strangeness, drilling your senses without mercy, forcing you to realize the black metal planet has changed forever, and it’s either adapt or perish.

The title track opens in drums sprawling, guitars utterly disorienting, and the howls defacing after seemingly emerging from a fog. The playing dizzies as the roars punish, things spiraling into a vortex and coming out transformed on the other side, washing over with numbing melodies and ending in weirdness. “Djáknahrollur” delivers smearing guitars and howls that stymie, crazed calls barreling uncontrollably toward you. Everything spirals as the storming drubs, bringing spiking electricity that makes your nerve endings ache. “Leðurblökufjandinn” is spindly and atmospheric, the growls lurching as the menacing devastation goes for your skull. The playing suddenly liquifies, turning into alien form, heading into the clouds before dissolving into the stars.

“Sýrulúður” enters amid warped sounds and horrified cries as Gyða Margrét’s singing adds interesting textures to the overall atmosphere. Mysterious and icy, the lush and strange playing mystifies, and everything folds into the clouds and is swallowed whole. “Hin eina sanna” has riffs that engage from the start, warping as the howls echo, the immersive pace leading you into the mist. The playing is entrancing and feels like it infects your mind, the pressure mounts, and then it opens into a vast experience, bleeding into the background. “Vítisvilltur” enters amid trickling guitars and pastoral chants, and then the howls gut, wrenching calls stretching over top. It feels like your body is freezing in place, a strange feeling washes over your mind, and then the guitars melt, creating a glistening metallic river. Closer “Grafarþögn” slowly forms, blackness oozing from its cracks, the leads glistening and mixing with boisterous cries. Gothy tones get heavier as melodic streaks bloody the waters, detached howls making your ears sting as the strangeness plows through and drains into the unknown.

Altari definitely have black metal DNA which is evidently apparent on “Kröflueldar,” but it’s just as clear they did not have desire to do things based on any rules or expectation. The approach and expanded sound make for such a refreshing listen, and the band gets inspiration from so many different sounds and philosophies and works them into their recipe. It’s safe to say you won’t hear another black metal record this year quite like this one, and it’s another example that the best way to create this type of sound is to defy its rulebook.

For more on the band, go here: https://altariiceland.bandcamp.com/album/kr-flueldar

To buy the album, go here: https://www.svartrecords.com/en/product/altari-kroflueldar/11084

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