Without dumping 200 words about my current life situation and the absolute hell I’ve lived in for the past nine months, let’s just say I’ve gotten a sobering battle with handling stress and trauma, trying to figure out how to live without crushing anxiety and complete lack of safety eating away at me. It’s a major reason why people trying to give advice like “suck it up” is particularly infuriating.

It was an ideal moment for “Fawn” the new EP by Disemballerina (their fifth studio release overall) to fall into my lap, because when art tries to dig into the darkness and find meaning, it can be cathartic and massively helpful. The band describes their music as “queer outsider chamber music,” and the three tracks on here can both soothe and help identify with the shadows, working their way into your bloodstream. The band—Jennifer Christensen (cello, harp), Ayla Holland (bajo quinto, electric and acoustic guitars, ebow), Myles Donovan (viola, harp, marxophone, glass harp)—uses each of the tracks to highlight fight, flight, and freeze, the three survival modes when one is facing a panic or trauma event that can be crippling to one’s everyday life. The music here feels like it embodies each level, helping you face them and make sense. And while the band is not metallic in the traditional sense, there’s a heavy sense of doom at the heart of this, creating a jarring aesthetic with which many heavy music fans are bound to identify.   

“Pancada” gets started as the strings trickle, and sounds grow and spread like a mysterious fog, quivering in calm but foreboding spirit. Things pick up as the strings lean and strike, slowly plodding the steps as the dramas swells underneath. Dark waters wash over wounds, the ambiance swells and darkens, and calls pulsate with chimes as the track fades out. “Somnambulist” has strings shivering as acoustic guitars add a new texture, and a woodsy folk flourish sends shivers down your spine. Then, gentle waters sooth wounds, your flesh cools off, and echoes rumble as the final moments bring balance. “Garnets” closes the EP with melodies dancing and the power rushing along, flushing into ominous haze. Elements pelt like tiny ice daggers, shadows thicken and get more immersive, and everything slowly ashes into the horizon, delicately letting go of your hand.

The elements of fight, flight, and freeze are things many of us can understand, and our reactions to trauma can be quite varied, which Disemballerina focus on with the hushed and lovely “Fawn.” Their chamber-friendly instrumental creations can border on doom at times and definitely simmer in clouded waters, but the music  can be helpful for anyone going through these struggles who just need a place to reflect. These three songs are the perfect bed in which to lie, connect to what’s challenging your mind, and give yourself some space to understand the struggle and figure out a way to fight again.

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

And here: disemballerinapdx.bandcamp.com

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

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

I’ve been to exactly one movie at a theater this year, and it was a socially distanced work event where we rented out a screen and watched “Godzilla vs Kong,” a gigantic battle you really should see on a big screen with a supreme sound system. I have a soft spot for the old Japanese Godzilla movies because they’d play on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid, and they both terrified and enthralled me.

Seattle titans Oxygen Destroyer capture a lot of that monster movie mayhem in their music, which is very much on point, and that rushes to the surface on their explosive new record “Sinister Monstrosities Spawned By the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind,” a title long enough you likely need a breath after saying it. Their pummeling death metal pays homage to the old titanic battles that could consume entire cities (their name comes from the weapon used to destroy Godzilla in the original 1954 movie), and this new record focuses half on Japanese kaiju films and half on American and UK movies such as “The Giant Claw” and “Gorgo.” The band—vocalist/guitarist Lord Kaiju, guitarist Joey Walker, bassist Paul Wright, drummer Chris Craven—packs these eight tracks and 29 minutes with enough vicious power to make you wonder if you haven’t just watched two behemoths tangle.

“Merciless Embodiment of Everlasting Death” gets things off to a horrific start with animalistic battles and screams before the track drills open, and splattering fury just goes off. Savage chaos rips through you, the leads ignite, and speed is unleashed before the track comes to a furious end. “Possessing the Putrified Remnants of the Unholy God Incarnate” rips apart with vile growls and stampeding thrashing that makes the earth feel like it’s imploding. The growls hurl buildings while the drumming destroys with the leads heating up and charging. Fluid guitars clear your mind for a moment before the torment returns in full and explodes. “Slaughtering the Guardian Monsters” has beasts snarling and a punchy tempo that comes right for you. The vocals do significant damage while the pace feels like a battering ram, and then great guitar work emerges and blocks the sun, as everything comes to a menacing finish. “Sons of the Necrobeast” is awash in insanity as it dawns with the growls blazing and the playing turning rock to rubble. Nasty violence explodes, the drums maul, and vicious riffs take over and smash lights.

“Enduring the Maternal Rage of the Amphibious Monstrosity” has a strange, disembodying open before the riffs arrive and the drums rumble, with mauling growls leading the way. Chaos stampedes over everything, the band mangles you, and every element does its job to smash away at buildings. “The Plague Spreading Horror from 20,000 Fathoms” dashes amid monstrous growls and playing that stomps innards as the drums come unglued. The guitar work dizzies as the bottom end thickens and spacious hell envelopes your mind, destroying everything in its path. “As Big as a Battleship” starts off with the ominous UFO reports from the aforementioned film “The Giant Claw,” and then the madness is realized, and things fire up in a hurry. Guitars sizzle and send fire as the blasts jam your insides, and the lava bubbles and flows forcefully, raining down devastating blows as the song ends. “Their Reign Has Begun” is the closer that mashes massively as the guitars twist and mangle, and fierce wails send seismic waves. Total slaughter is achieved as the band keeps battling, the tempo packs on some nasty firing, and the final moments shroud everything with smoke and fire, with the city being given its last rights.

There is no way to hear “Sinister Monstrosities Spawned By the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind” and not envision great beasts doing battle in the center of a major metropolis, with human forces scrambling to figure out how to save humanity from the aftermath. And that’s just the point of Oxygen Destroyer’s music, which is purposely heavy and utterly terrifying in the best way. This is great, cataclysmic fun and a total beast of death metal hell.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/

Or here (cassette, coming soon): https://headsplitrecords.storenvy.com/

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

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

For the past several months, I felt like I had lost the ability to dream. I’m sure I had some rapid-fire visons as I slept that don’t recall, but the presence of full-bodied, strange stories my brain tells me felt like they had disappeared into the back if my mind, robbing me of one of the highlights of sleep where I could travel into weird labyrinths as I lie motionless all night.

Things have changed a bit recently as lucid dreaming has returned, and I’m wondering if it has to do with having to cut out THC due my weird anxiety. This is relevant to what we’re talking about today, namely “Deconsecrate,” the second record from death metal ghouls Ænigmatum. These eight songs spread over 45 minutes made my brain charge and the morbid ends of my imagination start to fire, almost like I could have a dream during the day as I took on their mind-rumbling, progressive death metal. The band—vocalist/guitarist Kelly McLaughlin, guitarist Eli Lundgren, bassist/synth player Brian Rush, drummer/backing vocalist Pierce Williams—keeps you fully engaged as they drag you through warped horror rooms, past carnival mirrors, and into the strangest mental stimulation you can handle as they unleash some of the most ridiculously proficient, heavy sounds they can manage.

“Forged From Bedlam” is led in by drum rolls before things are torn apart, the growls shred, and the music is propulsive and exciting. Ugly carnage mauls hard, the bass playing crumbles time, and the leads calculate and attack, heating up with nasty growls and disarming speed. “Undaunted Hereafter” pounds away as the bass slips in, and the carnage explodes. The drums unload as the playing gets more daring and thrashing, tearing into your flesh and even lighting some progressive fires. The track chugs anew as a massive assault is mounted before the phantom releases its grip. “Disenthralled” is disorienting and tangling as the growls scorch from behind. The leads jolt as things get even trickier, charging through your mind into fluid, fertile terrain before the track gets thrashier, the growls mar, and the chaos bleeds into “Fracturing Proclivity” that basks in ominous tones. Speed later makes your head spin as absolute insanity lands, completely scrambling your brain as the guitars jettison off into the horizon. The drums clobber, the skies darken, and the piles of ash dissolve into the earth.

“Floods Within a Splintered Cortex” is a weird, spacey instrumental piece that lets the clouds slowly burst, the pace crumble, and the synth jolt before pulling into “Larker, Sanguine Phantom” that has the guitars stabbing from the start. Things gets relentless and frantic, which feels frightening at times, and the crushing madness spills into great intensity and chaotic charging that makes your blood rush. The back end clobbers as throaty growls reign, ending everything in ravenous crunch. “Despot of Amorphic Dominions” is whirring and strange as it greets you, exploding in rubbery ferocity and explosive leads that ignite with energy. The power suddenly pulls back as hypnotic strangeness overtakes the ambiance, numbing before the daggers fly again, and an insane tempo forces you to try to make sense of what you’re experiencing. The playing topples, a spacey vibe stretches, and everything tumbles into an ashen abyss. “Animus Reflection” closes the album, starting with break-neck power and stirring madness, with a zany atmosphere to boot. The playing carves bone as your limbs are tested, the bass slinks and slips, and the leads both ignite and chill, churning your bones and ending things with intoxicating fumes.

“Deconsecrate” is one of those albums where on one hand you can lead a listener on a path of expectation with these eight songs, and on the other it’s like I don’t know what the fuck to say that’ll make this make sense, which I love. Ænigmatum brings imaginative, jarring death metal that is challenging and progressively devastating, music that you likely won’t fully absorb the first time through and maybe not even the 10^th. This album is further proof that death metal hasn’t been fully mastered yet because artists such as these still generate sounds and auras not yet discovered, proving there’s still so much left to unearth.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063560651573

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

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

Operating in mystery can be frustrating or exhilarating in your music, depending on where you come from as a listener. As a writer, it can give you something on which to dig your teeth a little deeper because you’re not necessarily bound to a philosophy or set of themes, so you can delve into the art in a different means so that you can gleam some of your own meaning.

Multi-international force Qrixkuor, named after a bird from Kenneth Grant’s 1997 book Against the Light, unleash “Poison Palinopsia,” a record engorged with occult leanings and outright strangeness that are packed into two epic-length tracks. They aren’t directing you to specific topics, they’re not commenting explicitly on the state of the world, and it’s easy to just simmer in their thunderous gloom and let that shape your own journey. Its members—vocalist/guitarist S, bassist VK, drummer DNH—populate other bands such as Temple Nightside, Grave Miasma, Vassafor and plenty others, but here they focus on truly dark death metal that soars into the deepest caverns, travels through madness, and tests your will as you take on this mentally ravaging experience.

“Serpentine Susurrus – Mother’s Abomination” starts things off, running 24:11 and basking in sound beams before strange growls and mind-altering playing make your blood race. Guitars soars and twist as your psyche is squeezed, chaos swirls, and animalistic shrieks do damage to your mind. The playing keeps rounding back, assaulting your guts, and the guitars start fires they’re not necessarily keen to control before things take a doomy turn. Smoke thickens, the drums break through the earth, and the playing begins to smother, pairing up with the mangling growls. Everything builds into a weird fury, the drums turn stone to dust, and the intensity spikes before the track melts away.

“Recrudescent Malevolence – Mother’s Illumination” is the closer and the longest of the two, running 24:31 and starting in a strange haze with synth clouds and eerie sound warps. Melodies slowly melt, taking on a plodding pace that’s nevertheless heavy as hell. The pressure builds as the vocals get nastier, the leads charge, and the playing just melts, rumbling in echo. Orchestral synth sweeps hard, the hellish tones get dizzying and brutal, and the growls begin to kill as the punishment heavily crumbles. The playing shifts to slurry and strange, cavernous pounding penetrates, and the power overwhelms the senses, mixing into synth weirdness before the final moments bend to warped hell.

Taking the plunge into “Poison Palinopsia” is not something to be taken lightly as it’s not a collection of songs you’re encountering, it’s a full-fledged psychological experience. Qrixkuor are not opening a portal into sinister sounds that any other death metal band could own and operate. This is a full commitment to the void, a trip through the unseen that might be unmanageable for some, intimidating for others, but something that’ll leave its mark long after you’ve left its warped kingdom.

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

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

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

Let me potentially clear the room here a bit: Today we’re going to talk about love songs. Cool. I assume what we have left are the listeners with an open mind, and the folks who left don’t realize we’re not here to get all sappy and talk about torch power ballads. Instead, love is merely the central theme, the guts of the record, and there remain thorns even amid gazey and atmospheric sounds.

“Beautiful Ghosts” is the new album from post-black metal band Unreqvited, a band we’ve come to like a lot around here, and this collection of tracks jumps right into topics of love, devotion, and passion, subject matter this genre tends to avoid. Sole member 鬼 boldly goes where many don’t, in that more delicate sounds and philosophies are woven into music that still can rumble and dice when the need arises. I just had a detailed dental appointment last week and was under nitrous oxide, and I realized during that procedure that this record would have been perfect to hear at that time as my colorless gas-induced euphoria and comfort peaked. This music isn’t going to get you where you need if you require all-out brutality. But remember, vulnerability and identifying with the heart are human things, and we should not have to shy away from that, no matter how metal we think we are.    

“All Is Lost” rushes open with a synth burst, shrieks pillowed behind the sound, and sweeping drama that sweeps you up. Later, the track chugs harder as the emotions explode, your heart races, and a colorful assault dashes into the sky. “Autumn & Everley” has keys dripping into a foggy, dreary morning as everything slowly unfurls, and stylish playing blankets you as the shrieks ignite your nerve endings. Huge melodies and propulsive playing unite as the energy and atmosphere mix as things then ease into the ambiance, calming your sore muscles before the guitars pick up and gust you away. The playing heats up, warm waves wash over, and everything melts into stars. “Reverie” floats in serenity, making the hairs stand up on your arms, and then the numbing increases. It feels like an oxygen rush as all the elements crash together, and the final moments ice down your wounds.

“Funeral Pyre” also basks in tricking keys and synth haze as the shrieks unhinge, and cool riffs work with the simmering melodies that overtake you. The keys become a major factor again, sometimes soothing to the point of disarming, the guitars add elegance, and everything flutters in the air as the track is sucked into a vortex. “Cherish” is a quick instrumental with orchestral synth, flowing into your heart and oxygenating your body, paving the way for the title track that just swings open. Blood rushes as the shrieks explode, punching a hole in the haze, and beams of energy cut through even deeper. Hearty “ah, ah, ah” calls fill your lungs, the dream state thickens, and cries wrench, leaving a glistening sheen on your skin as lush power encircles all. “All Is Found” ends the album by dripping in with a calculated push and calming guitars working into your nervous system. Gothy rushing mixes with softer playing, emotions tidal wave, and your imagination is filled with colors you never dreamt before.

It takes some guts to enter the heavy music terrain and present a record about love, something that probably makes the more extreme listeners want to run and hide. But every emotion and feeling are legitimate, and Unreqvited jump into the deep end on “Beautiful Ghosts,” an album that is arresting and magical, taking you on a journey every time. This is some of the band’s finest, most imaginative art, and if you’re intimidated by being vulnerable, that likely says something about you.   

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

To buy the album, go here: http://lnk.spkr.media/unreqvited-beautiful-ghosts

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

If you’re not interested in having your stomach turn and confronting some of the vilest sounds and aromas in all of death metal, maybe today’s entry isn’t for you. No shame. I was trying to eat dinner the other night and could not handle the surgery scenes in the “Dr. Death” series on Peacock (the Wondery podcast on the subject is great), so who am I to judge? We’re all people trying to get by.

While they haven’t roamed the earth as a band for a terribly long time, Danish death/gore band Septage has gotten a firm grasp on the morbid and disgusting after having formed last year, one of the worst in our planet’s recent history. But in a short amount of time, the band—vocalist/drummer Ugur, guitarist Tobias, bassist Malik—has cranked out two EPs, with the latest coming in the form of “Septisk Eradikasyon,” a four-track, 12-minute effort that’s being given various forms of release, one a 7” record. This is monstrous and foul, but it also is a blast of energy and carnage, a bleeding, puss-secreting experience that might not be for every listener. And that’s OK. We don’t judge you on that.  

“Of Gangrene Limbs” unloads the carnage early, setting an ugly tone of punishing death and gurgling growls. Everything splatters wildly, the guitars slur, and we’re neck deep in the muck, some of it getting in our mouths. The madness gets zany, and filthy clobbering takes the track to its end. “Perpetual Fetid Odor” launches infernal growls and mauling, disgusting playing, soaking in blood and piss. The tempo stomps guts as the leads dice, the world implodes, and everything crashes to the ground. “Sick Possessions” is packed with animalistic growls and savage ferocity, with a freezing bassline ushering in some progressive tendencies. Things get even more twisted as the track winds down, ending in a splattering pile. “Simmered in Mephitis” ends the record by punching into flesh and the hammering guitars just going off, making you go dizzy. Fast and frenzied, the leads burst, the guitars slaughter, and we swim into murky synth and horror that spirals out into space.

Septage’s insanity might have just been planted into the ground to grow, yet “Septisk Eradikasyon” festers quickly, turning your psyche into mush. This is a disgusting, morbid collection of songs that might only last 12 minutes but lays in its claws before you know what hit you. We’re only two EPs into this band’s run, and it’s scary to think how warped they’ll get as they head toward a full-length assault.

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

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

Or here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/shop/septage-septisk-eradikasyon-vinyl/

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

And here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/

No one is immune to loss and tragedy, no one avoids the throes of trauma, no one leaves here undefeated, and to assume anything else is a goddamn lie you tell yourself. The world is full of pain and torment, which I shouldn’t have to tell anyone, but we live among people who have removed themselves from reality, so sometimes pointing out the obvious is necessary.

That crashes down around you on “Emetic Communion,” the debut full-length from Portland, Ore., death/doom crushers Decrepisy, and these five tracks are overwhelming examples of just how hard the negative times can impact you. Formed with members of bands such as Vastum, Acephalix, Ritual Necromancy, Funebrarum, and a slew of others, this album is darkness through and through, though its main impact is on your psyche. They unleash the pressure early on and just keep pushing until you feel the gravity, and the band—vocalist/guitarist Kyle House, guitarist Jonny Quintana, bassist Tim Lower, drummer Charlie Koryn—does not relent. The music is ugly and foreboding, and the vocals feel like they’re carving out space in your brain to eat away at you forever. Or as long as you can last.

“Dissipating Form” opens in the muck, rowing through doomy crushing and chugging as the guitars go nuts, giving off steam. Massive death growls from House aim to sicken as slow drubbing does ample damage to your body, and dizzying guitars make the room spin. The track stomps hard again, the blood boils off, and everything ends in smashing madness. The title cut spares you nothing as the pressure is applied right away, and thick bass snakes through the mud. The guitars spiral at first before giving off impressive heat as the soloing takes off, and vicious growls make their mark in your flesh. Ominous tones strengthen and suffocate while the back end fades slowly and with ill intent amplified.

“Embodied Decomposition” cuts right into bone and deeply as cool riffs peel back flesh, and the growls feel designed to maim. Guttural hell is unleashed, and fuck is it ever heavy as guitars jolt your bones, and mucky thrashing infects your blood. The track turns into a slow menace as the playing mauls infernally, and the track ends in a fatal blast. “Abbatoir of Sorrow” runs a healthy 10:34, and it makes the most of its extended time, opening into strange, eerie doom. The guitars scramble the senses as death rays feel like they’re working to evaporate you, and then the power mauls and insults your emotions. Growls melt flesh and liquify bone, the guitars rip into your arteries, and gravelly growls roll you in a grave of piss and acid, ending as bizarrely as it started. “Anxiety Womb,” which practically describes the state in which I’ve been living, ends things, a chilling instrumental outro with synth, hypnotic chimes, and space fumes that drag you to the beyond.

After taking on “Emetic Communion,” it almost goes without saying that these songs are informed by trauma and devastation, because every moment of Decrepisy’s debut rolls in that generously and always makes you feel like your chest is heaving. The death is harrowing and ugly, the doom is thick and intrusive, and the entire album leaves its mark on you well after it has finished. This is a powerful, menacing collection that never releases in strangulating hold and demands you pay the price.  

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Decrepisy-101533198428178/

To buy the album, go here: https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/emetic-communion

Or here: https://seedofdoom.bandcamp.com/album/emetic-communion

Or here: https://lifeafterdeath.bandcamp.com/album/emetic-communion

For more on the label, go here: https://www.chaos-records.com/

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

And here: https://lifeafterdeath616.com/

Floating off into strange dreams where you surrender your body and simply let music enter your bloodstream doesn’t sound like your typical adventure in metal and heavy music in general. For the most part that’s the case, but there definitely are those bands around that can act as an escape, where you can stretch your mind instead of merely get brutalized.

California-based sludge/doom (and that’s a loose description) band Mesa are one of those that have aims other than just leaving welts on your body. Their MIDI-obsessed crunch can be a big serotonin boost if this style of music works for you, and if your tastes are diverse, definitely give their debut full-length record “Collapse” a serious chance. Formed by Marie McAuliffe (also of Putrescine, who handles guitar, bass, vocals, MIDI) and Adam Heller (formerly of Megalodon, who takes on guitar, synths, MIDI, piano), they create a world on these six tracks that can be earthquaking but also dissolve into passages that feel like they’ve taken you into a fantasy world that wraps its tendrils around you and pulls you under for an experience you won’t soon forget.

“The Portent of Throne” slowly works its way into full form as McAuliffe’s shrieks rip into muscle, making your blood pressure rise before we’re into a dreamy haze. The vocals switch to a higher register clean singing for a stretch, and then it’s back to the thorns as the band pounds into fertile emotional ground, slipping out into the atmosphere. “A Stone Bridge of Folly” feels like it floats in the air before the savagery arrives, the vocals crush teeth, and the sense of adventure is off the charts. Guitars soar as oxygen fills the room and your lungs, sludgy blows are landed, and the guitars soar and soothe, thrusting out into the night. “Where the Mountains Join the Clouds” lets the keys establish a tone before the sound begins to expand and the emotions light up. Wild howls agitate muscles as the music swims, vicious shrieks lay waste, and the hypnotic playing melts your tension, leaving in a trancey fog.

“A Final Snowfall as the Dawn of Man Flickers” is an interesting, woodsy instrumental cut that starts in acoustics and puffy musical clouds, almost immediately bringing down your anxiety. Cool waters rush as the keys enhance the mood, the acoustics cool the flesh, and the final moments buzz in the back of your head. “Motif 8 (The Dirge)” continues that serenity as it feels like you’re slowly moving through the cosmos, letting breezes work through your hair. Punches are thrown musically as the vocals call out, the midsection is ripped open, and a dreamy prog jolt makes your hairs stand on your arms, ending on a high note as McAuliffe calls, “Her Body alight, soaked by oil, She lied down in consuming fire.” “With Light Comes Redemption” ends the album by getting off to a fast start with the pace punching up and the music whirling into the air. The drumming picks up the intensity as a melodic fury strikes, the keys flutter, and the track is swept off into a strange new plane of existence.

There is no way to properly sum up Mesa’s sound or to give a quick explanation as to what awaits listeners on “Collapse,” easily one of the most interesting, thought-provoking records I’ve heard all year. Heavy enough to live in metallic terrain but strange enough to leave unambitious listeners at arm’s length, this album feels and sounds different with each journey through these six tracks. There’s nothing quite like Mesa and the strange art they make, and I can’t even begin to think of anything with which to compare this magnificent strangeness.

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

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

Or here (cassette): https://realmandritual.bandcamp.com/album/collapse

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

Heavy metal bands have been telling epic tales for as long as the medium has been a thing. The style just kind of lends itself to expanding your mind and taking a journey through either a story the artists have created or retelling of long-honored tales that have been a part of our societal fabric forever. In fact, it’s one of the things that attracted me to this style of music in the first place.

German doom-driven band Flame, Dear Flame have created their debut record “Aegis” as two stories put together, the first a three-part movement, the second a four-part story. “The Millennial Heartbeat” unfurls the story of the creation of the oceans and thanatography of the land, reimagining the genesis of the place we all call home. The songs originally saw the light of day in 2019 on an EP of the same name. “The Wolves and the Prioress” tells the story of a feral child that falls into the custody of a sage prioress, and it’s the most folk-heavy of the two pieces. The band delves heavily in melody and doom darkness, and vocalist Maren Lemke is an absolute force here as her great singing and expressive storytelling make this a really magical collection. Lemke along with the rest of the band—guitarist David Kuri, bassist Martin Skandera, drummer Jan Franzen—keep things riveting and enthralling, ensuring you’re fully engaged over these seven cuts.

“The Millennial Heartbeat Part I” starts the record and a triptych of cuts as the guitars burn, and Lemke calls, “We are unbound by your hands.” The playing heats up as the emotion bursts, colors flourish, and then everything slows and melts into the earth. “The Millennial Heartbeat Part II” has waters rushing and the vocals slipping in, easily numbing your wounds. “You will tear the world apart,” Lemke warns as the riffs buzz, and then everything catches fire. Echoey calls soothe, the playing plods darkly, and then everything liquifies, disappearing back into the waters. “The Millennial Heartbeat Part III” ends the trio as grimy guitars darken the atmosphere, and the playing churns generously. “Father, please forgive thy children, they know not what they’ve done,” Lemke wails as the guitars glimmer, and everything kicks into your chest. The playing then gallops, your heart rushes blood to your body, and Lemke calls, “Shall perish and once more will all become one, and all their deeds will be as though never done,” as things fades away.

“The Wolves and the Prioress Part I” is the first of a four-movement section, feeling rustic with acoustics as Lemke observes, “They never move or make a sound.” That charges up as the guitars flex, the band chugs harder, and gentle waters washing over can’t fully put out the embers that are a beacon in the murk. “The Wolves and the Prioress Part II” is doomy and emotional with strong singing and a fantastical feel, mesmerizing as the crunch lands. There is a strong push into the atmosphere as dark energies pulsate, and the final moments bask in mystery. “The Wolves and the Prioress Part III” also has a strong folk vibe, feeling transported from generations ago, combining smoky sultriness with woodsy imagination. The guitars create sparks as a psychedelic haze thickens, Lemke’s singing is soulful and thick, and you are permanently altered. “The Wolves and the Prioress Part IV” closes the album with guitars churning, the verses delivering force, and brief dalliances with solemnity being devoured whole. The guitars burst as the singing gets even stronger, the whole forces gushes, and it’s easy to get caught up and swept away. Acoustics rejoin the mix, the temperature begins to drop, and the track is swallowed in a thick, enveloping fog.

“Aegis” is as much a storybook as it is a record as Flame, Dear Flame unfurl two separate tales in which you can lose yourself. The band’s melodic doom and occult-feeding energy is compelling and fluid, and Lemke’s singing takes what already are strong forces and makes them into something even more special. This is an album that’s perfect for meditation, reconnecting with your spirit, or simply letting the darkness flow from your own vessel as you lose yourself into the stitches of these spellbinding epics.

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

To buy the album (North America), go here: https://store.eisenton.com/

Or here (Europe): https://store.eisenton.de/en/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.eisenton.de/

There is a price to be paid in this life for just about anything we do, and I mean that emotionally. Somehow, metal got this weird macho tag, and that’s likely due to insecure assholes, but it’s OK to be completely broken apart and vulnerable. Building back up actually makes you tougher, and there is a fuck ton of great metal out there to act as a sort of guide and spiritual partner.

I won’t lie: The past few months have been really destructive for me mentally, so when a record can come along and not just identify with my pain but also give me some tools to get work through that mess, it’s always welcome. Texas-based death/doom pounders Krigsgrav came along at an opportune time for me, as did their great sixth record “The Sundering.” This thing is heavy both musically and emotionally. It comes off as a collection of songs from people who have seen some shit, and that’s weirdly comforting because who among us hasn’t? This band—vocalist/rhythm guitarist Justin Coleman, guitarist Cody Daniels, drummer/bassist/clean vocalist David Sikora—just nails this and leaves you both cleaned out emotionally but also sufficiently devastated.

“Aeolus Speaks” gets things started as storming hangs over, ominous thunder rumbles, and that leads into “The Sun No Longer Reaches Here” that erupts with huge riffs and gurgling growls. The track gets savage as the pace picks up, and a doomy slurring hits over the chorus, mixing your brains. Strong soloing cuts through, a power metal flutter strikes, and everything rushes into the waves. “Timberline” arrives in a guitar surge as growls scar, and a strong force agitates the fires. Fiery melodies bubble up, and the rage melts into liquidy guitars, feeling fluid and dark. The leads take off and lightens the skies, blood surges, and group vocals pound with power. “Dread the Night” explodes with melody as the vocals power, and the pace chugs. The playing continues to heat up, bringing classic magic, the growls menace, and everything rolls in a pile of broken glass. “Absence” has a rustic intro with acoustics washing before the band starts to rip hard. The playing stampedes as Coleman’s growls get into your guts, and it feels like a gust takes you away, reminding of Maiden at times. Things crash to a halt as gentler waters trickle, the guitars then awaken, and the track explodes, firing into the air.

“Spirit Walker” basks in elegant doom as the track gets started, the growls corrode, and the playing opens even more, swallowing you whole. The leads feel like they soar through the air, moving through skullduggery and vicious blows, and then the humidity thickens, taking away your fresh air. The leads spiral, the growls crash down, and moody guitars take this thing to the finish line. “To Live and Die Without Hope” opens into foul punishment as the vocals suffocate, and the drumming crashes through walls. Eventually, some haziness sets in, and even some jazzy playing makes your limbs tingle before the violence crushes anew, and the track blisters away and out into hell. “The Winter Hours” leaks in like a spirit, giving off as vibe awash in elegance. The growls scrape as the track toughens, but then a cooler section sets in, teasing serenity before the fires blast all over, and the track ends in a pile of ash. “Darkest Road” is your closer, and it smashes its way in with guitars glistening and an emotional toll being paid. The track trades off from raucous to smooth, even visiting some gothy clouds before unloading again. The track rolls in shadows, the bruising becomes more pronounced, and everything fades into darkness.

This is a record that took me a few times to fully grasp, though I enjoyed every trip I had with Krigsgrav’s “The Sundering.” By that I mean the sweet spots are earned, so each time I went back, I discovered new things, and the power and passion here begin to shape themselves. This is a fantastic record, one that makes time for just about every human emotion, leaving you with a toll generously paid.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://krigsgrav.bandcamp.com/album/the-sundering

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