Bong-Ra - Ragganaut

🎧 https://bong-ra.bandcamp.com/track/ragganaut-2

Info: https://www.discogs.com/master/1558980-Bong-Ra-Darkbreaks-Volume-2

Info: https://bong-ra.bandcamp.com/track/ragganaut-2

#Music #NowPlaying #Electronic #DnB #DrumNBass #Jungle #Breakcore #BongRa

I am now listening to Nothing Virus (Room101 rmx) by Bong-Ra #BongRa
https://www.last.fm/music/Bong-Ra/_/Nothing+Virus+(Room101+rmx)

BONG-RA (Països Baixos) presenta nou recopilatori: "To Mega Panopticon [The Dystopic Remixes]" #BongRa #Breakcore #Electronic #ExperimentalStoner #DoomMetal #Setembre2025 #PaïsosBaixos #NouRecopilatori #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

I fuckin love it!
https://bong-ra.bandcamp.com/album/grindkrusher
"'Truly Master, and your heart is full of hate?'
'Black as midnight, black as pitch, blacker than the foulest witch.'"
#BongRa #DoomMetal #BreakBeat #Music #Lyrics #BandCamp

https://bong-ra.bandcamp.com/album/black-noise-2
I'm digging the fuck outta Bong-Ra right now. This is more Doom Metal, but they're often more a mix of Jungle and Break-beat. My math music, brushing up on trigonometry for conduit bending.
#Music #BandCamp #DoomMetal #Jungle #BreakBeat #BongRa #Math #Studying #Trigonometry #Conduit #Electrician

Really digging the new #BongRa

#breakcore #doommetal #industrialmetal #industrialblackmetal

https://bong-ra.bandcamp.com/album/black-noise-2

BONG-RA (Països Baixos) presenta nou àlbum: "Black Noise" #BongRa #Breakcore #Electronic #ExperimentalStoner #DoomMetal #Febrer2025 #PaïsosBaixos #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Bong-Ra – Black Noise Review

By Thus Spoke

When I reviewed Bong-Ra’s last album, Meditations, I commented on the about-turn the project made moving into doom. I should have known that the individual behind Bong-Ra, Jason Köhnen, likes to keep the listener guessing. So it is that Black Noise, their ninth official full-length, sees yet another mutation. In a whiplash change, Meditations’ successor is not dreamy, sax-infused, instrumental doom, but uncanny blackened, industrial, electronic metal; synthetic elements are used now to splice in unsettling samples and twist the guitar sound rather than dominate the melodies. The breakcore of yesteryears is back but bent to the whims of the metallic. If last time around, I intimated a desire to partake in whatever mind-altering substances Bong-Ra’s music lent itself to, this time, I’m not so sure. Not because Black Noise isn’t good, but because it is perturbing in the kind of way that doesn’t mix well with intoxication.

Black Noise takes its name from the conceptual opposite of white noise.1 That is, rather than an equal distribution of audible frequencies, a jarring disparity and unevenness in tone, pitch, and frequency. The music is not nearly as inaccessible as that implies. Though the sensibilities of extreme metal can be found in its densest polyrhythms (“Dystopic”) and heaviest guitar and harsh vocal assaults (“Black Rainbow”), Bong-Ra maintains at least the semblance of groove, and the heavily muted tone of the electronically distorted riffs keeps them from being the brutal battering rams they might be if employed under a less cloaked master (“Death #2,” “Nothing Virus,” “Ruins”). This being said, Black Noise’s idiosyncratic merging of real and synthetic instrumentation; of the straightforward aggression of the metal elements and the no less unfriendly electronic ones remains oblique and challenging to all but the .1% of the music-listening population that haunts these quiet corners of the internet. Imagine a snappier, heavier Perturbator in vibe, with a sprinkling of Dødheimsgard audacity, and deathened vocals whose referent is harder to place. It’s an effectively alien experience and a disturbing one to boot.

The contents of Black Noise are about as weird and creepy as its cover art. Bong-Ra’s melodic themes are sparse and tend towards the dissonant and eerie, which maintains a constant unease. Köhnen affects a blunt annunciation that tends towards the callous when performing spoken word (“Death #2,” “Parasites”), and which remains just as articulate and dry as he slides into growls (“Dystopic,” “Nothing Virus”) giving the words a chilling inhumanity. The breakcore influence of clattering, tapping, metallic clanging, jangling, and whirring scattered across tracks makes everything that much more discomfiting (especially: “Dystopic,” “Useless Eaters,” “Bloodclot”). Samples—the most lengthy being that of Charles Manson defending his ‘philosophy’ which dominates “Useless Eaters”—bring the vague horror, and nihilistic mean-spiritedness haunting the compositions to the fore. And yet, Black Noise is surprisingly easy to listen to, in spite of its strangeness, in a strangely involuntary way. Bong-Ra execute polarised sides of the album’s sound with equal conviction and ease, and in all cases, perpetuate the same dark ambient aura. As a result, on paper odd inter-song neighbors, or intra-song bedmates convince the listener of their necessity without issue, and interplay becomes that much more compelling. A stomping industrial metal (“Death #2,” “Ruins”) or techno (“Useless Eaters”) groove; the warm buzzing of tremolos (“Dystopic,” “Blissful Ignorance”); the skittering and sharp breakcore (“Parasites”), and the complementarily soft blankets of noise (“Bloodclot”). The chaos of all the above just melts together into one self-consistent fever dream.

Black Noise effectively communicates dysphoria and anxiety, and its hybrid electronica-metal is satisfyingly menacing, and at times, plain cool. But there’s the insidious sensation, dampened only slightly by this slickness, that it lacks some definitive quality that would make its communications legitimately confrontational. Some decisive pizzazz or inexorability which would silence the thought of “so what?” does appear in the face of Black Noise’s noisy articulations. Exacerbating this is the fact that the record also begins to peter out in its second half, the sinister instrumental “Bloodclot” representing the turning point. Only the novelty and decidedly dark aura of these compositions keep their listener hooked just enough to follow their trajectory.

Once the surprise and intrigue of Bong-Ra’s new direction has settled, Black Noise has much to offer its acolytes. Though lacking the sticking power and ultimacy of the truly affecting, there is no denying its uniqueness and style. Reflecting sufficient existential affliction to get under your skin for at least a moment, and packing some stylish fusions of variously dense musical flavors, Black Noise is worth experiencing.

Rating: Good
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Debemur Morti Records
Websites: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: February 21st, 2024

#2025 #30 #BlackNoise #BongRa #Breakcore #DebemurMorti #DutchMetal #ElectronicMetal #ExperimentalMetal #Feb25 #Industrial #IndustrialMetal #Noise #Perturbator #Review #Reviews

Stuck in the Filter: October 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Never fear, the blog’s penchant for deep lateness punctuality persists! It is likely the new year already by the time you see this post, but we’re taking a step back. Way back, into October. I was deep in the shit then, and therefore couldn’t do anything blog-related. And yet, my minions, those very laborers for whom I provide absolutely no compensation whatsoever, toiled dutifully in the metallic dinge that is our Filter. Unforgiving though those environs undoubtedly are, they scraped and scoured until, at long last, small shards of precious ore glimmered to the surface.

These glimmers are the same which you witness before you. Some are big, some are small. Some are short, some are tall. But all are worthy. Behold!

Kenstrosity’s Belated Bombardments

Cosmic Putrefaction // Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains [October 4th, 2024 – Profound Lore Records]

I was originally slated to take over reviewing duties for Cosmic Putrefaction this year, as Thus Spoke had a prior commitment and needed a buddy to step in. Unfortunately, I was rendered useless by a force of nature for a while, so I had to let go of several items of interest. But I couldn’t let 2024 go by without saying something! Entitled Emeral Fires atop the Farewell Mountains, Cosmic Putrefaction’s fourth represents one of the smoothest, most ethereal interpretations of weird, dissonant death metal. The classic Cosmic Putrefaction riffsets under an auroric sky remain, as evidenced by ripping examples “[Entering the Vortex Temporum] – Pre-mortem Phosphenes” and “Swirling Madness, Supernal Ordeal,” but there lurks within a monstrous technical death metal creature who rabidly chases the atmospheric spirits of olde (“I Should Great the Inexorable Darkness,” “Eudaemonist Withdrawal”). While in lesser hands these distinct aesthetics would undoubtedly clash on a dissonant platform such as this, Cosmic Putrefaction’s particular application of sound and style coalesces in devastating beauty and relentless purpose (“Hallways Engraved in Aether,” “Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains”). Were it not for some instances wherein, for the first time ever, Cosmic Putrefaction threatens to self-plagiarize their own material (“Eudaemonist Withdrawal”), I would likely consider Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains for year-end list status.

Feral // To Usurp the Thrones [October 18th, 2024 – Transcending Obscurity Records]

Another one of my charges that I unfortunately had to put down against my will, Swedish death metal fiends Feral’s fourth salvo To Usurp the Thrones deserves a spotlight here. Where Flesh for Funerals Eternal impressed me as my introduction to the band and, arguably, my introduction to modern buzzsaw Swedeath, To Usurp the Thrones impresses me as a singularly vicious record in the style. Faster, meaner, more varied, and longer than its predecessor, Thrones offers the punk-tinged, thrashy death riffs you know and love, with bluesy touches reminiscent of Entombed’s Wolverine Blues adding a bit of drunken swagger to the affair (“Vile Malediction,” “Phantoms of Iniquity,” “Into the Ashes of History”). Absolute rippers like “To Drain the World of Light,” “Deformed Mentality,” “Decimated,” and “Soaked in Blood” live up to the band’s moniker, rabid and relentless in their assault. In many ways, Thrones evokes the same bloodsoaked sense of fun that Helslave’s From the Sulphur Depths conjured, but it’s angrier, more unhinged (“Spirits Without Rest,” “Stripped of Flesh”). Consequently, Thrones stands out as one of the more fun records of its ilk to come out this year. Don’t miss it!

Sun Worship // Upon the Hills of Divination [October 31st, 2024 – Vendetta Records]

Back in 2020, our dear Roquentin offered some damn fine words of praise for Germany’s Sun Worship and their third blackened blade, Emanations of Desolation. It’s been six years since that record dropped, and Upon the Hills of Divination picks up right where Emanations left off. That is to say, absolutely slimy, post-metal-tinged riffs bolstered by dense layers of warm tremolos and mid-frequency roars. Opener “Within the Machine” offers a concrete encapsulation of what to expect: bits and pieces of Hulder, Gaerea, and Vorga melding together into a compelling concoction of hypnotic black metal. Using the long form to their utmost advantage, Sun Worship craft immersive soundscapes liable to scald the flesh just as quickly as they seduce the senses, leaving me as a brainwashed minion doing a twisted mystic’s bidding unconditionally (“Serpent Nebula,” “Covenant”). Yet, there roils a sense of urgency in these songs, despite many of them occupying a mid-paced cadence, which unveils a bleeding heart willingly wrenched from Sun Worship’s body (“Fractal Entity,” the title track, and “Stormbringer”). This is what sets it apart from its contemporaries, and what makes it worthy of mention. Why it’s gotten so little attention escapes me. It is with the intent of rectifying that condition that I pen this woefully insufficient segment.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Duty Free Rifftrocity

Extorted // Cognitive Dissonance [October 16th, 2024 – Self Release]

You don’t need to read this review to know that the Kiwis of Extorted plays pit-whipping death/thrash. Though not adorned with other obvious symbols, like Vietnam War paraphernalia or crushed beer cans, the Ed Repka-penned brain-ripped head figure screams “no thoughts only riff” all the same. With snares set to pow and crashes set to kshhh, Cognitive Dissonance finds low resistance to accelerating early Death-indebted refrains. Vocalist Joel Clark even plays as a dead ringer for pre-Human Schuldiner or Van Drunen (Asphyx, ex-Pestilence) as the torture in many lines grows (on “Infected” and “Ghastly Creatures” in particular). And in a continued tour of Van Drunen-associated sounds, Extorted’s ability to find a push-and-pull cadence that twists the fury of thrash with the cutting drag of death hits that hard-to-nail early Pestilence pocket with studied flair (“Deception,” “Limits of Reality”). Though a considerable amount of the Extorted identity rests in ideas borrowed and reinterpreted, a modern tonal canvas gives Cognitive Dissonance’s rhythms a punchy and balanced low-end weight that doesn’t always present itself in the world of old. Couple that with hooks that reach far beyond the limits of pure homage (“Transformation of Dreams,” “Violence”), and it’s easy to plow through the thirty minutes of tasteful harmonies, bending solos, and spit-stained lamentations that Extorted offers with their powerful debut.

Bríi // Camaradagem Póstuma [October 11th, 2024 – Self Release]

With Camaradagem Póstuma we enter the hazy, folky world of Caio Lemos’ unique vision of what experimental electronic music can be colored by the underpinnings of atmospheric black metal and jazz fusion. Using terraced melodies like baroque music of old and distant breakbeats like the Bong-Ra of recent yesteryears, Brazil’s Bríi represents one man’s highly specific melding that rarely occurs in this space. The guitar lines that do exist play out as textural, slow-developing passages. On tracks “Aparecidos” and “Baile Fantasma” this looping and hypnotic pattern shuffle resembles ambient Pat Metheny or King Crimson colors, the kind where finding the end of nylon pluck into a weaving, high-frequency synth patch feels not impossible but unnecessary. And on the more metallic side of things, Lemos cranks programmed blasts that carry his tortured, panning, and shrouded wails as a guide for the melodic evolution of each track, much in the same way a warping bass line would in a progressive house track. But maintaining the tempo of classic drum and bass, Camaradagem Póstuma wisps away in its atmosphere, coming back to a driving rhythm either via pummeling double kick or glitching break. Despite the hard, danceable pulse that tracks “Enlutados” and “Entre Mundos” boast, Bríi does not feel built for the kvlt klvbs of this world, leaning on a gated, lo-fi aesthetic that makes for an ideal drift away on closed cans, much like the equally idiosyncratic Wist album from earlier this year. And similarly, Camaradagem Póstuma sits in an outsider world of enjoyment. But if any of this sounds like your jam, prepare to get addicted to Bríi.

Thus Spoke’s Rotten Remnants

Livløs // The Crescent King [October 4th, 2024 – Noctum Productions]

Livløs are one of those bands that deserves far more recognition than they receive. With LP three, The Crescent King, they might finally see it. Their punchy intriguing infusion of Swedish and US melodic death metal—though the band themselves hail from Denmark—has a pleasing melancholia and satisfying bite. Here in particular, there’s more than a passing resemblance to Hath, to Cognizance, and to In Mourning. Stomping grooves (“Maelstrom,” “Usurpers”) slide in between blitzes of tripping gallops, and electrifying fretwork (“Orbit Weaver,” “Scourge of the Stars”). Mournful, compelling melodies woven into this technical tapestry—some highlights being the title track, “Harvest,” and “Endless Majesty”—turn already good melodeath into great melodeath; melodeath that’s majestic and powerful, without ever feeling overblown. With its relentless, groovy dynamism, the crisp, spacious production seals the deal for total immersion. If this is your first time hearing about Livløs, you’re in for a treat.

Sordide // Ainsi finit le jour [October 25th, 2024 – Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions]

And So Ends the Day, whilst another begins where I rediscover Sordide. I know not how I forgot their existence despite the impression that 2021’s Les Idées Blanches made upon me, yet all I could recall was the disturbingly simple, melty art.1 Ainsi Finit le Jour arrives with a hefty dose (53 minutes no less) of punky, dissonant black metal that’s even rawer and more pissed-off than their usual fare. “Des feux plus forts,” “La poesie du caniveau,” and the title track stand out as the most vicious, near-first-wave cuts the trio have ever laid down, with manic, group wails, and chaotic, jangling percussion. But as is so often the case with Sordide, perhaps the truest brutality comes in the slower discordant crawls of “Sous Vivre,” “Tout est a la mort,” and the particularly unsettling “La beauté du desastre,” whose creeping, half-tuneful teasing and turns to eerie spaciousness get right under your skin. It is arguably a little too long for its own good, given its intensity, but its impressiveness does mean that, this time, Sordide won’t be forgotten.

Dear Hollow’s Droll Hashals

Annihilist // Reform [October 18th, 2024 – Self Release]

What Melbourne’s Annihilist does with flamboyant flare and reckless abandon is blur the lines of its core stylistic choices. One moment it’s chugging away like a deathcore band, the next it’s dripping away with a groove metal swagger, ope, now it’s on its way to Hot Topic. All we know is that all its members attack with a chameleonic intensity and otherworldly technicality that’s hard to pin down. An insane level of technicality is the thread that courses throughout the entirety of this debut, recalling Within the Ruins or The Human Abstract in its stuttering rhythms and flailing arpeggios. From catchy leads and punishing rhythms (“The Upsend,” “Guillotine”), bouncy breakdowns, clean choruses, and wild gang vocals (“Blood”), djenty guitar seizures (“Virus,” “Better Off”) to full-on groove (“N.M.E.,” “The Host”), the likes of Lamb of God, early Architects, Born of Osiris, and Children of Bodom are conjured. Lyrics of hardcore punk’s signature anarchy and societal distrust collide with an instrumental palette of melodeath and the more technical kin of metalcore and deathcore, groove metal, and hardcore. As such, the album is complicated, episodic, and unpredictable, with only its wild technicality connecting its fragmented bits – keeping Reform from achieving the greatness that the band is so capable of. As it stands, though, Annihilist offers an insanely fun, everchanging, and unhinged roller coaster of -core proportions – a roller -corester, if you will.

Under Alekhines Gun

Theurgy // Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence [October 17th, 2024 – New Standard Elite]

In a year where slam and brutal death have already had an atypically high-quality output, international outfit Theurgy have come with an RKO out of nowhere to shatter whatever remains of your cerebral cortex. Channeling the flamboyancy of old Analepsy with the snare abuse and neanderthalic glee of Epicardiectomy, Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence wastes no time severing vertebrae and reducing eardrums to paste. Don’t mistake this for a brainless, caveman assault, however. Peppered between the hammiest of hammers are tech flourishes pulled straight from Dingir era Rings of Saturn, adding an unexpected technical edge to the blunt force trauma. The production manages to pair these two disparaging elements with lethal efficiency. Is it the techiest slam album, or the wettest, greasiest tech album? Did I mention there’s a super moldy cover of Devourment‘s “Molesting the Decapitated”? It slots right into the albums flow without feeling like a tacked-on bonus track, highlighting Theurgy’s commitment to the homicidal odes of brutality. Throw in a vocal performance that makes Angel Ochoa (Abominable Putridity) sound like Anders Fridén (In Flames), and you’re left with one last lethal assault to round out the year. Dive in and give your luminescence something to cry about.

GardensTale’s Great Glacier

Ghosts of Glaciers // Eternal [October 25th, 2024 – Translation Loss Records]

Ghosts of Glaciers’s last release, The Greatest Burden, was a masterclass of post-metal flow and has become a mainstay in my instrumental metal collection since my review in 2019. Dropping in tandem with several other high-profile releases, though, I could not give its follow-up the kind of attention it deserves. And make no mistake, it absolutely deserves that attention. The opening duo, “The Vast Expanse” and “Sunken Chamber,” measure up fully to The Greatest Burden, though it takes a few spins for that to become clear. Both use repetitive patterns more than before, but closer listens reveal how subtle variations and evolution of each cycle build gradual tension, so the release becomes all the more satisfying. I’m a little more ambivalent on the back half of Eternal, though. “Leviathan” packs a bigger punch than more of the band’s material, it lacks the swirling and sweeping currents that pull me under and demand full and uninterrupted plays every time. Closer “Regeneratio Aeterna” is a pretty but rather demure piece that lasts a bit longer than it should have. But despite these reservations, the great material outstrips the merely good, and Eternal is a worthwhile addition to any instrumental metal collection.

#AbominablePutridity #AinsiFinitLeJour #AmericanMetal #Analepsy #Annihilist #Architects #Asphyx #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #BlackMetal #BongRa #BornOfOsiris #BrazilianMetal #Bríi #BrutalDeathMetal #CamaradagemPóstuma #ChildrenOfBodom #CognitiveDissonance #Cognizance #CosmicPutrefaction #Death #DeathMetal #DeathThrash #Deathcore #Devourment #DissonantBlackMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Electronic #EmanationsOfUnconsciousLuminescence #EmeralFiresAtopTheFarewellMountains #Entombed #Epicardiectomy #Eternal #ExperimentalMetal #Extorted #Feral #FrenchMetal #Gaerea #GermanMetal #GhostsOfGlaciers #GrooveMetal #Hardcore #HardcorePunk #Hath #Helslave #Hulder #InFlames #InMourning #InternationalMetal #ItalianMetal #KingCrimson #LambOfGod #LesActeursDeLOmbreProductions #Livløs #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #NewStandardElite #NewZealandMetal #NoctumProductions #OSDM #PatMetheny #Pestilence #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #ProfoundLoreRecords #Reform #RingsOfSaturn #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #Slam #Sordide #SunWorship #SwedishMetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheCrescentKing #TheHumanAbstract #Theurgy #ThrashMetal #ToUsurpTheThrones #TranscendingObscurityRecords #TranslationLossRecords #UponTheHillsOfDivination #VendettaRecords #VertebraAtlantis #Vorga #Wist #WithinTheRuins

Contrite Metal Guy: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Wrongness, Volume the Second

By Cherd

The life of the unpaid, overworked metal reviewer is not an easy one. Cascading promos, unreasonable deadlines, draconian editors, and the unwashed metal mobs – it makes for a swirling maelstrom of music and madness. In all that tumult, errors are bound to happen and sometimes our initial impression of an album may not be completely accurate. With time and distance comes wisdom, and so we’ve decided to pull back the confessional curtain and reveal our biggest blunders, missteps, oversights and ratings face-plants. Consider this our sincere AMGea culpa. Redemption is retroactive, forgiveness is mandatory.

As those of us who follow the Gregorian calendar and partake in Judeo/Christian cultural traditions prepare to face the final bosses of the holiday season, we experience a wide range of feelings. Anticipation, at the prospect of gorging on holiday treats as we shuffle from one party to another thrown by family and friends. Nostalgia, of course, as we uphold our traditions and reflect on the celebrations of yesteryear. And, for those who write music reviews for a non-living, contrition. Intense embarrassment and remorse as we prepare for Listurnalia, revisiting records we thought we had judicated accurately only to discover the depth of our wrongheadedness. Sometimes our self-reproach has nothing to do with impending lists. Sometimes, shortly after writing a review, an ember of doubt will ignite, smoldering just under our calm exteriors, growing until we want to shriek “Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! — tear up the planks! — here, here! — it is the beating of his hideous heart!” It’s been over three years since the last time we unloaded our disgrace onto you, the unsuspecting reader, so expect this to be a long self-flagellation session.

– Cherd

Carcharodon

Verses in contrition

Earlier this year, I described Hulder’s Verses in Oath as spellbinding, going on to ward it a lofty 4.5. I’ve taken a fair amount of stick for that in the months since, both in the comments and round the staffroom feeding trough. And while that’s fine—you’ve all been wrong before and I have absolutely no doubt you’ll all be wrong again—it’s only fair that such consistent criticism should cause me to reflect a little. And reflect I have. Now, it’s true that, as I said in my review, Verses in Oath is dark and vicious, but also haunting and ethereal. But it’s also true that, although well executed, it lacks true originality and I got carried away. It happens. I loved all the constituent elements of the record and I still think that they are woven together with skill and good songcraft. However, it’s not an album I’ve returned to as much as I thought I would and (spoilers!) it’s not going to make my year end list. Which makes it rather hard to defend the 4.5 any longer. So I won’t. It’s a very good album but no more than that.

Original score: 4.5
Adjusted score: 3.5

We came here to apologize

Minnesota’s Ashbringer has always been a band of shades, shifting between atmo-black, shoegaze, post-metal, and more. On last year’s We Came Here to Grieve, they added heavily fuzzed blues melodies and languid Incubus-esque post-rock, which I lapped up. Looking, and of course listening, back, there’s still a lot to like about the album but—and it’s a big but—I wince at those clean vocals. I suggested in my review that, while the cleans were not great, there was a sort of vulnerable authenticity to Nick Stanger’s voice that meant he just about got away with it. I can only think I was in a very vulnerable place at the time because he absolutely does not get away with it, nor should he be allowed to. Much as I enjoy Stanger’s harsh post-hardcore vox, his cleans are outright bad in places, which should have placed a very hard ceiling on the score that the album could achieve. Somehow, We Came Here to Grieve shattered that ceiling. It must now be repaired.

Original score: 4.0
Adjusted score: 3.0

Glare of the Noise

To more recent errors: in September, I did an injustice to Glare of the Sun’s TAL. I’m ashamed to say it but I went into that review looking for flaws—and I did find a couple—because I’d already done what you would all see next: Kanonenfieber. I didn’t lightly award that 5.0 and I stand by it but I was painfully conscious of it sitting there, on the assembly line and that affected my assessment of Glare of the Sun. While I think TAL could, and probably should, have been shorter and that there were a couple of less impactful songs (“Leaving Towards Spring,” for example), there are no real missteps here and it’s a great album. I stand by the words in my review but not the score, which should have been a 4.0.

Original score: 3.5
Adjusted score: 4.0

Noisy remorse

I can keep this brief because I’ve already publicly admitted to underscoring Leiþa’s Reue. I gave it a 3.5 but knew at the time that it deserved a 4.0, something duly confirmed by AMG Himself, when he awarded it Record o’ the Month for January 2023, hinting that he might even have supported a 4.5. I think that might be going a touch far but, when I look back at my review, it reads like a 4.0 and it should’ve been a 4.0. The only reason it wasn’t, was that Noise (of Kanonenfieber, Leiþa and Non Est Deus) just makes too much damned good black metal, much of which I’d already gushed about. Ironically, given it was also a Noise project that led to me shortchanging Glare of the Sun, here his excellence also caused me to underrate his own album. Fool.

Original score: 3.5
Adjusted score: 4.0

Dear Hollow

Iconic in a different universe

Rarely do I bestow 4.0s out of spite, but that’s exactly what happened with Fractal Generator. While I have liked their follow-up Convergence much more for its punishingly dense palette, I simply could not find any distinct fault with Macrocosmos. In hindsight, the album’s inhuman technicality and dissonance doesn’t play nice with the organicity and warmth the production offers, but more glaringly, I never returned to the album. Sure, some tracks really stand out and rip a hole in the space-time continuum (“Aeon,” “Chaosphere,” “Shadows of Infinity”), but for all its experimentalism and alien dissonance paired with deathgrind, Fractal Generator’s debut was simply unmemorable. Deathgrind bruisers like Knoll and Vermin Womb simply do it better, as the Italians never quite cut loose in the same way deathgrind ought to. What’s left is largely a pale imitation of Misery Index with an added shot of Portal’s IONian dissonance. It’s still good and improved with Convergence, but it is not the cosmos wrecker I thought it was.

Original score: 4.0
Adjusted score: 2.5

Cold ‘n’ what?

I have a bad habit of pretense, and Calligram’s The Eye is the First Circle was one hell of a pretense. Bestowing the same honor to Position | Momentum seemed like an open-and-shut case, but like Fractal Generator, I never returned to it and it never made any appearances on any year-end lists. It boasts more icy punk-infused black metal that would be sure to get the, like, four fans of Darkthrone’s Circle the Wagons or the underground cult of the gone-but-unforgotten Young and In the Way going, but it more exemplified the way-too-safe crash back to earth after The Eye. The experimental focus is still there with melancholic jazz (“Ostranenie”) and post-rock crescendos (“Seminari Dieci”), and the blackened punk is still a barnstormer (“Sul Dolore,” “Tebe”), but the absence of the two-ton sludge that weighted The Eye is felt – as if Calligram got blown away in a blizzard. In many ways, Position | Momentum is the Italian act’s more kvlt offering, but it alienates its widespread appeal with its now-limited audience. Great for some, less for others.

Original score: 4.0
Adjusted score: 3.0

TAKE ME TO FUCKIN’ CHURCH

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter’s past in Lingua Ignota is certainly noteworthy, but when she dispels all the bells and whistles, we’re left with the horror of SAVED! It’s stripped to the bone, deceptively straightforward, with only some experimental tricks to make the subtle shift from Jesus lover to Jesus hater. Likely the most returned-to album I’ve ever reviewed,1 vicious and jaded sardonicism (“All My Friends Are Going to Hell”), hymns crashing into uncanny valley (“There is Power in the Blood,” “Nothing But the Blood”), and ominous dirges (“Idumea,” “The Poor Wayfaring Stranger”) all collide in a subtle yet earth-shaking affair that I have yet to shake. This is not even mentioning some of the most punishing sounds to shake Appalachia with Pentecostal and blasphemous fury: truly, the dissonant swell of “I Will Be With You Always” and Hayter’s tortured screaming and glossolalia in “How Can I Keep From Singing” have never left me. While the sentiment of a 3.5 is certainly merited in its divisive approach, the impact of SAVED! cannot be understated.

Original score: 3.5
Adjusted score: 4.5

Thus Spoke

Meditations on contrition

In my first year as a newly promoted writer, I let the chill vibes of a summer holiday get to my head with Bong-Ra’s Meditations. It’s a good album, that much is still true. It is, as I pointed out at the time, immersive and engaging despite being totally instrumental. It’s also undeniably unique thanks to Bong-Ra’s choice to combine saxophone and oud with piano and guitar, and the striking way that volume is used to build tension. I do think I over-emphasized this novelty and strength, but it’s there regardless. Have I revisited it since 2022? The answer is no, and it is mainly for this reason that I concede I overrated it.

Original score: Excellent
Adjusted score: Very Good

Between the scores of right and wrong

I think I must have been in an exceptionally bad mood the week I wrote my review of Between the Worlds of Life and Death. Yes, Vale of Pnath disappointed a little with a turn in the direction of deathcore, but the result is hardly itself disappointing. My first inkling I’d done Between the Worlds of Life and Death a disservice was when I realized I’d been listening to it in the gym an awful lot, several months after giving my official score. I gestured towards anticlimactic song structures and distracting theatricality, and while I still think Vale of Pnath could have refined their templates, these compositions have stood the test of time, and of leg day. It may take them one more record to solidify their new sound, but this was a cracking record I was evidently in the wrong mindset to appreciate when it first landed in my hands.

Original score: Good
Adjusted score: Very Good

Cutting the throat of an incorrect score

When my review of Cutting the Throat of God went live, I noticed several questions in the comments to the effect of “where’d the ‘Iconic’ get lost?” Well, here I am, barely six months later, to set things right. After spending the best part of that time listening and relistening daily; after seeing the band live this October and falling in love all over again; after running through the band’s back catalogue and confirming that I do indeed like this one best, I can no longer deny what I knew from the start. Call me over-eager, fawning, blinded by infatuation. I don’t care. Ulcerate are the undisputed masters of their craft and this is an album I’ll be listening to for the next ten years at least. My only regret is not doing this the first time around.

Original score: Excellent
Adjusted score: Iconic

Sparagmos (of my original rating)

In line with my habit of taking the least linear route possible into a subgenre, I became enamored with what I now know to be basically ‘diSEMBOWELMENT-core’ before ever listening to diSEMBOWELMENT themself. Think Worm, Tomb Mold, and the current subject, Spectral Voice. Without the obvious reference point, the undeniably crushing, cavernous might of Sparagmos stunned me perhaps more than it had any right to. Make no mistake, Sparagmos remains a behemoth of intensely frightening doom death, one that’s fully capable of dragging me into its abyssal depths. And its ability to immerse in spite of its length and creeping pace still impresses me. But now that the ritual haze has lifted a little, I can recognize that it’s not quite the pinnacle of perfection I was fooled into believing it was.

Original score: Excellent
Adjusted score: Great

Score of unreason

I’m not sure exactly what held me back from awarding a higher score to Age of Unreason, especially considering that a quick look at my average would show I’m not usually one for restraint. Whatever the reason, I deemed ColdCell to have taken a slight step down from their previous effort, The Greater Evil, but with the benefit of hindsight, I see I had this entirely the wrong way around. Age of Unreason is emotionally poignant and refreshingly vulnerable, and it’s delivered in a unique, compelling black metal package. Dark and somewhat mysterious, like all of ColdCell’s output, it has the benefit of being much sharper, and more skilfully edited, which makes it endlessly relistenable. I recognize now that this is, in fact, ColdCell’s best album.

Original score: Very Good
Adjusted score: Great

Dolphin Revisioner

Premature coagulation

It’s not that Coagulated Bliss doesn’t contain any great music. Between the heavier bright and fiery noise rock cuts (“Half Life Changelings”), martial stomps (“Doors to Mental Agony”), and Discordance Axis powergrind (“Vomiting Glass”) it represents among the best stretches of Full of Hell offerings. Coagulated Bliss also boasts a fantastic soundstage. As a rhythmically interesting band with more to say than simple blast beats and hammer shows, Full of Hell brings it with the powerviolence escalations (“Transmuting Chemical Burns”) and sliding grooves (“Schizoid Rapture”) in a clear and punchy manner for which I’d always hoped. But as time marched on and I continued to revel in these many reasons to celebrate Full of Hell, I came too to find a distaste for the most pandering and unnecessary tracks—cameo performances that rob the luster of Full of Hell’s raw energy. Does it feel silly to say that a twenty-five-minute album runs almost five minutes too long? No, not at all when that five minutes of completely avoidable downtime kills a historic run. As such, I’m left to remember Coagulated Bliss more for its near greatness, its finish line stumble— yet, I long for where this puts Full of Hell next.

Original score: 4.0
Adjusted score: 3.5

Third eye open

Emergent is unbelievably dense for an album that lets shrill, alien leads dance about the spaciousness of a booming, metallic floor—a bass-rich, industrial pulse that has allowed Autarkh’s sophomore strike to rattle with an upward energy. An album doesn’t always lend itself well to the constraint of a review cycle, especially when its biggest boom rests in amplification, loudness, and feeling. While I try to cycle everything I review through a number of listening platforms, a extra abandon on extended commutes allows cranked tones to work their wonders. And in Emergent’s meticulous design I’ve continued to discover swirling and diving synth chirps, buzzing and scuzzing low-end traps, all of which frame their eerie and jazzy progressive howl with unshakable, unrelenting rhythms. Intention lives in every panning channel hum, emotion lives in every broken-voiced, discordant cry, and exploration lives both in the bulge of every swell and spread of every break. Though Emergent received two scores in its initial stand, it would seem that neither I nor Kenfren had the proper perspective to grant Autarkh the right score. But time settles all debts, and with nothing in the metalverse sounding quite like Autarkh, Emergent holds an esteemed and flourishing spot in my rotation.

Original score: Very Good.
Adjusted score: Great!

Mystikus Hugebeard

Traverse the regret

I have made no secret of my contrition over Sgaile’s Traverse the Bealach (my regret was even deep enough to mention it on the 15 year anniversary piece). Both commenters and staff alike recognized my underrating, but the miserable truth is I knew it before even they did. In my review, I allowed every perceived flaw to become a glaring boil out of some misguided belief that I had to be hypercritical of something I loved lest I not be taken seriously as a Super Important Music Reviewer. I do think Traverse the Bealach’s second half isn’t quite as strong as the first half, but it’s nowhere near as damaging as I’d initially tried to convince myself. Sgaile’s Traverse the Bealach is never anything less than a delightful listen with some of the most cohesive, satisfying songwriting from any band I’ve heard, and is just as enjoyable a year later as it was on release. Tune in to next year’s Contrite Metal Guy when I adjust the score even higher, but for now just call me Mystikus Absolvedbeard.

Original Score: 3.5
Adjusted Score: 4.0

#2024 #AgeOfUnreason #Ashbringer #Autarkh #BetweenTheWorldsOfLifeAndDeath #BongRa #Calligram #CoagulatedBliss #ColdCell #ContriteMetalGuy #Convergence #CuttingTheThroatOfGod #Emergent #FractalGenerator #FullOfHell #GlareOfTheSun #Hulder #Leitha #Meditations #Reue #ReverendKristinMichaelHayter #Saved_ #Sgaile #TAL #TheEyeIsTheFirstCircle #TraverseTheBealach #Ulcerate #ValeOfPnath #VersesInOath #WeCameHereToGrieve

Death Killer – Total Destruction of the Entire Universe Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

What better way to ring in the new year than an album that describes exactly what feels right? Don’t get me wrong, life has its perks, but every now and again Total Destruction of the Entire Universe runs through my head as a solution. But a day job where you have to make call after call to reach a human to help you schedule a delivery appointment but that inevitably goes to a voicemail box that cuts you off before you can leave your info so then you call again and it goes to voicemail and cuts you off so then you call again and it goes to voicemail and cuts you off so you call again and choose the intentionally wrong directory to speak to a human who can transfer you to a voicemail box that isn’t full but then they never call you back… ah shit where was I. Oh yeah, Death Killer, Total Destruction of the Entire Universe—this little debut speaks to me.

Death Killer may not speak to you, though, if you don’t already dig throbbing industrial music in some way. And I don’t mean old-timey industrial thrashings like the out-played lamentations of 00s Ministry work—though tonally, Total Destruction bears some resemblance. But in its drop-tuned chugging and wildly spiraling beats, the most aggressive elements of Total Destruction resemble classic Slipknot works—Iowa in particular1—backed by a drum machine that has no regard for the kind of rhythms that a human could conjure. In that sense, a thuggish nu element pervades through the kind of groove that Death Killer conjures, but luckily for whiny clean sensitive folks, every vocal line here lives by the industrial manta “distort everything”—nu in spirit but often truly sinister in execution.

As such, Total Destruction hits hardest when it lives by its mission statement in an attempt to be a ruthless, experimental, and punishing industrial album. On high tempo numbers, Death Killer approximates the crazy kick violence of Anaal Nathrakh through an (ironically) traditional heavy metal and black metal lens, providing hooks aplenty against its mechanically-traced rhythms (“You Know Nothing About Metal,” “Nobody Survives (Prophecy)”). Whiffs of its modern attitude run through the pummeling angst of wild industrial pioneers Strapping Young Lad present in the grind to near slam of “I Hate People” and the trap (hip-hop) segue that breaks the martial argument of “Retro = Shit.” And, of course, there’s “SNAKES,” which is an incessantly chuggy and rattling number whose lyrics comprise mostly of the word “SNAKES”—it’s great and everyone needs more snakes in their lives.

But after all of the success that comes at the hands of broken guitar tones and vocals stripped of humanity, Death Killer stumbles over its own lesser industrial leanings along the way. I appreciate that the mind behind this project pulls from the sound of scuzzy electronic albums—think grimy Bong-Ra releases or other break-leaning Köhnen projects like Servants of the Apocalyptic Goat Rave—to let bass patches scrape and rumble against a myriad of weird sampled sounds (“Goodbye, Wilhem,” “Dentist”). These vocal-less tracks have a purpose in their own right, with the steady thump of 70 or so BPM providing the right slower grip for many different gym activities. However, in the context of the shreddier flow that everything else sets up, they take me away from the onslaught of heavy hitting drills and inspired tone metal (“You Know Nothing…,” “I Hate People”). And on a similar note, the dark ambience of the creeping closer “Emotional Life” doesn’t tie off the album in any meaningful way.

Nevertheless, the unique soundscape that Death Killer serves enough with its brief debut to make an impact. Moreso than many other metal niches, the industrial platform doesn’t have many modern torchbearers outside of the then-futuristic, now-dated names of the past. And though Total Destruction of the Entire Universe may not be rewriting the book as controversially as promo speak would imply—including the claim that the crushed yet still spacious DR5 would be the “loudest master of the year”2—Death Killer lays a powerful and rebellious attack that feels honest and, well, groovy. Come for the end of world, stay for snakes.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: WAV3
Label: Last Day of the North
Website: deathkiller.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: January 19th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AnaalNathrakh #BongRa #DeathKiller #FinnishMetal #Industrial #IndustrialMetal #Jan24 #LastDayOfTheNorth #Ministry #Review #ServantsOfTheApocalypticGoatRave #Slipknot #StrappingYoungLad #TotalDestructionOfTheEntireUniverse

Stuck in the Filter – October’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Frens, frenemies, poseurs, all. It’s been one helluva year, hasn’t it? Not only has the year of our Jørn 2023 played host to an unseemly number of metal releases, but an unusual quantity of those releases were good enough to earn their place in these hallowed Filters. Now, the end of the year looms, and we’ve got one more collection of filthy chunks to share.

I would like to thank all of the many contributors who have supplied material for this feature, helping it thrive these last couple of years. And of course, I’d like to extend my thanks to Steel Druhm and AMG Himself for entrusting me to manage this segment, and for further supporting and upgrading this feature so that it might gain an even greater presence for our readers in coming years. Without further ado, and in the spirit of Listurnalia, we welcome you to the final Stuck in the Filter piece of 2023. HUZZAH!

Kenstrosity’s Mildewed Masses

Akouphenom // Death·Chaos·Void [October 13th, 2023 – Avantgarde Music]

Spanish blackened death metal band Akouphenom sprung out of absolute nowhere for spongekind. Encountered during a biweekly listening session I attend with some Discord frens, debut record Death·Chaos·Void represents one twisted, barbed tome of scorched extreme metal. From the onset of opener proper “Devour,” I revel in the dark incantations of infernal horror which takes the form of vile riffs, phlegmy rasps, and rabid blasts. Reminiscent of Belphegor, Ars Magna Umbrae, and Veilburner, Death·Chaos·Void demands my soul as the price for engaging with its devilish charms, charms which allow its long-form constructs to fly by in the blink of an eye. You wouldn’t expect tracks like the twelve-minute “Upper Cycle of Infinite Tails” to shred time into ribbons, but its vicious and memorable songwriting enlivens each and every second such that it feels lithe and agile rather than bloated and clumsy (“Flesh Sublimation,” “Death·Chaos·Void”). An excellent production job further solidifies Death·Chaos·Void’s merit, especially considering this is Akouphenom’s first full length. With no weak songs to be had and very little to criticize, you may wonder why this record doesn’t earn a full Things You Might Have Missed article from yours truly. The answer? Neglect. I simply didn’t listen to this album in full until very recently. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Get in on this before the year’s out!

Eye of Horus // Noxium [October 14th, 2023 – Self Release]

Like it or not, The Black Dahlia Murder’s influence on the metalsphere cannot be denied. Imitators everywhere crib their material and try to grasp the glory that the legendary melodic death metal band secured for themselves over their storied career. While none of the bands strongly inspired by TBDM share the same success, many still put out worthy material. One such band is Eye of Horus, an unheralded Canadian melodic death metal quintet whose sophomore record Noxium represents one of the better slabs of TBDM worship I’ve heard. At a tight thirty-six minutes, Noxium brims with top-of-the-line hooks and compelling songwriting. Opener “Modern Meat Grinder” is proof positive of that end, with its infectious gang shout chorus of “FEED YOUR NEIGHBOR TO THE MEAT GRINDER!!!” Couple that with excellent riffcraft, meaty roars, and acrobatic drumming, and you’ve got yourself a top-notch start to a criminally fun record. To my great joy, many subsequent cuts live up to the initial quality established early on. “Patriarch,” “Hellbound,” “Phantom Sepulchre,” “Gripped by the Grave,” and closer “Beyond the Mortal Veil” all offer plenty of metallic goodness and exciting songwriting to push it above the pack. While they still lack a unique identity, Eye of Horus show ample potential to grow into their own voice down the line. Keep your eye on them!

Crystal Coffin // The Curse of Immortality [October 31st, 2023 – Self Release]

Doom_et_Al should’ve covered this record months ago. He knew it was coming. I am convinced of it. Don’t believe his denials! Thankfully, I am here to pick up the ball. Hailing from Vancouver, Crystal Coffin dropped their third LP The Curse of Immortality back on Halloween. While I agree with Doom‘s assessment of predecessor The Starway Eternal, something about Crystal Coffin’s latest effort feels elevated, refined, and matured. Lushly layered melodies, groovy drumming, and invigorated songwriting characterize The Curse of Immortality in a way we’ve not heard from this group before. Coupled with their already well-established knack for interesting storytelling and novel subject matter, the pieces come together to create an album greater than the sum of its parts. Opener “Shadows Never Cast” offers a great encapsulation of what to expect, replete with ripping tremolos, infectious energy, and fun electronic effects. Black-n-roll bangers like “The Undead,” “The Vortex of Earth and Death,” “Final Breaths,” and “Leviathans Encased” showcase Crystal Coffin’s versatility in fine fashion too. Juggling swaggering riffs with delicate piano, crooning cleans, and whimsical synthwork, these songs evoke an eerie, sci-fi atmosphere that deviates from the popular application of such aesthetics in black metal. In short, if you’re looking for quality black metal of a niche mold, give Crystal Coffin’s The Curse of Immortality a go.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Nonpareil Nuggets

Comaniac // All for None [October 13th, 2023 – Metalworld]

With a name oddly ripped from a classic Artillery song, banger titles like “Desolation Manifest” and “Breakdown Rite,” and an atemporal, battle-ready cover All for None screams with the rustic abandon of rowdy, shreddy thrash. Comaniac hail from the mountainous scape of Switzerland, a land that once hosted the neoclassically inclined, rapid-fire riffage of the legendary Coroner. Following in similar footsteps, ripping trash break after ripping thrash break litters this sweeping outing. And much like their countrymen in Stortregn, or a whimsical, aged act like Forbidden, guitarists Jonas Schmid and Valentin Mössinger—the latter of whom also provides a spacious and sparkling mix/master job—kill the electrics to up the drama with serenading nylon passages (“Eye to Eye,” “Life Long Doll,” “Self Sacrifice”). But this dash of progressive attitude doesn’t get in the way too often, though it can push Schmid’s already unadvisable, rabid bark into an accented croon that’s not particularly polished (“Life Long Doll,” “Self Sacrifice”). The strength of the shred-forward, throat-abusing cuts land powerfully enough make up the difference though (“Desolation Manifest,” “Breakdown Rite,” “Between the Stars”), with plenty of rapid tempo shifts and pull-off runs to dizzy an already spinning crowd. A techy thrash band this exciting hasn’t come around for me in a long time, and if I were a smarter man I’d probably have caught them sooner then this—All for None is their fourth album after all. But I don’t being late to the party when ass-kickin’ thrash is on the menu.

Novere // Nothing Stays Hidden in Daylight [October 1st, 2023 – Trepanation Recordings]

Founded by Dawnwalker guitarist Matteo Bianciotto, Thai-born now UK-based vocalist/bassist Top Tarasin,1, and a couple of other friends from the UK scene, Novere has been stewing their cinematic, heavy-hitting post-metal sound for a few years leading to this stunning full-length debut. Pulling from the hazy domain of alt-legends Tool and the ritualistic roar-to-altar of Amenra, Novere fills a wide scope with delicately recorded clean passages only to tear them away layer by layer with full volume crashes (“Hydra,” “Aphelion”). “Danse Macabre” may land as the most challenging of the bunch for those who crave the harsh release those first two numbers promise, its beautiful and folky expression leaning firmly in a glistening, textural post-rock world, dreamy croons included. But at four tracks, thirty-five minutes, and the haunting, ISIS-imbued speaker-rattling close of “Cromlech,” Nothing Stays Hidden in Daylight escapes the trapping trope of “never-ending whoosh” that the genre of post-metal so often harbors. With lush production handled by none other than postmaster himself Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna), each careful listen of delicate string touches, wobbling bass lurches, splashing cymbal arrays, resonates more deeply than the last—truly ear candy. Once you’ve fallen prey to this as many times as I have in my short time with it, you’ll be hoping too for a quick turn around on a follow-up.

Dear Hollow’s Gutter Garbage

The Voynich Code // Insomnia [October 13th, 2023 – Unique Leader Records]

Look, deathcore can be cool again, although I’m not sure if it ever was. Aspiring deathcore shenaniganizers just need to play like Portugal’s The Voynich Code. Sounding like a deft combination of Born of Osiris and Shadow of Intent, with just hints of old Veil of Maya and Lorna Shore, there’s a lot going on with the four-piece’s second full-length. Following the milquetoast Aqua Vitae in 2017, I was resigned that perhaps The Voynich Code had better short-form pieces, as their debut 2015 EP Ignotum offered potential galore while 2021’s Post Mortem offered a punchy batch of solid tunes with tasteful brevity. Offering an absolute mammoth deathcore sound with hints of blackened and djent flavors, they more than make up for their poor stylistic choices with a penchant for shredding and tasteful technicality. “Homecoming,” “A Dying Age,” and “Hell’s Black Heart” offer blades of shredding riffs and wildly technical leads, while the blackened symphonic Dimmu Borgir flavors of “Insomnia” and “A Flicker of Life” offer a gravity of dread that adds an unmistakably horror-based experience. Ultimately, does The Voynich Code do anything earthshaking? No. The vocalist could stand to expand his range, the songs start to bleed together by a certain point, and there is a lot going on. But there’s also shredding technicality, dizzying intensity, full-throttle brutality, and a whole lotta fun to get your head bobbing.

End // The Sin of Human Frailty [October 27th, 2023 – Closed Casket Activities]

Excuse me while I add another soundtrack for my sellout. For the uninitiated, End is a supergroup from New Jersey, featuring heavy hitter veterans from household bands like Counterparts, Fit for an Autopsy, Shai Hulud, and The Acacia Strain. While the tag “metalcore” is present here, you’ll find more Full of Hell or Cult Leader in this caustic concoction rather than any of the August Burns Reds of the world. Brendan Murphy has never sounded so commanding, while the buzzsaw Nails-esque riffs of Will Putney and Gregory Thomas gash with furious intensity, undergirded by the abusive rhythm section of Jay Pepito and Matt Guglielmo. Bordering on powerviolence and grind at sporadic intervals in tracks like “Gaping Wounds of Earth” and “Twice Devoured Kill” (featuring Pig Destroyer’s J.R. Hayes) End features an expertly honed balance between bludgeoning weight and skronky technicality. While “Thaw” is a strangely EDM, industrial, and experimental inclusion (also featuring the croons of Heriot’s Debbie Gough), The Sin of Human Frailty sees End laying it on with a grind intensity, deathcore weight, and hardcore attitude – a punch in the face you’ll come back for again and again.

Tales from the Garden

The Answer Lies in the Black Void // Thou Shalt [October 13th, 2023 – Burning World Records]

Both of my entries this month are returning artists I had intended to review properly, but life and my head got in the way, so this is my mea culpa. Last time The Answer Lies in the Black Void trod their unwieldy handle unto our doorstep I slapped down an enthusiastic 3.5, and Thou Shalt is up to par with that lovely debut. TALITBV2 is a collaboration between Martina Horváth (Thy Catafalque) and Jason Köhnen (Bong-Ra et 300 al) and is less weird than either collaborant implies, instead opting for gothic doom that’s both heavy and heavy on the atmosphere. Good use of tempo changes, enthusiastic integration of synths and Horváth’s expansive vocals (reminiscent of Anneke van Giersbergen) fill in an outline of chunky riffs with pitch black gloom. Though less versatile than its predecessor, it is also more consistent, and any fan of Draconian-style despondency should give this one a whirl.

The Lion’s Daughter // Bath House [October 13th, 2023 – Self-released]

Last time we saw The Lion’s Daughter, I expressed my fears the band was going down a path of sleazy industrial à la Marilyn Manson. Well, my fears were ultimately unfounded. Bath House is what remains when Mastodon is stabbed to death with broken neon tubes. While remaining firmly in the sludge firmament, all the ways in which it branches out makes it uglier, much like the thing on the cover. Feverish staccato rhythms are overlaid with screeching feedback and sardonic vocals akin to a coarser Baroness. The album wields synths with horror movie precision, permeating the music with a claustrophobic unease that makes you look over your shoulder between tracks just to check for serial killers. The opening trio bashes your brains in, after which the band gets a little more creative with the shards of your skull, with “12-31-89” a particularly horrifying highlight. An excellent turnaround for the Missourians.

#2023 #Akouphenom #AllForNone #Amenra #AmericanMetal #AnnekeVanGiersbergen #ArsMagnaUmbrae #Artillery #AugustBurnsRed #AvantgardeMusic #Baroness #BathHouse #Belphegor #BlackMetal #BlackNRoll #BlackenedDeathMetal #BongRa #BornOfOsiris #BurningWorldRecords #CanadianMetal #ClosedCasketActivities #Comaniac #Coroner #Counterparts #CrystalCoffin #CultLeader #CultOfLuna #Dawnwalker #DeathMetal #DeathChaosVoid #Deathcore #DimmuBorgir #DoomMetal #Draconian #End #EyeOfHorus #FitForAnAutopsy #Forbidden #FullOfHell #Grind #Hardcore #Insomnia #Isis #LornaShore #MarilynManson #Mastodon #MelodicBlackMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #Metalworld #Nails #NothingStaysHiddenInDaylight #Novere #Noxium #Oct23 #PigDestroyer #PortugueseMetal #PostMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #ShadowOfIntent #ShaiHulud #Sludge #Stortregn #StuckInTheFilter #SwissMetal #SymphonicMetal #TALITBV #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheAcaciaStrain #TheAnswerLiesInTheBlackVoid #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TheCurseOfImmortality #TheLionSDaughter #TheSinOfHumanFrailty #TheVoynichCode #ThouShalt #ThrashMetal #ThyCatafalque #Tool #TrepanationRecordings #UKMetal #UniqueLeaderRecords #VeilOfMaya #Veilburner