Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Blasart: Depravatus Christianis SacrisOut 28th March on Lavadome Productions Overwrought black metal cloaks repetition with subtle shifts in emphasis and pitch, alongside some welcome decorative accents. Chugging thrash articulation beefs up the more fluid intent behind these tracks, only somewhat hampered by the obnoxious domesticity of the hardcore derived vocals. What at first appears to... Continue Reading →
Joseph walks me through the basics of heavy metal from across the pond. Plus a quick chat about the current state of "trad" metal, and why it's popularity seems to be on the wane. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg9k0S7czls
MorgongloฬdOut 27th March on Vidfare/NoEvDia Mortuus, aka Daniel Rostรฉn, continues his habit of saving his best for well outside the Marduk roadshow. This is the third album released under the DomJord moniker, his own contribution to the long tradition of black metal artists dabbling in various ambient side projects. Being a relatively late comer to... Continue Reading →
Morbid DesiresOut 27th March on Darkness Shall Rise Productions Being Tulus must be a thankless task. Even the promo blurb accompanying this release canโt quite muster the requisite enthusiasm, boasting โconcise mid-tempo songs performed by proficient musiciansโ, โMorbid Desiresโ is โby no means a one-dimensional albumโ and has โplenty of varietyโ. On that last point... Continue Reading →
Cruel Force: HanedaOut 27th March on Shadow Kingdom Sits at the playful end of German thrash, emphasising the melodic elements of Destruction circa โMad Butcherโ. On the basis of this material there is a clear effort to align with the rough and tumble of 80s thrash via the period correct mix and throaty vocals, but... Continue Reading →
The Last SuppurationOut 13th March on Extremely Rotten Productions/Unholy Domain/Sevared Records Protrusion punt for a mix of early 90s Floridian death metal and early Gorguts (who were to be fair, also a Morrisound alumni). This results in a pleasingly authentic rerun of percussive death metal as it augments the choppier elements of thrash into a... Continue Reading →
the pleasure machine is here: a few thoughts Big questions tend to throw us in multiple directions at once. What does it mean to live a good life? There are simply too many factors to consider. No reasonable person can be expected to provide a succinct, satisfactory answer. Thatโs why philosophers use thought experiments. The... Continue Reading →
A.H.P: Alltid Imot DegOut 21st March on Purity Through Fire Drab, pessimistic black metal lurches between torturous drone segments bolstered by little more than stumbling, slow rhythms into bursts of linear speed and open, humming guitar lines that retain a lackadaisical energy despite the blast-beat foundation. Raspy, mid-range vocals attempt to enhance the sense of... Continue Reading →
A Monument I Shall Raise in FlameOut 20th March on Werewolf Promotion Polandโs Deathlike Dawn continue the direction set by their previous album โNoc czarna czerniฤ otchลaniโ, extending their tendrils further into semi-chromatic, dissonant territory for this latest release, sacrificing the hazy atmosphere coating 2024โs โAmong the Graves of the Archetypesโ for a more stripped... Continue Reading →
A closer look at specific metal tracks at the granular level, this week we take a closer look at Demilich's The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjSAi2d6HiI
Hate Meditations 