Cerulean: Carrion Angel
Out 26th January on I, Voidhanger Records
Taking in the broad spectrum of post ‘Obscura’ metal, it’s clear that ‘Carrion Angel’ sits at the less efficient end. Its cluttered tangents betray an overeagerness to please. But whilst it may be in need of some ruthless editing and trimming – the hallmark of modern technical metal at large – a coherent message resides beneath the redundant layers of activity. See for instance the uncanny melodies, restrained dissonance deployed as a tool and not a crutch, and percussiveness cleverly manipulated into the melodic phrasing of the riffs. Cerulean are also not as afraid of repetition as many technical death metal bands appear to be. Themes are unpacked and revisited, sometimes with neat variations that give the listener a sense of progress and journey instead of the usual smear of unconnected ideas. It would be a stretch to call it minimalism, but there is an underlying attitude of single mindedness when it comes to hammering home a particular refrain. All distinct features that clearly mark Cerulean out from run-of-the-mill dissonant tech-death outfits.
Vertebrae Fetish Totem: Alchemy
Out 30th January on Centipede Abyss
Injects dissonant, technical death metal with a considered, mid-paced consciousness. Anomic riff construction remains the raison d’etre for this artist. Simple atonal repetitions form the core of these pieces, contextualising the disruptive forces surrounding the music with a solid basis through repetition. In many ways this has therefore abandoned the project of death metal as an abstract process of riff Duplo. Instead an anchor of simplicity runs down the spine of each track, occasionally breaking out into uncontrolled blast-beats. Atop this rudimentary template are stacked an array of angular, jagged interruptions. Drums do little to organise these disparate endeavours into some kind of structure. Instead meandering around simple back-beats to tentative, stop start rhythms. The music can therefore be read as leveraging the raw materials of death metal toward a more abstract, less structured end.
Hail Conjurer: Satanic Phenomenology
Out 1st February on Bestial Burst
Another lurch into the decaying intersection of dark ambient and entropic black metal. ‘Satanic Phenomenology’ sees Hail Conjurer take a more direct route than last year’s ‘Ouroboros Lust’, this time organising itself into riff based and recognisably rhythmic churns of abrasive noise metal as opposed to the impromptu drone of previous efforts. The extended passages of industrialist noise and dark ambient remain a perpetual presence, but here serving to bookend or at most contrast with the primal, bestial black metal sitting at the core of the music. The latter of which feels like a distant – and still doom laden – ancestor of fellow countrymen Beherit or Impaled Nazarene for its focus on chaotic barbarism over harmonic refinement. The loose jams of psych or stoner doom are here rendered into the horrific by simple minor key interchanges, novel use of keyboard noise, and of course the tortured but disciplined vocal additions. In terms of the raw materials Hail Conjurer tend to work with, ‘Satanic Phenomenology’ is definitely a back to basics move. But compositionally, development remains surprisingly forthcoming. Despite being close kin to dark ambient and noise, structure, movement, and intention abounds, albeit in the most simple shapes possible. An exercise in letting timbre guide the composition but not dictate it, and yet another instructive addition from this artist on incrementally evolving black metal to new places by utilising techniques from genres that completement the form as opposed to diluting it.
Hollow Woods: Like Twisted Bones of Fallen Giants
Out 2nd February on Signal Rex
Approaches black metal with an austere neofolk mindset, leading to an odd coupling between melodic focus and overwrought emotivism. Whilst broadly aligning itself with the trappings of traditional Nordic black metal, through its inability to properly develop a theme it betrays only a limited understanding of what motivates this music. The guitar tone is warm, clean, and bass driven. The vocals enriched with a passion (read: annoying) borrowed from post hardcore. The drums, whilst competent, lean on the overused technique of switching from a blast-beat to a rolling, half tempo beat as a shortcut to contriving gravitas. Acoustic guitars crop up frequently to further enrich the naturalism Hollow Woods seem very keen to foreground. Whilst it should be noted that many of the riffs are tight, creative, dare I say captivating moments of high drama wired with all the strengths of the genre, the frustration of Hollow Woods comes from their inability to build on this solid foundation. Invariably, the work they put into building all this goodwill crumbles as basic rock chord progressions, empty folk flourishes, or contrived vocal histrionics are mistaken for substantive thematic development. Moments that were clearly intended to deliver profound revelation are in reality nothing more than the music’s collapse into trite sentimentalism.
Kolac: Kolac
Out 3rd February on Pest Productions
Regresses the Mayhem formula to incorporate speed metal alongside bright heavy metal flourishes. Despite the strong character to a lot of the riffs, they are essentially miniaturised into simple, atomised, digestible chunks, segregated off from forming links in a wider chain by an underlying need to reference this music back to older, less developed compositional forms. Repetition has great value in black metal, especially in the context of the rich layers of tremolo riffing that defined classic era Mayhem. But Kolac’s imitation of this seems to be accidental at best. The rich thematic material builds to nothing but a derivative heavy metal guitar solo, or a break into basic d-beat thrash that squanders any momentum built in previous passages. The failure to properly integrate the duality at the heart of their style prohibits us from labelling this as blackened thrash. Instead Kolac have the framework for two entirely separate albums, and attempting to mesh them together rather than focus on an underlying substance leads to linear fragmentation, a straight line repeatedly broken and salvaged by any means necessary.
Contaminated: Celebratory Beheading
Out 7th February on Blood Harvest
Another flickering candle in the utter darkness of contemporary death metal following the bursting of the OSBM bubble. Contaminated at first appear to be a continuity candidate with a little more vigour than the usual stale pop offcuts that apparently counts for the genre’s vanguard in 2024. Their offer of what is essentially longform deathgrind has legs. But digging beneath the surface level trappings reveals a more nuanced beast. This is death metal in the truest sense. It builds from a place of simplicity into complexity not through melodic diversity, dense technical tangents, or rampant dissonance, but via the simple compounding of themes, one atop another, until we arrive at a place of revelation. Their staple may be chromatic percussive punches of loose and chaotic violence, but simple riff fragments are salvaged from these more barbaric moments and unpacked throughout the track. Contaminated touch on doom at times, but they tend to pivot more toward the undulating, non-linear rhythmic topography of caverncore. It should be noted however that, despite the meaty production, this is still a far cry from the oversaturated chasmic death doom style, instead aligning explicitly with artisanal death metal at its most accessible. ‘Celebratory Beheading’ is a pleasant moment of fresh air for anyone looking for continuity death metal eking out new creative freedoms within the bounds of genre.
Hate Meditations 
Klainmain91 _ The hearts of what l listen are in the right place. Hopeful..
LikeLike