Funeral Storm: Chthonic Invocations
Out 10th May on Hells Headbangers
In pulling together the more populist facets of early Rotting Christ and Varathron – aided not least by the presence of Stefan Necroabyssious himself on vocals – Funeral storm manage to conjure up an echo of the arcane mysticism that made this style so special at its initial inception. In this age of chronic recapitulation, we may lament the fact that such competence alone is cause for praise, given this is essentially a well crafted replica of a dead genre. But Greek black metal is still ostensibly a living document, with Varathron, Katavasia, Macabre Omen, and Rotting Christ all doing their level best to reinject it with orchestral grandeur and contemporary confidence, but all too often resulting in an indecisive carnival bizarre of overworked pastiche. Funeral Storm stand apart for short circuiting this to some extent, and giving fans exactly what they want in the austere, understated melodicism, production that makes the music feel once removed and thus “of” a different vintage (antiquity), and of course, the lack of any attempt at symphonic or “world” music tropes that modern practitioners feel they must indulge in, something that ultimately hamstrings their music with unnecessary baggage. The slick, mobile, dynamic metal on offer here is a breath of fresh air in this context. But despite this, we must once again ask, why not just listen to the source material in ‘Thy Mighty Contract’ or ‘His Majesty at the Swamp’?
Necrocene: Detrimental Paratomy
Out 7th June on Personal Records
Notable within the usual crop of OSDM simply for how basic it is. This is essentially a punk band working through some old Vader, Entombed, and Autopsy gimmicks, given greater life thanks to a somewhat sterile production, hardcore vocals, and general lack of clear aesthetic dog whistles. This last point should be taken as a positive, given that OSDM is defined by its ability to manipulate dog whistles to cloak a lack of content, a feat it has been getting away with for over a decade at this point. Necrocene, despite the generic package, rudimentary riffing, and flat delivery, deserve credit for at least not attempting to dress this material in garments that would oversell the substance. What you see is what you get. And what you get is a checklist of pre-1992 death metal material played at least competently. Tracks like ‘The Age of Death and Extinction’ make a show of anchoring the piece around a climax, but again, the lead guitar motivating this moment of release is nothing one cannot find on decades old Entombed records. Even the solos hearken back to the whimsical chromatic grooves of early death metal, yet to flirt with harmonic or dissonant territory of the mid-90s. Appreciators of the art of riff development will find limited enjoyment from this material, otherwise it remains utterly superfluous.
Inconcessus Lux Lucis: Temples Colliding in Fire
Out 7th June on I, Voidhanger
Bouncy, opulent, ambitious heavy metal narrative chunks are stitched together with the briefest of black metal vignettes, deployed as if to make the husky growled vocals seem less incongruous. I tire of proxy debates over genre placement. Genres are descriptors, referring to collections and relationships actually existing in the music. Too often they are treated as value judgements, as if the music is somehow being deceptive if it dresses in the aesthetics of another genre without embodying the substantive traits of said genre. Whilst that’s often the case, aided by the metal commentariat reneging on its responsibilities as diligent musical observers by conflating vibes for genre, I get no sense of deception here. It’s a fun, playful, and undeniably lavish tour through melodic heavy metal with a varnish of black metal riffing and vocals for flavour. The galloping riffs themselves, echoing classic era Iron Maiden more than anyone, are actually a cut above the current crop of ostensibly full blooded heavy metal outfits. With this comes all the naïve escapism of the genre, as hooks are contained within the safety of familiar harmonic shapes, cadences clear and directional, phrasing following time tested sequences and each piece wrapped up on a bow of clear resolution. Carefree adventure awaits. But in the journey to get to these traditionalist milestones, Inconcessus Lux Lucis pack a wealth of engaging licks, deviations, undercurrents, and raw creativity to justify its existence.
Torturer’s Lobby: Deadened Nerves
Out 14th June on Caligari Records/Ixiol Productions
Attempts to distinguish itself from so much death metal generica with an explicit heavy metal influence, meaning some riffs are heavy metal with no material to bind it into the surrounding composition. Given that writing enough death metal material for a full length that is both narratively coherent and gripping is harder than it looks (most, even in the genre’s heyday, fail in this endeavour), Torturer’s Lobby do what many of their peers do by undergirding their material with black metal link phrases. In marketing parlance this is known as bold, in practice deeply indecisive if not lazy. What sets this apart from a simple matter of taking influence from different forms of metal (an occurrence common enough to be banal) is how explicitly this process is spelled out within in each track, to the point where there is little else going on beside the contrast between a basic punk riff, black metal harmony, or the rhythmic undulations of death metal. Individual riffs are certainly catchy if not enduring, but they fly about the piece so free of context as to be almost meaningless. The equivalent of a quick scroll on any decaying social media site will deliver a similar experience of cultural whiplash. Individual moments of curiosity, entertainment, brief joys, hazy boredom punctuated by raised eyebrows, with no binding purpose beyond the killing of time.
Unholy Craft: Saa Morkt, Saa Mektig
Out 21st June on Purity Through Fire
Given that this project comes from the same individual who gave us the tepid dirge of Solus Grief and the bouncy fascist kitsch of Heraldic Blaze, one could be forgiven for approaching this with trepidation. But Unholy Craft, despite the unsufferable pandering to nostalgia fetishists everywhere, is easily the superior creative outlet for Peregrinus. This latest release sees him lean into the raw, un-tempered energy of feral black metal, but underpins it with an expressive melodic voice and an undeniably eerie atmosphere. Applying the rule of thumb that if it looks right, it is right, Unholy Craft use compositional elements to inform the vibe of this album, and vice versa, resulting in a clear, unified statement. The guitars are the dominant force here, offering a pleasingly unruly array of tremolo riffing, sometimes leaning into simple two chord interchanges, sometimes a more threnodic lyrical passage. Guided by simple, metronomic drums (which sound programmed) and overworked but serviceable vocals, the overall package is immersive both intellectually and emotionally, as Unholy Craft manage to work in modest but welcome surprises in the overall direction and momentum of each piece despite their overt minimalism.
Hemorrhoid: Raw Materials of Decay
Out 28th June on Extremely Rotten Productions/Headsplit Records
Death/grind in the sense that each track is written as bitesize death metal consisting of two or three riffs bearing a clear relation to each other, with the development that would be present in full blooded death metal ceded to the raw chaotic energy of hardcore punk or loose clusters of blasting noise. In this sense Hemorrhoid marry early Carcass with Blood in a way that is refreshing to see in 2024. Given the arms race tendency baked within grindcore indulged by both its metal and punk wings, the temptation to novelty is enhanced exponentially. Hemorrhoid eschew this in favour of a laser like focus on their chosen remit of persistent, tunnel visioned grind, retaining a liminal atmosphere of malevolence behind the obvious violence of the music. In this sense – despite a lack of brazen originality so obvious it hardly needs commenting on – Hemorrhoid deserve praise for at least attempting to bring us back to square one with classic era grindcore as it was evolving in parallel to death metal. Stripped of post 1990s hardcore influences (along with the unfortunate flirtations with power violence and post hardcore) the air is once again clear to reappraise the virtues of this micro genre, and the ongoing provocations it could continue to hurl at its sister genre’s sense of compositional hygiene.
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