Iniquitous Savagery: Edifice of Vicissitudes
Out 22nd November on Willowtip Records
The clutter of brutal death metal covers a tendency toward a simple binary of slam breakdowns and tremolo melodic blasts. But predictable is another word for reliable. Despite the somewhat limited phrasing, each theme is framed by tangents and ornamentation interesting enough to elevate this otherwise derivative material, without falling into the trap of incoherence common to overly technical metal. The relentless chug of rhythm guitar is offset by prominent and characterful basslines, injecting a welcome jazzy human element to this otherwise explicitly mechanical aesthetic. Whilst guitars are perhaps the most limited aspect of this album, if a path to better integrating the choppy chromaticism with the more fleshed out melodic currents could be found, it would go a long way to severing Iniquitous Savageries over reliance on disruptive tempo changes as means of contriving chaos and drama. A worthy addition to the annals of this notoriously tired genre despite its shortcomings.
Þrymr: Saga of the North
Out 27th November on Darkness Shall Rise
Trym makes advances into neofolk. The mixture of rich orchestration and homely folk feels more like listening to a soundtrack than many of his peers efforts in this field, and indeed this project appears to be in part inspired by Trym’s passion for film scores. The result is a mixed bag, flowing more like a compilation of ideas cobbled together at very different times than any cohesive unit. Taken at face value each vignette is curious enough. Ranging from discordant dark ambient, to surprisingly bright sequences of harmonic string and choral arrangements, a lot of which borrows from modern classical a-la Charles Ives making love to Howard Shore. Folk melodies are sidelined, acting as an incidental character grounding the material within Nordic history. But the prevailing substance, in terms of tonality, pacing, and timbre, is surprisingly abstract given the title of the album and overall concept. It’s perhaps no surprise that Trym would veer from the more obvious path of many of his contemporaries who have taken similar jaunts into non-metal territory. Once we dispense with any preconception that this will be another lavish showcase of Nordic folk instrumentation a-la his former bandmates’ collaboration with Wardruna, this is an unexpectedly tense, understated, haunting listen.
Old Wainds: Stormheart
Out 27th November on Darkness Shall Rise
Every now and then an album comes along that reminds us that it’s not always the lack of substantial development within a genre that makes everything we come into contact with seem so stale, but how these materials are wielded. There is no unique trick, gimmick, novelty, or flair behind the Old Wainds formula. The same mix of Burzum, Darkthrone, and early Immortal that defined the majority of Eastern European and Russian black metal for two decades. And in this sense it is quite literally more than the sum of its parts. Any descriptor one attaches to it could be attached to a thousand other releases this side of 2020. But the raw experience is that bit more immersive, dynamic, and captivating thanks to some clever arranging, creative harmonic interplay, and conviction in delivering the material. ‘Stormheart’ is the album I keep wishing Hate Forest would make, but have recently come to accept that Roman Saenko is fundamentally a one trick pony, he happens to be very good at that particular trick and has ridden it out across several projects across many years now. Here a more diverse, colourful, and ultimately richer experience emerges from a very similar template.
Cryptorium: Descent into Lunacy
Out 29th November on Personal Records
Raw and playful death metal connecting the earliest roots of the Swedish style with the early 90s percussive tendency. The sloppy demo quality production conceals the adept musicianship (always a hallmark of newer death metal putting up a retro pretence). Cryptorium foreground each track with their most basic material, as if trying to reassure the listener of the authenticity of the experience on offer, only for tracks to be broken apart into remarkably intelligent juxtapositions of dense chromatic runs and tense, faltering rhythms making good use of rests and tempo exchanges as a means of heightening the stakes. Some of the tracks are a little underdeveloped in this regard. The board is laid out, the pieces set, only for a piece to end without ellaboration. But the fact that Crytporium even have this potential available for squandering marks them out from the crowd in 2024. A worthy chunk of death metal navel gazing, rudimentary and derivative at the material level, but hints of intellect and subversion can be discerned at the atomic level.
Festergore: Constellation of Endless Blight
Out 29th November on Personal Records
Festergore attempt a more detailed and tangential survey of the key voices of classic US death metal than is typical for OSDM, with perhaps the prevailing voice being Malevolent Creation as they move through units of choppy yet linear percussive blasts. Onto this are hung a variety of returning characters all delivered in ways inferior to the material it’s based on (Morbid Angel, Deicide, Immolation etc.). But for academics interested in the long term development of OSDM as one of the defining genres of our age, one may note a base level rise in quality, as artists come to terms with the fact that they must grapple with compositional nuance in order to standout. It is no longer enough to lean on a series of familiar tropes and expect the listener to applaud efforts on these terms alone. Festergore’s music demonstrates more bounce, swagger, is more assertive and perhaps more flowing than the majority in this field, despite the raw materials behind this album consisting of shockingly well trodden ground.
Mandroïd Of Krypton: Cosmic Sarcophagus
Out 29th November, self-released
Non-obnoxious thrash that will inevitably get compared to Voivod. And whilst there are some similarities, Mandroïd of Krypton consciously work in a spacey alt rock undertone to what is otherwise grounded, punk driven thrash with a strong psyche undercurrent. The result is – if nothing else – unique. However, the genre blending is perhaps more incongruous than most, despite the austerity and simplicity of the guitar/bass/drum setup. Black metal riffs work alongside limp post hardcore, powerful thrash assaults give way to lackadaisical grunge, and a raw punk energy serves an ambiguously bright tonal palette. I’d speculate that this may be an entity a little too eclectic to collect fans from any one of their influences. That being said, the artisanal production, stripped back and raw, showcases a degree of audaciousness behind the exchanges of styles, sometimes switching genre mid-riff. Mandroid of Krypton take great delight in teasing the listener as they dance between convoluted themes and clashes of mood. This album is a cornucopia of delights for fans of Progressive metal of the blue collar variety (real progressive metal, not the herpy-derp emo with time signatures that passes for prog metal these days).
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