Fournier: Demo
Out 22nd May on Caligari Records
Angular, tangential death metal chases the dragon of compositional unity meshed with explicit complexity in the spirit of Immolation or Morbid Angel. The production is relatively tinny by modern standards, even for a demo. With a metallic snare cutting through the factory settings distortion, and choppy bass lines making frequent bursts into the foreground as they challenge the guitars for dominance. All of which lends this release an “in the practice room” aesthetic, one that completely belies the sophistication of the material itself. There is a cascading approach to tempo and momentum, as elongated mid-paced phrases seem to accrue energy as they stretch across multiple bars, only to find release in brief but cathartic bursts of speed. This temporal framework is coloured by a wealth of idiosyncratic melodic forms that nevertheless fall in line with the techniques and traditions of death metal. The riffs exhibiting a character of their own whilst adding footnotes to the vocabulary of genre. Guitar leads are used sparingly if at all, indicating Fournier’s priority on riff placement and arrangement, constructing a multifaceted puzzle of dynamic yet complementary parts, allowing ornamentation to supervene organically from these building blocks instead of a top down imposition of decoration on an already completed superstructure. A brief but promising sign of life for the cause of death metal undaunted by the politics of nostalgia and stylistic minutia.
Malebeste: Monestherou
Out 25th May on Antiq
Splitting music into genre categories is a Faustian bargain. Entirely necessary for any coherent discussion. But much like the observer’s paradox, the influence of these concepts can also be degrading to the subject. Black metal was once a spontaneous, visceral force that drew strength from a consciousness of genre and what it was trying to express in the context of metal specifically. It was quickly and inevitably hacked up into a bundle of post-it notes, allowing lesser artists to pick and mix the elements they liked, forcing more creative minds to innovate, regress, or bow out entirely. This “post-it” effect had a similarly degrading impact on discernment within the fanbase. Ticking the right boxes becomes mistaken for quality. That someone hits every beat, makes all the right moves, and behaves in line with our expectation of what a black metal band should sound like is considered enough by the majority of fans, who will applaud the fact that they are seeing the thing they like again, before moving on to the next amusing vignette on their newsfeed. But clues lie between the cracks. ‘Monestherou’ offers an array of competent, borderline diverting chunks of melodic black metal. But closer inspection reveals an entity held together by twine. Flat rock riffs, obvious or sentimental cadences – begetting exoteric musical imaginations – resolving sequences with all the risk of radio friendly rock. The result is nothing more than a wall of post-it notes containing hints and ideas of something grander, but fails to get any further than cosplay.
Crocell: Swarm of Insects
Out 29th May on Emanzipation Productions
What is Wacken metal? This. Extreme metal, a loose morass of death and black metal riffs with a few spoonfuls of heavy metal added as a bonding agent, resulting in a stadium rock version of an underground form. Whether the target audience is older metalheads who have aged out of caring and simply want to enjoy a pre-digested form of the music that motivated them in youth, or newer fans dazzled by the fanfare, it is the process of filtering challenging music into something homogenous, morish, provoking the same ape like addiction of a sugar craving. The elements you recognise from extreme metal when the genre still had blood running its veins are present and correct, but here flattened off, directed toward crowd pleasing blasts, the blunt physicality of fist pumping rhythms, and regular breaks into anthemic sing-along moments to safeguard against any complexity that would lose the attention of a chunk of its casualized target audience.
Dauþuz: Todeswerk: Uranium II
Out 29th May on Amor Fati
Self-described as “mining” black metal, Dauþuz continue to frustrate in their refusal to be unconscionably terrible, displaying a competent if dry take on melodic black metal. This latest offering arguably showing a minor dip in quality owing to the obnoxious histrionics and strained, hardcore pacing that can partly be attributed to their recruitment of a drummer capable of containing frequent tempo changes within a solid momentum. But the overall Dauþuz experience remains off putting, largely for the fact that there is a halfway decent, understated folky black metal project buried beneath the gimmick and overwrought performances. They therefore exemplify a malaise I identified with Nietzsche’s last man a few years ago: “Without direction, time, or purpose, too aware of history (both the internal history of metal and the deeper currents of global history), picking at different areas of culture as idle curiosities with ironic detachment, unable or unwilling to say or do anything meaningful with them. But metal has mistaken this “cosmopolitan fingering” for a celebration of self-expression. A communal hub where all creativity is valid if it is a true reflection of some inner personal need, and where everyone is engaged in a project of mutual support and love.”
Gouge: Pure Deathfuck
Out 29th May on Hells Headbangers
Having mined the golden age of death metal in the early 90s to exhaustion, some acts are turning to the genre’s youth in the mid-80s, churning out rougher material hearkening back to the demo era of the genre’s elder statesmen. Setting aside the obvious attempt to once again tug at the nostalgia heartstrings, one could do worse than throwing on this EP. Despite the attempt to coat the performance and riff palette in primitivism, Gouge betray their modern competence with some sophisticated melodic material and slick guitar leads that would have been anathema to Death Strike, Autopsy, or Mantas back in the day. But judging this on metrics other than authenticity one is met with an imaginative if limited iteration of germinal death metal, one augmented by doom accents that serve to increase tension through their contrast with the undeniable hostility of the faster passages. That, and a determination to stay the course with even the most basic of themes, allowing it to meet its maturation through competing angles of emphasis, something that contrasts starkly with the lead material indicative of musicians well above the competence implied by the aesthetic and ethos of this EP.
Pharmacist: Vertebrae After Vertebrae
Out 29th May on Hells Headbangers
Pharmacist continue their project of rehabilitating 90s Carcass within a goregrind context, here foregrounding the latter element to an even greater extent. The backbone of this album consists of muscular, atmospheric, bombastic riffing which loses none of its power despite being delivered at slower tempos than is typical for the genre. But Pharmacist are apparently merciful to listeners less adept in brutalist music, deploying an array of melodic licks and playful whimsy throughout lifted straight from the book of ‘Heartwork’. But where this element was a more explicit protagonist on their previous album, here these are relegated to a supporting cast of characters. A series of accents and ornaments designed to bring relief from the otherwise relentless barrage of choppy, basic, yet nonetheless playful goregrind. Where this album succeeds is its sheer determination. Whilst the melodic palette at times feels like overkill, to the detriment of any nuance in the heavier passages, ‘Vertebrae After Vertebrae’ barrels forward with a momentum that is hard to resist.
Hate Meditations 
Leave a comment