Coprolith: Putrescence
Out 3rd July on Me Saco Un Ojo / Rotted Life
Low effort death metal combines Incantation and Autopsy into a route one interpretation of death/doom, oscillating between slow and fast with no attempt to create tension and release as each transition is carefully prepared for. The album attempts to get by on the somewhat chasmic production, hoping that the guitar tone will fill in the blanks where riffs and identity are lacking. The riffs pivot on easy to follow signifiers, basic grooves that ape the feel of their more substantive influences without bringing any life or dynamism to the material. Thus we are left with another demonstration of generic death metal with nothing to indicate that the music belongs to any one particular artist or set of individuals.
Illwind: The Unfolding at the End of Light
Out 3rd July on Personal Records
Doom metal that manages to bridge the gap between the older 70s style concocted from blues and psychedelia and post Candlemass narrative forms. In this sense it mirrors the melodic palette of something like Pallbearer, but manages to fit this into a more intentional framework. The music feels more active and front facing as pieces move through a series of sequences that compensate for the plodding tempos they are set to. Choppy accents aid in this endeavour as much as the frequent and expressive guitar leads. Illwind at times lean too heavily on a single tempo, relying on busy, crash cymbal laden drums and purposeful riffs to give the music motion. Whilst there is enough melodic character and diversity to somewhat compensate for this, the impression is of a details oriented artist that needs to occasionally step back to assess the macro picture. One of the more interesting documents of so called traditional doom regardless.
Hammerfilosofi: Secundus Adventus
Out 10th July on Osmose Productions
Attempts to leverage the blasting intensity of Marduk or even Antaeus into a more eccentric piece of noise theatre. But Hammerfilosofi lack the monotonous guile of the former and the sheer gravitas of the latter. The result is repetitive music trying to disguise the fact through vocal eccentricity, and the occasional break into noise or industrial adjacent tangents. But, given the speed and intended ferocity of the music, in latching onto the riffs and themes as they unfurl one is struck by just how basic the central motifs are. Something not compensated for by the cacophony of nonsense set at the foreground of the mix. Namely the near constant groaning vocals. Drums at least attempt to fill in the blanks with some lilting rhythms and variation in blast-beat emphasis. Whilst this goes some way to fleshing out this EP, one is left wondering where it all went wrong, and whether Hammerfilosofi would be better off going back to first principles and focusing on how to motivate minimalist intensity in and of itself before furnishing it with so much surplus seasoning.
Haserot: Advent of Suffering
Out 10th July on Redefining Darkness Records
Overexcited death metal paradoxically lacks character due to an over abundance of ideas. Elements of melodic death metal, black metal, heavy metal, and fist pumping Wacken metal give rise to a work that is simultaneously cluttered and repetitive. Of the assemblage of styles Haserot pull from they select only the most populist elements, resulting in a product that allows its listeners to consume stadium rock without having to suffer the indignity of admitting as much. One can drop themselves in at any point in these tracks and easily navigate their way through it, such is the excess of signposting. Structures, flow, momentum, all are barrenly predictable to the point that one is left with the feeling of having heard this album a hundred times before.
Äxe: Autogeddeon
Out 17th July on Caligari Records
Persistent blackened speed metal reaches for the longform despite an economy of riffs. In part this is achieved through sheer determination, as repetition is compensated for by the gradual accumulation of surplus material, namely incrementally accruing vocal intensity and the flowing ambience of guitar leads that gradually emerge from the intense physicality of the rhythm section. The riff character is unapologetically old school, pulling from Bathory or Onslaught as much as Aura Noir. That, combined with the overdone eccentricity behind the overall delivery makes this demo somewhat hard to swallow. But looking past these crowd pleasing affectations reveals an engine room of solid arrangements, creative melodic inflections decorating the meat ‘n’ taters chord progressions, and the gradual coalescence of a character over and above mere trope worship.
Horns of Abomination: Horns of Abomination
Out 24th July on Sentient Ruin
Somewhere between older Black Funeral or the recent Moonchapel releases, Horns of Abomination take the philosophy of industrial black metal literally in releasing three tracks featuring roughly the same number of riffs (allowing for slight variation therein). But the results are not without merit, as the virtues of minimalism are permitted to come forward, whereby the slightest shift in emphasis is deployed to maximum effect. The relentless plod of metronomic drums, persistent guitar lines, and distant, distorted vocalisations reach fever pitch, only for a brief reprieve to arrive as the guitars pause for a few measures allowing us to take stock. Similar to Ildjarn, the central thrust of each composition remains largely unchanged from start to finish. Development comes from the most rudimentary shift, drums switching from hi-hat to tom, a chord being held for a few beats, or indeed a brief rest interval which in turn creates tension. Whilst giving black metal a harsh noise lick of paint is a fairly commonplace move in this day and age, the sheer monomaniacal delivery of this demo at least gives it an edge over countless other aesthetically equivalent releases in recent years.
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