Sallow Moth: Hydrophilous Brood
Out 24th July on Willowtip Records
Surrealist brutal death metal redrafts elements of ‘Obscura’ and post 2000s Suffocation, but as with most contemporary avant-garde progressive extreme metal, it conflates stylistic incontinence with a density of ideas. Sure, for solid stretches of this album Sallow Moth work the Rubik’s Cube of tightly packed riffs and accents around with alacrity. Achieving a pleasing, multi-dimensional interplay of motivations, like a heated exchange between various interlocutors. But entropy inevitably sets in as Sallow Moth run out of resources to load into this horn of plenty, and end by resorting to incongruous methods to increase their mileage. Traditional melody sets in to contrive a sense of catharsis, reflecting post metal elements alongside light jazz, and even touches of melodic death metal, none of which work in the twisted setting already established. The groundwork is laid for an idiosyncratic character which is more than can be said for the majority of modern releases, more’s the pity that it seems to be in a pitched battle with the reckless eclecticism on show for good chunks of this album.
Chamber of Unlight: Avernus
Out 31st July on Werewolf
Elements of mid-period Emperor or Dimmu Borgir merge with other members of the modern Finnish wave of symphonic (or symphonic adjacent) black metal such as Warmoon Lord and Vargrav. As a piece of fanfic it serves its purpose well. Broad, open, mid-paced segments see sweeping synth lines ride atop interweaving melodic threads, which in turn are spliced together with more intense blasting runs highly derivative of ‘Anthems to Welkin at Dusk’. This is the equivalent of learning to speak a language well enough to communicate functional information, but anything poetic or literary is yet to be articulated. Despite the neat construction of each track, Chamber of Unlight fail to rise above their influences and communicate something worth saying that hasn’t been said before. It will therefore hold some value to fans with a particular passion for this brand of symphonic black metal, but outside of this niche remit it serves little purpose.
Dishumane: Centurion’s Demise
Out 7th August on Blood Harvest
This debut EP offers an effective synthesis between the linear, illogical assault of ‘Onward to Golgotha’ with the viscous plod of ‘Dawn of Possession’, and does so far more convincingly than any recent band pulling from a similar set of influences. A patient interchange of expansion and retraction takes place as pieces unfurl. What at first appears to be a clear binary between open doom or mid-paced sections with more melodic articulation gradually evolves into the accrual of tension as themes develop across multiple divergent patterns, and the rate of switch ups between segments intensifies. The pace of the rhythm guitar is seemingly jeered at by constant high end licks that function like daggers in the side to the pacing of each piece. Drums lock in and rarely diverge from carrying this momentum, reaffirming it with powerful fills at key intervals. A dual vocal attack between the guttural and ‘Legion’ style demonic cries expands the emotive palette of the sometimes procedural machinations of the riffs. Delivers the substance that appears lacking in the vast majority of aesthetically comparable releases this year.
Hanternoz: A Hed an Noz, a Noz, a Noz
Out 7th August on Antiq
Manages to present an image of melodic, folk derived black metal that doesn’t produce instant vomit. Tracks are deliberately constructed in longform structure, meaning the folk aspects take on a more literal than musical iteration, delivered as epical narratives within the aural tradition. Accessible lead refrains repeat like returning characters, aided by expressive vocals that veer from black metal stylings to traditional song, all underpinned by effective drum pacing borrowed more from punk and rock than metal despite the odd blast-beat. But the intimacy of these lyrical sequences gradually gives way to a more impersonal, cinematic finale, as the pace builds and the guitar lines spread out into grand tremolo runs, bringing the narrative threads together to a dramatic conclusion. The result is both structurally and artistically satisfying. The raw materials of folk and punk modesty repurposed into a black metal panorama, but each element is carefully selected and placed within the timeline in order to service the composition as opposed to simply allowing the artist to sell their eclectic wares (as is so often the case). A surprise hit from a style that more than misses the mark with a reliable frequency.
Horrifier: Revelations of Gore
Out 7th August on Personal Records
Norway’s Horrifier remind us of the importance of returning to first principles. Death metal is broken down to its most basic rudiments via a concoction of Autopsy and early deathgrind in Repulsion, Blood, or Impetigo. This allows them to carefully construct tracks with a clear identity despite the limited technical horizons. A solid template established, they are then free to paint in the details with abandon, as strained, urgent vocalisations add gradations of melodrama, extended doom segments flex simple yet effective melodic muscles, and siren like guitar leads interject with nihilistic fury. The key is not so much that Horrifier have brought us back to basics (a hundred and one bands have done the same this month), it’s that they have used this as a stepping stone to reestablishing the route to a distinct compositional identity by stripping away any surplus noise or impulse. The result is like greeting an old friend after decades apart, one notes the many ways they have changed and developed on what came before, but we are perhaps most strikingly reminded of all the affectations and ticks that drew you to them in the first place.
Neptunian Maximalism: Nāgabhūtaṃ
Out 7th August on I, Voidhanger
Recording of an improvised performance at the Le Botanique in Brussels in 2025, this informal group of musicians offer a mix of drone, jazz, doom metal, and world music, managing to convey a sense of looming gravitas working over and above the surface level pretensions. Here we see the lineup stripped down to a quartet taking the project in a more explicitly drone jazz direction, although comparisons to Painkiller wouldn’t be unwarranted. The drums adopt the loose flow a metalhead might associate with Om, engaged in constant discussion with the active saxophone, sometimes in conflict, other times in unison. Guitars take a back seat for long stretches, functioning more as a textural or contextual device, alongside the frequent ritualistic chants. As a piece of improvisation it manages to transfer energy from one segment to the next effectively, conveying much of the tension we have come to expect from this artist. But this is also more random than some of their previous works that at least dug beneath the ground to found some architectural rigour beneath the free flowing jazz elements, something that, despite the considerable weight, seems to be lacking here.
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