Father Befouled: Immaculate PainOut 13th September on Everlasting Spew Father Befouledโs by now lengthy career of Incantation mirroring has evolved from the uncanny to the surpassing, as their material has ascending in tandem with Incantationโs descent into a dull autopilot. This latest EP does little to shift the formula. Although one can hear other influences... Continue Reading →
Beats and yelling: Khost
Many Things Afflict Us, Few Things Console UsOut 20th September on Cold Spring Records Khost have the unfortunate burden of being a metal adjacent industrial outfit from Birmingham, meaning their output will forever be benchmarked against Godflesh. Whilst there are similarities, Khost go far beyond Broadrick (at least in the guise of Godflesh) in pushing... Continue Reading →
Beats and yelling: Black Funeral
Flames of SamโลซโmOut 8th September on Dark Adversary Productions Black Funeral are perhaps the unlikeliest latter day acolyte for such staunchly conservative, by-the-numbers black metal. One of the USโs earliest adopters of the form, pillars of the third wave along with Judas Iscariot, Krieg, and Demoncy, their run of albums from 1995 to 2010 delights... Continue Reading →
The noise diaries IX
B-tier black metal and the break of autumn Your tastes are not your own. Your moods are orchestrated by nefarious digital platforms. Everyone knows this now. โInceptionโ may have been right that the mind can always spot an idea implanted by a foreign agent. That we would somehow care, or not act on this idea... Continue Reading →
Book Report – The Scott Burns Sessions
A life in death metal 1987-1997 By David E. Gehlke Death metal was rockโs first truly underground cultural artefact. One only has to look at the way it crumbled and fragmented whenever it sniffed the bright lights and fanfare of โmainstreamโ attention. Look at heavy metal by contrast. Perfectly comfortable with a little big budget... Continue Reading →
Beats and yelling shorts, 24th September 24
Skognatt: AndromedaOut 6th September, self-released Synths, arpeggios, drum programming, the futurist starter pack melded with a batch of traditionalist black metal riffing and vocalisations binds together this new space themed direction for Germanyโs Skognatt. Berlin school ambient and drone modernism meets an undercurrent of antiquarian lamentation as the cold naturalism extends its outlook upwards. Skognattโs... Continue Reading →
Necropolis #101 – Floridian death metal
Some of our regulars have a casual chat about Floridian death metal to ease us into triple figures and a new era for Necropolis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxoN4q56Aow
Beats and yelling: Deceased
Children of the MorgueOut 30th August on Hells Headbangers Ah Deceased, on paper such a straightforward prospect, in practice anything but. One of death metalโs formative recruits in the late 80s, but outside the orbit of the fledging sceneโs major hubs, their name never garnered the same cachet as their peers to the South and... Continue Reading →
How to listen to metal
Tried to do a positive video on metalโฆdidnโt work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYbWTdtcu2E&t=2360s
Beats and yelling shorts, 12th September 24
Aeon Winds: AeonOut 10th August on ATMF Remix of debut demo from this Slovakian symphonic black metal outfit, originally released in 2010. Whilst comparisons to Limbonic Art may be apt, Gnipahรฅlan is the more fitting contemporary reference point. An aggressively compressed mix, one dreads to think how many tracks went into crafting this monolith of... Continue Reading →