Desecresy: Deserted RealmsOut 26th September on Xtreem Music The Desecresy production line shows no sign of stopping. ‘Deserted Realms’ is the eighth LP from this outlier in the latter day death metal landscape, and the fourth under the sole stewardship of Tommi Grönqvist. Having quickly developed a singular niche, Desecresy displayed a rare momentum across... Continue Reading →

Painted Throat: The Clock Shaken from the WallOut 27th October on Xenoglossy What sounds like a semi-improvised drum shuffle underpins a procession of bass drones, the topography of which is defined by pitch and dynamics over any discernible melodic content. Feedback compounds on itself, providing welcome background ambience to supplement the abrasion of labyrinthine activity... Continue Reading →

The lads made a tier list. Sorry that Waters of Weeping by Black Funeral wasn't included. It should have been. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqeSjL9isHU

Further in EvilOut 20th October on Southern Lord Recordings Scene scribes have a habit of comparing music that is with music they think ought to be. Through every review, critique, and dissected minutia, they are forever trying to articulate a vision of music as they think it should be. From this angle, the actual work... Continue Reading →

Martyrdoom: As Torment PrevailsOut 23rd October on Memento Mori Anyone vaguely attuned to current events will be aware that modern death/doom is overstuffed with content. The reasons are not hard to fathom. The genre encourages puffed out mixes that make the bar of entry low, you can pad the runtime with long passages of guitar... Continue Reading →

The lads dissect new "OSDM" by exchanging audio samples in an attempt to understand their content; a kind of "Blindverkostung" or "blind-tasting." The conclusion after such an endeavour is that new "OSDM" is a vibe rather than an artistic expression.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMyrR3GpYyM

RuinerOut 13th October on Profound Lore Records 2023 has seen an odd convergence of USBM old guard return to the fray. Demoncy, Profanatica, and now Krieg all seem keen to re-establish their relevance over a scene that has long since expanded beyond an underground that nurtured them. At the time Krieg formed in the late... Continue Reading →

Throughout its history, one arm of metal or another has been engaged in some form of trench warfare with perceived threats, both internal and external. When I entered the scene in the mid-2000s, protracted wars with old enemies on the Christian right and the forces of commercialisation had all but burned themselves out. Demoralised by... Continue Reading →

Crux SimplexOut 22nd September on Season of Mist If ever a course correction were required for the good ship Profanatica it would be now. The project helmed by Paul Ledney is perhaps the most visible from a crop of first wave USBM artists – along with VON, Demoncy, Black Funeral, and Grand Belial’s Key –... Continue Reading →

Bergrizen: OrathaniaOut 22nd September on Purity Through Fire Concocts disparate but well thought out textural passages somewhere between the arcane naturalism of Ildjarn and the floating space ambient of Midnight Odyssey. Whilst neither comparison may be all that welcome, crafting ambient in program vignette form based on cultural or geographical source material is a sure... Continue Reading →