Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Zora: Scream Your HateOut 28th February on Great Dane Records (originally released in 2016) Direct, linear death metal benefits the form by stripping away any unnecessary fat, leaving a precision timed device of aggressive, energetic percussive noise. The format may be simple, but the playing is precise, with pin sharp rhythms forcing what are at... Continue Reading →
Oblations in AtrocityOut 15th February, self-released Captures a sense of amateur possibility missing in much of the overly curated gestures to lo-fi black metal in the contemporary landscape. In this regard it mirrors early Ungod in its bisection of idiosyncratic riff signatures that nevertheless thrive within traditional melodic forms elevated by a drab ambience that... Continue Reading →
EspressoOut 23rd August on Island Records Sabrina Carpenter develops the form of trancelike black metal by pivoting on a simple yet effective interchange of two chords, using this framework to hang harmonic interplay arriving in whimsical sequences that take time to unpack on repeated listeners. Percussion adopts a similar poise by fleshing out a basic... Continue Reading →
Sunbathed slime March is an odd time of the year in England. Daylight bulges. The interval between dawn and dusks sags alarmingly. As if saturated by the merciless spring rain beating the ground with violent regularity. But this emergent excess of sunlight reveals a world still utterly dead and utterly miserable. Decaying leaves continue to... Continue Reading →
Eternal Roar of the Thunder and RainOut 21st February on Eternal Death Atmospheric black metal that takes the legacy of Burzum somewhat seriously, in that Burzum, especially on the first two albums, were never much of an atmospheric outfit by todayโs standards. The chief source of dreamscaping invoked by music to โstimulate the fantasy of... Continue Reading →
Tubal Cain: Slime AbyssOut 27th February on Darkness Shall Rise It remains curious to look at black metal as the completion of metal's evolutionary circle. A symptom of the hysteria and panic that gripped metal fans as death metal bands proudly displayed their tracksuits and time signatures. Black metalโs closer alliance with linear heavy metal... Continue Reading →
Vengeance EvangelOut 14th February on Lavadome Productions โTechnical death metalโ is a problematic label. Genre names often refer to some specific technique or dominant feature of the music itself. To apportion off a subgenre by simply asserting that itโs more technically demanding than its mothership can be something of a misnomer. Just exactly how or... Continue Reading →
Tribulated BellsOut 24th January on Hammerheat Records (originally released in 1992) Coinciding neatly with our recent discussion on Chilean metal comes this reissue from Hammerheat Records of Sadismโs โTribulated Bellsโ, an early intervention in Chilean extreme metal. Notable alongside the likes of Torturer for being one of a handful of bands to make inroads into... Continue Reading →
Megalit al PutrefacศieiOut 20th January on Memento Mori Not far into this competent but generic rendition of slow, primal, backward looking death metal, I was struck by a particular guitar lead that sounded awfully familiar. I immediately looked Putred up and found that they were from Romania. Another Romanian outfit (just) made my top picks... Continue Reading →
Words by Jason Kiss Preface It is evident that the new Mefitis release, The Skorian // The Greyleer, has faltered in terms of gaining underground traction. Despite the promotional machinery of Earsplit Compound and the substantial backing of Profound Lore Records, the Spotify listenership remains very meager, reviews are scarce, and I cannot help but apprehend... Continue Reading →
Hate Meditations 