We've become a little obsessed recently with Ukrainian one man band Moloch. A quick look at Encyclopaedia Metallum reveals about 30 or 40 releases, 5 or 6 of them BOX SETS! Unfortunately most of them limited to 50, or 40, some even less than 10. So we've been on the hunt for at least one record we could get enough of to review on the list. We have our sites set on a cd full length, which we should be able to have in stock soon, but while we've been searching this little black gem showed up, and thus, will most likely serve as your introduction to the mighty Moloch.
Of his 30 or 40 releases, only a handful are black metal, the rest are split between dark ambient, and noise. So the black metal records end up being infused with both ambient drones and black noise.
But before we get to Moloch, we have Deathrow to contend with, a one man band from Italy, that one man also being a member of Frostmoon Eclipse, Ad Hominem, Kult, Nocternity and a whole bunch of others. For this split, Deathrow offer up some gorgeously lush black ambience, thick roiling clouds of buzzing synth, shimmering organs, pulsing low end rumbles, all woven into slow moving creepscapes, almost like Goblin at 16rpm.
Moloch too chooses a path of blacker ambience, and offers up some grim necro rituals recalling the strange abstract blackened mood music of Abruptum, but far from being harsh, this is a dark and haunting journey through some fog shrouded underworld, all deep sonorous tones, mysterious creaks and thumps, dense swells of distorted low end, streaks of minor key melody, everything blurred and indistinct, distant anguished howls, tinkling marimba like chimes, warm washes of crumbling chordal whir, animal grunts and growls, reverb drenched detuned piano, all super cinematic and soundtracky, conjuring images of boarded up old houses, of black swamps, strange shapes drawn by moonlight filtering through the trees, of abandoned streets, dank cellars, of caves lit by flickering firelight, of nighttime, of darkness, of loss, misery, pain, loneliness, and hell.
WAY recommended. And if all goes well we'll be able to track down that Moloch full length, and you can discover his even blacker side for yourself.
Most aQ customers don't need to know anything other than the fact that there's a new Deathspell Omega to send them scrambling for the buy button (or running down to the shop, if they're local folks). One of those rare bands, whose reputation rightfully precedes them. Every record a stunning sonic masterpiece, and seemingly with every record the band continue to not only hone their unique sound, but to push themselves further and further away from black metal, at least the strictures and tropes that seem to keep so many bands from making truly innovative music. And DSO is most definitely innovative, maybe THEE most innovative black metal band out there, and Drought finds them pushing their sound even further out, while not at all abandoning the gnarled blackness that has defined their sound up until now.
The opening track might be the boldest thing they've done, a spare bit of haunting atmospheric doom creep, with lots of space, chords ringing out, notes decaying gradually, sounding like Low crossed with Skepticism or a heavier blackened Barn Owl, the track a sprawl of minor key twang and distant black buzz, that builds to a loping post rocky chug and churn, that had us thinking DSO might have abandoned the black buzz entirely, but that the second songs erupts in a frenzy of pounding blackness, rife with melody, but impossibly noisy and gnarled, the drums insanely complex, the arrangement dizzying, DSO one of those few bands that have even the most musically savvy scratching their hands wondering not only how the hell do they play this, but how do they come up with it in the first place. Heavy, and heady, melodic, proggy, intricate, intense, somehow catchy to boot, the band deftly flitting from melodic lope to impossibly dense black blast and back again.
The Slint influence is still heavy here, but the band don't dial back the heaviness for those post rockier parts, which gives this new ep a twisted ferocity, that barely lets up, instead of switching to clean guitar and spare arrangement, they douse those post/math moments in black buzz, and transform them into something else entirely.
There are some super melodic moments for sure, the final track especially manages to turn a post rock style groove into a dense black sprawl of distortion drenched heaviness, with strange tripped out stretches of just drums and chanted monklike vocals, but bookended by heavy parts that are SO heavy, and yet so hauntingly melodic. In just a little over twenty minutes, DSO manage to accomplish more than most bands do in a lifetime, creating something at once so perfectly embodying the spirit of true back metal, but at the same time forging their own ultra distinctive sonic path, one that continues to lead them further and further afield, into sonic realms where most other bands fear to tread.
FINALLY! The long awaited brand new release from mysterious French post-black metal horde Deathspell Omega. There are very few bands that instill the sort of worship and awe that these guys do, but it's well deserved. Deathspell Omega have tread a solitary path, twisting the sounds of black metal into decidedly unlikely shapes, culminating in their last record, the classic Kenose, almost more of a post rock record with bits of black metal mixed in.�
We had no idea what to expect from this new record, to be honest, we had a slight feeling, that they might abandon metal all together, or at least push even farther into avant rock territory, more sparse and moody meandering postrockscapes, and less full on blackness, but as we should have expected, DSO ended up doing the last thing we expected, and made a sort of slight return to their sound of old.�
Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum is WAY more aggressive, relentless and pummeling. Those post rock elements are still very much evident, but the meat of these songs is a dizzying chaotic squall of black blasts, tangled obtuse guitars, minor key melodies, hateful howls and a super 'live' sounding BIG production, making everything sound even more intense and brutal.�
The record opens and closes with strange soundscapes of tinkling piano, regal horns, martial percussion, what sounds like some sort of medieval court music, big booming drums, muter trumpets, huge masses of choral chants, almost like an ultra blackened Arvo Part score, or maybe even a strangely melodic piece by Hermann Nitsch.
But then the band launch into some of the most furious, most chaotic material we've heard from them in ages. A churning pit of dizzyingly technical blackness, the guitars are everywhere, buzzing, grinding, the vocals growled and ultra low, but it's the drums that truly destroy. Unlike most black metal records, the drums don't just flip flop between blasts and midtempo jams, they are spastic and wild, fills all over the place, the drums stumbling and scrambling over every spare inch of space, like a continuous drum solo, but every beat, every flurry of kick drums, is somehow perfectly tangled up with some bit of guitar or some convoluted arrangement. The riffs are slippery and swoop wildly within the different parts, the drums pelting them from all sides with a never ending hailstorm of blown out battery. It's the sort of metal that has you gasping for breath between songs. In the store it sometimes sounds like a blur, but with headphones, it's much easier to hear everything that is going on below the surface. Ultra complex, hyper mathy, but strangely hooky too. Little trills of high end guitar pepper the blurry buzz, each song broken into about a hundred different parts.�
Most of the tracks have some sort of stripped down bridge, where the metal pulls back to reveal a lonely loping interlude, all clean minor key guitar and simple propulsive drumming, usually wrapped in all manner of sinister black ambience. A post rock meander through some dark forest or across some barren alien landscape before being swallowed up by DSO's massive wall of black sound.�
A few tracks definitely remind us of Kenose, the distinctly nineties sounding math rock intro to "A Chore For The Lost" could just as easily be the Dazzling Killmen, with it's guitar harmonics, angular riffage and crushing beats, or the sort of dissonant slowcore opening to "The Repellent Scars Of Abandon And Election", but both of those are just that, merely intros, that soon transform into spiky black beasts, crushing and burning and trampling everything in their path.�
The sound of�Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum is so chaotic and so schizophrenic, it almost seems like it would just be way too much for the typical black metalhead, it's certainly grim and black and buzzy, but it's also dense and fucked up and obtuse and really really weird.... But if you're anything like us, which we think you are, then that all pretty much perfectly describes what could very well end up black metal record of the year.
The two most recent Deathspell Omega records, Kenose and Si Monvmentvm Reqvires Circvmspice, immediately became all time AQ favorites, due in no small part to their strange hybrid of classic thrashy black metal, and strange serpentine post rock. Grim enough to satisfy all the true black metal warriors out there, but weird and avant enough to please fans of strange music, metalhead or not. But as with most groups with a strange progressive sonic bent, that sound didn't just happen overnight, they had to grow into it, feeling their way as they went and DSO is no exception. While now they are this ultra mysterious avant garde black metal outift, they started out as an ultra grim, thrashy black metal band, as is evidenced on Infernal Battles, a disc that collects two of DSO's demos (2000 / 2003). This was released a while ago but quickly went out of print and has only been repressed recently so we've finally gotten enough to list!
So while this isn't as far out or weirdly progressive as the more recent releases, in no way does that mean this isn't essential stuff. And even that far back, there were hints as to what the future held for DSO sonically. Overall, this is simple and true and grim thrashy buzzing black metal, furious blast beats and droning riffs, howled vocals, but even in this more traditional classic BM framework, DSO manage to imbue each song with subtly strange melodies and unlikely riffing, surprisingly complex and catchy arrangements, all fitted snugly in that classic BM structure, subverting subtly from within. This one is definitely not for the dabblers who dug later DSO records but for whom the BM angle was more of a novelty -- this is harsh, heavy, grim, brutal stuff, fans of Darkthrone, old Immortal, Mayhem and the like will be in utter hell (which they like), and will gladly wallow in the bleak blackness of Infernal Battles for sure.
Inquisitors Of Satan was the second album from Deathspell Omega, originally released in 2002 and intended to be vinyl only until a slew of spotty bootleg cds convinced the band to release a cd version. Much like Infernal Battles, IoS finds Deathspell still firmly ensconced in a more traditional grim and true black metal sound, channelling the spirit of Darkthrone and Immortal and Mayhem, but twisting that classic BM sound into their own subtly strange shapes.
A cursory listen reveals all the sonic hallmarks you might expect from any classic black metal record: buzzing blurry riffs, furious blast beats, haunting minor key melodies, gutteral growled demonic vocals, but as on Infernal Battles, DSO seem to be growing tired of just blasting away, and inject all sorts of subtleties that slowly reveal themselves upon repeated listens, riffs are twisted and convoluted, melodies are totally unlikely but in being so, manage to also be completely and extraordinarily catchy. Granted this is still at it's core, pure and evil and furiously brutal black metal, but this definitely hinted even more at the mysterious blackened beast DSO would one day become.
Metal heads around these parts have been completely obsessed with Deathspell Omega. And rightfully so. The first black metal band in a long while to totally reinvent black metal and make it their own. In a way that managed to turn lots of non-metal folks to the dark side while somehow remaining true and grim enough to keep the hardcore black metal elite satisfied. We mentioned in our review of the last DSO, that the best way to find out about the best bands, is to check out what the other best bands are listening to, and at the time, everyone from Leviathan to Nachtmystium to Crebain to Draugar were singing their praises. So when the word of a new DSO surfaced, we had the SF black metal horde showing up at the store all the time like kids at Christmastime, chomping at the bit for the new DSO. "Is it here yet?! Is It Here Yet?! IS IT HERE YET?" Well, it is finally here, and damn if it isn't even weirder and more intense and fucking amazing than we could have hoped for. Three tracks clocking in at about 36 minutes, of some of the most unique, idiosyncratic outsider black metal you'll ever hear. The first track starts off with four minutes of meandering and spacious post rock, a lilting melancholic soundscape, of finger picked guitars, big simple drumming, creepy whispered vocals, and snippets of ghostly disembodied voices, before the whole thing builds into a super angular minor key black metal burst of buzzing distorted riffing, arpeggiated melodies and blast beats that all sort of morphs into a very Ved Buens Ende sounding loping midtempo metallic groove, seasick and hypnotic sounding. The entire record is peppered with alien sounding melodies, stretches of ambient flutter, some otherworldly slow motion doom, strange industrial clatter and woozy head nodding arrangements, all aligned around and amidst more traditional blasts of black metal. So cool and so weird. This is indeed black metal through and through, but at the same time it's almost more of a weird avant rock record, incorporating lots of BM elements, making it that much more original and that much more timeless. Packaged in a gorgeous digipak with a huge booklet of BEAUTIFUL creepy artwork very reminiscent of Hans Bellmer, along with all sorts of texts, Biblical, apocryphal and otherwise.
It's only been a year since we last heard from Deathspell Omega, but it feels like forever. Their last record, Fas - Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum, still ranks as one of our favorite black metal records ever. A truly original blast of gnarled avant black metal, as true and grim and buzzy and black as any black metal we've heard, but rife with strange chords, and distinctly non-metal phrasings, convoluted arrangements, an incredible raw black metal record, all tangled up with something much more fractured and experimental. The record before that, Kenose, was even more far out, transforming their black buzz into something approaching a blackened Slint, a strange twisted metallic post rock.
This disc however takes us was back to the beginning of this century, and compiles a handful of super rare splits and compilation tracks, from the disc they shared with Mutiilation, their split with Moonblood, and the Black Crushing Sorcery compilations. The sound here, based on the dates, and the fact that these tracks predate new vocalist Mikka Aspa from Clandestine Blaze and Fleshpress joining the band, are sonically much more in line with their earlier records Infernal Battles and especially Inquisitors of Satan. The first two tracks from the Mutiilation split find the band right at the cusp, clinging to their grim raw roots, but allowing their music to sprawl, the chords get more and more dissonant, the arrangements more complex, the overall sound thicker and more lush, but still rough and black. The three tracks from the Moonblood split go back to 2000 and thus sound much more raw and straight ahead, total early nineties Norwegian BM worship, a definite Darkthrone vibe for sure, but is suits them, the soaring buzz, the blasting beats, all wound up into long epics, peppered with woozy midtempo breakdowns, the riffs slippery and atonal, the overall sound a super smoldering lo-fi blackness. The final track from the Black Crushing Sorcery is more of the same, another solid chunk of classic nineties sounding black metal, insectoid guitar buzz, furious blast beats, even a weird punky Darkthrone breakdown partway through.
Essential and classic, another glimpse into the past, revealing more of the black roots that would eventually take hold and produce the fearsome black beast that is Deathspell today.
As we wait patiently for a new Deathspell Omega, we have not one, but two archival releases to hold us over, one, reviewed elsewhere on this list, is a collection of splits and compilation tracks, and this one, well, this is the one DSO the troo fanatics have been waiting for.
The music on the other disc, Manifestations 2000-2001, is all previously released, and while most folks probably never got their hands on the way too limited originals, those recordings have definitely been floating around. But the music on this disc, Manifestations 2002, is all previously unreleased, and unless you're seriously well connected, this is essentially a brand new Deathspell album. These tracks were originally recorded for two different releases, several for a split lp with Cantus Bestiae, which never materialized, and the rest, were intended to be DSO's contribution to the Crushing The Holy Trinity comp. For whatever reason, these tracks never made it, and the band recorded a single 22 minute epic to take their place. But thankfully, these tracks were preserved, and are finally seeing the light of day, or rather, the black of night.
And regardless of where these tracks were headed for, they play pretty solidly as a proper DSO album. Filthy and furious, frenzied and relentless, a flurry on insectoid buzz lightning speed blast beats, harsh bile drenched vokills, but it is Deathspell, and this is about the time their sound began to change, so amidst all this buzz and blast, are strange loping midtempo sprawls, slippery woozy angular riffs, notes colliding and shimmering in fields of weird almost-grooves, melodies and harmonies twist and transform, their sound simultaneously demonic and weirdly pretty, but buried under avalanches of black fury, pounding almost punky breakdowns slip smoothly into impossible fast blurs, brief moments of near poppiness surface amidst roiling seas of choppy black grind, but it's still 2002, so instead of defining their sound, those elements become just another part of the heaving monstrous whole, and infuse even the most straight ahead black blasts with the sort of twisted avant vibe that would eventually become the core of DSO's new direction.
What can we write about France's mysterious Deathspell Omega that we haven't already? Pretty much the gold standard of forward thinking avant black metal, every record better than the last, more twisted, more complex, and weirdly enough less obviously black metal.
Paracletus is the final part of the group's epic trilogy, which began with Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice, and continued with Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum; like those records, Paracletus is an epic sonic undertaking, present in smaller doses are the requisite black metal buzzing and blasting, but even more than the first two records, which were already reaching beyond the tired tropes of traditional black metal, Paracletus barely seems black metal at all. It's definitely heavy, and seriously intense, complex, but even the blasting blackness is infused with mysterious melody, and impossible textures. Listening to this, we not only find ourselves wondering how people can make music like this, but how they can even conceive of it?
The opening sub two minute 'intro' is all gnarled melodies, twisted atonal mathiness, convoluted and avant and abstract and somehow totally catchy, the blackest part is the vocals, still delivered in a gruff demonic bellow, but other than that, the sound is in a realm all its own. And when you expect the record proper to kick in, the band do explode in a frenzy of blasting fury, but the riffs sound weirdly clean, and are peppered with all sorts of little bits of filigree and little sonic curlicues, not to mention more of those super tangled and gnarled Greg Ginn-ish guitar parts that band is known for, the song a twisted sonic puzzle, a million parts seamlessly woven into an impossibly cohesive whole which is indeed heavy, and black, but has so much cool weird shit going on, strange melodic breakdowns, laid over frantic blast beats, haunting ascending and descending melodies, atonal and angular, and it never lets up, how a band can play this fast, and this intricate, and definitely boggles the mind. And the whole record is like that, the sound both heavy and harsh, but simultaneously clean and melodic, it seems impossible, and sounds weird to describe, but there is something definitely unique going on here, the tone, the arrangements, the SOUND, it's not brittle or buzzy or grim or kvlt or any of that, it's LUSH, and expansive and epic and majestic, but still fierce and dark and intense, there's bass all over the place too, definitely an anomaly for black metal, adding some serious heft, not to mention melodic counterpoint, clean vocals, intense spoken word, doomy stretches that sound more like Codeine than Mutiilation. Not to totally downplay how heavy and TRUE this is, there is no doubt that this is black metal, it's just so above and beyond everything else, so unique and unlike all the other groups out there. We LOVE black metal, but 99 percent of the time we'd fail a blind name that tune or even name that band sort of comparison, cuz so much BM sounds so similar, but we could pick out DSP in a matter of seconds.
For their sound, but also for all the strange stuff they mix into their BM, like the lurching low slung breakdown on "Phosphene", with it's buzzy gothy fuzzbass, and tortured wails, not to mention the woozy main riff and the strange scrapes and slides, or the glimmering prettiness that is "Epiklesis II", which sounds almost like Mogwai or something, growing more and more epic, it even sounds like there are horns or an orchestra, so totally epic and unexpected, or howabout the insane mathiness of "Devouring Famine", along with the twisted dizzying breakdowns and the warped sounding guitars, or finally the whole of "Apokatastasis Panton", which is an incredible slab of black pop, the drums super complex, the arrangement sprawling and serpentine, but the guitars, soaring and melodic, again building and building to a sort of psychedelic blackened Godspeed style climax.
So incredible, the sort of thing that doesn't just feel like the culmination of the record, but of all three records, of the trilogy as a whole, an explosive and emotional and ultimately cathartic release, the sort of thing you don't get from much music, let alone black metal. Easily our new favorite black metal record, and without a doubt, black metal record of the year. TOTALLY ESSENTIAL.
The only way to find out about the best bands, has always been to check out who the other best bands are listening to. So when the black metal elite (including our own West Coast wing, Leviathan, Crebain, Draugar, etc) are all singing the praises of a band, then you know you need to check them out. Such is the case with mysterious black metal horde Deathspell Omega. With a handful of impossible to find releases in the past, Si Monvmentvm Reqvires Circvmspice is the first DO record with any sort of wide distribution. It's about time too. Deathspell Omega occupy an unholy sonic space somewhere between Burzum, Mutiilation, Leviathan and Xasthur. Droning mostly midtempo black metal (with occasional blast beats), infused with strange arpeggiated minor key guitars, melancholy riffing, super hypnotic ultra memorable songwriting, compex song structures, grim affected vocals, and all sorts of hauntingly beautiful ambient interludes / intros, with martial percussion, litugical chants and subtle drones, very dark and intensely affecting. Sonically, DO sound a bit like older Enslaved, or early Emperor, but with a strong penchant for unlikely melodies (that subtly surface even in the harshest of musical moments) and hypnotic trance like repetition. One of our favorite new black metal records.
Finally, after waiting and waiting, a brand new Deathspell Omega record. Or track. OK, record. Same difference really. One single sprawling massive 22 minute epic with more parts and compositional complexities than most bands can cram into a record three times as long. And it's the perfect blend of DSO's two disparate sides, their grim and gnarled, frosty, thrashing buzzy black side, and their more obtuse, mathy melodic post rock side. In the past, it seemed like the band would lean heavily in one direction or the other depending on the record, Kenose with it's total slavish and apparently unintentional Slint worship, and then FAS, which seemed to ditch those post rock proclivities in favor of something much more old school.
So it was pretty much a toss up where the band would take their sound, and weirdly enough, this is almost exactly what we were hoping for. A perfect hybrid of the two, with no clear delineation, each side, those battling influences, blurring and bleeding into one another, confusionally bafflingly brilliant, bursts of furious grinding black buzz lead directly into warped stretches of spidery clean guitars and lurching impossible rhythms, soft hushed whispered interludes obliterated by thick roiling black riffery, only to slowly melt before our eyes, twisting and almost detuning, the guitar parts very Polvo-esque, strange tunings, almost skeletal sounding, until the band offer up some impossibly dense complicated BM fury, stop start arrangements, INCREDIBLE drumming, the guitars totally unhinged, but still weirdly catchy. Songs this long are always difficult to pull off, for the best of bands, either parts get recycled, the band repeats itself, or it gets tiresome and then it's a matter of waiting for the song to end. But nothing like that here. So many parts, all thematically and musically linked, but all totally unique, the guitars especially, seem to come to life, like some black weed, while the drums inhumanly stay locked in perfectly. The track shifts from intense frenzy, to woozy groove, to lumbering doom, to jagged mathy stutter, and back again, there even seems to be some horns happening, reminding us of later period Gore.
Even as a musician, it baffles the mind, how anyone is capable of conceiving music this dense and complex and subtly melodic, let along performing it. This just might seal the deal, as if it wasn't sealed already, Deathspell Omega just might be the most progressive, most avant, and fuck it most mind blowing black metal band on the planet right now. Period.
DSO's twenty two minute track is actually from a split, released in conjunction with a new record from countrymen S.V.E.S.T., reviewed elsewhere on this list, and equally as essential, and vinyl folks, you are in luck, both the DSO material and the S.V.E.S.T. songs, while released as separate cds, are available together on a single lp!
The long awaited split from two of our all time favorite black metal outfits, Deathspell Omega and S.V.E.S.T.! Weirdly enough, each band's half of the vinyl split was also released on a separate cd, so if you're a digital kind of person, you're gonna have to buy both cds, and believe us it's well worth it, just read on. But if vinyl is your thing, then you're in luck, cuz both halves, all the material from both cds, is contained on this here lp.
Up first, Deathspell Omega:
Finally, after waiting and waiting, a brand new Deathspell Omega record. Or track. OK, record. Same difference really. One single sprawling massive 22 minute epic with more parts and compositional complexities than most bands can cram into a record three times as long. And it's the perfect blend of DSO's two disparate sides, their grim and gnarled, frosty, thrashing buzzy black side, and their more obtuse, mathy melodic post rock side. In the past, it seemed like the band would lean heavily in one direction or the other depending on the record, Kenose with it's total slavish and apparently unintentional Slint worship, and then FAS, which seemed to ditch those post rock proclivities in favor of something much more old school.
So it was pretty much a toss up where the band would take their sound, and weirdly enough, this is almost exactly what we were hoping for. A perfect hybrid of the two, with no clear delineation, each side, those battling influences, blurring and bleeding into one another, confusionally bafflingly brilliant, bursts of furious grinding black buzz lead directly into warped stretches of spidery clean guitars and lurching impossible rhythms, soft hushed whispered interludes obliterated by thick roiling black riffery, only to slowly melt before our eyes, twisting and almost detuning, the guitar parts very Polvo-esque, strange tunings, almost skeletal sounding, until the band offer up some impossibly dense complicated BM fury, stop start arrangements, INCREDIBLE drumming, the guitars totally unhinged, but still weirdly catchy. Songs this long are always difficult to pull off, for the best of bands, either parts get recycled, the band repeats itself, or it gets tiresome and then it's a matter of waiting for the song to end. But nothing like that here. So many parts, all thematically and musically linked, but all totally unique, the guitars especially, seem to come to life, like some black weed, while the drums inhumanly stay locked in perfectly. The track shifts from intense frenzy, to woozy groove, to lumbering doom, to jagged mathy stutter, and back again, there even seems to be some horns happening, reminding us of later period Gore.
Even as a musician, it baffles the mind, how anyone is capable of conceiving music this dense and complex and subtly melodic, let along performing it. This just might seal the deal, as if it wasn't sealed already, Deathspell Omega just might be the most progressive, most avant, and fuck it most mind blowing black metal band on the planet right now. Period.
And then S.V.E.S.T.:
The return of an old favorite, French duo S.V.E.S.T., who strangely enough haven't released a proper record since 2003 (2005's Coagula compiled older demos), but within 30 seconds, we were totally reminded exactly why we loved these guys so much. And they're a perfect foil for Deathspell, their sound equally fractured and convoluted and fucked up, but where DSO go for something darker and moodier and more melodic, S.V.E.S.T. go in the other direction completely, spitting out frenzied swaths of blurred buzz and wild squalls of intense tangled blackness. These three tracks, are so awesome, we almost, and we're well aware of the sacrilege involved here, but we just might like them as much as, if not even more than the Deathspell half of the split.
Their sound is hard to describe. The first track opens with a dizzying swirl of squiggly guitars, woozy riffs, wild splattery drumming, that seems already like it's bordering on total meltdown, yet that's just the intro, and the band launch into a frenzied assault even more fucked up and dense, but pepper it with cool little melodies and parts that almost sound Viking, albeit buried beneath a roiling black blowout. The guitar does these cool little descending trills, the song lurches and stutters, the drums are relentless, mind blowingly fast and heavy and intricate, until partway through, the sound shifts, and there's a bit of doomy crawl, before leaping right back into the fray. Throughout, there are bursts of total drumming chaos, extra guitars howling and adding yet more layers of buzz. It's so thick and heavy and dense, it takes close listening to pick out all the amazing stuff going on beneath the buzzy black surface.
The second track continues on in much the same vein, with the guitars even more twisted and gnarled, the drums still relentlessly mathy and intricate, slipping from total chaotic black noise, to stumbling groove, to cool pounding dirge, the drums leaping out from the mix, the guitars thick and raw, but soaring majestically at the same time. The sound manages to be epic and classic and technical while also murky and lo-fi, the sounds all blurring together, a heaving mass of constantly shifting blown out blackness, still rife with all manner of tangled little melodies, and sweeping epic ambience.
The closer is short and sweet, the weirdest and creepiest of the bunch, beginning with a staccato machine gun burst of drums and riffage, before slipping into a swirling high end guitardrone, all woozy and overlapping, disembodied riffs and smeared melodies, dizzying and mesmerizing, growing more and more intense, the drums barely there, just those high end guitars glowing hotter and hotter, until finally, the drums kick in, and the track resolves in a totally twisted soaring post rock black metal what the fuck epic outro, that fades out WAY too soon. Holy shit. These guys need to deliver a full length ASAP. and we definitely don't want to wait another 6 years.
LIMITED OF COURSE. And it would be hard not to think, even only nine days into the new year, that this wasn't gonna be the best black metal record of '09. We'll see...
Saint Vitus guitarist + Trouble vocalist, doing drunken old school punk rock with only a hint of the doom metal they're known for...not what you'd expect (or is it?) but it's fun, and Dave Chandler's guitar sound is Vitusy for sure.
As do the Deceased. More power to 'em!! If you like metal, you have to like these guys.
Virginia's Deceased started as a Voivod-worshipping death metal band, before transforming into a throwback to '80s speed/true metal, featuring denim-clad dual axemen in Maidenesque harmony heaven, and singing drummer/record collector King Fowley belting out his horror-film derived lyrics in a voice uncannily similar to Cronos of Venom. Yet they retain the brutality and complexity
Melodic death metal with Iron Maiden style guitar harmonies is a now popular style, typified by the likes of In Flames and Dark Tranquility. Deceased can consider themselves a pioneer in the genre, one of the best as well--and they're NOT from Sweden, but the good ol' US of A. Although I'm sure they still worship their heroes Voivod as much as they used to, musically recent Deceased has definitely got more of a "trad" metal sheen to it. Vocalist/drummer King Fowley's vox retain their growling, Cronos-of-Venom styled unclean quality, however. It's still death metal, but with the stress on the METAL. The eight tracks on offer here are all tales of occult horror, taken from fiction and film (from Ambrose Bierce to...The Blair Witch Project! Oh dear).
Latest issue of the USA's best glossy metal mag, with Cathedral on the cover, also Kvelertak, Iron Reagan, Batillus, Pestilence (Hall Of Fame induction), and more - including their 9th Annual "Extreme" Baseball Preview for those who care - which a lot of metallers do it turns out, seeing who participated.
Also, lots of reviews (leading off with the new Ghost opus), and the usual amusing columns including John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats "South Pole Dispatch" (this time he parodies the BS of an "asshole product manager").
We read every issue of Decibel anyway, but even if we didn't we'd have picked this one up, just for the 3 page feature all about Metal-Archives.com, a website we visit more often than Facebook, Wikipedia, and D-Listed combined. Plus, there's the cover story about this year's Decibel tour (Cannibal Corpse, Napalm Death, Immolation and assorted openers), and the Hall of Fame feature on Carcass's Heartwork. And plenty more: Kylesa, Purson, Jungle Rot, Dillinger Escape Plan, Altar Of Plagues, Nails, The Ocean, etc., along with the usual slew of columns, news, and reviews.
Decibel, the premier metal magazine in the USA, is a must for any metaller who wants to keep current but doesn't want all their reading to be done online. And at a mere $4.95 it's a better deal than most magazines these days. This issue has Amon Amarth on the cover (ho hum) but plenty of cool stuff inside, about bands like Deafheaven, Witch Cross (yes!), Scale The Summit, Pig Destroyer (entering the Hall Of Fame for Prowler In The Yard), Aborym, Lesbian, Coffins, and more. Plus the usual informative & amusing reviews and columns (including John Darnielle of the Mountain Goat's back page South Pole Dispatch).
And, best of all for some of us here, there's an 8-page oral history of another metal magazine, the sadly missed Metal Maniacs (1988-2007), a staple of our metal-mad youth. Ah, the nostalgia!
"116 purulent pages" it sez right here on the cover of this new issue of this recommended metal read, and since that cover also features the return of CARCASS, that seems appropriate. Also to be found within those 116 pages of purulence: Gorguts, Trouble, Baroness, Broken Hope, Windhand, High On Fire (entering the Decibel Hall Of Fame with Surrounded By Thieves), Gwar, Fleshgod Apocalpyse, Witherscape, and more - including the usual amusing John Darnielle column on the back page.
The year-end issue of this metal mag has ol' King Diamond on the cover, and the editorial staff's Top 40 albums of 2013 inside, always a fun read (#1 = Carcass).
There's also stuff on Oranssi Pazuzu, Funeral Circle, Corrections House, Andy Sneap, and Integrity (Hall of Fame for Systems Overload). Plus all the usual columns and reviews and stuff, including the reason to always read the last page of Decibel first, John "Mountain Goats" Darnielle's always amusing, or at least strange, South Pole Dispatch.
Lemmy of Motorhead looks like he's hanging in there on the cover of this issue of the premier US metal mag. Inside: Opeth enters the "Hall of Fame" with Blackwater Park, there's a live report from Phil Anselmo's Housecore Horror Film Fest, a rundown on what the magazine considers the 20 most anticipated albums of 2014, and stuff on such bands as Beastmilk, Mogwai, Satan's Wrath, Godflesh, among others. Reviews, funny columns, news bits, and all the rest round out the issue. As always, informative and amusing reading for the metal-fixated among you, we recommend it.
Can't wait to read the article entitled "Posing Hard: Yoga & Extreme Metal"! Also this ish there's Behemoth on the cover, Hirax, Pentagram Chile, Grand Magus, The Wounded Kings, Alcest, Thou, Indian and lots more. Plus plenty of reviews, funny columns, etc.
Monthly metal mag Decibel has put Carcass is on the cover, again, for like the umpteenth time since their reunion. What's up with Decibel and Carcass? I mean, we love Carcass too, but still. Heck they've got 'em headlining this year's Decibel Magazine Tour (hence the cover spot, this time), along with The Black Dahlia Murder, Gorguts and Noisem, who you can also read about inside. Along with stuff about / interviews with / information pertaining to: Gridlink, Morbus Chron, Cripple Bastards, Solstice (huzzah!), Cynic, Broken Hope, The Oath, Skepticism (inducted into the Hall Of Fame for Stormcrowfleet), The Shrine, and the return of supergroup Twilight, among others! Plus tons of reviews, all the usual good stuff. And the back page South Pole Dispatch by John "Mountain Goats" Darnielle is a hoot, as always. If only they really did release a book called Decibel Presents Electric Fucking Sun Featuring Uli Fucking Jon Roth You Pieces Of Shit, like John proposes. We'd buy one.
"The Ultimate Warrior." No, not the late wrestler, that's Decibel's blurb for its cover story on Thomas Gabriel Fischer and his new Triptykon album. Also in this issue of this must-read magazine for metalheads: Slough Feg, Conan, Siege, Mastodon (studio report), Napalm Death, Massacre, and more, including an "extreme" Major League Baseball preview, and a "Hall Of Fame" feature on the album Fantastic Planet by Failure, not the most metal album ever but a cool one.
Speaking of extreme baseball, John Darnielle's humorous South Pole Dispatch column has an interesting idea about 'deathball'...
Cover star, the late great Oderus Urungus (R.I.P. Dave Brockie). Also: Floor, Stoneburner, Young Widows, Goatwhore, Lord Mantis, and more - including a Q&A with Marty freaking Friedman. Shred!
One of our favorite monthly metal reads, the glossy (but "extremely exteme") magazine Decibel is a worthy American rival to the UK's Terrorizer. And they definitely have some good writers, the sort who manage to entertain and amuse even when, sometimes, you didn't think you cared about the band being covered. This issue, though, there's definitely bands you care about. On the cover, good ol' Slayer. Inside: 1349, Anaal Nathrakh, Amesoeurs, Slough Feg, Goatwhore, Velnias, and plenty more. Plus reviews and news and columns (including as always John "Mountain Goats" Darnielle's back page bit of humor) and all that good stuff. And a special report on the resurgence of old school death metal.
About the only thing this ish we thought we didn't really care about is the Hall of Fame feature on NYHC straight edge band Judge's 1989 album Bringin' It Down... but we still read it, and now might give that album a spin if we run across a copy.
Along with Terrorizer, this magazine is our monthly metal must-read. This issue has Nergal of Polish black/death metallers Behemoth on the cover, a cool photo of him looking like a surly member of the Blue Man Group who overdosed on Rogaine. Also, there's interviews with / features involving the likes of Anvil, The Gates Of Slumber, Voivod, Church Of Misery, Yob, Dysrhythmia, Gorod, Suffocation, and more. Including an interview with "pirate metal" band Swashbuckle conducted by Waldo the Parrot from Hatebeak! And if that's not enough humor for you, there's the usual John Darnielle column at the back of the magazine too, among other chuckles throughout.
On the cover, the return of IMMORTAL!! Inside, an awesome oral history of splatter metal legends Gwar, as well as Municipal Waste, Job For A Cowboy, Nile, Devildriver, Divine Heresy, Asphyx, Goreaphobia, Keelhaul, Amon, Rammstein, City Of Ships, Scale The Summit, Sarke, Demonical, Born Of Osiris, Arkaea, Bill Steer of Carcass, reviews a handful of MP3's, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares reviews his favorite restaurants, an extreme metal football preview, Cynic's Focus inducted into the Decibel Hall Of Fame, and of course tons of reviews, as well as some hilarious back page snark from the Mountain Goats John Darnielle.
Latest issue of the premiere American glossy metal mag features metalcore masters Converge on the cover. Inside, all kinds of other AQ approved bands: Skeletonwitch, Saviours, Shrinebuilder, The Gates Of Slumber, Liturgy, Portal, 3 Inches Of Blood, Gnaw Their Tongues, Gorgoroth, and plenty more! There's a High On Fire "studio report", the usual amusing John Darnielle and J. Bennett columns, the usual cavalcade of reviews (including one of new metal-themed video game Brutal Legend that says it's got "the greatest metal soundtrack ever" for which we at Aquarius can take a little credit, having helped out with it), and, best of all, a "Hall Of Fame" feature on Trouble's debut album! Now that's a good issue!
More good headbanging readin' here, from the always entertaining and informative Decibel mag... On the cover, Fear Factory (ho hum), all CGI-ed out in the picture like wanna be Terminators. But inside, lots of much more interesting stuff: Sigh, Harvey Milk, Hellhammer (an excerpt from Tom G. Warrior's upcoming book), Sacrifice, Holy Grail, and other rad bands we like... plus lots of reviews, funny columns, news bits, etc.
AND, this issue sees the classic Saint Vitus album Born Too Late inducted into the Decibel Hall Of Fame! Just in time for their reunion tour, of course.
High On Fire On The Cover (looking maybe just a little uncomfortable, posing draped in snakes on account of their new album, Snakes For The Divine... why'd it have to be snakes... shoulda said snacks!).
Also this ish: Ludicra, The Wounded Kings, Teitanblood, Bastard Noise, Daughters, Priestess, Abscess, Ihsahn, Landmine Marathon, Finntroll (vs. Troll), Dark Tranquillity (being inducted into the Hall Of Fame for The Gallery), Nachtmystium (studio report), and more, including of course all the usual news, tons o' reviews, and funny columns, John Darnielle's South Pole Dispatch being particularly amusing this time 'round.
Out of jail, on the cover: Burzum! "Facing off with metal's most controversial figure". Also in this issue of America's foremost glossy extreme metal magazine: Dillinger Escape Plan, Tom G. Warrior's Triptykon, Hour Of 13, Hooded Menace, White Wizzard, Immolation, Autopsy, and, among other things, Motorhead's Ace Of Spades inducted into Decibel's Hall of Fame, with the usual fascinating the-making-of article.
More good readin' for all you metal fans. This issue has Exodus on the cover, but also 1349, Cathedral, Darkthrone, The Ruins Of Beverast, Fenriz, The Ocean, Pentagram (with their 1985 album Relentless being inducted into the Decibel "Hall of Fame"), a studio report from Torche, a feature on one-man death metal bands, and plenty more, including all the witty usual reviews (78 of 'em) and columns.
One of the scary dudes from Watain poses for this month's cover, complete with dripping blood, foaming dry ice goblet, skulls, candles, facepaint, and one weird contact lens. A good cover subject for sure! Inside, also: Cannibal Corpse, Nachtmystium, Melvins, Enslaved, Enforcer, Karma To Burn, Rosetta, Across Tundras, Yakuza, and plenty more. Including, Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses album entering into the Decibel Hall Of Fame. Pete Steele, R.I.P.
Cool cartoony comic book cover portrait of Danzig (back in saddle with a new album, y'know). Inside this issue of the USA's best glossy metal magazine: Coliseum, Wormrot, Apostle Of Solitude, Nevermore, Dismember (in the Hall Of Fame with their 1991 classic Like An Ever Flowing Stream), Pantera's Vinnie Paul, and a eulogy for Ronnie James Dio. Among much else!
This issue's cover belongs to The Refused, whose hardcore masterpiece The Shape Of Punk To Come is inducted into Decibel's album hall of fame. Kinda cool to see a glossy magazine put something on the cover that isn't a new release a label is trying to hype or whatever - The Refused broke up years ago, that record is from 1998. Also inside, this ish: The Sword, Decrepit Birth, Zoroaster, Kylesa, Sigh's Dr. Mikannnibal (talking about her day job as an experimental physicist!), Xasthur, Aaron Turner discussing the end of Isis, and more. Including the usual funny columns and lots of reviews. And one other feature that ought to have been really cool, but now is super sad, the "Streetwise San Francisco" article wherein Cosmo Lee from the Invisible Oranges blog is shown around SF by some local metal folks, members of Ludicra and Hammers Of Misfortune among others, they visit such landmarks as Vesuvio bar in North Beach, El Farolito taqueria here in the Mission, The Hemlock Tavern, and yes Aquarius Records! Which is neat, except for the sad part - one of the tour guides, pictured looking through the bins here at AQ in the article, was Makh Daniels from the band Early Graves, whom you may have heard was tragically was killed in a van accident on tour, not long after these photos were taken. R.I.P.
The new ish of our fave American metal mag is here. On the cover, looking AWESOME... Dimmu Borgir. Inside: Swans, Enslaved, Autopsy, Torche, Monster Magnet, Pig Destroyer (studio report), Angel Witch (Hall of Fame induction!), Unearthly Trance, Dawnbringer, Melechesh, Woe, and more, including all the usual clever columns and pointed reviews and such. For metalheads who want to stay hip, it's a must-read.
Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Viking Crown, & now Arson Anthem) is on the cover of this issue, looking mean and tough in his tats and Poison Idea t-shirt. Also in this ish: Kylesa, Salome, Father Befouled, Winterfylleth, The Crown, Crowbar, Intronaut, Death Angel, Chris "Masters Of Reality" Goss, Forbidden, and more, of course the usual wiseass columns, reviews, and whatnot, that make this glossy metal mag a must read for all up-to-the-minute metallers. Oh, and this issue also includes a well-deserved Decibel Hall Of Fame album induction: Venom's Welcome To Hell! Pretty cool reading the sidebar featuring Tom G. Warrior's reminiscences about when he first bought his copy and how it made him feel!
Awesome Oderus Urungus of Gwar as Santa cover on this month's issue of Decibel, one of our two go-to glossy metal magazines (the other being the UK's Terrorizer). Also this issue: Justin Broadrick, Weapon, Holy Grail, Encoffination, Exhumed, October Falls, Hail Of Bullets, Impaled Nazerene, Quest For Fire, and more, including an interview with Bobby Liebling's Mom!! Of particular note this ish are Decibel's selections for the Top 40 Metal Albums Of 2010 (#1: Agalloch!). Also Satyricon's best album, Nemesis Divina, gets the Hall Of Fame treatment. And there's tons of reviews and news and the usual funny columns (the South Pole Dispatch on the back page, the regular column by John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, is particularly amusing this issue, as he makes fun of a bunch of Decibel's Albums Of The Year picks...).
Any magazine with Electric Wizard on the cover is one we want to read, not that we don't ALWAYS want to read "extreme music" magazine Decibel anyway! Also this issue, there's features on the likes of Haarp, Ehnarhre, Ghost (Sweden, not Japan), Altar Of Plagues, Atheist, and... Cee Lo? Yes, Cee Lo. Apparently a closet metalhead.
Also, Tom G. Warrior of Triptykon does the "invisible jukebox" thing, totally harshing on the new one from Sodom by the way (and Sodom's Tom Angelripper does a Q&A this ish as well...). And, best of all perhaps, Decibel inducts CoC's Animosity album into their Hall Of Fame, definitely a deserving choice! Plus, there's the usual reviews (which includes one of the latest from the Dead C, demonstrating that they're an "extreme music", not necessarily metal, magazine), news, and funny columns.
Amon Amarth, Deicide, Trap Them, Primordial, Ken Mode, Subrosa, Noisear, Drugs Of Faith, tons of reviews (including a long one of the new Burzum), funny columns, etc. And best of all, Mercyful Fate's Melissa in the Hall of Fame feature!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Every month, if you're a metalhead, you should be reading both Decibel from the USA and Terrorizer from the UK. Here's the latest Decibel, with a striking black & white & shiny silver cover pic of Pentagram vocalist (and vintage hipster fashion plate) Bobby Liebling, in honor of the big feature story inside about his "resurrection" with the recent return of his venerable doom metal band, who have managed to both astonish and appall with their live shows. Definitely an interesting read, that article. Also this issue, lots more cool metal content, including stuff about these bands: Kylesa, Gridlink, Krallice, Darkest Hour, Grand Magus, Belphegor, and more. Plus the usual reviews, news, and amusing columns (indie rockers might be surprised to find John "Mountain Goats" Darnielle has a regular spot in Decibel). Also there's a report from the recent Scion Rock Fest down in LA. And Burzum's Filosofem is inducted into the Decibel Hall Of Fame, another very interesting feature, and a great pick.
Metal mag Decibel's motto is "extremely extreme"... but maybe not "Too Extreme", which is believe it or not a song title on the "controversial" (read: terrible) new Morbid Angel album, who garner the cover spot this issue for their efforts. A whole article basically about "what the heck happened there?". We're actually pretty interested in reading this piece, about the legendary death metal band, now reunited with vocalist David Vincent, making their first album in 8 years, and unfortunately losing the plot big time (though Andee here is threatening to give it a positive review, just to be contrary).
Besides that, also this ish: the Melvins, Boris, Autopsy, Demonaz of Immortal, Deafheaven, Wormrot, Loss, Exhumed, Baroness (well, one of their moms), Graveyard, NWOBHM Lazaruses Hell, a live report from Roadburn, and more. Including the usual amusing columns, opinionated reviews, etc.
Oh, and this issue's Hall Of Fame inductee? Underrated Swiss thrash gods Coroner and their 1989 album No More Color!
On the cover this issue of our fave US metal glossy, Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth, previewing their upcoming new album Heritage, which we're looking forward to hearing. Then there's also the likes of Seidr, Disma, Argus, Decapitated, Toxic Holocaust, King Fowley of Deceased (mostly not enjoying the music they're playing him in the "Call & Response" feature), Skeletonwitch (a studio report), and more... Rorschach's Protestant enters the Decibel Hall of Fame (yeah!!), and A.C.'s notorious Seth Putnam gets eulogized (RIP Seth). Plus the usual plethora of reviews, news, and funny stuff.
Mastodon is on the cover, talking up their new opus The Hunter. Also this ish: Dimmu Borgir, Yob, Today Is The Day, The Gates Of Slumber, Origin, Testament, 40 Watt Sun, Anthrax, a special report on "Neofolk", and plenty more. This month's Hall Of Fame album induction: Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche!!! And the usual ton of reviews, including (why didn't we think of this) one where they review Barn Owl, Weird Owl, and Weird Al Yankovic all together at once! Good stuff.
Metal in the form of a magazine. On the cover... Skeletonwitch. Also: Brutal Truth, Goatwhore, Circle Of Ouroborus, Exhumed, Junius, The Atlas Moth, Wolvhammer, Alice Cooper, Ministry (in the Hall Of Fame for The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste), and plenty more. Including the usual amusing columns (shout out to John Darnielle) and also-amusing album reviews.
Another issue of this always enjoyable extreme metal read. On the cover, Goatwhore. Inside, Black Tusk, Evoken, Aborted, Ghoul, Will Haven, Midnight, and more.
One of our favorite features in every issue of this magazine is their monthly induction into the Decibel album Hall Of Fame, this time the honor goes to Abigail by King Diamond, as always accompanied by an in-depth look at the making and meaning of said album.
And of course, there's a plethora of reviews, news, columns, and other stuff, including a look at the editors' top 25 most anticipated releases upcoming in 2012.
