Profound Lore Records

Dreadnought – The Endless Review

By El Cuervo on August 23, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, 46 comments

“Briefly summarizing Dreadnought’s music is impossible. You could clip a 5-minute passage from anywhere on The Endless and encounter something different from any other 5-minute passage. But, in short, the key ingredients include progressive, post and black metal, and also jazz. Occasionally shimmering guitars, looped rhythms and a dense, textured approach lean into post-genres, while the overall package is delivered through rangy, expansive songs which demonstrate progressive proclivities.” Endless dread knots.

Reeking Aura – Blood and Bonemeal Review

By Maddog on August 2, 2022 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 23 comments

As a hippie vegan with a houseplant obsession, I know all too much about blood and bone meal. If you’ve ever bought organic fertilizer, it likely contained these horrifying but nutrient-rich byproducts of slaughterhouses. While much less objectionable, Reeking Aura’s debut Blood and Bonemeal is no less vile than its namesake. Boasting band members from Grey Skies Fallen, Artificial Brain, and Buckshot Facelift, Blood and Bonemeal harks back to the halcyon days of Autopsy and Asphyx, dishing out grimy death metal riffs across the tempo spectrum.” What’s that smell?

Hissing – Hypervirulence Architecture Review

By Thus Spoke on July 20, 2022 in Reviews, 23 comments

“To non-metal listeners, all metal sounds hostile. Stray far to the edges of the dissonant and avant-garde in the genre, and you’ll find a breed that even experienced acolytes can struggle with. One’s first Portal experience is a conceptual case in point. From out of this dark corner of disturbing and unfriendly sounds, Hissing has emerged.” Crawling dread and slithering heads.

Artificial Brain – Artificial Brain Review

By Dear Hollow on May 31, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 60 comments

“Artificial Brain, with or without intending it, has become the gold standard for modern death metal. Seamlessly blending earth-rumbling death metal with the raw edges and tines of black metal and adding a dissonant edge that embarks on voyages across dimensions, I knew I had bitten off more than I could chew. I feel as if I’ve intruded upon something holy.” Artifice and art.

Luminous Vault – Animate the Emptiness Review

By Dear Hollow on May 17, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Electronic, Electronic Metal, 57 comments

“Electronic elements and black metal is often met with disdain. Atonal EDM beats over blackened shenanigans make acts like Psyclon Nine and Mora Prokaza questionable, while the guitar-less synth overload of Golden Ashes and Wreche are often met with mixed reception. Perhaps more successfully, acts like Blut aus Nord and Dkharmakhaoz incorporate cold industrial flourishes to the raw guitar tone, creating an uncompromisingly obsidian sound. Electronic is divisive, but Luminous Vault does it right.” Electro-violence.

Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones Review

By Thus Spoke on May 9, 2022 in Reviews, Technical Death Metal, 31 comments

“Also a part of underground phenomena Vertebra Atlantis and Turris Eburnea, Gabriele’s output to time ratio is staggeringly high. So is the quality thus far. Does Cosmic Putrefaction’s third LP continue this winning streak, or does he need to take a break?” Fresh creepsicles!

Haunter – Discarnate Ails Review

By Maddog on May 7, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 24 comments

“I first heard of San Antonio’s Haunter during my brief stint in the Discord server. The discordant blackened death of 2019’s Sacramental Death Qualia caught my ears immediately. It struck the difficult balance of exploring tortuous harmonies and building an unsettling atmosphere while keeping me rapt. Dissonance tends to alienate me more often than it attracts me, but Haunter occupies a thin middle ground of bands like Ulcerate and Sunless that inject a digestible dose of dissonance while still supplying compelling melodies to latch onto.” Haunting the Alamo.

Incandescence – Le Coeur de L’Homme Review

By Doom_et_Al on April 29, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, 37 comments

“Incandescence was formed in 2011 by Philippe Boucher (formerly of First Fragment, now permanent drummer of Beyond Creation) who handles the songwriting and instrumentation. Vocals are performed by Louis-Paul Gauvreau, who took over duties in 2018 from Francis Desrochers. Despite its background in tech-death, Incandescence plays a form of no-frills ‘deathened black metal.'” Light up the darkness with death.

Aeviterne – The Ailing Facade Review

By Dear Hollow on March 23, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Post-Metal, 54 comments

“It would be tempting to call The Ailing Facade the product of a supergroup. Formed with veteran blood from acts like Castevet, Gath Šmānê, Luminous Vault, and Artificial Brain, guitarist/vocalist Garett Bussanick uses Aeviterne as a vessel to resurrect New York dissodeath heavyweights Flourishing. However, this quartet feels like so much more than a supergroup.” Horrid rebirthing.

The Temple – The Temple Review

By Dear Hollow on November 20, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 43 comments

“I’d be willing to put down money that The Temple is or contains a piece of Ulcerate. This New Zealand duo consists of P.K. on guitar, bass, and vocals (Paul Kelland? Sure sounds like him) and J.W. on drums (former Ulcerate vocalist James Wallace?), and to make matters worse, the self-titled debut was mixed and produced by J. Saint Merat. But this feeling of limbo, that maybe it is or maybe it isn’t, is what The Temple dwells in.” Crouching temples, hidden tech-death.