“American Gothic continues Wayfarer’s signature sound, forged on A Romance with Violence. While the base of black metal remains, like many US compatriots, Wayfarer use this as a starting point to explore different and atypical musical terrains. This unique aesthetic is then fused to themes and sonic templates of the American Wild West, highlighting the echoes of America’s fraught and violent past while drawing parallels with its present.” Gunsmoke is black.
“A Dialogue with the Eeriest Sublime is pure unadulterated Vertebra Atlantis at its finest. Blending blackened death punishment with the grandiosity of a crashing castle, the doom-laden contemplation of the awe its destruction invokes, the blackened attack that battles ice with fire, and the atmospheric ice that coats every surface, the Italian trio has stepped up everything that gave its predecessor, the great Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss, its signature blend of punishing and atmospheric.” Sublime mass destruction.
“Gravesend’s 2021 full-length debut, Method of Human Disposal, hit me like an unexpected brick between the eyes. So shocking was that concussive impact, in fact, that I was a bit dazed and later had to revisit the album to adjust the score. Upwards. To a 4.0. The New York City trio’s brand of blackened grind exuded such an aura of debauched filth that it almost matched the tales of decay and depravity woven by the lyrics. While grind is not my natural go-to genre, this, apparently, is what I want from it. Whether that says more about me or Gravesend, I don’t know but the latter certainly have issues that they may want to explore with a professional. Now back with that tricky sophomore record, has two years away helped these NYC denizens?” Dirty water death dawgs.
“Back in the days before the Great Plague (2018 to be exact), I stumbled upon a quirky underground act called Vanishing Kids and their Heavy Dreamer album. Hailing from Wisconsin, they billed themselves as “somnambulic doom,” which intrigued me but didn’t really do justice to their unique sound and style. They play a slick mash-up 70s acid/psychedelic rock with 80s goth rock, ethereal wave, and yes, some random bits of doom sprinkled in. The end product is haunting, dreamy, and entirely gripping, full of moodscapes that envelope you like a heavy fog. I still play Heavy Dreamer regularly and there’s just something special about the album that sticks in my head and heart. As the world hid away from 2020 to 2022, Vanishing Kids used the isolation to work on the follow-up, and after 5 years we get the appropriately titled Miracle of Death.” The Kids are alright.
“For those who missed my tongue-bathing in 2021, Mānbryne is an enigmatic black metal band from Poland consisting of members from a bunch of groups, most notably Blaze of Perdition. The musical template is straightforward black metal, but the execution of their debut set it apart. Most impressive was the balance between old and new. The fresh songwriting of Renz combined with the experienced hands behind the other instruments to give us the best of both worlds.” No man is a bryneland.
“Rorcal’s approach to auditory darkness is nonetheless unmistakable, post-hardcore and post-metal coursing through every vein. Dissonant and ominous, tar-thick slogs of drone/sludge contrast mightily with raw wounds of blackened shreds with impeccable balance.” Silent but deadly.
“I’ve talked at length about my distaste for overly progressive music, and no genre draws my ire for incorporating unnecessary fluff more than death metal. I’d even go a step further and say that I really don’t enjoy much “beauty” or “fun” in my death metal at all; just give me the raw, stinking sewage and keep your melodic and atmospheric death metals. Of course, this is all just personal preference, but I can’t stand when bands like Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold, or even the mighty Death add so much experimentation that the songs cease to exist as songs, becoming instead exercises for demonstrating technical ability and/or progressive sensibility.” Ugly down to the death bone.
“Since snatching my AotY crown in 2020 with their awesome Diagrams of Consciousness, Finland tech-death juggernauts Omnivortex have been hard at work on follow up Circulate. Needless to say, I’ve been at the edge of my seat. Remembering the indelible hooks and brutal heft of their explosive debut, I have no idea what Omnivortex need to do in order to top it.” Spinning on, spinning up.
“I have fond memories of Ashbringer’s third record, Absolution. Now, in part, this could be put down to the fact that I wrote the review while sipping an ice cold beer by the river in the picturesque city of Hội An, Vietnam. It could also be because Absolution got me my first Record o’ the Month back in June 2019, a victory that I naturally ascribe entirely to myself, rather than to the fact that Ashbringer wrote a great, progressive black metal record.” Ash fanciers.
“The existence of Sylosis roughly tracks my own experience with non-mainstream metal, running from 2008’s Conclusion of an Age to 2020’s Cycle of Suffering. The band lost me somewhere in the middle as I was diving into the more extreme sub-genres of metal’s sewer, despite my favorable comments on 2015’s Dormant Heart, no doubt induced by a bout of regional favoritism given that they hail from the same bit of the UK as yours truly. Cycle of Suffering represented a roaring return, comfortably my favorite of their albums and comfortably my second favorite album from 2020. Sylosis are one of Britain’s most exciting and energetic bands but how can A Sign of Things to Come hope to match their prior incredible success?” Modern problems.
