Ad Nauseam

Diskord – Degenerations Review

Diskord – Degenerations Review

By Saunders on August 9, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Progressive Metal, 37 comments

“Lovable Norwegian oddballs Diskord make their long awaited return with Degenerations, their third LP and first recorded output since 2014’s mind-bending Oscillations EP. Easily one of my most anticipated albums of 2021, long ago I fell hard for Diskord’s strange amalgam of old school death metal, experimental flair, and ability to crank out killer death tunes, chopped up with psychedelic and prog experiments. My first exposure was on their monumental 2012 LP Dystopics, an incredible album I consider a modern classic. However, as the years passed I began to wonder whether we would hear more from the band. Well the moment has arrived, Diskord fittingly popping up on the Transcending Obscurity roster to land another mindboggling clusterfuck of weird arse death.” Degenerate to evolve.

Cathexis – Untethered Abyss Review

Cathexis – Untethered Abyss Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 23, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 20 comments

“Cathexis is a death metal band from Texas. How to further classify them is up to the listener, but to me their sound is that of a TXDM band playing a mix of Obscura, Negativa, and Hate Eternal. Untethered Abyss is ambitious in that it tries to find the sweet spot between TXDM brutality, the creative dissonance of Obscura and Negativa, and the propulsive and aggressive death metal of Hate Eternal.” Texas knows brisket and abysskit.

Acausal Intrusion – Nulitas Review

Acausal Intrusion – Nulitas Review

By Dear Hollow on May 21, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 46 comments

“If I’m being truly honest, I have a difficult time with death metal. It feels unfair, as these acts rear their guttural heads on my AOTY’s yearly, but they’re often adjacent strains: black/death, dissonant tech-death, Lovecraftian, or other pretentiously experimental concoctions. But old school and Swedeath? Gimme somethin’ else, because I overthink the hell out of it: at the risk of sounding like my parents, it all sounds the same to me. However, a new weird death metal release from the label behind groups like Prometheus and Thecodontion? Acausal Intrusion, sign me the fuck up.” Ruptured Nulitas.

Spectral Lore – Ετερόφωτος Review

Spectral Lore – Ετερόφωτος Review

By Doom_et_Al on April 21, 2021 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Drone, 44 comments

“It’s no secret that I was a huge admirer of the 2020 Spectral Lore / Mare Cognitum split, Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine. Like an elaborate dance, the ethereal material from Spectral Lore waltzed perfectly with the more grounded, riff-driven focus of Mare Cognitum. I was fascinated to see how each band would follow this with their respective solo albums. Mare Cognitum clearly incorporated the introspective, mournful influence of Spectral Lore to great effect on Solar Paroxysm. The question was how Spectral Lore mastermind, the Greek Ayloss, would approach his latest collection, Ετερόφωτος.” Tales from the basement (sub-floor lore).

Iotunn – Access All Worlds Review

Iotunn – Access All Worlds Review

By GardensTale on February 26, 2021 in Reviews, 134 comments

“If any of you are fellow Dungeons & Dragons nerds, which of course you are because you listen to metal, you should be familiar with the concept of a natural 20. Well, lately I’ve been experimenting with literally randomizing what promos to pick, using a single line of code to spit out a number corresponding with a place in a list. This time, the code landed on an unassuming sounding debut by a band called Iotunn, marked as space rock. Imagine my surprise when fellow prog lover Huck N Roll informed me that instead I’d landed on a very promising chunk of Metal Blade backed cosmic progressive death metal with none other than Jón Aldará (Barren Earth, Hamferð) on vocals.” Significant access.

Ad Nauseam – Imperative Imperceptible Impulse Review

Ad Nauseam – Imperative Imperceptible Impulse Review

By Kronos on February 9, 2021 in Reviews, 236 comments

“Ad Nauseam spilled into the avant-garde black/death metal scene in 2015 with Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est, a record that stood out for its audacity even among the most ambitious and experimental extreme metal records. Think Gorguts, think Baring Teeth, think Imperial Triumphant, and, yes, think Pyrrhon, but the Italian quartet are their own phenomenon.” Artisan sickness

Ad Nauseam – Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est [Things You Might have Missed 2015]

Ad Nauseam – Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est [Things You Might have Missed 2015]

By Kronos on December 20, 2015 in Avante Garde, Black Metal, Death Metal, Lavadome Records, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2015, Black Metal, Death Metal, 30 comments

“Earlier this year, Grymm called Imperial Triumphant’s incredible sophomore effort Abyssal Gods “the best French black metal album in recent history” and lauded the half-Pyrrhon band as the new bringers of discomfort and disgust, mixing Obscura-influenced death metal with atmospheric black metal and the occasional ukulele. They’re not alone.” Using sickness as salvation.