“Unaussprechlichen Kulten, the ‘Black Book’ within the Cthulhu mythos that describes the titular “unspeakable cults” that worship arcane deities. Here we find an(other) extreme metal band preoccupied with the nightmarish world of Lovecraftian mythology, but Unaussprechlichen Kulten can hardly be called copycats, they’re one of the OG.” Return of the Tenctacle Mack.
“Anonymous Belarusian act Pa Vesh En’s track record is impeccable, nearly every installment providing another unique vista of smoke and fog – but always narrowly missing the craved medal of excellence. Anchored by a doomy pace and thunderous percussion, Pa Vesh En has always balanced its more scathing raw black tremolos and shrill shrieks with a thick haze of ambiance.” Raw meat for blackened souls.
“Last time we met Cursed Excruciation, we were smack-talking sole member Trance of the Undead for his creatively titled main project Trance of the Undead. Blackened death to the core, it boasted just enough tasty dungeon synth-inspired keyboard abuse to add a flavor of old-school kvltness. On paper, it all sounded great; the problem was it just wasn’t, uh, good. Lack of variety met monotonous guitar tone with the same riff repeating ad nauseam for seven tracks. Aside from a serious bite that initially hit like a crowbar to the knees, the hype very quickly died out. Well, imagine if Trance of the Undead thought brutality was soooo last week, removing all teeth and energy in favor of something sounding “ominous.” Let me introduce you to Cursed Excruciation.” Cursed and damned.
“Cometh the day, cometh the dissemination of yet more black metal. I am reliably informed by the album’s one sheet that Abhor and their new release entitled Sex Sex Sex (Ceremonia Daemonis Anticristi) is “anticipated.” Quite by whom is unclear, considering that these Italians have toiled in obscurity for 8 albums across 27 years without generating much in the way of “buzz.” It also seems unnecessary to include biographical information about the band when confronted with such a title. I couldn’t resist the allure of Sex Sex Sex irrespective of the band producing it, such is my delight at the premise of satanic copulation.” Sexy beasts.
“I scoff at the idea of curses, but things have been dicey since I let Concilivm’s dark magicks into my life. My hated rival Grigori Ilanovich got the promotion I’ve been vying for, there’s a strange shadow on the bedroom wall that seems to be creeping closer each night, and my credit rating has been lowered to “Shoot on Sight.” Can A Monument in Darkness’s forty minutes of blackened death metal really be the source of all this bad mojo? Spin the debut offering of this duo from Chile, and you too might find yourself consumed by the encroaching blackness. It may well be too late to save me, so I’ll set down this record of my findings.” Dark deeds done dirt cheap.
“What’s in an identity? In a world where often we have knowledge at our fingertips, it’s frustrating when information just isn’t there. Promo material for Verbum has no names attached at all, and though I am a high-level Google-fu practitioner, research into this band doesn’t yield much about members—but we do know they’re from Chile. Therefore, I can only conclude that on one particularly auspicious night deep in the Atacama, an unfortunate miner bored mistakenly into a mysterious, pulsating rock, releasing four cloaked metal demons from the underground.” Unknown and impure.
“Sometimes you just need an audio beating, to crank that funky brutal music to 11 and let your ears bleed. The issue with a lot of beatdown music is that there’s simply too much of it and not enough contrast, which is why bands like Isis or Opeth were applauded in their heyday, while Tetragammacide and Deiphago are chastised like a class clown. Having your skull beaten in is fine and dandy, but you need some sophistication. A baseball bat made of maple instead of ash, perhaps, or a titanium crowbar instead of iron. Maybe a fist with some pretty rings or maybe even a bedazzled tire iron? Brazil’s Trance of the Undead utilizes predictable beatdown techniques in its blackened death attack.” Discount diseases.
“Another day, another raw black metal act. I was gonna go into the obligatory rant about how it’s the aural form of licorice, but suffice it to say: you either hate it or you love tolerate it. If you’re a masochist who likes to have your ears bleeding on the reg, dive in. If you prefer your music tasteful and somewhat reasonable, stay away. Unless it’s Pa Vesh En, who, along with acts like Black Cilice or Lamp of Murmuur, regularly provide tasteful interpretations of barbed wire tones.” Angry cargo.
“There are certain key words and taglines that all but guarantee your friendly stronghold Steel will seize a promo as his own, jealously guarding it from interlopers, pretenders and would-be promo usurpers. Putting “Viking doom” in your promo blurb alongside reference to Bathory is one such way to score a hard ticket to the iron reviewing table. Germany’s Cross Vault have been toiling away in relative obscurity since 2014, heavily influenced by acts like Warning and crafting downcast material that often feels like a follow up to that act’s monumental Watching from a Distance opus. By 2015 a heavier, more grandiose sound made an appearance alongside the Warning-isms, somewhat justifying Viking era Bathory comparisons. After 4 years of silence, third album As Strangers We Depart sees the band once again searching for that perfect blend of doom, gloom and epic sounds.” Doom n’ boom.
“It was just over one year ago that I wrote about mysterious Swedish duo Reaper and their debut record Unholy Nordic Noise. A viciously irreverent mixture of first-wave black metal, speed metal, and crusty HM-2-laden punk, the record saw the band going boldly where many bands had gone before and successfully delivering a short and sweet platter of simple, yet satisfying blasphemy. The disgustingly croaked vocals combined with the musical style to give me the impression of Abbath taking a bath with Bathory’s Bathory, and the resulting sound was as cathartic as it was entertaining. Well, these guys seem to believe that more is more, so they wasted no time in following the debut up with The Atonality of Flesh.” Tone up that flesh for summer.
