“I think it’s in my job description to just steal promos from Kronos for the rest of my writing career. Autokrator is no exception, as a casual perusal through the promo bin revealed this little gem, one that elicited a reaction not unlike from beloved Christmas movie Elf: “I know them!”” Thieving in the house of death.
“Drawn and Quartered plays what many refer to as “cavern-core,” which really means “something that sounds a lot like Incantation.” Oftentimes there’s an echoey “cavernous” production whence this sub-subgenre derives its name. Drawn and Quartered aren’t interested in capturing that aesthetic via production tricks, though; they want to use riffs and songs to get at that Incantation magic. Cemetery Urn took a similar approach on their self-titled record to what’s happening on Congregation Pestilence, which is to focus more on the speedier moments of Incantation and make some barbaric, unrelenting death metal.” Cave sale.
“Quebecois trio Shezmu, formed in 2016, already sports a startup of two EPs and a demo compilation, ultimately culminating in their first full-length, À Travers Les Lambeaux. I hesitate to label the project, because if there existed a Venn diagram of black, death, and doom, it would be smack dab in the middle.” Extremity buffet.
“Do you smell it? A smell like sulfur, sweaty leather, and burning corpses? That’s the smell of blackened fukkin death metal, and boy is it ever in season right now. August alone has seen new releases from Diocletian, Abysmal Lord, and Concrete Winds, with many more no doubt lurking in the darkest corners of Bandcamp and Spotify. Virginia duo Antichrist Siege Machine are the latest to join this infernal party and I’ve been looking forward to their arrival quite a bit.” Hot winds of wengeance.
“To people unacquainted with beer, they’ll all taste the same. For those acquainted, the differences will be recognized but sometimes tough to adequately express. Such is it too with the genus of murky, cavernous death metal, the type which Drawn and Quartered traffic in on The One who Lurks.” Beer, lurking and death.
“Autokrator and I go way back. Pursuant to my crucifixion of their unlistenable debut, one of the band members wrung me out over my continuing jabs at the group and, I assume, made sure that this august publication would never catch wind of their sophomore release. According to the wishes of both parties, I neither listened to nor reviewed the effort. So it was with both surprise and unease that I pulled their third LP, Hammer of the Heretics, from the promo bin. And wouldn’t you know? Everything that made me hate Autokrator has disappeared.” Beef resolved.
