“Avatarium went from retro doom to 60s rock in the span of 3 albums, and over their own 3 album run, Jess and the Ancient Ones voyaged from occult 70s rock/metal to what they’ve become on The Horse and Other Weird Tales – tripped out 60s hippie rock with nary a metal influence to be found.” Find your inner hippie.
“With so many bands coming out of Finland, I’m starting to wonder if there’s a single sub-genre of metal unrepresented. Today’s platter is the fourth full-length from one-Finn drone project Opium Warlords. Masterminded by Albert Witchfinder (Azrael Rising, Spiritus Mortis), the album promises a vision of humanity scraping primitive survival from the husk of nuclear apocalypse, set to a soundtrack of bluesy minimalism. Or at least, that’s the ambitious byline the label tries to sell.” Some things sell themselves.
“One of the best quotes of the year comes from the promo blurb for Siinai’s new album, Sykli: “…this album burst out of us, like when a ketchup bottle loses its cap when you are violently shaking it.” This from a band that in the past has also released an instrumental concept album about supermarkets.Yes, Siinai are a strange Finnish act that do odd things. This album’s concept isn’t as weird as “music to shop to.” Instead, Skyli professes to be about the cyclical nature of life. Considering that this is an instrumental album, figuring out how well it conveys a concept can be tough, but that’s why we get the big bucks, right?” Clean up in aisle Life.
“After the tragic passing of Aleah Stanbridge in 2016 and the subsequent release of her solo debut with Trees of Eternity, it seemed to the outside observer that one of the more depressing moments in recent metal history had come to a close. Not so for her grieving partner, Juha Raivio of Swallow the Sun. Opting to forgo his band’s recent tour of North America, he immersed himself instead in the creation of a new project named Hallatar, which would use Aleah’s poems and writings as a foundation for one last tribute to a departed love. To aid in this very personal project, Juha recruited Tomi Joutsen (Amorphis) to handle vocals and Gas Lipstick (ex-H.I.M.) to man the kit.” Swan song.
“Tantalizingly labeled as being a grind-drone hybrid, Morbid Evils — a side project of Rotten Sound vocalist and guitarist Keijo Niinimaa — doesn’t play by the rules. That’s not to say that the feelings these two extreme sub-genres stir up aren’t present. The suffocating and oppressive atmospherics found both in the gargantuan monotone sound of drone and the stifling chaos of grindcore are an ever-present force here, shifting with the force of planet sized icebergs. The name of the game is oppression and the aim of the game is to hammer the brain into a pulp.” Morbid and evil is no way to go through life, son.
“Sabbath Assembly have been gifting us with music firmly entrenched in eerie discomfort since 2009. In the early years, their releases centered upon the teachings of the Process Church of the Final Judgement, which made them disturbing to the point of near-inaccessibility. In what was a positive career move, the band decided not to regale us with further hippy cult weirdness on 2015’s self-titled release, instead focusing on pure occult songs, resulting in an excellent album that catapulted the band (in our eyes at least) to the top of the occult rock food chain.” Self-cleaning coven.
“When I was thirteen years old I snagged an album with a wicked (cool word in 1983) cover. It was a drawing of what looked like a cynical, smartass devil. The album was Venom’s Black Metal, and my pals and I thought it was damn near the funniest thing we’d ever listened to. Crappy production, crappy musicians, goofy songs, and horrible vocals. We played that record to death, much to the displeasure of our mothers, girlfriends, and girlfriends’ mothers. C’mon, Huckles, why are you blathering on about Venom? This is supposed to be a writeup for Grave Danger, the second album from Finnish miscreants Foreseen. Well, that is what I’m doing here, but my point is that Grave Danger is basically another Venom album.” So he pulled up quick to get ve’nom!
“Scant information about Horte can be found online. Presumably Finnish but definitely human, Horte perform a difficult-to-define noise-ridden electronica-infested female-fronted bass-led fuzz-rock that combines both dreamy beauty and startling harshness. Horte, their debut release, is essentially one long song that flows from minute zero to minute 38 with an organic continuity.” GMO-free avant-rock ripe for the picking.
“I’m wary of praising bands in overpopulated genres but I believe Birmingham’s Alunah to be one of the best retro-doom bands operating. Beyond the nostalgic warmth and simplistic riffs offered by their peers, these guys boast a stand-out vocalist, a cracking tone and a fervor for folklore which lends a certain charming mysticism.” Wicked mystics.
“Last week I reviewed an album called Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light. This week, my album of choice is called Eternal Hayden. Both albums are post-metal. Both bands — Junius and PH — have done trilogies of albums, and these Eternal albums are their fourth.” What did we say about triple albums?
