The slowness of August is behind us, and September has gifted us with a barrage of records. From the death metal depths, Coffin Rot pay tribute to tradition, while Odious Spirit embrace the Voivod-ian tradition and Pyrrhon do… what Pyrrhon always do. On the black metal side, we have different traditions coming to the fold. Isolert relish the Hellenic scene’s melodic spirit. Varfulogi carry the defiant torch of Iceland. On the other side of Northern Europe, Aetheryck embrace immediacy without forgetting the inherent catchiness of the Finnish scene. On the thematic front, Kanofieber do not deviate from their path and go for the melodic payoffs. At the same time, Diablation balance between the symphonic and the traditional as a bittersweet farewell. The Deathless Void make a clear choice, staying on the path of orthodoxy, and Spite conjure malice and blasphemy with an utterly devastating and ambitious work.
We also have different flavors of doom, with Castle pushing the occult vibe, Legions of Doom honoring the tradition of the Skull (and, to that extent, of Trouble), and Officium Triste descend into the atmospheric. For something more traditional, you cannot go wrong with the new work from Amethyst. That and much more, and October is already looking insane! So dig in! – Spyros Stasis
Aetheryck – Death Is Absent (NoEvDia/End All Life)
There’s something compelling in knowing yourself, understanding where your strengths lie, and taking full advantage of them. Finland’s Aethyrick lives via that motto, through the years honing their melodic black metal edge to unleash an astounding work with Death Is Absent. Triumphant melodies explode, a force inherited by fellow countrymen like Thy Serpent, their moving sentiment twisting through “The Fire That Shires the Sun” and the monstrous hook of “Beyond All Death”. The coupling of melody with the atmospheric is only natural, and here, Aethyrick move closer to the latter days of Satanic Warmaster and their ability to balance between aggression and ambiance, be it through synthesizers or acoustic guitars (“The Hands of Fate”).
Despite the dedication to their homeland’s scene, it is the 1990s influence that defines much of Aethyrick’s dark visions. In this mode, the duo of Gall and Exile balance between the epic and the melancholic. In that way, they follow an Ulver-ian trajectory, as the elated leads of “Empyrean Silver” arrive with a pyrrhic quality. It is a mode that dresses much of Death Is Absent in melancholic colors, the eerie melodies of “Midwinter Masks” and the pensive procession of “Only Junipers Grow on My Grave” digging deep into the psyche. Straightforward? Sure. But, so fucking good. – Spyros Stasis
Amethyst – Throw Down the Gauntlet (No Remorse)
I maintain that it is critical for any band playing decidedly retro music to possess a high degree of self-awareness and have the ability not to take themselves too seriously. Looking at the jeans-clad bodies, mustache, and Ray-Ban rocking faces of Swiss outfit Amethyst, it’s clear that they check both boxes. Throw Down the Gauntlet is so true to the source—a mixture of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and 1970s hard rock—that it often threatens to sound parodic were it not for the excellent songwriting, masterful execution, and vocalist Fredric Ekbørg’s silky smooth, soaring delivery.
Rooted predominantly in the punky take on heavy metal from Iron Maiden’s early years—”Embers on the Loose” sounds like a lost Killers track—with a bit of Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, and Blue Öyster Cult thrown in for good measure, the eight cuts are big and anthemic affairs, capable of throwing hooks left and right over galloping bass lines and screaming riffs, while also occasionally slowing down into doomier balladry and entertaining lovely solos. Pure joy, outrageous fun. – Antonio Poscic
Apep – Before Whom Evil Trembles (War Anthem)
Apep is a death metal band from Germany, and as you might expect by their name, they are heavily influenced by genre pioneers Nile. Now that the elephant in the room is addressed let’s dive deeper into their new work, Before Whom Evil Trembles. Apep’s sophomore record kicks off with a heavy barrage of immediate and unforgiving death metal staples. Their further morphings showcase a keen versatility, as they happily lash out in furious offerings of high-octane brutality (“Enslaving the Putrified Remnants of the Diseased”) or moments of heavy, punishing groove (“Tombs of Eternity”).
From there on, Apep continue to take a cue from the early works of Nile. Here, they employ Middle Eastern melodies (“The Pillars of Betrayal”), conjure deep atmospheres through their slithering lead work (“Before Whom Evil Trembles (Goddess of Carnage)”), or retreat to acoustic interludes featuring traditional instrumentation (“Wanderers in the Waste”) and even incorporate folk-ish themes in their death metal pedigree (“The Breath of Kheti”). With an admirable level of versatility best highlighted in the epic closer “Swallowed By Silent Sands”, the only perceivable downside is Apep’s overreliance on their primary influence. If they can overcome this in their next work will not be a good death metal record, but probably a great one. – Spyros Stasis
Castle – Evil Remains (Hammerheart)
While the trend of occult doom metal bands has somewhat died down—or I’m not looking in the right places—surviving members of the movement are still thriving. Case in point: Elizabeth Blackwell and Mat Davis’s Castle. Evil Remains, the duo’s first full-length in over six years, is as strong of an entry as any in their discography. Like those before, the album showcases the signature grittiness and punk swagger that has made Castle’s stoner doom stand out among peers.
The combination of Davis’s crunching, aggressive but unusually soulful guitar riffs and Blackwell’s powerful croon are particularly enchanting. They often sound like a ritualistic call—the echoes of an out-of-control, fiery black mass—luring you deep into the dark forest. On “Nosferatu Nights”, they join into a rolling and grooving, genuinely occult invocation. Elsewhere, on pieces like “Black Spell”, they bring the tempo up a notch, approaching trad metal progressions while remaining anchored in doom moods. – Antonio Poscic
Coffin Rot – Dreams of the Disturbed (Maggot Stomp)
It is easy to see why Coffin Rot’s debut, A Monument to the Dead, was so well received. With a firm grasp on the old-school death metal fundamentals, Coffin Rot balanced between American and Swedish traditions while reconnecting with the thrash foundations of the genre. It is the same recipe for Dreams of the Disturbed, with the early Grave infestation prominent (“Slaughtered Like Swine”) and the Entombed-driven chugging force still relentless (“Lurking in the Cemetery”).
Keeping up with the sluggish sides of the genre, the Obituary factor (“Perverted Exhumation”) with its Tardy-ian howls (“Predator Becomes Pray”) is a natural counterpart. It is not so far from the Autopsy-inspired gore, moving away from the death/doom days and into the awkward progression stage. The melodic injections beautifully balance between the catchy and the obscene, with some eerie extensions (“The Howling Man”). The finishing touches come with the thrash-DNA providing an erratic progression (“Unmarked, Shallow Grave” and “Living Creation”), where the Death circa-Leprosy equilibrium between gore and intellect is always present. And while Dreams of the Disturbed does not offer much novelty, it does so with much love and appreciation for the genre, which is worth a lot! – Spyros Stasis
Deathless Void – The Voluptuous Fire of Sin (Iron Bonehead)
The debut record from Deathless Void feels like a statement. A polemic toward any who deviate from black metal’s orthodox path. The atmospheric introduction of “Psychedelic Warfare” sets the stage, and the spiraling out-of-control rendition takes over. Black wings unfold, and the end is nigh as “Vortex Climax” takes flight and unleashes a relentless assault. The connection with the past is then fulfilled as crazed solos, and the schizoid progression takes over, a Bestial Summoning via way of Antaeus’ explosion annihilating all (“The Ecstasy of Sin”).
While these proto-black/death notions awaken more obscure heroes like Deinonychus (“Curse Upon You”), Deathless Void find their strength at the source. Be it in a latent stage and through eerie lead work (“The Shattered Realms of Man Become The Abyss”), calling upon the imperial majestic darkness (“Crossing The Threshold”) or descending to Thorns-ian territory (“Purple Triad”), it does not matter. What matters is that The Voluptuous Fire of Sin delivers the goods with conviction and a sense of purpose. – Spyros Stasis
Diablation – Irrévérence (Osmose)
France’s Diablation have low-key produced an astounding trilogy of works. In its final chapter, Irrévérence, which also signals the end for the group, Diablation dig deeper into their austere formula of symphonic black metal. Diablation’s view on the subgenre has a laissez-faire quality, a resistance to over-rely on the big keyboards and pompous atmospherics. These are still used, but they play a secondary role, allowing all the bitterness and triumphant ecstasy to rise to the surface.
Diablation are not ones to hold back, and their offerings arrive with furious intention. The exhilarating “Chrysanthèmes Au Nouveau Monde” carries much of the French lineage, pointing toward the likes of Belenos, while their devilish vigor has something inherited through Abigor’s DNA. It is a natural setting for the ambient notions to creep in, with the keyboards playing a significant part. It also allows them to move toward an industrial-esque space, be it through martial tinges (“Eternal”) or circa-Satanic Art Dodheimsgard vitality (“Purification”).
The final twisted component comes in the form of Diablation’s melodic inclinations, where they channel in part the Swedish extreme metal scene, moving toward the glory of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie” with moments like “Par La Haine”. It gives Irrévérence its multi-faceted nature, one a work that explores off-kilter sonic capabilities and mellower ideas without deviating from the orthodox path. – Spyros Stasis
Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse (Prosthetic)
Featuring Khemmis members David Small on bass and Ben Hutcherson on guitar/vocals, and Cult of the Lost Cause’s Michael Salazar on drums, Glacial Tomb play a particularly abrasive take on death metal. But while the majority of bands in the genre that could be characterized as caustic, discordant, or otherwise harsh spike their sound by accelerating riffs, growls, and drum beats into a tornado of flying scimitars, the Denver, Colorado trio achieve peak scuzziness by infusing their music with various degrees of black metal tremolos, sludge grime, and sharply angled technical turns.
Take the opening “Stygian Abattoir” from their sophomore album Lightless Expanse, which emerges from a pool of dissonance to grow into a berserk beast, all swirling groans and flesh-tearing riffs. Or the even nastier “Voidwomb”, which trades spiraling attacks for moments of deceptively airy atmosphere, before resuming its rusty, creaking sludge strut. Meanwhile, “Sanctuary” assembles jangling riffs into loose doom-death metal constructs, then sends the concoction tumbling down the stairwell. Captivating stuff. – Antonio Poscic
Grava – The Great White Nothing (Aesthetic Death)
In 2012, Whelm released their debut and sole record, A Gaze Blank and Pitiless As the Sun. The full-length is low-key a masterwork of the 2010s post-metal scene, combining doom and sludge with post-hardcore and a black metal edge. Ten years later, Grava would rise from the ashes of Whelm, with the introductory Weight of a God bringing back fond memories, and now The Great White Nothing carrying on the same tradition.
The main difference between Whelm and Grava is the latter’s focus on post-hardcore instead of doom and sludge. This moves them closer to fellow countrymen and tragically underrated giants, the Psyke Project. “Decimate” brings memories of “Guillotine”, and even when Grava descend to sludge depths (“Bayonet”) they still rely on the post-hardcore immediacy and momentum. From there on, the usual suspects are present. The influence of Neurosis is pivotal, ranging from the apocalyptic (“Erebus”) and the downtrodden (“The Fall”) to the sentimental (“White Thresher”) and minimalist (“Ceasefire”).
Black metal flourishes complete the picture, the eerie start to “Breaker” the perfect precursor to a martial procession, and “Mangled” fusing it with the post-hardcore discordance. Even though The Great White Nothing does not reach the heights of A Gaze Blank and Pitiless As the Sun it is still an excellent work that brings up memories of the best that ’00s and ’10s post-metal had to offer. – Spyros Stasis
Invocation – The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) (Iron Bonehead)
Expectations are high for Chilean black/death act Invocation, following their 2018 EP The Mastery of the Unseen and their 2020 mini-LP Attunement to Death. As is to be expected, their debut full-length, The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures), does not alter Invocation’s bestial approach. On one side, the proto-death metal discordant quality crafts a disgusting facade (“The Serpent of Faardal”). Meanwhile, the proto-black metal subterranean and slithering approach gives an otherworldly quality (“The Psicopompos”).
The defining characteristic of The Archaic Sanctuary is its Dionysiaque demeanor. It is a primal quality, an ever-present lust for blood and mayhem that prevails through the 30 minutes of this work. The polemic nature of “Opium Thebiacum (Somniferum)” is relentless, at times their mid-tempo pacing echoing with the early days’ glory of Necros Christos, especially in the likes of “Hypnosis”. Coupled with the lo-fi production and the adherence to disharmonious black metal textures for added atmosphere, Invocation deliver a work that proudly carries the tradition of black/death debauchery. – Spyros Stasis