Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus - Synkkä Tuuli & Väinämöinen (2013)

Although baring a Finnish name (translating to something like, nihilistic barbarism), the three piece collectively known as, Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus, hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and through their first record, Synkkä Tuuli, they give us their take on the ambient black metal sub-genre.

As Ylittäen Jäätyneen Pohjoisen (I) first escapes through my speakers and enters into my living room, I'm reminded of artists like, Paysage d'Hiver, Burzum, Evilfeast and Vinterriket. True, the formula behind this is predictable, but at least their are quite a few pleasing melodies within the guitar work and some outstanding synth work at times. The second part of, Ylittäen Jäätyneen Pohjoisen being a prime example, where as the short acoustic/piano piece, Itämeri Anomalia is one of the albums finest moments. Arktinen Välisoitto is a straight forward ambient piece in the Burzum Hliðskjálf vein, while, the title track returns to the ambient black metal side of things with ,Ketamiini, another acoustic piece closes out the short thirty minute album.

What perhaps throws the album off a bit is the usage of a flat and dead sounding drum machine, which is..., well, its a goddamn drum machine in black metal and I'm sure you know how that goes and sounds. The vocals, similarly, don't offer up much life, but just that typical ominous shrieking, which is so common with this genre. Again, on the plus side, interesting riffs and synth passages do grace this album, its just that the overall song writing is not all there. Fortunately, the more recently released, Väinämöinen, EP sees things going in a better direction.

Väinämöinen, the bands most recent recording manifests itself as a two track EP, which also sees one previous member departing, as well as, another switching roles and welcoming two new faces to their ranks. Even if this EP follows that same formula once again, the title track feels much more aggressive and dark sounding, also far more melodic and dare I say catchy in its pummeling delivery.

The other song this EP, Yö, Jolloin Hän Kuoli, is another acoustic piece with something of a progressive and Agalloch-y vibe to it.

Additionally, the band also allowed me to hear the instrumental masters of their upcoming album, which I'm told will be largely based around the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. Musically it seems to pick up where the EP left off, the songs are faster, with vibrant synth work, clever riffs, waves of brooding darkness and I'll have to assume eventually killer ass vocals, too. So, I suppose I'll be curious to hear it once its finished.

All in all, through the album to the EP, Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus, offer up interesting, although somewhat typical ambient black metal. Of course, I've always been something of an outsider to this particular sub-genre, having never really "got it," but it you've ever enjoyed any of the bands above then I'm quite sure you'll want to keep tabs on these guys.

Scythe - Subterranean Steel (2013)

Following their successful debut album, Beware the Scythe, Chicago, Illinois' death rippers, Scythe, return once again with, Subterranean Steel. Notably, this time around all of the songs are completely new, as the previous album featured left over Usurper material, as well as, some re-recorded tracks from Rick Scythe's sideproject, Nightshade. Also with this album, new drummer Joey Contreras steps in replacing Tim Pearson, although that hardly effects the overall sound as this is a similar Celtic Frost laced blackened death thrashing assault as before.

Once again the riffs and songs recall heavy metals past, bringing old school thrash, speed and traditional metal to the forefront and mixing it with a more aggressive death/black metal sound at times. Songs like, The Grunting Dead or Beyond the Northwoods sound very 80's proto 1st wave black metal-ish, while a song like, The Bray Beast sounds more 80's thrash style, similar to Testament or Exodus. Nights of Terror and Subterranean Steel are further examples of just pure aggressive mad thrashin', and short but sweet pummelers like, October Dies, make this record all the more fun and entertaining.

Surely the riffing is mostly simple and the solos don't appear to be overly complex either, but the good thing is the record feels more like a homage to metals past greats rather than feeling like a rip-off like so many other clowns these days. All in all though, this is a fun record, a party record, a bring your friends over, serve lots of booze, headbang and enjoy the shit outta this one kind o' record. Its one of those sorts of the records, and having recently seen the band live and getting completely wasted at said show I can assure it its that sort of music.

In the end, its a toss up whether I prefer this album or the debut. Either way, Subterranean Steel, is a worthy and worthwhile second effort from these crazy bastards that I highly recommend getting your hands on.

Manii - Kollaps (2013)

Manes, surely one of the most untypical and yet exciting bands of the Norwegian black metal scene, having released three demos throughout the early 90's and eventually recording their debut, Under ein blodraud maane in '99. However, the bands status and place in the scene would drastically change shortly thereafter when the band expanded its line-up, and transformed into some sort of trip hop/post rock/metal/whatever the fuck band around '03. Vocalist, Sargatanas, had already said, "Fuck this," at that point, as the band continued onwards without him, releasing a few albums, EPS and a number of compilations more recently. Around '11, Manes folded, and original member, Cernunnus, either formed Manii, or simply decided that Manii was Manes under a new name. In any case, old vocalist, Sargatanas, was welcomed back and the duo unleashed, Kollaps, in early 2013.

Continuing where, Under ein blodraud maane, left off, Kollaps, is perhaps the album the band should of recorded back in '03, instead of playing games and trying to be Ulver Jr over the past decade.

The album opens with, Skoddeheim, which is a completely immersible piece of enthralling black metal that utilizes deeply celestial keyboard textures, uncanny riffage and the classic witching screams of, Sargatanas. Liv-øydar and Likfugl Flaksar dig deeper into barren lands of eerie gloom with the former having seriously one of the most poignant riffs I've ever heard in a black metal recording, while, Ei Sjæl som Sloknar & Kaldt are overwhelmingly atmospheric in their frigid blackened misery. Endelaust opens with a spine tingling piano piece before diving into what honestly feels like one of the more luminous songs on the record, whereas, Ei Beingrind I Dans, almost feels similar before a mesmerizingly dark riffs cuts in half way through the song and again near its end. Avgrunns DJuv closes out the album, again, taking the listener deeper and deeper, down.

Interestingly, for a black metal album the speed of the record is rather slow; no blasts beats, just miniscule moments of frantic riffing, and there's not even any insanely hellish screams of fury to be found, but rather a slow ride through utter aerial trepidation and back. On the other hand, it could hardly be described as doom metal, as the production, vibe, and flow of the album are as black and grim as these things get. And the keyboards are beyond marvelous too, its really been ages since I got so addicted to a black metal album that had such rich and ample keyboard use.

Kollaps is said and done in just thirty nine minutes, but feels longer, and begs for repeats as it comes to its conclusion. Having been completely stunned by it my first time through, I ended up listening to it for two additional times that evening.

Somehow, this album missed the black metal underground, receiving very few listeners, but perhaps the modern Manes connection was to confusing to warrant purchase from most listeners. Who knows? I do however know that this is surely one of the finest examples of black metal from last year and you're utterly encouraged to look it up as soon as possible.

Propast - Věstnik Preispodnji (2013)

From one one of Europe's oldest cities, namely Belgrade, comes pure Serbian darkness with Propast's first EP, Věstnik Preispodnji. This pro-done five track tape comes limited to just 198 copies (mine is #50), and with a supreme occult cover artwork, fantastic layout and a logo sticker included; I can only assume these will sell out fast once word spreads on this one.

Vavedenje Preispodnje, initiates the tape with a stunningly ominous ambient intro, that has a true sense of impending doom, when after two minutes, ...u Plamenu, explodes out of my speakers, unleashing all-out hell with devastating double bass drums, wicked tremolo-picked guitar riffs, and hellish demonic shrieks of unadulterated malice. ...u Plamenu is a complete eye opener, and instantly memorable song and one that had the ability to perk me up within seconds of it taking off. Čarna Pismena hardly relents either, its very similar, but what becomes vividly obvious at this point is that Propast focuses in on heavily tight drum and guitar arrangements, which is otherwise not really seen in this rawer style of black metal.

Čeljad Kaljuge is slightly slower at first, but shifts to faster galloping paces throughout its duration, and back to the mid-paced speeds too, and with catchy riffs aplenty, it stands its ground as another enormous entry on this tape. Thurisaz, a cover of the Graveland classic, closes out the tape in a stylish fashion, in fact I'd even say its better simply because of how vastly better the musicianship is compared to the original duo that recorded it in the late 90's.

Although just thirty one minutes long, Věstnik Preispodnji, is way above average, and honestly one of the best black metal recordings I've heard in recent memory. I could easily see this band triumphantly leading the Serbian scene into relevance, as off the top of my head I can't recall ever hearing a black metal band from Serbia before.

As I already said, the tape is limited, so act fast. I find little fault with this one and I am overly excited to see what they come up with next. Head over to their, BANDCAMP, to hear this recording as well as procuring a copy for yourself.

Whitby Bay - Unextinguishable Candle (2013)

Named after the seaside port town in North Yorkshire, which is haunted by age old myths of ghost sailors lost at sea; Whitby Bay is a three piece band from London, England, which has been active since 2010. Unextinguishable Candle represents the bands first release, which comes in the form of a 7" record on blue vinyl.

Unextinguishable Candle kicks off the A Side of the 7" on a speedy pummeling note with repeative riffs and raspy growled vocals, which isn't too far off from early Ulver meanderings, as well as, other crazed Norwegian filth from the early 90's. The production is distinctively crude, but hardly a typically raw sound, and perhaps akin to something rehearsal-ish in style, while still having all the instruments readily heard. Black Cape is found on the flipside and although similar initially, it has more flair to it as it progresses and dare I even say catchiness within its creeping wicked framework.

As it goes with 7" records, I'm offered just a snippet of the bands work (about 7 minutes), but what I hear definitely sounds promising for the planned full-length they've got coming out in late 2014.

Windhand - Soma (2013)

As I've said before, Virginia based doomsters, Windhand, didn't come to my attention until late last summer, but it was all well timed since a few weeks later they were playing with a friends band right here in Milwaukee. While enormously enjoying that show, I picked up their vinyl split with Cough, titled, Reflection of the Negative and their brand new album, Soma.

Unlike others, I obviously haven't been following the band since their self-titled 2012 debut, in fact, I'd only listened to it maybe twice before that gig and then procuring this new album, which I frankly think is even better than the debut.

It could be said that Windhand offers up the archetype style of sludgy, ultra bass heavy, crushingly slow, doom metal, but then you'd be overlooking the haunting wails of lead woman, Dortia Cottrell. Sure, there's probably tons of other female fronted doom metal bands, but Windhand is so far the only one (that I've heard) that captures that same level of sonic heaviness that bands like Electric Wizard and Sleep have/had done for years.

With that being said, let me say that Soma offers up that sort rifftastic thunderously heavy doom metal that has that weird hallucinatory effect of almost making me move in slow motion and drugging me up while plodding along with their music.

Opener Orchard sets the albums tone quite well, sure there's no rule books being broken or any vast experimentation, its just straight forward massive stoner doom at its best. While the music is mostly the same on, Woodbine, I found a greater degree of catchiness within Dortia's vocal delivery, and oddly her voice sounds reminiscent of an echoey Layne Staley to me, if that makes any sense. Evergreen breaks the formula by going acoustic and giving Dortia's vocals more of an opportunity to shine as they are somewhat otherwise buried beneath the commanding guitars and bass, while, Cassock and Boleskine are the longest numbers on the record, making up no less than forty five minutes of the whole album. Again, these two hardly change the tempo or the overall feel, but the rumbling grooves hardly let me down in the former, while the latter is a trippy fade to complete oblivion by its conclusion, although honestly probably just a little too long at thirty one minutes.

Admittedly, Soma, is a samey sort of record from the get go to the end, but I guess it all just depends on ones appreciation for this sub-genre. I wouldn't have mind seeing some faster parts or even sections where they completely rock out, but as it stands, it achieves what I trust the band set out to do. And I dig it for what it is, and that's just a solid piece of straight forward heavy ass doom.

Electric Citizen - Electric Citizen (2013)

It was back in August on a Friday evening. I could have just stayed in that night, but I wanted to try something different. And so I did. Stepping out of my usual heavy metal gig grounds, I intended the Sunny Daze Musik Mass pre-fest and caught a few interesting psychedelic-ish bands, such as, Energy Gown, Haunted Leather and Electric Citizen.

Now, let me tell you something. It doesn't happen very often, but once in a great while you'll see a band live and just be completely floored by their performance. I mean, thrilled, man, I was completely stoked after shooting some photos and rocking out to their performance, and I'd just heard them for the very first time on this evening. Immediately, I had to ask about releases, but found out that the band had absolutely nothing out yet. Sure, that button they gave me was cool, but I wanted a release! So, a few months down the road and their first EP, this double 7" incher was in my hands, but more importantly spinning on my turntable.

Although baring a very simple cover, that's just a silver foil stamped logo on black, these two 7" records come housed in a cozy sleeve for safe keeping, but the real treasure is their music.

Electric Citizen comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, and play a sort of vintage psychedelic heavy rock, that recalls the classic vibes from Black Sabbath, Pentagram, The Doors, Coven, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin (et cetera, et cetera) and could certainly be placed within the occult rock or 60's/70's revival scene that has been going on and gaining clout the past few years.

Thundering bass and heavy guitar riffage greet me soon as Shallow Water begins spinning on my turntable, shortly followed by the stunning, yet delicate and powerful lead vocals of Laura Dolan, and within seconds I'm brought back to that trippy evening at Frank's Power Plant back in August. More importantly, Electric Citizen manages to bring the listeners ears (and minds) back to that vintage psychedelic era with what seems like ease, with an overflowing amount of catchiness, groove, godly guitar work, sparse backing keyboards and the already mentioned vocals. Hawk Nightingale is considerable calmer in its delivery, almost dark in a way, yet spacy and mesmerizing with the further synth input it could be compared to Hawkwind.

Magnetic Man brings back the heavy rockin' grooves of the first song with, at least for me, and overwhelming amount of memorability within the chorus, and the leads and solo in this jam are just jaw dropping, while the final song, Beggar's Need, is probably the fastest among these four and again just completely hits the mark of awesomeness.

After spinning these 7" inches a few times, the only troubling thought is just how great these songs are, and how I long to hear more from them real soon, which I can only hope a full-length is on the rise.

Following that faithful evening back in August, I saw the band perform the following afternoon at the Sunny Daze Musik Mass, and although I drank and absurd amount and may have abused some other substance, I still remember being just as blown away once again. Up in smoke. Man.

Siculicidium - Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba (2013)

My introduction and so far only experience with the Romanian's in Siculicidium has been their, A rothadó virágok színüket vesztik, EP, which was more of a compilation of left-overs, while their other short EP, Keringők (Valses) showed some serious interest, although it was just to short. So, a year has past since then and I'm getting treated to the real deal full-length with, Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba, and let me just say, if you can pronounce that title, you are truly a better man than I.

Anyway, Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba, Long Way to Eternity, in English, starts out calmly with, Végtelen út which mixes a lone acoustic melody with something of a raw black metal post-ish build-up, which is quite stunning, to say the least. A bomlás illata kicks things into full gear with the bands brand of raw mid-paced black metal, which while being somewhat typical of the genre, there's a great deal of underlining melancholic melody happening, as well, the vocalist has a completely original take on his vocals. Lesben álló has a charged-up almost rocking riff during its first half, before a brief slow spot, but then comes out full force for its remaining time, while, Kozmikus Zuhanás is considerably more dissonant, grim and just purely frigid sounding black metal the whole way through.

Ezek Vagyunk once again shifts to a slower pace, with a totally ominous riff leading the way, until about the two minute mark, an acoustic passage enters, which then gives way to an unexpected mixture of brass instruments with raw black metal. Near the songs end, a highly memorable melodic lead riff rides the song out on a tremendous epic note, while the vocals are delivered in a spoken manner. Melankólikus Transzcendens brings out the colder side of this duo once again, but occasionally splices in some brass bits, while, the title track is mid-paced and just features hastily spoken clean vocals throughout its duration.

Due to its pace and unusual flow, Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba is a challenging listen. No two songs really sound exactly alike, and that can be both good or bad depending on how you view things. Say one thing for Siculicidium, say that they are diverse, and the addition of many acoustics and the brass instruments certainly spices things up, too. The vocals are truly delivered in a unique tone, as well, almost sounding like fellow countrymen, Attila Csihar, but somehow more agonizing at times, and the many spoken passages clearly stamp their ethnicity all over this one.

The songs all resort to a few riffs and while this sometimes works magic within the genre, it sort of falls short at times here, because some of the riffs are just generic tremolo plucked sameness. Each song achieves an atmosphere, for sure, but the mood often changes, which just makes it a rough ride the whole way.

Either way, I like a few songs on this record and many other little bits here and there. I'd say the band still needs to concentrate on stronger riffs and perhaps more dynamic song structures, but Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba, is pleasing, regardless.

A Winter Lost - Die längste Nacht (2013)

Picking up the pieces where a band by the name of, Ashes of Christ, came to smithereens, A Winter Lost, arose out of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in '05, although it wasn't until late '10 that the bands debut recording, Weltenende, saw release.

A few more years down the road and this 3-piece continues onwards with, Die längste Nacht, once again through, Sun & Moon Records. Interestingly, in spite of their Canadian home base, A Winter Lost, writes most of their lyrics in German, and none of the members are even of German descent, although all of them have studied the language.

A Winter Lost plays a sort of raw and cold sounding black metal that doesn't necessarily bring a certain band to mind, but sounds familiar either way. With the music moving between faster galloping paces to slower dirge like moods, they manage to capture the right atmosphere, which is mostly that of a depressive, icy and tormented style the whole way through. Frigid tremolo riffs characterize the album, with smidgens of underlining melody, while the drums are pushed way back in the production, and the lead vocals manifest as a sort of shrieking reptilian howl. There's definitely no bass guitar present.

What get's me about this album is that there's something going on, there's even a minor sense of catchiness in the riffing at times, but the band is just not taking it to the next level. Yes, the songs simply have a habit of sounding entirely too much alike, which seems to be the general complaint of their earlier work, too.

On the other hand, Zeichen's, ending has a choral part intermingled with acoustics, similarly, Speergesang, has another female choral part pushed behind the raging chaos, and the title track has a soft acoustic break with cleanly sung vocals, but these songs are at the end of the album. Why not the start? Sometimes saving the best for last is not the right path.

At twelve songs and almost forty seven minutes of music, Die längste Nacht, feels like a big mouthful, but listen to about half of the recording or songs randomly and it seems to fit, more so. Unfortunately, most people buy an album with the intentions of playing it from start to finish, and in less you really, really dig the style on display you might find this one to be a challenge to get through.

Nevertheless, not all is lost, as I feel these guys and one girl have the right intentions in mind, but now they just need to either write some seriously bad ass riffs with cleverer song structures or continue to diversify their tunes.

Cokegoat - Vessel (2013)

From Chicago's ever bustling metal scene comes, Cokegoat, an unsigned 6-piece band offering their take on the stoner/doom sub-genre, although, Vessel, isn't without its surprises.

Fear the Followers initiates the record in a surprisingly fast and nearly hardcore sounding direction, before gradually adding heavier riffage and slower speeds towards sludgier grounds and eventually a quite slow mournful doom tone by the second half and remainder of the song. Buried in the City, is pure stoner/doom; catchy, thick and more than enough groove to keep you going, whereas, Dogs, is similar, although mostly evenly paced and with some minor backing female vocals and something of a post-ish moment near the end that makes it one of the albums highlights.

Both parts of End of Your Life are fantastic, especially the all-out rocking in part 1, which is followed by a groovy solo, before plunging into something of a more experimental territory by its end, while Part 2, is a sludgy and quite solid piece the whole way through. The final three songs all stick out quite adequately, too, from clever riffs, good jams, odd spacey keyboards and a variety of little personal traits the album stays strong until the very end.

I've been playing Vessel A LOT since the band found their way into my ears late last year and I wouldn't hesitate to say it has proven to be one of my favs from 2013. What really makes the record interesting is that no single song sounds exactly alike, there's always something to mix things up and make each number a unique experience. This could seem bad, but the songs framework are not hugely different, just a little different from each one, while always working within the boundaries of the doom, stoner and sludge genres. However, like all good things it really must be heard.

For an independent release, Vessel is also properly produced and available as a 180 gram vinyl LP, although until I get my hands on some monies I'll have to settle for my bandcamp files, but I'm sure it looks and sounds glorious.

Meanwhile, I hope to catch these guys live soon, and of course always eagerly awaiting their next creations.

Hercyn - Magda (2013)

Magda, released last year in September, is the first effort from New Jersey based three-piece, Hercyn. Consisting of a single twenty four minute number, Magda, is an ambitious start for these guys.

Opening with the sounds of rushing water, a lone acoustic guitar soon enough emerges amongst the waves, while the drums, bass and guitar slowly build up the song in a post-metal-ish style. By almost the six minute mark, the song takes a darker direction when the hissing screams come into play, and musically it continues in a black metal vein for the next several minutes, before coming somewhat back to the post-ish style with a soaring guitar solo around the fourteen minute mark. The song reaches its fastest measures shortly thereafter followed by some of the songs most dramatic screams, too, before somewhat winding down and coming to a stunning conclusion.

Between being richly atmospheric and characterized with tons of fantastic riffs, Magda is quite the journey to undertake. A lot happens within its twenty four minute duration, genres switch and moods change, which makes it hard to represent through word, and can only be heard to understand. Generally though vibes of Agalloch, Deafheaven, Fen, Wolves in the Throne Room and Drudkh resonate through this impressive debut effort from, Hercyn.

I should also mention that the song is produced rather well, still underground for sure, but no lo-fi black metal silliness here, and with audible bass guitar lines it adds that much needed low end that these bands often overlook.

Notably, Magda also comes in a jewelcase, with a four paneled booklet with all lyrics and wrapped in twine. Not to mention that the artwork, both the cover and traycard is quite nice, too.

If interested, the demo can be purchased via their Bandcamp site, for just $5.

Umbrose - Final Nights (2013)

Birthed earlier this year by an anonymous female, also of anonymous origin, 'Final Nights,' the debut EP from Umbrose, is partially based off of the creators travels through Finland during this past summer as well as a video game.

Opening with the sounds of heavy rain fall and a distant howl, 'How Many Winters,' eventually kicks in with a lone drum beat intermingled with piano and keyboard orchestration for the first few minutes. The song generally continues with the same pattern for its seven minute duration, though its rather atmospheric and melancholy in its delivery, and as it draws to its conclusion a sampled male voice cuts in. 'Crushed Like Velvet (Velour)' introduces a more active percussive vibe to it, almost sounding reminiscent of something Ulver may have done during their 'Perdition City' days, while, 'MMN' initially features far-flung carnival music, before long diving into a similarly styled electronic vibe, with the occasional sensual female voice chiming in about the theme park ride itself.

The final two songs, 'The Crying Mask' and its remix, 'Symphony of the Sewer Rats (The Crying Mask Alternate),' bring about a more whimsical sentiment, almost reminding me of something out of a Tim Burton movie, or at least something composer Danny Elfman might come up with.

All in all, the EP clocks in at about thirty minutes and throughout its journey offers a variety of emotions; everything ranging from melancholy to the mysterious and then just plain weird, too. Perhaps 'Final Nights' only fault is that its hard for me to pick a clear cut favorite as it lacks a sense of catchiness and hooks, but on the other hand it does offer a half hour of chill-out, Ulver-ish, electronic and neo classical styled music that's ultimately hard for me to resist. So, in other words, its best listened to as a whole.

I'm curious to see where Umbrose goes from here with this project and eagerly await further developments of the project as well as, with hopefully a full-length in the not so distant future.

Visit her bandcamp profile and listen.

Gris - À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée... (2013)

It would simply be an understatement to say any less than Gris' '07 debut, 'Il était une forêt...,' is an unrivaled masterpiece. Receiving a promo copy within the last few days of December of '07, I never expected the disc inside the simple cardboard sleeve could hold such immense and memorable music, but I did. Yes, that was surely one for the ages, in fact, it was one that elevated the almost entirely worthless depressive black metal sub-genre to heights of excellence and artistic mastery. But, how would the band fair after all these years? Could they make an album as equally powerful and emotional as, 'Il était une forêt...?'

'L'aube' kicks off the album off gently with soaring violins and acoustic guitars that gradually build towards an epic climax, which seems quite simply unreal for metal musicians to pull off. No, it sounds more like something you'd hear in a video game or film score, which to me is simply marvelous. 'Les Forges' follows and from the get go those familiar Gris screams greet the listener, but the music itself is different from the debut. Opting for a cleaner production, this song and the many that follow make greater usage of the cello and violin, which was previously only heard on one Gris song. Similarly, there's also an increase of acoustics throughout the album, but what truly remains is that same sense of melancholic beauty that only Gris is capable of. In this particular song they pour it on hard, too, and similarly to the first song this one builds in a majestic manner that simply reaches a point of being overwhelmingly bleak. There's also a few shorter neo classical instrumentals that serve as introductions to the longer songs, but they are by no means fillers, as each one is impressive.

'À l'âme enflammée, l'äme constellée...' is spread out between two discs and runs for just about eighty minutes of music, which makes it not an easily acceptable record from the get go, even more so if you were expecting a part two of the debut. Another thing that makes the album challenging is its variant speeds, as it moves from a mid pace to slower dirges, some speedy blasting parts like those seen in 'Igneus,' and of course the calm acoustic and neo classical sections really have the musics speed all over the place. Another characteristic is that the album has fewer vocals, although these instrumental parts seem to instantly recall memories, both good and bad, every time I hear them. It all sounds a bit weird, perhaps, but it works, and it works fairly well.

Throughout the album Gris takes the listener on an emotional and sometimes painful, but always gorgeous and delicate journey. I personally found myself having to listen to the album a few times, because there's so much packed into this album that its easily possibly to miss something. However, once you give it that 3rd or fourth listen it really starts to reveal itself a lot more and every last note really starts to sink in and effect you, too. Its painfully beautiful, memorable and emotional and easily one of the better records this year. I'll admit it does have some spots that could probably have been trimmed down a little, but when you approach the album as a whole it all unfolds and flows well enough for me.

Additionally, I wouldn't hesitate to say that Gris has triumphed once again, whether or not its better than the debut is entirely up to you. What I do know is that I enjoy this album tremendously. And that is all.

Weh - Folkloren (2013)

After his 2012 debut, 'En Natt Kom Doed,' which I've reluctantly missed out on, solo Norwegian musician, Erik E., returns with his sophomore release, 'Folkloren.' Despite still not getting my hands on that debut, I've been a fan and follower of Erik's work since first hearing his Windir cover back in '04, discovering his various demos shortly there after, and eventually getting my hands on the demo collection 'Origins' in '10 really solidified Weh as one of my favorite music makers. 2013 brings this new recording that's once again Erik's own brand of melancholic acoustic/dark folk styled songs, which I can say with little regret, are absolutely breathtaking.

Erik is one of those rare musicians where less is more, as usual the music chiefly consists of just Erik's voice and acoustic guitar, with the occasional light backing synth and some piano in a few select places. 'Alle morkets makter' kicks the album off on a rather doom-y funeral-ish direction, doing away with all signs of hope right from the get go. 'Dypt Går Det Siste Sår' continues the melancholy; layered singing, lovely acoustic playing and just the perfect vibe for this cold rainy day outside my window. 'Every Leaf and Branch Will Tremble' & 'Long Days of Winter' are the first songs with English lyrics, and as ever Erik pairs up some wonderful and honestly catchy poetry with his somber creations. Notably, as ever once again, Erik's voice and English pronunciation is spot on and quite marvelous really, in fact worlds better than most singers in the genre.

'I Let the Night Cover Me' features a lovely piano introduction before kicking into the main song, while 'Runer og alvekors' & 'With Omens of Sorrow' is Erik at his most despondent, especially the latter, which I enjoy quite a bit, but it just makes me think of saddening things and I almost find myself wanting to skip the song, if it weren't for the fact that it was infinitely gorgeous in its delivery I probably would. Lastly, and the lengthy final eight minute song, 'Solnedgangen' is a bit more upbeat in its overall scope, but still with that trademark dismal Weh atmosphere tucked underneath it all, which almost builds in an epic manner as the song unfolds.

'Folkloren' runs for just a few seconds over forty minutes, but not a second is wasted as every last one and each song is quite detailed and full of life from the get go. Surely a most for those that fancy any sort of downhearted acoustic music, 'Folkloren' is utterly impressive and very much recommended, especially with the gloom of autumn already set in and the eventual winter. There's long days of winter ahead.

Cough / Windhand - Reflection of the Negative (2013)

Cough & Windhand. Two heavy, sludgy, stoner, doom metal bands from Richmond, Virginia. Similarly, both were unknown to me, until sometime in 2013 when a friend got me into Cough and another friends band was opening for, Windhand. It was all well timed, too. I found myself getting into this serious doom metal phase during the summertime, which has thankfully not relented either. I say that specifically because autumn usually is the starting point for my yearly black metal fixation, which then goes into full-swing during the winter. However, I'd like to keep this doom metal thing going. Doom may be doom, but it sure as hell makes me feel a lot better inside than black metal does. Fuck my ranting.

Let me start out by saying that the artwork for this release is freakin' phenomenal. I absolutely love this goatheaded, feather fingerered, pagan creature, which has escaped from the forest and will no doubt be invading your cottage soon. Opening the gatefold vinyl we find the vinyl itself, which comes on a few different colors, mine being grey, while the insert inside has another stunning photo of a female figure standing next to a noose in the forest. I don't know what it exactly means, but I sure do admire the artistry behind this.

Cough is up first on the A side with a lengthy, almost nineteen minute, piece titled, 'Athame.' Opening with heavy riffing, a sample kicks in, before more sonic waves of crushing, sludgy, heaviness assault me. Soon enough Parker Chandler's tortured screams enter into this vast, hallucinatory, sloth-y suicide that only Cough could provide. Each riff is so freakishly pulverizing, beefy and just massive, the song reaches something of a calm spot mid-way through, where Chandler's vocals turn to a simple spoke voice, but the ensuing doom kicks in suddenly, and the solo that goes with it is simply breathtaking. The time has come for ritual suicide. Those nineteen minutes seem to zip by in seconds and if it weren't for the fact that more amazing things were on the flip-size, I'd play it again, but since there is, let's flip this, baby!

Windhand concludes this split with songs two and three, namely, 'Amaranth' & 'Shepherd's Crook,' which similarly clock in for about nineteen minutes of music. The bewitching vocals of Dorthia Cottrell lead the charge amongst this fog of slow, glorious riffage, pummeling bass, and apocalyptical war drums. The two songs here hardly differ from the songs found on their debut, but what can I say other than that the band found their own personal style of heavy doom metal, and by the fucking gods, do they ever make it work. Windhand creates some sort of unique atmosphere with their brand of doom, maybe it has something to do with with Dorthia's echoing female voice, I really don't know, but man do I ever love it. This is the sort of plodding doom metal that just makes me feel good; slowly banging my head, air guitar, pumping my fists, yeah, ya know, I tend to drink a lot when I listen to this stuff, too. However, booze aside, I've listened to this split sober before and such heaviness just gets me buzzed naturally. I love this one. That's all I know.

Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry of Consciousness (2013)

Its honestly been a while since I listened to Portland thrashers, Toxic Holocaust. Originally familiarizing myself with the band back in early '09 through their, 'An Overdose of Death...' album, which was new at the time, and the previous, 'Hell on Earth,' release, which made me all hyped on the band and then, I, well..., just sort of forgot about them. Entirely. And their previous release, 'Conjure and Command' slipped past me, too. Well, sometimes bands come back into my life. Sometimes through tours, sometimes via a friends suggestion, but at least in this case I received an early promo of this brand spanking new album. Good to have these guys back.

'Chemistry of Consciousness' came as a big surprise to me, and its not as if the band went all weird and changed styles, no, its basically the same product Joel Grind and his madmen have been delivering from the get go. However, everything about this release is just full-on and just brimming with completely insane levels of badassery. Its one of those records where from the very first riff you know you're in for a hell of a ride, because soon as 'Awaken the Serpent' came ripping out of my speakers I instantly felt a wave of energy hit me. As the second song 'Silence' hit hard I was bobbing my head, tapping my feet, and by the fucking devil, by the time the fifth song, 'Out of the Fire' struck I was doing all that and head banging and pumping my fist right in front of my computer, and you know its a been a damned long time since a band got me going on the first run through their record.

Things just continue to kill with 'Acid Fuzz' & 'Deny the Truth', and the pummeling but short, 'Mkultra.' Three more songs grace the album for a total of eleven at just under thirty minutes of energetic, catchy and just completely fun metal music. As some sort of bastard mean motherfucking marriage of thrash, punk and hardcore, Toxic Holocaust pull it off flawlessly on 'Chemistry of Consciousness' and I can already say with little regret that this is an album that's going to stick with me for a while. Joel Grind has certainly wrote what I'd say is his strongest effort to date with just murderously awesome riffs, quick killer solos, ugly ass vocals, d-beat drumming, extremely catchy songs and just a fiery non-stop energetic metal mood from start to finish.

Hopefully I'll be able to procure the vinyl version of this one when its unleashed on October 25th. You should, too. 'Till then, its a few more beers, plenty of air drumming, headbanging and another run through, 'Chemistry of Consciousness.'

Havok - Unnatural Selection (2013)

Colorado thrashers, Havok, have thus far had the habit of just randomly coming into my life. Not even knowing who they were at all, I was introduced to the band on the Forbidden tour back in '11, and was so impressed that I instantly nabbed a copy of their then new album, 'Time Is Up' once they left the stage. I'll admit after giving the album a few solid listens they somewhat left me. Not that they are a bad band by any means, quite the opposite, its just that thrash isn't always my first choice of music these days. So, flash forward to a month ago and the bands playing in my area again and quite unexpectedly I'm being offered free concert tickets and this here album. I'll take 'em. And despite the fact that I had a worthless loser of a chick with me that evening, these thrashers made everything better in no time.

'Unnatural Selection' is the bands third album once again through Candlelight Records, and, well, its a fucking thrash metal album, man! Once again the band delivers the goods with a hard hitting full sound and with clear influences from the likes of Destruction, Exodus, Death Angel and Vio-Lence as well as new hair whipping killers, like Bonded by Blood, Violator, Fueled By Fire and whatever other high octane modern thrashers you can think of. The first two songs, 'I Am the State' & 'Give Me Liberty... Or Give Me Death,' are full on pummelers not too different from the bands past work, although with political jargon as lyrical themes, while 'It is True' & 'Under the Gun' showing a more catchy side to the band.

'Waste of Life' has some pretty hard on Mustaine worship going on, I mean, somehow vocalist/guitarist, David Sanchez, just totally nailed Dave's voice, which is good or bad depending on how you feel about that guy. Further through the tracklisting its just more fast paced, intricate riffing, fine solos and overall cool songs, before landing on a cover tune of Black Sabbath's, 'Children of the Grave,' which is an attempt to turn it into a thrash song, which to me is a fail since that material is untouchable and not to be fucked with. The tenth song and title track is totally solid too, and closes the album out on a high note with tons of energy and riffs galore.

I'd hate to close this review out by saying, 'Unnatural Selection,' is what it is, but it really just is. Its a modern day thrash metal album and it has and does everything you'd expect out of it. If you're still hip to that movement or just can't get enough thrash, well boy, I've got an album for you right here!

Mare Cognitum / Spectral Lore - Sol (2013)

Split releases are often times just a rudimentary thing. My guess is a label says, "Hey you, band over there, you do a split with these guys over here. It will make sense, it will sell, do, do, do it!" Or two bands that are friends are like, "Hey, let's pair up our songs with your songs and release it as a split." Simple enough and I suppose it works, but it will often times make for an uneven listening experience, but when two artists come together to create a conceptual split then you know your going to be treated to something special.

'Sol' is very much one of those special splits, which pairs up two solo artists, both of which happen to be located on opposite sides of the world too. Spectral Lore is the Athens, Greece solo project of Ayloss whom has been intriguing and blowing my mind with his amazingly unique and bludgeoning compositions since his first album 'I' back in '06. Mare Cognitum is from Santa Ana, California and although this solo project of Jacob Buczarski has been around a few years with two full-lengths behind him, I am completely new to his work. 'Sol' as I already said is a true collaboration, both conceptually and musically. The bands have stated, "Themes and riffs have been cross-referenced and transfigured, structures have been put in proportion, lyrics have been written in parallel. Conceptually, it is an attempt at a kind of cosmological philosophy; searching the vast, cold expanses of the universe(-s) for traces of meaning and purpose. What it is out there that is fundamental, absolute and shared? What can we learn about ourselves by looking outward, to the void and the inanimate?"

'Sol' consists of just three songs, but runs for a staggering seventy minutes, with each of the main songs being 25-29 minutes, while the final song, a totally collaborative ambient track clocking in at fifteen. Even if I'm not familiar with Mare Cognitum what I hear through the two first songs is a unified sense of song writing. Both bands pummel the listener with eruptions of double bass drumming, hastily picked tremolo rhythm guitars, vicious screams, howls and growls, aerial synths, soundscapes, ambiance and even one hell of a catchy melodic lead riff in Mare Cognitum's, 'Sol Ouroboros.' What makes the compositions so rich and unique is that the music itself ranges from speedy raw black metal to technical death metal, funeral doom and purely ambient and ethereal and back again. The thing is that it really doesn't sound exactly like anything else I've heard before, except for Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum themselves. Something unique in this day and age of black metal you ask? Certainly, and these two are the game changers right here.

I'll admit getting into two nearly thirty minute songs isn't easy, but thankfully the bands smoothed things over by having plenty of slower atmospheric breaks that just made me feel as if I was lifelessly floating through some black void of space. However, just as things seemed calm the music would resemble the very cosmos exploding with incomparable ferocity. Interestingly many black metal bands have taken the space theme as a lyrical and musical inspiration, but where bands like Limbonic Art were always just boring to me and Darkspace being too repetitive, Mare Cognitum and Spectral Lore absolutely nail everything that could possible come to mind when thinking about space. It really is a fair balance between celestial darkness, light and everything between, around and after. Its impossible to really put this immense release into words as it simple must be experienced.

The gorgeous artwork depicts the sun, which warms us and gives us light, but will perhaps one day detonate and utterly destroy us too. And when nothings left, a faint glimmer of sound will be heard as the universe starts to rebuild itself once again... Absolutely astonishing.

Frigoris - Wind (2013)

The German foursome of Frigoris came into motion back in '07, under the leadership of guitarist/vocalist Dominik Winter, although internal affairs in '09 forced the rest of the band out and Dominik began anew. At that point two demos had already been released, which was followed by the debut 'Nach dem Krieg' in '10 and most recently their second album 'Wind' through Misanthropic Art/Hypnotic Dirge Records.

Being completely unfamiliar with the bands past I'm really not sure how this album varies between their earlier album, but at least on this one what you can anticipate is Pagan tinged black metal that's full of atmosphere, acoustics, melodic leads and catchy riffs and raging black madness, that although common, is pulled off quite successfully here on, 'Wind.'

The mood of 'Wind' is often times of a more melancholy sort clearly felt through the riffs, and even more so through the various acoustics interspaced in the songs and the two gorgeous acoustic instrumentals, 'Windgeflüster' & 'Hauch.' However, this is very much a melodic black metal release and the band creates that loving (or is it hating?) combination between distressed emotion and unadulterated rage, which can easily be felt by anyone with pain in their hearts. I especially love '...Und Asche Rinnt Durch Meine Hände' as it builds, slowly and depressive, before breaking out into a aggressive jam, but then just as things seem to reach a peak the emotion pours back in with a good mixture of metal and acoustics that brings me back to the first Agalloch album, 'Pale Folklore.'

The vocals may be standard in their raspy shrieking delivery, but you can surely feel the emotion in Dominik's voice, as well the brief female vocals in 'Frühlingsnacht' add a little extra diversity. 'Ode An Verlorene Seelen' is an instrumental with a sample of various Jesus this and that, which would be fine, but since the samples are in English it seems odd amongst the otherwise entirely German lyrics. Speaking of which, I guess I don't really know what what the lyrics are about, but I'll reckon they have something to do with nature, spirituality and emotion, which seems perfect amongst their brand of black metal.

In the end, 'Wind' is a nearly fifty minute melodic black metal release that's filled with melancholy emotion and enough acoustics to please anyone that's into the style. I'll admit my first runs through the album didn't reveal much, but recently finding myself slipping back into one of my "moods" has helped me to really enjoy the album more and opened my ears to the many underlining melodies weaving about this one. Therefore, I anticipate it to continue to get plays in my stereo as the year grows dark and my will goes weak

Nethermost - Alpha (2013)

Nethermost roughly means something along the lines of being the lowest, farthest down and the lowest point of existence. This Laredo, Texas three piece certainly transcribes those words into musical form, in particular that of a doom/death style, here on their debut EP, 'Alpha.'

Four songs grace this EP, all with deep melancholy sounding riffs, audible bass work, hard growled vocals and a gloomy mood to boot. The death metal elements pretty much solely exist within vocalist John Johnston's voice, while the music itself and its pace is probably most comparable to that of Katatonia's 'Brave Murder Day' record more so than the early true death/doom work of Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema.

I'd have to admit the first song, 'Phasing Currents,' and especially the second, 'The Untroubled Kingdom of Reason,' are good, but by the time you make it through the other two songs, 'Tower of the Winds' & 'Dance of Burning Beasts' you'll notice that very little diversity exists within Nethermost's music. Its not so much that the songs are bad, but it does have that feeling of having heard it before. Besides earlier Katatonia the music reminds me of Daylight Dies, Mourning Beloveth, October Tide and a bit like Swallow the Sun, sometimes. The EP could just have well been two long songs instead of four short songs too.

Nevertheless, there's surely a future for these guys, but I just think they need to diversify their tunes a bit and at least somewhat shake off the obvious influences. On the other hand, if you happen to really enjoy those bands then you may very well adore every aspect of this short twenty minute EP.