NINE SONGS I LIKED THIS WEEK IN LIST FORM – DEC 10-16 – AM I FALLING APART EDITION #8

Hi. Yes. Another one. I have no excuse, I am a weak man. Keep safe.

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1. Deemtee – "Color Out of Space," from Strange Aeons & Deliriums (Avant-Garde Black Metal – Independent). This album here, along with the next one coming right up, are of that rare caliber of releases that would have probably made it high on my weird AOTY list had I had more time to live with them. However, even given the fact this thing just got released, it probably got more replays with me than albums that came out nine months ago. Infectious, very well done "weirdo Norwegians worship," especially impressive coming from a one-man project. Take a gander at the FFO that I'm about to lay on ya, and you'll have a nice idea of good this is. FFO: Ved Buens Ende, Virus, Dødheimsgard.

2. Raphael Rogiń​ski – "Carpathian Transit," from Tal​​​à​​​n (Experimental/Folk – Instant Classic Records). All this record really is is a dude in a regular-sounding room player nylon-string guitar. That's it. And if that description sounds repulsive to you, then I suggest you move on to the next section. If, however, you're thinking: "Wait, what does a dude in a regular-sounding room have to do with his guitar to elicit this kind of response from Ron of all people?" Then you're on the right track, and on your way to fall entirely in love with a monstrously unique and heart-rending album. FFO: Dudes in regular-sounding rooms.

3. Seltsame Erden – "Gedankentempeln," from Gedankentempeln (Black Metal – Chaos Records). The debut full-length from Nekus guitarist Lukas Dietrich seems meek at first. Really, what do we really have here? Some mid-tempo, kinda-sorta ritualist-sounding black metal? How hard can that shit be? Well, as a quick glance of the Nekus might show (one of the most underrated albums of 2023), things being built by regular materials don't necessarily built regular houses. And this is one brilliant house/album of atmospheric, creepy, and stunning black metal. Magnificent. FFO: Trest and shit like that, only with better production.

4. Phobocosm – "Infomorph," from Foreordained (Death Metal – Dark Descent Records). I really did deserve a break from this shit after sending out the AOTY list and new comp, but I kept going for a couple of reasons. The first is that I'm a weird dude. But, another would be that sending in my year-end list would mean that albums as good as this won't get the love they deserve. Do I believe bands that release in December should be shot? Yes, I do. But if they're as good, as dark, as riff-tastic as this cave-dwelling beast, I'll allow it. FFO: Cruciamentum, Impetuous Ritual, Abyssal.

5. Dauðaró – "Freskur," from Freskur (Funeral Doom – Independent). Does one really recommend a 35-minute track of glacial-yet-unnerving funeral doom? Yes, at times that is something one simply does. Why? Because it's gorgeous. I mean, the whole album is pretty special, but this a-bit-over-half-of-an-hour beast is on a whole other level. Just press play, and imagine you're dead. Trust me. FFO: Being dead.

6. Oreamnos – "Granite Walls," from The Granite Wall (Death Metal – Bloody Mountain Records). I've mentioned the miracle that is Bloody Mountain Records on quite a few occasions through the years. Maybe because of the cosmic wonder that is Sxuperion, or the nasty basement that is Cabinet. And here comes another emissary of gross-yet-etherial delights, in the shape of the debut full length from Oreamnos. A full-on assault of crunching beauty, with just enough atmospheric embellishments to provide much-needed oxygen. Oh, and replete with what sounds like a death-metal homage to RATM (check out "Lizard Eater). Basically one of the best and most unique death metal albums of 2023. FFO: Death metal.

7. Myaelin – "Ego Ripper," from Naesekhnaetri (Rock/Prog/Improvisational – I, Voidanger Records). When the promos for this album I wasn't really prepared to take in something so 70s-sounding and weird. I needed someone to growl sweet horrors into my soul, not some kind of jam-band experiment. But then I tried it once again not long ago and found myself tripping over the threshold into a vortex of beautiful colors, weed, and a nice little supernova. You might not be in the mood for some jammin', and that's fine. But if you are, my lord, my sweet dear lord, what a fucking ride. FFO: Smoking a joint in a Phish concert in Hades.

8. Hulder – "Vessel of Suffering,"  from Verses in Oath (Black Metal – 20 Buck Spin). If there was a Hulder bandwagon then I was kind of off of it until The Eternal Fanfare EP, following which I was squarely on top of that wagon. So, I'm going to be the nice person who's exciting about cool shit coming from a cool project and say: "I am very happy there's a new Hulder album coming out." On top of that dramatic statement, the first single sounds fucking amazing. Lush and cutting at the same time, like a good cucumber salad. A lot of dill. FFO: Cucumber salads.

9. Unsouling – "The Ladder of Broken Backs," from Vampiric Spiritual Drain (Black Metal/Goth – I, Voidhanger Recrods). Add this one to the pile of "holy shit I can't believe 2024 is ALREADY stacked albums." Feral Light and Floating Black Prism main man AS is getting in touch with some seriously beautiful melody here. But, honestly, I think it's safe to say that's his thing at this point. The part about this track/album and him more generally, however, isn't just the profound sense of melody but that he always manages to find the sweet spot between that and scary/nasty. Crying while killing, I guess you could say. Oh, and a top-notch album name and incredible art. Cannot wait. FFO: Lamp of Murmuur, Malokarpatan, Feral Light.

ONE: Pandiscordian Necrogenesis (AKA Steve Peacock) is remastering and reissuing Cerebral Quasaric Lacerations.

TWO: Forlesen's brilliant cover of Type O Negative's "Red Water," which also appears on MILIM KASHOT VOL. 5, is now out as a streaming single. Merry fuckin' Xmas.

THREE: Speaking of Forlesen, there's a new Lotus Thief/Forlesen split coming, and it's a beauty.

FOUR: Once I year I buy a ticket to a show half across the world in an act of manifesting my will. Who knows, maybe it'll work this time (talking about this dream right here).

FIVE: For whatever these reason, these dudes decided to do a YouTube video of them deep-diving my AOTY list. I am both very honored and kind of in the dark (it's in Spanish). Can someone tell me if I'm doing OK?

ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: Afsky is, I guess, moving to Eisenwald from Vendetta, followed by a hail of bad blood. Finally, some fucking drama in this place.