NINE SONGS I LIKED THIS WEEK IN LIST FORM – DEC 24-30 – AM I FALLING APART EDITION #10
A normal person doesn't write weekly roundups for hot-shit metal music to be released a day before New Year's Eve, because no one officially cares anymore. Sadly, gladly, I'm not that person. Be sure to check out my latest "favorite interview of all time" with Trhä. Just because they are great, and the interview is almost as great as that.
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1. Maudissez – "Blessure par Blessure," from Maudissez (Death/Black/Doom – Independent). The debut release from French project Maudissez comes in late in the year, but delivers a fittingly gross sendoff to what might go down as one of the grossest years in recent memory. Which is funny, because I would have said that about 2020 too, so I guess the "worst year ever" award is getting quite a bit of competition, which I guess also means this is an especially shitty time to be alive in. Atmospheric, raw, and chaotic. Just like life. FFO: It's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot like life.
2. Abyssal Rift – "The Rune," from Extirpation Dirge (Death Metal – Sentient Ruin Laboratories). The quick version of this "BLURB" is that had this album been released in, say, February, it would been a top-10 album for me, or thereabouts. On par with the absolute best albums in this general vibe – Impetuous Ritual, Vastum, Sulfuric Hatred – this is a beast of a release, and the cap on what just might be the best year Sentient Ruin has ever had. Crazy. FFO: Shitting yourself with riffs.
3. Sadness – "Incomplete Places," from While You're Still (Atmospheric Black Metal – Independent). Speaking of kicking this shit-dose of a year back to its grave the right way, this year, for all its monstrosities, was the year of Damián Antón Ojeda. Leading the way was the absolute explosion in creativity and expression he achieved with Trhä, the focus of my recent interview with Damián. But the softer-spoken older sibling has had a marquee year, releasing some of my favorite Sandess records ever in the space of the same shitty 12-month period. And this is just another beautiful nail in that beautiful coffin. FFO: Being sad but warm.
4. Déhà – "Nothing Else," from The Illusion of Reach (Depressive Black Metal – Musical Excrements). The man of a thousand instruments, a thousand ideas, a thousand voices, and a thousand styles gets to what he might be doing best than absolutely anybody and everybody, which is strumming on a clean guitar and spewing devil-scaring wretched vocals of forlorn, abyssal loneliness and then selling it on Bandcamp. Yet another majestic release from a musician and artist like no other. Also, "the illusion of reach" should be this website's new name. FFO: Shrieking the pain away.
5. Forêt Endormie – "La chaleur était rare," from Le désespoir utopique (Neo-Classical/Folk – Fiadh Productions). The spellbinding, mesmerizing, heaven-sent sounds emanating from the mind of Jordan Guerette (Falls of Rauros) are back to, well, spellbind, mesmerize, and heaven send you right to heaven. Forêt Endormie's previous album was pretty as fuck, as this newer one manages to somehow be prettier. Perfect for a "being swept by the ocean"-themed date night. FFO: Midlake on french dope.
6. Dauðaró – "Fornar vættir," from Kyrrþey (Funeral Doom – Independent). I wrote about Dauðaró like two seconds ago and that time they managed to release like twelve new full albums or some crazy shit like that. Which, when you think of it, all I do here in this messy blog – wrote about projects who release way too much music, whose names include an exaggerated amount of diacritics. Whatever. Slow, pulsating doom that feels like you're actually dying. Which, to be honest, we all certainly are. FFO: Dying.
7. Haul – "Sajah Kumus," from Adamar (Death Metal – Transylvanian Recordings). It's been a while since I've dipped my toes into the Transylvanian toes, and here I am dipping and my toes are back and their covered with tar and pixie dust and I want to eat someone's head. I keep looking for more bands to join my imaginary "I wish I had more bands that sounded like old Morbus Chron" group, and how happy I am to add one more to that bent heap. Weird, imaginative, and fantastic music that sounds so catchy while being so weird, I fucking love it. Officially added to the 2023 LIST. FFO: Life itself.
8. Place of Refuge – "Place of Refuge," from Winter Promo (Post-Hardcore/Metallic Hardcore – Rest Assured Records). This is so 90s-looking and 90s-sounding I had to double check if this wasn't one of those local scene legends that are only now releasing something or rather. And that might still be the case, I am a limited person and the world is a weird place, but whether this is straight out of 1998 (that LOGO!) or not, it fucking rules. FFO: Hum, Craw, Earth Crisis.
9. Hull of Light – "Sun," from Milim Kashot Vol 5. (Post-Punk/Black Metal – Independent). Well, yeah, this is technically a track off of my most recent compilation. And it's not an accurate description of the album, since this track will eventually be released in the Hull of Light debut. But I thought it warranted something of a highlight since: a) I love it b) I love it agagin c) it's made by the cosmic combination of forces that includes members of Sleepwalker (夢遊病者) and Suffering Hour and d) I love it. May this year end, and the next one be better. Much better. FFO: Black Metal Midnight Oil
ONE: Nope.
TWO: Nope.
THREE: Nope.
FOUR: Goodbye 2023. May you die a thousand deaths.
FIVE: Nope.
ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: Nope.
