A FEW SONGS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE EXISTED THIS WEEK NOV 3 – NOV 9
I wrote about having a shitty week and several kind people reached out and told me how much this place means to them, and that made me feel both dumb for airing out my insecurities like that but mostly happy and appreciated and honored to have good, talented people around. So, many thanks to all of you. That was very nice. Keep safe.
If you're new to this metal blog of bones you can also check out the various interview projects I have going on as well as the weekly recommendation posts. And if you'd like to keep abreast of the latest, most pressing developments follow us wherever I may roam (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Bluesky, etc), and listen to my, I guess, active? (no) podcast (YouTube, Spotify, Apple), and to check out our amazing compilation albums. You could also possibly support my unholy work here (Patreon), if you feel like it. Early access to our bigger projects, weekly exclusive recommendations and playlists, and that wonderful feeling that you're encouraging a life-consuming habit. It's probably a bad idea, but to each their own. ON TO THE LIST.
At the Altar of the Horned God – "Aqua," from Elements (Black Metal/Goth – I, Voidhanger Records). ATOTHG always had a gothy/ritualistic streak running through their unique compositions. Silly me didn't really think of it in post-punk terms but through the prism of bands like Urfaust. And while this is only one track out of their upcoming new EP, it seems I may have only been partially right. The 80s goth vibe is heavy and beautiful in this one, which leads me to wonder whether the "riffs" might arrive elsewhere on this release. But, really, no rush. This is more than good enough for me.
Senza – "Scrap the Waste," from Celestial Body (Screamo/Black Metal – Zegema Beach). Senza roar back into that space of "is it screamo is it black metal" they last assaulted with their beautiful Even a Worm Will Turn. This ain't just screamo done in a black metal way, or black metal with screamo vocals, this is the Judo-like flip of the dynamics of one – say, the quiet-loud, push-pull, weirdly dissonant tempo of screamo – in service of the darker, almost depressive side of the black metal spectrum. It's an anguish fuck-fest, is what I'm saying, and easily one of the most cathaertic, magnetic releases of the year.
Whispers – "Retribution," from Yom-Ma-Lok (Hardcore – Flatspot Records). It's been a while, I think, since I've last hosted some good-ole beatdown hardcore. Whispers, a Thai assemblage of some very angry people, however, performs the task right, kicking down doors and not so politely taking down names. Riffy, great drumming, and a vocalist vomiting anger. All you need, basically. And it's better than the new Nails too.
Ehtëk – "ba’cjhä elħiél sön deaídhlës," from eliä§e (Atmospheric Black Metal – Independent). The third album this year from "is this really a new project or another front through which Damián Antón Ojeda can continue to launder this emotions through music" AKA Ehtëk. First two were great, though much more riffy than this one, that seems much more in line with the Trhä and even Sadness type of thing. Naturally, if this is really Ojeda. I don't know. Though, I doubt it matters because it's good.
Auriferous Flame – "The Caretakers," from The Insurrectionists and the Caretakers (Black Metal – True Cult Records). There are several golden threads running through the many faces and projects of one Ayloss (Spectral Lore, Mystras, Fortress of the Pearl, etc etc), one of which was, for me, at least, the sense of listening to music recorded in some ancient place. That we're made to experience something that's about an essence of beauty that isn't necessarily of this time (or place), and that often, then, almost always also says: "This isn't supposed to sound good, it's supposed to sound like magic." I say all this (have I really said anything) to say that the new Auriferous Flame is probably the most "flashy" the Greek master has ever sounded. And the effect is quite startling. It's still magic, very little question about that, but also the kind that sounds like it could kick your ass. How is it possible that this dude just keeps getting better?
Praetorian – "Fear and Loathing in Stevenage," from Pylon Cult (Sludge Metal – APF Records). I was going to write something along the lines of "getting sludge right is hard," but that's a throwaway sentence that says nothing about anything, since life is hard in every way, everywhere. So, yeah, within that sludge metal is something hard to do, but so is being a human. "Fear and Loathing in Stevenage" is a great sludge song, filled with very pretty (?) and smart turns and that does not take the listener's attention span for granted. It's break-neck, it's atmospheric, and it's crushing all in the space of a little under five minutes. This is as good as I've heard sludge done all year (yes, including Thou).
Hornwood Fell – "Cracks," from Reduce the Earth in Stone (Black Metal – Independent). Hornwood Fell continue to be one of the most underrated black metal bands on earth. And they always, as in here, hit that sweet spot I never thought existed between dissonant and kinda-sorta symphonic black metal, in a way that makes them sound like an angel getting fucked up by a rock. Always good, and this is good too. Surprise surprise.
Shrieking Demons – "Abstract Hallucinating," from The Festering Dwellers (Death Metal – Transcending Obscurity Records). A band called Shrieking Demons that has a whole bunch of flaming skulls on their cover shouldn't be my thing. But when the death metal is this good, this Autopsy loving, and this almost almost Swedish sounding, how am I, as feeling human, supposed to resist? The vibes impeccable, the riffs impeccable, and, above all the pace, the pace if fucking perfect. Death metal as God willed it.
Ante-Inferno – "The Cavernous Blackness of Night," from Death’s Soliloquy (Melodic Black Metal – Vendetta Records). Ante-Inferno's Antediluvian Dreamscapes really fucked up some AOTY lists back in 2022. It kind of fucked up mine, though eventually only in a minor way. It's funny, I had this running thing with albums I listen to a lot but I guess never think of putting in lists, not sure how that works, but that's how I felt about that one. This new sounds like it's going to be just that too, a massive, at times almost Panopticon/WIITR kind of massive and at the same time so enjoyable and pleasant and just, I don't know, good. I don't do FFO's anymore, but: Woe. Bigly.
Traktat – "Subdue the Filthy Pride of History," from Dogmatic Accusations (Black Metal -Breathe:Sun:Bone:Blood and Fiadh Productions). I caught wind of this beau thanks to the good people at No Clean Singing. I guess this is what people mean when they say "rager," because this right here is a rager. So much passion, so much energy, but most importantly so much talent so as to prevent turning all that good intention into mush. This isn't mush, it's a sharp thing stabbing your face. Oh, there's a sharp thing on the cover, how handy.
[4672] – "Pustynia," from [Ołów] (Weird Ass Everything – Moans music]. Yet another entry filtering through the online tubes of death thanks to good people writing about music better than I do, and this time it's the wonderful Ian Chainey. He promised weirdo Polish shit (he never actually said that, to be sure) and boy did he deliver (on that thing he never said). An unholy amalgam of a whole bunch of shit I personally thought died sometime in 1996 – industrial, alt metal, experimental weirdness, Meshuggah – but that sounds like someone is breaking your brain.
SHORT FACTS ABOUT THINGS
Fact #1: Argwaan have a new album in the works. Always a good thing.
Fact #2: Frontierer have a new release coming, with the first single out.
Fact #3: New Light Dweller single.
Fact #4: Speaking of the 90s, Portrayal of Guilt are releasing an album of Christfucker remixes.
