WHAT I DO HERE IS WRITING, THAT IS WHAT I DO MAY 4 – MAY 11 

Writing everyday. I love my family. I love my wife. We've been together for 19 years, and it's not always easy. But here we are, loving. I love my children. Though, if I'm honest, the word "love" doesn't really describe what I feel toward them. Not that "love" is too small, it's not that I feel something "larger" than "love," it just might not be the word. They are separate, beautiful, different arrows that point to my future and to my past, to my parents and my grandparents and toward whomever they will become. I don't need to wait until they've grown, they're grown right now, and growing. And I with them. I was sitting with my wife on a bench we have at home, out in the open air. It was nice. There had been times where that same space was a place to me to smoke (trying not to do that as much) and look at the sky, making odd calculations as to the possibility of seeing or hearing things I didn't want to see or hear. I came into my study thinking I needed to write, since I don't like myself when I don't write, and instead I'm here, within this WordPress matrix. Might as well. Hope you're OK. 

Also, someone randomly bought the previous compilation album out of nowhere this week. That was nice.

Valdrin – "Ignite the Murder Shrine," from Apex Violator (Symphonic/Melodic Black Metal – Avantgarde Music). Valdrin are slowly but surely constructing one of the most impressive, beautiful, and consistent catalogues in modern black metal. They have yet to release a bad album. But, a bit more importantly then that, they somehow perform this unlikely feat while continuously getting better. Their new album is, I think, my favorite by them so far, continuing down the path of grand, at times bombastic black metal while adding a violence and an urgency that delivers that power in what feels like a more direct and appealing way. One of the best black metal albums released so far this year, easily.

Vauruvã – "Os Caçadores," from Mar da Deriva (Atmospheric Black Metal – Independent). There's no use of me, again, repeating my appreciation for the compositional genius of Caio Lemos (Kaatayra, Brii). No point in doing that. He is, quite simply, one of the best songwriters and creative mind in modern metal, and if this is your first encounter with his work then, well, lucky you. Vauruvã is, however, not just an expression of Lemos' might, but a whole new creature, one borne out of his beautiful collaboration with Bruno Augusto Ribeiro. And while Vauruvã has yet – a recurring theme in this post – to release a bad album, what they are as a band and who they are as a band has been a work in progress. This album feels like the culmination of at least one part of that process, melding together the atmospheric aggression of their previous releases with the magical, near other-worldly magic of Lemos musical mind. Magnificent is the word.

Hell – "Hevy," from Submersus (Sludge/Doom – Sentient Ruin Laboratories). It's been a very long time since we've gotten a bona-fide Hell full length. Which isn't to say the man's been lazy, releasing beautiful music under MSW as well as collaborating with his Pacific northwest buddy in Mizmor, in addition to the longstanding collaboration between the two. But Hell, that thing that sounds like the black-and-red images of the inferno that usually adorn his covers, hasn't been as active. And boy oh boy did I miss that venom. It's horrible, it's dark, it's so suffocating it's almost insufferable at times. In other words, the perfect music for this most imperfect time. 

Exterior Planet – "Behind The Veil," from Haragma II (Avant-Garde Metal – Swamp Noise Records). This gem of insanity was released earlier this year unbeknownst to me. It was only via a post by the great Miguel Mendez (MICO) that I even knew this existed. So, my thanks to him. What is it? I don't know. It owns, I think, some of its sensibilities to the kind of airy, proggy black metal a-la Ved Buens Ende or even Akercocke, but there's a good 45 percent there that comes from a more chaotic, weirdo place that I associate in my brain with either obscure Dischord bands such as Abilene or Crownhate Ruin or newer noise rock bands like Intercourse. With a dash of atmospheric black metal jangly guitars. What I love about all those references is that they're all, as I said, insane. A coming together of all that is weird. I love that. I'm weird too, I think. 

Afterworldsmen – "Beyond the Zero," from Afterworldsmen (Melodic Black Metal – Independent). This one came out of nowhere and made my 14 again. And the reason it did that is because so much of the drive and push of this incredible EP comes from the same space I identify with early Dark Tranquility. I've pontificated about this obscure topic before, but pre-The Gallery Dark Tranquility is one of the most underrated melodic black metal band ever. There just aren't albums like Skydancer in this world, and, for whatever reason, this blast of melody and grandeur from Afterworldsmen makes me feel like finally there's some justice and continuity in this world. Propulsive, driving, good shit.

Metzulot – "אור לבן – Or Lavan" (Drone/Goth/Post-Punk – Independent). The melancholy and beautiful collaboration that is Metzulot (members of Choshech, Zeresh, and Kadaver) returns with yet another stand-alone track of utter despair and shimmering beauty. The atmosphere is of course dominated by Tamar Singer and Michael's Zolotov's clash of dark folk and noise, but the storyteller, the Virgil that leads you into and out of hell, is Shay Mizrachi's haunting presence. Not just in his words and lyrics, but mostly, I think, through his ever-strumming guitar, that serves up a melody that at the same time is always moving and yet never goes anywhere. That sense of being trapped in a pit of sad beauty is then enhanced by Singer's angelic vocal presence. There isn't anything like Metzulot right now. Anything.

Flagelo – "Rey de Nada," from Insaciable (Dissonant Death Metal – Independent). Well, as the old saying goes, a Miguel Mendez in the first act will fire in the third. So, after getting his first mention due to his wonderful recommendation of Exterior Planter, here's him firing away with a new project by the name of Flagelo. Oppressively dark dissonant death metal that ticks all of my dissonant boxes – riffy, dynamic, and adequately weird. Maybe due to the Cave Sermon connection – Mendez did vocals for their incredible 2024 album – this kind of sends me into that world, only much more aggressive and heavy. Great shit.

Cosmic Obscurity – "Creepy Environment Obscurity," from Creepy Environment Obscurity (Atmospheric Black Metal/Dungeon Synth – Independent). One would think the repeated reference to the word "obscurity" here would be a harbinger of bad things, but it's really just a harbinger of some pretty great cosmic, lo-fi black metal. I'm a sucker, it seems, for a whole mess of melodies and instruments with a synth going gently in the background, and if you're like me then this is basically a must-listen.

Virtud Corona – "Isaac," from Celda de Cuidados (Avant-Garde / Prog – Sentencia Records). My kid called from school with a "stomach ache" that means she doesn't feel like school today, so that derailed me quite nicely. Don't usually have the patience with weird music that doesn't present itself in a violent way, but this might be one of those special cases. It's groovy, weird as fuck, and related to one of the best prog metal bands of recent memory via drumming genius Broja Diaz, so easy call for uneasy music.

FIVE MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

ONE: New Wolvennest album coming.

TWO: Remaster of the brilliant III by Spectral Lore is out.

THREE: Giuseppe Emenuele Frisone (Clactonian, Thecodontion), thought there might be still a shortage of savage-sounding extreme music, so there's a new project called Sunken Monolith for you.

FOUR: Kowloon Walled City are recording a new album.

FIVE: Speglas (AKA the most underrated album of our time) is finally recording a debut full length.

ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: Very cool death metal demo from Nithe over at Caligari Records.

OK, JUST THIS I SWEAR: New Pupil Slicer EP.