Several Songs that are Getting Gradually More and More Scared for their Lives AUG 3-AUG 9
No quote this time. My new "novel" is in its final editing stages and again I am thrust into the now familiar yet fucking horrible always stage of seeing something you love and spent years making fall onto the floor of everyday life. It has its moments, people actually reading, connecting, but its mostly horrid stress. Creating shit is a blessing, and it saved my life probably once every day. But it also fucking sucks ass. Keep safe.
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The Black Mysteries – "Three Distant Bells Tang Out in Disharmony," from These are the Keys to Your Endlessness (Black Metal – Nekrogoat Heresy Productions). The Maurice de Jong universe is a rich cosmos of weird-ass sounds of its own. And so, I could talk about where the Gnaw Your Tongues genius sits in the context of contemporary metal, but I'm not sure he does. I'm pretty sure he goes down into his Dutch basement, closes the door and just radiates a whole world that both deeply cares about metal, noise, and experimental music and their tradition as well as doesn't give any kind of fuck. Within that space, The Black Mysteries might be my favorite MdJFU creation, other than peak Gnaw Their Tongues. Eerie, cruel atmospheres, strange instrumentations and moments of echoing violence. Any new The Black Mysteries album is good news. To me.
Kontusion – "Subjugation," from Insatiable Lust for Death (Death Metal – Profound Lore Records). Every year, it happens every year, I swear. Albums come by and I just listen to them instead of also writing about them. The debut Kontusion full-length is one such case. I fucking loved their EP/demo, was very excited to hear what they might sound like with, you know, production, and the result did not disappoint at all. Beefy-yet-airy death metal that bangs and isn't afraid of the odd melodic line. Just a non-stop listen, flowing album that is endlessly listenable and enjoyable.
Undeath – "Enter Patient," from Enter Patient / Endless Graveyard (Death Metal – Independent). One of my claims to fame, other than be crushingly handsome, is how much I loved the Undeath demos when they came out. Loved them. And yet, funnily enough, while enjoying their full lengths (I think I liked Lesions the best), it wasn't the same to me. To the point where I might have, in an uncharacteristic move, trolled the band about it online at some point. I say all this to say that this new EP was declared by the band as their first independent release since that magical demo era, and, for whatever reason, I fucking love it. Does this mean I lay blame on Prosthetic Records, smoking cigars, leather shoes firmly planted on the table, for ruining Undeath? No. But it's fucking weird. If this is how Undeath sound when they're just banging out tracks on their own, then it's the only way they need to be making music. Fucking amazing, and just might be the best straight-up death metal of the year so far.
Gorycz – "Tańczy," from Zasypia (Avant-Garde Black Metal – Piranha Music). The Polish wonders who had released one of the best albums of 2022 is back with a shimmering bounce to their already shimmering step. Steeped in the unmistakable magical pond that is weirdo Polish black metal-ish scene of the past decade or so, this first track rings pretty close to other masters on the proggier side – I'm thinking here of Dola or Kły (RIP). Unnerving, eerie, and explosive music. Get your AOTY-lists (or, as I have seen it spelled EOTY lists – are we barbarians?) ready. This one's going to be a whole collapse universe. I don't do FFO anymore, because there's a war going on and I lost my mind, but I had still done it Grey Aura would have been quite prominent on that nonexistent list of comparable bands.
Pestilential Shadows – "Where Sunlight Goes to Die," from Wretch (Atmospheric Black Metal – Brilliant Emperor Records). It's been a whole while since I've visited the BC page of the excellent Australian label Brilliant Emperor, probably since the release of the most recent Ploughshare record. In my defense, though, they haven't released a ton since, which makes checking out what I missed blissfully manageable. first up in that effort is a fantastic first single from veteran act Pestilential Shadows. Somewhat reminiscent of another fantastic atmospheric/depressive album I listened to this week (see next entry), in that melody and desperation coalesce to one seamless and heartbreaking experience.
Déhà – "Tales from the Forgotten Tower," from Ashes as Rain (Atmospheric Black Metal – Musical Excrements). I tend to compare Déhà to the aforementioned MdJ often, in that they are that rare (and probably crazy) brand of people who are so good and so prolific at what they do that they basically populated their own universe of music. Within that universe Déhà created, there really isn't a bad project, album, or, frankly, song. But I have a soft sport for the flagship sadboy entity that bears his name. And this new one is at once one of the most, I don't know, screamo-y of that "brand" and one of the best too. A standout album for the genre for the year.
IFRYT – "Rzygacze," from Rzygacze (New Wave?! – Godz ov War Productions). Big fan of this Polish project since their wonderful 2023 EP Płuca, and have loved the sly way they've weaved black metal with a beautiful, melancholy atmosphere. Given all that, did not see them going full Erasure, and yet here we gladly are. Obviously periodic call backs to black metal can be found, especially with the vocals, but the music is pure, blissful post-punk. One is left to wonder if the entire album will be like this, but, really, one doesn't care because one knows it'll rule.
Catharsis – "Gone to Croatan," from Hope against Hope (Post-Hardcore/Metallic Hardcore – CrimethInc). A beautiful, heartfelt album from a band I'm not sure I've listened to before, but here I am, listening. Seems like this is their first album in 26 years, which is a big deal for some, I assume, so apologies for not recognizing the magnitude of the occasion. However, what I do recognize is a sick album when I see one, and this fits that bill quite well. Big sounds, big emotions, melancholy rage enhanced by raging melancholy. Awesome.
Ter Ziele – "Of Noumenon Reality," from Embodiment of Death (Doom Metal – Tartarus Records). Again find myself in a corner of mine own painting with a ton of tracks to still write about, and room for only one more. I use this last space to pay homage to an album I believe I missed from earlier this year from Dutch project Ter Ziele, which, I think, I named one but in reference to the other side of a split they had done with Dodenbezweerder. Regardless, my bad, my friends, because this is just astoundingly beautiful, somewhat blackened sludgy doom that hits me not only in the feels but also in my groin. Perfect atmosphere, moving music, really not much more you can ask for, and one of the best doom-adjacent music of the year.
FIVE MORE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ONE: Man, I don't know. Did we talk about the fact that there's a new Warning album coming? I'm not sure we have.
TWO: I was given a hot tip for some wicked (in more ways than one?) black metal. The tip is courtesy of the kind person behind the Sevenhundreddogsfromhell account on Bluesky, and the album is by US project Collier d'Ombre, that includes very talented people. Check it out.
THREE: In a related note (there are some family connections between the two bands), Mystiskaos and Amor Fati announced a new album from new project/familiar faces Vörnir. If you recognize the name Mystiskaos then you know you need to check it out.
FOUR: Life is quiet theses days – you might believe that, you might not – which only makes the horrible reality scarier and somehow even more horrible. Which isn't to say our state is like that of those who are literally being crushed for the past two years, just to say that the way of life of silence in the periphery of that disaster is its own horrid hell.
FIVE: You know that "Surprise Me!" option on Bandcamp? Well, I tried it out and decided I would share any good shit that came of it. The first example is this track from Colorado project Paroxysm, that was released in 2022. They've only released this two-track EP thus far, which is a shame, because it's noisy, screamo/black-metal-y post-punk/new wave heaven.
ONE LAST THING, PROMISE: The second "Fruit of the Surprise Me!" entry is this track from a 2019 album by a Portland project by the name of Stigandr. Interestingly a weird side project by Nathan Nielson of Aseitas that sounds like just the disso breakdowns from Aseitas piled one on top of the other. And, yes, it's as awesome as you may surmise.
ONE LAST THING, SUPER PROMISE: Yes, I'm still happy my book is coming out. But A) I hope people like it and B) I'm sick sick sick of thinking of everything in my life in terms of "I hope we'll live, I hope the kids will be OK, by then." This shit needs to end.
