Mitochondrion: Archaeaeon (2008)

It seems like when this album was released Mitochondrion was something of an underground metal darling.  I vaguely recall seeing a lot of rave reviews about this album and the band in general.  I may be misremembering that, but I swear I remember that.  For whatever reason I never really got around to checking them out.  Until just recently when I came across this album.  Vaguely remembering the band's popularity, I gave it a shot.

Everything about this album is massive.  Not the least of that is the runtime or the lengths of the individual songs.  This is a very long release, but despite that, it never wavers in intensity.  And it is always interesting, partly due to the unconventional song structures and the inhumanly precise, industrial factory-style riffwork.  It can be a tad overwhelming at times and it is definitely not something to listen to passively.  There is a lot going on here and repeated listens are necessary to begin to unravel it all. 

Opening song "...Into the Pit of Babel" is a microcosm of the entire album.  Featuring alternating sections of pummeling brutality and spacey dissonance, the song is a mindfuck.  It sounds like an unholy concoction of Ulcerate and Bestial Warlust.

This album is something of a grower.  The first time I listened to it, I was not really all that impressed, but repeated listens have grabbed my attention.  Give it a chance to sink in. 

Monarque: Lys Noir (2013)

I have covered Monarque a couple of times recently.  Of course their 2019 EP made it to the top of my Best EPs of 2019 list and I raved about their 2009 full-length as well.  Needless to say, I have really taken to this band.  To date, this album is Monarque's last full-length.  This is a band that releases a fair amount of material (at least until 2014), but not many full-lengths.  In fact, this is just the third full-length for the Canadian black metal band.

The music here is what I have come to expect from Quebec black metal bands: surprisingly beautiful sonicscapes featuring cascading riffs and biting vocals.  The first half of the album is exceptional, but the second half kind of drops the ball a little bit.  That seems to be common with the band.  It is not that the second half is bad, absolutely far from it, it just does not quite hold up to the standards set forward by the first half.

In general this release seems a bit more laidback than the high-energy black metal of the 2019 EP and the much harsher and colder 2009 album.  This one is more somber and melancholic and the riffs reflect it.  The vocals are as aggressive as ever, but it is a slightly more melodic output here.  Not that that is a problem, mind you.

Monarque continues to impress me.  This one is a bit different, of course all of their releases have been somewhat distinctive, but it is nevertheless a damn good album.  Monarque is one of my favorite bands that I have discovered recently and each release I find reinforces that.

Keys of Orthanc: A Battle in the Dark Lands of the Eye... (2019)

As may be inferred, both the band name and the album title here are Tolkien references.  Orthanc is apparently the name of Saruman's black tower.  Now, I am going to explain that I had to look that up.  The album cover and title were pretty clear to me, but the band name was not.  I have never read any of Tolkien's material.  No, not even The Hobbit.  Fantasy is not really my thing.  I have read the A Song of Ice and Fire books and watched Game of Thrones, and I have seen the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, but that is as far as I have gone.  Horror is my genre.  But metal has gotten a lot of mileage out of Tolkien's material, and this is one more to add to the list.

The music here is somewhat hard to categorize.  There are elements of black metal, and epic traditional metal interwoven with acoustic interludes and keyboard melodies.  The result is a decidedly majestic-sounding album that fits the subject matter quite well.  The closest comparison to another band that I can make is to Bal-Sagoth, but without the campfire vocals and focused moreso on the music than the story.  That is not to say the story is not important.  The band has done an impressive job of telling the story through the music. 

This is an interesting and entertaining listen.  Despite not knowing or caring all that much about the subject matter, the album itself has a lot going for it.  The songs are memorable, particularly the dichotomy between the acoustic, atmospheric interludes and the much more intense black metal sections.  This is an impressive release.

Monarque: Ad Nauseam (2009)

And speaking of Monarque from yesterday, here is the Quebec band's sophomore album.  Monarque is one of those groups that releases a fair amount of material, but very few full-length albums.  Since the band's inception in 2003, there have only been three full-length albums, but a number of splits, EPs and other releases. 

Monarque is a bit more raw and rough around the edges than Cantique Lépreux.  Their music tends to exist on the far more raw black metal side of things and the production is similarly primitive.  Swirling tremolo riffs clash with melancholic atmosphere, which has a hypnotic effect.  The shrieking vocals add a savage element to the songs.  The album is primarily a re-recording of some of the band's demo tracks, but includes a few new cuts and my version also features a live cover of a Burzum track, which is fitting but not really necessary.

I mentioned yesterday how much I have been enjoying this particular scene.  This album is perhaps the best example yet of the Quebec black metal scene.  It really does need to be heard. 

Cantique Lépreux: Cendres Célestes (2016)

Here we have the debut album from Quebec black metal band Cantique Lépreux.  I previously reviewed their second album and was completely blown away by the band to the extent that I tracked down the debut and also discovered an entire scene I had somehow missed.  The Quebec black metal scene has since become a current favorite, and unlike say, The Black Twilight Circle, this scene is still going strong.  Just look at the band who released my Top EP of 2019, Monarque.

The sound here is one is typical for Quebec black metal.  By that I mean that it truly sounds like a blizzard.  Featuring a variety of icy cold, cascading tremolo riffs, rolling drums and freezing vocals, it is the sound of winter winds blowing through a desolate landscape.  It is atmospheric black metal that borrows from Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, but twists it and shapes it into something new.  At the same time, it is surprisingly melodic, with some damn good guitar solos.  Again, this is common for the scene. 

This is quickly becoming a favorite scene of mine.  Cantique Lépreux was the band that introduced me to it, but I have since branched out.  This album is a great example of what makes this scene so interesting.  Monarque is still my favorite band from the scene, but Cantique Lépreux is up there, at least until I can get into some of the giants of the scene, like Forteresse.

Monarque: Jusqu'à la mort (2019)

Like Synteleia a few days back, I can probably spoil how I feel about this EP by referring to its placement on my Best EPs of 2019 list.  It topped the list.  That's how good this is. 

Over the last couple of years I have been exploring a variety of underground metal scenes, some of which I had not been previously aware, such as the black metal scene in Quebec.  Apparently I have missed out on a rich and vibrant scene with some amazing bands.  I touched on this very briefly discussing Cantique Lépreux last year.  Well, Monarque are one of the marquee names in the scene, so I had to find something. 

It was the album cover that drew me in here, rather than any desire to give a listen to a major part in a scene of which I was just becoming aware.  But this is an absolutely amazing release that has convinced me to find more from not only Monarque, but many of the other bands in the Quebec scene in general. 

The first two tracks are stunning examples of what makes the scene so compelling.  Through all of the darkness of the songs, and there is plenty with the riffs and the smoky, snarled vocals, there exists a kind of breathtaking beauty underlying everything.  The third track takes a much longer time getting going, but it soon follows suit and is the decidedly more dynamic of the three songs.  The album feels like the soundtrack to a blizzard sweeping over a desolate landscape.  It is chilling.

I love this EP, as is obvious from its lofty placement on my end of the year list.  I am definitely looking into more of this band's music and checking out associated acts.  I have been missing out.

Razor: Malicious Intent (1986)

It figures that I have been recently able to find one of Razor's earlier releases right as a box set of all of their releases has been announced.  Their earlier stuff has been so hard to find, but I have managed to get most of them, at some expense.  Now, I could get everything for a very reasonable price.  Ugh.

Malicious Intent is Razor's third album and the earliest one in their discography that I have heard so far.  It presents a decidedly different sound for the band than the more aggressive thrash metal of most of the releases I have heard.  This album finds the band in a much more speed metal sound with some obvious NWOBHM influences.  It appears thrash metal had not yet made its way up to the Great White North by the time this album was released.  That's probably not completely true as Voivod still existed at this time.  But still.

This album is a fast-paced and energetic one with a barrage of riffs and wailing leads.  The vocals are gruff and intense with some truly ear-piercing shrieks at times.  It is an extremely raw and unrestrained sound and one can tell that the musicians here are still finding their way, but that just adds to the charm of the release. 

This is not my favorite Razor album, but it is damn good.  It is clear the band is still finding their voice on this release, though I have yet to hear their first two albums at this time.  It just does not seem as focused as some of their later output.  That's fine though because the rawness of this album makes it appealing in the same way that Kill 'Em All by Metallica is so interesting.

Goathammer: Ceremony of Morbid Destruction (2018)

Goathammer is not a band I was familiar with until receiving this release as a freebie when I placed an order for a box set that will be reviewed shortly.  Goathammer is a Canadian band (Saskatchewan) who has been around for less than ten years.  This is their first full-length after a number of demos and splits.

Well, what the hell do you think a band named Goathammer is going to sound like?  This is blistering blackened death metal with ugly, hateful riffs, rumbling drums and raspy, roared vocals.  There is a significant Mayhem influence, to the point that opening track "Arcane Destruction Spell" sounds like it would have fit well on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.  Other points of reference include Inquisition, with their esoteric, evil lyrics and infusion of death metal elements to their Mayhem-worship. 

This is a rather short release, but it contains all of the hallmarks of a good blackened death metal album, all of the brutality and evil alike.  It does not really do a lot to stand out from the pack in a way that stays with the listener, but it is a rather intense listen while it is playing. 

Unleash the Archers: Apex (2017)

Canada has a long and rich tradition of terrific heavy metal.  And I am not referring simply to thrash metal bands like Sacrifice, Razor and Slaughter or to death metal bands like Cryptopsy and Kataklysm.  I am referring to heavy and speed metal bands like Exciter, Anvil, Thor and others.  Bands that wave the the traditional metal banner proudly.  Enter Unleash the Archers.

This album is my first experience checking out Unleash the Archers, despite the fact that I have been aware of them for several years.  I am not sure why I avoided them, possibly due to the name which called to mind some sort of metalcore band.  But as I listen to them, I realize the band whose name most closely resembles this band is fellow British Columbians 3 Inches of Blood.  The sound is pretty damn close too.  Now I realize that they were never really well-liked in the metal underground, but I fucking loved 3 Inches of Blood, so hearing Unleash the Archers on this album and hearing all of the similarities, the album really grabbed me.

The sound is absolutely epic, filled to the brim with lightning-fast riffs, infectious choruses and shredding, neoclassical solos.  The riffs have some bite to them, not at all like European-style power metal.  The vocals too deserve mention.  The band has one lead vocalist and her style is melodic, yet powerful, and it is accentuated by two of the musicians who provide harsh vocals.  The result of all of this is an aggressive, yet extremely melodic sound.

My understanding is that Unleash the Archers has not always been as impressive as they are on this release.  I do not know if I will check out any of their earlier material, but this album is terrific.  I am definitely glad I gave them a chance.

Cryptopsy: Whisper Supremacy (1998)

I have talked before about my reservations about checking out anything by Cryptopsy that did not feature Lord Worm on vocals.  I got into the band through Blasphemy Made Flesh followed by None So Vile, two absolute classics in the brutal death metal genre.  I simply could not fathom anything by the band being worthwhile without Lord Worm's guttural, gurgling vocal style.  And so it took a long time before I checked out anything without him.  Now that I have, I have decided to go back to the Mike DiSalvo era, which many death metal fans claim is even better than the Lord Worm era. 

This album is considered a classic by a great many people.  I do love the cover art, and always have.  It is easy to see why this album is so highly regarded.  Even though the band is mostly the same, apart from the vocal change, it is clear that the musicianship has improved by leaps and bounds.  No longer content with being incredibly brutal for brutality's sake, there is more of a method to the madness. 

Cryptopsy has always been a fairly technical band, but the technicality has really taken a step forward here.  Flo Mounier is one of the most virtuosic drummers this side of Tomas Haake, and it shows on this release.  The band has also added a second guitarist and two complement each other well.  It allows for a more dynamic sound and more solos.  Overall, this is a cleaner, more technically-proficient sound, but not lacking in brutality.

I do have to discuss the vocals, because that was the number one reason that I had not checked out this album before.  DiSalvo's vocal style is intense and his growls work well with the brutality of the instrumentation, though they are nowhere near as savage and ferocious as Lord Worm's.  I will say, it is much easier to tell what DiSalvo is saying, I am not sure Lord Worm was saying half of what the lyric sheets said he was, while DiSalvo's growls are actually comprehensible.  Still, I do prefer Lord Worm. 

This is a damn good album.  I still do not think it comes close to Cryptopsy's first two albums, though I do think I prefer it to Lord Worm's comeback album Once was Not.  So, maybe third favorite Cryptopsy album?  That sounds about right.

Cryptopsy: The Book of Suffering - Tome I and II (2018)

Similar to Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy is a death metal band whose material without their original lead singer, I have been reluctant to investigate thoroughly.  Lord Worm's vocals were such a major part of what made the albums Blasphemy Made Flesh and None So Vile so appealing.  It was not the only thing, just an important part of it.  So coming into this year, I had never heard anything by Cryptopsy with either Mike DiSalvo or Matt McGachy.

McGachy, in particular, was a singer whose work with the band I was reluctant to listen to much at all due to the rather poor reception the band received for his first album with them, The Unpsoken King.  That album veered a little to closely to deathcore and I did hear a couple of the songs and was certainly not impressed by them.  But, I decided to give this compilation a chance to see if the band had redeemed themselves.  It appears they have.

This is a compilation of the two The Book of Suffering EPs, one from 2015 and the other from 2018.  Cryptopsy has not released a full-length album since 2012, which I was unaware of.  I had not heard anything from the band since the 2008 debacle The Unspoken King.  I cannot speak for their last full-length, but these EPs appear to be a return to the form that made Cryptopsy one of the most influential bands on the technical brutal death metal sound. 

The riffs themselves are fairly technical, but where the band really shines, as usual, is in the rhythm section between band stalwart drummer Flo Mounier and bassist Olivier Pinard, who has only been with the group since 2012.  Mounier is one of the best drummers in the genre and for very good reason.  Pinard has built up a reputation quickly and is also currently in Cattle Decapitation.  The vocals too are much more impressive.  McGachy is not as incomprehensible as Lord Worm was, but has come around to a nice deep guttural roar.  He does tend to get a little closer to a more deathcore-sounding style on occasion, but those moments are few and far between.  He has improved significantly. 

Checking this release out has convinced me to check out more of Cryptopsy's work with DiSalvo.  This is a nice return to form for the band and hopefully we will have a new full-length soon in line with this improvement.

Thrawsunblat: Great Brunswick Forest (2018)

Okay, this one is a little bit different.  It is not at all what I expected it to be.  Not that that is always a bad thing.  In fact, despite just how different this one is, I found that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Thrawsunblat features three former members of Woods of Ypres, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect when I bought it.  Not even close.

First of all, Thrawsunblat is an anagram of "narwhal butt".  That is completely meaningless, but I figured I would point it out.

Now on to the music.  Woods of Ypres is a thoroughly depressing doom metal band and Thrawsunblat was described as a melodic black/folk metal band.  I do not know what the other Thrawsunblat albums sound like, but this one is much closer to folk rock.  For starters most of the songs are entirely acoustic, with guitar, bass, drums and even fiddle.  Even those songs that do feature some electric guitar, are primarily acoustic.  That being said, the music is clearly black/folk metal at its foundation.  There are obvious tremolo riffs, just played by an acoustic guitar.  And most of the songs are downright catchy.  The vocals are clean and while not conventionally well-performed, they really do match the music.

This is not the most metal of releases, but it does have a few moments.  The best song on the album is "Via Canadensis", with an absolutely infectious riff and is one of the few songs featuring distortion.  Other highlights include "Song of the Summit" and "Dark Sky Sanctuary".

Sometimes something entirely different is a good thing.  The metal foundation is pretty obvious here, but most of the music is acoustic.  That being said, I find myself circling back to this album frequently.  It surprised me twice, the first time upon hearing how far from my expectations it was, and the second by how much I enjoyed it.

Tomb Mold: Planetary Clairvoyance (2019)

2019 has been an amazing year for death metal.  Honestly I could probably do an end of year Top 10 list just covering death metal bands.  New albums from Gatecreeper, Nucleus, Coffin Rot, Ossuarium, Superstition, Vltimas, Memoriam, Witch Vomit and Possessed would all likely be on the list.  I only named nine because this one from Tomb Mold would definitely be on it as well.  And that is not to count albums that I am waiting to receive from Fetid, Cerebral Rot, Vastum and Ossuary. 

Tomb Mold is a Canadian death metal band whose previous lyrical subject matter dealt mostly with the Dark Souls and Bloodborne series of games.  I personally have played Bloodborne and cannot make it past the second boss battle with Father Gascoigne because the game is fucking hard.  Tomb Mold has moved past this rather limiting subject matter on this release though and gone in more of a general horror direction.

The music is a little different than some of the bands listed above in that Tomb Mold is not overly concerned with being the most extreme, brutal or punishing band out there.  The music is certainly intense, but it is more of a murkier, oozing, grimy death metal.  The riffs all have incredibly meaty distortion adding to the overall menace of the album.  The songs are all well-crafted with multiple sections and the band is able to alternate between fast and intense to creepy and somber at the drop of a hat.  The band builds on the frightening sound with a number of atmospheric moments, such as the very odd "Phosphorene Ultimate" with its strange vocals and eerie guitar lines.

This album is the best one Tomb Mold has released to date.  As much as I enjoyed Manor of Infinite Forms, this album absolutely blows it out of the water.  2019 has been an amazing year for death metal and Tomb Mold's Planetary Clairvoyance is one of the biggest reasons why.

Exciter: Long Live the Loud (1985)

Let's all go back to a simpler time.  When the only real concerns were making a few bucks to put gas in your cherried out Dodge Charger or Grand Am to take out your spandex-clad feathered-haired girlfriend.  This cassette was likely playing in the car at the time.  This is the perfect soundtrack for exceeding the speed limit while flying down the highway.

Canadian metal of the 1980's has really garnered a lot of nostalgia in recent years.  Part of that was likely due to the Anvil documentary of several years ago.  But there were better bands in the scene.  Exciter, named after a Judas Priest song, was one of the leading bands in the scene, releasing three classic albums from 1983 through 1985.  This was the third, and probably my favorite of the three.

As could be expected when a band names itself after a Judas Priest song, Priest and Iron Maiden seem to be the primary influences on Exciter's sound.  "Born to Die" would have easily fit on Priest's Defenders of the Faith while the beginning of "Wake Up Screaming" sounds a lot like Maiden's "Hallowed be Thy Name".  Most of the rest of the songs are made up of catchy-as-hell pure speed metal.  There are several terrific songs here, including the title track and "I am the Beast".

I missed out on this album the first time around (I was four after all), but there are several great metal albums being reissued all the time.  All three of the first Exciter albums have recently been reissued and I have been picking them up.  I have not ventured beyond the first three yet, but someday I may have to.  As I said, this is my favorite album by Exciter thus far.

Smoulder: Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring (2019)

A cover like that makes me think of bands like Cirith Ungol and Candlemass, and for good reason.  Apparently the artist of this cover also did artwork for releases by Cirith Ungol and a number of fantasy novels.  And so, taking one look at this album cover, it would seem likely that this will be an epic doom metal album, and that is exactly correct.

And lyrically, it is pretty clear what this album will be like as well.  The name of the album is a reference to Michael Moorcock's The Greater Conqueror.  I am not personally familiar with the novella, nor have I read any of the works by Moorcock, but I have a pretty good idea of the subject matter.  It will have references to the kinds of swords and sorcery content that is prevalent in a lot of epic doom metal and quite a bit of power metal as well.  And with song titles like "Ilian of Garathorm" and "The Sword Woman", it is pretty clear that this will appeal to fans of fantasy epics.

The album is basically split into two distinct sections.  The first half of the album features faster-paced (relatively speaking) songs with catchy choruses and sweeping hooks.  "Bastard Steel" is the highlight here with the fastest riff on the album.  The second half is much slower with lumbering riffs that call to mind The Gates of Slumber, a band I absolutely loved.  So I am fully on board with both sides of the album.

What sets Smoulder apart is the fact that their singer is a woman.  This is something that does seem to be becoming more and more common these days.  Iron Griffin is another doom metal band with a woman singing.  Sarah Ann is a terrific singer and her range fits in well with the band's sound.

This is an incredibly impressive debut album by this Canadian doom metal band.  This is another example of why Bandcamp is such a great site.  I am not sure I would have heard of this otherwise.  I would have been missing out.

Cantique Lépreux: Paysages Polaires (2018)

That's a lot of French in that band name and title.  It comes as no surprise then that Cantique Lépreux hail from Québec.  Well, maybe a little.  Looking at the album cover, one would think that if this band were truly metal at all, that they would be atmospheric black metal focused on nature or something of that sort.  One would be wrong.

This is a surprisingly aggressive form of black metal, though not without its more melodic passages.  The music is very cold, owing a great deal to Canadian black metal bands like Gris and Tenebrae, along with some Immortal and Mayhem thrown in.  Featuring icy tremolo riffing and chilling shrieked vocals, you can almost see your breath while listening to this album. 

There is an overwhelming sense of isolation and foreboding doom hanging over this entire album.  The English translation of the title is "polar landscapes" and the title could not be more apt.  This album puts into music the sense of terror at being lost in a frozen wasteland.  It is cold and hostile and yet can be beautiful and atmospheric at some times. 

This is an intriguing album that stays with the listener long after it is over.  The band successfully captures a cold and lonely atmosphere throughout the entire album.  It is incredibly effective.  I am definitely looking forward to more.

Reevaluating War and Pain by Voivod

Tastes change over time.  That is not a controversial statement.  For instance, I once considered Coal Chamber one of my favorite bands.  Now, I cannot even listen to them.  Which brings me to a less stark change.  My tastes in Voivod's music.

I have been a big fan of Voivod for some time now, even though I got into them very late.  They were always on the periphery of my musical tastes.  I liked Negatron since it was the first album I picked up by the band in the mid 1990's, but I never got much into their earlier material other than songs like "Killing Technology" and "Astronomy Domine" appearing on a couple of compilations I owned.  Much later, I finally picked up Nothingface and grew to love the album.  Then, I went through a period of time where I started to check out everything Voivod ever did.  The first five albums are legendary (and rival any other band's five album run) and quickly became my absolute favorites.  Of the five, Dimension Hatross became my preferred album because it combined the raw thrash metal of Voivod's early material and saw the band headed in the progressive direction they perfected on Nothingface.  I still like Negatron, but nowhere near as much.  But this is not about Negatron's place in Voivod's history.  It is about War and Pain.

Of the first five Voivod albums, I previously considered War and Pain the band's weakest.  That is not terribly surprising as it was the band's debut album and was incredibly raw and almost sloppy.  It contained few, if any, hints of what the band would later accomplish upon incorporating prog rock elements.  Quite frankly, listening to War and Pain back to back with Nothingface, it is difficult to tell that it is even the same band. 

Something has changed recently.  I have no idea what, but upon repeated listens to the band's discography, it has been War and Pain that I have been going back to time and time again.  What I once heard as sloppy has become endearing and just a sign of a very young and raw band doing the best they could with what they knew at the time.  Several of these songs have become favorites of mine, including "Blower", "Warriors of Ice" and "Iron Gang".  There is a lot of punk influence here that adds to the raw, unrefined sound of the band and makes it that much more intriguing. 

Honestly, picking out a favorite Voivod album is very difficult.  The band has changed so much over the decades they have been around that almost every album is truly unique in some way that sets it apart from any other Voivod album.  That is what is so interesting about this band in the first place.  They were never content to just put out album after album of the same stuff.  And so even though War and Pain has risen in my eyes, who knows if it will stay in such a lofty place?  

Saccage: Récidive (2017)

Quebec has a very rich history of producing amazing metal bands.  There are bands like Gorguts, Kataklysm and Cryptopsy, and of course Voivod is quite possibly the most famous metal band hailing from Quebec.  In fact, there are very few metal bands from the Canadian province that I can honestly say I dislike (though Despised Icon does come to mind).  And so, when I see a metal band from Quebec, my interest is piqued.  Such was the case with Saccage.

Saccage is not as weird as most of the other Quebec bands listed.  Their style is a decidedly old-school mix of thrash metal, black metal and crust.  Think a mix of Venom, early Sodom and Discharge and that is a reasonable approximation of the Saccage's sound.  The songs are all fast-paced with rampaging riffs and the full-throttle roar of vocalist Phat Labrosse.  Despite the ever-present speed and intensity, Saccage have managed to add in a lot of dynamics to the recording.  It never grows stale and retains interest throughout.

The only thing at all unusual about Saccage is that all of the lyrics and song titles are in French.  That is not shocking given the band's home, but it is a little unusual.  Having never learned French myself, I have not the slightest idea of what is being said.

Saccage blends elements of multiple extreme metal and punk styles seemlessly.  This is a filthy and raw release from a band who has thus far made that their calling card.  It is a lot of fun for those interested in the style. 

Black Pestilence: Urban Hell Rhythmics (2018)

A trend that I have noticed of late is bands re-combining black metal with punk influences.  I say re-combining because it is clear from some of the earliest black metal bands that punk has been a big influence on the genre.  One of the biggest examples of this was Devil Master, who I covered a few weeks ago.  It was partly based on my enjoyment of that particular album that I decided to check this out.  And the other reason was the terrific cover art.

I would argue that Black Pestilence is more of a hardcore/punk band who happens to incorporate black metal elements moreso than the other way around.  At least for most of the songs.  Songs like "D.I.Y. 666" and "Hymns for the Black Mass" have a kind of up-tempo punk bounciness, particularly in the bass lines.  Most of the songs follow that general pattern with the only real black metal elements being the raspy vocals and the occasional tremolo riff.  But the energy is absolutely infectious and the songs are often fun to listen and bang the head to.  The songs also fly by and a frantic pace and the album is over quickly.  Every once in awhile, some other element comes in.  "Vertex" kicks off with an almost industrial crunch and there are the occasional noise influences that come in at times as well.

This is definitely an interesting album.  There's some great songs on here and it is a lot of fun to listen to.  The disparate influences come together and the sound works out quite well here.  The best part is that it is short enough that it never overstays its welcome.  Good workout music.

Tomb Mold: Manor of Infinite Forms (2018)

Tomb Mold was basically last year's version of Ossuarium: an old school-sounding death metal band that made huge waves in the underground metal scene.  Plus, they are on the same label: 20 Buck Spin.  The only real differences are that Tomb Mold was on their sophomore album in 2018, not their debut, and Tomb Mold is from Canada.

Just judging by the grotesque artwork, one can kind of guess what type music this band plays.  Yep, K-pop.

No.  This is a dirty and grimy death metal band with kind of an odd emphasis.  Apparently the band are just a bunch of big gamer nerds.  When looking at the band's Metal Archives page, lyrical themes are listed as "Bloodborne, Dark Souls".  That's right, the ultra hard gaming series.  Now, I do not really have anything against such a niche lyrical theme, but it does seem a little strange to base your death metal band on video games.  To each their own I suppose.  I have never played the Dark Souls series, but I do own Bloodborne and I can tell that game is fucking hard.  I have yet to beat the second mini-boss.  It is just not the type of game I can really play all that well.  I don't know.  I am not familiar enough with it to be able to tell what songs might be about Bloodborne and which are not, or even if that is still the band's focus. 

But enough of the lyrical theme.  The band's sound is reminiscent of the sludgiest moments in Scandinavian and Finnish death metal, while occasionally touching on doomier moments.  Sort of like Entombed playing Convulse.  The band are all accomplished musicians and the lead guitar melodies are particularly great.  The production is fairly clean, giving clarity to each of the instruments and making the album a very easy listen, despite the sludgy nature of the music.  The vocals are delivered in a sepulchral groaning bellow.  This is generally an album that is best heard all the way through instead of picking and choosing songs.  There is not a ton of variety, but it just flows well as one continuous album rather than a collection of parts.

I like this one quite a bit.  It is a little cleaner than yesterday's Ossuarium, but there is nothing really wrong with that.  I don't know that this is the next savior for death metal or anything, but it is a fun listen.  That is all we are really looking for from death metal.