n.hir / Rudy Decelière - Alcôve 07 (2022)

 

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With recordings like this, I love nothing more than grabbing my headphones, a pair of large, brightly color sunglasses and laying in a hammock in the park on a warm sunny days. Preferably with a headful of smoke. I'm relatively new to this French label, specializing in ambiance, field recordings, and general loner music. Some music nerds refer to this as lowercase, but who cares. It's great heady music, and the 7th in the series, herein featuring a split by n.hir & Rudy Decelière. Slide over to the label's page and have a look around. They're taking part in the cassette tape revival and I am into that. 

Alcôve 07

Storm Kvlt - Europas Weg zum Grab (2022)

 

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Another delicious bowl of raw black metal served up fresh and ready for ear absorption. I will not lie, this album does not reinvent the wheel, but damn if it doesn't show us a great was to use it. Grab a drink and have a smoke and tune in for today's program. 

Europas Weg zum Grab

Хмарь - Мгла (2021)

 

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Debut effort from Russia's Хмарь is full of emotion and humility, coupled with crisp, clean production and the rawest vocals I've heard so far. I have been consuming truckloads of BM the last few months and have to admit, I have never been happier emotionally, or felt more stable then now. Fuck the hype, fill your ears with this and do something good for yourself today.

Мгла 

Turris Eburnea - Turris Eburnea [EP] (2021)

 

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This set was recorded primarily during the first quarantine period, when we all were locked in our homes, hotels, and hospitals, completely unaware of the feastering shitstrom we were all about to experience. This EP is short romp through existential dread, longing, and utter fucking confusion. It's a great distraction from life. Each track flows tragically into the next, seamlessly, sometimes like the early days of this pandemic. 

Turris Eburnea

Ominous Resurrection - Judgement (2020)

 

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Ominous Resurrection pushes the emotional, starkness of black metal into new and uncharted territory with their latest effort. The album delivers the blasting drive we all love, mixed with sludgy, thick as syrup lofi production. And the guitar tones are fucking incredible. Grab this and go for a walk. It's starting to get warm again. 

Judgement

Katla - Allt Þetta Helvitis Myrkur (2020)

 

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A most epic journey through the frozen lands of Iceland are present herein for Katla's recent effort. The album title roughly translates to All this Damn Darkness and that is what's expressed on this release. This album represents winter and it may still be snowing here but I imagine it's nothing compared to what gathers and falls in and around this county. 

Allt Þetta Helvitis Myrkur

Darkenhöld - Arcanes & Sortilèges (2020)

 

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It took awhile for me to warm up to this recording, mostly because of the medieval/viking-esque vibes I get when listening to it. It feels like I'm going into battle, to defend the Kings honor and protect my homeland from the evil cocksuckers who are trying to invade it. 

Arcanes & Sortilèges

Drakonis - Blessed By Embers (2020)

 

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In between the hollow shrieks and blast beats you will hear faint ethereal voices, calling you towards the light, protecting you from the dark. That's the theme I feel when listening to this album. 

Blessed By Embers

Horrenda - Díoltas (2020)

 

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I like to play this record first thing in the AM, right as the sun is rising while I am begrudgery driving to work. Sometimes twice, depending on how the commute goes. It's a subtle ebb and flow of heavy as fuck BM, interspersed with the occasional thick-as-mud sludge riffs. The whole record is really well-balanced, just like the breakfast I had this morning.

Díoltas

Skeletal Remains - The Entombment Of Chaos (2020)

 

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I spend a lot of time driving for work, so I used that time this morning listening to this on repeat. The opener lulls you in with a false sense of calm and comfort, then stabs you in the ears. It's packed full of noodly solos, brutal guttural vocals, and a rhythm section that resembles a machine gun. For fans of old school death metal, this is right up your ass. 

The Entombment Of Chaos

Omination - The Pale Horseman (2020)

 

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A big powerful sound fills this single track. Clocking in at almost 27 minutes, this record is a stark reminder of the unrelenting alienation that swallowed the plant whole at the beginning of this decade. This track drips with dread and picks at the smallest cracks in your sanity. It's a heady trip, so tread lightly.  

The Pale Horseman

Mass Worship - Portal Tombs (2022)

 

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These dudes have managed to craft a densely layered, suffocating sound that fills me with absolute dread with every spin. They've also mastered the the quiet to loud dynamic on this album, pulling me in with beautiful acoustic passages, and then punching me right in the ears with the heaviest of riffage. 

Portal Tombs

Mongrel's Cross - Arcana, Scrying And Revelation (2020)

 

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Well produced, thrashy at times, Australian Black Metal at its finest. This record is chock-full of  great solos, and catchy riffs. I like to imagine the ghoul on the cover is narrating a story for the listener. The vocals are certainly ghoulish enough for me. 

Arcana, Scrying And Revelation

Гнёт - Дыханье [Дemo] (2020)

 

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Super tight, low-fi raw back metal, served fresh from the darkest pits of Russia. I love finding gems like this, tucked away in the furthest reaches of the interwebs. This dude has been pumping out massive amounts of material for the last few years, all worth a listen. 

Дыханье [Дemo]

Mystic Circle - Mystic Circle (2022)

 

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Upon first listen, I had this incredible urge to play the first Castlevania game. It was as if something deep inside me awoke and demanded that I play that damn game. I think it's because the content of this album has very similar sounds that conjured up this nostalgic imagery. The guitars are often played so fast that they sound robotic, almost 8-Bit in nature, coupled with elegant piano passages and drums that blast nonstop for 45 minutes. Also, the solos are fucking amazing. Grab this and a whip and kill your demons!

Mystic Circle

Persefone - Metanoia (2022)

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I've been seeing this monolithic concept on so many records the last 3+ years, and for some reason I am drawn to them. This means something. The record flows really well, keeping my attention completely for the entire duration. The band melds and manages to balance a unique mixture of genres, resulting in large sounding tracks, that are sometimes so big they have their own atmosphere. This record is definitely not for everyone. I am speaking mostly to the elitist pigs that shit themselves at the first sign of clean signing. This isn't for you. As for the rest of us normal folk, this record is pretty damn great and deserves a wider audience. The album is relatively cheap as well, so grab a copy of you like it.    

Metanoia

Nerada - Icons of Ignorance (2021)

 

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There has to be something said about the high quality of extreme music and the magnificent artwork that comes along with it. If I'm scouring the internet, or on the rarest case, flipping through selections at a record store, it's often the art that stops me. This one in particular stood out. The music therein had the same effect as the cover. Crushing, suffocating, technical madness. This is just what we needed to start the last week of March.

Icons of Ignorance

Rat King - Santa Hipocresía (2021)

 

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I remember as a kid hanging out with my uncle on cold snowy days, sorting through his old cassette tapes for the ugliest cover I could find. Once I found it, that was the tape I would listen to all day. As soon as I saw the Santa Hipocresía cover it brought back some of those memories. After a single listen I immediately had to purchase a copy, and what do you know? The EP comes in a fucking  Cassette Tape format. Slide over there and check them out. The tapes are moderately priced as well. Totes worth a couple of bucks for those oh so warm nostalgia feels. 

Santa Hipocresía

Tomorr - Tomorr (2020)

 

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So many slowburner riffs fill this 48 minute saga, through the most remote reaches of the Italian town of Empoli. This was definitely my 2020 go-to album. I discovered these dudes a short while after they released their eponymous debut record, and lived with it on repeat listen for several weeks. It's great for early mornings, midday stretchings, and late-night deep listens. I really do enjoy this Italian trios first effort and look forward to following their career.

Tomorr

KoЯn - Requiem (2022)

 

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I want to punch myself in the face for typing this, but the new KoЯn record is in fact listenable. It's actually really good if I have to be honest. There's subtle hints of blues almost, however still dripping with overprocessed distorted nonsense, and oh so much PAIN. I will admit that at first listen I had a bit of a shit-eating grin on my face because I haven't felt this excited listening to a KoЯn record since Issues in my youth. 

Requiem