Metal Bandcamp

Bastard Priest - Ghouls of the Endless Night

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:29:00 +0000

Bastard Priest's Ghouls of the Endless Night is punked up old school Swedish death metal. Not original by any means, but when done this well, who cares? The vocals are hoarse growls and the riffs alternate between tremolo love letters to the late 80s and d-beat style chord patterns as this review from From the Dust Returned puts it. Fuzzy, filthy fun with an analog-demo style production that perfectly suits the music. Read the review from Teufel's Tomb, click the player and enjoy 36 minutes of thrashy perfection.

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Ethereal Riffian - Shaman's Visions (Remaster)

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Review by Aaron Sullivan.

When one thinks of all the countries that have produced great Stoner/DOOM bands Ukraine don’t usually come to mind. With Shaman’s Visions, Ethereal Riffian is looking to change all that.

One of the immediate bands that come to mind at first listen is OM. While Ethereal Riffian employ two guitar players, they are still able to capture the OM vibe. This is spaced out, fuzzy Stoner/DOOM. You can’t help but find yourself swaying with each riff as if you were stuck in a trance. Vocals are not sung but rather chanted. While the album is divided into tracks they each build off the other, making it sound so cohesive that it feels like one track. Additions like flute, bongos, and female vocals only add to their hypnotic brand of Stoner/DOOM.

This album does what good Stoner/DOOM albums should. It takes you on a trip and makes you feel under the influence even if you are not. Doommantia adds

This is one of the most tripped-out albums released in recent years and you will feel like you are on a psychoactive drug while listening to 'Shaman's Visions' as the music really does alter your cognition and perception of everything around you.

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Wizard Rifle - Speak Loud Say Nothing

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:50:00 +0000

Review by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.

Photo by Justine Murphy at Photic Photographic

After two years of making strange sounds together, Portland, OR's Wizard Rifle have released their debut album, Speak Loud Say Nothing. An example of a successful hybrid that's much greater than the sum of its parts, the record combines nimble, noodling math rock guitar playing and songwriting with comfortably fuzzy, broken-in sludge tones.

Wizard Rifle utilize the best from both of these influences. The guitar playing is supple and sophisticated, falling over itself with the swooping, precise grace of a trapeze artist. The tone of the album is warm and woolly, preventing the more technical aspects from becoming too cold. The choral vocals are organic and effective, especially the shouted, cacophonous chanting of the chorus on "Tears Won't Soften Steel."

An album that both challenges and comforts, Speak Loud Say Nothing combines a warm, tuneful aesthetic with some seriously skilful instrumentation.

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Botanist - III: Doom in Bloom / Allies - Pre-order

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:38:00 +0000

Art by M.S. Waldron

Doom in Bloom, the new album by Botanist is available for pre-order (it releases 25 May 2012). The previous album was post-apocalyptic botanical black metal with croaky vocals, drums, and hammered dulcimer. On Doom in Bloom keyboards are added to the palette, and the croaks have been replaced with eerie whispering. The tempo has dropped, and the songs are longer and more atmospheric. Botanist almost sound like a new band with this switch from black metal to a type of doom.

Heavy Blog is Heavy said that Quoth Azalea, the Demon (Rhododendoom II), the first track released from the new album, is hauntingly emotional, brilliantly arranged, and sounds absolutely perfect in terms of production quality. The second track, Vriesea, lives up to those words, but Botanist has issued this warning: Watch out. The last 6 songs could be very slow duck calls. And dulcimer. Beware.

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Doom in Bloom will be released together with a companion disk called Allies. It consists of full-band compositions made by friends of Botanist to drums from the Doom in Bloom session. A kind of Botanist alternate reality. Check out this interview from Meat Mead Metal for more details about Allies, and hear a track from it above. It is called The War of All Against All, and it is fantastic.

Author & Punisher - Ursus Americanus

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Review by Phro.

Imagine it's 2200 CE, and you've been nothing more than a digital being since birth. Your consciousness was uploaded to a global server--the last of the flesh-babies, if you will. Your thoughts are encoded on quantum dots, but self aware none-the-less. Your physical senses have been replaced with input devices you can use and discard at will.

Now, imagine a malfunction, trapping your immortal, sentient mind in a locked off section of the global network, with no input, no companions, and no escape. You're digital--you have no physical control, and you are essentially immortal.

Now, imagine decades and centuries of solitude wearing on your "mind," slowly driving you insane. Your nonexistent ears seem to manifest sounds that you know cannot be there. At first you fight it, realizing it is yet another symptom of your deepening madness. But then loneliness and desperation overpower your logical reluctance to give in. You find yourself enjoying the tortured beats, the low hum of what sounds like massive electromagnets being switched on. You can hear the rumble of an electrical storm in the distance. And then the static of feedback like a robot struggling to outrun rust and decay. A demonic, pulsating rhythm wraps its tendrils around your spasming brain and squeezes and squeezes and squeezes until you feel the spray of hot blood on your nonexistent face.

The music you had welcomed as a distraction from your boredom and loneliness, you now realize, is no music at all. It is the sound of your server shutting down. Whether the sun has finally gone cold and the power has run out or the Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear holocaust, electromagnetic blasts and radiation having torn asunder the very fabric of space and time, you do not know. But as bits and bytes of your remaining self flicker and disappear, you give thanks for the commutation of your seemingly eternal torture and dance wildly to the dry, marching rasp of death.

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(I’m not really sure why this album is named after the American black bear...)

Beyond Terror Beyond Grace - Nadir

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sat, 12 May 2012 12:36:00 +0000

The new album by Beyond Terror Beyond Grace has been released on the Willowtip Bandcamp. Nadir is an intriguing mix of several different styles. A short description could be atmospheric blackened death. Teufel's Tomb adds

They combine the accessible blackened atmospheric melodies of Krallice with the melodic technical ferocity of Ulcerate, with the familiar tempo and intensity changes of a good death doom album.

Rumbling wall of sound riffs, dynamic drumming and powerful throaty rasps and growls. Moody, intense, and often beautiful music. Here'a review from Metal Review and here's an interview from the wonderfully named The Fuck Whisperer.

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Walden - ...Isolation

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:02:00 +0000

Review by Aaron Sullivan.

...Isolation is an Atmospheric Black Metal album from the band Walden, hailing from Victoria British Columbia.

As the name would suggest, nature plays a big part thematically. The acoustic tracks give that sense of sitting in a wooded area with a fire burning to keep you warm. But the Black Metal tracks, full of tortured wails and tremolo picking, are anything but cozy; the fire is now out and you are frostbitten. This juxtaposition of styles is made even better by the production. With the acoustic passages being very well produced, with added outdoor sound effects to enhance the warm feeling. While the Black Metal tracks are raw, as if they were recorded in cave. This difference in sounds never effects the flow of the album, Actually adding to it with great effect.

If you're a fan of Atmospheric Black Metal, especially one that has acoustic passages, this is an album and artist worth checking out.

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Impiety - Ravage & Conquer

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:51:00 +0000

Review by Atanamar Sunyata.

Singapore’s Impiety have been slashing away at thrashing-black-death since 1990, leaving a trail of murderously fine albums in their wake. The band’s 8th full-length album stands out from the pack thanks to particularly potent guitar work and a focus on cogent, incisive songwriting. Ravage & Conquer sports a crushing cohesion borne of ineffable battery (courtesy of Dizazter), and is graced with a fittingly gritty and articulate production.

New guitarist Nizam Aziz brings a breakneck barrage of ripping riffage, cut from the trusty mold of Seven Churches by way of Kreator, Slayer and Altars of Madness. The songs are delivered with precipitous abandon and impossible precision, matching majestic riffs to rhythmic finesse. The solos are particularly awe-inspiring, displaying an incredible economy and a flair for memorable, malicious melody.

Photo by Carmelo Española.

Shyaithan reigns over his creation with diabolical iniquity, spewing abject blasphemy amidst fervent exhortations to war against the flock of God. His ragged, rasping vocals are unrepentantly savage, inciting a desire to do exactly what the album title commands.

Ravage & Conquerr is an immediate, ridiculously enjoyable rampage and one of the best albums of the year thus far. Break out the neck brace. “Death shall strike.”

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Horseback - Half Blood

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:35:00 +0000

Artwork by Denis Forkas

Half Blood, the new Horseback album, has just been released on their Relapse Records Bandcamp page. This is an album that takes you on a journey. Starting with americana black metal; twisted boogie grooves, repetitive twangy guitars, and harsh blackened vocals. Ending with full on krautrock droning; gorgeous layers of organ and guitar, and the gentle tick-tock of electronic drums. Here's a couple of reviews from AllMusic and The Inarguable, and here's an interview Invisible Oranges did wth Jenks Miller, the man behind Horseback.

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De Profundis - The Emptiness Within

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:16:00 +0000

Artwork by Costin Chioreanu

The new album by De Profoundis have just been released on their Bandcamp. The Emptiness Within mixes progressive and death metal with a strong sense of melody, a little like Opeth used to do it. De Profundis sounds more progressive, mainly due to the fretless bass playing from Arran McSporran. Some of the galloping, double bass driven riffs could be coming from the NWOBHM era; if you ignore the extreme blackened vocals and skip the delicate clean interludes. The two guitarists deliver intricate layered playing and beautiful melodic solos. All of this is wrapped in a warm and clear production, that allows you to enjoy every detail.

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Black Skies - On The Wings Of Time

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Review by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.

Cover photo by Timothy Herzog

Black Skies have been active since 2005 and are based in Chapel Hill, NC. They're a hybrid band that are somewhat difficult to categorize. The music they play is a bit like metal and a bit punk-ish garage rock, in terms of their technique. The core of their sound though, the guiding principle in the songs' progression and structure, is a heavy, psychedelic take on the blues.

There's a sense of urgency in the rhythms, a relentless forward momentum that feels like falling, the gallop of uncontrolled emotions. Tim Herzog's drumming has a spontaneous quality that nonetheless projects a powerful, brooding quality. Bassist Michele Temple and guitarist Kevin Clark share vocal duties, almost duelling with their voices in shouting, aggressive counterpoint. Their sound can be surprisingly clean, with relatively light distortion for a group with sludgy influences.

Even at their most intense, On the Wings of Time shies away from that full-on buzz-saw tone, letting a little light in, like sun filtered through a broken green bottle. This is dark and hypnotic, torqued and tilted, but with just enough clarity to see through if you squint.

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Indian - Guiltless

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Review by Aaron Sullivan.

Hailing from the great city of Chicago is the band Indian. Their brand of DOOM is brutal and no non-sense.

I first became aware of this band when they opened for High on Fire. I had no idea what they sounded like. But when they began to play it was immediate that they were not messing around. The riffs are crushingly heavy and at times droning. Drumming that is tribal and hypnotizing.

Photos by Carmelo Española.

With a Black Metal style vocal that sounds as though it is coming from a madman(and having seen them live believe me it is). At times they have a real Khanate/Burning Witch feel to them. The album is filled with elements of DOOM, Drone, and Sludge. The band has in it's ranks members of Lord Mantis and Nachtmystium.

Intense, brutal, harsh, crushing, heavy, torturous, ugly, and in your face. All these adjectives fit for this album.

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Hellige - Demo

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sun, 06 May 2012 23:02:00 +0000

Hellige from Argentine plays a mix of cavernous doom and murky black metal. The songs on the demo are constantly evolving, giving some parts an almost progressive feel, but without loosing any of the atmosphere. Dynamic and creative drumming often help drive the songs more than the guitars do. Very effective vocals ranging from extremely tortured screams to deep death metal bellows.

Overall, the vocals serve much in the way as the lead guitar, adding color and texture to the song rather than carrying the all of the melody as is seen in other bands.

The quote is from this great review from The Oak Conclave. Read the review and check out this interesting demo.

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Circles - The Compass

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:26:00 +0000

Another find from Invisble Oranges' 2011 In Review: The Year in Tech-Death, Circles - The Compass features beautiful singing over equally heavy riffing. With their emphasis on melody Circles carves their own niche somewhere in between groove metal and modern progressive metal. Melodic tech metal you could call it. Intelligent use of samples and keys, and wisdom enough to don't over do it. And as the IO article continues Really, I mean that: the singing is beautiful. Here are reviews from No Clean Singing, Heavy Blog is Heavy, and Don't Count on it Reviews.

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Exmortus - Beyond the Fall of Time

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sun, 06 May 2012 01:05:00 +0000

Exmortus plays an technical thrash/death metal hybrid. As the Invisble Oranges article 2011 In Review: The Year in Tech-Death states Beyond the Fall of Time features some of the finest soloing in all of metal, but marries it to riffs that would do any ’80s thrash band proud.

While two guitarists leaves no string unbent, you get a solid set of songs too, especially on the first half of the album. Also, the gruff barking vocals (and occasional falsetto screams) helps give the album some traditional heavy metal swagger. Check it out, this is metal that is badass and fun.

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Petrychor - Effigies and Epitaphs

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sat, 05 May 2012 12:08:00 +0000

Review by Zamaan.

Effigies and Epitaphs is the debut album of Tad Piecka, aka Petrychor. It is progressive black metal that evokes images of the encroachment of human civilization on to the unspoiled primitive beauty of nature --- or perhaps the other way round, with mankind succumbing to the pressure of time and entropy. The tone is alternately earthy and ethereal, with virtuosic accoustic passages reminiscent of James Blackshaw or Six Organs of Admittance giving way to a relentless, almost euphoric vortex of noise.

When the blastbeats kick in, it’s overpowering stuff; simultaneously oppressive and trance-inducing. Machinegun percussion, Piecka’s impressive shredding and the vocal rasp can often barely be discerned over the chaos, which will suddenly segue into passages of astonishing delicacy (listen to the piano interlude in Beneath Highway and Street). There are few comparisons; the closest I can think of are The Angelic Process, or perhaps a black metal My Bloody Valentine. These songs are a force of nature: they do not bludgeon, they erode.

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Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:41:00 +0000

Another metal classic has been released on the Relapse Alumni Bandcamp. This time it is Atheist's Unquestionable Presence from 1991. A groundbreaking album in being possibly the first to mix death metal with actual jazz (or jazz fusion really). The musicianship is a display of virtuosity, originality, and technicality. And yes, you get jazzy breakdowns and weird time signatures, but also brilliant riffs and great songwriting, all combined into an album that is both intricate and approachable.

The Relapse Alumni version of Unquestionable Presence is the 2005 re-release featuring additional pre-production and instrumental versions of many of the songs. Relapse also added, three, other Atheist albums while they were at it (and over on the Season of Mist Bandcamp you can find Atheist's 2010 comeback album Jupiter). Here are reviews from AllMusic and From the Dust Returned, and a 20 year anniversary article about Unquestionable Presence from Invisible Oranges.

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Signo Rojo - Promo Album 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Review by Aaron Sullivan.

Sweden has brought us it's share of great bands over the years. Signo Rojo is one add to the list.

Guitar lines shift between crunching riffs and noodling proggy goodness. The bass and drums work is solid and really does a great job of anchoring the songs. The vocals call Scott Kelly(Neurosis) to mind. All of these elements combine for a great listen.

As the 'Post-Metal' template that Neurosis and Isis set has been going for some time. It is getting harder and harder for bands playing that style to sound original. So the fact that this band accomplishes just that on a debut album is astounding.

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Victimizer - Resurrected Abominations

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Thu, 03 May 2012 23:25:00 +0000

Victimizer's EP Resurrected Abominations from 2009 was added to the Hells Headbangers Bandcamp. This is aggressive blackened thrash. The riffs are huge and chunky and the production really lets those riffs shine. In short: This is not very original, but well done and very headbangable. Read the reviews from Metal Review and From the Dust Returned and check it out.

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Victimizer's previous full-length The Final Assault is available here. It was released in 2007 and according to the reviews I read, it was their final album. So I don't really know what that makes Resurrected Abominations. Also, Deus Otiosus features former members of Victimizer.

Darkspace - Dark Space III

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:36:00 +0000

Darkspace - Dark Space III is ambient black metal, a musical journey through the void of outer space. Layered guitars create a massive wall of sound, occasionally huge chunky riffs escape from the wall. Tones and moods are set by the keyboards and the alien sounding vocals, deeply buried in the mix. Darkspace uses a drum machine to great effect, it enhances the distant feeling of their music:

As the drums blast away in the background and the guitars and keyboards envelop you with their majestic dark sounds, you truly feel as if you are hurtling through the deepest depths of space, overwhelmed with awe and fear at the same time

The quote is from this Metal Review review. Here are two more of them, one from Metal Storm, and one from Chronicles of Chaos.

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Enth / Amarok - Split

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Thu, 03 May 2012 02:07:00 +0000

The new split between Enth and Amarok has been released on the Boue Records Bandcamp. Doom, especially funeral doom, often needs passion and patience before its nuances unfolds. This split is almost 40 minutes of massive and sluggish metal, but it is also an opportunity to see the genre from two different perspectives.

Enth plays crushing funeral doom, the kind that sounds like very slow old-school death metal. Death metal growls alternates with black metal style screams. The crushing is accentuated by bleak acoustic parts, a piano driven interlude in the middle and a cello outro that segues nicely into the next track.

Amarok plays drony sludge-doom with organ undercurrents and massive Sabbathian riffs. Great dual vocals with evil growls and tortured screams. A slightly faster section with a simple but effective solo rounds off the split. Read the review from Doommantia and enjoy your doom.

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Moloken - Rural

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:14:00 +0000

Review by Natalie Zina Walschots. Originally published here by Exclaim.

Moloken are a blackened doom metal act hailing from Northern Sweden. They've released one EP, We All Face The Dark Alone (2008), as well as their first full-length effort, Our Astral Circle (2009). Rural is their second LP, a moody, discontent and brooding work. The drums immediately set the tone, clamorous and fretful, creating a sense of disquiet and restlessness. The mix is deliberately imbalanced ― certain riffs and vocal passages are allowed to swell above others, temporarily overwhelming the sound, before settling down again, like the album's rattling the bars of its cage.

The atmosphere evoked by Rural is oppressive and rough, all overcast sky, sleet and gravel. These different shades of inhospitable grey are broken up by the occasional smouldering ember or lightning bolt. The vocals are caustic, smoothed out by the warped, rounder guitar sound. Where the vocals scour like acid, the relentless guitars mercilessly buffet the listener ― where one eats away aggressively, but unevenly, the other inexorable wears you smooth in time. This effective two-fold attack is both aggressive and cathartic, wringing out emotion. Rural is a great album to be miserable to.

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Alpthraum - Eyes of a Monument

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:33:00 +0000

Alpthraum's Eyes of a Monument is symphonic metal. Think Dimmu Borgir symphonic not Nightwish symphonic, despite it having nothing to do with black metal. The metal itself takes backseat to the well crafted orchestration. The riffs are almost too simple to stand on their own, but work very effectively when combined with the symphonies.

The word "Alptraum" (without the H) means nightmare in German, and Eyes of a Monument does work as a epic score to your dark dreams. Like a metalized version of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, not about conflict from outer space, but from the inner dreamworld. Here's the review from Don't Count on it Reviews.

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Trenchgrinder - Demo 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:20:00 +0000

Trenchgrinder - Demo 2011 was featured in Kim Kelly's Top 10 Demos Of 2011 article for American Aftermath. The band features former members of Atakke and plays ripping metalpunk. On Demo 2011 you hear a lot of crust and thrash influences, but their main sound is grinding death metal. As Kim wrote:

Bolt Thrower-worshipping riffs, breakneck d-beat machinegun blasts, punk as fuck speed, devilishly murky tones – it doesn’t get much better than this.

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Bädr Vogu - Exitium

noreply@blogger.com (Max Rotvel) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Album art by Eric Radey

Bädr Vogu. First let's get band name sorted, it's pronounced Bah-Dur Voh-Goo, and it's derived from Bass (BA) Drums (DR) Vocals (VO) Guitar (GU). Second, the album. Exitium is downtuned and very crusty sludge complete with rumbling bass, and vile growls. Fuzzy filth if you will. Despite tagging themselves as 'blues crust', I don't hear much of that, instead you get extended doom passsages and better than average use of sound clips. And awesome cover art too. Check out a short write up from the The Living Doorway and listen to Exitium below.

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Metal Bandcamp

Bastard Priest - Ghouls of the Endless Night

Ethereal Riffian - Shaman's Visions (Remaster)

Wizard Rifle - Speak Loud Say Nothing

Botanist - III: Doom in Bloom / Allies - Pre-order

Author & Punisher - Ursus Americanus

Beyond Terror Beyond Grace - Nadir

Walden - .​.​.​Isolation

Impiety - Ravage & Conquer

Horseback - Half Blood

De Profundis - The Emptiness Within

Black Skies - On The Wings Of Time

Indian - Guiltless

Hellige - Demo

Circles - The Compass

Exmortus - Beyond the Fall of Time

Petrychor - Effigies and Epitaphs

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

Signo Rojo - Promo Album 2011

Victimizer - Resurrected Abominations

Darkspace - Dark Space III

Enth / Amarok - Split

Moloken - Rural

Alpthraum - Eyes of a Monument

Trenchgrinder - Demo 2011

Bädr Vogu - Exitium

Walden - ...Isolation