Nine Circles

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 276 (3.25.2023)

March 25, 2023March 24, 2023ChrisLeave a comment

I tell you what, man. All this fawning over mediocre pastiches and pale imitations of older, better music is slowly killing me. I am just not hearing what others are in some of the big names getting all the buzz out there. Sure, that’s a “me” problem but since I write this weekly thing I’m entitled to a) bitch when I want to and b) kick it off how I want to, so this, the 276th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist is going to rip with a new Ihsahn track because that’s where my soul is musically right now. Then the new one from Immortal because with or without Abbath, Demonaz knows how to craft a gnarly tune, and finally the latest from Mork, who frankly ran circles around the other popular black metal release that came out this week.

Fight me.

Don’t worry. If you don’t give a crap about my whingeing, the rest of the staff has some metal to offer up, and sone of it is even good! There’s awesome new music from Gozu, Dødheimsgard, and The Ocean which you KNOW we’re most likely gonna ramble about. Plus new tracks from Harboured, Heretoir, Blaze of Sorrow, A Pregnant Light, Foretoken, and Acid King. Plus music from Powerwolf, Estoner, and since I screwed our own Dan Morris by missing his picks last week, we’re going to close with the astounding Roxy Music, because this week marks the 50th anniversary of For Your Pleasure, and that’s a fucking album for the ages.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

—

– Chris

Donuts & CANTO: Spirit Adrift, Thy Art Is Murder, Sunrot, and More

March 25, 2023March 24, 2023CoreyLeave a comment

Yeah, I did that thing again where I went from work to beer and now this is a Saturday morning post.

So let’s lead in with the new track from Spirit Adrift that I happen to enjoy quite a bit. Check out the lyric video for “Death Won’t Stop Me” here. We’ll need to wait a bit for the new album, however. Ghost at the Gallows is set for an August 18 release through Century Media.
Next up, we have fresh stuff from Thy Art Is Murder. Give the visualizer for “Until There Is No Longer” a watch. That track will be featured on the upcoming Nuclear Blast mini-album titled The Aggression Sessions, which also features the likes of Malevolence and Fit For An Autopsy, and is set for an April 7 release.
Ov Sulfur revealed a new track that features Howard Jones, titled “Wide Open”. Check out the AI-generated video for it here. Their debut album, The Burden Ov Faith, is out today through Century Media.
Ihsahn just dropped the Fascination Street Sessions EP, so let’s check out some stuff from that. Give “The Observer” a listen, a track that features Øystein H. Aadland. That collection, by the way, is out through Candlelight.
Just in time for their European tour, Warbringer dropped a music video for “Unraveling”. That track is taken from 2020’s Weapons of Tomorrow, which is available through Napalm Records.
And I will leave you on this fine Saturday with new stuff from Sunrot. The New Jersey sludge group is dropping The Unfailing Rope on April 7 through Prosthetic Records. Check out the video for the new track “Trepanation” below.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Album Review: Hanging Garden — “The Garden”

March 24, 2023March 23, 2023HeraLeave a comment

It had been a few years since I properly listened to a Hanging Garden album, so when I heard they were releasing a new album this year, it made me want to see how and what the band was doing. Between this and their 2017 effort, the band had some line-up changes including a new vocalist, whose voice was featured in I Am Become, and expanded into what I like to call melodic death-doom. While I am heavily acquainted with death/doom – Swallow the Sun being one of the most prominent – this style of death-doom reminded me heavily of my favorite Draconian album, A Rose for the Apocalypse. Curiosity now fully piqued, I decided to see what The Garden was all about, and whether nostalgia was informing my enjoyment.

Spoiler alert: If this album is not a 2023 AOTY contender, someone come find me.

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Second Circle: Polymoon and Entropia

March 24, 2023March 22, 2023ZykloniusLeave a comment

In Dante’s Inferno, the second circle begins the proper punishment of Hell, a place where “no thing gleams.” It is reserved for those overcome with Lust, where carnal appetites hold sway over reason. In Nine Circles, it’s where we do shorter reviews of new (ish) albums that share a common theme.

It’s time for a heroic dose of heavy psychedelia administered by two of my old favorites that have found new imaginative pathways on their latest albums: Polymoon’s Chrysalis and Entropia’s Total.

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Album Review: Angerot — “The Profound Recreant”

March 23, 2023March 23, 2023IanLeave a comment

2020’s The Divine Apostate is an album that I initially slept on. As in all things, I should have listened to Josh from the start, but I was a little slow on the uptake when it came to Angerot. However, once I tried their branded coffee on a complete whim (and you should too, as noted here), I quickly moved on to their music and was suitably impressed. We’ve made no bones about our fervor for The Profound Recreant, but it should be noted all the same that this has the potential to blow even our high expectations right out of the water.

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