Nine Circles

Corey and I opened the week with Neurosis, Converge and Amenra — needless to say it was mind blowing — so be on the lookout very soon for the full rundown. For now, it’s back to reality and another big week of metal here on Initial Descent. Kicking things off is the latest full length, What Passes For Survival, from New York’s avant/extreme/improvisational Pyrrhon — a band that is absolutely untouchable and inimitable — who have crafted yet another death metal album that demands your immediate and undivided attention. Next up is the simply stated yet aptly titled Hell from Oregon’s doom masters Hell who already have a staggeringly great back catalog but with the addition of this dark and sinister effort my bet is they’ll be riding high for some time to come. Moving on, Shooting Guns returns with their signature psychedelic doom rock on Flavour Country and as usual they are incredibly entertaining. Closing out the top spots is Canada’s answer to heavy hitting and bluesy doom metal, Olde with their latest full length Temple and again, this is another highly recommended release that would fit in nicely with anything you’re about to tackle. There you have it, an already stellar line up but you know the drill — there’s so much more to keep the metal fires stoked so pull up a piece of floor and stick with us for awhile. Got a comment/gripe/anything? Leave it in the comment section.

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Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (Throatruiner / Willowtip) – avante-garde extreme metal

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Hell – S/T (Sentient Ruin) – doom [full review]

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Shooting Guns – Flavour Country (RidingEasy Records) – heavy psyche rock [full review]

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Olde – Temple (STB Records/Medusa Crush Recordings) – doom [feature]

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Also on tap:

All Out War – Give Us Extinction (Organized Crime Records) – hardcore

Atriarch – Dead As Truth (Relapse Records) – gothic doom

Big Hush – Spirit/Wholes (Robotic Empire) – indie pop

Cormorant – Diaspora (War Crime Records) – progressive black/death

Dawn of Disease – Ascension Gate (Napalm Records) – death metal

Empyrean Throne – Chaosborne (M-Theory Audio) – black metal

Eshtadur – Mother Gray (Bleeding Music) – melodic death metal

Exoskellet – Collected Bones (Hammerheart Records) – black ‘n’ roll

Grant the Sun – S/T (Mas-Kina Recordings) – instrumental prog

Gravdal – Kadaverin (Soulseller Records) – black metal

Hellgoat – Blasphemy from Serpent Tongues (Boris Records) – black metal

Incantaion – Profane Nexus (Relapse Records) – death metal

KHMER – Larga Sombra (WOOAAARGH) – blackened hardcore

Lör – In Forgotten Sleep (Independent) – power metal

Moral Void – Deprive (Translation Loss) – blackened hardcore

NYN – Entropy: Of Chaos and Salt (Vmbrella) – progressive tech metal

Parsons Rocket Project – S/T (New Texture Records) – space rock

Poison Blood – S/T (Relapse Records) – black metal

Satanize – Death Mass Execution, 7″, EP (Larval Productions) – black metal

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – The Hound Of the Baskervilles (Cadabra Records) – audio format play

Subservience – Forest of the Impaled (Black Bow Records) – death metal

The Lurking Fear – Out of the Voiceless Grave (Century Media) – death metal

These Streets – Unfinished Business (BDHW) – hardcore

Venom, Inc. – Avé (Nuclear Blast) – heavy metal

– Josh