Nine Circles

I was just talking about how we had crossed into December and BAM! it’s cold and snowing a little. For those of you up north, feel free to make fun of me for my thin blood and thin skin. Me and cold don’t get along very well anymore but as the weather cools down the metal heats up so let’s get to this edition of Initial Descent. Leading us off is Retrocausal which breaks a seven year silence from Cleric and they waste no time showcasing their ability to effortlessly bend sound at will as well as stretch their jagged experimental legs with longer tracks. Next up is the mysterious DSKNT with their debut album PhSPHR which can best be described as bleak and chaotic black metal. Moving along is a three way split, Shades of Sorrow, between Suicide Wraith, Necrolytic Goat Converter and Uncanny Reality — expect a wonderful black metal ear bashing here. Last up in the opening slots is The Line Between from Blood Oath which saw cassette release earlier this year but is being reissued on CD this week so there’s no reason not to get your hands on this amazing blast of raw and pure death metal. That’s a killer opening four but as usual we have way more to discover so slap a hoodie on and cinch up the headphone cords, it’s time.

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Cleric – Retrocausal (Web of Mimicry Records) – avant-metal [full review]

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DSKNT – PhSPHR Entropy (Clavis Secretorvm / Sentient Ruin) – experimental black metal [feature review]

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Suicide Wraith / Necrolytic Goat Converter / Uncanny Reality – Shades of Sorrow, Split (Blackened Death) – black / death / ambient [full review]

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Blood Oath – The Line Between, EP – CD Issue (Unspeakable Axe) – death metal

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Also on tap:

Æsthetica – Sonorous Æon (Esetiske Studier / Sysisk Format) – doom / post-rock

Borracho – Riffography (Ripple Music) – heavy rock

Children of Technology – Apocalyptic Compendium – 10 Years in Chaos, Noise and Warfare (Hells Headbangers) – speed metal / punk

Corrosive – Lucifer Gave the Faith (Black Sunsent / MDD) – death metal

Darkenhöld – Memoria Sylvarum (Folkvangr Records) – black metal

Death Trip – Madhouse (Ektro) – death metal

Forgotten Chapter – Give & Receive (Independent) – metalcore

Graceless – Shadowlands (Raw Skull Records) – death metal

Grimtone – Memento Mori (Extreme Metal Music) – black metal

Hoofmark – Stoic Winds (Ultraje) – black metal

Infected Dead – Archaic Malevolence (Hostile Media) – death metal

Into Coffin – The Majestic Supremacy of Cosmic Chaos (Terror From Hell Records) – death /  doom

Interstelar – Resin (Kozmic Artifactz) – stoner / fuzz

Jussi Lehtisalo – Spectrum (Ektro Records) – rock

Lapin Helvetti – S/T (Svart Records) – hardcore

King Goat – Conduit (Aural Music) – doom metal

Mangooo – The Heat (Small Stone) – progressive grunge rock

Neocaesar – 11:11 (Xtreem Music) – death metal

Olavi Louhivuori – Immediate Music (Svart Records) – experimental metal

Old Thunder – You Will Be Hated (Independent) – doom / death

Pakasteet – Pula (Ektro / Ruton Music) – dark ambient

Pale Horseman – The Fourth Seal (Black Bow Records) – sludge / doom

Perdition Winds – Transcendent Emptiness (Hellthrasher Productions) – black metal

Schiermann – S/T (Purple Sun) – progressive metal

Switchblade Jesus / Fuzz Evil – Chapter 7: The Second Coming of Heavy (Ripple Music) – stoner metal

Teemu and the Deathblows – Keep It In the Dark (Svart Records) – garage rock

The Atomic Bitchwax – Force Field (Tee Pee Records) – space rock / proto-metal

The Clearing Path – Watershed Between Firmament and the Realm of Hyperborea (I, Voidhanger Records) – black / death

Thra – Mourn, Demo (Independent) – sludge / death

Three Eyes of the Void – The Moment of Storm (Independent) – atmospheric black metal

Vane – The Prologue ( Independent) – heavy metal

Vojd – Behind the Frame (High Roller Records) – heavy metal

Wildestarr – Beyond the Rain (Scarlet Records) – melodic metal

YOB – The Great Cessation, Reissue (Relapse Records) – doom metal

– Josh