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
