Nine Circles

Some things happened this week that made it an exceptionally good one for me, not that anyone cares. But it goes to show that there is still some good left to be had in this world, you just have to know where to find it. Or, it has to come to you. Either way, keep that chin up. Alrighty then, as we do here each week on Initial Descent we have another santa sized bag of good metal in store so let’s not waste another word… First up is Eagle Twin who break a six year silence with The Thundering Heard and, no pun intended, this thing is a thunder you’ll want to hear — doom meets blues meets a long player, get on it. Next up is some wicked power metal in the form of The Last Emperor from Judicator, we’re stoked on this one (see our coverage links contained within) and you should be too. Moving along is Exile Amongst the Ruins from Primordial and although they play it rather safe here it is still PRIMORDIAL and still epic if you catch my drift. Closing out the top four is Lychgate with their dynamic and avant-garde black metal on The Contagion In Nine Steps which may well resurface on many lists come end of year time. Make no mistake, these four are a strong start to the week’s offerings but there’s so much more waiting. Hang with us for awhile and see for yourself.

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Eagle Twin – The Thundering Heard (Southern Lord) – doom [full review]

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Judicator – The Last Emperor (Independent) – power metal [full review, interview]

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Primordial – Exile Amongst The Ruins (Metal Blade Records) – doom [full review]

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Lychgate – The Contagion in Nine Steps (Blood Music) – black metal [full review]

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Also on tap:

Afterlife Symphony – Lympha (Revalve Records) – symphonic metal

Alghazanth – Eight Coffin Nails (Woodcut Records) – melodic black metal

Ascension – Under Ether (WTC Productions) – black metal

Augury – Illusive Golden Age (The Artisan Era) – progressive death metal

Barbarian Prophecies – Origin (Base Record Production / Hecatombe Records) – death metal

Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages (Century Media) – progressive death metal

Beneath Oblivion – The Wayward and the Lost (Weird Truth Productions) – sludge / doom

Berthold City – Moment of Truth, EP (WAR Records) – hardcore

Besvarjelsen – Vallmo (Suicide Records) – psych stoner metal

Claret Ash – The Great Adjudication: Fragment One (Casus Belli Musica / Beverina Productions) – progressive black metal

Conundrum – Sabotage (Via Nocturna) – progressive black metal

Convocation – Scars Across (Everlasting Spew) – death / doom

Cult of Extinction – Black Nuclear Magick Attack, EP (Sentient Ruin) – black / death

Deadly Carnage – Through the Void, Above the Suns (ATMF) – post-black metal / doom

Dee Calhoun – Go to the Devil (Argonauta Records) – blues / doom

Grandiose Malice – The Eternal Infernal (Hells Headbangers) – extreme metal

Grim Fate – Emerging From The Crypt (Chaos Records) – death metal

Hexed – Netherworld (ViciSolum) – progressive metal

Hukutus – Koitus (Independent) – heavy metal

J.B.O. – Deutsche Vita (AFM Records) – comedy

Johansson & Speckman – From the Mouth of Madness (Soulseller Records) – death metal

John 3:16 – עשר (Alrealon Musique) – experimental

Kittie – Origins/Evolutions (Independent) – modern metal

Koniec Pola – Cy (Devoted Art Propaganda) – black metal

Kosmogyr – Eviternity (Flowing Downward) – black metal

Leechfeast – Neon Crosses (Dry Cough / Rope or Guillotine) – sludge / doom

L’Homme Absurde – Sleepless (Soundage Productions) – post-metal

Malfet – The Snaking Path (Pacific Threnodies) – black / death

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard / Slomatics – Totems (Black Bow Records) – prog doom

Napalm Death – Coded Smears and More Uncommon Slurs, Comp. (Century Media Records) – grind

Necrodeath – The Age of Dead Christ, Vinyl Issue (Terror From Hell Records) – thrash / black

Nihili Locus – Lyaeus Nebularum (Code7 / Clear Spot / Hells Headbangers) – death / black

Northwind Wolves – Dark… Cold… Grim… (Black Lion Records) – black metal

Nostalgist – Disaffection (Nostalgium Directive) – shoegaze

Nytt Land – Odal (Cold Spring) – atmospheric black metal

Peosphoros – Pink Metal (SGW Productions) – extreme metal

Quantum Hierarchy – Neutron Breed, EP (Everlasting Spew) – death metal

Realms of Vision – Through All Unknown (Creator-Destructor) – doom

Reprisal – None Survive the Sun (Hostile Media) – tech death / thrash

Ripped To Shreds – Mai-zang (Craneo Negro Records / Necrolatry Records) – death metal

Sentient Horror – The Crypts Below (EP) (Redefining Darkness Records) – death metal

Soldat Hans – Es Taut (Wolves and Vibrancy Records) – avantgarde metal

Soul Dissolution – Stardust (Black Lion Records) – atmospheric black metal

Stark Denial – Covenant of Black (Transcending Obscurity Records) – black metal

Systemik Viølence – Anarquia – Violéncia (Raw n Roll Rex.) – punk

Take Offense – Tensions On High (Flatspot Records) – hardcore / metal

The Ocean – Precambrian, Reissue (Pelagic Records) – progressive doom / thrash

Torture Squad – Far Beyond Existence (Brutal Records) – death / thrash

WuW – Rien Ne Nous Sera Épargné (Prosthetic Records) – heavy psych krautrock

Zeke – Hellbender (Relapse) – thrash / punk

– Josh