With our fearless editor still banking massive quantities of cocktails on an undisclosed beach I am once again taking keyboard in hand to deliver your weekly dose of Initial Descent. And there’s some killer tunes arriving on the solar wings of Summer, so let’s get to it.
Khemmis return with their particular blend of melodic doom with Desolation, and it doubles down on everything that worked on their previous albums, but with a slight tweak to engage a classic hard rock vibe. And hey, how about those harsh vocals? If you’re into black metal then the rest of this paragraph is going to make you very, very happy because first off Unsettling Whispers, the debut LP from Gaerea is a gorgeous dark and brooding example of atmospheric black metal you just might be hearing a lot more about on an upcoming episode of the Nine Circles Audio Thing. Next up Anicon return with Entropy Mantra, and I make no excuses: these guys have completely keyed into my love of modernizing traditional black metal since their Aphasia EP back in 2015. The new album just rips with great drumming and blistering guitar lines. Finally, Sweden’s Craft are back after seven long years with White Noise and Black Metal, and it’s a clarion call to all the crusty, old school black metal you love with just a hint of progression to show you these veterans can take the face off anyone around nowadays.
And that’s just a taste of what came out this week, so check out the list below and let us know in the comments what’s been whispering evil things to you in the dark.
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Khemmis – Desolation (20 Buck Spin / Nuclear Blast) – doom [full review]
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Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers (Transcending Obscurity) – black metal
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Anicon – Entropy Mantra (Vendetta Records) – black metal [full review]
Hey
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Craft – White Noise and Black Metal (Season of Mist) – black metal
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Also on tap:
Al Ard – S/T (code666) – black metal
Amarok – Devoured (Translation Loss Records) – sludge/doom
Ancient Moon / Prosternatur – Secretum / Secretorum (Iron Bonehead) – black metal
Árstídir – Nivalis (Season of Mist) – folk metal
Atomicide – Furious and Untamed, 7” (Iron Bonehead) – black / death
Axe Slaughter / Cadaveric Incubator – Split, 7” (Iron Bonehead) – death metal
Brass Owl – S/T, EP (Independent) – stoner metal
Cavern – Eater (Grimoire Records) – post-metal
Construct of Lethe – Exiler (Everlasting Spew) – death metal
Curse Upon A Prayer – The Three Woes, EP (Saturnal) – black metal
Deathgrave – So Real It’s Now (Tankcrimes) – death / grind / punk
Doomed – 6 Anti-Odes To Life (Solitude Productions) – death / doom
Drug Cult – S/T (Ritual Productions) – occult doom
Embrace of Thorns – Scorn Aesthetics (Iron Bonehead) – black / death
Eskhaton – Omegalitheos (Lavadome Productions) – death metal
King Heavy – Guardian Demons (Cruz Del Sur Music) – doom
Lelahell – ALIF (Metal Age Productions) – death metal
Marduk – Viktoria (Century Media) – black metal
Medieval Demon – Medieval Necromancy (Hells Headbangers) – black metal
Micks Jaguar – Fame and Fortune (RidingEasy Records) – rock
Morgengrau – Blood Oracle (Unspeakable Axe Records) – death metal
Mortuorial Eclipse – Urushdaur (Black Market Metal Label) – black / death
Mortuous – Through Wilderness (Tankcrimes / Carbonized) – death metal
Musmahhu – Formulas of Rotten Death, 7” (Iron Bonehead) – black metal
Neorhythm – Zetetic (Independent) – space metal
Phalloplasty / Slamophiliac – This Split Sucks (CDN) – brutal death metal
The Moonshine Brand – On the Waves of Time (Burning Wax Records) – psych rock
The Rare Breed – Looking for Today (Ripple Music) – rock
The Red Coil – Himalayan Demons (Argonauta Records) – stoner / sludge / doom
Various Artists – First Contact: Music from the Original Soundtrack The Planet of Doom (Ripple Music) – metal / rock
Wonderworld – III (Sliptrick) – classic rock
You Know the Drill – Selfhood, EP (Scylia Records) – pop-punk
-Chris
Nine Circles 