Nine Circles

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

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