Nine Circles

Honestly, I’m still reeling over the 1-2 punch of Vitriol and Mizmor from last week. And probably will be for some time to come. But, there’s a whole load of killer releases this week so my, and your, listening habits will be crowded and our wallets will be empty. ‘What is this sorcery?’ you ask…well, keep reading dear readers.

When a doom leaning heavy metal band comes out with a debut so impressive it makes waves everywhere, it’s hard to assume their follow up will live up to that hype but Crypt Sermon‘s more than lives up, it surpasses and crushes. Nightfell perfectly capture the darkness and turmoil of current times on their wickedly bleak third album, yet another crusher. I’ve seen Haunter‘s new outing called ‘current day old Opeth’ and that’s a fair assessment but misses a ton of the whipping black metal and visionary songwriting so please go and assess for yourself. Last up top but certainly not least is new stuff from death metallers Baest and if you thought they might soften a bit – WRONG. There you have it, four you need and way more of that below so hop to it.

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Crypt Sermon – The Ruins of Fading Light (Dark Descent) – doom / heavy metal

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Nightfell – Sanity Deranged (20 Buck Spin) – dark metal

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Haunter – Sacramental Death Qualia (I, Voidhanger) – black / death

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Baest – Venenum (Century Media) – death metal

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Also on tap:

Abbinormal – 1996 (Sliptrick) – crossover

Absence of Despair – Desolate (Independent) – modern metalcore

Abythic – Conjuring the Obscure (Xtreem Music) – death metal

Akando – Attack from Ambush (Boersma) – death / black

Alice Cooper – The Breadcrumbs, EP (earMusic) – rock

Asagraum – Dawn of Infinite Fire (Edged Circle Productions) – black metal

Atavistik Death Pose – S/T (crust / black) – WOOAAARGH

Atlantean Kodex – The Course of Empire (Van) – heavy metal

Big Scenic Nowhere – Dying on the Mountain (Blues Funeral Recordings) – desert rock

Blackstar Halo – Siren (Inverse) – melodic metal

Blood Red Throne – Fit To Kill (Mighty Music) – death metal

Brant Bjork – Jalamanta, Deluxe Reissue (Heavy Psych Sounds) – desert rock 

Brutality Will Prevail – Misery Sequence (BDHW) – hardcore

Capilla Ardiente – The Siege (Soulfood) – doom

Cemetery Lights – The Underworld (Nuclear War Now! Productions) – black metal

Chelsea Wolfe – Birth of Violence (Sargent House) – dark

Cloud Rat – Pollinator (Artoffact) – extreme

Cockroach Clan – Songs About Blunt Knives and Deep Love (Fysisk Format) – punk rock 

Cold – The Things We Can’t Stop (Napalm) – rock

Come Back From the Dead – The Rise of the Blind Ones (Transcending Obscurity) – death metal

Darkend – Spiritual Resonance (Dark Essence) – black metal

Dawn of Ouroboros – Sorrow’s Eclipse (Independent) – progressive black metal

Devilish Impressions – Postmortem Whispering Crows (Non Serviam) – melodic black / death

Dikasterion – Stavelot 1597 / Rome 897 (Amor Fati Productions) – black metal

Dold Vorde Ens Navn – Gjengangere I Hjertets Mørke, EP (Soulseller) – black metal

Endseeker – The Harvest (Metal Blade) – death metal

Eschaton – Death Obsession (Unique Leader) – death metal

Eternity – To Become the Great Beast (Soulseller) – black metal

Formicarius – Rending the Veil of Flesh (Schwarzdorn Production) – black metal

Grand Royale – Take It Easy (The Sign) – rock

Grevia – Misophonic (Lethal Scissors) – grind

Gridfailure and Feel Happiness – Split (Independent) – noise / experimental

Mike Patton and Jean Claude Vannier – Corpse Flower (Ipecac) – avant-garde 

Mithridatic – Tetanos Mystique (Xenocorp) – black / death

MMMA – Egoismo (Antifrost) – post-metal

Mourn the Light / Oxblood Forge – S/T, Split (Independent) – doom metal

Nemesis Alpha – Eternal Machines (Sliptrick) – melodic death

One Hour Hell – Voidwalker (Independent) – death metal

Pelegrin – Al Mahruqa (Independent) – psych rock

Phobophilic – Undimensioned Identities (Blood Harvest / Rotted Life) – death metal

PSOTY – Sunless (Candlelight) – post-metal

Ram – The Throne Within (Metal Blade) – heavy metal

Raventale – Morphine Dead Gardens (Ashen Dominion) – funeral doom

Sinner – Santa Muerte (AFM) – heavy metal

Slutavverkning – Arbetets Sorgemusik – Del II (Suicide Records) – punk jazz

Starset – Divisions (Fearless) – cinematic rock

The Ember, The Ash – Consciousness Torn from the Void (Avantgarde Music) – post-black metal

Toxikull – Cursed and Punished (Metal On Metal) – speed / thrash

Ufomammut – XX (Supernatural Cat) – doom

V – Led Into Exile (Suicide Records) – melodic doom

Various Artists – Brutal Africa – The Heavy Metal Cowboys of Botswana (Svart) – metal

Various Artists – Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter 10 (Ripple Music) – metal

Visceral Disgorge – Slithering Evisceration (Agonia) – brutal death metal

Void King – Barren Dominion (Off the Record) – stoner doom

Von Detta – Burn It Clean (Polderrecords) – rock

Wallowing – Planet Loss (Sludgelord / Black Voodoo) – extreme

Warish – Down In Flames (RidingEasy) – proto-grunge

Weeping Sores – False Confession (I, Voidhanger) – death / doom

Winterfylleth – The Siege of Mercia, Live (Candlelight) – black metal

Woundvac – The Road Ahead (Corpse Flower) – grind

– Josh