Too many albums, too few reviewers…that’s the problem with all the metal blogs, not just this one. What do you do? How do you get a sense of what’s out there if you’re only listening to a fraction of what’s getting released? How do you open yourself up to new music? I guess you can stop listening to all your favorite stuff and just consume nothing but new releases, but let’s face it: there’s no way in HELL I’m giving up my 70s rock and prog and jazz and – yes – country favorites (Waylon Jennings is a fuckin’ OUTLAW, y’all…). Alternately, you can jump into all the unpicked promos and each month devote a sentence or two giving a sense of what you gleaned from it.

Think of it as my new monthly (fingers crossed) stab at the periodic “Albums I Only Have Time to Review in One Sentence” series, except it’s just going to cover the month that was. Got it? Then let’s dive into this edition of Nine Circles ov… and see what’s been cooking in January 2024.

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Danish progressive metal outfit Advocacy aim for that classic European vibe on debut full length The Path of Decoherence with lots of syncopated riffing, soaring clean vocals, and – somewhat sadly – a very narrow band of frequencies on the production that kind of mash everything together when the band is moving full throttle on tracks like the opening title track and the closer “Unnamed”. There may be a formula at play (almost every track opens with a soft passage before getting to the heavy) but when the band really locks in as they do on “Prayer For The Reckless” and “Cut Loose” it’s easy to forgive the thin production and just rock along to the songs.

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I love a good discovery, and am kicking myself for not having heard Cold in Berlin before checking out their latest EP, The Body is the Wound. This is electrifying doom shattered with cold electronics and an industrial pulse that perfectly captures the frigid horror of the music themes around some truly despairing topics, gloriously captured by the vocals from Maya. The entire EP is fantastic with every track a standout, so go check this out ASAP, but if you want a taste I’d maybe go with either opener “Dream One” or the stunning “When Did You See Her Last”.

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While others are still unravelling the mystery of how a 20 Buck Spin release escaped the clutches of resident fanboi Vince, I’m sitting here with a grin a mile wide because they released something that doesn’t sound like the 67 death metal albums they put out in 2023 (granted, two of those made my EOY list but still…). Dissimulator traffic in a thrash with a heaping dose of death and early Voivod on their debut Lower Form Resistance. You know the musicianship is hella tight with band members from Beyond Creation and Chthe’ilist among others, and tracks like the flesh slicing “Warped” and 1000-riff epic “Cybermorphism / Mainframe” are sure to launch this band and album into early EOY discussions. 

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Full disclosure: this was supposed to be covered in a Second Circle along with one other album on this list, but WordPress completely ate my post. Save often, folks! Anyway, Final Coil feels like the bastard offspring of Killing Joke, Godflesh, and Prong in the best way. Forget the kinda crappy Photoshop album cover, because The World We Inherited (apparently partly conceived during discussions with KJ’s Jay Coleman) has that icy cold industrial sound and barked/shouted lyrics that inject some hybrid hardcore into some truly ferocious tunes like “Wires” and “Chemtrails” that made me sit up and take notice; hopefully you’ll do the same.

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Five years on from the excellent Mysterium Tremendum the sludge/doom/prog beasts known as Lord Dying are back with Clandestine Transcendence, a narrative and sonic continuation of their previous high water mark. Featuring copious amounts of death and thrash riffing, also crushingly captured by Kurt Ballou, you’ll find everything you can possibly want on the monster cut “I Am Nothing I Am Everything” while deeper tracks like “A Bond Broken By Death” shows the more progressive side of the band with killer solos, acoustic guitars, and clean vocals. This is most likely my Album of the Month if I was keeping track. I’m not, but if I was, it’d be this. Jesus what a record.

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Five albums in and away from her crushing work in The Oath, Johanna Sadonis and Lucifer have put an indelible stamp on the psychedelic 70s doom rock stomp her band have traded in. V doesn’t do anything new, but damn does it do everything right. The band is loose and locked in simultaneously, the organs are loud and proud, and Sadonis continues to be on fire vocally. You really can’t go wrong with any of the tracks here, but if you want some deep heavy go for “The Dead Don’t Speak” and if you simply want gorgeous, go for my current favorite cut, “Slow Dance in a Crypt”.

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The second review that got decimated by WordPress, Sgàile is the solo project of Scottish multi-instrumentalist Tony Dunn, and Traverse the Bealach is his progressive metal opus exploring themes of isolation and climate across an apocalyptic Scottish landscape. The songs are ripe with anthemic melodies, and Dunn’s voice is perfect for the progressive heavy rock he’s crafting. Incredible to think something this cohesive is the product of one guy, but checking out the 11-minute opening epic “Psalms to Shout at the Void” and the rollicking central track “Silence” I’m ready for whatever he does next.

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A couple things right off the bat. Now THAT is a cover. And while Upon Stone is a perfectly acceptable name, a boat was missed by not naming the band Dead Mother Moon, which is an INCREDIBLE name for a band. Or an album, I guess. Promos are calling this “melodic death metal”, but that doesn’t begin to describe the raw ferociousness on display here, or how the band with just a debut have carved enough of a niche to stand out. This is a brutal, frantic display of metal sportsmanship: faces are ripped, drums basalt through your skull, and the riffs sound like all the rough edges are capable of crippling you at the knee. All that and wheedling solos straight out of the heyday of the 80s? Yes please. Go straight to “Onyx Through the Heart”, which is where the album kicked in for me, and don’t ever look back…

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Naked witches invoking black magic? Must be a metal album…but what kind? Turns out Australia’s Vipassi are an instrumental outfit trading in some heavy technical progressive metal heroics, and Lightless is a testament to how proficient they are at it. I’ve argued with the 9C over the abundant silliness of fretless bass in metal, but THIS is how you do it. The band wisely knows to give enough space so everything shines, and the music knows when to be ethereal… and when to be extremely heavy. I’ve been loving the twists of “Labyrinthine Hex” and the more light, measured (though no less amazing) pace of “Neon Rain”, but everything here is a marvel of progressive technical metal.

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There you have it. Who says it’s nothing but garbage in the beginning of the year?

Until next time, keep it heavy…keep it safe.

-Chris