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’ll tell you how: you jump into all the unpicked promos each month and devote a sentence or two giving a sense of what you gleaned from it.

That’s right: we’re back for another round of “The Month That Was…” so enough preambling…let’s dive into this edition of Nine Circles ov… and see what’s been simmering in August 2024.

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We’re kicking things off with And So I Watched You From Afar, the Belfast UK instrumental band whose latest album Megafauna is their first for Pelagic Records. It makes sense: the band’s penchant and approach to post-rock fits right into Pelagic’s niche, but I was surprised how varied the music is. Opening track “North Coast Megafauna” at first sounds like nothing on the label until you get to the crushing power chords and bottom end that just devastates. The album cover is perfect for the live sound the band – they have a great way with dynamics and never settle for what you’d expect for a post rock band coming out from the label. Which I suspect is why they were picked up. Really great stuff, and man the percussion on “Do Mór”…so good.

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I can’t believe it…I haven’t enjoyed a Dark Tranquillity album since 2010’s We Are The Void, yet here we are with Endtime Signals, and it’s the best thing the band have done in forever. Guitars are razor sharp and the riffs are no longer drowning in trying to do the “hard/soft” arrangements. And holy shit Mikael Stanne hasn’t sounded this on fire for a lifetime. Opener “Shivers and Voids” gives me everything I wanted from the band, and when they shift gears on tracks like “One Of Us Is Gone” it doesn’t sound like a throwaway attempt for appeal – it sounds like it comes from a deep, dark personal place. Dark Tranquillity are back and hungry to reclaim their place…about time!

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Some things never change, thank god. Deceased are back with album number eight, and Children Of The Morgue is just as covered in filthy death as anything the band have ever put out. The trick of Deceased has always been their ability to temper their OSDM with muddy doses of straight up heavy metal, so songs like the title track never get tired even at the seven minute mark – there’s plenty of tricks to go around. The shorter tracks are great, but for my money the true gold lay in the lengthier death epics like “The Gravedigger” and “Fed To Mother Earth”.

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I don’t know why it took me so long to realize Delving was the solo efforts of Nick DiSalvo from Elder, but now I know…and you do, too. Sophomore album All Paths Diverge is here, and it takes the more progressive elements of Elder’s recent output and adds subtle shades of pulsing keyboards and electronics. These are wonderful sonic instrumental excursions into the universe, progressive and psychedelic without falling into cliché. If I had to point to a definitive track on the album, it’d be the 13-minute ride that is “Zodiak” which manages to take on so many shades and still find the light. Also it features Michael Risberg so you know…mini Elder collab. Great stuff to focus in on or simply let wash over you as your mind tackles other things, like writing up the end-of-month post.

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Leave it to Transcending Obscurity to always fill in a space in your post with some of the most brutal metal this side of Heaven (or Hell). I took a chance on Evilyn and their debut Mondestrunken and got something birthed from the unholy union of Morbid Angel and Gorguts..and I mean that as a huge compliment. I may never know what the title means, but one listen to tracks like “Dread” and “Omission” and I know enough that this sharp, angular and very technical death metal is going to be lingering in my brain matter for weeks to come.

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The desert calls, and Spain’s Free Ride answers. We did an album premier and profile on the band for their new album Acido y Puto (you can translate it yourself), and Corey gave me the heads up then I was going to like it. He was not wrong – this scratches all my stoner rock itches. Damn I love the slinky bass and phased/cocked wah that permeates opening track “Space Nomad” and the album only gets better from there. “Kosmik Swell” may begin with a lazy sprawl, but when that distortion hits you feel it in the depths of your bowels. I don’t often double up in these end of month posts on albums we already covered, but since the premier and profile wasn’t technically a review, I feel okay here. Besides, you better believe you’re going to hear me talk about this album again come end of year…

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Oh, Fulci…I tried so hard to like you. You’re coming from 20 Buck Spin, who put out my (so far) favorite death metal album of 2024. You reference a specific giallo film, so it’s like you know my insides. And yet…your sound falls into that glut of 20BS releases that all sound the same. And the giallo? Well let’s just say that of all the classic films to choose from, Fulci’s The New York Ripper is maybe one of the worst (Don’t Torture A Duckling was right there, man!). It’s not that there’s anything bad on Duck Face Killings, it’s that there’s nothing new. This is exactly like 1,001 other competent death metal bands, with I guess the added fun of electronic segues featuring TV-CRIMES. It’ll give you what you want, I guess, but if you’re looking for some truly great giallo-inspired music in 2024 you could do a lot worse than this right here...

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“Avenge! Avenge! Vengeance is Mine!” The might and power of Hammerfall return with album #13, and Avenge The Fallen should give any power metal fan exactly what they’re looking for. The opening title track is fine, but man do things kick into gear with “The End Justifies” and the vicious speed attack of the guitars. We’ve had a great year so far with power metal, particularly my favorite kind where the riffs are rough and ready. Avenge The Fallen is chock full of meaty, sweaty riffs – don’t let the sheen of the cover fool you into thinking otherwise. Tracks like “Burn It Down” and “Rise Of Evil” offset the more traditional mid-paced rockers and turn this into an epic from beginning to end.

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I feel like Mammoth Volume just released an album as part of the PostWax vinyl series, but I realized that was two years ago (despite the last album in that series still not released). It was my introduction to the band, and The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites made my Honorable Mentions for the year. New album Raised By Witches doubles down on the stoner, QOTSA vibes for the better, IMO. I absolutely love the way “Black Horse Beach” opens with the keyboards and doubled vocals – Homme would be proud. Likewise the bass tone on “Scissor Bliss” and the slinky funk rhythm the band injects into their unique rock blend. It’s silly, it rocks, and it proves once again it’s never too late to discover a new favorite band.

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It felt like a slow summer that really, really perked up in the end. Lots of releases worth your time covering all corners of the metal spectrum. As always the surprises and discoveries continue to pile up, so let me know what we missed and what we should be on the lookout for.

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

— Chris