Album Premiere: Autumn Tears — “Guardian of the Pale”


You may recall that we threw a little bit of a change up at the start of the new year, having the honor of premiering “Of Wind, Water and Sand” from neoclassical collective Autumn Tears. Well, now that we find ourselves only a couple of days away from the release of the new double album, Guardian of the Pale, we’re excited to be back with the opportunity to listen to the new album in its full form a little early. It’s a stunning 70-minute listen that we welcome you to get lost in immediately after the break.

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Album RAMBLE: Periphery — “Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre”

Periphery - Periphery V Djent Is Not a Genre


We (the Top Brass, Benevolent Overlords, etc: Corey, Dan K, Chris, and Josh) had so much fun drunkenly rambling about Sky Void of Stars and Foregone that we decided to come back for round three! This time around, we’re taking a first dive (some of us actually followed this rule) into Periphery V, the highly anticipated new album from djent stars Periphery. Josh is very much aware and familiar with the Periphery discography while the rest of the group is very much unaware. So. How shall this go with that in mind? Will Josh be the only one left standing? Will we collectively end up new fans after this? We ask the hard questions around here, and rarely answer them. But, maybe this time something will be answered.

Need a reminder of how this works? Sure, you can have one. We pick an album off the promo pile we’re interested in, we get drunk, and we share our first impressions. Cohesive reviews can be hard, and we don’t get paid for this shit. Deal with it. Let’s fucking go!

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The Nine Circles Audio Thing: Ulthar was February 2023’s Album(s) of the Month!

It’s Album of the Month time again and for this edition, Ulthar’s third AND fourth full lengths, Anthronomicon and Helionomicon won the most votes. For those keeping score of these sorts of things, the votes weren’t unanimous but really close. Buke once again captains the episode along with Ian, Dan M, Colin, Hera, and Vince. The conversation pretty much dives head first into the album, how it compares to the band’s first two, and deep thoughts surrounding it all and Ian gets lengthy runtime here since he nailed the double review. Elsewhere, the gang spends a good portion of the runtime gushing over everything else they listened to since they last spoke, and the usual banter back and forth on literally anything and everything.

In other words, just another episode of the Nine Circles Audio Thing.

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Premiere: Vanishment — “Dismiss the Warning”


We’re less than two weeks away from the release of No More Torture, the debut full-length from Vanishment, and today we’re fired up to bring you the second track from that effort, “Dismiss the Warning”. If you’re looking for some classic, raw, heavy thrash… you’ve absolutely come to the right place. Get the full scoop on the upcoming new album, set for a March 3 release through Dead Sage, and the latest sampling from that collection, immediately after the jump.

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The Nine Circles Audio Thing: Ahab was January 2023’s Album of the Month!

It’s Album of the Month time again and for this edition, Ahab’s fifth full length, The Coral Tombs was nearly a unanimous pick among the staff. Buke once again captains the episode along with Ian, Angela, Colin, and Vince. The conversation opens with a lengthy back and forth on beer then dives head first into the album, how it compares to past efforts, and deep thoughts surrounding this band’s legacy to date. Elsewhere, the gang spends a good portion of the runtime gushing over everything else they listened to since they last spoke. That and the usual banter back and forth on literally anything and everything.

In other words, just another episode of the Nine Circles Audio Thing.

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