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Album Review: -(16)- — “Into Dust”

ChrisLeave a comment
cover-16-into-dust

Sometimes you can be aware of a band, even like their stuff, but not have that connection that turns a band from something you’re passively a fan of to something you actively seek out. When it comes to the pummeling sludge of -(16)-, that turning point came with 2020’s Dream Squasher, an album that squashed my dreams and sent me reeling, eventually landing on my end of year list for 2020. Rather than try to top that, new album Into Dust feels like the band stretching their leathery wings, trying for new sonic waves to inform their crushing brand of sludge and doom. No surprise that it works, but it’s a deeper, darker album that takes a few listens before you fall under the band’s specific spell.

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Initial Descent: November 13 – 19, 2022

JoshLeave a comment
-(16)- image courtesy of Chad Kelco

In case you were wondering, American democracy and voting are still a broken piece of shit. But, as some blues artist said: “no, I’m doing alright” and that is basically a good way of saying all my fucks to give are long gone. ANYWAY…we’ve got some good metal in store for this new release Monday which is why you came so…-(16)- are back with a barnburner of sludge and rock and metal and…just all that good stuff, Scars of the Flesh put forth what might be their best effort yet, deathsludgers Foehammer drop the damn hammer in a big way, Skythala get the black and death metal juices flowing like a blood spurt from an arterial vein, AND there’s a ton more that follows these four. So, you’ve got your investigative work cut out for you this week. Happy hunting and we’ll see you here throughout the week.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 257 (11.12.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

We’re coming into the end times…the end of the year times where most of the year’s albums have either been released (or we’re at least gotten the promos to digest), so here at 9C headquarters we’ve been sifting through what we loved, what we didn’t, and what we missed and need to consider before building our respective lists. For me that was Haunter, so we’re kicking off the 257th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist with a 13-minute track because hey…maybe you missed it, too.

After that it’s a blackened ol’ time with the likes of Stormruler and Morbikon before heading off into the cobwebbed corners of the metalverse with new -(16)-, The Death Wheelers, Ashen Horde, Liturgy, KEN mode, Dream Unending, the mighty return of Ahab, something called Bizarrerkult (thanks Anton), Die Sünde and Castle Rat, as well as some ripping Tomb Mold demos and a stone cold classic from Judas Priest to close things out. Plus some more surprises I was too lazy to write out in this post.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 254 (10.22.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

There are numbers, and there are numbers. For example, this is in fact the 254th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist, which I’ve been painstakingly assembling for you for almost exactly one year – since the 202nd edition, to be precise. But the real important number to consider is SIX. Because in six days my beloved Darkthrone will be releasing a new album. So even though we featured it in there Cantos this week you know we have to use “Caravan of Broken Ghosts” to kick things off with bang.

And though I could easily just continue filling the playlist with more Darkthrone, there’s a hell of a lot more out there to get you through the week, am I right? So how about some scuzzy Sabbath metal from Peth, some sax skronking stoner rock from Ecstatic Vision, and then some killer metal from Lykotonon, Ultar, -(16)-, Sarcator, Bonecarver, Atrocity, Boris, Sonja, and some older cuts from the likes of Thursday, Cloud Rat, and hell…even some Sisters of Mercy?

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 251 (10.1.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

Second booster. Feel like shit (déjà vu?)…I’m not complaining, just stating the current state of my body at the moment. So let’s get to it for the 251st edition of the Nine Circles Playlist.

Kicking it off with a few recent discoveries for yours truly with new releases from Phobophilic and Toadeater (thanks BANGERTV) as well as a classic from Life of Agony. Then we have a blessing in the form of new freakin’ music from -(16)- as well as cuts from Gaerea, Yandere Chainsaw Regurgitation Factory, Frayle, City of Caterpillar (thanks Vince because I am loving this), and Panopticon, as well as music from Chat Pile, Wailin’ Storms, Foscar covering Alice in Chains, Devenial Verdict, and a host of classics from the likes of Yob, Cathedral, Baroness, and more.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris