black salvation

Had some much needed downtime this week and, as you might guess, it was grand. Coming home with a full weekend ahead of me just sweetens the pot. And particularly when this week’s new releases are not only exceptional but plentifully so. No more waiting, here we go — Twenty one year death metal vets Lecherous Nocturne are back with their most vicious and darkest album yet, Occultaclysmic and honestly this is the best thing they’ve done since The Age of Miracles Has Passed. Mesarthim seemingly came out of nowhere with The Density Parameter but no surprise here, their blend of cosmic black metal with a heavy dose of atmospherics is amazing. Black Salvation give a class on how to properly vibe on the 70s psych hard rock era while staying fresh and exciting on Uncertainty Is Bliss and if you thought the week couldn’t get any better, Panopticon return with The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness (I and II) and it’s all I had hoped for and so much more — atmospheric black metal meets folk and americana and I’m head over heels with this thing after test driving it on a long mountain hike. Fantastic start to the week already but there’s a ton more to get into so have a seat and ENJOY. Continue reading →

black salvation - uncertainty is bliss

It’s easy to mimic the surface level vibe of what heavy rock music was in the 70s: there’s a couple dozen bands trying to bring back flared jeans and boogie as we speak. It’s another thing to get under the skin of the period, to take the freak and experimentation and truly inhabit it as more than just a fashion to be hung around the neck. Black Salvation inhabit this dark crevice of creativity on sophomore album Uncertainty is Bliss, reveling in a dark and twisted psychedelic rock that’s not afraid to meander and slither even as it engages in deep hooks and a solid song structure that other bands try in vain to capture. Continue reading →