And just like that, my second (metal) show since the start of The End Times is in the books! This time around, I had the privilege of the covering the Manchester, NH date of the absolutely stacked 2022 edition of Devastation on the Nation. Rotting Christ headlined a massive six band bill, featuring the likes of Borknagar, Abigail Williams, Ghost Bath, Vale of Pnath, and Stormruler. It was a long, hot, exhausting night, but one in which each performance was memorable and well-worth the investment in time. I’ll do my best to highlight the experience without taking up too much of anyone’s time. Here we go…
And we’ll lead off with Mournful Congregation. The Exuviae Of Gods – Part I EP is coming on May 27th through 20 Buck Spin, and a preview of that effort is ready for your consumption here.
From there, we should probably check out the new digital single from Tribulation, titled “The Dhampir”, which is meant to serve as a final sequel to Where the Gloom Becomes Sound. Give it a listen here.
Vile Creature and Bismuth dropped a surprised collaboration, A Hymn of Loss and Hope. This project was originally set for the 2020 edition of Roadburn, and now they’ve regrouped on it for the 2022 festival. Awesome.
Conjurer unveiled a new video, the first of a couple we’ll share today. Check out the clip for “Rot” here. Pathos is out on July 1st through Nuclear Blast.
We’re going to end the day with the awesome new single from Rotting Christ, which features Lars Nedland of Borknagar. It’s titled “Holy Mountain”, and it is all kinds of fun. This happens to be exactly what I needed in my life today.
How did the first week of 2022 treat ya? I spent a lot of it railing against the absurdity of my workplace and listening to a lot of Black Sabbaths Sabotage. What’s up with “Supertzar” man? That’s a crazy song. And why am I constantly shocked when “Hole in the Sky” suddenly cuts at the end? Weird album…lemme put it on one more time.
You’d think with all that I’d kick off the 213th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist with some Sab but we’re gonna go with another one of my favorite bands. Did anyone expect Living Colour to come out of the gate so hard after their debut? “Time’s Up” borders on hardcore and it’s glorious. And since I’m feeling decidedly old school let’s throw in some Johnny Thunders, too. One month on Vincent is still listening to Midwife, but this time he throws in some Balance and Composure to balance things out. Josh swoops in with some massive heaviness courtesy of new music from Weigedood and the recently reviewed Necrophagous as well as the latest from Cryptum. Ian returns to remind us that yes, you CAN enjoy Blink-182 and Opeth in close proximity, and tosses in some Guided by Voices and toe for good measure. If there’s bleedthrough in the next room, it’s because Angela has decimating the foundations with brutality, blasting the new Fossilization single and praising the dark with some Midnartiis. Finally, I’m worried about the heat in Buke’s place, because he both Borknagar‘s “Cold Runs the River” and Immortal‘s “In My Kingdom Cold” in here. Maybe the latest from Wilderun will warm him up.
Where I live in New York we just got our first significant snowfall, so lemme go grab the shovel and get these tunes in my head. See you next week.
Saturday Canto because I was too lazy to bust this out yesterday. Let’s find out what happened on Friday…
I haven’t heard much from Nekrogoblikon in a minute, so here’s a new video from that project for “Right Now”. Apparently that video serves as a teaser for John Goblikon’s new talk show of the same name… something I probably won’t be checking out, in all honesty.
Power metal newcomers Northtale released their new album, Eternal Flame, yesterday through Nuclear Blast. To mark the occasion, they shared a lyric video for “Future Calls”. Give it a watch right here.
Suffocation released the track video for “Infecting the Crypts”, taken from Live In North America. That album also dropped yesterday through Nuclear Blast, and is available for purchase here. And by all 9C accounts, it is a very good live album. FYI.
The right thing to do is close with Wilderun. They released a new track and music video for “Distraction I”. That’s the second single off of their fourth full-length album, Epigone, which drops on January 7th through Century Media.
For those on the West Coast, Immortal Guardian has a brief run of shows in November with Sifting. Not gonna lie, they sure are covering a decent amount of ground over those six dates.
Solar Cross, the progressive metal project featuring Omnium Gatherum alumni, are releasing their debut on November 19th. Echoes Of The Eternal Word will be out through Transcending Records, and you can check out a visualizer for “Bloodstreams” here.
Borknagar are joining the Devastation on the Nation tour in 2022, which kicks off on April 21st and features the likes of Rotting Christ, Wolfheart, and More. Tickets can be purchased here.
And we’ll close with the new video from Aquilus for “Into Wooded Hollows”. That’s the second track taken from the sophomore album, Bellum I, which drops on December 3rd through Blood Music.
Nine Circles 