As far as debuts go, The Word of His Law from Canada’s Egregore is a masterclass in black and death metal shrouded in mysticism, death, and occult themes. The use of synth, chanting, and even neofolk serve as vessels to enhance the experience and make for a unique outing. Buke recently sat down with Egregore to discuss the new album and how it came to be. They also discussed the band’s musical journeys, as well as the importance of letting the music speak for itself and preference for the listeners to draw their own conclusions and opinions about it. We now bring you this conversation in its entirety so grab your beverage of choice, a seat, and enjoy.
In Dante’s Inferno, the second circle begins the proper punishment of Hell, a place where “no thing gleams.” It is reserved for those overcome with Lust, where carnal appetites hold sway over reason. In Nine Circles, it’s where we do shorter reviews of new (ish) albums that share a common theme.
Within the last two years or so, I’ve come to enjoy taking a long, hard look at my own biases when it comes to music I like and don’t like. I have a long-form rambling manifesto on the topic of progressive metal from a while back to that effect, but that is not where this self-interrogation begins or ends. I have been finding a lot of albums lately that I love despite their being played in a style of metal that I don’t generally gravitate towards, and this brings me another chance to shine a light into the cobweb-strewn corners of what’s left of my brain and grill myself about two albums that could each conceivably be called ‘blackened death metal’, although both choose to do something wildly different with that prompt. With that, I bring you something old, and something new…
Today I was this many years old when I found out Hällas released a new album, so we’re kicking off the 226th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist with a track from the incredible Isle of Wisdom, followed by some righteous early 70s proto-metal I’ve been playing nonstop the past few days.
Lest you think it’s nothing but underground and garage rock from before you were born, the loyal 9C staff have you covered with the more extreme stuff. Aton kicks us off with some new Werewolves, Autarkh III, and Enphin. Josh and I have been gushing over the latest from Wo Fat, so here’s a dose of what to expect when their new album explodes, as well as tracks from Demonical, Tenebro, Lord Belial, Hurakan, and a Motörhead classic. Vincent goes for the outer reaches with some Cremation Lily, The Callous Daoboys, Egregore, and a killer live cut from site favorite Kowloon Walled City. Buke goes decidedly old school with Manowar, Demilich, Sepultura, Darkthrone, and MSG. Finally Angela brings the proceedings to a close with the new single from Astronoid and tracks from Vattnet and Soft Kill, followed by a KILLER old cut from Thou. Really…we should have more Thou in our lives.
Weird random though for the morning: although we’re often nostalgic for things from our youth, sometimes the things from our youth are not things from our youth, you catch me? I don’t know; I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Maybe it’s the music, so many new albums coming out that capture so succinctly the signatures of the sounds that came before it (*cough* Ghost) I’m caught in a revelry of the past. Don’t fear, though: I won’t let it influence the 222nd edition of the Nine Circles Playlist too much…
…but I will a little, kicking it off with a certain massive popular band who finally went all in on the hard rock/pomp of the 80s (*cough* Ghost). But man, if you haven’t also heard the latest from Drug Church get thee to a computer and rectify that post-haste. Hits the 90s indie hardcore rock so good, and they’re from my old stomping grounds of Albany, NY to boot. Elsewhere Anton brings up Siberia, Vital Spirit, and Autarkh III to get the nasty flowing. Vincent continues to champion site favorite Absent in Body and throws in some new music from Devil Master and Egregore as well as Bootblacks. Josh takes a break from his non-stop listening of Impera to get down with the OTHER site favorite Zeal & Ardor but also manages to make room for Corpsessed, King Dude, and a pair of outlaw country tunes, including the latest from Paul Cauthen. Buke can always be counted on with some choice classic cuts, and he does not fail this week, serving up some vintage KISS and Rainbow, but also hits with new cuts from Rammstein and Deathwhite (there’s some Anvil in there, too). And Angela comes in to remind that if the first quarter of 2022 was already stacked tooth gills with great music, we just got the new Messa, a new single from Conjurer, and the latest from Chelsea Wolfe.
Nine Circles 