experimental black metal

Album Review: Sigh — “Shiki”

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Sigh - Shiki

Sigh is a trailblazer of a band with a career nearly spanning three decades. Any thoughts of this band sitting on their laurels or going through the motions are crushed within the opening cadence here. Sigh continues to strive toward new heights, constantly reinventing themselves to create music that is both hauntingly eerie and extremely catchy all at once. All of this is encapsulated on their twelfth album, Shiki, which not only showcases the beginning of something new, with the pomp and circumstance of ceremony, but also shows us a sense of this band’s mortality.

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Second Circle: An Evening with Imperial Triumphant and Phanerozoic Live

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Second Circle

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.

I miss live shows.  I have been to exactly one in the last two calendar years, and that is far, far below the quota I normally like to hit.  Granted, there are some very good reasons for not partaking in live shows even when they happen, but I’ve still got an itch that I need to scratch, and while I generally don’t gravitate towards live albums, this is the time when I find them hitting the nicest.  Two bands that I have never had the pleasure of seeing live are Imperial Triumphant and The Ocean, and when I saw that both of them have live albums coming out today (An Evening with Imperial Triumphant: Live at Slipper Room and Phanerozoic Live, respectively), I knew I had to take the opportunity to talk about them both.

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Album Review: Howls of Ebb – “Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows”

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howls of ebb cursus impasse cover
Artwork by Agostino Arrivabene.

Imagine for a moment that hip hop somehow bled into the metal scene. Imagine, if you will, that this development has nothing to do with E-Town Concrete or Insane Clown Posse. Imagine that the DJ/Producer was actually a live band. And, finally, imagine that the band plays some of the best black metal you have heard in recent memory. Well, Howls of Ebb, mostly thanks to their rapid, anunciated and viscious vocal delivery have achieved a sort of Bone Thungs N’ Harmony or Outkast level effect on their 2016 release Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows. An album so layered in rhythms from the standard black metal blast beats of the drum to the rushed, almost sped-up-as-if-on-another-turntable delivery of vocalist “Zee-Luuuvft-Huund” (Patrick Brown of Nepenthe & Ligeia) that it takes on a nearly African poly-rhythmic effect. Continue reading →

Album Review: Geryon – “The Wound and the Bow”

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Geryon-Woundhr

Jazz influenced metal is not a combination that is likely to knock your socks off in amazement. Shining exist as an example of free jazz inspired metal. Hedvig Mollestad Trio continue to put out quality works of guitar forward, jazz with a heavy feel. Further, Oranssi Pazuzu has led the charge of metal bands leaning in the jam band direction. So experimentation, particularly with jazz rhythms and riffs is not something to be shocked over (especially not when the band is from New York City the home of legendary experimentalists Pyrrhon). The way in which Geryon employs their influence is, however, something new. While not the most accessible or palatable record of the year, The Wound and the Bow is certainly an interesting listen worth the roughly forty-five minutes of your time. Continue reading →

Visions ov Hell: Tombs – “V”

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It’s no secret that Brooklyn-based experimental sludge and black metal outfit Tombs have a new album on the horizon. The revamped lineup, which includes keyboardist Fade Kainer, along with new drummer Charlie Schmid has allowed Tombs to delve even deeper into the gothic, dark atmosphere side of their sound. The new album, All Empires Fall, is an EP clocking in at twenty-four minutes. It’s a superior format for Tombs who have always tended to run on the lengthy side of things. The new album is exciting as is any album released by a band who has infinite potential. Continue reading →