Sometimes a band comes out of nowhere and slams you with an unexpected impact. That was Gloam for me last year with their debut full length Hex of Nine Heads, a fully charged battery of vicious dynamic black metal. I wasn’t expecting anything else for a while, so while it’s almost too brief a stay, I’m more than happy to put their new EP Death is the Beginning on repeat as many times as needed to get through the day. Continue reading
There’s nothing I can add or say about the events this week on US soil that hasn’t already been said or shouted at the top of devastated lungs…and I’ll leave it at that. I’m, instead, retreating to my happy place; metal. And there’s tons of it to get to here on Initial Descent. Finland’s first doom metal band Spiritus Mortis return from a 7 year absence with an absolute juggernaut of classic heavy metal and jaw dropping doom on The Year Is One, Gloam‘s Hex of Nine Heads receives the long overdue vinyl treatment, Saor offer up a friendly reminder as to why black metal and folk go so well together on Guardians, Hammer King still hold the heavy-power metal flag high on King Is Rising and at a time like this we all could use a pick me up, and In Flames are still riding clean on Battles but sound more like In Flames than they have on their past 4 albums combined, so thats a plus right? Anyway, all that and so much more after the jump.
California’s Gloam have been making a name in the underground for themselves since 2012. After releasing an initial demo and the Vanquished EP, the band struck black metal gold with their full length debut Hex of Nine Heads. Initially released on cassette via Caligari Records in an edition of 175 copies, Hex proved to be an instant success, quickly selling out from the label and generating impressive amounts of hype. Enter celebrated underground heavy music label Gilead Media, who were quick to see the potential in reissuing the album on vinyl. With the reissue date fast approaching, now is the best time to get acquainted with this dark and winding album if you somehow missed it the first time around. Continue reading
Nine Circles 