ken mode

Best of 2022: D. Morris’s List

D MorrisLeave a comment
Best of 2022

2022: The Year I came back… to writing about music that is. When the year started, I had no plans to write about anything and now I’m writing for Nine Circles. It feels good to write about music again, especially heavy music. Putting together a best of list felt like cramming for an exam, especially since I just started here. There’s excellent albums, not on here, that I purposefully left off because my fellow Nine Circles writers would mention or because they were similar to albums I simply loved more. Here are 15 heavy (and heavy adjacent) albums I loved in 2022 in alphabetical order.

Continue reading →

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 257 (11.12.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

We’re coming into the end times…the end of the year times where most of the year’s albums have either been released (or we’re at least gotten the promos to digest), so here at 9C headquarters we’ve been sifting through what we loved, what we didn’t, and what we missed and need to consider before building our respective lists. For me that was Haunter, so we’re kicking off the 257th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist with a 13-minute track because hey…maybe you missed it, too.

After that it’s a blackened ol’ time with the likes of Stormruler and Morbikon before heading off into the cobwebbed corners of the metalverse with new -(16)-, The Death Wheelers, Ashen Horde, Liturgy, KEN mode, Dream Unending, the mighty return of Ahab, something called Bizarrerkult (thanks Anton), Die Sünde and Castle Rat, as well as some ripping Tomb Mold demos and a stone cold classic from Judas Priest to close things out. Plus some more surprises I was too lazy to write out in this post.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

—

—

– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 250 (9.24.2022)

ChrisLeave a comment
playlist - mixtape

Well whaddaya know? We made it to 250. This is the 250th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist and since it’s our party we’ll invite who want to, you know?

So you’re gonna hear stuff like the new Venom, Inc. which is killing anything Cronos might be doing (although thanks for releasing the In Nominee Satanas set on CD) and Gaerea who just released a killer new record, as did the noise kings KEN mode. But that’s not all! How about some vicious preview tracks from the likes of Autopsy and Scars of the Flesh? Or maybe you’re feeling like it’s an indie weekend? We got you some older tunes by Pianos Becomes the Teeth and Catherine Wheel to soundtrack your vibe. Lest you turn away there’s still plenty of heavy to be had with music from Ashen, Aenaon, Ultar, and a bevy of classic metal tracks to close things out from the likes of DBC, Sodom, Morbid Angel and Vader.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

—

—

– Chris

Initial Descent: September 18 – 24, 2022

JoshLeave a comment
Miscreance

This week’s list of new metal might just be the longest list so far this year. I mean, if you can’t find something here just quit. Kidding…or not. Anyway, super bloated list which is always a great thing as there’s something for every discerning taste. We kick things off with an incredible death metal debut from Miscreance (no shit, this thing is great), then we’ve got black metal from Gaerea which is yet again great, KEN Mode returns to flip noise metal on its ear, ritualistic metal gets an upgrade from Frayle, and as you already know, there’s a TON more that follows. Dig in, turn up, and do your thing. We’ll see you here throughout the week.

Continue reading →

CANTO: City of Caterpillar, Capra, Orthodox, and More

CoreyLeave a comment


Anybody else get random urges to run screaming into the woods, never to return?

  • City of Caterpillar are returning, after a long 20 years, with a new album set for a September 30th release. Mystic Sisters will be out through Relapse Records, and the music video for “Decider” is available here. They’ve got some live dates coming up around that release date, so be sure to make that happen as well.
  • Metallic hardcore collective Capra also have some killer live dates coming up. September dates with The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, October dates with Exhorder, and a date with KEN Mode on Halloween. You know what to do from here! (I am very jealous I’m not local to that Halloween date, by the way.)
  • Over in Century Media land, Orthodox revealed the new song and video, titled “Dissolve”. That’s the latest from their new album, Learning To Dissolve, which drops on August 19th.
  • If you want something a little more psychedelic, let’s close out with the new video from Ruby the Hatchet for “Thruster”. It’s a ton of fun. That’s the first single taken from Fear is a Cruel Master, which is set for an October 21st release through Magnetic Eye Records.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb