I’ve gotta admit, I had no idea that Psycroptic has been around as long as they have until I listened to Buke’s interview with drummer Dave Haley (go and listen to it, like, now). I have listened to them before, but my introduction to them came from 2018’s As the Kingdom Drowns, and the reason I checked that album out in the first place was because the cover art was created by Mariusz Lewandowski (maaaaaaaan, RIP). Of course, when I listened, I was blown away by the deft mix of tech and death metal, and when I saw we got the promo for Divine Council, it was a no-brainer for me to grab it.
Another seven day rotation and we’re back with more new metal. New metal Monday’s, as it were. Or, whatever you want to call it. Anyway, this week’s list isn’t as bulky as recent ones but you can bet the quality is still there. You want proof? Sure, how about Psycroptic who understand how to mix great songs with tech death, or Fleshrot who just make killer dirty death metal, or Amon Amarth who have completely cornered the melodic viking death market, or Abaddon Incarnate who make vicious as hell deathgrind. And DO NOT forget about Soulfly, don’t you do it. So, go do your homework and find what trips your trigger then shower it with your purchasing power. Happy hunting and we’ll see you here throughout the week.
If you’re thinking Psycroptic are yet another tech death band in a sea of them, you’d be dead wrong and obviously haven’t been paying attention since 1999. They’ve always known that to be a tech death band that matters, the songs actually have to be good and catchy and deeper than just what’s on the surface. Never has this been more the case than on their eighth full length Divine Council. This is a nine track megalodon with teeth big enough to eat a continent and songs that are insanely good all based around an epic storyline with wicked good songwriting, quite possibly their best yet. Buke sat down with drummer Dave Haley to discuss the album, the band’s history, and so much more. We now bring you this conversation in its entirety so grab your beverage of choice, a seat, and enjoy.
Friday night. Bourbon. Metal. This is how we do it here at Nine Circles. I’ve been listening nonstop to the new Wormrot record that came out on 7/8. It’s a monster, and they’re probably the best grind band out there right now, in my humble opinion. But before we hit that up I have some internet surprises that hit me in just the right spot…maybe they’ll hit you, too.
Elsewhere Josh has everyone in a frenzy with new music from Psycroptic and Municipal Waste and Trapped In The Morgue…and then slays with a classic cut from one of my favorite Death records. Vincent is up next and he’s serving some new music from Cloud Rat and the new project from the folks in Yellow Eyes called Sunrise Patriot Motion before hitting some old school sounds from Pianos Become The Teeth. Next up is Angela charing the plains with Amon Amarth, followed by some Telekinetic Yeti and The Chasm. Finally Ian returns and lays down some Woods of Desolation, Svalbard, First Fragment and then a whopper of a track from the Violent Femmes because you know you all love “Blister in the Sun” as much as we do. And since we’re a little short today and it’s what I’m currently listening to as I write this there’s a massive jam from Grand Funk Railroad just to shake things up. Make of that what you will – they were featured in an issue of Decibel SO IT COUNTS!
Now I’m going to jump to a couple things from yesterday. First, new Bloodbath. Survival Of The Sickest drops on September 9th through Napalm Records, and the video for “Zombie Inferno” is available here. Awesome.
And then Gaerea announced their third album, Mirage. That one will be out on September 23rd through Season of Mist. Check out “Salve” right here. I’m really excited about this one, and this leading single is a hell of a start.
Doom collective MMXX unveiled a new lyric video for “This Breath Is Not My Breath”, which features Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow The Sun. Full album details and still to come, but I can promise a lot of major names are tied to this project, so we’re going to keep tabs on this one.
Closing out our Thursday, we have a new video from Volcandra for “Resonance Cascade”. That’s taken from the melodic black metal group’s Border World EP, which dropped last Friday through Prosthetic Records.
Nine Circles 