ripple music

Initial Descent: June 7 – 13, 2020

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Beyond Deth
Beyond Deth

My new favorite thing in the blackened thrash spectrum of metal is Georgia’s Beyond Deth and this week sees the release of their second full length, good for me and good for you since, plainly put, this is my favorite album of this ilk thus far in 2020—definitely do yourself a favor and check it out. Ulthar continue to push the boundaries of death metal far beyond its limits on their second outing, Uprising offer up their second effort of straight forward black metal (smack in the middle of digital and physical releases so get in on it now), and Curse the Son are back with what I call working man’s doom metal—dirty, gritty, fuzzy, and worth every bit of effort spent. Folks, right now we need an escape, any escape, and these top four, along with the remainder of the list below, offer just that. Enjoy. Continue reading →

Initial Descent: April 5 – 11, 2020

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DOOL
Dool (photo courtesy of Nona Limmen)

Well, well, well. We’re all still in this crap. But, at least we’ve got good tunes to ride it out with and this week, there’s no shortage of good to be found. So, let’s do this. Dark metallers Dool return with an absolute stunner (no surprise here, amazing band and amazing music), Akurion uncover all the dark corners in their love letter to death metal and all its wares, Benighted continue their reign of all things insane via grinding death metal, and High Priestess turn doom on its ear with some Pink Floydish twists. Four albums up top and many, many more to go so get to it! Continue reading →

Profile: Romain Daut of Psychsters Bright Curse

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Bright Curse

On the heels of an unfortunate label debacle and a lineup change or two, France’s Bright Curse have returned with a stunning second full length of doom laden, hazy psych rock. The addition of exotic instruments and longer jam sequences finds the band separating itself from their more rock heavy debut but also with a more mature ability to just let their dreamy sequences go wherever they may lead. Jazz, in particular, is known for that kind of spontaneity and on Time of the Healer Bright Curse show they have much more to offer than just spaced out riffs. The album came out back in May and between then and now we had a chance to ask Romain Daut (guitar, flute, and vocals) our set of Profile questions to which he was very generous in his responses. Head below to see how it went down and grab yourself a copy from the links contained within. Continue reading →

Initial Descent: November 25 – December 1, 2018

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Master
Master

Food coma anyone? If you’re in the states you know what I’m talking about and if not you’re all the better for it. Just as waistlines are expanding so is the quantity of releases vying for that ‘before the end of the year’ release date. Good for us. Exactly what, you’re wondering? Read on…

With the exception of a few small spots in time, Master has been around for 35 years and are still here and still kicking all kinds of death metal ass on their fourteenth full length Vindictive Miscreants, so get on that. Just in time for the much needed slow and low feeling after massive amounts of food last week, Psychlona give us rolling rhythms of fuzzed out desert rock on Mojo Rising. Blackened death metal and 90s era thrash collide on Fireborn, the debut EP from Aempyrean, and Bane offer up more blackened death metal on Esoteric Formulae but melodicism takes a front seat on this one.

Jump in face — or belly — first to this week’s offerings and we’ll be seeing you, here, throughout the week. Continue reading →

Profile: Desert Rock Fuzzsters Psychlona

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Psychlona

England might not be the first place anyone would think of when conjuring sights and sounds of fuzzed out desert rock but that’s exactly what Psychlona offer up on full length, Mojo Rising. Their shared love of Fu Manchu, Kyuss, Hawkwind and Sabbath comes through in spades, which isn’t new territory, but it’s the way the band puts this amalgamation together that makes it sound so damn good. It’s a psychedelic ride across a heated desert in a chop top rat rod with a skull shifter, nitrous button and the devil in the passenger seat pushing the journey towards redline. It’s amazing how well Psychlona capture the energy and ethos of desert rock here but furthermore how they effortlessly slide in some well placed doom and fuzz for good measure. Alongside Mojo Rising’s release date, we had the chance to ask the band our set of Profile questions to get a look behind the scenes so head inside to see what they had to say. Continue reading →