saturnian bloodstorm

Over the past decade there’s been a number of fantastic extreme metal bands creating music that’s clearly a tribute to some of the pioneers of a particular subgenre, while simultaneously pushing that style forward — notable examples include Stormkeep, Spectral Voice, the very recent Majesties debut, and my personal favorite, Caladan Brood. Adding to this list of devotees is Lamp of Murmuur, who have abandoned the lo-fi black metal and gothic rock influences of previous releases in favor of late ’90s Immortal worship with their third full-length album, Saturnian Bloodstorm. If there’s a fine line between homage and imitation, this album tends to fall on the opposite side of the aforementioned bands.

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Since we somehow managed to complete another trip around the sun recently, I’ve seen a lot of those anticipatory posts flying around where people share what albums they’re looking forward to in the year ahead. And I get it. Lists are clickbait-y, and there actually is a lot of stuff to look forward to in Metal: 2023. Being one to regularly cave to peer pressure, I figured we could jump on that train as well. And by “we”, I mean your Nine Circles editing staff, also known as the Top Brass, and also known as the Benevolent Overlords to at least one person. See, I personally didn’t want to write up on nine different albums that don’t even exist yet. It’s hard for me to explain why I’m looking forward to something beyond simply saying “I like that band, so I hope the new album doesn’t suck”. But two or three albums? I can bullshit my way through that, no problem. And wouldn’t you know it? Other members of the editing team were willing to drop some words on a couple albums of their choosing, as well. That, my friends, is how we got here. So without further delay, starting with my picks, here are nine albums the Nine Circles Top Brass are looking forward to in the year ahead.

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