sumac – Nine Circles

Nine Circles ov… The Month That Was: June 2024

June 25, 2024June 23, 2024ChrisLeave a comment

Too many albums, too few reviewers…that’s the problem with all the metal blogs, not just this one. What do you do? How do you get a sense of what’s out there if you’re only listening to a fraction of what’s getting released? How do you open yourself up to new music? I’ll tell you how: you jump into all the unpicked promos each month and devote a sentence or two giving a sense of what you gleaned from it.

That’s right: we’re back for another round of “The Month That Was…” so enough preambling…let’s dive into this edition of Nine Circles ov… and see what’s been percolating in June 2024.

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CANTO: 200 Stab Wounds, Molder, Four Stroke Baron, and More

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024CoreyLeave a comment

Longest run of the year so far is officially in the books.

To lead off, we have new stuff from 200 Stab Wounds. A video for the new single “Ride The Flatline” can be seen here, and Manual Manic Procedures is slated for a June 28 release through Metal Blade Records.
Chicago death metal crew Molder announced some U.S. dates, kicking off in August and running into early September. Here’s the full schedule.
Ahead of the release of The Healer on June 21 through Thrill Jockey, Sumac shared a documentary video by Damien Neva titled Six Hours 42 Minutes with SUMAC.
New ‘death pop’ entity High Parasite have set September 27 as the release date for their debut album, Forever We Burn. That will be available through Candlelight and Spinefarm, and “Let It Fail” can be seen and heard right now.
Since Data Diamond is out tomorrow (through Prosthetic Records), we’ll wrap up with the new video from Four Stroke Baron for “1000 Threads”.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Cognitive, Sumac, Cemetery Skyline, and More

April 2, 2024April 2, 2024CoreyLeave a comment

Today was a long one. Tomorrow will be a long one. But the good news is that by this time next week I will be well into a break from the chaos.

Let’s start with technical death metal outfit Cognitive. They’re back with Abhorrence, a new full-length slated for a May 17 release through Metal Blade. Preorders are live, and you can stream the title track right here.
The next album announcement comes from Sumac, who are releasing The Healer on June 21 through Thrill Jockey, and the first single, “Yellow Dawn”, can be heard here.
Let’s jump to something a little more symphonic next. Summoner’s Circle shared the video for “Cult Of The Dead Son” That’s a track taken from Cult, the new album set to drop on May 24 through Black Lion Records.
Here’s a new thing. Zetra revealed the details surrounding their self-titled debut album. That arrives on September 13 through Nuclear Blast. Of course, we have music too. Give “Starfall” a listen, a track that features Serena Cherry of Svalbard.
Cemetery Skyline, with the massive lineup of Markus Vanhala, Mikael Stanne, Santeri Kallio, Vesa Ranta, and Victor Brandt, dropped a new single and video titled “Violent Storm”. Check it out below… or access it here I guess.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 271 (2.18.2023)

February 18, 2023February 18, 2023ChrisLeave a comment

Change of scenery this morning. I’m up in the mountains, dogs and kids running all over and a most excellent pair of headphones blasting the new Ulthar to block their cries. Oh, and of course some piping hot coffee to wash the previous night’s alcoholic excursions away. If you haven’t heard their double offering of albums the 271st edition of the Nine Circles Playlist will get you right, my friends. Most right (oh, and synergy: while you listen check out our review by the righteous and noble Ian here).

What else do we have on deck this week? How about brand new tracks from The Ocean and Frozen Soul? Or a complete ripper from Cattle Decapitation? Yeah…it’s a killer week and we also have tracks from the likes of Emperor, the great Caladan Brood (get new music out please!), Gorod, Rzen, Rotten Sound, Little Pig, Emma Ruth Rundle, Majesties, not to mention some killer prog from Circle, Teksti-TV 666 and King Crimson, as well as a whole lot more.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

—

– Chris

Best of 2020: Jon’s List

January 8, 2021January 1, 2021JonLeave a comment

Best of 2020

Since every minute of every day in this year of our Lord 2020 seems hyperattenuated to *gestures vaguely at all of this*, you don’t need me to remind you of anything. If you are reading this, you survived, and I hope that continues. While I count mine (and my family’s) survival as the accomplishment of the year, other things I didn’t hate were the Domestikwom EP I put out in June titled Wallowing in Misery, along with launching a full fledged website for fellow Nine Circler Chris and I’s movie podcast Cinema Dual.

I was also able to pull focus long enough to check out some albums this year, and unlike the year that spawned them, I was pretty impressed. Hopefully you find something you like or even something new. Best of luck next year. Continue reading →