transcending obscurity – Nine Circles

Initial Descent: April 28 – May 4, 2024

April 29, 2024April 28, 2024JoshLeave a comment

I never considered myself as an audiobook guy yet here we are. I read somewhere that any runners that are not should at least try it once. I did. And now I’ve already clipped off two in just the past three weeks and only during my runs. I love it but I also love huge metal new release hauls which is what we have here on this week’s Initial Descent. Horn kicks us off with a stunning black metal release that leans heavily yet mightily on the metal side of things, Wheel is back to rock our damn socks off, Dååth returns with an album that a few of us Nine Circlers have very much anticipated as it’s not your normal, run of the mill metal outing, Crawl offers up a disgusting combo of death metal and crust, and we’ve got a ton more in the list that follows. With this batch of new releases it might be a hot minute before I get back to my audiobooks so take that as a sign that you need to check these out. Do that and we’ll see you here throughout the week.

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CANTO: Entheos, The Eternal, Prong, and More

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024CoreyLeave a comment

Well, I’m back. Significantly more tired than I was when I left. What’d I miss?

Progressive death metal duo Entheos announced a few headlining U.S. dates in between their run with As I Lay Dying and Chelsea Grin. Tickets are available now.
How about some dissonant death metal? That kinda fits my vibe tonight. Mære dropped a new track titled “Traumlande (Ascending The Abyss)”, taken from …And The Universe Keeps Silent. Their new album is out this coming Friday through Transcending Obscurity.
Prong shared a video for their cover of “Working Man” today, acknowledging tax day with a Rush classic. A shorter version of that track appears on State of Emergency, which is available through Steamhammer/SPV.
And then to work in a little industrial black metal, we have Dusk and their new single titled “Industrie III”. That’s the second track taken from Industrie, which is out on May 31… something we’ve mentioned before I believe.
Let’s close out Monday with Finnish-Australian metal quartet The Eternal. Their seventh studio album, and first new material in six years, arrives on June 28. Skinwalker will be out through Reigning Phoenix Music, and a video for “Deathlike Silence” can be seen below.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Dvne, Full of Hell, Vorga, and More

March 26, 2024March 26, 2024CoreyLeave a comment

Quality over quantity in the inbox today apparently. Not complaining!

Leading off, new stuff from Dvne. Give the latest single from Voidkind, titled “Abode of the Perfect Soul”, a listen here. That album is out on April 19 through Metal Blade.
Full of Hell dropped a devastating new track titled “Gasping Dust”, which features Ross Dolan of Immolation. That’s taken from their forthcoming new album Coagulated Bliss, out on April 26 through Closed Casket Activities.
Gothic doom collective Tribunal are touring North America in June (mostly) with Mares of Thrace, in support of last year’s debut LP The Weight Of Remembrance. That album was released through 20 Buck Spin.
Next, some Swedish heavy rock. Greenleaf released the first single, “Breathe, Breathe Out”, from their upcoming new album titled The Head & The Habit. That one will arrive on June 21 through Magnetic Eye Records.
And we’ll close out with some sci-fi black metal out of Germany, in the from of Vorga. Check out the clip for “The Sophist” below. Their sophomore release, Beyond the Palest Star, is out this week through Transcending Obscurity.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Weedeater, Hideous Divinity, Construct of Lethe, and More

March 22, 2024March 22, 2024CoreyLeave a comment

Well, it appears the a March snow storm is going to prevent me from seeing one of my favorite bands tomorrow. Not great!

So on that note we’ll start with a tour… and one I might be able to attend (weather permitting, apparently). Weedeater lined up some April and May dates, kicking off on the 16th in Charlotte, and preceding a couple of festival appearances.
Out of Transcending Obscurity, death metal collective Construct of Lethe are releasing a new concept album on June 21. Word is that it’s supposed to be listened to as a single entity, however for now you can get a preview with a couple of new tracks.
Is this a surprise 20 Buck Spin release I’m seeing? Corpus Offal, a new death metal outfit out of Seattle emerging from what was Cerebral Rot (no longer a thing apparently), dropped Demo 2024 today, and you can check it out here.
Belushi Speed Ball is always a good time, so here’s their new track and lyric video titled “This is the Peak”. They have a new album arriving on May 10 titled Stellkira.
Since Hideous Divinity released Unextinct today, we may as well wrap up the week with the new video for “More than Many, Never None”. Give it a watch below, and be sure to pick up that album, out through Century Media.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Album Review: Fathomless Ritual – “Hymns For The Lesser Gods”

February 29, 2024March 1, 2024ChrisLeave a comment

How deep and dank can you go in death metal? Some bands strive for the absolute black and filth of a long forgotten cavern of dampness where the music struggles for a single breath, and that’s fine, I guess. For me, a better question is how deep and dank can you go in death metal while still maintaining a semblance of structure and – dare I say it – melody to engage these old ears? Fathomless Ritual aim to answer that questions with their debut full length Hymns For The Lesser Gods. Dank death metal that gets technical without straying into full blown wheedley dee? I’ll take it.

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