This Toilet Tuesday (12/9/14)
Apparently the looming grayness of winter was too much for most metal bands to handle, as they seem to have all gone into hibernation. Seriously, what the hell? This is the shortest list we’ve featured yet. Fortunately, a handful of staunch hangers-on have seen fit to get off their asses and brave the storm to kick out some new music. Oh, and the entirety of the black metal community seems to have awoken for the winter as well, emerging from their mothers’ basements to frolic in the snow, so get ready to slap on some corpse paint and spit fire in the woods or something. This is Toilet Tuesday. -Spear
Cult of Fire – Čtvrtá Symfonie Ohně (Iron Bonehead) [Black Metal]
Cult of Fire are my second favorite heavy metal cult, and easily the best one playing black metal. Last year’s excellent album मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान saw the fiery upstarts from Prague dropping a monolithic slab of trem-and-blast nastiness that displayed a truly captivating and, dare I say, epic take on the black metal formula. The band have returned with new EP Vltava, and they yet again prove that they won’t play by expectations but will rather continue to push the limits on sounds and elements that can be incorporated into this blasphemous genre. This track is expansive and crushing and will take you on a welcome journey through mythic battles and strange lands. Don’t miss it. (W.)
Pythia – Shadows of a Broken Past (Golden Axe) [Power Metal]
This year has been pretty damn good for power metal, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop until it’s dead. Pythia’s follow-up to The Serpent’s Curse doesn’t sound like it’ll be breaking any new ground for the band, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m a fan of their heavily riff-driven songwriting and the semi-operatic vocal style their singer brings to the table. Basically, think Norther as fronted by a less obnoxious Tarja Turunen. (Spear)
Frowning – Funeral Impressions (Wretched Records) [Funeral Doom]
Frowning is totally a silly name, but the sparse, dire introduction that leads into “Obsessed” should be enough to hold your attention. “Obsessed” is a somber, crushing affair that slowly drags you through a field of broken graves and shattered dreams with a ponderous, slumping pace. Those who want their metal fast, look elsewhere. But if you dig the mournful, seismic heaviness of bands like Thergothon or Catacombs, stick around. Don’t smile though. Only frowning is allowed in Funeral Impressions territory. (W.)
Cretin – Stranger (Relapse Records) [GRIND]
Much to-do has been made in anticipation of this record, and for very good reason. From the wonderfully off-putting art to the absolute gut-punch aggression of the music itself, this album is the total package. Grind sits best with me when it incorporates outside influences and displays some diversity, and the raucous, thrashy edge to this album that doesn’t diminish the GRIND works perfectly. It’ll unfortunately miss most year-end lists due to the late release, but we’ll hold in dear in our charred, blistering hearts. (Stockhausen)
Unsacred – False Light (Forcefield Records) [Black Metal]
Unsacred are firmly rooted in black metal, but there is an excellent ring of crusty goop solidifying at the edges. When they aren’t blasting, there’s a distinctly menacing feel to the groove, and the reverb-laden vocals top off a positively sinister sounding atmosphere. This album won’t be charting new territory, but you’ll be happy to punch the existing lands of crusty black metal in the face with this absolutely solid full-length. (Stockhausen)
A Thousand Shall Fall – Horizon (Independent) [Melodeath]
Stream
Acranius – Dishonor (Rising Nemesis) [Slamming Brutal Death]
Listen to “Unit 731”
Apocryphal Voice – Pain & Pleasure (Inverse Records) [Progressive Metal]
Stream
Asghath – 11 (Independent) [Black Metal]
Free Download
Astrakhan – A Tapestry of Scabs and Skin (War On Music) [Sludge/Doom]
Listen to “The Pillarist”
Atomic Aggressor – Sights of Suffering (Hell’s Headbangers) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Faceless Torment”
The Banner – Greying (Good Fight Music) [Hardcore]
Listen to “Crippling Despair”
Blood Farmers – Headless Eyes (Patac Records) [Doom]
Listen to “Headless Eyes”
Bösedeath – Impaled from the Left (Rotten Roll Rex) [Slamming Brutal Death]
Listen
Contradiction – The Origin of Violence (Cargo Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Meltdown” (NSFW)
Crepuscolo – Revolution Evilution (Horror Pain Gore Death) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Essence of Pain”
Darkened Winter/Scolopendra Cingulata – Darkened Winter/Scolopendra Cingulata (split- Independent) [Black Metal]
Deathhammer – Evil Power (Hell’s Headbangers) [Black Thrash]
Listen to “Satan is Back,” “Power Trip”
Death Wolf – III: Östergötland (Century Media) [Punk/Black Metal]
Listen to “Today King, Tomorrow Dead”
Decimation – Reign of Ungodly Creation (Comatose Music) [Brutal Death]
Listen to “Aberrant Ablution by Filthy Excrements of a Grotesque Crassamentum”
Dimesland – Psychogenic Atrophy (Independent) [Progressive Metal]
Listen to “Dying Foretold”
Dreadlords – Death Angel (Not Just Religious Music) [Doom]
Stream
Evil Masquerade – 10 Years in the Dark (Dark Minstrel Music) [Heavy Metal/Thrash]
Faithful Darkness – Archgod (Coroner Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “An Ocean of Time”
From Hell – 巫峽 Dynasty (Naturmacht) [Black Metal]
Listen to “巫峽 Dynasty”
Hex Morbidity – Hex Morbidity (Independent) [Black Metal]
Klandestyn/Nebelwerfer/Ulvdalir/Ruin/Mor – Harvest: Bloody Harvest (split- Assavlt Records) [Black Metal]
Stream
Mammoth Black – Death is Not Ashamed (Independent) [Sludge/Doom]
Listen to “Open Death Letter”
Maximize Bestiality – Extraterrestrial Skolexomorphic Infestation (Rising Nemesis) [Slam]
Listen to “Caustic Unction of Ferocity”
Melkor – Irrlicht (Independent) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Irrlicht”
Mesmur – Mesmur (code666) [DOOM]
Listen to “Deprivation”
Mordhell/Moloch Letalis – Masochistic Humiliation (split- Pagan Records) [Black Metal]
Preview
RAM/Portrait – Under Command (split- Metal Blade) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “Welcome to my Funeral” (RAM)
Shed the Skin – Rebirth Through Brimstone (Hell’s Headbangers) [Death Metal]
Sofisticator – Death by Zapping (ETN Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Great Strike”
Solitvdo – Immerso in un Bosco di Querce (Naturmacht) [Black Metal]
Listen
Stormcast – Frame of Mind (Pitch Black Records) [Blackened Melodeath]
Listen to “The Executioner”
Strikeforce – Elegant Steel (HighVolMusic) [Rock]
Listen to “Let Me Rock U” (kill me)
Taake – Stridens hus (Dark Essence Records) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Det fins en Prins”
Temple of Oblivion – Traum und Trauma (Vama Marga Productions) [Black Metal]
Listen
Tip the Balance – Tip the Balance (logischdenker Records) [Power Prog/Thrash]
Stream
Witherscape – A New Tomorrow (Century Media) [Dark Metal]
Did we forget a new release? Is there a way we could improve this list? Let us know in the comments below!
(Photos VIA, VIA, VIA, VIA, and VIA)
