For The Short Kings
Each year, myriad bands are given accolades through this very blog to inform you, dear reader, of the great releases throughout the calendar. But there is often one aspect of new releases that is overlooked: the EP/demo/mini releases that are constantly scattered throughout the schedule of full-length records. This here is just a simple reminder or introduction to some short, yet still sweet musical offerings from the first half of 2K26.
Penis Envy – Fruiting Bodies of Decay (February 14)
Let’s start off with something highbrow, shall we? Sometimes it’s fun to flex one’s mental abilities with exemplary musicianship and forward-thinking progression. But sometimes it’s just simply more fun to be dumb and full of cum fungal spores. Penis Envy bring the silly but still slay with the slams—all with a tongue-in-cheek approach with puns such as “Blunt Force Fauna” which possesses the single best “GET FUCKED!” vocal drop I’ve heard in a long time.
Serpent of the West – Tecumseh (March 24)
What country do you think of when noodling the descriptor “Western Black Metal?” Well, if your initial though was the U.S., then I am sorry to inform you about just how stupid and wrong you are! That’s right, the actual answer is of course Iceland. Though reading such a statement may induce weary feelings of a gimmick approaching, I assure you the music speaks for itself. All the work of singular member H.Þ, Tecumseh is a short 3 tracks, but each one stands out with the attention-grabbing inclusion of typical American West influences and soundscapes. Move over Wayfarer.
Lureplasm – Luridysic Heirloom (March 13)
One-man wonder Gary Brents from Dallas, Texas may not be a household name, but it certainly isn’t for lack of trying. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Brents, then perhaps you have heard of one of his several projects such as Sallow Moth, Gonemage, Demon Sluice, Homeskin, etc., but with Luridysic Heirloom, we are now the recipients of what can best be described as catchy goregrind. I know the grinding of gore can be a tough sell, but there has definitely been a shift away from the genre’s worse attributes and Lureplasm throws in a plethora of experimentation to make an experience truly worth checking just to see the madness first-hand.
Belexum – S/T (April 3)
Now enough with all this frilly nonsense! It’s time for some straight-for-the-throat OSDM with a wicked vocal performance that immediately makes it stand above its peers. This debut EP immediately made its mark before a single second was heard and that is due to the fucking wild artwork. It is equal measures amazing and terrible in all the right ways. How could AI ever replace something so wrongly beautiful? As for the music, it’s a vicious attack of death with a punky attitude and howling shrieks from vocalist Elika Nakhaee as they dominate each track with what may be this year’s most memorable performance. It’s over quick, but this one is bound to be a constant relisten for quite some time.
Vomit Mass – No God, Just ROT! (February 18)
If the album art from the last entry was too high-end for your gutter-low tastes, then allow me to offer you this live deathgrind demo from Greek trio Vomit Mass. Just to reiterate, as if a deathgrind demo isn’t grimy enough even for you, the recording of No God, Just ROT! was done live in their rehearsal studio just for that extra dose of static goodness. And that artwork, done by Κ Α Γ Ε, is the perfect avatar for the feeling of listening to this jaunt down the gutter. I definitely recommend this one be digested via headphones rather than larger alternatives; I don’t want your wining once this blows out your puny laptop speakers.
Conduit – The World Turns in Sleep (May 12)
Of course this wouldn’t be a Brock Samson-certified list if it lacked a dissonant entrant. So for today’s offering to all you patiently-waiting dissodaddies, I humbly offer the incredibly impressive debut EP from Portugal’s Conduit. If you are familiar with my dissonant metal articles, then you should find the name Ethereal Wound familiar as I have covered them there multiple times. However, that project is admittedly overall light on the dissonant aspects, so the guitarist decided to craft his own solo project which is how we are now able to experience The World Turns in Sleep. A much darker and denser approach is used here, akin to Icelandic black metal mixed with a bit of Altarage or Abyssal. Seriously, it’s easily worth the low-cost free.
Fournier – Self-Titled (May 22)
Another day, another death metal demo, am I right? So why include yet another one you might be asking? Well, simply put, this slimy, disgusting 20 minutes of OSDM is just fucking good, and sometimes that is all you require. (That’s not to say Fournier lacks any flavoring that make it their own.) It’s got perfect low-fi production topped with killer riffs, gruesome gutturals, cranium-crushing percussion and grooves galore with cervical-snapping, head-banging scale runs. As stated by the band themselves, these are “songs about the end of humanity, written at the end of the world.”
Houkago Grind Time – Sorry I Am Not From Japan (May 15)
If you are a regular visitor to this toilet, then the name Andrew Lee should not be an unfamiliar one due to his incredible work in Ripped to Shreds (not to mention the many others), but it may be his solo weeaboo-themed goregrind project that sits atop the mountain for me. Mixing the usual fare of d-beats, blasts, and pitch-shifted burps, Sorry I Am Not From Japan incorporates humor (how’d you guess?), but also occasional social commentary on being Asian-American in a world where ingrained stereotypes occur in lieu of normal human interaction. Goregrind that is fun and somewhat meaningful? These truly are the end times.
Haruspex Chants – Demo MMXXVI (May 1)
It has come to my attention that each entry prior to this one has been entirely too fast, and for that I apologize. To make amends, allow me to next present the newest demo from mysterious Cincinnati death/doom project Haruspex Chants. The music within Demo MMXXVI is the sort of doomy death metal that cavernous, creeping, dreadful acts such as Spectral Voice specialize in. The filth-dripping production—somehow still clear enough that nothing is buried—and constant flowing song structures have me eagerly awaiting a full-length to continue basking in the stank.
Spiritual Healing – Demo (May 21)
As we come to a close on this recommendation roundup, I shall leave you with perhaps the biggest ripper yet in Tokyo’s Spiritual Healing. This is brutal and tormented raw death metal that underground releases are all about: lo-fi production that only adds to the devastation, technical yet groovy riffing, and growls to burst your bowels. However, there are also enough thrashy elements to keep the energy moving forward and a blackened edge to increase the bleakness levels further still. Yet another incredibly intriguing Japanese death metal project to keep an eye on, but that is something I will never complain about.
