This Toilet Tuednesday (12/27/17)
Oh, you thought we were done? Well we’ve got one more week’s worth of new music before the year is out, and small as it may be, it’s bringing us some good stuff. Hans and I have a couple highlighted, but it’s pretty hard to go wrong with anything coming out this week. Let’s chill and jam some sweet jams while we ride out the rest of the year.
HAR – Visitation (Blood Harvest Records) [Death Metal]
Listen
I’d put HAR in the category of death metal often described as “cavernous”. But they change up the formula by opting for a more airy, brighter production instead of the murky sound you might expect, and by having their vocalist explore a fair range from growling to demented screaming instead of sticking only the former. Along the halfway point, everything suddenly breaks down into a nightmare that reminds me a bit of Thantifaxath; the rest makes me think more of Dire Omen if they went more deranged. 17/31/12 (Hans)
Shambles – Primitive Death Trance (Blood Harvest Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Daemon”
Here, then, is a more traditional example of the same death metal niche. It’s all here: thick-as-molasses guitar sound, lowest of growling, and a hefty dose of doom. Might not exactly feel like something you’ve never heard, but in case the holidays didn’t mush you into pulp already, try it with the aural equivalent of giant millstones, patiently grinding away, making you into a fine paté. 17/31/12 (Hans)
Speedclaw – Beast in the Mist (Independent) [Speed Metal/Thrash]
Listen to “Rising of the Claw”
Between that artwork, the band name, and the song title, there’s a pretty good chance you already know what you’re in for with Speedclaw. Speed, hooks, guitar shreds and Iron Maiden-style harmonies are the name of the game here, and they’re superbly executed. Unique? Definitely not, but it sounds really good and it’s mighty headbangable- it’s fun, and that’s all that matters when it comes to this type of metal. 12/29/17 (Spear)
Alsatia – Lost in the Storm (Independent) [Power Metal]
Listen to “A Life in Every Breath”
Demonification – Obey the Antichrist (Independent) [Black Thrash]
Listen to “Obey the Antichrist,” “Satanic Deadly Warlords”
DivUrge – Point of No Return (Independent) [Power Metal]
Stream
Eternal Helcaraxe – In Times of Desperation (Naturmacht Productions) [Black Metal]
Listen
Exalter – Persecution Automated (Transcending Obscurity) [Thrash]
Listen to “The Dreaded End,” “Clandestine Drone Warfare”
Iron Attack! – Holy Krieg ～紅のアクシズ～ (Independent) [Power Metal]
Preview
Gotttod – Todeskult (Independent) [Black Metal]
Knight – High on Voodoo (Slaytanic Records) [Heavy Metal]
Stream
Mortify – Mortuary Remains (Machalia) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Traces of Disease”
Nortt – Endeligt (Avantgarde Music) [Blackened Funeral Doom]
Stream
Perverted Ceremony – Perverted Ceremony (Nuclear War Now!) [Black Metal]
Stream
Pissboiler – In the Lair of Lucid Nightmares (Third I Rex) [Drone/Doom]
Listen to “Ruins of the Past,” “Cutters”
Psycho Pass Crown – The First Cry (GlobMetal Promotions) [Melodeath]
Preview
Rokugen Alice – Psylent Majority ～喝采のマーダー～ (Independent) [Power Metal]
A Sea of Silent Skulls – Life After Extinction (Independent) [Drone/Doom]
Listen
Trust X – Перевёрнутые сны (Metalism Records) [Heavy/Power Metal]
Listen to “Игра”
Voidceremony – Foul Origins of Humanity (Blood Harvest) [Death Metal]
Listen
Witchprayer – Spiritual Ascension (Hymns of Apocalypse) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Ascension”
