This Toilet Tuesday (1/23/18)
This Toilet Tuesday is back once more, our porcelain chalice overflowing with nasty new releases. Hans, Karhu, and I have plunged our hands deep into the wellspring of shit and pulled out a few solid nuggets for examination, but there’s plenty more to find. Grab yourself a shovel and dig in.
Howling Sycamore – Howling Sycamore (Prosthetic Records) [Weird Prog]
Listen to “Upended,” “Let Fall,” “Descend to Light”
I’ve listened through all of Howling Sycamore’s eponymous debut a couple times now, and boy, it’s a weird one. To sum it up as succinctly as I can, it’s basically Jason McMaster singing Sanctuary-style vocals over blackened death metal drums and guitar supplied by Hannes Grossmann and Davide Tiso, with a healthy dose of shrieking saxophone and prog instrumental breaks. It’s a weird juxtaposition, but I think it works? The stranger elements taper off on the back end a bit in favor of more straightforward heavy riffing, but it hits pretty hard. This certainly isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s worth a listen just by virtue of how different it is. 1/26/18 (Spear)
Black Reaper – Celestial Descension (Pest Productions) [Black Metal/Melodeath]
Stream
Who doesn’t love some good Dissection worship? If you’re familiar with them at all (and you should be), you’ll know exactly what to expect from Black Reaper: wicked melodies and icy vocals supported with blistering drums and leads. Nothing new here, but it’s a great time nonetheless. 1/25/18 (Spear)
Primal Rite – Dirge of Escapism (Revelation Records) [Thrash/Hardcore]
Listen to “Antivenom,” “Demon,” “Immutable Law”
Looks like an OSDM record, but sounds like hardcore recorded in a public bathroom or something. Gang shouts and tough guy vocals abound, but everything is clad in curiously grimy production. That and the unexpected tempo changes in “Antivenom” make me think this will be worth at least one full spin, despite the fact I pretty much hate hardcore. Weirdly intriguing. 01/26/18 (Hans)
Ectoplasma – Cavern of Foul Unbeings (Memento Mori Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Amorphous Atrocity/Entranced in Blood”
Looks like an OSDM record and actually is one. Despite a pummeling sound, Ectoplasma are surprisingly nimble, hitting you with frequent tempo changes and a multitude of riffs. The song almost never sticks with one idea for very long, yet nothing feels underdeveloped. Really good vocals, too, sitting somewhere between van Drunen and Benediction-era Greenway. 01/22/18 (Hans)
Children of the Reptile – The End (Indepenent) [Heavy Metal]
Stream
Children of The Reptile is a working man’s metal band, not dappling in redundant intricasies, though avoiding overt simplicity. Equal parts epic hard rock and trad metal, driven by a straightforward drums n’ bass combo, coupled with Ozzie Durden’s limpid mid-range vocals and lead guitar game not completely out of place on a Motivator album. Just switch the onslaught of positivism to a concept about ending (life as we know it) and grind away the tip of the mournsome note. 1/26/18 (Karhu)
Accu§er – The Mastery (Metal Blade Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Time for Silence,” “Mission: Missile”
Adavänt – The Unyielding (Independent) [Folk Metal]
Listen to “Gallows Pass,” “Renegade Ridge”
Agrimonia – Awaken (Southern Lord Recordings) [Sludge/Crust/Punk]
Listen to “Astray”
Aisuragua – In Morte Veritas (Hidden Marly Productions) [Black Metal]
Listen to “In Morte Veritas”
Anguish – Magna est vis Siugnah (High Roller Records) [Doom]
Listen to “Magna est vis Siugnah”
Apophys – Devoratis (Ultimate Massacre Productions) [Tech Death]
Stream
Arden – Shin Gi Tai (Hyperspace) [Heavy Metal]
Preview
The Art of Mankind – Distant Light (Repentless) [Melodic/Tech Death]
Listen to “This Is My Vengeance”
Asterism – The Session Vol.2 (Tokuma Japan Communications) [Instrumental Heavy Metal/Rock]
Listen to “Rising Moon”
Atala – Labyrinth of Ashmedai (Salt of the Earth Records) [Sludge/Doom]
Listen to “Grains of Sand”
Aube Grise – Shale/Arrache-moi (Distant Voices) [Ambient/Black Metal]
Stream
Beldam – Pasung (Horror Pain Gore Death) [Sludge/Doom]
Stream
Bind Torture Kill – Viscères (WOOAAARGH) [Hardcore]
Listen
Blasfemia – Nocturnal Astral Visions (Tribulación Prods) [Black Thrash]
Listen to “Goetia 5th Spirit”
Cist – The Frozen Casket (Metal Race Records) [Death Thrash]
Preview
The Creatures from the Tomb – The Terryfying Menace (Rotten Roll Rex) [Goregrind/Brutal Death]
Stream
Crossfaith – Wipeout (Sony Records) [Metalcore/Electronic]
Preview
Death Denied – A Prayer to the Carrion Kind (Independent) [Hard Rock]
Listen to “Black Orchid”
Embrace the Maddness – The Hellwish Chronicles (Independent) [Dissonant Death]
Stream
Enemynside – Dead Nation Army (Independent) [Thrash]
Preview
Faal – Desolate Grief (Ván Records) [Death/Doom]
Preview
Fallen Utopia – Disequilibrium (Cursed Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Mind Cage”
Giver – Where The Cycle Breaks (Holy Roar) [Hardcore]
Listen
Godwatt – Necropolis (Jolly Roger Records) [Stoner Doom]
Listen
Grethor – Damnatio Memoriae (Edgewood Arsenal) [Black/Death Metal]
Listen
Hooded Menace – Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed (Season of Mist) [Death/Doom]
Listen to “In Eerie Deliverance,” “Charnel Reflections”
In Vain – Currents (Indie Recordings) [Prog Death]
Listen to “Seekers of the Truth”
Loudness – Rise to Glory (earMusic/Sheer Sound) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “I’m Still Alive”
Machine Head – Catharsis (Nuclear Blast Records) [lolbuttz]
Listen to “Kaleidoscope,” “Bastards,” “Love?” (Strapping Young Lad cover)
Mammoth Grinder – Cosmic Crypt (Relapse Records) [Death Metal/D-Beat]
Listen to “Servant of the Most High,” “Superior Firepower”
Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins – Pawn and Prophecy (Frontiers Music) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Avengers of Eden”
Monolithe – Nebula Septem (Les Acteurs de L’Ombre Productions) [Death/Doom]
Listen
Ocean of Grief – Nightfall’s Lament (Naturmacht Productions) [Death Doom]
Listen
Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs (Century Media Records) [Prog/Folk Metal]
Listen to “Like Orpheus”
Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals – Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue (Season of Mist) [Sludge]
Listen to “Choosing Mental Illness,” “The Ignorant Point”
The Poodles – Prisma (Gain Music Entertainment) [Hard Rock]
FUCKING FURRIES
Portal – ION (Profound Lore Records) [Weird Death Metal]
Listen to “Phreqs,” “Phathom”
Powerstroke – Omissa (Bret Hard Records) [lolbuttz]
Preview
Rapture – Paroxysm of Hatred (Memento Mori Records) [Thrash]
Listen to “Thriving on Atrocity”
Rebellion – A Tragedy in Steel Part II: Shakespeare’s King Lear (Massacre Records) [Heavy Metal]
Listen to “A Fool’s Tale”
River of Souls – The Nihilist (Independent) [Death/Doom]
Listen to “Unmanifest”
Rotheads – Sewer Fiends (Memento Mori Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Sewer Fiends,” “Rats in the Walls”
Spirytus – Silence of the Raven (Independent) [Power Metal]
Preview
Storm of Particles – Gaea Hypothesis (Independent) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Of Ice and Hopeless Fate”
Taken by the Tide – Revenge (Independent) [Metalcore]
Tribulation – Down Below (Century Media Records) [Blackish Metal]
Listen to “The Lament”
Vardan – Nostalgia – Archive of Failures – Part IV (Moribund Records) [Black Metal]
Listen to “IX”
Vantablack Warship – Abrasive Pulmonic Speak (Independent) [Death Thrash]
Preview
Victorius – Dinosaur Warfare – Legend of the Power Saurus (Massacre Records) [Power Metal]
Listen to “Laser Tooth Tiger”
Vinide – Reveal (Inverse Records) [Power Metal]
Listen to “The Beginning Scene”
Did we forget a new release? Is there a way we could improve this list? Let us know in the comments below!
(Images VIA, VIA, VIA, VIA, VIA)
