This Toilet Tuesday (4/11/17)
Welcome once more to This Toilet Tuesday! I was going to make an analogy about music springing up like flowers, but it just snowed up here and all our vegetation is dead again. Oh well. In any case, the music keeps coming and shows no signs of slowing down. We picked a few we think you should check out, but there’s plenty more below. Let us know what’s good in the comments!
Lich King – The Omniclasm (Independent) [Thrash]
Listen
Like Havok, but good. 4/14/17 (Spear)
…Okay, I suppose I should elaborate. I imagine a lot of you are already familiar with Lich King; if not, it’s basically the sort of thing that pizza thrash bands aspire to be, with better riffs and lyrics expressing something more than love for beer and general undirected discontentment. The band isn’t afraid to get political and level criticism towards their scene, and while it’s a bit on the nose, it’s not cringe-inducing (as the aforementioned band’s last output). Besides, subtlety has never been the hallmark of thrash. If nothing else, “Preschool Cesspool” successfully filled me with both the fear of surrendering my life to the care of potential offspring and the instinctual dread of never contributing to the gene pool. Thanks for that, Lich King!
Arc of Ascent – Realms of the Metaphysical (Independent) [Doom]
Stream
Arc of Ascent are a three-piece hailing from New Zealand, dealing in Sleepesque psychedelic stoner doom. They return with their third album, Realms of the Metaphysical, vividly mixing thunderous riffs with cosmic melodies. “Set the Planets Free” sets up the spaced-out feel nicely and “Eye of Sages” serves up a blazing outro, but it’s the album’s second half which holds the highlights. “In the Light” and “Benediction Moon” show the heavier, Black Sabbath influences, before “Temple Stone” builds from trippy interludes, into a swirling, murky tour of the cosmos that places Arc of Ascent in a realm worth drifting through. 4/9/17 (Ellipsis)
All Hell – The Grave Alchemist (Prosthetic Records) [Black Thrash/Punk]
Listen
I’m not gonna lie, half the reason I clicked play on this was because that cover art makes me want to strap on my vampire hunting boots and throw down with the Dragon’s Son. It turns out The Grave Alchemist would actually make a good soundtrack for that, too. All Hell convincingly play the part of a first-wave black metal act, fitting right alongside Venom and middle-years Darkthrone in terms of rollicking, headbanging fun. The three songs posted are undeniably catchy, and I’ll be returning for more when the album comes out on Friday. 4/14/17 (Spear)
Nihilation – A Misanthrope’s Guide to the Planet (Independent) [Progressive Black Metal]
Listen to “The Raven”
A Misanthrope’s Guide to the Planet is the upcoming debut album from German black/death metal newcomers Nihilation. I’ve heard 2 tracks directly from Misanthrope’s Guide, and a couple tracks from the 2015 demo, which have since been re-recorded and will comprise half of the full-length album’s 6 tracks. Nihilation are at once progressive but also very accessible, with a mid-paced, melancholy sound I would call “blackened melodeath” making up the backbone of their songs. Nihilation strikes a weary, downtrodden pace, sometimes giving way to blackened blasts of frustration. Most interestingly, however, is that the songs tend to shift into a more straight prog-rock direction at times, such as in the track “The Raven.” The guitars suddenly calm down a bit and give the bass some extra room as the entire band finds a surprisingly pleasant groove before layering a mournful guitar solo on top of things to bring the mood back down. It feels as if the tone of the album is that of fighting a losing battle, the futility of which you are fully aware, yet you persevere anyway, but whether from spite, hope, or both is hard to discern. To sum things up, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve heard, and get a bit of a classic melodeath vibe (the melancholy variety, specifically), as well as some riffs and tones that remind me slightly of Horrendous. 4/15/17 (DumpsterLung)
Alphoenix – Final Crusades (Walküre Records) [Melodeath]
Listen to “Foreshadow,” “Tragic Night Falls”
Altar of Betelgeuze – Among the Ruins (Transcending Obscurity) [Doom]
Listen
Armoured Knight – Ashes of Glory (Black Steel-Evil Command) [Speed/Power Metal]
Listen to “Ashes of Glory”
Bleak Flesh – Overcoming Reality (Independent) [Tech Death]
Listen to “Overcoming Reality”
Blood Feast – The Future State of Wicked (Hells Headbangers) [Thrash]
Listen to “INRI,” “Off With Their Heads”
Cloud Rat / Moloch – Cloud Rat / Moloch (split- Halo of Flies) [Grind/Sludge]
Stream
Corroded – Defcon Zero (Despotz Records) [GETCHA PULL]
Listen to “Fall of a Nation”
Cruel – Entelecheia (Independent) [Power Metal]
Preview
DeathAwaits – Solve Coagula (Sliptrick Records) [Death/Thrash]
Listen to “Brainless”
Decemberance – Conceiving Hell (Endless Winter) [Death/Doom]
Stream
Defleshed and Gutted – The Prophecy in the Entrails (Lord of the Sick Recordings) [*Incomprehensible gurgling noises*]
Listen to “2 Dead 1 Missing,” “Prophetic Entrails”
Desmoterion – D.T.N. (Independent) [Crossover Thrash]
Listen to “Matanza”
Dynfari – The Four Doors of the Mind (Aural Music) [Post-Black Metal]
Listen to “Sorgarefni segi eg þér”
Epi-Demic – Malformed Conscience (Horror Pain Gore Death) [Thrash]
Listen to “Losing Time”
Exploded – You are Already Dead (Independent) [Thrash]
Preview
Fractal Universe – Engram of Decline (Kolony Records) [Prog/Tech Death]
Listen to “Sons of Ignorance”
Funeralium – Of Throes and Blight (Weird Truth Productions) [Funeral Doom]
Listen to “Slowly We Crawl Towards the Crumb”
Funeral Tears – Beyond the Horizon (Satanath Records) [Funeral Doom]
Listen to “Breathe”
Gloomed – Initial Offering (Independent) [Doom]
Stream
Graveyard of Souls – Pequeños fragmentos de tiempo congelado (Endless Winter) [Death/Doom]
Listen to “Cementerio De Ilusiones”
Hellripper – Coagulating Darkness (Independent) [Black/Speed Metal]
Listen
Hellwell – Behind the Demon’s Eyes (High Roller Records) [Doom]
Listen to “To Serve Man”
Hexer – Cosmic Doom Ritual (Vendetta Records) [Doom]
Preview
Hexis – Tando Ashanti (Halo of Flies/Init/Alerta Antifacista) [Black Metal/Hardcore]
Stream
Inchiuvatu – Via Lucis (Inch Productions) [Black/Folk Metal, allegedly]
Jupiterian – Archaic: Process of Fossilization (Cold Art Industry) [Sludge/Doom]
Stream
L’Ira del Baccano – Paradox Hourglass (Subsound Records) [Doom]
Lacerta – Lacerta (CDN Records) [Progressive Death Metal]
Listen to “Pillars of Deceit”
Like Desolate Like True – Dance With Me For The Last Time (Independent) [DSBM]
Listen to “Dance With Me For The Last Time”
Longhouse – II: Vanishing (Independent) [Sludgy Doom]
Listen to “The Vigil”
Marthyrium – Beyond the Thresholds (BlackSeed Productions) [Black/Death Metal]
Listen to “Abominations”
Mortuary Ancestor – Mortuary Ancestor (Earblast Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Occult and Mysticism”
Naudiz – Wulfasa Kunja (Iron Bonehead Productions) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Garmr”
Necrowretch – Satanic Slavery (Season of Mist) [Blackened Death Metal]
Listen
Nightbringer – Terra Damnata (Season of Mist) [Black Metal]
Listen to “Misrule,” “Serpent Sun”
Novembers Doom – Hamartia (The End Records) [Death/Doom]
Listen to “Plague Bird,” “Zephyr”
Of Fire – Death Do Us All (Independent) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Scavengers”
Oranssi Pazuzu – Farmakologinen (20 Buck Spin) [Weird Black Metal]
Stream
Sailing to Nowhere – Lost in Time (Underground Symphony) [Power Metal]
Shores of Null – Black Drapes for Tomorrow (Candlelight/Spinefarm) [Death/Doom]
Tygers of Pan Tang – Never Give In (Mighty Music) [Heavy Metal/Hard Rock]
Listen to “Glad Rags”
Valgrind – Seal of Phobos (Everlasting Spew Records) [Death Metal]
Listen to “Ekphora’s Day”
Valiant – A Moribund Destiny (Independent) [Atmospheric Black Metal]
Listen to “Last Rain”
Varg – Götterdämmerung (Napalm Records) [Melodeath]
Widows – Oh Deer God (UMC Recordings) [Doom]
Did we forget a new release? Is there a way we could improve this list? Let us know in the comments below!
