THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

(Andy Synn has a few words to share about four albums from last month you may have overlooked)

Here we are… one month into the new year… and we’ve already fallen behind.

Of course, that’s nothing new. As I’ve said before (several times, in fact) it’s impossible for any site, let alone any individual writer, to keep up with everything that’s released week after week (which is one reason I don’t trust anyone who claims that they’ve somehow listened to literally hundreds of albums every month – they may have heard them, but I doubt they really listened to them the way they deserve), so even at this early stage it’s no surprise that there’s so many artists and albums we haven’t been able to write about.

To be quite honest though, this is less and less of an issues these days – simply by accepting the fact that there’s always going to be stuff we’re not going to be able to cover, while also acknowledging that we’re definitely going to be featuring some stuff here that other places, and other people, won’t cover, we’ve gotten over our fear of missing out and embraced the idea that our value comes not from covering everything but from providing an interesting and distinct perspective of our own on what we do write about.

So, with that in mind, here’s four artists/albums from January – some of which you may already have been aware of, some of which you may not – that we (or, at least, I) felt compelled to pen a few extra words about so that they didn’t get overlooked following what was, after all, a very packed month of new releases!

KALT VINDUR – MAGNA MATER

Polish “Progressive Black Metal” band Kalt Vindur are a new discovery for me, despite having two previous albums before this one (which makes them potential future candidates for The Synn Report, no?) but one which I am definitely going to keep going back to in 2024, such is the strength of their new album, Magna Mater.

Take the title track, for example, which combines a subdued sense of sombre atmosphere with some imposingly powerful (and impressively hooky) riffs, as well as some incredibly catchy lead parts and a plethora of moody acoustic passages, all woven together into just over seven-and-a-half minutes of creative, cathartic Black Metal reminiscent, in parts, of the very best of bands like Beltez, Panzerfaust, and Gaerea.

That’s not just name-dropping though – it’s an acknowledgement of just how good the songs on Magna Mater are (let’s not forget that the aforementioned bands have each been responsible for some of the best Black Metal records of recent years), from the intense-yet-intricate drum-work and gloomy grandeur of “Żywioły” to the mesmerising doom ‘n’ gloom of “Bless Us” and the restrained, focussed fury of “Visions of Purification”.

And while the group’s technical talents are clearly undeniable – including, but not limited to, the scintillating sticksmanship of new drummer Rafał Chruścicki and the razor-sharp, shape-shifting guitars of axe-men Artur Szydło and Marcin Borula – it’s the strength of their songwriting which really makes Magna Mater such an early stand-out this year, especially the way the band incorporate such elaborate, engrossing acoustic guitar work alongside some truly epic extremity (and don’t forget to check out the lyrics as well, which add a whole other layer of grim gravitas to the record).

So don’t be surprised if you see this on more than a few End of Year lists in about 11-12 months time – not only does it immediately start strong it then just keeps on getting better and better… not just track-by-track but on each and every subsequent listen, as more and more of the music’s insidious secrets are revealed.

MADDER MORTEM – OLD EYES, NEW HEART

If you’re not familiar with Madder Mortem… well, this is as good a jumping on point as any I suppose!

Now, while some of the band’s fans have been divided over which is better, their earlier, more overtly “doomy” era or their more recent, proggier period (personally I tend to lean more towards the latter, especially considering the fact that 2018’s Marrow was one of the best albums of the year), there’s a good chance that both factions will be pleased by what they hear on the oh-so-appropriately titled Old Eyes, New Heart.

From the grim grandeur and heaving guitars of opener “Coming From the Dark” (which swiftly showcases both the endlessly captivating vocals of Agnete Kirkevaag and the punchy, heavyweight riffage of BP Kirkevaag and Anders Langberg) and the moody melancholy of “On Guard”, to the pulsing, proggy grooves of “Towers” and the bleak, reflective beauty of closer “Long Road” Old Eyes, New Heart weaves together an evocative arrangement of influences and elements – some Doom, some Prog, maybe even a little Goth, a little Black Metal, and even some Nu-Metal too – into something that should be instantly and undeniably recognisable to anyone who has ever been a fan of the band.

Even better… those aren’t even the best tracks on the album (though both “Coming From the Dark” and “Towers” are definitely up there) as killer cuts like early highlight “The Head That Wears the Crown”, with its utterly irresistible hooks and vibrant vocal interplay, the sublime slow-burn of “Here and Now” (whose climactic refrain of “And then my heart will break!” has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it), and the titanic riffs and pounding rhythms of “Things I’ll Never Do”, are currently some of my favourite songs of the year so far.

So if you’re a fan of the likes of Disillusion, In The Woods, and Oceans of Slumber… but have never experienced the magic of Madder Mortem before now… then this is your chance to finally discover one of the finest, and unfairly underrated, Progressive Metal bands out there.

SOVEREIGN – ALTERED REALITIES

Sovereign may be a new band, relatively speaking, but their sound – at least on first listen – is decidedly retro.

And yet, as much as it’s a knowing throwback to that late 80s/early 90s period when the line between Thrash and Death Metal was first beginning to blur as bands rooted in the former began to push the more extreme and technical envelopes – think bands like Nocturnus, Pestilence, Death and their ilk – it’s also a strikingly progressive album as well, one which takes these familiar, nay seminal, sounds and twists them into a series of unorthodox and unpredictable new forms.

The contorted riffs and cantankerous rhythms of songs like “Altered Realities” and the tumultuous (and terrifyingly tight) tempo shifts of “The Enigma of Intelligence” – both of which also incorporate some sinister sci-fi keys that help set the morbid mood even more – demonstrate the band’s impressive ability to take what is old and make it sound new again by pushing those proto-Prog and pre-Tech angles just that little bit further in a manner reminiscent of the likes similarly modern Prog-Thrashers like Cryptic Shift and Execration (with whom, as it happens, Sovereign also share a drummer).

That’s not to say that Sovereign aren’t capable – or willing – to just put the pedal to the metal and thrash like a maniac by any means, as the frantic “Futile Dreams”, the hammering “Nebular Waves”, and punishing penultimate track “Synthetic Life” each demonstrate in devastating, deathly fashion, but it’s the complex coils and labyrinthine layers of titanic ten-minute closer “Absence of Unity” (whose tangled technicality and strangled fury build to a truly massive crescendo) which really shows you what Sovereign are capable of… and hints at just how much more they might be capable of in the future.

UNDERNEATH – FROM THE GUT OF GAIA

There’s been a big trend in recent years (too big, some might say) for Hardcore-influenced Death Metal bands. But there’s also been an equal and opposite reaction of several bands playing an increasingly Death Metal-influenced form of Hardcore too (sure you can call it “Deathcore” if you like, but only if you’re using it in the sense of proto-Deathcore bands like Merauder, Embodyment, etc).

Sure, maybe it’s a distinction without a difference in some cases (and I’d forgive you for not knowing the difference during a monstrous track like “Stochastic Terror”) but chances are that Pittsburgh-based punishers Underneath would probably still refer to themselves as a Hardcore band at heart, even if the rampant riffs, blazing blastbeats, and bone-grinding brutality could give most Death Metal, Deathcore, or Grindcore bands a real run for their money.

Picking up right where their previous EP, last year’s similarly savage Nothing Here Is Held Sacred (which, sadly, I discovered just too late to feature in my end-of-year EPs list), songs such as menacing opener “Big Blue” and the utterly unforgiving strains of “The Second Great Dying” (whose blasting fury and gargantuan, bludgeoning guitars make it one of the heaviest things I’ve heard so far this year), and the primal ground ‘n’ pound of “Disguster” effortlessly establish Underneath as one of the gnarliest, nastiest, and downright ugliest bands in Hardcore/Deathcore

Yet there’s also a cruel and cunning method to the band’s monstrous sound, with eerie passages of apocalyptic ambience and disturbing dissonance adding to the overarching and ever-present atmosphere of dread and despair, which culminates, ultimately, in the cataclysmic closing title-track, whose ferocious fifteen-minute run-time could easily serve as the soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it.