(Andy Synn continues to play catch-up with everything he missed this month)
Oddly, but pleasingly, one thing which has come up a few times over the last few weeks is how much many people – from our regular readers to the bands we cover to various people in the industry – appreciate what we do here as, and I quote, a more “curated” experience than what some of the larger and more (in)famous sites provide.
And while I don’t disagree with this, it does slightly overestimate things… after all (and I hope I’m not giving away any trade secrets here) there’s definitely a degree of randomness (you might even call it “chaos”) to what we do here, since we only cover the things we like and which catch our ear(s) – regardless of any external pressures or inducements – each month.
Sure, sometimes there’s a bit of forward planning involved, but what you see and what you get here is most often the result of a spontaneous reaction to new music… which, I suppose, is how we like it!
ABYSSAL VACUUM – ABYSSAL VACUUM
If you’re looking for some truly immersive – to the point where it feels like you’re being submerged in the freezing, pitch-black depths – Black Metal, then France’s Abyssal Vacuum are the band for you.
Comprising six songs, the group’s self-titled debut album inundates your ears with just under 39 minutes of tumultuous blastbeats and chilling tremolo melodies, morbid vocals and mesmerising rhythms, which surge and swell, roll and heave, with colossal, elemental force.
And while the hauntingly hypnotic nature of the music means it’s not a huge surprise to learn that Abyssal Vacuum contains two members of Dysylumn – with whom they share a certain sense of dark, oppressive atmosphere, no question – the focus, the shadowy ambience, is on the claustrophobic pressure found in the darkest depths of the earth (each of the album’s song titles appears to identify a different cave system around the world) rather than the vast, unfathomable depths of space.
To cultivate this the band employ an intriguing variety of blackened elements – marrying dense, doomy chord progressions and eerie, echoing melody lines with grim, grinding riffs and raw, punishing drum work, all underpinned by an asphyxiating (and thematically appropriate) atmospheric undercurrent – which combine the ferocity of the French scene with the disturbing dissonance of their Icelandic brethren, resulting in an album that should appeal just as much to fans of Blut Aus Nord as Sinmara while also establishing Abyssal Vacuum as a band to watch very closely going forwards.
AGE OF APOCALYPSE – IN OBLIVION
One thing I’ve never fully understood… and likely never will… is what makes one band or another “break out” while others remain resolutely (or relatively) underground.
Case in point, while the likes of Knocked Loose and Turnstile have been hitting the big time recently Age of Apocalypse have yet to achieve the same level of exposure or recognition.
Now, obviously, part of this might just be that AoA haven’t been going quite as long – In Oblivion is only their second album, after all – but it’s still slightly frustrating to see them not getting as much attention as their peers, especially since their sound (which owes as much to the likes of Only Living Witness and early Life of Agony as it does to Integrity and Ignite) is pretty much tailor-made for crossover success.
Combining hefty, hard-hitting riffs and hammering breakdowns with melancholy melodic hooks and a blend of crooning cleans and visceral harsh vocals, tracks like the moody “Maximum Suffering” (which also incorporates some sombre acoustic guitar work) and the aggressively energetic “Gilded Hatred” deliver a gritty gut punch of heavyweight Hardcore and mournful melody that’s as emotionally intense as it is musically impactful.
But while this isn’t entirely new for the band (their 2022 debut was an impressive slab of metallic/melodic Hardcore in its own right) there’s definitely a sense that they’ve further refined and bolstered the best parts of their sound this time around, allowing them to inject In Oblivion with a greater amount of variety – from the stomping, soaring strains of “In Oblivion” and the razor-sharp riffage of “Impulse” to the beatdown-heavy brutality of “Snake Oil God” and the pseudo-Death Metal influenced pounding of “Symbol of Mourning” – while still maintaining (and strengthening) their signature sonic identity.
ARV – CURSE & COURAGE
I’ve always said that there are, in essence, two distinct types of “Post Metal” bands… one that traces its lineage back to Post-Rock, the other that was born from the Hardcore scene.
And, let me tell you, Norwegian quintet ARV are definitely the latter type, as epitomised by the ferocious opening of “Judgement”, the first track on their debut album Curse & Courage, which breathes fire and fury right from the start… only to then slowly develop a sense of moody restraint as the song progresses, resulting in a sound that sits somewhere between early Cult of Luna and latter-day Shai Hulud.
Similarly the blend of spiky riffs, rapid-fire drum work, and melancholy melody which makes up “Forsaken” straddles that same Hardcore/Post-Metal divide, as do the heavy rhythms and heart-wrenching emotions of the Giver-esque “Neglect” (a personal favourite of mine, for obvious reasons), while the gloomy strains of “Wrath” err much more towards the more atmospheric, post-metallic end of the spectrum (with the more aggressive and riff-driven “Victim” – another favourite – then pulling the album’s sound back across towards the more Hardcore-influenced side of the divide).
Sure, there’s probably room for the band to expand their songwriting and imbue their sound with some more definitive hooks to help their music stand out even more, but considering that the album ends with two of its strongest cuts – the broodingly belligerent “Failure” and the simmering slow-burn of “Curse & Courage” – which more intricately and intimately blend the two sides of their sound into an even more cohesive (and compelling) entity, chances are that this is the beginning of something very good indeed for ARV (and for the rest of us too).
UNBIRTH – ASOMATOUS BESMIRCHMENT
While Italy has been a hotbed for the Brutal/Tech side of Death Metal for some time now (we all know the big names, right?) Modena-based mutilators Unbirth have never quite received the same amount of attention or acclaim.
And although that’s not likely to change any time soon – mostly due to the fact that the band remain that little bit gnarlier and uglier on Asomatous Besmirchment than their more popular peers – hopefully this little review will go some way towards making up the difference and give them the profile boost they deserve.
After all, while songs like “Unresilient Congeries of Affliction” and “Insufflating Lambdacism” blast and bludgeon with a sense of murderous intensity reminiscent of Deeds of Flesh at their most punishing and Dying Fetus at their most pre-meditated, there are also multiple moments of gruelling, riff-tastic groove – especially during the likes of “Heimarmeneic Debacle”, “Ingeminate Acridity”, and the record’s crushing climax “Solemn Amphibology” – which recall the barbed, brutish hookiness of Decapitated and/or Dyscarnate at their best.
Heck, there’s even… whisper it… a dash of dark melody to be found during songs such as “Granfalloon” and “Pantagruelian Overlap”, which serves to expand the band’s creative palette (though not, it needs stating, for the first time) beyond the brutalist basics without neutering the inherent nastiness of their sound.
That’s not to say that Asomatous Besmirchment necessarily breaks the mould in any way – nor, might I add, does it seem to set out to – but it definitely delivers a serious sonic beating that’s guaranteed to leave you with at least a few lasting bruises to remember it by!