THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

(Andy Synn takes yet another look back at what May had to offer us)

For anyone keeping count… yes, this is the third edition of “Things You May Have Missed” that I’ve done in a week, which is a testament to just how much stuff I missed last month while I was busy shirking my blogging responsibilities.

Hell, the truth is there’s more than enough artists/albums left over on the proverbial cutting-room floor – Escarnium and Eschaton, Orphaned and Obsidian Tongue, Morgu and Mayon, etc – to make up at least one more of these articles too (if only I had the time).

ANZV – KUR

It’s always nice to see a band taking great leaps and strides between albums, and it’s particularly nice to see it with the new album from Portuguese blackened spiritualists ANZV.

Possessing a sound which sits somewhere between the hypnotic rhythms of Mgła and the hooky riffs of Necrophobic – take a listen to the mesmerisingly melodic “Alû” or the grandiose grooves of “Etemananki” for evidence if you don’t believe me – coupled with an occasional dash of esoteric mysticism (and atmospheric melody) reminiscent of Cult of Fire or Schammasch (particularly when they unleash some epic clean/choral vocal passages at key moments), Kur isn’t your prototypical Black Metal album, even as it draws heavily on the rich traditions of the genre.

And while there’s still room for the band to develop and push themselves even further – especially when it comes to expanding the signature Sumerian melodies and atmospheric embellishments which make tracks like “Imdugud”, “Shamash”, and “Namtaru” such majestic stand-outs – there’s no doubt at all that Kur represents the ascension of ANZV to a whole new level, with the mythological melodies of “Sahar” and “Edimmu” (two more of the album’s hookiest and most heroic highlights) and the sublime drumwork underpinning every track all being deserving of special praise in their own right.

EUDAEMON – SPIRITUAL ANGUISH

Sticking with a more “blackened” theme – but adding in a hefty helping of Prog, Post Rock, and Screamo elements/influences – the second album from Minneapolis quartet Eudaemon is definitely not one for the “purists”, but those with an open mind and an appreciation for the sincere expression of earnest emotions will absolutely want to give it a listen.

In particular, fans of bands like Agalloch and Amiensus will certainly enjoy the undulating ebb and flow between calm and catharsis that is opener “Karst” (which also showcases the more intricate, and decidely un-kvlt, instrumental abilities of the group), the thrilling juxtaposition of seething aggression and soothing ambience of “Empty Hallways”, and the buoyant blend of clean-singing and raw screaming that makes up “Basalt”, while those who fell for the (somewhat excessive) hype around Agriculture will likely fall just as hard for the gleaming chords and glimmering tremolo lines of “Possession Audition” and “Silt”.

And while these triple-A comparisons indicate that Eudaemon perhaps haven’t quite stepped outside/beyond the shadow of their peers and/or influences, there are certainly moments here – especially during artfully ambitious twelve minute closer “In Mirrors”, which finds the band fully embracing their Prog and Post Rock inspirations without compromising the blackened intensity driving their music – which suggest that the band have yet to achieve their final form (something which I am very much looking forward to seeing/hearing).

JADE – MYSTERIES OF A FLOWERY DREAM

As much as everyone (understandably) loved The Pacification of Death, the debut album from Spanish death-dealers Jade, I must admit that it still felt like there was a little something missing… or, at the very least, a little more room for the band to properly grow into themselves… to my ears.

Well, lo and behold, Mysteries of a Flowery Dream finds the band confidently taking that next step to deliver an even more captivating and fully-formed record which marries their signature sound, one that manages to be simultaneously both classic and current – part early Anathema, part latter-day Sulphur Aeon – to an even stronger and more engaging sense of songwriting and structure.

Simultaneously unafraid of the sombre slow-burn (scene-setting opener “The Stars’ Shelter” is an elegant exercise in both patience and power) or the instant energetic explosion (the closing title-track practically bursts out of the speakers like a sonic supernova), the band are careful not to force things but instead to let each track develop as organically and fluidly as possible (with evocatively heavy-yet-haunting eight minute stand-out “Shores of Otherness” being perhaps the best example of this) resulting in a record whose immersive ebb and flow is pretty much impossible to resist.

Couple this with the group’s unabashed love of majestic, mournfully melodic leads – marrying the delicate despair of Paradise Lost to the bleak, blackened beauty of Dissection (definitely give “Light’s Blood” a listen) – and you’re left with an album that, once you’ve started listening, you won’t want to stop playing until it’s done.

WEEPING SORES – THE CONVALESCENCE AGONIES

They say that good things come to those who wait… and, boy, have we been waiting for quite some time (almost six years) for the new album from Weeping Sores.

Thankfully, however, the band’s long-gestating second album proves to be more than worth it immediately, with the churning heaviness and proggy passages of “Arctic Summer” quickly have lost none of their distinctive gift for mixing and matching ideas and elements from across the musical spectrum.

Indeed, while Weeping Sores are often simply (overly simply, in my estimation) tagged as “Death/Doom”, the truth (as made so abundantly clear throughout The Convalescence Agonies, but most especially in the case of disturbingly dark, discordantly melodic title-track) is that theirs is a sound which defies easy categorisation, incorporating aspects of Sludge, Prog, Post, and Black Metal – plus some intriguingly non-metallic instrumentation, including cello, banjo, and layers of cunningly proggy keyboards – into a metallic melange that doesn’t sound exactly like anyone else (though faint comparisons to the likes of Inter Arma and Cobalt can occasionally be made/heard), even as it pulls in influences from so many different places.

But don’t just take my word for it, go check out the blackened chuggery and mangled dissonance of “Sprawl in the City of Sorrow” or the sludgy slither and deathly stomp of “Pleading for the Scythe” (a personal favourite of mine) for yourselves!