(written by Islander)
I’ve decided to “cheat” again, by which I mean that I’ve come across a pair of new black metal albums and a new EP thatI want to recommend but don’t have time enough to write proper reviews, and so I’m just focusing on one song per record. Given my time constraints, the alternative would be to write nothing about them now and hope that I could do something more fulsome on a future day. However, I’ve had hopes like that dashed too many times to put much stock in them.
But before we get to the EP and the albums, I have a trio of singlesthat I think will also be worth your time.
NΩX (France)
The first single is from a new project named NΩX created by Vindsval, the mastermind of Blut Aus Nord. In introducing NΩX and the single he provided the following statement:
We are proud to present “T.S / Testimonium XII – Somniatoris Damnati“, the first track unveiled from Stases, the debut album by the entity NΩX and the opening chapter of a new musical adventure … an incursion into territories where sonic matter distorts and decays, reaching its most extreme and sinister frontiers. NΩX was born of this necessity: to push the exploration of the abyss ever further, to probe the most inhospitable strata of sound, and to give form to that which lies dormant in the most obscure recesses of our musical universe.
We are fully aware that many will question the decision not to release this music under the name BLUT AUS NORD, given the unmistakable lineage. The answer is simple: this is not our intention. BLUT AUS NORD’s short- and medium-term plans are taking an entirely different direction. Nevertheless, NΩX is inextricably linked to BLUT AUS NORD: it is a genuine offshoot, taking shape through its most obscure echoes…it is this unfathomable abyss that we intend to explore through Stases.
MoRT, Deus Salutis Meæ and Nahab are the dark foundations upon which the discography of NΩX will be erected…
Occult Audio Research.
As you probably know, those “dark foundations” identified in the quote are Blut Aus Nord albums released in 2006, 2017, and 2023, respectively. Where Vindsval takes BaN from here will undoubtedly be interesting to discover.
As for “T.S. / Testimonium XII – Somniatoris Damnati“, the music intriguingly glitters, unnervingly screams, and then suddenly explodes, rushing toward the abyss with the speed and detonating power of a rocket. Weirdly wailing tones unnervingly writhe and throb above the thundering rhythms as Vindsval ejects the words in beastly growls and crazed screams.
When the drums shift into a quasi-industrial groove those throbbing tones descend and seem to moan, creating a feeling of illness in the midst of an aural miasma that shivers and shines. When this tones elevate again, they sound like a distorted trombone given over to expressions of wretchedness.
The overall effect, even with the drums hammering again, is hallucinatory, and the vocals sound psychotically malignant. The music becomes even more hallucinatory and frightening in its closing phase. It is a striking and even startling song, vicious and macabre and not easily forgotten.
“T.S. / Testimonium XII – Somniatoris Damnati” is the only single that will be revealed from Stases before the album’s release, which is scheduled by Debemur Morti Productions for December 11th. The horrifying cover art was created by Maciej Kamuda. Debemur Morti states that “[a]ll music was composed, recorded and mixed by Vindsval, and mastering was entrusted to Bruno Varea at Upload Studio.”
https://blutausnord.bandcamp.com/album/stases
https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/news/1161_nox-reveal-album-details.html
https://www.facebook.com/Vindsval.official/
BLESSER (Germany)
The next single is the first one released from Verdant Ashes, a debut album by the German post-black metal quintet Blesser, who announced their presence earlier this year through a demo version of a song called “Lunarian“.
This startling new single, “Where Nothing Grows“, hits like a firestorm, creating a breathtaking sonic blast-front through a union of furious drum thunder, feverish but agile bass lines, maniacally roiling riffage, and utterly unhinged screams.
The guitars also blare like warped warning sirens, frantically shiver, and expand in tidal flows of wailing desolation, while the drums continually shift into changing patterns and spit rapid-fire fills.
Vocalist Cheyenne Vivian’s screams are truly shattering in their intensity, but she shifts too as the pace eventually slows and the music becomes more hallucinatory and unsettling, dropping down-range and voicing the words in dismal, haunting tones.
I’ll add that the song’s evocative lyrics, which are disturbing and grim, are worth reading, and you can see them here.
Verdant Ashes will be released on November 27th, preceded by an exclusive album premiere at Everything Is Noise on November 26th. The band recommend the album for fans of Downfall of Gaia, Oathbreaker, and Der Weg einer Freiheit. The very cool cover art is the work of Sulphuris Illustration.
https://blessermusic.bandcamp.com/album/verdant-ashes
https://linktr.ee/blessermusic
https://www.instagram.com/blessertheband/
DESPIRITUALIZED (Netherlands)
The third single I have for you today is the title song to Compassion, which is the debut album of the Dutch solo black metal project Despiritualized. At Bandcamp its creator (Evio) previews the music as consisting of “four tracks of droning, atmospheric black metal, driven by pulsating bass and expressive, varied vocals, exploring the necessity and complexity of genuine human connection in times of indifference and oppression.”
The word “droning” may be interpreted the wrong way by some people. Rest assured, there’s nothing monotonous or numbing about this first single from Compassion. It surges with the beat of galloping hooves and drenches the listener in high seas of shining melody. It is true, however, that a vividly pulsating bass plays the lead instrumental role throughout the song, and it’s a warm and wonderful presence.
Along with those ingredients, Evio provides both raging screams and trilling lead-guitar melodies whose high-flying notes are both beautiful and anxious. Eventually the drums settle into a steadier beat and those wondrous stratospheric tones change as well, seeming to shiver and pulsate — and at that point the very nimble-fingered bass performance really steps to the front of the stage.
I suppose the term “droning” is a way of describing the drenching magnificence of what’s happening in the song’s upper reaches from start to finish, which provides a canopy of lights behind the liveliness of the bass and all the pulse-pounding beats. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this song (repeatedly) and hope you will too.
Compassion (the album) will be released on November 27th.
https://despiritualized.bandcamp.com/album/compassion
RAAT (India)
We’ve been consistently covering the music of Raat, one of the musical vehicles of Delhi-based Sushant Rawat, for many years. Raat’s most recent release, which emerged last week, is a four-song EP named Paradise of Wildernesses.
The one song I’ll focus on (in an effort to lure you into the rest of them) is the opener, “Echoes“. For this one Raat drives the drums flat out and sears listeners with rushing walls of fire-bright sound and scorching screams. Blast-beats give way to steady snaps and double-kick thunder, and the dense, rapidly vibrating guitars begin to sound more tormented, and even anguished though their tone remains acetylene-bright and searing.
But Raat’s songs don’t often stay in just one lane, and in this one the artist brings in high-pitched peals, rasping crashes, and slowly writhing expressions of seeming agony. Moreover, when the song’s harrowing intensity suddenly subsides the music rings and glimmers, almost pastoral in its mood, accompanied by wisps of strange singing.
When the song explodes again, the sound is sweeping and submerging. There, as well as before, the dynamism of the bass- and drum-work stands out, though the vocals are still cauterizing.
If you’re familiar with Raat, it won’t be a surprise to learn that the music and the vocals go off in different directions over the course of the next three songs (two of which borrow their lyrics from Percy Bysshe Shelley), and especially during the 9+ minutes of “Shrouded in Lost Tongues“. The closing title song is in some ways more like the opener, though an order of magnitude more magnificent, while the two in between are quite different. I hope you’ll listen to all of them.
https://raat.bandcamp.com/album/paradise-of-wildernesses
https://linktr.ee/raatzone
https://www.facebook.com/raatzone
UNDERDARK (UK)
Now we turn to the first of the two albums I want to recommend today. Evocatively titled O Come Forth Annihilation, it’s the third album by Nottingham-based Underdark, just released on Friday by Church Road Records.
As I sheepishly explained way up above, I’m again only going to focus on one song from the album, and it’s the record’s penultimate song “Non Linear Warfare“.
In a word, the song is tremendous. It seizes attention immediately with enormous bass-level heaviness and rapidly sizzling riffage that’s vicious, viscous, and caustic. As the guitars boil and writhe, vocalist Abi Vasquez howls, roars, and screams with no holds barred.
The drums and that enormous bass bring dynamic changes to the affair, and you’ll begin to notice big blaring throbs in the music that seem to channel resilience, and swirling arpeggios with a brilliant sheen that make the heart swell.
The song also includes a stark digression in which the pace dramatically slows, the volume gets turned way down, and the ringing and humming notes become more gentle and thoughtful. There, the vocals turn to rasping singing (there’s still no peace here).
When the band start turning up the intensity again, led by big tumbling drums, it’s a gripping thing to hear it happen. The music becomes expansive; the soloing is wondrously bright; the drum patterns are electric; the bass vibrates bone marrow; and the vocals may finish stripping the paint from your walls.
Well, the rest of the album is tremendous too, or at least that’s my first impression after one run-through.
https://underdark.bandcamp.com/album/o-come-forth-annihilation
http://www.facebook.com/Underdarkuk
https://www.instagram.com/underdark_uk
SULPHURIC NIGHT (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
And lastly I’ll turn you over to Starving Claws of Despair, a new album by Sulphuric Night that was released through Black Plague Circle on November 2nd. It is the solo endeavor of O., who has a great many other projects on his resume, including Cave Ritual and Deathcircle.
Cheating once again, I’ll focus only on the album’s opening track. All the songs are identified only by Roman numeral, and so this is “I“.
This one charges ahead furiously and blankets the listener in high whining guitars that seem to channel torment and pain in raw terms as they twist and turn. The vocals bespeak torment too, through a mix of deep, gritty growls and ragged, shattering cries. The drums also shift into a more rocking beat and the riffing mutates into a grim and menacing throb (a very hooky throb), and more changes are still to come.
Sulphuric Night inflicts brutish jolts, miserably wailing arpeggios, and frantically squirming fretwork spasms. When the drums start blasting again, the riffing creates a ravishing whirlpool of sound, quickly rising and falling as if caught in the throes of despair. You might get sucked under.
Well, honestly, at this point I haven’t listened to more than one other song from the album (the second one, also absolutely gripping and also stricken in its mood), but later today when I have more time I most surely will.
(I’m thankful to Ron of Machine Music for making me aware of this album through a closing note in his latest edition of “Things I Liked This Week In List Form”.)
https://blackplaguecircle.bandcamp.com/album/starving-claws-of-despair