Dec 232016
 

temple-of-demigod-cover

 

The Lovecraftian mythos of The Great Old Ones can be musically interpreted in different ways, and within the realm of metal it has been. But the overpowering horror and ancient, terrible power of Lovecraft’s creations seem to cry out for the grandeur of a symphonic treatment. Others have attempted such a thing; few have been as successful as Temple of Demigod in the new album we’re premiering today, which boldly takes The Great Old Ones as its name.

The great peril of all symphonic metal is its tendency in the hands of many bands to become cheesy, or simply too monochromatic and uninventive to add much of worth to the underlying metal elements of the music, or so incessantly bombastic that it tends to produce a mind-numbing effect over the length of an album. These are all pitfalls that Temple of Demigod masterfully avoids, and the success is all the more impressive because The Great Old Ones is the work of only one person. Continue reading »

Dec 212016
 

astral-blood-free-of-my-scars

 

To celebrate the Winter Solstice today, the Minneapolis-based black metal band Astral Blood have just released the first single from their new album SYZYGY, which will be released in early 2017 by Throats Productions. The song’s name is “Free of My Scars” and it’s an irresistibly captivating track, one that’s both hauntingly atmospheric and electrifyingly vibrant.

SYZYGY is the band’s first full-length and follows the 2014 release of a self-titled EP. I started paying attention to the band when I learned that its line-up includes Joe Waller (ex-Amiensus, Adora Vivos, Sarasvati, Nuklear Frost) — who performed guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals on the new album — as well as vocalist/guitarist Andrew Rasmussen.

What you’re looking at above is the artwork for the single by Reuben Sawyer (Rainbath Visual), but also check out the wonderful cover art for the album by Jas Helena: Continue reading »

Dec 212016
 

depravity-logo

 

Necrophagist will probably never rise from the crypt where they have entombed themselves, but they seem to have been reincarnated in a new Polish band named Depravity, whose debut demo New World Order we’re premiering today.

Depravity is the solo project of a musician who calls himself Exile (also a member of the Polish death metal band Sphere). He performs bass, guitar, and gruff growls on New World Order, with a guest vocal appearance by Mikołaj “Rlyeh” Naklicki of T.S.M.E.D. and a guest guitar solo on one of the tracks by Marcin Budaj of Rockasta. Continue reading »

Dec 202016
 

in-death-band

 

If you haven’t had your head hammered and your spine jolted lately, we’re going to fill that need right now. Actually, an Australian band named In Death… will do that for you. We’ll just stand off to the side and wait to sweep up the bone fragments after they’re done.

What we have for you is an official video for a track named “Godzilla” off In Death…‘s new album The Devil Speaks, which is headed your way early next year. Good name for the song, as you’ll soon discover. Continue reading »

Dec 202016
 

martyrdod-video-1

 

I’ve already opened the floodgates to a torrent of words about Martyrdöd’s new album List. Count yourselves lucky — I could have gone on at even greater length extolling the virtues of the album. It remains one of my personal favorite releases of this year that’s about to expire. Insofar as I’m able to create any kind of objective distance from the music despite the immense, visceral impact it has had on me, I also think it’s one of the best albums of 2016. You may now be able to imagine my excitement at the chance we’ve been given to premiere the video you’re about to see for a song from the album, “Handlöst Fallen Ängel“.

List was released by Southern Lord on November 25. The video provides an excuse for people like me to urge other people who may not yet have explored List to STOP FUCKING AROUND AND DO IT. But happily, the video is a great stand-alone combination of sights and sounds, wholly apart from the excuse it gives me to hector you about this riveting album. Continue reading »

Dec 202016
 

endalok-ur-draumheimi-vidurstyggdar

 

In August we wrote about the debut demo Englaryk by a mysterious new Icelandic band named Endalok, which was released by Hellthrasher Productions and Signal Rex in October. It made an immediate and powerful impression, delivering chilling but enthralling music that seemed to emanate from alien spheres and nightmare realms. And now Endalok have already come storming back with a new EP. Entitled Úr Draumheimi Viðurstyggðar, it will be released on January 20 by Signal Rex.

We discovered the first single from the EP in late November, a track named “Afskræming holds og sálar”, which felt like a trip through a wormhole, a weird and wondrous trip in which the listener senses vast dark panoramas flashing past, with ravenous alien creatures racing after you, howling their unhinged rage at your invasion of their domains. Today we have the pleasure of bringing you another song from the EP, this one entitled “Eldhaf“. Continue reading »

Dec 192016
 

crypt-of-silence-awareness-ephemera

 

The deepening of winter in the northern latitudes provides an auspicious setting for the release of one of the year’s most staggeringly powerful doom/death albums, Awareness Ephemera, by the Ukrainian band Crypt of Silence. It is being released today by the prominent Russian doom label Solitude Productions, and to commemorate the release we’re bringing you a full stream of its four immense songs.

This is Crypt of Silence’s second album, following 2014’s Beyond Shades, and it is far and away their most accomplished release to date. It draws inspiration from the early albums of such esteemed progenitors as Mourning Beloveth and My Dying Bride, creating a listening experience that is emotionally wrenching and stunningly heavy. Bodies are being broken upon the rack, and hearts have broken as well. Continue reading »

Dec 192016
 

altar-of-betelgeuze-among-the-ruins

 

With the soaring popularity of the latest albums by Crypt Sermon and Khemmis, the stage seems well set for the advent of Among the Ruins, the new album by Finland’s Altar of Betelgeuze. It’s set for release by Transcending Obscurity Records on March 10, and today we bring you the premiere of its immersive title track.

Altar of Betelgeuze consists of bassist and growler Matias Nastolin (Decaying), guitarist and clean vocalist Olli “Otu” Suurmunne (ex-Decaying), guitarist Juho Kareoja, and drummer Aleksi Olkkola (Sclerosis, ex-Cardinals Folly). Their first album, an excellent one named Darkness Sustains the Silence, was released by the Memento Mori label in early 2014. Continue reading »

Dec 192016
 

pryapisme-diabolicus-cover-art

 

Three years have passed since the maniacal French ailurophiles in Pryapisme delivered their last album, Hyperblast Super Collider. To feed the hunger of their fellow inmates in the asylum, they released morsels of psychoactive sustenance last year packaged in an EP called Futurologie. But now it’s time for another full course. Let us allow the band themselves to introduce what they have done:

Here is our third album : « Diabolicus Felinae Pandemonium », or the story of the birth of the Diabolic Cat who will end the human race. With more than 3 years of work, 10 songs, 57 minutes, 88 GB of audio, 861 tracks, and more than 99% of processor overload, this is our album of the immaturity!

Diabolicus Felinae Pandemonium won’t be released by Apathia Records until February 3rd, but we have been selected as the conduits for a track from the album, an exotic and wondrous taste of the full mind-bending pandemonium that bears the title “A La Zheuleuleu“. Continue reading »

Dec 182016
 

helion-promo-2016

 

Have you been feeling sluggish lately? Beaten down and worn out from the travails of daily life? Sleeping poorly and waking up exhausted? So disheartened by the drabness of your existence that all the color has been leached from the passing hours, leaving your world a monochrome gray? If so, we have a sure-fire cure for you: Listen to Helion.

Helion was spawned in 2009 in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, the brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Massimiliano Cirelli. Helion’s full line-up now includes musicians from other bands, including Maze of Sothoth, With Out, Redneck, and Mortui Corpus. Together, this quartet have recorded a two-track promo that we’re premiering today, and it’s guaranteed to get your blood rushing and pop open your eyes  like an electric shock. Continue reading »