OUR LIST OF 2021’s MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS (PART 15): SKEPTICISM, RISE TO THE SKY, DAWN OF SOLACE

 Exceptions to the Rule, MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2021  2 Responses »
Jan 252022
 


Skepticism

 

In looking back at the songs I’ve included in this list so far (you can see all of them here), it occurred to me that I hadn’t paid much attention to doom. That realization influenced me in the choices I made for today’s installment, which gives glimpses of the genre’s night-blooming diversity, because part of my aim in doing this list is to provide snapshots of what the last year brought us in metal, across a swath of genres.

But of course the songs must be infectious to qualify, and these are, even if the contagion they bring us is heartbreak.

SKEPTICISM (Finland)

Skepticism is the first funeral doom band whose music I ever heard, long ago. It was a gripping discovery. Skepticism always draws my attention for that reason, but also because of the band’s remarkable consistency over a career that spans three decades. Their latest work, 2021’s Companion, was as powerful and immersive as I’ve always come to expect. As is often the case with stand-out albums, it was home to more than one song I wanted to put on this list, but alas, my self-imposed rule compelled me to pick only one. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): LLNN, ROTHADÁS, SEPULTURA, SKEPTICISM, SUL AD ASTRAL, SWELLING REPULSION, UNTAMED LAND, THE ZENITH PASSAGE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 132021
 

 

This is Part 2 of a mountainous round-up of new songs and videos that surfaced during the last week. If you haven’t perused Part 1, it’s here. Before cutting these 16 offerings into two pieces I arranged them in alphabetical order by band name, and so here we have L – Z. Musically, this one might be even more wide-ranging than what you’ll find in Part 1.

LLNN (Denmark)

“Although the song begins with spacey ambience, it quickly falls forward into a mighty chug that’s then handed off to vocalist-guitarist Christian Bonnesen‘s stone-scraping howls. It only gets heavier from there, as avalanching bass rumbles and violent drums bash the groove into the ground with the force of King Kong punching the earth.”

That’s what Revolver’s Eli Enis wrote in introducing the premiere of this next song two days ago, presented through a video that depicts an entity from beyond our solar system swallowing our planet whole. And it is indeed a humongously heavy track, and a creepy one. Continue reading »