The most interesting albums of the week(s)!
The Unbinding was released on Apocalyptic Witchcraft. Opening track “Eroding the Sky” lures in the listener by starting off as a paint-by-numbers black metal track before quickly infusing doom elements and imploding. Soothsayer play around with tone on The Unbinding. Vocal inflections vary wildly, giving someone similar passages quite different feelings. The drums often play too slowly to give what a traditional metal listener will consider a beat. The guitars often stretch out their notes over a variety of fills and under whatever the vocalist is doing in that particular moment, letting distortion ring and shift. Fans of Negura Bunget or Esoteric may enjoy.
The Devil And All His Works was released on Church Road Records. Witchsorrow‘s style of blues-infused Sabbath-worship doom continues to succeed. The band knows when they have a good sound and they maximize every moment they can. The opening church bells shift smoothly into a tritone-worshiping melody that kicks around for several minutes before giving way to a Sleep-esque hypnotically repetitive mono-riff. These styles sound old. Witchsorrow use that age to convey feelings of dread and unease. As a nice bonus, The Devil And His Works features some successful and atypical guitar solos. People with grey hair and a drinking problem may enjoy.
Graveyards Of Joy was released on Season of Mist. The opening track “Mare Ignis” sounds like it belongs on Devin Townsend Project‘s Transcendence, or at least a version of that album that has just run a marathon and now is basking in relaxation afterward. The album blurb states that it “channels grief, anger, and hard-won hope.” TodoMal nailed their intent. Graveyards Of Joy radiates emotion, and shifts slowly between angst and cautious celebration. The vocal harmonies plastered throughout the album greatly assist in conveying these emotions. Graveyards Of Joy is somewhat subdued, which makes the guitar solos at the moments of climax after many minutes of building even more impactful. TodoMal sound like they put a ton of work into the details. If so, this work paid off, as the entire album sounds like one seemless, harrowing journey. Fans of Katatonia and the Sturm und Drang literally moment of the 18th century will enjoy.
Swollen, In Flux was released on I, Voidhanger Records. This album is, bluntly, a chaotic clusterfuck of death metal. Layered guitars play dissonant chromatic scales at different speeds on top of each other. Everything drops into a march-like beat for a vocal passage that barely makes it out of the range of the drums. In other words, Seven Chains have made the type of off-step album usually associated with this label. They succeed by keeping a tight leash on their songwriting. While the chaos is omnipresent, it never wanders too far before being tied back up into a recognizable riff. There’s a moment about 3:50 into the first proper track “Whence Blood No Longer Flows” where all instruments are silent except for the drums and some clean, sustained, wordless vocals, outside of a few big one-note hits. Then all the death metal trappings rev back up. The moment feels out of place and wrong, which means it fits perfectly into the song and into the album. Fans of Portal and Pyrrhon will enjoy.
Melas Khole was released on I, Voidhanger Records. This one has a bit more bite. Alkuharmonian Kantaja play experimental black metal, the type where it sounds like they jammed square pegs into round holes until the container around the hole broke and you get to see the raw material the container is made of. Despite this, the riffs on Melas Khole are actually catchy. I found myself nodding along to a few easily danceable moments. That’s a weird balance to pull off, and it only works because Alkuharmonian Kantaja sound laser-focused on whatever sound they’re exploring in the moment, with the past and the future completely forgotten. Fans of Ved Buens Ende and Thy Catafalque will enjoy.
Noumenon was released on Hallucigenia Records. And, oh boy. According to the album blurb, “Noumenon” is the philosophical concept of “the thing in itself” as explained by Immanuel Kant, which means (I think) an object as it exists and not how it is perceived. Also the opening track is 18 minutes long. You know damn well what you are getting into here. There were some odd production choices, with the entire album sounding like it needed a lot more dynamic range. But wow, Vortex Sutra nails the songwriting. This is an album that hooked me to the point of distraction when I first listened to it, and kept me captivated on repeat listens. There are hypnotic, repeated melodies. But Vortex Sutra keep their music fresh and interesting throughout their instrumental tracks. Fans of Skagos and…I don’t know, Pete Namlook maybe? Will enjoy?
Rituals Of Shame was released on Relapse Records and needs absolutely no introduction. It’s a bit shocking that Watching From A Distance is already 20 years old, but I guess that’s how time works even if I wish it didn’t. Warning haven’t lost anything. The gut-wrenching, slow doom of their heyday is back, with just the same emotional impact. Warning can do so much with so little, maximizing every vocal inflection and every pause. There’s a reason that this group is regarded as one of the masters of doom metal. Normally I’d use Warning as a reference to draw people into lesser-known metal bands, so I guess fans of Warning will enjoy this album. Obviously. If you’re not familiar with them, fans of the Peaceville Three and Candlemass (if Candlemass had depression) will enjoy.
Pious Impiety was released on Relapse Records. Seven years (!) after Obscene Majesty, Devourment still sound like they’re trying to justify the opinions of everyone who hates and disrespects brutal death metal and slam. No other band has mastered this irreverent, furious, nasty, upsetting approach to slam. My only complaint is that this is just an EP, but I guess we take what we can get. There’s just not much else to say here. The riffs are still top-notch, the guttural vocals still entertaining as hell, the songwriting still unparalleled. Any fan of death metal owes it to their self to listen to this.
Perpetual Ruin was released on Mighty Music. The opening might have listeners bracing for impact in a bad way, as the soft strings crescendoing into a thrash riff has been done at least once or twice before, but concerns are quickly dispelled when Avarice kick into death/thrash mode. Perpetual Ruin is a muscle album. The riffs are fine, but they never get in the way of the energy. Avarice play with a big sound. The loud blast beats and hardcore-tinged vocals shove each other for the main spotlight, and throughout Perpetual Ruin it sounds like the notes themselves matter less than how you mosh to them. Fans of Machine Head and Sepultura may enjoy.
The Irredeemable Age was released on Profound Lore Records, and you’ve definitely already listened to it and formed strong opinions because this record has been talked about absolutely everywhere. But it’s for good reason. Thaetas play brutal death metal with a technical swirl. The Irredeemable Age actually took a few listens to grow on me. At first, some of the passages sounded a little dry for my taste, but after letting them sink in, those moments worked better in the context of the album than I initially thought. The songwriting is relentless, with single-note and on-the-beat guitar riffs bludgeoning your ears in lockstep with blast beat snares. Fans of Reeking Aura and Asystole will enjoy, or fans of Artificial Brain and Tomb Mold if you want a less cheeky set of FFOs.
