Timeghoul - 1992-1994 Discography (2012)

Compilation, Dark Descent Records
February 1st, 2012

Genre: Death Metal
Region: USA

A gem of a band buried long ago. Timeghoul's two demos were released in the early '90's and then they split up, but the gentlemen over at Dark Descent Records were cool enough to re-release them in the form of this compilation.

I'm not going to write much about this as others have done far better then I could in describing it. This is some truly excellent and unique old school death metal with a few spacey twists, taking slices of Death and Atheist and blending their astral bleakness into it to create a dark, terrifying, cavernous atmosphere all their own. This shit rips a hole in time, space and surely your face with sharp, creeping, scorching riffs, tight quirky drumming, deep and fast growls — all powerful and uncompromising.

Highly recommended old school echoing horror. I urge you to make your way over to Dark Descent Records and pick this terrific chunk of forgotten death metal before you miss out. Mine's on its way as I write this.

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Momentum - Whetting Occam's Razor (2011)

Genre: Dark Hardcore

Region: UK

This is some incredibly powerful, dark hardcore from 4 members of Light Bearer.

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Young and In The Way - Amen (2010)

Full Length, A389 Recordings / Swarm of Nails
June 17th, 2010

Genre: Blackened Hardcore/Crust
Region: USA

Since I've already posted their other albums I figured this one should be up here too.

Young and In The Way's first full release Amen compared to their more recent releases displays how far they've come. This album has several tracks that eventually were reworked into I Am Not What I Am and here they sound just slightly different in terms of vocals, production, writing, pacing, etc. "Earth" eventually turns into "Love and Terror Laid the Stone", "Worrier" becomes "The Chaotic and Bloody World Around Us", and the second half of "White Light" is put into "Leaving Nothing But the Absence of Everything" — the first half is slow and sludgy with a nice build to this point.

The rest of the tracks are unique to this release, blasted through their signature style of blackened crusty hardcore with relentless vitriol. The first track is an instrumental and very chunky, followed by Dark Seed which has some wicked gallops and slow chords, and Eye of Providence is full of twangy dissonant riffage. The final track (opening with rainfall) almost hits atmospheric sludge territory. It's 13 minutes with slower chords bringing a melancholic atmosphere swelling up reverb and sparse amounts of vocals until the midway point. It quiets down after this before hitting some crushing powerchords, thick bass lines and  launching into a reverby tremolo riff finale.

Amen is an excellent record showing off early on how much Young and In The Way are capable of in terms of blending genres, keeping everything tight and powerful. A389 Recordings just repressed this and I Am Not What I Am as one double LP (in black or black/white split) so pick it up while you still can, or listen to it and get other copies on their bandcamp.

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Sutekh Hexen - Larvae (2012)

Full Length, Handmade Birds Records
February 21st, 2012

Genre: Black Metal/Noise
Region: USA

Another disturbing and hazy excursion from Sutekh Hexen.

Larvae envelops the listener slowly, far more incremental and atmospheric than Luciform's brash attack. Isvar Savasana begins creeping with a hypnotic energy. Swirling and frigid, crackling and dragging through bleak static/noise before an ebbing wall of chaos falls upon you, turning into more disturbing scratchy tremolo riffs and fuzzed shrieking. This halts suddenly, morphing into ethereal chimes and a synth-like build only to jolt back into the dark fog of disarray: warped riffs and faint frantic drumming.

This fades and cycles slowly into the next track Lead Us In Warfare. Opening with an evil crawling distorted guitar and bass groove as thunder underneath with sharp discordant sounds circles endlessly. This leads to a break and then heavily distorted vocals with the the groove behind it, eventually shifting slightly in tone and rumbling forth like a fast approaching avalanche before leaving only the bass line. It's like a ritual being performed beneath an collapsing mountain.

Finally we reach the mammoth La Det Bli Lys (Let The Be Light). Cycling samples, creaking and scraping over top a cavernous static while glimpses of a clean guitar surface slowly. As this grows pained cries and whispers rear from the darkness as the background static mounts, and a spoken passage is thrust upward with the acoustic passage quickening. The atmosphere is thick at this point, trance-inducing and deep. This proceeds with various sounds peaking over top the eerie clean riffs with a constant cacophony of whispers and noise twisting in the background; it builds so well. A short gap forms as the oppression loses its grip and then a blast of chaos appears once again, spiraling through the entropic wall of sound while a slow groove gradually breaks through — a final crushing blow from this record entrancing you in the last 2 minutes.

Larvae is much different than their last album and shows off an even darker aspect of their sound, calculated and cold with moments of focused chaos. The vinyl for this album is long sold out but the CD is still available over at Handmade Birds, so pick it up while you can. This is the vinyl rip.

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Pallbearer - Sorrow And Extinction (2012)

Full Length, Profound Lore Records
February 21st, 2012

Genre: Doom Metal
Region: USA

Pallbearer's new record has leaked. I've already ordered my copy but I've listened to it multiple times through their live stream and wow am I impressed. The demo was excellent as was their performance at Rites Of Darkness III (an unexpected highlight of the festival) and this is record goes further — managing to give me goosebumps from the heaviness and despondency layered within.

On Sorrow And Extinction (as on the demo) the vocals are a huge draw for me. A Black Sabbath kind of vibe. They're beautiful, strong and gloomy, very passionate and flow perfectly along side the melancholic, huge, thick riffs to create a wonderful harmony. His voice rings through the suffocating darkness adding much to the cold atmosphere — sometimes they drone and at other times they're sung shaking with melodic majesty, but always exude numbing pain; truly stunning.

Crashing bass licks compliment this dynamic with a deep growl underneath, and a steady beat lifts all this up artfully. Barely reaching a mid pace except for a few moments Sorrow And Extinction steamrolls over you, and with elegance at that. There's five tracks, two of which are reworked from the demo which sound even better than the originals with a few new additions.

The new tracks are so sweet and sad. Foreigner opens with an acoustic melody that soon turns into the fuzzy roar found in the rest of the song, making walls shake with they're sheer might. The vocals on this track are glorious especially near the end. An Offering of Grief pulls you through more lonesome travels at an agonizing pace, a slow crawl of land-splitting riffage and melodic climbs. Near the end coarse yells lead to a brief acoustic interlude only to tumble back into dark territory under a solo. Given To the Grave starts with a low bass lead and choir-like synths, breaking into more full on sad beauty with a clean section soaked in an ethereal atmosphere. This is broken by Brett's sorrowful vocals and crushing, slow grooves and eventually a spacy effect laden solo that plays off the main riff; the tail end is punctuated in this kind of style bringing the album to a close with the heavenly synths fading out.

This is truly an epic, deep journey. Pallbearer do not disappoint and inject their doom with a nod to the oldschool while staying fresh effortlessly. Highly recommended. You can hear this magnificent record streaming at NPR right now, and you should pick it up over at Profound Lore Records too.

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Plague Widow - Plague Widow EP (2012)

EP, Burninhell Records
February 29th, 2012

Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore/Brutal Death Metal
Region: USA

Undeniably one of the more brutal and horrifying EP's in the grind/death metal genre I've heard since Wormed's Quasineutrality. Think Wormed crossed with Portal and you have a disturbing image of what Plague Widow have created here.

Furious and uncompromising in it's twisted display of death and refined technicality. Plague Widow have packed so many dissonant, tangled riffs in this 15 minute EP it's almost overwhelming. Between ominous spoken samples there are squalls of grotesque growls and guttural croaks, vicious bends and harmonics, and blast beats that smash your face into a pulp mercilessly. At various points they channel Portal (Swarth era) and bring frightening discordant atmosphere to their style, an impressive feat managing to distance itself from any kind of copycat antics. Spiraling horror flows through every devastating track. This is a powerful display of musicianship, focus and writing in all conceivable aspects.

This can't be more highly recommended. And guess what guys? I'm not going to be a cunt with this one. No mediafire link for a while because these guys are putting this up for $2.00 minimum on bandcamp and this EP is easily worth more than that. So support these guys. Either pick this up in physical form from Burninhell Records, or listen to it on bandcamp and get a digital copy. You can also follow them on facebook, which I would encourage as these guys clearly will be killing it well into the future.

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Sound Asleep - Demo (2009)

Demo, Independent / Self-released
2009

Genre: Doom Metal
Region: Canada

Sound Asleep are a three piece from Toronto that deliver crushing, plunging dark grooves of doom as deep and cold as ocean trenches. Brace yourself for something massive.

Three gargantuan songs leaving gaping craters and swaths of scorched land in their wake. The first track is an intro that is unsettling and cold, while the other two are 13 and 17 minute behemoths of unbearable weight. The guitar and bass riffs here are relentlessly powerful as are the monstrous vocals with the strong, plodding pummeling of drums driving you further into the ground. This demo has such a wicked growl to it with moments of twangy, crooked dissonance, creaking strings, and mounting feedback buried underneath the rumbling. Each track crawls but without meandering or becoming boring — it's just straight, uncompromising oppressive doom. It commands your attention. Rolling over you like a boulder, smashing down on you like a collapsing tower made of granite. It's grooves are addicting and the tone is vicious.

Highly recommended guys. This is fantastic and they put it up for free. How this band is virtually unknown and only has one release to their name is beyond my comprehension but since they're playing some shows soon hopefully I can get some news on what they're up to, grab a copy of this, and experience their destruction first hand. Follow them on facebook and myspace.

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The Sustained Low ‘C’ of Richard Strauss' “Also Sprach Zarathustra” - Rehearsal 2012 (2012)

Demo, Independent / Self-released
August 2nd, 2012

Genre: Black Metal/Progressive Black Metal
Region: Canada

Castevet just announced a tour of Canada before hitting the Maryland Death festival and they're touring with Ensorcelor, Æsahættr, Sound Asleep, Thantifaxath, and these guys — The Sustained Low ‘C’ of Richard Strauss' “Also Sprach Zarathustra”. I'll be seeing them next month which should make for an intense and noisy show so I thought I'd spread the word about them for those who may be interested.

Containing members of Canadian sludge/hardcore band Titan and the bleak and loud ambient/drone outfit Gates, this is a new project that I'm sure some people here will be interested in. Their approach to black metal could be described as something like Krallice and Castevet, maybe even at some points Thantifaxath.

This rehearsal demo has two tracks on it, one 6 minutes and the other almost 14. Overall it's fast paced with many winding tremolo riffs and a general chaotic atmosphere, thick bass riffs keeping up with the guitar, bursts of feedback and noise, blazing drums and harsh, agonized screaming. They really do sound like early Krallice at points. It stays raw and callous but retains a unique ornate flair, sometimes the riffs slow down slightly but for the majority of the demo they're kept frantic, twisting and spiraling endlessly, playing off each other. The tail end of the last track breaks with lots of feedback leading to a lull filled with angry yelling only to kick back in with heavy, addicting gallops for a nice change of pace.

I'd recommend giving this a shot if you like the above mentioned bands, if you like your black metal progressive. For a rehearsal it sounds promising. You can download this on their bandcamp for free.

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The Twilight Sad - No One Can Ever Know (2012)

Full Length, Fatcat Records
February 7th, 2012

Genre: Shoegaze/Indie Rock/Post-Punk
Region: Scotland

Ah... the new The Twilight Sad record has arrived, and with some slight shifts in sound compared to previous releases too. There's far more synth/post-punkish or new wavy influence this time around while the guitars slide back a little more but this does not bring the album down at all to me. Their style has slowly been shifting with each record and it's never fucked up their gloomy atmosphere or ability to write quality tunes.

Once again James' vocals pull you in with that hypnotic, heavy accent and excellent cadence while the lyrics still encompass strange innocence, familial struggles and not-knowing with relatability despite their quirky nature and structure. As mentioned the synths are pushed to the front, shining and creeping over all the tracks without becoming tiresome and really bring a 80's sort of vibe into their noisey, shoegazey sound — it sets this album apart from the rest of their catalogue without a doubt. Guitar is still laced in feedback and reverb hazing the background up with a thick bass lead in front of it and steady, strong drumming acting perfectly to draw everything together with some great beats. No One Can Ever Know is momentarily upbeat at points but this always collapses into a melancholic tone with a spectral touch.

Clearly another win for The Twilight Sad. I really like the change in direction they've taken with this one. A depressive, mysterious, ghostly journey soak up. Pick this up in whatever form you please over at Fatcat Records if you enjoy it, I'll be picking up my copy when they pass through Toronto at the end of this month.

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Pharaoh - Bury The Light (2012)

Full Length, Cruz Del Sur Music
February 24th, 2012

Genre: Power Metal
Region: USA

Not sure how well that last Pharaoh post went over but fuck it — here's their newest album Bury The Light.

A nice even spread of medium pace and blazing tracks fill up this album which just falls shy of 50 minutes. Stacked to the clouds with heavy melodic shredding retaining the edge of conservatism in terms of technicality, dips into acoustic territory, raspy powerful vocals that have a rare touch of cynic-like modulation in two tracks, strong bass presence right beside the dazzling guitars that holds its own and bubbles over the guitar on occasion, while the drums are a little far back but still strong.

In general the songs are more hit and miss here than on previous releases in my opinion, almost every odd number track is quite good with the exception of the latter half of the album which plays through more smoothly, far more solid in terms of impact. There are still some great tracks with catchy riffs and some awesome solos exuding that classic grand atmosphere you would expect.

Another solid entry into their category. On the first listen Bury The Light is more tame and slightly less memorable than Be Gone or The Longest Night but there's still some nice shredding to be heard. It's up for streaming until the end of the week over here and can be preordered on various formats on the labels store starting tomorrow. No doubt this will be a post that gets taken down before any others by the label/band so get it while you can

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