black metal / death metal / grindcore

Revisiting your own work can be painful if you notice that what you produced is not the best possible result. Nevertheless, it can also indicate a new, a fresh, a more relevant start. Finally, such a revision can also finalize a process that one was not aware of when starting out initially, because in the meantime one has gathered so much information and experience that the original product is not what one wants to keep. The latter was the case for Swiss blackened death-grind outfit Icare. 

The band was founded in 2016 and their album “Khaos” is the third incarnation of music they wrote more than two years ago but which they kept rewriting – once for the stage and once after witnessing the performance of fellow Swiss-metallers Euclidean. What was pure grind-chaos before is now not less powerful and brutal but it is “only” one part of the ride. The band now has added parts that turn the songs more into the post-metal or also blackgaze direction. When looking at the tracklist, it is pretty remarkable that the tracks are listed according to the length of the songs, starting with the 35-seconds-whip “Khaos” and ending with the twenty-minute-noisecore-epic “Le Dernier Souverain Du Royaume Déchu”, even more remarkable is the fact that the record still makes sense as a whole. 

If Briqueville wrote grindcore-songs, “Cauchemar” or “Emmuré” would be something they might use for their rituals. If Ulcerate strove for post-metal epics, “Nuit de Glace Au-Dessus du Sepulchre Noir” or the aforementioned final track could be theirs. This is for fans of atmospheric black metal as well as for tech-death aficionados. You will be blown away by the ultrasonic speed of the songs and then you will be reeled back in by those little dots and sparkling guitar motifs. And then you arrive at the final three songs and their combined running time of 32 minutes, 47 seconds (of totally 59 minutes). Those final songs make this record stand out. Especially “Le Dernier Souverain Du Royaume Déchu” is one of those tracks which are easy to fall in love with but hard to understand how the five Swiss fellows construct such a dense mood because a lot of it happens with us only hearing it subconsciously. Of course, there is the wonderfully melancholic guitar picking to start the track but the swings are achieved by just a small increase in the number of hits on the cymbals which together with a slightly deeper tuning makes the hair stand on end. With the full drum-kit setting in it becomes obvious that the next change will come along – and it does so after roughly 2:40 minutes. For a short moment the whirlwind is working more on the subconscious level just before the well-trained drummer notches up a few steps before finally releasing his inner animal and pounding out blastbeats and chugga-chuggas without sweating a bead. 
This track is definitely closer to “All We Love We Leave Behind” than to “You Fail Me” and it is in little things like the crunchy bass lines after roughly six minutes that the fascination is born in. A monster of a track – never surrendering itself to calm and peace. The calm parts are held together by an awesome group of musicians. 

Another proof why we are living during a phase of songwriting skills and capacities unmatched before? Take Icare and their “Khaos” which is much more than that – it’s more of a rebirth. For a scene, a moment, and many more. If you notice anything strange, feel free to contact the blind and the paranoid; or just keep the little things to you so that you and no one else knows about this mesmerizing new band which embraces chaos more than anything else. I care about Icare, fellows. And maybe you should do so, too. 


Thorsten

death metal / black metal / thrash

Dark Descent Records

Dark Descent Records is one of the most important labels in modern Death Metal, also because they are based in Death Metal Heaven aka Denver, Colorado and because they release the records of death metal megalith’s “Blood Incantation”. With the eponymous debut-EP by the relentless monster called HAD from Copenhagen they released another high quality record by a band that never forgives. HAD is Danish for “hate” and the name is definitely part of the party program. You get 20 minutes of high-octane death metal with no fresh air, no hopeful light, no sound to soothe. Speedy as hell and executing with a blunt axe but making for that lack of precision by mere violence. I think I counted one little break within the four songs and that was in the middle of the final track “Skingrer de døendes pinefulde skrig” (which translates to something like “Dispelling the tormenting cries of the Dying”) and even this little slow-down never comes close to something like doom, it’s still rather midtempo. I am pretty sure that the live shows by this outfit will be something to behold, but best to be witnessed with an oxygen mask and a little reminder that you will be allowed to leave the venue afterwards. Some members of the audience should be given that in order for them not to break down in front of such HAD and speedy masterclass craftsmanship. 

blackmetal / blackgaze

Jonathan Fraser is one of the perfect examples of how often we are led astray by our subconscious labeling of people – one would never guess that there is a black metal soul inside this very humble and gentle person. But when listening to his music it becomes clear that there are some inner demons having taken hold of this man, who together with the help of some friends recorded some wonderful blackgaze music very much in the vein of Skyforest or Numenorean. A lot of swirling, swooshing, uplifting spherical guitar-work that is happening in these songs that are perfectly contrastingly laid upon driving drums. Speaking of drums; that is something one should behold on this record: The drums are sharp and poignant but never pounding, which means, they are the force majeure on the album but never try to outperform the other instruments – signs of a good and thoughtful mix. The other, dominant instrument is, of course, the guitar, and here Fraser delivers so many brilliant moments, for example the move from high-pitched crescendos to intimate picking after a bit more than three minutes of “Empty Prayers, Hollow Gestures”. This track also leads to the motivation behind the album: the artist Jonathan Fraser wrote this for the person Jonathan Fraser, who for near-two years has been suffering from the loss of his dear mother to cancer. He even published an “EP” with “music” that was recorded alongside his mum’s dying. In the booklet one found documents to show how he experienced this slow decay; Fraser himself doesn’t even consider this a proper release but it seems to be his chronicle for those nine months. And somehow there is a connection between these records – the strong intimacy created by his work, the simplicity of some of the synth structures building upon each other, the heartfelt pain going into every hit on the keys. Jonathan is – as of now – not healthy, he probably wouldn’t even say that himself. It’s an ongoing process: learning to live on, to live again, to be again. To cope and not be ashamed of still being here. For him, this new album is the next step; for us, it is a good record to listen to. Blackgaze á la mode de 2020. 

post hardcore / black metal

Most of the time, Finland is associated with black metal or doom metal bands, also because there are brilliant examples for both genres from the land of the thousand lakes. Not very often is it associated with Post-Metal or Blackened Post-Hardcore, but Kiova from Oulu, Finland might change that. A sound that can keep up with some of the most advanced and well-known post-metal big players (think of Postvorta or Amenra, Sons of a Wanted Man or Envy) – a result of some brilliant recording and mixing, thanks to Joonas Manninen and Topon Das. The reference that comes to mind most frequently is Fall of Efrafa, as new Kiova-vocalist Janne Pussinen is able to deliver a lot of intriguing vocals including black metal screams as well as hellish growls. “JP” is the new man on the mic for the band after former vocalist Otto Eräjöki, who could be heard on the two splits from 2020 as well as on the debut EP from 2018, left the band months ago. Another feature that they share with Fall of Efrafa and other crust-bands as well is the raging speed that seems to have the drums tumble over each other and still not losing but rather gathering speed. These speed-attacks are often countered by spiraling guitars heading all the time for an ultimate crescendo. This might be the most promising newcomer on the European blackened post-hardcore scene. Keep your eyes open!

post metal / grunge

Usually, we do not cover “cover bands” or “cover albums” on Merchants Of Air; however, Magnetic Eye Records has released such an impressive list of “[Redux]” records of classic rock records lately, that we simply had to talk about it. Being an old Seattle-grunge-head the author had no alternative to choosing their version of Alice in Chains’ classic “Dirt” now re-imagined in complete by some of the finest in all of post-metal: Thou, Khemnis, 16 or The Otolith to mention just a few. In some ways, this approach is very similar to the style of “Robotic Empire” who did some cover albums for Nirvana’s three full-lengths (by the way, Thou were also part of all of those cover albums, maybe they are just into showing off their roots). Special about this record is certainly the fact that the bands really pay homage to the originals by not trying to alter them too much, they mostly clad them in a new sound scaffolding. The basis and walls are still the very same, but the production of these songs is now fresher and more direct. It becomes obvious how powerful these songs are, how unbreakable the songwriting was, how remarkably well they hold up. The highlights are certainly the new version of “Rooster” by Howling Giant (now less of a soul classic and a stronger emphasis on the riffs and less on the choir) and “Would?” by The Otolith (now with female vocals creating a completely new, less-despaired atmosphere) but as the originals are so mind-blowing, so are these cover-versions. If you want to buy one covers-album this year, this would be my recommendation!

death metal

Blood Harvest

Once again a great release by Swedish death powerhouse Blood Harvest. They accumulate four awesome death metal bands – each with a distinctively own style – on this four-way split. Chasm of Aeons first of all really impresses with its stylish high-class artwork, that reminds one of The Sword’s “Warp Riders” and the Blood Incantation space-themed covers. Then the assembly of bands: Cryptic Shift, who showed all their might and strength on their Blood Harvest-debut earlier this year, New Brunswick’s very own Replicant and Cleveland’s pride Inoculation flex their muscles and Astral Tomb from Denver (see first review above) finish this 19-minute massacre. Cryptic Shift do not disappoint with their track “Cosmic Dreams” and neither do Replicant or Inoculation, but the highlight is definitely Astral Tomb’s “Transcendence from the Mortal Plane (Guided by Familiar Phantasm)” (that title!!!!) because of its rowdy, feisty, biting and scratching noise intro, by a drum kit that intentionally is completely out of tune and trash to the max – if Slipknot ever made real tech death metal, this is what it would sound like. There is even a moment of tribal drumming in these five minutes. Accompanied by an awesome solo and a lot of noisy guitars, there is no better ending for an awesome split than this one. There is no I in team, there is also no I on this split. All blends perfectly together from Cryptic Shift’s ´near-classic-rock´-track (the solo!!!) to Astral Tomb’s cat in heat-noise-tech-death!


​Thorsten

death metal

Traditions are not necessarily a bad thing because they often proved that there is some logic reason to doing things the very same way over and over again. Proven formulas can turn into given axioms which are no longer questioned. 

However, applying this to music does not lead to the same results, so to give life to genres like old school death metal requires good songwriting and some new twists. When listening to Cult Burial from London this becomes quite clear. The duo from the UK definitely knows its share of classics to inspire, from Motörhead (the speed) and Priest (the dueling guitar lines) but also some other things like Bathory (the punkish black metal screams) or even Sabbath (the dragging doom elements).

Interestingly, this difference in influences is also noticeable in the arrangement of the songs – the beginning of the band’s self-titled full-length (after three EPs on Bandcamp earlier this year, with not all songs being featured on this release) is more of an exercise in OSDM, straightforward, gritty, loud, with lots of growls and less screams. “Dethroner” is a good example of modern Death Metal embodying the traditions of speedy Death Metal with dueling guitars and a precise slow-down moment to give vocalist Cesar Moreira a chance to rest his vocal chords. 

The second track “Moribund” (“destined to die”) and its intro is proof for the other side of Cult Burial’s songwriting skills. The intro is very doomy and moody and then again with the guitars even showing a bit of post-metal layering. This is also something that gives the nine tracks the twist they need in order to surprise the listener enough. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see if they can take this element a bit further because sometimes Cult Burial are a bit too “old school” and not enough “new school”. They should dare more things like “Moribund” or “Plague” which purvey a strong feeling of letting go of a traditional formula, formulating their own version of extreme music. The latter is something sets bands like Gaerea, White Ward or Cult Leader. More of the doomy parts shown in the second half might catapult Cult Burial into that league, because they surely have some good things going for themselves. 

Cult Burial shows that OSDM is alive but maybe not kicking enough to stir a lot of attention outside the scene. They have something to say musically with lots of interesting details – hell, they even got a classic heavy metal solo in “Kill”. Of course, such a solo is a good sign of thorough knowledge of the but trying to incorporate old shapes into new mirrors. Keeping the genre and its traditions alive and vibrant. 


Thorsten

brass metal

Well, it has been too silent on the webpage of Merchants of Air! So we are back after a (too long) Covid break which seemed endless and seemingly isn’t over yet. Almost every band and artist postponed their release until the pandemic would ease a bit and touring was allowed again. None of this is happening now. So we have a restart with the perfect soundtrack for this unusual war against an invisible and dangerous enemy.

Ottone Pesante is a brass metal trio who witnessed the Covid catastrophe from near distance in their home country Italy. We got hooked on this band after their second album Apocalips, which was a daring piece of wind blowing art. We were even lucky to see them life in the punk cave The Pit’s in Kortrijk Belgium with a mind blowing concert. Can we write a consequent review about Doomood? Yes we can.

Doomood has thirty-four minutes running time divided into several stylistic approaches, but doom is what Ottone Pesante breathes. Francesco Bucci  (trombone and tuba) and Paolo Raineri (trumpet and flugelhorn) explore with precision their creativity and melt the sounds of their instruments into various and doom orientated moods. The threatening tones wallow in the raging drum patterns of Beppe Mondini. The band doesn’t copy and paste their previous releases on Doomood, they dig deeper and sound more sinister and more provoking. 

On Tentacles (this track was released as a single) Sara Montenegro from Italian’s doom/drone band Messa features as a guest vocalist. Her contribution pushes this slow but mesmerising track into a more comfortable listening zone. Ottone Pesante sounds extreme and loves to exceed into the extreme. On Serpentine Serpentone and Strombacea (that ends very atmospheric), Silvio Sassi from the Italian black/doom metal band Abaton screams his lungs out. Some might think to hear guitars on these black and death metal orientated tracks but Ottone Pesante does not use any bass or guitar. Their unique playing technique mimics the riffs and bass lines, resulting in some kind of black brass metal trip.

Conclusion: Doomood shows ardency, depth and roams in different darkened moods. This is an outstanding continuation of Ottone Pesante’s musical journey. Doom jazz lovers should check this band out and beware Ottone Pesante is Bohren & der Club of Gore on high speed. This brass metal album is way too short, so we play this one on multiple repeat.

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Patsker

post punk

Everybody who witnessed a concert by Cologne Black-Metal-masters Ultha knows that this was more than an assembly of musicians who work for a common goal, or a common sound. It was a kind of vision of what music should be able to do – including helping its human sources get rid of some feelings. Music from the heart and for the heart – if you want to find out more about that check out “The Inextricable Wandering”. Now two of the Ultha -boys have founded a new band called Ropes of Night and the quintet has published their first EP in mid-May via Golden Antenna Records. This is not black metal but glorious post-punk and thus it follows Ralph’s love for that glorious early 80s sound that was driven and melancholic, dark and stellar at the same time. All of this can also be heard on this self-titled debut 7inch. “Halo Cage” is a bit like Joy Division bit with more grit and bit and really takes off into one’s ear canal never to leave it for quite some time. “Faith” is a bit noisier and has a kind of shoegazey feeling to it, which might be a bit like Jesus and Mary Chain. Charming is the voice of vocalist Tatjana who sounds like an 80s pop idol on the right side of the musical spectrum. Both tracks could be leftovers from any of the good ole days when music like this was steaming hot and before it was turned into the poppy mess called New Wave or New Romantics. If you only want blastbeats and screaming, then forget about Ropes of Night; but if you liked Ultha for the underlying emotional darkness – this is your new go-to-band. They have that certain something “more”.

post metal / black metal

For a long time now, lots of metal and post-metal bands have been proclaiming their love for the Deftones as they were the one band amongst the NuMetal-wave of the late 90s that had a more diverse sound. This influence can also be heard when listening to the self-titled debut by Endless Forms Most Gruesome from Finland. The duo consisting of Ghost Brigade’s Manne Ikonen and mastermind Juuso Raatikainen (Swallow the Sun) plays a harsh, blackened kind of post-metal that fits very well to this day and age as they are afraid to first run over the listener: Opening track “Black Hole” sounds more like Full of Hell collaborating with KK Null in all its direct, noisy attack. But after this quick clearing of space in the audience’s ears they spread their filthy, yet sometimes experimenting post-metal. And here the Deftones definitely come into play: EFMG are not as groovy as the usual NuMetal-clones but they rather make use of the Sacramentonians’ experiments with sending singular guitar lines through the songs. This way, the Deftones were able to incorporate a kind of soulfulness and lightness into their sound which EFMG also tries to establish. Or they use some gentle picking over a soft string arrangement in “Free Fall from Womb to Grave” just before they riff their way through the rest of the song and show Juuso’s roots in doom metal. A promising debut in all its low-tuned, upwards-thinking, lyrically-miserable glory. 

punk / death metal / black metal

Karloff from Oldenburg, Germany have listened to some Stooges and Blue Cheer, but also some classic old school death metal stuff or stuff like Bathory. The punk thing is the first thing that strikes, listen to “Fright Fever” for example. High speed octane stuff, very much like New Bomb Turks or Turbonegro with a drummer releasing his inner Animal – remember the Muppets? But that would indicate a certain non-committing to their own ideals which is definitely wrong because Karloff is not one of these Motley Crue wannabe-bands. The guys from Northern Germany take their music seriously and that is probably the biggest difference to guys like Hank Van Helvete, they are no novelty act. The blackened vocals show despair and often blend seem like a mix of classic early hardcore shouters and black metal singers, sometimes even being close to thrash metal.  The excellent riffing and precision make for a force to be reckoned with. 

shoegaze / doom

Lyon, France is known to be a tasteful town. With newcomers Hadewijch a new chapter seems to be added to the former culinary capital of the world. One that doesn’t known boundaries or limitations – at least, not many. It’s not that they seem to have no musical boundaries, because they do perform within the frame of doomy post-metal. But they seem to have a very open-minded mindset as they want to show the possibilities of musically transcending the bodily realms, just like a good herbal therapy. This can also be noticed when listening to their debut-EP which is one, single track – but 19 minutes long. In that time, you can hear a lot of doomy but also noisy shoegaze elements that will help you find some positive vibes for your life. You might hear some Neurosis or My Bloody Valentine, to give you an idea that might push the comparisons a bit too far. The trio is not yet on the level of the bands mentioned, but they are quite good and for a debut, this is promising quite a lot. It will be interesting to see with which noise they follow their herbal and musical theory; nevertheless, they give you one more reason to think highly of the tasty town Lyon.

Thorsten

sludge / death metal

Portland, Oregon is a very interesting city with many very different scenes – ranging from Industrial tunes like Folian to an interesting indie scene surrounding Kill Rock Stars. However, one should not forget Portland’s extreme metal scene, here one shouldn’t forget Tchornobog, UADA, Bible Black Tyrant or – from now on – Tithe. 

Their debut album “Penance” was just released via Dutch label Tartarus Records and is a good example of how people from Portlandians seemingly don’t care about what people think a record should sound like. Very often, records from the Pacific Northwest sound awesome and at the same time have an underlying sound-construct that is hard to pinpoint: For example, Tchornobog’s records are often doomy or UADA’s are steeped in atmosphere. In that sense, Tithe are good ambassadors of their hometown, as their debut stresses another side of American metal: Southern Swamp. Not that they sound like a black metal version of the Allman Brothers or another version of Crowbar, but one can clearly hear the influence of a band like Eyehategod or their sound. Sometimes, even some kind of Pantera-groove can be audible. A good example would be the final track “Lullaby”.

What is really unique about Tithe is their use of samples through which they also clarify their thematic idea. “Penance” is about problems of one’s position within society that only hurts us on a regular basis. “Scum” starts with a monologue that ends with the words “Until the day you die / You, not me, will always be shit”, just before a harsh death-metal rollercoaster starts its rage. The key line is “Selfish insect / No remorse / Souless Devil / Burn your ties / Burn your family / Die alone / You reap what you sow” - the person addressed surely did something to deserve this tirade and must have hit the narrator badly. “Discordia Tetrahedron” throws the line “Cathartic healing release / Sorrow and joy rejoice / Pushing the heart through the void” into your ears – we all must heal from the wounds slashed by others. 

Musically the band shows some good moments when they step a bit on the breaks and give the songs more than just speed and rage. The intro to “Mantra” definitely shows that clearly, just like the small parts in “Lullaby” when the trio slows it down a bit to let the song unfold its tornado-like pull. 

These moments should be a hint at what the band is capable of achieving if they concentrate a bit more on varying their musical arsenal, not always going full-throttle and head-on. Tithe has all the factors necessary to become another benchmark for Portland’s extreme metal scene. A staple within an already immensely diverse and successful group of bands from the Pacific Northwest. 


​Thorsten

black metal / death metal

Very often, “supergroups” suck because there is vast amount of namedropping heightening the expectations and then you get a record, listen to it and … throw it onto the shelf. Nevertheless, if a journalist doesn’t play the naming-game he or she’s going to be cut off because of bad research. So here we go: Blood Incantation. Spectral Voice. Wayfarer. Khemnis. Primitive Man. Need more? Then check their metal-archives page. And now on to the thing that matters, the music.

The debut-release by Denver-based extreme metal outfit Black Curse is mind-changing: 

First of, because of its ability to simply terrorize your mind. Those harsh speedy, double blast-attacks can totally slit every ligament you might possess in your neck. If listening to it on earphones, be advised to start with a low volume and then slowly turn it up. The songs often start their harakiri-attacks on the very first tone, using that moment of surprise to its fullest advantage. 
Second, because they lure into a false sense of “Oh, I understand, this is pure rage and no sense for melody!” True, on the surface that’s exactly it. However, if your ears got used to all of the noise screaming in (be it via the instruments or the vocals by Eli Wendler) one might notice the small razorblades underneath all of the blunt axes. Razorblades because they cut wounds and yet glisten and radiate if you hold it into the sunlight. Many songs use a fine layer of mid-level echos on some minuscule guitar parts so that there is that notion of noise rock underneath it the black and death metal surfaces. 
Third, as they create a whole cosmos of dissonances it is sometimes hard to figure out where these come from, so that in the end it’s unclear which genre this might be shelved on. Yes, this is black metal. Yes, there is a lot of death metal. Yes, it’s noisy as hell. In some way this one might be a perfect example of how genres make no sense, let’s just call it extreme metal as it incorporates parts from each. 
Fourth, because there is melody in all of this. Take the final track “Finality I Behold” (with 8:51 also the longest track in these roughly 40 minutes): The opening 25 seconds before the start of the black metal vocals are good post-metal with dominating drums taking over your heartbeat. The harsh blast-beats then disguise the moments of clear riffing that are carefully woven into the fabric of all of this. After 150 seconds there is a change for a kind of more noise-driven blastbeat before the song slows down a bit in its middle with the bass leading the way through some slower passages. 

Well, after forty minutes your ears might be bleeding, your neural connections might be dead and because of that you hit the repeat button. Why. Not. Give. it. Another. Try? This is an “Endless Wound” after all. (And sometimes supergroups do make sense.)


Thorsten

death metal

A death metal act from New Zealand has been setting the bars high for a genre that has definitely seen some very good releases over the past couple of years. Never mind all the artists that set new measures for death metal (for example Blood Incantation with their doom infused record from 2019), Auckland’s very own Ulcerate are the ones to beat; even though not everybody notices.

The band has been releasing highly acclaimed records for more than ten years and yet, their new record “Stare into Death and be Still” is a new watermark for the whole genre. Roughly an hour stretched across eight songs (the shortest 5:41; the longest 8:25) this record is more than an old-school death metal album. The question to be answered is how they achieved that with not changing too much and with still-sounding like themselves. 

In short: they stayed the course! The trio is still delivering cleverly arranged death metal tracks with lots of speed changes, with earthquake-like shredding, with raging bursts and with gut-wrenching vocals. They are able to intersperse their songs with sometimes minute pauses when they slow down audible from Defcon 1 down to 3 before jumping back to alert level 2 for a mere ten seconds and then slow it down all the way to Defcon 4 for a few breaths before the song finally bursts into near atomic war defense readiness conditions – and that was just the description of roughly two minutes within the title track. So much is happening in each of the songs that one doesn’t know where to start. 

Something very special about Ulcerate is still the way they build tension. The awesome intro to “There is no Horizon” might be a good example for this: a near-post-rock space is clad with guitar pickings and single cymbals before the whole thing really kicks in after 26 seconds. But even then there seems to be a whiff of that posty-ness they used at the very beginning underneath all the blasting drums, the marching riffs and the growls to kill (for). And that ability to construct moods through songs and small additions from other genres only becomes more obvious throughout the record, for it becomes more and more a remarkable mix of rough post and clever death-metal. 

The lyrics – as death-metal-like unintelligible as they may be – also add to the cult following the band wherever they go. With lines like “Banished to a fate worse than death / No worth remains of this condemned existence / Soon to be annulled” (from said title track) it becomes clear that Ulcerate are pretty unique in their way of expressing ideas. What could be worse than death? Silence. Obsolete-ness. Being forgotten and becoming nameless. 

This record might not completely invent the whole genre anew, but every – EVERY – death metal record of 2020 will be measured against this. And I will be damned if it can be beaten; that is hard to imagine. 

New Zealand: if you got more bands of this kind, please do everything you can to make them known!


​Thorsten

death metal

In the abundance of releases during the last year we rediscovered an album that, honestly, deserves more attention with a review. Since a lot of bands and artists put the releasing of their new work on hold (Corona lockdowns)we took the time to dig up some forgotten pearls to the surface.

​Blood Oath latest production, Infernum Rex Diabolus, saw officially the light at the end of December 2019. The band from Leicester United Kingdom was formed in 2015 from the remains of the death metal band Black River Project which was already disbanded in 2007.


Blood Oath plays catchy old school death metal drenched in venomous guitar riffs. Guitar players Frazer Hart and Mike Freeman construct a waving pattern in speed, technical input and melodic approach creating nine interesting tracks on the album. Rhythm section Bill Fordham (bass) and Adrian McGlennon (drums) make the furious sound of the band greasier with controlled blast beats and rolling bass guitar work. The vocal excretions of bulldozer Mark ‘Trax’ Johnson roar like a wounded grizzly while in the main time the grim lyrics are still understandable.

Infernum Rex Diabolus is the band’s second album and melts the Swedish,  American and British death metal styles in to a solid and powerful crushing roller. Blood Oath provides melodic guitar solos, blasting dubble bass drums and a threatening atmosphere in their skull crushing music. This is mandated death metal food for the fans of Carcass, Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Venenum. Blood Oath delivers a very good and addictive album that feeds our ardent love for extreme music even more.  Top release.

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Patsker

doom / death metal

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Italians are the masters of doom metal. I know, there is decent doom metal being produced pretty much everywhere but somehow Italy constantly manages to produce a massive amount of high quality albums. In fact, there's a sticker on the album saying "Italian Doom Metal", which mostly serves as a quality label.
Furthermore, most of the doom bands from over there don't merely follow the trends. Today, sludge doom and post-metal are incredibly popular niches while melodic doom death is mostly being ignored. Not so in Italy, where yet another masterpiece of melodic doom will spawn on March 20.

Titled 'Empire Of The Void', this third album by Tethra is a blast. From the very beginning of the intro, 'Cosmogenesis', it's clear that we're dealing with a must-have. Drones and twin guitars,  we're descending back into the nineties, so it seems. And yes, then comes 'Cold Blue Nebula', an instant classic for those who adore November's Doom, Paradise Lost, Amorphis, Saturnus, My Dying Bride and so on. Heavy riffing, melodic guitars, tempo changes, harsh grunts, clean vocals,... this song has everything to become a fan favorite.

After that, the 'Gravity' trilogy begins, a massive anthem in three acts. I must say, as impressive as the opening track was, this trilogy is a stunner. I immediately turned up the volume and I immediately felt like I did when I first heard the albums by some of the aforementioned bands. Moonspell comes forward as a reference here, mainly in the clean vocal parts. I also often found myself thinking (and yelling out loud), "Fuck, this is awesome". I rarely use the F-word, so that is a compliment.

But, although I can namedrop a heap of nineties doom metal bands, I think it's important to point out that Tethra is a worthy player in their own right. The album is extremely coherent and extremely captivating. There is plenty of variation, yet still it feels like a concept album. Furthermore, 'Space Oddity' is a baffling cover version of David Bowie's classic. I could never have imagined this song could be even more crushing. I think this was a risk, but a well executed one. Kudos for this emotional tribute.

Another one of my favorites on 'Empire Of The Void' is 'Dying Signal', which nudges towards the black metal scene with intense riffs and a pitch black atmosphere. Back in those days, the heavy nineties, this track would be the one that made me decide to purchase the CD, and with that I'll recommend every melodic doom metal fan to do exactly that. Tethra cannot disappoint you. Their name belongs among those I mentioned earlier and this album belongs in between your all-time favorites. It's as simple as that...


​Serge