drone / ambient

death metal / grindcore

death industrial / dark ambient

Exabyss Records

post rock / ambient / electronic

ambient / classical

funeral doom

gothic rock / alternative / metal

drone / ambient / folk

dark ambient 

alternative rock / funk rock

facebook

indie / dreampop

industrial / electronic

Perc Trax

​Serge (2 & 3 by Patsker)

funeral doom / black metal

I still don't really know why Italy delivers such an array of mesmerizing doom metal releases. The number of dark and ominous albums from the boot of Europe is impressive, to say the least.  Something extremely dark is luring in the underground, that's for damn sure.

Here is another one of those surprisingly haunting doom metal efforts, courtesy of Catania, Sicily residents Fordomth. Formed in 2013, this band started working on their debut in 2015. Yet, due to line-up changes and other set-backs, several years passed before its official release.

But it was definitely worth the wait. 'I.N.D.N.S.L.E.' (which stands for "In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi") is a pulverizing piece of doom metal, laced with sludge, post-metal and depressive black metal. Torpid, sluggish and direful, Fordomth borrows elements from Evoken, Ahab and Nortt, but their list of influences also contains bands like Primitive Man and Wiegedood. The album contains four tracks and a gloomy intro. It's a concept album about damnation, from a Satanic point of view.

Perhaps the most unusual aspect of this album is the use of clean vocals and often whispers, along with the guttural growls and the blackened screams. These different vocals alternate over seemingly eternal guitars and methodical drums., all in perfect funeral doom tradition. It's probably no surprise that the center piece of the album, 'Chapter III - Eternal Damnation' goes on for almost twenty-five minutes. Here, I can hear some influences from the post-rock/metal and even the post-hardcore scene, interwoven with the tormenting slowness of funeral doom.

The entire album is one huge ritual of catharsis and despair, recommended only for seasoned doom metal addicts. Although slow and lingering, 'I.N.D.N.S.L.E.' contains more than enough variation to keep the listener in its grasp. Of course it's not an easy-listening album. Instead, this needs to be played loud while you exorcise your own demons and fight your own neverending tunnel of nothingness. 'I.N.D.N.S.L.E.' is a remarkable album, one that will haunt your dreams for years to come.


​Serge

doom / black metal

Fiat Nox. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, it is as if an eternal darkness has descended upon us again, from which there is no escape. Ghostly creatures roam the night, waiting to be summoned.

If this makes you feel like lighting a couple of candles, and preparing for an unholy ritual, I would suggest using "Kadosh", Spectrum Mortis' latest  EP, as a soundtrack.

From the first notes, it's clear that this is a very honest record; these Spanish doomers are true believers of the art of darkness, their mission to facilitate satanic rituals.

Stylistically, the music is blackened death/doom metal, at times reminding me of Gothic-era Paradise Lost - which is a very good thing. Each song has its own central doomy riff (played in unison, often drenched in reverb) which is then elaborated on. About halfway, however, the songs kick into high gear, with blastbeats and tremolo riffing. Singer Sheram, who also plays bass, has an agressive growl, and sings (or sometimes declamates) most of his texts in Latin.

Highlights of this EP are the second song, Fiat Lux, and the third one, Et Filius Aurorae. This record has a high replay value, and will be present in my playlist for a couple more months. Recommended.
​

Koen

death / doom metal

Vanhelgd has a steadfast style, death metal straight from the heart. Deimos Sanktuarium is the fifth full release of this uncompromising band. Their heavy riffs of discomfort and death make them sound so recognisable. A heritage of the legendary Swedish death metal cult has been succeeded.

Mattias Frisk and his collaborators never disappoint. Deimos Sanktuarium is again an interesting piece of death metal violence filled with obscure grunts painted in a horrifying atmosphere. They know as the best to hold the tension over the rolling bass lines and evocative guitar riffs. The doomy slowness in the songs makes Deimos Sanktuarium an  album between doom and death metal. Melodic guitar solos create a false glance of hope in the dark ambience.

The mood is increased by several ads of chanting or choirs. Vi Föddes I Samma Grav is a perfect example. The creations of haunting voices fit perfect with the heavy riffs. Four of the seven tracks are in Swedish. Emotions and anger are at their best in the native language.

Profaned Is The Blood Of The Covenant starts very mystic and slow but emerges to haunting savagery. The guitars hail as hunted fearsome animals in the forests. The vocals scream like a grizzly bear in dusk.

Unearthly howls make The Silent Observer one of the best tracks on the album. The speeding of the guitars create an etheric aura. Mattias Frisk screams his lungs out while the vibrations of the guitar strings hypnotize you slowly into slumber. The song ends with doomy medieval voices.

Här Finns Ingen Nåd is the last track and brings old school death metal like the best. Deep frightening grunts kill all the light that is left. Strong berserk choral sounds will only make you to touch the repeat button.

Vanhelgd offers with Deimos Sanktuarium top quality death/doom metal. This release is available on cd/lp and digital formats.  Deimos Sanktuarium deserves a place in every death metal collection. The fantastic artwork is by Mattias Frisk. Buy or die. 

​
Patsker 

alternative / metal / metalcore

heavy metal / power metal

hard rock / stoner rock / alternative rock / grunge

thrash / death metal

doom

doom / sludge / post hardcore

pop rock

pop rock / alternative rock

​Serge

drone / ambient / folk

electronic / ambient/ synthwave

bandcamp

bandcamp

acoustic / folk

post punk

post punk

funeral doom

shoegaze / dreampop

electronic / house / synth

hard rock

math rock / alternative rock / experimental / noise rock / punk

​Serge

caveman battle doom

Let's start this review with a little anecdote. Just now, while I was listening to this album for the first time, my wife walked in. "A new Conan album?", she asked. I nodded. My wife likes doom metal but, like many people, she can't tell Dopethrone from Yob or Cathedral from Saint Vitus. In fact, she knows only  a few bands' sound very well, bands like Bathsheba, My Dying Bride, Type O Negative and Conan. I think that pretty much explains all there is to know about 'Existential Void Guardian'. It is a Conan album, one loaded with fuzz, aggression, power and more fuzz. It's a steamroller, a monolithic tsunami of riffs and a crushing example of Conan's typical sound.

And what better way to start such an album than with the pulverising 'Prosper On The Path'. Here, Conan immediately sets the demons free. The sludge metal oozes out of my speakers with great vengeance. Slow, crushing and impending, this is the Conan we all know and love. From then on, we're on a barbaric journey in seven new tracks. They all have the same character, one that will drone you out of your own flesh if played loud enough. The only exception is 'Paincantation', a short but vigorous crust grind tune that will blast you through the roof of any venue.

I don't think it's easy to pick a favorite track on this album, but my personal preference nudges towards 'Amidst The Infinite'. Surfing on the classic Conan sound, this track feels like a blanket made out of Stonehenge monoliths. It's followed by the mid-tempo grinder 'Volt Thrower'. For good reasons this track had been chosen as single. It gives you a perfect taste of things to come. In fact, it somewhat reminds me of Winter, another one of my all-time favorites in the doom metal sector. 

'Vexxagon' will give many doomers a hard-on, no doubt about that. It's another one of my favorites here, an epic and genre defining example of sludge doom. It's another one of those Conan track that keeps on ramming, pounding and pummeling until the listener is three feet deep in a swamp of fuzz and misery. But don't worry, by the end you can crawl out of your hole and enjoy closer 'Eternal Silent Legend', which - unsurprisingly perhaps - is everything but silent. Legend? Absolutely, along with the other tracks, this one cements Conan's legacy.

So, while my wife is back in the garden and the houseplants are sliding off the shelves, I'll end this review by recommending this album to all doomers and sludgers. Fans of Conan can easily trust the trio to deliver the goods again and who knows, perhaps another wave of fans will now appear. Conan = legend, no doubt about that, and this album simply proves that. 


​Serge

doom / sludge metal

Most musicians, and certainly rhythm sections, know that guitarists are usually annoying smart-asses who think the world revolves around them. Quite often, you can't jam with them without hearing a horrible look-what-I-can-do guitar solo. That is, if they're done twisting the knobs on their amps and telling the soundman to turn the guitars louder.

Luckily for real musicians, technology has been improving enough to be able to rock out without the need for a guitar player. Several bands already ditched their attention-whores and some just start jamming with out them.

That brings me to German doom & bass trio Moto Toscana. A drummer, a vocalist, a bass player and a truckload of fuzz is all they need to blast venues to pieces. To me, that raises comparisons to English duo Bismuth who also come up with grinding doom riffs. Yet, while Bismuth focuses on fuzzed out tsunamis, Moto Toscana adds a touch of progressive doom to their recipe, mainly coming at you in strong lyrics, the melodic vocals and neat bass lines.

But perhaps the most surprising aspect of this music is the strange resemblance with funk. I mean, un-fuzz the bass and the whole thing can be a solid foundation for Earth, Wind & Fire tunes. Opener 'Sickandtwisted' got me both banging my head and shaking my hips. The same goes for a lot of tunes here, except for 'Craving' and 'Exclusive' which bring something grungy to the whole thing. By now, I'm pretty astounded by this trio and their surprising variety.

I think the biggest surprise on this album is the huge amount of possibilities within their minimal approach. As I mentioned before, this setting could be the foundation for a lot of different styles, from Black Sabbath to Linkin Park to Primus and from funk to grunge to punk. It depends on what you want to hear in it. The only certainty is the fact that this grooves and rolls like crazy. My personal favorite is closer 'Among The Dead', which spells pure doom but obviously I recommend this album to all doomers and bass addicts out there. 


​Serge

black metal

bandcamp

With three songs – Bǽl, Opaque and Mǽdland – Bǽl is a strong, lugubrious and poignantly aggressive EP, released by British black metal act Normakk. With a very somber, evasive, discreet and effective atmosphere, the songs are beautifully composed, and from the very beginning, denotes a pungent and starkly spontaneous originality. With a graciously sensible competence, able to display in a positively sincere fashion the most pervasive aspects of the genre, Bǽl is raw black metal done in a proverbially sophisticated and elegant scale. With strident and expansive, but sensibly reliant, and, to a certain degree, darkly sentimental guitar lines, the general musical groundwork of the band is thoroughly exhilarating, consistent and dense, and obliterates on the vicinities of its melancholic melodies the most elusive aspects of black metal. Undoubtedly, a work of irreprehensible grandeur, Bǽl is a marvelously fantastic and unique work of art. Normakk closely follows the traditional old school, with a very peculiar, creative and dense style, with premises that outstands its genuine and salutary virtuosities, shining away any possibilities of being classified as just another generic act of the genre.   

black metal / death metal

Altar Of The Dying is an EP released on July 30, by American blackened death metal group Throne, from Jackson, Michigan. Almost twenty-four minutes long, the work has seven relatively short and very concise tracks: Intro, Heresy Of The Highest Order, Not Of Shadow Nor Fog, Altar Of The Dying, Covenant Of Darkness, Where Angels Cower In Fear and Plagued Upon The Unholy. With an aggressive, dense and very rapid sound, their style can be described as methodical, rude and severely traditional, albeit a little predictable, although this does not affect their general performance. With a fiber and a level of brutality that makes their sound to be profoundly eviscerating, drastic and virulent – but also efficiently concentrated –, Altar Of The Dying is a very energetic, hostile and straightforward work. With highly consistent harmonies and incredibly lucid and somber guitar lines, the group certainly manages to deliver a powerful and pungent style of extreme metal, that is poignantly effusive and dark. Although there is nothing here that you haven’t heard several times before in similar albums of the genre, Throne is a competent, skilled and creative band, that proves their ardent and passionate compromise with extreme metal, on this exceedingly great and powerfully grotesque EP. 

doom

Ashes is an EP released on July 20, by Danish doom metal group Doomcult. Almost twenty three minutes long, the record has three tracks: Sulphur, Ashes and Black Fire. An excellent, pleasant, very delightful work, with way more poetic tendencies if compared to the traditional groups of the genre, Ashes has a melancholic and disturbing, but exceedingly ascendant, philosophic and serene atmosphere, that rises above the sensational and placid stability of its harmonious and dense sonorous configuration. While the first song, Sulphur, deserves to be highlighted, all three songs present an artistic level of security and a musical technique that stands as far superior to the average level. With a sensational style that makes them a powerfully potential reference for the genre in the underground scene, the consistency of the sound of Doomcult – as well as the audacious, but at the same discreet originality present in their music – showcases in the end an absolutely splendid final result. Certainly being one of the most genuine and spectacular releases that I’ve ever heard on the genre – being amazingly passionate and frivolous at the same time – Ashes, by Doomcult, is an exponentially marvelous experience on doom metal, highly recommended to everyone that is an enthusiast of the genre.   

black metal

bandcamp

A dark, rude, depressive and melancholic traditional black metal work, Drowning in Sorrow is an EP released in June by a Finnish musician, that presents himself by the alias of Sathanian. Almost twenty-four minutes long, the EP has five tracks: Depressing Dreams, Wanderer, Drowning In Sorrow, Despair and Kenkiintuijottaja. Despite being better described as traditional black metal, the EP has some discreet traits of DSBM, which is present in the predominantly slow, digressive and dispersive harmonies, that really stands for a surreal and profoundly melancholic mood. The cynic and sorrowful atmosphere of the work is genuinely beautiful, and has a formidable musical consistency, that is ostensibly framed by conspicuously sinister and funeral vocals, that sometimes emphasizes its presence more for its morbid, almost neutral sterile qualities, than for its grotesque nature. A promising, very interesting work, that is sidelined by its truly proverbial and eloquent understanding and execution of the genre, Drowning In Sorrow is an emotional, poetic and very somber work, that has everything to please enthusiasts of the genre.    

black metal / post black metal

bandcamp

An interesting EP with four tracks – Dramatic Truth, Winds Of The End Of Afternoon, Jonas and Alone – the music of Sabactâni can be described as a melancholic twilight forever lost in the everlasting vicinities of depressive and anxious thoughts. A marvelous post black metal group from Brazil, their originality is amazingly eviscerating, with a powerful and afflictive sonority, that energizes the genre at the core of its structure. With powerfully ascendant melodies, that revolves around aggrandizing, but at the same time dismissive and dispersive harmonies, the disillusion that is felt as the epicenter of their style is symbolic to the mood that better defines the genre, and takes a major layer of beauty and poetry in the virtually insane musical diagram of the band, that can be felt as simple and humane, at the same time. A wonderful EP that brilliantly aggregates major qualities to the genre, with a severely robust and consistent anatomy of abundant sonorous virtuosity, B.O.R.E.A.L, by Sabactâni, certainly can be classified as a vigorous and sensational state of the art work. 

black metal / crust punk

bandcamp

Fallen From The Hull is an Ep released by American black metal act Nailwalker, from Austin, Texas. Twenty-five minutes long, and with four sensationally fantastic tracks – Juvenile, Feeding The Devil, Without A Thread To Pull On and Meant For All Fours – Fallen From The Hull is a formidably majestic state of the art work, that brings on the crest of its tempestuous, direct and incinerating melodies all the aggressive devices truly inherent to the genre. With a sober, technically proficient and genuine veracity that is the main engine of their music, Nailwalker is a fantastic musical creation, that introduces into their music in a perfectly incisive and precise manner crust punk elements, as well as more melodic and melancholically somber sonorous tonalities. With beautifully poetic and thoroughly original guitar lines – that somewhere along the way, unveils an amazingly superb, lugubrious and dissonant solo – Fallen From The Hull is one of the most perfect, authentic and astoundingly beautiful experimental black metal pieces that I’ve ever heard. With furious, but lancinating and dramatic vocals as well, as soon as this EP is over, you want to hear it again! 

black metal

bandcamp

S/T is a two track EP released on August 17, by Canadian black metal act Mandragora, from Victoria, British Columbia. With two amazingly sinister songs – In Scarlet Embrace and Beyond The Lacheist Prisons – Mandragora performs old school traditional black metal, on a virtuous and dissonant style. With somber and aggressive tunes, and pervasively grasping cutting edge vocals, the sound of the duo is thoroughly groundbreaking and energetic, doomed to fall beneath the imperial demise of its own projected desolation. With a responsive aggressiveness, that is more melancholic and lugubrious than hostile or belligerent, the overall sound of Mandragora is quite provocative and inventive. Very reminiscent of the early Norwegian black metal scene, the style of the duo is profoundly proverbial, obscure and essentially imaginative, although they do present a formidable degree of originality, that makes their sound quite distinctive, but without losing the quintessential trademarks of the genre. An excellent work – as a matter of fact, a gracefully fantastic two track EP – on the course of its seventeen minutes, Mandragora definitely gives a sonorous lesson about what true old school black metal really is.  

black metal

Dark Lore is an EP released on July 27 by American DSBM artist Moon Bog. Almost twenty three minutes long, the work has four tracks: Under Burning Leaves, Reawaken the Frost, Mount Sorrow and The Strain. A splendid, beautiful, philosophic and marvelously poetic musical work, with an abundant layer of sonorous melancholy, the general style of the artist is profound, graceful and exceedingly rough on the introspective universe of its expansive sensibilities. With genuinely patient and somber harmonies, that plays on the majesty of its precociously filtered and salutary guitar lines, the melodies are dramatically tense, but profoundly calm at the same time, as they extend to the transparent, but lugubrious oceans of its frivolous sensitivities the turbulent pandemonium of its restless state of mind. A passionate, cosmic, exhilarating work, whose pervasive sensibility plays a vital role at the cornerstone of its infuriating, but peaceful and placid sagacious artistry, the formidable level of creativity and excellence displayed by the artist on this work is simply extraordinary, and will certainly please all genuine DSBM enthusiasts that will be happy enough to listen and to enjoy this fantastic pearl of the genre. 

black metal

bandcamp

Self-Destruction is a wonderful EP released on July 25, by Russian DSBM artist Dystert Natt. Very concise, only ten minutes long, the work has four tracks: Ashes And Snow, Insomnia, Scars'14 and Sing To Me An Alcoholic Lullaby. The general style of this musician is DSBM on its most typical and traditional layer. Nevertheless, it is abundant in beauty, and has several qualities that stands out on the course of its sonorous brevity. The melancholy, the mordacity, the overall serenity and the discreet sadness that is overexposed at the most frivolous panel of its virtuous musical context is excessively evasive and lugubrious, but has a poetic beauty that easily disperses and dilacerates the macabre rudeness of its shadows. The guitar lines are ostensibly impeccable and whimsically elaborated, although they are plain and simple. Unadorned, direct and full of lethargic grievances, Self-Destruction – as predictable as it is –, has a consistent, dramatic and sincere layer of sonorous beauty and stylish purity, that certainly makes this wonderful EP a very pleasant experience to hear. 

black metal

bandcamp

With only two tracks – Vacuous and Obsequious Vermin –, Histamine Haven is the debut of an eponymous Canadian project, released on July 24. With a raw and traditional approach to the genre, the record is absolutely fascinating, has a consistent style and definitely has what it takes to please a large audience. With solid, but at the same time dissolute guitar lines, Histamine Haven has a ponderable and serene conjuncture of harmonies, that – despite brief passages of virulent aggressiveness – gracefully elevates the internal dynamic conflagrations of its expansive rhythms to a fateful standpoint, where the experimental colors of the sound extrapolate the venomous frontiers of its own unfathomable hostility. Unraveling a fantastic and versatile tone of primordial stature and creative audacities, the style of Histamine Haven has mordacious peculiarities, and a very original musical groundwork. The way the artist promotes the balance of the most violent and hazardous aspects of his music with the more serene and sensible components of his sonorous splendor denotes a vigorous and majestic ambivalence that is gracefully dilapidated almost to the level of perfection, and certainly will captivate the listeners, almost immediately.  

Wagner

doom / stoner rock

Eye The Tide is a formidable album, released by Polish stoner rock act Spaceslug. A cohesive, dense, anxious and exceedingly atmospheric work, it’s fascinating musicality is proverbially intense and ostensibly lugubrious. The sound floats easily throughout the intermittent zones of your fragile anger, while the sensible, but toxic nervous breakdown experienced by the melodies are beyond the irrelevant limits of reason. With slow, but proficient, tense and pungent guitar lines, and very somber, sacramental vocals, which are sparse and occasional, that anticipates the cruelty of an imminent melancholic doom, the style of the group is a monumental harmonious treasure – where proficient technicality and intuitive creativity are perfectly combined – that comprehends the lucidity of its own furious demise, in a consonantal veil of surreptitious and discreet agony, that embraces an ocean of dust filled with a surreal dilution of sincere, but dissolved sentiments.         

While – on an overall analysis –, the musical structure of Spaceslug is more or less generic, they have a crude and rude, but strong and very genuine style, ostensibly marked by sensational and preeminent guitar lines. All the other elements are there as well, and are preciously synchronized, but the frivolous passive-aggressive razorblade style displayed by the strings certainly outstands itself in a very sensible solution of lugubrious resignation.  

At fifty-three and a half minutes long, the record has seven generally extensive tracks: Obsolith, Spaced By One, Eternal Monuments, Words Like Stones, Vialys Part I, Vialys Part II and I, The Tide. While the album do have some vague and monotonous passages, these occurrences are sporadic, and doesn’t damage nor compromise its general qualities. Eye The Tide can be firmly appreciated as a groundbreaking record, that definitely establishes a new style of doom and stoner rock, whose singularities make it difficult to categorize in an ordinary or specific musical zone. 

With melodies that are carefully elaborated – and, indeed, are amazingly beautiful – and a thoroughly original style that departs from a very authentic creative axis of nefarious desolation, Spaceslug does not fear nor recognize any limits to their creative horizon. Certainly they aren’t only a promising band, but an amazingly peculiar musical act, whose instrumentality works in such a pretentiously colorful density, that you can certainly say that they have masterly articulated their own particular universe of melodies, one that you can feel only if you are inspired enough to completely dilute yourself in it. 


Wagner