Post rock but black metal. (I can see the confusion of how to label this when there’s every possible version of putting these words together present in this albums tag list on Bandcamp.)
Olhava – Sacrifice
Lorna Shore – Pain Remains
I’ve never used deathcore as a genre definition before, but it just makes so much sense after listening to Lorna Shore. Also, seeing “blackened death metal” as a genre on Wikipedia is part funny, part makes a whole lot of sense as well.
As for the music itself, this is an amazing blend of stuff that I like (which are noted in the above definitions). It’s also great focus music to me, as a backdrop when I’m not writing copy just doing design work.
Wolvennest – Ritual Mmxx
It’s like post-rock with grunge aesthetics. Atmospheric but also dirty and noisy. So interesting that they identify as psychedelic black metal. I can see that, too.
Acid Witch – Rot Among Us
Doom metal with a psychedelic edge. I’m obsessed with Psychedeathic Swampnosis where otherworldly flute melodies is layered over some psy-doom metal pillars. It’s like the soundtrack of an old fantasy movie (the Labyrinth kind) but with metal.
Hand of Kalliach – Samhainn
It’s been quite a while that my attention was pinned down by a death metal album. Although this one ranges from death to black and melodic metal territories.
It’s so rare that speed gets put into such a great context and it’s not just going fast for the reason of technique showcase or mindless agression. I distinctly remember when I first starting listening to Slipknot as a teenager and I couldn’t listen to anything else anymore because other bands were just too slow. And that was also a case when speed has meaning and flavor. In the case of Hand of Kalliach I feel the same. The fast paced drums, guitars, and sometimes vocals flow so naturally with the overall sound they create, it just sounds amazingly fit there.
Enslaved – Utgard
It is a fantastic nordic metal record with prog, heavy, and black elements mixed in. But whatever it is, the one track Urjotun is one mind blowing single track that is right there amonst the top 3 of 2020 for sure. Right as the synth beat and drum groove starts (and just by typing this it’s clear how non-typical this song is on the album) I get goosebumps, and then it goes into a black metal march just to go clean after a minute and get back to the synth and groove again. It is not at all a nordic metal thing, much rather some industrial rock thing on par with the best of Killing Joke, but then melts it with Enslave’s burning voice making it their own. This song is just epic.
Oranssi Pazuzu – Värähtelijä
Finnish black metal but with many strange edges. Psychedelic rock, pumping kicks, many post-rock themes. It is quite an opus.
Cradle Of Filth – Hammer of the Witches
Just one post ago I wrote about Karyn Crisis creating the metal album of 2015 and now after quite some days of listening to the new Cradle of Filth ablum on repeat I am seriously thinking: may 2015 be an year of metal? There is also a Fear Factory record in the works, Disturbed seems promising, and strange to say but Bullet for My Valentine released three very much okay singles so far.
So, as for Cradle of Filth. This album truly resembles the greatest days when I listened to a lot of speedy metal like this, and this was around the gloriuos times of Cruelty & The Beast. Actually I wonder what the whole ablum would be withouth the track “Deflowering the Maidenhead, Displeasuring the Goddess”, because this one is like poison infecting my mind and the chorus hooks come back to me throughout the day always wanting a re-listen.
I least expected to be totally addicted to a CoF album this year but this one deserves some replays. Would be great to catch a live show this year with this lineup and some of the new tracks.
My Dying Bride – The Cry of Mankind
I already noted this one before but every once in a while I return to this state of mind where The Cry of Mankind is my only and one saviour. The guitar strings resonate with my soul and the ship horns are like lighthouse beacons in the night. All of its 12 minutes are pure essence without a single note to miss.
It doesn’t matter when and how many times I listen to these two records I will never get bored of them. I already know every single note of them but they are always like a return to home.