We’re halfway through 2013, and you know what that means: There’s finally an excuse to make a list.
Yes, you’re looking at yet another “Best of Half of 2013 So Far or Whatever” feature, but this won’t be an insult to your intelligence. (Thanks to liberally-oiled PR machinery, you know that Suffocation, Altar of Plagues, Kvelertak, Kylesa, et al. have released albums this year. No need to hammer it home.) Rather than trot out a series of rehashed love-fests for big-budget hype-bombs, we’ve decided to highlight a slate of subterranean releases that may have ponged where they should’ve pinged.
Grab a shovel.
GRAVEYARD – THE SEA GRAVE
“But, I already know about Graveyard. I love their classic rock jams!”
BZZZT. Unless the Swedish beardo eternalists are pulling double duty as Spain’s most punishing death metal export, you have not listened to the greatest collection of gents forming under the Graveyard nom de doom. The Sea Grave is the epitome of our favorite adjective: It’s fucking NASTY. Opener “The Visitations of the Great Old Ones,” and subsequent stunners respond to quick licks with crushing incantations, craftily evoking H.P.’s entire bestiary of outer dimensional creepy-crawlies. The guitars saw away at sanity’s tethers, the kicks blast high-gauge holes into your chest, the growls bristle with unhinged feral aggression. Type with me: N A S T Y. If your keyboard didn’t explode from the force equal to an eagle’s peck, you’re doing it wrong. So, make it right. This needs to be owned. If you still think it’s the other reenactors, feel free to hold on tight to their noveau vinyl while a tentacle drags you down to the home of Davey Jones. [IAN CHAINEY]
BLOCKHEADS – THIS WORLD IS DEAD
With 2013 shaping up to be a banner year for grind, it’s odd that even Relapse seemed to hit the snooze button on this one. Molded in fury and fired in frustration, This World is Dead is a non-stop check to the gut. Focused in vision and yet varied enough to hold your attention, this is exactly what you need to avoid killing that fucker in front of you in traffic that keeps switching lanes for no reason to make sure you sit behind a semi for the next hundred miles or so. For having been around since ’92, these French madmen sound ridiculously vital. With all of the speed of Murderworks-era Rotten Sound and the misanthropic attitude of Human 2.0, you’ll be hard-pressed not to bang your head and knock shit over in your kitchen over these forty minutes. This belongs not only in any grind freak’s collection, but any collection, period. The alarm is sounding. Don’t press that button and sleep on this one again. [CHRIS REDAR]
KATALEPSY – AUTOPSYCHOSIS
Here are two slightly incongruous facts: I don’t like brutal death metal very much, and I love Katalepsy’s Autopsychosis. In fact, Autopsychosis damn near outstrips Suffocation’s Pinnacle of Bedlam, and that ain’t no mean feat. The reason Katalepsy’s guttural gutter-dragging slams still pull me in and leave me reeling is that the Russian band pulls off the absolutely sweetest balancing act between sewer-churning gut-rumbling brutality and spry, acrobatic technicality. Neither wholly brutal nor technical, Katalepsy’s monstrous sound burns all the more brightly because it hasn’t left behind the original kernel: memorable songwriting. Heap on to the pyre the fact that the band’s lyrics are about twelve thousand times better than your average numbskull thumbing through a thesaurus for synonyms for vomit, and you’ve got one of 2013’s most all-together packages. A classy crusher that never skimps on sheer pile-driving massiveness. [DAN OBSTKRIEG]
MACHETAZO – RUIN
Machetazo’s last album, 2009’s Munda Cripto, was a marked step forward for this nearly twenty-year-old Spanish death / grind unit — their first with lyrics, their best production, just an all-around bang-up job of slicin’ ‘n’ dicin’ gory sickness. So it would stand to reason that I’d be anticipating Ruin, though I must admit that it crept up on me unexpected, like an axe-wielding madman. And like that madman, it delivers blood-splattered death with expert precision and maniacal glee. Riffs that are equally bludgeoning and carving, the generally fetid tone and a crypt-worthy sound, grinding kick and death metal bite and noxious doom metal crawl — the sound of gore metal done right. Many bands kill — Machetazo eviscerates. [ANDREW EDMUNDS]
THE FALL OF EVERY SEASON – AMENDS
Marius Strand’s one man band is shaping up to be metal’s The Free Design. Who? Exactly. Existing in the late-’60s, The Free Design was all of popular music’s virtues wrapped into one talented vocal ensemble. Their bright, intricate, and absurdly hooky pop should’ve granted them a huge following. Yet, they flopped and, to this day, no one really knows why. Amends is an album driven by similar needs, elegantly checking off every box with the utmost sincerity. It nails the sighing emptiness of Katatonia’s best, matches the grandeur of Opeth at their most sweeping, and plucks the same wrenching emotional resonance of doom’s finest balladeers. Strand’s vocals are honest, his pacing sublime, and he plays guitar like a masseuse, using his tone to knead any area offering resistance. It’s what makes Amends captivating, the kind of record that sits on your weekend plans if you dare to drop the needle. Yet, how many times have you seen this tagged with #nowplaying? Surely not enough. Stop what you’re doing and grab it now. Free up space on your future Albums I Missed in 2013 list with something more deserving of being forgotten. [IAN CHAINEY]
ADORA VIVOS – TOWARD THE EMPYREAN
It was a bit shocking to be confronted with a band that co-opted the title of the (canon-defining?) Woods of Ypres song for their own purpose. Conflicting emotions boiled; we hold the late David Gold’s work in unparalleled esteem at LR, and “too soon?” echoes were bouncing across the corridors. However, upon hurtling Toward the Empyrean, skepticism melted away in seconds. Minnesota’s Adora Vivos are paying tribute to Woods, (especially on opener “The Ruin of Tranquillity”) but they’re also–quite confidently–flying the flag for the rarified strain of North American doom plyed by pocket acts like Novembers Doom and Daylight Dies. This five-track EP is a bold, fully-realized birth. By the time they present the sweeping title track, Adora Vivos has sprouted somber, sinewed wings that could carry them to higher plains planes. Sing their praises while they’re still alive. [JORDAN CAMPBELL]
WORMLUST – THE FERAL WISDOM
With a name like Wormlust, you’d be forgiven for writing this off as, well, some pedestrian death metal concept album about gardening. Nevertheless, push through that initial roadblock and you’ll find some mightily captivating black metal from a single dude way up in Iceland. Because, of course. H.V. Lyngdal’s debut full-length as Wormlust features four mostly lengthy tracks of alternatingly frenetic and ambient black metal, all shot through with a cinematic scope and a sky-widening grasp of psychedelia. Imagine Nightbringer and Spectral Lore rolling up Pink Floyd’s Meddle LP and smoking it, or Sigur Ros discovering Krallice and Darkspace while guzzling amphetamines and trying to play The Cure’s catalog from memory. The basic point, really, is that this racket is hard to describe but easy to love if you’re into any of the alien mutations that black metal’s been subjecting itself to in recent years. And hell, peep the whole thing on Bandcamp while we wait around for a damn physical release without even breaking a sweat. Thanks, internet. [DAN OBSTKRIEG]
BÖLZER – AURA
If Swiss newcomer Bölzer keeps releasing the same quality of music that it has on its first EP, there will soon be no need for an introduction. As the great Reverend pointed out in one of his segments earlier this year, Aura sounds much more like it came from a small pocket of Ván Records veterans in Aachen than from some rookies a few borders South. And yet, Aura still maintains a unique-enough sound to truly need no comparisons. Unlike nearly every other “black / death” project, Bölzer actually gets things right by tattooing craters of dense, limitless atmosphere into its listeners heads. And then there’s the riffs… What’s that? Your pocket books are running for cover? Y’all better get on this one, as it’s something every metal enthusiast should own. Expect big things from Bölzer very soon. [KK]
DISPIRIT – 111112
First off, I’m cheating. 111112, demo number two from these San Francisco rippers, was actually recorded live at their rehearsal space in November of last year and dropped in December to correspond with a live performance. But as is often the case with self-released work of this nature, official word and proper promotion took a bit longer to dig its way up from the underbelly of the underground, so it wasn’t until a few months later that the general public was made aware that physical copies were available to order directly from the band’s website.
For the uninitiated, Dispirit play a brand of raw, atmospheric black metal that emphasizes a terminally grieving ambiance perfectly suited for gloomy-grim, solitary introspection. Barely discernible scraped vocals and guitars thick with bleak timbre stretch, wail and slowly crescendo into a blanketing bedlam that’s kept conscious through heaps of consistently crashing drums (REAL drums, praised be) that serve to nail the listener to reality. It’s essentially a quintessential assimilation of chief antagonist/guitarist/vocalist John Gossard’s previous conjurations – Black Goat, Weakling and The Gault – with a generous pinch of early Xasthur smoke thrown into the mix to guarantee an utterly suffocating ordeal.
Note: Cassette only release with program repeating on both sides. Includes a strangling cover of Slayer’s “Metal Storm/Face the Slayer.” [CAPTAIN]
MYRKGRAV – SJUGUTTMYRA
The only downfall artists unfortunately face when wanting to stay truly independent is lack of recognition for great music that deserves it. (This especially applies to bands such as Myrkgrav, that have released classic albums before the days of Ye Olde Bandcampe.) The Sjuguttmyra EP is my first experience with this one-man project, and what initially drew me to listening to the music was the man himself: Lars Jensen (A very unusual name for a Finn, I must say). His photos are…quite unique for someone producing this Moonsorrow-esque type of music. If a professionally-barbered haircut, thick suit and double-barrel shotgun aren’t enough to intrigue you, perhaps the music will. (Perhaps I’m superficial like that.) Myrkgrav plays a fantastic take on modern folk / Viking metal without sounding overly cliché or inorganic. The music is plenty aggressive, yet pretty enough for those who’d rather hear some softer passages. An all-around triumph, and all who enjoy should definitely take a trip back in time to enjoy the masterpiece that is Myrkgrav’s first and only full-length, Trollskau, skrømt og kølabrenning. The visit will be well-worth it! [KK]
PROCESSION – TO REAP HEAVENS APART
2013 has delivered a wealth of strong releases in the proto-, sludge and ‘traditional’ off-shoots of doom, but outside of this particular megaton brick of majesty and the equally as eye-popping debut from Age of Taurus, things have been fairly quiet on the more epic side of the fence. But who the hell needs ten+ boilerplate, paint-by-the-numbers releases destined to be forgotten by year-end when you have something as wonderfully gratifying as To Reap Heavens Apart?
Much like the band’s previous works, this record openly splays everything diehard fans of epic doom hold dear to their hearts: blanketing despair, animus and inspiration all triumphantly conveyed through an expansive assemblage of leaden riffs, sweeping leads and heavy, lionhearted clean vocals. And that BASS – sweetbabyjesus, that bass clearly and emphatically galumphs and flattens like a colossus clumping through a cornfield.
Highlights are plentiful from open to close, but the true crux of To Reap Heavens Apart is bolstered through the indelible strength of its three closing tunes (approx 27-minutes of the full 44), which includes a dynamic 6.5-minute Marche funèbre that spotlights a stirring dialogue from Primordial’s Alan Averill.
Be fucking doomed. [CAPTAIN]
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