May 24, 2023
0:25-6:57
LUNAR CHAMBER
(GA)
Spirit Body and the Seeing
Self
— Debut from Lunar Chamber has both
members of Tómarúm, one of my 2022 Best albums. Jarring fusion of
black and death with jazz and psychedelic creating spaces within
the intricacies. A rumbling vocalist and shredding guitars
also charm.
7:59-12:00
ASCENDED DEAD
(CA)
Inverted Ascension
— Demonic and experimental vocals and
an intricate cyclone of shifting tempos with surprising beauty
including strummed ethnic guitars. A joy.
12:31-16:30
HENGET
(Finland)
I Am Them
— Distorted throaty vocals in an
intricate black with dramatic tones of desperation and tension.
16:54-21:21
BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE
WOODS (NZ)
Hallucinative Terror
— Proggy death that lead into a mire
of moods, dark, aggressive, melancholy.
21:47-27:46
FIRES IN THE
DISTANCE (CT)
Adrift, Beneath the Listless
Waves
— My 2020 Best Melodic. This is
another intense crisp melodic and orchestral-forward album with
epic riffs.
28:34-33:00
CATTLE DECAPITATION
(CA)
Scourge of the Offspring
— These guys are annoyingly
impeccable. Another fantastic album from these dudes, with
more of those engaging vocals.
33:28-38:25
NEXORUM
(Norway)
Shun
— Haunting black metal, melancholy
beauty and tremelo intensity leading into whopping
riffs.
38:48-42:31
SHADOWS
(Chile)
Alissa
— Groove and heavy metal, guitar
solos, and an 80s style glam vocalist with a modern growl.
Brilliantly nostalgic of our favorite early metal
acts.
42:56-49:40
THULCANDRA
(Germany)
In The Eye Of Heaven
— Urgent, evocative black metal
slowed down with rasped heated sexy vocals that can make the cover
of a romance novel.
49:49-54:00
FROZEN SOUL
(TX)
Arsenal of War
— A lot of guest appearances,
including dudes from dying fetus, creeping death and power trip.
Thrash and death and groove for so much punchy fun.
54:29-END
HEROD
(Switzerland)
The Girl with a Balloon
— Warm, expressive vocals ride along
with a harsher growled style in a sludgy, melodic, atmospheric and
dissonant progressive.