Knelt Rote "From Without/Insignificance"

Knelt Rote is a band that mixes a lot of genres, from Death Metal, Black Metal, Noise, Crust and Grind,  that in the end, forms this huge wall of vicious sound. It's two releases in one. You get the first one, "From Without" that came out in 2008, filled with short and furious songs, it's a more powerviolenced crust/grind that bring to my mind acts like Man Is The Bastard, Raw Radar War and early Napalm Death, but in a more incisive way... "Insignificance" (tracks 11, 12 and 13) sound more into Death Metal, the first two, "Immeasurable" and "Age" sound almost kinda like Flourishing material while "Constituent Of Oblivion" is a more darker, evil as fuck track... It may sound a little bit inconsistent, or not. You judge it. But i think these fellas are still testing the waters. I prefer a lot, i mean, A LOT, what they have created with "Constituent Of Oblivion". Fuckin' awesome track. You can get Knelt Rote stuff at Parasitic Records although "Insignificance" will be launched this year through NWP. Stay alert on these guys. Sorry about the low quality on this one, but it was all i could get... think that in this way, its sounds more kvlt.

listen | kneel before the wolves

True Widow "True Widow"

It was Winter, 2009...  i left home early in the morning to go to work, jumped into a cold and foggy day, as the first notes of "AKA" started to sound on my iPod.. i fell in love. When i discovered this band, back then, i could never imagine that i would be so hooked on them until today. I've talked about them here on FxC before (here) about their new EP that came out last year and their wonderful second full-length "As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth", another of my 2011's favorites. Here's a little bit more about the story about this awesome band:

As Dan Phillips' previous band Slowride (moderately well known in punk and "emo" circles for their pummeling onslaught and lyrical wit) dissolved, the songwriter was slowly taking a different turn. He moved away from his native Texas to Massachusetts to be trained in the old ways of woodworking and for a while there was a question of if he would ever craft another tune. While the cold and solitude certainly had their effect they allowed him to reflect and turn inwards to build something new. Songs started to emerge, but they were not what was expected. The songs that would become the first True Widow material were extremely personal, heavy, melodic, and surprisingly not at breakneck speeds. They left room for the notes and melodies to breathe as the depth of the lyrics slowly seeped in over time. After a year or two Phillips returned to Dallas, Texas where True Widow first formed. The band which now also consists of co-vocalist and bassist Nicole Estill and drummer Timothy Starks were aiming to do something entirely different from their peers. What you have before you is the outcome of their work and their first album outing. It's something that may be hard to define and not all together familiar, but ultimately rewarding for those who take the journey alongside the haunting and morphine drip vocals.

Truly a remarkable band with an unique sound and extraordinary ability in song-writing. Love them to death. You can buy this here.

listen | gazed

Malachi

This self titled album from crusty doomsters Malachi is one of my favorites in the genre, although it's oldie it still is quite goodie. This crust tainted doom it's just wonderful and gives me an orgasm to my ears every time i revisit it. Malachi really emphasizes on the atmospheric part with constant chugs and little known presence of actual vocals. The interchanging female and male vocals is also a nice little twist to it all. Totally crushing riffs lead into noodley guitar solos, haunting crazy cello parts lead in and out of doomy interludes and breakdowns. The sound effects make me feel like i'm a little bit more eveil just for listening to this record. Just beautiful. Fans of any crust related sludge would get a kick out of this band, in case their not familiarized with the name Malachi. If you're a fan of Oroku, Fall Of Efrafa, Grayceon, what the fuck are you waiting to get this? They have a hand full of releases really worth checking out too. A must have indeed.

myspace | prophets of doom

Paganus

Paganus are a Finnish Death/Doom five-piece who formed in 2000, only releasing a couple of demos up until this self-titled debut album back in 2008. When you take into consideration that even though there are only 4 tracks on offer here, that the album still has a runtime stopping just short of 50 minutes, you'll win no prizes for guessing the tempo at which they play their music, yep... sloooooooowwwwwww. With that said, they have enough inventiveness in their song structures to keep a vice-like grip on your imagination for every second. Every nuance, every crackle of static filled distortion and every moment of contemplative silence has been perfectly honed to serve you with one of the finest doom releases ever released. Even though the tempo is generally slow, it doesn't stop the strangulated guitars occasionally straying off to a more mid tempo pace to pound your senses with a fantastically defiant vigor. Vocally, it's not your standard Doom/Death affair either, with blackened throaty hiss interchanging between an easily intelligible shout depending on the mood of the riff that they're topping.

All of these separate ingredients blend into one incredible whole, with the excellent songwriting shining through the darkened mire and charred moods that glide around this album like restless wraiths. For fans of Graves At Sea, Burning Witch.

myspace | doooooooommm-m-m-m...

Nocturnal Blood

Emerging from chaos comes Nocturnal Blood, a young one-man band playing straight-forward Black/Death Metal in the bestial and occult traditions of the past. The music bursts forth from the stereo with abyssic tremolo-picked riffs which sound as if they are coming from within the depths of a distant tomb. The riffs create the sense of darkness and morbidity that many bands attempt to create but only result in a forced and hollow effort. The music of Nocturnal Blood is far from forced and carries a bold and honest feeling, hitting the listener deep within. No bullshit, no hype, no shit.. just True Tradition of Old motherfuckers!! Grab this here. Meanwhile check this out first, to get in the full spirit for this release. Fuck, now that would give a fuckin' evil intro.

listen | ancient spirits of evil rise!

Trenches

This is the self titled EP from Irish band Trenches. Don't confuse them with the american post metal band that also shares the same name, these situations sometimes are tricky. Trenches are a 6 piece band from Galway, Ireland and play down-tempo/hardcore/sludge. This 5 track EP was released last year, they have recently done a split with Drainland.. and I believe they share one member with Bacchus, so keep an eye on this band. Thanks for Gabriel for sending this great EP, support the band by buying some good stuff here. 

listen | vicious sounds from the north

Meanwhile i almost feel obligated to share the U.S version of Trenches, the album has a few years, released thru Solid State Records it is quite a solid release, it features ex Haste The Day frontman, Jimmy Ryan, don't let this scare you though... Trenches has nothing to do with HTD, really. This was their debut "The Tide Will Swallow Us Whole". It is a wall of sound and is grand and imposing, yet it has flaws. I wish there was a bit more speed at times as well as more technicality. I like the vibe but it lacked appeal at times and I found myself bored in certain spots. However those moments were thankfully short. I think the album is impressive but since then, the beast remains in silence.. 

myspace | sink or swim

Hedorah

Taking it's name from the aerial pollution god that faced off against Godzilla in the Japanese psychedelic kaiju classic Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), Hedorah is an industrial noise/doom/drone project consisting of James Keeler (Wilt) and Dan Hall. This beast, made of blackened doom metal, delivers over sickening downtuned guitar riffs that seemed to drift in and out of phase, smears of filthy electronic noise, and crushing monotonous drum machine beats. Not one ray of light, nor ounce of melody is anywhere to be found. Just plodding, utterly hypnotic, nauseatingly crushing industrial doom. Recommended for fans of Nadja, Gnaw Their Tongues, Moss.

listen | banzai!

Atavist

Been listening a lot to this band lately, Atavist are a sludge/doom band from the UK, they have been around since 2005,  released some decent stuff, and certainly made their way up to the Sludge/Doom hall of fame. From all of their releases this one is probably my favorite. So if you're not familiar to this band, this is a good way to start.

myspace | doom or be doomed

Son Of Earth

Damn, i almost forgot about these guys.. Son Of Earth were (they exist no more) a death metal band hailing from that Death Metal industry, Sweden. This was their first and only release just self-titled. The swedish old school death metal is there but this band is some levels away from Entombed, if you would like a comparison. These guys didn't live long enough to make a statement but at least left this good album, not great album... just good. Just try it for yourself.

swedish corpse stench

The Wounded Kings

I'm not a big fan when it comes to clean vocals in heavy music but this band is an exception, The Wounded Kings. Great classic occult doom with great songs/lyrics. The voice is great and i just love the sound of the guitars, just fuckin' heavy. This is their debut called "Embrace of the Narrow House" and i love the whole atmosphere of this album, it's thick, crushing and slooooow. These guys have a new album out called "In the Chapel of the Black Hand", i haven't heard the whole thing yet, just some excerpts , it features Sharie Nyland on vocals, i don't wanna sound too macho-man (sorry Sharie) and shit but, but with a feminine voice the whole atmosphere is different, some people like it, others don't.. and i'm still standing in the middle of that. Meanwhile check this great album and at least drop one line or two, a simple "Thank You" will make my day :)

myspace | embrace the doooooomm

Black Ships

Dude, i love canadian hardcore/crust.. if i read somewhere that it's an canadian hardcore or crust band, i'll immediately press the "download" button without blinking, it's almost the same with bands that have album artwork from Justin Bartlett. Black Ships are a dark hardcore band with some crust influences that come from Montreal, Canada, and "Omens" is their full length released in 2008. Basically "Omens" is loud, explosive, and crushing. The guitars are suitable distorted, while the bass is down tuned to the point of sounding almost out of tune. The vocals roar out, and the drums anchor down the sound keeping simple rhythms that pound like war drums. Black Ships offers an enjoyable first insight into the band’s attempt at mixing hardcore with slower sludge influences. The mention of sludge should not bring thoughts of Noothgrush, Dystopia or Thou, but more of a dirty, looming hardcore aesthetic towards the style.. i sense some love for the almighty defunct Cursed.

myspace | the omen

Never Healed

I love this band, it just makes me wanna grab my (fake) leather jacket, a can of beer and start moshing.

Members of Look Back and Laugh, Mindless Mutant,Yaphet Kotto and Lights Out team up to deliver some serious rocking hardcore. While the tunes can be melodic and catchy at times, the stark contrast of the grizzled and growled vocals (sounding like someone's vocal chords being dragged through a paper shredder), it reminds me a little bit Cobra Noir (that i already posted here on the blog too), and for me that's good. Check it out.

myspace | raise your glass to the sky

Münn

Mais um demónio saido directamente das entranhas da enigmática Woodsmoke de Salem, Oregon. "Selbstmordwald Rehearsal 2/27/08" é um trabalho obscuro, extremamente obscuro... Münn é composto por membros que derivam de outras bandas como Elu Of the Nine (que já aqui falei), Leech, Merkstave e outros. Não há muito a dizer sobre a banda, pois tal como a própria editora, são tão underground que não existe na internet muita informação acerca da mesma. Esta k7, "Selbstmordwald Rehearsal 2/27/08" parece ter sido vomitada pelo próprio Lúcifer e começa imediatamente com uma faixa de 43 minutos de agonizante terror pejado do mais ensurdecedor e arrastado doom que voçês já ouviram na vossa vida. Não acreditam? Então comprovem.

metal archives | to hell and back

Tecumseh

O tempo tem-se revelado meu inimigo novamente e não tenho tido ultimamente a possibilidade de postar tantas vezes como queria.. qualquer das formas vou tentar postar sempre que puder para manter a chama acesa. Continuando..

Formados em 2004, Tecumseh oferecem-nos um drone doom de qualidade e quando comparado com os seus colegas da escola SUNN O))), eles definitivamente estiveram mais atentos e até acabaram por inovar um pouco através da implementação de pequenos e tímidos samples electrónicos mas que são quase abafados pelo usos de dois baixos, guitarra e bateria. "Avalanche And Inundation" é uma manto de feedback que nos envolve num sónico ambiente meditativo. Alguns podem achar aborrecido devido à constante inércia das faixas, outros podem adorar... a explorar.

myspace | drooooooooone

Anaphylactic Shock

Decidi postar Anaphylactic Shock, porque é uma das bandas que mais prazer me dá a ouvir, e o mesmo irei fazer com uma série de outras bandas/álbuns que considero, na minha opinião de musicólogo-dependente, que são do melhor que apareceram nos últimos anos. Álbum de estreia desta banda holandesa, "Two Thousand Years" é daqueles álbuns que é excepção não o ouvir quase todas as semanas, tem aquele som/produção que gosto, as músicas são extremamente "catchy", uma mistura de crust e black metal e uma voz que soa a maldade em todas as letra que saem, capaz de fazer corar muito vocalista de pseudo-black-metal que aí anda. Este álbum simplesmente não tem falhas. Acreditem.

myspace | feel the shock

Monno

Sempre que sai um álbum de Monno (não confundir com os japoneses do post-rock Mono), move-se uma placa tectónica no Mundo. Este álbum "Ghosts" de 2008 é de facto avassalador. Este é o terceiro álbum do grupo que com cinco faixas de peso, bem estruturado e sombrio nos levam á ruína melhor do que nínguem. A faixa que abre o álbum "Negative Horizon" coloca-nos em hipnose, sempre ao ritmo de um compasso esmagado por riffs da escola Sunn O))) e quando pensamos que saimos desse transe eis que surge a faixa "Troye" que nos deita as suas garras e destrói-nos por completo. Melhor que nínguem, estes Monno sabem o que fazem pois não é qualquer banda que consegue produzir faixas tão assombramente claustrofóbicas como neste "Ghosts".

myspace | evil ghosts

Argentinum Astrum

Jovem banda de Knoxville, Tenesse, que nos trazem este álbum homónimo de 2008, composto somente por uma faixa de 26 minutos do sludge/doom mais sujo, podre, "ablackalhado" e como se isso não bastasse ainda o cobrem com feedbacks extremos só para nos foder o cérebro e lá pelo meio ainda conseguem ter tempo para fazer uns riffs meio embriagados. Quando pensamos que o riff se vai prolongar eis que a banda decide embrulhar tudo só para provocar o caos.. isso prova que esta jovem banda eclética tem pernas para andar em direcção ao futuro. Cá os esperamos. Para fãs de Sunn O))), Khanate, Eyehategod.

myspace | feel the feedback