Lost Hours "II"

Lost Hours are one of my most recent discoveries, I can't exactly recall how I found them and at this point it really doesn't matter. What I can recall is that when I see both "doom" and "drone" tags together, my inner alarm goes off and my attention is suddenly directed only to that particular release.

This EP features two tracks only that together, offers us a splendid, very well spent half hour. The title of the first song really caught my eye, "He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains, Whose Back Scrapes the Sky". Just the name itself, sets the motto for something big... epic. It begins slowly with some shy notes opening way to what soon transforms into a fucking nightmare. It's like as if the floor cracks open below our feet and we fall endlessly, deep down into the abyss. The vocals are quite punishing, creating in the listener the feeling of impotence as the black cloud of despair forms right above our heads. Thick and twisted riffs are roughly hewn along the 18 minutes. 

The second half of this, "S. A. A." is basically an almost 14 minute, drone, atmospheric track whose sound seems quite concealed in a very cinematic type of record. This is a very interesting release and I just look forward to hear more of Lost Hours. 

If you're into heavy, punishing misanthropic doom, then jump right in. Tape version unfortunately sold out at this point. Highly recommended. 

Lost Hours

Failure Ritual "Secret Hoard"; "Total Weakness"; "Ineptitude".

If you're an avid follower of my blog, you'll probably remember when I posted about Failure Ritual back in 2012. Well, he's back. And it seems he has been busy, I mean... very busy, since he delivers not one, nor two but... three new whole releases, three! And what can you expect? More of that impenetrable noisy, entrancing blackened doom? Blackened drone? It's hard to classify Failure Ritual's sound. Whatever that may be, it just grabs you and sucks you down to the bottomless pits of Hell. Check it out.

 Failure Ritual

Forever Cursed Interviews: Mizmor

"Mizmor (מִזְמוֹר): a psalm, a melody."

For the first time here on Forever Cursed, I'm introducing an interview with one of my current favorite band from across the Ocean. I'm talking about Mizmor and the man behind the project: A.L.N. who's also behind other well known projects such as heavyweight doomsters Hell and vicious black metal band Urzeit. Since day one, right after the release of the self-titled album and "Untitled Winter EP", a very dedicated cult quickly grew around Mizmor, and release after release, all Mizmor material quickly sold out in days. So, what's the secret for his success? Where and why did this band came from? I've traded some questions with A.L.N. for you to discover more about the band itself, the Dying God hoax, the new edition of "Untitled Winter EP" on vinyl and pleasant good news about what's in the works. Check it out.

Haxan: Hi A.L.N. How and why the need to create Mizmor?

A.L.N. : I’m glad you phrased it this way, for Mizmor truly is music created out of need. I started playing instruments around age 8, writing songs with friends in bands only a year or two later. I have written and recorded my own music as a one-person entity since I was 12 years old. In younger years it was more for fun, whereas in later years it was because of grief. But it’s not like 12 year old me was releasing music to the greater public. Most of those songs, no one will ever hear. But I made them anyways. I have always felt the need to be creative and to get my emotion out. It is the sorrow in my heart and the musings in my mind that compel me to create Mizmor, the music I am making now.

Haxan: The name Mizmor intrigues me. Is there any story behind why you chose that name?

A.L.N. : Yes, there is definitely a story that probably helps better answer your first question as well. The music of Mizmor was necessitated from a religious time in my life. I spent a serious amount of time seeking answers to the primal questions of life and ultimately depending on a god I came to believe in. This time came to an end… a bitter end, and I turned my back on the beliefs I had cultivated. The sorrow, disillusionment, confusion, bitterness, and disappointment were so intense that I honestly felt I could die. The rug had been torn from beneath my feet, revealing a different and truer world I had failed to see before. The best friend I l came to love dearly turned to ash in my arms. I began to write songs in the black metal style to express this terror and save my sanity. After making a few songs I realized I should name this thing. I decided upon a name that was close to the heart of the experience I was having. 

Mizmor means psalm (as in song, poem, prayer), which is exactly what I was writing. Some may not realize this, but the Psalms of the Bible are hardly solely joyful. Many are filled with sorrow, questions, and rage. It seemed the perfect name for these upward-directed cries I was writing. Also, if you look at the Hebrew characters closely (מזמור), it eerily resembles my name (Liam), a detail I later noticed that gave me chills and confirmed it as the project title. I know a lot of people cannot relate to the theistic element of this story, but I’ve come to find over the years that this resonates with many more than I thought (yes, even in the metal community). Nowadays, Mizmor is far from writing songs that specifically address god, as if on the stand with me as the prosecutor. But the sorrow I feel everyday over the conundrum of my own existence produces the same contemplative, questioning psalms.

photo by M.Garcia

Haxan: Ok, so keeping in mind what you've just said behind the concept of the name "Mizmor", do you agree that it functions as an antithesis to the music we listen to, i.e. a balance between the sacred and the profane. Taking the present and based on your past experiences, does religion continues to serve as your main inspiration?

A.L.N. : By “the music we listen to” I assume you mean most metal. So, Mizmor: the antithesis to most metal? I would say hardly. I think the antithesis to metal would be… I dunno… Christian worship music, haha. Although religion served as an inspiration for my early work, Mizmor is the documentation of my journey AWAY from god (or at least my confusion over the matter), and in that sense there is a certain irony to the name. And though religion can be credited for inspiration, it was never the point of the music. It is the sorrow and woe that drove me to score these lamentations; the feeling of having your heartbroken and mind ripped to shreds, of which my beliefs at the time were the cause. Nowadays, I don’t write as much about the idea of god. I contemplate that still… am even haunted by it still. But my own existence, depression, the human condition, and the perplexing law of survival have inspired me most in my latest writing. I do feel Mizmor has differences to some metal that’s out there, however. 

My music, and most heavy music that I like, is cathartic… something made out of necessity, an audible grieving process. There is much release involved. It could even be seen as healthy in a way. Sure, it brings you down when you listen to it, but only to show the listener what I am feeling, which is often something they can relate to. There is another type of music that has the goal of destroying you. People who maybe started out making metal for release, but now just exploit the feeling of personal sorrow, seeking to bring others into a place of disgust for no purpose other than that - music that is unnecessarily negative because it’s funny, cool, or the norm. Sorrow and depression make good music, there’s not doubt about that, but they aren’t things to be desired or sought after. It’s not a place to wallow. I mean… I’m plenty dark and depressed as it is, for heaven’s sake! I don’t need someone else breeding in me negativity. Maybe it’s to get a rise out of the listener; maybe they just want people to suffer with them. I’ve witnessed those who self-sustain their own depression and that filth, whether intentional or not, is contagious, and that’s not the type of music that resonates with me. Don’t get me wrong, as far as musical terms in the metal world go, I like my music to sound “filthy” and “crushing,” etc. And I don’t think metal needs to be redemptive or have a message. Fuck that. Urzeit is completely irreverent music. 

But I’m sprinting in the other direction of religion for a reason that’s from experience, not because upside-down crosses and pentagrams look cool/intense and are traditional in metal. It’s a hard distinction, and I don’t have some definitive guide. I even like plenty of seemingly offensive, gross bands. There’s a bad feeling I’ve gotten from certain individuals/bands though. I guess it’s more to do with motive and integrity. To use the words from your question, I see mourning as having a certain “sacred” place in an individual’s life (we who like heavy music can all commune over it in a certain way) and I don’t much appreciate that being turned into something “profane” because someone is too shallow a human to have their own real grief. I can’t explain it much better than that.

Haxan: Initially, I felt, as a listener, that in the two first releases, soundwise speaking, Mizmor's sound was almost a clone of Hell although splattered with some hints of black metal. And now listening to your latest, I feel that there is clearly an evolution that separates Mizmor from that initial shadow of Hell. Looking back, do you also feel that?

A.L.N: This is something I have come across before in the years of Mizmor. I will not say that there is no comparison to HELL, for that would be false. But I will say that if that is all you hear, or where your listening stops, you are gravely mistaken and missing the point. I created Mizmor entirely independent of HELL (which MSW created). I had moved to Germany to pursue my religion and wasn’t paying my old friends much mind. It was shortly after I returned that my heart changed and I began making Mizmor. This was all just in my bedroom in Portland, where most of my friends lived and made music in Salem (an hour south). It’s true that I provided some vocals on the first HELL album (prior to Germany), but we hardly knew what we were doing. MSW has made his own one-person music for the majority of his whole life as well, and one day he just invited me over to do vocals on a new song he had made. Pesanta Urfolk Records wasn’t part of the picture, the name HELL wasn’t even present. It was just buddies working on a song. A long time later, MSW gave me a HELL “I” record, reminding me of the songs I did and showing me how it had become something. I, being religious at the time, was actually quite appalled by it. It hardly spurred me to action in making my own, similar music. 

But, MUCH has changed since then. I am happy to admit that MSW’s music (for as long as I’ve known him, not just with HELL) is some of the best music I’ve ever heard, and he has influenced my own music in many ways. After the religious veil was torn from my eyes and I sat down again with all three HELL albums. I was blown away. HELL became my favorite band. The best doom metal I’d ever heard. MSW and I have played in bands together since being 14 and 15 years old. We started getting into heavy music simultaneously, and our bands got heavier. I am not surprised that his fingerprints are on my music. I’m even proud of them. But Mizmor came from my own experiences and mind, just like HELL came from MSW’s, and they sound quite different to me. The first Mizmor album, the self-titled full-length, is played almost entirely in the black metal style. There are moments of doom and drone, but to me it’s a black metal album. I began writing in this style because it expressed so much sorrow and yet yearning and a certain kind of beauty. Also, it is a largely anti-Christian genre and, even though my music is much more agnostic in philosophy than anything Satanic or overtly atheistic, it is a lashing out against God nonetheless and it seemed to fit quite nicely. 

The first HELL album, on the other hand, sounds like a Black Sabbath record on the wrong speed of your turntable. It’s a stoney, plodding, doom album. HELL rarely dips into black metal. There are a couple blast beats in the entire discography. I don’t think my early work as Mizmor shares much at all with HELL, other than the doomy-droney parts. MSW’s influence can be most clearly heard on Mizmor songs VI and VII, for he helped record VI with much of his own equipment, and entirely recorded VII, even providing vocals on it. These songs sound most like HELL to me. It’s funny to me that you compare the earlier Mizmor works to HELL when, if anything, I hear the comparison most in the middle of the project. 

My main point is that Mizmor and HELL have no necessary innate comparison, being created by two different individuals for different reasons at different times virtually unbeknownst to one another. But there is overlap due to a long friendship of music making and respect. I’m tired of reading reviews of my music that are quick to compare it to HELL and stop short of saying much else, especially when there are other groups of musicians out there who incestuously play in each other’s horde of bands, and are praised for their similar but barely different esthetic and work.

photo by Josh Martines

Haxan: Where do you feel Mizmor stands in the actual metal scene in the USA?

A.L.N. : That’s a good question… what, again, are the stands one can have in the metal scene? Haha. If you mean popularity/fame/renown, I think Mizmor will always be limited and slightly under the radar due to my utter lack of live performance and touring. I think that I have gained a name for myself, however small it may be, over the years of creating the music of Mizmor, and I’m very happy about that. My intention was never to climb a ladder and reach a certain place, but rather to simply create out of necessity, like I’ve always done. The fact that I now have vinyl out and a label to release my music from blows my mind. I see the project gain more momentum each year that goes by, but if it goes nowhere else, I’m still totally satisfied. To have your dark journal of sorts… a thing you were going to make anyways, be used for a purpose, inspiring others and coming back to you with more reason to keep going… I think that’s so cool. What more could you want? I don’t know if I answered your question, haha. Where does Mizmor stand in the metal scene? I guess it’s more for others to decide.

Haxan: How was the initial feedback from the people in the beginning?

A.L.N. : The feedback from people in the beginning was encouraging. I made the self-titled full-length with no intention for it. Literally none. I was going to pocket it like all the other one-man recordings I had done over the years. A buddy of mine told me this was stupid. “You aren’t even going to put it online?” He asked. I remember showing MSW the first couple songs and being really excited. “Yep, that’s heavy man. I can tell you were really feeling something, you know, going through some shit. I feel it.” He encouraged me to use my initials, ALN, because he had credited me that way on HELL “I” and thought people may have fun finding it and connecting the dots. So I put the four original Mizmor songs online, still with nothing further planned. After a while someone contacted me from Greece inquiring about the album. He claimed he literally MUST have a physical copy of this album. I told him digital would have to do, that there was no physical copy. He replied in similar fashion to his first message, saying he was a collector and MUST have a hard copy. I thought, “Fuck it, why not?” I found some art in a couple old books I had, and went about crafting him a CD. I decided I would make 10, so I (and a couple friends) could have one too. Over the next couple months, I received similar requests for CDs. I would hand make them, one by one, as the orders came in. Originally, there was no “edition of” or release information. I just made a CD if someone wanted one. Eventually I joined HELL’s live band to do drums/vocals, and we started touring. I decided to give the CD a little more justice by making up 50 of them to take on our first weeklong tour with the new lineup. In total, there were 73 CDs made and because of this experience, I was inspired to make more music for the project. That’s been the formula for Mizmor. It’s very much fan necessitated. I put something out there, and ever since I am filling this apparent need that certain people have for more of my music, while myself filling my own need to make it. I’m very thankful for everyone who likes my music, for if they didn’t exist, there wouldn’t have been another Mizmor release for the public to hear.



Haxan: Tell me a bit about what occurred with the Dying God Records episode? How do you feel about someone using your work as a magnet to draw people and then rip them off?

A.L.N. : Fuck. I feel rage, man. I feel so awful about being taken advantage of, having my fans be taken advantage of, and having it all be associated with my name. I met Joseph Martinez (he would like you to believe his last name is Merrick, but it ain’t) at a HELL show in Atlanta, GA. Prior to meeting him, he had purchased a chunk of tapes from me to sell on his label’s site, “Dying God.” I was excited to put a face to the name I had communicated with, and the dude drove 8 or 9 hours up from Miami to see the show. He bought tons of HELL and Mizmor merchandise, and it was genuinely nice to meet him. He told me this, “Let me know when you guys are ready. You know, for vinyl. I’d love to put it out.” I explained to him how HELL is Pesanta Urfolk exclusive, but that Mizmor has yet to receive an LP pressing. I pursued him when we returned home and we decided upon my 2013 tape, “Untitled Winter EP,” to be the album he would press. I had no reason to be suspicious of him. He had now done more than one successful business transaction with both HELL and Mizmor, and his website looked legit and seemed to be doing well. Eventually, he started a preorder for the record (it ran for a whole year). His updates got less frequent and customers began to talk on the Internet. Still, every once and a while he would get back to me with an update, and I’d have no choice but to defend him and keep waiting. 

Finally, I started seeing comments pop up about him having behaved suspiciously in the past with a label, Tycho Magnetic Anomalies. Someone had tracked him, pieced it together, and was ready to accuse him of being a con artist. This is when his communication with me grinded to a halt. I was very conflicted. It was easy to pass off his reasons for delays as excuses and lies, but he had also mailed me test pressings of the record, so I knew not EVERYTHING was total bullshit. Maybe he was a con artist, maybe just a flaky guy who was genuinely trying but lacked the constitution to follow through when life’s storms hit. I began to feel less entitled about my record, and more sad for the person he was. I tried to find him: multiple email addresses, Facebook, telephone, even letters to his PO box and relative’s house where he once told me he was staying. I contacted his band from Florida who reported that Joseph receded from them as well, and they all felt very weirdly about it. He could be in jail or dead for all I knew. The message I was trying to get him was an ultimatum stating that if he did not give me an update and provide me with proof of the record by a certain date, I would consider it a total abandonment of the project and start my own production, officially ending Dying God records. Well, as you know, that’s what happened. I started group emails with Pirate’s Press and Joseph. 

They confirmed the project, saying that Joseph had even approved the test pressings, but then went out of contact months ago. I worked with them to fix art issues and get the record set for final production, but the fact still remained that we needed Joseph’s approval on it because he paid the deposit. Finally he replied, from a new email, saying he had been “away for personal reasons,” and would pay extra for this and that, how he was writing a lengthy email of explanation to me and the fans, etc…. That never happened and Pirate’s Press got to witness his lies first hand. They agreed to switch the project entirely over to me (though I had to start over financially), enabling me to finish the record and disabling Joseph from ever finishing it. I have sent Joseph a final statement, forbidding him to ever use my music in any way, shape, or form again. I have not heard from him.



Haxan: Are you going to bring that guy to justice? Considering the damage he has made to all the people who bought from him?

A.L.N. : The way in which I am bringing justice to this situation is by pressing my own record that ripped-off fans can receive for free. I am happy to report that after over a year of this bullshit, “Untitled Winter EP” will be available to the public June 1st, 2015 on my website – mizmor.virb.com. Anyone who can provide me with a receipt of their purchase from Dying God is entitled to a free record from me. I have already received many of these, but if you are reading this now and this is news to you, please email me and I will get you one! Both Pirate’s Press and Bandcamp were notified of his theft, Pirate’s Press transferring the project to me, and Bandcamp taking my record down from Dying God’s page. I wish it were easier to bring legal action against Joseph. My partner studies the law and explained to me that it can be difficult to bring charges against someone across state lines, especially when he is nowhere to be found, and successfully avoided PayPal claims through exceeding the time applicable frame due to the preorder nature of his shenanigan. 

I wish I could say that bad things don’t happen to good people, and good things don’t happen to bad people, but that is simply not the case. I would encourage any band that has been wronged by Joseph to take similar actions against him like I have. Dying God certainly will not proceed, but may we all be on our guard for his next name change and heist. I may not be able to bring him down, but I can right the situation with my fans, which is what I am doing with this new record. I want my fans to trust my name and feel safe being my customer. I regret working with, even meeting, this guy, and promise this will NEVER happen again. 

I vow to only work with trusted labels run by my personal friends, or release things independently in the future. I’m sorry it turned out this way, but excited for the new record and all who get to receive one, whether for free because they were wronged, or for purchase as part of the general public. Joseph: You’re a piece of shit.



Haxan: What are your future plans for Mizmor?

A.L.N: Up next, Pesanta Urfolk will be releasing the self-titled full-length from 2012 on cassette tape. There will also be vinyl pressings of both the Mania/Mizmor and Mizmor/Dross splits later this year. I think the answer you are more digging for is this: I am currently finishing the recording process of Mizmor full-length number 2, and that’s all I will say about that for now. There is another yet unheard/unannounced Mizmor release coming soon too, but I cannot say more.

photo by M.Garcia

Haxan: Would you consider doing another completely different project? Like something non-metal related for example?

A.L.N. : Yes I would consider doing a completely different project, though at this point in my life, the music I’m making simply isn’t non-metal (perhaps non-metal will come again someday). Though I have HELL, Mizmor, and Urzeit taking up my energy and creativity, as HELL’s activity slows down, the opportunity for more music creation opens up a little more. There’s nothing set in stone right now, but another project is quite possibly in the cards, having already been discussed between me and another individual.



Haxan: What have you been listening to lately?

A.L.N. : I just got the new Bell Witch album and it’s phenomenally written and recorded. Also, Spectral Voice’s “Necrotic Doom” is a recent favorite. Those are probably the most current pieces of music I’m taken with right now. Other than that I listen to a lot of Black Sabbath.



Haxan: And now for the latest and most cliché question in these sorts of interviews. Any special message you would like to put out there to the people who are reading this?

A.L.N. : Haha, well as cheesy as it may seem, I want to thank everyone who supports and likes Mizmor. You are appreciated. And thanks Artur for the opportunity to speak.

Haxan: No, I thank you so much for making this interview possible, especially to clear things about that bad luck incident with that scumbag from Dying God Hoax. Wish you all the best for the future.

- "Untitled Winter EP" 12'' LP OUT NOW - 

Edition of 500: 400 black, 100 grey w/ black splatter, both 180 grams. Comes in standard slip LP jacket with double-sided 6"x12" insert. Includes digital download. 

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN INDEPENDENT RELEASE MADE BY MIZMOR ITSELF. SUPPORT THE REAL MUSIC ARTISTS.

The "Untitled Winter EP" Limited Edition 12" Vinyl is already out, do yourself a favor and grab a copy right here on Mizmor page before it runs out (it will.. trust me). If you're too slow.. well you can always end up listening to all Mizmor releases on the band's Bandcamp. But don't despair! Keep an eye open for it's future releases. Support the artists who create all this great music. 

Bands You Should Be Hearing Pt.V - Essential Doom for 2015

Holy fuck... 2015 seems that it's aiming for the year of Doom. You want to know why?

One of this years releases that has been playing non-stop here on my den is this killer split release between two of Ireland's finest doom heavyweights: Nomadic Rituals and Tome. Featuring one track for each band, it's more than enough to let this thick, blurred, cosmic, black ooze flow into your ears for the next coming months. I'm totally addicted into this split and love equally both tracks from each band. It's slow, it's fucking.. I mean FUCKING SLOW AND HEAVY. What else do you need? It's so fucking good. Please check both bands and buy this vinyl record. A mandatory release for fans of the genre.

Bone Divinations

Next is Church from Sacramento, California with their "Unanswered Hymns" Demo. Church deliver these thick slabs of slow, heavy as fuck, riffs that drags us into the depths of the pits of Doom. It's almost impossible to hear this without in some unconscious way, you start banging your head s-l-o-w-l-y... I totally love the way the two vocal styles combine, bringing the most occult, witchy(!) side of doom metal with it's most vile and ugly facet. Another great doom release to keep in mind. Crushing. Demo available through Transylvanian Tapes.

Unanswered Hymns

Another fucking crushing Demo that landed on my ears was this one by Weltesser, a young band from Saint Petersburg, Florida. Now this exactly the type of sound I'm into. Filthy, brutal, vile sludge doom metal. No fucking bullshit here, just hatred in its most pure essence. Weltesser's sound has got to be one of the meanest you'll hear this year coming from an underground band. I can see a bright future for these boys. Check them out. No salvation. Only perdition.

Weltesser

And finally, another band that I'm super stoked upon are Spectral Voice from Denver, Colorado. Sick, putrid and misanthropic death doom is what you'll get here. Delivering thick, heavy and decaying riffs very à la Corrupted meets Disma meets Anhedonist kind of sound. The stench of death is everywhere on this Demo. And I fucking love it. So much that I instantly ordered the tape immediately. The tracks are amazing here, I love them all, they're very well played. These guys are truly on the right track.

Necrotic Doom

Do yourself a favor and support all the bands above. These are fucking mandatory Doom releases for this year. Support the underground!

Mizmor/Dross "Split"

I was stoked to hear that Mizmor had another split on the works, this time with Arizona's blackened doom band Dross. For Mizmor, this is the final split in a trilogy of splits while this is Dross' first split release. I've been tracking Mizmor since day one, besides being a huge Hell fan too, I absolutely every single thing A.L.N. puts his hands on.

Mizmor's side features "IX - Crestfallen Usurper", a fifteen minute track that marks it's beginning with a blood chilling inhuman scream, as the environment thickens creating the perfect atmosphere for the ritual we're about to face in the next minutes. It doesn't take long until we're throw into the middle of this black metal vortex summoned by Mizmor. Raging blastbeats open way thru this nefarious wall of distortion totally controlled by the harsh and haunting screams of A.L.N. that once in a while, through the track, pulls off these insane squeals that are simply out of this physical world. Right in the middle of the song, the harsh and brutal rhythms open way to a more paused, and crushing doom-laden atmosphere. That kind of atmosphere that only Mizmor know how to do and got us used to in all of its previous releases. Although I feel there's a clear evolution on Mizmor sound, that grew naturally since the self-titled or "The untitled Winter EP", the black metal spectrum is getting stronger and it's becoming more present on every new release although it walks always hand in hand with the doom spectrum.

Nevertheless, the percentage of black or doom being used on this formula here, you can always hear it and clearly identify it as Mizmor's unique sound. And the sound recording on this track is just amazing. It presents us a more, let's say, expansive or kind of wider sound for the instruments, giving us a full audio experience with "IX - Crestfallen Usurper" that fills completely our eardrums and reaches every dark corner of our brain. This is the outstanding result of a collaboration with A.L.N. itself with Sonny DiPerri, a long time Hell and Mizmor fan, who mixed this track for this split.

On the other side, we have Dross with "Verdant" a thirteen and half minute track of the most bleak black doom. To me, I think that this band/track fits perfectly here along with Mizmor, since both tracks belong in this pallet of depressive doom that is constantly splattered with hints of black metal. "Verdant" has  this kind of live recording sound, almost as if it was recorded in a very bleak and cold environment, that's what exactly this track passes to me. From the rhythm it moves on, really slow paced to the sound of the instruments itself. And I must say that the vocals, oh the vocals... always creeping out from the background almost as if the instruments are playing right in front of us and the vocalist is one or two rooms below, so he has to shout his lungs out in order to those phantasmagorical screams be heard. The main thing on "Verdant" is the atmosphere. The stifling and claustrophobic atmosphere, that the band successfully manages to make it reach into our inner-selves.

This is a split release between Mizmor's A.L.N. and Cloister Recordings. 150 copies (already sold out!! Urrgghhh..) with locally printed art on metallic card-stock, featuring the artwork done by one of my favorite artists, Bryan Proteau (Cloven Hoof, Natvres Mortes), all hand-numbered. Each tape comes wrapped in parchment with a very good looking wax seal, half sealed with ALN logo, half sealed with Cloister Records logo. So good to see artists concerning also with the aesthetics of their releases, making these tapes a very unique item in our collection. Both tracks can be streamed below.

Mizmor | Dross

Old Witch "Come Mourning Come" Special Edition

Old Witch. I've talked about this band some years ago, some of you might remember that. I ended up by making a full review of the amazing "Come Mourning Come" for Cvlt Nation after, here:

Bleak, depressing, anguished, tormented. All of these are adjectives that I could use to describe this next album I’m about to introduce. A blistering mix of black, drone and doom layered with some beautiful atmospheric parts, all blended perfectly that will leave you under the spell of Old Witch.

“Funeral Rain”, the track that opens the album, appears charged with an immense negative energy, like a dark cloud on the horizon approaching increasingly stuffed with drone noises that completely transform the landscape, darkening it and giving rise to a bleak and desolate scenario now dyed in tones of gray, dominated under a powerful doom that crawls at a snails pace. The rough voice fits perfectly in, this record, and judging by the band’s name I almost imagine it coming from the mouth of a an old mystical and sinisterly contorted figure, forgotten by time, wandering painfully through this forest made of anguish. From here, and during the next half hour we are about to lose ourselves in the dark old forest that is “Come Come Mourning“.

Tracks like “This Land Has Been Cursed” that lead us to the territories of a painful drone sounds and that thick and buzzing doom that drag us through scenes of desolation and sorrow, always bearing a very negative energy within, not showing any light of hope or joy. “God Ov Wolves” which is inarguably one of the best tracks of this album, and personally speaking, one of the best doom tracks I had the pleasure of hearing this year, begins immersed in darkness as the voice whispers almost an ancient prayer to the Old Spirits of this Earth:

“THERE ABOVE ANCIENT WOODS,
OLD GODS ROAM THE TWILIGHT,
OLD SPYRITS HAUNT THE THICKETS,
WHERE OUR BLOOD NOURISHED THE EARTH…”

Although Old Witch’s music may sound dreary and negative, it carries great and powerful emotions, and the band passes that successfully throughout the whole album. And this track is a perfect example of that, an extremely beautiful composition that pulls great similarities to the work of bands like Salem’s Hell or even Thou in their slowest tracks. An authentic catharsis of emotions wrapped in mystic and black outlines. Just the beginning of it, gives me goose-bumps.

In the middle of the album we are gifted with the instrumental “Leaves Fall in Autumn“, a beautiful track, filled with instrumental details that remind me a little bit of “Tomhet” by Burzum, unveiling a slumber atmosphere that appeal to solitude. Another highlight of this album is the brilliant track that closes the album “Olde Spirits Haunt The Thickets“, in which the notes slowly emerge throughout this fog that dwells in Old Witch’s dark and old forest. A track that moves sinuously through rather slow and atmospheric rhythms carrying a huge burden of an almost mournful, melancholy feeling, that makes me stare at the picture of the album cover and for a few seconds it’s like your mind is actually there. Brilliant.

The way that Old Witch fuses all of these drone, doom and atmospheric black metal influences in their cauldron is extremely well executed; adding to that formula a very good sound production, this album is undoubtedly one of the most interesting must-listen drone/doom albums that all avid fans of the bands that I’ve mentioned above (and of course, of this gender) must hear. Old Witch’s “Come Mourning Come” is a dark, mystical and beautiful journey into the vast and unknown territories of heavy music.

source: http://www.cvltnation.com/come-mourning-come-old-witch-review/

The reason I decided to unbury this again is due because of this fantastic tape edition developed and crafted by Octobers Ritvals. Besides featuring the whole album, on side B there's an extra. The B Side features a contemporary take on the HP Lovecraft classic, "The Picture In the House", as read by Glen Hallstrom and scored by the mind that created Old Witch and is exclusive to this version only.

I was super stoked because someone FINALLY had put that magical album in a format and with all the extras it really deserved. It's so fucking great to see people like Chad (Yhe mind behind Octobers Ritval), that are truly devoted into this art. Giving all their sweat, money and time to create these unique pieces, these artifacts in order to give us not just only an audio experience but a whole full sensorial experience as well. This amazing tape edition comes in this screen printed velvet pouch that holds many secrets inside. Basically it contains the tape (of course) inside a painstakingly handmade screen printed and multi-layered "O" card with a die cut and a very awesome wax seal with the logo of OR. It also includes two spiral transparent art pieces which, when placed over accompanying tea candles and nag champa incense cone, will be set into spinning motion, casting shadows and eldritch symbols onto your ceiling and walls, creating an overall experience. Below is a photo taken by me preparing the ritual.

This pack is just beautiful. I mean, it has got to be one of the best I have right now on my tape collection. It's amazing to see that are still persons like Chato from Octobers Ritvals putting all their effort in creating these amazing pieces for our pleasure. Amazing work here.

But there's more.

It seems that some copies of this release will be buried in the Chicagoland and Southern Wisconsin areas and later on posts with pics and directions in riddles will be shared on the Facebook page for you to try to find them. Really awesome idea, right?

For more info on this, please head to Octobers Ritvals Facebook page, and check the Bandcamp as well.

NOTE: In case anyone is still looking for one of our now SOLD OUT First Ritval Old Witch Cassettes, Medusa Crush Recordings has got a few available.

Old Witch

Sonance "Blackflower"

I must begin by saying that the hardest part for me here was thinking on how could I begin this review. I could start in so many ways... but I guess I'll just open my chest out for you and try to explain in some words the impact this new album, "Blackflower", from UK's atmospheric sludge band Sonance had (ands still has) on me.

I clearly remember the day when Ben (Sonance) messaged me saying they had a new album out. I was stoked. Mostly because their debut album "Like Ghosts" left some deep scars on me. "Like Ghosts" was a beautiful beast, an amazing chimera that left me in complete awe and my expectations on a sequel to their work, clearly left me very anxious. Mostly because I didn't know what to expect from them. What really overwhelms me is the perfect timing how, no matter how low or high you might be, how that specific album or music can really touch so deep into you that leaves goosebumps all over your body. This was my case. At this point, due to several aspects in my life being happening at the same time, I was struggling inside, trying not to breakdown. Until "Blackflower" showed up. 

The first thing I noticed was the number of songs, five. Unlike "Like Ghosts" where we had only two colossal tracks. This raised even more the bar for my curiosity. The songs I got from Ben were in no particular order, so I started by listening to "Belgium". Outside my window, the day was cold and gray, and rain poured endlessly and as the first notes started to pour down into my soul that was already with slits it almost shattered into one thousand pieces.

I was absolutely carried away by the gentle power and melody embodied in the guitar notes that embraced by the warmness and caressing string arrangement, completely hit down inside of me and mirrored exactly what I was feeling at that point. So it was hard to keep my posture. The atmosphere in "Belgium" is smooth and beautiful. It feels almost like, for those who have the sensitivity to it, as looking into this beautiful painting. It sparkles these thin, warm rays of light, soft and melancholic notes that create this cozy and warm feeling inside. At the same time I immediately realized and thought to myself: "These blokes did it again." 

But this album is not all about melancholy, sadness and other related and inherent feelings. No. 

What I really enjoy about Sonance, besides their brilliant knack in creating and performing music like this, is their ability to balance the heaviness of genres like sludge and doom, that is basically the core here, with the melody pulled out from the most post-rock, atmospheric side of metal. What I'm trying to say is that aren't many bands making this type of formula nowadays. I can remember bands like Mouth of The Architect or even Rosetta for example. But Sonance are absolute brilliant in taking all of these influences and shaping them into the music we can find in "Blackflower". 

The main track of the album is "Belgium/Blackflower", a 15 minute maelstrom that just like a misty morning, begins by slowly unveiling the light within. It features the same notes as the instrumental "Belgium" but here it acquires another shape, more complex, more structured. We're just simply carried by it along its slow, gentle notes that oscillate building up into this crescendo where layers of instruments are added almost every single minute, the guitar, the drum, the bass, the strings until they're all in line and everything collapses into this fierce curtain of decibels, pulling us from that warm and cozy initial landscape where we started from, to this crushing, dark storm. Within the realm of sludge, where we are now, I dare say that the main influence here, soundwise, are Neurosis. It's inevitable not thinking of them, if you have well trained ears, when you hear the whole set of guitars, drum and bass all perfectly aligned together marching and crushing, pointing at the same direction. The vocals are relentless as they spew all that despair and rage as expected in this kind of record, on top of that wall of decibels creating this thick mass of sludge metal. 

Another of my favorites is "Attachment". Once again Sonance, pulls off those amazing feelings of sadness, solitude and melancholy. This time all wrapped up into layers of drone guitar. No drum or any kind of beat marks its presence here. There's just no need. It all evolves into this crescendo of strings, where anguished screams can be heard from very far away, culminating into this climax that give way to "Conical". The pummeling and almost industrial beat marks the rhythm, crushing our eardrums with these slabs of thick and ugly sludgy riffs. It feels like we're inside of some kind of bestial mechanism that moves at a very sluggish pace, crushing everything and everyone in its path. 

And the best way to close the way is nothing more than with "Tearce". A more introspective and atmospheric track. No vocals, no drums, no rage. Just a haunting wall of atmosphere. A side of Sonance that they seem quite to appreciate, as we heard it too on the Side B of "Like Ghosts". This band truly nurtures a feeling for experimentation as they're not afraid to try new things. And the thing is that works really well into their sound. This track is quite drone almost making me think of some The Angelic Process or Nadja track. 

Once again the band outdid themselves with "Blackflower". An amazing album that joins the best of two worlds, the melody and heaviness. This formula isn't new, it's true. But the real secret lies on how you blend them and how is the final result. The gentle and the beast. Smiles and tears. The Yin and Yang. The tracks are simply beautiful, they fit all perfectly in this record and I love them all as an only son. I must also underline that this album was all produced by Sonance themselves. So to them I take my hat off. Stellar job lads. 

I truly hope this gets a physical format soon, I know it will. To seek more information about Sonance, just head over to their Facebook page. Sonance will perform also on Temples Festival later this year, so it's another reason for you to not miss them live. In the meantime, stream or download this amazing album on the link below and support the band by giving any donation, buy merch. They truly deserve it.

Blackflower

Forever Cursed Best Of 2014 - The Haxan's Choices

Here we are again.

Personally, it was just another fucking year, just like the last 4 or 5 last years. Time seems to fly. As a matter of fact, it flies so fast that I barely have time to slow down, and look back.. well, some things aren't worth looking back, so... 2014 was all about work, dedicate time to family, friends, buying new music and just enjoying it and most of all, always learning. Music has always been there for me, in good and bad times. It's that safe harbor where I go so many times to be in total solitude and just let my spirit feast with all that magic essence that pours down through every note. I've learned so much through music, whether it's metal or not. Along the years it has also molded me into what I am today, my personal tastes and character.

And once again 2014 proved to be a great year, at least... in the field of heavy music, although so many good albums were also released in another fields of music. Did I enjoyed YOB? Yes I did! Did I liked the new Blut Aus Nord? At first I was a bit sceptic with the sound of it, but the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me, so yes. Did I loved Sinmara? Oh fuck yes! You know what I feel about Icelandic black metal and this band is no exception. The releases I'm about t show you are mostly releases that I've been emerged into mostly this year, so I hope to help you find some new and interesting music that may grab and sweep you from your shoes as well.

I had to make a Top 21, it may sound silly, but I wasn't expecting one of these specific releases would come out so soon. I was counting for it only in the beginning of next year, but since I've heard it in advance... it immediately climbed its own way to the top and I really didn't want to cut out one of the releases I already had figured for my own personal Top. Enjoy.

#21

Towers "II"

Towers are a Portland duo whose demolishing sound basically consists on just a bass and drum. And the apocalyptic visions they can cause with just that, is absolutely crushing. I really loved the whole sound of this album. The whole depth and atmosphere. Killer. 

Listen

#20

Profetus "As All Seasons Die"

Profetus from Finland return with a majestic tribute to the real funeral doom sound. Crushingly heavy, an authentic mournful ode to sadness, grief and pain. Perfect to hear in those cold Winter days in total solitude. 

Listen

#19

Wrekmeister Harmonies "Then It All Came Down"

One of the most emotionally crushing releases of this year, "Then It All Came Down" features J.R. Robinson joined by members of Indian, Corrections House, Twilight, Yakuza, Anatomy of Habit, Come, Mind Over Mirrors, Bloodiest, as well as Wrest (Leviathan) and Ryley Walker. With such collaboration the result is at sight: an amazing introspective journey into our soul.

Listen

#18

11 Paranoias "Stealing Fire from Heaven"

New supergroup featuring members from Ramesses, Bong and Satan's Wrath. "Stealing Fire from Heaven" gathers the right amount of psychedelic doom I just need to hear sometimes. A very smokey and trippy journey indeed with the right dose of heaviness imbued.

Listen 

#17

Harassor "Into Unknown Depths"

"Into Unknown Depths" marks the return of blood thirsty barbarians Harassor. The vicious blend of black metal, punk, death metal is just fucking killer. You won't get two songs alike in this album which proves the heterogeneity and the ability of Harassor to shift the direction of the songs without never losing fucking control. Fucking killer I said!!

Listen

#16

Nuclearhammer "Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer"
Probably one of the most underrated blackened death metal that came out this year. Canada's Nuclearhammer really hits the nail on this. You just need to look into that artwork to realize that this album will bring total bestial and cosmic devastation.

Listen

#15

Nux Vomica "Nux Vomica"
Another one straight out of Portland. Nux Vomica perfect blend of post metal, crust, doom results in the most amazing atmosphere. To prove that, "Reeling" is simply one of the best tracks I've heard this year. Epic.

Listen

#14

Sun Worship "Elder Giants"
I've been following the moves of Germany's Sun Worship since day one, and so far they haven't disappointed me. 2014 is marked by their full-length "Elder Giants" a brilliant, passionate and relentless album that sweeps me away every time I play it. Brilliant.

Listen

#13

Kriegsmaschine "Enemy of Man"
Another great album that passed under the radar of many. Kriegsmaschine "Enemy Of Man", one of the most brilliant black metal albums that came out this year. If you love the dissonant atmospheres of bands like Deathspell Omega or the cold atmopshere of Mgla (who shares a member in this band, in case you didn't know) I strongly recommend you "Enemy Of Man". Perfect.

Listen

#12

Laster "De Verste Verte Is Hier"
After a very well received Demo, Dutch black metal band Laster return with a brilliant album that provides perfect freezing cold atmosphere, perfect for those cold and rainy Winter days. I really love the passion that is behind every riff, every blastbeat and the vocals that just slay me.

Listen

#11

Walk Through Fire "Hope Is Misery"
Desolation. Despair. Depression. These are all words that come to my mind whenever I hear "Hope Is Misery". Many of you out there aren't familiar with this band from Sweden. Their minimalist approach to their sludge doom is just one one of the most heavy I've heard this year. I'm a sucker for this kind of sound and "Hope Is Misery" proved to be a very unpleasant (in a very sadistic way) company.

Listen

#10

Spectral Lore "III"
We all know that, when it comes to black metal, Greece hides many secrets. One of them is precisely Spectral Lore. Don't know why I don't see this name floating more around. "III" quickly grew on me and proved to be one fantastic journey into the realms of atmospheric black metal. The fury of those blastbeats that walk hand in hand with some beautiful melodies. A very beautiful album that, if you don't know yet, then you must discover.

Listen

#9

Funereal Presence "The Archer Takes Aim"
One of the most played here on the Haxan's den. Funereal Presence "The Archer Takes Aim", an album with a very unique and distinctive atmosphere, brought to us by the mind of Negative Plane's Bestial Devotion. It's one of those albums I will never grow tired of hearing. Excellent.

Listen

#8

Skáphe "Skáphe"
One of this year's surprise, brought by the hand of Fallen Empire. Skáphe, a mysterious band involved in a very dense and intoxicating mist, handing us a sample of a very original black metal filled with claustrophobic atmospheres. Addictive.

Listen

#7

Funerary "Starless Aeon"
"Starless Aeon", the debut album of Funerary. I was amazed by this debut, Funerary's funeral doom approach is quite memorable and I just get the riffs of "Beneath The Black Veil" stuck in my head for hours. This track is just remarkably beautiful and it strikes me on the inside like no other. "Starless Aeon" is a very emotional, mournful and introspective journey into the cosmic valley of doom.

Listen

#6

Thantifaxath "Sacred White Noise"
The artwork doesn't reveal much on what is the story here. But as soon as we fall into the downward spiral of "Sacred White Noise" we soon realize that we're pulled into a maze of twisted riffs that don't obey any conventional black metal guideline. It's just Thantifaxath doing the best they can do. And it's just amazing.

Listen

#5

Swallowed "Lunarterial"
It only took one audition to this album to realize that I was in front of my favorite death metal album for 2014. It took a while to get here but finally did. Finland's Swallowed unleash the most lunatic and deranged death metal I've heard. Like a crossbreed between Teitanblood and Cultes Des Ghoules. Can you imagine that? The result is at sight: "Lunarterial". Fucking Awesome.

Listen

#4

Rotting Sky "Sedation"
Rotting Sky is a side project from Tim Messing from Nux Vomica. As Rotting Sky, Tim brings us an excellent formula that mixes black metal, doom with drone, noisy atmospheres. "Sedation" is simply hypnotic and I just want to listen to it in repeat forever.

Listen

#3

Fórn "The Departure of Consciousness"
With was with great pleasure that I was aware the Fórn were going to release their first full-length this year. I really loved their EP (featured here last year) and I was looking forward to hear "The Departure of Consciousness". All my expectations were exceeded when I finally heard the full album. Crushing, devastating and beautiful harmonies from these young doomsters. Just fucking stellar.

Listen

#2

Thou "Heathen"
Well.. it's fucking Thou! What else is to be said about one of the most heavy bands to walk this Earth nowadays. A very ambitious album that proved to us that this band has no match. I really how this album brings back that initial Thou sound and song structure mixed with their most recent material. Excellent.

Listen

#1

Sonance "Blackflower"
Finally, the cherry on top of the cake. An album that caught me by surprise and just climbed its way all by himself to my heart. I really loved what Sonance had brought with "Like Ghosts" but to me, "Blackflower" has just raised the bar. Slightly different from their previous but still you get it's Sonance. The whole melody that evolves us and leads us into the most catastrophic of scenarios is just heartbreaking. With "Blackflower", Sonance have accomplished something that is very rare nowadays. Try to figure what that is.

Listen

Besides these releases, I've been a lot this year into a lot of stuff, but I feel I must enhance Northward "IJsgang", sadly the last breath of this great band. Australia's Total Control with "Typical System", a very great record that successfully pulls that early 80's punk spirit and blends it with the most contemporary post punk as well, an album filled with great and eclectic songs. Vaniish "Memory Work", probably the best post-punk album that came out this year. Brilliant. Vorde "Vorde", another Fallen Empire release, saw many folks complaining about the vocals on this one, but I think it totally gives a different aura to Vorde's black metal sound. An album that intrigued me a lot at first, but the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me.

That was it for now. Wish you all the best. Let's raise our chalices up high and wish for a better year of MMXV. Hail! 

†H†

Sonance "BLACKFLOWER"

If with their debut album these blokes from Bristol totally blew my mind, now with their new album "BLACKFLOWER", Sonance have totally devastated me, inside and out. Saying that this album is "Wooa... Fucking Beautiful!!" doesn't make it justice... "BLACKFLOWER" It's pure fucking amazing. Sonance have raised their bar and released, all by themselves, a fantastic album.

More words about this fantastic new album coming soon here on Forever Cursed.

Until then, do yourselves a huge favor and listen to this album immediately. Spread it out. Now!

BLACKFLOWER

Haxan's Halloween Mixtape IV

And yes! 

Another horrific mixtape is unleashed here on Forever Cursed. This time I've decided to put it out a little bit earlier this year, in order for you guys to fully warm up for the whole Halloween spirit that is going to happen in the next couple of days. This time I got a little carried away and compiled over 25 songs (almost two hours) of the most dreadful tunes within' the genres of death, black, doom and punk, that are meant to be played under the glowing moon on Samhain. You can also burn it into a CD and play it at your own Halloween's party.. or share it with your friends, feel free to do whatever you want with this. 

Hope you guys enjoy it and play it fucking loud, please.

Trick or Treat?

Urzeit/Akatharsia "Split"

Today I bring you a split that introduces two of the most recent and interesting super-bands, or if you prefer, side-projects, within the USBM scene, that only by carrying the elements that form them, that's enough to get some attention and respect. I'm speaking of Urzeit, formed by members of Mizmor/Hell, Ash Borer/Triumvir Foul, a band formed back in 2013 that to date, have released two excellent Demos (of which I proudly have copies of) and on the other side of the split, we have Akatharsia, a band formed by members of equally known bands like Negative Standards, Fell Voices and one ex-member from doomsters Lycus.

With a line up as powerful as this and with a strongly rooted background in black metal and doom, Urzeit offer in this split, in my modest opinion, one of the best songs ever crafted by the band to date. The sound pulls back the style within the first demo, however the sound here is.. let's say "wider", all instruments are completely decipherable and yet they seem to be played in some kind of deep catacomb due to that "live" sound that ranges from all of them. In this specific track the rhythm unfolds at a slower pace than the one that the band has accustomed us, yet it doesn't sound less threatening. It is filled with blackness all over. The loose low notes that come out from the bass conspire perfectly with the drums that, on its hand, never stops setting the pace going, whether is slow paced, speeding up until it bursts out in a blastbeat wall and returns to its initial pace.

The guitar looses some of that raw black style heard in the previous demos but here, it acquires a different aura. An aura within the spectrum of black metal that seems to drink even more from the doom influences. But still those tremolo picking notes just make my delight as they are thrown into the atmosphere. And truth be told, it seems to me that some of the riffs heard here, are very alike the ones I can hear in "Erdboden Gleichmachen" from the first Demo. Ahead.. the vocals. The fucking vocals. It is simply daunting. Nightmarish howls that make us our blood freeze in horror followed by vile growls that we never thought the human voice could ever reach, the voice is definitely one the highlights here. So creepy that it gives me goosebumps. In overall, Urzeit's side to this split, begins to unfold at a slower pace and swings through some slow-to-mid-to-blasts, wrapping us in a cold and dark atmosphere towards decadence and oblivion...

Akatharsia, on the other side,  unleashes three tracks of their visceral raw black/punk metal in the style that follows the Demo released earlier this April. Three tracks of that vicious raw black metal where, black metal and punk flow consistently as they walk hand in hand, ending up by reminding me Hoax, if you seek comparisons in terms of sound. Incendiary beats, riffs that seem to go far more into punk than black metal territories and the most corrosive style of vocals that you can hear, effectively gather into this circle that doesn't close before ending with an exclusive sonic torture brought here as a wall of noise and feedback. 

A split whose interest turns out to be triggered by the bands represented here where each band brings very good tracks in their luggage, I personally prefer Urzeit but that's just me and my personal tastes talking, not wanting in any way to neglect the quality of Akatharsia. I know it will surely also appeal to fans of the genre. A release not to be missed. 

Follow the links below in order to hear/order this split release.

Urzeit | Akatharsia

Bands You Should Be Hearing Pt.III

Yet again, some suggestions that might interest you.

Forhekset allé is a one man atmospheric-post-gaze-black metal act from Copenhagen, Denmark. The whole formula used by Forhekset allé on this EP is quite interesting. The whole mix between black metal, post-rock, shoegaze and electronic elements delivers some very intriguing and innovative music in the metal realm. I believe the best term to describe "VINTERBÆST" is indeed "experimental". This EP left me very curious on how a full-length would be from this artist.

VINTERBÆST

................................ † ................................

Of Spire & Throne, a very well known band from here. I've been posting the work of these fine Scottish gentlemen since day one, and it's curious to witness their growth every time they send new material out. This year the band introduces us to "Toll of the Wound" their latest full-length album that came out by the hand of Broken Limbs Recordings. Once again, the trio unleashes three crushing songs that will smash our skulls with the most loathsome sludge doom to which the band has got us used to. Heavy, filthy dragged riffs covered with the cavernous vocals of Ali Lauder. One thing you'll probably notice, if you haven't heard this yet or at least with enough attention, is that, soundwise, the first track "Legacy" has a slight different kind of production than the other two songs. that was precisely the first thing I noticed when I heard the album. This happened because they were recorded by two different people with a with an range of five months between them although "Toll of the Wound" was mastered by James Plotkin. Two songs of the most minimalist sludge doom sliced by a instrumental all wrapped up in a very good sound mastering. You like your doom slow and sluggish? Then this is for you. Buy it here. Support these lads.

Of Spire & Throne

................................ † ................................

Offerstigen, a very curious band from Sweden. What do these guys play? Low-fi Black metal? Ritualistic Doom? I don't know and it's hard for me to describe their sound or even compare it to some band that already exists. They sound a lot different from the stuff I'm used to hear. And you know what? I like it. The despairing screams that range from afar from the rest of the instruments, the whole gloomy atmosphere that the band manages to pass with this release is really unique. Check them out.

Offerstigen

................................ † ................................

Outer Gods the destructive atmospheric drone duo from Atlanta are back. Delivering two massive tracks of 22 minutes long each, that work as chapters for this noisy and corrosive wall of noise that we face in "Through This Unending Chasm". I do not listen a lot to this genre nowadays but once I press "Play" I get in such an entrancing state that is hard for me to get out this dark, labyrinthine well of drone and dark ambient. The first chapter deliver a more harsh and massive wall of distortion while the second chapter is more about creating a very haunting and creepy atmosphere. Approved!

Outer Gods

................................ † ................................

Pornography, from Nashville, Tennessee. I almost forgot how good this band is. And at this point I don't understand how these guys aren't in some well known labels out there. I kinda imagine this band in Gilead Media, Iron Lung or even Deathwish. Pornography's sound is also very unique and is something that separates them from the rest herd. Slow, punishing, minimalist riffs that are thrown with precision into the mind of the listener causing nothing but discomfort. The tracks here, "Hex" and "Golden Sunshine" are very good but still, not enough. I want more from this band. And I'm sure you do too. So please... check the rest of the discography from this band. You can thank me later.

PRNGRPHY

................................ † ................................

Finally, Recitation, an occult doom band from Copenhagen, Denmark. Introducing his first self titled EP. Apparently this was all written, performed, recorded and mixed by J. S. Jarlstrøm. Holy shit dude. The result is three heavy, primitive and slow impenetrable doom tracks. At a first listen it might not grow on you (it didn't grew on me at first ) so, it's going to take some few plays for you to probably get into Recitation's obscure version of doom. Of course that, soundwise speaking, there are some edges that needed to be trimmed so let's see what the future will bring for Recitation. Horns up!

Recitation