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Oceanlord plays
some really poignant doom metal, but it also has this heavy stoner
metal vibe running through it, but not the usual stoner thing. No,
it is more of an introspective, somber atmospheric rich twist to it.
The vocalist is good and follows the feel of the music really well,
reflecting it back with affecting strong voice. This is not the kind
of doomy music I usually listen to, but it is also quite good and
worth giving a try. - Dale
https://oceanlord.bandcamp.com/
https://en.merhq.net/
Olde hail from
my homeland of Canada and play heavy doomy sludge metal that
resonates in your chest like a locomotive passing by in audio slow
motion. Some influences I hear are bands like The Melvins,
Eyehategod, High on Fire, Crowbar and the like. Speaking of old
goats, I am old enough to remember Doug McLarty of Olde’s band
Catharsis who released a demo tape back in 1993! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/SludgelordRecords/
https://olde-ca.bandcamp.com/
 
This is the solo band of Chad Davis, who does a number of mostly one man bands such as The Sabbathian, Anu, Olde etc… I have heard none of those bands, but his other band Hour Of 13, I have a few releases from and very much enjoy. Old Ghoul is some really enjoyable solid psychedelic tinged ‘70s style heavy metal doom, in the vein of early Pentagram or maybe stuff like Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General or Witchcraft. This EP conveys some great emotion and atmosphere along with some nice guitar work. - Dale
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.helterskelterproductions.se/
Just imagine, if you will, Celtic Frost in their prime time traveled to the early ‘90s to try their hand at fitting into the death metal scene. The music these two men create is a massive, atmospheric wall of sinister barbarity that you can still bang your head to. This album has an eerie electricity to it, I find quite infectious. The vocals on here are these echo-y, slowed down and undefined cavernous gurgling growls, which produce a deliciously haunting aura. A great different spin on old classic elements. - Dale
https://bloodymountainrecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.bloodymountainrecords.com
 
Perversion hails
from the USA though you could write they are from Australia, Germany
or Brazil. Any uneducated listener on Perversion would not know the
difference. They have the production & influence of those old bands
down to a proverbial ‘T’ with their speedy, grimy and scathing
Death/Thrash/Black Metal sounds. Think of old bands like Sextrash,
Vulcano, Vomitor, Gospel Of The Horns plus the early works of
Destruction, Sodom, Sepultura. That is Perversion & they do this
style very well. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/perversion.is.death
https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com
This is this
Japanese bands 2nd album since their formation in 2020 (with a
flurry of split EPs sandwiched in between). Pharmacist plays killer
death metal with grind elements that follow in the tradition of
Pathologist and the first three albums of Carcass. The song
construction like Carcass is powerful and quite varied even within a
single song. The LP is not coming out ‘til late 2022, but the
cassette version is out now. Great album. - Dale
https://pharmacistgore.bandcamp.com/
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
 
This is this Canadian bands third album, and apparently they designed things from the start to release their first three records as a trilogy, so this wraps that up. The music dark, doomy as hell, crushing death metal that is like a heavy suffocating weighted audio blanket pressing down upon you. Immolation mixed with some early Incantation swirls through my mind listening to this. But it is very well done, and those guttural, churning slow growls by the vocalist are fantastic.
- Dale
www.facebook.com/Phobocosm
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/
Coming out of
Germany's ancient black metal scene is a new band with their debut
EP. It features five songs of grim black metal that is devastating
in it's delivery. Lord Noctifier handles the guitars and also
handles the vocals, which are grim demonic gruff growls & screams.
The drums are a mix of hyperspeed blast beats and heavier mid paced
beats. Great debut release that should please fans of early 90's bm.
- Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/TheTruePredictor/
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/
 
Primordial Serpent is a solo project coming out of Canada's black metal scene. This is their newest full length featuring seven songs.The music is rooted in the old school black metal realm. For the most part the music is played with raw and fast guitar intensity. Their is some very well performed guitar passages with a mix fast and some slower mid paced guitar patterns.The vocals are raw gruff grim bm screams and growls, both vocal styles are equally intense. Primordial Serpent plays a great style of old school black metal that worth investigating.
- Patrick
https://primordialserpent.bandcamp.com
https://theblackwitch056.wixsite.com/mastersofkaos/
Kentucky's Progoat return with their fourth full length release. This album contains eleven tracks of primitive, raw and evil black metal at it's finest. The guitars range from extremely fast paced guitar patterns to a more slow to middle paced range, both styles are played well and show some skillful songwriting. The drums are crazed blasting that will pummel the listener into dust. 'Atomic Altar' is a great release of chaotic and primitive black metal that should please all fans of this genre. - Patrick
https://progoatpdr.bandcamp.com/
https://plaguedemonrecords.storenvy.com
 
I like metallic crossover punk and hardcore that is caustic, in your face, pissed off and filled with attitude. Which brings me to Cleveland’s Ohio’s Punching Moses, who fit that description to a tee. The riffs on here are heavy as fuck, and crushing. The song structures are total punk/hardcore goodness. Yet much of the music is done at metal style pacing, if that makes sense? It does to me. This is killer music for diehards of stuff like D.R.I., Cro-Mags, The Accused, Integrity, All Out War etc… - Dale
https://punchingmoses.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.seeingredrecords.com/
This Oregon band comes from that states hairy armpits and have managed to produce their debut album. Which is filled with some ripping and raging death metal grind insanity. It is also filled with with hints of hardcore tempos and structuring bubbling underneath it’s seedy underbelly. These guys produce monstrous music, fueled by massive waves of violent riffing and some unrelenting, punishing drum work. I was not sure I would like this when I gave it a spin, but it won me over and knocked my ass down. - Dale
https://rankandvile.bandcamp.com/
https://moderngrievance.bandcamp.com/
 
This five song EP is the debut of the Italian
band Reaping Flesh. It consists of five songs of straight forward
death metal. The guitars are fast and frenzied guitar passages
showing skill and intensity. The guitarist does create some very
memorable and well thought out sequences even adding some well
performed solo's. The drumming is lightning fast and feature a
commanding excellent delivery. The vocals are old school powerful
death metal growls that fit their style perfectly. Some great old
school death metal that you should pick up a copy of today. -
Patrick
https://www.instagram.com/reapingfleshdm/
https://www.redefiningdarkness.com/
This is the debut It is only 29 minutes, so a mini?) album from this Australian band. Previously they have released a couple EPs in their four year existence. “Cerebral Purgatory” is a truly raging, all out audio assault of grinding death metal with some heavy dissonant sludge style elements in the song construction, as well as the vocals. All of these somewhat disparate styles are skillfully combined into one explosive yet emotive collective, which I found quite pleasing. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/resintombdeath
https://transcendingobscurity.bandcamp.com/
 
Finnish death
metal that is not what you might immediately expect when thinking
about where they come from. They play early to mid ‘90s style
American death metal ala Broken Hope, Baphomet, Suffocation,
Skinless, Dying Fetus etc… It is well done though, brutal and pretty
memorable material. If you like those bands you will probably dig
this. - Dale
https://revulsiondeath.bandcamp.com/
https://tometal.com/
Mexico’s R.T.P. is a relatively new band presenting their debut album. The band features great UG veteran Antimo Buonnano (Disgorge, Demonized etc…) on guitar/vocals. They play a fantastic brand of ugly, crushingly heavy death metal with seriously dark and doomy overtones. It is a deadly cocktail of old school dm influences from the US, UK, and Finland (ala early Autopsy, Incantation, Bolt Thrower, Rippikoulu, Abhorrence etc…). They fit in perfectly next to newer bands like Funebrarum, Undergang, Krypts, Disma, Phrenelith. I love this style. - Dale
www.mesacounojo.com
www.facebook.com/reverencetoparoxysm
www.darkdescentrecords.com
 
Ründgard hail from Chile and is a one man band
(Lord Valtgryftåk who is also in the bands 13th Temple, Gryftigæn,
Mantiel, Pyreficativm, Winterstorm). This 24+ minute mini-album is
great integration of the atmospheric bands of the first wave of
black metal with the raw cold evil of the second wave of bm. I would
say the atmospheric side wins out, but not by a lot as it is fairly
even mix. It is an impressive work for one man. - Dale
https://signalrex.bandcamp.com/
https://signalrex.com/store/
If you read a lot of my reviews here on this
site, you know I worship second wave black metal and simply can not
get enough of it. Enter the Canadian band Sacrenoir who produce a
commanding and surprisingly heavy take on this great 2nd
wave bm style, and impressively so. The vocals here are excellent as
well with razor sharp spiting acid rasping alongside and a minor
growled undertone. This is the bands debut album, and it is an
impressive one for those that love early ‘90s Scandinavian black
metal as much as I do. - Dale
https://sepulchralproductions.bandcamp.com/
https://www.sepulchralproductions.com/
 
Sacrilega from California play some impressive
harsh black/death metal at lightning speeds. The vocals feature a
good performance that marries the bm rasp and gruff screeching dark
thrash yells. The drums are awesome, blinding speed yet so precise
and commanding courtesy of Paulus Kressman (Rites Of Thy
Degringolade & Warmach), so no surprise at the high quality. Be sure
to check it out. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/SacrilegaDeathMetal/
https://www.bloodharvest.se/
The musical style here is hard to pin down, it
is partly rooted in plodding dark death metal, but the style is
vaguely shape shifting, encompassing all metal. Most of all this EP
is more of a flowing musical current, it is metallic yet propelled
along by brooding, obscured atmospherics, seemingly with almost no
beginning or end. It definitely lends itself to repeated loop
listening. This one man band has morphed it’s influences, and
experiences to create something of a unique interesting sound. -
Dale
https://sarpa6.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sarpahorde/
 
This is the debut album of this young Canadian
band. They play a mix of barely controlled chaos war metal ala
Angelcorpse mixed with, and this is my fave part, good yet too
sparsely used doomy death metal sequences ala early Autopsy or
Funebrarum. Good stuff, but for me could be even better if they let
that doomy tinged brutal death side flourish and take over more of
their sound. A promising debut though. - Dale
facebook.com/SEDIMENTUM
mesacounojo.bandcamp.com
https://www.memento-mori.es/
Regular CA
readers know I am a huge supporter of this prolific Canadian duo
horde. With less than two months since their full-length album they
are back with a 21+ minute EP. It features a deliciously classic
darkly toned deathrash metal style filled with killer riffs and
guitar work, combined with great memorable entirely discernable
sing-a-long lyrics delivered through charismatic gruff hollers and
growls. Highly recommended! - Dale
Shadu Youtube Channel
Shadu Bandcamp
Shadu
Facebook
Shadu Spotify
 
This is already
Shed’s 4th album - time fly’s by! If you do not know by
now this band features members of Incantation, Ringworm, Crucified
Mortals etc… The recording and production on this album kills, a
step up from the last album. Shed just keeps getting better at
crafting crushing death metal songs that are a speedy, memorable
variety of extremity. The succinct & poignant guitar solos are
great. The deep roiling guttural yet understandable growling vocals
of Ash Thomas is a real strength for the band. - Dale
https://shed-the-skin.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers.com
“Kun Aurinkoni
Kuoli” is the debut ep from Finland's solo act Sieluhaaska,
featuring four songs. Main man Saasta goes more for a cold mid paced
black metal style, instead of the more aggressive Finnish style. The
music is well composed with razor sharp guitars that are played with
intensity. He even adds in some melodic passages into the mix to
keep the listeners attention. The vocals are traditional bm screams
and some shrieks. This is a great release of quality black metal, so
definitely give this a listen. - Patrick
https://sieluhaaska.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.purity-through-fire.com/
 
I am a fan of funeral doom, since the beginning really with the first releases from bands like Skepticism, Thergothon, Shape Of Despair etc… Yet, I would not call myself a diehard follower of this sub-genre. Which may explain why SLOW’s 7th album, is the first time I am hearing them. They play classic, glacial, melancholic, depressive and introspective crushing funeral doom in it’s finest form. If you love or even just like this style, you should get this four song, forty-four minute slab ASAP. - Dale
https://slowdooom.bandcamp.com/
https://www.code666.net/
https://solusgrief.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.purity-through-fire.com
The great
Soulgrinder fanzine returns, celebrating 10 years of existence! Fuck
yes! Every issue looks superb with great horrific artwork, sick
killer page borders and lots of UG support ads. This ish has
interviews (some good questions) with bands like Dissentience,
Gorgon, Paganfire, and Day Of Doom. There is also articles / bios,
tons of music, and even old horror movie stuff. If you still love
printed fanzines, then get this! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/soulgrinder.zine
http://soulgrinderzine.blogspot.com/
  
This band is an
interesting make up of two members from Canada, one from Russia and
one from Scotland. The record labels are from all over the world
too. S.Y.G. produces high energy, violent and caustic in your face
hardcore. I do not listen to a ton of hardcore, I am selective with
hardcore and this is how I
like it fast paint stripping music with lots of attitude. - Dale
spillyourguts.bandcamp.com/
PermaCityPunk https://trepanationrecordings.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/GraboidOfTheGroundRecords/
I am proud to say I have been a diehard for this band for a very long time. I have lived in the US for 25 years now, and I bought a shirt from these guys when I still lived in Canada! StarGazer is simply an amazing band, hardly paralleled in the UG scene. They regularly put on an absolute master class in pure UG metal that is filled with emotion, darkness, while effortlessly transitioning from the technical to the progressive. Yet always holding firmly to their extreme roots. Progressive black / death / thrash metal that transcends nearly all their peers with deadly and sinister ease.
- Dale
https://stargazeraustralia.bandcamp.com/
https://www.personal-records.com/
I raved over
this bands amazing debut album. This duo of course features Chris
Reifert of Autopsy infamy, and noted recording engineer Greg
Wilkinson (who is also now in Autopsy plus Deathgrave etc…). I did
not expect a new album already! Like the first album, there is a lot
of the supreme Autopsy classic “Mental Funeral’ classic style. This
time it is a little more stripped down, extra doomy and emotive, not
as superlative as the debut, but largely much of the same on display
here once again here, still making it a must have by my tastes.
- Dale
https://www.facebook.com/staticabyss
http://www.peaceville.com
 
This Swede band, believe it or not, started out in 1986 as young teenagers, before burning out two years later. Only one member of that original band stayed in the UG metal scene, which is vocalist Heval Bozarslan (long time vocalist of Sarcasm). He decided to revive Third Storm a few years back. They play a first wave bm style with tendrils of heavy metal, thrash and death metal snaking through it all. Heval’s vocals are really cool, they are whispery hissing shouts, evil sounding and cool, also different than most vocalists.
- Dale
https://www.facebook.com/thirdstorm
https://www.chaos-records.com/
Bursting out of dungeons of Italy is Thulsa
Doom with their debut album. It is pure old school gloomy, primitive
death metal from the early days, when death metal was rearing it’s
grim head with thrash metal remnants of blood trailing behind it.
The bio absolutely nails it when it says this could be the lost
recording Morbid Angel made between ‘Abominations of Desolation’ &
‘Altars of Madness’! Thulsa Doom keeps the old ways alive! -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/ThulsaDoomDeath
https://invictusproductions.net/
 
I haven’t had
any releases for a while from Boris Records, good to hear they are
still going strong. Tombstalker from Kentucky has been around since
2009, but the last five or six years has been sparse for the band.
So it is good to have this new twenty minute EP out. Tombstalker
make some tasty thrashy black/death metal with a nice dark necro
atmospheric feel to it. At times, the music has quite memorable
rhythms and interesting songwriting. Give it a go. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/tombstalkerband
https://boris-records.com
Apparently Blood
Blast is a promotional digital music arm of Nuclear Blast helping
out non-label bands from what I can tell. Interesting… Onward to the
band itself, they play brutal death metal that lyrically centers on
old Bigfoot movies and features members of Origin, Unmerciful & Torn
The Fuck Apart. If you dig stuff like Cannibal Corpse, Cattle
Decapitation, Deicide, Suffocation and similar bands, this is a
quality example of that style/sound. - Dale
https://troglodyte.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/troglodyteband
 
This album
reminds me to the earlier days of the second wave of black metal.
There is a real flow and an underlining melody, but it is evil and
freezing cold. It also reminds me of those days of purposeful raw
recordings which helped as this raw aura helped bm sound more
sinister & dangerous. This Oklahoman band capture this evil well
and some influences I hear are ‘Deathcrush’ era Mayhem, Satanic Warmaster, Horna, Bahimiron, Abazagorath. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/unhumandiseaseofficial/
http://www.moribundcult.com/
Black metal from Ohio, though they sound more like a Euro band to me, I thought they were until I checked the bio. This is my introduction to them, but they are not a new band, this is Valdrin’s fourth album already. This is good black metal that is well crafted, quite heavy on introspective, atmospheric moods, all crafted in a black metal style. It can be aggressive at times. I like this quite a bit, but for my tastes they rely a little too much on synth, it is too high in the mix. The vocals are great rasping bm yells with interesting phrasing / timing. - Dale
hhttps://www.facebook.com/valdrinausadjur
https://www.bloodharvest.se/
 
This is the Finnish bands second full-length album. It sees them playing harsh yet musical black metal. Which draws upon their homeland’s deeply storied bm UG scene, while injecting their own nuances in the songwriting. It is coarse, but also has a lot of harmonic threads and emotive stirring within the icy evil hatred. I have not heard their debut album, but this sophomore effort shows a lot of promise and skill that belies their level of experience. -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/ValravnFin/
https://www.primitivereaction.com/
This may be a new band from France, but their music goes straight to the granite foundation of their style. Vayron play brutal, punishing death metal that is quite active & teeming with cruel energy. The vocals are classic growls that ride the line nicely between garbled/clear-ish, striking an enjoyable balance. They mix up the songwriting well and managed to inject some emotion into their sound. This should please fans of Floridian dm like the early works of Morbid Angel, Deicide, Monstrosity, Brutality and the like. Good debut demo. - Dale
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083192049526
https://visceralcircuitryrecs.bandcamp.com
 
Having just
started in 2019, Vivisect is a relatively new band coming out of New
Jersey and this 4 song, 20+ minute EP is essentially their
discography so far across a few releases. Their music is not new
though, it is old school stripped down dank, heavy and obscure
sounding death metal that tends to keep things in the mid-pace and
got my head nodding with solid brutish songwriting. Love the
whispery growling vocals too. This is recommended for OSDM
fanatics. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/VivisectNJ
https://nihilisticholocaustrecs.bandcamp.com/music
I do not know much about either of these Norwegian bands. Well, save for both are one man bands, and Unholy Craft is Peregrinus, who also does the band Solus Grief I reviewed recently. Vorgfang is good raw, freezing cold and hateful (at times tuneful) 2nd wave bm with great biting acidic rasp vocals. U.C. play a more atmospheric Burzum-ish style with echo-y yelled vocals, that are intense in their own way, other than that quite similar in some ways to Vorgfang. It is a perfect match for this 8 song, 43 minute split album. I thought this would be good, but it exceeded my expectations. - Dale
https://1unholycraft.bandcamp.com/
https://www.purity-through-fire.com
 
I am by no means
a huge hardcore guy, who follows that scene really closely. But I
have generally been into hardcore for a very long time, since the
late ‘80s, really. I like aggressive, in-your-face hardcore with
attitude. Which is exactly what War Orphan brings in spades! I would
say fans of bands like Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front, Madball,
Earth Crisis, Strife, Cro-Mags, Slapshot and bands like of that
style, should give War Orphan a listen for certain. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/warorphanmusic
https://warorphan.bandcamp.com/
This is the
debut album of this Italian triumvirate, and Helter Skelter just
keeps finding classic doom metal gems, left and right. Warcoe is
doom of the oldest school variety, Black Sabbath worship and let me
tell you they do it well. This is heavy, emotive music with
atmosphere, which I find a real joy to listen to. The bio
refreshingly just straight up admits this is Sab worship, and you
should hear the killer vocals of Stefano Fiorelli, as the bio states
he is ‘70s Ozzy reborn! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/warcoeband
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/
 
This is the second full-length from Finland’s White Death. They play a traditional second wave black metal style. The guitars are played with whirlwind fast paced patterns that are crazed. The guitarist does slow down to a mid paced range in a few of the songs.The drums are hyperspeed blasting patterns that are chaotic and forceful in their delivery. The vocals are icy grim black metal screams and high screechey type of vocals. If you are a fan of fast paced and crazed black metal then do not miss out on 'Iconoclast'. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/unholywhitedeath
https://www.werewolf.fi/
This Finnish one
man band has only been around for a just over two years now. Yet
they have already released two demos, two splits and now five EPs.
The recording on here is great for such hateful, 2nd wave black
metal, it is clear yet has this far off sound to it that only makes
it sound more evil and sinister. There is a lot of background synth,
but it never over powers the music. This EP definitely takes me back
to a lot of great bm from the early to mid ‘90s that possessed me
then, and possesses me now. - Dale
https://www.ipr666shop.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ipr666
 
This Indiana
band is a trio of veteran UG musicians having done time in bands
like Invasion, Skullview, Sea Of Tranquility & Chronic Disorder.
They play an unconventional mix of heavy metal with large doses of
sludge and doom and a southern groove vibe. Some influences coming
to mind are later COC, Orange Goblin, Kyuss, Down along with
traditional heavy metal. It is interesting and well done; if you dig
the styles above you should check this out. - Dale
https://yellowtooth.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/OrchestratedMiseryRecordings
Out on Duplicate
Records (ran by Einar from Inferno, ex-Beyond Dawn, Dawnrazor
fanzine), this is this Turkish bands 4th album now. The
music is very good early ‘90s freezing black metal with some
atmospheric and ceremonial hypnotic elements mixed in. An evil
duality of wintry violence & gloomy ambience. - Dale
https://www.zifirofficial.com
http://www.duplicate-records.com/
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