“Sickness In” – Trees | Mind-Obliterating Drone Metal from the Pacific Northwest

September 21, 2022September 21, 2022 ~ //Ø// ~ Leave a comment

The third offering of Portland’s Trees, “Sickness In” is a sonic nightmare of titanic proportions. This two-track monster opens with sinister groans awash in shrieking feedback and evolves slowly into a hellish maelstrom of megalithic drone metal heavy enough to knock planets out of orbit. While there isn’t a lot of excitement or bombast, that … Continue reading “Sickness In” – Trees | Mind-Obliterating Drone Metal from the Pacific Northwest

“He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten” – Fossilization | Primitive Apocalyptic Devastation in Sonic Form

February 28, 2022September 22, 2022 ~ //Ø//

“He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten” is the debut EP of Brazilian titans Fossilization, a band whose band’s very name evokes images of deceased primitive beings ossified by time and dust, encased in hardened grime and locked forever in Pompeian torment. This unique blend of primeval death metal and megalithic doom is a grinding, plague-riddled … Continue reading “He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten” – Fossilization | Primitive Apocalyptic Devastation in Sonic Form

“Abominion” – Abstracter | Crushing Nihilistic Misery

February 22, 2022September 22, 2022 ~ //Ø//

When I was about thirteen years old, I crashed a jet ski at full speed and was jettisoned into the air. I flew hard and fast, and my last thought before crashing into the water was simply “Shit” and then everything went dark as I plunged into the cold depths below. When I first heard … Continue reading “Abominion” – Abstracter | Crushing Nihilistic Misery

“Festivals of Atonement” – Nile | A Review in Retrospect

October 31, 2021September 22, 2022 ~ //Ø//

Nile is likely one of the foremost names in technical death metal: Long time listeners and genre adherents are apt to think of the band’s groundbreaking full-length debut “Amongst the Catacombs of the Nephren-Ka” and the ever-popular “In Their Darkened Shrines” (both of which were named in Decibel Magazine’s “Top 100 Death Metal Albums of … Continue reading “Festivals of Atonement” – Nile | A Review in Retrospect

“Sovereignless Souls” – Nameless King

October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 ~ //Ø//

Dungeon Synth albums tend to either hit their mark or run far astray of it; sometimes it works, others it drops like a heavy stone cast into the bottom of a well, dying with an audible plunk! before being forgotten utterly. There are innumerable practitioners of dungeon synth, but in a burgeoning genre of shameless … Continue reading “Sovereignless Souls” – Nameless King

S/T – Somme

July 19, 2021October 21, 2021 ~ //Ø//

Somme’s 2020 self-titled debut crashed into the trenches scattering blood and brains across the sonic battlefield of today’s modern black metal scene. Themed after the first Great War, “Somme” is raw, apocalyptic and mercilessly cruel in terms of its frenzied aggression. There is a certain aura of hopelessness and regret which permeates Somme’s music and … Continue reading S/T – Somme

“Foul and Defiled” – Coffin Lurker

June 20, 2021June 20, 2021 ~ //Ø//

Across the vast infinite gulf of death’s dark, ineffable fetid horrors lurk in the repugnant murk between our reality and the next, stalking the nether regions of the human imagination and spreading night terrors like wildfire. One such nightmare is “Foul and Defiled” by Coffin Lurker, an enigmatic collaboration of Maurice “Mories” De Jong (Gnaw … Continue reading “Foul and Defiled” – Coffin Lurker

“Skogens Hjärta” – Hypothermia

May 3, 2021January 9, 2024 ~ //Ø//

Minimalism is something that people take too often for granted as easy to pull off. The truth is that simplicity and minimalism don’t work for everyone, but those who can execute it effectively can conjure atmospheres even the most bombastic, frenetic bands could never dream of reaching: this is particularly true of Sweden’s Hypothermia, and … Continue reading “Skogens Hjärta” – Hypothermia

“Damned in Black” – Immortal

March 30, 2021March 31, 2021 ~ //Ø//

When I was first discovering black metal around the year 2004 and began diving deeper into the genre outside of gateway bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, one of the first bands I discovered that really made an impression on me was Immortal, particularly their 2000 release, “Damned in Black”. All it took … Continue reading “Damned in Black” – Immortal

“Master of Dungeons” – Undead Magic User

December 13, 2020December 15, 2020 ~ //Ø//

As a longtime fan and player of tabletop games of every sort I’ve always found it helpful to have music selected for writing material for games, whatever the setting, especially those that are bleak or horror oriented, in which case, Undead Magic User’s “Master of Dungeons” has satisfied my profane desires. The subtle charms of … Continue reading “Master of Dungeons” – Undead Magic User