Crawl Below "Around The Circle, Around The Snake"

    Once you start listening to the new Crawl Below album, “Around The Circle, Around The Snake,” I can almost guarantee that you will become paralyzed with a mixture of hallucinogenic fear and fascination. When I first started listening to the album I felt as though I was walking around a surrealistic horror themed art exhibit, minus the douchey looking art snobs wearing fedoras and drinking shots of wheatgrass. 

    Charlie Sad Eyes, the mastermind behind Crawl Below, has always proven to be a dynamic musician willing to explore different styles of music on each release. From black metal to doom metal to even acoustic punk, Crawl Below’s discography is full of variety. I do believe that this allows Charlie to construct very unique sounding releases. If you liked how the last Crawl Below album sounded, then do not expect the next one to be a carbon copy, because that is just not how Charlie approaches recording music. Even though this new Crawl Below album does take a step in a different direction compared to the previous two albums, I still believe the production and attention to detail is profoundly present, which is why the album hooks you right away. 

    “Around The Circle, Around The Snake,” is a truly atypical sounding album featuring such a plethora of haunting arrangements. The album begins with a ghastly sounding organ composition which reminded me of something from out of a 70's occult themed horror movie. During the first song, “I Sacramentum,” I definitely felt that Charlie was going for a more cinematic approach on this album, but I did not truly comprehend the magnitude of unorthodox sounding creativity until I finished the entire album. Also, I really liked how he incorporated a very Darkthrone-esque style guitar riff to begin the second track, “II Reveltio.” The second song seemed to contain even more gloomy atmospheric noises and doomy spectral vocals as if Charlie was trying to summon some evil force from beyond to come and do his diabolical bidding. 

    The third track on the album, “III Desperatio,” blends together dark synth wave with doom metal elements, as well as some industrial touches to establish an unconventional sounding landscape. Even though the album is not written where you hear a bludgeoning riff followed by another bludgeoning riff, the compositions capture your imagination by bringing together mesmerizing melodies with hypnotic distorted atmospheres. Again, Crawl Below has a history of not writing the same sounding album, but I cannot stress the importance of how Charlie is a true savant when it comes to production. Hell, even if you are not a fan of the album’s direction and unorthodox approach by coming off as a disturbing cinematic film score, the overall attention to detail when pertaining to the recording quality is extremely impressive. 

    Conceptually, musically and creatively, “Around The Circle, Around The Snake,” checks all the boxes if you are looking for a new album that does not sound like what everyone else is doing at the moment within the metal/rock community. Crawl Below continues to be one of Charlie’s most striking musical projects which is saying something since he is involved in a variety of solid bands (Low Moments being another favorite of mine). Now, do I see a thrash metal elitist who wears a Municipal Waste shirt and smells like a brewery taking a liking to this album? Probably not, but then again the spellbinding atmospheric arrangements and sinister yet comforting doom like touches are very persuasive, just like how that Count Dracula was with all the ladies. 

Check out the track, "II Revolatio" below: 

Crawl Below Bandcamp:

https://crawlbelow.bandcamp.com/album/around-the-circle-around-the-snake

Satanic Warmaster "Aamongandr"

    Right before 2022 ended the extreme metal community was gifted with a brand new album from Satanic Warmaster. Although I had already created my Top Ten Albums of 2022 list, I strongly believed that this album would have made the list if I were to have heard it earlier. However, I will honestly state that this album would easily be number one if I were to redo my list. Also, I do find that this is one of the best sounding black metal releases to come out over the last couple years, which is saying something given the fact that there have been a decent amount of killer new black metal albums. 

    “Aamongandr,” marks the triumphant return of Satanic Warmaster with the band’s previous full-length studio release, “Fimbulwinter,” having come out around 2014. Over the years Satanic Warmaster has amassed a massive discography full of full-length releases, splits, demos and compilations. The dedication of founding member and black metal icon, Werewolf, has always been a main reason why Satanic Warmaster continues to thrive. The band is recognized amongst extreme music fans as one of the most profound black metal bands around and one that delivers consistent blasphemous black metal. Satanic Warmaster stays true to the traditional black metal formula, yet has been able to craft a distinct sound that is easily recognizable by fans. Even though a long list of bands have come along and tried to copy Satanic Warmaster, in the end we all know who truly reigns supreme. 

    While listening to the album, I noticed how the album feels like a strong culmination of the band’s releases, but also has a unique sound. There are bands that after a significant period of not releasing a full-length album tend to come back with a glorified nostalgia release where everything seems painfully recycled. Right away when listening to the first track, “Bafomet,” you are thrown into this black metal cyclone containing devastating skull crushing riffs along with some deafening drum parts. As the music conjures up a firestorm of pure evil, Werewolf’s vocals are simply unmistakable and provide an extra boost of savage aggression when needed. On the next track, “Duke’s Ride (…of the Spectral Hooves),” the music continues to deliver that blistering black metal sound, while the riffs become a bit more dynamic and there are more haunting tempo changes. 

    Throughout the album I also noticed how there were more atmospheric black metal elements incorporated into the tracks with my favorite example being, “Berserk Death.” During this one section towards the end of the track I was really impressed by the keyboard arrangement and how the music built-up this triumphant almost cinematic like sound. “The Eye of Satan,” is another solid track that features some utterly fearsome chord progressions and bombastic blast beats. You hear all the elements of classic Satanic Warmaster, however, this album to me sort of goes beyond what I might have expected at times before listening to it. Sonically, this is an extremely well produced release and the production from top to bottom is spectacular. 

    From the beginning of the album until the ruthless sounding last guitar riff on the final song, “Barbas X Aamon,” you will not be disappointed with this inhuman black metal assault. “Aamongandr,” once again demonstrates the band’s exceptional sinister talents when working  in the studio, and there are no weak moments on this entire album. Satanic Warmaster continues to establish a black metal empire of supreme sounding destruction and anyone who wishes to challenge this empire will be met by an army of black metal fanatics ready to tear you apart. 

Stream the album below:

Order the album here:

http://hellsheadbangers.com/