Nekus "Death Apophenia"

    Emerging once again from the dark subterranean depths of the German underworld, Nekus returns with an utterly monstrous sounding sophomore release titled, “Death Apophenia.” These shadowy death doom musicians conjure up some cataclysmic sounding tracks drenched in copious amounts of punishing reverb and ear shattering distortion on this new album. 

    After first hearing their debut album, ““Sepulchral Divination,” which Sentient Ruin released last year, I knew this band still had more to offer the extreme metal world. There is no denying this band’s monolithic death doom sound, which allows them to come up with extremely suffocating arrangements. Compared to some of the other current death doom acts that have left me underwhelmed after hearing the same riff structure repeated over and over again without much thought, I find Nekus constructs these surrealistic and profoundly haunting arrangements which takes you into the horrifying depths of a nightmarish musical realm. A their core, Nekus is an act that does not mess around, and you can hear in their songs a band reaching into the darkest depths of their fiendish artistic minds to craft some inhumanly brutal sounding music.   

    As with most death doom bands, Nekus does not write short two to three minute songs, but at the same time the band does not try to test the listener’s patience by cranking out twenty minute slabs of lackluster material. I think the songs actually flow together perfectly, and that is what makes this album a solid listen from start to finish. The opening track instantly captures your attention with the sounds of ritualistic drumming slow building-up to a malevolent riff accompanied by some gruesome vocals. “Cadaverous Periphery,” is a very dynamic piece of music and shows how Nekus can transition from a slow bone crushing style of extreme metal to a more thunderous sounding onslaught without sounding disorganized. I would say that the music is well procured and whoever did the recording for this album perfectly amplifies the band’s monstrous vision. On the track, “Noxious Furor,” I thought the band hammered out some unfathomably fearsome riffs, and the vocal parts added to the vile atmosphere which sort of evokes a primordial feel at times. 

    Songs like “Accursed Murmur” and “Unutterable Prophecies,” descend further down into the caverns of unspeakable madness and continue to send these deafening shockwaves through the speakers. The drummer compliments the brutal tribalistic energy by coming up with mesmerizing rhythms from behind the kit. During the the end of "Accursed Murmur" the drums echo over the other instruments like thousands of boulders crashing down during an rockslide. On the final song, “Erichthea,” the band once again traverses across these bombastic death doom musical  landscapes, but I would argue that Nekus comes up with even more profoundly loud spellbinding arrangements to conclude an album already full of constant aural punishment.  

    Although Nekus may not be baffling listeners with whacky technical arrangements, dressing up in clown suits and singing about aliens running a solar farm, I would argue that the atmospheres and arrangement featured on their sophomore release are unfathomably profound. “Death Apophenia," is a truly hellish offering in terms of unapologetic and sadistic sounding brutality. In the end, Nekus has proven to be yet another insanely creative extreme metal artist to be a part of the Sentient Ruin family, and I hope they continue to record more insidiously heavy death doom releases in the future. 

Check out the song "Accursed Murmur" below:

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp (Album comes out November 15th, 2024) :

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Maudissez “Self-Titled Album”

    The debut self-titled album from French extreme metal monstrosity, Maudissez, is an unholy juggernaut of a release that unleashes such a malicious death doom/sludge sound that the Notre-Dame Catheral might collapse from the unfathomably devastating sonic force. 

    Recorded originally in 2023, Maudissez is teaming up with Sentient Ruin to make this album available for extreme metal enthusiasts all across the world to hear and purchase on vinyl. I am not surprised Maudissez is working with Sentient Ruin, because this band perfectly compliments the label’s diabolic extreme music ethos. Sentient Ruin is a label that prides itself on delivering some of the most unapologetic and sonically decimating underground acts from all around the globe, and Maudissez’s definitely delivers some inhumanly destructive compositions on this debut album. 

    In all honesty, there have been plenty of bands that have made heavy sounding music and have criticized the christian religion, however I will give Maudissez credit for crafting a very monstrous and surrealistic sounding arrangements to compliment their sacrilegious themes. There are some dissonant elements thrown in which creates these nightmare inducing atmospheres like on the opening song, “Fracture par Fracture.” The album’s opening track begins with a mighty barrage of deafening blast beats and savage riffs, but eventually slows down for a more ominous sounding arrangement. I actually liked the drumming throughout this album as the rhythms helped give the music a very sadistic and primordial vibe when needed.  

    For an album featuring only four tracks in total, the band meticulously explores the inhumanely brutal musical landscapes by conjuring up some extremely vivid sounding compositions. Some of the riffs on the second track, “Blessure par Blessure,” really stood when I first listened to the song, especially the one sludgy doom riff that kicks in the four minute mark. After listening to the dissonant and malevolent noises at the beginning of the song, I liked the transition to this hypnotic doom like riff section. Of course, the band goes back into the abyss of sheer mind shattering terror for the song’s finale, but I understand that they wanted to have a surrealistic sounding conclusion to an already insanely entropic piece of music. 

    The other two tracks, “Meurtrissure par Meurtrissure” and “Brûlure par Brûlure,” are very bombastic sounding as well, and without any doubt display a tremendous level of nihilistic brutality. “Brûlure par Brûlure,”is probably the song that stands out the most on this album, mainly due to the fact that the ending sounds like the Gates of Hell are opening and all the demons are coming through the gateway in search of human souls to defile. The eerie tempo, evil organ music and cries of agony in the background, really pain this vivid picture in your mind as you become engulfed by the apocalyptic noises coming at you from all different directions. 

    In the end, I must credit Maudissez for coming up with one uniquely profane extreme metal release, especially considering that this is their first album. The entire album is actually very well produced and the songwriting paints an utterly surreal and hellacious sounding story, even if I did get lost in those moments of gratuitous distorted chaos like on the second track. This is definitely an album worth checking out if you are fan of death doom, sludge metal or downright deafening music. Actually, I would really like to see Maudissez live, because the arrangements are so profoundly heavy that it would be amazing to see this up front and close. Although, I bet my ears would be ringing for days after seeing them live. Oh well, the experience would definitely be worth it! 

Check out the entire release below:

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Nekus "Sepulchral Divination"

    When listening to Nekus you feel as though you are descending into a dark cavern beneath the Earth, eventually finding yourself lost in a spectral dominion where ghastly apparitions slowly come crawling out of the pitch black shadows. The German/Italian death doom act really unleashes a suffocating style of monolithic sounding destruction with the upcoming release to their debut album, “Sepulchral Divination.” 

    The album traverses far down into the hellish death doom depths by hammering out some utter agonizing riffs and sludgy sounding arrangements. As much as I would consider this a death doom album, I hear influences from sludge/doom bands like Noothgrush and Grief, which is why this album sounds inhumanely heavy at times. Compared to a lot of death doom that I have encountered over the years, Nekus finds a way to capture your attention with extremely vivid ominous sounding atmospheric elements to accompany the merciless aural bludgeoning. 

    The six tracks featured on this album are very well produced and tell this nightmarish tale as you become engulfed by the monstrous sounding riffs. On the opening track, “Nekyia,” I was completely taken back by the song’s abrasive tone as well as the more frantic sounding arrangements. I really liked the drumming on the first track, which I thought added a great deal of seismic force to compliment the juggernaut sized amounts of distortion coming from the guitar parts. Track number two, “Eidolon,” starts out with a more sludge metal like feel at first and then continues to move along to this sadistic and haunting tempo. The song is utterly horrifying, primarily due to the purely evil riffs accompanied by even more abhorrent sounding vocal parts. 

    Another point to bring up about this album is that there are quite a few ten minute plus songs, however the compositions do not come across as egregiously repetitive, nor do they sound cheaply thrown together. Take for example the last song on the album, “Elysion,” which is eleven minutes and probably one of the most putrid offerings off of the album. During the beginning of the song you hear these agonizing cries in the distant as the guitarist slowly hacks away at some malevolent chord progressions. You are left with this feeling that you are alone sitting in complete darkness as the distortion fills your mind, twisting your sanity until you become paralyzed with unfathomable fear. One of my favorite tracks on album, “Stygian,” was also very much an exploration through these punishing dynamic arrangements that delivers a tremendous amount of ferocious death doom destruction. 

    “Sepulchral Divination,” is an extremely ear shattering debut album that once again compliments the Sentient Ruin roster. Nekus is definitely a band that I hope to see continue to explore this type of approach, especially given how impressive the overall production was in terms of creating an insanely loud and pestilent soundscape. This is an album that I highly recommend checking out if you are a fan of death metal which puts emphasis on slow gruesome arrangements, while even offering an abysmal touch of sludge to give the music an even more hellacious sound. Also, make sure to turn the volume up really loud when listening to the album, that way your neighbors can also hear the cataclysmic death doom devastation! 

Check out the track "Katabasis" below (Album comes out April 7, 2023): 

Pre-Order below through Sentient Ruin:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Aphotic "Abyssgazer"

    Breaking through the confines of an entropic realm where the rules of time and space cease to exist, Aphotic emerges from the unspeakable void to deliver a truly malevolent full-length album titled, “Abyssgazer.” These Italian extreme metal musicians conjure up some monstrous sounding death doom riffs that will leave listeners feeling like they have become lost in an infinite darkness where all hope of escape is tarnished by deafening dissonant noises. 

    The album cover was done by Chilean abstract painter Rodrigo Pereira who I thought did an exceptional job capturing what Aphotic set out to accomplish on this album. When looking at the album cover and listening to the music, you start to feel like you are being drawn into the cataclysmic abyss which shatters all sense of reality. Musically, the band is extremely talented at composing brutal and massive sounding arrangements. The variety of influences ranging from pulverizing old school death metal to atmospheric death doom, really establishes an unbelievably vivid sounding landscape. 

    I will say that I felt as though some of the tracks on the album stood out more than others, especially songs like, “Abyssgazer” and “Depths Call Depths.” Also, I liked how the band came up with some creative instrumental pieces to setup certain tracks. The three instrumental and ambient tracks “Endzeit,” “Endzeit II” and “Endzeit III,” were very important in terms of building up anticipation as well as complimenting the album’s malicious unpredictable cosmic theme. The acoustic guitar part during, “Endzeit II,” had me completely taken back at first, but in the end it was a calming touch to add right before the next track, “Abyssgazer.” I would say that, “Abyssgazer,” is the strongest song off of the album and features some haunting chord progressions along with this mix of savage death growls and mournful sounding cries echoing through the pitch black musical void. 

    Tracks such as, “Cosmivore” and “Deathward and Beyond,” definitely display a more straightforward brutal old school death metal sound with very abrasive riffs and thunderously loud drum parts. Still, the band continues to thrown in these surrealistic atmospheric elements, and the music is constantly shifting in a variety of chaotic directions. The solid musicianship, dynamic creativity and unbelievably strong production, are a few reasons why I do believe that this album can be appreciated by a wide variety of extreme music fans. 

    Sentient Ruin will be releasing the album on March 24th, and the limited edition red/black marbled galaxy colored vinyl looks down right amazing. Aphotic's "Abyssgazer," is highly recommended for fans of horrifying celestial death doom that opens up a forbidden portal to an endless apocalyptic abyss. Conceptually, this album makes modern horror films look juvenile by constructing utterly behemoth fear inducing compositions. Once the music begins and you stare at the lifeless abyss like album cover, there is no escaping the inevitable death doom mind altering onslaught!

Check out the music video for the song "Abyssgazer" below : 

Order the album here:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/abyssgazer

Isolant "Drain"

    The harsh hypnotic sounding surrealistic distorted noises that Isolant conjures up on their new EP titled, “Drain,” slowly shreds away at your sanity until you finally submit to the captivating aural punishment. These musicians seem to capture the gloomy essence of fear inducing industrial music mixed with some old school crust punk, while also throwing in some monstrous sounding death doom elements. 

    Given this band’s unorthodox approach along with the solid production quality, I felt myself constantly engaged while listening to the entire EP. Once the first song begins you lose track of time as the world around slows down and you drift into this immense sounding industrial atmospheric realm. The members of this group have very extensive backgrounds within the world of extreme music with connections to bands like Malleus, The Watcher, Abstracter, Atrament, S.E.K.H. and Suspiral. There is definitely an open minded mentality amongst the members of Isolant and the compositions on this release demonstrate an unconventional artistic mindset which makes for one very unpredictable listening experiencing. 

    One of the most noticeable aspects about this EP is without question the catchy death doom riffs. The first track, “The End Begins Me,” is a great example of how Isolant is able to blend together these sharp dissonant industrial noises with monolith sized guitar arrangements that hammer out these addictive and abrasive chord progression. All the instruments and all the different electronic sounds you hear create such a vivid atmosphere. Also, the vocals on this album perfectly compliment the tone of the music by adding to the music's abysmal tone. Other tracks such as, “Drown in Ash” and “Inner Tomb,” explore these very simple yet utterly profound industrial sounding landscapes. Imagine the devastating style of a band like Godflesh, but then throw in some primitive crust/post-punk in the vein of Amebix and Killing Joke. 

    Another point I want to bring up about this release is that Isolant is able to effectively deviate at times from the heavy hypnotic industrial death doom barrage and take a turn down a different musical avenue. For example, I was not expecting a calming piano piece on the song, “Death Pulse,” but in the end the compositions proved to be a great solemn sounding way to finish off the track. The dynamic thought put into each track is definitely one reason why Isolant's music stands out, and also contributes to the EP’s strong haunting synergy. 

     In the end, Isolant is a group that is willing to defile musical logic and create a world with a plethora of unique sounds, while crafting these unbelievably addictive sounding riffs. I cannot tell you how many times when listening to this EP I would stop and find myself moving my head along to guitar parts. Plus, the vocals on this album are exactly what you want in terms of offering up that inhumanly sinister delivery to accompany the fiendish arrangments. Sentient Ruin will be working with Isolant on the release of the EP which comes out February 24th, so definitely go order a copy if you are into music which goes against the grain and is willing to experiment instead of simply copying what everyone else is doing within the metal community at the moment.  

Check out the song "Inner Tomb" below: 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/drain

Void Rot “Telluric Dismemberment”

    A couple years ago Void Rot released their monstrous sounding debut full-length album, “Descending Pillars,” which was well received by the extreme metal community. Fast forward to now and Void Rot is back with a brand new EP titled, “Telluric Dismemberment.” The new EP features a brand new track, a killer Amorphis cover and three live tracks that were recorded as part of an exclusive CVLT Nation show. 

    This Minnesota based death doom outfit really impressed me with their debut album, “Descending Pillars,” because I honestly could not believe the monumental destructive force that this band was capable of conjuring up in regards to their compositions. From the bludgeoning drum parts, to the cataclysmic sounding riffs, this band means business and never seems to compromise when pertaining to their abhorrent extreme metal vision. 

    The brand new track, “Telluric Dismemberment,” is a juggernaut of savage sounding torment that conveys a merciless death doom mindset. Anytime the guitarist hits a chord, you feel the hellacious force come bursting out of your speakers along with the singer’s inhuman vocals. The entire composition brings together a plethora of deafening influences, yet I really like how Void Rot never falls victim to the generic old school death metal worship approach. This band is not reinventing the extreme music wheel by any means, but they sure as hell are leaving an impact when you listen to their music. 

    Also, I thought that the band’s decision to cover, “Black Embrace,” by Amorphis was a great choice and definitely makes since given how Void Rot at times reminds me of Amorphis. Although, I will say that Void Rot was able to make the song sound even darker than the original and the recording was very raw sounding. The three live tracks are also very impressive and it gives listeners the opportunity to hear how this band is able to perform live. “Descending Pillars,” “Liminal Forms,” and “Inversion,” are three solid choices, but I would say that my favorite out of the three is, “Descending Pillars.” During the live version of, “Descending Pillars,” you just feel overwhelmed by the drummers bombastic and aggressive style of playing that adds such fearsome energy to the overall apocalyptic sound.  

    Working with Everlasting Spew Records, Void Rot looks to be releasing this EP on July 22nd, so make sure to order yourself a copy. Also, the band will be going on tour in Europe with label mates, Burial, which is great for all those European fans (Hoping a US tour is maybe in the works as well). Anyway, I am glad to hear that Void Rot is continuing to record and release more malevolent skull crushing extreme metal music, and I really hope when they have time that they can record another full-length. If you thought the first album was inhumanely brutal, then just wait for what they might do on the next album!

Check out the song “Telluric Dismemberment” below: 

Everlasting Spew Bandcamp:

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/album/telluric-dismemberment

Voit Rot Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/voidrot/

Assumption "Hadean Tides"

    If anyone thought 2022 was starting off slow in terms of the amount of strong new releases, Assumption comes bursting out of the nightmarish void to capture your attention by pulling you into a mind altering realm of punishing extreme sounding creativity with their new album, “Hadean Tides.” This death doom band from Italy has proven over the years that they do not wish to simply make stereotypical sounding extreme metal music, and instead sets their sights on exploring instrumental arrangements that leave listeners feel as though they are being pulled through a gateway into a inhuman hellish dimension. 

    I have been following this band since they released, “The Three Appearances,” back in 2014 and they have really become an act that understands how to write behemoth sounding albums. The ability to compose such monumental landscapes that deviate from some of techniques used by most modern death metal bands, definitely helps Assumption standout from the rest of the bands around. Working with Sentient Ruin and Everlasting Spew, two exceptional extreme music labels, Assumption is focused on unleashing a decimating and mesmerizing release that will instantly hook listeners. The album is extremely dynamic and you are left in sheer amazement as the band journeys into this explosive, yet sinisterly hallucinogenic sounding world. 

    The start of the album definitely reminded me of previous works by Assumption, and the band holds nothing back as they introduce listeners to their cataclysmic sounding world with the first track, “Oration.” You feel completely overwhelmed by the juggernaut sized drum parts that are followed up by some monstrous sounding guitar riffs. Everything about this band’s artistic vision is precise and presented with a malevolent confidence to drag listeners down into this unholy dominion. On the second track, “Submerged by Hadean Tides,” the guitar playing had me listening with great interest from the start of the song until the very end. The band’s unconventional approach to composing by starting out with a very slow and ominous sounding riff and then transitioning into that blistering old school death metal style, is perfectly recorded to create such a profound atmosphere. 

    Throughout the album I continued to recognize how this band is extremely talented when building up an arrangement and not getting carried away with frivolous sounding technical riffs. The vocals, the guitar playing and the drumming all sound tight and establish this colossal wall of distorted destruction. On the track, “Breath of the Dedalus,” the band ventures into this insidious sounding cinematic world to create ambience one might expect to be used in a horror film. Similar to what I have heard from this band in the past, they are masters at composing ominous and surreal sounding atmospheres. 

    One track that I felt ventured into a more hypnotic direction was, “Triptych.” At first I thought that the band OM had somehow contributed a song to the album, as the vocal delivery reminded me of how Al Cisneros sounds on all those Om releases. The song was a bit of a head scratcher when I first heard it, but after a few listens I started feel as though that this might be the best song off of the album. The song may be an anomaly compared to the previous songs, however, I find that it plays a significant role looking back at this entire album. Assumption creates a world of true unpredictability, allowing listeners to experience a plethora of haunting and surreal sounding moments. 

    “Hadean Tides,” in my opinion is an album that brings together a variety of elements and reaffirms my respect for this band. I believe fans will recognize similar musical themes that have been explored in previous releases, as well as some unique variations to what one might expect. Also, the metal world should definitely take notice of this band, because the skillful musicianship and songwriting talents are something that I personally find to be lacking amongst young modern metal bands. Assumption is not writing sloppy riffs and recording their drums in such a manner that you wonder if the band was huffing paint during the recording of the album. In the end, this band continues to show a relentless drive and will hopefully keep pushing the boundaries of extreme music on future releases. 

Check out the song "Submerged by Hadean Tides" : 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Everlasting Spew Bandcamp:

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/

Denali "Debut EP"

    I’ve encountered a fair amount of death doom bands over my years of reviewing albums, unfortunately the promos tend to be misleading and the bands end up sounding like sloppy death metal bands that could not comprehend how to compose tolerable piece of music due to the amount of cheap beer that they drank while recording. In the case of Denali, I must say that I was extremely impressed by how this up and coming death doom band went about recording their debut EP. 

    This group of musicians from the UK hammer out some monolith sized sounding arrangements, while also taking the extra effort to incorporate some very dynamic sounding concepts. Even though this is their first release, the band features members from established acts such as Countless Skies and Everest Queen. I personally really enjoyed the most recent Countless Skies album, so when I saw that this band featured members from Countless Skies, I definitely wanted to give the EP a listen. I feel as though these musicians are able to effectively apply their talents by composing instrumental arrangements that do not settle for the basic extreme metal sound by experimenting with a variety of tones and tempos. 

    I think that the first track, “Catafalque,” is a great introduction, yet gives only a glimpse of what this band is able to create. At first the song begins with a very solemn sounding tone, but then becomes consumed by this aggressive death doom onslaught. One of my favorite parts during the song was when the guitarist came up with this solo where the notes rang out majestically over the calming atmosphere. I have always been a fan of artists that incorporate atmospheric elements into their music, so I really liked how the band incorporated some tranquil sounding guitar concepts to contrast with the heavier distorted guitar riffs. 

    As I stated earlier, the first track was really just the beginning of what was to come on the rest of this three song EP. On the second track, “Beneath the Waves,” the band dives further into their creative mindset by constructing a very long and thunderous sounding piece of music. The drumming during the song really caught my attention as well as the mesmerizing chord arrangements. This song was truly astonishing in terms of the amount of raw emotion that seemed to emanate from my speakers. If this band was to release a full-length album after this EP, this style of songwriting is what I would love to hear more of, especially the dynamic guitar arrangements. 

    The final song, “Deathless,” is another powerful sounding track and I thought that the song served as a solid conclusion. After listening to these three tracks, I noticed that the lyrics and instrumental concepts are all delivered with such precise and professional sounding execution. As much as I do enjoy this EP, I feel as though this band is just getting started. When they eventually make a full-length album, I hope to hear more of this confident creativity that places such emphasis on making powerful and triumphant sounding recordings. 

    In the end, Denali is an act that I would definitely recommend checking out if you are looking for an heavy, yet also very calming sounding release. These artists are not looking to write another generic death doom album, which was refreshing to hear for once and I thought the musicianship allowed them to push the musical boundaries at times. Sometimes I find it rather unfortunate that we live in a world where bands that can inspire and write such captivating music do not get the recognition they deserve. Hopefully though a band like Denali will catch the ears of people within the global metal community and if they continue to write music like this, I predict that they will gain a strong and loyal following. 

Check out the song "Beneath the Waves" below: 

Denali Bandcamp:

https://denalidoom.bandcamp.com/

Crawl Below "Its Ministers on Earth"

    Dwelling in the gloomy woods of Eastern Connecticut, Crawl Below has become a true anomaly in the world of extreme music. Over the years this one-man act has explored a plethora of different musical styles ranging from Lovecraftian inspired acoustic punk to spectral sounding death-doom. Charlie Sad Eyes, the mastermind behind Crawl Below, has written and recorded some extremely unique sounding releases over the years, all of which I tend to find rather enjoyable. 

    Crawl Below's new release, “Its Ministers on Earth,” steps into a darker and heavier sounding world by constructing some monolith sized blackened death doom tracks that really pushes the music into this more abrasive sounding world. I personally really enjoyed the last Crawl Below release, “9 Mile Square,” because the overall sound on that album conveyed a more doomy and gothic style very similar to that of Type O Negative. Honesty, this new release threw me by complete surprise, because the delivery comes across with more deafening attitude at times. Even though the sound on this album is not exactly similar to the previous release, I will acknowledge that the compelling sounding atmospheres and attention to detail remains very much the same. 

    “Its Ministers on Earth,” begins with a brutal sounding slugfest of harsh sounding guitar riffs and foundation crushing drum parts. The opening track, “The Daemon Damned Season,” starts out with the sound of ocean waves crashing against the shore, but eventually turns into an explosion of blistering aggression and ear shattering doom. The old school death growl vocal style used during the first vocal part of the song provides a sinister touch and is eventually accompanied by haunting clear sounding vocals. I thought that the contrasting vocal styles was a brilliant idea, and as the song progresses you find yourself becoming almost possessed by the music’s merciless sounding hypnotic aura. 

    On the second track, “Red Fell the Vapours,” Crawl Below continues to take a dive down a more venomous sounding musical void and summons forth some agonizing arrangements. I felt as though the music took on a more black metal meets death metal approach that featured a sporadic amount of feverish sounding guitar riffs. “Summoning Rite,” is a short instrumental drum arrangement that adds to the albums ritualistic occult like theme, which I personally think was a creative way to slow the music down a bit before the next onslaught of planet decimating death doom. 

    Track number five, “Will Rot the Base Chains,” is without a doubt my favorite song off of this album, even though I find picking a favorite to be an extremely difficult task given how well each song was written and recorded. Still, “Will Rot the Base Chains,” is a mesmerizing piece of music that really stands out by offering up a fair amount of eye opening dynamic arrangements. During the entire song I felt like I was listening with great interest and would become almost possessed by the guitar and bass parts along with the adrenaline pumping drumming. Plus, the haunting clean vocals towards the end of the song made you feel as if you were floating through a cosmic sea of comforting darkness. 

    Once again Crawl Below delivers a solid and utterly sinister sounding release with, “Its Ministers on Earth.” Charlie Sad Eyes is a very creative artist who is willing to experiment with each new release and step outside the box at times in order construct an album that vividly stands out. This is one of those albums where you feel every single riff and every single drum part, especially when the music takes a turn down one of those nightmarish sounding pathways shrouded in a veil of hazy doom. This album is highly worth checking out if you are a fan of blackened death doom with a surreal sounding occult like atmosphere that will make you go crazier than Anya Taylor-Joy's character in the movie, The Witch. 

Crawl Below Bandcamp:

https://crawlbelow.bandcamp.com/album/its-ministers-on-earth

Crawl Below Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/crawlbelow/

Coffin Lurker "Foul and Defiled"

    Not only does this album cover scream unfathomable brutality and unspeakable horror lurking in some dark grotesque setting, but the music is undeniably deafening once you start listening. Coffin Lurker’s debut release, “Foul and Defiled,” is just the right type of slow grave defiling death doom one would expect to be released through Sentient Ruin. 

    Coffin Lurker consists of Maurice De Jong (Gnaw Their Tongues, Cloak of Altering, De Magia Veterum, Dodenbezweerder) and Rene Aquarius (Cryptae, Dead Neanderthals, Imperial Cult, Plague Organ), which explains why this band is such an insidious sounding force to be reckoned with throughout the album. These musicians from the Netherlands prove to deliver what death doom fiends desire most, which is an album containing monolith sized riffs soaked in a foul and hideous cloak of agonizing distortion. The drum parts on this album add to the apologetic crushing nature that these musicians present with such sickening aggression. 

    I’ll be honest and admit that some death doom bands can get stuck hammering out the same monotonous riff until I decided enough is enough and I eventually stop listening. Luckily with Coffin Lurker I never felt that way when listening to the five tracks on this release. From the first song, “Crypt Within a Crypt,” until the last bludgeoning piece of music titled, “Cadaverous Odor,” the band delivers a true behemoth in terms of extreme creativity. On the song, “Of Suffering,” you feel as though you are drowning in a sea of grotesque human remains and the world around you slowly begins to fade as you sink deeper into the putrid abyss. The ritualist drum parts provide a sinister and primitive rhythmic backbone to the suffocating distorted environment. 

    Midway through the album the band unleashes a couple horrific sounding and musically agonizing pieces of music. “Suspended Animation” and “Sacrificial Chalice,” are both extremely sickening sounding pieces of sanity shredding music. I was left paralyzed with fear as the band moved through the swampy death doom landscape and conjured up such nightmarish sounds. The final song off of the album, “Cadaverous Odor,” is similar to the other two tracks just I mentioned, but with an even more raw and aggressive edge. The walls around you begin to shake with the haunting tones of unfathomable decimation, thus leading to a wasteland where all that once stood has now turned to ruins. 

    Coffin Lurker perfectly blends together bone chilling doom metal with raw abrasive sounding death metal to offer listeners one punishing extreme metal release.They could have easily done the same cheap sounding death doom album as every one else these days, but Coffin Lurker contains a couple creative extreme metal visionaries who decided to record something that truly captures the vicious spirit of unapologetic artistic creativity. Sentient Ruin sure found yet another gruesome sounding release to bestow upon the metal world and I sure as hell can’t wait for what Coffin Lurker has in the works! 

Check out the song "Of Suffering" below! (Also, album comes out June 7th, 2021) : 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp: 

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/foul-and-defiled

Void Rot "Descending Pillars"

    Void Rot’s debut full-length album, “Descending Pillars,” is an abysmal vision into a world of bludgeoning death metal shrouded in a blanket of unfathomable darkness. The unforgiving nature of this album is extremely impressive, along with the haunting atmospheric elements woven into the explosive instrumental carnage. 

    Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Void Rot sets out to unleash devastation upon the metal world with their first full-length release. Their colossal sounding mixture of old school primitive death metal and bone chilling doom is what makes this album a rather unique and fascinating listening experience. Void Rot definitely proves to be a band that does not slap together generically written songs, because when you listen to the entire album you hear a vicious synergy and the music seamlessly transitions between each song.  

    The opening song, “Descending Pillars,” builds up this monumental dominion full of fearsome sounding riffs and grotesque death growls. Each instrument delivers a devastating blow to the overall musical landscape, thus creating an apocalyptic wasteland of horrifying death doom. On the next two tracks, “Upheaval” and “Liminal Forms,” the band keeps painting this bleak and lightless sounding realm where the drums and guitar parts become almost hypnotic as the music evolves. You actually feel possessed by the sheer brutality of all the instruments, as well as the hellish sounding vocals. 

    I feel that the second half of the album actually sounded more catastrophic at times and the band’s dynamic mindset really stood out. The best example would be the track, “The Weight of a Thousand Suns,” which is a short instrumental piece that lulls you through this calming hypnotic atmosphere. Eventually as the composition ends the band unleashes a cosmic explosion of vitriolic aggression, which then takes you into the final song off of the album. “Monolith (Descending Pillars Pt. II),” finishes the album up with a harrowing atmosphere of unfathomable death doom. The song is arguably one of the strongest sounding conclusions to an album I have heard this year. 

    Void Rot proves to be a band that does not wish to waste an opportunity when recording a monstrous sounding album. “Descending Pillars,” is going to come crashing down upon the metal community like a landslide of unspeakable destruction. Again, these musicians understood how to write an album from start to finish, because once you hear the first song, there is no escaping the hellacious sounding void that begins to surround you as the album progresses. Escape shall be futile once the pillars Void Rot has constructed begin to descend upon you ears! 

Check out the song "Descending Pillars" below. Also, album comes out September 11th and can be purchased through Sentient Ruin and Everlasting Spew (Links below video) :

Void Rot Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/voidrot

Everlasting Spew Bandcamp:

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Assumption “The Three Appearances” to be Released on Vinyl

    When Assumption first released, “The Three Appearances,” back in 2014, the album took listeners on a fiendish joyride into dimensions of unfathomable death doom terror. The Italian based band constructed a monumental sounding release full of behemoth sized riffs and deafening drumming, thus establishing themselves as an act to be reckoned with in the extreme metal world.

    Originally only released on CD, the band is now working with Sentient Ruin Laboratories and Everlasting Spew Records to release this monstrous sounding album on vinyl. The release date is scheduled for February 14th with the option to preorder currently available through both labels. Fans of course will be pleased to have the opportunity to possibly own the album on vinyl, however, I see this a chance for extreme metal fans to discover an absolute juggernaut of an album. “The Three Appearances,” explores the death doom world in bludgeoning fashion, while also taking listener’s on a mind bending journey into profound sounding atmospheres.

    The four tracks on this album seamlessly flow together as if you are being pulled into a vortex of endless oblivion. “Moribund State Shift,” is an introduction into Assumption’s catastrophic vision that begins with a burst of malevolence that suddenly slows down into an ominous sounding doom like tempo. Track number two, “Veneration of Fire,” hammers out a haunting chord progression and then about midway through the song morphs into a hypnotic trance like sounding section that I find very creative. The entire atmosphere is constructed in a unique manner to where you never know what to expect next from the band.

    Track number three, “The Three Appearances - Snang Gsum,” is a long piece of music containing a variety of bombastic sounding riffs and drum parts along with these sheer brutal death growls which add a boost of tremendous aggression. Also, the song features an eerie sounding intro piano composition like something out of a horror film. Some of the guitar effects used during the song along with the style of lead guitar playing sound truly out of this world. The final track, “The Non-Existing,” hits the brain with unapologetic force and leaves you listening in awe to the massive sounding assault upon your ears.

    In all honesty, I pre-ordered the album once I saw that Sentient Ruin put it up on their page. Yes, I am biased when it comes to Sentient Ruin releases, but having heard this album when it was first released in 2014, I knew I needed to get a copy of it on vinyl right away. If you want a tremendous and well produced piece of death doom in your collection, I recommend that you get yourself a copy of, “The Three Appearances.” In the end, Assumption recorded an album that I believe will stand the test the time and is without question the band's greatest release to date. 


Listen to the album below:

Sentient Ruin Page:
https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Everlasting Spew Records Page:
https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/

Assumption Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/assumptiondoom/

Enshrouded "Sanctum of the Shadows (Demo 2019)"

    Bay Area blackened death doom maniacs, Enshrouded, demonstrate their unforgiving and destructive nature with the release of the band’s new demo, “Sanctum of the Shadows.” The band lays down some tormenting sounding pieces of music to achieve an extremely malevolent creation, culminating into an offering of malicious sounding chaos.

    Compared to most modern extreme metal bands that claim to push the edges of extreme music, Enshrouded simply goes for the jugular by crafting these monumental recordings of pure devastation. What stands out on this demo is the band’s ability to construct these massive sounding atmospheres, which allows them to transition into a variety of nightmarish sounding directions. There is thought put into their compositions along with a dynamic approach that helps to expand the band’s vicious and uncompromising vision.

    The album begins with a gruesome sounding death doom riff, establishing a monstrously slow and heavy foundation. Eventually the band dials in on a more intense onslaught of old school sounding death metal ferocity. I like how the drummer provides such a raw and bombastic background for the guitars to savagely hammer out sinister chord progressions. The production and recording quality is really solid for a demo release, especially pertaining to how it compliments the band’s songwriting style.

    The second track off of the release, “Transcendental Depravity,” is a song that begins with a more gritty sounding blackened assault, opening the gateways of instrumental annihilation and ushering in some haunting vocals. Each musician executes their parts with precision and the band sounds very tight throughout the song. Tracks like, “Sanctum of the Shadows” and “Gates of Awareness,” are delivered in blistering old school death metal like fashion and it reminds me a bit of Morbid Angel’s “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh.” The music is delivered with sheer chaotic brutal force, yet the overall compositions flow with a certain synergy.

    For the final song, “Awakened Through Desolation,” the band once gain constructs hellish sounding guitar riffs that effectively send seismic shockwaves through the musical landscape. You just get a sense that these musicians took their time writing this material and did not want to slap together some sloppy sounding riffs and vocals in an attempt to dress up like David Vincent and put on a show for their buddies at the local truck stop.

    Overall, Enshrouded has me interested in what they plan on doing next following the release of, “Sanctum of the Shadows.” I think there are some death metal releases I’ve heard that don’t even compare to the production of this demo, so Enshrouded is definitely on the right path. If you are a fan of extreme music then you need to check this out, because unlike those bands where they dress like douches and continuously play breakdowns, Enshrouded does not mess around and knows how to write extreme metal music.



Check out the entire demo below:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/EnshroudedDeath/

Ghoulgotha "The Deathmass Cloak"

    Slow crushing riffs that echo through mountains of distortion is one way to describe San Diego’s Ghoulgotha. This death doom trio constructs some loud ominous sounding musical compositions for their debut full-length album, “The Deathmass Cloak.”
    Set for release on January 13, 2015 through Dark Descent Records, the album will offer fans of slower extreme music ten tracks of original death doom music. The band’s sound is very unique, and blends death metal style riffs and vocals with more doom metal like compositions. Some of the bands that Ghoulgotha reminds me of are Dismember, Amorphis, Paradise Lost and a bit of Obituary. All ten songs on this album are consistent and maintain a heavy edge. However, I must admit that the death doom formula becomes tiring towards the end. Riffs begin to drag on and the drums seem lost in the endless void of growls and distortion.
    Still, one cannot complain too much as the overall sound is brutal and there are some songs on this album that display creative death doom dynamics. After the intro track, “Solar Awakening,” the band cranks up the volume and unleashes a heavy slab of chord crushing riffs. The band’s drummer pounds away at his kit and provides a strong backbone. “Gazing into the Melted Night” and “A Neck for the Nameless Noose,” are unapologetic thunderous sounding pieces of music. The vocals narrate by growling along to the riffs and compliment the heavy musical atmosphere. Ghoulgotha also messes around with some unique guitar effects to create haunting intros like the one heard on, “Saturnal Rites.” Another interesting example of musical experimentation that I found when listening to this album was the quick switches between slow death doom and fast paced old school death metal. The band can be hammering out a slow jam, and without warning, turn up the intensity meter by throwing in some wicked sounding blast beats.
    Songs like, "Arteries Unblest" and “Citadels of Heathen Flesh,” are brutal both lyrically and musical, so you get the best of both worlds. The band delivers a massive devastating sound that leaves no one safe in its path of destruction. As the drums pound along to the rhythm, the guitar screams out in agony over the noisy chaos. The longest song on the album, “Levitate Within the Curse,” is Ghoulgotha’s most creative track. There are a variety of different compositions and timings to keep a listener’s attention hooked the whole way through. Long songs can be scary to some metal fans, especially crust punk/grindcore fans, but this song is not too repetitious and attention challenging. There is this one part that sounds like something out of the X-Files, which was interesting and added a slight science fiction theme to the track.
    Although this genre of music is not my absolute favorite, Ghoulgotha’s, “The Deathmass Cloak,” is what I would consider solid death doom music. Personally I usually just prefer death metal or doom metal, but blending the two sub-genres in an interesting and not completely repetitive way can also work for me. I think a majority of your die hard death doom fans will find this album to their liking. However, crust punk/grindcore fans might need Ritalin if they listen to this album...