MÆNTRA "Kundalini"

    For anyone looking for a brutal release that explores human consciousness and looks to transcend the mental barriers of human existence, I believe MÆNTRA has you covered with the release of their debut full-length album, “Kundalini.” The band explores the musical boundaries of death metal and industrial metal, while also incorporating a plethora of other mesmerizing sounds to guide you on this one of a kind extreme sounding spiritual journey. 

    The band consists of drummer Adam Houmam (Cartilage, Ghoul, Ion, Terrorizer L.A.), guitarist/vocalist Rudy Pina, bassist/vocalist Paul Ryan (Origin) and keyboardist Martin Boynton (Short Fuse). The album is rather fascinating with each track on the album exploring one of the seven chakras. One would not typically connect extreme sounding brutality with euphoric enlightenment, but I do believe that is what makes this album so unique. Also, the musicianship really stood out when I first started listening to the album, and I find that the band composes their arrangements with tremendous precision. The album flows with a tremendous synergy which helps bring together all these different sounds and compositions. 

    To begin the first track off of the album, “Muladhara,” the band provides these calming atmospheric noises that eventually get completely decimated by intense blast beats and mind crushing riffs. Throughout the song there are a lot of dynamic arraignments along with very frantic sounding industrial elements in the background. At first I was a bit taken back, but eventually I started to become more and more intrigued as the music evolved. 

    On the second track, “Svadhisthana,” the band continues to traverse across these unconventional musical landscapes, while at the same time creating a monumental avalanche of inhuman distorted sounding entropy. The band’s approach does have you questioning the direction of the music at times, however the unpredictable nature of the band’s arrangements definitely has you engaged and drifting through this unpredictable void of mind altering chaos. The brutal complex technical rhythms on songs like, “Manipura” and “Vishuddha,” sounds almost otherworldly, which actually perfectly compliments the haunting celestial keyboard parts.

    Overall, I cannot find too much to complain about this album and I believe that MÆNTRA is an extremely talented up and coming band. The caliber of musicianship along with the album’s production quality sounded very impressive compared to a fair amount of modern death metal bands that I have come across. Unlike some extreme metal artists that have this tendency to hastily throw a pile of messy sounding arrangements together, MÆNTRA really understands who to make everything sound tight and flow from beginning to end. If you want an extreme metal experience to open your mind to achieve inner enlightenment, then this album is definitely worth checking out. 

Check out the song "Svadhisthana" below : 

Link to the band's Bandcamp:

https://maentr3.bandcamp.com/track/svadhisthana

Link to the band's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/maentr3

The Language of Thunder : A Benefit for Tornado Victims of Southern Kentucky

    This past December severe storms devastated certain parts of the United States with Kentucky being hit the hardest. Snow Wolf Records and Unsavory Records have joined forces to create a compilation album featuring thirteen metal bands from Kentucky as a way to raise money for those who were impacted by the tornado. 

    I truly believe that this compilation is a great way to help an important cause, while also providing an opportunity to promote some extremely talented local metal bands that care about their communities. Some of the tracks on the compilation are previously unreleased songs and demos, which I find will give listeners a perfect glimpse into what these bands are capable of offering. Some of the bands on this compilation I have heard of before since Snow Wolf Records has sent me promos in the past, but for the most part this would be my first time hearing a lot of these bands. 

    Also to point out, there is a fair amount of diversity when pertaining to the representation of the various metal subgenres, so I find that metal fans will be able to hear an abundance of musical creativity throughout the album. If you are a fan of bloodthirsty raw black metal, sickening old school death metal and even just solid classic heavy metal music, then this album will have you covered. Hell, you even have an act like Pulse diNura which dives into this heart pounding hallucinogenic blackened electronic industrial sounding world with the song, “Drinking Tyrants’ Blood from a Paper Cup (Pardon the Fangs)." 

    I did notice that the album showcases a fair amount of black metal bands, although I cannot complain given the auspiciously sinister sounding quality of the recordings. To start, the band Brood in Black (Not to be confused with the wrestling faction known as The Brood) contributed an inhumanly vicious track called, “Vampyric Lust.” The song conveyed a massive amount raw sounding dark energy, which reminded me a lot of Satanic Warmaster by creating a very haunting and abysmal atmosphere. Fornicus, Bihargam and Starer, all bands that I have encountered before listening to this compilation, each contributed spectacular sounding songs. Starer’s track, “The Flickering,” is a breath taking piece of atmospheric black metal music highly worth checking out along with the band’s previous releases. Another band that caught my attention was, Black Knife, a very no-nonsense unapologetic sounding black metal artist which contributed a short yet blistering piece of corpse ripping music titled, “Satan’s Wolves.” 

    Two bands that I felt stood out from the rest of the crowd were Blood Curse and Thumos. Blood Curse is a band that I definitely want to hear more of going forward as the band has a very strong classic NWOBH sound that reminded me of certain iconic metal bands such as Witchfinder General, Satan and Angel Witch. The catchy guitar riffs and feverish lead guitar parts really hook the listener from the beginning of the song until the end. In the case of Thumos, I believe listeners who appreciate instrumental progressive metal will really find the band's song, “Mysterium Cosmographicum,” extremely fascinating. The band pulls you in a variety of directions with these vibrant sounding dynamic compositions, thus creating a very atypical musical landscape.

    Overall, “The Language of Thunder,” is an album highly worth checking out and each band is unbelievably talented. I wish I could have gone through each track and given more detail, but I hope to maybe cover some of these artists in the future, as the amount of extreme metal talent is undeniable. Snow Wolf Records and Unsavory Records did an exceptional job putting together this compilation to help an important cause, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for both labels. Unlike when those douchebag celebrities got together and did a rotten cover of John Lennon’s, “Imagine,” the artists featured on this compilation actually provided killer sounding music for a good cause that did not make you want to vomit. 

Link Below to the Compilation via Snow Wolf Records: 

https://snowwolfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-language-of-thunder

Entire Track Listing Below: 

1. Stonecutters - Creatio Ex Nihil  

2. Starer - The Flickering 

3. Black Knife - Satan's Wolves 

4. Fire Messiah - Stars of the Maniac Revival 

5. Blood Curse - Destitute  

6. Thumos - Mysterium Cosmographicum 

7. Moonknight - Weakhearted 

8. Ad Infinitum - Submerge 

9. Bihargam - Anti-Angel (demo) 

10. Brood in Black - Vampyric Lust 

11. Fornicus - One Mass Grave  

12. El Astronauta - Give Up the Ghost 

13. Pulsa diNura - Drinking Tyrants' Blood from a Paper Cup (Pardon the Fangs Remix) 

Glyph "Remind Us of the Sun"

    Emerging from some frozen dominion surround by infinite darkness, Glyph has finally decided to unleash their debut full-length album upon the metal world. “Remind Us of the Sun,” is a raw black metal release that journeys into insidious sounding musical realms shrouded in a suffocating mist of distorted chaos. 

    Not much is known about this artist, which I find adds to the album’s mystique and establishes this haunting presence which can be felt throughout the release. I’ve reviewed a couple Glyph demos before receiving this promo, however this full-length album seems to build off of the previous releases in terms of recording quality and overall production. The riffs on this album are extremely chaotic sounding and go against what one might expect from a typical black metal band by experimenting with different tempos and creating very unorthodox sounding atmospheres.

    The album’s opening track, “Of the Cinders,” begins with a very hypnotic sounding composition which transitions into a more blizzard like black metal approach. This artist is extremely open to altering tempos and messing around with dissonant chord progressions. As much as I enjoy the dynamic style at times, there are moments on this album where I felt a bit overwhelmed as though the direction of the music was going off of the path, but for the most part the music grasps you with a wicked sounding confidence. Tracks like, “Lost Beyond Time” and “Who Lies Dormant,” are a couple of songs that really stood out when listening to the album, especially when pertaining to the music’s overall malevolent sounding tone. Although the production quality on this album might not meet the standards of some black metal purists, I personally felt as though Glyph captures the dark and ominous energy quite well. 

    Towards the end of the album I felt as though the arrangements continued to provide that classic raw black metal sound, as well as the atmospheres expanding into directions that bring hope for more exploration on future releases. The song that stole the show for me was, “Relics of the Precursors,” which I thought was a manifestation of classic sounding black metal with some subtle touches of atmospheric black metal elements as well. Glyph’s ability to record harsh compositions with some slight catchy and mesmerizing atmospheric elements is what I believe will allow this artist to really standout amongst the other modern black metal artists. 

    “Remind Us of the Sun,” is an album that does stay true to what black metal fans have come to expect from artists who play this style of music, however, I find when listening closely that Glyph has a tremendous amount of potential that will hopefully be utilized on future releases. I look forward to what Glyph has to offer in the future, although I highly recommend people check out, "Remind Us of the Sun," as this type of music definitely captures the unforgiving and sinister essence of black metal. 

Link to Glyph Bandcamp (Album comes out February 18th, 2022) :

https://keeperoftheglyph.bandcamp.com/album/remind-us-of-the-sun

Top Ten Albums of 2021 / Rob "The Metal Guy" Awards

After living through all the hysteria and chaos of 2020, a year that shall go down in history as one of the most inconceivable years in the history of the world, people looked to 2021 as a year of redemption. In terms of hard rock and heavy metal music I felt as though 2020 was a decent year, but 2021 seemed to be the year where bands really stepped up their game. As much as people thought the return of CM Punk to professional wrestling was a historic and monumental moment, I personally found myself rejoicing to the news that artists like Old Tower and Wallachian Cobwebs were putting out new releases. Independent music labels like Sentient Ruin continued to promote hard working up and coming underground acts from around the world, which is always great to see compared to those labels still promoting aging rockers who look like they just escaped from the retirement home. 2021 may not have been exactly what we were expecting the world to look like after 2020, but I do think we can look back and appreciate some of the brilliant sounding albums that came out during the year. So here it is everyone, my top ten list for 2021....

10. Tower “Shock to the System”

This New York City based band displayed a tremendous amount of ballsy sounding hard rock and heavy metal attitude on their sophomore full-length album, “Shock to the System.” The high soaring vocals of singer Sarabeth Linden perfectly complimented the band’s feverish sounding guitar riffs. Overall, the album contains a strong and confident energy, which seems to grow from the beginning of the album until the very end. I also was extremely impressed by the band’s songwriting skills and I thought that the music sounded tight. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/10/tower-shock-to-system.html

9. When the Deadbolt Breaks “As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy” 

These Connecticut based musicians are an extremely creative act and one that took me by complete surprise after I listened to their new album. When the Deadbolt Breaks offers listeners a truly atypical sounding listening experience on, “As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy.” Their unique brand of psychedelic doom is very refreshing and they show a willingness to experiment with a variety of different sounding musical concepts. The dynamic arrangements hook you right from start by writing some haunting chord progressions along with a fair amount of trippy rhythms. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/10/when-deadbolt-breaks-as-hope-valley.html

8. Maze of Terror “Offer to the Fucking Beasts” 

I don’t know what it is about Peru, but there has been a decent amount of brutal sounding bands to come out of that country over the years. Maze of Terror is yet another band from the region that knows how to write some gruesome sounding pieces of raw brutality. The band mixes casket crushing old school death metal with some merciless black metal to craft an unholy sound which does not disappoint. Plus, the frantic lead guitar work adds to the over bloodbath of devastation laid down by the band’s skillful drummer. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys vicious sounding music with a blasphemous attitude that is sure to scare the hell out of a pack of Jehovah Witnesses. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/09/maze-of-terror-offer-to-fucking-beasts.html

7. Concilium “Desecration” 

Talk about HEAVY! This Portuguese extreme metal band knows how to lay down some juggernaut sized riffs along with some monstrous sounding drum parts. Of course, the band worked with Sentient Ruin on the release of this album, which should come as no surprise given the label’s history of finding the most extreme and profound sounding artists around. I think what stood out the most about this album for me was the band’s ability to get to the point and no overwhelm the listener with unnecessary arrangements. Sometimes you just want a meaty sized riff to come crashing down on you like an avalanche of distorted destruction leaving a trail of carnage in its path. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/06/concilium-desecration.html

6. Last Agony “The Imminent Slaughter”

Another band on the Sentient Ruin roster that knows how to unleash a tidal wave of face kicking insanity. Adrenaline pumping noise-punk with some blackened aggression is what this Canadian based band brings to the table on their debut full-length release. The songs on the album may be are short, but the band unleashes an insurmountable amount of chaos on each track. From the rebellious sounding guitar riffs to the singer’s unapologetic vocals, I swear that this band means business. Really hope they keep recording new music and building off of this album’s relentless sounding energy. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/04/last-agony-imminent-slaughter.html

5. Crawl Below “9 Mile Square”

This album came out earlier this year and I still find myself playing it over and over again. Overall, the compositors are extremely mesmerizing and wrap you in this veil of haunting tranquility. The musician behind this band, Charlie Sand Eyes, is a very creative artist who also happens to be in the band When the Deadbolt Breaks. I find Crawl Below to be a fascinating act, especially since the style of music seems to be influenced by a lot of bands that I really enjoy. In the end, Charlie tells these haunting musical tales that are inspired by the history of the area in which he resides located in Connecticut. Having lived in Connecticut myself for a couple years I was really impressed how he captured the spell casting natural beauty of the historic region through the album’s sound. Overall, an album worth checking out and the follow-up release that is coming out in 2022 is another phenomenal sounding release. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2020/12/crawl-below-9-mile-square.html

4. Wallachian Cobwebs “Night Sobbed a Potion Diseased” 

If you are a reader of this blog then you will remember how much I enjoyed Wallachian Cobwebs’ debut album, “Hearken to the Moon Whisper.” This one-man dungeon synth artist took vampiric lore and created a masterpiece of an album, so once I heard there was going to be a follow-up, I was simply overcome with excitement. The new album, “Night Sobbed a Potion Diseased,” takes the story of Frankenstein’s Monster and creates this haunting soundtrack which I thought was very creative. Every sound grabs your attention and creates these vivid mental pictures as if you were witnessing this tale of terror firsthand. The cinematic like environment is perfectly recorded, so anyone who desires a powerful ambient/dungeon synth release should check this album out.   

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/03/wallachian-cobwebs-night-sobbed-potion.html

3. Graveland “Hour of Ragnarok” 

One of my favorite bands, Graveland, did not disappoint this year with their new album, “Hour of Ragnarok.” The band really went all out with this new album and recorded a true masterpiece in my opinion. Rob Darken’s vocals along with the triumphant sounding instrumental arrangements throws you into this bombastic realm full of epic sounding music. You do hear the early Graveland sound at times, but the band has definitely evolved and become so much more dynamic in terms of their recording techniques and overall production quality. Conceptually this is probably one of the most impressive albums I have heard over the last couple years. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/09/graveland-hour-of-ragnarok.html

2. Old Tower “The Old King of Witches” 

I can say without hesitation that Old Tower is one of the most accomplished and exceptional dungeon synth/ambient artists around. For fans of this style of music, Old Tower has become one of the most recognized artists around the world. The Specter who is the mysterious artist behind Old Tower, is a true genius and this new album reinforces everything that I have said about Old Tower from day one. “The Old King of Witches,” takes a turn down an even darker road, leading listeners into an ambient world shrouded by a sinister energy that I believe creates a truly insidious atmosphere. When listening to this album is the dark you become bewitched by the music’s malevolent charm. I am so glad that I ordered this album on vinyl, even if I have to wait a while due to shipping delays. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/11/old-tower-old-king-of-witches.html

1. Abstracter “Abominion” 

Picking an album for the number 1 slot this year was not an easy task, but in the end Abstracter’s “Abominion” is the album that stood out above all the rest. The Bay Area based band has been a favorite of mine ever since they released their debut full-length album and I was very pleased when they started working Sentient Ruin. Abstracter is such an extremely talented group of musicians and their songs combine a plethora of savage sounding creativity. Each composition hits you with tremendous apocalyptic sized force, especially the riffs on this new album. There are no filer tracks, or cheap sounding compositions, because every riff and every sound demands you attention. “Abominion,” is truly flawless in my opinion and is an album that I expect to be playing on my turntable for many years to come. 

Complete Album Review: https://rockandmetaltemple.blogspot.com/2021/09/abstracter-abominion.html

Rob "The Metal Guy" Awards 

 

Best EP of the Year: Rude “Outer Reaches” 

Best Compilation of the Year: Snow Wolf Records “This Wretched Earth” (Global Black Metal Compilation Album)

Best Label of the Year: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

Best Cover Song of the Year: Hemotoxin for their cover of Death’s “Crystal Mountain”

Best Music Video: Venom Prison “Pain of Oizys” 

Best Record Store: Discology in Reno, NV 

Most Brutal Wrestler of the Year: Roman Reigns

Biggest Douche of the Year: Tony Khan 

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/

Rat King "Santa Hipocresía"

    Good Gawd Almighty! Rat King is rushing down the ramp with a steel chair in hand looking to break some bones and raise some hell! These death metal/grindcore maniacs from Seattle, WA come charging at the metal world with a relentless and unforgiving attitude on their new EP, “Santa Hipocresía.” 

    I remember reviewing their full-length album, “Vicious Inhumanity,” back in 2020 which I thought was a solid album that featured a deafening selection of face shredding death metal/grindcore. However, this new release is almost a completely different beast and sounds even more vicious in terms of the band's delivery and the overall presentation. Once you start listening to the album’s first track, “Santa Hipocresía,” you are instantly thrown into this pit of extreme sounding carnage that hits you with a flurry of fatal punches. Throughout the release the guitar playing and drumming proves to be on point, capturing the band’s utterly brutal approach. 

    There are moment where one might feel as though the riffs are a bit simplistic and that the arrangements are nothing innovative, however, the passion and adrenaline pumping ferocity is what hooked me throughout the entire EP. I felt like the guitar playing on this album was able to get the job done, especially when setting up those moments of intense blast beats which created a monumental rush of sickening brutality. Track number two, “Maldición Del Alma,” brought a massive amount of aggression for such a short track and I thought the vocals perfectly captured the gruesome devastation that seemed to come crashing in from all around. You hear that same brutal mentality on other tracks like, “False Prophet,” and “Morboso,” which also contain chainsaw like guitar riffs and those ear obliteration drum parts. 

    As someone who feels like a fair portion of modern death metal and grindcore bands attempt to record “brutal” music yet end up writing very forgettable albums, I was extremely pleased with how Rat King went about recording this release. Also, the band seems to have a strong and tight grasp on their overall sound, which I thought was executed extremely well. I believe we have reached a point in the extreme metal world where as much as we would like new bands to be ground breaking or innovative masterminds, we actually just want artists to deliver albums that leave an impact and sound like they weren't recorded by a bunch of drunk yahoos. No bullshit, this album is a mighty statement and Rat King is definitely an artist that I recommend checking out. 

Check out the song "False Prophet" below:

Rat King Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ratkingseattle/ 

Rat King Bandcamp:

https://ratkingband.bandcamp.com/

Old Tower "The Old King of Witches"

    Once again Old Tower conjures forth an album that leads listeners into a shadowy realm of haunting tranquility. “The Old King of Witches,” is more than just another dungeon synth album, but a journey across a mysterious archaic landscape where darkness reigns and one might begin to question all they once knew to be possible. 

    The Specter, the creative genius behind Old Tower, has proven to be an extremely brilliant composer within the world of dungeon synth and ambient music. In the absence of lyrics, one must be able to hook listeners with profound ambience, while also seamlessly guiding listeners through mesmerizing pieces of music that creates a cinematic sounding world. Old Tower’s last full-length release, “The Last Eidolon,” was an extremely impressive release, and an album that I considered to be one of the best albums to come in 2020. Compared to, “The Last Eidolon,” I find this new release to be even more darker and dives into this eye opening horror themed world in which there is an evil force lurking amongst this forbidden domain. 

    Each track serves as a small yet powerful piece in relation to the overall frightening story as you progress throughout the album. The Specter makes sure to add enough detail into eacb track order to really establish a vivid sounding environment. Right away you hear a bit of a departure from the traditional old school dungeon synth sound, and instead you can hear a more ambient style that feels like something that could be used as a film score. “Wych Totem,” is the album’s opening track and builds up suspense with eerie noises which throws you straight into the heart of this forbidden musical realm. At the end of the song a sharp ear piercing sound breaks the calm silence, as if you have reached the boundary line into an evil dominion. 

    During the song the, “The Dwelling,” I could imagine myself entering a decrepit old den where a cauldron is bubbling and candles surround a book used to summon malevolent forces. I really must applaud The Specter for arranging such compelling and realistic sounds, because once you start listening to a track you become completely possessed by every little noise that comes out of the speaker. On most dungeon synth albums you hear a triumphant yet melancholy sound driving the music forwarded, but on this release the gloomy and ghastly compositions lead you through a more mysteriously sinister atmospheric cloud of sound. 

    Other tracks on the album like, “Red Dragon Bones” and “Winter Embers,” continues to incorporate a plethora of sounds in order to provide more fascinating detail to an already monumental musical tale. The sounds of a crackling fire during, “Winter Embers,” that break through the glossy synth arrangement, leaves you feeling like you are standing all alone in a forest nestled away under a sea of dead mangled trees. A track for me that really stood out was, “The Drifter of Duskmire,” because the layering of different sounds during the song really hooked me from the beginning until the end. The synth arrangements are extremely well recorded and the other noises compliment the music’s insidious tone. 

     I would describe, "The Old King of Witches,” as a great example of how The Specter has a plethora of creative depth that is still being shown on each new release. This album is one of the most well produced releases to come out this year, and the fact that this album does not need words to create such strong mental images only reaffirms my respect for this artist. In my opinion, Old Tower is the king of dungeon synth/ambient acts right now and the kingdom established by The Specter is one that I hope continues to flourish in the dark confines wherever this artist dwells for many years. 

Link to the teaser video for the album: 

Old Tower Bandcamp:

https://oldtower.bandcamp.com/album/the-old-king-of-witches