Right off the bat you can tell that Innervacuum is a positive band as they start off their newest EP Inertia with a track titled Yesterday Was The Right Day To Commit Suicide. All tongue-in-cheek commentary aside, Yesterday Was The Right Day To Commit Suicide starts off with just a strumming of a drum and some reverberation before the drums and bass begins to kick in. The track builds and builds beyond the two minute mark before Innervacuum decides it is finally dive straight in to heavy mathcore and experimental metal central. Yesterday Was The Right Day To Commit Suicide is an eight minute long track of spastic riffs, chaotic drumming and thick bass lines and with all of that combined, you are gifted with dense sound that hits you like a truck.

All throughout Inertia, Innervacuum provides you with much more of the same. Through the following two tracks you are greeted by schizophrenic tempos, riffs and acrobatic drumming that just don’t seem to want to stop pummeling you in to submission. The more that you listen the more that your head will spin keeping up with all of the tempo changes. Through the wall of pure carnage and destruction though, Innervacuum knows how to slow it down as well occasionally to provide you with a somewhat atmospheric sound before blasting your skull open once again.

Much like the way that mathcore is supposed to be played, Inertia as a whole is all over the place, in a good way of course. Innervacuum does a good job of keeping you guessing as to what they are about to do next. Each track is a contorted mass of metal that is  played with precision and the outcome is a good one. Inertia as a whole is a solid release even for being as short as it is. Through three tracks, Innervacuum provide you with some solid metal for you to really twist your neck to.

If you are a mathcore or experimental metal fan, Inertia is right up your alley and may not leave your rotation of albums for a while.

Innervacuum Bandcamp: https://innervacuumband.bandcamp.com/releases

Folk music definitely isn’t something that is new to heavy metal as it is incorporated in many different ways in black metal especially. Osi And The Jupiter do something a little different however as they provide you with more folk music than they do metal, and that certainly is not a bad thing. Through Uthuling Hyl you are greeted at every turn by folk instruments and chanted vocals when certain songs call for it, but never are you greeted with a sonic face melting sound. Uthuling Hyl is an atmospheric and enveloping listen, one that takes you through journeys through dense forests and tells tales of paganism among many other things.

Through nine tracks, Osi And The Jupiter provide you with wondrous sounds that soon wrap themselves around you and include you in the story/stories that are being told. Each track is just as atmospheric and alive as the ones that came before it, and even though there aren’t any sections that blast your skin straight off of your body, Uthuling Hyl is heavy in atmosphere. Through each track you become enveloped in a dense and wondrous atmosphere that you end up having a hard time to stop listening to.

Each track is filled with booming drums that are backed by hypnotic and heavy strumming of a (I’m guessing here) cello as well as haunting female and male vocals, all the while, atmospheric ambient music plays in the background. Everything comes together so seamlessly and effortlessly to provide you with a magical, hypnotic and ethereal listen that you aren’t soon to forget. Uthuling Hyl is a beautifully crafted record that is so well executed and the longer that you listen, the further and further it is that your mind drifts away from you and in to the aforementioned dense fog filled forest.

This music is emotional, heavy in its own right, mystical, magical, beautiful and so many more descriptors. Uthuling Hyl is folk music done just right, and man, is it done right. Each track is wonderfully woven and performed and the album as a whole is simply a great listen, no question about it. Truly enchanting.

Graven Earth Records will be releasing the cassette version of this record in October!

It has been five long (or short depending on how you look at it) years since the release of Call of the Forest, but now in 2017 Maglor released their sophomore full length titled Asunder. Much like their first record, Maglor pump this release full of atmosphere, melancholy and vast soundscapes. Through this release you will feel your mind escape and wander through thick snow covered forests, dense fog and much more. Maglor does a great job of captivating you and grabbing your attention only to keep it all throughout. There isn’t a moment within this record where you would even consider hitting the skip button just to get to the next track. Once you begin listening you are in for the entire ride until the album has concluded.

Each track plays well with the others creating an overall cohesive sound. Instead of Asunder sounding like four completely different tracks, this release sounds like one story being told from beginning to end, and Maglor does that very effortlessly. Maglor certainly doesn’t force anything on this record and there isn’t anything on this release that doesn’t seem to belong. Asunder is a seamless, flowing and memorable release that is sure to stick with you long after you have stopped listening.

From track to track you are greeted with wondrous and mystifying folk sounds that only compliment the black metal elements perfectly to create an overall wondrous, cold, melancholic and powerful sound. The folk elements that are combined with the black metal only propel the record and the story that is being told further and further. The mixture of both black metal and folk is seamless and they are expertly woven together to create a harmonious and atmospheric sound that envelopes you right from the get go.

Frigid riffs flow through each second of this record as synthesizers bring forth the cold and wondrous atmospheres all while raw vocals can be heard pouring through the wall of atmospheric blackened metal. Each component within this record works so well with one another and none of the many elements combat each other or take precedence over one another. Instead, they work in harmony to provide you with a great overall sound and more importantly a great overall record.

Even though it has been five years since Maglor has released an album, it doesn’t seem as though they forgot how to create great music. Asunder is a solid piece of atmospheric black metal that grabs your attention and takes you through an icy journey from which you don’t want to return. Each track is well laid out, executed and produced gifting the listener with a great musical experience.

Asunder is already out, but Graven Earth Records will be releasing it on cassette in October!

Masters of the occult and pagan rituals is Cardinals Folly and not too long ago these blasphemers released Deranged Pagan Sons. Inspired by traditional doom and heavy metal, Cardinals Folly take that traditional sound and make it their own. Within this eight track release you are sure to find the mystifying, sinister and occult like doom to satisfy your doom metal needs. Through eight songs comes forty-eight minutes of groove filled head banging doom that is wholly undeniable and incredibly memorable.

Deranged Pagan Sons is a record that you don’t mind keeping on repeat and eventually wearing out as the entire record is incredibly solid. There isn’t a weak track on this release as each of the eight songs that are present are great. Throughout this release you don’t get any filler or anything that is completely unnecessary, but what you do get out of this release is well executed doom metal.

Through telling odd tales that are twisted within occult and pagan imagery, Cardinals Folly provides you with sinister and twisting doom metal that is not too easily forgotten. Looking at these tracks at face value, they of course are shrouded in darkness and luciferian mysticism, but the way in which each track is played amplifies each of those components even more. Each track trudges along in a way that makes it seem as though Cardinals Folly has taken you by the hand and is guiding you down the path of spiraling darkness and occultism.

Deranged Pagan Sons is a blasphemous effort that envelopes you in darkness from the get go never to let you see the light of day again, and really you never have an issue with that. Once you begin listening it really is hard to control how much it is that you listen to this record. As soon as you press play, it seems as though Cardinals Folly casts a spell over you, making you entranced and overall mystified. From track to track you are provided with nothing but some of the most solid doom to seep through your speakers.

From the groove laden guitar work to the powerful clean vocals and everything in between, Cardinals Folly presents you with a well executed record that is sure to be in your constant rotation of albums. Deranged Pagan Sons is a great release especially if you are a fan of doom metal, and if you are, you really cannot go wrong here. Deranged Pagan Sons is a never ending descent in to the esoteric world of the occult, and more important than that, this release shovels great doom metal upon you in heaps.

Deranged Pagan Sons is out now!

Links to follow:

Cardinals Folly Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cardinalsfolly/

Cardinals Folly Bandcamp: https://cardinalsfolly.bandcamp.com/

Topillo Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Topillo-Records-1764622050423677/

Topillo Records Official Site: http://www.topillo.es/

Nine Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NineRecords/

Nine Records Official Site: http://www.nine-records.com/

While pairing both melodic black metal with hardcore elements, Ancst never takes precedence over one or the other. In fact, they sew the two genres together well and seemingly effortlessly to create a melodic and captivating sound as well as a sound that does its best to pummel you straight in to the ground. Through their two tracks on this split with King Apathy, Ancst show their ability to transition between black metal and hardcore seamlessly as well as combine the likes of the two genres to create a wholly different and accosting sound. Ancst begin their side of the split with Gehenna of Fire, which begins with almost mesmerizing sounds that fade away around the three minute mark. Once the guitars, drums and vocals finally kick in, you are greeted by a slow burning atmospheric sound that ultimately gives way to their blasting and purely punishing style of hardcore. On their second track King Apathy, you hear more of a mixture of the two genres that come together nicely to create both a head stomping tune as well as a memorable and melodic one. King Apathy is more of an uptempo track that supplies you with plenty of moments to lose your head and damage your brain to. As mentioned before, Ancst does a great job of mixing both hardcore elements as well as black metal elements together and they show that off through both tracks. Both of their tracks are solid and well put together providing you with an ultimately memorable and entertaining listen.

The second half of this split belongs to King Apathy of course. These gents mix several different genres in to their sound including: black metal, hardcore, post black metal and more, and just like Ancst they do a great job of combining all of these genres and more to create a cohesive and well put together sound. King Apathy doesn’t wait around too long to get you acquainted with their music either as their opener Disguise begins immediately greeting you with gravel filled screams and a melodic guitar that gives the track some melancholic overtones. Disguise paces back and forth between mid tempo and uptempo but certainly doesn’t do so frantically and only does so when needed. This track is a great well paced opener for what is left to come. The final track-for both King Apathy and the split in general-is titled Entropie. Entropie begins immediately as well providing you with a more blasting uptempo style than that of Disguise. This track offers up pummeling drums, great guitar work and vicious vocals for you to soak up and head bang to until your brain says it has had enough. Even though this certainly is a quicker track than Disguise, Entropie slows down more than half way through providing you with a melodic and serene interlude of sorts before picking right back up where it left off. Entropie is a solid closing track to this split and showcases all that King Apathy has to offer.

Both bands on this split do a great job of not sticking to one particular genre for too long and on top of that they do a great job of mixing different genres together to create a cohesive sound. Both sides of the split are solid and well worth listening to, and since this split is on the shorter side, you don’t have a problem with pressing play over and over again. Overall, this split is a good one that showcases two interesting bands that have a knack for supplying both melody and head stomping tunes all in one.

This split will be released September 22, 2017 through Supreme Chaos Records.

Links to follow:

Ancst Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/angstnoise

King Apathy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KingApathyMetal

In 2015 came In Death We Rot, and now in 2017 comes Execution of Violence from Denver death merchants Bloodstrike. In Death We Rot was a bulldozer of death, culling the weak and stacking bodies inside of basements and Execution of Violence is much the same. Bloodstrike’s old-school death approach is still prominent within this new release, but that is only in approach. Never does Bloodstrike sound exactly like their death metal forefathers as they mix in a little bit of modern death metal to create a devastating, fetid and foul sound that is sure to wake the dead.

Through the ten tracks on this release you are presented with tightly knit grave digging death metal to completely consume you and send you packing to an early and horrific grave. With sledgehammer like drumming and flesh tearing riffs, Bloodstrike does a great job of coming for your life almost immediately. You do have to wait a little bit for their barbaric onslaught however as the opening track Procreating for Death begins with an ominous and haunting intro before pummeling your brains into a chunky liquid.

Once the very brief intro concludes, Bloodstrike moves on in their quest for gore. Each track on this record is completely filthy and packed with as many cadavers and stagnant blood as possible. The overall sound of Execution of Violence is that of a march toward your own death, one that you cannot stop or control. Once Bloodstrike begins, they barrel toward you with full force never intending to stop until you have been completely eviscerated and expunged from this earth.

Execution of Violence is a gruesome record, one that fills your head with imagery of strewn eviscerated bodies, hell, rotted and bloated corpses and more filth for you to revel in and think about. The grotesque lyrics certainly fit the tone and the overall sound of Bloodstrike as each component is nauseating, compelling and this record is truly worth more than just a couple of listens.

This is a great follow up to their 2015 release In Death We Rot, and it is nice to see that they have kept their same sound and made it even better. Not only that, but it is nice to see that they certainly didn’t let up on the gruesome and rotten imagery that they force feed in to your head. Execution of Violence is a great death metal record. There isn’t anything that is over done here and there certainly isn’t anything that has to be either. The execution is great, the raw production is spot on, and this record as a whole is genuinely a devastating outing.

Execution of Violence will be out through Redefining Darkness October 13, 2017

More links:

Redefining Darkness Bandcamp: http://redefiningdarknessrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bloodstrike-execution-of-violence

Bloodstrike Bandcamp: http://bloodstrike.bandcamp.com/album/execution-of-violence

Bloodstrike Official Website: http://www.bloodstrikemetal.com/

Coated in just the right amount of blasphemy and filled with plenty of melodic death metal tunes is Heathenspawn’s five track self titled debut EP. The musicianship is tightly knit and the vocals are monstrous and the overall sound is that of evil and hell fire. Through these five tracks you are provided with well orchestrated death metal that gets your head nodding from the very first track on. For a debut, this is an impressive outing as it feels as though Heathenspawn has been around the block a few times even though that is not the case.

After a short lead in and after the vocalist states, “Welcome to hell…”, Heathenspawn kick right in to over drive gifting you with a romping tune right from the get go. As mentioned, there is a short intro but once that disappears in to the grim and fog filled night, it is all death from there on out. Each track hits hard and certainly is heavy and you really don’t have a choice but to move your head and crank your neck. Each of the five tracks on this release are solid and well executed and coated in a fair amount of devil worship.

From the opener Hell’s Tavern on, Heathenspawn provide you with ripping track after ripping track, and each of these tracks just don’t seem to let up. With great guitar play coupled with blasting drums and roaring demonic vocals, Heathenspawn cook up a recipe for scorching the earth. Even though each of the five tracks on this release certainly are blasting and pummeling, there is melody that is worked in to each of these tracks as well. With plenty of melody worked in you are provided with a smooth, memorable and of course heavy listen.

There doesn’t seem to be a weak track on this release as each one is just as head bang worthy as the ones that came before it. This self titled release is profane, dark, grim and of course heavy. These Australians concocted something memorable, heavy, satanic and addicting with this self titled debut. This is a release that you don’t mind playing over and over again as it provides you with some great tunes to sacrifice to, head bang to and just enjoy overall.

This is a good stepping stone and a nice step in the right direction, and from here on out I would expect to hear more from these guys and if a full length is to appear in the future I hope that it will be as solid and well put together as this release. And while we wait for that full length, we have this work of the devil to enjoy.