Refill #1: February 2023
What can I do to get you into a new album today?
Health problems conspired to limit my listening this month. As my dad used to say, don't get old. But even though I was largely absent from the trenches, this edition is still brimming with great metal. And, if you can believe it, March looks even more stuffed. So, an executive decision: For this first official edition of the Refill, I'm cutting "On the Horizon." We have so much good music to listen to now. Why bother looking ahead? So, onward...towards...the recent past. Huzzah.
Highlights:
Everything I liked this month
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Megaton Sword - Might & Power (Dying Victims Records)
From: Winterthur, Switzerland
Genre: heavy metal
Indescribably catchy trad fronted by one of the most charismatic vocalists we've got. Uzzy Unchained has a mellifluous heavy metal voice that I'd use to rule every karaoke bar if I possessed it. Thankfully Unchained's ambitions are grander, flexing his chops to tell tales from the fantastical Niralet. The other players match Unchained's over-the-top yet nuanced performance with Trad Belt-quality riffs. Released in winter so you'll know it by heart come summer.
Abstractyss - "Nyctophilia" (Total Dissonance Worship)
From: Germany
Genre: death metal
A sample of things to come. Abstractyss resides in the land of Immolation. It can do the lurch, such as the brutish breakdown in this song's back half. But what earns it its Immo citizenship is the evil-ass riffs.
Act of Impalement - Infernal Ordinance (Caligari Records)
From: Nashville, TN
Genre: death metal
Slathered in slime and grime, this Autopsy-esque band submerges itself in primordial death metal goop. Punky, primal, forceful.
Bodyfarm - Ultimate Abomination (Edged Circle Productions)
From: Amersfoort, Netherlands
Genre: death metal
A solid spud that will please anyone rooting around for tubers shaped like Hail of Bullets or Sorcery.
Bræ - Av vålnader bortom allt (Amor Fati Productions)
From: Parts Unknown
Genre: black metal
Honestly, 20-minute lofi black metal songs are a tough sell for me. Bræ pulls them off by making the riffs extra gritty. Not to mention, the quiet parts are pretty tasteful.
Century - Master of Hell / Stronghold (The End Times Recordings)
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Genre: heavy metal
A single that sets the stage for this duo's full-length debut on Electric Assault Records. Has a riff-focused NWO_HM energy that recalls Blitzkrieg or early Satan.
Chelicerae Growth Pathogen - Irreversible Change of the Core (Lord of the Sick Recordings)
From: Penza, Russia
Genre: brutal death metal
Difficult for me to deny a band this in love with Suffocation.
Cystgurgle - Exquisite Macerated Tissue Slippage and Full-Body Degloving Under Extreme Circumstances of Accelerated Putrefaction (self-released)
From: Bangkok, Thailand
Genre: goregrind
Despite Cystgurgle staking its claim as one of the new ping kings, doling out the cymbal-inflicted tinnitus better than most, this album actually sports a sound that may not scare away the goo-averse. The production is excellent, with an atypical separation between instruments. That said, don't email me when your significant other dumps you if you try to play them this. Remember, my mind has been thoroughly obliterated by brutal death metal.
Desairologie - Demo 2023 (Blast Addict)
From: Los Angeles, CA
Genre: grind
Isaac Horne on drums. Harlan on everything else. If you know, you know.
FesterDecay - Reality Rotten To The Core (Everlasting Spew Records)
From: Fukuoka, Japan
Genre: grind
Carcass worship that writhes around in that Reek shit. And then it flips the usual pathology report with a big Butcher ABC groove.
Great Falls - Funny What Survives (Total Dissonance Worship)
From: Seattle, WA
Genre: metalcore
Three songs in under nine minutes. Furious metalcore that crackles with a near-noise noisiness. One of the best bands still doing it.
Häxanu - Totenpass (Amor Fati Productions)
From: United States
Genre: black metal
While I wish for a Chaos Moon comeback, I'm growing to appreciate this more orthodox black metal side of Alex Poole. The back-to-back of "Thriambus" and "Threnoidia" hits right, pushing you across the 15-minute finish line with invigoratingly speedy trems.
Homeskin - End's Daze Without Organs (Fiadh Productions)
From: Texas
Genre: black metal
What a way to go out. Homeskin's final release, its 17th in 15 months, is everything that made the project special, jumping around genres while maintaining an overall coherency. Hopefully, this finale also inspires someone to continue the "Codeseven but black metal" concept explored during the album's middle.
Hypomanic Daydream - Demibitch (self-released)
From: Chicago, IL
Genre: death metal
So cool. Re-arranges Demilich's "When the Sun Drank the Weight of Water" two ways. One is a keyboard/riff duel. The other is transported to SNES. I'm all in on this project.
Kryatjurr of Desert Ahd - Deafening Supercells of Thunder and Death (self-released)
From: Lightning Ridge, Australia
Genre: black metal
The first album in the "Kluurja cycle." Deafening Supercells is what the title implies, trading in the heat-caused aridification of Kryatjurr's previous trilogy for winds that whip and gales that wail.
Memorrhage - Old Wave (self-released)
From: Texas
Genre: nu metal
The nu metal renaissance is in full effect. Memorrhage has an irresistible bounciness that makes its hooks buoyant.
Meticulous Butchery - Quasi-Sentient Decentralization (self-released)
From: California
Genre: death metal
Likely related to some extremely hard boppers from the same locale, Meticulous Butchery does an Effluence-esque brutal death that's slightly more straight-ahead. Slightly. For sure, it still engages in brain-borking displays of batshittery, such as an unexpected pump fake Meshuggah groove.
Moiscus - Idiomorphic Practices (Headsplit Records / Gurgling Gore)
From: Dayton, Ohio
Genre: brutal death metal
The pings, the blasts, the chugs, the slams: utter degeneracy. How these Ohioans haven't found acclaim among the cave-dweller set is beyond me. Maybe it's too fast?
Necrovation - Storm the Void / Starving Grave (Blood Harvest)
From: Kristianstad, Sweden
Genre: death metal
I always dig a death metal band that can tell a story through music. Some do it with "The Journey," while others have songs with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Necrovation belongs to the latter cohort, weaving tales out of thrash and death threads.
Oerheks - Landschapsanachronismen (Amor Fati Productions)
From: Kaggevinne, Belgium
Genre: black metal
Solo project of Silver Knife's H. Same deal as Bræ, really, but Oerheks possesses a more castle metal kind of stateliness.
Pest Control - Don’t Test the Pest (Quality Control)
From: Leeds, UK
Genre: thrash / crossover
This quintet's debut is so much fun, thrashing hard within crossover songs that don't overstay their welcome. Somehow, the punkiness keeps the dreaded pizza vibes at bay.
Sepulchromancy - Hell Crisis (self-released)
From: New Brunswick, NJ
Genre: death/thrash
Chuggy death/thrash from New Jersey? Who could this be? Anyway, prepare yourself for riffs that rumble like a battalion of tanks. As a bonus: whammy bar howls that make solos sound horses turned into glue. Scratches that itch for those who want it old school.
Silent Shepherd’s Horn - Demo I (self-released)
From: Kansas City, MO
Genre: black metal
Last heard on a split with Vmthanaachth, this DSBM solo project has an old USBM spirit. Be that as it may, the standout opener innovates within that template, forgoing the typical off-kilter arpeggios for a dreamy jangle.
Soulmass - Let Us Pray (self-released)
From: Florida
Genre: death/doom
Bloodborne, FromSoft's masterpiece, provides the theme for this deathly doomer. Åkerfeldtian growls, Katatonian melodies, and Paradise Lost reveries. Farewell, good hunter. May you find your worth in the waking world.
Sulfuric Cautery - Suffocating Feats of Dehumanization (Blast Addict)
From: Los Angeles, CA
Genre: goregrind
LDOH turbo ping kings return with 20 tracks of absolute mayhem. For those keeping score, I feel like there's more groove and chug here, which is a nice twist. But, yeah, to be clear, these two have a blast-first approach to grind.
Theophonos - Nightmare Visions (Amor Fati Productions / Mystiskaos)
From: Detroit, MI
Genre: black metal
The first post-Serpent Column album from Jimmy Hamze. Hamze has an unmistakable style, one that, to my ears, fuses abstract black metal with the emotional wallop of '90s metalcore and screamo. Theophonos continues in that vein to an extent. The rhythmic ingenuity and impressive commitment to making a complex riff sound like it's fraying around the edges are still present. However, as the liner notes point out, Nightmare Visions does feel more direct and personal. Like, I'm not sure that Serpent Column would've featured the woozy Converge breakdown that closes "Go On to Your Gallows."
Thin - Dust (self-released)
From: New York, NY
Genre: grind / mathcore
For my money, one of the best new bands in mathcore. I love how frantic Ashley Levine's vocals sound, nailing that Jeromes Dream kind of desperation. And, while the music also exudes a similar '90s approach, it's freshened up with weirdness. '90s kids' heads would explode if they heard the Artificial Brain-y riffs in the fantastic "Foliage."
Trespasser - ἈΠΟΚΆΛΥΨΙΣ (Heavenly Vault)
From: Vretstorp, Sweden
Genre: black metal
2018's Чому не вийшло? achieved the "walks like Marduk, talks like Crass" mandate. ἈΠΟΚΆΛΥΨΙΣ expands Trespasser's sound, pushing the boundaries until each song has a panoramic hugeness.
Úzkost - For Property and Profit (self-released)
From: Pittsburgh, PA
Genre: black metal
What I like about Úzkost is that it sounds authentically mean. The riffs are pummeling, vocals are corrosive. But I feel at ease when listening to these songs, as if those corrosive qualities burn away my angst. Hard to explain, but you know it when you feel it.
Check out my favorite metal albums of the year on RateYourMusic.
People Like ‘Em:
Stuff I'm on the fence about, mostly because I haven’t listened to it enough, but is still worth sharing
7 H. Target - Yantra Creating (Willowtip Records)
From: Нижний Новгород, Russian Federation
Genre: death metal
Let me reiterate: Time was tight this month. So, while I have no qualms with most of these albums, I'm not going to front like any hit my listening threshold. That is to say, I can't write about them confidently yet because I don't know their ins and outs. You bet, the downside to there being so much good metal is that I can't listen to all of it enough.
Anyway, 7 H. Target. First album in over eight years and the debut of Katalepsy's Igor Filimontsev on vocals. What I heard sounded slightly more streamlined than past efforts, which had a freewheeling experimentalism.
Air Raid - Fatal Encounter (High Roller Records)
From: Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre: heavy metal
I remember Air Raid doing really well when I tabulated the Trad Belt results.
All Out War - Celestial Rot (Translation Loss Records)
From: Newburgh, NY
Genre: metalcore
There are a lot of metalcore bands that sound like Slayer, but All Out War always had that extra oomph. Tom Campagna just interviewed 'em, so check out that.
Altered States - Survival (self-released)
From: Maplewood, NJ
Genre: doom
Ryan Lipynsky (The Howling Wind, Unearthly Trance, Thralldom, Reeking Aura, Serpentine Path, etc.) is a member of this doomy trio.
Carnosus - Visions of Infinihility (self-released)
From: Örebro, Sweden
Genre: death/thrash
There's an intriguing tech-y edge to Carnosus, like if Arsis tried to latch on to Unique Leader.
Hellripper - Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags (Peaceville Records)
From: Aberdeen, UK
Genre: black metal / speed metal
This might be my biggest whiff of the month. Sure does riff a riff.
Hengestaur - Ånesott (self-released)
From: Hordaland, Norway
Genre: black metal
Reminiscent of old Darkthrone in that this duo comes off as old, cold, and charmingly trend adverse.
Insomnium - Anno 1696 (Century Media Records)
From: Joensuu, Finland
Genre: melodic death metal
Insomnium has a better track record than other modern melodeathers of its stature. That said, I'm so buried in the underground that I didn't even know this was out until I started building this newsletter.
Memoriam - Rise to Power (Reaper Entertainment)
From: Birmingham, UK
Genre: death metal
While Rise to Power has yet to grab me like the great To the End, it's still dang solid, demonstrating that Memoriam's recent change of fate from a disappointing project to something befitting Karl Willetts wasn't a fluke.
Mithridatum - Harrowing (Willowtip Records)
From: United States / Italy
Genre: black metal / death metal
The drumming is incredible, but my interest in black metal doing a DsO is at an all-time low. I'll keep trying.
Palace of Worms - Cabal (Acephale Winter Productions)
From: Oakland, CA
Genre: doom
Got buried in my wishlist. Soon.
Ophiocordyceps - Anthropocene (Amputated Vein Records)
From: Trento, Italy
Genre: brutal death metal
I spent a few minutes scrunching up my face and wondering if this was deathcore. Reminiscent of Rendered Helpless in that respect. (I like Rendered Helpless, for what it's worth.)
Sarcoptes - Prayers to Oblivion (Transcending Obscurity Records)
From: Sacramento, CA
Genre: black metal
Despite playing a style I don't care for, I thought the previous EP, Plague Hymns, was pretty OK. (Anything with symphonic tendencies is usually a no from me. I can't seem to crack that code.) Prayers to Oblivion appears to travel down that same path, fusing symphonic black metal and thrash in a way that tips more towards the latter.
Scáth na Déithe - Virulent Providence (Vendetta Records)
From: Rush, Ireland
Genre: black metal
Another one that's buried in the wishlist. Been seeing plenty of raves about it, though.
Tulus - Fandens kall (Soulseller Records)
From: Oslo, Norway
Genre: black metal
I'm a sucker for Khold, and this is basically Khold But Not.
Ypres - Solypso (COD Label)
From: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Genre: post-metal
Wishlist. Buried. I am a bad person.
Zephid - Manifestation of Chaos (self-released)
From: Ravensburg, Germany
Genre: death metal
This has a lot of good ideas. Hasn't clicked with me yet.
How’d I Miss This?:
Stuff that I missed
Cerbère - Cendre (Chien Noir)
From: Paris, France
Genre: doom
The French trio does that sludgy doom that feels like you're sinking into a warm bath of amplifier wums. With the Dead comes to mind, especially when Cendre, the band's full-length debut, descends into a power ambient hum on the 23-minute "Les tours de Set."
Freeroad - Do What You Feel! (Dying Victims Productions)
From: Monterrey, Mexico
Genre: heavy metal
Exciting hard rock that might as well be a private press that Rockadrome found in the back of a condemned biker bar and reissued to worldwide acclaim. (Think Ultra, Truth and Janey, etc.) But no, this Mexican quartet which is pretty much Renz plus Thunderslave, is brand new. What puts Do What You Feel! over the top is its itchiness to keep moving, no matter the cost. That gives songs like "Liar" a caffeinated high that elevates it beyond a rock reenactment.
Mansion - Second Death (self-released)
From: Turku, Finland
Genre: doom
Considering how much I liked First Death of the Lutheran, it's embarrassing that I missed Mansion's follow-up, Second Death. But that's music listening in the 2020s, really. Anyway, the conceit is Mansion are followers of Kartanoism, a creepy religious sect with believers who were weirdo, super severe end-time doomers. An appropriate theme for, well, doom. But the octet pushes past the gimmick with sublime musicianship and a killer performance from singer Alma.
Bandcamp Hauls:
Stuff I bought that doesn't fit into the above sections
Álvaro Pérez & Álvaro Domene - ZODOS Vol.3 (Iluso Records)
From: Madrid, Spain / Kingston, NY
Genre: jazz
Nothing like when artists do your job for you. In this case, ZODOS Vol.3, the newest from jazz fringe explorers Álvaro Pérez (alto sax) and Álvaro Domene (guitar), is summed up neatly by the title of the first song: "Chaos to Symmetry." Domene's playing is as fascinatingly jagged as always, like listening to a sentient math equation performing Iannis Xenakis.
Banteay Ampil Band - Cambodian Liberation Songs (Akuphone)
From: Cambodia
Genre: Khmer music
Took advantage of a Bandcamp Day to finally add this gem to the collection. From the liner notes:
The Banteay Ampil Band was created in the refugee camp of Ampil, at the border with Thailand. Musicians and female singers, who had hidden their talents during the genocide, then gathered around the composer and violinist Oum Dara to engage in a new struggle: the resistance. Oum Dara, who had been a composer for Sin Sisamouth and Ros Srey Sothea among others, adapted several of his creations. It is therefore with a poignant charm that the Banteay Ampil Band binds together the golden age of Khmer music from the 1960s with the traditional repertoire and the context of their daily struggles. Violin, guitar and voices match together to produce melancholic and intense songs - the stirring tone of grief expressed by these resistants.
Brayan Rojitas - Horizon (Berry Good Records)
From: Colombia
Genre: future funk
Berry Good has carved out a nice niche in future funk. The house style is rhythmically persistent and permeated with good-times energy, often brighter and more neon-hued than the similar sounding (to me) jackin house. (Look, I'm old.) And its best application might actually be headphones-required workday raves. Brayan Rojitas's newest is excellent for turning the wheels quicker during a long shift.
Cinder Well - Cadence (self-released)
From: US / Ireland
Genre: folk
I don't know how to write about preorders yet. Should I revisit these albums when they're released? Anyway, Amelia Baker's collaboration with Jim Ghedi was one of my favorite releases from last year. I expect the same result from Cadence, Baker's newest under Cinder Well. Two tracks are available at the time I'm writing this. The guts of "Two Heads, Grey Mare" sounds ancient, like a composition plucked from the Smithsonian, but the arrangement has a '70s folk expansiveness, as if just a touch of pop, rock, and prog is sinking in. The gentle "Overgrown" takes that sound even further.
Cosey Mueller - Irrational Habits (self-released)
From: Berlin, Germany
Genre: synthpunk
My favorite release this month. Learning about cold and minimal wave in the 2000s was a revelation, opening my world up to artists interested in composing starker versions of synthpop, Kraftwerk, and Italo disco. Cosey Mueller nails that sound with a twist, giving these pulsating bangers an invigorating punkiness.
Eyolf Dale - The Wayfarers (self-released)
From: Olso, Norway
Genre: jazz
Beautiful compositions for jazz trio. Like feeling the barely perceptible breath of winter blowing in through cracks in a window's weather stripping while you sit by a fire. What's nice is that there's variation, with many tracks picking up the tempo and engaging with spiker timbres.
HALOTT KÍGYÓK - HALOTT KÍGYÓK (SZÉGYEN KAZETTÁK)
From: Hungary
Genre: post-punk
These Hungarians have that classic post-punk nerviness but hew closer to hardcore, both in volume and thrust.
Hans Peter Neergård - Til deg (Ol' Burger Beats)
From: Brattvåg, Norway
Genre: folk, jazz
I love these songs. Primarily performed on solo piano, Neergård's work has a catchy clarity. They're also open and vulnerable, like listening to your parents play in the next room when they don't know you're home.
Kareem Ali - Godson of House: The Album (self-released)
From: Tucson, AZ
Genre: house
Lush, soulful house that does right by the person its title evokes: Frankie Knuckles, the Godfather of House. Kareem Ali's music is similarly classic, but the producer also threads the needle with creative touches, such as the pedal steel on "Success."
L’Argousier - Diluer (self-released)
From: Lille, France
Genre: rock / pop
Such a cool, random find. L'Argousier is a duo that leaves a lot of space in their songs in a way that reminds me of a more minimalist Deerhoof. Perhaps if Young Marble Giants were French and super into pop. Whatever. The songs are super catchy and have a sneaky prog streak.
My Hair is a Rat's Nest - fragment (Tomb Tree Tapes)
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Genre: screamo
Another day, another excellent screamo record. Even during my screamo heyday that roughly spanned Funeral Diner to Kidcrash, I don't remember there being so many solid releases. My Hair is a Rat's Nest is a one-person project from New Mexico that has a post-rock sprawl and a more punk/emo immediacy that generates an exciting tension.
Pizza Hotline - LEVEL SELECT (Cityman Productions)
From: London, UK
Genre: liquid / drum and bass
I'm super late on Pizza Hotline, but at least I got here. Liquid drum and bass that sounds like it should've scored the best Dreamcast game that never existed. The washes of synths are perfect. And then you get "Shadow Moses," which contrasts liturgical vocals with punchy, lively breaks. Pure moods.
Polymoon - Chrysalis (Robotor Records)
From: Tampere, Finland
Genre: psych / space rock
I've been pitching this as "Kairon; IRSE! via Motorpsycho." Indeed, there are some guitar-led heroics on these Finns' second full-length, but it's in service of psych-y, proggy, spacey songs that treat "The Journey" like it's a sacred rite. Closer "Viper At the Gates of Dawn" displays this best, rocking hard and racking up the miles by taking the long way home.
Precipitation - Your Future (IDS Recordings)
From: Japan
Genre: ambient / drum and bass
Glass Horizon was one of the first albums in a long time that could touch the otherworldly excellence of Selected Ambient Works. On Your Future, Precipitation shifts gears to lofi drum and bass that sounds like it's being played by a pirate radio station broadcasting from a dream world. Needless to say, it's immersive, smeared with a nostalgic haziness.
To Be Gentle - Unyielding Joy / Elements Conducive To Unassailable Heartbreak (self-released)
From: Eugene, OR
Genre: screamo
To Be Gentle has to be one of the most prolific acts in screamo. A couple weeks after this one dropped, the band released another full-length, Loneliness Will Sit Over Our Roofs With Brooding Wings. I haven't got to that one yet, so what I'm about to write might be outdated, but I think Unyielding Joy / Elements Conducive To Unassailable Heartbreak is Eve Beeker and company's most vital work. The 13-minute "How Bright You Shine" builds up to heart-burstingly beautiful swells. It's almost more aligned with atmo black/gaze in that sense. But where a lot of blackgaze leaves me cold because it's plotted out and emotionally manipulative, this feels more earned. Its melancholy has stakes because To Be Gentle feels so thrillingly close to going off the rails, especially when Beeker's voice sounds like it's going to blow out. The passion is undeniable. "Love is the only way out," states To Be Gentle's bio. Well, damn.
Follow me on Bandcamp @wrambatz.
Shameless Self-Promotion And Logrolling:
Because I need money and haven't figured out a way to eat Bandcamps yet
The Black Market: "Anachronism Focus on What You Feel"
I couldn't stop thinking about the outstanding Meanders, so I contacted the source. I'll post a full transcript of the interview in an upcoming VaccZine. Other than that, I blurbed some of the bands listed above. I also provided previews for new stuff by Xysma and Majesties.
Butt Metal Blast Cast: "020: CALCULATING INFINITY WITH BIG METAL DATA FEATURING SANDRA BULLOCK'S THE NET (AN INTERVIEW WITH IAN CHAINEY, METAL WRITER AND PODCASTER)"
Crashed the Butt Metal Blast Cast to talk about a bunch of my typical hobbyhorses, including whether regionalism in music still exists and the state of metal writing. Longtime...I'm not going to write fans. How about "people I've punished?" Sure. If you're a longtime person I've punished and you've been reading my garbage for a bit, you get an Easter egg at the end of this one: A Lords of the Crimson Alliance update. Anyway, good hang.
There have been a bunch of big guests since we last talked: Ross Robinson, Pitchshifter, nothing,nowhere, Sonny Kiss, My Ticket Home, the P.O.D. Kast. Are we slowing down? We are not.
News & Notes:
VaccZine is coming back. The Booster is coming back. Plague Rages Podcast is coming back. Runout Grooves is coming back. ...if my stupid body is up to it. If things break right, this will be a busy month.
Speaking of things that are busy, this newsletter is...a lot to digest. Would you prefer weekly dispatches?
Subscribers from the early days know I have a lot of opinions on streaming. This essay by Jamie Brooks sums them up better than I ever could. Great read.
Likewise, the master of the metal interview caught up with Orchid. Also worth your time.
Finally, Invisible Oranges ran a great piece by Kelley Simms interviewing the severely underappreciated Leather Leone.
Got a question? Email us! plagueragespod at gmail
Check out Wolf's other garbage: https://linktr.ee/wrambatz
Our logo and branding are by Mike Teal. Find Mike at www.storylightmarketing.com and www.miketealdesign.com
Like what we’re doing? Drop us a donation on Ko-fi