The Booster: June 2022
Good tunes from June
This was supposed to be a podcast. It's now a blog.1 What it is: A hastily constructed, sloppily written, generally messy rundown of interesting releases I listened to in June 2022 that I feel comfortable pitching to you, the Plague Rages subscriber. Trying to get caught up since I've been slacking on the recommendations.2 Not all of these are June releases, but all of them are available now. In-depth reviews for some to come in future VaccZines.
Black Metal
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses (Debemur Morti Productions)
The post-Memoria Vetusta III years haven't been…my favorite stretch as a longtime Blut Aus Nord fan. That's about as nice as I can state it. Sure, I generally don't mind Vindsval's experiments. I'd rather an artist try something and miss than turn into a sclerotic parody of themselves release after release. My only requirement is that there's a banger every couple of years with some meat on it. Let's check the scoreboard: Deus Salutis Meæ wasn't it. Yerûšelem was fun, but I remember next to nothing about it. Likewise, I haven't listened to Forhist since I covered it. I grew to like Hallucinogen, but it still isn't why I turn up. Just put it on. Yeah, same complaint: It's like listening to your dungeon master talking about microdosing. OK, sounds cool, but can we roll for initiative? Long way of writing that it has been nearly eight years since one of my favorite bands released material I loved. And, to be clear, the kind of stuff I love is The Work Which Transforms God and MoRT, particularly the latter, particularly because it sounds like Silent Hill Gorguts. Disharmonium - Undreamable Abysses brings BAN back to the Upside Down without forsaking the present. Indeed, Vindsval's newer inventions are here: the disembodied monk chants that burble in the back of your brain like jamming Enigma on ketamine; the goth-y sad times of Yerûšelem that give some songs a Siouxsie sway. But, mostly, this is a return to the shivering-riff, "we opened a portal to WHAT?" BAN that initially established the project as one of the most creative in black metal. And, yeah, it's a grand old time that's also a grand new time. To that end, Disharmonium is an especially delicious treat for two reasons. First, this is probably the best-sounding BAN album in the discography. Second, W.D. Feld's drumming is next level. Check out "Into the Woods"'s shuffle for something I can only describe as "haunted 'Rosanna'." Nice to have you back, besties.
Final Eclipse - Interminable Darkness (self-released)
The rumors swirl. Whether the membership is who we all think it is doesn't really matter because the music rules regardless. Charging cavalry blasts give way to aurora borealis ensorcelled sections that instill a fresh sense of awe even on replays. Rules. Those end-of-progression sweeping flourishes are everything the blackened part of my brain desires. You're going to see this a few more times. Get ready.
Icare - Chargone (Hummus Records)
Been keeping an eye on this Swiss four-piece since Khaos, its 2020 debut that mixed post-black metal with grindier blurs of aggressive guitars. The gimmick on that album was the songs kept getting longer, starting with a 35-second ripper and ending with a 20-minute crusher. Much of it reminded me of Comity because anything assembling the rare Triforce of grindy, core-inflected, and healthily experimental reminds me of Comity. Really though, Icare carries on the lineage of Swiss bands born from the sludge of Impure Wilhelmina: Rorcal, Vancouver, Vuyvr, and the like. These bands aren't bound to genre so much as they use a lot of shades to paint a portrait of overwhelming heaviness. Chargone is a single 43-minute track that, impressively, doesn't feel like loosely connected suites but one long-ass song in the "Dopesmoker" sense. Because of that, it just flies by. Sure, it gets a little flabby in spots, which is expected from most post-metal, but the blasty stuff is excellent and some of the neat near-dissonant stretches are a treat for ears that don't mind some abrasion. Additionally, because of the seamless flow, it's a good work album, if that makes sense.3
Krallice - Psychagogue (self-released)
Keyboard Krallice is back. While I've grown to like the synth workouts, I'm not sure they're working for everyone. If you thought Demonic Wealth and Crystalline Exhaustion were misses, I still recommend Psychagogue even though the band maintains the synths as the main character. At the very least, Psychagogue isn't as abstract as Wealth, not so sprinkled with space dust as Exhaustion. There's even a return to the tech-y approach of Mass Cathexis, especially when something like "Deliberate Fog" shows off Krallice's peerless rhythm section, which happens to be Lev Weinstein and, uh, Mick Barr this time.4 Must be fun being in a band where everyone is ultra-talented and doing the ol' instrument switcheroo doesn't diminish the performances. That said, the weird isn't wholly missing on album number 12. "Arrokoth Trireme" is a dang journey, like if Manes wrestled Apotheosis for control of the cosmos. There's no other band like Krallice, and it's rad that the Queens, New York, legend keeps making sure that it never repeats being the same band.
Mico - Zigurat (Total Dissonance Worship)
Columbia's Mico plays what I've come to regard as the Total Dissonance Worship version of omnicore, so it's appropriate that Zigurat, its second album, has landed on, you guessed it, Total Dissonance Worship. Grind, sludge, metalcore, death metal; all of it charred pitch black.5 What elevates Mico is its energy, execution, and excellent songwriting. For instance, the high/low vocal tradeoffs are killer. Highs: Top-tier screams that remind me of a more wild-eyed Daïtro. Lows: total hangry bear death roars a la Our Place of Worship is Silence. If you know what I'm talking about: YEAH. It's one thing to be omnicore. It's another to pick some diverse touchstones that push the style to its creative breaking point and ends up strengthen the compositions. Like, there are legit DsO parts that are on par with that band's interesting work before it became the Dennis Miller of black metal.6 Those riffs are followed by steps ahead Cleric shred. You could build an entire identity around any one of those elements. Here? Bread of a sandwich. I'd say this is one to watch, but it's already here. Don't miss it.
Stygian Ruin - Stygia I: Slumrende i hjertets mørke (Ixiol Productions)
When the mellotron-y texture is added to "Valp fra nord!," you know this is the good stuff. I haven't spoken with Stygian Ruin, so this is pure speculation, but it wouldn't shock me if its two members, E.R. (all instruments) and Baratoz (additional guitar/vox), thought, Huh, Fenriz's Red Planet was neat. Robert E. Howard is cool. We should do that. Except black metal. Except proto-prog. And thus, Stygia I: Slumrende i hjertets mørke was born. Maybe. Who knows. But hey, this album is a trip. And I mean that in a lot of senses. The textures on this record sound ANCIENT, like this isn't new, but something Rise Above Relics dug up and forgot to tell us about. A lot of Stygia comes off as if a prog-curious biker psych band accidentally invented black metal in the mid-'70s. Couldn't you imagine these peeps were on a failed tour with, like, Icecross or something? Anyway, apparently these Norwegians used to play dungeon synth. Someone needs to school me on that genre.7 Huge blind spot, meaning I will probably never fact-check Stygian Ruin's history. But this is real good. The drumming has a wonderful swing to it. The guitars have an unexpected growl that sounds all the more gritty when they go skyward. Just a fun way to spend a weekend.
Sunrise Patriot Motion - Black Fellflower Stream (self-released)
Admittedly, not my beat. Wyatt did a good job covering this in the column, as he always does.8 I was curious. Can confirm: It is indeed great. I think Yellow Eyes post-punk is the logline, but I don't think that explains how evocative these songs are. Like, sure, this could've dropped on Factory or made Echo and the Bunnymen extremely jealous. And yeah, it has that concrete jungle NYC black metal vibe. In clumsier hands, that combo could tumble into a Stranger Things pastiche. Instead, wickedly creative. I'd put it in the same bucket as 夢遊病者, the experimental mindfucker that has to break out sooner or later. Of course, where 夢遊病者 is out on the fringe, Sunrise Patriot Motion has hooks for days. "I Search for Gasoline" opens with a synth-drenched progression that sound like the grimmest Romantics track of all time. Ah, yeah, the concept: There Will Be Blood-y oil obsession. Black Fellflower Stream will cost you about a gallon of gas. Will give you 1,000 miles of enjoyment. That's the renewable energy we need.
Драконья Кровь - Семь кругов пламени (ИЗЫДИ RECORDS)
Драконья Кровь, "Dragon Blood" per Google Translate, is an anonymous Russian band kind of does a lofi, keyboard-heavy take on black metal. I don't think this is sketchy, but hey, it's Russia, so nothing surprises me anymore.9 Anyway, Семь кругов пламени, "Seven Circles of Flame," reminds me a bit of Colin Marston circa now just with the weirdness wrung out. It rises and falls in a more straight-ahead manner. The vibe, though, is delightfully askew in an outsider sense, the kind of atmosphere you expect from a foggily-set folktale that the Brothers Grimm deemed too outré.
(Any time I embed a Bandcamp with Cyrillic, Substack autoplays it. It's annoying. Fix your damn platform. Until then, you can listen to this here.)
Death Metal
Artificial Brain - Artificial Brain
The Long Island, New York, spacefaring quintet pulls out the stops for this self-titled stunner, stretching out in two directions. Artificial Brain is more melodic than I ever remember the band being. It is also way more complex and technically accomplished. The trifecta-accomplishing "Artificial Brain" is like Krallice at its most focused trying to raise Demilich from the dead by covering Until Your Heart Stops. Genius shit. It only gets better. "Glitch Cannon," with its machine-gun widdles, is one of my favorite songs of the year. And the impossibly epic "Last Words of the Wobbling Sun" is a fitting end to this iteration of the band. It's crazy that I think this won't end up being Arty B's best album. Stunners to come, surely. Now, if we could only get 'em off of Profound Lore.10 Consequently, if you can, buy physical/merch directly from the band.
Biomorphic Engulfment - Calamitous Devastation Through Grotesque Reproduction (self-released)
You love to see a band evolve quickly. Last year's Incubation in the Parallel Dimension had some moments, but got bogged down by slop. Calamitous Devastation Through Grotesque Reproduction, the new two-song demo from one of the leading lights of Siamese Brutalism, is way tighter. Also, faster? Some of these blasts could tap old Origin on the shoulder. Yep, Polwach Beokhaimook is a force on the skins. We've known this for a few years. The most-improved trophy, though, goes to guitarist/bassist Wit Klubvisat. The nu-ish bounce riffs near the end of the title track are wickedly creative. Can't wait for the next one. What a goo glow up.
Brutalism - "Atomized" (self-released)
Another teaser from these brutal death Boise kids. Dante Haas's drumming is why you'll want to plunk down a buck. Outstanding. But everyone comes to play. Good shred, good gurgs. This is more Disgorge than I remember the demo being and it's all the better for it. A split titled The Kids Are All Right that features Anal Stabwound going full Defeated Sanity and Brutalism doing its dankest Disgorge, when?
The Chasm - The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow (Lux Inframundis Productions)
There's a heavy metal concept I've wanted to write about forever, but I lack the music theory vocabulary to codify it. I call it "the journey." Basically, it's when a band expands and iterates on a song's core idea, taking it as far as it can go without losing what makes the song the song. The journey is central to speed metal and thrash, but you see it in other genres. For instance, the coda of Helmet's "Unsung" is what I'd pitch to metal neophytes as an example of the journey. So, yeah, I mean, you know what it is. Diamond Head's "The Prince." Metallica's "The Four Horsemen." Death Fortress's "Wrath of God." So on and so forth. Long-ass windup to say that The Chasm has been making the journey in a death/thrash context better than a lot of bands for a long time. The Scars of a Lost Reflective Shadow, the Mexican death metal institution's ninth full-length, is almost all journey. That's when The Chasm is at its best and when it feels the most alive. Find an idea, take it as far as it can go. Rack up the miles.
Chaotian - Effigies of Obscolescence (Me Saco un Ojo Records)
Of all of the nowadays Danish death metal bands — your Phreneliths, Sequestrums, Undergangs, and Hyperdontias — Chaotian is my favorite because it snorts the same chaos powder that powered Immolation on its early stuff. Of course, this is straight-up death metal and not as squelchy, but it burns through riffs with a similar lack of abandon. The riff two minutes into "Gangrene Dream" is your litmus test.
Clarirvoyance - Threshold of Nothingness (Blood Harvest)
This Polish quintet's debut EP, Threshold of Nothingness, is the Blood Harvest special. What it lacks in originality, it more than makes up for in exuberance. For instance, if you like whammy bar solos, there are a few whoppers within. They come out of nowhere and sound like someone feeding a goat into a woodchipper butt first. After blasting this, I think all of the birds of prey in my general area think I have a hawk torture chamber in my garage. The rest is solid OSDM of the Euro persuasion a la Incantation routed through Dead Congregation and Grave Miasma. BBQ death metal. Death metal when you don't want to think.
Effluence - Sarmat (self-released)
Last Days of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. If you've been avoiding Effluence because you don't like brutal death metal or goo music, Sarmat should be your introduction. While the BDM free jazz fusion is as intense as ever, "Undulating Alala," a 27-minute track, is far more dynamic and streamlined than the typical Effluence composition. In vibe more than presentation, parts of it even remind me of John Surman's How Many Clouds Can You See?, one of the more approachable free jazz classics. I won't spoil it, but the middle of "Alala," when the guitars and drums drop out, is one of the wildest things you'll hear this year in metal. I feel like this is when those outside of metal will finally take notice. One of the best bands going.
Ozaru - Ozaru (self-released)
If Charnel Grounds is Artificial Brain doing spacey metalcore, Ozaru is Artificial Brain doing war metal. I'd take back most everything I've complained about if more war metal sounded even remotely close to Ozaru. Concise and creative, these death/grind tracks are like Blood Bowl players commandeering a spaceship. Like, this is the kind of thing a Yautja with a battle vest would jam. The best parts are the small snippets of melody that rise to the surface like ground being liquified in an earthquake. Talking primo Discordance Axis stuff. Killer. These are some musicians you know doing what I presume is a one-off. Shame. I'd take many more albums of this.
Soulmass - Eidolon (self-released)
An ode to the Dark Souls video game series. Even if you have zero affinity for games, there's something for you here because Eidolon is a super-strong set of doomy death metal.11 Brett Windnagle's riffs are somewhat Bolt Thrower-esque, moving over the terrain like tank treads. They're hooky, flow well, and have a sense of economy. Of course, it doesn't hurt that they're adorned with a touch of Swanö melodicism. Indeed, Eidolon is a bit like if Bloodbath Mach 1 decided to cut ...For Victory. To that end, singer Lux Edwards sounds like prime Åkerfeldt. Jeff Taft and Alicia Cordisco chip in some air-guitar-worthy guest solos. Good stuff, all around. Plus, a testimonial: one of the better metal releases this year to drive to. Commuter metal should be a thing.
Vulnificus - Invocation (self-released)
Wrote about this one for the column, so you can find a more in-depth write-up over there. I will add that Invocation keeps getting better with every replay because you start noticing more stuff. For example, the drumming is a gas since it's doing that lead instrument thing that Meshum does. Also, Eston Browne utilizes so many different vocal styles on this EP that you often think there are guest spots. Lot of bang for your buck.
Doom/Sludge
Рожь - "Аминь" (self-released)
A re-done version of a Reflection Nebula song, one of Vladimir Frith's previous projects. The open strum is so glumly gorgeous, Yob deep in its emotions. The 14-minute track then nails a feeling that Cult of Luna captured on its best album, The Beyond: otherworldly heaviness ably explaining the pain in this one.12 The addition of chiming tones and vocals that hover like a string section is the squeeze that pulps my heart. I'm doing OK, thanks for asking. How are you?
(Hey, Cyrillic. You can listen to this here.)
Grind
Knoll - Metempiric (self-released)
This is a copout blurb because I'm writing like crazy to try and get this emailed out today. Still digesting this one, will have more later. Too good not to list, though. If you liked Black Market Activities exploits in the early 2000s but want it freshened up for the 2020s, behold, Knoll. I slept on this band for far too long.
Naegleria Fowleri - Dissolved in Substance (Pathologically Explicit)
Skuzzball LDOH worship but with looser, jazzier drumming. That's been the elevator pitch for this goregrind trio and Dissolved in Substance add no new slides to the deck. If anything, the most significant change is that the production is rawer, favoring the back-alley grossness of Miscarriage instead of the blown-out hyper-ping of Sulfuric Cautery. A warning: Kicking Dissolved in Substance off with a sample of someone getting their O on…is a choice. Maybe…don't in the future.
Spastic Tumor - Murder Weapon (self-released)
A smarter person than I said that the difference between good goregrind and bad goregrind is d-beat vs. polka beat. Spastic Tumor is the proof. These sickos follow up last year's I'd Like to Kill Somebody with the as-bleakly titled Murder Weapon. Still sounds like downtuned to gore Entombed riffs played over grinding d-beat. Still sounds great. Still will make you question if you should be allowed to walk amongst gen pop. It's funny because this doesn't represent my worldview one bit, I'm a "go to a park and feed the ducks" type of docile idiot, but these riffs are absolutely irresistible to me.
Trauma Bond - Winter's Light (self-released)
Also wrote about this in the column, so you can check that for more. As I did with Vulnificus, my addendum is that the industrial songs on Winter's Light are winners. Big surprise! Definitely not usually into that stuff, as evidenced by my lack of interest in...uh...I was going to name some modern industrial metal bands, but I can't even think of any. Author & Punisher? Anyway, that the slow churn, near-noise stuff works as well as jud-rich pummeling grind is pretty special. At the very least, it says something that I connect with the former just as strongly.
Trucido - Demo 2022 (self-released)
Bryan Fajardo continuing the Texas grind tradition of not publicizing new bands. Right, did you know this quartet with two members of Cognizant existed until now? Anyway, this is good orthodox grind, punkily burning through minute-long rippers. Will Trucido make an album soon? Probably. Will I hear about it before 2025? Unlikely.
Punk/Core that Metalheads Might Like
List - List (self-released)
Crusty, d-beat-y metallic hardcore has become something that you mix with other genres to produce something else. Thus, standing out is hard when you play it relatively straight. You bet there's a long legacy of metal-ish crust bands crushing it: Skitsystem, Disfear, etc. Now, name a new one.13 I feel that's why not many have "broken out" after Martyrdöd. Lot of wolves, lot of brigades, or something. I digress. List! The impossible to Google List is good, adding some metalcore tech-y parts to its tumult. Check out how the opening riff of "Grave New World" feels like a superball rolling down stairs. "Pariah," the feelsy track, is super solid emo, as if Uncurbed suddenly got into Yage.
Other
Álvaro Domene - Not Arbitrary (Iluso Records)
This is going to be one of my favorite albums of the year, and I am going to be absolutely alone on that and that's OK. It's easier to think of this as a noise album — the new Thirdorgan is comparable — but it's not a noise album. It's a guitar album...just unlike any you've ever heard. The PR copy calls it "AI Derek Bailey meets death metal machine guitar." Bullseye. Nevertheless, I feel like there's so much more there. Peep "Paralyzed By Obstinacy." It feints at groove riffs and then just vaporizes them with glitches. Wild. It's like someone took that great Dylan DiLella album from last year and scratched the shit out of it. I was going to write about this for YLFL, but, no, I think it has to be elevated to Plague Rages proper. Yeah, you're going to see this one again because I can't help myself. I love it so much. God help you.
Bucketheadland - March 19, 2020 (self-released)
Sigh. Yeahhh. Buy it here.
Dumb Waiter - Gauche Gists (Three One G)
This quartet from Richmond, Virginia, tags itself as "avant-noise." Think "avant" in the Tzadik sense, "noise" in the noise rock sense. I also hear a touch of Zappa in there because of course I do. But really, this is solid, smart, saxophone-led experimental post-metal. Now, when thinking of saxophone in a metallic noise rock context, Yakuza and Laddio Bolocko come to mind. Dumb Waiter isn't, like, totally removed from those two. It has the pulsing bass of the former, This Heat-derived adventurousness of the latter. But Gauche Gists, Dumb Waiter's fifth full-length, reminds me way more of lush, and supremely listenable, modern prog. The sound isn't 1:1, but the vibe is: What comes to your mind first when I write "Exivious"? Yeah, that. For instance, the progressions have a gentle vastness that feels inviting even when Dumb Waiter gets heavy. And it often does. The sludge part of "Experiencing Loss in a Grocery Store" is quite the leaden stride. But, and I mean this in the best way, Gauche Gists is a great way to get metal-/prog-curious people into more experimental music because it's not blowing your ears off with challenging skronk. The cool thing is that, for those of us already here, it's idea-rich and consistently engaging. Good tunes, in other words.
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The pod will return soon! I hope!
Couple things: (1) I am so behind. This will be more comprehensive next month. (2) Yeah, this is pretty much a ripoff of Machine Music's superior "Nine Songs," which, holy hell, runs weekly.
Same as Crystalline Exhaustion. Guessing these were composed during the same sessions.
I don't know where else to put it, so it's in the black metal section. My bad, Mico.
The new DsO sucks. It would suck even if the band didn't have terminal Bardo brain. There's my review. Aspa has always sucked.
Most of what I've heard is…bad. I've come across a handful of cool ones. I'm sure there are more.
A wish to write like Wyatt.
The world sucks. But...yeahhh...Russian black metal is developing a rep for sketch. I have been burned plenty of times already. So, hope this isn't a baddie. Nothing I found suggests it is. Be that as it may, would I be surprised if it's sketchier than a sketch artist wearing a Branikald shirt? Narp. That's your warning.
It has been…annoying watching great bands sign to that label. Due to the cognitive dissonance, I think Arty B is going to be the last one I cover. It sucks. I wish the label didn’t have its stature in the scene.
The doom comes through on the 11-minute, 11-second closer, "De Anima," if you doubt me, click-arounder.
I have learned that this Cult of Luna take is extremely unpopular. Let me live my truth.