Doldrum - The Knocking, or the Story of the Sound That Preceded Their Disappearance (2022)

The Knocking... is one of their rare, anomalous records that comes around and completely eradicates you, and then has you begging the question: why it wasn't more popular? Even a couple years later, I am baffled that this one hasn't stuck with more listeners. Perhaps it's just too obscure, wasn't advertised much, released in a limited batch of vinyl or cassettes, no CD (to my dismay). The alternative would be to believe that folks weren't interested in a brilliantly horror themed progressive black metal opus which rewards through repeated listens, and that is a thought I am just not willing to bear. A few members of this project were also in the band Gallows, which put out an awesome record in 66 Black Wings, with a more traditional, straightforward black metal style, but Doldrum is far more ambitious and interesting.

I'd describe this as sounding like a mix of late 90s/early 00s Opeth and modern, progressive Enslaved aesthetics, but it doesn't sound quite the same as either. I was also reminded of Spain's Foscor for some reason; I daresay, even a little modern Chewy-era Voivod finds its way in, or Norway's Virus. It's got well-defined rhythms that make full use of the percussion and bass, both of which are brilliantly executed through the album, and then covers those up with dissonant, creepy guitar chords and an excellent, rasped vocal to deliver a chilling and memorable experience that never gets tiring even after the 50th spin or so. The lyrics are poetic, sad and incredible, spinning a tale of 1800s American folk horror that feels refreshing and unique amidst all the usual haunted houses, zombies and vampires. It's all told in five tracks ranging from 5-9 minutes, totally under 40 minutes, never wearing out its welcome and incorporating quite a lot of range within that timespan. The Knocking... is bristling with riffs to die for, textured and immersive and fully supported by the rhythm instruments which are every measure as important. The keys and acoustics are also tasteful and non-intrusive to the central, pulsing black metal aesthetics.

I think this might have even been recorded in Salem, MA at the Gallows Hill studios, which gives me a bit of a personal connection as I met my wife there and used to live with her a few years, well before this thing came out but I always marvel at the music that comes out of the place. Largely through Kurt Ballou's God City studios, yes, but it's cool to know there are other venues. But if I'm being honest, this might be my favorite metal or 'heavy' album ever recorded in that city, it's stunning. This shit slays, and though I loved it the year it came out (and I'm still pining for a CD release!), it's grown on me even more in the interim...the towering riffs, corpulent bass lines, grooving drums, excellent vocals, all of which can surge in and out of a more traditional black metal rhythm whenever necessary, but more often errs on the side of the adventurous. I might tell you that I'd be sad if this proved to be a one-off, but at the same time, it'll be just as timeless even if the project disappears like its unfortunate subjects.

Happy Halloween!

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10]

https://doldrumbm.bandcamp.com/

Death SS - Heavy Demons (1991)

There is some alternative universe in which Death SS would have found more international success. They fully embraced the shock rock thing from the beginning, with some cool cover images that caught the eyes even when I was younger, always giving me the impression they were some Italian parallel to KISS and King Diamond. But they never really seemed to latch on a particular style, evolving through the years to cover heavy metal, doom, thrash, and even some industrial metal stuff. Now, granted, the living god Alice Cooper explored a lot more territory over his lengthy career, but he had the benefit of massive radio hits early on in his time, where these guys were and are still a virtual unknown. That said, considering how huge the horror fandom is round the world, I think these guys can continue to expand an audience, even one day when it's posthumous, because Steve Sylvester and crew have a cult appeal that has survived since the 70s.

Heavy Demons might have been the record to break them, it's got some of the biggest production and accessible songwriting of their career. Big, fat, simple heavy metal riffs, sometimes with an almost thrash metal intensity. Leads that rip out exactly where they need to, although sometimes they have a lot more flash than feeling. Plenty of keys and sound effects, the creepy atmospheric parts like the intro, acoustic segments that thankfully never herald cheesy power ballads. Some of the tunes like "Peace of Mind", or "Baphomet" give me the impression of earlier Euro power metal with the drums and riffs, certainly you could place these songs alongside Gamma Ray of the time period. Part of "Inquisitor" even sounds like it could have appeared on Painkiller, and "All Souls' Day" has a rhythmic resemblance to King Diamond stuff. They even go back to their roots and mete out the atmospheric doom ("Way to Power"), one of my favorites here, which is almost the antithesis of some of its neighboring tracks, and ironically the closest they actually DO come to a cheesy power ballad in the chorus.

The instruments and production are quite good for its day, but I think the primary deterrent for many is going to be the vocal performance. Steve is a living legend, but he's got a very pinched, nasal edge to his voice which sounds almost like a mistake on some lines. Once you've gotten used to it, then it has a sleaziness about it which might have fit more on a lower tier glam rock cult classic, but I much prefer when he focuses in on some of the more powerful melodic lines where, or some of the shrieking, which does remind me slightly of King Diamond or Lizzy Borden (who were a similar shock rock/metal act), or some of the lower, harsher parts. He clearly has the pipes to do this, but I don't know if it's his accent or a stylistic choice which can tend to make some of the lines sound a little too cheesy in delivery, and I can understand why a lot of folks might have been turned off while listening to this. Otherwise, the stylistic content of the album also feels a little scattershot, not to 'dealbreaker' levels, it's clearly the same group of musicians but it lacks focus and good pacing in the track order.

Ultimately, I do like this album, in fact it's one of those I'm likely to spin first when I'm in the mood for Death SS, but it's clearly flawed, in some cases lovingly so, and probably best enjoyed by shock rock or theatric horror metal fans who want something that sounds slightly familiar but also a little quirky.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.deathss.com/deathssweb2/

Deceased - Ghostly White (2018)

Deceased have become one of our most enduring US death metal bands; granted they temper that genre with a lot of speed, thrash and traditional metal elements and have done so for the last 30+ years, but when it comes to their mainline releases, they've become synonymous with quality since Fearless Undead Machines and arguably even earlier than that. Ghostly White is another ambitious record where songwriting and pacing are key, structures and riffs are paired up alongside the lyrics and narrative of the themes, and there's absolutely no wanking or nonsense that doesn't serve the band's consistent style. The songs can pop off in 3-4 minutes or be blown out to over 13 and you don't get any noticeable dip in quality, everything is as it needs to be written.

To some extent, it might lack some of the 'surprise' from albums like Supernatural Addiction and Surreal Overdose, since we're so used to them writing in this style. It's honestly hard to even dub this proper 'death metal', outside of King's harsh vocals, but in a way, that's kind of why it is, like Root is to black metal, these guys are an outlier in their genre who think for themselves and rarely sound like anyone else outside of some of their original 80s peers. But if we're analyzing the music directly, it's a mix of thrash, speed and heavy metal which is enriched with creepy melodies and leads and that hoarse and unmistakable tone of the vocals. There's a rawness about the mix, more so than a few of the other albums, which renders this thing perfectly timeless, with brash rhythm guitars and wild leads that almost always sound awesome and well-rendered into the ghastly atmosphere that their productions always deliver.

I don't think "Mrs. Allardyce" is the best track on the record as an opener, I don't really start getting drawn into this one until "To Serve the Insane" with its descending, mournful chorus melody, or "The Shivers" which is another nice speed/heavy metal rager with a great, simplistic melody that pokes out into the night. The aforementioned 13+ minute opus "Germ of Distorted Lore" is quite good, having Deceased play with some slower, almost martial sounding sections to break up the thrashing outbreaks, and "Pale Surroundings" stands out as another catchier tune later in the track list with some eerie female spoken word parts. That said, there isn't actually a weak song here, it's just not putting its best foot forward, but drawing you deeper into its web before you get to the truly memorable moments, and that's often the calling card of a well-written record. Which this is, and it's another victory for one of our finest USDM institutions, and probably mandatory for horror metal fanatics the world over.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/deceasedofficial/

Disastrous Murmur - Rhapsodies in Red (1992)

Another of the earlier Austrian death metal acts alongside Pungent Stench, I remember Disastrous Murmur largely for their hilarious, distinct band moniker as well as the gruesome and cheesy cover art on Rhapsodies in Red, their debut. These guys had a sound that, at the time, I found very UN-European. Sure, there were some parallels in that scene, like the earlier Atrocity records, but for the most part the sound developed here reminds me a little of Cannibal Corpse or Malevolent Creation evolving on a slightly separate path. Certainly more Florida or New York than Sweden, Finland, Holland or England. It's chuggy, ugly, and walks that borderline between the OSDM and brutality emerging through the 90s, with a guitar tone that sounds quite thrashy and choppy, and a few riffs to match, definitely giving off a slightly Eaten Back to Life vibe though I don't really think the bands honestly sound that close together.

This is very agile stuff with a lot of shifting tempos and gory, guttural vocals, but I find that the mix on this one has always detracted for me. In the way a lot of very archaic death metal records did, especially in the first half of the 90s. The guitar is sometimes too crunchy for its own good, and rarely is spitting out riff progressions that stick in my memory. The drum performance is good, but the levels feel off, with the kicks drowning out other stuff, making the guitars seem a little thinner. Also, while the vocals definitely have a pretty extreme sound, they weren't very distinct, just bludgeoning along with the dexterity of the death/thrashing rhythms and not leaving much more of an impression beyond their brutality. The bass here is audible, kind of bouncy and fat and blends in a lot with the lower drums, but I know there's always been a market for this style...I think Malignancy is an example where they took something similar to this and got a lot further with the creativity and songwriting.

I don't mean to sound totally down on this, because it definitely has some effort and intensity behind it and feels like a record that would have been more impressive for me had I been listening to it back when I first encountered Suffocation, Deicide, etc. Sometimes they get a rhythm guitar going which reminds me a bit of Death, Obituary or Pestilence and I dig those, but they will usually change it up too quickly before it can settle in. The occasional keyboards are kind of cool but they sometimes feel too obscure in the mix, except the intro to "Into the Dungeon" which rules. The lyrics are appropriately gross for the image that the band was conveying, and probably on the more shocking side for 1992, but musically this is an album I have to listen to more for its bludgeoning than the music value. It often sounds calamitous as if the young band was just trying to force rhythm after rhythm down your throat, and it just doesn't always stick the landing. But for 1992, it gets some lenience and is by no means bad.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://disastrousmurmur.bandcamp.com/

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust (2011)

Electric Wizard led me to Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, and I do admit I consider the latter to be an evolution on the other's sound, making it a fraction more mainstream and adventurous in the process since they bring in a lot of other 70s influences to the Sabbath style, namely the Beatles. If you heavily fuzzed out the Beatles, gave them cool horror lyrics and an edge, this might be the result, Uncle Acid is like the nexus between Hammer Horror, distortion-drenched pop rock and the Rise Above roster. They have never let me down on a single album, and though they've recently moved on to a more theatrical, progressive leanings, I still listen across all their catalogue fairly evenly, with the possible exception of the debut, which was decent but crushed by Blood Lust in almost every category.

From the opening notes of "I'll Cut You Down", the sophomore is just brighter and more creatively conceived, with a nice pomp to the bass tone, and a rhythm guitar that constantly evokes nostalgia and atmosphere no matter how primitive some of its trudging riff structures. K.R. Starrs' striking vocals give you an Ozzy vibe without really channeling the Prince of Darkness, or perhaps they live up to the band's moniker by sounding like a psychedelic drug trip giving a voice. The feedback and distortion used on these and the guitars are excellent, it gives you that washed out, raw feeling not unlike Electric Wizard, especially their records around this same period, but the difference is in the songwriting, these never feel like garden variety evil doom songs, the menace is "Death's Door" or "Curse in the Trees" is how they groove along like a dude in a pair of bell-bottoms kicking perceived scorpions around his feet. The bass playing is simple, but I like how it curves up to those fuzzy guitars, and the drum kit here sounds pretty awesome too, though like their peers, it never needs to be too technical or flashy...

Just lots of fills and crashing, and in fact they're interesting in psyche pieces like the proggier "I'm Here to Kill You" that they'd probably sound great even without the other instruments. But all combined, this band is a total force to be reckoned with, and Blood Lust is compelling throughout its 43 minute length, from the catchy chorus of the opener to the belligerent flow of "Ritual Knife", the glorious voo-doom of "Withered Hand of Evil", or the almost 70s pure 'eavy metal' charging of the main riff in "Over & Over Again". The one exception for me is the acoustic finale "Down to the Fire", it's nice to turn off the amps perhaps and does eventually seem like it's going somewhere, primarily because Starrs' voice works well with the louder acoustic guitars, but it feels half-formed to me and just doesn't add much to what is already a bananas great freaking record. I could live without that, but otherwise Blood Lust is one of the best albums in an obscenely consistent catalogue. Nothing complex, just let it hypnotize you until you resemble the woman on the cover.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.uncleacidband.com/

Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (2007)

Witchcult Today is one of those records that feels so simple and primal that you could just plug in, write it and record it on the spot, and that's not something I can always get down with unless its in the hands of a band like Electric Wizard. The Brits had long mastered their most daunting and crushing extremes with records like Dopethrone and Let Us Prey, and by the later 00s were settling into this catchier flow of raw, effective doom and sludge which I found just as hypnotizing as their formative releases. There is nothing pretentious or boring here, the music can speak for itself, exceedingly basic in construction yet just catchy enough to sing along with; this isn't some exercise in vapid repetition like Jerusalem but something with just enough variation and experimentation to fully immerse the listener whilst slowly punching them in the face.

Noisy, huge walls of fuzz that cascade at a crawled pace through Sabbath-like doom licks, it's that 70s foundation taken out to a wasted extreme, with very little concern for blowing out your speakers or sounding produced or polished...yet, the levels do somehow find a balance. The bass largely just plods along with the rhythm guitar, but that latter is so enormous that it's not about to find any competition in the mix other than Jus Oborn's wavering, drugged vocals, and that's only because they are genetically constructed to pierce through them. The drums might as well be trash cans, as long as they can provide the attention span with a steady pace to follow the catchy drudging. I can't tell you that a single riff on this record is original in any capacity, and yet I still enjoy it that much, because there's such a hideous conviction to how they're delivered. To be fair, they do layer in some melodies and bluesy wailings (as in the bridge of the title track) to create more depth, but this is the sort of record I might hate in the hands of someone less 'cool', if that makes any sense?

There are definitely some more psychedelic escapes here, like the noisy, quivering feedback of the interlude "Raptus" or the the moody mire of "Black Magic Rituals & Perversion", which sounds like the most atmospheric trad doom ever, given some ritualistic clout by the crazy fills and percussion as it transforms into this fuzz-fucked behemoth, only to later transform again into tribal droning noise with what sound like some reversed vocal samples. This shit is some of the most frightening they'd sounded since the aforementioned Dopethrone, and thankfully ground things back on planet Earth with the closer "Saturnine" and it's super-bluesy Sabbath lick and vocals that saturate the audience in stoner bliss, even if their lungs are as clean as a cathedral. Witchcult is just a transitive experience, like some of its own predecessors, the sort of record you come away from different than you went in, staggeringly heavy in tone but strangely accessible other than the weird bits. Cool blokes, cool cover, damn cool tracks, Lovecraftian and occult themes, what fucking else would you sign up for?

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.electricfuckinwizard.com/

Shadows - Out for Blood (2023)

I guess my love for Abigail is so intense that just about any album cover with a black horse-drawn carriage is bound to pique my attention, and such is the case for the full-length debut from Chilean heavy metal act Shadows. I also thought their leather-shrouded costumes were pretty awesome, and fully embrace that more bands are going for a 'look' these days to help accent their overall aesthetics and live shows. Now, the sound here isn't often emulating King Diamond or Mercyful Fate, but more of a straightforward heavy metal reminiscent of some early USPM acts like an Omen, or perhaps if you 'slowed down' or simplified some of the earlier 90s Running Wild stuff. The chord progressions are often on the predictable side, but this is clad in an atmosphere and vocal grittiness that helps it all achieve a freshness that wouldn't otherwise.

The classy horror-based lyrics don't hurt it either, and the occasional scream or synth line help steer this one thematically into some very cool territory. But I'm reminded of Canadians Cauldron, maybe not in a side by side comparison of the writing, but just how these bands are able to set up such a basic heavy metal framework and make it sound like something you would have found ace in the 80s. The vocals here alternate between a sort of pinched, higher pitch, harmonies, and a harsher black metal bark ("Forgotten Rites"), both working well over the bedrock of dependable riffs. A few of the chorus patterns, as in "Sacrifice" can get a little on the cheesy or repetitive side, and there are a handful of places throughout the album where a King Diamond influence does crop up ("Into the Nightmare") in the vocals. The lead guitars are pretty straightforward and creepy, often more pure melodies that help elevate the tune, but then you've got a few that go Randy Rhoads. The rhythms are very meaty and though some have that 'stock riff' feeling, they are perfect to support everything else above and below them.

Speaking of below, this disc also has a solid low end with the bass and drums that conjure up an instant desire for fist pumping. And above, you've got little atmospheric interludes that are cool which also bring this a little closer to a King Diamond conceptual vibe (there's also a tune called "Alissa" with some falsettos), and I think the synth work throughout the album is delicious, often just an accompaniment but sometimes drowning the proceedings in an eerie aural moonlight. Overall, a very solid full-length debut; I think a few of the vocal chorus parts could use some tightening as they go with a repetition that doesn't quite give the impact they could. Also there could be a few 'meaner' or more evil patterns in the guitar riffs, this stuff is pretty melodic and graceful, but to the extent that retro sounding heavy metal/hard rock mirrors a common component to horror flicks from 40-ish years ago, this definitely has that aesthetic covered. Looking forward to more.

Verdict: Win [7.78/10]

https://shadows-heavymetal.bandcamp.com/music

Black Hole - Land of Mystery (1985)

Black Hole are one of the earlier bands to latch onto that Sabbath sound and then morph it into something new with a heavy dosing of 70s prog rock influences, and Land of Mystery is almost a singular piece of inspiration from that mid-80s period where bands were more about the glam or intensifying heaviness that was being ushered in through the thrash metal, crossover and proto-death. I say 'almost', because we did have the Death SS and Paul Chain stuff, but this band definitely had their own style to it which has grown on me over the last several decades since I first heard it. No, this wasn't a record I picked up on its first run, but even in the earlier days of the internet metal buzz I remember it being referred to on numerous occasions and ultimately got a listen in.

This is definitely a spooky one due to all the sound effects and experimentation they use, in fact it does parallel the fellow Italian band Goblin if you sort of mashed them together with some old Sabbath. The vocals of 'Mysterious Future' Robert definitely emulate an Ozzy-like inflection, with some of the syllabic patterns similar, but the melodies and accent in the voice differentiate it, and he also plays around with it a lot more in the upper register, as if voicing different characters; and gets a pretty wistful, wasted sounding middle range when it tapers off. What really keeps it fresh though is how the instruments play along with it, both the guitars and bass are pretty intricate, the synthesizers, organs and pedalboard also play a bigger factor then you'd think. They'll just jam out on these little breaks as in the title track where all those instruments get to shine beyond the heaviness, and these are the parts in which you truly feel like you're in some old forgotten 'giallo' film being pursued by the mysterious killer and/or revelations.

They do have plenty of more evil, 'doom' riffs here as in "All My Evil" or "Blind Men and Occult Forces" which all might have appeared as B-sides from the Iommi camp a decade earlier, but even here there are embellishments like the creeping organs, elevated choir-like chants and that bass playing which felt like no other at the time outside of the prog rock. Another band I'd liken this one too would be the Japanese Flower Travellin' Band, they are a little more cinematic and instrumental and gave me more Iron Butterfly vibes, but I think fans of one of these would enjoy checking out the other. In fact, if you've got some patience, some love of any of the other groups I've mentioned here, or just old Italo horror soundtracks in general, then I would highly recommend giving your chance to experience this album. The songs are all aired out well, all 6+ minutes long, with interesting rhythmic breaks that give the impression of turbulent cinematic scenes, and it's genius enough that, had the band stayed the course, might have developed into something monolithic. They did reunite for some albums in 2000 and 2017, and they weren't bad, but a case of too little, too late. Land of Mystery was simply transcendent, but transcendent into a gloomy nether-realm of graveyards, demons, and masked necromancers.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/blackholedarkdoom/

Blood Feast - Infinite Evolution (2024)

Blood Feast is a band I perhaps undervalued or appreciated in the past, I had mixed feelings on their first two records and Face the Fate EP, but have occasionally dived back to them and occasionally gotten a little more enjoyment than I remembered. Their first 'comeback' album, The Future State of Wicked, sort of paralleled Possessed's Revelations of Oblivion (though two years earlier, and a full decade after this band had started playing together again). It was tighter, faster, more musically engaging for me, and occasionally came across like a revival of the sound from the amazing Rigor Mortis s/t debut. With Infinite Evolution, they've shifted to the long-time guitarist Adam Tranquilli performing vocals, and he replaces his predecessor's harsher, snarled vocals with a style far more similar to Jeff Becera, more splatter sounding, maybe more crossover, more 'thrash', where the intonation is a bit edgy and filthy and sustained.

Despite the fact that it'll draw huge comparisons to that more popular band, it works for me better than the vocals on the last record. Coupled with some fast, driven, choppy guitar work, wiry leads and raging kit work from their new-ish drummer, Infinite Evolution is really entertaining, with just enough variation and riff quality to keep me heading back to its well of carnage across many spins. Yes, I won't obfuscate, this is essentially East Coast Possessed, there are a few differences in how some riffs are imagine or leads structured, but if you enjoy Seven Churches or Revelations of Oblivion, this will be like Christmas for you, because it's on such a similar course. Like that band, they also have the focus on horror film lyrics; sometimes with similar themes like demons and possession, but also dipping a little more into the gore alongside the blasphemy. It's always an appreciated combo, and as the band busts out numbers like "Ravaging the Loins of Mary", "Of Hell" and "Outbreak", I am thinking this is easily the best album of their career...

And when they try something more ambitious like "Eye of Glass", I become assured of that opinion, an epic number with cool robotic vocals in the intro. A tune like this instantly reminded me of Deceased, who also craft more elaborate horror narratives with the thrash and speed metal influences, and another band whose fans would probably LOVE this (and probably already do). I think a future Blood Feast record could kind of embrace this idea, with the longer song lengths and unique mechanics, and help distinguish themselves from their West Coast brethren, but Infinite Evolution is a banger of a listen for me regardless, and one easily recommended to fans of any of the above or really any black/thrash or death/thrash hybrid, which are myriad over the last 20 years. Smokin', evil thrash metal that honors both its cinematic and musical influences with class.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.bloodfeastlegions.com/

Possessed - Revelations of Oblivion (2019)

There have been endless reunion albums out there, from bands both successful and obscure, but the return of Possessed had to be one of the most anticipated. Possibly its because they had never really had a lot of input during their early run, two albums and an EP, and the legend those generated became so disproportionately popular. Not for no reason, mind you, since they influenced multitudes of black, death, and thrash metal bands today, and are even occasionally cited as the originators of that middle category. But this is one that a lot of folks were very much looking forward to, especially after hearing the samples, and I've gotta say that Jeff Becera and his new crew deliver on all fronts, a record that might not hold up nostalgia-wise against its predecessors, but might honestly be the most structurally and technically the best piece of music the devil ever spawned through their brains and limbs.

After a tasteful and brief, cautionary symphonic intro which serves the purpose of placing the listener into a space not unlike the Omen films, they blaze straight through you with "No More Room in Hell", a tune that will quash all disbelievers with its evil proto-death metal tremolo thrashing and then the tortured Jeff Becera vocals which sound INCREDIBLE, as if the decades between this and the The Eyes of Horror EP just never happened. Not only does he meet the mark, but he puts an even more ghastly brand to them by honoring all the vocalists he influences with his own slightly more guttural accents and some sustained growls which are also quite cool. The guitar work is on fire, obviously more complex and lead-heavy than the old material, simply because a lot of the progeny of these influences have developed over the decades, and Daniel Gonzalez and Claudeous Creamer are no bullshit talents. The Emilio Marquez drumming is much more intense than on, say, Seven Churches, and that also makes some sense as they're returning to a world where things are just more intense.

This record is dominated by those faster-picked rhythms, which have the intricacy of some of the evil riffs you'll remember from later 80s Kreator or the Pestilence debut, and that's where the material is the strongest, especially where they whip into a moderately paced breakdown or a great, memorable lead. However, there are plenty of more mid-speed chunkier parts reminiscent of Beyond the Gates and tunes like "Demon" which play around with some newer ideas (at least for this band). And the track list is quite deep, granted you've got that symphonic intro and the "Temple of Samael" acoustic/dark ambient instrumental closer, but they rifle out ten original scorchers and for Possessed, that feels substantial (again, as famous as they got, they never put out a ton to begin with). The production is super clean, but for some reason it doesn't seem to leech away from the sinister feel of the songwriting which is entirely in line with where they were in the 80s. The bass is decent but maybe that could stand out a little more, otherwise the rhythms, leads, drums and Jeff all sound formidable.

Very few flaws...perhaps it does seem a little too mechanical and 'perfect' in places, especially when you listen through the entirety, but I think this is just an illusion created by the band's devotion to getting it right when they finally burned through their re-entry. Revelations in Oblivion is an unquestionable triumph, one that I'm not sure we'll ever hear replicated, and one that, for me, lives up to the first wave of their material, as heretical as that statement might sound. I mean I definitely prefer it to Beyond the Gates, but maybe it won't ever reach that cult appreciation of Seven Churches. Either way, I listen to so many bands whose style is partly derived from this one (alongside Slayer, Celtic Frost, etc), that I was absolutely thrilled to have the genuine article back in such fine form, even if it's just the one original member.

Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/possessedofficial/

Bloodbath - Survival of the Sickest (2022)

As a fan of both Nick Holmes AND Bloodbath, I was excited to hear what could be produced with them working together, especially since I had only been used to hearing his harsher death vocals over the earlier, slowest, death/doom Paradise Lost stuff. Grand Morbid Funeral sort of gave me what I wanted, but The Arrow of Satan is Drawn was a case of very diminishing returns, and frankly I felt like the band was trying to mold itself away from that well-produced, groovy death metal that put its all-star lineup on the map once again with another entity. Survival of the Sickest is a bit of a rebound from all that, and it's the collaboration I WANTED to hear once I knew Nick was joining the band, taking me back to the great, morbid fun riffing and production I enjoyed on discs like The Fathomless Mastery or Nightmares Made Flesh.

That's not to say it drops off the more atmospheric, filthy elements from the prior to records, it just takes them and places them sparingly into the core of what made Bloodbath so great to begin with. The Jonas Renkse bass here is super ruddy and filthy, and Anders and Tomas are just chopping the axes up between great old US or Swedish death metal riffing, tried and true with little flights of atmospheric leads that erupt at just the right time over some protracted Nick Holmes growl which he often layers above the syllabic grunting of the verses and chorus. Part of me had hoped Jonas and Anders would at least continue together in this band if not Katatonia...it seems unlikely, but if this is going to be their swan song, then it's well worthwhile. Not to diminish the contributions of the rest...Martin Axenrot's drumming is muscular, grooving and a perfect accompaniment to the churning, Morbid Angel-like grooves in "Dead Parade" or the whirlwind chaos assault of "Malignant Maggot Therapy". Tomas and Anders have more riffs and zippy evil leads than a shelf full of OSDM classics...

...and Nick has TRULY found his stride here, sounding just as awesome here as any of the older albums with Mikael or Peter singing. It's fun to hear those longer growls in faster-paced music, and if I had ever any question of him fitting in with this band that is now officially crushed, because he's fuckin' great. Survival of the Sickest isn't the catchiest death metal record of all time, but it's deliciously old school in all the best ways where that ancient sound had just started to convert to the brutality of the 90s and 00s. This is definitely not your stock Swedish overdrive sound circa Entombed, it's got a little bit of that inspiration but it's much more fun and groovy, with a guitar tone and writing style that don't necessarily place it so much geographically as it does chronologically. 45 minutes of fun that should satisfy anyone into Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Edge of Sanity, Hypocrisy, Vader, and death metal in general.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.bloodbath.biz/

1782 - Clamor Luciferi (2023)

There's just so much 'right' about Italian bands performing horror themed metal, so much that it crosses most of the sub-genres, from the brutal bludgeoning of Fulci, to the cult blackening of Mortuary Drape, the shock rock/heavy metal of Death SS, escapist giallo doom of Paul Chain, or the funeral parlor sounds of Abysmal Grief. Sardinians 1783 definitely conform most to that final category, but they definitely eschew a lot of the atmospherics and cinema-reel creepiness to bludgeon you straight in the face with a sluggish brand of primitive stoner doom that borders heavily on the nihilistic sludge made popular by Eyehategod and Electric Wizard. The sort of 'bad high' or 'bad trip' which just beats on you repetitiously with dour guitar tone, fat evil bass, wanton and wastoid vocals, steady and simple drums, little else to distract you.

So the album title, the band name, the cover artwork, and the sinister/occult themes of the songs are all a win for me, but unfortunately, when you've got such a straightforward style, it relies so heavily on you getting those riff patterns that bore themselves into the listener's psyche. When you're working with such basic chord progressions, I think there's an impetus to play it safe and then just flood those ear canals with crushing ton, and Clamor Luciferi might partly wind up a victim of that. There are some moodier bits here like "Tumultus XIII", where the guitars rumble along at more of a dirge against the plodding bass, and you feel like the music is rising to some vaulted cathedral ceiling, but others like the minimally titled "Succubus" and "Demons" are almost TOO one-track, with nothing in there to really surprise or freak you out. The vocal mix is interesting, he has a sort or dirty chanted style which is almost entirely smothered by the guitar tone and bass, but at the very least it feels like someone is whispering you subliminal messages very close to the rhythm of the instruments.

Whenever the band stretches out of these samey patterns, it gets more interesting, even in "Devil's Blood" where it starts out sparser but emits the most threatening, basic doom riff on the album. The production is never the issue, that bass sounds fat enough to rupture your tires, and the guitars have a dirty fuzz to them which works in the format. Perhaps the vocals could be more pronounced, but really 1782 needs to take this stylistic concept and then broaden it out, with more atmospheres, organs, or maybe some unexpected, minor key harmonies, or more psychedelic guitars/blues, because it grows dull fast unless you are in this super specific mood for something so drawling. Clamor Luciferi album is by no means a terrible album, it's fine, but it just needs a lot more ambition; the organ intro "A Merciful Suffering" set me up for some further expeditions that never manifest.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://1782doom.bandcamp.com/album/clamor-luciferi

Candles and Wraiths - Candelabia (2019)

The first impression upon seeing this album, and perhaps the best case scenario, is that it's going to sound somewhere like a cross between King Diamond and Cradle of Filth. You've got the period piece séance, the graceful but haunting specter possessing several of the attendants, all the staples for some good Gothic or Victorian horror writ unto metal. In fact, it's definitely a lot more in the latter's direction, an Austrian CoF with only a few subtle differences, largely the ramping up of the pomp and symphonic components to a near constant, a little less of the death and thrash metal that the Brits often verve off into as complement to their black metal core, and vocals that aren't as over the top as Dani Filth, though they definitely cover the same alternation between the black rasps and death grunts, or a combination of both, with some ethereal female/choir in there and that decrepit, whispered narrative on a few of the verses.

I guess this actually comes across as if Cradle of Filth extracted about 75% of their fundamentals and then spun them into an even more Wagnerian direction. The symphonics and riffs are on full thrust for a good portion of the record, more majestic than creepy, and I'm not sure that it's the best fit for an album that is ostensibly about haunted castles and classic horror. That said, it's pretty competent and enjoyable, from the sweeping orchestrations implemented by Hannes Sandrini who has also contributed similar to some of the Obsidian Chamber albums, to the slick guitar theatrics of Jürgen Klier (also doubling in that same band), there is nary a moment here to ever grow bored, because they are piling on some agile exercise in symphonic black metal over the blasting beats. Although this album is mostly on 'attack' mode, don't be fooled, there are plenty of intricacies in the guitar work, there is zero monotony as they like to rile up the songwriting with these epic breaks where either the symph synths will blaze off or some percussive, choppy riffing and drumming.

There are loads of melodies across these 40 minutes, with a huge neo-classical leaning layered into them rather than an excess of masturbatory noodling. Occasionally, it takes on a bit of a carnival vibe as in "Wartorn Lovelorn" which has a bit of an aesthetic fit to the period horror influences, and is one of the more memorable pieces on Candelabia. But it's all tight, tidily produced as obviously a great deal of effort went into the performance and balance of the instruments. The bass isn't a strong point, there aren't a lot of highly catchy moments throughout; you won't find that amazing, diabolical poeticism in the lyrics that is the unsung hero of Cradle of Filth's discography, but this Austrian trio's execution is undeniable. The symphonic instrumentals make for a nice backdrop to accent the adventurism of the heavier elements, nothing overstays its welcome, and if you're looking for another, comparable disc to fill in time between Cradle of Filth or Carach Angren marathons, you've found it.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://candlesandwraithsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/candelabia