Undergrind Metal

Black Tomb / Crud Split October 2018 – Unsigned Two American doom bands of the heavier variant collide, and produce “Doom is Dead”, an aptly-titled split given relative saturation of the genre in recent years. Black Tomb and Crud are here to reanimate the doom zombie, with a healthy modern coating of filth – both in tone and in composition. Black Tomb take a somewhat more stoner/sludge approach to the split, almost dipping into Sabbath-worship here and there. Leads are what you'd expect from a dirty, down-tempo record – ugly, slow, and fitting. Drums are particularly well mixed, with just that right amount of sizzle on the cymbals – lightly seared, while the meatier riffs feel raw. Conventionally bluesy, as expected from a stoner-leaning band, but not derivative, also as expected from a stoner-leaning band. The Rotting Vault is a heavier version of Black Tomb, setting the tone for the second half of the split. Crud is much more disgusting, in the best of ...

Charnel Altar – Demo January 2019 – Unsigned Charnel Altar has been on my list for a month, and I assume has caught the eye of both Blood Harvest Records and Dark Descent Records. A thick, heavy slab of a demo, proving once again that the Aussie underground scene easily rivals legends like Florida. With a singer reminiscent of Ethan McCarthy (Primitive Man, Vermin Womb), a guitar tone that could grind stone to dust and melodies evil enough to frighten the devil, Charnel Altar only has to put out a full-length to grow a cult following from the dirty death metal audience. If you've heard anything put out by Blood Harvest or Dark Descent, you know the one trope of the genre that's left out – blistering speed. Mid-tempo at best, the demo sometimes flirts with death/doom, most notably during Acephalic Worms, a dirge of the damned worthy of being played in death row. The muffled mix reinforces the whole dirty, underground aesthetic – kick drums sound like the feel...

Sulphurous – Dolorous Death Knell December 2018 – Dark Descent Records 90s revival and cavernous death metal started gaining popularity about two years ago, with bands such as Phrenelith and Pissgrave being propelled into quasi-mainstream success thanks to a couple of public figures introducing their audiences to an otherwise relatively underground facet of death metal. Dark Descent Records have certainly capitalized on said revival, signing giants of the genre like Blood Incantation, Spectral Voice, and previously Chthe’ilist (and Mitochondrion to a certain degree). As with any other cavernous death metal record, the production is the first thing you’ll notice – it’s all suffocated, as if the amps were draped in thick curtains. Few effects and no triggers are applied to the drums, giving the whole package a very live/practice room aspect. Despite the apparent muddiness of Dolorous Death Knell, everything’s quite audible – even the lower registers somehow retain ...

Light Dweller – Incandescent Crucifix January 2019 – Unsigned When checking out a one-man bandcamp release, you'll often end up either discovering something strange, or something forgettable – Incandescent Crucifix is the former, and one of the best blackened death metal albums I've heard so far. This isn't your average Behemoth clone, as Light Dweller takes a much more experimental and technical approach to the genre, with songwriting reminiscent of Wormed given the contrast between one section and the next, and riffs ranging from quasi-math/black to the more dissonant side of technical death metal. It's a dense album, with chaotic composition and an unorthodox take on the rules – there are none of the sweeps or noodling you'd expect from something labelled technical, with all the creative effort being thrown at the sinuous riffs and dissonant chords. The vocals and drums are the only constants on the record, the rest being ever-changing, like som...

The Secret – Lux Tenebris Aug. 2018 – Southern Lord Recordings 8 years after the release of the masterful Solve Et Coagula, and 6 after Agnus Dei, The Secret return with a short EP, and what they've lost in chaos they've gained in focus. The introduction to Solve Et Coagula, Cross Builder, was my favourite part of the record, and since Agnus Dei they've been distancing themselves from their simpler past and developed a more mature, blackened style. Despite this, The Secret is still as aggressive as before – it's as if they took a grinding approach to writing black metal, with production putting the drums further up front and playing dark arpeggios with a tone reminiscent at times of the legendary Boss HM-2. Their songwriting has taken a turn for the better, with much more dynamic and contextually surprising composition. Building crescendos like none other, before slowing down, building into arpeggios and reconstructing a previous riff – this is ...

Hyperdontia – Nexus of Teeth September 2018 – Dark Descent Records More Dark Descent material – and these guys are almost family to them, having the same vocalist as Phrenelith/Undergang and sharing a guitarist with Sulphurous as well as a the same recording studio. The differentiating factor here is the riffs – while they haven't foregone the tremolo-picked sections one would expect from bands signed to Dark Descent, they've certainly toned them down in favour of actual riffs, spicing them with pinch harmonics and classic chromatic single-note lines. While the riffs contribute to a much more memorable album, the songwriting helps burn it into memory by creating natural flows from build-up to apex, mixing mid-tempo and faster sections masterfully, as well as a couple quasi-death/doom parts such as the intro to Majesty. The latter serve as a good break from an otherwise intense album, and allow some slight showing-off by the drummer and bassist – specifically dur...