Undergrind Metal

Hexenoise – II March 2019 – Unsigned After the excellent catastrophic sludge monolith that was Heavy Drugs Smashed Amps, Hexendrone began showing signs of veering straight off the cliff and free-fall into the jagged forest of noise, having recorded a split with B ol', a mysterious experimental act whose only proof of existence is their presence in said split. A sharp-eyed reader might notice Hexendrone not having the same name on this record. Indeed, the Russians may have wanted to clearly separate both sounds without creating an entirely new project, hence the Hexenoise and Hexendrone entities. Their approach to sludge always noisy and approximative, yet II displays remarkable forethought and composition given the genre. Acoustic drums accompany the slow, intangible Go Home!, giving it structure and giving me something to hold on to while my lungs and head are crushed. A vice made of guitar distortion and bass rumble, feeding into an ever-growing drone, constrict...

Noctambulist – Atmospheres of Desolation January 2019 – Blood Harvest Records Atmospheres of Desolation is the most dense and opaque record I've listened to this year, bringing me back to my early exploration of dissonant black and death metal, where I learned to swim in the thick pools of quicksand distortion and breathe the noxious fumes of dissonance. Noctambulist have crafted a trying experience, as wading through the waist-high marsh they recorded requires full attention – from the hellish arpeggios burning my lungs to the muddy technical chuggs pulling at my legs from beneath, Atmospheres of Desolation does its best to test my sanity. Despite the obscure, swampy aesthetic they've cultivated like a jungle garden of poisonous plants, Noctambulist show technical prowess, but with enough restraint as to not become musical masturbation. Kick drums using start/stop patterns, guitar work that needs no leads to show off creativity or precision, and overall tight ...

Ossuarium – Living Tomb February 2019 – 20 Buck Spin After being signed to 20 Buck Spin last year, Tomb Mold's Cerulean Salvation was propelled to relative fame, and gained a spot on Bandcamp's best-selling death metal records. Hopefully Ossuarium gain as much well-deserved recognition after releasing Living Tomb via 20 Buck Spin. Psychedelic is not a common term in the death metal underground, a world mostly described as brutal, ominous or repugnant – yet Ossuarium build upon the idea that neither are mutually exclusive, and mix both to great effect while staying within the realm of their genre. Leads reminiscent of a detuned sitar reverberating through a cold Arabian night appear throughout the record, effectively building up or releasing tension and giving Living Tomb more momentum than it could ever gather with riffs alone. Malicious Equivalence shows the proverbial dark side of the moon, an evil approach to atmosphere built with the wails of lost souls re...

Drastus – La Croix de Sang March 2019 – Norma Evangelium Diaboli Being picked up by Norma Evangelium Diaboli and being held to the same standards as the legends of dissonant black metal, namely Deathspell Omega and Teitanblood, is both an honour and a curse, as you'll inevitably end up being compared to said masters. While Drastus isn't nearly as chaotic as Deathspell Omega, it certainly isn't your average 3 rd wave Bandcamp project – they've nailed the whole uncomfortable, smothering vibe in a similar way to Hexis, weaving chromatic shifts disorienting and confusing. Songwriting is Drastus's forte, exchanging riffs and hooks for a more fluid, almost liquid approach to composition. Not nearly as angular or obtuse as its predecessors, La Croix de Sang feels more like a death by drowning than by a thousand cuts – the mesmerizing cyclical melodies are unending and darken with every revolution, like a light dying from above as one sinks to the depth...

Caustic Vomit – Festering Odes to Deformity December 2018 – Redefining Darkness Records/Unsigned A half-hour demo is a surprise in most genres, but death/doom is no stranger to long records – particularly if they're practically funeral doom. Caustic Vomit were lucky enough to be noticed by Redefining Darkness, who issued the cassette version of their demo – and it's no surprise the label enjoyed what they heard, Festering Odes to Deformity being the catchiest and most memorable death/doom record I've heard in a while. All three songs have good ideas, but Once Coffined Malformities is what every closer should aspire to be. An evocative soundscape, painting the picture of a smoking battlefield, with corpses strewn across like so many pock marks on diseased skin. Bombers scream distorted leads over rumbling tanks while vocal artillery booms in the distance. Their singer gives Antti from Demilich a run for his money, reaching oktavist levels of bass in his m...

Malignant – Purity Through Putrefaction January 2019 – Maggot Stomp California has quite the legacy when it comes to death metal, spawning giants from the sand pits of the Mojave in the late 80s/early 90s with names like Exhumed, Terrorizer, Deeds of Flesh or Autopsy. While the legion of behemoths has migrated to greener pastures, there will always be tribute to be paid for those who tread the same sinuous paths – and Malignant have brought a sacrificial lamb to the altar of old-school death metal. Purity Through Putrefaction may not fully fit the bill, yet with so many OSDM elements it's as if it came out 25 years ago. The vocal performance is even more thrash-leaning than a couple of predecessors, with the same signature airy rasp that defined early harsh vocals – but the lead tones really show the old school sensibilities – scooped mids (and bass), recorded a mile away then turned up, and a healthy dose of whammy abuse. The bass fills clipping did make me won...

Primitive Man / Hell Split February 2019 – Translation Loss Records Primitive man doesn't need introductions, at least not since Relapse Records released Caustic in 2017 – an album which I admittedly skipped for some reason. I assume this is when they made a transition into a slightly more blackened territory, which is incredibly well-executed given the split they just delivered. Ethan still has one of the best vocal tones outside of actual demons, his signature bark making an explosive return, their bass is still a goddamn millstone in weight and timbre, and my ears are still dulled from the whining amplifiers they let ring between songs. Pitiful & Loathsome is a return to form, with plodding, mesmerizing riffs and a primal, murderous rhythm. It's ominous, slow and suffocating, and breaks into the kind of chaotic rodeo Primitive Man hold the reins to so well. Oily Tears has a sharper definition, with better enunciated hatred both in voice and in riff. It...