Undergrind Metal

Crawl – Necrotic Fear April 2019 – Anomalous Mind Records Crawl is a one-man project I stumbled upon in 2018, after the release of their split with Leviathan, opening with the irate At the Forge of Hate, which might have been the heaviest side on any Leviathan split ever. Necrotic Fear continues the tradition of whipping the listener in the face with bass strings, but for pacing's sake the album is broken up by sinister lulls like the alcoves on the cover, providing refuge from the wind tunnel that the other songs seem to imitate. Everything from the art to the drums is distorted, almost feeling like a more noise based project than a metal one, and we're in the territory of the non-riff, where feedback and drone are how hatred are expressed. Let's go with blackened sludge. The opener and closer are similar in that they both showcase a more subtly menacing approach, akin to dark ambient, but in different ways. Paralyzed, I Awaken... is a melancholic dirge, th

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&

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

Iron Pike – II Unsigned – 2017  Labels, if you're out there – Iron Pike is cheap gold. Seriously, sign these men and send them on tour, it's cold in Sweden. Hardcore/Sludge act straight out of Malmö, Iron Pike takes influences from both scenes, then paints on a grimey veneer and puts it in the freezer overnight. Ethereal, hope-filled chords clash with heavy riffs, the latter taking the best of the hardcore and sludge worlds, while the drums put you in a ritualistic trance, not dissimilar to that of nodding opium-den lowlifes. An opium den would be a good descriptor for the studio this was recorded in – muffled by the thick gray smoke, II sounds like what happens when the police finally show up, and bodies scramble upon bodies to escape, blinded and uncoordinated. There's something so inevitable about their riffs, as if they warned of unavoidable pain and death, and all you could do is watch the events unfold. While some chords give breathing space, the bas