Albums of 11/8/24

The most interesting releases of the week!

Happy I, Voidhanger day. I don’t know who is in Abscworzung, but they must have some experience in the brutal/technical death metal realm. Their attempt to create something “washed free of the filth of human image” manages to contain some heavy Gorguts and Ulcerate influences. Whorl is a 30-minute debut EP from the anonymous band, containing some freaky guitar solos, excellent drumming and bass, and music that constantly kept me invested despite sounding so similar to its ancestors. Quite a lot of human image here.

About 4 minutes into the opening track, there are a series of slams that just sounded like a severe left-turn from where I thought the music was going to go. They’re followed by a couple of passages that feed into one another exactly the wrong way. But the song still makes sense. Abschworzung do an excellent job at subverting expectations in a way that feels interesting and intentional. Whorl stays firmly within previously-tread paths of brutal/technical dissonant death metal, and does so in such a fascinating way.

I must admit that I got one-man-band-collector Ayloss’s project Auriferous Flame confused with one of his other projects, Mystras, upon first listening to this record. And neither of them should be confused with his third one-man atmospheric black metal act, Spectral Lore, or his other side projects with more artistic space between them such as Ontrothon, Saga of the Ancient Glass. I’m not entirely sure why one man needs to publish music under so many different names or what artistic benefit is, but it’s clearly working for him as he’s continued to pump out excellent music for so many years. You probably know the drill by now. The Insurrectionists and the Caretakers contains lengthy atmospheric black metal with a signature soft edge to Ayloss’s guitar writing including swirls of questioning dissonance that sometimes form into punchy riffs and sometimes swell into a less common sound. It’s still got that Spectral Lore foundation.

The Insurrectionists and the Caretakers, released on True Cult Records, will not surprise anyone. From the fifteen-minute opening track featuring some stunning heights, interesting sonic exploration, and only a little bit of meandering surrounding solid riffs and murky passages, you will get more of this man’s musical excellence alongside his unwillingness to compromise. Where Auriferous Flame splits from Ayloss’s other projects is that it has a bit of a sharper side at times as well. You may have to find it underneath the layered, reverberated vocals and guitars that occasionally act as an effect instead of as a melodic instrument, but when that bite is present you feel some muscle that Ayloss last had on his collaborations with Mare Cognitum. If you’re not a fan of this style of music, don’t bother, but for those who like fifteen minute black metal epics, Ayloss continues to be one of the masters of the genre.

Le Ballet des Anges is the second full-length release from French brutal death metal band Ad Vitam Infernal, released on Dolorem Records. After a wildly unnecessary intro, the band kicks up a furious dust storm across brief songs that manage to sound like they’re turning car crashes into performance art. The beats are blasting. The guitars are constantly chugging and/or riffing. The vocals and bass are having a great time playing on the precipice. And at the end, you get a great listening experience that just seems to fly past you.

Ad Vitam Infernal‘s greatest songwriting strength is their ability to anchor themselves in chaos. From the variety of double hits in “And the Watchers Will Be Frightened” to the repetition and regularity of the drums dropping out of “Shemihazah the Great,” Ad Vitam Infernal present a variety of ways to bring a north arrow to chaos. They also pump themselves up via the chaos. The result is an album that belches out fire in a clever manner and just flies by. This was a wonderful surprise from a band I knew nothing about.