The most interesting releases of the week!
Elements is quite the break from Heart of Silence, both of which were released on I, Voidhanger. I referred to that album as a “ritualistic trance” when it came out, and have thoroughly enjoyed it in the elapsed time since that initial impression. Elements leaves the realm of metal entirely, instead exploring synth territory. While the change in genre was risky, the one-man-band infused Elements with everything that made Heart of Silence interesting. Same blood, different shirt.
Opening track “Aqua” sets the tone, with a quiet opening leading to some Ulver-esque verses. My biggest complaint about Elements is that it doesn’t go completely off the rails, with all of these tracks maintaining some semblance of typical song structure, some standard drum beats, and unsurprising vocals over five-plus minute runtimes. I also don’t really hear a musical integration of the four elements theme. But it’s hard to complain too much. The music is well-written, the melodies are catchy, the idea bold. No clue what to expect next from At The Altar Of The Horned God. It’s sure to be worth paying attention to.
Cold Light is the debut record from Iron Bonehead black metal band Wuldorgast. If you’re familiar with the label, you’re familiar with this sound. Jagged production with echoing vocal shrieks sit on top of well-thought-out guitar riffs. Wuldorgast aren’t trying to do something new here. Rather, they’re building on the typical black metal approach and aesthetic and one-upping the crowd.
What Wuldorgast attempts here works because the band writes great riffs. When the guitars chug in straight eights, it works because it breaks out into a melody that will stay in your head for days. The band doesn’t take rhythm for granted either, with both the guitars and the drums varying up their patterns to create some interesting combinations of sound. You’ve heard black metal like this before. You’ll like hearing it here again. Cold Light is a solid iteration on this sound.
The final release of the year from Transcending Obscurity Records, the first Misanthropy record in 6 years deserves a listen. The Ever-Crushing Weight of Stagnance consists of technical death metal painted with a brutal brush. The function of the flashy performances for Misanthropy is to give the songs more bite. These tracks contain some impressive performances and some moments that make you stare off into the distance to question how and why you just heard what you did. But at its core, this is death metal. The weight is the point.
There’s a moment near the end of the opening track “Of Sulking and the Wrathful” that Misanthropy switch into swing mode. At first it feels jarring, then you get into the sound. The band successfully marry their disparate styles and create some catchy moments. Then everything kicks back into more traditional death metal rhythms, which hit so much harder than they did at the beginning of the track because of the swing passage. Misanthropy squeeze all of the juice out of their notes. This is technical death metal that feels both clever and satisfying to listen to.
