The most interesting releases of…well, several weeks!
Imperial Triumphant have always prioritized vibes and aesthetics, and they’ve managed to top pretty much every other metal band in the world at those things. Their jazz and sleaze-inspired music has been dense, dissonant, and distressing in support of their rancid aesthetic display. The biggest issue with their sound throughout their career has remained memorability. When I finish listening to an album like Alphaville, I walk away impressed, but with memories all memories of the music boiled down to a mushy stew. On Goldstar, released on Century Media, Imperial Triumphant lean into the skid.
The vibes are still disturbing, the music a bit stripped down at times compared to the grandiose absurdity of some of Imperial Triumphant‘s previous songs. But everything that made this band good in the first place has been elevated. The performances are spectacular as they have always been, the band playing absurd passages and evoking ghosts through their performances. Maybe it’s just because this is the new one, but I’m having an easier time taking Goldstar with me after I turn the album off than previous efforts. Goldstar is a complete effort, as absolute artistic success, and one of the best releases of the year.
I know. I know. Limited Deadition was released on Reigning Phoenix Music. It starts with an unnecessary intro, includes plenty of meaningless interludes, and contains an absolutely bizarre mid-album ballad that completely derails all momentum, and an old-sounding Lordi on vocals. But look, this album is still fun and honest. Lordi are making the music they want to make, they still seem to be having fun, and they can write a great hook. Sometimes this is what uncompromising vision looks like.
There’s a new-ish guitar player in town, and he’s quite good. While his sound does stick out a bit, he has some delightful solos and good chemistry with the rest of the band. Lordi‘s vocals make me feel sad about the passage of time, but they are more than serviceable. But anyone who’s listening to Limited Deadition is doing so for the choruses, and these are still fun to sing along to. Lordi will not create any converts with their umpteenth full-length, but they are still going strong. Limited Deadition should be thoroughly enjoyable to fans.
Throne‘s second full length, released on Redefining Darkness Records, continues right from where Pestilent Dawn ended. The band’s blend of blackened death consists of a Behemoth-like approach to expression combined with the energy of Hate Eternal. Throne can take a simple melody, build on it, twist it, slam it, and come out with something captivating.
It’s easy for something like That Who Sat Upon Him, Was Death to become too one-note. Blackened death metal referencing Christian heresy under blast beats and howls separated by profane breakdowns is certainly nothing new. Throne go a step further by adding a bit of slam influence to their sound. Beyond this, they prove themselves masters at progression. All of their songs have thick, memorable throughlines, but avoid stagnation with a constant evolution of the context of said throughlines. This could have been just another boring blackened death attempt, instead we get a delightful and memorable release from a young band with style.
Determined to Strike was an excellent jazz metal release and remains in my rotation two years later. Upgrade is an EP that is worth of following that full-length. While I’m sad to not receive even more of this unique band, I’ll take everything I can get. Upgrade was released on I, Voidhanger Records.
For those unfamiliar, Sarmat isn’t jazz metal in the sense of having uncommon chord progressions and a guest saxophone. You get seemingly-improved passages that last for a minute at a time, you get drum patterns descended from multiple genres, you get fully integrated trumpets that could have been ripped from another time. You have all of this without compromising the metal lineage of the music. While some of the passages, such as the dueling guitar and trumpet sounds before the halfway mark of the title track, lean so far into improv that they lose track of the metal sound in favor of chaos, Upgrade never feels like straight jazz either. The performances across Upgrade are astounding as well. There hasn’t been a release like Upgrade since, well, Sarmat‘s last release.
That Cercle du Chêne share members with Véhémence should not be at all surprising. On their debut release Récits d’Automne et de Chasse, the band mixes dungeon synth with atmospheric black metal to get a drawn-out, grandiose sound similar to, yes, Summoning, or to a more zonked-out Véhémence. Récits d’Automne et de Chasse apparently tells the tale of a hunt seen through the eyes of animals. While I appreciate the topical diversity, I’m mainly here for the music. And it is something.
Récits d’Automne et de Chasse is slow, in terms of tempo, progression, and pacing. The band creates large soundscapes and forces the listener to consider the time and scope of the release. This works due to the sincere and ambitious scope of the songs. You don’t get to alternate Agalloch growls with choral chants over a slow beat and synths for a full fifty minutes if you don’t go all-in. Cercle du Chêne have created a complete world, and it’s worth getting lost exploring.
Contemplation play music that “can be tagged as atmospheric dub doom/death metal,” which is both a completely unique tag and also doesn’t quite manage to capture Contemplation‘s sound. Add in the “pagan and folk” tags as well and take a look at the band’s bandcamp photo containing a violin and you’re closer. If you’re looking for death metal to play at the gym you’ll be disappointed, but if you’re looking for a unique, well-executed experience, Contemplation will be for you.
Downside first, I don’t think the production always does this album justice. The sound gets a bit muddy during the louder moments with growling vocals and electric guitars, and some of the effects applied to the vocals and other instruments sound artificial. But that isn’t enough to bring Au Bord Du Précipice down. The melodies are as beautiful as anything else released this year, and they are surrounded by detailed songwriting, intense and emotive performances, and some purely unique orchestrations. The uniqueness alone makes Contemplation worth paying attention to, but what sticks in my mind after listening is how in control the entire album is. The dynamics in the drum patterns, the small wavers in tone in the guitars or violin to convey emotion, and the slow blend of instruments into one another shows the extreme care and dedication that led to Au Bord Du Précipice.
Rwake have been gone for a while. On The Return of Magik, released on Relapse Records, you don’t sense any rust. Rwake play doom metal with a chaotic tilt. Portions of the album veer towards spoken word or hardcore, other contain mellow, haunting melodies that play the genre straight. The kitchen sink approach is tied together with tight performances, emotion, and a smooth, clean smear covering everything. Rwake are capable of squeezing all emotion out of lingering melodies and repeated landing points, and they are just as capable of throwing their sound into the fire and letting the subtlety burn.
While The Return of Magik is a bit of a hefty album, both in terms of run-time and emotional intensity, it goes by quickly. Rwake make use of long song lengths by heavily using a short motif and lifting off in many directions, always returning to the song’s spine to maintain an identity. The repeated three-note hit in the first half of the title track is an excellent example of this.
Heir, released on Season of Mist, is just a brutal experience. The fourth full-length album from This Gift is a Curse, Heir consists of completely full sounds. This is black metal without space, without a pause for breath, and without a way to dim the lights. This album isn’t an experience for every day, but when the mood hits, it fulfills a niche that few bands are capable of.
I feel almost relieved listening to Heir. This Gift is a Curse band hasn’t changed, they haven’t compromised. You can rely on them to make the most punishing, darkest, most jagged black metal they can manage on every track. This style of music requires the band to be playing with a cohesive front or risk sounding like a sloppy mess, and Heir succeeds on that front. While I don’t get many individual high points from Heir, the consistent quality and the impression that the music leaves once I turn the album off more than make up for this.
Wÿntër Ärvń play mostly instrumental dark folk music, and they’ve been around for a while now. When listening to Sous l’Orage Noir – L’Astre et la Chute, released on Antiq, I don’t necessarily hear the black metal influence. I hear the sorrow, and the introspection. Sous l’Orage Noir – L’Astre et la Chute contains some emotionally stark performances across a variety of instruments and sounds.
The music is mostly simple, without too many layers or moving parts. The melodies aren’t too complex, with Sous l’Orage Noir – L’Astre et la Chute mostly containing acoustic guitar at its core. This means that the artist’s emotional intention absolutely needed to come through in order for the album to succeed. It does. Wÿntër Ärvń is worth listening to if you haven’t before. They’re a different experience.
Yun was released on Hypaethral Records, and is the second full-length release from Pyres. At times, Yun sounds like a genre-bent version of Crack the Skye, including the awful circumstances and emotional devastation. While Yun is primarily sludge, there is plenty of grunge and post-rock influence as well.
Yun isn’t an immediate album. While the riffs are solid and will stick in your brain, repeated listens will increase the impacts of the quiet moments. The production is beautiful, including a clearly defined bass line, and the music serves as an adequate vehicle for emotional expression. It’s hard to tell this soon after a record releases, but I anticipate needing to listen to Yun for several more months before I fully feel its emotional impact.
Staticlone play honest punk. Their debut album Better Living Through Static Vision, released on Relapse Records, sticks to the point. These short tracks will lead to head-banging, joyous memories, and a feeling of malaise despite the energy in a way that only punk can generate.
The music is what you expect. The shouted, gruff vocals cover some earworm guitar lines and a boiler section that will make you want to dance. The sound of Better Living Through Static Vision is subdued compared to what it could have been, to the benefit of both the band and the listener. I went into Staticlone with no expectations and came out with an album that will stick with me for a long time yet.
