Makeshift Altars

     I first heard of Exist in 2017, while they were supporting Gorguts and Defeated Sanity on a North American tour. Unfortunately, Defeated Sanity couldn't make that tour; visa trouble. I went to see Gorguts nonetheless, never having known Exist or the people related to such a project. At the time, So True, So Bound  had just come out and, without listening to it, I didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, Exist kinda stole that show. Gorguts are and were amazing, and their set was a tour de force of their entire discography capped off by "Pleiades Dust". However, I came away from that show thinking of Exist. I walked out of the venue thinking of songs I didn't even know the names of at the time: "Self-Inflicted Disguise" and "Fault's Peak" being contenders for some of the most refreshing music I had heard in a long time. When I got home and saw who these people were I found myself unsurprised seeing ex-members of Cynic and contributi

          So, I'm not quite the biggest fan of the recent old school death metal revival. The entire movement to me feels like a sailed ship; then the ship sank and is at the bottom of the ocean, and all these bands are still trying desperately to eek out a little more fresh oxygen from within the hold. They've all been doing the same thing for decades, with derivation upon derivation of being waterlogged in the old school culture and image, never cutting above the water. It's refreshing to see bands who poke their head above the surface and squeeze a little more life out of a dying art. They are merely few and far between. Almost none of them have managed to realize OSDM needs an all-out rescue mission, with Horrendous as a notable exception.     Now here we have a band sticking their head above the rest, clawing their way into relevance with a release the tows the line between the old school and new school so deftly that, in a void, it seems to break those distinctions do

  “Theoretical physics? In  my  black metal?” It’s more likely than you think.     Black metal as a genre is no stranger to lyrical themes of space and darkness. But the malevolent entities that form Decoherence are bringing a new dimension (pardon the pun) to these themes by focusing their attention on an oft-overlooked facet of the cosmos and our relationship with them: quantum mechanics. Just take the band name to start: quantum decoherence is, as one would expect, “the loss of quantum coherence”  1 ; essentially it takes place any time a particle in a quantum system does not adhere to the general wave function that is expected of such particles. Have I lost you yet? Buckle up, because it only gets heavier from here...     I’m going to promise right now to make a good-faith attempt not to break down the minutiae of every single fancy-shmancy science word these guys throw around (mainly because I don’t understand a large majority of them, as I’m not a theoretical physicist by tra

     I've always said that thrash metal bands are doing God's work. Well, I haven't said it but I've certainly thought it. Preserving metal history, and even better, making it compatible with the modern landscape of metal music is admirable in almost all cases. When I notice an active thrash band releasing music I think that they must invariably be cool people with kind souls and a penchant for raw, fast, irreverent shit. Thrashers hold a special place in my heart. As is the case with Deathstorm, even when I find their holy work to be less savory than some of their contemporaries and progenitors.     What I mean is that Deathstorm is, thru-and thru, an old school style band with an apropos attitude and approach. They've put out a handful of records since 2011 and each has been true to form, solid thrash that is without compromise. This much they do well, constructing wonderfully catchy riffs in the ways of old, whether its chunky mid tempo verses or the trusty uptem

      What sort of year would it be if we didn't hear from the undisputed kings of modern US black metal? Looking back on a twelve year long catalog of releases, its hard to find a time when Krallice wasn't dominating the landscape of the avant-garde with their evolving brand of harmonically dense blackness.     That said, I have a confession to make. Despite my reverence, I honestly haven't given that catalog much of a listen. I first encountered Krallice back in 2011 with the release of Diotima, an album I have returned to frequently over the past nine years. However I never found it in myself, for whatever reason, to look into either of their previous releases, a self-titled work and 2009's Dimensional Bleedthrough , nor did I continue to follow the band with their 2012 album Years Pat Matter . Back when I was running a metal show from SUNY Potsdam's radio broadcast 90.3 WAIH in 2015 I included the track "Wastes of Ocean" off of the newly released Ygg H

'To those that have been degraded Written off the books that chronicle The passing of time and the greatness of mankind Yet gave all their blood and bone Wat Tyler represents them' Μυστράς (Mystras) is one of many projects by longtime lo-fi black metal musician Ayloss, previously known for his work as one half of Divine Element and for his own solo releases under Spectral Lore. Having admittedly never listened to either of those projects previously, most of my feelings about Mystras will be left entirely isolated from his previous work.  Regardless, the home-brewed, lo-fi nature of the album is apparent from the moment one views the cover, an admittedly well-framed image of a late medieval castle lovingly rendered (probably by Ayloss himself) in blue ballpoint pen. It's incredibly DIY and lo-fi like the music itself, and upon your first click on the Bandcamp or Youtube link below, the two-tone bluish-purple and white image is quite striking; not unlike the monoc

    If playing music could be thought of as analogous to painting, Lille Gruber would be the equivalent of a machine programmed to do its best Basquiat impression.       Barring any logic behind the existence of such a machine, you might wonder why this connection would be suggested. Listening to “The Sanguinary Impetus” will tell you exactly why. Not only does he play the drums with a high degree of technical mastery, he does so in such a calculated yet fluid manner, one might think a Boston Dynamics intern may be out on the streets somewhere putting up flyers to try and get him back to the lab he broke out of. Nevertheless, along with his cohorts, he lays down track after track of pure filth and brutality, and (Matrix be damned) he has become exceedingly efficient at it.       The second half of the above analogy stems from the unbridled chaotic artistry put on display each time Lille or any other member of Defeated picks up their tools and goes to work. Lille obviously gets

    From within the depths of the great urban hellscape of New York City rises another regurgitation from progressive black metal behemoths Imperial Triumphant. For over a decade now the most vile of power trios imaginable have been navigating murky, sludge-infested waters, towing the line between several well-established brands of black metal extremism. By their own account 1 , the group found their stride in 2018 with the release of Vile Luxury . Touting a subtle change in tone compared to their previous output, Vile Luxury put a brooding and angular metropolitan sound on display that was equal parts scathing deconstruction and austere reverence of urban life. With the release of Alphaville , Imperial Triumphant look to continue and evolve that soundscape.     Right out the gate Alphaville  positions itself in contrast to its predecessor. The opening track of Vile Luxury , "Swarming Opulence", began with a bombastic horn quartet intro, meandering towards an abrupt resolutio