Welcome back to our monthly segment, Under/Current. Here we will cover the music we currently find inspirational, the music we look forward to in the near future, and what we, J.C.L., X.K. and P.S., are currently listening to. We encourage you to check out the artists with the links provided in the texts (Marked in yellow).
Currently inspirational:
My barrier for Atmospheric Black metal is very high these days, and as I have been subjected to it time and again, I have been numbed to it, taken it for granted, and maybe even grown tired of it. In this situation, it is nice to be reminded of how truly exceptional some works can be, and how these works deserve all the praise I can give, regardless of my atmo-black fatigue. Friisk proves this with their recent debut full-length ...un torügg bleev blot Sand, which translates to “Only the sands were left” in Low German. And how apt, since the band is from the Northwestern part of Germany, the stormful North Sea and the danger of floods seems to have permeated onto the music, not just in the form of local Frisian and German dialect lyrics, but in the drums as well as the harmonic and grand guitarplay, which almost serves as the soundtrack to a storm-surge battering the coast. Nothing more to say, listen to it!
- J.C.L.
Gexerott - Hallucinetic Violet Ignition
You’ve ever listened to an album that just took you for an unexpected ride, and left you wondering what the hell just happened? Yeah, that pretty much sums up my experience with Gexerott’s latest output Hallucinetic Violet Ignition. I didn’t have high hopes going into this Colombian album, so far this seemed pretty straightforward, nothing extraordinary... And then the rug was pulled from beneath my feet, the tune changed completely, going to an avantgarde segment, with ethereal clean vocals, proggy drumwork and acoustic guitars. And it’s not just this segment, the album gets better, flirting with symphonic music and psychedelic black while still remaining accessible and easy to listen to. The way it flows is almost like there is a narrative story being told. This is just all-around one of the best albums I’ve heard this year, a glowing recommendation from me!
The Devouring Void - Hypnagogic Hallucinations
What are the odds that two albums are themed on hallucinations this month? Nonetheless, international death/black metal project The Devouring Void have treated us to a glimpse into their minds with Hypnagogic Hallucinations, an album which captivates the listener almost from the start in how unreal it sounds. In fact, rarely does the cover-art fit as well as it does here in capturing the dread and terror of this nightmarish ride. The soundscape is dominated by low-end guitars, dissonant melodies crushing beats and some truly gnarly vocals, with a few surprises. Truly another fine record, which should not be missed by the picky listener.
Aura Noir - Black Thrash Attack
This month I am inspired by a Norwegian band that crosses black metal and thrash metal like no other, Aura Noir. Consisting of members from some of the greatest Norwegian bands like Mayhem, Dødheimsgard and Immortal, they have a great sense of using all the best elements of the two genres and picking just one album of theirs was very hard because all of them are good. I ended up picking Black Thrash Attack because it was the album that I first discovered of theirs, and one which I of course I'm still fond of. One of the greatest meetings of these fast and dark genres.
Destruction - Live Attack
I am looking forward to a new live album release from one of the titans of German thrash metal, Destruction. It will serve as a reminder as to what a show was like and in a time where shows are just slowly getting back, it is nice to have this to listen to until concerts really get back to normal. The set list on this album is full of all the classic Destruction songs so fans of this band will not be disappointed, and for uninitiated that have heard of this band, it can be a great introduction to start with as you get a lot of different songs from the different eras of the band, so enjoy when it releases on the 13th of August
Galvanizer - Prying Sight of Inperception
Galvanizer is a Finnish death metal band with a hint of grindcore, and they are to release their second album Prying Sight of Inperception today, July 30th. With such a genre-description, comparisons to Napalm Death and early Carcass are in order, and it is fair to call it Old-School. It would also be fair to say that Galvanizer make some absolutely putrid and crushing metal currently, and any fans of early 90’s death metal will definitely enjoy this one!
Wolves in the Throne Room and myself go back over 10 years, so I’m always looking for anything new from them. While the ambient Celestite and comeback Thrice Woven was a bit Hit-and-miss for my taste, their older output still holds up incredibly well, which of course still leads my curiosity for what their next album Primordial Arcana will do. I'm always holding on for some ambient-laden and organically-sounding black metal, and WITTR is always a band which work best for a holistic experience, which is why I will wait for the full album before delving into it. Primordial Arcana releases the 20th of August, and you can check the released singles here as well as the first two tracks on YouTube.
Ahamah - S/T
I admit I have a soft spot for hypnotic, droning and layered metal like Dolch and Urfaust. By pure chance I stumbled upon Ahamah from Armenia, and their debut self-titled effort, which ticks all my boxes, and more. First of all, the layering is absolutely superb, keeping the listener in a trance with only incremental evolution of the music, subtly changing the direction as it goes. Second is the overall vibe of the two tracks, crushing and agonizing the listener throughout. The result is half an hour of fine ritualistic black/drone, which, while unpolished in sound, still manages to get their otherworldly nightmare across.
You’ve ever listened to an album that just took you for an unexpected ride, and left you wondering what the hell just happened? Yeah, that pretty much sums up my experience with Gexerott’s latest output Hallucinetic Violet Ignition. I didn’t have high hopes going into this Colombian album, so far this seemed pretty straightforward, nothing extraordinary... And then the rug was pulled from beneath my feet, the tune changed completely, going to an avantgarde segment, with ethereal clean vocals, proggy drumwork and acoustic guitars. And it’s not just this segment, the album gets better, flirting with symphonic music and psychedelic black while still remaining accessible and easy to listen to. The way it flows is almost like there is a narrative story being told. This is just all-around one of the best albums I’ve heard this year, a glowing recommendation from me!
- J.C.L.
What are the odds that two albums are themed on hallucinations this month? Nonetheless, international death/black metal project The Devouring Void have treated us to a glimpse into their minds with Hypnagogic Hallucinations, an album which captivates the listener almost from the start in how unreal it sounds. In fact, rarely does the cover-art fit as well as it does here in capturing the dread and terror of this nightmarish ride. The soundscape is dominated by low-end guitars, dissonant melodies crushing beats and some truly gnarly vocals, with a few surprises. Truly another fine record, which should not be missed by the picky listener.
- J.C.L.
Aura Noir - Black Thrash Attack
This month I am inspired by a Norwegian band that crosses black metal and thrash metal like no other, Aura Noir. Consisting of members from some of the greatest Norwegian bands like Mayhem, Dødheimsgard and Immortal, they have a great sense of using all the best elements of the two genres and picking just one album of theirs was very hard because all of them are good. I ended up picking Black Thrash Attack because it was the album that I first discovered of theirs, and one which I of course I'm still fond of. One of the greatest meetings of these fast and dark genres.
- P.S.
Currently looking forward to:
I am looking forward to a new live album release from one of the titans of German thrash metal, Destruction. It will serve as a reminder as to what a show was like and in a time where shows are just slowly getting back, it is nice to have this to listen to until concerts really get back to normal. The set list on this album is full of all the classic Destruction songs so fans of this band will not be disappointed, and for uninitiated that have heard of this band, it can be a great introduction to start with as you get a lot of different songs from the different eras of the band, so enjoy when it releases on the 13th of August
- P.S.
Galvanizer - Prying Sight of Inperception
Galvanizer is a Finnish death metal band with a hint of grindcore, and they are to release their second album Prying Sight of Inperception today, July 30th. With such a genre-description, comparisons to Napalm Death and early Carcass are in order, and it is fair to call it Old-School. It would also be fair to say that Galvanizer make some absolutely putrid and crushing metal currently, and any fans of early 90’s death metal will definitely enjoy this one!
- J.C.L.
Wolves in the Throne Room - Primordial Arcana
Wolves in the Throne Room and myself go back over 10 years, so I’m always looking for anything new from them. While the ambient Celestite and comeback Thrice Woven was a bit Hit-and-miss for my taste, their older output still holds up incredibly well, which of course still leads my curiosity for what their next album Primordial Arcana will do. I'm always holding on for some ambient-laden and organically-sounding black metal, and WITTR is always a band which work best for a holistic experience, which is why I will wait for the full album before delving into it. Primordial Arcana releases the 20th of August, and you can check the released singles here as well as the first two tracks on YouTube.
- J.C.L.
Listened to this week:
I admit I have a soft spot for hypnotic, droning and layered metal like Dolch and Urfaust. By pure chance I stumbled upon Ahamah from Armenia, and their debut self-titled effort, which ticks all my boxes, and more. First of all, the layering is absolutely superb, keeping the listener in a trance with only incremental evolution of the music, subtly changing the direction as it goes. Second is the overall vibe of the two tracks, crushing and agonizing the listener throughout. The result is half an hour of fine ritualistic black/drone, which, while unpolished in sound, still manages to get their otherworldly nightmare across.
- J.C.L.
Bolt Thrower - The IVth crusade
I have been blasting some good old school death metal and it has been so great. Bolt Thrower has so many great albums to pick from that I really had to think hard to choose one but I picked The IVth Crusade because it has some of my favorite Bolt Thrower songs on it like the title track of the album and Spearhead. The band has unfortunately been split-up now for a long time since the death of long-time drummer Martin Kearns. The closest thing we have currently is Memoriam which has some of the old members in the band and will now and again play a Bolt Thrower song just for the hell of it, so if you like old school death metal with a war-theme, this will definitely be an album for you, along with the rest of their great discography.
Désespéré - A Zeal for Quietus
Nifrost - Orkja
It’s really been a comeback year for Norwegian black metal in my book, first with Misotheist and especially the Djevel-release have been great. Nifrost hits the head on the nail with Orkja, which taps into the rich vein that is Norwegian landscapes as well as inspiration from traditional folk-melodies usually employed in Norwegian black metal. Nifrost especially sells it with the guitar-work, and did I just hear a guitar-solo? A good one at that too? Beyond that, this album is very well executed and a great reminder of how epic black metal can be at times, and a great companion for looking at dramatic scenery
I have been blasting some good old school death metal and it has been so great. Bolt Thrower has so many great albums to pick from that I really had to think hard to choose one but I picked The IVth Crusade because it has some of my favorite Bolt Thrower songs on it like the title track of the album and Spearhead. The band has unfortunately been split-up now for a long time since the death of long-time drummer Martin Kearns. The closest thing we have currently is Memoriam which has some of the old members in the band and will now and again play a Bolt Thrower song just for the hell of it, so if you like old school death metal with a war-theme, this will definitely be an album for you, along with the rest of their great discography.
- P.S.
Moving to Iran, of all places, Désespéré is a new project, yet with both an EP and now a full-length to their name, only within a few months. A Zeal of Quietus is the latter of the two and a full-blown tour-de-force of depressive doomy metal, with slow dragging beats carrying melancholic melodies and deep growls howling out in anguish. It certainly carries that desperate and pained vibe that would be expected from a DSBM-act, and I could see someone be put off by the monotonous and repetitive nature of the tracks. However, I would argue that it is the point; depression does not equal inspiration or surprises, it is arduous and dreary, waking up to the same problems day after day, which these guys understand and have made sure to distill into this album. Whoever made this have experience with depression.
- J.C.L.
It’s really been a comeback year for Norwegian black metal in my book, first with Misotheist and especially the Djevel-release have been great. Nifrost hits the head on the nail with Orkja, which taps into the rich vein that is Norwegian landscapes as well as inspiration from traditional folk-melodies usually employed in Norwegian black metal. Nifrost especially sells it with the guitar-work, and did I just hear a guitar-solo? A good one at that too? Beyond that, this album is very well executed and a great reminder of how epic black metal can be at times, and a great companion for looking at dramatic scenery
- J.C.L.
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