PUTAMEN INSULA

 

This one is really tough to wrap my words around - PUTAMEN INSULA are black metal in the most general sense but their approach to sound, construction, presentation...it's different. Listening to "Les Asticots de la Liberté" sounds like a hardcore punk song interpreted by a Québécois black metal band and if you don't know what that might mean then you aren't alone because I'm trying to contextualize it myself as I listen (and type). Scour these pages and you will find a scant few posts where I am struck by how like-nothing-else an artist sounds; that's PUTAMEN INSULA. There's more (from them) where this came from but you're gonna need to let the *this* sink in first. 

SOURIEZ

DIE ENTWEIHUNG

 

Ten JOY DIVISION songs interpreted by a one-person black metal project. 

You shouldn't need much more than the above sentence to pique your interest. 

DESPAIR DIVISION: A TRIBUTE TO JOY DIVISION

EXCRUTIATION

 

I snatched this one as a bit of an afterthought, but it's been a steady presence in my listening rotation ever since I did. Classic Euro heavy metal with death and dark thrash undertones throughout, but EXCRUCTIATION's approach is unique and it's tough to put a finger on what makes them different. I present "The Mask" as a prime (and difficult); picture the above subgenre descriptors with added influence from '80s Japanese metalpunk - think the MASTURBATION 12" or CRIME's Nucler Blood. When I mention these records while I'm talking about a band who seem to be just a couple of degrees removed from some regular ass Euro metalheads it doesn't make sense.....then "Oppressive Reality" starts and there's no more analyzing. Choice cut is maybe "Genocide In God's Name" but I could trip over myself trying to finger the most compelling tracks on this collection of tracks recorded between 1988-1990. Listen to "Wardance" and realize that there has always been hope for music, punks. 

ANNO DOMINI: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE PAST

ABYSM

 

No one is going to come to me for in depth and knowledgable discussions about death metal, but damn I know what I like when I like it. And that's what it's really about....and I like ABYSM. Relentlessly putrid and pummeling blackened death metal from the UK; just three tracks capped with a GRAVE cover that I would never have recognized were it not for some other chap opining on the internet about this 2012 recording. Primal, howling devastation that owes equal debts to '90s  Florida and POSSESSED...I think. But who am I anyway?

UNLEASH THE FALLEN

A:S:

 

A:S: is a likely extension of ANCIENT SUPREMACY with help from Saevum from ABHOR and their noise is a murky, brooding black metal constantly struggling to restrain the urge to unleash. The tension created by their slow to midtempo pace is undeniable, just as the determined resistance to fidelity (and/or replication quality control standards) puts the listener on edge, searching for the dark melodies that are hidden in the mist. Sometimes A:S come off as pedestrian instead of primitive, but it appears to be a part of their (brilliant) plan...now if someone can snag me a copy of Messa Prima, the predecessor to Necrovento? I'll owe you a coffee and or bloodletting. Until then, listen to the vocals creak in "Antica Supremazia" and welcome to the dark realm. 

NECROVENTO

DEATHBED

 

As far as I can tell, this relic is the sole artifact left by a raw and depressive blackened death act from Chicago called DEATH BED. It takes them a full five minutes to start cooking, and even then they stop for a doom interlude just as you start to fall under their spell. But then.....from that point on my friends, this shit is bliss. Howling vocals in the death via screamo vein and a shameless reliance on simple riffing. They use force instead of nuance, so much so that "Hell Is Where The Heart Is" feels almost natural in its desperation by the time you get there. Do not come seeking fidelity; come here for passion and bleak honesty. 

DYSTHYMIA

ANXIETY

 

A box of $2 cassettes right next to the register is....a good business move. And that's how this ANXIETY tape entered my life. Shit-fi Finnish black metal - kinda like THE DECAY interpreting the genre without using the actual genre as a reference point. I was almost to the point of dismissing this tape but it's a mere fifteen minute investment so I stuck with it and I was rewarded. The tempo shift near the end of "Coffin Song / War" into the perfectly crafted and laughably executed intro to "Burning Eyes" are worth far more than my $2 investment. I trust that both will be well worth your time. 

AUTUMN 2004

AGONY COLUMN

 

If you know me even a little, then you know how much I love God, Guns & Guts. AGONY COLUMN's debut full length is a visceral redneck thrash juggernaut and tracks like "Fiendish Plots and Diabolical Minds" and "Dead By Dawn" are timeless classics. I acquired the CD in real time and it blew my mind; a formative recording that falls right alongside Dimensional Depth Perception and Scumdogs Of The Universe for me (the only GWAR record anyone needs, honestly). When Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles dropped I was ready - I wanted more. I was excited. 
Y'all, this shit was such a disappointment. Still is. There are a couple of highlights that could have been captured on a 12" EP. With room to spare. Devil Chicken's vocals are still absolute fire but the cheese overtakes the novelty and the songs just aren't strong enough to save it. Shit feels hokey - "Bayou Road" hits like some middle aged dads covering ZZ TOP at a strip mall brew pub on a Tuesday. I love that first record so much and I still want to like this so I try to seize on the good moments....so I guess "Hellbilly Blues" is about on par with some shit off the first ELVIS HITLER record and "Rain Comes Down" almost its like a FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM track from the upside down world. But that's all I got. That's it. Maybe not every Tuesday is about disappointment, but this Tuesday is. 

 

BRAVE WORDS & BLOODY KNUCKLES

ASTRAL BUTCHER

 

ASTRAL BUTCHER were but a blip on the landscape, but listening to this hideous and demonic recording from 2020 makes me feel like I'm involved in something very dangerous. VENOM, MASTURBATION, MIDNIGHT, ZOUO....ASTRAL BUTCHER. 

ASTRAL //BUTCHER

DEATH GASP

 

My fukkn stars this shit sounds so desperate. AMEBIX, INEPSY, VENOM. Low end cavernous churn. Absolute evil and/or sonic destruction. Pittsburgh man....let's go to Pittsburgh. 

EXECUTIONER

ASTRAL BUTCHER

 

I played with them once. It was in Sacramento - it was probably with NO STATIK even though my brain keeps telling me it was SUICIDE BOMB) - and ASTRAL BUTCHER felt fucking dangerous. They were like the drug dealers who showed up to the high school dance and lurked in the shadows. They played with irreverence, they destroyed with abandon. They fukkn destroyed the joint. 

CEMETERY GOATS

FILE UNDER: Blistering high-end black psychedelic metalcrust power trio.

SANGUINE MOON

 

The polar opposite of yesterday's bludgeoning, Portland's SANGUINE MOON creep their way into your soul with one 19+ minute dungeon synth missive. Raw, distant, bleak, minimal.....haunting, introspective....complex in its deliberate simplicity. It would be a lie to say that I seek these sounds, but it would be dishonest to not acknowledge how tight their grip on me is. 

HAUNTING DREAMS OF AN ANCIENT TIME

CARDINAL

 

Saw CARDINAL in San Diego a few months back and was blown away. On a night full of theatrical black metal with capes and candles and props galore, this subdued trio from San Francisco calmly set up their gear, clean guitar with no effects, corpse paint so casual that it made you wonder if they wore it every day.....and they blew the fukkn doors off. Mesmerizing, haunting, imperfect, sinister, raw....true. Luckily Demonstration 2025 captures their essence, but you must see CARDINAL live to experience their power. 

DEMONSTRATION 2025

LUCEMORTIS

 

A few weeks ago I (we) went to a metal show and LUCEMORTIS was playing as we walked in. Shit was putrid. Chaotic. Manic. Brutal. Messy. It was great. Make up and chalices and incense and all that shit. It was great. Later, we were watching this other band set up. I don't remember the band's name, I just remember that these fools (they were children) were concentrating on affixing their cloaks and coordinating a simulated (theatrical) sexual assault instead of making sure their guitar amps worked. Then they started playing and it was admittedly pretty cool, but I kept thinking about LUCEMORTIS. Those kids? It just felt calculated and intentional - it didn't seem natural. But LUCEMORTIS? Shit, it was as if these dudes had been chilling in their cousin's living room doing bong hits and talking about Satan and shit when someone was like "bro - we have a gig" and they grabbed the inverted cross candle holder (with chains) that was already set up in the living room (with chains on it) and stumbled down the corner to lay waste to some dive bar. These dudes just felt real, you know? You can't quantify it, and you can't put a finger on it - but in the world of (modern/underground) metal, LUCEMORTIS just hit/s different. 

HELLUCINATIONS OF INFERNAL PSYCHOSIS

PESTILENT DEATH

 

So...life experiences aren't the foundation of these posts, but I do tend to lean on them to create a context so: PESTILENT DEATH. It was a few weeks ago and we were in San Diego laser focused on eating and relaxing (we achieved both). There was a show at Tower Bar - several metal bands I had never heard of and (who doesn't like adventure?!) so we rolled out. Missed PESTILENT DEATH (because who thinks a metal show at a sad ass alcoholic bar is gonna run on time [it did]) and aside from CARDINAL (different story entirely - stay tuned) it was a night of near misses. I could digress for paragraphs...instead I will focus on the band we didn't see - because PESTILENT DEATH deserve more than just your attention. PESTILENT DEATH deserve your fucking obedience. Apocalyptic death and devastation of the highest order...motherfukkr. 

PATHWAYS TO INFINITE MALIGNITY

EMBALMED SOULS

 

Old school death metal crashing into a vicious low end cacophony...and that's Brasilia's EMBALMED SOULS summed up in a sentence. Pay attention when these dudes get heavy because it's exactly what you thought you wanted - throw those guitar leads on top and you're just going to be staring at your speakers before "Hatred To The Sacred" is finished. Mouth agape, feeling ignorant. Like...why did you ever even think of listening to anything else? What a waste. "Poisoned Conspiracy" comes next, and your faith in humanity is restored. 

FIRE AND SULFUR SALTE YOU

"...to hell with your beliefs..."

VOIMATON

 

Maybe I should have dropped this on the live blog, even though most of y'all skip that one completely (your loss). Because it's live, I should...but because I had never heard (or heard of) VOIMATON before I snagged a party pack of dead stop metal tapes a few months ago and I suspect most of you haven't heard (or heard of) them either I dropped it right here. In your lap. So you can let the downtuned death/doom cover and smother you. You're welcome. 

LIVEWIRE LOUNGE 2019

GRASP OF DYNAMITE

 

A few weeks ago we went to see a bunch of black and death metal bands in San Diego. Some of them were pretty satanic and it was generally a really good gig....but I still left feeling like I wanted something else. Not necessarily something more, just something else, you know? Apparently what I wanted was GRASP OF DYNAMITE. A blackened satanic metal infused crust assault that is distinctly and undeniably punk in approach and delivery, Satanik Krust Impera does in four songs what those six bands tried to do all damn night (with the exception of CARDINAL, that shit ruled...but I digress). 

"In Darkness We Alive" in-fucking-deed. 

SATANIKA KRUST IMPERA

BESTIAL ABYSS

 

Picked up a satanic black metal tape at a gig a couple of weeks back and the dude was like "this is another band we play in - take this one too." And just like that, I discovered BESTIAL ABYSS. Sonic savagery of the highest order, primal beats buried in a consciously murky production so it sounds like the very recording itself is marching to a slow and deliberate death before being plunged into chaotic madness. This is what I want my black metal to be like - I want it to sound fucked up, I want it to feel ugly, I want it to sound dangerous. BESTIAL ABYSS is all of those things and more. The lurch of "Trampled Under Blighted Foot" will turn your stomach....this is what I want. 

PROMO MMXV

MASS GRAVE

 

Not at all unusual to find multiple artists who have chosen the same moniker, but it's not typical to see several in similar eras and genres. So to be clear - this is not MASSGRAVE the face melting crust/grind band from Vancouver, this is not MASSGRAV the crust 'n roll band from Stockholm, this is also neither the German death metal MASS GRAVE nor the French death metal MASS GRAVE. This is the Bulgarian grinding death juggernaut MASS fucking GRAVE and thank the god/s that Canada's Funeral Hymns reissued this 2013 masterpiece a few years back or it may have been forever lost in the CDr demo abyss. This is the kind of grind that makes you realize after each track that you haven't really been breathing, but you barely have time to reload oxygen before the next round of grievious bodily harm commences. All consuming grindcore rooted in OSDM, this is the shit that will make you not care about anything else while you're listening, and that is exactly the kind of listening I'm looking for these days. Hail.

FADE OF LIFE