What would happen if you mixed death and doom and black and stoner and 70’s prog rock, gave it an oriental touch, and dressed it all in a psychedelic gown? Here’s what would happen; you’d get Cosmic Fires: The Enlightenment Reversed. Vāmācāra's debut full-length is adventurous extreme metal with clearly heard instruments that play wildly off of each other, it is a bridge between blastbeats and groove, and a marriage of melody and dissonance. And what’s most impressive is that this rich instrumentation and sound comes from just two people.

Head over at Bandcamp and check out one of the most innovative and inspired albums of 2022.

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nikarg Starvynth, RaduP, ScreamingSteelUS, Nejde

Coming somewhat unexpectedly, Jade’s debut album, The Pacification Of Death, is an end-of-the-year treat for any death metal fan. Incorporating elements of Bølzer, Sulphur Aeon, and The Ruins Of Beverast, this band offers an engrossing take on death metal that is doomy, blackened, melodic, progressive, and exceptionally atmospheric. The synth arrangements give it a cosmic edge, while especially interesting are the clean vocals, whose delivery reminisces the ones used on Mayhem’s Grand Declaration Of War.

Gift-wrapped in Adam Burke’s spectacular cover art, this is a present you need to give yourself, so head over at Bandcamp and get it.

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nikarg Starvynth, RaduP, Nejde

This Halloween celebrate with a horror punk classic that turned 40 this year. I don't think the Misfits need any other explanations.

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RaduP ScreamingSteelUS, nikarg, Yaniv, Redel, BitterCOld

I'm two weeks late for the 20th anniversary of this masterpiece. But trust me: This is not an album you celebrate in the normal sense. 2013, I was 20 years old and blasted this album in one sitting. Alone, at midnight, with all the lights out. It remains the most devastating and terrifying musical experience I've ever endured. Today Is The Day's Sadness Will Prevail is a massive, 144 minutes long soundtrack of all that is wrong with the world. The sludgy guitars, the high-pitched screams and wails, the bizarre samples, the schizophrenic songwriting. Everything is designed to harm you. Not even the acoustic guitars, violins or piano can help you as they only make the music even more surreal. I'll leave my late friend Marcel's warning as my final message to all of you who want to endure one of the most challenging albums ever created in the name of extreme music:

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 06.02.2007 at 12:00
I don't believe that listening to music can make you go out and kill random people but Sadness Will Prevail is the exception to the rule.
SWP is the most terrifying haunting piece of music ever set to disc.

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X-Ray Rod RaduP, Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS

It is only now that I realize how ironic it is that one of the most wintery albums out there was released in the summer. The August from 20 years ago gave us this masterpiece, and this is one of those kind of albums where it's very uncontroversial to call it as such. "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" only gets competition from "East Hastings" as my favorite song of all time, and I've mentioned time and time again how discovering this album about ten years ago was a paradigm shift for me and my music taste. It's interesting see how I still connect to The Mantle after all these years, even though sometimes I feel it's either too pompous or meandering for its own good, there are very few albums with such a great interplay between electric and acoustic guitars, and that so effectively merge atmospheric black metal into post-rock structures. And all of it feels magical years later.

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RaduP Starvynth, ScreamingSteelUS, X-Ray Rod, nikarg, Daniell, musclassia, Darkside Momo, corrupt, Dream Taster, Nejde, Redel

By the will of the hallowed Re, I, Wennefer, the inspired forth - speaker of Memphis, doth proclaim the 20th anniversary of Nile's In Their Darkened Shrines.

A groundbreaking tome from the Nineteenth Dynasty, this work could easily be interpreted as representing the artist at his absolute peak. Bold, invigorated, and propelled by a seemingly unstoppable forward momentum, delighting in the lust of the conquest. Authoritative and firm in its writing, yet also quiet, contemplative, and eerily inviting. In Their Darkened Shrines was and remains a seminal work from this period, that would serve as a lightning point of reference to other artists and scribes of the Land of the Pharaohs, both at its contemporary date as well as further along, into the various Dynasties that succeeded it.

Begin your study of this legendary text, and rejoice unto the halls of Amenti that we have been blessed with its passing down to us from the Heavens.

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Apothecary Starvynth, RaduP, X-Ray Rod, nikarg, Darkside Momo, Nejde

Talk about underrated. Satan is the only NWOBHM band that has released only quality albums throughout their career. And, if Court In The Act is an untouchable classic, these geezers have been crazy consistent in putting out stellar album after stellar album since their reunion. Earth Infernal is another incredible release and features all the ingredients that make Satan special; analogue-sounding heavy metal with an evil, sinister, and dark edge, catchy riffs that touch on thrash and speed metal, triumphant lead guitars, Brian Ross’s powerful vocals that have aged like fine wine, a hard-hitting rhythm section, and the band’s trademark bridges that are simply to die for. You will not find better classic metal anywhere else, no matter how hard you look for it.

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nikarg RaduP, Daniell, ScreamingSteelUS, Yaniv, X-Ray Rod, Dream Taster

Twenty five years ago Ulver released this paean to wolves, eight glorious tracks with blistering pace coupled with some great harmonies and production that basically buzzes like a power drill. None more lo-fi. Hell even the cover art is so cool it finds it's way into the bedroom walls of both Soprano kids, the pretentious Meadow and annoying AJ. And that's not horseshit like "this was recorded at night in the Norwegian woods", it's legit.

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BitterCOld X-Ray Rod, Daniell, Deadsoulman, nikarg

Storm Of Magic is evocative, arcane, bardic, and magickal heavy/doom, with elements of folk and prog rock, making brilliant use of acoustic guitars and dungeon synths. A medieval aesthetic dominates the album, the sound is lo-fi and organic, and the songwriting and musicianship embrace the sincerity of their roughness and imperfections. Maija Tiljander’s ethereal voice along with the enchanting music both produce a charming blend of Pagan Altar, Lordian Guard, Manowar’s Into Glory Ride, and Pentagle. The epic title track is sublime. From the cover art to the last lyric, this is Oskari Räsänen’s DIY approach in making music, and it is an absolute triumph.

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nikarg RaduP, ScreamingSteelUS

Paraguay is not a place for bold tastes. Mild wings at Pizza Hut have a flaming chili pepper on the menu. If this slab of blackened death were on the same menu, they'd be Carolina Reaper wings and would have 666 flaming chili peppers taking up the next half page on the menu. So what's it sound like? An assault of guttural vocals and underproduced, ugly blackened death played violently, at velocity and with frenetic energy. So pretty freaking awesome . Or pretty awful, depending upon your proclivities, I suppose. Absolute shame I spent three years there and it wasn't until a couple weeks after I left that this was dropped. Grr. So go to bandcamp and help "Spread the Vomit of Misery and Scorn" or, well, japiro!

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BitterCOld

Forty years ago, metal's cousin punk was branching off. Post-punk and new wave were already pretty established offspring, but hardcore punk is the one which would take the sound to even heavier directions. When this sound peaked is still up for debate, but few albums in 1982 were as explosive and noisy as Bad Brains' debut. Simple in its structures, heavily reliant on massive amounts of outpouring energy, sprinkled with reggae and dub to create a sound that has never been replicated. Not only is this a peak for hardcore and punk in general, a fantastic debut, and a striking genre combination, but also became the go-to black punk band.

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RaduP X-Ray Rod, nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS

You've disobeyed my orders, son, why were you ever born?
Your brother's ten times better than you, Jesus loves him more
This music that you play for us comes from the depths of hell
Rock and roll's The Devil's work, he wants you to rebel
You'll become a mindless puppet, Beelzebub will pull the strings
Your heart will lose direction and chaos it will bring
You'd better shut your mouth, better watch your tone
You're grounded for a week with no telephone
Don't let me here you cry, don't let me hear you moan
You gotta praise The Lord when you're in my home

RIP Michael Lee "Meat Loaf" Aday

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RaduP

Budgie's Burke Shelley died this week, which prompted some re-evaluation of their catalogue from my side. The Welsh band are probably most well known for Shelley's androgynous vocals, and for being covered by Metallica (this picked album containing "Breadfan", the most well-known case). But Budgie, while still sitting between the hard rock and heavy metal borders from the early 70s, were pretty much the original power trio, with Shelley being as creative of a bass player as he was a distinguishable vocalist. While drummer Ray Phillips and guitarist Tony Bourge deserve just as many accolades, Shelley's star power is undeniable here. And Never Turn Your Back On A Friend is pretty much their peak, equal parts prog tinged and thunderous, introspective and loud.

R.I.P. Burke Shelley (1950-2022)

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RaduP nikarg, Dream Taster, Yaniv

This sweet album is 50 years old. It inspired several generations of musicians and it is still one of the best progressive rock releases of all time. Compared to the more famous 70s powerhouse bands, Uriah Heep are likely the most influential band you have hardly known anything about until now, and it is time to remedy that.

So whether you are a traveler in time, a wizard, or a simple rainbow demon, do yourself a favor and discover or revisit this classic album as your civic duty for 2022.

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Dream Taster Daniell, RaduP, nikarg, ScreamingSteelUS, Redel

A lot of bands fancy themselves as cinematic or epic, but very few bands manage to mirror the actual experience of a story. Wilderun so effortlessly drag you along for the ride, and Epigone rewards every bit of patience you give it.

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RaduP Starvynth