Boiled Angel – To Kill for Creed
Brutal Death Metal from Colorado
Independent
It might have been the circumstance in which I heard this EP that caused me to enjoy it this much. I was riding in traffic, late for something not super important, but it was that annoying kind of traffic. The kind of traffic that puts those intrusive thoughts in your head about ramming anyone and everyone off of the road. I was in that situation and listened to an album all about killing. Perfect!
This is the second chapter of what is being referred to by the artist as the Violent Breed Trilogy. To Kill for Self, being chapter 1. To Kill for Creed is described by the artist as, “To Kill For Creed portrays killing in the name of one’s own alignment, be it religious, be it for honor, or for one’s own psychopathic tendencies.” I love that idea, and I love that concept as a whole. This is primitive death metal. Think Mortician but slowed way, WAY down. Short and sweet no frills here and definitely not for everyone, but should definitely be on your radar.
Stellar Kingdom – Demo Compilation
Raw Black Metal/Ambient from France
Independent
OK, I’m cheating a little bit. However, I don’t care, and this needs to be heard by people who enjoy heavy music. The individual behind this release is Lila Starless. She is one of the absolute best musicians in her world today. Flawlessly executing both the most gorgeously tragic raw black metal you’ll ever hear and at the same time some of the most bitter, cold, and depressive dungeon synth that exists. For me, it doesn’t get much better than La Dimension Inconnue under the moniker of Royaume des Brumes.
For this release, we take the synth and wrap around it a frigid, black metal soundscape that pairs perfectly with her specific brand of ambiance. The vocals on the track Stellar Kingdom are haunting a dictate an unfathomable tragedy unfolding in this most immaculate way. I say I am cheating because this music was recorded between September 2020 and January 2022. But as I said, this needs to be heard.
Slug Gore – Extraterrestrial Gastropod Mollusc
Death Metal/Grindcore from Italy
Independent
This release is just fun. A death metal EP with a theme of killer slugs. In a world where Cocaine Bear, Velocipastor, and Zombeavers exist, why can’t a killer mutant slug narrative?! This release is why I love death metal. You of course have the incredibly tight musicianship, killer production, and amazing transitions from blazingly fast machine gun riffing, to that slow, slug-channeling, crawl. This is brutal, and of course, it is Italian, so you know the horror is prevalent in the best possible way.
Tentacult – Lacerating Pattern
Death Metal from California
Transylvanian Recordings
With the first riff, which gives off the vibes of a really distorted and eerie Black Sabbath-esque riff, I knew this was going to be something special. Each time you think a track is going to go somewhere, it jukes. This album is what I would call, Unsafe. Progressive definitely isn’t the right word as that is the easy way out. While you do have a blistering, neck-breaking song for a spell, you could all of a sudden be listening to the slowest filthiest doom track, and you are left in a dizzy haze of what I can only assume a warp gate feels like. No, this album is more dissident, more avant-garde without being high-brow in any way shape, or form. Excellent first outing from this killer band.
Frozen Dawn – The Decline of the Enlightened Gods
Melodic Black Metal from Spain
Transcending Obscurity Records
I often times get frustrated when a band is described with a million tags. Ok, maybe I am being dramatic. But if it were me, I would just call this, “Blackened Death Metal” and move on. But I keep seeing the melodic, and atmospheric tags on this release, and it honestly doesn’t need this flavor text. Of course, it’s melodic, of course, it’s atmospheric. These are terms that can honestly describe everything! OK, end of rant. Frozen Dawn deserves the spotlight here.
The Decline of the Enlightened Gods is the fourth studio album from the Spanish trio, and they continue their excellent execution of supplying a clean production, awesome song structure and musicianship, and killer songwriting that all meld together to give us just a classic release. This is something that you could show someone who is just getting into metal and a metal veteran, and they both will be able to enjoy and appreciate.
Bodyfarm – Ultimate Abominations
Death Metal from The Netherlands
Edged Circle Productions
This! This! More of this! I’ll just get right to the point. When it comes to death metal in 2023, Bodyfarm has provided a blueprint. Crushing heaviness, speed, aggression, and groove, and put together perfectly to give such a unique and enjoyable experience. The guitar work from Bram Hilhorst is specifically put on display as some of the finest work in death metal so far this year. It’s effortlessly good. It isn’t self-indulgence, it is perfectly executed to be the backbone of this music we all love. It doesn’t fall in line, but it instead creates a path that feels fresh, but at the same time comfortable, and familiar.
I talked about not loving extra tags when it comes to genres, but I am one that loves some bands that bring to life that OSDM that I cherish, but Bodyfarm doesn’t need to and it is evoking the same love and admiration I give to those bands. I couldn’t recommend this more.
Hellripper – Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags
Black/Speed Metal from Scotland
Peaceville Records
I won’t lie. I was way more familiar with Hellripper’s social media than I was with his musical work. But when I saw this was going to be coming out this year, and it was coming out via Peaceville, I knew that this had to have something. In anticipation, I listened to Hellripper’s 2020 release, The Affair of the Poisons, and dug it.! Then I listened to the excellent debut, Coagulating Darkness, and my mind was made up. This was going to be a highly anticipated album for me. Which is honestly a shame, since albums I am anticipating often fall short of my expectations to no fault of the artists obviously, that’s just my dumb ADHD-riddled brain fucking with me. However, in the case of Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags, I was right to be excited. This is awesome.
I don’t want to compare it to anything because while it’s a non-stop face-melter that literally rocks, it gives off all of the great attributes of bands like Toxic Holocaust, the Black ‘n’ Roll era of Darkthrone (which I love), and even some early Children of Bodom thrown in there. This album literally rocks. This will be talked about for sure at the end of the year.
Woe Bather – Oh Achlys Please Love Me Once More
Black Metal from Texas
Independent
Last year, The Hermit, the entity behind the one-man black metal act, Woe Bather released, May Loneliness Consume You, an album I gladly put in my top 50 albums of the year list (which can be found here). I placed it at 49 and was very happy with that decision. I even said to friends that this act would one day be a force to reckon with. I had no idea that the reckoning would come less than a calendar year later.
Oh Achlys Please Love Me Once More is a triumph of Black Metal. This is one of those times that I desperately want to give it not just a few extra tags, but a storybook of narration because that’s what this album deserves. The Hermit took their time crafting a unique blend of atmosphere and black metal that just seems unfair to call it atmospheric black metal. It’s more than just ambient black metal. This is something wholly special and unique that only the most brilliant, yet damaged mind could craft. In the first track alone we are taken on what seems to be a story about finding love in a world of pure darkness and anguish, and with track two, only to have that love turned into the tragic anguish you escaped from. I’m just assuming honestly because I don’t have a lyric sheet handy, but I bet I am right because The Hermit conveys this tone so eloquently, and preciously that you want to will it to be right.
This album isn’t easy to swallow, however. There is pain behind these movements that are at times melancholy, and at other times, downright manic, but the end result is something so special and beautiful, you don’t want it to go away.
Plus, if not everything else I have said has sold you on this classic, you also have a bonus track tacked on at the end of Laura’s theme from Silent Hill 2 (the greatest horror video game of all time, I will not let you tell me otherwise).
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What do you think of the list? What were some of your favorite albums from this past month? Let me know in the comments or head on over to the Sounds of the Void Instagram page. That’s where the party is.
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