April showers.

get your mind out of the gutter.

I’ve been so damn lazy with substack and zuckcorp that some of the following may seem a couple weeks late. And, yes, this entire post will be a mix of what I should’ve put out late last week/or Monday of this week. Who knows if I even get this wrapped up today, April 28, 2023. Been a lazy couple of weeks for me, not for bands, labels, so on and so forth.

Oxbow bring the beauty and decay with “1000 Hours.” Sumptuous production, beautiful tones, delicate melodies and heartbreak. Not exactly the first things one thinks of with this unit, but, man, there is a gravity at play here that is unmistakable. Brings to mind the final recordings in the Bowie catalog.

Second track off forthcoming Thunraz release in video distillation. Planetary King Records will be doing a limited run of cassettes for the album. Estonian madman Madis Jalakas has enlisted Jared Moran to handle the drum clank and clatter and things take on a more live feel than before. This hangs in the twilight among a crumbling industrial wasteland between death and black metal. A more queasy, seasick feel to the guitar layers on “Detritus” than first track, “Panzram” which can be heard on the Revelation bandcamp link. Oh, and the video realization by none other than Sleepwalker Lev.Fm

DAMIM have found themselves a new home. Church Road Records premiered this tasty morsel a couple weeks back. Charged death metal both forward thinking and thoughtful of past legends. Heartwork, This Godless Endeavor thermodynamics in a rifftastic plunge into megade(a)th. Impeccable musicianship across the board.

In May Pa Vesh En will make a triumphant return with Martyrs. Murkworks at its finest. Eerie black metal with cyclical riffing, banshee howls, blasting drums deliberately obscured beneath a wall of white noise.

Lo and fucking behold, new Julie Christmas. I contend the best Cult of Luna is with her at the helm of Mariner. Should you disagree Julie will gladly push you down the stairs and lick her lips. With any luck, “Not Enough” is a portent of things to come because, as it stands, one track is not enough. Joining her here is an unholy cabal including Cult of Luna’s Johannes Persson, Laura Pleasants (Kylesa), John LaMacchia (Candiria), NY drummer Chris Enriquez (who has a lot of credits under his cap), keyboardist Tom Tierney and Slughog Andrew Schneider handling bass, guitar, percussion, synth.

Last week Porenut dropped Mislives and a video for the track “Jon​á​š.” Slovak black metal that works many wonders - folk rhythms, primitive, charging, epic melodic, you name it. Sometimes all within a single track. Mislives finds even stronger recording than previous releases in terms of tone and spatial arrangement.

Good lord…. Fardeaux The Den Has Become An Abyss comes storming out of the gate as the bastard spawn of Voivod, Gorguts, Ulcerate, and Deathspell Omega. What’s interesting is when one brings up those bands you immediately associate maximum dissonance; with this recording it is almost as if the highs on the guitars are rolled off and the dissonance isn’t as piercing. It’s definitely there and particularly noticeable when the guitars settle into quieter sections. Speaking of guitars, there are tasteful solos interspersed throughout the album. In addition to the riffs Fardeaux deal in copious supply is a stand out drum performance. It is a clinic event. Think Beyond Terror Beyond Grace. Outstanding work across the board from this project. Looking forward to hearing where this goes from here.

I, Voidhanger introduces Sarmat with a dubious disk. Zappa gone jazz metal. This would be at home at Tzadik as it is on the Italian underground mainstay. 17 minutes of Imperial Triumphant sans masks, Artificial Brain without vocals, infused with brass and captured live at Menegroth The Thousand Caves.

Where Hopes Fade is Lithuanian blackened death grind Kronrest’s initial foray. Crazed drum programming pummel, discordant guitars, maniacal roars veiled under reverb/delay. Slower sections allow the bass work to flex its muscle and wander and some of these moments are the true standouts as in “Vile Tormentor” when things turn from a Dark Angel churn into a quasi melodic down break.

Physical debut from Polish black metal duo Flammae is being dealt by purveyors of sonic poison Ascension. Sturdy stuff that brings French black wave mavens Glorior Belli and Merrimack to mind and adds GISM vocal stylings to the mix.

International drone gaze duo Terzo self titled debut dropped April 21. Think Cranes meets Transitional and you’re in the field of play. The bio mentions “Born from their mutual love for doom and gloom, gothic rock, folk and medieval music…” and it makes perfect sense that is apparent throughout. Can even imagine this as an alternate soundtrack to the Hunger or Crow. But when you hear certain lines in “Walking Dreams Awake” mention “like tears in the rain” you’ll think Blade Runner. Sacrilege, I know.

En route to Roadburn KENmode dropped another god bomb.

This is the psyche sludge and trudge through the damage left in the wake of all the stellar Greek black metal produced thus far in 2023. In all seriousness, there is no black metal in play with Dystopian Pleasures only a dynamic duo working serious push/pull cinematic instrumental post metal that proves to be extremely dynamic and thoughtfully textured.

And speaking of Greece, Nuclear Winter Records discharge Bangladesh death monger trio KAAL AKUMA - Turiya. Rough and rugged and sounding as if it is a live recording adding to the raw intensity of the performance. Great follow up to the Dunkelheit productions full length In the Mouth of Madness from a couple years back. Great energy and would be perfect foil to Inanna or Question hearing how this has a modern twist on early 90s progressive/tech death.

Untitled from misanthropae was a top pick for me in 2022, albeit given my catch 33 time restriction finds it an EP. This EP is a quick turnaround and retains high quality disso-tech grind damage in a grimier setting. How can hell be any worse Bad Religion asked? misanthropae answer with MMXXIII. Pure, unadulterated blasting grind with atonal chords having a lean similar to Fawn Limbs, Nightmarer, Choir, etc.

Similarly aggro tech bent, Spain’s Keziah drop the single “Embrace the Fire” - which is the third song to premiere from the upcoming Disclosure album. This has a slight djent aesthetic with the guttural tuning and sky high solo tone, but, what’s crazy is the rhythmic feel is almost Big Business as it is Meshuggah-nic.

This was unexpected, a new Balmog ep drop. Epic stuff opening with Sacrilege UK dual guitars keening in octaves, thunderous drums, and combination of male/female vocals we are set to embark on an momentous journey pulls out all the stops. From raucous wild huntsman dervishes, pensive melodic introspection, to the shores in flames of hammerheart Bathory, it’s all in there and there are moments for all the musicians and vocalists to brightly shine.

please support: Everything Went Black, The Metal Dad and his fiendish five podcast, No Clean Singing, Stereogum: The Black Market, The Devil’s Mouth, Aversionline, Invisible Oranges, Horror Wolf 666, Into the Necrosphere, Sol Nox Podcast, The Book of Very Very Bad Things, Plague Rages, Thrown to the Abyss Podcast, Freedom Has No Bounds, and Doktor Dismemberment’s Midnight Murderplex…. these sites update daily and weekly.

Oh, and it has been announced that Adam at Crucial Blast is back to wreck shop and here on substack. Subscribe below. Looking forward to reading this as the C-Blast webstore and Aquarius Records had the best album descriptions written.

Completed at 10:15 PM on Friday, April 28. To be scheduled for Saturday, April 29. Mission accomplished.