Written by: Blackie Skulless
Much like with thrash metal, death metal from South America always seems to have a higher level of scorching energy from it, reflective of the climate. Fossilization is one of those words that just emulates decay and abrasion, especially when you picture it happening to a human. The band’s music certainly holds a candle to that! Hot off the press is their debut EP He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten, a force I absolutely reckon with. Loading itself with five grueling tracks to nearly touch a full-length outing, Fossilization takes the death metal genre to crushing extremes. Guitar passages specialize in tremolos and explosive overlays of fuming leads that cast horrifying images of ash, decay, and shattering bone fractals. Though you’d expect cavernous vocals to go under this, they’re a bit more prominent than I expected. Naturally, things give way to hints of doom and black metal alike, depending where you fall on the disc.
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Written by: The Administrator
Typically, familiarity with a musician's past work will flavor an audience's reception to said musicians new endeavor. However, due to a certain inability on my part to absorb press kits details prior to imbibing, I listened to this absolute beast of an EP many, many times before realizing that the roster is chock full o' recognizable extreme metal talent. Featuring current and former members of *checks notes* Possessed, Abbath, Decrepit Birth, The Kennedy Veil, Black Crown Initiate, and Angerot, this quartet of blackened death thrashers evidently know their way around the ol' block. It shows. Glossolalia is a riveting three-track, and, needless to say, a very strong first outing. It is explosive, tastefully frenetic, and varied enough to avoid being pigeonholed according to the tenets of their prior work. Let's dive in, shall we?
Written by: Blackie Skulless
Philadelphia based heavy metallers Blazon Rite seem to have struck up a little love with their debut EP last year. Coming in fast with an epic edge lightly painted atop a traditional mass, they’ve cooked up a full-length to follow. Endless Halls Of Golden Totem captures a solid image of this style, boasting lyrics focusing on fantastical and mystical characters with some narrative angles. Though common for this style, Blazon Rite packed some memorable punches. If Savatage were a bit slower overall and used lower-pitched vocals more often, you’d be pretty damn close to what Blazon Rite are all about. Their epic nature casts a pretty spotless atmosphere, dialing in plenty of synthesizers as a side. The writing style is impressive, as they can take this and smoothly mold their swift passages and slower ones together while fitting in solos for the foreground and background. Transitions in general are one of their biggest strengths.
Written by: Izzy
Black metal since its very inception has excelled in creating metals darkest and coldest soundscapes, influenced as much by the frozen winds of Norway as by the raw and satanic thrash and death metal that preceded it. I think few bands have truly captured that purest essence of chilling lo-fi atmosphere as effectively as Paysage d’Hiver. Wintherr’s music is instantly recognizable even amongst a vast sea of similar raw black metal bands who still follow in the footsteps of the OG Nordic scene. This distinct but simplistic approach of evil, foreboding chords, dark ambient and dungeon synths, and his iconic distorted vocals manages to always deliver something I enjoy.
Today's review is brought to us by Erin Palmer, who you may know as the sole member of both raw black metal outfit Dread Maw and black metal/black n' roll entity Rage of Devils. This is Erin's second guest post here at the Village--a fact for which we are eternally grateful. Enjoy! - Ed.
Guest post written by: Erin Palmer
As I've mentioned before, my favorite bands are the ones that make music where I can't quite conceive of actual people creating it. The best metal, to me, is inhuman, music that seems like a force of nature rather than something played with instruments. Enter Febris Manea. Febris Manea are a raw black metal band from the United States, originally based in California but now residing in Salt Lake City. The artist, known only as D.O., stated in an interview that the project was created to express feelings he couldn't otherwise “without serious social or legal repercussions,” and...yeah, that checks out. This is not black metal for the uninitiated. This is the pure, uncut form of the genre. Their most recent release, Through Pale Opulence Thy Reign is Doomed, begins with an ominous, horror movie-style intro, and then immediately strikes the listener in the face with a howling, swirling wall of guitars and unhinged screams. Throughout the album, the soundscape D.O. creates with his music is so rough and nasty as to almost verge on harsh noise at points. Everything blends together in a riptide of deranged sound that constantly washes over you, threatening to pull you under. Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s crumbling gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this week's new and noteworthy music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be--and have been--listening to this week at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so! We slumbering scribes were slightly more productive this week than normal, so enjoy an additional two mini-reviews! On the docket for today, April 30th, 2021: GOREGÄNG, Greyhound, Becerus, Bevar Sea, Order of the Wolf / Pessimista, and Alpha Boötis
Written by: The Administrator
One of my greatest regrets as a reviewer is dropping the ball on a writeup of Dead Register's stellar Captive EP, back in the primordial days of the Sleeping Village's so-called tenure. There's really no excuse for not finishing said review, particularly given how struck I was with their potent blend of highly emotive post-rock/doom. Thus: after spending a long while digesting Dead Register's latest EP, I knew it was time to (finally) talk about why you should be listening to 'em. This EP is a bit of a conglomerate of material, featuring a (killer!) new track, some live versions of previously released material, and a remix of the title track provided by industrial/doom metal duo Lament Cityscape. There's five track contained herein, and the variety on display makes for an intrinsically odd albeit very enjoyable release. Don't Fail Me ultimately serves as a quality amuse-bouche in advance of Dead Register's forthcoming full length. FRESH MEAT FRIDAY: April 23rd, 2021, Feat. Frog Mallet, AntiMozdeBeast, Akiavel, and The Last Martyr4/23/2021 Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s crumbling gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance for the following week. Today is the day we must offload all this week's new and noteworthy music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be--and have been--listening to this week at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so! All of today's releases are independently released, so show 'em some support! On the docket for today, April 23rd, 2021: Frog Mallet, AntiMozdeBeast, Akiavel, and The Last Martyr
Huge thanks to today's guest reviewer for the words! John Angel typically writes over at (the venerable) Noob Heavy, and can be found on twitter as well. Follow accordingly, dear readers! - Ed.
Guest post written by: John Angel
If you’ve read my previous reviews (hey mom) you might know that I lean towards the modern side of the old-school/modern divide of the current death metal scene. I like the crisp production and blending of a wider variety of genres that seems to be de jure in modern death metal. But there are OSDM records that catch my attention. It’s hard for me to put my finger on exactly what draws me to said ear-catching OSDM albums but I think it's having a little more aggressive riffing, production that keeps that lo-fi and cavernous vibe so many like about OSDM, but also allows the music to be legible to the listener. Today I’ve got a review for one such record, All Light Swallowed by Crypts of Despair. Written by: Blackie Skulless Looking back to my days of high school, it’s fun to reminisce on albums that came out around the time that had some sort of hype, but lost it over the years. Sometimes, that’s due to not aging well; other times, it just gets lost in the depths of everything else going on. Trivium’s album In Waves comes to mind, considering that it’s one that seldom gets talked about (positive or negative) compared to the likes of Shogun or Ascendancy these days. This disc turns ten later on this year, and I still to this day view it as a masterpiece, which may be a bit of a hot take. For starters, I want to say that this is metalcore done exactly right. By this point, most metalcore bands abandoned the genre’s roots, and traded in thrashy riffs and hardcore aesthetic for endless chugs, overly produced vocals, and extremely generic songwriting. Trivium never got caught up in that undertow. In Waves is absolutely packed with furious thrash riffs that cast sharp hooks, and evenly work in the hardcore chugs without being overwhelming. If that isn’t enough, the actual songs have more advanced writing than ever. The Crusade may be a more direct thrash release, but this is where Matt Heafy and co. blended it wonderfully with hardcore to pump out a spectacular album. |
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We provide thoughtful reviews of music that is heavy, gloomy...and loud enough to wake us from slumber. Written by a highfalutin peasantry!
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