Greetings, Decibel readers!
Have an interesting spooky-season update for you. Just watched Dead Again for the first time last weekend. Interesting neo-noir film from 1991 that definitely bears the stamp of it’s time while still being a cool study of Kenneth Branaugh’s creative mind (having starred in and directed the film). Lots of historical themes crisscrossing the exploration of reincarnation, fate, and psychosis. Though I agree with one Letterboxd commenter who noted the film would have been 5-star masterpiece of Brian De Palma had directed it. Hard to argue with that.
Anyway, lots of good death and doom metal this week – dig in!
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Ashen Tomb – Ecstatic Death Reign
A fine Finnish import, especially for fans of Bolt Thrower, Incantation, and Autopsy, and for people who wish those bands threw in the occasional pig-squeal noise. Ashen Tomb is also great at blending a sense of groove into their sound, making sings like “Catharsis Through Torture” extra catchy and infectious. They’re also good at letting the songs breathe by mixing in different tempos and arrangements. Solid modern death metal.
Stream: Apple Music
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Ensiferum – Winter Storm
Of all the bands that came to special prominence in the brief late-2000s folk-metal explosion, Ensiferum was always best positioned to endure long after people gave up on the trend (and gave up on trying to brew their own mead or whatever lol). I should admit I haven’t listened to the band much since 2012’s Unsung Heroes, so this is definitely way more power-metal oriented than I remember them being. Still, far be it from me to join the anti-fun brigade, so off to the circle put with you!
Stream: Apple Music
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Immortal Bird – Sin Querencia
The monstrous entity known as Immortal Bird returns with their latest work of blackened sludge devastation. This is the band’s third full-length album, following up 2019’s Thrive on Neglect.
Stream: Apple Music
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Misanthropic Aggression – Insect Politics
From our recent track premiere of “A.S.S. III – The Borderland Wars”:
According to Misanthropic Aggression, “it WILL get worse. It always does.” Although I love the use of over-the-top negativity as an artistic muse, there is something uplifting and exhilarating about the band’s sound, an apparent blend of Celtic Frost, Grave, His Hero Is Gone, Morbid Angel, and Impetigo that provides all the fury of crust along with the sheer power of death metal. In listening to the band’s new single, “A.S.S. III — The Borderland Wars,” I’d definitely add Skitsystem and Driller Killerto the bands that resemble this wicket blend of blistering noise.
Stream: Apple Music
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Mother of Graves – The Periapt Of Absence
There’s a certain magic about bands like Mother of Graves, as they ensure the deadly and melancholy legacy of 90s death-doom lives on, but still make it sound fresh for the world of 2024. And thus the band’s latest album exhibits that particular mix of aggression and melody, and of power and atmosphere, that only this style could. It’s a sound that evokes urgency just as it laments that we’re all doomed anyway.
Stream: Apple Music