DEAD METAL

Assumption is a funeral death-doom duo from Italy. Hints of  dISEMBOWELMENT ,  Evoken ,  Dusk ... but, as with those other bands, they stand out from the crowd - in their case by throwing a dose of psychedelia into the mix; some real Pink Floyd moments here. They formed in 2011, and released a demo called  Mosaic of the Distant Dominion  in 2012 (a track from which can be heard below). As well as a digital self-release, the EP was given limited edition CD and cassette treatments by Decrepit Productions and Unholy Domain. Next up was 2014's  The Three Appearances  mini-album, on Terror From Hell Records - which you can listen to below. 2018 has seen the release of the first full-length, called Absconditus, on Everlasting Spew / Sentient Ruin : These guys deserve a lot more attention.

dISEMBOWELMENT formed in 1989, and broke up in 1993. Short-lived though it was, this band has proved to be highly influential. Hailing from Melbourne, they played funeral death-doom with grind elements and even some black metal influence. Almost all of their recorded material can be found on the compilation pictured above, released by Relapse Records in 2005. Disc one contains their only album, 1993's  Transcendence Into The Peripheral  (which can be heard below); disc two carries an EP, a demo and a compilation track. Members have gone on to form  Inverloch  in recent years.

Black Market have done the honours with the first full-length from this Swedish quartet. Ov Shadows play black metal with doomy sections, and they switch very effectively between the moody and the punishing. Their debut is an intense, atmospheric journey. It's well-written, well-executed and cohesive; and it demands repeated listening. The Darkness Between Stars follows the also-excellent  Monologues  EP, which was self-released on digital formats in 2016 and given the cassette treatment by Funeral Chants in 2017. You can hear the album below, and buy it here .

Drenched is a one-man death-doom band from Illinois. The project's debut self-titled EP was released on cassette by Cavernous Records in 2017; and made available for download via  the Drenched Bandcamp . It features two original tracks, along with a cover of Cianide's Scourging At The Pillar; and it's a great listen from beginning to end. 2018 has seen a second cassette release, this time a split with Californian death-doom band Skulls called Monuments of Ancient Death. Sunken Tomb have put that one out; and it too has been made available to download via  the Drenched Bandcamp . The split features another Cianide cover (it being a Cianide tribute EP), and an original track called Eternal Unrest. You can listen to the Drenched EP in its entirety below.

Faces of Death hail from São Paulo, and play thrash metal with some death metal influences. They recorded a couple of demos in the mid-'90s, but Consummatum Est is their first and only official release. This five track EP from 2017, courtesy of Brazilian label Lab 6, has a lot to offer - tight percussion, riffing and vocals; and strong hints of early Sepultura. The CD is hard to find, but the release can be downloaded from iTunes , Amazon  etc. A choice track from it can also be heard below.

Morta Skuld have always deserved more attention than they've got. Their first two (stone cold classic) albums (from 1993 and 1994) are featured  here . For All Eternity (the band's third full-length, from 1995) is also well worth picking up. It was Morta Skuld's first release for Peaceville, who have reissued all three of the early albums in recent years; along with 2017's Wounds Deeper Than Time. You can listen to For All Eternity below, and buy it here ; and a recent interview with vocalist/guitarist/founding member Dave Gregor can be found  here .

Sludgy funeral death-doom four-piece Dusk are back. The Wisconsin band's new EP - Withdraw - is forthcoming on Dark Symphones/The Crypt; and at the time of writing we don't know what to expect from it. It will follow the reissue of their two underrated classic mini-albums on a single CD (pictured above), or double vinyl, by those same labels in 2015. The mini-albums in question, originally released by Requiem Productions, are 1994's self-titled debut and 1996's ...Majestic Thou In Ruin. Both imaginative, atmospheric releases can be heard in full below; and you can pick up the compilation CD  here .