DEAD METAL

Melodic blackened death-doom from Kentucky. Rotting Kingdom's first and only EP is a very good one indeed. Three well-written, well-executed, well-produced songs; all of which demand repeated listening. Self-released digitally (and given a limited cassette release by Morbid Records) in 2017; 2018 has seen CD and vinyl treatments from Godz Ov War and Boris Records, respectively. You can hear the self-titled debut below, and buy it  here .

For an introduction to Morast, see here . "F.", the band's vocalist, answered a few questions... 1. Ancestral Void (2017) was an excellent debut, how has the response been? So far we can't complain. For such a dark sound you need the right mood.  2. How would you describe the style of metal you play? Uncompromising darkness. No matter which genre you want to put it in, darkness connects all our songs. 3. How did the band form? Somewhere in 2015 by me and J.. The other boys (L. & R.) connected with us in August 2015. 4. It’s a clichéd question, but who are your main influences (if indeed you feel you have influences)? From my side it is Celtic Frost, Burning Witch, Beatrik, Mortifera, Satyricon, Triptykon. 5. Could you talk a little about the band's lyrical content? My texts are very personal and mostly report sad topics. But always from a certain solid position, I'm not whining 🙂 6. Do you have any future plans you can share wi...

An introductory post about Assumption can be found here . This interview is with Giorgio, who does everything but drums for the project. 1. Absconditus is one of the best albums of 2018 so far, how has the response been? Thank you for the kind words. The response has been good so far, lots of very nice reviews worldwide. Plus, all at Everlasting Spew and Sentient Ruin are putting a lot of effort into the diffusion of our album. We couldn't be happier. 2. Your earlier releases are also excellent, is the new album helping the older material get more of the attention it deserves? Thank you once again. I don't know if the new album will drag our previous releases into the sunlight. I think that The Three Appearances was a good mix of our different influences, but Absconditus is a more organic work. And speaking personally, I am always concentrating on the present moment. 3. Your more psychedelic elements/moments are very powerful, and pretty unique, are you Pink Flo...

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.