DEAD METAL

01 Worm - Foreverglade (20 Buck Spin) 02 Mortiferum - Preserved In Torment (Profound Lore) 03  Rothadás - Kopár Hant​.​.​. Az Alvilág Felé  (Me Saco Un Ojo/Pulverised) 04  Darkthrone  -  Eternal Hails  (Peaceville) 05  Clandestine Blaze - Secrets Of Laceration (Northern Heritage) 06  Carcass  -  Torn Arteries  (Nuclear Blast) 07  Můra - Doom Invocations And Narcotic Rituals  (Caligari) 08  Decrepisy - Emetic Communion  (Seed Of Doom/Life After Death/Chaos) 09  Old Tower  -  The King Of Old Witches  (Hospital) 10  Inhuman Condition - Rat°God  (Listenable Insanity/Spiritual Beast/Black Serpent) *edit*  Vaticinal Rites - Vaticinal Rites  and Apparition - Feel should have made this list

Here we have the first offering from this German three-piece. Three tracks of exceptional death-doom, which could be filed next to demos from  Cavurn  and  Můra . What perhaps most sets this 16.5 minute EP apart from the crowd is the way it ends, which is random and cool in equal measure. You can sneak a preview at the bottom of this post if you are so inclined. Putrefaction '21 is available to download from  Bandcamp , and also has a cassette release courtesy of  Headsplit Records . A highly recommended debut; we most definitely look forward to more from this band.

See here for previous posts about these guys (including an interview). Gloomlord was our 2020 album of the year, so the bar is certainly high going into this one. Foreverglade is a play on words (the Everglades being in Florida, where the band hails from) ...and as with their previous effort, you can very much hear the swamp in this release. Also as with its predecessor, it defies pigeonholes; and once again the tapestry of influences has grown. The black metal parts are perhaps a little more prominent than last time, and there are probably more shades of Greek black metal than on either of the first two records, but that isn't to say the death metal and funeral doom elements are any less present. What is emerging as a trademark is their use of slightly-psychedelic clean guitar melodies. Simple but extremely effective stuff. The vocals are really 'coming into their own' as well; the synth work is progressing; and the overall sound is becoming more refined. Given all of the...

14th February - Pontifferasmus ( Unknown, dungeon synth ) – Husk The Mountains ( Heimat Der Katastrophe ) HDK 81 † Husk the mountains by PONTIFFERASMUS 9th August -  Exanimatvm  ( Chile, death metal ) -  Sollvm Ipsa Mor  ( Apocalyptic ) 20th August -  Sodom  ( Germany, thrash metal ) -  Bombenhagel  ( Steamhammer/SPV ) 31st October (but already available to download) - Old Tower ( Netherlands, dungeon synth ) - The Old King Of Witches ( Hospital )

22nd OCTOBER Massacre  ( US, death metal ) -  Resurgence  ( Nuclear Blast ) 22nd OCTOBER 1914 ( Ukraine, blackened death metal ) -  Where Fear And Weapons Meet ( Napalm ) 5th NOVEMBER Mortiferum  ( US, death-doom ) -  Preserved In Torment  ( Profound Lore ) 26th NOVEMBER Proscriptor McGovern’s Apsû ( US, black/death metal ) -  Proscriptor McGovern’s Apsû ( Agonia )

All of these offerings have been brought to us by Heimat Der Katastrophe - a Milan-based dungeon synth outlet with a retro computer game aesthetic and a focus on soundtrack-type material. Doom Catacomb is one of the label's strongest artists, and you can introduce yourself to their four releases to date below. The Empire Of The Necromancers (2018) HDK 11 † The empire of the necromancers by DOOM CATACOMB The Weaver In The Vault (2019) HDK 34 † The weaver in the vault by DOOM CATACOMB Necromancy In Naat (2020) HDK 59 † Necromancy in Naat by DOOM CATACOMB Polar (2021) HDK 74 † Polar by DOOM CATACOMB

Here we have the first Carcass full-length for eight years. Album number seven was originally scheduled to see the light of day last year, but it was delayed due to the pandemic. Worth the wait? Of course it was. Liverpool's finest can do no wrong, in our books at least. The title is an homage to their original drummer, Ken Owen, who once had a solo project called Torn Arteries. It probably-inevitably has more in common with Surgical Steel than any other release, but it features elements that feel like they have been resurrected from earlier works as well. Carcass has also never been a band to stand still, creatively, and this is no exception - there have been a lot of subtle tweaks/additions to 'the formula' (when it comes to groove, melody, instrumentation, dynamics...) Overall, it is a varied-but-consistent (and, most importantly, a very strong) offering. A definite contender for album of the year, from one of the all-time greats. You can hear one of the singles below, ...