Saturday, October 12, 2019

Bandcamp Picks 183 - Nightfell, Mortiferum, Graveyard, Skullshitter/Bleeding Out



Even without knowing that Todd Burdette (of Tragedy and His Hero Is Gone fame) was half of Portland duo Nightfell, there would be no ignoring the similarities to his past bands. The mid-paced doom/death of A Sanity Deranged revolves around his solemn, post-punk influenced guitar lines - the kind that reshaped hardcore and created the "dark crust" movement. That said, Burdette's vocals (which were always remarkably guttural, even during his time with HHIG) are at their most inhuman here, and show that he should have started a project like this decades ago. Crossover of the best kind. [$7.77]



After their making waves with their 2017 demo, Olympia's Mortiferum are ready to take their doomy death metal to a wider audience. Their first full-length Disgorged From Psychotic Depths keeps it old school and filthy, but wisely employs regular tempo shifts and acoustic interludes to avoid the monotony that most bands of this ilk get mired in. I'm generally not a fan of this style, but this is a surprisingly well-crafted album. [$8 CAD]



There's no confusing Barcelona's Graveyard with the Gothenberg band using the same name - though the Spaniards arguably sound more Swedish. Hold Back The Dawn (their 4th album) is classic death metal through and through, with plenty of salutes to the frantic thrashings of early Entombed, Hypocrisy, and Merciless. As former flagbearers abandon the old school revival in droves, the Spanish Graveyard's commitment is as admirable as their music is enjoyable. [€7 EUR]



Skullshitter return with another dose of brain-damaging deathgrind. On their new split release, the NY trio traffic in unpredictability and psychedelic freak outs, bringing back pleasant memories of the sorely missed Brutal Truth (who were clearly ahead of their time). The back half of the split features the debut of Toronto-based Bleeding Out, the new band from Fuck The Facts guitarist Johnny Ibay. The project's first 8 songs reign in the genre-hopping of Ihay's previous band, but still include enough thrash and hardcore flourishes to elevate Bleeding Out above generic grindcore. [Name your price.]