Bandcamp Picks: 2021 Stocking Stuffer Edition

[All releases were available as "name your price" downloads at the time of posting.]

Bandcamp Picks: 2020 Stocking Stuffer Edition

[All releases were available as "name your price" downloads at the time of posting.]

Bandcamp Picks - Cult of Fire, Spectral Lore/Mare Cognitum, Bezwering, Khôra

2020 can't be all bad if it brings a new album by criminally underappreciated Czech band Cult Of Fire. Despite a concept derived from Eastern religions, Moksha follows the Slavic black metal playbook faithfully, weaving the band's characteristic melodies through blastbeats, mid-paced shoegazing sections, and classic metal histrionics alike. Who says yoga metal has to be mellow? [€6]



Topping one of the best atmospheric black metal releases of the last decade is no small undertaking, but Mare Cognitum and Spectral Lore attempt do so with their new split release; if anything, Wanderers: Astrology Of The Nine is even more ambitious than their previous collaboration. In defiance of A-Side/B-Side conventions, the two bands alternate tracks, each dedicated to a planet in our solar system, and most of which stretch past the 10 minute mark. When they're not blasting at full speed, the Athens-based Spectral Lore dips into slow, goth adjacent dark metal akin to Katatonia. Holding off on their usual atmospheric sections, Mare Cognitum employs discordance and haunting melodies to create their post rock-inflected celestial black metal. The two solo artists combine their talents on the final two tracks - one being an ominous (and expected) ambient composition, and the other a trebly ode to both Pluto and blackened thrash. As cold, dark, and vast as space itself. [€9]



Newcomers Bezwering join the list of Dutch black metal bands giving their scene an identity distinct from its Scandinavian forbears. Their debut Aan de wormen overgeleverd makes a focal point out of their vocalist's baritone sprechgesang, putting it front and center during mid-paced rock outs and pure blasting sections alike. Throw in some eerie atmosphere and jagged post-punk rhythms for a commendably varied album.  [€1]

Like our current pandemic, progressive black metal project Khôra has spread across continents, bringing together contributors from Ukraine, Norway, Greece and the US. Timaeus bears the distinct influence of Arcturus and the later Emperor albums, with vocalist Kranos turning in a startlingly accurate imitation of Ihsahn's yowling rasp, as well as the soaring tenor of ICS Vortex. The orchestration gives some genre appropriate grandiosity, along with some forgivable Dimmu Borgir-acity. [€7]

Episode 115: Lunar Mantra

Here is the 115th episode of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Rory Conder of Lunar Mantra.

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts (IOS)

Listen on Stitcher Radio (Android/IOS)

Bandcamp Picks - 2019 Stocking Stuffer Edition

Here's a run down of the best free metal albums on Bandcamp that were released this year, to ensure that you have the blackest of Xmases. All releases were available as "name your price" downloads at the time of posting.

Bandcamp Picks 185: Blattaria, Blut Aus Nord, Mystagos, Qayin Regis

Perhaps the most overlooked project to emerge from the Fallen Empire roster, the enigmatic (and pest-obsessed) Blattaria are back with their third album. Another paean to the mankind's eventual successors, Life Is A Disease weaves tales of roach superiority through a discordant mix of death, black and grind. Like the insects the project is named for, this is a glimpse into our bleak and disturbing future. [Name your price.]



Few bands are as comfortable ignoring metal's self-imposed limitations as France's Blut Aus Nord. Blending post-punk and black metal, the tellingly entitled Hallucinogen is shamelessly psychedelic, using repetitive guitar lines to hypnotic effect, and burying Vindsval's vocals so deep in the mix they register as little more than echoed whispers. Though not as ambitious (or as electronic) as they were during their 777 era, the band's deconstruction of the genre continues unabated. [€7.77]



Sweden's Reveal! join their countrymen Morbus Chron and Tribulation by abandoning the kvlt kids in favor of avant craziness. Their third album Scissorgod channels Seventies prog, krautrock, and horror soundtracks for an unsettling, unpredictable, multi-dimensional album that makes the rare appearances of old school blackened thrash that much more affecting. [€6.90]



One-man band Mystagos are part of a surging Spanish black metal scene, whilst blatantly wearing the influence of its Scandinavian forebears. Their second album Azoth displays a deep love for True Norwegian Black Metal (in particular, Euronymous' no-frills riffing),  before edging into avant/prog territory with simple chord progressions, scale-climbing basslines and spooky quasi-chanting. A surprisingly well-rounded take on "kvlt". [€5.99]



Fellow Spaniards Qayin Regis imbue their blackened death metal with dollops of atmosphere. Over the course of four long tracks, their debut Doctrine makes it clear that the Madrid band are as menacing during their slower and quieter passages as they are with unfettered blasts. [€6]

Bandcamp Picks 180: Kostnatění, Serpent Column, Arnaut Pavle

 

Even if Fallen Empire's fires have been doused, the embers refuse to fade. Releases from their former roster and associated acts - as well as brothers in darkness Mystískaos - continue to trickle through Bandcamp and beyond.

Case in point: the full-length debut of Kostnatění, whose demo Fallen Empire released last year (and whose sole performer I mistakenly assumed was from the Czech Republic - he's actually from Tennessee). Written to channel the author's fears of mortality, Hrůza zvítězí  is a discordant, unorthodox affair that outdoes its predecessor in noisiness and discomfort, and should come packaged with a box of Advil. Fallen Empire's legacy of avant-noire craziness is preserved. [$3]



I'm not quite sure what to make of the one-man band Serpent Column. Though labeled a discordant black/death metal project, the second album Mirror in Darkness bears more resemblance to the noisy hardcore of Converge and Orchid - albeit with an emphasis on speed, and stripped bare of any groove or acquiescence to the pit. Beyond genres, though, this is an unabashedly chaotic record that always sounds like it's about to careen off the edge...in a good way. [Name your price.]



Taking their name from an alleged real life vampire, Finland's Arnaut Pavle are a fitting addition to the Mystískaos roster. The self-titled debut makes no bones about its influences, delivering a raw and unadorned take on second wave black metal so pure, so cold, that it'll have Fenriz on the phone with his lawyers. Transylvanian plunder. [Name your price.]



Arnaut Pavle didn't come out of nowhere; the project emerged in 2013 with a demo that Mystískaos also recently re-released. Confusingly self-titled as well, the demo is even rawer than its eventual follow-up, and shows that in six years the band hasn't progressed so much as refined their attack. [Name your price.]

Bandcamp Picks - Prava Kollectiv

Untethered from Fallen Empire Records (who have ceased operations), the clandestine group known as the Prava Kollectiv have begun issuing new releases through their own Bandcamp page. As with the kindred spirits at Mystískaos, Prava has immediately become a hub for avant garde black metal and "name your price" downloads.

Perhaps the most confounding project to come out of the collective, HWWAUOCH is the sound of nightmares and bad drug trips. The sophomore album Into the Labyrinth of Consciousness continues where its predecessor left off, with haunting screams and a cement mixer production that ratchets up the claustrophobia induced by its unrelenting death/black onslaught.



Where most of the bands under the Prava banner keep their atmospheric black metal rooted in the second wave's emphasis on vicious speed, Mahr slow things down a crawl. The simultaneously (yet separately) released Soulmare I and Soulmare II mine the fertile delta where shoegaze, doom, and black metal meet, with each part comprised of a single twenty minute track of simplistic chord progressions, phantom guitar lines, and reverberating shrieks. The two parts are yin to the other's yang -  Soulmare I is slow and minimalist, verging on drone, and Soulmare II is filled with fast and chaotic sections, with frequent time changes throughout. For extra-sensory overload, try playing both at the same time.




Voidsphere is a reminder that most of black metal's popularity is based on ludicrous speed. As with the project's previous releases, To Exist | To Breathe contains two bleak instrumental paeans to the void, each one composed with enough mid-paced sections to make the blasting impactful and not repetitive.



The latest star in the Prava constellation, Pharmakei is as deserving of attention as any of its sister bands. The self-titled debut recalls the dissonant likes of Abyssal and Ulcerate by letting its percussive riffing and psychedelic interludes build tension before exploding into no frills speed.

Bandcamp Picks - Mystískaos Edition

Good news is rare these days, so you can imagine my excitement when it was announced that Mystískaos has begun operations, continuing where Fallen Empire Records left off last year. As with its predecessor, the label specializes in avant garde black metal, vinyl releases and "name your price" downloads.

Since Mystískaos is a joint effort between H.V. Lyngdal and Alex Poole, it's only appropriate that one of its first releases would be a collaboration between their respective bands Wormlust and Skáphe. With only two songs and running over half an hour, Kosmískur Hryllingur will test your tolerance for psychedelic black metal, running the gamut from uncomfortable to mind numbing without providing the listener anything resembling a traditional riff. A reminder of why Iceland is a fountainhead for some of the strangest and most unique takes on black metal.




Martröð is another collaboration between Lyngdal, Poole, and Skaphe guitarist Dagur Gonzales (also in Nadra, among other Icelandic bands). Their 2-song EP Transmutation of Wounds hews closely to the Icelandic black metal template, with eerie chords floating over both slow and blasting sections. This slipped through the cracks when Fallen Empire released it back in 2016; hopefully its presence on the Mystískaos roster is a sign that there's more to come from this project.




An offshoot of the Icelandic black metal band Mannveira, Andavald slows things to a crawl with their debut album. Undir skyggðarhaldi takes the discordant and atmospheric trappings of Icelandic black metal, but slows the tempo down and gives it a 3/4 lilt, edging the album into gothic doom for much of its 5 song expanse.




Lest you think that Mystískaos promotes Icelandic bands exclusively, the label is also home to Spain's Délirant. This solo project's self-titled debut is very much on brand for the label, combining psychedelia, dissonance, and an aircraft hangar's worth of reverb for an atmospheric black metal album that revels in ugliness and discomfort.

an interview with Acathexis

Call Acathexis an atmospheric black metal supergroup, and you wouldn't be wrong; the project brings together the solo artists responsible for Mare Cognitum, Downfall of Nur and Cult of Erinyes. The fact that their self-titled debut was one of the last albums released by the late Fallen Empire Records is enough to make it noteworthy. Jacob Buczarski and Dany Tee were kind enough to answer my questions about how this remarkable project got together.

2018

Don't ask me what the best albums of 2018 were. I wouldn't know. I tried to find the time to listen to everything that came out this year, but there just wasn't any.

Bandcamp Picks - From the Ashes of Fallen Empire

Fallen Empire Records, DoC's favourite label of the last few years, has announced their intention to cease operations - but not before releasing a bevy of sterling (and extremely black) releases. I covered a few of these in my most recent "Stocking Stuffer" Picks, but the label dropped one last batch of albums after I posted that. Here is a quick rundown of those, in addition to previous standouts that I missed out on. [All releases are listed as "name your price" downloads at the time of this writing.]

Bandcamp Picks - 2018 Stocking Stuffer Edition

The link between one-man bands and "name your price" albums is probably obvious (no rehearsal spaces or studio time to pay for, therefore fewer costs to recoup), and perhaps of interest to me alone. But I still feel the need to point out how antisocial misanthropes working in their bedrooms are responsible for spreading so much joy.

Bandcamp Picks: Solar Temple, Slavehouse, Sainte Marie des Loups, Terranaut/Chaosophy

There's not much info to be found about the clandestine Dutch duo Solar Temple, but their latest release is bound to change that. With two songs lasting over a half hour, Fertile Descent uses droning repetition to hypnotic effect, adding noise and industrial elements that bring the avant inclinations of Swans and Godlesh to atmospheric black metal. I've been listening to this twice a day since it came out and it hasn't gotten old yet. Truly sublime. [€7]



Sadly, purveyor of fine blackened filth Fallen Empire is ending its operations soon, but not before leaving us a few new releases and the taste of ashes in our mouth. After making waves with their demo, masked provocateurs Slavehouse are ready to prove the hype is real with their first album. Taste in Pain wraps bondage gear around some truly vicious black/death 'n' roll, and the results sound like a night out with Craft and the Mentors: Abrasive, unruly, and a hell of a lot of fun. The album is available as a "name your price" download.



French solo project Sainte Marie des Loups keeps it cold and kvlt. The eponymous debut is unabashedly raw and uncompromising, with swarms of angry bees for guitars, drums that sound like they were recorded a town away, and keyboards that are little more than MIDI beeps. Expect nothing more than unpolished, unrepentant, unholy black metal - so pure, so cold. The album is available as a "name your price" download.


It's doubtful anyone will ever fill the void that Fallen Empire leaves behind, but a new split release from Horror Pain Gore Death will keep playlists darker than black. Kicking off the proceedings are Chicago's Terranaut, who elevate themselves above generic second wave proclivities with an assembly of memorable riffs and catchy as hell songs. Wisconsin's Chaosophy opt for a more sinister sound, with a style that borders on death metal and a contempt for religion that spells danger for nearby churches. The war against the light rages on. [$6.66]

Bandcamp Picks - Special "Fallen Empire is Awesome" edition

[All these releases were labeled as "name your price" downloads at the time of writing. That could change, so it's best to grab them ASAP.]

Based in Portland, Oregon, Fallen Empire Records has quickly become my favourite record label due to a regular stream of Bandcamp releases that break the mold but not the bank account.

The label has re-released the epic split Sol for the benefit of people like me who missed it back in 2013. Opening up with the half hour "Sol Orobouros", Portland's Mare Cognitum recalls Dawn's sweeping masterpiece Slaughtersun before their savagery morphs into a droning soundscape. Athens' Spectral Lore takes a more psychedelic approach with their own cosmic black metal epic, "Sol Medius". The split finishes with the ambient track "Red Giant", wherein the two bands combine their talents for atmosphere and experimentation. I'm proud to share a name with a work of such soul-crushing darkness.



Hailing from the Czech Republic, one man band Kostnatění brings an eclecticism to their music that I've come to expect from Czech metal bands. Konec je všude is a throwback to the raw early days of black metal's second wave, combining folky riffs with dissonance and thrashing drums, trading refinement for an exuberance that can't be faked.



I know very little about Arkhtinn, except for a slew of two-track releases where they navigate between punishing speed and transcendent drone. Album VI  (their 5th release in just 2 years) continues the band's tradition of not only numbered releases, but pairing an epic black metal track with with an ambient one. Cosmic keys to cannabinoid times.

Featuring members of the same musical collective that produced Arkhtinn, Mahr shares many of the same facets as its sister project. At turns ethereal and claustrophobic, Antelux is a median between Arkhtinn's bludgeoning and ambient impulses. Credit to Fallen Empire for putting the "fear" back into "atmospheric black metal".