Bandcamp Picks - Messa, Deathbell, Black Box Warning, Atone

Though Italy's Messa tick off a lot of "occult rock" boxes with their second album (including a female singer, keyboards, and a warm throwback production), they avoid falling into pure Seventies nostalgia. Feast for Water keeps things modern by breaking up the loungey proceedings with occasional blasting and black metal riffs. Blues for a blocked out sun. [€7]



Working along similar lines, French quartet Deathbell combine crushing doom with a haunting female vocalist, but stay doggedly within the realm of true doom. Their debut With The Beyond never hurries itself, letting each riff arrive at the pace and bearing of a funeral procession. Slow songs that grow on you. The album is available as a "name your price" download.



Despite their name, fellow Gallic doomsters Black Box Warning don't fit in any box. Attendre La Mort draws inspiration from groovy doom, discordant post-hardcore and the more radio-friendly end of death metal, with constantly shifting tempos that prevent songs from getting monotonous. Is it too soon to anticipate a Nineties revival? [€5]



With members of highly touted sludge prospects Body Void and Swamp Witch, it's a safe bet that California's ATONE are experts on all things slow and heavy. On their debut EP, the Bay Area band ply their trade in austere sludge, with piercing feedback being your sole escape from their monolithic rumbling. Grief-stricken and Dystopi(a)c. [$5]

an interview with Synapse Misfire

Formed from the ashes of Helmsplitter, Synapse Misfire continue along a similar path - making a glorious racket equally at peace with black, thrash, death, and grindcore. Their Horror Pain Gore Death debut Losing the War Against the Sands of Time piqued my interest with its no frills assualt; guitarist Ross Mallie was kind enough to fill me in on the band's backstory and future plans.

Mixtape 50 - Setentia

Here is the 50th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Maxwell Gravelle of Setentia.

Bandcamp Picks - The Crown, Demonical, Synapse Misfire, VHS

It is with no small amount of pleasure (and relief) that I declare that not only is there a new album from The Crown, but it doesn't suck. Few bands are as successful at crafting death metal that's catchy and fun without sacrificing its fundamental brutality - Cobra Speed Venom is at once thrashy, black, and rocking. It's not quite as good as Deathrace King or Crowned in Terror (two of the best death metal albums ever released); and I miss drummer/founder Janne Saarenpää's reckless blastbeats. Still, as a reminder of why the Crown were such a force at the turn of the millennium, this album acquits itself nicely. Bow down and hail your king. [$9.99]



A new singer isn't the only change afoot for Demonical. In addition to the old school Swedeath this band made their bones with, Chaos Manifesto is peppered with melodic mid-paced stompers akin to Amon Amarth. Anyone following the left hand path long enough should have seen this coming. [$7.90]



Formed by members of Helmsplitter and Waco Jesus, Synapse Misfire are underground lifers in the service of death. Their debut release Losing The War Against The Sands Of Time delivers a mix black, thrash, grind and death metal with ruthless efficiency. A band that never overstays a genre or their welcome. [$6.66]



Get the popcorn ready, as DoC friends VHS have released their much-teased second full-length. The New Batch is a celebration of low-budget horror and no-frills death metal, with 16 pithy tracks that hit and split with all the fun and brevity of a good horror anthology. Grind and rewind. [$7 CAD]

Mixtape 49 - Code Error

Here is the 49th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Arif Rot about his new grindcore supergroup Code Error.

Bandcamp Picks - Greber, Vile Creature, Leechfeast, Hundred Year Old Man

DoC's new friends Greber forgo guitar histrionics, limiting their grind/doom assault to just bass, drums and vocals. Surprisingly full-sounding despite its minimalist approach, Cemetery Preston at turns punches you in the throat with full on speed and blankets you with sub-sonic rumbling. Bass to break faces. [$9.99 CAD]



Also based out of Ontario, Vile Creature are another duo making a hellacious racket. Over the course of its four trudging tracks, Cast of Static and Smoke punishes the listener with thicker-than-molasses riffs and throat-ruining howls, while the lyrics paint a bleak picture of machines overrunning humanity. Baptized in a river of metallic sludge. [$6 CAD]



Slovenians Leechfeast have been plying their trade under the radars of most people (okay, me) for almost a decade. Neon Crosses, a co-release between 3 labels, veers from hateful sludge to mournful funeral doom and back again, with each oppressive chord landing like an anvil falling off a slow-moving truck. Kings of anti-speed. [£4]



Leeds band Hundred Year Old Man have been slowly building momentum with a succession of EPs. Their newest, Rei, combines simple riffs with atmospheric interludes to arrive at a Will Haven/Cult of Luna style of catchy doomgaze. With extensive drone and noise sections, their partnership with the similarly experimental Gizeh Records makes perfect sense. The EP is available as a "name your price" download.

Mixtape 48 - Rotten Sound

Here is the 48th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Keijo Niinimaa and Mika Aalto of Rotten Sound.

an interview with Greber

Ontario's Greber make a hell of a racket for two guys without guitars. Cemetery Preston, the duo's third album, makes the most of Steve Vargas' thunderous drums and Marc Bourgon's buzzsaw bass sound. Ever a fan of outliers and innovators, I reached out to the band to find out more about how they arrived at their unique doom metal/grindcore crossroads. Marc was kind enough to answer my questions.

Mixtape 47 - Heckler

Here is the 47th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Swiss hardcore punk trio Heckler.

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".