Traditional doom heathens will recognize the names Gábor Holdampf and Kolos Hegyi, or at least the formidable Hungarian outfits from which they come — Wall of Sleep and Mood. Re-teamed in the four-piece Magma Rise, they follow last year’s Lazy Stream of Steel full-length with the track “Five” on a multi-continental split 7″ with North Carolinian rockers The Asound.

And while we’re talking familiarity, The Asound should ring bells with anyone who stops by this site regularly, since they’ve been reviewed twice now (here and here). It’s seems like a curious pairing at first — a Hungarian doom outfit and American heavy rockers — but both bands make off with some righteous riffery, and The Asound even slow their tempos a bit from their past offerings and match Magma Rise for doomly stomp. Seriously, “The Baron” pretty much marches.

The split is a joint release between Tsuguri and PsycheDOOMelic, and since I have reviewed The Asound twice in the span of 13 months, I thought hosting the tracks for streaming might be time well spent for anyone who hasn’t yet checked them out. If you’ve missed Magma Rise too up till now, you’ll definitely want to hit up “Five” on the player below, as it also rules. Dig it:

[mp3player width=460 height=140 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=magma-rise-the-asound.xml]

The Asound/Magma Rise split is out now in a limited edition of 500 7″ vinyl. Special thanks to Tsuguri Records (website here) and PsycheDOOMelic (website here) for letting me stream the tracks.

Sometimes bands lay it all on the table, and you know exactly what you’re getting before you even put the disc on. Such is the case with UK collective Wizard’s Beard, whose vicious sludge coats even the name of their PsycheDOOMelic debut, Pure Filth. If ever the tag “as advertised” applied anywhere, it applies here. The Leeds four-piece top nasty, sometimes angular, riffing and crashing with throat-burning screams, and seem to keep the Pure Filth ethic in mind at all times. In the case of centerpiece track, “Parasite,” their abrasiveness borders on unlistenable, but there seems to be just enough underlying groove throughout the album to keep Wizard’s Beard from tipping over into absolute mayhem. That’s not to say they’re writing songs with catchy choruses or hooks to draw the listener in, or even meeting accessibility halfway somehow – because they’re not – just that if you follow the riff, you might be able to come out of these five tracks with your face still attached to your skull.

The last several years have seen a new league of sludgers take influence from the Southern progenitors of the genre – you know the list – and push the sound into more extreme territory, and Wizard’s Beard seem to do likewise, most especially in the screaming of vocalist Chris Hardy. Where elder sludge had its basis in hardcore punk or crossover, Hardy’s wrenching shout – one can almost hear the phlegm curdling in the back of his mouth – is more purely metallic, or might not sound out of place topping some blastbeat-laden grindcore instead of the numbingly slow Pure Filth closer “The Albatross.” The hate-fest begins immediately with opener “Paint the Skies,” as Hardy tops the beer-chugging riffs of guitarist Craig Jackson and bassist Neil Travers leads a break with drummer Dan Clarke that’s hardly long enough for one to recover from the pummeling Wizard’s Beard have just delivered. Like a lot of Pure Filth, “Paint the Skies” relies on one central figure riff and bases other parts around that, but the repetition is all the more setup for the bridge here, which is slower, more rung out, and finds Travers adding a growl to Hardy’s screams that only bolsters the extremity.

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Congratulations and heartfelt best wishes to riffy UK doomers Alunah, who sent a message on the Books of Face to spread the word that they’ve signed not one, but two record deals in the last week. Honestly, one label probably would have been enough to earn them a “way to go and all the best,” but two! Well, that’s nothing short of “good job, you”-worthy. So, yeah, good job, you.

Follow the riff. Love the riff:

It has been announced that Birmingham based Alunah have signed a deal with PsycheDOOMelic Records; an Austrian label dedicated to doom metal who have worked with such notable bands as Ramesses, Pale Divine, Penance, Orodruin, Voodoo Shock and Wall of Sleep etc. In the same week the band also signed a re-release deal with Seattle based Doom Metal Alliance Records.

Alunah , who formed in 2006, have become known for their relentless gig and touring activity off the back of their Fall to Earth EP (Nasoni Records, Germany) and debut album Call of Avernus (Catacomb Records, UK). The band will release their second album in 2012 through their new deal with PsycheDOOMelic Records, and will re-release Call of Avernus on vinyl later in 2011 with Doom Metal Alliance Records. Alunah will be touring in August 2011 with sludge legends Sally (ex-Rise Above Records, Mistress, Penance) and doom metallers Lifer (ex-Acrimony, Black Eyed Riot).