Well here we are, at last. A couple weeks ago I looked at my calendar and ended up pushing this Quarterly Review to mid-July instead of the end of June, and it’s been hanging over my head in the interim to such a degree that I added two days to it to cover another 20 records. I’m sure it could be more. The amount of music is infinite. It just keeps going.

I’ll assume you know the deal, but here it is anyhow: 10 records per day, for seven days — Monday through Friday, plus Monday and Tuesday in this case — for a total of 70 reviews. Links and audio provided to the extent possible, and hopefully we all find some killer new music we didn’t know about before, or if we did know about it, just to enjoy. That doesn’t seem so crazy, right?

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Bongzilla, Dab City

None higher. Following extensive touring before and (to the extent possible) after the release of their 2021 album, Weedsconsin (review here), Madison, WI, canna-worship crust sludge-launchers Bongzilla return with Dab City, proffering the harsh and the mellow as only they seem to be able to do, even among their ’90s-born original-era sludge brethren. As second track “King of Weed” demonstrates, Bongzilla are aurally dank unto themselves, both in the scathing vocals of bassist Mike “Muleboy” Makela and the layered guitar of Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and the slow-swinging groove shoving all that weighted tone forward in Mike “Magma” Henry‘s drums. Through the seven tracks and 56 minutes of dense jams like those in the opening title-cut or the 13-minute “Cannonbong (The Ballad of Burnt Reynolds as Lamented by Dixie Dave Collins” (yes, from Weedeater) or the gloriously languid finale “American Pot,” the shorter instrumental “C.A.R.T.S.,” or in the relatively uptempo nodders “Hippie Stick” and “Diamonds and Flower,” Bongzilla underscore the if-you-get-it-then-you-get-it nature of their work, at once extreme in its bite and soothing in atmosphere, uncompromising in purpose. I’m not going to tell you to get bombed out of your gourd and listen, but they almost certainly did while making it, and Dab City is nothing if not an invitation to that party.

Bongzilla on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Trevor’s Head, A View From Below

Adventures await as Redhill, UK, three-piece Trevor’s Head — guitarist/vocalist Roger Atkins, bassist/vocalist/synthesist Aaron Strachan (also kalimba), drummer/flutist/vocalist/synthesist Matt Ainsworth (also Mellotron) — signal a willfully open and progressive creativity through the heavy psych and grunge melodies of lead track “Call of the Deep” before the Primus-gone-fuzz-prog chug of “Under My Skin” and the somehow-English-pastoral “Grape Fang” balances on its multi-part harmonies and loose-feeling movement, side A trading between shorter and longer songs to end with the seven-minute, violin-inclusive folk-then-fuzz-folk highlight “Elio” before “Rumspringa” brings the proceedings to ground as only cowbell might. As relatively straight-ahead as the trio get there or in the more pointedly aggressive shover “A True Gentleman” on the other side of the Tool-ish noodling and eat-this-riff of “What Got Stuck” (answer: the thrashy gallop before the final widdly-widdly solo, in my head), they never want for complexity, and as much as it encapsulates in its depth of arrangement and linear course, closer “Don’t Make Me Ask” represents the band perhaps even more in looking forward rather than back on what was just accomplished, building on what 2018’s Soma Holiday (review here) hinted at stylistically and mindfully evolving their sound.

Trevor’s Head on Facebook

APF Records website

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Vorder, False Haven

Born in the ’90s as Amend, turned more extreme as V and now perhaps beginning a new era as Vorder — pronounced “vee-order” — the Dalarna, Sweden, unit return with a new rhythm section behind founding guitarists Jonas Gryth (also Unhealer) and Andreas Baier (also Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, and so on) featuring bassist Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis) and drummer Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia, In Mourning, Grand Cadaver, etc.) on drums, the invigorated four-piece greet a dark dawn with due presence on False Haven, bringing Baier‘s Besvärjelsen bandmate Lea Amling Alazam for guest vocals on “The Few Remaining Lights,” which seems to be consumed after its melodic opening into a lurching and organ-laced midsection like Entombed after the Isis-esque ambience of post-apocalyptic mourning in “Introspective” and “Beyond the Horizon of Life.” Beauty and darkness are not new themes for Vorder, even if False Haven is their first release under the name, and even in the bleak ‘n’ roll of the title-track there’s still room for hope if you define hope as tambourine. Which you probably should. The penultimate “Judgement Awaits” interrupts floating post-doom with vital shove and 10:32 finale “Come Undone” provides a resonant melodic answer to “The Few Remaining Lights” while paying off the album as a whole in patience, heft and fullness. Vorder use microgenres like a polyglot might switch languages, but what’s expressed from the entirety of the work is utterly their own, whatever name they use.

Vorder on Facebook

Suicide Records website

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Inherus, Beholden

Multi-instrumentalist Beth Gladding (also of Forlesen, Botanist, Lotus Thief, etc.) shares vocal duties in New York’s Inherus with bassist Anthony DiBlasi (ex-Witchkiss) and fellow guitarist/synthesist Brian Harrigan (Grid, Swallow the Ocean), and the harsh/clean dynamic puts emphasis on the various textures presented throughout the band’s debut album. Completed by drummer Andrew Vogt (Lotus Thief, Swallow the Ocean), Inherus reach toward SubRosan melancholy on “Forgotten Kingdom,” which begins the hour-flat/six-track 2LP, and they follow with harmonies and grandeur to spare on “One More Fire” (something in that melody reminds me of Indigo Girls and I’m noting it because I can’t get my head away from it; not complaining) and “The Dagger,” which resolves in Amenra-style squibble and lurch without giving up its emotional depth. “Oh Brother” crushes enough to make one wonder where the line truly is between metal and post-metal, and the setup for closer “Lie to the Angels” in the drone-plus piece “Obliterated in the Face of the Gods” telegraphs the intensity to follow if not the progginess of that particular chug or the scope of what follows. Vogt signals the arrival at the album’s crescendo with stately but fast double-kick, and if you’re wondering who gets the last word, it’s feedback. Beholden may prove formative as Inherus move forward, but what their first full-length lays out as their stylistic range is at least as impressive as it is ambitious. Hope for more to come.

Inherus on Facebook

Hypnotic Dirge Records store

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Sonic Moon, Return Without Any Memory

Even in the second half of “Tying Up the Noose” as it leads into “Give it Time” — which is about as speedy as Sonic Moon get on their Olde Magick Records-delivered first LP, Return Without Any Memory — they’re in no particular hurry. The overarching languid pace across the Aarhus five-piece’s 41-minute/seven-tracker — which reuses only the title-track from 2019’s Usually I Don’t Care for Flowers EP — makes it hypnotic even in its most active moments, but whether it’s the Denmarkana acoustic moodiness of centerpiece “Through the Snow,” the steady nod of “Head Under the River” later or the post-All Them Witches psych-blues conveyed in opener “The Waters,” Sonic Moon are able to conjure landscapes from fuzzed tonality that could just as easily have been put to use for traditional doom as psych-leaning heavy rock, uniting the songs through that same fuzz and the melody of the vocals as “Head Under the River” spaces out ahead of its slowdown or “Hear Me Now” eschews the huge finish in favor of a more unassuming, gentler letting go, indicative of the thoughtfulness behind their craft and their presentation of the material. Familiar enough on paper and admirably, unpretentiously itself, the self-recorded Return Without Any Memory discovers its niche and comes across as being right at home in it. A welcome debut.

Sonic Moon on Facebook

Olde Magick Records on Bandcamp

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Slow Wake, Falling Fathoms

With cosmic doom via YOB meeting with progressive heavy rock à la Elder or Louisiana rollers Forming the Void and an undercurrent of metal besides in the chug and double-kick of “Controlled Burn,” Cleveland’s Slow Wake make their full-length debut culling together songs their 2022 Falling Fathoms EP and adding the prior-standalone “Black Stars” for 12 minutes’ worth of good measure at the end. The dense and jangly tones at the start of the title-track (where it’s specifically “Marrow”-y) or “In Waves” earlier on seem to draw more directly from Mike Scheidt‘s style of play, but “Relief” builds from its post-rocking outset to grow furious over its first few minutes headed toward a payoff that’s melody as much as crunch. “Black Stars” indulges a bit more psychedelic repetition, which could be a sign of things to come or just how it worked out on that longer track, but Slow Wake lay claim to significant breadth regardless, and have the structural complexity to work in longer forms without losing themselves either in jams or filler. With a strong sense of its goals, Falling Fathoms puts Slow Wake on a self-aware trajectory of growth in modern prog-heavy style. That is, they know what they’re doing and they know why. To show that alone on a first record makes it a win. Their going further lets you know to keep an eye out for next time as well.

Slow Wake on Facebook

Argonauta Records store

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The Fierce and the Dead, News From the Invisible World

Unearthing a bit of earlier-Queens of the Stone Age compression fuzz in the start-stop riff of “Shake the Jar” is not even scratching the surface as regards textures put to use by British progressive heavies The Fierce and the Dead on their fourth album, News From the Invisible World. Comprised of eight songs varied in mood and textures around a central ethic clearly intent on not sounding any more like anyone else than it has to, the collection is the first release from the band to feature vocals. Those are handled ably by bassist Kev Feazey, but it’s telling as to the all-in nature of the band that, in using singing for the first time, they employ no fewer than six guest vocalists, mostly but not exclusively on opener/intro “The Start.” From there, it’s a wild course through keyboard/synth-fed atmospheres on pieces like the Phil Collins-gone-heavy “Photogenic Love” and its side-B-capping counterpart “Nostalgia Now,” which ends like friendlier Godflesh, astrojazz experimentalism on “Non-Player,” and plenty of fuzz in “Golden Thread,” “Wonderful,” “What a Time to Be Alive,” and so on, though where a song starts is not necessarily where it’s going to end up. Given Feazey‘s apparent comfort with the task before him, it’s a wonder they didn’t make this shift earlier, but they do well in making up for lost time.

The Fierce and the Dead on Facebook

Spencer Park Music on Facebook

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Mud Spencer, Kliwon

Kliwon is the second offering from Indonesia-based meditative psych exploration unit Mud Spencer to be released through Argonauta Records after 2022’s Fuzz Soup (review here), and its four component songs find France-born multi-instrumentalist Rodolphe Bellugue (also Proots, Bedhunter, etc.) constructing material of marked presence and fluidity. Opener “Suzzanna” is halfway through its nine minutes before the drums start. “Ratu Kidul” is 16 minutes of mindful breathing (musically speaking) as shimmering guitar melody pokes out from underneath the surrounding ethereal wash, darker in tone but more than just bleak. Of course “Dead on the Heavy Funk” reminds of Mr. Bungle as it metal-chugs and energetically weirds out. And the just under 16-minute “Jasmin Eater” closes out with organ and righteous fuzz bass peppered with flourish details on guitar and languid drumming, becoming heavier and consuming as it moves toward the tempo kick that’s the apex of the album. Through these diverse tracks, an intimate psychedelic persona emerges, even without vocals, and Mud Spencer continues to look inward for expanses to be conveyed before doing precisely that.

Mud Spencer on Facebook

Argonauta Records store

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Kita, Tyhjiö

It would seem that in the interim between 2021’s Ocean of Acid EP and this five-song/41-minute debut full-length, Tyhjiö, Finnish psychedelic death-doomers Kita traded English lyrics for those in their native Finnish. No, I don’t speak it, but that hardly matters in the chant-like chorus of the title-track or the swirling pummel that surrounds as the band invent their own microgenre, metal-rooted and metal in affect, but laced with synth and able to veer into lysergic guitar atmospherics in the 10-minute opener “Kivi Puhuu” or the acoustic-led (actually it’s bass-led, but still) midsection leading to the triumphant chorus of bookending closer “Ataraksia,” uniting disparate ideas through strength of craft, tonal and structural coherence, and, apparently, sheer will. The title-track, “Torajyvä” and “Kärpässilmät,” with the centerpiece cut as the shortest, make for a pyramid-style presentation (broader around its base), but Kita are defined by what they do, drawing extremity from countrymen like Swallow the Sun or Amorphis, among others, and turning it into something of their own. Striking in the true sense of: it feels like being punched. But punched while you hang out on the astral plane.

Kita on Facebook

Kita on Bandcamp

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Embargo, High Seas

Greek fuzz alert! Heavy rocking three-piece Embargo hail from Thessaloniki with their first long-player, High Seas, using winding aspects of progressive metal to create tension in the starts and stops of “Billow,” “EAT” and “Candy” as spoken verses in the latter and “Alanna Finch” draw a line between the moody noise rock of Helmet, the grunge it informed, and the heavy rock that emerged (in part) from that. Running 10 tracks and 44 minutes, High Seas is quick in marking out the smoothness of its low tonality, and it veers into and out of what one might consider aggression in terms of style, “with 22 22” thoughtfully composed and sharply pointed in kind, one of several instrumentals to offset some of the gruffer stretches or a more patient melodic highlight like “Draupner,” which does little to hide its affinity for Soundgarden and is only correct to showcase it. They also finish sans-vocals in the title-track, and there’s almost a letting-loose sense to “High Seas” itself, shaking out some shuffle in the first half before peaking in the second. Greece is among Europe’s most packed and vibrant undergrounds, and with High Seas, Embargo begin to carve their place within it.

Embargo on Facebook

Embargo on Bandcamp

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If you recognize the trees at the start of the video below from the woods of Dalarna, Sweden, kudos. The post-metallic outfit Vorder — who threaten extremity even when they don’t actually push that far — count Andreas Baier, also of Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, Oak, etc., as guitarist/vocalist, so maybe you’ve seen those trees in some of the videos Besvärjelsen did for their last album, 2022’s Atlas (review here), or even the ‘Live From the Shadows’ session video (premiered here) that V recorded in suitable garb astride a hilltop in what looks like the same region where the new clip “Introspective” takes place.

And I guess that’s burying the lede a bit, so let’s dive into the fact that V have become Vorder. They’ve got Daniel Liljekvist (also Katatonia, In Mourning, Ambassadors of the Sun) on drums, Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis), and Baier‘s fellow founding member Jonas Gryth on guitar, and that’s the same lineup that put out 2019’s Led Into Exile (review here), but with the single-letter name making them almost impossible to find in the digital sphere let alone in the actual world, perhaps they found that willful obscurity has its ups and downs. Can’t blame them, and even better, I can’t think of another band called Vorder, whether you pronounce it ‘vee-order’ or ‘vor-DER’ or ‘VOR-der,’ etc.

Suicide Records will have False Haven, Vorder‘s first LP under the new name, out on May 26. You’ll hear post-metal, and some of the ambience and certainly the visuals in the “Introspective” clip derive from black metal, but the primary aesthetic here is dark, and it’s the dark that draws the different sides of their sound together. It’ll make sense when you listen.

From the PR wire:

Vorder – Swedish Sludgy Doom Collective Ft Members of Katatonia, In Mourning and Besvärjelsen Announce New Album “False Haven”

Share Music Video For Opening Song “Introspective”

Swedish sludgy doom metal group Vorder, formerly known as V and comprised of current and former members of Katatonia, In Mourning, Besvärjelsen and Afgrund will release their third album titled “False Haven” on May 26th via Suicide Records.

The follow-up to their previous effort “Led Into Exile” sees the Swedes further refining their sludgy and doomy post-metal sound, contrasting a dark and bleak atmosphere with glaring, beautiful melodies. There’s a clear dichotomy of light and dark to be found throughout “False Haven,” where heavily dense riffs are constantly interlaced with captivating and beautiful melodies. Vorder experiment with different styles, influences and dynamics throughout these six new songs that not only sound intoxicatingly unique but also demonstrate a thoughtful and impressive cohesion. Tracks such as opener “Introspective” or “Come Undone” are driven by crushing and slow riffs in the vein of post-metal acts like Neurosis or Isis, but are magnificently enhanced by alluring and continuous melodies that brings to mind the darker side of Alice In Chains. Pre-orders are now available at this location: https://suiciderecordsswe.bandcamp.com/album/false-haven

Meanwhile, the band have just shared a music video for leading single and opening song “Introspective”.

The band V has been around since the last century in its current state, although the line-up has changed to a previous installation of the band with Jesper (Perplex, Suffocate for fucks sake etc) leaving the drums to Daniel Liljekvist (Katatonia, Disrupted etc) and also Jonas Kindlund being replaced by Marcus Mackä Lindqvist on bass (Burn the Plague, Maggot Infested Ventriculus).

In the mid 90’s the personnel of V were all heavily involved with the underground hardcore scene of Sweden. A mix of death, thrash, punk and hardcore was facilitating a sound that later was to become the heaviness of V.

Andreas and Jonas G formed the hardcore outfit Amend in 1994, which is the starting point for what was later to become V after its earlier incarnation Clean Shade of Dirty which featured Per Sodomizer Eriksson on guitar (Bloodbath, Katatonia).

After the “Patternbreaker” EP that was recorded in studio Ear 2006, V was on a hiatus for ten years but emerged for another round with the full-length recording “Pathogenisis” in 2016 and the follow up “Led into Exile” in 2018.
The sound has moved towards even more heaviness and depth, laced with the ever-present cynicism of a world crumbling to its knees.

What started conceptually over 20 years ago as a straight path towards a better life with a socio-political agenda has during the years evolved into a realm of survivalism in an ever-increasing nihilistic environment.

V stands for many things, one of them being rebirth into a postmodern, apocalyptic world. The sound is being sculpted out of their misanthropic souls and the harsh weather of the north. Not only with heavy guitars, screaming vocals and pounding drums of doom but also with ethereal, cold and ambient landscapes surrounding the sonic mass being produced by V.

After playing a bunch of shows before the pandemic, including one on a mountaintop with generators etc (available on youtube) V decided to start recording of their third full length album. Due to the pandemic, things dragged out but now in 2023 it is done and about to be unleashed. To celebrate this, V has upgraded to: V order, the order of V which is written as: Vorder.

https://www.facebook.com/vpathogen

http://www.suiciderecords.se
https://suiciderecordsswe.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/suiciderds
https://www.instagram.com/suicide_records

Vorder, “Introspective” official video

V, “Broadcast From the Shadows” Live at Svansberget (2021)

Dalarna, Sweden’s V — aka VPathogen, if you’d like something easier for search engines — released their second album, Led Into Exile (review here), in Sept. 2019 through Suicide Records. The video premiering below for that album’s opening track, taken from a series of four to be unveiled over the course of the next couple weeks, has been in the works since before the record actually came out.

Consider that for a second. V — led by guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Andreas Baier (also of Besvärjelsen), with guitarist Jonas Gryth, bassist/vibraphonist Marcus Lindqvist and drummer Daniel Liljekvist — went up to a hilltop, spread a few mats out on pallets, fired up a P.A., their amps and some cameras and taped a full-album performance, before they had to stop playing shows because… well, you know.

As it happens, the exclusion-of-audience fits with Led Into Exile‘s hermittty narrative, going off into the forest and not coming back. Comprised of six songs, the studio version of the album tells the story detailed below of leaving society behind in favor of a self-imposed isolation while the world chooses to destroy itself. Painfully prescient, to a degree, but the songs’ atmospheres bear out the plot as well as the lyrics, and out among nature at dusk as V are with ‘Led Into Exile – Live at Svansberget,’ lit by ritual torches with an effigy of their own moniker behind them, the concept is brought to life with spacious flourish even as the sounds are rawer and heavier-hitting.

I’ve included the full details of the video’s making as told by the band below, as well as the background on Led Into Exile‘s theme, and the stream of the album itself in case you’d like to get caught up. Today is Dec. 1 and the other videos will roll out Dec. 8, Dec. 16 and Dec. 22, respectively.

Go fullscreen, and enjoy:

V, “Broadcast From the Shadows” Live at Svansberget premiere

V on Live at Svansberget:

We discussed doing something out of the ordinary, perhaps a live show in the middle of the forest on a mountain and filming it all. This is back in 2019 and livestreams and recorded live shows were not as common as now during the pandemic, at least not going out of one’s way to make something like this with practically no budget. We live in a pretty desolate part of Sweden where one can easily get lost in the wilderness of the mountains, rivers lakes and forests of the Taiga Belt. This is a huge inspiration for us, probably even more than we like to admit. So driving up a mountain in the old Finngrounds of western Dalecarlia with an old German van filled with: five generators, full backline, P.A., lights, a mobile bar with craft beer on draft, a military tent with a stove and a few good friends and a small camera team takes some balls considering how much that can actually go wrong with the typical Scandinavian weather and so forth.

We managed to record an entire set in one take, except for a few hiccups while starting a few of the songs but we started right back up again. The weather forecast was threatening us with rain and so of course we felt that the pressure was on. We had a huge tarp to cover all the gear in case of that and we actually built a little shed on site for the mixing and lighting desks.

It turned out to be a very magical night and we lit a huge bonfire when the rain finally came after the show.

So what happened to the material one might ask? Since it was recorded in the beginning of May 2019 and now coming out December 2021 in segments, why did it take so long? Well since it was a full-on DIY happening, funds for editors and postproduction was at the mercy of benefactors and they withdrew in the final stages, enter the pandemic it seemed like a hopeless task to fulfill. So it seemed that Led into the wild-live at Svansberget (swanmountain) just wasn’t to be. But with the help of Henrik from Suicide Records and some cutting by Andreas (vocals, guitar – V) it finally came to its right and is now available to be seen by the world.

Led Into Exile is a six song concept album sprung from a short story dealing with the definitive departure from civilisation into the wild Finnmark in Dalecarlia Sweden.

The story deals with the hardships of living in this rough terrain of the outdoors and all the toils that comes with that territory. It also speaks of loss and a strong will to become isolated from an insane world on the brink of destruction. Set to the background of a nihilistic darkness the album paints a picture of isolation with broad misanthropic brushstrokes seasoned with the occult and old folklore tied to the region.

The six songs on led into exile describes what happens to a person who succumbs to the siren song coming from the taiga-belt and how this ultimately leads to the vanishing of this person, never to be seen again.

V are:
Andreas Baier • Vocals, Guitars, Synths
Jonas Gryth • Guitars
Marcus Lindqvist • Bass, Vibraphone
Daniel Liljekvist • Drums and all Percussions

V, Led Into Exile (2019)

V on Facebook

V on Instagram

V on Bandcamp

Suicide Records website

Suicide Records on Facebook

This week, Swedish one-man outfit Novarupta issue the second in a purported cycle of four full-lengths, Marine Snow, through esteemed noisebringers Suicide Records. The project, which began in 2018 following Alex Stjernfeldt‘s departure from The Moth Gatherer and that year released the debut, Disillusioned Fire, wants nothing for ambition. Embracing a richly atmospheric approach to post-metal, the five-song second outing boasts guest appearances from a cast of six vocalists not only from Stjernfeldt‘s home in Sweden — Robert Lamu of Skraeckoedlan, Arvid Hällagård of Greenleaf, Lea Amling of Besvärjelsen and Martin Persner of Magna Carta Cartel — but a couple of Americans as well in Inter Arma‘s Mike Paparo and A Storm of Light‘s Josh Graham, who begins the record with “Broken Blue Cascades” in a lyrical meditation on climate change and the destructive relationship between humans and the planet indulgent enough to let us evolve on it.

The method of bringing in outsiders is a carryover from Disillusioned Fire, and as Marine Snow plays out, with Amling and Lamu working through a melodic wash of an arrangement on “Every Shade of Water,” the theme unites the material effectively in concert with the instrumental backing entirely from Stjernfeldt. Songwriting is patient and allows the proceedings to flow accordingly as well, furthering the watery nature that’s been a part of post-metal at least since Isis issued Oceanic, if not before, but the breadth across Marine Snow is Stjernfeldt‘s own, and continues into the more active lumbering of “Trieste,” which brings Persner forward atop a weighted punch of bass and lumbering chug that borders on atmospheric goth rock in a surprising highlight that lives up to the standard of the song before (a high standard indeed) and thanks to layering even manages to keep some sonic congruence as well. Sonar pings as it moves toward the midsection let the listener know perhaps that they’re on their way down through “Trieste,” and the back half plays between returning verses and more forceful chug and march, galloping triplets and echoing effects capping.

With “No Constellation,” Paparo brings the album’s most singularly extreme vocals over a melancholic progression, reminiscent of modern death-doom but distinct from it and accompanied by distortion to match the echoing growls. The two — that additional layer of guitar and the gutturalism — give the track a sense of depth that, in addition to being on-theme, is a standout from everything else that surrounds on Marine Snow, a darker and denser place; as Stjernfeldt portrays it below, like the bottom of the ocean. If “Broken Blue Cascades” and “Every Shade of Water” were breaking the surface and “Trieste” was perhaps a goodbye love-letter to breathable air, then certainly “No Constellation” is as far down as the plunge goes. It comes backed by the closer, “11°22.4?N 142°35.5?E,” which are coordinates that correspond to the spot in the Pacific Ocean that is the lowest point on the earth, and a fitting enough place for Stjernfeldt to find some sense of rest. Of course, there’s still plenty of heft to convey across the 10-plus minutes of the finale, but though the rush of waves at the finish becomes more intense, the feeling throughout Hällagård‘s relatively subdued contribution is still that having gone so far down, Novarupta remain in that place.

And so, the listener does as well. As the series of albums is based around the ancient elements — fire, water, air and earth — there are two left for Stjernfeldt and presumably his next round of accompaniment to cover. I don’t know if earth or air is next, but the procession throughout Marine Snow not only showcases a refinement of approach since Disillusioned Fire, but an increase in breadth as well. Should that continue apace, whether he’s capturing the essence of the ground or soaring high above it, Stjernfeldt will be in a fitting position to manifest his theme.

I’ll resist the temptation to tell you to ‘dive in’ to “No Constellation” below, and instead just point out the quote from Stjernfeldt and preorder link/PR wire info that follow.

Enjoy:

Novarupta, “No Constellation” official video premiere

Alex Stjernfeldt on “No Constellation”:

“I first stumbled upon Inter Arma back in 2013 when they released Sky Burial. I was in love! Since then Mike’s voice has been in the back of my mind. We met a couple of years ago when they toured with Deafheaven and we started talking about some collaboration. ‘No Constellation’ took some different turns during the writing sessions, but when it was finished, I realised it was one of the heavier songs I had done for Novarupta, so in came Mike Paparo, who created a really hostile and End of Days environment. Listening to the track feels like you’re at the bottom, surrounded by darkness and a crushing pressure, you will never see the stars again, so get used to the suffering.”

Novarupta’s Marine Snow is released worldwide on 13th November on Suicide Records and can be pre-ordered HERE: https://suiciderecordsswe.bandcamp.com/album/marine-snow

Formed in 2018 from the pyres of time spent in Swedish post-metal outfit The Moth Gatherer, Alex Stjernfeldt’s Novarupta has gone on to envelop almost every corner of Sweden’s underground rock and metal community.

Named after one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th Century, this November, Novarupta will again join forces with Suicide Records for the release of Marine Snow; the second instalment in a series of four albums that conceptually focuses on the elemental forces of Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

Heralding a journey of musical catharsis, Marine Snow effortlessly takes the torch from Novarupta’s acclaimed debut, Disillusioned Fire (2018). Emerging from a passage of fire onto the ocean floor below, Marine Snow immerses listeners in a sea of blackened sludge, progressive metal and monochromatic psychedelia.

TRACK LISTING
1. Broken Blue Cascades
2. Every Shade of Water
3. Trieste
4. No Constellation
5. 11°22.4?N 142°35.5?E

NOVARUPTA is:
Alex Stjernfeldt

Featured vocalists on Marine Snow:
Josh Graham (A Storm of Light/Red Sparowes)
Lea Amling (Besvärjelsen)
Robert Lamu (Skraeckoedlan)
Martin Persner (Magna Carta Cartel/Ghost)
Mike Paparo (Inter Arma)
Arvid Hällagård (Greenleaf)

Novarupta on Thee Facebooks

Novarupta on Instagram

Novarupta order page

Suicide Records on Thee Facebooks

Suicide Records on Instagram

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Suicide Records website

You won’t have to go terribly far into Novarupta‘s 2018 debut, Disillusioned Fire, to hear the Swedish project of Alex Stjernfeldt (ex-The Moth Gatherer) pushing the outer reaches of post-metal extremity, but there’s more to that record than a single texture, and one expects the same applies to the upcoming sophomore LP, Marine Snow, which Suicide Records will issue this Fall. Like the preceding full-length, the new one will feature a range of guest vocalists, giving all the more sonic variety to what’s already a broad reach on Stjernfeldt‘s part. If you have a minute and haven’t heard it yet, it’s at the bottom of this post via Bandcamp.

No audio from the album as yet, but there’s some explanation below of the project and its multi-record intention, and you can see who’s taking part this time around. A significant assemblage.

From the PR wire:

NOVARUPTA announce release details of “Marine Snow”

So the story of Novarupta continues!

This time Alex pulls us down into the darkest depths known to mankind. On the 13th of November Suicide Records will release “Marine Snow.”

It all started with a fire! Disillusioned, but still a fire. Novarupta was created as something other than just a band, a collective concept spanning the elements that creates the essence of life. In 2018 the recording of ”Disillusioned Fire” began, and that was only the beginning. 2020 will see the release of the second chapter in this journey through fire, water, air and finally earth. Each part contains concepts connected to the element and each album is by itself a conceptul album with a life of its own, yet also a smaller part of a bigger picture, that will be completed when the 4 albums come together.

Marine Snow is a vertical journey from the false and stressful land down into the darkened embrace and pressure of the deepest parts of the ocean.

Tracklist:
1. Broken Blue Cascades
2. Every Shade of Water
3. Trieste
4. No Constellation
5. 11°22.4?N 142°35.5?E

These are the featured vocalists:
Josh Graham (A Storm of Light/ex. Red Sparowes)
Lea Amling (Besvärjelsen)
Robert Lamu (Skraeckoedlan)
Martin Persner (Magna Carta Cartel/ex. Ghost)
Mike Paparo (Inter Arma)
Arvid Hällagård (Greenleaf).

The main constant in NOVARUPTA is Alex Stjernfeldt. In his broken past he has played in bands like The Moth Gatherer and Mr. Death, which both have critical acclaim in the international press. He has also collaborated with Terra Tenebrosa on their album The Reverses. When he left The Moth Gatherer, Stjernfeldt stood disillusioned while facing an uncertain and bleak future. Fueled by depression and frustration and a need to explore a deeper and darker musical direction while also returning to the roots from which he came, the foundation of NOVARUPTA was born.

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Novarupta, Disillusioned Fire (2018)

[Click play above to stream V’s Led into Exile in full. Album is out Sept. 13 on Suicide Records and the band will have shows in Sweden on Sept. 29 with Horndal and Jorm and Nov. 7 with Dopelord and Zaum. Info here.]

Based in the Swedish county of Dalarna, which includes towns like Borlänge, Na?s and Falun and borders against Norway in the west, four-piece outfit V offer a fair bit of stylistic nuance amid outwardly crushing sonics. The band began presumably in much different form some 25 years ago, but Led into Exile is their second full-length for Suicide Records behind 2017’s Pathogenesis (discussed here) and a 2016 EP, VI — I’d assume that’s ‘V-1’ rather than just ‘six’ in Roman numerals — that was recorded in 2006 and released in late 2016. With guitarist/vocalist/synthesist/recording engineer Andreas Baier having been involved in a number of projects over the years, from Afgrund to the currently-running Besvärjelsen, one assumes V‘s longer tenure includes a fair amount of time not really active, but with guitarist Jonas Gryth, bassist/vibraphonist Marcus Lindqvist and drummer Daniel Liljekvist alongside Baier, V tap into a post-heavy amalgam of atmospheres on the six tracks of the Led into Exile LP, dividing into two sides and playing toward European-style post-metal — Amenra more than Cult of Luna, to be sure — with shades of hardcore and yet more extreme doomed fare laced throughout.

With fervent crash and lumber, V‘s songs work in linear fashion to squeeze the air from your lungs as only their kind of rhythmic churn can, crafting a tension that’s affecting in mood and ambience. Beginning with “Broadcast from the Shadows,” each side of Led into Exile works in a pattern of running a longer song into a shorter one, then putting an even longer one after that — three tracks on each side. This underlying structure speaks to a sense of purpose in what V are doing, and indeed there’s a kind of aesthetic poise to the material, whether it’s the chugging pummel of “Illviljan” — ‘ill will,’ in Swedish — or the acoustic guitar, vibraphone and vocal-based “None Shall Rise Again,” which might owe an even heavier sonic debt to Scott Kelly than the nod-inducing opener.

There’s a not insignificant shift between sides A and B, but the YOB-esque intro to side A capper “Hostage of Souls” has a definite sense of reach on its own, and the same is true of “Broadcast from the Shadows” and “Illviljan” preceding, as intense as they are. The leadoff cut is clearly intended to hook the listener not with an ultra-catchy chorus, but with a standout riff met with massive rhythmic plod, as well as a bit of floating guitar along with Baier‘s throaty, echoing-in-a-chasm or screaming-into-the-void shouts, and it works. At 5:57, 3:58 and 8:02, respectively, “Broadcast from the Shadows,” “Illviljan” and “Hostage of Souls” set the pattern that “Phantasmagoria,” “None Shall Rise Again” and the closing title-track will mirror, but the differences in approach aren’t to be understated. What V seem to excel at is conveying intensity of purpose. As the quick drumming behind the angular riff of “Illviljan” takes hold, punctuated with a popping snare before a stop brings it to the next stage of its evolution as it makes its way back eventually to where it came from, the depth of Led into Exile is writ large in the raw tones and harsh edge V communicate.

It’s a modernist brutality, with sharp corners and little interest in quaint notions like mercy. The longer “Hostage of Souls” offers turns from hypnotic and quiet stretches to explosive lurch, breaking around its midpoint to a near-silent ambience of minimalist guitar and (after a minute or so) vibraphone that carries through to its finish in creepy and echoing fashion. Of course, on LP, there’s a side flip between them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if “Hostage of Souls” and “Phantasmagoria” (7:50) were positioned as well with the lead-in from one to the other in mind as well as the overarching mirrored structure of the album, such is the flow from that quieter second half of the one into the outright onslaught of the other. And “Phantasmagoria” continues to build on that, demonstrating plainly the side B method of pushing further into the elements and roots that side A has established.

And while the individual tracks that comprise it are longer, that’s just as true in terms of breadth as it is in runtime. The departure from lurching onslaught into the acoustic “None Shall Rise Again” is a drastic-feeling turn that, while still fair game in terms of the sphere in which V are working on Led into Exile, shouldn’t be overlooked. And the fact that it stays acoustic for its 5:31 duration says something in itself. It sets up the nine-minute punch of the closing title-track with an opportunity to both make an impact with a turn back toward more tonally weighted riffing, and that’s not one V let pass them by. Angular churn and biting, echoing vocals are met with an undercurrent of synth after the first minute, a chug and march with an outward feel cutting after about 3:30 into the total 9:09 in order to give headphone-worthy ambient guitar its space to set up the final push.

That last march will take hold at 6:40 and explodes into heavy post-rock tones and clean vocals for a surprising and melodic crescendo that carries Led into Exile to its finish. Even after the shift in the second half of “Hostage of Souls” and the cleaner-if-still-guttural vocal turn in “None Shall Rise Again,” that concluding section is a final expansion of the context for the album as a whole, once more speaking to the conceptual structure on which the two sides are working even as it adds more to the raw palette from which they’re drawing. And it’s worth noting that, for a style not exactly known for its brevity in songwriting, they get there in relatively efficient fashion, thereby rounding out a record that is both clear and varied in its purpose and unflinching in its sonic resolve. I don’t know what V might’ve been doing during those long stints on the backburner, but clearly activity suits them in terms of establishing a forward progression, which is exactly what they do in these songs.

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Finnish sludge extremists Black Royal release their debut full-length, Lightbringer, on March 9 via Suicide Records. There are a couple different ways one might approach the Tampere four-piece’s rather formidable 10-track/44-minute salvo. It’s either a bludgeoning assault on the auditory senses, laced with underlying heft of groove and tone, but filled with a brutality that reveals itself as a core element whether a given song is fast or slow, rolling or driving, riff-based like “Salvation” or something more along the lines of the half-speed grindcore of opener “Cryo-Volanic” and the punkish “Denial.” Or, it’s an anti-religious treatise that incorporates elements of science fiction, Satanic philosophy, narrative craft and pointed a anti-Christianity doctrine. The truth of Lightbringer, however, is that it’s both.

Oh, to be sure it’s extreme. The lineup of vocalist Riku, bassist/backing vocalist Pete, guitarist/backing vocalist Toni and drummer Jukka meld sludge, hardcore punk, death metal, and their thematic foundation to tell the story of a world losing its religion and ultimately coming out better for that painful process. The lyric sheet comes with footnotes, if that tells you anything, and for songs like “Self-Worship,” which is one of several on Lightbringer to bask in the hypocrisy of faith, they’re actually pretty helpful in tying together the point of view from which the album is working, which is no less cohesive, fortunately, than the band’s sound itself, which, while varied, is never entirely unhinged, as the use of samples in “Pentagram Doctrine” or the quiet stretches of acoustic guitar (courtesy of Pete) and atmospherics in “Dying Star” showcase. In the title-track itself, which also opens side B, the chorus seems to offer a summary of the arc of the story itself: “The Bringer of Light has returned to settle the score/And fight for the lost strength within us all/Man had a chance to unite the world/But their god failed them all.”

Anti-religious perspective within extreme music of nearly all stripes is hardly anything new, but Black Royal are distinguished by just how much they’re willing to make it the core of their debut album’s message. As arrangements gradually flesh out across side B’s “Lightbringer,” keyboard-laced highlight “The Chosen” — the title referring to those whose duty it is to guide the world into this dogma-free next phase of its evolution — “Dying Star” and the slow-unfolding “New World Order” before “Ou[t]roboros” leads the way to the finish with a serenity percussion and far back keys and acoustic guitar, Lightbringer remains vibrant and vehement for the duration. The earlier raw punishment of “Cryo-Volcanic,” “Self-Worship,” “Salvation” and even “Denial” is more straightforward by comparison, with “Pentagram Doctrine” closing side A and foreshadowing some of the expansion to follow, but Lightbringer stays united across its span in its growls and screams no less than in its thematic foundation and aggressive attitude.

The final footnote? Well, it isn’t actually spoken on the song, but on the lyric sheet under “Ou[t]roboros” it quotes Aleister Crowley saying, “These are fools that men adore; both their Gods and their men are fools.” Fair enough. It’s worth noting though that for all the attention paid to messaging across Lightbringer, there’s nothing lacking for songwriting, arrangement, production or execution. The bass tone and chorus of “Lightbringer” both make the titular cut a standout, and in the spirit of many fine growlers before him, Riku seems to have an unyielding supply of vitriol from which to work. While definitely of a style, “The Chosen” hints at progressive elements that could very well come into play more on subsequent releases, and even the most familiar aspects of the album in general are brought to bear with a drive toward individualized, crisp presentation. That would seem to make the thesis all the more pointed, but whether or not a given listener chooses to engage with Black Royal on that level or simply to take it on as a dense slab of aural castigation with a horrid album cover is entirely up to them. In either case, Lightbringer delivers a trouncing worthy of its critique.

I have the pleasure today of premiering Lightbringer for your streaming pleasure. Please find it below, followed by more info from the PR wire, and enjoy:

Hailing from Tampere, Finland, BLACK ROYAL was forged in 2013. The quartet’s music combines modern sludge with ’90s death metal, classic seventies influences, epic choruses and unconventional arrangements, resulting in a distinctly alluring sound often and accurately described as “death blues.” Inspired by beer and occult teachings, their music is laced with distortion and growls proclaiming various themes from free thought to the perils of organized religion.

Following two critically-lauded EPs — The Summoning Pt.1 and Pt.2, released in 2015 and 2016 respectively — the band was signed by Swedish-Finnish label Suicide Records and unleashed the Dying Star seven-inch/digital single, serving as the first taste of BLACK ROYAL’s imminent Lightbringer debut, coming at you this Spring.

BLACK ROYAL:
Jukka – drums, percussion
Pete – bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Riku – vocals
Toni – guitars, backing vocals

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It makes a lot of sense that so much of the new Besvärjelsen video happens in split screen, since the band seems to spend so much time inhabiting multiple worlds. The Stockholm five-piece will issue their debut album, Vallmo, on March 27 via Suicide Records in conjunction with DalaPop (again, multiple worlds), and its sound is a deeply varied wash of progressive heavy post-rock atmospherics, moody soul-searching melodicism and weighted groove. Lyrics switch back and forth between Swedish and English depending on the song — prior single “Return of No Return” (video premiere here) was in English, the latest sampling premiering below, “Under en Svart Himmel,” is in Swedish — and with vocal duties shared among multiple members between frontwoman Lea Amling Alazam and guitarists Andreas Baier and Staffan Winroth, there’s an obvious commitment to a varied approach that comes through on Vallmo‘s eight tracks/51 minutes and, in kind with the depth of the mix and the richness of tones and melodies, makes the album an all-the-more-satisfying listening experience.

Of course, being driven by the rhythm section of bassist Johan Rockner and drummer Erik Bäckwall doesn’t hurt either. Both players have roots in Dozer, but Rockner played in Greenleaf as well, and one can find a touch of influence from that band’s more dramatic latter-day output on Vallmo in songs like “Öken,” which blends heavy rock groove with a spacious sensibility thanks to a healthy dose of reverb on Alazam‘s vocals and the weight in the guitars and drive of the rhythm overall, and the penultimate “Falsarium,” which builds toward a linear peak topped by righteous soloing and push from the bass and drums. Ultimately though, Besvärjelsen are on their own wavelength, as the doom-meets-prog rollout of “Röda Rummet” and the organ-laced graces in the second half of ‘I Skuggen Av Ditt Morker” so readily demonstrate. Conceptually and in practice, the album is an undertaking, and it requires active participation on the part of its audience, but the reward for fuller engagement is a memorable release that, especially as a debut, is striking in its cohesion and sense of purpose. Besvärjelsen are a relatively new band, started in 2014, but there’s never a wavering moment throughout Vallmo where they seem to be in anything less than complete control of where their songs are heading and what they’re seeking to express.

And again, since the record is so varied between pieces like the swaying opener “Mara” residing in a kind of minor-key proggy riffism somewhat reminiscent in its breadth of sound to the later work of Parisians Abrahma and the patient sprawl that ensues across 10-minute finale “Alone,” the midsection of which veers into a stretch of psychedelic minimalism one hopes the band takes as a model to employ again in future composition, the accomplishment on Besvärjelsen‘s part in keeping it all together as fluidly and decisively as they do, and with such a clear conveying of intent, is not a feat to be understated. If nothing else, they’ve set a high standard from which to progress as they move forward, but thinking in the shorter term — i.e. of Vallmo itself, rather than the potential it signifies — there’s little doubt that the Swedes have culled together what will serve as one of the finer debut long-players of 2018. As “Alone” jumps from that quiet midsection back through its chorus en route to the album’s final crescendo and payoff, the emotional and aural resonance of what Besvärjelsen do could hardly be clearer, and it’s something that both demands and well earns the attention it’s due.

Below you’ll find the video for the melancholy and soulful “Under en Svart Himmel” (“under a black cloud,” in English), followed by a quote from the band about its making and more info on Besvärjelsen‘s Vallmo, courtesy of the PR wire:

Besvärjelsen, “Under en Svart Himmel” video premiere

Besvärjelsen on “Under en Svart Himmel”:

It was the last song that was written for Vallmo. We had discussed that we needed one more song for the album and luckily Andreas had been sitting on this one for a while. He had almost the whole song ready, both guitars and vocals. So the rest of the band just added some spices. Like Leas vocals, the small guitar flourishes on the second verse and the drum beat on the second part of the verses which came to be after listening to The Doors on the car stereo.

The vibe of the song was inspired by the song ”Vintersaga” (“A winters tale”) performed by the Swedish singer Monica Törnell. The lyrics can be interpreted in many ways but the main theme was the metamorphosis that takes place after a forest fire. In particularly the great forest fire that swept over middle of Sweden in 2014 came to mind.

The video was shot the morning of February 17th in Andreas’ home village of Nås, and edited in the afternoon by Erik Bäckwall.

BESVÄRJELSEN – Swedish for “conjuring” – was forged in 2014. The band released their debut EP Villfarelser in 2015 which was followed by 2016’s Exil EP. Much of 2017 found BESVÄRJELSEN composing the the audio alchemy found on their ?rst full-length studio offering Vallmo (Swedish for “poppy”). Vallmo more than ever showcases the band’s enormous potential, the eight-track offering seamlessly wandering from crushing doom riffs to catchy vocals and melodies, deep lyrical content, and storming drum work, all topped by stunning guitar solos and, for the first time since the band’s formation, songs in English as well as their native Swedish.

BESVÄRJELSEN’s Vallmo was captured at Studio Glashuset and Midlake Studios by guitarist/vocalist Andreas Baier and comes sheathed in the cover art of Blodpest with design by drummer Erik Bäckwall.

Vallmo will see release on vinyl and digital formats via by Suicide Records in cooperation with DalaPop on March 27th.

BESVÄRJELSEN:
Lea Amling Alazam – vocals
Andreas Baier – guitar, vocals
Staffan Winroth – guitar, vocals
Erik Bäckwall – drums
Johan Rockner – bass

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