Germany’s Naevus will release their new album, Back Home, through Dying Victim Productions on Sept. 19. It is only the third full-length in the arc of the Bietigheim-Bissingen four-piece, who trace their roots back nearly 35 years, so safe to say they believe in doing a bit of living before hitting the studio. Nothing wrong with that. It’s been nine years since they offered Heavy Burden (review here) as the follow-up to their could-stand-a-reissue 1998 debut, Sun Meditation, and they bring nine new songs accordingly with a reputation that precedes them in classic doom metal.

Back Home is nothing less than a masterclass at this. I can’t imagine any Trouble fan not nodding appreciatively at “Back Home” or “The Dead Don’t Sleep” early on in the unfolding. Centerpiece “Under a Different Sky” is both stately and warmly toned, so that it’s not just about the band pumping fists and doomed despondency, but there’s room in the mix for the listener to dwell — this is true of the atmospheric “Ghost” as well, which follows the seven-minute “Under a Different Sky” with no loss of momentum in its endearingly choppy second-half riffing.

Vocalist Uwe Groebel turns in a career performance and is the anchor for a lot of this material, from the opening “Intro” onward, but Naevus wouldn’t have lasted as long as they have without balance and chemistry, and guitarist Oliver Grosshans, bassist Sven Heimerdinger and drummer Mathias Straub seem to find another level of impact for “My Fire,” the opening minutes of “Angels Never Come” and the later reaches of closer “Free the Ravens Fly,” while the careful layering of acoustic and electric guitar gives clarity through the distortion and lends a classy impression amid the hard crunch of the title-track or the later nod in “Master of Shiver,” on which Groebel organically steps into the places the riff leaves open. Which feels like such a small thing until you hear it done just right and realize that it’s something that’s taken decades to develop that kind of conversation between players and that it’s precisely that language between them in the material that makes Naevus‘ doom their own, despite the familiarity of the base-level influences in Trouble, Candlemass, Black Sabbath, Cathedral, and so on.

But while Back Home has its bona fides in order and Naevus carry the still-matters-here cred of having been at the thing for a long time, the album doesn’t feel either like it’s playing to style or that it’s operating under any obligation to be heavy. Rather, as hard as it hits, “The Dead Don’t Sleep” maintains poise within its chug, and “Angels Never Come” makes melody as integral to its crescendo as impact. The PR wire info below talks about a warmth of the band’s sound, and that can be heard in the tones, but add to that the conceptual breadth of their style, the grace of Groebel‘s solo entering the fray, and the unhurried reach at the culmination of “Free the Ravens Fly,’ and the collective persona of the group is that much richer. Not uniformly hopeless, the sound conveys a sense of the struggle being worthwhile, and while the angels might not show up, the band find their own path to salvation. Spoiler alert: it’s doom.

Yes, doom. Miserable, life-affirming doom. Dark, brooding, celebratory, cathartic doom. Doom that heralds its history and its future and most of all that resonates the love put into making it. It’s not the kind of thing everybody will understand, but it never was and it was never going to be. Naevus revel in it, and so Back Home is vibrant.

Enjoy the video for “The Dead Don’t Sleep” below, followed by more from the PR wire:

Naevus, “The Dead Don’t Sleep” video premiere

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present NAEVUS’ highly anticipated third album, Back Home, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hailing from Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany’s NAEVUS was originally formed in 1991 as a death metal trio. Various lineup changes and musical alterations led to the first demo Quixotic Dreams in 1993. The second demo, A Sad Illusion, arrived a year later bearing a doomier sound and clean vocals. In 1995, the Autumn Sun demo was recorded and released, with the lineup still existing today: Uwe Groebel (vocals / lead guitar), Oliver Grosshans (guitar), Sven Heimerdinger (bass), and Mathias Straub (drums). The demo – influenced by Trouble, Pentagram, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, and Black Sabbath – received very good international reviews and finally led to the first recording contract in 1997 with Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records. The recordings were made at Vielklang Studio in Berlin, where The Obsessed’s debut and Saint Vitus’ V were recorded. Bearing the title Sun Meditation, NAEVUS’ debut album was released in March 1998.

Thereafter, NAEVUS’ musical style continued to develop. This was followed by the 14 Inches of Fury four-way split with Revelation, Twisted Tower Dire, and Grief of God as well as the song “R.I.P” on the Trouble tribute album. After family and professional changes, the band went their separate ways in 1999, while at the same time, Mathias Straub and Oliver Grosshans founded the epic power metal band Sacred Steel. From then on, Uwe Groebel dedicated himself to the doom trio Voodooshock with further song ideas, before the band got back together in 2012 and the first rehearsals for the reunion show with Saint Vitus began. Originally, they only wanted to play the old songs again, but the joy of playing meant that new songs were not long in coming. In 2016, the second long-player, Heavy Burden, was released and garnered internationally positive reviews.

In 2023, recordings began for a third album. At last here, Back Home is its title, and quite aptly. NAEVUS are nothing if not consistent, and within the opening minute – hell, even seconds – you are right Back Home with their warm, emotive doom. And yet, while NAEVUS’ traditional-yet-signature sound remains stronger than ever, the means of arriving at that have changed some. Nowadays, the band acts more flexibly and arranges the entire songs together, which was previously almost exclusively reserved for Uwe Groebel. Groebel’s vocals are as melodically hypnotic as ever, too, with the very personal lyrics imparting loss and grief but also with love and hope – a quality surely highlighted by the man’s warm pipes. Cementing this sensation of warmth and comfort – effectively, being Back Home – the cover art was once again created by Roland Scriver.

DYING VICTIMS is honored to bring NAEVUS Back Home, and the album’s release show will take place with old tape-trading friend Patrick Walker of 40 Watt Sun and Warning at Schwarzer Keiler, Stuttgart on October 2nd.

Artwork:
Roland Scriver

Tracklisting for Naevus’ Back Home
1. Intro
2. Back Home
3. The Dead Don’t Sleep
4. My Fire
5. Under A Different Sky
6. Ghost
7. Angels Never Come
8. Master Of Shiver
9. Free The Ravens Fly

Naevus are:
Uwe Groebel – vocals/lead guitar
Oliver Grosshans – guitar
Sven Heimerdinger – bass
Mathias Straub – drums

Naevus, Back Home (2025)

Naevus on Bandcamp

Naevus on Instagram

Naevus on Facebook

Dying Victims Productions website

Dying Victims Productions on Bandcamp

Dying Victims Productions on Instagram

Dying Victims Productions on Facebook

Greek doomers Tèlma will release their debut album, Ανθρωποβόρος, this Friday, July 25, through Dying Victims Productions. The title is translated into English in the headline above because I couldn’t make WordPress show Greek characters up there. Hey, I’ve only been at this 16 years. Cut me some slack.

The Athens-based outfit — whose name is properly written as Τέλμα — are obviously purposeful in sticking with Greek in title and language, and it becomes part of the aesthetic of the 47-minute eight-song LP. This traditionalism collides headfirst with traditional doom metal. Trad. Doom. Metal. Of the ‘horns up’ variety, and no complaints. Informed by the NWOBHM, Black Sabbath and their own apparent melancholia, Tèlma craft a sound that’s pure classic doom. In light of their decision to sing and put titles in Greek, that the guitar, bass, keys and drums don’t take a more Mediterranean aspect is surprising, but metal is universal, and in the chug of “Αντίο / Goodbye,” the Candlemassian soar led by vocalist Vangelis is a dive into culture all on its own.

Opener “Καλότυχες / Lucky Ones” and “Αντίο / Goodbye” are more forward and on the beat, while “Ερπετό / Serpent” resides more in the pocket and the side-ending “Φωνή / Voice” builds on that with a lumbering chug initially before breaking into minimalist standalone guitar, soon joined in the void by the drums as they build back up to the final, double-kick underscored chorus. Starting off side B, “Θέρος / Summer” has Iommi-circa-Mob–Rules all over its flowing groove and briefly drops to acoustics in the second half, only to return full-bore a short time thereafter. In complement, “Τέλμα / Dead End” feels pointedly heavy. Its slow chug, emotive-even-in-a-different-language vocal and fullness of crash make it a highlight for headbangers ahead of the closing duo “Φανοστάτης / Lamp Post” and “Χώμα / Soil.”

Bass lumbers at the outset of the seven-minute “Φανοστάτης / Lamp Post,” tick-tocking along with the drums before the low-register vocals enter. It’s not until about 2:50 they unveil the full roll, and the vocals that accompany in layers are duly dramatic to suit the ending that feels like a culmination for the whole record. “Χώμα / Soil” is shorter by a minute and has a mournful march, but is less direct in its impact than the song preceding, so comes across a little like an epilogue or a final immersion before they let go. As they have all along since “Καλότυχες / Lucky Ones,” Τέλμα hit hard, but the closer is more about the ambience and the emotion being evoked by the stately oldschool crush of the music.

Of course, there’s a big ol’ language barrier there for probably most listeners who’ll take it on, but if you’re going to let not understanding the words stop you from enjoying a thing, that’ll be your loss. The album streams in its entirety below, followed by more info from the PR wire:

Hailing from Greece’s vital doom scene, Τέλμα (TÈLMA) was formed in 2017 by Marios, Kostis, and Vangelis. All three men were brought together by their love for traditional doom metal, which led them to blend their influences of Russia’s Scald, Chile’s Procession, Reverend Bizarre, and the UK’s Warning into songs of slow, ceremonial, and melancholic atmosphere, also incorporating elements of epic metal whilst staying true to the traditional doom metal spirit. In 2021, the band released the single “Ξίφη Στραμμένα Στο Φοίνικα,” which appeared on the compilation Art Against Censorship. The addition of Chris on drums in early 2024 made possible the completion of their first full-length, Ανθρωποβόρος (English: “Man-Eater”).

Originally released only digitally but now finding physical release courtesy of Dying Victims, TÈLMA’s debut album displays the blanching power of slo-mo emotion and forlorn majesty. Very much firmly within the wider doom pantheon but very much also fully conveying the band’s particular personality, Ανθρωποβόρος nevertheless emits a unique atmosphere due to TÈLMA’s usage of their native tongue: a conscious choice, and a challenge mastered. Fittingly for such literally weighty metal, the album’s lyrics deal with the subjects of inner struggle, emancipation, the man-made misery of this world, and coming to terms with the inevitable end. That TÈLMA are able to weave distinctive melody and transfer those emotions beyond the meaning of the lyrics – no need to say “It’s all Greek to me” here – adds a mysterious, multidimensional element to their epic doom, and suggests further mastery to come. Fans of the aforementioned as well as Solitude Aeternus, DoomSword, and Crypt Sermon are wholeheartedly encouraged to get devoured by Ανθρωποβόρος!

Tracklisting for TÈLMA’s Ανθρωποβόρος
1. Καλότυχες / Lucky ones
2. Αντίο / Goodbye
3. Ερπετό / Serpent
4. Φωνή / Voice
5. Θέρος / Summer
6. Τέλμα / Dead End
7. Φανοστάτης / Lamp Post
8. Χώμα / Soil

Cover art by Jim Pallis.

Line-up:
Marios – Guitars
Kostis – Guitars, Bass, Synthesizers
Vangelis – Vocals
Chris – Drums

Tèlma on Bandcamp

Tèlma on Facebook

Dying Victims Productions website

Dying Victims Productions on Bandcamp

Dying Victims Productions on Instagram

Dying Victims Productions on Facebook

If you don’t know German doomers Naevus and need a why-am-I-paying-attention-to-this for their upcoming third album, Back Home, consider they’ve been a band for 30 years (admittedly there was a long inactive stretch in there) and their 1998 debut, Sun Meditation, came out on Rise Above. Contemporary to Orange Goblin‘s Time Travelling Blues and Electric Wizard‘s Come My Fanatics, that makes them, though Naevus have more in common sound-wise with Trouble, as the currently-streaming title-track to Back Home demonstrates.

Particularly, I get a spirit like later-Eric Wagner-era, an undervalued LP like Simple Mind Condition, in the acoustic/electric blend of “Back Home,” and the melody feels comfortable in itself and range. Doom that knows what it’s about, in other words. The band’s 2016 return LP, Heavy Burden (review here) was issued through Meta Matter Records, but Dying Victims Productions is standing behind Back Home, and the label sent the whole story down the PR wire.

Have at it:

NAEVUS premiere new track, set release date for new DYING VICTIMS album

DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present NAEVUS’ highly anticipated third album, Back Home, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hailing from Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany’s NAEVUS was originally formed in 1991 as a death metal trio. Various lineup changes and musical alterations led to the first demo Quixotic Dreams in 1993. The second demo, A Sad Illusion, arrived a year later bearing a doomier sound and clean vocals. In 1995 the Autumn Sun demo was recorded and released, with the lineup still existing today: Uwe Groebel (vocals / lead guitar), Oliver Grosshans (guitar), Sven Heimerdinger (bass), and Mathias Straub (drums). The demo – influenced by Trouble, Pentagram, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, and Black Sabbath – received very good international reviews and finally led to the first recording contract in 1997 with Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records. The recordings were made at Vielklang Studio in Berlin where The Obsessed’s debut and Saint Vitus’ V were recorded. Bearing the title Sun Meditation, NAEVUS’ debut album was released in March 1998.

Thereafter, NAEVUS’ musical style continued to develop. This was followed by the 14 Inches of Fury four-way split with Revelation, Twisted Tower Dire, and Grief of God as well as the song “R.I.P” on the Trouble tribute album. After family and professional changes, the band went their separate ways in 1999, while at the same time, Mathias Straub and Oliver Grosshans founded the epic power metal band Sacred Steel. From then on, Uwe Groebel dedicated himself to the doom trio Voodooshock with further song ideas, before the band got back together in 2012 and the first rehearsals for the reunion show with Saint Vitus began. Originally, they only wanted to play the old songs again, but the joy of playing meant that new songs were not long in coming. In 2016, the second long-player, Heavy Burden, was released and garnered with internationally positive reviews.

In 2023, recordings began for a third album. At last here, Back Home is its title, and quite aptly. NAEVUS are nothing if not consistent, and within the opening minute – hell, even seconds – you are right Back Home with their warm, emotive doom. And yet, while NAEVUS’ traditional-yet-signature sound remains stronger than ever, the means of arriving at that have changed some. Nowadays, the band acts more flexibly and arranges the entire songs together, which was previously almost exclusively reserved for Uwe Groebel. Groebel’s vocals are as melodically hypnotic as ever, too, with the very personal lyrics imparting loss and grief but also with love and hope – a quality surely highlighted by the man’s warm pipes. Cementing this sensation of warmth and comfort – effectively, being Back Home – the cover art was once again created by Roland Scriver.

DYING VICTIMS is honored to bring NAEVUS Back Home, and the album’s release show will take place with old tape-trading friend Patrick Walker of 40 Watt Sun and Warning at Schwarzer Keiler, Stuttgart on October 2nd.

Tracklisting for Naevus’ Back Home
1. Intro
2. Back Home
3. The Dead Don’t Sleep
4. My Fire
5. Under A Different Sky
6. Ghost
7. Angels Never Come
8. Master Of Shiver
9. Free The Ravens Fly

Naevus are:
Uwe Groebel – vocals/lead guitar
Oliver Grosshans – guitar
Sven Heimerdinger – bass
Mathias Straub – drums

https://naevusdoom.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/NaevusDoom
https://www.facebook.com/naevusdoom

https://www.dying-victims.de
https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dyingvictimsproductions/
https://www.facebook.com/dyingvictimsproductions

Naevus, Back Home (2025)

Day three. Yesterday had its challenges as regards timing, but ultimately I wound up where I wanted to be, which is finished with the writing. Fingers crossed I’m so lucky today. Last time around I hit into a groove pretty early and the days kind of flew, so I’m due a Quarterly Review where it’s a little more pulling teeth to make sentences happen. I’m doing my best either way. That’s it. That’s the update. Let’s go Wednesday.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Godzillionaire, Diminishing Returns

Tell you what. Instead of pretending I knew Godzillionaire at all before this record came along or that I had any prior familiarity with frontman Mark Hennessy‘s ’90s-era outfit Paw — unlike everything else I’ve seen written about the band — I’ll admit to going into Diminishing Returns relatively blind. And somehow it’s still nostalgic? With its heart on its sleeve and one foot in we’re-all-definitely-over-all-that-shit-from-our-20s-by-now-right-guys poetic moodiness, the Lawrence, Kansas, four-piece veer between the atmospherics of “Spin Up Spin Down” and more grounded grooves like that of “Boogie Johnson” or “3rd Street Shuffle.” “Unsustainable” dares post-rock textures and an electronic beat, “Astrogarden” has a chug imported from 1994 and the seven-minutes-each capstone pair “Common Board, Magic Nail,” which does a bit of living in its own head, and “Shadow of a Mountain,” which has a build but isn’t a blowout, reward patient listens. I guess if you were there in the ’90s, it’s god-tier heavy underground hype. From where I sit, it’s pretty solid anyhow.

Godzillionaire website

Ripple Music website

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Time Rift, In Flight

In Flight is the second full-length from Portland, Oregon’s Time Rift, and it brings the revamped trio lineup of vocalist Domino Monet, founding guitarist Justin Kaye and drummer Terrica Catwood to a place between classic heavy rock and classic metal, colliding ’70s groove and declarative ’80s NWOBHM riffing — advance single “The Hunter” strikes with a particularly Mob Rulesian tone, but it’s relatable to a swath of non-sucky metal of the age — such that “Follow Tomorrow” finds a niche that sounds familiar in its obscurity. They’re not ultimately rewriting any playbooks stylistically, but the balance of the production highlights the organic foundation without coming across like a put-on, and the performances thrive in that. Sometimes you want some rock and roll. Time Rift brought plenty for everyone.

Time Rift on Bandcamp

Dying Victims Productions website

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Heavy Trip, Liquid Planet

Canadian instrumentalist trio Heavy Trip released their sophomore LP, Liquid Planet, in Nov. 2024, following on from 2020’s Burning World-issued self-titled debut (review here). A 13-minute title-track serves as opener and longest inclusion (immediate points), setting a high standrad for scorch that the pulls and shred of “Silversun,” the rush and roll of “Astrononaut” (sic) and capper “Mudd Red Moon” with its maybe-just-wah-all-the-time push and noisy comedown ending, righteously answer. It’s easy enough on its face to cite Earthless as an influence — instrumental band with ace guitarist throwing down a gauntlet for 40 minutes; they’re also touring Europe together — but Heavy Trip follow a trajectory of their own within the four songs and are less likely to dwell in a part, as the movement within “Astrononaut” shows plainly. I won’t be surprised when their next one comes with label backing.

Heavy Trip website

Heavy Trip on Bandcamp

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Slung, In Ways

An impressive debut from UK four-piece Slung, whose provenance I don’t know but who sound like they’ve been at it for a while and have come into their first album, In Ways, with clarity of what they want in terms of sound and songwriting. “Laughter” opens raucous, and “Class A Cherry” follows with a sleeker slower roll, while “Come Apart” pushes even further into loud/quiet trades for a soaring chorus and “Collider” pays off its early low-end tension with a melodic hook that feels so much bigger than what one might find in a three-minute song. It goes like that: one cut after another, for 11 songs and 37 minutes, with Slung skillfully guiding the listener from the front of the record to the back. The going can be intense, like “Matador” or the crashing “Thinking About It,” more contemplative like “Limassol” and “Heavy Duty,” and there’s even room for a title-track interlude before the somewhat melancholic “Nothing Left” and “Falling Down” close, though that might only be because Slung use their time so well.

Slung website

Slung on Bandcamp

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Greengoat, Aloft

Madrid-based progressive heavy rockers Greengoat return on a quick turnaround from 2024’s A.I. (review here) to Aloft, which over 33 minutes plays through seven songs each of which has been given a proper name: the album intro is “Zohar,” it moves into the grey-toned tension of “Betty,” “Jim” is moody, “Barney” takes it for a walk, and so on. The big-riffed centerpiece “Travis” is a highlight slog, and “Ariel,” which follows, is thoughtful in its melody and deceptively nuanced in the underlying rhythm. That’s kind of how Greengoat do. They’ve taken their influences — and in the case of closer “Charles,” that includes black metal — and internalized them toward their own methodologies, and as such, Aloft feels all the more individually constructed. Hail Iberia as Western Europe’s most undervalued heavy hotspot.

Greengoat website

Argonauta Records website

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Author & Punisher, Body Dome Light

If it seems a little on the nose for Author & Punisher, modern industrial music’s most doom-tinged purveyor, to cover Godflesh, who helped set the style in motion in the first place, yeah, it definitely is. That accounts for the reverence with which Tristan Shone treats the track that originally appeared on 1994’s Selfless LP, and maybe is part of why the song’s apparently been sitting for 11 years since it was recorded in 2014. Accordingly, if some of the sounds remind of 2015’s Melk en Honig (discussed here), the era might account for that. In Shone‘s interpretation, though, the defeated vocal of Justin K. Broadrick becomes a more aggressive rasp and the guitar is transposed to synth. One advantage to living in the age of content-creation is stuff like this gets released at all, let alone posted so you can stream or download as you will. Get it now so when it shows up on the off-album-tracks compilation later you can roll your eyes and be extra cool.

Author & Punisher website

Relapse Records website

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Children of the Sün, Leaving Ground, Greet the End

It’s gotta be a trap, right? The third full-length from Arvika, Sweden, heavy-hippie folk-informed psychedelic rockers Children of the Sün can’t really be this sweet, right? The soaring “Lilium?” The mellow, lap-steel-included motion in “Come With Us?” The fact that they stonerfy “Whole Lotta Love?” Yeah, no way. I know how this goes. You show up and the band are like, “Hey everything’s cool, check out this better universe we just made” and then the next thing you know the floor drops out and you’re doing manual labor on some Swedish farm to align yourself with some purported oneness. I hear you, “Starlighter.” You’re gorgeous and one of many vivid temptations on Leaving Ground, Greet the End, but you’ll not take my soul on your outbound journey through the melodic cosmos. I’m just gonna stay here and be miserable and there’s nothing you or that shiver-down-the-spine backing vocal in “Lovely Eyes” can do about it. So there.

Children of the Sün on Instagram

Children of the Sün on Bandcamp

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Pothamus, Abur

While the core math at work in Pothamus‘ craft in terms of bringing together crushing, claustrophobic tonality, aggressive purposes and expansive atmospherics isn’t necessarily new for a post-metallic playbook, but the melodies that the Belgian trio keep in their pocket for an occasion like “De-Varium” or the drone-folk “Ykavus” before they find another layer of breadth in the 15-minute closing title-track are no less engrossing across the subdued stretches within the six songs of Abur than the band are consuming at their heaviest, and the percussion in the early build of the finale says it better than I could, calling back to the ritualism of opener “Zhikarta” and the way it seems to unfold another layer of payoff with each measure as it crosses the halfway point, only to end up squeezing itself through a tiny tube of low end and finding freedom on the other side in a flood of drone, the entire album playing out its 46 minutes not like parts of a single song, but vivid in the intention of creating a wholeness that is very much manifest in its catharsis.

Pothamus on Bandcamp

Pelagic Records website

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Gentle Beast, Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier (…From Outer Space)

Gentle Beast are making stoner rock for stoner rockers, if the cumbersome title Vampire Witch Reptilian Super Soldier (…From Outer Space) of the Swiss five-piece’s sophomore LP didn’t already let you know, and from the desert-careening of “Planet Drifter” through the Om-style meditation of “Riding Waves of Karma” (bonus points for digeridoo) ahead of the janga-janga verse and killer chorus of “Revenge of the Buffalo,” they’re not shy about highlighting the point. There’s a spoken part in the early going of “Voodoo Hoodoo Space Machine” that seems to be setting up a narrative, and the organ-laced ending of “Witch of the Mountain” certainly could be seen as a chapter of that unfolding story, but I can’t help but feel like I’m thinking too hard. Go with the riffs, because for sure the riffs are going. Gentle Beast hit pretty hard, counter to the name, and that gives Vampire Witch etc. etc. an outwardly aggressive face, but nobody’s actually getting punched here, they’re just loud having a good time. You can too.

Gentle Beast website

Sixteentimes Music website

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Acid Magus, Scatterling Empire

Metal and psychedelia rarely interact with such fluidity, but South Africa’s Acid Magus have found a sweet spot where they can lead a record off with a seven-minute onslaught like “War” and still prog out four minutes later on “Incantations” just because both sound so much in their wheelhouse. In addition, the fullness of their tones and modern production style, the way post-hardcore underlines both the nod later in “Wytch” and the shoving apex of “Emperor” is a unifying factor, while the bright-guitar interludes “Ascendancy” and “Absolution” broaden the palette further and contrast the darker exploration of “Citadel” and the finale “Haven,” which provides a fittingly huge and ceremonious culmination to Scatterling Empire‘s sense of space. It’s almost too perfect in terms of the mix and the balance of the arrangements, but when it hits into a more aggressive moment, they sound organic in holding it together. Acid Magus have actively worked to develop their approach. It’s hard to see the quality of these songs as anything other than reward for that effort.

Acid Magus on Bandcamp

Mongrel Records website

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Welcome to the Spring 2025 Quarterly Review. If you’re unfamiliar with the format or how this goes, the quick version is each day brings 10 new releases — albums, EPs, even a single every now and again — that are reviewed at at the end of it everybody has a ton of new music to listen to and I’m a little closer to being caught up to what’s coming out after spending about a season falling behind on coverage. Everybody wins, mostly.

It’s a seven-day QR. As always, some of what will be covered is older and some is new. There are a couple 2024 releases. The 10,000 Years record, for example, I should’ve reviewed five times over by now, but life happens. There’s also stuff that isn’t released yet, so it all averages out to some approximation of relevance. Hopefully.

In any case, we proceed. Thanks if you keep up this week and into next.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Pagan Altar, Never Quite Dead

Classic metal par excellence pervades the first Pagan Altar album since 2017 and the first to feature vocalist Brendan Radigan (Magic Circle) in place of founding singer Terry Jones, who passed away in 2015 and whose son, guitarist Alan Jones, is the sole remaining founding member of the band, which started in 1978. Never Quite Dead collects eight varied tracks, some further evidence for the line of NWOBHM extending out of the dual-guitar pioneering of Thin Lizzy, plenty of overarching melancholy, and it honors the idea of the band having a classic sound without sacrificing modern impact in the recording. The subdued “Liston Church,” the later doomly sprawl of “The Dead’s Last March” and the willful grandiosity of the nine-minute finale “Kismet” assure that Never Quite Dead indeed resonates vibrant with a heart made of denim.

Pagan Altar on Facebook

Dying Victims Productions website

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Designer, Weekend at Brian’s

Somewhere between proto-punk and 1990s alt-rock come Designer with the three-song demo Weekend at Brian’s. Based in Asheville, the band have an edge of danger to their tones, but the outward face is catchy and quirky, a little Blondie but with deceptively heavy riffing in “Magic Memory” and extra-satisfyingly farty bass in “Midnight Waltz” as the band engage Blue Öyster Cult in a conversation of fears, the band wind up somewhere between heavy modern indie and retro-minded fare. “Ugly in the Streets” moves like a Ramones song and I’ve got no problem with that. However they go, the songs are pointedly straightforward, and they kind of need to be for the stripped-down style to work. Nothing’s over three minutes long, the songs are tight, and it’s got style without overloading on the pretense, which especially for a new outfit is an excellent place to start.

Designer on Instagram

Designer on Bandcamp

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10,000 Years, All Quiet on the Final Frontier

The hopeful keyboard of album intro “Orbital Decay” gradually devolves into noise, and from there, Swedish crash-and-bash specialists 10,000 Years show you what it’s all about — gutted-out heavy riffing, ace swing in “The Experiment” and a whole lot of head-down forward shove. The Västerås-based trio have yet to put out a record that wasn’t a step forward from the one before it, and this late-2024 third full-length feels duly realized in how it incorporates the psychedelic aspects of “Ablaze in the Now” with the physical intensity of “The Weight of a Feather” or closer “Down the Heavy Path.” But they’re more dynamic on the whole, as “Death Valley Ritual” dares a bit of spoken drama, and “High Noon in Sword City” reminds that there’s a good dose of noise rock underpinning what 10,000 Years do, and that cacophony still suits them even as they’ve expanded around that foundation over the last five years.

10,000 Years on Facebook

Ripple Music website

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Amber Asylum, Ruby Red

Amber Asylum are a San Francisco arthouse institution, and from its outset with the five-minute instrumental “Secrets,” the band’s 10th album, Ruby Red, counsels patience in mournful, often softspoken chamber doom. The use of space as the title-track unfolds with founding violinist/vocalist Kris Force‘s voice over minimalist bass, encompassing and sad as the song plays out with an emergent dirge of strings and percussion, where the subsequent “Demagogue” is more actively drummed, the band having already drawn the listener deeper into the record’s seven-song cycle. The cello of Jackie Perez-Gratz (also Grayceon, Brume) gives centerpiece “The Morrigan” extra character later on, and it’s there in “Azure” as well, though the context shifts with foreboding drones of various wavelengths behind the vocals. Ambience plus bite. “Weaver” rolls through its first half instrumentally, realigning around the strings and steady movement; its back half is reverently sung without lyrics. And when they get to closer “A Call on the Wind,” the sense of unease in the violin is met with banging-on-a-spring-style experimentalist noise, just to underscore the sense of things being wrong as far as realities go. It’s not a minor undertaking as regards atmospheric or emotional weight, but empathy resounds.

Amber Asylum on Instagram

Prophecy Productions website

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Weevil, Easy Way

With Fu Manchu as a defining influence, Greek heavy rockers Weevil set forth with Easy Way, their 10-song/42-minute self-released debut album. They pay homage to Lemmy with the cleverly-titled “Rickenbästard” — you know I’m a sucker for charm — and diverge from the straight-ahead heavy thrust on the mellower, longer “The Old Man Lied” and “Insomnia,” but by and large, the five-piece are here to throw down riffy groove and have a good time, and they do just that. The title-track, “Wake the Dead” and “Headache” provide a charged beginning, and even by the time the crunch of “Gonna Fall” slides casually into the nodder hook of closer “Last Night a Zombie” (“…ate my brain” is the rest of the line), they’ve still got enough energy to make it feel like the party could easily continue. It just might. There’s perspective in this material that feels like it might take shape over time, and in my mind, Weevil get immediate credit for being upfront in their homage and wearing their own heavy fandom on their sleeves. You can hear their love for it.

Weevil on Facebook

Weevil on Bandcamp

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Kazea, I, Ancestral

Adventurous and forward-thinking post-metal pervades Swedish trio Kazea‘s debut album, and the sound is flexible enough in their craft to let “Whispering Hand” careen like neo-psych after the screams and lurch of “Trenches” provide one of the record’s most extreme moments, bolstered by guest vocals. Indeed, “Whispering Hand” is a rocker and something of an outlier for that, as Pale City Skin draws a downerist line between Crippled Black Phoenix and circa-’04 Neurosis, “Wailing Blood” finds a way to meld driving rhythm and atmospheric heft, and the seven-minute “Seamlessly Woven” caps with suitable depth of wash, following the lushness of the penultimate “The North Passage” in its howling, growl-topped chorus with another expression of the ethereal. I haven’t heard a ton of hype about I, Ancestral, but regardless, this is one of the best debut albums I’ve heard so far this year for sure. Post-metal needs bands willing to push its limits.

Kazea on Instagram

Suicide Records website

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Electric Eye, Dyp Tid

Hard not to think of the 14-minute weirdo-psych jam “Mycelium” as the highlight of Dyp Tid, but one shouldn’t discount the lead-you-in warmth and serenity of opener “Pendelen Svinger,” or the bit of dub in the drumming of “Clock of the Long Now,” and so on as Norway’s Electric Eye — which is a pretty straightforward name, considering the sound — vibe blissful for the duration. The drone “Den Første Lysstråle” is hypnotic, and though the vocals in “Mycelium” are a sample, the human presence periodically sprinkled throughout the album feels like it’s adding comfort amid what might be an anxious plunge into the cosmos. They finish with “Hvit Lotus,” which marries together various kinds of synth over a deceptively casual beat, capping light with vocals or synth-vocals in a bright chorus over chime sounds and drifting guitar. You made it to the island. You’re safe. Gentle fade out.

Electric Eye website

Fuzz Club Records website

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Void Sinker, Oxygen

Multi-instrumentalist and producer Guglielmo Allegro is the sole denizen behind Void Sinker, and while I know full well we live in an age of technological wonders/horrors, that one person could conjure up such encompassing heavy sounds — the way 14-minute opener “Satellite” just swallows you whole — is impressive. Oxygen is the Salerno, Italy, DIY project’s fourth full-length in two years, and its intent to crush is plain from the outset. “Satellite” has its own summary progression of what the rest of the album does, and then “Oxygen” (9:45), “Collision” (15:23) and “Abyss” (13:32) play through increasingly noisy slab-riff distribution. This is done methodically, at mostly slow tempos, with tonal depth and an obvious awareness of where it’s coming from. Presumably that, and a lack of argument from anyone else when he wants to ride a groove for 15 minutes, is why Void Sinker is a solo outfit. One of distinctive bludgeon, it turns out. Like big riffs pushing the air out of your lungs? Here you go.

Void Sinker on Instagram

Void Sinker on Bandcamp

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André Drage Group, Wolves

Draken drummer André Drage leads the group that shares his name from behind the kit, it would seem, but even if only one name gets to be in the moniker, make no mistake, the entire band is present and accounted for. Challenging each other in jazz-prog fashion, Wolves is the second album from the Group in as many months. It leads off with its longest track (immediate points) “Brainsoup,” and by the time they’re through with it, it is. We’re talking ace prog boogie, funky like El Perro might do it, but looser and more improv feeling in the solo of “Potent Elixirs,” giving a spontaneous impression even in the studio, ebbing and flowing in the runs of “Tigerboy” while “Wind in Their Sails” is both more King Crimson and more shuffling-Rhodes-jam, which is the kind of party you want to be at whether you know it or not. The penultimate “Fire” gets lit by the guitar, and they round out with “Nesodden,” a sweet comedown from some of Wolves‘ more frenetic movements. Like a supernova, but not uncontained. This is a band ready to drop jaws.

André Drage Group on Bandcamp

Drage Records website

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The Mystery Lights, Purgatory

The Sept. 2024 third album from NYC-based vintage rockers The Mystery Lights skillfully weaves together garage rock and ’60s pop theatrics, giving the bounce and sway of the title-track an immediately nostalgic impression that the jangly “In the Streets” is probably about a ahead from in terms of influence, but the blend is the thing. Regardless of how developed the punk is or isn’t in a given track — I dig the shaker in “Trouble” and it manages a sense of ‘island’ without being racist, so bonus points for that — or how “Cerebral Crack” brings flute in with its extra-fuzzed guitar later on or “Memories” and “Automatic Response” feel more soul than rock in both intent and manifestation, The Mystery Lights benefit from pairing stylistic complexity with structural simplicity, and the 12 songs of Purgatory find a niche outside genre norms and time all the more for the fact that the band don’t seem concerned with anything so much as writing songs that sound like home the first time you hear them.

The Mystery Lights’ Linktr.ee

The Mystery Lights on Bandcamp

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Stockholm-based classic heavy rockers The Riven will release their third full-length, Visions of Tomorrow, on April 25 through Dying Victims Productions, and the video for “Set My Heart on Fire” premiering below celebrates the impending LP in duly uptempo fashion, highlighting the more pop-informed side of the five-piece’s style. Traces of Thin Lizzy in the dual guitar at the outset speak to the nascent NWOBHMery fleshed out in the hooky “Killing Machine” early on while a rock and roll — unqualified in genre terms: rock and roll — chorus in “Follow You” answers the accessible intentions of “Set My Heart on Fire.” Like the record from whence it comes, the clip is all about performance — live, in the studio, alone, together — and the communication of thoughts, feelings, moods and atmospheres that emerges from the band’s straight-ahead-in-terms-of-structure songwriting that draws on influences from ’60s garage and ’70s boogie to the harder metallurgical realizations of the early 1980s. Through it all, the band shine through with clarity, persona and purpose.

The album begins with “Far Away From Home,” the first of the 11 inclusions and the first and by no means last soaring vocal from Charlotta “Totta” Ekebergh, who in presence and range takes almost immediate ownership of the material. With the guitars of Joakim Sandegård and Arnau Díaz, Max Ternebring‘s bass and Elias Jonsson‘s drumming behind her, the here’s-that-word-again classic dynamic of the band is both showcase and sandbox, and the whole band plays accordingly.

Like “Travelling Great Distance” and the title-track, “Set My Heart on Fire” is less than three and a half minutes long, but that’s plenty of time for The Riven to plant a chorus in your brain to keep you coming back, and whether it’s the Swedish-language “En Dag Som Aldrig Forr” or the subsequent pledges of affection and loyalty that follow to cap the record with “We Love You” — think Grand Funk writing a song in the studio to play live speaking directly to the audience in the lyrics — and “Follow You.” Engaging the listener, delivering with energy as a part of that, and general efficiency of craft seem to be the priorities across the taut 39-minute span.

It’s to The Riven‘s credit that they’re able to shift between different feels like the atmospheric break in “Crystals” — longest track at 4:55 — and “On My Mind (Tonight),” which rallies around a bouncy rhythm and choppy riff that maybe reminds of Scorpions or maybe just calls back to “Killing Machine” earlier on; I won’t profess to know. Though it all, Ekebergh ties the songs together on vocals and remains a powerhouse ready to belt out another memorable line as the band weave between max-push and mellower looks. It is pro-shop in sound and execution in a way that few records even based adjacent to heavy rock would dare to be.

And as one might anticipate for a record comprised of 11 hammered-out individual tracks assembled together for maximum flow and listener-carry, momentum stays on The Riven‘s side for the duration. The charge of “Seen it All” provides a boot to side B that continues in the title-cut, and “En Dag Som Aldrig Forr” is a groover whether you speak Swedish or not. More than anything else, Visions of Tomorrow feels like a point of arrival for the The Riven in terms of the songs themselves. The band sound like they knew going into writing what they wanted to write, and that they succeed as they do front-to-back continues to highlight them among the most stage-ready-sounding outfits in the ever-packed Scandinavian underground.

For the person in your life — we all have that person — who says rock music is dead, here’s a band whose very existence is fervent counterargument.

Info follows from the PR wire. Please enjoy:

The Riven, “Set My Heart on Fire” official video

DYING VICTIMS is proud to present THE RIVEN’s highly anticipated third album, Visions of Tomorrow, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Pre-order:
www.dyingvictims.com
https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/

Formed in 2016, Stockholm-by-way-of-London power rockers THE RIVEN have carved a uniquely compelling place for themselves, drawing musical influence from a wide array of genres. Hard rock, old prog, early heavy metal, and even simply rock ‘n’ roll itself: no mossy stone is left unturned by THE RIVEN. And when combined with their lyrical themes – from everyday life all the way to the fantasy-inspired, with sometimes both intertwining – the quintet have forged their own path, displaying a sound fitting firmly within the late ‘70’s and early ‘80s but with an effervescence that feels palpably modern.

Where their second album, 2022’s Peace and Conflict, felt like a watershed moment – moving from the “powerful rocker” of their eponymous debut album in 2019 to an emotive, electric, but no-less-earthy sort of NWOBHM – THE RIVEN sound positively poised for another breakthrough with their forthcoming third full-length, Visions of Tomorrow. Presciently titled, Visions of Tomorrow struts and sways with that sort of star quality that can only come from total, utter self-belief…and absolutely stunning songs! The sound is more present and raw than before, ear-effortlessly exuding dynamics lost to most “hard rock” bands. THE RIVEN here offer a sumptuous feast of familiar-yet-fresh heavy rock built on massive HOOKS and HEART. Not for nothing have they become a finely honed ensemble; touring nonstop has been the band’s lifeblood for years now, and that tangible sense of magick swirls about each of these 11 anthems. New drummer Elias Jonsson pumps that blood with an almost “laidback urgency,” and the rest of THE RIVEN let rip with what they liken more “complete” songwriting: the songs may be shorter than previous ones, but they’re undeniably more action-packed and nuanced.

Interestingly, while writing for Visions of Tomorrow was done in Stockholm in late 2023, THE RIVEN was selected for an international studio residency as part of the Swedish national arts association, and the band lived for a few days at the highly prestigious studio Fascination Street in Örebro. The album was mixed and co-produced by Robert Pehrsson (The Hellacopters, Tribulation, Dead Lord among others). Lyrically, Visions of Tomorrow showcases a band that is frustrated about how the world is run, who’s in charge, and what is about to happen to the rest of us. Musically, it showcases a band that can handle their instruments and is willing to explore and go on musical journeys. THE RIVEN themselves claim that this third album is “a fine example of rock ‘n’ roll being played at its best – it’s honest, it’s urgent, it’s calling you, and it will make you shake your fist and bang your head – all while thinking about where we are and where we are going.”

Wherever you want to go with Visions of Tomorrow, there’s no disputing the fact that THE RIVEN are poised to take over the biggest stages all over the world!

1. Far Away From Home
2. Killing Machine
3. Set My Heart On Fire
4. Travelling Great Distance
5. Crystals
6. On My Mind (Tonight)
7. Seen It All
8. Visions Of Tomorrow
9. En Dag Som Aldrig Forr
10. We Love You
11. Follow You

Line-up:
Totta Ekebergh – Vocals
Joakim Sandegård – Guitar
Arnau Díaz – Guitar
Max Ternebring – Bass
Elias Jonsson – Drums

The Riven, Visions of Tomorrow (2025)

The Riven on Facebook

The Riven on Instagram

The Riven on Bandcamp

The Riven’s Linktr.ee

Dying Victims Productions website

Dying Victims Productions on Facebook

Dying Victims Productions on Instagram

Dying Victims Productions on Bandcamp

I just decided how long this Quarterly Review is actually going to be. It’s seven days, then I’ll do my year-end list and the poll results on New Year’s Eve and Day, respectively. That’s the plan. Though honestly, I might pick up after that weekend and continue QR-style for that next week. There’s a lot more to cover, I think. The amount of releases this year has been pretty insane and completely overwhelming. I’ve tried to keep up as best I can and clearly have failed in that regard or I probably wouldn’t be so swamped now. So it goes. One way or the other, I don’t think a lot of emails are getting answered for the next two weeks, though I’ll try to keep up with that too.

But anyhow, that’s what’s up. Here’s Day II (because this is the QR where I do Roman numerals for absolutely no reason).

Quarterly Review #11-20:

16, Dream Squasher

The fourth long-player since 16‘s studio return with 2009’s Bridges to Burn, the 10-track Dream Squasher begins with tales of love for kid and dog, respectively. The latter might be the sweetest lyrics I’ve ever read for something that’s still bludgeoning sludge — said dog also gets a mention amid the ultra-lumbering chug and samples of “Acid Tongue” — and it’s worth mentioning that as the Cali intensity institution nears 30 years since their start in 1991, they’re branching out in theme and craft alike, as the melody of the organ-laced “Sadlands” shows. There’s even some harmonica in “Agora (Killed by a Mountain Lion),” though it’s soon enough swallowed by pummel and the violent punk of “Ride the Waves” follows. “Summer of ’96” plays off Bryan Adams for another bit of familial love, while closing duo “Screw Unto Others” and “Kissing the Choir Boy” indict capitalist and religious figureheads in succession amid weighted plod and seething anger, the band oddly in their element in this meld of ups, downs and slaughter.

16 on Thee Facebooks

16 at Relapse Records

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BoneHawk, Iron Mountain

Kalamazoo four-piece BoneHawk make an awaited follow-up to their 2014 debut, Albino Rhino (discussed here), in the form of Iron Mountain, thereby reminding listeners why it’s been awaited in the first place. Solid, dual-guitar, newer-school post-The Sword heavy rock. Second cut “Summit Fever” reminds a bit of Valley of the Sun and Freedom Hawk, but neither is a bad echelon of acts to stand among, and the open melodies of the subsequent title-track and the later “Fire Lake” do much to distinguish BoneHawk along the way. The winding lead lines of centerpiece “Wildfire” offer due drama in their apex, and “Thunder Child” and “Future Mind” are both catchy enough to keep momentum rolling into the eight-minute closer “Lake of the Clouds,” which caps with due breadth and, yes, is the second song on the record about a lake. That’s how they do in Michigan and that’s just fine.

BoneHawk on Thee Facebooks

Cursed Tongue Records webstore

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DÖ, Black Hole Mass

DÖ follow the Valborg example of lumbering barking extremity into a cosmic abyss on their Black Hole Mass three-songer, emitting charred roll like it’s interstellar background radiation and still managing to give an underlying sense of structure to proceedings vast and encompassing. “Gravity Sacrifice” and “Plasma “Psalm” are right on in their teeth-grinding shove, but it’s the 10-minute finale “Radiation Blessing” that steals my heart with its trippy break in the middle, sample, drifting guitar and all, as the Finnish trio build gradually back up to a massive march all the more effective for the atmosphere they’ve constructed around it. Construction, as it happens, is the underlying strength of Black Hole Mass, since it’s the firm sense of structure beneath their songs that allows them to so ably engage their dark matter metal over the course of these 22 minutes, but it’s done so smoothly one hardly thinks about it while listening. Instead, the best thing to do is go along for the ride, brief as it is, or at least bow head in appreciation to the ceremony as it trods across rigid stylistic dogma.

DÖ on Thee Facebooks

Lay Bare Recordings website

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Howling Giant & Sergeant Thunderhoof, Turned to Stone Chapter 2: Masamune & Muramasa

Let this be a lesson to, well, everyone. This is how you do a conceptual split. Two bands getting together around a central idea — in this case, Tennessee’s Howling Giant and UK’s Sergeant Thunderhoof — both composing single tracks long enough to consume a vinyl side and expanding their reach not only to work with each other but further their own progressive sonic ideologies. Ripple Music‘s Turned to Stone split series is going to have a tough one to top in Masamune & Muramasa, as Howling Giant utterly shine in “Masamune” and the rougher-hewn tonality of Sergeant Thunderhoof‘s “Maramasa” makes an exceptional complement. Running about 41 minutes, the release is a journey through dynamic, with each act pushing their songwriting beyond prior limits in order to meet the occasion head-on and in grand fashion. They do, and the split easily stands among the best of 2020’s short releases as a result. If you want to hear where heavy rock is going, look no further.

Howling Giant on Thee Facebooks

Sergeant Thunderhoof on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

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Chimney Creeps, Nosedive

Punkish shouts over dense noise rock tones, New York trio Chimney Creeps make their full-length debut with Nosedive, which they’ve self-released on vinyl. The album runs through seven tracks, and once it gets through the straight-ahead heavy punk of “March of the Creeps” and “Head in the Sand” at the outset, the palette begins to broaden in the fuzzy and gruff “Unholy Cow,” with the deceptively catchy “Splinter” following. “Creeper” and “Satisfied” before it are longer and accordingly more atmospheric, with a truck-backing-up sample at the start of “Creeper” that would seem to remind listeners just where the band’s sound has put them: out back, around the loading dock. Fair enough as “Diving Line” wraps in accordingly workmanlike fashion, the vocals cutting through clearly as they have all the while, prominent in the mix in a way that asks for balance. “Bright” I believe is the word an engineer might use, but the vocals stand out, is the bottom line, and thereby assure that the aggressive stance of the band comes across as more than a put-on.

Chimney Creeps on Thee Facebooks

Chimney Creeps on Bandcamp

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Kingnomad, Sagan Om Rymden

Kingnomad‘s third album, Sagan Om Rymden certainly wants nothing for scope or ambition, setting its progressive tone with still-hooky opener “Omniverse,” before unfurling the more patient chug in “Small Beginnings” and taking on such weighted (anti-)matter as “Multiverse” and “The Creation Hymn” and “The Unanswered Question” later on. Along the way, the Swedish troupe nod at Ghost-style melodicism, Graveyard-ish heavy blues boogie — in “The Omega Experiment,” no less — progressive, psychedelic and heavy rocks and no less than the cosmos itself, as the Carl Sagan reference in the record’s title seems to inform the space-based mythology expressed and solidified within the songs. Even the acoustic-led interlude-plus “The Fermi Paradox” finds room to harmonize vocals and prove a massive step forward for the band. 2018’s The Great Nothing (review here) and 2017’s debut, Mapping the Inner Void (review here), were each more accomplished than the last, but Sagan Om Rymden is just a different level. It puts Kingnomad in a different class of band.

Kingnomad on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

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Shores of Null, Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying)

By the time Shores of Null are nine minutes into the single 38-minute track that makes up their third album, Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying), they would seem to have unveiled at least four of the five vocalists who appear throughout the proceedings, with the band’s own Davide Straccione joined by Swallow the Sun‘s Mikko Kotamäki as well as Thomas A.G. Jensen (Saturnus), Martina Lesley Guidi (of Rome’s Traffic Club) and Elisabetta Marchetti (INNO). There are guests on violin, piano and double-bass as well, so the very least one might say is that Shores of Null aren’t kidding around when they’re talking about this record in a sense of being ‘beyond’ themselves. The journey isn’t hindered so much as bolstered by the ambition, however, and the core five-piece maintain a steady presence throughout, serving collectively as the uniting factor as “Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying)” moves through its portrayal of the stages of grief in according movements of songcraft, gorgeously-arranged and richly composed as they are as they head toward the final storm. In what’s been an exceptional year for death-doom, Shores of Null still stand out for the work they’ve done.

Shores of Null on Thee Facebooks

Spikerot Records website

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The Device, Tribute Album

Tectonic sludge has become a mainstay in Polish heavy, and The Device, about whom precious little is known other than they’re very, very, very heavy when they want to be, add welcome atmospherics to the lumbering weedian procession. “Rise of the Device” begins the 47-minute Tribute Album in crushing form, but “Ritual” and the first minute or so of “BongOver” space out with droney minimalism, before the latter track — the centerpiece of the five-songer and only cut under six minutes long at 2:42 — explodes in consuming lurch. “Indica” plays out this structure again over a longer stretch, capping with birdsong and whispers and noise after quiet guitar and hypnotic, weighted riffing have played back and forth, but it’s in the 23-minute closer “Exhale” that the band finds their purpose, a live-sounding final jam picking up after a long droning stretch to finish the record with a groove that, indeed, feels like a release in the playing and the hearing. Someone’s speaking at the end but the words are obscured by echo, and to be sure, The Device have gotten their point across by then anyhow. The stark divisions between loud and quiet on Tribute Album are interesting, as well as what the band might do to cover the in-between going forward.

Galactic SmokeHouse Records on Thee Facebooks

The Device on Bandcamp

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Domo, Domonautas Vol. 2

Spanish progressive heavy psychedelic semi-instrumentalists Domo follow late-2019’s Domonautas Vol. 1 (review here) with a four-song second installment, and Domonautas Vol. 2 answers its predecessor back with the jazz-into-doom of “Avasaxa” (7:43) and the meditation in “Dolmen” (13:50) on side A, and the quick intro-to-the-intro “El Altar” (2:06) and the 15-minute “Vientohalcón” on side B, each piece working with its own sense of motion and its own feeling of progression from one movement to the next, never rushed, never overly patient, but smooth and organic in execution even in its most active or heaviest stretches. The two most extended pieces offer particular joys, but neither should one discount the quirky rhythm at the outset of “Avasaxa” or the dramatic turn it makes just before five minutes in from meandering guitar noodling to plodding riffery, if only because it sounds like Domo are having so much fun catching the listener off guard. Exactly as they should be.

Domo on Thee Facebooks

Clostridium Records website

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Early Moods, Spellbound

Doom be thy name. Or, I guess Early Moods be thy name, but doom definitely be thy game. The Los Angeles four-piece make their debut with the 26-minute Spellbound, and I suppose it’s an EP, but the raw Pentagram worship on display in the opening title-track and the Sabbath-ism that ensues flows easy and comes through with enough sincerity of purpose that if the band wanted to call it a full-length, one could hardly argue. Guitar heads will note the unbridled scorch of the solos throughout — centerpiece “Isolated” moves from one into a slow-Slayer riff that’s somehow also Candlemass, which is a feat in itself — while “Desire” rumbles with low-end distortion that calls to mind Entombed even as the vocals over top are almost pure Witchcraft. They save the most engaging melody for the finale “Living Hell,” but even that’s plenty grim and suited to its accompanying dirt-caked feel. Rough in production, but not lacking clarity, Spellbound entices and hints at things to come, but has a barebones appeal all its own as well.

Early Moods on Thee Facebooks

Dying Victims Productions website

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