![]() That the melodies take some picking out only makes them sweeter. They have that same succulent, inviting quality, winks and tongue lashes sending two different invitations, one sly and one profane, that are not mixed signals. The first godhead is Mercyful Fate, whose melodies are all over this record, caught up in a malevolent whirlwind. (Read my initial review in October’s column here.)Īchatius (Sepulchral Voice/The Ajna Offensive)įunereal Presence’s second record Achatius is a masterclass in how a little convention, a little worship of the old, old ones, makes your esoteric attack a juggernaut. Hallucinogen, at its core, is transformative. It’s his most soaring yet, his most mind-cutting, going further than trance and just shaking your brain into something it wasn’t before. There is the spunk of youth of Ultima Thulée, yet this is informed by wisdom and honing his attack. ![]() Through extremity, there’s a real joy, a real want to love. You can feel a twinge of the industrial repetition that he came into prominence with The Work Which Transforms God, and yet it’s a drastic mistake to call this a dark recording. It shares a more obvious black metal front like his Memoria Vetusta trilogy, yet ventures into more rock territory. Its key genius is the same as his other stunners in that doesn’t sound like any of his other records, but it only sounds like Blut Aus Nord. Hallucinogen leans, no, surges toward the latter end of the spectrum. Vindsval’s worst works as Blut Aus Nord are merely really good, and his best works are transcendent genre-defining masterpieces. Death metal has rarely been so exhilarating to listen to. Closer “Awakening from the Dream of Existence to the Multidimensional Nature of Our Reality (Mirror of the Soul)” is Tucker-era Morbid Angel as prog epic, its searing psychedelic fully realized. Morbid Angel has always been a touchstone, and here, their sound is rescued from over-production, namely in how drummer Isaac Faulk draws upon Pete Sandoval’s more natural, fleet-footed drumming. Instrumental “Inner Paths (To Outer Space)” begins with dark drone and deconstructed guitar and ends with workout music for the Starship Troopers bugs. “The Giza Power Plant” is as thrilling when they’re going blast as when they really explore space in expressive soloing. Blood Incantation are insanely fluid, with guitarists Paul Ridel and Morris Kolontyrsky weaving in and out of crushing cosmic bulldozers and more proggy explorations with alarming ease. History is written by the victors, and we will remember this Hidden History. More importantly, Blood Incantation dropped their second full-length Hidden History of the Human Race on the same day, one of the most anticipated records in some time and one that overcame the late November critic attention deficit. On November 22, Coldplay dropped their latest record, and it’s already a smash among NIMBYers everywhere for whom “milquetoast” would be too spicy to deem them. Hidden History of the Human Race (Dark Descent) (Read my initial review of the record in July’s column here.) It shakes, it thrashes, it moves in ways the traditional buzz and screech routine just doesn’t. That’s why Master calls his music Purple Metal. That’s not really something you hear in black metal. ![]() Master has a cockiness I could never emulate but I still highly admire, mainly because he’s got the songs to back it up, and I just love that he has a song called “I Am The Man of Your Dreams” on here. Broken Play is him, and better yet, it’s more him. Two of his finest moments on here, and across his work, are “My Last Song” a coda as an intro that’s packed with hooks, and “Babychain,” one of his most furious songs that doesn’t stray from his inner heart. ![]() “Future Panther” is super thrashy, and the title track goes down some Swedish alleys, like Anti-Cimex running into Nifelheim, getting into a brawl, then making up with a couple more lashes. He embraces the metalpunk he’s always been, making a full-length that’s as furious as his EPs. And in a decade of bangers, Broken Play is his finest work. Any time Damian Master puts out anything as A Pregnant Light, you know it’s making my list.
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