Review: Jute Gyte/Venowl - Split (Black Horizons)

Black Horizons is a label that is constantly pushing the boundaries of what dark music can become. The label has increasingly become a house for the obscure, releasing works from acts like death industrial legend Trepaneringsritualen or a recent demo from American black metal luminaries L'Acephale consisting of original tracks and completely reimagined covers of Darkthrone, Current 93, and Emperor. Everything the label releases is challenging and makes the listener rethink the confines of dark music, which, in turn makes it the perfect label to release this split. A union of two bands that take their respective genres and completely warp them until the foundation is non-existent, only leaving traces of what was, Jute Gyte and Venowl act as perfect compliments to one another.

Jute Gyte strikes first on the split, the project of sole member Adam Kalmbach who creates eerie and surreal black metal. The music created by this individual is honestly unlike anything else, it squirms and writhes creating an incoherent cacophony of squealing guitar, bashing drums, and snarled vocals. At times there is a break from the reckless abandon of the song and a heavy riff will present itself, showcasing a more straightforward form of madness. Jute Gytes approach is discordant and unsettling, relying heavily on odd time signatures and layers upon layers of noise accompanying the metal. The second track from Jute Gyte, "The Rib" immediately hits the listener with disjointed doom, seemingly off-key notes piece through a trudging malice the track presents. Soon after this the doom is gone and back is Kalmbach's frantic style of playing, chords and notes are scattered over noise and ambience. His contribution ends with an almost deathrock feel, echoing guitar and haunting ambience, creating a wholly unsettling atmosphere, a fitting end to the spastic horror found on Jute Gyte's side of the split.

Venowl have recently become a staple of my listening habits. Their brand of black/doom/noise/insert another arbitrary genre here is exceptionally challenging and disturbing. The three members who are simply called ::, ][, and // approach music in a way that, like Jute Gyte, is completely outside the realms of influence and categorization, meaning there is no reference points. One could point to funeral doom or black metal or noise but in reality what Venowl create is something different, something completely their own. A creation that is non-musical yet extremely meticulous and oddly rhythmic. Utilizing the sinister ambience of a violin along with crushing guitar and bass trudging, minimalist drumming, and horribly pained shrieks, Venowl's piece "Snowbed" is twenty-seven minutes of drudging and depraved pandemonium. The only comparison I can make is that of a machine lurching to a grinding, violent halt after being over-worked for hundreds of years the sluggish, lumbering approach is industrial yet strangely organic. Through "Snowbed" the three musicians have yet again solidified their place as one of the most exciting and forward thinking acts currently active.

This split is a testament to how well splits can be executed, a perfect pairing of bands who are both pushing sonic boundaries rather than rehashing ideas. Jute Gyte's atonal and vicious black metal is complimented perfectly by Venowl's horrific dirge. Through this release Black Horizons, Jute Gyte, and Venowl yet again solidify themselves as a major forces within the underground dark music scene. Highly recommended and can be ordered here.

Review: Leather Chalice - Sweet Perfume of Coffin Air (Opaqus Records) & Luna (Broken Limbs Recordings)

Purveyor of blackened everything Jan Slezak has been quite busy in 2014. His amazing "blackened stenchviolence" band Ramlord recently released a split with crusty Dutch comrades Nuclear Devastation and has another split release with USBM stalwarts Krieg out shortly. Not only that but his solo project Leather Chalice has released two phenomenal tapes already this year, one a full-length, Sweet Perfume of Coffin Air which was put out by Opaqus Records. The other a one song 15 minute EP, Luna, which was released by Broken Limbs Recordings. Both are murky rides through a blackened punk nightmare but they each travel very different paths.

Sweet Perfume of Coffin Air

From the creeping ambient intro to the last scuzzy chord of "Despondent Reign" Jan takes the listener on a journey, one of punk ferocity mixed with mournful black metal. Punk and black metal have been a natural combination for quite some time with bands like Bone Awl, Furdidurke, and Raspberry Bulbs making waves in the underground but Leather Chalice's approach is different. Conjuring images of drunken trips to the graveyard Jan's ability to play sloppy (a term used ever so fondly) punk laced with the morbid atmosphere of black metal stands out amongst the hordes of bands playing in a similar style. Some tracks are almost pure punk like "Necrohenosis," which starts off with an almost uplifting post-punky riff but soon turned into a stomping display of swampy punk madness, graced with Jan's howls. Other are purely black metal like the guitar instrumental "The Worshippers Garden," displaying a more traditional black metal sound, melancholy in it's execution. These two songs juxtaposed against one another, one grimy punk one sorrowful black metal work perfectly. The way Jan weaves the two together is astounding. Some tracks seamlessly combine the raw elements of both black metal and punk, like "Conquest of Terminal Despair" which begins with an icy tremolo picked portion that sounds like it's coming straight from the second wave and quickly become a punk ripper before descending back into the black metal framework. The two genres contaminate one another forming a hybrid between the two, not punk, not black metal but some warped combination of both. 

Luna

If Sweet Perfume of Coffin Air is straightforward, Luna represents Jan's foray into the abstract and experimental. Still rooted in the combination of black metal and punk the tape is a 15 minute long delve into the warped psyche of it's undertaker. Filling the Leather Chalice sound with more ambient and noise he and his cohorts, Ben on drums, Tim on OP-I/electronics, and Devyn providing "dungeon ambient" create something unsettling and deranged. Washing the blackened punk in a spacy haze Luna is almost coldly psychedelic at times, guitar harmonies ring out over hypnotic drumming with odd noises fluttering in and out of focus. This is not to say that the blackened punk isn't as vicious as ever, it definitely is, but instead the unsettling atmosphere is amplified by the inclusion of new sounds. Jan's guitar playing is also given new life on the track, often rising above the murk and playing creeping guitar solos. At times the noise takes over, acting as a segue into a new portion of the track, being a huge fan of noise and electronics these additions only add to Leather Chalice's sound, making it more cryptic and providing the album with an experimental touch. The production here is certainly improved, with clarity highlighting the skilled composition of the 15 minute opus, maintaining a raw edge without drowning the instruments in a sea of dirt, perfect for this type of expansive yet filthy music. After all the insanity Luna ends abruptly, coming to a howling (literally) and crashing halt. 

I personally enjoyed Luna more out of the two, the extra elements and the lengthy structure allowed for the album to develop as it went. That being said, both of these albums demand your attention, and will grip you for their duration. If you have any sort of interest in black metal or punk and would enjoy a unique combination of the two Leather Chalice might just be your new favorite band. Sweet Perfume of Coffin Air is available from Opaqus Records here, and act quick the edition of 50 looks to be running out. Luna is available from Broken Limbs Recordings here. Pick both of them up and be dragged into the scummy world of Leather Chalice.

Review: Nuclearhammer - Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer (Nuclear War Now! Productions)

Famous for their brand of "war metal" Canadian bands like Blasphemy, Ouroboros, Rites of Thy Degringolade, Conqueror, and a slew of others have been pumping out extremely chaotic hellstorms of records for roughly three decades now. Not only that, but more recently bands like Mitochondrion and Antediluvian have been taking that crude, war-like formula and altering it to make it even more warped by adding new layers of hypnotic dissonance to the already dense art-form. Enter Nuclearhammer, who on their new full length Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer tread a fine line between the staggering chaos of their Canadian forefathers and the dense and at times experimental works of their peers, creating an album that is distinctly Canadian but also distinctly Nuclearhammer. 

Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer begins with "Multidimensional Prism of Black Hatred" (possibly the greatest song title of all time) which blasts forward with total intensity, blunt repetitive riffing collides with a screeching guitar solo before distant echoing vocals are grunted over the swarming horror. Along with such staggering brutality Nuclearhammer brings atmosphere that is uncommon within the "war metal" genre, equal parts destructive and ambient the track blisters onwards charging to the furthest points of extremity. Emphasis is placed on repetition, on the longer tracks this repetition is used to a hypnotic effect, putting the listener into a trance-like state. Utilized in a way that is typical within black metal albums, however the coldness and sorrow that accompanies black metal's repetition is replaced by Nuclearhammer's brand of hateful, mesmerizing fury. 

The bewitching hypnotic effect of the music adds to the cosmic theme that runs throughout the album. Lyrics of occult dimensions and apocalyptic mayhem are barked forth by three of the members who all assume vocal duties; Axaazaroth, Doomhammer, and Impugnor all taking variants of the same hellish rasp. The metal tracks on the album all basically follow this formula, echoing vocals over devastatingly barbaric blast beats and hypnotic driving riffs. Some variation is thrown in, "Phosphorous Clouds Descend on Mecca" offers a trudging lead in before the bestial destruction starts again. Shorter tracks like "...Rise No More" and "Parasitic (Temple of Rats)" offer a more grindcore inspired approach, but still contain the repetitive structure of the rest of the album. The monotony is not tiresome, it only adds to the unforgiving atmosphere Nuclearhammer conjures. This album is not meant to be technical, there is no attempt to impress the listener with guitar theatrics, their only goal is to bring as much cataclysmic fury as possible. 

Nuclearhammer also offer something unique between the sprawling blasphemy of the heavier tracks with industrial noise moments. These songs act almost as gateways, leading the listener into the next dimension of Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer. All titled with odd scientific names like "24-Cell (Octoplex)" and "H3po4 (Orthophosphoric Acid)" the noise ranges from industrial sounds to unsettling ambient drones. These pieces are a welcome addition to the album, adding another layer of insanity. They also help Nuclearhammer to stand out amongst the ranks of blasphemous black/death metal bands, distinguishing themselves as purveyors of all things harsh and unforgiving whether it is metal or noise, taking extremity to new limits.

On Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer Nuclearhammer have brought their deranged take on the already barbaric genre to new heights. Offering some of the most aggressive and chaotic music to be released so far this year the album stands as a tribute to the madness that lurks far beyond human reach and comprehension. It is available in CD and LP format from Nuclear War Now! Productions and can be streamed through the label here. Do not sleep on this monument of insanity.

Review: Impetuous Ritual - Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence (Profound Lore)

When I first heard Impetuous Ritual's form of death metal I wasn't ready. I had of course heard Portal and I was searching for more music treading the same cacophonous path, but Impetuous Ritual were different. Gone were the theatrics, the hoods (and clocks) all that was left was pure unhinged death metal. It took some time getting used to but after forcing myself to listen to the ilk of Relentless Execution of Ceremonial Excrescence over and over it became a cornerstone of my listening habits. Portal comparisons are obvious (due to the sharing of members) but Impetuous Ritual achieve something different, something more sinister in intention. Their intentions are quite clear, complete suffocating devastation. Guitars play jagged horrific riffs, drums crash along with equal parts ferocity and technicality while bass provides a throbbing low end to the murk. With their new album Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence the band not only continues down this path but pushes the sonic boundaries of death metal even further.

Density is key to the Impetuous Ritual formula, every single song on the album is packed with layers upon layers of guitars, providing the album with nearly harsh noise levels of density. The atmosphere is smothering, created by horribly twisted and repetitive instrumentation. The band takes death metal and deconstructs it, until all that's left is a teeming mass of riffs, representing death metal at it's most abstract and unfiltered. Impetuous Ritual take the already repugnant genre and make it even more so, it's dangerous, unpredictable, and disjointed. Occasionally twisted guitar solos rise over the primordial fury, frantically cutting through the thick riffing and further adding to the unsettling aura of the album. 

The first three tracks of the album all follow a similar formula, one of sheer intensity. There is no reprieve, the band continuously bludgeons the listener until the crawling doom of "Despair" interrupts the sheer madness for only a moment, beginning with a doomy rhythmic opening before abruptly descending back into tremolo-picked chaos. The next track "Inservitude of Asynchronous Duality" begins with a warlike, processional opening of poundings drums and swirling, repetitive riffs before sinking into utter madness. Vocalist Ignis Fatuus utilizes a multitude of vocal stylings on this track, deep grunts, harsh growls, piercing shrieks, and demented barking. Impetuous Ritual's deranged approach is at times accompanied simple accent elements like the tolling of a bell in the track "Metastasis" which adds to the intense ritualistic atmosphere that Impetuous Ritual conjure. The album comes to an end with "Blight" a nearly fifteen minute long onslaught of doom drenched death metal evil. The final track pushes the jagged experimentalism of the album to it's peak, chanting is utilized to add to the ominous ambience, guitars writhe and squirm while drums plod forward menacingly. The album closes with a droning guitar passage, an eerie ending to this monolith of death metal.

On Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence Impetuous Ritual succeed in deconstructing death metal into something horrifically barbaric yet intellectual and abstract. Combining suffocating atmosphere and unrelenting brutality to create something completely otherworldly. The album can be purchased through Profound Lore here. 

Review: Barren Harvest - Subtle Cruelties (Handmade Birds)

Barren Harvest is a collaborative project between Lenny Smith and Jessica Way, both boasting an impressive history in bands such as Atriarch and Worm Ouroboros. While both of their other bands reside at least somewhat in the realm of doom, Barren Harvest is a completely different sort of project. This record is delicate, ethereal, leaving space for the listener to breathe and take in the music. What the two create is a somber dream-like experience, focusing heavily on atmosphere through the use of synth, autoharp, acoustic guitar, and the interplay of their two very distinct voices.

The album starts with "The Bleeding" a perfect opener and representative of what is to come. Beginning with a droning passage that is accompanied by the beautiful guitar work of Jessica Way. Her playing is delicate yet very self-assured, simplistic in structure but carrying with it tons of emotional weight.  Way's guitar is joined by her gorgeous singing soon interplaying with Smith's deep, haunting voice. Vocal duties are shared by the two, exchanging verses of the lyrical poetry on each song, using their voices as instruments. The vocals work along side the simple instrumentation perfectly, giving both chances to shine and present themselves to the listener. Taking nods from dark folk and ethereal music luminaries like Death in June and Dead Can Dance, Barren Harvest create a sound of their own by combining the two. While comparisons can be made to these artists what these two create is something new, seemingly ushering in a new era of dark folk music. One of swirling dream-like synths combined with intricate guitar work.

The album works to slowly and quietly subdue, taking it's time to lodge is haunting melodies in the listener's brain. The album feels as though it was meticulously crafted by the two musicians, both pouring themselves into the project. Every note strummed or sung is deliberate. Working from a seemingly simplistic structure, what they fabricate is anything but. The track "Reveal" exemplifies this, voices cascade in and out, clashing with one another in beautiful harmony while eerie synth and strums of an electric guitar maintain a repetitive backing. Creating something complex out of minimalism. The conceptual structure of the album is also interesting and forces the listener to attempt to understand the member's intentions. The album is divided into two sorts of tracks, the meat of the album is broken up by tracks with the title "Memoriam" these range from ten seconds to nearly seven minutes. The "Memoriam" tracks are less melodic and more ethereal, some consisting of only whispered vocals, some of droning synth, some a combination of both. These juxtaposed against the more straightforward folk tracks creates the perfect contrast of abstraction and accessibility.

What Barren Harvest have achieved through Subtle Cruelties is a true triumph. A somber soundtrack to the changing of the seasons. Rooted in nature, one can hear the crunch of autumns leaves, the whisper of the winter wind, the cold rain of spring, and the birds chirping as summer rears it's head. This album comes highly recommended for any fans of dark/neofolk and for metal fans seeking something more contemplative that still contains a brooding atmosphere. Subtle Cruelties was released by Handmade Birds in a beautiful gatefold CD and LP designed by the prolific Kevin Gan Yuen of Sutekh Hexen and Viraloptic, it can be purchased here.

Review: Teitanblood - Death (Norma Evangelium Diaboli/The Ajna Offensive)

Hideously oppressive is the most apt description I can come up with to describe the most recent offering from Spanish black/death masters Teitanblood, simply entitled Death. Their caustic approach on the unholy combination is ferocious and unforgiving and wholly indicative of the blunt, vague title of the album. Released in conspiracy by two of the most excellent and unwavering underground record labels currently active; Norma Evangelium Diaboli and The Ajna Offensive, Death stands as a tribute to all things occult. The cryptic cavernous atmosphere the band creates would be a fitting soundtrack to any blood-lusting, deranged, midnight ritual. 

Straight out of the gate "Anteinfierno" rips forward with reckless abandon. Guitar's screech and wail over a churning mass of riffs while drums pound furiously at the same breakneck speed. It's barbaric, band members NSK and J are a duo who can conjure forth some of the most brutally devastating music imaginable. Going past just blurring the lines between black and death metal by creating an ungodly mixture of the two, Teitanblood have crafted a formula of sheer primitive force and by primitive I in no way mean rudimentary. Both musicians technical prowess is immense, instead what they create sounds archaic and ancient, like a long forgotten crypt with detailed carvings by the madmen that built it. The knuckle-dragging opening of "Sleeping Throats of the Antichrist" is a perfect example of the savagery Teitanblood wield in every single chord and crushing blow. The song is also layered with haunting operatic vocals, which, combined with the muddy, swarming madness of the instrumentation create an even deeper sense of the occult religiousness Teitanblood set forth to evoke. 

Death is a very different beast than Teitanblood's also astonishing debut Seven Chalices, the debut contained numerous ambient tracks to cut through it's cryptic madness. Death provides the listener no such escape (save for short introductions), instead Teitanblood reign down blow after blow, each track more deranged than the last. "Plagues of Forgiveness" begins with yet another complete disregard for sanity and does not let up throughout it's entirety save for a short moment of pummeling doom drenched horror which is not exactly an escape from the madness. Death is also less formless than the band's recent EPs Purging Tongues and Woven Black Arteries (both of which are excellent), opting for a more straightforward approach to their arcane craft. The short interlude to the track "Cadaver Synod" provides grating noise before the jarring annihilation that follows. The opening riffing of the track is reminiscent of a horribly decomposed and disfigured rendition of Slayer's "Black Magic" full of driving riffs that eventually descend into pure madness as guitars begin to squeal over the bestial mayhem. The whole album acts as a descent into chaos, every cavernous chord and warlike strike of the drums heralding the approach of complete and utter devastation. 

After the seething interlude of "Unearthed Veins" complete with incoherent guttural incantations "Burning in Damnation Fires" greets the listener with diabolical riffing and manic vocals. Some of which come courtesy the mighty Chris Reifert (of Autopsy fame) whom Teitanblood enlisted to assist them in their horrible quest to descend further into pandemonium. Lyrics summoning the damned into the pit are sickeningly spewed forth and accompanied by Teitanblood's vile mania, layer upon layer of horrible noise are thrust upon the listener. The final blow of Death is upon us with "Silence of the Great Martyrs" opening with ritualistic chanting before the immense riffing power of Teitanblood presents itself again. The vocals on the track are astounding, absolutely indecipherable and possessed. As Death reaches it's mayhemic apex the fury subdues, giving way to something even more sinister. Church bells chime out while eerie ambience and religious chanting take the place of the blistering aggression. The conclusion is just as unsettling as the savagery of the rest of the album, acting as epilogue to Teitanblood's ritual of religious destruction.

Death is an exercise in severity. It seems that NSK and J were intent on bringing absolute obliteration with the release of this megalith and they have most certainly succeeded. The Spanish duo have created one of the most deadly albums of the year. It can be purchased through The Ajna Offensive, this is not an album to sleep on, if you haven't already, buy this and experience total death.

Review: Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII (Profound Lore Records)

Coffinworm are a band that combine knuckle dragging caveman doom, swampy sludge murk, distorted and horrific death metal, blistering grind, and blackened blasts all performed with a vitriol that is shockingly brutal. Though Coffinworm touch upon nearly every sub-genre in the extreme metal cannon their music never feels incoherent or scatterbrained, rather they effortlessly combine all the defining characteristics from all theese styles into a bleak and twisted concoction of crushing madness. Every malicious shriek and growl is a misanthropic curse upon mankind, filled with mysticism and complete disregard for life. On IV.I.VIII Coffinworm push their horribly ugly sound even further towards insanity.

"Sympathectomy" begins the album with a blackened grinding assault. Guitars churn forth blistering riffs while the bass and drums rip forward, giving the track a massively heavy low end. The bass is extremely present throughout the whole album, as with all great doom and sludge albums. Bassist Todd Manning's playing is the muddy glue that holds this madness together, either plodding along or galloping forward ferociously with the guitars. Speaking of the guitars, the dual guitar approach the band takes is perfectly executed, creating the haunting yet brutal atmosphere I've come to expect from Coffinworm. The beginning of "Black Tears" is a trudging doomy section ripe with bleak dissonant chords. Riffs that cloud the mind with black murk, hypnotizing the listener in their decrepit doom. Coffinworm craft songs that sound distinctly their own, there are really no comparative artists to grasp on to because their music is so different from anything due to the sheer quantity of styles reflected in their horrible ilk. They even bring flourishes of noise into the frenzy on the track "Of Eating Disorders and Restraining Orders" creating another level of horrific destruction. Every track on this album contains a different mixture of the aforementioned styles, keeping the album interesting, making the listener anticipate which ungodly mixture of styles will assault their ears next.

It would be imposible for me to continue forward without talking about the lyrics contained in IV.I.VIII, vocalist and lyricist Dave Britts conjures some of the most interesting and deranged lyrics I have ever had the pleasure in reading. Through exposing the harsh realities of the world we live in, yet cloaking them in mysticism, Britts creates an interesting juxtaposition between our world and other unearthly realms, seeming to speak to the idea that the world is far more twisted and horrible than commonly thought. Every track is laced with this sort of urban occultism with lyrics like, "Shooting syringes made of filed-down bones/Injecting the filth left from our subconscious minds/Stemming from our previous lives" Britt's continuously brings together blunt realism and surreal occult elements throughout the entirety of the album. All the lyrics are spewed forth by Britts either in a venomous rasp or a deafening guttural roar.

IV.I.VIII is simply put a record that pushes the sonic boundaries of extreme metal to new heights. It is clear that every member of this band is a gigantic supporter of the underground scene and has been for some time. The evidence lies in the band's ability to craft a record so unlike anything else (besides their debut) from stylistic reference points across the metal spectrum. The album is available for purchase from Profound Lore here and streaming here. Yet another success from Coffinworm, a band I will continuously support and keep an eye out for, as should you.