Don’t expect too many sing-a-long numbers in our Chronicles of Eternal Darkness column. What we can offer is something for the desperate and the deranged. Paul Castles lifts the lead on his latest bag of dirty tricks.
Canadian Experimental Metalists Super Massive Black Holes have just released their new album Calculations of the Ancients, via Minotauro Records. Inspired by the world of science, the album has elements of death metal, prog and Blues. If you’re unsure how those elements blend together then you can easily find out as the whole album is being streamed here.
Swedish savages Mordbrand have just released their debut full-length album, via Deathgasm Records. Imago consists of nine tracks of dark and deep death metal and includes a guest vocal appearance from Autopsy’s Eric Cutler. Take a listen to one of the songs here, Hoarding the Grotesque.
A further death metal release that should not go unnoticed is Sacrilegious Fornication from Horrid, who have been flying the flag for Italian death metal for well over 20 years. Released by prolific German label Dunkelheit, this blasphemous box of tricks includes a cover of the Hellhammer classic ‘Massacra’. Here’s a taste of their old school sound.
http://dunkelheitprod.bandcamp.com/album/sacrilegious-fornication
Our Euro tour takes us next to the Czech Republic where Lavadome Productions are set to release The Gates of Hell, the third full length album from Big Apple destroyers Day of Doom. Don’t let the name fool you, this is still pure death metal that will hit the spot for fans of Suffocation and Gorguts. It’s out on June 6. Here’s a taster.
http://lavadome.bandcamp.com/album/the-gates-of-hell
They may not feed Christians to the lions in Rome thesedays but the Italian brutalists Devangelic go close to recalling those fun afternoons with their debut full-length release Resurrection Denied. Featuring members from Putridity, Vulvectomy, and Coprophiliac, the debut release features tracks such as ‘Eucharistic Savagery’ and ‘Desecrate the Crucifix’. It’s out on June 24, via Comatose.
No Chronicles of Eternal Darkness column is complete without at least one contribution from FDA Rekotz. This month that comes in the shape of Decembre Noir. The German melancholic death/doom outfit have just released their full-length debut,A Discouraged Believer, which should meet with your approval if you’ve dabbled in the likes of Opeth, Katatonia and My Dying Bride.
The summer festival season will soon be with us but looking further ahead it’s great to see legendary Brummie barbarians Anaal Nathrakh, added to the bill for Damnation. The one day extreme metal festival takes place at Leeds Uni on November 1 with Cannibal Corpse and Bolt Thrower among the headliners this year. Nathrakh declared: “Damnation has to be the best indoor festival going, it seems particularly appropriate that the 10th anniversary will finally see us back on the bill. Here’s to wrack, ruin, and savage annihilation.” And here’s what to expect.
New York monsters Black Anvil have just released their new album Hail Death, described as an ambitious manifestation of sound that remains true to the band’s roots while transcending them in a way that weaves all of their seemingly antagonistic influences into an amalgam of heavy music that’s as original as it is consuming. Having toured with the likes of Marduk and Watain, the Big Apple bruisers are renowned for their devastating brand of black metal. This is their third album, just out on Relapse, and here’s the official album trailer.
Allegaeon release their new album, via Metal Blade on June 23. Elements of The Infinite is expected to reflect a slight change in direction for the band who have two new members in the line-up. See what you think, here’s a video of one of the new songs ‘1.618’.
Flayed Disciple are no strangers to the Midlands metal scene. The hardcore outfit, who have just been on tour with Bonded By Blood, have a new three-track vinyl EP out on their own Bethlam Records label from which we can bring you the video to ‘The Gates of Bedlam’.
October File have never been the easiest band to pigeonhole, which of course is testament to their craft and intelligence. They’ve a new album just out, via Candlelight Records. The title doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, The Application of Loneliness, Ignorance, Misery, Love and Despair – An Introspective of the Human Condition, but here’s an insight into it, and of course you can catch them at Bloodstock in August. Here’s the official video to ‘Heroes are Welcome’.
Veteran New Yorkers Mortals have gone through a few transitions down the years since their heady days as a metallic Punk outfit. The Brooklyn mob have a new album on the way in Cursed to See the Future, hailed as a doomed amalgam of black metal and sludge. It’s out on Relapse on July 7 and here’s a track called ‘View From a Tower’.
Finally, look out for the entertaining goth horror shockers Bloody Hammers whose new release Under Satan’s Sun is out on June 2, via Napalm Records. You may catch them if you’re off to Download. If so here’s what you can look forward to at sunny Donington.
