Author: Kaptain Carbon

Nailwalker – The Gutted Trout of Dear Life [US, Post Black / Crust] (2022)

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Self Released | 3-10-22

If anything can be said about this group from Texas, is they are unexpected. While the cover for the band’s third release and first EP for 2022 looks like dark hardcore / crust, only part of that remains true. Nailwalker carefully weaves together elements of chaotic crust with more introspective and abstract post black which results in a mindbending journey into emotional ruin. From the black/punk opener “A Shocking Display of Nepotism” to the three part elongated closer “The Horn of Empty I-III,” this band holds nothing back and flings everything out like switchblades. Not everything lands perfectly but there is some elegance in broken bones and Nailwaker rides the entire way on gut feeling.

The Gutted Trout of Dear Life by Nailwalker

Deathless Void – DEMO MMXXI [Netherlands, Death / Black] (2022)

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Iron Bonehead | 2-4-22

Well this is it. A release which has all of the the parts that are cool and interesting. Iron Bonehead vinyl / tape. Death / Black. Netherlands. Cryptic album cover. Even with three or two of these, I would be interested but all four makes for an exciting time. Deathless Void is a new entry into the world with this debut demo proudly displaying the bandmembers as initials. Through three blistering tracks the listener is treated to a chaotic world which is abrasive yet accessible. Dynamic riffs and a versatile sound palette makes for an easy onboarding experience into something that is potentially dangerous. This is a sound in which things seem the most intriguing and full of deathless life. Though this whole package could have been constructed based on things the internet likes, to hear it in real life hits just the same.

DEMO MMXXI by Deathless Void

Pungent Shroud – Demo Collection [US, Black / Death] (2022)

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Weregnome Records | 2/25/22

This is funny since it feels like both of my worlds are closing in on each other. Weregnome Records is a dungeon synth label who fervently features outsider and weirdo synth records to the delight of everyone. Over the past few months, the label has been branching out showcasing a more diverse selection of strange. Pungent Shroud is an Ohio based black / death act which spawns from the local Ohioan underground. Demo Collection is a tape compilation of all existing demo material plus three additional tracks. Demo Collection in an introduction into the haphazard and often times hazardous world of Pungent Shroud who leans on the the aesthetic of eternal rot. Whether or not its extended guttural intonations, near collapsing production, or ripped sound clips from the film Blue Velvet, the style of Pungent Shroud is one of freedom from all social contracts. This is music of the feral which will attack you in the daylight and it is everything you need at the moment.

Mharasiidr – En Uggles Blick [Denmark, Raw Black] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-22-22

i wonder if I could capture the essence of ugliness in a sound. Mharasiidr is from Denmark and for the debut EP, this project has decided to smear the world with black gashes. With a ferocious typhoon wall of raw black, En Uggles Blick embraces atonality, dissonance, and also the inclusion of two musicians who play traditional northern European folk instruments which are paraded in the EP’s last track like some condemned prisoner being drug through the streets. Mharasiidr presents a world where everything is horrid and there is little chance of redemption. What is left is a riot of chaos which takes its form as a debut EP from an intriguing band of misfits.

Profane Ruination – Profane Ruination [US, Death / Doom] (2002)

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Self Released | 1-19-22

I would like my demo as raw as possible while still being safe to consume. Profane Ruination comes from a very complex tree of Tennessee based death/black/grind/void music and this venture seems to be the start of something sinister. At only three songs for its debut, Profane Ruination makes an opening statement which is full of not only spastic violence but also veneration for old masters of death metal. Wild solos, eternal riffs, and a drum sound that lives in the basement, this debut demo shows a duo that is ready for many sweat drenched nights in a places I can only assume are dim and humid with death.

Faceless Entity – The Great Anguish of Rapture [Netherlands, Raw Black] (2022)

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Argento Records | 4-15-22

We do not have much to go on at this point. All we have from the Netherlands based Faceless entity is one track from their new full length, a previous release, and a bunch of images and thematics that seem really fucking cool. From just the sound profile of the preview track “Decaying Banners of Existence” when compared to the multipart segments for their 2017 full length In Via ad Nusquam, Facelsss Entity has made great strides in terms of sound. While both of them are still in the raw black universe, “Decaying Banners of Existence” cuts with a more robust sound while still sounding as menacing as recently freed banshees. Combine this is the spectral ectoplasm cover and and air of mystery which builds walls around this release and one could be excused from becoming excited. I will wait until April but everything for this new full length is a promising escape into the void.

Deadyellow / BOBAK – Unbound [US, Black] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-20-22

There is something rotten in the state of New Jersey. I do not know where Bobak calls home but I am going to assume it is near an overpass in the northeast section of the United States. Both bands Deadyellow and Bobak had under reviewed full length debuts in 2021 and this followup EP might be a way to call attention to both projects. Deadyellow brings accessibility to this EP in only so much as the sound inst ear shattering upon arrival. The two songs from the New Jersey project shows the remnants of a post black sound with hints of melody. this is of course dissolved in the second track “Aporia” which is more visceral and ultimately more interesting. The two tracks leads into three from raw black act Bobak. In the style of Bone Awl and other acts found on this site, Bobak screeches and claws violently through three tracks leaving nasty gashes and a lasting impression. This EP does its duty by highlighting two up and coming acts that may have been forgotten throughout the year. Unbound is a reminder that there are horrid things hiding in grisly places.

Phlegmesis – Sewer Pop [US, Death] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-10-22

Somewhere in Massachusetts is a festering wound. This wound is spreading to various projects all centered around the vague notion of death and maybe drugs. Joey Cinz participates and leads various projects such as Morgued, Inhalement, Cacophonia and Phlegmesis which all more or less strive for the same thing which is the gross unease in ones stomach after learning something awful. Sewer Pop is the debut demo from Phlegmesis which strikes a balance between gross aesthetics and irreverent tone. Billed as music one can fuck to, the two songs from Phlegmesis tiers to recreate the manic laugh one gets while watching slasher movies in the dark with just a bong as company.

Vessel Of Iniquity – Graveyard of Dead Gods [UK, Black / Death / Noise] (2022)

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Self Released | 1-12-22

Back in 2017, I wrote about the debut from UK project Vessel Of Iniquity. The self titled debut came out on various labels and I believe I wrote about the Xenoglossy Productions version. I was blindsided by the force and reckless abandoning of the sound. Graveyard of Dead Gods and Architecture of Existence are two “new” EPs for 2022 consisting of songs that were “An old unused EP I found on my hard drive.” The dichotomy between the music and the seemingly carefree attitude of its creator is striking as both EPs feel like a terrible storm. v operates without constraints and the sound of both new EPs has a driving rhythm that feels more like a mounting wave of chaos and confusion. The addition of the music being without a time or place of conception adds to its other-worldly-ness as these two EPs have appeared in our world and now are set loose among the population. This project is unpredictable as it is intriguing and I fully expect to be terrorized by it in the near future.

Extinguished – Vomitous Manifestations [Finland, Death] (2022)

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Caligari Records | 2-24-22

As of writing this review, Extinguished is without a Metal Archives page. I am sure this will change though it seems like the band is just getting together and going through some sort of metal customs area. Extinguished comes by the way of a confluence of Finnish black / death bands namely Obscure Burial, Sickness, and Sadokist. While the sound s of grinding death maybe new for this venture, the energy of chaotic nausea might be a an aesthetic waymark. Though only one preview track available the power and force at which this music is delivered is enough for interest. At the moment of this writing, there are tapes available for preorder which I am sure will sell out soon. I am sure of it as I can see this sound hanging in the air like dangerous miasma.