2023

Mithrandir – Towards the Spires of Dol Guldur [Finland, Black] (2023)

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Self Released | 3-4-23

I seem to be finding more raw black adjacent material through dungeon synth searches than the more general new metal release searches. This is fine with me as I get to come across raw Finnish black debut is completely into Tolkien. Mithrandir is mostly a fantasy based project though I suspect some of the non fantasy (maybe?) titles of the tracks are remnants of earlier work. This is fine since a dedicated Tolkien metal project isn’t the most novel of an idea so having something which feels fantasy related but also uses colloquial terms like “välikuolema” is intriguing. Towards the Spires of Dol Guldur is a raw love letter to many themes and throws anything on hand into a melting pot. Black metal, dungeon synth, dark ambient all go and get melted down into a thick murky soup. There is no expectation from the band nor the audience which makes Towards the Spires of Dol Guldur a delightful find that I would have missed had not been in the right search.

Astarot – Journey from Melancholy Landscape II [Mexico, Dark Ambient] (2023)

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Self Released | 3-3-23

Journey from Melancholy Landscape II is a “compilation of Dark Ambient / NeoFolk / Neoclassical tracks from 2017-2021.” This is the second volume of ambient tracks with the first being a 2017 collection of ambient tracks from 2012-2016. It is a strange thing to only have a relationship with one style of music from an artist. Even though Astarot is a black metal act, these two compilations are entirely in a separate space. This space is contemplative, emotional, and eerily mystical in its foundations. Ambient tracks within black metal records are suppose to set mood and tone and now removed and placed within their own album, that thematic aura echoes off each other. While I enjoy listening to black metal, I am thankful these types of songs can be enjoyed on their own as they possess a personality that can be appreciated. If this type of stuff is interesting, one might be inclined to travel over to the 2023 release De Mystica Silva ad Cosmos which is the same type of atmosphere just added with atmospheric black metal. Astarot seems to deal in the trade of ambience and Journey from Melancholy Landscape II is a testament to that.

Trüciciel – Promo MMXXIII [Poland, Black / Punk] (2023)

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Self Released | 2-21-23

I am grateful for this release using the naming convention of Roman Numerals being including int he pantheon of underground metal adopting the very familiar naming sequence. Similar to conceptual and minimal art using “Untitled” there is something comforting about a promo being named after the year. Trüciciel is from Poland and the demo/promo for 2023 is actually the second release of their debut EP Syf, groby i demony in 2020. Promo MMXXIII feels like more of a proper introduction. While only two tracks each of the selections hits with accuracy and the album art is simple and effective. This is a perfect place to start with any black metal that has the sound of a clanking hammer buried somewhere in its music.

8bitdkhd – Now, See Me [Australia, Noise] (2023)

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Self Released | 1-5-23

This might not really be heavy metal. This might not really be anything. From a previous release last year, 8bitdkhd described the 2022 release, Psychward Burt Newton (Jan​-​July) as follows

Artist/drone discovers that is possible to record themselves. Proceeds to buy the cheapest audio to computer interface and record whatever nonsense occurred to them in 6-months. This is to be considered embryonic, masturbatory (but free) self-indulgence-core. Instrumentation is provided by some guitar, some synth but mostly feedback experimentation with the most obscure guitar pedals. Occasionally a beat occurs ala ‘shaking’, which thumps along to the gimp inside your head whispering sweet nothings, it encourages the fool to play.

These releases are released on the internet but with little expectation to be heard or even cared about. The artist seems to take an antithetical approach to craft in trying to produce the ugliest thing possible. this is beyond tortured beauty or misunderstood genius rather 8bitdkhd creates things no one should hear and releases are akin to nuclear waste that are buried in mines far below ground. Now, See Me is weird and very ugly yet despite the potential intentions of the artist it is also fascinating. A short fever dream of echoing guitar and reverb vocals which border on stream of thought and violent gibberish. An appreciation for this goes beyond outsider fetishism, though stumbling on something that is only linked to a small social media is exciting. The world of 8bitdkhd is psychedelic and resides int eh space where your trip starts to get a little weird and uncomfortable. You are not in a full blown panic just quite yet but things are not going well and you have to plan your exit in the most normal way possible. Now, See Me drinks from the font of the strange and maybe submerges their head beneath its waters. It is without form, or function, or description.

Celestial Rot – A Chain Around Eternity’s Throat [??, Raw Black] (2023)

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The Ensemble of Black Magic by Doulos | 1-3-23

This is a great way to wake up in 2023. Celestial Rot is connected to The Ensemble of Black Magic, a label (?) which hosts projects by dark ambient and raw black acts with awesome names like Phantom Staircase, Bleak Exit, and Isolated Aster Wizard. Celestial Rot is perhaps one of the most harsh acts out of the shadowy troupe and falls in step with the other cool internet atmospheric black metal that sounds like it was run over on the highway a few times. We can all make jokes about production but nailing the raw black sound is sometimes an art and Celestial Rot does it so effortlessly that the songs titles like “Fucking The Black Fingers Mixed In Soot,” feel ominous rather than bizarre even though it still is sort of bizarre. A Chain Around Eternity’s Throat is a premiere example of the “mysterious black metal that could vanish without notice so you probably should talk about it before it goes away” aesthetic.