Art and music have the power to capture life and imagination, including both the beautiful and the ugly aspects of human experience. Good work can be both sophisticated and intelligent, but it’s also important to appreciate the value of simplicity and fun. The worlds of punk and metal, in particular, often embrace a sense of raw energy and joy, which can be just as valuable as more complex or intellectual approaches. This month’s column highlights several new releases that embody this spirit, from the death-doom of Abyssal Rift to the black metal of Hesperia and the progressive death metal of Mindwork.
New Releases
Abyssal Rift’s sophomore record, Relics of Great Ash, is a prime example of death-doom that moves forward to conquer new territory. The album plants flags in various stylistic territories, uniting them under the band’s own banner. With a more conscious brand of cavernous death metal, Abyssal Rift pushes the boundaries of the genre, incorporating doom metal as a spice to add depth and complexity to their sound.
Gorod is another band that has undergone a transformation, emerging with a new sound that is both confident and experimental. Their latest album, The Ember Gone, reads like a wild and hungry debut, with a clear sense of deliberacy in their choices. The band’s turn towards more explicitly prog metal directions has resulted in a sound that is both refreshing and exciting.
Hesperia is a one-man act from Italy that has built upon the black metal genre, following logically from the likes of Darkthrone and Immortal. The new record, Picenum (True Marchigian Black Metal Renaissance), indulges in black metal and its many forms, with a clear sense of purpose and direction. The album is a testament to the power of black metal to expand and evolve, incorporating new elements and ideas while remaining true to its roots.
Mind Affliction is a band that wields bizarre and amateurish elements, like shouted vocals and riffs that seem to have no conscious view of tonality or tuning. However, there is a clear sense of deliberacy to these choices, a reaching into the avant-garde to produce a sound that genuinely feels unhinged and damaged. The band’s latest release, No Future, No Light, is a prime example of this approach, with a sound that is both challenging and rewarding.
Mindwork returns with their second studio album, Adrift, after a 14-year gap. The album combines a wide-ranging approach to progressive death metal, evoking everyone from Cynic to Death to Origin, with a clean progressive metal sound that calls to mind certain early titans of the genre. The result is an album that is both surprising and delightful, with a sense of heavy metal magic that is hard to resist.
Rapid is a band that plays true to its title, with a debut album that is undoubtedly a Dying Victims’ record. Enter the Realm of Fire is charred and crispy heavy metal, with a sense of immediacy and listenability that is hard to ignore. The album is a bit cursed, as if it would’ve incited the Satanic Panic at some point in history, but it’s also undeniably fun, with a sense of energy and enthusiasm that is infectious.
Static Abyss is a band that staggers drunkenly through their riffs, turning on a dime from direct punk rock to intricate technical death metal and more abstract Voivodiad prog. The collision of high and low brow wings of death metal, of punk and metal, makes for an absolutely thrilling listen, akin to the first time you hear Van Halen or Napalm Death. The band’s latest release, The Dying Hunt, is a prime example of this approach, with a sense of radical passion and energy that is hard to resist.
Unadorned is a band that operates under the youthful belief that there are no bad ideas, only bad executions. Their debut album, Malwizardry, is a prime example of this approach, with riffs, melodies, and solos stacking atop and beside one another, rather than forming a cohesive whole. The result is an album that is both disjointed and charming, with a sense of rough exterior that makes it metal.
In conclusion, this month’s column highlights a range of new releases that embody the spirit of raw energy and joy that is at the heart of punk and metal. From the death-doom of Abyssal Rift to the black metal of Hesperia and the progressive death metal of Mindwork, these bands are pushing the boundaries of their respective genres and creating something new and exciting. Whether you’re a fan of complex, intellectual approaches or more straightforward, fun-loving ones, there’s something here for everyone, and we highly recommend checking out these releases for a taste of the best that the non-mainstream metal scene has to offer.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
