Bloody Hammers, Washed In The Blood (2022)

October 31, 2022October 21, 2022 Wayne EdwardsBloody Hammers, Charlotte, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Gothic Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Horror, Horror Rock, North Carolina, Washed In The Blood

It’s Halloween – you need Bloody Hammers at your party. Washed In The Blood is out now.

Bloody Hammers is the Charlotte, North Carolina horror doom rock duo of Anders Manga (vocals, guitar, drums, bass, keys) and Devallia (keys, bass). For more than a decade, they have been laying down shivering grooves beginning with their self-titled album in 2012. Five more records followed over the years, and now we have the seventh, Washed In The Blood. The new one holds as many horrors as those that came before. This time around, Bloody Hammers took the DIY approach, and the result is a high water mark in their catalogue.

There are nine killer tracks on the new record. It all kicks off with a bang on “Black Sunday.” A serious riff is followed by a big, full hard rock sound and immediately recognizable vocals. It is called a hook for a reason and this one sinks in true and deep, putting me in mind of radio leads from not so long ago. This song would be an excellent opener for a live show.

The horror movie elements are infused in every song, hitting especially solidly on tracks like “Phantasmagoria” where the clear narrative and singable chorus creates a clear path to the anthemic. “And Soon The Darkness” is a rousing rough-houser with a gruff edge that gets polished in the vocals. “At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul,” on the other hand, goes full sinister and heavy gothic.

The entire album is winner and I played it through twice on the first listen. I say in all honesty that I like every track, but the song I can’t get out of my head is “Water to the Dead.” It is a combination of the insistent guitar and the heavy melodic surety in the way that the vocals execute the lyrics that combine to make it unforgettable. “Last Rites Of Lucifer” is a top shelf contender, too, and the final piece, “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” eliminates any doubt about the album making year’s best lists far and wide. I have been a Bloody Hammers fan all along, and the new record is at the top of the queue here at Shardik Media headquarters. Highly recommended.

Washed In The Blood is out now on digital, CD, and vinyl. Check and see if any physicals remain at the link below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://bloodyhammers.bandcamp.com/album/washed-in-the-blood

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/BloodyHammers

Casket Robbery Photo Gallery, Tennessee Metal Devastation 2022

October 30, 2022October 21, 2022 Wayne EdwardsCasket Robbery, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Live Music, Tennessee Metal Devastation

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Casket Robbery website, https://casketrobbery.com/

Tennessee Metal Devastation, https://metaldevastationradio.com/Metal-Devastation-Music-Fest

FFMB article on Tennessee Metal Devastation 2022, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/10/11/tennessee-metal-devastation-lexington-tennessee-october-8-2022/

Down Photo Gallery, Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022

October 29, 2022October 21, 2022 Wayne EdwardsBlue Ridge Rock Festival, Down, Heavy Metal, Live Music, New Orleans, NOLA, Sludge Metal

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Down website, http://down-nola.com/

Blue Ridge Rock Festival, https://blueridgerockfest.com/

FFMB article on Blue Ridge Rock Festival 2022, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2022/10/06/blue-ridge-rock-festival-alton-virginia-september-8-11-2022/

Ryze-Up Magazine feature, https://www.ryze-up.com/ryze-up-magazine-current-issue/ryze-up-magazine-october-2022/

Morbikon, Ov Mournful Twilight (Tankcrimes 2022)

October 28, 2022October 21, 2022 Wayne EdwardsBlack Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Morbikon, Municipal Waste, Ov Mournful Twilight, Phil Hall, Tankcrimes, Thrash Metal

The debut album from blackened thrash band Morbikon is savagely unsettling: Ov Mournful Twilight.

Morbikon is a solo project of Municipal Waste bass player Phil “Land Phil” Hall. While Municipal Waste is a tongue-in-cheek thrash band, this solo project is darker in tone. “Morbikon to me is an opportunity to explore new atmospheres and new realms of extreme metal,” Hall says. “I wanted to fill it with memorable hooks and punishing moments. I am very happy with the result of these songs and hope everyone notices the amount of detail that has been added to every corner of the music. I also have to give Dave Witte a lot of credit for laying down amazing drum tracks that added so much to these songs.”

There are eight meaty tracks on Ov Mournful Twilight. The aptly titled “Consumed By Entropy” starts with noisy clangs and threatening growls. The song moves through patches of heavy catchy grooves next door to sour calamities of musical collision. A platter of digestible hooks is a great way to deliver the more challenging constructions and so the song works well. “Universal Funeral” puts the smooth at the front and the off-balancing warbles are a patch down the road, mixing things up. There is a significant doomish segment that fits the theme and a fine lead break that marks this song for high praise.

“Cursed To March On Shattered Limbs” has the feel of a dark lullaby that turns into blatantly savage shrieking black metal. Lovely. Likewise, “Deaththirst” is brutal in the rhythm section and really shakes you up. In the middle section, the song becomes very dramatic and psychologically threatening. The second half of the record offers the title track and, of them all, this is my favorite song on the album. The musical build in the composition is pure dark theater.

Heading into the last act we hear “In Ritual Isolation,” a cavernous intimation, and “Contagion Borne Of Phantom Vessel,” a dreadful spell cast in the oppressive gloom that makes me reconsider my top spot song rankings. The anchor is “Infinite Pathways to the Earthen Grave.” I expected this song to be especially dreary, but it is not – in fact it begins with high energy and it runs at a penetrating pace. The guitar work is impeccable; the solemn outro is haunting. It is the perfect wrap to this dark delight of an album. Recommended.

Ov Mournful Twilight is out on Friday, October 28^th through Tankcrimes Records. You can pick it up through Bandcamp or at the label link below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://downloads.tankcrimes.com/album/ov-mournful-twilight

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/people/Morbikon/100063566229471/

Tankcrimes Records, https://tankcrimes.merchtable.com/

Worm, Bluenothing (20 Buck Spin 2022)

October 27, 2022October 27, 2022 Wayne Edwards20 Buck Spin, Black Metal, Bluenothing, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, Heavy Metal, Swamp Doom, Worm

Florida swamp doom band Worm cast off into the unknown with Bluenothing.

One year after the massive and tectonically heavy Foreverglade, Worm is back with a mightily impressive EP, Bluenothing. Off now in a different direction, Phantom Slaughter (vocals, guitar, bass, and synth) and Wroth Septentrion (guitar) are joined by session musicians to complete the presentation: Nihilistic Manifesto (guitar, “Shadowside Kingdom”), Necreon (bass, “Shadowside Kingdom”), L. Dusk (drums, “Bluenothing” and “Centuries Of Ooze II”), and Charlie Koryn (drums, “Shadowside Kingdom”).

The first song is the title track, “Bluenothing,” and it starts out appropriately sorrowfully. This is the kind of music you could play after a wake. In addition to the expected granite cliffs of rhythm guitar and the proportionately dreary vocals, the elegant lead guitar provides beautiful interludes through the saturating darkness. The song is incredible, and if you hear only it from the record you have benefitted to an almost gratuitous level. I don’t want to over-hype it, but this is one of the best tracks I have heard this year.

“Centuries of Ooze II” leads with an organ as the advance troupe heralding ocean-deep guitars. A taste of eastern mysticism tinges the composition as the glacial flood of incalculable loss overtakes you in the listening. “Invoking the Dragonmoon” is a short transition piece leading to “Shadowside Kingdom.” The final track is a curiosity that could be the soundtrack to a scene in a dark fantasy movie where a magician is conjuring something you can tell will be bad for everyone involved. The chanting backs up the sentiment, and the wan guitar guarantees a dark future that arrives promptly with black metal vileness. These four songs are layered artifacts, shimmering themselves and portending an inevitable continuation. Recommended.

Bluenothing is out on Friday, October 28^th through 20 Buck Spin. Have a look through the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/bluenothing

Worm Bandcamp, https://wormgloom.bandcamp.com/merch

FFMB review of Foreverglade, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2021/10/20/worm-foreverglade-20-buck-spin-2021/

20 Buck Spin Records, https://www.20buckspin.com/

Rivers Of Nihil at Old National Centre, Indianapolis, October 15, 2022

October 26, 2022November 5, 2022 Wayne EdwardsDeath Metal, Heavy Metal, Indianapolis, Indy, Live Music, Metal Blade Records, Old National Centre, Progressive Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Rivers of Nihil

Rivers of Nihil finished off their fall tour with an unusual show in Indianapolis.

Rivers of Nihil finished their Fall tour with The Contortionist last Saturday at the Old National Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a concept tour in a way. Not only did The Contortionist play two of their albums in their entirety, but Rivers of Nihil also played an album straight through. That is something I had never seen before.

The Old National Centre was known to me for most of my life as the Murat Theatre, the oldest (extant) stage house in Indianapolis. It is a beautiful place with many performance areas including the main theater, The Egyptian Room, and a number of other halls and lobbies. The Rivers of Nihil show was in one of the lower levels in a small hall at the back. It is nicer than I am making it sound – imagine a decent-sized room where a wedding reception might be held with a stage on one side.

The evening got off to a peculiar start when Rivers of Nihil took the stage. The bassist, Adam Biggs, announced that the lead singer, Jake Dieffenbach, would not be performing due to “personal issues.” However, if it was OK with the crowd, the rest of the band would play anyway. The crowd agreed (what else could they do?) and the show went on with Biggs handling the vocal duties. At one point someone did jump on stage to sing for part of a song and I am pretty sure it was Dieffenbach, but in the darkness it was hard to tell.

Rivers of Nihil played their most recent album, The Work (Metal Blade Records 2021) straight through. This album has received a lot of good press (including from me) for its depth of expression. In many ways, Rivers of Nihil have a strong Pink Floyd component going with these songs, particularly in their exploratory nature. There is an extended lyrical presence in the work, and the generous use of saxophones during the live performance greatly enhanced the experience. The lighting was particularly dim and deeply colored, with the liberal use of strobe effects to drive the etherealness home. Even without their usual lead singer, the show they put on ran for an hour and was fantastic.

That’s it for the Fall tour, but Rivers of Nihil are back out on the road in Europe starting in November on the Faces of Death Tour. They will be in the northeast in December for three shows with Killswitch Engage as well, so there are a lot of opportunities remaining to see them this year. Get out there and do it.

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

This post is condensed / rewritten from the Ghost Cult Magazine article which is linked below.

Links.

Ghost Cult Magazine article on the show, https://www.ghostcultmag.com/concert-review-the-contortionist-rivers-of-nihil-live-at-old-national-centre-indianapolis/

Rivers Of Nihil, https://www.riversofnihil.com/

Metal Blade Records, https://www.metalblade.com/us/artists/rivers-of-nihil/

The Contortionist, https://www.thecontortionist.net/

Acid Witch, Rot Among Us (Hells Headbangers 2022)

October 25, 2022October 20, 2022 Wayne EdwardsAcid Witch, Detroit, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Horror, Horror Metal, Rot Among Us

Motor City horror metalists Acid Witch are back with the perfect Halloween album, Rot Among Us.

Stemming from the northlands of Detroit, Michigan, Acid Witch is a doom-ish metal band that vibes on horror themes. Making regular use of mysterious keyboard lines, the band has put together three previous full-length albums and a passionate string of splits and EPs. Their new album, Rot Among Us, has arrived just in time for the holiday. The Metal Archives lists the band members as Tim “Shagrat” Jenkins (vocals, bass), “Slasher” Dave Monastiere (vocals, keys), and Phil Warren (drums).

“Gather Each Witch” is the invocation that begins a horrifying trip into the dark netherworld of Acid Witch. Hissing chants and creeping keys are a strong signal of what follows. The title track has a hammering hook that is wickedly groovy. An eerie goblin voice drops in to narrate while the instruments lurk in the outskirts, rather like a song from The Nightmare Before Christmas. When the music surges it is a mini volcano. There is a great little lead guitar break that echoes the sound of the Alice Cooper tune “Cold Ethyl.” Following that, “The Sleeper” has a more traditional metal structure in vocal and rhythm with excellent rolling movements. It teeters and pounces in a very creepshow kind of way.

What you get overall on this record is many different looks at heavy horror-themed music. There is a recurring hideousness ideal that could be seen as a throughline but the songs themselves are quite different. “Psychedeathic Swampnosis,” for example, works the keys in ways you don’t hear on the other tracks, and “Evil Dad” is an up-tempo rumbler that gives you a good squeeze with a notably divergent sound. The essential weirdness is there in every song. The winning formula is that different bits and angles are highlighted through alternate means. “Gundella The Green Witch” is the final step and a pure delight. I love the honking cadence and the dooming weight of it all. The breakout thrash in the middle is inspiring, as is the long, sinister walk out. This album could get heavy spins during the altered states we sometimes find ourselves in. Recommended.

The digital version of Rot Among Us is available now through Hells Headbangers Records with the physicals to follow on Halloween.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://acid-witch-detroit.bandcamp.com/album/rot-among-us

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/acidwitchofficial

Hells Headbangers Records, https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/

Defleshed, Grind Over Matter (Metal Blade 2022)

October 24, 2022October 18, 2022 Wayne EdwardsDeath Metal, Defleshed, Grind Over Matter, Grindcore, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade Records, Sweden, Thrash Metal, Uppsala

Defleshed have reformed and have created a new full-length album of blistering metal, Grind Over Matter.

Back when I first listened to Defleshed, I thought of them as a thrash band. Listening back on those albums from the 1990s, I can hear grindcore and death metal prominently as well. Whatever labels we might hang on them, the metal band from Sweden that is Defleshed was a major presence on the international scene in those days, but then in what seemed like the blink of an eye, they disappeared in 2005. Last year, the original core lineup got back together to record a couple of new tracks with the idea of including them on a vinyl boxset of their old material. The sessions went so well that what resulted was eleven new killer tracks that are collectively now known as Grind Over Matter. The band is Gustaf Jorde (vocals, bass), Lars Löfven (guitar), and Matte Modin (drums).

The album starts on “Bent Out Of Shape,” and with the opening notes we are immediately reacquainted with Defleshed. The heavy chop and pounding percussion is a feast for your ears and a strain on your throbbing jugular. Jorde’s vocals are as powerful as ever and the pace continues to be bewildering. The title track cranks next, and it feels like a sort of call to arms. It is “One Grave to Fit Them All” that seals the deal for me – I love this song with its hook and de-balancing act. The title of the album really sinks in by the third song, too, and I start to wonder how much longer can they keep this up. The answer is eight more songs.

The tracks are hard and fast, and on the brief side, running two or three minutes each, which is more than enough to get the job done. Every song has the ability to flatten you. I really like “Dear Devil” for its absolute ferocity and “Blastbeast” – I bet you can figure out why from the title. The closer, “Last Nail in the Coffin,” is a hard and sustained crack to the neck, a flurry of furious metal. If you are a fan of Defleshed then you are going really like the new album. This record is also the ideal gateway drug for new fans. Recommended.

Grind Over Matter hits the streets on Friday, October 28^th through Metal Blade Records in a variety of formats. Choose your poison at the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://defleshedofficial.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/defleshedofficial/

Metal Blade Records, https://www.metalblade.com/us/news/defleshed-announces-new-album-grind-over-matter/