‘Twas Death’s Door before end of year, and all through the blog, blrrrrgh and breeeee whatever fuck it it’s death metal.
I’m not gonna lie to you. October 2024 was one of the best months for death metal in recent memory. We could have written up 15 records for this sucker, but we gotta save some words for our year-end content. So here’s a sample of the veritable feast that was the month (and some). You’re welcome.
Death metal forever.
-Jonathan Adams
Cream of the Crop
Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere
It almost feels reductive to talk about Blood Incantation’s fourth epic full-length Absolute Elsewhere at this point. Hyped beyond belief before release, and ballyhooed from Pitchfork to the underground blogosphere since, it’s clear that what BI have concocted has resonated both within and beyond the confines of the extreme metal scene. Which is a two-edged sword in the world of underground music. What happens when one of a popularly inaccessible genre’s most universally enjoyed entities goes full tilt into new, potentially more accessible territory?
The answer to that question is, apparently, the creation of a masterpiece.
After the band’s controversial (and brilliant) foray into ambient Tangerine Dream worship with Timewave Zero, many fans were left perplexed and excited about what such a sharp and complete turn into new genre territory would mean for their future sound. Last year’s EP Luminescent Bridge gave hints at potential direction, blending the distinctly electronic sounds of Timewave Zero with the intense prog death chuggery of Hidden History of the Human Race. But neither fully prepared us for the beast that Absolute Elsewhere would be. Which is, in no uncertain terms, the most progressive and adventurous the band has sounded to date. Blending Pink Floyd, the aforementioned Tangerine Dream, and signature BI cosmic death metal riffing, Absolute Elsewhere represents an amalgamation of everything the band does well and then some.
Split into two, three-part halves (if that makes any sense), Absolute Elsewhere can be digested both in sections or as a seamless whole. In my listening so far, I’ve opted to approach the record as an uninterrupted complete work. Each new listen has been revelatory. The songwriting here is absolutely splendid, balancing death metal aggression and progressive rock forays to near perfection. While the stitching is sometimes visible between these sections (especially in the early going of “The Stargate”), I’m not convinced that these abrupt tonal swings are not fully intentional. The record has a particular cadence that feels unique within the confines of this sonic space, creating a rhythm that feels distinct to BI and never grating or counteractive to the overall experience. The 43 minutes of this record fly by at a breakneck pace that encourages immediate replayability. A staple for any classic record.
And I do believe that is a status Absolute Elsewhere will eventually achieve.
I could go on and on about particular aspects of this record, but I’ll have to save something for my year-end list entry. Which Absolute Elsewhere will most assuredly be on. What we have on our hands, in my estimation, is a phenomenally talented band operating at the peak of its creative power, with no clear path to where the ceiling lies. If I were a betting man, I’d say this excellent record will serve more as a beginning than a peak. I’m looking forward to whatever’s next. But until then, we have a masterpiece to attend to.
-JA
Best of the Rest
Immortal Bird - Sin Querencia
It's been five long years since Immortal Bird dropped the quietly brilliant Thrive on Neglect through the ever dependable 20 Buck Spin. That pulsating album was my first taste of the band and I was immediately hooked by its sludgy death metal with influences of crust and grind. I told all my like-minded friends about this discovery and it went on to become one of my favourite releases of 2019. Now their third full length is finally here, but my inevitable excitement was also tinged with lofty expectations and trepidation. How would they approach this album after the success of its predecessor and half a decade (yes, I'm being dramatic) of downtime?
Thankfully, and gratefully, Sin Querencia not only feels like a leap forward in terms of complexity but also scale and ambition. The song structures are more challenging, with some brave time changes and transitions that they probably wouldn't have dared attempt before now.
An obvious reason for this progression could stem from the departure of Immortal Bird’s long serving bassist, who left before writing started for the new album. This unexpected exit meant the band embarked on a more collaborative writing approach, with all three remaining members getting their hands dirty on the bass guitar parts. Vocalist, Rae Amitay, is originally a drummer by trade (recently showing off her skills in new project Wretched Blessing, which you should check out if you haven't already), whilst drummer, Matt Korajcyzk, can also play guitar and bass, so their multi-instrument skills were put to the test.
This variety of different inputs gives us, well…variety, and lots of it. Opening track “Bioluminescent Toxins” is a statement of intent, starting with an ominous yet melodic guitar intro, it builds through different stages of off-kilter riffs to eventually hit us with a barrage of blast beats and guttural screams. Before it changes gear again, this time with some gorgeous clean vocals from Rae (these should definitely be utilised more on future releases). A coda of brutality finishes you off, akin to someone smacking you in the face after they have just given you a thoughtful gift. Then the initiation is complete.
They manage to balance everything beautifully throughout the record, with more familiar death metal and grindcore influences backed up by some surprising progressive leanings, such as the closing riff from ‘Plastered Sainthood’, which could quite easily have come from the mind of Mikael Akerfeldt. Or the gloriously discordant ‘Consanguinity’, which happily mixes huge stabs of sludge and unrelenting blasting without a care for the listeners wellbeing. ‘Contrarian Companions’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album, with it’s delicate lead riff tip toeing across a freshly laid tarmac of trouncing drums. It reminds me a lot of Cloud Rat's most confounding moments from Pollinator or Threshold, which believe me, is a comparison I don’t hand out lightly.
We must mention the crystal clear production by Pete Grossman (who was also behind the desk of this year's immense Frail Body album), it’s nothing short of miraculous. All the elements and intricacies can be heard individually, yet the mix manages to pull everything together and meld it into one glorious morsal. Such audio alchemy makes listening to this otherwise formidable album an absolute joy, and I’ll certainly be revisiting Sin Querencia a lot more over the coming months.
PK
Black Curse - Burning in Celestial Poison
Black Curse absolutely rules. End review.
But no, seriously, they do.
Back in 2020, Endless Wound came out of nowhere to absolutely decimate end of year lists, and ever since the war metal crowd has been waiting with baited breath for the band’s next installment. Comprising members of Spectral Voice, Khemmis, Primitive Man, and Ulthar, Black Curse embodies dark worship of the riff. Their sophomore effort Burning in Celestial Poison builds on everything that made their debut such a welcome shock to the system, serving as a natural step for an underground supergroup that stands toe to toe with its mothership bands.
Metal, given its extremity, is often given written or verbal classifiers that helm toward the darker end of the human psyche. Violent, reckless, destructive, brutal… all common in the landscape of metal vernacular. In regard to Black Curse, it would be hard to pick a word other than “evil” to describe their sound. Burning in Celestial Poison feels genuinely menacing and rotten, like a festering, bleeding wound oozing from your headphones. A cut in audio form. And god damn is it glorious.
Opener “Spleen Girt With Serpent” sets the tone immediately, like a cosmic shotgun blast to the proverbial face. Performances across the board range from savage to hyperviolent, providing almost no breathing room from start to finish. Things get only slightly less chaotic in the thoroughly menacing riff fest that is “Trodden Flesh,” a menacing and utterly unhinged slab of violent blackened death metal that solidifies the record as universally crushing. The rest of the record follows suit, presenting track after punishing track with a satanic sort of glee that only the best metal can provide.
Endless Wound became an instant modern classic upon release, and it certainly feels like lightning has struck twice with Burning in Celestial Poison. Black Curse are among the best in the game at creating utterly oppressive and ceaselessly depraved sonic spaces, and two albums into their career it’s hard to imagine them getting any more unhinged. But if anyone is capable of it, it’s this band. Exceptional work.
-JA
Moss Upon the Skull - Quest For the Secret Fire
There are many signs that an album is something exceptional and one of those is whether or not I have to take a deep breath before covering it. That is definitely the case with Moss Upon the Skull’s Quest For the Secret Fire because there is so much on this album. This is progressive death metal with a capital “P”, the fourth release from the band and one which takes their music to completely new heights of expression. It has thrash riffs, winding bass, power metal nods, melodic delicacies, and excellent vocals and that’s just the first two minutes of “Dwelling on Charnel Grounds”, the track which opens the release.
While Moss Upon the Skull made the excellent decision of only allowing Quest For the Secret Fire to run for just shy of forty minutes, it feels like a much longer release because of the sheer amount of great music that’s packed into it. The best part is that none of it feels redundant or, even more importantly, formulaic because the band clearly pared down any excess to arrive at the final state of the release. There is zero on here which is expected; no part of Quest For the Secret Fire sounds like it partakes in the ossified rules of what progressive death metal has come to sound like over the past two decades. You know what I mean - that unison, and that sweep, and that vocal style.
Instead, we have something unique, an album which sounds grimy when it wants (like on the opening riff of second track “Heretical Experiments in the Subterranean Citadel” which sounds as murky and swamp-like as anything death metal) and pristine and crystal clear when it needs to be. There’s also, and I can’t stress this enough, some excellent fucking drumming on this album. Some of the stuff the drums do on this album, in close partnership with the likewise superb bass, has caused me musical whiplash. More than any other instrument, the drums absolutely refuse to do what the sub-genre says they “should” do, instead opting for giving whatever the rest of the instruments are doing exactly what they need.
Alright, I will never get even close to describing this album. Just listen to it if you like well written, recorded, and arranged progressive death metal that takes the ideology of the genre, namely experimentation and innovation, dead serious (get it?). I’ll be chewing on this morsel for years to come, I believe, discovering more and more flavors through this mastication (ew). I invite you to give it the time it requires and to discover one of death metal’s most intriguing releases of the year.
[insert superlative words here about I, Voidhanger Records and how cool they are for releasing stuff like this]
-Eden Kupermintz
Theurgy - Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence
Every year, there’s a brutal death metal album that defies all subgenre rules, yet feels like the final boss of ultra-heavy music. In 2022, the crown was taken by Dischordia’s mind-warping magnum opus,Triptych. 2023, the undeniable Nithing won fans across the Heavy Blog is Heavy universe. This year, I’d argue that Theurgy has emerged as a heavy favorite.
Released on New Standard Elite, Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence is equal parts brutal death metal, tech death, and dissonance, topped with sewer-dwelling vocals. Theurgy strips BDM down to the essentials, turns them on their head, and spits out a furious futuristic vision. Snares are replaced by bleeping electronics, complementing subtle electronic flourishes throughout the album.
Guitars become razor-fast riffs sparkling with technical insanity, their energy juxtaposed against a pummeling bass. Ever-so-slightly melodic, the guitars add a lively edge to an album determined to confront listeners with mind-blowing complexity. Vocals somewhere between Predator clicks and gory gurgles add a smear of human filth to the supernatural pace, dragging an almost-tech death album back into the dark basement of brutal death metal.
And yet…there’s an elegance underpinning Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence. Underneath the dizzying song structures and unstoppable brutality, Theurgy has captured the essence of melodic death metal and infused it into their sound. That’s not to say there’s anything delicate or approachable about Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence, rather that Theurgy has created a sound that shines from the depths of brutal death metal while delivering brilliant aggression.
-Bridget Hughes
Corpsefucking Art - Tomatized
Forget the song of the summer, let’s talk about the song of the end of the summer. A track that celebrates the best of August and September: the start of spooky season, horror movies, apple and pumpkin picking, and Early Girl tomatoes. For this special time of year, Tomatized is the only album you need.
In a sea of albums themed around grotesque violence and gore (much of it pretty fucking misogynistic), Corpsefucking Art delivered a murderously addictive record about….killer tomatoes. Straight from the archives of zany horror movie history, Tomatized proves that death metal doesn’t have to descend into cringey ragebait to be absolutely bludgeoning.
Creepy and campy samples bleed into bruising guitars and meaty vocals, alternately rampaging at a breakneck pace and bludgeoning at a funeral march. It’s pure, meat and tomatoes death metal that packs a satisfying punch with every note, splattering innards and smashing eardrums. Infusing death metal with their own special flavor of aggress that incorporates brutal death metal influences, Corpsefucking Art have created a deliciously fun and murderous album.
-BH