Anialator: "Rise to Supremacy"

Resuscitated thrashers on life-support

When an underground 80s metal band resurfaces some 30 years after their last true release, you really got to ask yourself if today's thrash metal scene has a place for them. Anialator never had a real breakthrough with their twin EPs in the late 80s, likely facing an oversaturated scene that was already beginning to move toward a different style.

Triple Dungeon Synth Feature: Thangorodrim, Deorc Weg, Old Tower

Voëmmr: "Nox Maledictvs"

Harsh black metal only for the most incarnated

Voëmmr is one of those bands that subscribe to the ultra cult of mystery and obscurity. Very little is known about them officially, except their belonging to the Aldebaran Circle which also includes bands like Ordem Satânica, Trono Além Morte and Occelenbriig. Nox Maledictvs, though labeled a demo, is the group's debut album of clamouring black noise.

Muka: "Sveta Stoka"

While playing the imitation game, Muka found their own sound in tightly-knit chaos

Listening to Muka's 2017 EP Sveta Stoka at full volume allows one to fully appreciate their dissonant, intricate layering. Each track is a roaring flurry of bone-crunching processions, echoing efforts by bands such as Deathspell Omega, but never resorting to straight up imitation.

Uroboros: "Misantropía & Blasfemia" / "Herejía & Exilio"

Cyclopean riffs with ultra dense payoff

Straight from Buenos Aires in Argentina comes a roar of thunder through a night as black as tar. This uproar from the underground goes by the name Uroboros, and right off the bat their debut duo of EPs make most other newcomers of the genre seem like taciturn murmurs in comparison.

Swamp Witch: "Gnosis"

The soundtrack to your worst nightmare

Every so often a band will emerge with little to no warning and simply floor you with its sonic output. One such band is Swamp Witch, with their 2011 EP Gnosis, which forcibly injects tainted acid into the veins of the listener and sends them on a journey of murkey, distorted psychedelia.

Oliver: "Mechanical"

Fans of retro-future synth music, behold!

Though the duo known as Oliver hails from Los Angeles, their sound could easily see them mistaken for a French house group, and indeed they compare favourably to the likes of Justice with a production job as crisp as the air on an exceptionally cold and dry winters day.

Incarceration: "Sacrifice"

The apex predator of death metal

Having garnered much praise through numerous reviews, the Brazilian/German death-thrashers Incarceration are now more or less a household name within certain circles of death. I had the extreme pleasure of witnessing their performance at the last edition of the Danish death metal festival, Kill-Town Death Fest, where they played the smallest stage, Dødsmaskinen. Witnessing their savage performance seemed like a privilege in itself, especially with frontman Daniel sporting his trademark grin throughout the show in front of a packed house. 

Plaguewielder: "Plaguewielder"

Varying depth and an unruly substance, Luxembourg's young ones are a strange lot

Formed in 2012 by Maxime Weber and Nicholas O'Connell, Plaguewielder is one of few bands hailing from the small European country of Luxembourg. Though they later signed with Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, it all started with this ambitious EP from 2013, which offers crushing guitars and surprisingly varied drumming.

Frozen Realm: "Frozen Realm"

A closed fist in the face of their own heroes

Once the acoustic guitar intro to Frozen Realm's debut EP of the same name breaks into an orgy of flashy guitar melodies, there can be no doubt as to the nature of the Swedish band. Balls deep in the long-standing tradition of the Gothenburg sound, Frozen Realm break into full-fledged melodic death metal, complete with every element that the definition entails.

Milez Grimez & Raw: "Pearly Gates"

Street knowledge from the afterlife

Milez Grimez hails from Rhode Island, New England and comes from a family of musicians and artists, so music was in his blood from an early age. Milez Grimez started out his career in the hip hop game back in 2000 when he attended an open mic session at a Talib Kweli show. The positive crowd reaction he got made him eager to pursue a career in hip hop. Since then he’s been featured on a wide range of tracks by prominent rappers like Apathy, Kool G Rap & Crooked I. First time i got aware of his rhyme skills was in 2015 alongside Ruste Juxx & Rock Of Heltah Skeltah in the video for Raw Deal off the Boston based producer Bombdrop’s Dark Dayz Album, where he displayed a tight, competent, aggressive and skilled flow and rhyme scheme. His lyrics was thug/horrorcore related, but showing a certain finesse that transcends what we’re used to from the genre, at least in my opinion.

Apokrifna Realnost: "Na Rekah Vavilonskih"

Little regard for current trends in what could be an obscure gem's second wind

It's time to practice some musical archeology - Apokrifna Realnost's only release, Na Rekah Vavilonskih, was originally released in 1988 in a strictly limited run of cassettes in lavish packaging. Now it has been unearthed and re-released by AnnapurnA in 2017, ready for its resurrection and, perhaps, long-due recognition.

Menschheitsdämmerung: "Cleaver of Skies and Tenets"

With an instinct for majestic riffs and compelling material, the Belgian one-man army conquers most rivals

In an attempt to achieve unparalleled atmosphere in the name of depression and deep, dark forests, many modern black metal groups have taken to ridiculous amounts of distortion in what seems to be an almost deliberate attempt to obscure their own inability to write compelling material. Classics like Burzum's Filosofem had clear production with every instrument standing out, the compositions themselves easily holding their own regardless of sound. Xasthur's Telepathic with the Deceased may well be the album that for many people has incited this infatuation with thick shrouds of noise and an abundance of effects on vocals as well as strings, but even this modern classic has its obvious hooks and captivating passages.

Stromptha: "Necronirisme"

Embers burning beneath heaps of snow

There is undoubtedly some interest to be garnered just from being from a place as unusual as Greenland, and true, that was the very reason I sought them out. But Greenland with its vast vistas of nothing but ice, snow and barren rock should be as likely a place for cold hearted metal as any! Even so, the question remains if the compositions and execution stands on its own.

Lord Impaler: "Babylon Whore"

Many repeat offenses which would have, ironically, been more enjoyable in a more brief format.

Since 1998 the Greek group known as Lord Impaler have unleashed grueling black metal through several demos, finally culminating with severe force in 2011 in the form of the album Admire the Cosmos Black. 2013 saw them continue in the vein of smaller releases with the Babylon Whore EP; With a mere two songs to show, they make up for the short play time with immediate and unrelenting explosions of blast beats and tremolo riffs going the speed of a circular saw.

2016 Top 10 - Part III: The EP Top 5

Arguably I haven't listened to that many EPs in 2016 - And the best ones seem to have been classified as demos, which is another Top List entirely! For a relatively short list there is still something for everyone. A little metal, a little funk, a little something-something. The choices for Top 5 EPs of 2016 are as follows:

Cvinger: "Monastery of Fallen"

Corpsepainted, thunderous black metal - Melodies not allowed

Traditionally schooled, Slovenia's Cvinger weighs in with a heavy reliance upon the old customs of second wave black metal. Monastery of Fallen confidently builds on a foundation of cascading torrents of furious blast beats set to the cold moods created by the dogma of ruthless tremolo riffing, lead singer Lucerus' vocals chiming in with the raw doctrines of every black metal curse in the book.

Sporadic Slaughter: "Thoughts On Our Significance"

Technical enthusiasm and deathly disruptions

Though most bands aim to distinguish themselves from similar groups or from any obvious trends, whether they're following them consciously or not, but Sporadic Slaughter from Yorkshire, England, seem hellbent on shoehorning themselves in right among the rest of the half-technically alligned modern death metal bands of today.

Rozamov: "Of Gods and Flesh"

Destructive and heavy, just the way it's supposed to be

Atmosphere ranks highly on the list of elements that define American stoner/doom metal band Rozamov's second EP Of Gods and Flesh. With massive walls of distorted guitars, gigantic monoliths of bass and drums, the quartet form a solid core of doom with mood-setting gusts of ethereal vapors around it.

Silent Carrion: "Suprematism EP I: Iupiter"

The project strays from its path but makes a slight return

Silent Carrion has always been progressive and boundary pushing. It's the bread and butter, the heart and soul of the project. An amalgam of trip hop, electronica, dark ambient, prog and trace amounts of a myriad of other components. Established upon the first release, Ruins, in 2010 in Northern Italy, 2013 welcomed the beginning of an EP-based trilogy starting with IUPITER, the first Suprematism EP to carry the project further.