Goatwhore - FBS (new song)

I don't know if you guys noticed, but Goatwhore have pulled out a killer track from their next album Constricting Rage of the Merciless, due out in July. Check it out!

Ride for Revenge – "Enter the Gauntlet"

Some weeks ago, Finland has blessed us with one filthy pearl of beastly black metal. Imagine if Archgoat or Beherit took their foot off the gas for a while and started to listen to Sunn O))). They would probably sound like their countrymen Ride for Revenge, whose latest full-length Enter the Gauntlet was released in the beginning of May. They offer us therein a cacophony of distorted lo-fi guitars, prominent bass lines and hypnotizing tunes, peppered with sickly raspy vocals. It’s the perfect amalgamation of raw black metal and drony, ritualistic soundscapes. Check out their Bandcamp and buy the album. It’s 6 euros for 73 minutes of mindfuckíng and mesmerizing music, for Satan’s sake.  

Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite Mirror (new song)

Wolves In The Throne Room have released a track from their upcoming album. It's an ambient piece, mostly electronic stuff, no blast beats or vocals of any kind. I like it, though it wouldn't make me check out the album later if it wasn't this particular band.

Check it out:

Impaled Nazarene – Vigorous and Liberating Death

I’m not particularly crazy about Impaled Nazarene. They had their apex with Ugra-Karma, which is a brutally brilliant album if you ask me, but all of their subsequent releases, though fairly good, don’t fail to reflect a certain degree of staleness. Yes, they’re extremely competent musicians and performers but, nonetheless, their albums seem to amount to nothing more than different renditions of a same composition. Some praise this as a mark of “trueness”, as if being coherent, per se, were virtuous. I disagree with this position. I prefer an “incoherent” band which succeeds in blowing my mind off with every new release than a very “coherent” act which seems to successively bring forth different versions of a same album.

Besides, I just can’t put up with their homophobic, nationalistic, anti-communist bullshit. Sure, we have our share of bigotry, ignorance or downright idiocy in the black metal scene, but few are so damn explicit about it. Just check the lyrics of tracks such as “Zero Tolerance” or “Healers of the Red Plague” to see what I mean. Let’s just say they could easily be uttered by any minister of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Due to all this, I can’t say I was holding my breath for Impaled Nazarene’s new full-length, Vigorous and Liberating Death, which is just more of the same recipe. A decent sample of brutal, fast-paced, punk-infused black metal. It’s a good release, don’t get me wrong, and at some points it even sounds less “mechanical” than previous albums, which is always a good thing. In one word, this album will maybe make you bang your head, but don’t expect it to rock you off your socks.

Oxbow - King of the Jews | Hydra Head Bargain Sale

Hey guys just a quick heads-up that Hydra Head Industries are pulling an awesome sale: 30 albums for $40. Now us non-american types get the shit-end of the stick (thanks, Obama) because we actually pay the shipping fees, that are free for US residents. Still, I dished a sum total of ~66€ for the whole thing, that's around 2,2€ per album which is pretty fucking sweet if you ask me.

There are some goodies to be grabbed here. Khanate, Xasthur and Oxbow are personal favourites here, but there's no frowning at a decent Cave In or Harvey Milk release. All in all, there's no downside to this, other than the obvious drought that I'm predicting due to having spent my monthly beer money on the damn thing.

Enjoy some Oxbow while you're at it, for no particular reason.