Wormwood – Mooncurse
Together, they create a rhythmic joyride down a cheese grater.
Rig Time – War!
War is there to sound the clarion call that we are perhaps already at war. This is visceral, angry, political punk rock, screamed straight from the heart, metal style.
Primitive Man – Caustic
There is nobody else that I’m aware of doing what PM does. They are masters of a genre all their own.
Jupiterian – Terraforming
If Minsk and Portal had a baby in a swamp that was then raised on a desert in outer space, “Terraforming” would be it in sonic presentation.
Usnea – Portals Into Futility
Through six tracks running just shy of an hour, the band weaves a complex web of dread and discovery.
Hell – Hell
The void is strong with this one.
Olde – Temple
They are a righteous beast awakened and ready to cleanse.
Cloud Rat/Moloch Split
The split is a cohesive whole, sort of different respective takes on darkness and futility.
Warcrab – Scars of Aeons
Warcrab gives us a dark, brooding masterpiece without flaw. Too few will hear this album this year, but it will certainly find it’s way high up on my year end list.
Graves at Sea – The Curse That Is
The complete package is moving and feels rooted in an organic, malevolent intensity.