Deuil - "Acceptance/Rebuild"

Belgian post black metal and forward thinking doom by way of Deuil. "Acceptance" spends half of its 20 minutes in borderline ambient/drone doom realms before ultimately unleashing a blackened beast from the post-apocalyptic bowels of post-whatever-as-a-genre while the fittingly titled "Rebuild" continues on the basic trajectory of "Acceptance" as it attempts to rebuild your psyche after the pummeling it received from "Acceptance". Loud, deep, angry, inviting.

Deuil - "Acceptance/Rebuild"

- DCKR

Autumn, Leaves, Scars - "The Story Of A Life"

Depressive post-ish black metal and sort of blackened shoegaze influenced gothic rock. Or something. Some nice melodies and everything is played & put together well. If any of those buzz words get ya hot under the collar, you'll enjoy this.

Autumn, Leaves, Scars - "The Story Of A Life"

- DCKR

Kosmograd - "Self Titled"

Sludgy post hardcore with some psychedelic and black metal tendencies here and there. Sick ass cover art, to boot. It's a couple years old now, but age ain't nothing but a number when speaking of good music and the first time hearing it. Check it out.

Kosmograd - "Self-titled"

- DCKR

Jungbluth - "S/T Tape"

It's not in my nature to lie to the people about the music, so I'm not gonna start now. How I happened upon this release, I have no clue. What happens is, I spend about one night a week just downloading a shit ton of music from numerous and various sources, then I spend the following week (attempting to) going through it when I've time. This has left me with a HUGE (and ever increasing) folder of new music and an impossible way to discern where I got what from. So, when I cue something up, I give it a few minutes and either continue listening because I dig it or shitcan it because I don't. If I dig it, I go looking for more info to see if I can buy it, if I can post it, and in both cases I look for as much information about the artist and release as possible. Fun life, eh? And that's just what I do with my free time.

Anyhow, Jungbluth's self titled tape was something I happened upon and from about 3 seconds in knew that I was gonna love. I was right. When I went looking for info on these guys, I read a lot of reference to "screamo" as a genre - a genre that I 99.9% of the time cannot stand. Give it up for Jungbluth being part of the .01%! But, as you might expect from myself and Magicore, it's never that black and white. Jungbluth craft a ridiculous blend of, as mentioned, "screamo", but it is far beyond that. Oldschool punk rock, screamo, post/progressive metal tendencies, hardcore, and much more are all swirling in this sonic maelstrom - and this self title tape is hugely enjoyable and recommended if even a small fraction of anything mentioned thusfar is something you're even remotely into, guaranteed.

So. Go get a tape if you can. If not, definitely get a download.

Here.

Nagaarum - "Oort"

Over the last year or so I've really noticed a lot of black metal and related sounds coming out of the peculiar land known as Hungary. It seems, at least from a distance, like an unlikely place for a thriving black metal scene. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of it going on. Additionally, the black metal scene in Hungary seems to be largely dominated by artists working with their interpretation of the blueprint for this sound, often coloring well outside the lines and liberally cross pollinating black metal with other genres and sounds - often more experimental things.

Nagaarum is one such band from Hungary. Psychedelic and doom laden black metal, a one man outfit it seems, Nagaarum crafts a pretty complex and in depth imagining of the black metal sound. Sticking its fingers in sort of gothic and post rock pies at times, there is a lot of genuine musicality going on here while keeping true to the finer points of black metal. I guess you could call it a sort of psychedelic post space black metal, if you wanted to. There's a lot of progression and ebb & flow through out the album, and the songs on their own. A whole listening experience, "Oort" is definitely an album that will either speak to you very directly and intimately or leave you scratching your chin wondering what the hell you just heard.

Oldschool style website that's still cool to experience, go cop this one from the "releases" page.

Nagaarum - "Oort"

- DCKR

Syberia - "Drawing A Future"

I'll let you draw your own comparisons about "Drawing A Future" from instrumental post rock/metal outfit Syberia. It's quality musicianship and absolutely worth checking out if you're into progressive rock/metal and post rock/metal.

Syberia - "Drawing A Future"

- DCKR

La Ville des Rêves - "Demo"

Single track demo from La Ville des Rêves out of Sioux Falls, SD, of all places, with some really wonderful shoegaze influenced post black metal. Swirling and sailing guitars of lush atmosphere and melancholic mood. Great musicality on this one, whereas so many artists attempting this sound go overboard in places or entirely miss the point. Epic, emotional, deep, dark - with just a hint of silver lining.

La Ville des Rêves - "Demo"

- DCKR

V/A - "Relapse Records Winter 2012 Sampler"

Despite not fully harnessing the digital era, a lot of established metal labels are dipping their toes in to test the waters. The ever awesome Relapse Records has been on the forefront of keeping it real, in terms of physical product and such, as well as putting some feelers out with new media in the form of free podcasts/mixtapes and free samplers.

The winter 2012 sampler from the label comes packing heat with a ridiculous collection of material from artists on their roster this year, along with a sneak peak of what's yet to come. If you're familiar with the label, then you know what to expect. If you're not down with Relapse, I gotta question your dedication to metal music. Either way, cop this mammoth collection of free tunes including work from Pig Destroyer, Hooded Menace, Christian Mistress, Baroness, Weapon, Death, Dying Fetus, Murder Construct and more. Each and every band bringing it heavy and relentless.

In a word: essential.

- DCKR

Barghest / False - Split

Oshkosh Wisconsin's Gilead Media with a 3 track split from Barghest and False, delivering a sort of  black / death metal hybrid that tip toes into some remotely shoegaze and/or post rock feeling moments and back again. Guitar work here is of the shredding melodic black/death metal variety and of note, vocals are layered and varied while remaining singular, lots of crashing cymbals in the drums. Choose your vice to twist your brain and turn this one up really loud when you're all alone late at night.

Barghest / False - Split

- DCKR

Hand Of Taurus - "Hand Of Taurus"

Djent has really kind of gone the way of super/over produced music in a lot of cases, a general trend that I'm not terribly into for the most part. I still dig the purveyors and full bands that push the envelope with the sound, bands like Meshuggah or even After The Burial. Aside from the A.I.(d) stuff, the one man hyper produced djent band hasn't really done it for me. Hand Of Taurus kind of does it for me, though. At least enough so to bother posting it. Needless to say, if you're into super clean electronics infused metal music, you'll probably enjoy this.

From truly rockin' full on djent workouts to electronic back beat breakdowns, Hand Of Taurus does a pretty good job of crafting a story out of sound all on his own. The production is, super tight - bordering on overly so. However, there's a lot of great musicality to this album, the melody and atmosphere work is remarkable sound design and the electronic percussion work is a nice compliment. The metalic elements are pulled off nice and slick, though you can hear the electronic element throughout the entire release. It's kind of like if Dream Theatre were quite heavier and slightly groovier, while also being one individual with a computer instead of a full traditional band.

It's at least worth checking out if any of those things pique your interest, and absolutely worth doing so if that whole scene is your thing even in the slightest.

Hand Of Taurus - "Hand Of Taurus"

- DCKR

Cyclopian - "Cyclopian"

Post doom metal in a thick coat of flat black. Cyclopian deliver a roller coaster ride with their self titled release that is rooted in doom metal but extends its tentacles outside of that cage in countless directions at once. Elements of black and death metal highlight the sound when it's really heavy, orchestral post metal movements fill in the gaps. Quality fuckin' shit.

Cyclopian - "Cyclopian"

- DCKR

Kutkh - "Earth Without Light"

Russian sludgy post metal or whateverthefuck. Super epic and moody, hell enjoyable, cool artwork. Enjoy!

Kutkh - "Earth Without Light"

- DCKR

0N0 - "Plus Ultra"

0N0 is a ridiculous one man technical grind/death/industrial metal outfit from Slovakia. Waaaaaaay better than you think, guaranteed. Traversing the technical death metal and grindcore terrain with incredible skill, and dabbling in sort of progressive rock and post rock realms at the same time, finished off with a smidge of industrial tendencies. Check it out.

0N0 - "Plus Ultra"

- DCKR

December Apparition - "Sea Crypt"

Staten Island, NY isn't the first place that comes to mind when thinking of ambient/black/post metal varieties. The act calling itself December Apparition, though, proves that location isn't everything and that brilliance in any genre of music can be found well outside the geographic location most associated with it. Strange, too, for the metal scene, is the lack of an entry on the ever incredible Encyclopaedia Metallum Metal Archives website - but you won't find one there for this band.

5 tracks of brief yet haunting sort of ambient post black metal for free on their Bandcamp page is all you get, beside a Myspace page that looks to not have been updated in over a year and which shows the band only having 18 friends. Kind of fitting, really, I suppose. These short insights into the mind(s) behind December Apparition are a solid outing, though, and absolutely essential for those long haired smokers who like shit spacious yet heavy, fuzzy yet melodic, hidden yet accessible.

December Apparition - "Sea Crypt"

- DCKR

Hexis - "XI"

Hexis appeared on a 3 way split I posted a while back and took the blue ribbon for best tunes on the split, despite subpar production value. With this one, however, they've upped the ante. Taking the foundation of their efforts on that split and turning it up a notch, both in terms of pure brutality and aggression as well as proper production value, this is a fucking monster.

Released less than a week after the split I mentioned above and previously posted, and at the same time as another release from them entitled "X", "XI" is a no holds barred monolith of blackened post grind. Huge riffs all over the place, blazing fast super technical drums that give way to half time backbeats, both a well executed growl and scream for vocals, heavy on the low ends - it's pretty much perfect. When the 7th track of this one is over, I thoroughly and completely want more. Good thing they released "X" as well and that I've never heard it, about to go download that and get some more of my Hexis fix right now.

Hexis - "X" & "XI"

- DCKR

All The Empires Of The World - "Return"

What unholy creatures, they that call themselves All The Empires Of The World. Droney blackened ambient sludge noise from the bowls of the nether realm. Remarkable.

All The Empires Of The World - "Return"

- DCKR

Hexis / As We Draw / Euglena - split

This is an interesting release. It's like, from the moment you push play it is a steady march toward awesome. As We Draw start off this split on some screamo type shit I'm not particularly fond of that, despite that, manages to not fail terribly. Holding true, their second effort on this one is better than their first. Euglena are sandwiched in the middle operating on some post-metal and sludge wavelengths and bring 3 tracks of, again, increasing radness perfect for that stoned evening in front of your speakers - each track better than the previous. The treat here, ironically or not, is the last two tracks from Hexis, which are the least well produced in terms of the physics of production but which still manage to come correct with the icing on the cake role - awesome closing tunes to this split release available on vinyl for 10 Euros or name your price (with no minimum) digital download.

Hexis / As We Draw / Euglena - split

- DCKR