STUFF LEPERKAHN DONE FOUND AND DONE LIKED, PART 5: SHORES OF NULL, OLD MAN GLOOM, INTER ARMA, WORMWOOD, WHORLS

 

(Leperkahn soldiers on with the round-ups while I’m AWOL from round-up duty. Here’s his latest collection of new things.)

Hello all. This version’s gonna be a bit short on the descriptions, since I have a boatload of Adam Smith to read, and a paper on the The Iliad that won’t write itself. That said, I figured I needed a break from that, and you all needed some wonderful metal in your lives.

SHORES OF NULL

I know I remember seeing some good press behind Shores Of Null’s recent Candlelight-released album Quiescence, and probably even watched one of the earlier music videos they made for one of the tracks. Yet, dunce that I am, I never actually checked out the album, and the just-released video for “Ruins Alive” is proving that was a mistake.

It mixes some doom-y/death-y instrumental work not unlike Insomnium, or something doomier than Insomnium, with Davide Straccione’s absolutely stunning vocals, both his cleans, used heavily and tonally in the vein of Enslaved’s Herbrand Larsen, Extol’s Ole Børud, and Black Crown Initiate’s Andy Thomas (therefore at once stunningly melodic and entrancingly proggy), and his cavernous, funeral doom-y growls. Listening to some of their other music videos, the quality put forth on “Ruins Alive” seems to carry throughout Quiescence. Add that to the long and growing list of albums I need to check out

https://www.facebook.com/shoresofnull

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OLD MAN GLOOM 

Old Man Gloom seem to defy the common plight of supergroups (the band features members of Cave In, Isis, and Converge, among others) by actually making interesting music worthy of being merited in its own right, and not just based on the past successes of the members’ other bands. In anticipation of their upcoming record, The Ape Of God, the group has now released a second song, “Predators”, via Noisey (the first song to premiere, “The Lash”, is also embedded below). “Predators” largely brings the same sludgy hardcore and post-metal mix that’s characterized OMG’s earlier work, but loses no vitality in relation to their past releases. Check it out below, and look for The Ape Of God via Profound Lore/SIGE on November 11.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Man-Gloom/41173493966
https://oldmangloom.bandcamp.com/album/no

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTER ARMA 

Yesterday Inter Arma put up their new one-track, 45-minute EP, The Cavern, for streaming via Pitchfork. As its runtime may suggest, the track is certainly more easily enjoyed as something that drifts in and out of your consciousness, with its various riffs weaving in and out of your brain. While I don’t personally smoke, this would probably be a good one to hear after a bit of Mary Jane. Dorrthia Cottrell’s vocal contributions (roughly a half-hour in) may be the highlight of this for me, as she makes that section haunting before it launches into a massive climax. Check it out via the link below, and look for The Cavern October 14th via Relapse.

https://www.facebook.com/INTERARMA

https://interarma.bandcamp.com/

http://pitchfork.com/advance/567-the-cavern/

 

 

 

 

 

WORMWOOD

I’ve definitely heard the Wormwood name before, but I can’t for the life of me remember exactly why. [Islander intrusion: possibly because of this?] Anyway, Islander gave me a tip that these guys had premiered a new track via CVLT Nation, to which I decided it would be in my best interest to pay a visit. Hell, it certainly was. “White Plague” mixes doom and punk elements with a heavy beat that for some reason reminds me strongly of the new Godflesh album for a propulsive, melodic, entrancing experience. Check it out via the link below, and look for their new record, which drops on October 14 via Magic Bullet Records.

https://www.facebook.com/Wormwoodboston?ref=br_tf
https://wormwood1.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHORLS

So far as I can tell, Whorls haven’t been covered in our hallowed halls yet (I may be wrong, and an inept search engine user). [Islander intrusion: you’re not wrong.] These guys play a sort of blackened hardcore that bands such as Young And In The Way and Hexis have trafficked in as of late, and to great effect. This stuff roughly sounds about as pissed and vitriolic as it gets – check out the video for their new song “Atheioi” below, and stream their new release Petrichor via their Bandcamp page if you dig it.

https://www.facebook.com/whorls
https://whorlsband.bandcamp.com/album/petrichor