Yesterday was crazy. And no, I’m not talking about the latest coronavirus developments (though those were depressingly crazy too). I’m talking about the ridiculous flood of new songs and videos that were discharged into the electronic ether. Nowadays there are always a lot of new releases on Fridays, but yesterday was a Friday the 13th, and that always triggers a rabid Pavlovian response among bands and labels.
Rather than try to winnow down everything I thought was appealing into a five-or-six song SEEN AND HEARD column, which would have over-stressed my feeble brain, I decided to throw up my hands and resort to the Overflowing Streams format — just shove all these new songs and videos at you with only brief commentary by me.
The thing is, there’s SO DAMNED MUCH STUFF HERE, particularly because I also included a few things that surfaced in the few days preceding Friday the 13th, that I decided to cut it into two parts to make it a little more digestible. Everything is arranged in alphabetical order by band name. If I don’t get the second half ready to go today, you’ll find it here tomorrow along with our usual SHADES OF BLACK column.
AVERSIONS CROWN (Australia)
I was inclined to include this first video simply so I would have an excuse to put Eliran Kantor’s cover art at the top of this page, but wound up digging the song too.
From the band’s new album Hell Will Come For Us All, a June 12 release via Nuclear Blast. Pre-order here, Facebook here.
BLACK CROWN INITIATE (U.S.)
Moody folk music at first, and then a big kaleidoscope of other head-spinning sensations later….
This is a new digital single available here, and presumably will be included on BCI’s new album Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape, coming on August 7 from Century Media. Facebook here.
CEMETERY FILTH (U.S.)
A second song has surfaced from what is probably going to be one of the stand-out death metal albums of 2020, but be sure to listen to both tracks. Full of surprises, there’s a lot more going on here than cemetery filth (the soloing, for example, is fucking glorious)….
From Dominion, set for release by Unspeakable Axe on April 13. Pre-order here. Facebook here.
COMMON WAR (U.S.)
Bruising and bleak metal/hardcore from this California band, with a surprise at the end….
A brand new video, but the song is from an EP released in December named Speak Of The Devil. Buy here. Facebook here.
COSMIC PUTREFACTION (Italy)
Vicious, deranged, supremely sinister death metal, with other stylistic ingredients and plentiful doses of intricate technical pyrotechnics, and a mesmerizing outro… formidably capable of disorienting and disturbing the mind.
From The Horizons Towards Which Splendour Withers, coming on May 22nd via I, Voidhanger Records. Pre-order here. Facebook here.
CRYPTEX (Germany)
I included this one mainly to see if you were still paying attention.
Taken from the forthcoming album Once Upon A Time, out on May 8th via Steamhammer. Pre-order here. Facebook here.
CRYPTIC SHIFT (U.K.)
Twisted, shape-shifting, discordant, and technically exuberant death metal, likely to invoke memories ranging from Atheist to Gorguts. A very pleasing mind-fuck.
From the album Visitations From Enceladus (which begins with a 26-minute track!), to be released by Blood Harvest Records on May 4th. Pre-order here. Facebook here.
CURSE (Sweden)
Thrashing black/death full of menace and mayhem but a sure source of adrenaline (and sore-neck syndrome too).
The album is The Awakening..and the Old, due for release by Redefining Darkness Records on April 10th. Pre-order here.
DESTROYERS OF ALL (Portugal)
Primitive bone-smashing brutalism melded with voracious vocals, eerie shrieking and swirling leads, and spooky astral keys. Creepy video, too, likely to remind you of your last anal probe by space aliens….
Taken from the album The Vile Manifesto, released on February 2nd through Mosher Records. Buy here. Facebook here.
EX DEO (Italy)
Sweeping symphonic bombast and jolting death metal grandiosity, based on the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and featuring an orchestral score by Francesco Ferrini from Fleshgod Apocalypse.
“The Philosopher King” is a stand-alone single, available here. Facebook here.
FUNERAL LEECH (U.S.)
Dismal, gruesome, supernatural death/doom from NYC with abyssal vocals, knee-capping drumwork, seething, sadistic riffing, and melodic filaments of poltergeist wailing. Nourishment for those greedy for the ghastly…
From a record named Death Meditation, coming out on April 17th via Carbonized Records. Pre-order here. Facebook here.
FUNERALOPOLIS (Switzerland)
Vile and diseased death metal from Switzerland, mixing lunatic vocal horrors, skull-cleaving grooves, galloping mayhem, and big doses of eviscerating riffage. Love the meaty bass rumble too.
Taken from their upcoming debut album, …of Deceit and Utter Madness, due out on April 27th via Memento Mori. Pre-order here. Facebook here.
5 Responses to “OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 1): AVERSIONS CROWN, BLACK CROWN INITIATE, CEMETERY FILTH, COMMON WAR, COSMIC PUTREFACTION, CRYPTEX, CRYPTIC SHIFT, CURSE, DESTROYERS OF ALL, EX DEO, FUNERAL LEECH, FUNERALOPOLIS”
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Cemetery Filth and Cosmic Putrefaction delivers great stuff again, by the sound of this songs.
Wow. All this shit KILLS. Good finds!
Thank you!
Memento Mori was put on my radar with Ectoplasma’s latest release and Funeralopolis’s embed just confims this!
wow what a trove of crushing metal. awesome. Cosmic Putrefaction–damn.
But there was 1 exception that I couldn’t deal with — Cryptex (yes I was paying attention). but although I didn’t like their music, I fully agree with that chick’s tits in the video.