THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

(Andy Synn presents four albums from April which you may well have overlooked)

Depending on when you’re reading this there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be several thousand feet in the air, on my way to link up with the rest of the NCS crew for this year’s edition of Northwest Terror Fest.

As a result of this we’re probably going to have a quieter week than normal, posting-wise, but should still be able to get a few reviews, interviews, and assorted round-ups published to keep you all entertained (assuming you’re not also at the festival with us).

For my part, as well as a review of the new Tzompantli (which I’ll probably be working on during the flight) I’ve chosen four more artists/albums from last month – taken from a not-so-short-list that also included the likes of Antichrist Siege Machine, Carrion Vael, Exist, Full of Hell, Inter Arma, and Karst – for another edition of “Things You May Have Missed”.

And, hey, if you didn’t miss them… why not check out some of the other names I just mentioned instead?

ATER – SOMBER

Chilean groove-mongers ATER are a difficult band to pin-down – sure, there’s a “blackened” side to them, as well as a prominent (and powerful) Death Metal influence, but the group’s gargantuan guitar tone and colossal heaviness shares just as much in common with the likes of Meshuggah, Nightmarer, and Humanity’s Last Breath, each of whom have been described at various points as either “Djent”, “Dissodeath”, or “Deathcore” (although none of those labels really strictly apply).

Perhaps a better option – or, at least, one which would put the prospective listener in the right potential frame of mind – would be to link them to the nascent “Post-Death” sound of artists like Altarage, Barús, Cosmovore, etc, in that their juxtaposition of gravity-distorting density (as immediately showcased by the crushing crawl of opener “Striges”) with passages of brooding ambience and eerie atmospherics (such as during the down-tuned, doom-laden desolation of “Through the Portal”) finds them eschewing standard song-structures in favour of an approach which focuses more on mood and presence.

It’s an approach which also allows them to enhance the already impressive impact of their sound (check out the intense, almost thrashy, assault of “Descending”, for an example) with the clever contrast between these moments of moody atmosphere (such as the the ominous opening bars of the titanic title-track), with the end result (especially on a song like fantastic mid-album highlight “Ignis Immortalis”, whose blasting intensity and churning heaviness slowly but surely gives way to much more intricate, immersive, and intimately melodic approach) making for an album which, despite a few flaws (mainly that it’s too short!) should hopefully put ATER firmly on the metallic map.

DYSTOPIA – DE VERBODEN DIEPTE I: VELDSLAG OP DE RAND VAN DE WERELD

2024 has been a good year for Black Metal so far (Naxen, Selbst, Czernina, Griffon, Kalt Vindur, and many, many more) and Dutch quartet Dystopia recently added themselves to that list with their fourth album, De verboden diepte I: Veldslag op de rand van de wereld (hereafter to be referred to as De verboden diepte I).

Erring more than ever towards the proggier side of Black Metal (if the eye-catching artwork weren’t already a clue), the four tracks which make up De verboden diepte I (the shortest of which is still over eight-and-a-half minutes long) combine scalding sequences of blistering blastbeats and taut tremolo guitars with passages of nuanced, noir-ish atmosphere and moments of moody, Morricone-esque musicality in a manner which recalls mid-period Enslaved as much as latter-day White Ward or post-millennial Sear Bliss.

And while the band’s ability to melt their listener’s face with pure sonic fury (the first few minutes of “Giftige Woorden”, for example, are as vicious and as visceral as they come) or drop some serious, stomping heaviness (“Eerst Enkelen, Toen Honderden, Toen Duizenden”) is beyond question, it’s their more outlandishly progressive inclinations which really put De verboden diepte I over the top, from the way they play with ambience and atmosphere to their use of creepy choral vocals and soaring, clean-sung melodies to add an extra dose of esoteric emotion and creative charisma to their bubbling Black Metal brew.

It’s an album that constantly seems to have something new to reveal – even after listening to closer “De Val” so many times I still find myself surprised when it drops into an irresistibly headbangable groove or throws a majestic, almost Borknagar-ian curveball at me out of nowhere – and will most likely end up on quite a few year-end lists if there’s any justice in the world.

FOLTERKAMMER – DEATH IS NOT THE END

Another band making a strong case for their inclusion on any list of the year’s best Black Metal albums, esoteric extremists Folterkammer have clearly come on leaps and bounds from their debut with their second album, Weibermacht and its vivaciously vivid songs of sex and death, dominance and submission.

And while, for obvious reasons, the operatic, diva-like (and I truly mean that in the best possible way) delivery of vocalist Andromeda Anarchia will be a major (and likely divisive) focal point for many listeners – make no mistake about it, this lady has some serious pipes and isn’t afraid to show them off, crooning and cackling and cavorting up and down the scales with the reckless abandon of someone who knows exactly what they’re doing and what they’re capable of – I don’t want to say that she’s the only reason for Folterkammer‘s success.

After all, the whirling guitars and whip-cracking hooks of “Anno Domina”, the infectious hooks and seditious melodies of “Leck Mich!” (the video for which you should also check out) and the baroque blackened fury of “Die Unterwerfung” would all be worth listening to even if they stuck to a more “traditional” vocal approach, as the rest of Folterkammer are no slouches on their own instruments either (hell, even the bass gets a chance to shine, undulating proggily or grooving gothically as the band’s musical mistress demands).

But, as is so often the case, it’s the combination of – and contributions from – all the band’s members which makes Weibermacht so good, especially during a song like “Algolagnia”, whose animalistic intensity and sinister theatricality makes it one of the darkest, heaviest – and probably best – songs on the entire album (though the scourging strains of “Das Peitschengedicht” possibly go even harder), and while the end result certainly won’t be for everyone I’d suggest that, if you’re even a little bit curious, you should give it a try.

Who knows, you might just like it (though I’d recommend agreeing on a safe-word first, just in case)!

NECRORACLE – ARCANE IMPIOUS SORCERIES

Last, but by no means least we have the debut album from Spanish savages Necroracle, whose gruesome sound – part Black Metal, part Death Metal, laced with poisoned veins of unnerving, unearthly ambience – will doubtless appeal to fans of Teitanblood, Verberis, Tchornobog, etc.

Sure, I am cheating slightly by including this album – Arcane Impious Sorceries was actually released at the very end of March – but it’s been punishing and terrorising my eardrums throughout April, so I decided it needed to be written about (even if only to exorcise its many demons from my dreams).

Combining a crushingly claustrophobic guitar tone with a love of sinister pseudo-melody and penchant for moments of menacing minimalism, Necroracle‘s debut certainly isn’t for the faint of heart – it’s a dark, disturbing piece of auditory art whose horrifying sound certainly suits its creepy cover – but those willing to delve its terrifying depths will soon uncover an album of surprising subtleties and unexpected intricacies.

Don’t expect to pick them up on first listen, of course – during your first encounter you’re probably best off just trying to hold on tight as the band blast and bludgeon and blaspheme with seemingly unrelenting, almost inhuman intensity – but. as you sink deeper into it you’ll soon uncover the gloomy ambient undercurrent flowing beneath the scarred surface of “Mors Apotheosis”, or the anxiety-inducing, arpeggiated hooks piercing the swirling maelstrom of “Thessalian Incantation”, or the doom-laden aurora permeating colossal closer “Eosphoros, The Shining One”.

And while I’d say that the band definitely save their best for both first and last, even the extensive ambient interlude of “Death Takes Us to Ascension” feels like a vital component of the overall conjuration, splitting the album straight down the middle so that each of its halves manages to sound greater than the whole.