Hell Awaits is a column by Kim Kelly and Andy O'Connor that shines a light on extreme and underground metal. This time, Kim Kelly sizes up new releases from Sinmara, Moss, Death Fortress and more.
Sinmara: Aphotic Womb
The band formerly known as Chao has been knocking around Reykjavik since 2008 but has finally given us a good reason to sit up and take notice with Aphotic Womb, the mesmerizing debut album from this sampling of Iceland’s finest extreme minds. It’s out now via Terratur Possessions, and features members of local heavyweights Svartidauði, Wormlust, Slidhr, and Rebirth of Nefast. Less claustrophobic than obvious reference points Svartidauði yet perhaps even more adventurous in terms of songcraft and outright catchiness (not to mention the seriously inspired drumwork), Sinmara manage to stand out in a crowded subgenre. No matter how many progressive chaotic black/death metal bands see fit to grace us with their presence over the next few months, this one will remain a notch above the rest. The fine quality of their violent and genuinely creative black metal machinations is simply impossible to deny. While the whole album is excellent, stormy closing epic “Mountains of Quivering Bones” delivers the kill shot with heartless precision.
Moss: "Spectral Visions"
Subterranean frequency abusers Moss have a longstanding tradition of label-hopping, and despite their seven-year stretch with the UK’s Rise Above, the heavy-lifting trio are striking out on their own for the band’s next release. The upcoming “Camilla (Marcilla)”/”Spectral Visions” 10” EP will be released digitally and in a limited batch of 500 by Moss’ own Stone Tape label. In true horror freak fashion, the vinyl will drop on the 31st of October, and features two howling hymns from the grave (preorder it here). “Spectral Visions” is a doomed psychedelic nightmare, narrated by tremulous, ominous oration; to contextualize it alongside some of 2014’s big doom releases, it’s bleaker than the new Electric Wizard, and its shuddering lurch would give Yob nightmares. Moss may have eased up on their once-familiar ear-splitting drones, but their evolution has just taken another hard turn down the left-hand path.
Death Fortress: Among the Ranks of the Unconquerable
New Jersey’s Death Fortress came out swinging in 2012 with the promising rawness of Pulling Ancient Stone demo. They quickly snagged the attention of Fallen Empire Records, who released the trio’s next EP and a split with Northern England’s ghastly Axis of Light in quick succession and are now preparing to release Death Fortress’ debut LP Among the Ranks of the Unconquerable this October (Endless Path Productions will handle the CD version). This new material sees the band find its footing and totally nail the icy mid-tempo groove; echoes of Clandestine Bloodshed ring out, but Death Fortress is too smart to copy others' homework. They’ve carved out their own sound here, where the harmonies here are just as strong as the tremolo attack but neither yield an inch. “King’s Blood” tempers melody with savagery, and the result is utterly compelling.
Death Fortress: "King's Blood" on Bandcamp
Process of Guilt: "Liar (Mouvement I)"
A corrosive snarl and tense mechanical whine open Process of Guilt’s side of their new split with Swiss bruisers Rorcal, and that inhuman noise proves to be a blood-curdling preview of what’s to come. The Portuguese mainstays joined forces with Bleak Recordings and Cal Of Ror Records to release their first new studio recordings since 2012’s FÆMIN, and the three new songs that comprise Process of Guilt’s contribution to the split find the quartet in foul form. Their cruel industrial urges are out in full force here, dragging down the roiling doom-inspired riffs with layers of distortion, reverb, and clanging noise that wouldn’t sound misplaced on a Today Is the Day record. The 12” record is out October 10, 2014; listen to the first track, “Liar (Mouvement I)”, and prepare to bleed.
Ancst: In Turmoil
Black metal-meets-crust bands sure seem to love compilations (see: Iskra, Cara Neir, Downfall of Gaia, et al) and Ancst is no exception. The Berlin collective has just released In Turmoil, with thirteen songs culled from various out-of-print tapes, demos, EPs, and splits with Hiveburner and Smuteční Slavnost as well as one new track, “Frailty”. The album was released on vinyl through Vendetta, Wooaaargh and Yehonala Tapes in an edition of 500 copies, and is also available digitally on Bandcamp. The self-professed anti-fascist, anti-sexist, anti-religion, DIY outfit combine black metal, crust punk, hardcore, and ambient noise, and their recent material embraces a more atmospheric bent (think Agrimonia, or the aforementioned Downfall of Gaia). The songs have all been remastered which gives some of the weaker tracks a leg up, but the release is still a bit spotty. Luckily, when Ancst is good, they’re great, and “Frailty” is an excellent step in the right direction.
Ancst: "Frailty" on Bandcamp
Hungers: The Unobserved
Up and coming label Belief Mower (also home to works from Aerial Ruin, Krieg, and Golden Raven) has just released the new EP from sludgy Portland unit Hungers. Formed in 2011, the band had only one self-titled cassette to its name before venturing further into the abyss with this latest endeavor. The Unobserved is progressive without feeling contrived, born of weighy doomed downstrokes but touched with poisonous traces of black metal in A.M.’s snarl and in the angular Metastazis cover art. Noise rock infiltrates much of the often jagged chromatic riffing, and baleful melodies culled from the gentler moments of Samothrace or Yob add balance to an otherwise aggressive palate (see the evocative tones of “Bereft” for an especially solid example). There’s a lot of potential here, and even Hungers seem to know they’re onto something special.
Hungers: "Bereft" on Bandcamp