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 Atomikylä, Owl's Blood, Nihill, and more.
Atomikylä: "Ihmiskallo"
Future Lunch is about to release the debut album from an incredibly warped new Finnish project, Atomikylä, which is touted as a collaboration between various members of Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising. Unsurprisingly, Atomikylä’s music is a perfect sum of its parts, with an extra dash of pulsating darkness. It’s less metal than Oranssi Pazuzu’s black metal leanings and more aggressive than Dark Buddha Rising’s occult drone, but ends up flying its freak flag all over the place, shifting from moody minimalism to gonzo paroxysms in the space of a few minutes. Psychedelic space rock collides with brief flashes of free jazz, howling vocals and huge, ragged gasps of doom to conjure one hell of a warped, fiendish trip. The songs are long and loose, built on spiraling riffs and kaleidoscopic noise. “Ihmiskallo” is particularly heavy, slamming into a repetitive groove harried by a witchy funeral organ and sparse sore-throated cries; tune in, drop out, and get weird.
Owl's Blood: "Spiritual Substantial Wisdom"
It’s 2014 and a black metal band needn’t possess Norwegian passports to be taken seriously anymore, so it’s not entirely surprising to discover a particularly artful example of Scandinavian-style black metal sprouting from Spain’s sun-baked soil. Basque Country trio Owl’s Blood is exactly that, and after releasing a demo and an EP in quick succession, the band is currently prepping its debut 12” Cold Night of Meditation for release. The album is a split effort between the excellent Dead Section Records and Altare Productions, and is remarkably self-assured for a first stab at writing a full-length. There’s not much information out there on Owl’s Blood, but all one really needs to focus on is their icy, sharply melodic black metal compositions that recall Finland’s uptempo bounce (think Horna or Sargeist) with just a hint of early Darkthrone’s fuzzy menace. The record looks like it’ll be limited to just 200 copies, so if you know what’s good for you, get to getting (and sample a track here).
Nihill: "Spirituum"
Nihill is one of the scariest bands I’ve encountered, and their fourth album Verderf is the Dutch outfit’s more abrasive and disturbing effort yet. While the well-connected trio (who share members with Dodecahedron and Tenzij de Horde) ostensibly play black metal, their vision of what that means is an apocalyptic aggregate of drone, industrial, dark ambient, and pure, painful noise layered beneath the ravening tremolo, ungodly roars, and brittle blasts. It even verges on industrialized doom on songs like “Spirituum”, riding a decayed tempo straight to hell. In short, it’s nasty stuff made by unhinged people, who may be perfectly lovely in the flesh but lose all sense of mercy or melody when the spirit of Nihill comes knocking. Verderf isn’t out until December 1st (look for it via Burning World), but we’ve got an early taste of the horrors yet to come. Listen to “Spirituum” below.
Fen: "Menhir-Supplicant"
Carrion Skies marks the fifth full-length from UK black metal stalwarts Fen, and it’s an excellent glimpse at a band that’s finally come into its own. The London-based trio have spent the last eight years perfecting their earthy strain of atmospheric black metal. For a good while, they found themselves lumped into the “post-black metal” wave, but their smart, powerful new album should succeed in burying that tag once and for all. Fen’s growth has been an organic process; their compositions are still progressive and dynamic with a post-rock tinge, though the intensity’s been ramped up considerably, and there’s a rich warmth of tone that helps to ground the album’s airier moments. It’s still very pretty, melodic music, but only when the storm of tremolo subsides. The nearly 12 minutes of “Menhir - Supplicant” are dark and lovely, ultimately as bleak and windswept as its creators’ namesake.
While Heaven Wept: "Heartburst"
The fifth album from While Heaven Wept commemorates the progressive doom titans’ 25th year of existence with considerable aplomb. Suspended at Aphelion is a single 39-minute long song, divided into 11 movements, and performed by the classic Fear of Infinity lineup (and if that’s not enough to get prog geeks salivating, there’s even an appearance by Fates Warning members Mark Zonder & Victor Arduini). As one might expect, it’s a thoroughly epic, almost cinematic affair that seamlessly blends the best of prog, melodic doom, and power metal, and with seven main musicians involved, there’s a lot going on. The album revels in its theatricality, its baroque orchestration and rippling leads polished to a fine sheen. Rain Irving’s vibrant, full-throated vocals soar in the foreground, abetted by those of guitarist/keyboardist and guiding force Tom Phillips and bassist Jim Hunter. The overall effect is nothing short of triumphant. Listen to the sorrowful bombast of “Heartburst” below.
Biipiigwan: "Nibaak"
Much like their fellow Canucks in KEN mode and Fuck the Facts (whose Topon Das has engineered several of their recordings), Ontario’s Biipiigwan have a healthy appreciation for noise—whether it be skronky noise, blasting noise, or desperately heavy noise. There is a seething negativity to their music that’s hard to ignore; they’ve always reminded me of Facedowninshit and Today is the Day’s darker moments. The band is about to kick off their first European tour, and in celebration, have put their 2012 Nibaak EP up on Bandcamp for free download. The title track for the EP clangs and crashes, a bloody meeting of noisy grind and metallic hardcore that spirals down into a pool of dark, rancid sludge. Listen to it below, and join me in hoping they record a follow up to 2013’s Something For Everyone; Nothing For Anyone LP sometime soon.
Biipiigwan: "Nibaak" on Bandcamp