Moonglade - Gray Evening
(https://moonglade.bandcamp.com/releases)
Remember when, in a moment of unparalleled condescension and paternalism, I promised to criticize Mire of Despondency's Nokturus until she realized her potential as a musician? Well, I'll eat at least a few of my words. Moonglade, the Pennsylvania musician's new solo project, plays to all of Mire of Despondecy's strengths while dispensing with its weaknesses. Well, most of them. As usual, Nokturnus's shrieks sometimes crowd out the rest of the mix, and the instrumentation is still almost entirely digital. But Nokturnus's melancholy melodies and excellent use of synths and keys brings out the best in her songwriting and highlight just how much she's developed as an artist since her debut. Moonglade's embrace of bittersweet depressive melodies and haunting ambiance on Gray Evening bears all the hallmarks of the best kind of new beginning.
Recommended.
Vermin Lord - VERMINLORD DEMO
(https://verminlord.bandcamp.com/album/verminlord-demo)
Imagine a rat in corpse paint squealing his heart out into a microphone that's as big as he is.
That's about what the vocals on Vermin Lord's first demo sounds like, and I have to admit, I kinda love it. Add some spooky, pseudo-medieval black metal melodies, gothic chanting, and a few chunky death metal riffs and you've got a recipe for one of the most exemplary and original black metal demos I've heard in a long, long time—trve and kvlt as piping hot Per Ohlin stew from start to finish. Did I mention this is just one guy? Yeah, it's just one guy. What have you done with your life recently?
Highly Recommended.
Necrourgica - Further From The Grey
(https://necrourgica.bandcamp.com/album/further-from-the-grey)
These two Pennsylvania black metallers are barely twenty, but Further From The Grey has all the grim sophistication of a veteran release, with solid roots in the best of black metal's second wave. There's a few atmospheric touches and post-black influenced melodies on some tracks, but the riffing and blastbeats have all the thrash and rattle of the classics. That's not to say Necrourgica are deaf to fresh ideas. Ecoas's menacing snarl evokes Attila Csihar throughout the record, but he also employs a gothic croon on "Corrode" and "Appalachian Lake" that sounds more like H.I.M's Ville Valo—weirdly, it works. Most importantly. Further From The Grey is full of catchy, dynamic, meaty, and creative black metal songwriting; the kind that's becoming increasingly rare in a scene dominated by atmospheric releases.
Highly Recommended.
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