Finally catching up with some of the September releases we flagged to review but didn’t get to, today we have Kathaaria’s sophomore release, after 14 years, title “To Be Shunned by All​.​.​.​ As Centres of Pestilence”. Playing a weird and decadent interpretation of Black Metal, this duo crafts six very interesting songs that have influences from the Scandinavian Avant-garde Black Metal scene.

Opening with the piercing “Agenda Nihil”, the band immediately makes their pitch of uncompromising madness with the intricate riffing and drummer of this sinister song. Things are just getting warmed up as “The Last Act of Rebellion” keeps the madness going with some playful tempo changes and very crafty arrangements, delivering a tricky and yet very enjoyable song that goes beyond your typical BM piece.

Unleashing a gargantuan slab of Black Metal with tons of atmospherics, today we have UK’s Terra and their sophomore release “Für dich existiert das alles nicht”. In the vein of Ash Borer, Fell Voices, and the like, this release punishes the listener with ravaging onslaughts of Black Metal aural abuse thanks to its unsettling atmosphere. With four tracks clocking in at over 60 minutes, this release is as brutal as it is brilliant.

Opening with “The Beginning”, the band slowly envelops the listener with raw distortion, massive drums and piercing vocals. The band’s style is definitely an acquired taste as it relies heavily on its punishing atmosphere but once it settles, it is demoralizing and extremely powerful. The riffs on tracks like “Verisimilitude” are as heavy as they can get and nicely weave back and forth from the drone-ish/ambient-like atmospherics. This particular style is quite effective and immediately transports the listener to a dark and foggy world where sound transcends consciousness.

Having slowly creeped its way into influencing Metal bands, Post-Rock is a genre we have always enjoyed and found quite engaging and dreamy to so extent. One of the best bands in the genre has to be French outfit Lost in Kiev, which returns this October with their latest opus “Rupture”. Producing over 51 minutes of high-octane cinematic music, the band covers many different moods and tempos in a very cohesive and engaging release.

The release nicely builds momentum with the intriguing “We Are” and its crafty progression, filled with intricate guitars and engaging drumming. Featuring Loic Rossetti from The Ocean, “Prison of Mind” perfectly layers dramatic and aggressive vocals on top of the band's exploratory and momentum building style. This is definitely the heaviest track of this release. Our favorite track in this release has to be the magical “Another End is Possible” and its oozing bleakness alongside dreamy shoegazing passages.

It is hard to innovate in Metal these days, however, there are always bands like Abyssic that take known formulas and greatly improve on them with their highly eerie Symphonic Doom/Death Metal. With “Brought Forth in Iniquity”, the band’s sophomore release, Memnoch and company craft over 50 minutes of highly atmospheric and very crushing music that greatly improves over their first release.

Opening with the decadence of “Cold as Winter Storm”, we are introduced to a perfectly balanced old-school Funeral-ish Death/Doom Metal with a huge atmospheric component. This atmosphere is quite cinematic and it feels like a black and white horror movie, making songs like “Mirror of Sorrow” and “Djevelens Lys” deliver a truly immersive and imposing experience. The band features members like Memnoch (ex-Susperia) and Tjodalv (ex-Dimmu Borgir) and they bring their years of songwriting experience together in a very cohesive and engaging way.

Unleashing a nice old-school Death Metal vibe, Ravenoir delivers over 40 minutes of catchy and engaging music with “In the Womb of Sin”. With a sound more akin to Grave, Dismember, and Entombed than current DM outfits, the band perfectly balances atmospheric elements with melody and crunchy guitars. Featuring a couple of members of the defunct Root and other Czech outfits, this release is full of nostalgia and craft songs for any fan of the genre.

After setting a mysterious and yet imposing mood with the opener “The Ecstasy of Desecration”, the band’s excellent riffing sets the album’s more sinister tone with the brilliant album title track. Changing gears into more traditional and punishing territories, “The Cold of Casemates” and “The Scene Obscene” have that vicious edge that makes this band standout from the rest, particularly when combined with the subtle atmospherics and the intense guitar leads.

Unleashing one of the most punishing releases of 2022, today we have Lorna Shore and their highly anticipated release “Pain Remains”. Further refining and sharpening their razor-sharp sound, this release blasts away with over 60 minutes of brutal, and yet melodic Deathcore music unlike anything you have ever heard before. Yes, there are elements of bands like Black Dahlia Murder, Fallujah, etc., but this American outfit takes them to a whole new level with the perfect blend of blasting aggression, crafty tech proficiency, and dramatic atmosphere.

Our first introduction to the band was this summer during their European festival run at Brutal Assault. With an unusually high amount of security guards in the photo pit, we were not prepared for how as the band hit the stage, waves of people started crowd surfing and moshing to the band’s relentless music (see some of our pics here). The album wastes no time in establishing its dominance with the piercing opener “Welcome Back, O' Sleeping Dreamer”, which nicely builds up with atmospheric arrangements until it blasts open with crushing drumming and Will Ramos insane vocals. This track, and most of the album, has a very unique vibe as it feels like a mixture of Cradle of Filth/Dimmu Borgir and The Black Dahlia Murder, but on its own level of intensity.