Yep, you guessed it: It’s another crazy week in the metal-verse. Seriously guys, save some stuff for the fall, will ya?
WHAT TO HEAR: First up this week is So Numb (Profound Lore), the latest slowburn from Brooklyn post-instrumetal trio Sannhet. A stretched-out, sanded-down interpretation of the familiar blackgaze template, So Numb finds Sannhet branching out, both within and away from metal altogether. While melody and crescendo have always played massive roles in Sannhet’s music, they’re delivered in new ways here, with the former pushed to the forefront and the latter withheld until the last possible opportunity throughout. To truly appreciate Sannhet—most notably their audio-visual accompaniments and Christopher Todd’s arachnid-like blast beats—you should definitely see them live, but if you missed let night’s atmospheric record release gig at The Park Church Co-Op, The Independent’s full stream will have to do for now.
Keeping things intimate and melancholy, meanwhile, are Texas post-doom outfit Low Flying Hawks and their sophomore full length, Genkaku (Magnetic Eye Records). Featuring The Melvins’ Dale Crover on drums and Mr. Bungles’s Trevor Dunn on bass, you’d be forgiven for expecting some swaggering stoner sludge, but the project’s primary auteurs—known only as AAL and EHA—prefer a subtler approach, blending glacial lurch with soaring, reverb-soaked melodies for one of the most unique sonic palettes in doom. Needless to say, If you’re looking for heavy and pretty at the same damn time, Low Flying Hawks are probably for you.
After that, turn your attention (and autocorrect) toward Germany, where Der Weg einer Freiheit are set to drop their latest full length, Finisterre (Season of Mist). While technically “atmospheric black metal” if you had to put a sticker on it, Der Weg (give me a break here) push that designation to its tearing point with blistering blast beats, fleeting dissonance, and a sense of aggression typically reserved for traditional Old World black metal. If you’re looking for nasty, spooky, moody, castle-dwelling goodness for the fall ahead, grab your Ouija board (and PayPal) and summon this fucker straight to your hard drive.
If you’re just in this for the riffs, however, then skip right to Renaissance in Extremis (Peaceville Records), the latest proggy, serpentine batch of guttural, shred-worshipping UK outfit Akercocke. These guys have been around for awhile—and Renaissance in Extremis marks a return to their seminal lineup—but if you’re just coming to them now, don’t worry. This one, now streaming at Noisey, will melt your face and mangle your knuckles all the same. And since we’re on the subject of long-running Euro metal acts, The Haunted also return for their 9th studio LP, Strength in Numbers (Century Media), today. If you always liked The Haunted’s Swedish-death-metal-wedged-into-pop-formats template, then you’re going to dig this one. If not, just keep moving.
Now it’s time to slam on the brakes for our weekly roadside photo with twisted, crushing doom, beginning with the hysterical freeform lurch of Ehnahre‘s The Marrow (Painted Throat Music) and ending Morbid Evils‘ Deceases (Svart Records), which—thanks to vocals from Keijo Niinimaa—offers a glimpse of what hypergrinders Rotten Sound would sound like as a doom band. Check out the former via No Clean Singing and the latter via bandcamp.
On blackened battlefronts, the frost has come early thanks to an incredible new split from Drudkh and Paysage d’Hiver (Season of Mist/Prophecy Productions) and Within the Weaves of Infinity (Terratur Possessions), a frosty new EP from Icelandic outfit Sinmara. [Insert stupid Game of Thrones reference here. God, I wish they had all just plummeted into that fucking lake].
Finally check out Leng Tch’e‘s Razorgrind (Season of Mist), a cyclone of, you guessed it, razor-edged grind and Galaktikon II: Become the Storm, Brendon Small‘s astral successor to Dethklok because Adult Swim wouldn’t turn over rights to the name Dethklok. It’ll make you miss Metalacolypse, if you don’t already.
WHAT TO SEE: Ok, time to talk shows. Tonight kicks off with Bölzer at Saint Vitus, High Command at Alphaville, and Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas performing Mariner at Gramercy Theatre alongside Whores and Dälek, before Saturday rolls around with Trapped Under Ice at Brooklyn Night Bazaar, JuanDiego Fest Vol. 4 at The Place (featuring Sunrot, Come to Grief, and more), Ride For Dime Fest at the Starland Ballroom featuring (Silvertomb, Alekhine’s Gun, etc.), and an Unwritten Law 25th Anniversary Show at Saint Vitus. After that Sunday goes thermonuclear with a pair of EYEHATEGOD/Cro-Mags ragers at Vitus. The evening show is sold out, but tix are still available for the matinee if you feel like getting your midday circle pit on.
On Monday, pick up your dad and head over to the PNC Bank Arts Center for Deep Purple and Alice Cooper, before having a long internal ethical debate about whether or not you’re going to see Marduk (with Incantation and Abysmal Dawn) at Gramercy Theatre on Tuesday. On Wednesday, EYEHATEGOD, Cro-Mags, and the aforementioned Sunrot—whose new record, Sunnata, is one of the finest sludge specimens you’ll hear in 2017 AD—take their destructive tour to Mexicali Live, before Thursday wraps thing up a trio of killer shows including Tower at Sunnyvale, Vanum/Yellow Eyes/Sanguine Eagle at Bar Matchless, and a belated record release bash for local Gilead-backed stalwarts, Pyrrhon and Couch Slut at Saint Vitus.
WHAT THE FUCK: In case you missed it, earlier this week Boston HM2 legends Trap Them announced a trio of what they’re calling “final” show dates this fall. Obviously for me—and a lot of other people who found Trap Them to be the single most brutal, compelling act to burst through their sub-scene’s chest—this is a pretty big bummer. There is one small silver-lining, however: On November 10th, Trap Them will hit Saint Vitus for what is sure to be a truly insane swan song. Grab tickets here, if you think you’re ready for the pit to end all pits.