Axis of Despair–Contempt for Man
Genre: Grincore, Powerviolence
FFO: Napalm Death, Nails, Infest
Southern Lord has got a new trick up its sleeve and it comes in the form of a brutally intense, new Swedish Grindcore act known as Axis of Despair.
Featuring ex and current members of Nasum, Coldworker, Infanticide, Volturyon, Livet Som Insats, Nervgift, and Overtortu, it comes as no surprise these guys are equipped with familiarity regarding every nuance and complexity when approaching horrifyingly heavy tunes.
Enter Contempt for Man. It is the quartet’s debut and features twenty tracks of absolutely punishing, thrashy Grindcore. No gimmicks here.
Extremity–Coffin Birth
Genre: Death Metal
FFO: Entombed, Exhumed, Bolt Thrower
Following up their mini LP from last year titled Extremely Fucking Dead, Oakland’s Extremity efficiently contributes to the renaissance of the classic Death Metal sound with their debut full length.
Coffin Birth doesn’t rely on technical proficiency or lightning-paced instrumentation. It’s all about riffage here.
Stream Below.
Inexorum–Lore of the Lakes
Genre: Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal
FFO: At the Gates, Dark Tranquility, Harakiri for the Sky
Inexorum is a project helmed by Minneapolis-based musician Carl Skildum that aims to take a genre as malevolent as Black Metal and create something beautiful and different through layers of melody and emotion.
Lore of the Lakes serves as Skildum’s debut release for the project that shimmers bright with five powerful, unpredictable movements that will captivate its listener from start to finish.
Be sure to stream below.
Mutilation Rites–Chasm
Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal
FFO: Skeletonwitch, Full of Hell, Magrudergrind
Brooklyn-based Blackened Death quartet, Mutilation Rites, return for a fourth LP that officially marks a departure from their nostalgic worship of second wave of Norwegian Black Metal.
Chasms toys heavily with Death Metal, Thrash, Crustpunk, Grindcore, and other subgenres of heavy music.
Stream below.
Talons–We All Know
Genre: Post Rock, Post Metal
FFO: Russian Circles, Pelican, This Will Destroy You
The British Post Rock sextet known as Talons deliver unto us a menacing yet mesmerizing LP. We All Know consists of a much more aggressive take on the instrumental movements the group illustrated to listeners on previous records replacing their intricate Math Rock sound with a crushing, sludge, Blackened Post Metal record.
It appears the group has taken the energy previously utilized for musical complexity and has since applied it to heavy, crushing, metallic soundscapes.
Thou–Rhea Sylvia EP
Genre: Black Metal, Alternative Rock, Grunge
FFO: Full of Hell, The Body, Planning for Burial
If Louisiana’s Blackened Sludge act Thou was a restaurant, they would be just as well known for their appetizers as they are for their main course meals.
While fans have been drooling over the group’s highly anticipated fifth LP Magus due to be released this year, Thou has been tithing us over with numerous EPs with running times ranging between 30-40 min.
The Rhea Sylvia EP is the latest addition to the band’s appetizer menu featuring re-worked songs from band member Matthew Thudium’s solo material and closes with an incredible cover of Crowbar‘s “The Lasting Dose.”
The original songs found in the EP combine Thou‘s signature take on Blackened Doom/Sludge with ’90s Grunge Rock along the lines of Alice In Chains. True fans will be decently well-versed with Thou taking on Grunge because they have covered Nirvana in the past landing spots on multiple tribute compilations.
For those unfamiliar, stream below for a unique listening experience.