Airengrav

Airengrav

Storms of Agony

This release from one of Zane Young's (Elegiac, Gormanudr, Blitzgeist, Sacrificial Sounds Label, etc.) numerous black metal projects is one of the best black metal releases I've listened to this year. It's a concise, powerful, ferocious album that blends black metal with noticeable heavy metal melodies.

The vocals are superb agonized howls and vengeful roars, and accompany the pummel of the music perfectly. The opening vocal work on Anchor for My Burning Soul is exceptionally vicious, and one of many reasons it's my favorite track. The guitarwork is a great mix of rapid, headbanging tremolo riffs and pleasant Iron Maiden-esque passages, usually as openings and interludes. Songs such as Dualities of Dominance and Amphimixis tap this classic metal sound to create memorable melodies before throttling you. I also enjoyed the riffwork in Like Wind Against Flames, a mournful, desolate tone that reminds me of Elegiac's Pagan Storm album from last year. And Barbarian Hammer is a full tilt flaming roller coaster of a track.

The rythym is also fantastic, an all out battery attack that weaves around the riffs just right. The latter half of Anchor for My Burning Soul hits especially hard, a raging, riffing, pounding track that howls into the abyss. Again, probably my favorite, though that's a tough call when all of the tracks are this good.

Particularly enjoyable is the build from Faint Glowing Embers into the pure black metal majesty of Black Magic and Metaphysics. An apt title, because the track is classic second wave black metal through and through. Frankly, the entire album is raw, unapologetic black metal that deserves your full attention.

Tapes can be picked up from the Sacrificial Sounds Bandcamp page if still available, and is also always available digitally.

"Hunter-Killer"

Black Jackal

My favorite Texas metal band put out a new single late last year, and it's amazing. It's the raw blackened thrash n roll of their debut, but this time with a bass solo. I strongly encourage everyone who enjoys good metal and good fun to check these guys out! I look forward to the hinted upcoming second release.

You can pick the track up on their Bandcamp currently.

"Extermination Front"

Black Jackal

The next single from my favorite Texas band has been released. Half as long as the first single (Hunter-Killer), this is a ripping piece of blackened thrash that is all forward momentum. It evokes classic thrash with the guitar tone, a frantic wild ride with sharp edges. And the guitar solo in the middle is pure old-school heavy metal glory: violent, fast, wailing. To my knowledge there's no established release date yet, but the new album will be titled "Forever War".

You can pick up the single on the band's Bandcamp page, as well as the rest of their material.

Curse Mackey

Merch from Curse Mackey

Merch from Curse Mackey

Curse Mackey is currently offering free shipping on all of his merch if you're within the United States!

Instant Exorcism

Curse Mackey

Austin, Texas based industrial mastermind Curse Mackey released his debut solo album in 2019, and its an infectious gothic masterpiece of apocalyptic darkwave. Like a mix between the finest Tim Skold output and the catchiest songwriting of Depeche Mode, this album pulls you into a grimy industrial gloom haunted by the ghosts of an apathetic cityscape. My favorite track is "O' Blasphemy", but everything on here is incredibly catchy, and the flow from one song to the next makes the whole album experience a treat. I spent a good portion of the year spinning it repeatedly and adding quite a few songs to some of my regular playlists.

Curse Mackey has spent years working with bands such as My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, playing live keyboards for Killing Joke, and even filling in for Peter Murphy at a stop on Murphy's recent tour with fellow ex-Bauhaus member David J. His credentials are exemplary, so it is exciting to see his solo material released, and he delivers on all expectations. Furthermore, if you have the opportunity to see him live, I strongly encourage going, his performance is fantastic, and really brings the tracks to life in a primal, energetic manner.

The album can be purchased from Curse Mackey's Bandcamp page, or from the musician himself when you go see him live because you definitely should.

Oomph!

Ritual

I finally sat down with the entirety of Neue-Deutsche-Härte founders Oomph!'s latest album, and I consider this to be one of their greatest albums. This is absolutely fantastic from start to finish, and I really don't think it slows down at all. It's got the hefty weight and crunch of metal but the catchy melody of rock, and the industrial elements are both harsh and majestic.

Dero's vocal work is on point, nailing nasty vicious bits and then morphing into powerful cleans with gusto. The guitar riffs are pummeling, almost reminiscent of Rammstein's level of heaviness. Not to mention chorus vocals are well mixed, aligning perfectly while still being discernable. The rythym doesn't let up, and enforces the heavy crush of the riffwork. It's aggressively melodic, and will lift you up before smashing you like a train repeatedly. It's wild, weighty, and moving.

Again, definitely one of their best albums to me. The singles such as Tausend Mann und ein Befehl and TRRR-FCKN-HTLR are intensely catchy, and songs like Europa (ft. Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost, who released an excellent album last year) and Lazarus are majestically powerful.

You can get it everywhere from Bandcamp to Amazon, so do yourself a favor and check it out.

Hocico

Bienvenido a La Maldad

Speaking of electronic music, Mexican industrial masters Hocico have one of my all time favorite music videos.

It's a superb blend of Hellraiser and Aztec imagery that does an exceptional job evoking the theme of the song. It's the lion barely kept caged at the circus, waiting to strike. Primal rage underlying a pretense of control. It's aggressive, fast-paced, and spirited, while playing sensual and appealing. Leather and feathers, chains and war paint.

I'd love to see these guys live sometime, but it really feels like lately they have an easier time going across the Atlantic to Germany than across the border into Texas. Alas, someday.