2019 Music - Tumblr Posts
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.
Rotting Christ
The Heretics
Greek black metallers Rotting Christ released their newest album earlier this year. Interestingly, perhaps due to their Best Of album from last year, I feel The Heretics harkens back to the melodies of some of their bigger hits. This album is fire and brimstone but with an anthemic bent, and it maintains the atmospheric approach they've taken with their latest releases.
One of my favorite elements of this album is the vocal work. Sakis Tolis continues his grandiose growling screeches we've come to expect, but also capitalizes on some fantastic guest vocalists. Dayal Patterson's spoken narrations are moody and evocative, and a lovely inclusion. Irina Zybina's vocals on the second track recall Russian blackened folk metal band Arkona, and make the track one of my favorites.
The melodies and rythym recall some of my favorite songs such as In-Yumen -Xilbalba, careful whispers dancing around chants, tribal drumming, and atmospheric riffs. Songs like "Heaven and Hell and Fire" and "Fire, God, and Fear" take their titles literally, auditory infernos blistering your ears with an intense roar. The album also maintains that magical, spiritual element I love about their music, invoking beings of the abyss with utter gusto.
Overall, this is a solid album, and I thoroughly enjoy it. You can pick it up from Season of Mist, Bandcamp, Amazon, etc.
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.