Enterro - Nunc Scio Tenebris Lux [2008]

Yes, I'm aware that I've been slacking more than a little with my posting schedule of late, but that should end now - I've had exams until yesterday, but now I have a glorious thirteen weeks off. Anyway, to the matter in hand. Enterro is a Brazilian black metal band - and although there is a smattering of blasting in their music, it's mostly midpaced, although I'd say that their style is such that they're equally effective at both tempos. The album is very much in the riffing style of recent Beherit, although perhaps with a little bit more speed - certainly, though, 'All In Satan' off Engram would fit very well on this album. It's not particularly original, but it is very well done, and certainly impressive for a self-released debut album. I haven't yet heard last year's follow-up, and based on the MA reviews, it's not as good, but this is an underrated album that deserves much more attention.

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Syphilitic Vaginas - Complete Studio Collection [2008]

All the craziest music seems to come from Japan, and this is no exception. Steaming black/thrash with some eccentric moments, in the vein of Abigail or the Japanese Sabbat, this is not one to miss; and they get extra marks for their name!

Re-upload notes: The reason why uploads are coming fairly slowly at the moment is that I think my laptop's still slightly fucked and I'm in the middle of exam season.

128 kbps

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Enslaved - Vertebrae [2008]

...And so skipping forward 11 years to the Enslaved album that I have spent the most time with, this is also their album with the fewest metal elements in it. Don't get me wrong, it's still clearly a metal album, especially with tracks like 'New Dawn', but its progression is stunning.

~220 kbps VBR

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Re-upload: Battered Intestine - Hacksaw Brainsurgery [2008]

Okay, I admit it before you download and listen to this; this isn't very good. It's just generic goregrind with nothing really to set it apart. I'm only really posting it because I'd already uploaded it and I thought that I may as well.

Re-upload notes: Re-upping on request, I still don't like it.

320 kbps

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Ehnahre - The Man Closing Up[2008]

Ehnahre are... some kind of something featuring former members of Kayo Dot and Biolich. So the credentials are there. The question simply is this: do you have the mental where-with-all to make it through this... whatever the fuck it is? Of all the clusterfuck noise abortions I have dedicated my life to spending time on the Internet about, Ehnahre's The Man Closing Up is the first to make me questions my choice in music.

Sitting there on my first spin of The Man Closing Up, with it's waves crushing Death/Doom mixed with grinding instrumental Noise and some other stuff that is vaguely musical in composition, I started thinking to myself "What the fuck am I listening to? Is this really the type of... stuff kind of like music you pictured yourself listening to when you were a kid and shit like Korn was still awesome? Maybe I should just quit while I am ahead. Maybe I should just start listening to LMAFO and Lady Gaga. I would probably have a girlfriend if I did. I could start going to dance clubs and only get headaches after the Cocaine starts wearing off."

Later, I just turned the volume up and brooded in the dark for a few hours.

Last.Fm(The Man Closing Up Is Free For Download on the bands Last.Fm Page)

Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part I [2008]

After they took a decidedly more experimental approach to black metal on 2006's Instinct: Decay, Nachtmystium were all of a sudden disliked by many who had previously lauded their USBM. As readers of this blog will know, I am not a kvltist. Nor am I someone who really gives a fuck if a band changes direction or releases an album I don't like (for instance, I respect Morbid Angel's decision to release Illud Divinum Insanus). This, however, I love. It's slightly better than its follow-up in my eyes (coming straight after), but has the same odd mix of BM, psychedelic and progressive influences. Highly recommended to anyone who likes BM which steps outside the lines of the corpsepaint.

256 kbps

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Lifelover - Konkurs [2008]

The best Lifelover album. Although Erotik is better-received, this has better songs. And when you're listening to this sort of combination of black metal and depressive rock, songs keep the album from descending into monotony (like this year's Sjukdom, which had good ideas, but none which were good enough or extended enough to make any individual song interesting). In particular, listen to 'Mental Central Dialog' and 'Cancertid'.

320 kbps

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Insane Vesper - Twilight Of Extinction EP [2008]

And back to the black metal. This overlooked gem has plenty going for it, and Insane Vesper on this were one of the most promising bands of the then-emergent modern French black metal scene, although I haven't enjoyed their most recent releases nearly as much. Naturally, it bears some similarity to the likes of Deathspell Omega, but it's a little simpler than them with some adherence to normal song structure.

320 kbps

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Hail Of Bullets - ...Of Frost And War [2008]

Hail Of Bullets. Essentially a Dutch DM supergroup - and there's nothing wrong with one of those, save perhaps their morbid fixation with various wars. This, however, is new OSDM as it should be written - it hails very strongly back to Asphyx (as it should), and combines hooks with grinding riffs and the slow news of your imminent demise.

~220 kbps VBR

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The Sleep Sessions - Lead Into Gold [2008]

(sorry, no cover for this one)

The Sleep Sessions is Dawid Kowalski and he creates harsh noise. The thing is that like many of the Europeans in the noise scene Dawid follows a concept which revolves around lucid dreaming, psychedelic experiments and philosophy. That associated with is "control" over his music originates a very controlled form of harsh noise,free from all the craziness that others do, which in my opinion is something more enjoyable for the casual listening.

Mp3, 224 Kbps

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BONUS: Since Dawid got in touch, here are two more releases of his:

Damn Noisy Kids (split with Michelada)
Somnaphobia (split with Thirteen Fingers)

Also, this is now affirmed definitely as being legal to download as Court In The Act has permission to post this.

Esoteric - The Maniacal Vale [2008]

Ah, Esoteric. The first funeral doom band I heard - after a place in the album of the year list of Terrorizer, if I remember correctly. The thing about this is that it somehow manages to make an album of 100 minutes, no less, stay interesting throughout. With a perfect production, which complements the style brilliantly, to make the whole album have an almost erotic feeling about it, I cannot see why this album does not get the critical attention of Evoken, Skepticism, or even their own Subconscious Dissolution Into The Continuum.

~200 kbps VBR

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Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation - Flagitious Idiosyncrasy In The Dilapidation [2008]

Continuing the Japanese theme started by HeySharpshooter's last post, this is one of my favourite albums from there - and considering the consistently high quality of extreme music the country produces, that says a lot.

FIITD are an all-girl grindcore band; their name may mean nothing whatsoever, but their music speaks for itself - powerful, fast and catchy grindcore, something that few bands can pull off. This is not a gimmick.

~215 kbps

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Putrevore - Morphed From Deathbreath [2008]

Sorry for the size of the album picture, but I deleted my photo program thingy, and most of the other pictures are way too small. I am sure the owner of this blog will fix it. He is good at that stuff. (Persona 101: it's done)

Speaking of good, are you tired of your skull? Does it not quite hold your brain like it used to? Well, if you need your skull removed, and in the most violent way possible, just go ahead and give Putrevore's Morphed From Deathbreath a spin. It will take care of your cranium for you, and maybe your spine too if you really let this baby rumble with some bass.

Putrevore sound like Rottrevore. Frankly, if you need anymore info than that, you are not worthy of either band. Super guttural vocals, chugging down-tuned guitars, bowl rumbling bass and punishing drums that move effortlessly between nasty grooves and furious blast beats. In other words, everything you love already.

Just listen to it, and make sure to say goodbye to that skull first.

320 kbps

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Triarii - Muse In Arms [2008]

And now for something completely different.

The music made by Triarii is often referred to as 'martial industrial' - basically industrial music with a militaristic feel to it. Featuring orchestras, battle choirs and lots of clunking chains, grinding gears and army shouting, it's the kind of soundtrack you'd expect a war to have.

"Muse In Arms" is perhaps Triarii's best-known album, containing the haunting "Birth Of A Sun" and the epic-sounding "Europa". I'll have to admit I'm not much into martial industrial so I can't recommend it over other, similar works, but if this concept sounds interesting to you, give it a shot.

Mp3, 320 kbps

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Disfear - Live The Storm [2008]

Disfear are yet another excellent Swedish hardcore band - their own style is a mixture of crust and d-beat (and it certainly owes a lot to the gods Discharge). Probably in the middle of the spectrum in terms of hardcore aggression (i.e. somewhere between the Dead Kennedys and Napalm Death).

Similar artists: Discharge, Dishammer, Atomski Rat

160 kbps

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Septicflesh - Communion [2008]

So Septicflesh's most recent release, this year's 'The Great Mass', has been flooring me recently, so I thought I'd post this and that for the purposes of quality and nostalgia. This is certainly easier to get into than 'TGM', but it's simply a different beast on a different album.

224 kbps

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Deathspell Omega - Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeturnum: Chaining The Katechon EP [2008]

You don't really need to understand Latin to get the general gist of this EP's title (provided you have a solid grasp of a language of Latin descent); likewise, you don't need to hear a new Deathspell release to know it's going to be a cracker. One of the few 1-track releases I like this much, there should be no passing up on this gem.

320 kbps

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Trap Them - Seizures In Barren Praise [2008]

Trap Them are one of the more ferocious hardcore bands around at the moment, although that has more than a little to do with their implementation of grindcore and a very few death metal elements. This is their sophomore album (I haven't yet heard 'Sleepwell Deconstructor', their debut, myself), and I assure you, it is immense.

~210 kbps VBR

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Cosmic Atrophy - Codex Incubo [2008]

Like Timeghoul (death metal band who released two demos which are now cult legend)? Then you'll like this. Straight from the same vein, this in modern terms is halfway between Immolation and Portal, but a long stretch from either one of the two. They are said to be releasing a new album this year, but the last few years have proven this album to have the same pattern as the new Wintersun.

~190 kbps VBR

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No Fucker - Conquer The Innocent EP [2008]

No Fucker are a nice little aggressive hardcore band I stumbled upon whilst blogwalking - and with a name like that, I was barely going to say no! A beast of an EP, just 6 minutes of pure vitriolic rage. Again, the small file size makes this a 'might as well' download.

~255 kbps VBR

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