Undergang - Til Døden Os Skiller [2012]

So, uh... death metal's coming along pretty well at the moment, huh? Although many may laugh derisively at many of the 'new old school' of death metal, claiming that we 'don't need more Incantation clones', there's no more shit in there than there was in old school death metal. The difference being that this time around, bands get to make albums and distribute them well-ish, via the internet. But to the point in hand. Undergang is a Danish band who, although they do take influence from Incantation, sound more like the old Finnish scene to me, with a little dose of Stockholm too. And what's more, both albums are available for free on Bandcamp. I've named the post after this one because it's the one I'm better acquainted with and thus can more heartily recommend, but there's really no reason why you shouldn't listen to both.

Til Døden Os Skiller
Indhentet Af Døden

Stream: Dragged Into Sunlight - Widowmaker [2012]

If you like good music, you will like Dragged Into Sunlight. And their new album is available to stream. I'm listening right now and although the 15 minute intro track is overkill, this is sounding pretty sexy.

http://www.terrorizer.com/2012/10/26/widowmaker-by-dragged-into-sunlight-is-streaming-with-terrorizer/

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)

90's Death Metal That Doesn't Suck: Belial - Wisdom of Darkness [1992]

Long story short, I heard Swedish Death Metal band Authorize today for the first time, and holy shit are they bad. Like, some of the worst shit I have heard in a long time.

Now listen, in the name of full disclosure, I will point out that as a rule, I don't like Swedish Death Metal. It's too melodic... too Iron Maiden-y for my taste. I like my Death Metal either: A. Strange B. Dense and atmospheric or C. Complex. Swedish Death Metal is none of those. They all sound the same, all have the same production... the all even look the same.

That said, I am willing to meet everyone half way in most situations. True, I can't listen to Like An Everflowing Stream all the way through without giving up and playing Onward to Golgotha instead, but I would not say it is a bad album. For what it is, Like An Everflowing Stream is a competent, tight slice of Death Metal I just happen to find boring. But Authorize? Holy fuck are they bad. I thought Grave and Unleashed were horrible before, but I would listen to those two for the rest of my life than ever be subjugated to fucking Authorize again. Of course, a quick Interwebz search has me finding all kinds of "under-rated and over-looked classic" and "shits all over modern Death Metal" nonsense. Ugh.

To wash my ears clean of this filth, and to please the readers, I give you Finland's Belial. Like many Death Metal acts from the 90's, Belial ended up changing genre's later on before breaking up, and only ended with a modest discography. But when they were playing Death Metal, they were playing fucking Death Metal. Blackened, Doom-infused Death Metal that brings to mind a twisted mix of Incantation and Demigod, with Mayhem providing a few guest appearances. Also, they are from Finland. Which means they rule. Fact. Wisdom of Darkness was in my opinion the bands best release, so go ahead and enjoy it. And for fucks sake, listen to some Cephalic Carnage or some shit too. ANYTHING but Authorize.

224 kbps

Mediafire

Re-upload: Dragged Into Sunlight - Hatred For Mankind [2009]

I was delighted when this lot were announced for Damnation Festival - dirty, filthy, sludgy, doomy death metal with truly claustrophobic vocals. The apparence of a certain group on the cover may dissuade certain people, but I urge you not to let it.

Re-upload notes: Yep, they were fucking fantastic. This album is simply unmatched in its awesome brutality. Get it now.

320 kbps

Mediafire

Daylight Dies - Dismantling Devotion [2006]

Just this post, and I promise I'll stop posting metal with a romantic feeling for a while. Daylight Dies aren't your average Paradise Lost clone, however - in fact, they sound little like the Yorkshire band. However, they still manage to evoke the same feeling of suffocated romanticism through their blend of death/doom. Dismantling Devotion is an excellent album, and one that could appeal to fans of diSEMBOWELMENT as much as those of My Dying Bride and their ilk.

~250 kbps VBR

Megaupload

Draconian - A Rose For The Apocalypse [2011]

Frankly, this album bores me to death. Once again, it comes as a request, but to anyone who doesn't know exactly what to expect, I advise you not to download this one. Gothic-doom by numbers is fine if you're not fond of anything remotely pleasurable in your listening experience, but for the sane among us...

320 kbps

Megaupload

Draconian - Where Lovers Mourn [2003]

Gothic doom. Oftentimes it's said to be a form of music that one either loves or hates - I'm going to challenge that idiom as I am decidedly indifferent to it. This is one of the better albums in the style I've heard, but to be honest, I could quite happily go without it. Comes on a request.

128 kbps

Megaupload

Hooded Menace - Never Cross The Dead [2010]

So death/doom is a style that has been done to death (no pun intended). So Hooded Menace bring nothing new to the proverbial table. So what? This is wholly derivative - the best comparison off the top of my head would be Sorrow - but it has such great riffs, and none of that gothic shtick which was the bane of every doom fan for a good ten years. This is a well-made, honest album, and power to Hooded Menace for making it.

320 kbps

Megaupload

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

Megaupload

Autopsy - Acts Of The Unspeakable [1992]

Autopsy are fucking awesome. Fact. This album is underrated. Fact. Although I won't be so irreverent as to claim it's on a par with Mental Funeral, the claim of its detractors that the production ruins the album are not true. Sure, it's not perfect, but it doesn't take that much away from a brilliant album.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Undead Creep - The Ever-Burning Torch [2011]

I am taking a small break from my series of 2009 releases I missed because my life has been rocked by this kick ass new release from Italian Old School Death Metal Revival act Undead Creep.

I was drawn to this sucker from it's brilliant, old-school cover art, but stayed for the bands mix of Swedish Death Metal and American Death/Doom: think Dismember mixed with Autopsy. The production is dirty but clear enough for everything to be heard, and the riffs are just good old-fashioned awesome. I also like the vocals: they are nowhere near as inhuman as other vocals that you might hear, but they are strong and dripping with hatred. This is just a rock solid release, one that I am enjoying maybe more than I should, considering that while the band bring their own unique energy to the record, it's a sound that has been done before. As nn aside, the last group of songs on this album are actually from the bands early demos, so this one is a comprehensive collection of the bands work. I love that idea.

Check this one out, you won't regret, unless you are sick of the OSDM Revival.

320 kbps

Mediafire

2009 Re-Visted: Ascended - Temple Of Dark Offerings EP [2009]

To be completely honest, I have always been a "late to the party" kind of guy. Within my group of friends, I am seen as some kind of music visionary, but in truth compared with a lot of people I am way behind the curve when it comes to discovering new bands and artists. There are multiple reasons for this: I am a tireless researcher, hate risk, and above all hate wasting time and energy. Your "first on the scene" type person will scour the internet, find som random band and go "huh, never heard of them. Oh well, I will buy/download/purchase a digital copy anyway." That's how they get on the ground floor of a musical movement: the very thought of doing something like makes me ill.

So to be totally honest, even if I wasn't learning to play the banjo and listening to Willie Nelson back in 2009, there is a very good chance I would have missed Temple of Dark Offerings, from the now sadly defunct Ascended. And even if I had not been debating Joni Mitchel vs. Joan Baez with my folk friends and father(answer: JOAN BAEZ) and was still fully invested in Extreme Metal, I would still have probably just discovered this brilliant, brutal and dark Death/Doom EP this year.

Regardless, this one is a must listen for any fans of the Old-School Death Metal revival that is in full swing right now. Temple of Dark Offerings is filthy, dark and heavy: each of the 4 songs are loaded with skull crushing riffs, nasty bass work and thundering drums. There are also some cool disEMBOWELMENT type parts throughout the record, and the vocals are a high-point: the expected guttural growls are found throughout the record, but there are some vocal parts that remind me of Exhumed, and the use of a high shriek is always welcome(and too rare in modern Death/Doom in my opinion).

They say "better late than never." And after checking this EP out, I could not agree more. Hopefully the members of this band find a way to make music again, because Temple of Dark Offerings, despite its length, stands toe to toe with any OSDM Revival release made so far.

160+kbps

Mediafire

Court In The Act Presents Death Metal: A Slow Demise

This is another part of the death metal series; from here on in, the parts are not ordered. This aims to expose the quality in the realms of doomy death metal, which naturally means long songs, thus a large filesize.

Tracklist:

1. My Dying Bride - A Sea To Suffer In (from The Angel And The Dark River)
2. Anathema - Cerulean Twilight (from The Silent Enigma)
3. Paradise Lost - Gothic (from Gothic)
4. Opeth - Demon Of The Fall (from My Arms, Your Hearse)
5. Katatonia - Brave (from Brave Murder Day)
6. diSEMBOWELMENT - The Tree Of Life And Death (from Transcendence Into The Peripheral)
7. Sorrow - Human Error (from Hatred And Disgust)
8. Swallow The Sun - The Justice Of Suffering (from Hope)
9. Cenotaph - Larvs Of Subconcious (from The Gloomy Reflection Of Our Hidden Sorrows)
10. Dragged Into Sunlight - Boiled Angel, Buried With Leeches (from Hatred For Mankind)

The second half of this one is a lot more extreme than the first half, which has a tendency to gothic doom.

Megaupload

Anathema - The Silent Enigma [1995]

Anathema have, since 'Alternative 4', been the oddity of the Peaceville Three, but this is a classic slab of 'don't fuck with this' death-doom. I'd go as far to say it were their best album, despite later efforts producing some of the better music of the light rock spectrum.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Wormphlegm - In An Excruciating Way Infested With Vermin And Violated By Executioners Who Practise Incendiarism And Desanctifying The Pious [2001]

I was initially drawn to this demo through a mixture of the high cult status and the incredibly long title, but it's a solid slab of funeral doom. It consists only of the 25-minute title track, which builds a growing sense of unease throughout with various faster passages which feel almost like exorcisms, however pretentious that may sound.

272 kbps VBR

Megaupload

Pungent Stench - Been Caught Buttering [1991]

Whether this is the best Pungent Stench album is debatable; what is not is that it is the only Pungent Stench album that I have. Despite the grotesque artwork, it is excellent, combining much of the doomy death of Autopsy with faster passages.

320 kbps

Megaupload

Autopsy - Macabre Eternal [2011]

So the new Autopsy has dropped upon us, and despite not being there during their heyday, I can assure you that it is looking to be right up there with the likes of 'Mental Funeral'. Already a strong contender for album of the year - and I've only listened to it twice!

320 kbps

Megaupload

Sorrow - Hatred And Disgust [1992]

Unfortunately, this was the only album released by Sorrow, along with an EP that's not on the same standard. Signed by Roadrunner when Roadrunner was a death metal label, Sorrow's death/doom is hugely emotional, and the vocals are some of the most intelligible you'll hear in the style.

192 kbps

Megaupload

Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse [1998]

This is Opeth's best album. It shows the seeds of their later progressive tendencies, but not in the overblown proportions that they would be found later on, often to the detriment of the listenability. Contains the monumental 'Demon Of The Fall'.

~200 kbps VBR

Link was taken down. Comment on this if you would like to see a reupload.