Legion are those who have attempted a synergic hybrid of speed metal into underground metal. Although the number of succesful outcomes remains modest, a handful notable works such as Immortal At the Heart of Winter and Merciless Unbound make the idea somewhat plausible.
Occult Metal renegades from Down Under Spear of Longinus have announced that a live recording of their infamous 2017 Italian performance is due for release later this year.
The LP will be released by Darker Than Black Records, the CD by Totenkopf Propaganda Production, and the Cassette by Final Agony Records.
The cover artwork is by Antichrist Kramer, and the track listing is as follows:
1. Atomika/Egipto
2. Saga
3. Better of Dead
4. Cruel Buddha
5. Cosmic Devastater (Watching the Watcher)
6. Fall of the Rebel Angels
7. YHVH Penis Abominator
8. Rite of Ragnarok
9. The Ibis of My Lost Soul (From Whence I Came)
10. Riders of a Cold and Violent Wind
11. Jarls Quest: Eternal
12. Nebularsia
13. Nazi Occult Metal
Of which, “Fall of the Rebel Angels” has been released as a preview track:
Amidst the soulless mediocrity of the Nowadays era labeled by some as “modernity”, there exist certain currents of contemporary music which hearken to a perennial spirit, evoking reminiscences of an ancient and timeless existence of a more vibrant, numinous nature – ultimately putting the listener in contact with a deep intimation of the greater Reality of which they are a part. It is assumed that many readers of this site intuitively recognize that the best of Metal exemplifies this. Many fans and musicians of Metal also tend to recognise similar expressions as they emerge in other styles of music, whether it be Classical, Electronic, Prog, Punk, Folk, Industrial, Goth, or whatever. One enduring group which especially stands out to the sensitively attuned is, of course, the eternal Dead Can Dance.
As the continent was before Britannic penal colonization, Australian black and death metal scene was and is still mostly an undeveloped desert of unexceptional crossover thrash posturing as “war metal”, blackened cheeseball beer metal, AC/DC clones with unclean vocals, and experimental technical deaf metal/post-hardcore/jazz fusion hybrids. Martire rode forth from obscurity to restore fruit and flower to the wasteland, fertilizing the barren bush wielding fire and sword.
The leftists, reds, hipsters, social justice warriors, sexual deviants, and the mentally ill are engaged in a war to suppress all speech not conforming to or validating their political ideology. Anything contrary to their visions of mandated social realism is shouted down by angry mobs. This totalitarianism is affecting all areas of western society including the arts, business, science, and popular culture.
Innsmouth play primitive blackened death metal in the vein of Darkthrone‘s A Blaze in the Northern Sky with the addition of several other metal riffing styles to the three chord hardcore Hellhammerisms. Consumed by the Elder Sign attempts to build an atmosphere resembling the terror and corruption of Lovecraftian Elder Gods through atmosphere, production, and samples that often come across as comically charming rather than haunting; cries of hatching star spawn sound like baby dinosaurs from Jurassic Park.
Australian speed metal band Hobb’s Angel of Death announced the tracklist and release date for their comeback album on Hells Headbangers,Heaven Bled. The album is out October 14th and tracklist is as follows:
Sacriphyx present a bog standard take on Hellenic black metal through the rollicking pulse native to Australia. The strength of the Greek strategy is in its ability to capture a variety of moods leading to a diverse heavy metal experience. The Western Front is a discontinuous concept album based upon World War I wherein its songs do not function as parts of whole; rather, they are self-contained units acting with autonomy in pursuit of the greater conceptual goal that is realized only through individual skirmishes. These compositional deployments reinforce stylistic choices by maximizing an array of emotive impact while minimizing any diminished efficacy of individual motifs as their power is not derived from their position in a greater narrative arc from song to song. Despite proficient execution, Sacriphyx fail to build upon the Mediterranean tactic in any meaningful sense and thus the movements of its elements will be predictable to those familiar.
The Escalation perfects the misunderstood Australian art of Cimmerian metal – a deliberately low-brow affair which has little tangible relationship to the Common Practice Period and therefore easily panned. Vomitor deliberately flaunt rock’s loud and emotive ethos through boorish motifs qualified further by a thin and mid-centric texture executed in characteristically poor-taste. Constructed primarily out of recombination of past forms, The Escalation is a deliberately retro affair which succeeds by forming a singular and immediately identifiable voice. Historical precedence for this identity is found in the work of Spear of Longinus – specifically the first demo contained within Black Sun Society. Vomitor do not present a way forward for metal; instead the entity finely maps a territory which was discovered but left largely unexplored by ancestors who clung to the safety and security of the coastlines looking into an inhospitable thicket which obscures a familiar but nonetheless unique landscape.
On first listen some would easily assume that this release were a mere product of nostalgia of underground metal of the 1980′s, at least indicated so by the production and indication that are present here. However this is death/speed/black metal firmly rooted in the underground crossover tradition of the 80′s and retains a firmly Australian sound to it. A good description of Vomitor‘s output would be the the epic thrashing of national pioneers Slaughter Lord and the crusty, retrograde execution and production that was witnessed on Spear Of Longinus‘ brilliant ‘Domni Satnasi’ album. Seeing as Vomitor have two members of SOL in their line-up this overlap is of no surprise, and gives Bleeding The Priest a similar quality of riffcraft and execution, which is atavistic but is well versed in older styles of metal. The attitude of this release evokes German speed metal, doing the early works of Sodom and Kreator strong justice, and the manner in which catchy guitar sequences are utilised sometimes evokes Razor, had they been influenced by Possessed rather than Motorhead. A thoroughly consistent work, Bleeding The Priest stands strongly as a milestone of Australian metal, a like a few other traditionalist acts within this genre serves as proof of ability to make new waves from trodden water, rather than being a ‘re-hash’. Very good.