In this post, I collect my instagram reviews for the week for albums released in 2022. All my non-2022 reviews are gathered in a monthly post. I listen to mostly metal, but I do not limit myself to any genre.
Mur - Cut the Rivers Vein
Genre: Drone / Folk / Sludge / Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Independent
When genre descriptors get very long, it can sometimes feel like a lousy attempt at search engine optimization. When I saw the genre descriptor for Mur on metallum, I expected the sound to be really only one of the four genres you see above, with occasional sprinkles of the rest (especially atmospheric black metal likes to do this). Luckily, Mur does have a very versatile and varied sound and I would say that all of these elements indeed make up the sound of the band and that they play equal parts in the character of this project. Mur play a very freeflowing version of everything that is 'low and slow'. Occasional outbursts of sudden death metal riffs might happen, but it appears more like a deliberate poignant interruption than a flaw in the texture.
Mur's feeling for atmosphere is strong and it permeates the material. Real folk instrumentation is scarce on 'Cut the Rivers Vein', but a general feeling of gothic americana or the folk drone that bands like Earth have attempted can be found in almost all sections of the album. Considering that this is a solo project, I find that the different approaches to the whole 'low and slow' mantra have an enjoyable amount of differentiation to them. Furthermore, I just think there is feeling, emotion and atmosphere to Mur - more than your average reshuffled collection of atmoblack tropes, at least.
Rating: 6/10.
Blastanus - Beyond
Genre: Technical Death Metal / Grindcore
Label: Independent
I personally love when a bands name doesn´t quite align with how the music is - Bloody Cumshot last year was the prime example. Blastanus' music isn´t quite so unfitting, but with a name like that, I would normally expect something a little less sophisticated and more grimey. Blastanus play technical music somewhere between Brutal Death Metal and grind, with some progressive flourishes. Blastanus are indeed one of the few bands who manage to inhabit roughly the same space that Cattle Decapitation reside in, and without being an outright ripoff. As far as my personal taste goes, Blastanus probably aligns a little more with it, as this album slams and has some nice melodic flourishes that I don´t find as much in Cattle Decap - although CD certainly aim to be more emotional, at least lately.
Blastanus doesn´t quite reach pure greatness, as there is an overreliance on some modern Death Metal tropes that just rub me the wrong way. It is very unfortunate that all of these seem to be frontloaded, as the chugga chugga quasi Deathcore seems to be mostly relegated to the first half of the album. Still, I do enjoy the melodic approach too much to be upset about it - especially the solos show some phrasing that is very unusual for metal, especially of this type, even if only subtly so. The solos on this thing are fantastic, and whereas I often just sit out a solo on other albums, almost as if the solo is just a section justified by itself, here I actively listen to the melodies on display. 'Beyond' is a flawed album, but one I can see myself returning to.
Rating: 6/10.
Wiegedood - There´s Always Blood at the End of the Road
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Century Media
I always appreciated Wiegedood because as far as black metal goes, a lot of aggression can be lost in the pursuit of atmosphere. While I do appreciate atmosphere, often the material becomes banal and tropey when it becomes the singular goal of a band. Wiegedood have always managed to be aggressive despite having a degree of atmosphere. Sure, there were other issues - excessive repetition is one of them - but I always enjoyed taking Wiegedood for a spin when the mood strikes. 'There´s Always Blood at the End of the Road' introduces some new elements to the Wiegedood sound that can be viewed as experimental - like throat singing, subtle industrial touches or warped field recordings full of [Odd Reverberations]. This is a little bit more exciting immediately.
Sure, a lot of these little asides and infusions feel a little gimmicky, as a lot of the songs remain pretty repetitive and these new elements don´t seem to infect a lot of the actual metal on here. But on the other hand, just interrupting the onslaught of trem and the occasional riff is refreshing and aids the material in feeling less draining than on prior albums. Also, as I referenced above, there is a certain indescribable feel to these interludes and injections that, in many ways, remind me of the work of David Lynch in an abstract way. I am honestly a big fan and so I might be a bit more forgiving with this album than I usually am. Give Wiegedood a shot, as its a strong release for january - maybe it was even released strategically during this month, however...
Rating: 7/10.
Ode and Elegy - s/t
Genre: Chamber Music / Post Metal
Label: Independent
Ode and Elegy are a pretty mysterious entity. The project seems to deliberately not have a bandcamp or streaming presence and the first contact I had with them was through a premiere at Invisioble Oranges (although the artist emailed me requesting a review; that I was already planning to do). Access to the project is easy, but unusual for the time we are living in: You can get the files through their website, but only if you tell them about a special experience you had - Ode and Elegy want to inspire. Gimmicky, sure, and it could be viewed as pretentious, but I feel some really wholesome honesty from these guys.
And luckily, the music delivers as well. Ode and Elegy play a long form style of post metal, but in the context of chamber music instrumentation. One could easily think that the metal is an afterthought, but I think its quite the contrary - long, drawn out builds will always culminate in a doom infused post-metal eruption. Ode and Elegy show an immense level of restraint in how this is composed and frankly, this will deter many listeners - it requires a lot from the listener and specifically metalheads won´t always have the patience for it.
Last but not least, I want to talk about how Ode and Elegy sound - they sound very good, in fact. The classical musicians were tracked in multiple studios, as their instagram shows, and they were recorded the classical way - very naturalistic and, by design through the different studios, all have a natural reverb that is unique to them. Ode and Elegy sound very alive and as such, the usual neverending addition of time stretching and modulation effects isn´t necessary.
Overall, I think this might be the first truly great release of the year. It is not an easy album and one that requires a certain headspace - one I sadly don´t have too often - but is incredibly rewarding.
Rating: High 7 / Low 8
Rating: 6/10.
Slamuary - the pointless Quest to listen to all January Slam
I like to set myself little listening projects and for January 2022, I decided to listen to all Slam released to bandcamp throughout the whole month. I´ll refrain from reposting the album covers, as the writeups are short and the album covers would clutter the page too much. If you crave some gore, however, feel free to head over to @scuttlegoat_reviews on Instagram and see all of them in their disgusting glory.
Inhumane Existence - Dehumanized
A band that slams well and does it a lot. Very occasionally they do something to break the monotony like a black metal part, melodeath riffing or tapping sections. Overall not bad, but the slam oversaturation is really getting to me.
Rating: 5/10.
Effluence / Blowtorch SPLIT
Effluence made some waves in the underground for...what reason? I really do not know. Effluence are certainly extravagant with the random free jazz freakouts (I suspect sampled) but not in a way that is in any way enjoyable or makes sense. The album is kind of a slug, despite the beautiful pong of the snare.
Rating: 3/10.
Botched Vasectomy - Hepatoxic Houseplant
Not even 5 minutes of groovy goregrind. Vocals include gurgling, gargling water and more. Some of the worst guitar tones I've heard so far.
Rating: 4/10
Vile Reflux - Mors X Esuri
Is that enough bass drops already? Jeez, it would be enjoyable enough slamming deathcore if the darn bass drops would stop for just a couple bars. I do not even quite get the placement a lot of the time?
Rating: 4/10
Ashes of Ariandel
Slamming deathcore with mostly breakdowns and the electronic flourishes that were en vogue a couple of years ago. I believe this is Dark Souls themed, which I'll take over christian any day.
Rating: 5/10.
Bunker Hill Bloodbath - Dead Leaves
hate it when they smuggle a genre into the Slam tag that doesn´t really qualify. This is beatdown hardcore and a variant that is severely out of ideas, as well. Lazy beatdowns, editing tricks and chord stabs, sometimes all 3: the 17 minutes of this are a total slog.
Rating: 4/10.
CVSTODIA - Anti-Hero
Another one of these, and I was REALLY procrastinating ever getting to this one. Same issues as the last one, maybe a little more downtempo and uninvolved, I am not going back to check. Its definetely even worse because its longer. I hate this.
Rating: 3/10.
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