Heavy, Low End, Swamp...

Witchapter - Spellcaster EP (2017)

Dark, brutal, and (slightly melodic) black metal coming out of Childer Thornton, UK, with this three-song EP you should check out if you’re still mourning the loss Lord Mantis.  Starting with a bit of a groove riff, the first track, “Veiled Aggressor”, brings the thunder.  First kick of the vocals and these guys are really scratching that Lord Mantis itch with heavy low-end and those slightly distorted/reverb’d vocals.  This stuff is awesome.  Super heavy breakdown around the three-minute mark with double-tracked guitar that starts to slow and slow until you can feel the gears grinding to a halt. This is one of my blackest and favorite tracks of the year. 
Second track “Through Smoke and Sulphur” starts clean, almost with a Sabbath or Pentagram type of vibe.  One stomp of the box and the roof is blown off this track, into slow sludge with a slightly '90s vibe to it, the low end on this thing is nuts.  Ending with the final track, “Everywhere I Look I See My Grave”, Witchapter continues the sludge saunter accentuated with a huge crash 1-2 and a Weekend Nachos style de-tune.  Guitars fade and a bass groove begins and the whole thing boils back up again as Witchapter walk off with an awesome three-song EP.  Fans of Thou, look this up.

~ Dan

For Fans Of; FALSE, Thou, Lord Mantis, Demonic Death Judge

Facebook • BandCamp 

 Witchapter - Veiled Aggressor (320 kbps)

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Prepare For Grime...

Akuma - For The Beloved Bones (2014)

The new album from Akuma is a swampy blast of murky aggression, high-speed and high-impact drums, growling guitar, and mighty bass. The tunes unfold with a pace like quicksand, pulling you deeper and deeper along for the ride until you can barely breathe, and just at the right moment, opening up into a gaping expanse of overwhelming bass resonance and distant percussion. This crew has a solid handle on what they want to accomplish with their songs, and it's some mean, effective stuff. 

They've got the attitude of EyeHateGod (though with less of a drug fixation or inclination towards hardcore), the bottom-of-a-swamp atmosphere of Coffins, and they occasionally slip in a little black metal through a sludgy mix of vocals, production, and mad-cap drumming. There are a few moments where it seems like they've pulled off a capable soundtrack to some liquid sub-section of Hell, but there's also times where they ease up on the menace a bit, and just plow forward with some stomping speed and rhythms into sheer head-banging territory. More than capable of putting a smile on any deranged swamp-dweller's face, For The Beloved Bones is already well on its way to being recognized as a classic.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Open Tomb, Noothgrush, Coffinworm, Grime, High On Fire

BandCamp

Akuma - Olas de Sangre (320 kbps)

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