Rumblings From the Underground: Rotten Sound, Wormed, Boris With Merzbow + More
Welcome back, my legions! And welcome to those who are coming here for the first time! We've got some good ones for you this week in Rumblings From the Underground including reviews from Boris With Merzbow, Decrepit Soul, Necronomicon, Rotten Sound and Wormed in one of metal's best release weeks so far this year. Rotten Sound and Wormed are two I hold very close as the former's Murderworks is my favorite grind album and the latter are the Neil Degrasse Tyson of brutal death metal.
In the news, we'll catch up on some happenings with Mithras, Cardinals Folly and Bog of the Infidel, where you can check out new songs from each band.
Lately, I've been listening to Profanatica and Pissgrave and couldn't be more pumped for their show in Brooklyn, N.Y. this weekend. Other than that, it's been some dark ambient like Dahlia's Tear and Tribe of Circle as I lament the arrival of warmer weather.
Per the usual, let's get start off with that news I told you about!
News
U.K. cosmic death metallers Mithras are plotting their first album since 2007's Beyond the Shadows Lie Madness. With the core of bassist/vocalist Raynor Cross and the concussive fury of drummer Leon Macey still in tact, the new song "The Statue on the Island" carries all the signature elements of the band. Lush lead tones collide with devastating riffing and Macey's masochistic approach to drumming.
Picking up where Reverend Bizarre left off, Finland's new lords of doom Cardinals Folly are set to release their third album, Holocaust of Ecstasy and Freedom, on June 3. Fans can stream two new songs, "Goats on the Left" and "Her Twin of Evil" here.
Rhode Island black metal outfit Bog of the Infidel will release their first album in six years, Asleep in the Arms of Suicide on April 8 on Eternal Death. The track "Coils of the Noose" is six minutes of purist black metal for fans of the genre's glory days in the early '90s. Listen to the track here.
Reviews
Boris With Merzbow, 'Gensho'
Boris and Merzbow both represent some of the best albeit strangest music to hail from Japan. The trio in Boris range from drone to J-pop while their noise counterpart on Gensho has composed some of the most abrasive music around. Together, they've crafted a diverse album that once again proves their celebrated sense of versatility.
Both discs clock in at the same time of an hour and 14 minutes, slowly, and I do mean slowly, ramping up the aggression from track to track. Combining drone with shoegaze mastery (see the My Bloody Valentine cover of "Sometimes") the lead-in to Merzbow's ear-splitting portion is well thought out. Neither artist will make any converts here, but their legions of fans will undoubtedly be thrilled.
Decrepit Soul, 'The Coming of War!!'
Australia has a habit for churning out some of the world's best blackened death metal. Combining a love for Bolt Thrower with drummer Marcus Hellc--t's other band Vomitor, Decrepit Soul have forged a unique entity on The Coming of War!!
Employing a guitar tone similar to Black Witchery, they volley between blackened aesthetics and devastating grooves and leadwork similar to the aforementioned Bolt Thrower (think Realm of Chaos and In Battle There Is No Law). "Feral Howling Winds" and "Black Goats Breath" are two of the finest songs here with rigid drumming and feral howls (thanks for leading us in the right direction, guys) rounding out the militant riffing.
Necronomicon, 'Advent of the Human God'
Canada's Necronomicon premiered the stream of Advent of the Human God earlier this week with Loudwire. Their fifth and best album to date, the band tears through fervent riffs capable of cracking foundations and turning buildings into rubble.
Often lumped into the symphonic black metal pool due to the occasional use of keyboards, Necronomicon are inarguably a death metal band Hellbent on forging their own sound. The use of these symphonic elements only add to songs like the imposing title track, dipping in and out, called only only when absolutely needed and the execution is precise and perfect.
Rotten Sound, 'Abuse to Suffer'
Put on your jockstrap because Rotten Sound deliver a half hour of pummeling grind straight to where it'll hurt the most on Abuse to Suffer. Their first album in five years, the Fins have wiped out their absence and got off their "Lazy Asses."
The signature buzzsaw guitar is in full effect along with the drummer Sami Latva's machine gun style of playing. Vocalist G's guttural roars only further the straight pissed off nature of Abuse to Suffer, sounding angrier as the record goes on. "Inhumane Treatment" is aptly titled and one of the most crushing songs, delivering a solid steel-toe kick to the gut from the first second. There's no surprises here, which is good because I don't want any from Rotten Sound. Get your bedroom mosh on, throw a hammer through the f--king wall and smash every damn lamp in sight.
Wormed, 'Krighsu'
Spanish fusers of astrophysics and brutal death metal Wormed didn't make us wait another decade (it felt like a lightyear — zing!) for a new album. Krighsu comes just three years after their sophomore effort Exodromos and improves on its predecessor.
Blasting into warp speed on "Psuedo-Horizon," the space conquistadors cycle through riff after riff after riff of groove-laden, slamming slabs of unadulterated brutality. With some Voivod-like techniques in play to further the cosmic theme, they only help their cause with the eerie synth work on "A-Life Omega Point." The production is modern yet spacious, allowing enough room in the mix for those heaving riffs and manic beatdowns to truly leave their impact.
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