Prolific Death Doom Dominators Runemagick return with new release Beyond The Cenotaph Of Mankind. This formidable Swedish team are well known for not rushing their craft as opens track Archiac Magick (After The Red Sun) demonstrates, lingering basslines, ominous guitar tones and deep feral growls aplenty.
Following this is the frostbitten with splashes of early Morbid Angel with a gothic underbelly Endless Night And Eternal Night is undoubtedly my highlight track of the release and the formidable drum tones will also make it yours too, then is onto the short but highly intense Revocation Of Spectral Paths to provide a real sense of immersion.
How do you know that a band have been together nearly 30 years? The effortless interchange between the previous offering and that of The Stone Rode Beyond The Firmament it is so effortless that it almost felt as it is one huge track and even on the first few listens it tricked me into thinking that, wonderful soul stealing solos on this too.
The crushing Nocturnal Deities Of Winter once again is another indication of the quality of Runemagick’s outputs before final offering and title track, Beyond The Cenotaph presents the band at their bleakest best, I must admit that I really wouldn’t have minded this being an instrumental piece as there are so many intoxicating elements throughout, but as the vocals finally come through it just completes the narrative of this release.
Once again, a band so highly underrated have once again presented something that needs to be held in high regard.
Laden with occult atmosphere. 9/10
Kilonova - Moment of Clarity (Self-Released) [Mark Young]
And now, time for some thrash! Newcastle Upon Tyne metallists return with their new release, a 5 track EP which delivers a pure thrash metal statement that is chock full of infectious riffs and some downright furious vocals courtesy of Ellen Hill. This gives them the springboard that shows that they have the songs and attitude to mix it on any stage with any band. Each of these tracks is just heads down, full on attack. Checking on their socials they have a run of dates this month and based on each of these you should give them a go.
Kicking off with Fragments, yes, this is just straight ahead, foot down, key change old-school thrash metal given a modern spit and shine, with some fret melting solos and an earworm of a chorus, this is good stuff. Burned At The Stake keeps that pace, with more of a growled vocal this time round, this is just proper thrash, and you can’t help but nod along to this. Leeches And Parasites is up next with a personal favourite of mine, the gallop riff and again they hit with more of that melodic guitar before vocals and big riff energy is unleashed. Excellent and then Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree just reaffirms their metal credentials by stomping a mid-paced hole in you. Bleed By Example closes out the proceedings with another banger of a riff, with some venomous vocal delivery, again all top stuff.
All the way through this is some good stuff from an emerging talent and it’s fair to say that British metal is in a healthy place right now, with Kilonova delivering a future classic collection of songs that hit in all the right places without coming across as just affectionate pastiches of music that has come before.
This is unapologetic, raw, visceral and most importantly fast, heavy and will really translate well into the live arena. Surely next steps will be to get another full-length album out to see where they are in the current musical landscape, but on this display they are in a great place. 7/10
Atavistia - Cosmic Warfare (Self Released) [C Hunter]
Cosmic Warfare is an impressive love letter to its influences. An amalgamation of melodic death metal and epic metal giants such as Wintersun, Dimmu Borgir, Insomnium, Kalmah and the like, set apart by a heavier focus on orchestra, clever electronic transitions and Neo Classical Yngwie Malmsteen reminiscent guitar leads. It’s battle music, with shards of folk and black metal all over it.
Imagine if Fromsoft had approached the fictitious institute of melodic death metal for its boss scores rather than lead composer Yuka Kitamura. The melodies depict a cold painted world of majestic and snowbound Canadian landscape long believed to be isolated to their Scandinavian cousins. Each member of Atavistia showcase great skill in both their composition and playing ability, making Cosmic Warfare a fine addition to any Epic/Melodic/Orchestral Metal fans collection. 8/10
Old Dirty Buzzard - What A Weird Hill To Die On (Rotten Records) [Matt Bladen]
Old Dirty Buzzard - What A Weird Hill To Die On (Rotten Records) [Matt Bladen]
Filthy and furious, the excellently named Old Dirty Buzzard are a scuzzy, biker rock band from Washington State and this trio are the bastard offspring of Motorhead, Black Oak Arkansas, Black Label Society and Corby’s own Viking Skull and their debut album What A Weird Hill To Die On is dripping with gruff vocals and distorted riffs, that flit between punk punching Corpse Shoveler and slow dooming on Paleozoic.
Fuelled by moonshine and diesel fumes this nine track record kickstarts with a supercharged version of Charlie Daniels’ Long Haired Country Boy and when the V8 starts purring their no stopping them as Kurt Kilfelt’s bone rattling bass and gravelled vocals lead from the front just like one Mr Kilmister, as the axe attack of Ben Axeman is savage on the bluesy stomp of Highway Patrol cutting through the chug, the triumvirate finished off by the ballsy percussion of Ben Still.
There’s a lot of Southern swagger behind the doom bluster of Old Dirty Buzzard, edging towards the NOLA scene but What A Weird Hill To Die On is a old school rock n roll record with the volume turned up and the distortion floor shaking. Play it to your friends, just make sure the neighbours can hear! 8/10
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