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Ritual Necromancy - Disinterred Horror, Portland OR 2018 Omnikinetic - Kinesis (EP) black/death Portland OR 2020 Witch Vomit - Funeral Sanctum, Portland OR the new one

Amebix - The Power Remains the Same DVD Live Minneapolis 5/27 2009 After the Bombs - Relentless Onslaught, metallic crust Montreal Quebec 2007 Swordwielder - System Overlord, 2019

NP: Dolmen Gate - Gateways of Eternity ▶︎ Gateways of Eternity | Dolmen Gate (bandcamp.com) Marcolin era Candlemass is pretty easily identifiable as the primary source of influence. You could probably point to a little Trouble or Pentagram here and there. I do enjoy some of the Marcolin Candlemass albums, so this is a pretty easy going listen for me. The songwriting is excellent on this, even if I'm not a fan of echo laden Solitude Aeternus style production. The vocal layering is frustrating since the singer clearly has the pipes to carry her weight through the style. It's the same sort of frustration I feel when I hear the early Fates Warning albums with John Arch. They should really just trust their vocalist enough to leave the mix a little rawer and pick up a lot more of the inflections that the production seems to smooth over. Still definitely my kind of doom. B+ from me. Mayhem have had such an interesting career. I'm one of those nutcases who will actually defend A Grand Declaration of War onward era Mayhem. This album in particular seems to love making use of rests and what I would call very loud silences in the guitar work. It tends to push Attila's rangy growls a little further to the front, but in return we get erratic quick lashing riffs that actually finds me listening to the rests as intently as the notes themselves. You don't get into the listener's head like that without long years of experience and high confidence in your songwriting.

This, guy. And single LP running time! They've cracked it.

Coffin Rot - A Monument to the Dead, Portland OR 2019 Cerebral Rot - Odious Descent Into Decay, Seattle 2019

AXEFEAR - Prophetic End

Witch Vomit/Funeral Sanctum-I've been listening to this one a lot. It's my favorite so far. One wonders when the market for OSDM will be completely oversaturated, on the other hand, I find OSDM one of the most enduring forms of extreme metal. This is just 30 minutes of melodic well done OSDM that hits the right notes for meat and potatoes death metal for me. I've been spinning this one a lot. It will probably end up being one of my favorite albums of 2024. Slimelord/Chytridiomycosis Relinquished-this will absolutely go down as a highpoint for 2024 extreme metal. What an interesting take on doom death. For one thing, the production is clean, or at least clear, but not slick. This is not cavern core. There is death metal and there is doom but there is also so much more going on. For starters, this is weird ass metal. Sure, there's a death doom center, but it shifts and morphs into an oozing cesspool of creativity: chaotic hints of black death with prog leanings (just check out the bass playing) reminding me of Ulthar's output last year, and maybe a hint of Lord Mantis. Gorguts is an obvious reference point. There's psychedelic influence, there's plenty of dissonance. The production brings in various gurgling effects creating a sound of liquid slime swampiness with the tracks oozing and shifting into different shapes. This is somewhat of a technical album without being tech death. You just can't pin this fucker down. And it's a concept album about a fungal disease that apparently kills large numbers of amphibians. Whaat? One of the things that keeps me in the death game is the way new artists emerge with creative boundary expanding takes on staid, seemingly limited definitions of metal genres. Death metal is a never ending steam engine lava flow that wont' be stopped and won't be hemmed in. Carry on.

Sleep's Holy Mountain-32 years young! I've always wondered what happened to that woman? how much money was she paid? Was she Klaus' girlfriend? Where did they find her? Did she have a great modeling career? Was she Germany's Stormy Daniels? Maybe it's AI.

Mayhem - Ordo Ad Chao Naked City - Leng Tch'e

Abigor - Time Is The Sulphur In The Veins Of The Saint Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosophy

New Darkthrone day is always a good day. Darkthrone - It Beckons Us All

Scorpions - Animal Magnetism (1980)

Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today, UK 2007 Dopethrone - III, Monreal Quebec 2012

Ihsahn - Ihsahn (2024)