Feannag ~ Throne (2023)

Thick, chunky, Scottish blackened death metal. Tempo's change dramatically with each song but your punishment remains merciless and extreme whatever the speed, although much of the album is mid to fast -paced giving Throne elements of doom/death here and there. It's a murderously brutal album without relying on layers of murk to make it sound oppressive giving the album a triumphant atmosphere as if blood has just been spilled and Feannag has done the spilling!

CANNABUS ~ The Maple Spliff Sessions (2023)

On hearing the opening track 'Cannabust' I felt I was drifting in a Hermit Mage's meandering, psychoactive dream of weed, acid and fuzz. The next track, a bluesey number called 'Feeling Alright' was more scathing but still couldn't escape the acidic, fuzz knotted sound and I have to tell you, these knots are pulled TIGHT all through The Maple Spliff Sessions. Seething licks that sizzle and pop as hard as any of the Japanese freak out bands, bite and scratch their way out from the clutches of fuzz leaving each track scarred and pitted. 

It's been a while since I've heard an album as tight as The Maple Spliff Sessions, even my tinnitus broke out in an acid sweat.

ANTICHRIST ~ Pax Moriendi (2018)

Peruvian funeral doom / death, short on the usual ambient experimentation that usually puts me off this type of music, high on slow punishing riffs of immense depth that has the opposite effect. Pax Moriendi opens with 'Forgotten In Nameless Suffering' a hugely despondent track starting with chilling keyboards before it slowly blooms into a slothful dirge that makes you feel as though you've just received a death sentence with no hope of reprieve. The overall arrangement of the album reminds me of The Funeral Orchestra or Catacombs mixed with Rigor Sardonicus and a dash of Evoken added here and there. The doom/death element sits firmly in the mid 90's of raw uncompromising bands whose names usually ended in 'ium but Antichrist are at their colossal best when the tempo drops to near comatose.

Listen to Pax Moriendi and watch all of your hopes and dreams crumble before your eyes.

BLAZON RITE ~ Wild Rites and Ancient Songs (2023)

Comparisons to the NWOBHM movement  are levelled constantly at new heavy metal/power metal releases, mostly without justification, but if you're an afficionado of that particularly influential era of metal then Wild Rites and Ancient Songs the new album by Blazon Rite is as authentic as you're going to get. This is a call to arms, a warcry, sabre rattling without the rattle as it doesn't cavort in bloodlust frenzy, instead, the seven songs available here are calculating and focussed which gives clarity to each track. It's like being aurally picked off rather than hacked to death and gives a gorgeous balance of sounding really catchy but hard hitting at the same time.

DEATHRATTLE PODCAST ~ Dirty Dozen March '23 (My Contribution to March's Doom Charts)

 The stoner part of the underground metal scene made a welcome return to my 'Best Of' 2023 for March with six bands either lacing their doom with it, or just going all out with the fuzz.

                           ~ Deathrattle Podcast Dirty Dozen For March '23~

WITCH RIPPER - THE FLIGHT AFTER THE FALL

Stoner/Sludge

Seattle/ USA

Magnetic Eye Records

https://witchripper.bandcamp.com/album/the-flight-after-the-fall-2

SANTO ROSTRO - DESPUÉS NO HABRÁ NADA

Stoner/Doom

Jaén, Spain

Discos Macarras

https://discosmacarras.bandcamp.com/album/despu-s-no-habr-nada

DIRGE - DIRGE

Sludge/Doom

Mumbai, India

Immersive Sounds

https://dirgeindia.bandcamp.com/album/dirge-2

NEPENTHES - GRAND GUIGNOL

Doom

Tokyo/Japan

Daymare Recordings

"Featuring ex Church Of Misery ex Coffins and G.A.T.E.S members. Heavily blues and stoner influenced doom, punctuated with chaotic solo's that only the japanese can pull off." Steve - Deathrattle Podcast

No Bandcamp 

ACID MOTH - ACID MOTH

Stoner/Doom

Gatineau/Canada

Self Released

https://acidmoth1.bandcamp.com/album/acid-moth

ISOLE - ANESIDORA

Epic Doom Metal

Gävle/Sweden

Hammerheart Records

"The dual harsh and clean (mainly clean) vocals sets the tone for Isole's new album Anesidora an album that spans the full range of emotions dragging the listener from the depths of despair one moment to a rapturous sense of elation the next. It's like attending a wake yet leaving with a smile on your face. Isole doesn't need fuzz or effects to conjure an epic, aural funeral. Instead, this doom ceremony is sanctified by heavy, metallic crunchy guitars punctuated with solo's that sound like the anguished crying of a grieving widow.

Bereavement has never been this glorious." Steve ~Deathrattle Podcast

https://isolehhr.bandcamp.com/album/anesidora

THE SOUTHERN ORACLE - THE MOST CORRUPTIBLE SOULS

Hardcore/Punk/Thrash

Budapest/Hungary

Self Released

Steve Woodier - Deathrattle Podcast

https://thesouthernoracle.bandcamp.com/album/the-most-corruptible-souls

TRIBE OF PAZUZU - BLASPHEMOUS PROPHECIES

Blackened Death Metal

Canada

Vic Records

https://tribeofpazuzu.bandcamp.com/album/blasphemous-prophecies

WYNDRYDER - WYNDRYDER

Stoner/doom

Tennessee/USA

Self Released

https://wyndrider.bandcamp.com/album/wyndrider

THE FALLEN PROPHETS - PERPETUAL DAMNATION

Death Metal

Cape Town/South Africa

MMD Records

https://thefallenprophets.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual-damnation

VISION DEPRIVED - SELF ELEVATING, DEEP INSIDE THE VOID

Death Metal

Milan, Italy

Slaughterhouse Records

"Unsettling Italian death metal that spits and snarls in your face in an unrelenting, frenzied attack. The riffs just keep coming, charged with adrenaline, like a serial killer stalking his next kill. Self Elevating, Deep Inside The Void, hurtles from one toxic tempo to another with crust armoured grind vying with mid paced crunch in a withering dance of ferocious extremity."Steve Woodier - Deathrattle Podcast

https://slaughterhouserecords.bandcamp.com/album/self-elevating-deep-inside-the-void

CRATER - DEGENERATE

Doom/Sludge

Shenzhen/China

SloomWeep Productions

"Chinese doom/sludge heavy enough to make your eyeballs burst and your teeth rattle out of your skull. All the warmth and moisture you normally get from standard doom riffs have been sucked out and the fuzz sandblasted away to leave an arid musical wasteland of slow, hateful tempos. Salvation does lie within Degenerate  as there is a slight stoner element that resonates within the tide of toxic sludge dissonance that gives the album a remarkably accessible feel to it, but generally, the Eyehategod influenced doom leaves a debilitating sense of hopelesness and nausea for which there is no known antidote."Steve Woodier - Deathrattle Podcast

https://crater420.bandcamp.com/album/degenerate