Decipher is a band from Luxembourg. They’re releasing Intuition, their debut album, on the sixteenth of this month. The thirty-six-minute atmospheric progressive death metal album is really worth your time! Conceptually, it’s about self-discovery through an alchemical potion and a spiritual awakening. The tracks themselves range from pretty brutal, like ‘Liquid Pain’, to very melodic and atmospheric, as in ‘Soulbound’. I really recommend this album!
Parisian blackened hardcore band Cowards just released Still, their latest EP. Consisting of three original songs and two cover tracks, it’s short and to the point. The Throatruiner Records act has already proven itself many times over, in the past, so you don’t need to trust me when I say it’s good stuff. Go look and see for yourself.
Fief is a very decent fantasynth project from the States. I really liked I, which came out last August, and II only adds more medieval retrowave to the tavern’s menu. Honestly, it sounds like the soundtrack to an indie fantasy RPG, or something like that, and I wonder how long it’ll take before a game developer actually reaches out to the person behind Fief for some real soundtrack material!
Bulldada has been my dada for the weekend. I’ve listened to Bulldada’s Tavern countless times, in just two days. The project includes members of defunct math jazz band Father Figure†, so I knew from the start that this was going to be a winner. The style is starkly different, if only for the fact that Bulldada has a singer. The high-pitched voice has hints of soul music to it, complementing rather flawlessly the progressive psychedelia compositions that are also dangerously nearing perfection! It’s truly something, and something to which I demand you listen.
Not so long ago, we wrote about Karmanjakah‘s single, ‘Color’. Well, the EP it’s on is now out! The Karmanjakah EP is, quite unsurprisingly, more of what ‘Color’ offered: high-grade melodic djent. The thirty-minute EP also features guest vocals from Entheos’ Chaney Crabb. Overall, it’s a very good debut from the formation.
Khonsu is a progressive black metal band that focuses its attention on science-fiction-themed albums. The Xun Protectorate, out last month, displays a respectable hourlong of material, and keeps it consistent throughout. While it’s not ‘all killer no filler’, it’s all pretty good, with no strikingly weak tracks ruining the experience. Check this out if you’re in need of blast beats.
Astronomical atmospheric black metal project Aureole just released Aurora Borealis, its second full-length. While I’m not a huge fan of the immense part that atmosphere plays in the project’s sound, I find it interesting, in an odd manner. Yes, the ambiances are very well-crafted, but the production is noisy and very minimalistic, which I can hardly appreciate. But, you know yourselves, atmo-black kvltists, and treat yourselves.
Euglena‘s drip-by-drip productivity is at least slightly quicker than the University of Queensland’s ‘pitch drop experiment’. The band just released a split with Russian blackened post-hardcore act Колчак. The result is a very concise, less-than-eight-minute EP with two tracks. The tracks themselves are well-worked and effective so I can’t really blame them for not churning out tracks at a quicker pace. Go check it out, it’s available for free, with voluntary contribution.