New tunes 5/22/13: Deathcult, Deuil, The Infernal Sea

Deathcult- The Test of Time CS (Caligari Records)
Deathcult is a one-man thrashy death metal band from Chicago who plays with the intensity of a full band. The album is loaded with eerily catchy leads and galloping riffs that are perfectly tailored for headbanging. The vocals at times remind me of the legendary Don Tardy from Obituary, so expect a really throaty attack. One hundred copies of this tape are available here, which is the debut of both band and record label. The label is rooted here in my current home of Tampa, FL and seems set to release more quality stuff in the very near future. With addictive songs like "Mutant Generation" and "Hail the Antichrist," this will be a hit at your next party.

Deuil- Acceptance/Rebuild CDr (Self-Released)
Deuil are one of those bands that totally caught me off guard. I've been receiving many emails from bands seeking review, (which is why I'm now doing these abbreviated posts in the first place--to catch up), and these guys instantly stood out. The album begins with a rather peculiar yet intriguing vocal drone that leads into filthy sludge that reminds me of the ferocity of groups like Amenra or Fall of Efrafa, with all the dynamics, peaks, and valleys you'd hope to find. These Belgian maniacs absolutely crush from start to finish with this album, which you can either download for the price you'd like or purchase on a beautifully packaged and screen-printed CDr. It's limited to 50 copies, so I'd hop on it quickly.

The Infernal Sea- Call of the Augur CD (Self-Released)
The Infernal Sea are probably the only band in this post that fit into the black metal spectrum, but they are vicious enough to cover all three slots in blackened fury. These guys have a very precise and well-executed brand of black metal that is not exclusively rooted in any one subcategory of metal. Drums are aggressive and perfectly placed, the vocals are truly ravenous, and the guitar tone is rooted in classic black metal while the riffs tend to meander through whatever territory The Infernal Sea deems necessary. It's solid, aggressive, and instantly memorable black metal with strong elements of death metal that never quite overpower the darker side of the music. Purchase a download from their bandcamp or do the right thing and order the actual CD for your collection.

Terzij de Horde- "A Rage of Rapture Against the Dying of the Light" CD (Self-Released)

Terzij de Horde look like such sweet, mellow guys in their portrait inside this CD. They look more likely to help stoke up a fire in the winter and put on some tea than to create chaotic and conflicted black metal. Of course you know that stirring up chaos is exactly this group's goal, and they certainly succeed at it.With each of these four songs, Terzij de Horde creates something that is bold and unique yet completely familiar, as if this music comes from such a deep place that all of us could hold it in our collective experiences.

Musically these guys lash out like a hydra, with elements of hardcore, crust, and sludge latching onto their relentless black metal assault. Stillness is not an element one will find here, but ferocity is pouring out of every sound. Opener "Prometheans" is noticeably shorter than the other tracks on this album, yet it sets the pace properly, starting at a crawl that builds up to a bloodthirsty hybrid of textured riffs and breakneck drumming. Vocalist Joost sounds like he has long since given up anything human and replaced it with the entirety of nature's wrath towards humanity's destruction. These guys are also clearly well-read, as evidenced by the list of "inspirations" for this album (all are novels rather than musical works) and the fact that they took their own moniker from a line from a famous Dutch poet. It's pleasant to see that their literary hobbies make for great lyrics. In black metal I rarely pay attention to the lyrical content of a band, yet these guys made it actually a pleasure to read along as I listened. This album as a whole is good for repeat listens due to its relatively short length, and I can only imagine how vicious these guys would be in the live setting.

Terzij de Horde is currently writing a new album that will surely shred our collective faces off. In the meantime, grab a shirt and CD directly from the band (or download it for free if you're a bit poor today). If you're lucky enough to live anywhere near them, they'll be playing with Ash Borer and Fell Voices in Amsterdam just a couple weeks. Don't miss these guys, they're destined for some serious attention in the near future.

Ramlord- "Crippled Minds, Sundered Wisdom" LP (Hypaethral Records)

Some of you may remember Ramlord as that band I once used the word "crushing" to describe too many times. Some of you may also remember that I think "crushing" is an awesome thing that doesn't happen enough in the reviews I write. Specializing in lo-fi black metal often leaves me with a lack of solid headbanging, skull-crushing tunes. Luckily Ramlord exist so that I may write about their boozy, chaotic blackened crust madness and get my daily recommended dose of crushing. To say that this new album is a positive expansion on the material presented on their split with Cara Neir is an understatement, and I'm pretty stoked on it.

I often feel the need to write from the perspective of an educated, intelligent, well-spoken individual, but with music this raw, I feel that flowery speech would detract from just how ferocious this is. Listening to this takes me back to the days when I hung out at basement shows and drank as much cheap beer and whiskey as I could before burrito cravings set in. The difference here is that Ramlord don't seem intent on creating fun for their listeners so much as they are hellbent on imparting bleak fury. I'm nodding my head along while I listen to the album, but I'm also kinda stuck on the fact that I'm going to die one day. All the lyrics seem to lead me back to the impermanence of mortality and the futility of believing in something beyond this world. It makes me just want to dig into the music all the more, clinging to every hideous moment because this music itself is bursting with life, almost in defiance of death. The frantic pace of the music, the harshness and humanity of the vocals, the energy creates a sort of pessimistic beauty. Another thing that really works for this is Ramlord's complete lack of commitment to any one niche within the greater genres of crust, metal, or whatever else you'd call their music. Thirty-second facemelters like "Enslaved" exist in some sort of twisted harmony with the eight-minute closing nightmare of "Extinction of Clairvoyance (Part Two)," which is a continuation of the aforementioned split with Cara Neir. This whole album gives me way too much to digest, but I can say with complete sincerity that I'm okay with a bit of sonic uneasiness. I've always been into discomfort and struggle in music, so the massive quantity of chaotic and cathartic experience here gives me something hearty to sink my teeth into.

So this slab of viciousness has already been available for digital download for about a month, but I'm a total slacker. The benefit of me not posting this until now is that if you're super cool and preorder the record (for a measly fifteen bucks), you've only got to wait about a month for it to ship out. So what are you waiting for? You could have this album for free, or you can be one of only 100 awesome individuals to own this depressing mess on vinyl. I'm part of the second group; will you join me?