Krallice - Demonic Wealth

I have always had a bit of a weird relationship to Krallice. They are a band I am supposed to like. After all, I pretty much make everyone I could find listen to every Schammasch, Imperial Triumphant, Ulcerate, and Zhrine album I could. I like bicycles and obnoxiously hoppy IPAs. I own and use beard wax.

But for nine albums Krallice have always smelled (felt?) to me like a bunch of prog nerds wearing black metal as a costume to a frat party. I have just never clicked with their let's be weird so people will call us the weird guys shtick.

Then the *gestures broadly in the direction of coronavirus* everything happened, and bands across the world had to find new ways to make music other than "hang out 24-7 and try to make things".

It seems that forcing these nerds out of their own private guitar center idaho was a good move. The forced separation and out of studio time has resulted in a far less sterile album than previous outings. This is, instead, chock full of A T M O S P H E R E.

This is far rawer and more immediate than previous Krallice albums, and it is SO MUCH the better for it.

Comments

Agriculture - Agriculture

a While calling themselves ''ecstatic" black metal, Agriculture traipses along the line between atmo-black and blackgaze pretty adroitly. I am not as head over heels as some of the metal press I have been reading about them (like Rolling Stone for instance), but I think they have a good thing going here. They remind me of Vattnet Viskar sort of, and I am going to withhold judgement until I can see them live to really decide. That said, this is an album that has been in heavy rotation at my house since its release. Agriculture by Agriculture

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

This album answers an incredibly important question: What if Rick Deckard was a goth? A goth replicant that could pass the Voight-Kampff test easily. More importantly, it provides a stunning backdrop to the writing I am supposed to be doing, but keep avoiding. French composer James Kent has always been something of a polarizing figure. Much of his earlier work has been very HOTLINE MIAMI style synthwave. This is most definitely NOT THAT. Instead you a weird robot sex soundtrack - a post-punk mood piece cloaked in goth rock nihilism and sexual malevolence. Gritty, misanthropic, but still atmospheric and ambient, this is some nice stuff! Lustful Sacraments by PERTURBATOR

Dødsferd - Skotos

Raw atmospheric black metal it it's sun soaked Mediterranean best. Wait... That's not right. Oh, but it is. For 20 years, Greece has been the home of Dødsferd since it's beginning as a one-man side project. Now, 10 albums, as many splits and EPs, and five comps, two new songs are available. Packaged with a re-release of the landmark album 'Diseased Remnants of a Dying World', what you have here is the pinnacle of what raw atmo-black can be. A full LP of this would easily be Album of the Year. I can still hope right? Skotos (Atmospheric Black Metal) by DØDSFERD (Greece)

Trumpet of Amdusias

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