#229 | Reviews and Other Rambles: Be’lakor, Scowl, Plebeian Grandstand, Archspire, and More

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:02:20 — 280.0MB)

Salutations, cavern revelers! Happy 2022! It’s the fourth iteration of our new podcast format, wherein Connor and I endeavor to cover a deluge of new(-ish) singles, EPs, albums, and other developments from the underbelly of extreme music. The vast majority of what we yammer on about can be found in the list down below, but you can expect a few easter egg morsels to be discovered only within the audio (Connor littered this one with quite a bit of “mainstream” detritus).

As is typical, we span an array of various genres, from biting hardcore punk and sweeping, melodic death metal to blistering tech-death and harrowing avant-garde black metal. There is much more discussed in the episode’s approximate two-hour runtime, but we’ll leave all of those tidbits for you to discover.

If you have some artists, albums, singles, or any other form of musical media you’d like us to consider for an upcoming episode, please feel free to send us an email or reach out at one of our various social media channels. In a couple of weeks’ time, there will a new podcast interview I conducted with Uttered in Tongues, where he discusses the intersection of harsh drones and mental health. After that, our “Reviews and Other Rambles” series will continue to trudge ahead. Thank you all so much for your continued support!

Segment 01: Band Developments

Brief rambles about upcoming music

Blut Aus Nord announced their new album is mastered. No other details appear to be known at the time of writing, but we’ll likely hear more from their camp in the near future.

Voidsphere, one of five bands in the Prava Kollektiv, dropped a new 42-minute opus titled To Overtake | To Overcome. On the same day, another Kollektiv band Arkhtinn, released their second album, 二度目の災害 (translates from Japanese to Second Disaster).

Jordan Guerette (Falls of Rauros) released his OST for Hidden Treasures in the Forest of Dreams, a videogame developed by Paleo Games. The original score can be acquired on Jordan’s Bandcamp page.

The latest record from cosmic death metallers Blood Incantation is coming out on February 25, 2022, via Century Media Records. Its title is Timewave Zero and it will be ambient in nature. Given that Century Media doesn’t have a Bandcamp presence, you can acquire a copy through Century Media’s webstore.

Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean announced on their socials that they’re hitting the studio this month (January 2022) to record their new LP. No details, like album title or artwork, have been revealed yet, but I reckon more will be divulged in the coming months.

Segment 02: New(-ish) Tracks

Rambles about relatively fresh tracks

Heavy Meta’s “Worms”. Inspired by the Birds Aren’t Real movement, this fresh cut from Heavy Meta’s debut LP, Mana Regmata, sees the progressive hardcore quartet branching into fresh (and peculiar) sonic territories. Heavy Meta also shares several members with the progressive black metal quintet, In Human Form, another band we highly recommend.

Moon Tooth’s “Conduit”. The second single from the elating prog metal outfit’s upcoming LP. Though an official release date (and album title) has yet to be announced, we can anticipate it to drop sometime in Spring 2022 via Pure Noise Records. Their 2019 record, Crux, can be perused on their Bandcamp page.

Segment 03: EPs, Splits, and/or Demos

Rambles about some newer bite-sized releases

Willzyx’s i don’t feel anything. The moon-dwelling, psych-noise math punks (their words), released their third EP in September 2021 via Dark Trail Records. Eccentric, as a word, partially captures the essence of the tones harbored in its succinct runtime; however, it just scrapes its surface. Alien synths fraught with trepidatious atmosphere, grotty basslines, and fiendish vocals.

Letterbombs + Portrëit’s Split. A succinct split featuring four tracks from Findland’s emoviolence quartet, Letterbombs, and five tracks from Germany’s Portrëit. This was released via Zegema Beach Records on December 3, 2021.

Segment 04: Weird Bandcamp Picks

Random, and usually strange, finds from our Bandcamp dredging

For Derek by I Shot the Duck Hunt Dog. This is a re-issue of the Myspace-era cybergrind classic circa 2007. Connor felt compelled to toss this one on our list, as it depicts Yoshi with its arms ripped off. The record is available via Big Money Cybergrind.

Airlock’s Property Developer. This is a trip in audio decomposition from Perth’s Airlock. Property Developer is one of the latest (of many) releases from this project. Recorded on Aboriginal land, this record was written as a response to the mismanagement of the land Airlock calls home. This one harbors quite a heady atmosphere, and it’s tangled with grooving, cut-up riffs.

Segment 05: Forgotten Recents

Records we've been digging, but don't have the time for a deep dive

Elephant Rifle’s Satyriasis. A sub-six-minute noise rock/hardcore EP littered with punky, post-apocalyptic riffs. This came out back in September 2021; it was independently released by the Reno quartet.

Dead and Dripping’s Miasmic Eulogies Predicating an Eternal Nocturne. The sophomore LP from New Jersey’s one-man death metal project, Dead and Dripping. Angular, bludgeoning, bile-greased auditory deformities.

Segment 06: Albums of Focus

Records we dive into with some depth (in order of episode appearance)

Be'lakor - Coherence

Timestamp in episode: 01:15:04

The fifth opus from Victoria’s long-established melodic death metal quintet, Be’lakor. Coherence dropped via Napalm Records on October 29, 2021.

Scowl - How Flowers Grow

Timestamp in episode: 01:24:56

The debut LP from Santa Cruz’s hardcore punk quartet, Scowl. How Flowers Grow was released via Flatspot Records on November 19, 2021.

Plebeian Grandstand - Rien ne suffit

Timestamp in episode: 01:33:35

The long-awaited fourth record from France’s mind-warping avant-garde black metallers. Rien ne suffit (Nothing is enough) came out via Debemur Morti Productions on November 19, 2021.

Archspire - Bleed the Future

Timestamp in episode: 01:44:24

The fourth LP from Vancouver, BC’s batshit tech-death quintet, Archspire. Season of Mist released Bleed the Future on October 29, 2021.

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If you’ve scrolled this far, thank you so much for perusing the bands featured in this episode. All the links to our socials can be found below.