Hey y’all, welcome back to the Apotheosis newsletter. It’s been quite the period of radio silence the past two months, but sometimes you get several weeks behind in the search for new music. The good news is that I’m officially caught up on all of it. So this weekend, and possibly part of next week, you’ll be getting three newsletters. Each recaps a whole month so they’ll be a little longer. After that, I’ll move back to the original format through the end of the year. As for next year, I haven’t quite decided what the plan is, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Now, onto August. This was a pretty light month in terms of overall volume but I suspect that most, if not all, of these records will be making an appearance on my year end list, and certainly several other year end lists from respectable people with good taste. Not everything in this list is entirely within the realm of metal, so there might even be something for the people who read this but don’t like metal. Then again, even the non-metal stuff is still pretty weird. Alas.
Woman is the Earth - Dust of Forever
Doesn’t this album cover just rip? Look how cool that thing is. Damn, I want it on my wall or something. Anyways, the music actually lives up to the promise of the immaculate album art. Despite the gorgeous cover art, Dust of Forever is primarily black metal, but unlike the monotonous fury of traditional black metal, with all it’s blast beats and incomprehensible shrieks, this album has plenty of dynamic motion to it. The songs mostly hover in the five to six minute range, which helps to keep the tracks from becoming dull and overlong. At the same time, they’re long enough that the band is able to explore a compelling range of sounds across a single track. One of their (and my) favorite tricks that they employ is bouncing between the more traditional high-pitched tremolo picking of black metal and the chuggier, more percussive riff styles of death metal. Add to that a thrilling vocal performance and shockingly potent drumming, and you’ve got a piece of modern black metal that can more than stand the test of time.
Ox en Mayo Alto - Mot, the Valuator, Incredible God
This is the first of our “is it really metal” albums. At first, the EP seems more akin to a math rock performance, just with slightly more grit thrown onto it. However, I think that the tone and format of this project actually make it a rather engaging listen. As an EP, it’s under 20 minutes long, making it easy to throw on and examine in full without becoming exhausted. The particular mix of dronelike, blown out post-hardcore and atmospheric interludes make this project unique even within the wide world of metal. And where the album is not unique it is flawlessly executed, making it well worth the relatively short time investment it demands. Just don’t go in expecting to understand the lyrics unless you speak Spanish, since the group is from Argentina.
Lingua Ignota - Sinner Get Ready
And now we reach the second of our “is this really metal” duology. If I were to really go and try to slap a genre on this record I’d probably land on something like, Vatican City-core, which probably doesn’t help anyone understand what the record sounds like. To be fair, this is the sort of thing you need to listen to in order to really see if it’s for you, though I get the feeling that most will find the album intriguing but too abrasive to be enjoyable. To me, this album is the ultimate evolution of religious music. Put succinctly, Sinner Get Ready, uses the sounds you’d hear in a more classically styled Catholic church. There are organs and bells and choral arrangements. But where churches aim to foster communities, this album is sparse and cold. You can feel the profound loneliness of Lingua Ignota’s faith, the lack of comfort it brings her and the struggle of her grappling with that faith in a community that has turned its back on her. It’s a harrowing, necessary and timely album that I strongly encourage everyone to try even if you don’t love it. Not all art is pretty or fun, but sometimes it’s necessary.
If you want to read more of my thoughts on Sinner Get Ready, I have a much longer review of the record on Mxdwn.com.
Fluisteraars - Gegrepen Door de Geest der Zielsontluiking
With 2020’s Bloem, Fluisteraars rapidly established themselves as a must-listen black metal act. Focusing almost exclusively on themes of death and nature, the Dutch band, whose name translates into English as “Whispers,” use the traditional sounds of black metal to evoke a feeling of loss and desperation. While certainly not a novel concept, Fluisteraars makes their music stand out through flawless execution and a few minor tweaks to the established black metal formula. The two most notable of these tweaks being a rejection of the muddy, fuzzed out DIY sound palate of Scandinavian black metal and the incorporation of clean vocals. In cleaning up the dirtier parts of the time-honored genre, the album asserts both lyrically and sonically that whatever we do to the Earth will not destroy everything, just humanity. Whether or not you find that message hopeful is up to you.
Diskord - Degenerations
One of my favorite little eccentricities that my brain chose to saddle me with is a love of both doom metal and technical death metal. The former, being a dirge-like, slow, plodding form of metal and the latter being a bombastic, unpredictable sea of chaos, tickles me to no end. It’s just a weird combination of things to like at the same time. Well, Diskord’s Degenerations is firmly on the second half of that interest spectrum. Though much like myself, they have an appreciation for deep doomy riffs as well. If you’re a fan of having your ears put into a woodchipper, then there are few bands that have a machine as violent and overwhelming as Diskord. I highly endorse this form of sonic violence.