NECROLUST: GRAVE MIASMA SPEARHEAD A NEW ERA IN BRITISH HEAVY METAL, AND OMINOUS BLACK ARE EQUAL PARTS DELICATE AND CRUSHING
Hey dudes and ladies! After a couple years of sporadic appearances, drunken conversations with various MS staff members, and a lot of babbling about black metal, I’ve finally settled in to do a proper column for this joint. Vince and Axl have given me free reign to write about pretty much whatever I want, poor bastards.
My main drugs of choice are fucked-up black metal, filthy sludge, hopeless doom, occult death metal, and virulent grind/crust/d-beat, with the odd exception here and there, so expect to see a bit more ugly, primitive, hateful music lurking around on MetalSucks from here on out.
Here are a two bands I’ve been digging a LOT lately. If you’re unfamiliar with them, check ‘em out. If you already know and love them, we’ll probably get along great.
Alongside brother bands Adorior, Cruciamentum, Scythian, and Craven Idol, Grave Miasma is spearheading a new era in British extreme metal. They’ve been kicking around since 2002, but have truly become an undeniable force with their last few releases (the Exalted Emanation and Realm of Evoked Doom EPs). This is not merely “old-school death metal.” This is hideous, blasphemous, uncompromising metal of death that worships upon the bloodstained altars of Demoncy, Autopsy, and Incantation while channeling ancient demons and chaos. Like Necros Christos, Teitanblood, and Dead Congregation, Grave Miasma have taken the ago-old formula – down-tuned, crawling death metal – and perverted it into something much more serious. No mosh, no core, no trends, no fun.
For fans of: Incantation, Necros Christos, Demigod
Believe it or not, Philadelphia’s got more to offer than just cheesesteaks and an impressively high crime rate. They’ve also got one hell of a metal scene, one that’s skewed heavily towards sludgy, doomy, stoned riffage. “Cosmic doom” collective Ominous Black is one of the best. You could call ‘em “post-metal,” but you’d be doing them a disservice to sum them up so simply. Equal parts delicate and crushing, they weave together strands of soaring post-rock with crashing cymbals, raw-throated roars, and monolithic riffs, beautifully staining the lot with brushstrokes of psychedelia. They recently released a split CD with sonic brothers Sadgiqacea via the always-excellent Anthropic Records, which is available for free download here.
For fans of: Rosetta, YOB, Explosions in the Sky
-KK
Kim Kelly (or Grim Kim, if we’re being formal) scribbles for a number of sweet metal publications (Terrorizer, Brooklyn Vegan, Invisible Oranges, Hails & Horns, and tons more), promotes wicked records with Catharsis PR, and road dogs for your favorite bands. Keep up with her exploits & numerous band recommendations on Twitter, or peep her blog Ravishing Grimness.
