Unsigned and Unholy: 0xist, SunStare, Delicious Death

0xist‘s press copy describes them thusly: “0 X í S T plays metal that is slow, heavy, menacing and stands truthfully for what it is being described to be – Dark Metal.” OK, sure, that works. Here’s what else it is: fucking awesome. It’s rare you hear metal on the doomier side of the spectrum with as much clarity and sheen as 0xist’s new album One Eon, but there really ought to be more of it: One Eon sounds absolutely fantastic and as a result it hits really, really hard. Stream it below.

SunStare aren’t too far a cry from 0xist, above, but they take a decidedly more post-metal approach to both songwriting and production. Whereas 0xist go straight for the head SunStare are more about the body blows, if that makes any sense. These two bands on the same bill would make a killer tour lineup for a one-two punch of vaguely doomy, hard-swinging bands. Stream new album Under the Eye of Utu below.

Not really metal, but will surely appeal to a certain segment of metalheads: Delicious Death, a one-man prog rock project from Nashville, TN. Delicious Death is far from anything in the modern “prog” scene — not even a trace of djentiness here. It’s very jazzy in feel and King Crimson-y or Yes-like in approach, and yet there’s something in the harmonic structure of the music that just makes it feel somehow metal. The dude is clearly an insanely talented musician all across the board, which doesn’t hurt. Check out brand new album Still Death below.