Event Horizon May 2020
Well just like the month of March, April was utterly insane! So how did you fare? Ulcerate, Marrowfields, Bismarck, Dark Forest, Solicitor, Wartooth, Werewolves…this list goes on! With May 1st releases already in front of this feature – we’re looking at you Vader, Havok and Aether Realm – there is still, nonetheless, much to look forward for the upcoming weeks. The flow of Metal continues strong, so much so, that I’ve selected TEN that I thought worthy of highlighting for this month’s Event Horizon. Hope there’s something here to suit your preferences. Enjoy!
…And Oceans – Cosmic World
Released: 08 May
Style: Symphonic Black Metal/Industrial/Electronic Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Link: Bandcamp
Shape-shifting Finnish metallians …AND OCEANS return with ‘Cosmic World Mother’, their first new full album in 18 years. The unconventional unit side-steps expectation yet again, and herein deliver a searing assault of orthodox symphonic black metal. Their soaring harmonies and high-speed attack possess all the hallmarks the genre’s elite works, and with ‘Cosmic World Mother’ the veteran quintet deliver a most auspicious return to form. (From BC Bio)
Forming The Void – Reverie
Released: 08 May
Style: Progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal
Label: Ripple
Link: Bandcamp
Forming the Void invoke the progressive and heavy tendencies of Mastodon and Torche, the psychedelic and soaring melodies of Pink Floyd, and the rolling confidence of Soundgarden. With swamp mud stuck to their feet as they trudge forth from South Central Louisiana, they aren’t afraid to slow things to a crawl, a welcome approach as shown by their last effort ‘Rift’ topping the Doom Charts at its arrival.
For their new album ‘Reverie’, the band seeks to further explore aspects of the sound they’ve shaped on their previous outings, guided by a desire to strike a balance between organic and intentional. The result is an album that reaches new levels of refined depth, mystical energy and cosmic transcendence. (From BC Bio)
Exgenesis – Solve Et Coagula
Released: 15 May
Style: Melodic Doom/Death
Label: Naturmacht
Link: Bandcamp
International group out of Sweden & Colombia Exgenesis present their second release, but also their debut full length “Solve Et Coagula”. With hardly any information to work from, we can ascertain that from the bands bio they have this to say “With a musical span from foreboding doom / death to more elating melodic territories, this atmospheric gem is a journey through purge and creation, death and rebirth”. Sounds interesting; I’m in!
Devangelic – Ersetu (Willow/Claw)
Released: 15 May
Style: Death Metal
Label: Willowtip
Link: Bandcamp
DEVANGELIC are back with their 3rd full-length “Ersetu”. The band worked hard during the past 2 years to create their best songs and the new effort is certainly their most brutal and mature material to date. Concept, music and lyrics represent a new chapter of the band’s career and on what Devangelic will move on with the future releases.
“Ersetu” (Akkadian language for “Mesopotamian Underworld / Realm of the Dead”) is a concept release based on the Annunaki’s myth (“Those Who from Heaven to Earth Came”), the theory of creation through the alien DNA, human slavery and the legend of the great serpent (the Knower) as the emblem of Enki and of two of his sons, Ningishzidda and Marduk.
A journey through the ancient land of Mesopotamia all combined with the darkest elements of the Sumerian’s religion and deities. (From BC Bio)
Paradise Lost – Obsidian
Released: 15 May
Style: Doom/Gothic Metal/Rock
Label: Nuclear Blast
Link: YouTube
“Obsidian”… dark, reflective and black: it’s a pretty decent description of the music that PARADISE LOST have been making over the last 32 years, even though this most resilient of British metal bands have stoically refused to be pinned down to one easily defined formula. The sixteenth PARADISE LOST studio album, “Obsidian” eschews its immediate predecessors’ gruesome, myopic approach in favour of a richer and more dynamic deluge of black shades. Powered by a lust for creativity and a stout devotion to haunting heaviness, PARADISE LOST have defied the odds by coming back stronger than ever over the past decade. Singer Nick Holmes comments about the new album: “One of the most eclectic albums we have done in some time, we have miserable songs, sad songs, slow songs and faster songs. Did I mention miserable?” (From NB Bio)
COSMIC PUTREFECATION – The Horizons
Released: 22 May
Style: Death Metal
Label: I, Void Hanger Records
Link: Bandcamp
Having already proved his eclectic and multifaceted musical skills with projects like THE CLEARING PATH and SUMMIT, in 2019 the Italian composer G.G. brought to the world his most aggressive side, conveyed into the sonic grooves of COSMIC PUTREFACTION’s relentless debut album, “At The Threshold Of The Greatest Chasm”, a work mainly rooted in death metal and its most primitive, fast paced and old school facets. With the band’s sophomore album, G.G. adds to that formula some of the progressive and esoteric aspects that characterized his other projects, but without sacrificing an ounce of the most nihilistic and vicious traits of COSMIC PUTREFACTION. (From BC Bio)
Ruadh – The Rock of the Clyde
Released: 22 May
Style: Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Independent
Link: Bandcamp
One-man atmospheric black metal project, RUADH, return with their sophomore album entitled ‘The Rock of the Clyde’ There will be six tracks of epic, Scottish, atmospheric black metal with folk elements throughout. ‘The Rock of the Clyde’ is an evolution from their debut album ‘Sovereign’. It has a much more melodic feel yet has more visceral elements too. Tom Perrett, hailing from Rutherglen (also known as the red glen) in the central belt of Scotland looks to forge a sound akin to the classics he has always enjoyed such as Bathory, Burzum, Windir and Emperor. RUADH’s sound will also appeal to fans of newer atmospheric black metal bands such as Saor, Winterfylleth and Panopticon. ‘The Rock of the Clyde’ contains six tracks that are massive in both scope and scale, taking you through the Iron Ages in Scotland. It also explores the history and mythology of the people of Scotland, conveying both sorrow and uplifting, almost heroic tones. (from BC Bio)
Devil With No Name – DWNN (New Destiny)
Released: 22 May
Style: Western Black Metal
Label: New Destiny
Link: Bandcamp
Get ready for newly formed Western US black metal trio DEVIL WITH NO NAME – Comprised of Andrew Markuszewski (Lord Mantis, Avichi, Sonoran Rebel Black Magick) on guitars and vocals, Michał Juśko (Sovereign) on bass and vocals and Cody Stein (Void Omnia) on drums.
DEVIL WITH NO NAME began when Markuszewski left Chicago for the deserts of Arizona a few years back and connected with Juśko. The pair began writing blistering black metal influenced by the lifestyle and culture of the Southwest.
Inspired by the surrounding vast harsh landscapes, DEVIL WITH NO NAME is proof that black metal is no longer a genre requiring blistering snow and white mountain tops. Combining the attitudes of a cut-throat Western past and those of the great beast of rebellion, DEVIL WITH NO NAME is the pariah that stands apart from hordes with names, the fallen angel once buried in chains beneath the sun, now left to wander with pistol revolver in hand. (From Earsplit Bio)
Esoctriliuhum – Eternity
Released: 22 May
Style: Black Metal
Label: I, VoidHanger Records
Link: Bandcamp
One year after the release of “The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods”, France’s ESOCTRILIHUM return with a new and majestic work, “Eternity Of Shaog”, where the band’s unique black/death metal style reaches new peaks of dark visionariness and overwhelming intensity. Sole member Asthâghul has injected new lifeblood in his creature by emphasizing the symphonic and mystical aura of the compositions, once again dense, complex and meticulously crafted. Infectious violins, piano and synths are skilfully blended with scorching guitars and mesmerizing melodies of cosmic proportions, often overflowing into raging melancholy or a delirium of omnipotence. (From BC Bio)
Decaying – Shells Will Fall
Released: 29 May
Style: Death Metal
Label: FDA Records
Link: Bandcamp
Album No.5 from this Finnish Death Metal outfit From the band – “Shells Will Fall” is our tightest and most aggressive album so far. It is also the first album that features the current lineup, which has been together since 2017. The doom elements can still be found, but mostly the material on “Shells Will Fall” is crushing and brutal mid tempo devastation, in the way you can expect from Decaying! Eight songs of pure old school death metal, without any compromises. Ever since our debut “Encirclement” we have been wanting to make a full album that focuses around the Great War. Finally, the riffs and the lyrics came together, so to speak, and the stunning artwork from Toderico Art sealed the deal! So, prepare to enter the carnage… (From BC Bio)
Carefully considered and selected by K-MaN
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