Cara Neir/Ramlord

Rocking split from two great USBM acts. Cara Neir blend post-rock with black metal, neo-crust, and punk in a non-traditional sense and come out with a concise and urgent sound. Ramlord fucking riffs and D-beats their way across their cut on the split, destroying hymens and minds.

Genune - S/T

Instrumental Romanian DSBM. As pointless as it sounds, you can appreciate the music a little better without some idiot shrieking about his razor's embrace (full disclosure, guilty of that same activity. The shrieking, not the contrived lyrics). It has some decent moments. Check it out.

Horla - Primordial Mockery

Holy fucking mix issues batman! Thank sweet Jesus cum that this is a demo, because this mix is fucked. This is a bad thing, as besides the drum programming (which is far from the best I've heard), the music isn't half bad, and is actually quite interesting. The bits of it I could hear, that is. The titular song is the standout for me here.

Anicon - S/T

A black metal band from Brooklyn that keeps the butt diddling at a minimum? Sacrilege! Anicon are pretty sweet, playing a brand of bass driven black metal that owes more to Immortal and Mayhem than Liturgy. There are moments of other styles that weave in and out, just to keep things interesting. I like these guys and can't wait to hear more.

Anicon - S/T (download, mediafire)

Patrick Hasson - With Apologies, and All My Love EP

To start, this is not black metal, but whereas it came from my brain, its definitely under the black influence. Like I said with the last Wholy Failure album, this is a further study in suicide pop, mixed with traditional singer-songwriter stylings, post rock, and the occasional bluegrassy moment. Listen if that sounds good, if not, skip it and find something you'd rather listen to.

Ionnsaich - va. and vn. learn, teach

"To describe my music:

After listening to lots of Cascadian/American/Anarchist/Acoustic BM, Neo-folk, & acoustic acts I found myself wanting. Plugged in bands will not last when the "revolution" or "Apocalypse" comes. Where will they be when the generator runs out? Many Neo-folk & acoustic acts are either put me to sleep or are based in a folk-punk back round both of which do not embody the same feeling as I feel. I consider this music to truely be acoustic metal.

 However ionnsaich is more than just my boredom of neo-folk, folk metal, & black metal with acoustic interludes. this is a chronicling of my learning experience of the transcendental powers around & inside me. I consider it no coincidence that all of these songs were written after a challenging experience, & after the fact learned that they occurred during a large celestial movement."

So says the man behind Ionnsaich. If you want to hear what it would sound like if you recorded any autumn evening campfire with your drunken friends doing acoustic versions of black metal songs, this is your bet. Well performed, but hardly novel or such.

Wholy Failure - Avalon and Everything After

Easily the most personal record I have put out under any project, this record was the result of a severe loss, too much Maker's, and a completely hopeless attitude. On this one, the post-punk side shines through more than on the prior records. The B-side of this album is the beginnings of what I have dubbed Suicide Pop, which I'm exploring more with my new recordings under my own name. Broken Limbs Recordings was supposed to release this on tape as well, but the asshole who runs Like Glue Records/tape production fucked them over (and if you are reading this you fuck, I'm still debating coming to VA and hitting your smug face with a splitting maul), so we've put it on temporary hold.

Botanist - III: Doom in Bloom

Weirdo who loves plants? Check. Black metal-ish music made without an electric guitar? Check. A fucking hammered dulcimer? Check. This is a little person with a big black strap-on and a bucket of fried chicken that tastes like Maker's Mark and gets you drunk away from being my greatest/worst dream. Weird fucking shit. It's actually kinda well done. And I love dulcimers.

CAPA - Shallow Towers

Another band from Pennsylvania. This is yet another post-something/black metal/yadda yadda band, albeit in the upper 10% as far as talent, songwriting, and execution goes. There are moments here that remind me more of post-hardcore act Taken and their superb final EP "Between Two Unseens", than most modern blackgayz. This record also sounds spectacular from a mixing and production standpoint, so kudos on that too.

Horde of the Eclipse - Essence

Horde of the Eclipse have a really fucking goofy name. However that is tempered by their well-crafted melodic black metal, showing nods to the blackened death of Dissection's heyday and Wolves in the Throne Room (during the Diadem of 12 Stars-era). This Pennsylvania foursome can play their instruments quite well, and they can write a pretty decent song.