Sounds of the Underground #36

There are sounds of the underground you must hear, this time with Hoth, BreabachRotting Christ and Inverloch. This means doom, gloom, folk and black, offering a wide listening experience to those who can handle it.

Hoth – Oathbreaker
Epicurus Records 

source: bandcamp

Hoth consists of Eric Peters and David Dees from Seattle, who took the name as fitting with their icy concept. The name obviously can be a reference to the frozen planet in the Star Wars universe, but also refers to the blind Norse god who killed his brother Baldr. The duo has been making epic black metal with clean melodic death mixed into it since 2011. Their album was re-released (originally it was self-released 2014) by Epicurus Records. The theme is a concept “that follows the story of an individual from his conception and follows him down a path that grows darker and darker.” A promising sonic journey it is then.

The result is something much more than what you’d expect. Not majestic black metal, but real storytelling with upbeat, majeure riffing and playful folky melodies. The riffing here and there reminds one of bands like Norther, who combined the grim, cold sound with melodeath in a cool manner.  One can even detect a bit of classical influences and some Spanish guitar on some tracks, giving a bit more of an aura to the overall experience. ‘A Blighted Hope’ fore example is an extraordinary track, but so is ‘Cryptic Nightmares’ with its gothic piano intro. No worries, there is plenty of bleak, black metal left for you to indulge in. This record with its crisp production just doesn’t start boring you easily.

Breabach – Astar
Breabach Records

source: bandcamp

Breabach plays Scottish folk music, but manages to do that in a contemporary form. The problem with folk is that it’s more often than not stereotyped, thus crippling the originalities that can be easily found in the local/regional scenes. The group has found compelling ways to emphasize their aesthetic, but growing as well by adding music from other folk scenes, like that of Norway (Olav Luksengård Mjelva), New Zealand (Scott Morrison), Australia (Yirrmal Marika) and Quebec (Olivier Demers and Le Vent Du Nord). Like any folk album there’s a lot of connections and meaning to this piece of work by the award winning group.

The sound of Breabach feels authentic and natural, upbeat and energetic with the throbbing energy of early spring in all its vibrant tones. Still, there is an element of modernity to the music, which reminds you of the timeless tunes Michael Danna made for the film ‘Boondock Saints’ in its filmic pictural force. It’s as if the band tries to depict the blooming heather. The interesting part is ofcourse the implementation of the ethnic instruments from the other parts of the world. It creats a multicultural harmony, that can hardly be found in real life, but shines in its singular beauty. For me, this is beautiful stuff and I truly recommend this to you as a listener.

Rotting Christ – Rituals
Seasons Of Mist

source: bandcamp

Bombastic, grand and unrelentingly great are some words that come to mind when I think of Rotting Christ. On their last couple of albums the Greeks have truly found a connection to the ethnic roots of the band in mesmerising albums that depict bits of history through the magnifying lens of black metal amplification. The turn the band has taken since ‘Aealo’ has grabbed my interests for sure (2010). It’s been 3 years since the highly praised 12th album by the ever productive Tolis brothers, who still hold the reigns on the creative output of the band. There’s even an Aphrodites Child cover on this album. It’s so awesome, I can hardly stop going on about it.

For this release the band has gathered a ton of guests to add weight to the already heavy sound.  Among those you’ll find Vorph (Samael) and Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost), but there are many more delivering their sacrifices to the sonic titan that is Rituals. Slow, massive riffs pulverize all in their path on a larger than life scale. The blaring bagpipes add another layer of frightning threat to the whole endeavour. The shift to the more pagan oriented metal really works great for this band and allows them to bloom to their fullest potential, even more so on ‘Rituals’ I think than on their previous work. The cthunderous choires and the exact placement of all the elements creates the epic feeling of a Hollywood blockbuster, which I mean in all the right ways. Sure, maybe this puts the band more in the corner between Cradle Of Filth and Eluveitie, but they completely dominate that corner, so its all good.

Inverloch – Distance | Collapsed
Relapse Records

source: bandcamp

The band Inverloch started out under the name d.USK a few years ago, but the roots of the Australians are in the band Disembowelment. Interestingly this is just one of the many creative directions following the group that was active untill 1993. The band has also been booked on Roadburn, so the forward path has been taken by Inverloch. The interesting thing is that Inverloch came to be, when the two old members of Disembowelment decided to go have some fun with those old tunes. It sparked the creative fire in the two and that is what created this band, which was soon signed by the great Relapse Records for a full lenght. Time to check out what that does on a sonic level.

This record is something else, it’s very far away from the traditional death metal, but still incorporates elements into its desperate doom sound. The band truly sounds like a more swampy funeral doom at times, but then a blast of muddy, sticky death metal like on the song ‘Lucid Delirium’, with its catchy rattling drums. Crawling drumlines  are like skittering, while gloomy riffs make the room feel darker. This is just a pretty awesome record, combining doom and death in the only way you really can do it. It’s overwhelming, disgusting and unnerving, but done with beautiful skill. Awesome.

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