This installment of Sounds of the Underground features Dragged Into Sunlight/Gnaw Their Tongues, Revolted Masses, Dopethrone and Deathmøle. Enjoy these awesome tunes!
Dragged Into Sunlight / Gnaw Their Tongues – N.V.
Prosthetic Records
Ok, this is a collaboration that should shake you up from any lethargic status, you may have gotten yourself into when it comes to exciting music. These are two of the most amazing acts in the black metal/drone/experimental niche/corner of the musical spectrum and they do something together? Awesome! The Dutch Gnaw Their Tongues is known for atmospheric pieces, horrific soundscapes and subtlety, where their Brittish partners in crime excel in harrowing, overwhelming black metal. The product is rather staggering in ferocity. Intense and filled with industrial black metal and atmospheric elements to keep things exciting.
The record opens with a sample, which is something that keeps returning. Building site sounds work their way into the music rather quickly. The sound is harsh, the vocals tortured and no rest is given to the listener in the onslaught of sound the band produces. Demonic screams are uttered, above highly distorted guitars and pummeling drums. The songs deal with madness and murder, with the thing just beyond that lurks. It’s beautifully horrible, this record with five songs of the utmost urgency. The songs hit home like a baseball bat to the gut, with swirling patterns and a grizzled feel. This is one hell of an album.
Revolted Masses – Age Of Descent
Inverse Records
Having formed in 2008, the band Revolted Masses blends thrash and death into a potent mix, enlightened by oriental elements. The band actually hails from Greece, which explains the guest appearances on the album (Fotiss Benardo, Septic Flesh). The band has a sound that is blistering, full of fury and well polished. This is the first effort of the Athenians since their last record in 2013. The overal theme of the band is political, as can be seen by their red star bandlogo already.
The music is specially good if you are looking for your clean sounding, high energetic melodeath. It’s not as smooth all the time. Though sounding very produced and technical, there are still passages of mere battering, furious assaults of barked vocals, ripping drums and guitars. Unrelenting, the band plays forth, setting up the vibe of standing in the middle of a revolutionairy battle field. Now, for me personally this is not something I’d readily listen to normally… But, this band sounds tight and catchy, it’s the right mixture of groove and brutal to latch on and enjoy the ride. Good work!
Deathmøle – Present Peregrine
Self released
Yes, I’ve been surfing the bandcamps and found this gem of weird post-metal with the most odd drum drone stuck to the inside of my head now. The bio reads: ‘Deathmøle is a fictional band that makes actual music. It is all done by Jeph Jacques.’. Jeph Jacques mostly occupies himself with a the most long running webcomic I have yet to find, which is quite fun if you’re a mixture of music geek and nerd with a lot of life questions, like myself I suppose. Then he also makes some music now and then, which is fairly pleasant.
There’s a tranquility to the clean sound of the post-metal produced by Deathmøle. The thunderous bass sounds like it’s not entirely natural, but in a genre where attaining organic vibes is the cool thing, it’s kind of refreshing to hear a sound that really does have a techy vibe to it. Five tracks, no bullshit, just energetic and fun music that makes you want to pound your fist. I like it!
Dopethrone – Hochelaga
Totem Cat Records
Do you like your slugdy, dope addled doom with a particular mix of dirty and fat? Because that’s what you get with the blokes from Dopethrone. These Canadians have sound that is like mudslides, massively, gradually moving forwards and making all sorts of dirty, soppy sounds. The band proclaims to be from the meanest ghetto of Montréal, and definitely aims to sound that way. Heavy, oppressive and dark, which are some words one would definitely use to describe the sound of these guys.
The riff is master of every song. Lingering, dark and slow but mostly superheavy. The vocals are more like screams, barks of rabid dogs in dirty alleys, but I guess that is what the band intends to sound like. Add some elements of black, stoner and crust to the mix and you get this dirty cocktail that is too awesome to miss out on with tracks like ‘Scum Fuck Blues’. A dirty, dragging tune that actually has a bluesy streak to it. I personally dig opener ‘Sludgekicker’, but that may be too much Sleep for you. If you want it real slow and dirty, pick ‘Bullets’. A man, just take the whole damn album, because it’s awesome.