Shrouded in Darkness and Hope edition of musical findings

DØDSFALL- Døden Skal Ikke Vente- CD/ Digital/ LP ( Osmose Productions) 

Epic and Power Black metal with a stunning production and a Melodic and Symphonic over time. The vocals are grim and chilling at the same time with a masterful musical arrangement going on then it will splinter of for some amazing and dark Black/ Death elements . Norway has a sound for Black metal and with DØDSFALL that is very much in tact. This nation likes to add Harmony and Melodic elements into even the most grim of recordings.  There are some very progressive movements on this album as well. I do like that very dry snare with the more reverb Drum sound. The Guitar are cold and catchy at the same time. The synths really do add another layer to it all as well were it make the bands sound bigger then life itself. I do hear bands like  like  Solefald, Fleurety , Dissection and Immortal  going on here . There is a fury driving this album and it continues on throughout the release. Osmose you know how to bring excellent extreme metal to the forefront of the scene and with  DØDSFALL this has been done again .

http://www.osmoseproductions.com/

Eremit - Carrier of Weight- CD/ Digital / LP ( Transcending Obscurity )

Sludgy Doom/ Death with vocals from bands like Noothgrush & Eyehategod. The music is much more lumbering in the way bands like  Dusk, Thergothon, Mournful Congregation and Grief come about to the party. Eremit are a low end bass heavy band to say the least and this 3 song album being well over 70 mins and longest track being 33 mins you know what your getting with this. There is a bleak and dystopian element to all of this that if you are not into Doom/Death you will never understand .  The rumbles and sonic emptiness at times is more of the story then anything . There are moments were bands like Evoken , Shape of Despair, Winter and even Dolorian come into play . This is a massive undertaking into the extreme Doom metal underground and I can hear it being a classic in the making. There is true pain and suffering in a release like this and it comes out the speaker with no regards. Keep the Blackened Sludgy Doom Flowing Eremit and I will come back for more ..

https://tometal.com/

Chapel of Disease-...and as We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye - CD/ Digital ( Van Records)

Another bands from Germany this time we mix elements of  Gothic Black and roll with heavy Proggy  Death/ Doom metal into something that sounds like a 70's fuzzy out Prog band that came to the future and fell in love with Gothic metal and and Black Death and found an amazing way to make it all work . There is kinship to bands like Mid Period Opeth, October Tides, Tribulation and  even Katatonia and Novembers Doom.  I'm not sure where to go with this other then what I have already said. Chapel of Disease is one of the most interesting band out in 2018 for me . I almost want to say what if bands like Ghost and Porcupine Tree were more metal and less rock this is where a band like this is coming from. I love the Proggy/ Retro Bluesy Rock moments on this album and they work so well with all the rest going on. If there was a such think as Spaghetti Western Black Death I would say Chapel of Disease were the master of this style . Check this out you will if anything hear a band that really doesn't sound like any other .

https://www.van-records.de/index.php

The Mound Builders -S/T- CD/ Digital / LP  (Failure Records and Tapes)

So are you're a fan of Crusty Hardcore with a Punk touch and love of Nola Doom well then The Mound Builders are you golden goose.  This is if  Crowbar, Down, Sleep and Clutch put a band together and never looked back. Yes there is a Retro Doom record touch to this the vocals are so crusty and sludge though and the guitars get so ugly at time. I would even say if you like bands like arson anthems and superjoint will be right up you alley with a band like this. Dirty, Bluesy, Catchy and just plain pissed off. I would make this review longer but why ? You're just wasting time on getting to listening to this wall of chaos..

https://www.facebook.com/failurerecordstapes/

Cantique Lépreux- Paysages polaires - CD/ LP / Tape/ Digital ( Eisenwald)

This band is from Quebec in the frozen North of Canada and I will say at 1st listen I do here three very important syles melded into one . I would say the clearest of all is that Post Black metal from Northwest of USA they call it  Cascadian Black Metal. The next I hear is what many called  Blackgaze ... The Last is what would be called Death Rock if you mix them the atmospheric , chaotic and blistering  rhythms all make so much more sense for a band like Cantique Lépreux . There is a strong icy melody going on through out the album at time I hear bands like  Alcest , Wolves in the throne room,  Fem and Deafheaven going on there. The mysterious side of the sounds with the chants, odd synths and out of key yet perfectly fitting guitar just draw you to an album like this. I don't want to call the music sounding " Otherworldly " but that is really how it all fits together.  The cover even looks like it from a long forgotten dead world they had to leave to find a new home.  Pagan and Heathen elements are strong on "Paysages polaires" too and that just makes it all the more complex and wonderful of a musical journey. Alright enough of me rambling on. It's not your term to experience this album and see how it changes your perception of music and sounds around you.

https://cantiquelepreux.bandcamp.com/album/paysages-polaires