Sulphur Aeon
Gateway to the Antisphere
2015 Imperium Productions
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!! Germany's Sulphur Aeon rise from the depths once again, with their follow up to 2013's "Swallowed by the Ocean's Tide." Those expecting another fairly straightforward death metal album may find themselves disappointed though. The unholy triad of T, M and D have gone in a different direction, following more in the conceptual footsteps of a band like Necros Christos. Not in their sound, mind you... but more where music, image, atmosphere and presentation all become one, to create something that transcends all of them. Even before you put the album in to hear it, you can tell you're in for something different from the norm. The packaging for the CD at least consists of a silver embossed slipcase, featuring the occult merging of a necrogram and the symbol of chaos on the front, and the logo, album title and songs on the back. Then you have a three-panel digipak featuring a bloated tentacle rising from the depths, a glued-in booklet and of course the disk itself. About the only thing they could have done that would have been more impressive (but not cost-effective) would have been to release this as a leather-bound book with the lyrics and such printed on parchment. The overall music and concept behind it has gone beyond the more typical death metal sounds of the debut, in favor of a much more twisted and meandering style that wanders hither and yon along paths that before now were never set upon by the foot of man. The world of Lovecraft is to Sulphur Aeon as ancient Egypt is to Nile or the human condition is to Napalm Death. It is the totality of their being and is that which drives them to create. it is also perhaps their one flaw as well. Sulphur Aeon owe so much to Lovecraft, that they might well have never existed to create such music if he had never existed. This leaves me to wonder what they might have done if they had created their own mythology and based their art on that instead. Even so, this may well become one of the top albums of 2015, at least for those of us in the know... for those of us who dig deeper and are not afraid to let the abyss gaze back into them.
Obeisance
Appetite for Desecration
2015 Old Cemetery Records
The album title may say "desecration," but this album is more about obliteration, devastation and nihilism. Hell Paso's own blasphemers of Biblical proportion are back, and they don't care what your religion is; they're going to call it out for the pack of lies that it is. Most satanic death metal bands focus on either Judaism or Christianity, but Obeisance go where most others won't go, and direct most of their hate on Islam. Just check out "Hail to the Great Satan" if you need proof. If you're easily offended, then this is not the band for you. These guys are against any and all pussification and political correctness. But then metal was never supposed to be politically correct, was it? As far as the production goes, the band has maintained the same level they had on "666 War!" The trashcan drum sound from the second album is still just a memory. Vocally, Martin von Fah-q has more or less made himself even more understandable. Where some vocalists go for the more gutteral and unintelligible, he's opted to be less gutteral in order to get his message across better. At times, his style is more akin to just the spoken word, rather than sung. Somewhere in the distant past, Deicide was the go to band for pure hatred against religion. They've since become a virtual self-parody, and many bands have laid down claims to their now vacant throne. Without a doubt, Obeisance have presented one of the most valid such claims in this album.
Ashcloud
Abandon All Light
2015 Xtreem Music
Ashcloud is somewhat of a relatively new band, featuring the duo of Gareth Nash from the UK and Johnny Petterson of Sweden. I say "somewhat" new, because these two originally got together in 2005 under the moniker of Skinbag. They split up and reunited in 2013 with the new (and much improved!) name of Ashcloud. For the most part, the music here is in the vein of the old Swedish masters, but with a darker vibe... especially in the vocals department. Both members handle that duty, although Johnny is more at the forefront. That's not too surprising, considering he's also the frontman of the reconstituted Wombbath. While they don't reinvent the death metal genre, it is great to hear yet another band that decided to add some balls to their music. Lately, things have been headed more and more in this direction, steadily reversing the recent past of musical castration in order to... shall we say "appeal to the masses and gain a deep market penetration?" It all just boils down to what we've always known. Be true to yourself, be true to your music, and the fans will follow. Failure to do so results in immediate rejection by those who supported you in the first place. Ashcloud put the totality of their souls in their music, and it shows. Well done!
