Rot - No Hope EP

Have you ever heard an album so depressingly misanthropic and nihilistic that you question your life? Hailing from Italy, Rot provide the soundtrack to the apocalypse sounding like the bastard son of Primitive Man and Black Tongue.
No Hope opens with a track called Disillusionment and throughout the tracks 5 minute time span it gives you a taste of what you'll hear for the next 29 minutes, giving off elements of doom metal and black metal all wrapped up in a downtempo hardcore package sounding extremely unique compared to all the other bands currently attempting to pull off this sound. A lot of what you'll hear on No Hope is slow, doom filled passages with absolutely haunting melodies but when it does go into blast beat territory like in the track Pitch Black it transitions so flawlessly that you're left sitting there feeling like you just had your head caved in with an anvil. The song writing on this EP is top notch with the vocals/lyrics providing another layer in the already depressing sounding music which in itself is absolutely crushing.
Production wise this EP sounds crisp without sounding over produced thanks to the great job done by the bands mastermind Simon Pietroforte at Divergent Studios. The guitars/bass cut through the mix perfectly, the drums sound thick and brutish and the vocals sit on top of it all perfectly without ending up to high/low in the mix. If you're looking for something truly nihilistic to listen to that is full of lush, haunting melodies then look no further than No Hope.

BANDCAMP
FACEBOOK

Imperial Triumphant - Vile Luxury

I'm going to preface this by saying if you're looking for something uplifting and happy then you are definitely in the wrong place. What Imperial Triumphant have created here is truly a bleak and desolate piece of art. Vile Luxury came out back in July and while this blog wasn't running at that point I feel it was necessary to review one of the albums I've listened to the most this year.
Hailing from New York, Imperial Triumphant play a brand of blackened death metal unlike anything you'll ever hear but to just call this a blackened death metal album would truly not do it justice. Album opener Swarming Opulence starts off with a horn section before jumping down a well of dissonance and blastbeats creating a swelling of sounds and textures that I've only heard bands such as Gorguts and Artificial Brain successfully pull off. There's sections of this album such as on Lower World an Chernobyl Blues where you think it's going to relent (and it does briefly) but there's always an underlying sense of manic chaos in the background and when they choose to bring the heaviness and chaos down to a minimum it brings almost a film score feel to it and you can almost feel the New York art scene wrapping itself around the album.
The instrumentation on this album is top notch on this outing which is not to say that previous releases were lacking but that this one has definitely set a new bar. The guitars are heavily dissonant and create a sense of dread, the drums blast throughout while stopping just enough to create new textures in the less chaotic sections, and the bass thumps and shines all over.

Overall I'd recommend this album heavily to the bands mentioned earlier (Gorguts/Artificial Brain) but I'd also recommend this album to anyone looking to explore new sounds and territories in the metal scene. Where many bands try to experiment and it comes off as sounding derivative and like a watered down version of their influences Imperial Triumphant have created something truly unique and desolate sounding.

Buy Vile Luxury direct from the band here
IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT ON FACEBOOK
Vile Luxury VIA Gilead Media
Vile Luxury VIA Throatruiner Records (EUROPE)

Housefire - Respect

Hailing from Cambridge Ontario, Housefire play a brand of sludgey hardcore with elements of death and black metal. Their most recent release "Respect" came out July 10th and is packed full of blast beats and evil riffs.
FFO: Hexis, Armed For Apocalypse, and Black Cobra

Facebook
Bandcamp

Theriac - Self Titled

Blackened sludge, grind, crust from Toronto. Theriac are comparable to bands like Full Of Hell, Harm Done, and maybe early YAITW. Their self titled debut is 7 tracks of chaotic crust punk that hammer's you in until the final notes of Confortable Decay. Don't miss out on this.

Bandcamp

Facebook

Respire - Gravity And Grace

Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if Fucked Up and Deafheaven did a collaboration album? Thats the vibe I get off this album, and thats in no way a bad thing. Respire's debut full length "Gravity and Grace" is full of lush passages that would fit in on Fucked Up's David Comes To Life. There's so many instruments on this album that you wouldn't expect on a typical black metal album, everything from trumpets, pianos, glockenspiels, hell they even recorded a music box on this album.
Bandcamp

Facebook

Witchhunt - Void Hymns

Blackened crust from Toronto, if you don't already know Witchhunt then you're fucking up. Void Hymns was released this past January and is 5 tracks of noisey unrelenting filth.
FFO: Young And In The Way, Ancst, and Hexis.

Bandcamp

Facebook

*they also released a split with Goth Girl (Andrew Cleveland of Mad Trapper & Please Drown's side project) this past March which is definatly worth checking out.