Friday, October 9, 2015

Bandcamp Picks - Creeping, Ogotay, Nightfell, Ravens Creed



The boundaries between death, black, and doom are fluid for New Zealand's intriguing Creeping. Their third album Revenant finds common ground with Gorguts and Ulcerate, but focuses more on slow tempos and discordant atmosphere. The production, courtesy of Ulcerate's Jamie St. Merat, brings the best out of its bleakness. [€6.66]



Coming out of one of the best countries for extreme metal, Poland's Ogotay have a lot to live up to. The songs on Dead God's Prophet wouldn't be out of place on a Behemoth album, though with a slight experimental edge that reminds me of the late, great Red Harvest. I can't say no to another great Polish band. [$8]



When I heard His Hero Is Gone as a teenage hesher, I was ecstatic that hardcore bands were finally using death metal(ish) vocals. I can only imagine my younger self's excitement if he knew HHIG's Todd Burdette would go on to form the dark and deathly Nightfell. Their second album Darkness Evermore is what you'd expect if the guy from Tragedy put out an album with the drummer from the Howling Wind; that said, it's not that far off from canonical bands like Bolt Thrower and Asphyx. Slow death metal for slow death metal fans. [$7.77]



Nottingham's Ravens Creed aren't ones for overthinking things; Ravens Krieg is about as straight to the point as you can get, drawing from the early, simple days of death metal, with plenty of nods to Hellhammer, Master, Death and the like. As subtle as nails in a baseball bat, and about as effective. [€5]