Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Bandcamp Picks: Stocking Stuffer Edition



Since tis the season to be moochin', here are some free Bandcamp downloads to stuff into stockings and/or inboxes.

If the purpose of the two song teaser EP Downpour by Canada's Kataplexis was to whet appetites for their upcoming full-length, then mission accomplished. Tight, blasting, and technical, this is death metal done right. Everything on Kataplexis' Bandcamp page is available as a free or "name your price" download, and it's all fucking great.



French provacateurs Celeste meld black metal, post-hardcore, and doom into a uniquely noisey and nihilistic package. All their releases are available through their label Denovali Records' website  as free downloads (with the exception of their newest album Animale(s), which is on sale for a very respectable €5).



It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was writing about War Wolf's first EP (actually, it was almost exactly one year ago). On their first full-length, Crushing The Ways Of The Old, the Brits set their HM-2 pedals to "kill" for their raw and rawking Entombed-influenced hardcore. The album and everything else on their Bandcamp page is available as "name your price" downloads.



It's been a quiet year for Brazilian death metal, so this new EP by Sao Paolo's Gammoth is most welcome. Though more restrained than their hyperblasting countrymen, Caro Data Vermibus demonstrates the band is adept at creepy Immolation style riffs. This EP shows the band is striving to craft a unique identity - a rarity in the current death metal landscape, marking Gammoth as a name to remember.



Not long after I posted a link on Facebook to Death Sigils, the new album by Virginia's Occultist, they were listed as "band of the week" by Darkthrone's Fenriz. Not sure what that means; I guess I could crow about beating Fenriz to the punch if I didn't believe Fenriz was just another guy posting Bandcamp links on his blog. The album and Occultist's earlier EP are both available as "name your price" downloads, Tom G. Warrior grunts and all. Ooorgh.



Regular readers of this blog know that I have little patience or interest for anything old school revival-related, but for some reason BAT's first demo hits the spot. With members of DRI and Municipal Waste in their ranks, the 80's thrash fetishism on Primitive Age is pretty thick, but so are their chops. The band go out of their way to state that they recorded on analogue tape - not sure what difference that makes when it all ends up getting converted to MP3s, but who am I to quibble with free music?



Not content with simple crusty death/doom, the first demo by Newcastle's Live Burial is packed with swathes of atmosphere, a la (very) early Paradise Lost. Anyone who remembers the glory days of "The Peaceville Three" will feel a twinge of nostalgia for the fog and fuzz. Better jump on this before these kids discover keyboards and the Sisters of Mercy.



I first encountered Denmark's Crematoria in the Hellbound? documentary. Their 2010 debut EP Embodiment of Brutality is a fun slice of groovy death metal. The members all seem incredibly young, so chances are this band will morph considerably as the years pass - but even at this early stage their talent and love for the genre is clear to see.