Bandcamp Picks - The Body, Body Void, Ommadon, Hundred Year Old Man

Portland-based duo The Body have long insisted that they are really a noise act, rather than a sludge or metal band. To that end, their latest album I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer ditches the riffs for synths and electronic beats, skewing closer to Portishead than Eyehategod (if Portishead was fed a steady diet of Eyehategod, that is). The results are as dark and emotive as anything The Body has put out - and Chip King's screams have never sounded more anguished. [$9]


Since changing their name from Devoid, Bay Area trio Body Void have been making waves that befit their ultra low-end rumble. At times reaching Khanate levels of listener antagonism, I Live Inside A Burning House displays a solid understanding of dynamics, using sections of ambient noise and brief flashes of caveman hardcore to keep their minimalist sludge from getting tedious. However, with five tracks running for well over an hour, it remains a punishing affair to the end. [$5]


By calling their music "fundamentalist drone", Glasgow's Ommadon guaranteed a friend for life in me. Over the course of two 20 minute compositions, End Times drowns the listener with riffs as thick and dark as molasses, peppered with blackgazing tremolo riffs and ridiculously guttural vocals. Anyone mourning the absence of Black Boned Angel should join me in celebrating the existence of Ommadon. The album is available as a "name your price" download.

After a slew of well-regarded EPs and the "Black Fire" single serving as an appetizer earlier in the year, Hundred Year Old Man patiently laid the groundwork for their first full-length. Breaching often sounds like two different records being played simultaneously, as ambient guitars cascade over the band's heaving grooves. Their partnership with the similarly forward-thinking and experimental Gizeh Records makes sense, and the latter's embrace of heavier music is most welcome. [£5]

Mixtape 52 - City of Caterpillar

Here is the 52nd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Brandon Evans, Ryan Parrish and Kevin Longendyke of seminal screamo band City of Caterpillar.

Bandcamp Picks - Advent of Bedlam, Abyssal/Carcinoma, Voidthrone, Our Place of Worship is Silence

Storming out of Costa Rica, ADVENT OF BEDLAM represent a quadrant of the metal map that's often overlooked - and criminally so, if this album is indicative of that scene as a whole.  Supremely assured in its approach and flawless in its execution, Human Portal Phenomenon is a high-water mark for blackened death metal, combining dissonance and unrelenting brutality with a musical acumen reminiscent of Emperor at their swaggering peak.  This smokes 90% of the releases currently coming out of Europe and the US - don't miss out. [$6.66]



DoC faves Abyssal have finally returned with their first new batch of songs since 2015.  Apanthropinization, a split release courtesy of Goatprayer Records, features 4 new Abyssal compositions that showcase the band's claustrophobic and psychedelia-tinged sound.  Fellow Brits Carcinoma kick off the split, and hold their own with four songs that are as heavy and unyielding as an invading tank battalion.  The future looks bright for total fucking darkness. [£6 GBP]



Add Seattle's Voidthrone to the growing field of dissonant blackened death metal bands.  Kur keeps the listener on edge, transitioning between atonal blasting and creeping atmospherics, finding the dread in both calm and storm.  Anyone growing impatient waiting for Mitochondrion's return should find their appetites sufficiently sated here. [$3]



Originally an off-shoot of DoC friends Teeth, Our Place of Worship is Silence has quickly established itself as a separate and distinct entity.  Their sophomore release With Inexorable Suffering sees the L.A. band (now stripped to a duo) putting a new emphasis on confounding rhythms, avoiding the trap of monotony and oversimplification that affects most two-pieces.  Their inclusion on the Translation Loss roster should be taken as a sign that they're a cu(l)t above the rest. [$10]

Mixtape 51 - Reyerta

Here is the 51st installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Singapore-based power violence group Reyerta.