2022 is off to a ripping start with a ton of new releases worthy of your time. Below are a smattering we highly recommend.
Eight Bells – Legacy of Ruin
I’ve been a massive fan of Portland’s Eight Bells since they dropped their debut EP back in 2013. It’s been six long years since their last full-length release, and while part of that was pandemic related, part of it was the band undertaking major line-up changes with founding member and mastermind Melynda Jackson left to pick up the pieces. They say that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and Eight Bells could be the current poster children for that adage. Legacy of Ruin builds off the Eight Bells ‘sound’ with copious amounts of harmonized vocals, mesmerizing guitar work, and an angular, discordant take on doom metal. But this album is also their most aggressive, and one that sees the band experimenting and expanding their sound in exciting ways. Tracks like “The Crone” and “Premonition” dip their toe into blackened metal territory, complete with tremolo picking, screamed vocals, and a pummeling rhythm section. Yet the core of what this band does so well – seamlessly meld aggression with beauty remains intact. Legacy of Ruin is hands down one of the more unique and engaging albums to hit the streets so far in 2022, and it’s a pretty safe bet we’ll still be saying that come the end of the year.
https://eightbells.bandcamp.com/album/legacy-of-ruin
Sepulchral – From Beyond The Burial Mound
Let’s cut to the chase here, Spain’s Sepulchral play death metal. They play a crusty, thrash-infused, galloping brand of death metal that sounds as if it actually did arise from the burial mound of which the album takes its name. Some bands simply don’t mince their sound or try to hide it behind studio trickery, or try to label it something it’s not. This is a band that simply wants to punish listeners the same way a great slasher flick gives zero fucks about grossing people out. With some of the better death growls around and enough fuzzed out guitar to put hair on your chest, From Beyond The Burial Mound is a non-stop thrill ride that grabs you by the jugular and just never lets go. This album is highly recommended for acts as crushing as Autopsy, Carnage, and Grave.
https://soulsellerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/from-beyond-the-burial-mound
KRVVLA – X
I’ll come clean right at the top of this review and tell you dear reader that I missed out on the debut album (and subsequent EPs) from Belarus’ KRVVLA. Trust when I say though that if they are even partly as magnificent as their sophomore full-length that I’ll be backtracking to seek them out sooner than later. Needless to say that X was an album that caught me completely by surprise. The description had me a little reluctant to dig in as labeling anything “post black metal” these days means you’ve got about a 50/50 shot, at best, of an album being wholly memorable. Yet while too many of KRVVLA’s contemporaries lean way to hard into ‘post’, (and sometimes not really at all into ‘black metal’) X comes off as a downright sadistic affair at almost every turn. While the album is awash with the swirling guitars and occasional post-metal breakdowns, the heart of this album really is a blackened one through and through. While it’s virtually devoid of some of black metal’s more historic signposts, that doesn’t lessen the albums impact on the senses as it completely engulfs the listener in total darkness from start to finish. This is a dark album for dark days, and worthy of repeat listens.
https://bruciarecords.bandcamp.com/album/x
The Metal Dad 