Metal 413 Items

Over the past near-decade, Lancashire’s medieval metal phenomenon Wytch Hazel have been honing an uncommonly wholesome, rustic and devotional brand of timewarped hard rock that’s all their own, with 2016’s Prelude and 2018’s II: Sojourn summoning to mind fevered images of Robin Hood and his Merry Men grooving to Jethro Tull and Thin Lizzy. Yet within moments of pressing play on their third LP, III: Pentecost, the musty mystical minstrelsy takes a back seat in favour of a rich, sumptuous, anthemic late-night drivetime vibe, passionately embracing the most high-end smash-hit classic rock and metal circa its late 1970s heyday. “I thought I put a lot into the second album, but this album has been an absolute obsession,” stresses the band leader, Colin Hendra. “Every aspect had to be as good as possible. We’ve gone back and forth, Ed was tinkering with it for months on end. There’s quadruple tracking going on with the rhythm parts, then we’ve doubled, tripled and quadrupled all our lead parts to get that richness and fullness of sound, all meticulously planned with pages and pages of organisational notes. It wasn’t just ‘get in the studio and see how it goes!’” he laughs. “One day I did 14 hours of vocal recording. All vocals are double-tracked, I can’t express how much hard work that is. The last album feels like a breeze compared to what we’ve done with this - and I don’t plan on ramping it down!” Musically, there are gorgeous self-professed touches of Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Ac/dc and early Scorpions—“With the soloing I was trying to go for Michael Schenker” beams Colin—while the scampering headbanger I Will Not initially took a nod from Angel Witch, who Hendra was helping out on second guitar back in 2015 when the track was composed, before studio treatment made it sound “a lot more Wytch Hazelly”. But perhaps the most lateral comparison is to a band from the opposite spiritual realm, with Archangel an explicit homage to Swedish faux-Satanic devil cult Ghost. “I find them fascinating, Ghost; musically great, the songwriting is spot-on,” enthuses the frontman. “We share an intrinsic connection, with [Bad Omen honcho] Will Palmer being the person who discovered us both. “Music is created for all, it’s a common grace for everyone,” he affirms, “which is why the music that shows the glory of God the most, in my opinion, is not music created by Christians. It’s Black Sabbath!”

The subtly-monikered Witch Vomit from Portland, OR offered Thee obscure gem of the 2016 Death Metal underground with their A Scream From The Tomb Below full length. Many took note, and now 20 Buck Spin offers the first bloody taste of a new partnership with the band in the ‘Poisoned Blood’ MLP.

Offering four new tracks + intro over 20 minutes, put simply, ‘Poisoned Blood’ is one of the most brutal recordings to come out of the Northwest in recent memory. Ranging from blasting Deathgrind, foul Finnish obscurity and liquified cannibalistic necromancy, the riffs on this MLP bubble up like slimy green rot leaking from crypt walls.

Though the core membership of Witch Vomit also perform surgeries for barbaric persecutors Torture Rack, and the two bands share a propensity for blasting storms of seared flesh chunks and glistening old guts, Witch Vomit is mixing its mashed bone stew with a wider array of viscera, melting brains with ancient violence and intensity.

Wear Your Wounds is the product of years of Lo-fi solo recordings by Converge founder Jacob Bannon. On this release he is joined by guest musicians Kurt Ballou (Converge), Mike McKenzie (The Red Chord, Stomach Earth, Unraveller), Chris Maggio (Sleigh Bells, Trap Them, Coliseum), and Sean Martin (Hatebreed, Cage, Kid Cudi, Twitching Tongues). Together they have created a powerful album that is unlike anything they have ever individually worked on. The album is contains ten emotional songs that call to the slower, more epic leanings of Converge, as well as his previous work in Supermachiner. Bringing to mind the multi-layered approach of Swans and early Pink Floyd, while being as vulnerable as influences Sparklehorse, Songs: Ohia, other like minded artists. Wear Your Wounds live will feature Bannon joined on stage by musicians Mike McKenzie (The Red Chord, Stomach Earth, Unraveller, Chris Maggio (Trap Them, Coliseum, Sleigh Bells), Adam McGrath (Cave In, Zozobra, Nomad Stones), and Sean Martin (Hatebreed, Cage, Kid Cudi, Twitching Tongues).

For Sleepwalker, we wanted to come up with an original take on the stoner/doom genre. The use of heavy riffs and melodic harmonies conveys a unique listening experience that feels both new and familiar. We felt like we had a lot to say on this album, and we hope it speaks for itself.

Re-recording of the bands demo tape from 2006, now on vinyl!
Mastered by Jonas Lindström (Ereb Altor, Isole, etc).
Includes a free CD in cardboard sleeve with the original demo from 2006.

German Black/Death Metal Legion Voreus Debut With "The Proclamation" Mini Album, A Twentythree-Minute Light-Devouring Hellscape Of Complete Chaos And Inhumanity That Establishes The Band As An Implacable Rising Force In The Elite Of German Extreme Metal. With A Massive Cavernous Sound, A Delivery Of Pure And Unbridled Ferocity And Atmospheres Of Complete Lightlessness And Abandon "The Proclamation" Evokes Complete Hell On Earth, Conjuring The Same Otherworldly And Hellish Realms Of Aural Obliteration We've Seen In Highly Elitarian And Evocative Blackened Death Metal Entities Like Teitanblood, Temple Nightside, Vassafor, Impetuous Ritual, Pseudogod, And Proclamation.

Vinyl issue of their inaugural release from early 2018. Raw and passionate, at times evoking a similar essence of certain Urfaust recordings. Single-sided 12" vinyl with an etching of the band logo on the B Side.

Originally self-released in 2017, extreme progressive metallers VINTERSEA's “The Gravity of Fall” was hailed by No Clean Singing as “dynamic and genre-bending!” The album – which has never been offered on vinyl until now – was recorded by Justin Phelps (The Mars Volta, Joe Satriani) and mixed by Evan Sammons (Last Chance To Reason). As a special added bonus, the 2LP pressing of “The Gravity of Fall” will also include VINTERSEA's five-track debut EP 'Constellations' which was originally released in 2014 when the band was known as Asterion. A download code for those songs will be included with the CD. Both formats will include expanded packaging and updated layouts with lyrics, photos and more.

‘Primeval’ is the third recording by Venom Prison on Prosthetic Records and comprises both new and historic material from Venom Prison, bringing new life to favourites such as “Usurper of the Throne” from their Defy the Tyrant EP and “Babylon The Whore” from their ‘Primal Chaos’ EPs respectively, both of which were released in very limited pressings during 2015.

Out of the blue comes Vástígr, the Vienna-based project of guitarist and vocalist Þ. Without any warning nor notice the one-man band unleashed upon the world its first full-length studio album called Aura Aeternitatis, a musical “journey of an unyielding, solitary spirit striving through melancholy and desolation”.