Written By Kevin McSweeney
Welcome, one and all, to Metal Lair’s Seven Deadly Songs, our weekly feature, in which Kevin narrowly avoids putting you off some of the most exciting new releases in the world of metal with his inane drivel. This week, we’ll be looking at some of the best new albums and EPs to be released between the 4th and the 10th of August, and the songs that have us salivating like Pavlov’s dogs in anticipation of them. We hope you enjoy them as much as we did, and that you have a high level of immunity to inane drivel. Here we go again!
Anima – Entity
One of the most notable releases of the week came out right at the very start of it, as Canada’s Anima unleashed its debut album Entity on August 4th. An independent release, it offers melodic doom metal of the highest quality, as evidenced by the title track, which is an instrumental piece full of atmosphere and brooding intensity. Anima is in fact a solo project by Geoff Doucette, a talented artist from Victoria, British Columbia. This is actually one of a number of solo efforts we cover this week. I’m not sure how that came about, but when the music is this good, who cares how many people are responsible for creating it?
Blackbraid – The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag
This could only be black metal with a title like that, couldn’t it? Well, it’s atmospheric black metal, to be precise, courtesy of Sgah’gahsowáh, an indigenous artist operating out of the Adirondack Mountains, New York. This track is taken from Blackbraid III, which is to be released independently on August 8th. It’s an epic, 8-minute-plus affair, which boasts some serious shredding on the lead guitar, and other highly impressive chops from an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist. Also, I appreciate the shuffle beat, which brings an element of gaiety to proceedings, of which there is simply not enough in this particular subgenre. Not intentional gaiety, anyway!
Borracho – Vegas, Baby!
God, those grooves are as addictive as gambling! This is succulently sludgy stoner rock/metal from Borracho, whose name apparently means “drunkard” in Spanish. The Washington D.C. based band are to release their sixth full-length album, Ouroboros, via Ripple Music on August 8th, and this track has me ready to put all my chips on it. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, but I’m glad this made it out to the wider world. It reminds me of Corrosion of Conformity during their Wiseblood era, which is high praise from me, as I love that band, and that album in particular. ¡Muy bien, Amigos!
Crypt Sermon – A Fool to Believe
Crypt Sermon, the epic doom metal institution from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are due to unleash Saturnian Appendices on August 8th via Dark Descent Records. This new EP is apparently a collection of B sides drawn from the recording sessions of last year’s album, and their third full-length offering, The Stygian Rose. If this is the quality of the songs they rejected for that opus, their standards must be incredibly high. It’s 5 minutes and 37 seconds of doom-laden delight, with huge Sabbathy riffs, intricate lead guitar and the golden vocals of Brooks Wilson. If The Stygian Rose were the main course, we strongly recommend that you go back for dessert in the form of this new release.
Sinsaenum – Obsolete and Broken
Obsolete and broken? Well, aren’t we all? Sinsaenum’s sound is billed as blackened death/groove metal but, in truth, there’s far more than that going on in this choice cut from their forthcoming third full-length album, In Desperation, which is released on August 8th via Earmusic. It’s a gloriously mercurial piece of music from this exciting outfit who boast members from France, the United States and Hungary. Apparently, the project dates back to 1998 as a concept, but didn’t become active until around 2010, with their first recording becoming available in 2016. They are clearly keen to make up for lost time with this wonderfully multifaceted offering.
Temtris – Scars of Betrayal
I’ll be honest; at first glance, I thought this was Tetris. Thankfully, it’s not the classic game that I never mastered. It’s traditional metal all the way from Sydney in the form of the second single from the eighth full-length album by the veteran Australians. Queen of Crows is available from August 8th, courtesy of Wormholedeath and, if this track is anything to go by, it’ll be a feast of vintage riffs, augmented by sumptuous solos and the soaring vocals of Genevieve Rodda. As their website states: “With the release of Queen of Crows… Temtris is set to continue to redefine music and live performance with the flag of Heavy Metal held proudly aloft.” That’s a flag to which we at Metal Lair proudly pledge our allegiance.
Thorn – Quartersawn Remains
Now there’s a song title straight from the early 90s! It suggests the sort of fare being served up by the Floridian death metal bands of that era, or by Carcass in their gory grindcore pomp. And musically, it’s not far removed either, as Phoenix-based death/doom metal doyen Brennen Westermeyer doles out the extremity in generous helpings on this cut from the fabulously named fourth full-length Thorn album, Nebulous Womb of Eternity. It will be available courtesy of Transcending Obscurity Records on August 8th. The production is as raw as the riffs are heavy, the drums are pummeling and the vocals are hazardous to the long-suffering larynx of the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. An impressive achievement indeed!
Missed last week’s Seven Deadly Songs? Catch up now.
