Pothamus are undoubtedly part of the crew of bands putting Belgium on the map when it comes to the post metal, alongside the revered Amenra and Brutus as well as Pelagic Records label mates Psychonaut, Hippotraktor and Briqueville just to name a few. Having been a band for a little over a decade by now, Pothamus have been patient in establishing their vision, having only released their debut full-length Raya as recently as 2020 (that’s still recent…right?) which was warmly received for its esoteric, “ritualistic” approach to sludgy post-metal.
Now comes the hour of the treacherous sophomore album with the release of Abur, which begs the question, what more does Pothamus have to offer to their meditative yet crushing approach to the cinematic sub-genre of post-metal? Well, first and foremost, Pothamus who have so far built their reputation on crafting an extremely immersive and hypnotising sound, especially in a live setting (as anyone who caught their 2023 Arctangent performance will confirm), are as entrancing as ever on Abur and double-down on the ritualistic, mantra-like aspect of their songwriting.
Experimental/Post-Rock/Ethereal Wave artist Maud The Moth exists as the solo project of Spanish-born and Scotland-based Amaya Lopez-Carromero – also involved as a regular member of healthyliving and collaborator with Scottish avante-garde/progressive black metal collective Ashenspire. Having released and participated in various projects since 2011 debut Home Futile Home, Amaya has used the project of Maud The Moth as an alternate facsimile of themselves, self described as “a séance-like conduit to explore themes of rootlessness, identity and trauma” across their back catalogue. Sitting somewhere between the deeply personal poetry of Emma Ruth Rundle, otherworldly goth touched compositions of AA Williams and elements of the abrasive noise channelling trauma into art of Lingua Ignota. However, these comparisons are relatively surface level as with The Distaff, Maud The Moth establishes herself as unique amongst suggested contemporaries.
The teaser singles offered the perfect insight of what to expect from The Distaff, starting with ‘Siphonophores’. Written in a similar time frame to Healthyliving’s ‘To the Fields’, The Distaff’s first single was reworked to fit the singer/songwriter style, capturing an unnerving feel of a cinematic score during a tense scene. Atmospherics swell and fade, tense textures overwhelm the piano coming to a dramatic stop, before all of a sudden it begins to sourly blossom again. Almost ten minute long ‘Despeñaperros’ starts with haunting, interwoven piano melodies laying a bed for ethereal and breathtaking multi-layered vocal performances. The instrumental swells as the song continues on; adding strings, drums, bass and guitars to the mix for emotive and powerful passages of disquiet and heartbreak in equal measure. ‘Exuviae’ uses samples of bird song alongside dream-like sustained chords broken by industrial scapes and wails. The birdsong pops up at various points in the track alongside some hypnotic instrumentals, Maud’s voice breathes this gentle aura of unease over the screeching sounds and spacious echo of the piano chords. It’s emotionally frail and feels as raw as can with artistic expression, laying her soul to bear calling out into spacious nothing.
Whilst they happily stand on their own two feet as individual singles and giving a good introduction for what to expect, The Distaff is an album experience. The natural flow between the individual compositions is played into, with moments such as the birdsong bridging three tracks; breaking the tense ending of doom/black metal inspired atmospheres within ‘A Temple By The River’, which naturally evolves into a central thematic element in aforementioned ‘Exuviae’ and subtly fades in the emotional submission and intricate piano melodies opening ‘Burial Of The Patriarchs’.
UK black metallers Abduction have had a whirlwind few years. Originally dating back to 2016 as a solo black metal project, interest in the band exploded through the pandemic era, seeing them signed to the legendary Candlelight Records for their widely hailed 2022 critical darling Black Blood. After setting the scene alight with their reverent and heart-stopping live shows and playing numerous high-profile festivals and support slots since the release of their last album, Abduction’s enigmatic leader A|V opened the proverbial gates to their band members to produce new album Existentialismus as a coalition. It still follows the structural template of the band’s past work (ie, six lengthy tracks and a run time sitting just over forty minutes), yet there continue to be innovations and progressions.
Lead single and album opener ‘A Legacy of Sores’ kicks proceedings into gear on a high note, partly sounding like a cut from The Satanist era Behemoth that dove deeper into a caustic well of blackened bitterness. It’s nearly seven minutes of high-strung tension, anger and despair clouding the atmospheres of the track and setting the tone for the album ahead. Immediately following is ‘Pyramidia Liberi’ for a straightforward slab of black metal violence, the occasional flourish of a spoken word sample sitting amidst fierce careening instrumentals. It will dwell for a moment in a spacious, atmospheric breath before collapsing under its own heft and giving into the unruly churning anguish.
The album was recorded and produced by Ian Boult at Stuck On A Name Studios in Nottingham, with additional post-production and mastering handled by Tore Stjerna (Watain and others) at Necromorbus Studios in Sweden. Their combined efforts have Abduction sounding at their monolithic peak. Existentialismus is simultaneously towing a line between paying homage towards the “traditional” black metal sound whilst the band push their own boundaries emotionally and sonically. The album sounds grand and luscious, cavernous reverbs saturate the vocals, razor sharp guitar tones with multi-layered melodies tear through the thick bass presence and pulverising drumming. Outside of the core instrumental focus there are various textural and dynamic ornamentations throughout the six tracks, which bring some welcome sonic experimentations into the bands sound and pay off handsomely.
The first big stylistic shakeup comes in the form of, arguably the standout track of Existentialismus, ‘Truth is as Sharp a Sword as Vengeance’. A discordant melody sets a sense of unease over a simple stomping beat and monstrous bass groove, a sample of an interview or therapy session about dreams sets the stage for nightmarish atmospherics. Breaking into an unexpected post-black metal melodic storm with vocal chants and leaning towards the edges of being in full DSBM territory. The repetitive, haunting melodic bridge being bolstered by demonic gurgles and switching to pained roars is breathtaking. Latest single ‘Blau is die Farbe der Ewigkeit’ follows and brings the experience back down to earth with another straight shooting black metal track. Its oppressive, brutal and contains some interesting rhythmic shakeups while being battered by abhorrent screams into the void.
Domain‘s 2024 debut album grabbed the listener’s attention immediately as it opened with a quote from one of the greatest sci-fi horror movies ever made, Event Horizon. “Hell is just a word. The reality is much worse.” A bold statment of intent that was swiftly followed by a mere 27 minutes of pouding drums, thumping bass and aggressively snarling vocals. How do you follow up a debut like that? By going hard or going home seems to be the mantra of this South Florida quintet. With two original tracks, and a cover of the legendary Sepultura‘s ‘Propaganda’ that somehow manages to be even heavier and angrier than the original, Domain‘s first EP since their album release is a pleasingly brutal assault on the senses.
The furious, junk yard dog bark of Alex Rothberger’s vocals smash into the listener’s delicate earholes with all the subtlety of a slice of lemon wrapped around a particularly large gold brick. Backed by a thunderous crash of instrumentation that gives you no choice but to sit up and listen, ‘Lost Souls Wander’ is not a subtle track. Not musically, nor in subject material, with lines such as “Lacking empathy I’ll rise / desensitize the mind / dictate communication / you see what they want you to see” In a world of AI deepfakes, social media manipulation and plutocrats dictating the cadence of news reporting around the world, this track stands as a timely 21st century protest song, an unabashed lashing out at the excesses of capitalism.
So many bands seemingly exist at certain stages in their career to prove the law of diminishing returns correct. Lack of creativity, going on autopilot or simply running down long contracts are just some of the reasons a band’s decline can occur, but often it can just boil down to having nothing to say worth listening to any more. The signs can be spotted, the phoning in can be sniffed out by the more attentive fan and when it’s noticed, it can’t be unseen.
On Killswitch Engage’s last record, Atonement, the vultures were circling. Despite massive tracks like ‘The Signal Fire’ and ‘Crownless King’ (both of which featured guest spots that overshadowed the band themselves), there was a sense of safety and a distinct lack of edge on the record. With a six year gap between that release and this brand new one, longtime fans of the band began to worry that the course had been run, that we were witnessing the death rattle of the metalcore pioneers. Comparisons with other bands seem a moot point, as this sounds intrinsically Killswitch Engage and couldn’t really be anyone else. It would also be unfair to judge a band 25 years into their career against younger bands emulating their sound such as Polaris or Currents. However, other bands of their vintage, such as Unearth and Darkest Hour have produced good to great records in the last few years so what’s stopping Killswitch Engage from pulling something out of the bag?
This Consequence arrives with interest already piqued, but perhaps not for the right reasons. The ninth album from the Massachusetts breakdown purveyors, they’re no strangers to a creative dry spell, with their self titled effort with former vocalist Howard Jones remaining a low point in their discography. ‘Forever Aligned’, the first new music from the band in six years did little to allay fears, being a little too paint by numbers and existing in the safe, middle ground of the band’s sound.
Thankfully, the record as a whole fares a lot better, honing in on their strong sense of melody and letting Adam D shine in a way he hasn’t for years. The band stated that this is the first time they’ve recorded in the same room for many years and it does feel a lot more natural in its approach. There may be no track as anthemic and earth shattering as ‘The Signal Fire’, but there are far less lows on this record than the previous. Songs like ‘Discordant Nation’ are filled with anger and satisfyingly blistering drums which bring to mind parts of Disarm the Descent with their barrelling, machine gun riffing.
Parisian four-piece Hangman’s Chair formed in 2005 and whilst they have a melodic edge to their music, it is firmly entrenched in the more dark and despairing realms of doom. In the accompanying press blurb for ‘Saddaction’, the band’s 7th full length release, the band is described as sitting at the crossroads of Type O Negative, Sisters of Mercy and Life Of Agony in terms of their sound and their lyrical approach. Blending their own experiences of the undercurrent of the Parisian suburbs with the trappings of the darker side of life, the band has received high praise for their honest and raw approach in creating a resonating and melancholic sound which has an emotional impact.
The initial sounds of this album do live up to the descriptions and comparisons Hangman’s Chair has been subject to. The dark melodies draw you in and play on your senses. The haunting melodic lines linger in the air as the vocals hit with a real rawness to them, stripping the layers away and exposing you to the very core of the experience conveyed by the sounds. With the simple melodies which are common to the dark and melodic corners of goth inspired music combined with the brutally open and honest themes of drug abuse, mental instability, depression and alienation, it’s almost like Hangman’s Chair have managed to blend melodic hooks with crushingly heavy like asking ‘What if Alice In Chains were a goth/doom band?’
What Hangman’s Chair have seemingly done, is manage to capture that spark which made Alice In Chains stand out so much, and harness it and refine it through their own perception of how goth and doom sound, mix it with their own experiences and give off a wonderfully bleak album which hits just right, bringing pleasure in the throes of despair. Like the song ‘2AM Thoughts’ says, “Ain’t that a lovely way to go? Upping the dose…”
