My first encounter with Winterfylleth came via their 2012 album, The Threnody of Triumph. It was basically a two ships passing in the night affair. I heard it but didn't spend any time with it. I've spent plenty of time with their newest release, The Divination of Antiquity. Much of that was just letting in sink in. Sink down, layer by layer until it found its final resting place wrapped around my soul.

As it will yours through the inescapable pleasure of ancient windswept melodies coursing through the core of Winterfylleth's signature sound. They may ring with a bleak and icy tone but a warmth comes from within countering the harsh desperation of vocalist/guitarist Chris Naughton's screams.

Paired with guitarist Mark Wood, Naughton along with bassist Nick Wallwork create sweeping vistas of moving sound. A constant buzz of energy powers scorching rhythms and glorious melodies. As befitting the tracks, drummer Simon Lucas adapts to the changing landscapes. Whether keeping time with grace (“A Careworn Heart”) or more often blasting away the concept of time with ferocity, his commitment is never in question. Although the higher the bpms go, the higher Lucas pushes the band.

The title track sets the stage for what is largely a homogenous album, not straying too far from the foundations laid down early. Carnal black metal screams – the way black metal should be screamed in this writer's humble opinion – dig their hooks in and swiftly lift the listener up and away from the chaos and selfish existence of modern life. The listener is taken to a place still full of fear but of a different and more primal sort. Swollen-heart melodies, which are the album's lifeblood, protect against the thunderous percussion which sounds like the thudding feet of a predator in full pursuit.

As visceral as the searing black metal guitars and relentless percussion can be, Winterfylleth still conjure up images of great heights, natural beauty and a deep reverence for their homeland and its past. There is pain to be felt for certain but it's a cleansing pain.

Acoustic guitar and low chanting voices enhance the album's depth and overall appeal. The chants on “Whisper of the Elements” sound like the Earth itself is talking and the serenity and peace of the mostly acoustic “The World Ahead” calms the savage beast. You can feel the exhilarating rush as you're swept through endless valleys and hills, verdant with life and lore across stretches of time. Ghastly or ghostly, the album resonates deeply within the soul. The Divination of Antiquity is a treasure of conflicting sonics. The magical confluence of the sublime and the pestilential churns with the intent of a grand design, sending the listener forth under magnificent clear skies and favourable winds.

Few black metal albums display this level of balance and depth, merging menace with melody, brutality with beauty. The leaves are changing and so are the winds. Follow them toward the glory of Winterfylleth and The Divination of Antiquity.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/Winterfylleth
Label info: www.candlelightrecords.co.uk

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Sad news, ladies and gents. Following the release of Witch Mountain's new album, Mobile of Angels, vocalist Uta Plotkin will be leaving the band. But not without some final performances leading up to the release date. Those lucky enough to catch those will certainly be in for a treat. As will the smart ones who pick up the band's latest doom opus.

Not to put too much emphasis on one particular member but Witch Mountain has risen to prominence on the vocal chords of Plotkin. South of Salem and Cauldron of the Wild saw the Portland band become a relative household name in doom circles following Plotkin joining in 2009. Mobile of Angels is no different in that it leans heavily on the power and depth of her voice. At least they're getting the most out of her as Plotkin's work here is diverse and powerful as has become to be expected.

Opener “Psycho Animundi” encapsulates much of the album's attributes. Under a steady plod Plotkin dictates the feel beyond the thickness of the doomy tone. The riffs themselves effectively reside in a sinister doom realm but there's also an alluring quality that draws the listener in with a hypnotic pulse regardless of vocals. There is a power within that hits like a brick when they drop into a riff from a pause. Dramatic effect on a musical level.

Mobile of Angels has a definite blues influence hanging over it. It shines through like a breaking dawn in both the music and vocals. The mix of heavy-footed doom and the slight twang and conflicting sorrow of blues is captivating. But it's not all downtrodden. Free-wheeling solos and uplifting guitars protect the overall tone from falling into despair.

The outright power does sort of trail off as the album progresses. “Your Corrupt Ways (Sour the Hymn)” is the bluesiest while the title track brings a psychedelic, eerie, lounge feel with choral vocals. Slithering guitars, rumbling riffs and plodding cadences weave through the fog toward the album's conclusion.

All the while Plotkin does what she does best, pulling the listener close with a sweet and sultry croon then blowing it all wide open as her voice reaches for the heavens. Each and every track bears at least one moment that is so stirring that you can’t help but close your eyes to the glory.

“The Shape Truth Takes” see Plotkin at her most operatic and sorrowful. Forlorn melodies pull the listener further down in a pool of tears. Gradually the entirety swells on determination, rising and rising with power and volume until bursting with pent up emotion. Those moments are massive in every way, and punctuate the band's prowess. The track also sends the album off in a way befitting Plotkin's moving forward. Onward and upward.

Regardless of band member situations, Mobile of Angels is a tremendous doom album. Not quite as powerful overall as many but Witch Mountain know how to work dynamics and make the most out of an undeniable vocal talent. The remaining members (Nate Carson, Rob Wrong, and Charles Thomas) have vowed to carry on with the band (as they should) but it will be a tough task indeed to replace a voice that has become synonymous with the band's identity. Best of luck to Witch Mountain, and Plotkin can be proud in knowing she left leaving nothing to be desired.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/witchmountain
Label info: www.svartrecords.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Before you get into this review, if you've never heard Pallbearer before, go listen to their stunning debut Sorrow & Extinction. When you're done crying, come on back. If you have heard S&E before, the Little Rock doom quartet's follow-up to their critically embraced debut does not suffer in the least from any sort of sophomore jinx.

In fact, Foundations of Burden may even surpass its predecessor in the eyes of many. Vocalist/guitarist Brett Campbell, bassist Joseph Rowland, guitarist Devin Holt and drummer Mark Lierly have taken the structures laid out previously and expanded on them. Foundations is even more lush, warm, massive and emotionally draining.

Pallbearer make music for themselves and with that they don't feel the need to please anyone but themselves on this latest masterpiece. (Yeah, I said it.) In doing so they display a greater diversity and depth, mixing tempos, altering vocals and utilizing the talents of producer Billy Anderson to the fullest extent.

In contrast to S&E, the vocals on the opening track, “Worlds Apart” come earlier, hitting the listener with the most emotional facet from the onset. Both Rowland and Holt harmonize with Campbell and the results are outstanding. As expected the guitars are absolutely huge, solemn and pull the listener in with heartrending melodies and soul-crushing riffs in a way only Pallbearer can. The track, as does the album, cycles through a mix of emotions, the most powerful of which being depression. The lines “darkened heart/enlightened mind/whole worlds apart/remain entwined” put that feeling into sharp focus. But where S&E was intensely morose and morbidly despairing throughout, Foundations builds on that heartbreak.

Tracks such as “Foundations” and “Watcher in the Dark” (this writer's favourite) are not nearly as sorrowful. A growling tone makes the walls shake with malice and dread. Menacing undercurrents and increased cadences add a level of dynamics only hinted at previously. Less time spent hanging your head and more time banging it. Adding to that is a sense of peace and acceptance, a steady resolve that pushes through the loneliness and desolation.

Don't be mistaken in thinking that Pallbearer have moved that far from utter misery however. “The Ghost I Used To Be” begins and ends very close to the signature sound the band stamped out on S&E. Grief, mourning, self-doubt and despair are brought to the fore by the clarity and penetrating quality of Campbell's distinctive voice. But in the song's midsection it takes on not only a speed uncharacteristic of Pallbearer but a heavy gothic undertone that reminds one of Woods of Ypres. And no disrespect for Zach Stine but this track is but one example of how Lierly has pushed the rest of the band into new territory.

The shortest and possibly most powerful track is “Ashes”. At just 3:19 and mostly just (I believe) Rowland's voice, keys and ambient guitars, it stands out but the contrast brings unparalleled gravity to the whole album.

Closing hymn “Vanished” encompasses all that Pallbearer has become. It's the longest track with twist and turns, delicate beauty amidst monstrous tone, darkness, emotion and some of the most tear-jerking vocals you'll hear in metal.

If Pallbearer broke the mold by injecting torturous amounts of melody on S&E, they've reformed it on Foundations by pushing themselves and the genre to new heights. It's everything one could ask for from a doom record and more. Gargantuan riffs, stirring melodies, varied but all-heavy tone and reflective, introspective, deep and starkly poetic lyrics enthral the listener wholly regardless of song length. There is no one in heavy music today quite like Pallbearer.

By embracing the painful side of the human condition in pouring forth their own souls they empower the listener to feel more alive in knowing that by feeling those emotions as well they genuinely care for the things that matter most in life and are not just surviving by allowing the trivial to create their happiness.

Foundations of Burden is merely the next building block in cementing their growing legacy of a band gaining status among not only doom's current elite but possibly doom's all-time elite.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.pallbearerdoom.com
Label info: www.profoundlorerecords.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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The Great Sabatini are one of those bands that have existed on the fringes of my experience. No doubt I'm not alone in that regard. Or maybe I'm just hopelessly out of the loop. I mean, the band lives less than a three hour drive away. I surmise that is all about to change with new album, Dog Years. That cover alone should garner at least some added attention.
Whatever the case, this third full-length from the Montreal noiseniks spreads its tendrils far and wide to bring together an array of sounds to pound and confound whoever gets caught in the maelstrom.

The album starts with the frenetic “The Royal We”. A stirring groove gets buried beneath rambunctious and spastic noisecore and gnarly sludge tones. The energy level takes more ups and downs than Elvis Presley's drug regimen but it's done seamlessly and with endless passion.
That sort of tangential convergence continues for the next few tracks leaving the listener unable to focus and constantly off balance. It's at times insane, others bludgeoning and at all times unpredictably catchy. “Nursing Home” for example sounds like someone took angry ska and ran it through a wood chipper run by a methed-out anarchist with commitment issues.
After “Reach” rises from the dust bowl into murderous thunderheads comes “Aleka”. The bluesy ballad is all steely acoustics and clean crooning. It's completely at odds with the rest of the album. But even as the sore thumb of Dog Years it's the track that will get stuck in your head the most.
The Great Sabatini return to messing with your head thereafter. Elastic rubbery riffs break down the defences and pull your mind to bits like the black hole where broken guitars go to die for the rest of the album's duration, concluding in “Life During Wartime”. The track starts with utter heartbreak sore from devastation. It then hardens its resolve to fight back and obliterate speakers and liquidize eardrums like a sludge driven tank.

Dog Years sounds like Torche rehabbing from a Ritalin addiction. It's catchy as sin but ugly and raw. Freebasing percussion, schizo guitars and the kind of post-hardcore vocal flaying you'd expect from the cover's creature motivate the listener to push on no matter how painful the eclecticism gets. Instruments are like putty in their hands as they shape their output to their will. Math-tastic riffs and intricate structures are made to seem like child's play.

Simply put, Dog Years is strange and tons of fun but not without a measure of risk. It's like that friend you always invite because you know that with a few drinks in him he's totally wild and entertaining. But if someone slips him some whiskey he gets stubborn, belligerent and downright mean. Maybe even gets in a fight. But you keeping asking him to come along anyway.

With Dog Years The Great Sabatini walk that perceptive line between brilliance and mad-as-a-hatter. It might take some time and effort to fully appreciate all the depth and nuance to be found but as they say, all good things happen in their own good time. Now let's get crazy!

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/thegreatsabatini
Label info: www.solarflarerds.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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By this point learned metalheads shouldn't have to be told that Tombs are a top-shelf act. Their coming out party, 2011's Path of Totality, was even named Decibel Magazine's Album of the Year. The NY quartet carry over the qualities that lead to that album's critical success on their latest transmission of darkness, Savage Gold.

For this release mainman Mike Hill (vocals/guitars) is once again joined by drummer extraordinaire Andrew Hernandez as well as newcomers Ben Brand (bass, ex-Woe) and Flourishing guitarist Garrett Bussanick. Despite the member turnover this unit perform as a potent force.

The lyrical themes of Path carry over to Savage Gold as well. Unlike much typical black metal there's no mention of any cloven-hoofed worship, no admonishment of belief systems and no revelling in the glory of nature. Hill focuses more on darkness and death. His vocals may be beastly and muscularly dynamic but nearly always discernible.

His ruminations are deep and philosophical; the product of a mind that never idles. A general feeling is that of acceptance to death's inevitability, yet there is still a fear of succumbing to its clutches. Heavy topics sure, but as David Gold (Woods of Ypres), whatever-you-believe-in rest his soul, said, “Only death is real.”

Hill's thought provoking words are delicate on paper but betrayed by the fierce savagery with which he delivers them. Such existential musing must be accompanied by equally dark music and the multi-layered black metal Tombs excel at is plenty dark. Their sonic palette consists of shades of black but Savage Gold is painted with rich, emotional textures. Scorching black metal blasts play a big part but as much as tunnelling through the depths draws the listener in, it's the moments where Tombs slacken the pace and open up that really cut to the core. It's like seeing through the savagery and blind rage of a razorbacked beast to the tortured soul that lies within.

Hill's gruff and gravelly bellows and rasps express torment over painful melodies on “Seance”. The track works in an almost sludgy vibe but also some of the best windswept tremolos and punishing blasts on the album. Each shift in tempo and mood is met with the same sense of importance and awe.

That's just one example of how well Tombs are able to play with dynamics. Cascading melodies create atmosphere. Hypnotic brooding dulls the senses. Death metal sensibilities crush the skull. Pulverizing chaos, lumbering gait, serpentine movements and mesmerizing guitar interplay blur the edges of reality.

Savage Gold coils around the listener like the tempting serpent. The grip of the experimental blackness is inescapably deadly. It's a captivating album that beats you senseless one moment and carries you among the clouds the next. It's powerful, chilling, exhausting, encapsulating and irresistible. Among the wealth of excellent bands releasing albums this year, Tombs will once again shine amongst the brightest.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/TombsBklyn
Label info: www.relapse.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Any metal fan worth their weight in salt should know the indelible mark Eyehategod has made on the scene since the 90s. They practically defined the sludge genre with seminal album like 1993's Take As Needed For Pain and 1996's Dopesick. Their drug fuelled and dirty-as-a-sewer mix of Sabbath-laced doom and hardcore intensity has influenced countless bands over the last 20-some years. But it's been a long, hard 14 years since EHG graced us with a new album. The wait is over.

The New Orleans quintet has returned with 11 tracks of filth and sweat for this self-titled release. One wouldn't really have expected any mellowing out as the band as aged though. Far from it. If anything life has only become harder in The Big Easy. Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans a ruin from which some will never recover. If that wasn't enough, drummer Joey LaCaze passing suddenly in 2013 no doubt left a permanent scar on the band's heart. Thankfully, LaCaze's drum tracks had already been recorded for the album. His contribution to EHG's rebirth is both tragic and special.

The situation has to have affected the band's performance in completing the album without him. Guitarists Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton, bassist Gary Mader and vocalist Mike IX Williams more than do justice to LaCaze's memory.

Eyehategod is just as grimy, infected and scabrous as anything they've done previous. The tone is devilishly meaty and patently recognizable. Riding waves of feedback through strained amps, gut-wrenching riffs pile up on the listener's back, weighing them down while at the same time driving them forward.

The blatant Sabbath influence colours the whole album but most notably on “Parish Motel Sickness” and “Worthless Rescue”. Their hardcore leanings run you down on “Agitation! Propaganda!” and “Framed to the Wall”. And all the while they display the sort of snarling and heavy-handed sludge mastery they've become renowned for.

Williams plies his visceral trade through the swampy murk with reckless abandon. All the pain and struggle oozes from his pores. His social consciousness and unique view on life fuels his impassioned performance with a lyrical approach framed by his streetwise and ingrained intelligence. He's always intense, slavering and thought provoking.

Unreasonably high expectations have been placed on Eyehategod. The band's adoration and legend has done nothing but grow in their recorded absence. Unlike many other renewed acts, EHG have lived up to those expectations. Sure, the production value may separate this album from its predecessors but all the dirt, all the heaving anguish, all that makes EHG who they are is still there. Eyehategod is a glorious return enhancing their legacy and an outstanding testament to the memory of Joey LaCaze.

RIP Joey and long live Eyehategod!

Matt Hinch 

Band info: www.facebook.com/OfficialEyeHateGod
Label info: www.centurymedia.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Most often my atrocious memory is a curse. I forget things all the time. Especially about music I haven't heard in a while. It kinda makes this job difficult. But other times it can be a blessing. When first asked to cover the new Cormorant album, I hesitated. I thought “I don't think I like Cormorant.” But I couldn't recall why not. I could vaguely remember “progressive” and that's usually a term that puts my hackles up. But I gave Earth Diver the benefit of the doubt and gave it a listen. What I reluctantly heard may be one of the best albums released this year. And to think I almost dismissed it! After at least a dozen runs through Earth Diver I went back to listen to previous album Dwellings. Turns out my memory wasn't all that bad. As much praise as I'll heap on Earth Diver, I still wasn't all that stoked on Dwellings.

The first major difference between the two albums is on the personnel side. Bassist/vocalist Arthur Von Nagel moved on and Marcus Luscombe has stepped in to take his place. On the musical side of things both measure up more or less the same. But vocally Luscombe is a major step up. Not to disparage Von Nagel though. Luscombe seems more accomplished or rounded with his black metal rasp and Cormorant is all the better for it. I think this played a big part in changing my opinion of the band.

Earth Diver also steps things up in terms of drive. Dwellings has its driving black metal movements of course but on Earth Diver Cormorant always have someone with their foot on the gas. The result is an album that sinks its hooks in deep and keeps tension on the chains throughout the album. As much as you feel helpless to resist Cormorant's pull, anticipation is always there.

There are so many parts to these songs that there is always something waiting just around the corner. For instance, a regular device they use involves blasting away in full black metal mode (think Bosse-de-Nage), firing the listener through the tunnel beneath their mountainous vibe then emerging into the sun in a plume of soaring and/or groove-laden melodies. Their travels through the heart-stopping stratosphere can end just as abruptly, either back into darkened recesses of the earth or even higher into the vast heights of prog metal's upper echelon.

It's like taking the best parts of Mastodon and Skeletonwitch's black side, tossing in some doom and laying it out in a delicious and jaw-dropping presentation.

It might seem like Cormorant pack in riffs and movements like sailors in a submarine but none of it sounds forced. Their songwriting and flow is flawless and natural. Each moment leads to the next with effortless grace. What’s equally obvious is how Cormorant put every ounce of their being into Earth Diver. Nothing is done half-assed even at their quietest.

Cormorant have seriously upped their game with Earth Diver. Everything is just better. The Hydra-headed vocal interplay is more convincing. The production is cleaner. The percussion (Brennan Kunkel) achieves the pinnacle of conviction, and the guitars (Nick Cohon and Matt Solis) reach deep in to the core of your being through technicality, power and gorgeous melodies.

These are simply damn good and absurdly catchy tunes. Many people wondered how Cormorant would recover after losing Von Nagel. With Earth Diver they've put any doubt to rest. With songs like “Sold as a Crow” and “Broken Circle” being among the best you'll hear this year, Cormorant will likely dominate come list season.

Matt Hinch 

Band info: www.cormorantmusic.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Much of the time one's enjoyment of a particular band or album comes down to taste. Sometimes that taste is the bile rising in the back of your throat from whatever sickening and twisted manipulation of conventionality you find yourself suffering through. In which case it's most likely the responsible parties fully intended to induce such an intense feeling of unease. Enter Pyrrhon and their second full-length The Mother of Virtues.

The Brooklyn band take any semblance of “normal” death metal and warp it beyond a reasonable shade of recognition. Their reliance on channelling chaos is discombobulating to the point that trying to focus on the disparate elements becomes futile. Dissonant guitars, wretched bass, intuitive percussion and multifarious and malevolent vocals all vie for attention amid a pervading sense of dread and inherent evil.

If there's one thing the unimaginative listener can latch onto it would be the rhythm section. The drums and bass aren't necessarily typical death metal but their general feel is far less “out there” than the guitars. Their relative steadiness holds as everything else collapses into a churning miasma of dissonance and atonality.

Tracks like “White Flag”, “Eternity in a Breath” and the title track, being the longest, segue back and forth through movements of quiet reflection, crushing doom, vortices of soul-sucking and noisome clamour and skin-flaying death metal. Tempo changes from monolithic to middling to mile-a-minute happen in the blink of an eye. Skittering broken chords giving way to scorching death or heaving lurches is only par for the course. After a listen or two one gets the feeling that the more passive moments are just a cruel trick to sedate the listener before the disembowelment.

The Mother of Virtues as a whole growls with sadistic intent. It bears a boiling intensity of combatant ideologies of instrumentation. The tactic of extreme dissonance and anti-riff sentiment is far from unique but Pyrrhon put their own spin on it. Much of the time it feels like multiple aspects of the same self existing in parallel dimensions where the rules of physics and sound are vastly different. These dimensions have become pierced through allowing the wavelengths of existence to overlap. Sometimes they sync up through self-modulation of frequency but predominantly follow their own circuitous paths of wild imagination.

Pyrrhon are devoted to dissonance and a strict adherence to atonality. The Mother of Virtues is not for the faint of heart or weak of mind. Even then it's a viscerally challenging listen that finds and forces its way into the dark corners of experimentation. If Gorguts, Ulcerate, Artificial Brain and anything Colin Marston (who mastered the album) gets his fingers on gets you foaming at the mouth, take a hit of The Mother of Virtues and the brain-frying madness of Pyrrhon will be your new drug of choice.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/pyrrhonband
Label info: www.relapse.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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One of the best things about my “job” as a metal writer is discovering new bands. Sometimes the bands themselves are new, and sometimes they're just new to me. Such is the case with Ringworm. The Cleveland hardcore juggernauts have been around since 1991 but their newest, Hammer of the Witch stands as my introduction. The band's signing to Relapse no doubt has helped raise their profile so that more of the innocently ignorant will be hopping on board. Once you've saddled up, you better hang on.

Since I approached Hammer of the Witch as a Ringworm virgin (although I've actually had ringworm) I'll present this as if you, the reader are a newbie as well. Ringworm play a style of metallic hardcore that is absolutely levelling. It's imbued with so much power, so much violent energy that remaining passive under its subjugation is an impossibility.

What stands out most is vocalist Human Furnace. His rage is palpable and energy infectious. Incendiary seems like an inadequate term as the burning intensity radiating from his throat scorches and destroys like a merciless wildfire. And one aspect in which Ringworm work metal into their hardcore is the lyrics which Human Furnace is torching the listener with. This isn't your typical hardcore fodder. It's not all tough guy, posi-vibes or straightedge banter. This is closer to death metal. “Leave Your Skin At The Door”, “I Recommend Amputation” and “One Of Us Is Going To Die” serve as examples of Ringworm's brutalistic edge.

When it comes to the band behind Human Furnace, things are no less uncompromising. Their hardcore is equally vicious and razor sharp. The riffs are muscular and work in ample groove. It pulls the listener close and compels involuntary headbanging. If they're not play the straightforward hardcore angle, they're probably ripping the floor to shreds with the gnashing teeth of thrash and a bit of crossover. The riffs are infectious and bruising and the solos shred. Whether laying down a hardcore punk beat or blasting migraines through your skull, the percussion is alway concussive. Simply, this shit rips no matter who's on the mic. But we're glad the Furnace is roaring.

Ringworm are a fearsome beast. The terror induced by their shear intimidation factor is only enhanced by Human Furnace's inimitable roar. Hardcore and metal fans alike should be drooling all over this release with a feral disregard for the tenets of humanity. If you're not getting beaten down by Hammer of the Witch, feel free you beat yourself up.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/Ringworm13
Label info: www.relapse.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Metal Bandcamp, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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I shouldn't have to waste time going over the events surrounding Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski but I will anyway. Briefly. Between 2009's Evangelion and new album The Satanist (Nuclear Blast in EU, Metal Blade in North America), Nergal fought and won a battle against leukemia. And he has celebrated by crafting an album that spits in the face of weakness. Behemoth's 10th album seethes with the kind of raw power (with top notch production) we've come to expect but it's not without a couple surprises. Opener “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel” rallies the masses in classic Behemoth fashion. Some plodding militance crashes with the supreme reign of chaos and lightning fast everything. Nergal calls for attention like only he can. His voice is infinitely commanding. Throughout the album he puts himself on display in a totally natural way. Instead of simply roaring, there are subtleties and emotional cracks appear in his corpsepainted facade. His berated throat fans the flames that burn eternal in Hell, scorching The Satanist's unbelievers.

Nergal is joined on the guitars by Seth. The pair of six-stringed evangelists leave no riff unconverted, ripping and shredding their way through the candlelit darkness with unrepentant speed and devastating solos. Not that that wasn't expected. What was unexpected in a way is how Behemoth rein in their headlong battle with more mid-paced pounding accented by atmospherics of the vocal, brass, string and melodic varieties. Their electric weapons of enslavement even give way to (gasp!) acoustics and spoken words on “In the Absence ov Light”. Never fear. Total obliteration follows within the track.

The rhythm section of Orion and Inferno, bass and drums respectively, really shine on The Satanist. The deep, growling bass ploughs through the mix throughout, enhancing the album's overall menace, at times even becoming the dominant force (“Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer”). His rhythmic partner blows the doors off the cathedral with an absolutely stellar performance. Inferno really outdoes himself with spectacular speed but also with measured thunder, snappy fills and a knack for adapting the castigation without a hint of hesitation to fit the tone and flow of the tracks.

While this is Behemoth doing what Behemoth does, they're now doing it better than ever. However, two tracks stand out in particular. The title track is truly epic. Orion's bass is all over it. Choral chants rise and fall within mid-paced movements. It's loaded with ambience and power dominated by Nergal's desperate, impassioned vocals. Closer “O Father O Satan O Sun!” breaks from the mold as well. It barely rises above a gallop at times, letting the listener down easy after the frantic previous tracks. Vocal harmonies lend a cinematic air. There's groove (Orion again) and atmosphere to go along with undead solos and a sort of creepiness. It's an amazing track and easily the album's best.

The track embodies the blood and guts, the life-giving force that permeates this passionate album; that which drips from The Satanist's every pore: devotion. Devotion to the sound, to the aesthetic. Devotion to Behemoth and everything they've worked for and stood for. Devotion to life. Because Satanism isn't about death, it's about life.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.behemoth.pl
Label info: www.nuclearblast.de

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Ghost Cult Magazine, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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A number of things link the countries of Canada and Sweden (besides being my two favourite). Both have similar climates, Green elected officials, excellent hockey and killer metal. Which brings us to Culted. This blackened doom group is a collaboration of members of both countries. Michael Klassen (guitar/bass/percussion/noise), Matthew Friesen (guitar/bass/percussion/noise) and Kevin Stevenson (drums) hail from Canada and vocalist Daniel Jansson from Sweden. Despite the distance and Jansson never having met the other three, Culted operate as a unit, at least musically if not spatially or temporally. Their shared vision resulted in debut Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep and 2010's Of Death and Ritual EP. Four years have passed and now Culted return with Oblique To All Paths, a stunning example of the way doom can be the most powerful form of expression.

For over an hour Culted envelope the listener in a vast array of emotions through layers of guitar, bass, noise, ambience and savage vocals, starting with the 19-plus minute “Brooding Hex”. Beginning an album with its longest track (of 7) is a bold move but it never feels stagnant and so it keeps pushing the listener forward until it circles back around to the main riff. A riff that inspires dread through its immensity. As with most of the album, elements drift in and out, back and forth, balancing the heaving might with elegant beauty. It's like getting a glimpse of hope through oppressive clouds heavy with discontent. “Illuminati” takes a more forceful path. Thunderous doom with a more classic bent, driven by a momentous riff, simple yet effective. Just as the Illuminati is multi-tiered, the track is stacked with layer upon layer of dry feeling (tonally) riffs, ambient noise and Jansson's equally dry yet harassing vocals.

“Intoxicant Immuration” sounds like defeat. It's slow, brooding cadence pulls you deep into the pits of despair. It's so melancholic you can taste it, before rising from the depths to imprison the listener within walls of massive doom and disconsolate melody.

Culted's melodic and varied darkness carries through the album's later half as well. “March of the Wolves” purposeful cadence leads in to the noisy “Distortion of the Nature of Mankind” and the weathered “Transmittal”, a track bleeds with more progressive and experimental vibes yet remains ungodly heavy in unexpected ways. The track is swollen with drama and shifting moods leaving the listener beaten and exhausted.

Closer “Jeremiad” brings Oblique To All Paths' harrowing journey to its conclusion. Its slow and methodical doom is threaded with industrious noise and a cursed malevolence. As with the rest of the album, its shifting moods resonate deeply making its integration with the soul complete.

Nothing about Oblique To All Paths can be taken for granted. Culted's commitment to the expression of anguish, pain and isolation is unwavering while refusing to follow the path laid before them. The use of nuance, atmosphere, ambience and variation is reverent and painfully affecting. It's also telling of the care and engagement essential to its creation. After a multitude of listens Oblique To All Paths continues to blossom, revealing untold depth beneath its suffocating doom, making it unquestionably essential.

Matt Hinch 

Band info: www.facebook.com/Culted
Label info: www.relapse.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Ghost Cult Magazine, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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I can't say I wasn't expecting a challenge when approaching From All Purity, the newest from Chicago doom miscreants Indian. But I wasn't expecting a challenge this great. The title is apt as the album has had purity stripped from it. It's unclean, dark and tainted with the stain of unsanctimonious hostility. It would be easy to bandy about using half-clichéd buzzwords to describe the nearly 40 minutes of filth on hand but one is left with no choice. Because they're true.

From All Purity consists of six misanthropic administrations of contempt, so bleak and caustic as to be practically indigestible. Indian's excruciating doom raises spires of hatred and discontent at every turn. Their slow, torturous and droning riffs suffuse the listener with a feeling of unending dread. One feels trapped beneath a seething, writhing mass of negativity. The unyielding repetition feels explicitly Sisyphean, and equally as frustrating. The merciless beating laid upon the ears with mechanical persistence is enough to drive lesser men/women to the brink of annihilation.

Indian give no quarter vocally either. Astringent screams reign supreme. A sad desperation bleeds from the voice of a soul-sucking wraith. The terror inherent in these vocal ministrations is inescapable but one may sometimes wonder whether the voice is that of the prisoner, or of the captor. Most likely both are one and the same. Without a lyric sheet one cannot be entirely sure, but one can sense a delitescent intelligence behind the virulent rasp. There is no relief from those vexatious screams rife with pain and misology.

Woven betwixt the oppressive doom and distressing vocals lies a terrific low rumble, permeating the album with a burning intensity. It feels like a volcano spewing molten nightmares and coating the world in ash. Agitating and insectile noise also rears its misogynistic head, irritating and pestering like a mosquito in the dark.

From All Purity begs for a stout heart and sound mind lest the ponderous, mind-numbing doom, simmering, acerbic noise and apocalyptic vocals be the vehicle for your ascent beyond the mountains of madness. Indian's incessant doom, harsh noise and vocals radiant with anger indeed present a challenge. May perseverance be your strength, for the bittersweet reward is not without peril.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/IndianDoom
Label info: www.relapse.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Ghost Cult Magazine, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Kitchener, Ontario's Sierra have landed the coveted spot as the first release on the new label founded by members of Kylesa, Retro Futurist with their debut titled Pslip. Sierra has toured with Kylesa and Pslip was produced Philip Cope but the trio are far from a Kylesa clone. They do however have some attributes that will endear them to fans of the Georgia group.

Bookended by the instrumental intro and outro (“Pslip In” and “Pslip Out”) are seven tracks of grooved-out hard rock bowing down to the power of the riff. Each proper track has at least one killer riff that can reaffirm your faith in guitar based music.

Guitarist/vocalist Jason Taylor never has to worry about the one that got away. With so many hooks both guitar and vocal, hauling in the listener is a guarantee. And he does so with the hazy trip of “Little Smoke”. It's a groovy toe-tapper drifting between warm riffs and cool instrumental sojourns. It's here too we first hear bassist Robbie Carvalho cutting through the mix with his bluesy sound. Later, he sounds a lot like Geezer Butler (“Smoke Filled Room”) and that's nothing to complain about. Drummer Ky Anto is in fine form on “Control Folly”. It's a punchy tune with edge but it works in a southern groove.

At its core Pslip is all about the riffs. And there's perhaps none better than the main riff on “100”. When they drop into it from the easy breezy parts of the song, it's a “wow” moment. When the bass picks it up during the extended and soulful solo, it makes the whole album. But the sweet licks continue throughout the album as Pslip gains intensity. “Psquigalogz” bears some definite Sabbathisms. “Into Nothing” reminds one of Helmet at times, maybe a bit of Clutch, and some other '90s influences I can't quite pin down. Also, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm not, Cope makes a guest appearance here. I'm sure part of the reason Pslip sounds as great as it does is due to Cope's production. He's always been exemplary. Cope's, or other Kylesa influences can be felt on the final track as well. “Pseptember” is harder, heavier, slower and sludgier.

As Retro Futurist's first release, Pslip shows promise for the label. Sierra are a band that makes sense being on a roster run by Kylesa members without being a clone. Pslip isn't as psychedelic as its (excellent) cover would suggest but it is soulful, shifting, slightly southern, sexy, smoky and seriously catchy. Psweet.

Matt Hinch

Band info: www.facebook.com/sierrariff
Label info: www.retrofuturistrecords.com

Matt Hinch lives an unassuming life on the backroads outside Forest Mills, Ontario, Canada. He packs in as much metal as he possible can amid factory work, raising three daughters with his wife and working the land. In addition to Scratch the Surface Matt also writes for Hellbound, Ghost Cult Magazine, About Heavy Metal and his own blog, Kingdom of Noise. Keep up with him on Twitter @KingdomofNoise.

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Best Metal Albums of 2013, by Matt Hinch

1. Clutch - Earth Rocker (Weathermaker)

I'm unashamed of my total bias towards Clutch. Part of the reason for that is they never release the same album twice. Earth Rocker does just that by being one of Clutch's most energetic albums. Their continual evolution keeps listeners coming back for more. Bar none best band on the planet. Ever.

2. Anciients - Heart of Oak (Season of Mist)

Vancouver's Anciients have had a monster year. From the reception of debut Heart of Oak to a number of high profile tours, their name was everywhere. And with good reason. Heart of Oak takes progressive sludge to the next level with an unstoppable torrent of riffs erupting like geysers and incredible dynamics.

3. SubRosa - More Constant Than the Gods (Profound Lore)

This Salt Lake City group sound so unique with their use of electric violins to compliment their brand of emotionally taxing doom/sludge. I'm a tough bearded dude and this album brings me to tears every time. Heavy as a lead balloon musically and lyrically, Subrosa are only getting better with each release.

4. Vhol - Vhol (Profound Lore)

Aesop Dekker, Mike Scheidt, John Cobbett and Sigrid Sheie. Do I really need to say more? Fine. Severely punked up black metal with touches of classic rock and thrash. It's always pushing forward with determined passion and brilliant performances. I've got my fingers crossed this isn't a one-off.

5. Batillus - Concrete Sustain (Seventh Rule)

Batillus are so heavy it's almost not even fair. Concrete Sustain ups the electronic elements from previous album, Furnace. The album worms its way under your skin where it's nice and warm to escape the heartless chill of the urban landscape. It's been on my phone all year and I have no plans to take it off.

6. Jucifer - Beyond the Volga There is No Land (Nomadic Fortress)

Like Clutch, Jucifer never fall into redundancy. Beyond the Volga centers on WWII Russia and the city of Volgograd. Gazelle Amber Valentine and Edgar Livengood capture the pain and anguish of death as well as the pride and fighting spirit of a proud nation, and then flatten you with it.

7. Cloud Rat - Moksha (Halo of Flies)

I'm pretty sure I hurt myself kitchen-moshing to this one. Not a good idea when you're cooking. But it's hard not to do when something grinds this goddamn hard. Vocalist Madison delivers a performance for the ages (especially on "Vigil") and their cover of Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done" is beyond words.

8. Noisem - Agony Defined (A389)

Long live thrash! A bunch of kids barely old enough to shave are shaping the face of thrash to come. Agony Defined is 26 minutes of pure aggression and flat out fun. Ripping guitars, blasting drums and energetic vocals are wrapped around an infectious catchiness. The future of thrash is as bright as a brand new pair of white high-tops.

9. Woe - Withdrawal (Candlelight)

The highest ranking black metal release on my list. (VHOL really, defy categorization.) There's something about the level of personal emotion that comes across on Withdrawal that I just can't shake. Not to mention a raft of absolutely killer riffs. Put your troo or kvlt arguments away. This is great stuff.

10. Windhand - Soma (Relapse)

Female vocalists in doom bands has been a common theme on my listening list this year and there has been none better than Dorthia Cottrell. Regardless of gender, the vocals are just one part of this monstrous record. Insanely heavy stoner doom and haunting drone. I'm surprised the Appalachian Mountains are still standing.

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