Chelsea Wolfe: Abyss (2015)

As far as I was concerned, Chelsea Wolfe came out of nowhere with Pain Is Beauty, and immediately she had a hardcore fan. So when Abyss was first brought to my attention, I made my purchase within 30 seconds.

My two big things on this blog are, obviously, metal, and also dark Americana. I occasionally cover some gothic, folk, shoegaze, or dark electronic stuff. Wolfe inhabits a space that draws on all three of those things, in a manner that’s as unique and compelling as Wovenhand’s take on post-punk/post-rock/shoegaze/country/folk. Another connection between Wolfe and Wovenhand? Against all probability, she followed up a brilliant, career-defining album with an even better album.

Horrendous: Anareta (2015)

So, last I checked, Horrendous was a fantastic death metal band with a style based in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean circa 1992. I had read about their last album and how far they progressed, but I never got around to checking it out. I should have, because this Anareta sounds like a completely different band.

The vocals are a blend of Chuck Schuldiner and Martin Van Drunen, which is to say, they’re awesome. But that’s where the predictability ends. Horrendous is now a progressive death metal band with a style all their own. Sure, there are Opethian solos (“Ozymandias”) and melodies (“Siderea”). They might occasionally sound a little like Cynic circa Traced in Air (“Siderea”), or later Death (“Polaris”). But they’re much more than that.

GosT: Behemoth (2015)

There’s been some buzz about GosT. The only reason seems to be it’s not a metal album, but has the cover of a metal album and song titles that should be on a metal album. There’s nothing about it especially that should appeal to metalheads, except I suppose a few of the beats are heavy.



It’s some flavor of electronica. I think some of it’s dubstep? But then I’m severely underqualified to make such an evaluation. I don’t know electronica. To me it sounds like vampire rave music, or a mix of heavy electronica and just a dash of John Carpenter soundtrack music.

It was fun to listen to, for something different. But it’s not going to make my year-end list by any means.

The Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Myrkur: M (2015)

Relapse isn’t typically known for releasing atmospheric/folk black metal, so the debut full-length from Myrkur certainly caught me off guard. It’s the project of one woman, whose background is in indie pop, so of course hipster alarm bells will go off. And go off they have: The Metal Archives ratings for this record are abysmal.

But fuck that, because I like this. If you’re looking for consistency and black metal credibility, look elsewhere. But if you are the type who will occasionally pick up an indie pop record, and non-judgmentally welcome outsiders to the metal fold, M is worth a listen.

Warhorse: As Heaven Turns To Ash (2001)

The last two releases of the defunct Warhorse were reissued earlier this year by Southern Lord. This review will be confined to the band’s sole LP, As Heaven Turns To Ash. (The reissue also includes the final EP, I Am Dying.)



This is so heavy it nears a 1.0 on the Electric Wizard scale. Huge, lumbering riffs steadily pound the listener. Raspy, semi-growled vocals don’t add a whole lot, but they serve well enough to add the human element and keep you engaged. Only occasionally do they add a little speed for good measure, while acoustic guitar/piano/bongo interludes break up the hour-long album and keep it from suffering the slightest bit of drag. The mood is just, heavy, man. It’s not depressive or upbeat, it’s just—“Hey, listen to this because it sounds awesome.” And the music stands well enough that it doesn’t need anything like that.

The highlight of the record is “Every Flower dies No Matter the Thorns (Wither).” Not all the titles are quite such a mouthful, but a tune like this warrants an extensive name. It’s an incredible, steady descent, sort of a gritty reboot of Sabbath’s “Into the Void,” featuring a section focusing on bass and drum with underwater-sounding clean guitar as a reprieve.

The only question for me is, how did I not know about this band before? This is incredible.

The Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars