The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 26th, 2024

April 26, 2024 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

Despite being on the road in a completely different country I still will find the time to provide you with eight killer album recommendations because music is what makes the world go round. On that topic I’ve encountered a number of bands over the past week that definitely deserve a bigger audience.

Black

The first time I was exposed to Infant Island it was when they were added last minute to a huge mixed bill that featured the likes of Gatecreeper and Fearing. It was odd but given how mixed the bill was I guess it made sense to toss a screamo band on there. Admittedly I wasn’t all that into them for this live show but decided to check out their new record when it dropped earlier this year and was shocked to find out just how damn much I liked it. This album is fucking phenomenal, featuring tons of atmosphere, triumphant guitar work that screams out over relentless blast beats and passages of intense, cathartic screaming. Screamo and black metal may seem at polar ends of the musical spectrum but bands like Infant Island manage to bridge that gap almost flawlessly and this record is proof of that. Obsidian Wreath is a phenomenal release that deserves your attention.

Death

Eyecatcher is a four piece death metal outfit that my own band Ratpiss played with while on tour in Long Island City, New York. This Maryland quartet was amazing in the live setting and their brand of Obituary / Power Trip worshipping death metal was right up my alley. Checking them out on the recording side of things I am happy to report that their first self-titled release is just as good sounding as the live versions of these songs were. This is ripping death metal with thrash metal and grindcore influence that would not go unwelcome on a playlist next to bands like Frozen Soul and Sanguisugabogg. While this EP is “blink and you’ll miss it” short, it’s packed with more killer riffs and drum beats that you can shake a disembodied leg at. If the cover art doesn’t sell you on it already, let the song titles like “Blood Carnival” and “Wormtongue” entice into the grotesque nature that awaits.

Doom

I was first introduced to Horndal through my friend Tyler. Admittedly when I first checked it out I wasn’t sure about it but after numerous repeat listens it dawned on me: this album is fucking incredible. This thing combines elements of the bright, harmonized guitar work of groups like Thin Lizzy or Kvelertak along with the progressive riffing nature of bands like Mastodon as well as the raw sense of urban decay ushered in by bands like Tombs or Morne to create a sound I’ve never quite heard before. This thing is a beast of modern metal, and not in the same way that people describe Lamb of God. This is the pinnacle of modern metal music, utilizing every aspect of heavy music that I personally love in such a way that I’ve never been privy to. It’s experimental while also being catchy as fuck, all while the gruff caveman vocals detail stories about the history and legends of the band’s hometown for which they are named.

Prog

Orbs was a band of particular interest to me back in 2010 when they first emerged onto the scene of modern, nu-progressive artists that had readers of the blog Heavy Blog is Heavy fawning. Featuring such notable names as Dan Briggs from Between the Buried and Me, Adam Fisher of Fear Before the March of Flames, and Ashley Jurgemeyer of Abigail Williams, this was a supergroup of sorts that existed to blend elements of jazz, prog, and space rock with a post-hardcore affectation and approach to songwriting, and holy moly did they ever knock it out of the park. Almost 15 years after the fact I still come back to this album and can sing along to all the words like no time at all has passed. Relentlessly interesting and masterfully composed with hooks for days both on the vocal front as well as the instrumental front, it’s a shame Orbs hasn’t been more active in the intervening years.

Punk

Another band that Ratpiss has shared the stage with, multiple times now. Philadelphia’s Diuretic absolutely fucking rule. Not only are they super cool people, but their music fucking rips too. The band has released one EP and a demo as of their existence so far, with Martyrfucker being the most recent effort. Pissed off, aggressive, loud and nasty, this is grindcore as it should be. Along with the general angry vibe of the music it also sounds raw as fuck. It’s not really “pure” grindcore in a sense since most of the music on here doesn’t rely exclusively on blast beats, and there are a lot of groovier sections with two-step parts that lean them a little bit more towards the hardcore punk side of grindcore. That said Diuretic is still full of angst, piss, and vinegar, and this EP is a prime example of just what the Philadelphia grind scene has to offer.

Thrash

This Montreal thrash trio, which has since evolved into a quartet, have been slowly making a name for themselves over the past year in Quebec and the wider Eastern Canadian scene. Taking influence from both the realms of old school thrash metal legends like Slayer and Anthrax as well as newer crossover institutions, the band doesn’t really fall squarely into one category or another. There’s a hefty amount of hardcore punk influence going on here, especially on the EP’s opener “Chernobyl”, but the ripping thrash doesn’t take long to kick in. Guitarist Christophe Michaud has one goal in mind and that’s to rip your head from your neck by making you headbang like a fucking lunatic. He accomplishes that goal in spades on here, while making sure the punk influence keeps things fun and upbeat.

Trad

Vancouver’s Gatekeeper are the best kept secret in the world of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal originating from Canada. This band embraces every classic metal cliche, taking as much influence from bands like King Diamond and Mercyful Fate as they do bands like Blind Guardian. They straddle the line between old school heavy metal outfits like Dio as well as pure power metal that emerged from Europe in the 80’s and 90’s a la Helloween. Delightfully melodic and impossibly catchy, every song on this record is absolute fucking banger and deserves to be blasted at max volume. With lyrics inspired by the works of famous fantasy and horror authors like Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft, listening to this album makes me feel like Conan the goddamned barbarian, riding a mighty steed across the plains of uncharted wilderness, a great broadsword strapped across my back.

Non-Metal

Com Truise – *In Decay*
**July 16th, 2012**
**Synthwave**
**Ghostly International**
**Orlando, Florida, USA**
**Standout Song:** “Data Kiss”

Have you ever been on a long-ass drive that you started early in the day, like before noon, and you keep on screaming down the highway, still having not reached your final destination as the sun goes down behind the hills and it seems like night is going to last forever? You’ve had one too many energy drinks and you’re wearing sunglasses to minimize the glare of the searing lights of the construction zone you’re passing through? Well this album is the soundtrack to that vibe. This is a night driving album if there ever was one. Much like other synthwave artists like Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, or Filmmaker, Com Truise has made a career off of perfectly encapsulating the atmosphere of the liminal space that is a highway after dark. That said Com Truise’s music is a bit more chillwave-leaning than the retro and horror inspired vibes of those other artists, but the comparison is still apt.

~ Akhenaten

April 2021 in Review

June 29, 2021 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

The second part of our monthly re-cap catch-up is now here! Let’s take a look at what happened over the course of April shall we?

EPs Released
– Roza Redd – The Post-It Note Singles Vol. 1
– Tower of Skulls – Skinned Alive

Singles Released
– Nemophilist – “They Say…”
– Synsaer – “Bleak Winter Woods”
– Synsaer – “World Downfall”

Music Vidoes Released
– Category VI – “Barracuda” [Heart Cover / Live on In the Attic]

Albums Announced
– Jim Jones and the Kool-Aid Jammers – Untitled Third LP
– Nocturnal Prayer – Mutilation on the Bed of Winter

We also did the next episode of our podcast which focuses on speed metal and power metal from Newfoundland and Labrador. You can check out that episode below!

Albums Archived
– Magnum44 – Demo [Skate Punk / Demo]
– Public Enemy – Demotape [Hardcore Punk / Demo]
– Schizoid – Beer Thief [Hardcore Punk / EP]
– Sheavy – Moons in Penumbra [Stoner Metal / LP]

~ Akhenaten

Synsaer Releases New Single “Bleak Winter Woods”

April 20, 2021April 18, 2021 / Akhenaten / 1 Comment

One person melodic black metal outfit Synsaer released their debut EP Reviving Our Roots back in October of 2019 which featured a sound combining elements of traditional black metal with the more modern elements of blackgaze. The project has released the followup to Reviving Our Roots in the form of a new ten minute single entitled “Bleak Winter Woods”. This new song was released on April 16th, 2021 through Bandcamp.

You can listen to “Bleak Winter Woods” through our Bandcamp embed below.

~ Akhenaten

The New Wave of Newfoundland Black Metal

February 17, 2020February 17, 2020 / Akhenaten / 1 Comment

Adam “Miasmas” Sharr of Oxygen Chapel, Bone Alley, Nightbreed.

The spread of black metal’s infamy throughout the world of heavy metal is a story that most metalheads are no doubt familiar with. What started as a small cult movement in retaliation against the modernization and overproduction of death metal ended in front page news stories of murder, suicide and arson. The legend of the second wave of Norwegian black metal ironically catapulted the entire genre into the spotlight despite the desires of its performers to remain within the confines of the underground. With bands like Mayhem and Emperor still packing festivals and venues across the world one could even say that black metal is bigger than it has ever been at this moment in history. As a result the genre has given birth to small localized scenes that have cropped up all across the globe, from Mexico to China.

Given the genre’s oft-used lyrical themes of nature, winter and the occult it’s of no surprise that a small but burgeoning black metal scene has emerged from the frigid coastal moors of Newfoundland and Labrador. While the term “scene” may be debatable due to a lack of connection between the artists in the province, I propose that the small population of the island lessens the disconnect between these different bands and solo projects and unites them in a way that they themselves may not even realize.

To discuss the history of black metal in the island we’d have to go way back to the late 1990s’s and the 2000’s with Embers Fade, a symphonic black metal act whose music is heavily inspired by Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings. Creeping towards the end of the decade into the 2010’s other bands such as Dark Era, a crust punk band who draw heavy influence from the atmospheric side of black metal, and Nightbreed, a truly brutal blackened death metal act, begin to emerge.

Dark Era performing live at The Rose and Thistle, St. John’s, NL.

But aside from these collective groups and bands there has been a rise of one man black metal on the island over the last two decades. The first instances of solo projects popping up include Domen, VORBKT, Bone Alley and Oxygen Chapel.

Domen, a project which went defunct years ago, was a one man raw black metal project with influences from the harsh noise and power electronics genres who classified his own music as DSBM. The project released several albums, EP’s, demos and other assorted material online before ceasing to release anything for years to come. Despite a prolific presence online it’s still unknown who the musician was behind this project.

Meanwhile VORBKT, an acronym which stands for Value Objectively Remains Broken Knowing Tragedy, was similarly a one man band that classified his music as DSBM. There were elements of dark ambient as well as atmospheric black metal here and there but his music was very much on the ‘raw’ side of things. Having released a veritable cornucopia of material over a relatively short period of time the project simply ceased to exist. The Bandcamp page which hosted much of VORBKT’s music was deleted and all of the material vanished from online sources. Recently a new Bandcamp page emerged with VORBKT’s material published once again, this time through a supposed record label entitled Depressive Illusions.

Bone Alley and Oxygen Chapel were the two projects formed by Nightbreed frontman Adam Sharr, also known by his stage name Miasmas. While Bone Alley released a few demos back in 2014, Oxygen Chapel has since become the primary focus for Sharr. With a brand new logo and a one album record deal with an as-of-yet unnamed American label, Oxygen Chapel is poised to become one of the bigger names in the Newfoundland one man metal scene.

Andrew Marsh of Winterhearth, Dead Inner Youth performing live at Distortion, St. John’s, NL

It was also around this time that Bonavista native Andrew Marsh would form his blackened death / thrash metal band Winterhearth alongside bassist Robbie Butler. Combining the freezing cold atmosphere of bands such as Immortal and Dissection with the fiery auditory assault of old school death metal, Winterhearth quickly gained a cult following within the local metal scene as well as attention elsewhere around the globe such as in South America.

For a few years Dark Era, Winterhearth and Nightbreed dominated the live aspect of the black metal scene in St. John’s. But it was in the intervening years of 2013 to 2015 when the seeds planted by those earlier one man projects would begin to sprout.

In 2013 the one man blackened heavy metal project Mistwalker was conceived by Glovertown native Greg Sweetapple, then a student at College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville, where he formed a bond with Carbonear native Kristopher Crane. It was Crane who introduced Sweetapple to black metal and inspired him to form Mistwalker.

Crane himself took to recording his own black metal projects beginning with Himmelen, an atmospheric and folksy take on the genre that served as a way for Crane to experiment with writing and recording music. In 2014 Crane retired the name Himmelen in favor of his new project Nemophilist. Nemophilist began in the same vein of atmospheric black metal but it quickly shed those roots in favor of a dark ambient sound. Several years later Crane would begin two additional projects entitled Acorn to Great Oak and Pretty Little Flowers. While Acorn to Great Oak, which is still active today, showcases an ugly and experimental take on atmospheric black metal, Pretty Little Flowers serves as a prettier counterpart to the dark ambient of Nemophilist.

Kristopher “Forest Wanderer” Crane and Greg Ravengrave of Impaled Upon the Mountains.

Together Crane and Sweetapple formed a variety of projects including Impaled Upon the Mountains, a two piece ‘true’ black metal band, and Grimacing, a comical band serving as a parody to the subgenre of DSBM. Sweetapple would also go on to form a number of black metal and black metal-adjacent projects such as the dark ambient project Icefog, the dungeon synth project The Dead One B.C., the drone metal project Inverted Coffins, the Elder Scrolls-themed black metal project Cult of Azura and Glacier Frost among others.

A few years prior to these events a small band named Anal Christ had also appeared on Bandcamp. While most of Anal Christ’s music was comical and novelty in nature, they had also created some truly haunting and brutal pieces of music, especially on the EP entitled Fuck You, God, which was released in 2012 and purportedly recorded in Stephenville on the west coast.

Following this a new one man band by the name of Decima Morta appeared on Bandcamp. Headed by Baie Verte native Aiden Parsons the project, while extremely lo-fi, takes lyrical inspiration from Shakespeare as well as Greek and Roman mythology, making it stand out in comparison to some of the other projects mentioned. It was at this moment in time when things truly began to get interesting.

Winterhearth suffered a few dramatic lineup changes that left Marsh debating whether the band should even continue. Members of both Nightbreed and Dark Era left the island to pursue work elsewhere on the mainland, leaving shows by both bands a sparse occurrence. Sharr, who had since formed a second black metal band named Luminance, began to divert more of his attention into his death metal and grindcore pursuits such as Moe Secretion, Nuclear Eden, Imbrued Sediments and Gastric Gurgling of God. A niche had been left unfilled and where a small but determined black metal scene existed none now remained.

Yet in 2019 Newfoundland experienced a dramatic resurgence of black metal projects. Among the first was Nocturnal Prayer, a three piece band consisting of Cancer on vocals, Murder on guitar and bass, and Nausea on drums, who have so far released two demos and have been featured in Decibel Magazine. While the true identities of this three piece remains unknown, they purportedly record their demos in ‘various tunnels, caves and forests’ around Newfoundland. There was also Artach who appeared in mid-2019, and composed of Sruthan on guitars and bass and Fiochmar on drums and vocals, have consistently been releasing new music since their formation.

Thesolo projects included Synsaer, a one man project in the vein of blackgaze and post black metal drawing influence from groups like Alcest and Amesouers. There was Ledningsmunn, another one man band who released their first single back in 2019 and are releasing their debut album on February 25th. Then there was Solitarian who released a full demo entitled Contemplations… Where None Dwell in 2019 before suddenly vanishing from Bandcamp in a similar fashion to VORBKT. There was also the project known as Three Merlins, another one man project that combined elements of black metal with death metal in an experimental fashion, and a new one man band named Aginor that has cropped up in Wild Cove, headed by an individual named Demandred, who has promised a demo due out in 2020.

Nightbreed performing live at Distortion, St. John’s, NL.

While all of these one man projects have sprung up the island has also seen the return of some of the older acts mentioned above. Dark Era returned with a single entitled “Nightscapes” in late 2019 before surprising fans in the local scene with a full length sophomore record simply named Dark Era II, which maintains the same blackened crust sound of their debut. Nightbreed also announced their return halfway through the year and have been consistently active on social media through posting videos of themselves jamming and promising a new release, either an EP or an album, sometime soon. Winterhearth has also returned with a new lineup and new music coming down the tubes, releasing their first song since 2016’s Resettlement in the form of “Charmed (By the Dead)” on a compilation album by Still Heavy Productions.

On top of that Mistwalker has also been consistently active, releasing a new EP in late 2019 and compiling an official live lineup with intentions to return to Newfoundland for live shows in the future. Impaled Upon the Mountains also posted their first evidence of being active in December of last year in the form of a jam video on YouTube. Nemophilist has also been excessively active, releasing a slew of singles through the end of 2019 and early 2020.

As it stands now, it’s evident that Newfoundland is a region that is primed for some sort of black metal revolution. While the scene may be small and consisting mostly of one man bands, all of these bands are doing their own thing. Nobody is copying another’s sound, each of them tackling the genre from a different perspective. I think that over the course of the next few years we’re going to see a lot more black metal come from Newfoundland, and given the climate we live in here on this speck of rock and stone in the North Atlantic, it’s about time.

Demandred of Aginor, Wild Cove, NL.

Links

Acorn to Great Oak
Aginor
Anal Christ
Artach
Bone Alley
Cult of Azura
Dark Era
The Dead One B.C.
Decima Morta
Domen
Glacier Frost
Grimacing
Himmelen
Icefog
Impaled Upon the Mountains
Inverted Coffins
Ledningsmunn
Luminance
Mistwalker
Nemophilist
Nightbreed
Oxygen Chapel
Pretty Little Flowers
Solitarian
Synsaer
Three Merlins
VORBKT
Winterhearth

~ Akhenaten

October 2019 in Review

November 3, 2019November 3, 2019 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

Well that’s it folks, the season of spooks and specters has come again once more and what do we have to show for it? Well Halloween 2019 deigned not to trick us this year, but instead provided us with many a treat. We’ve got plenty of new music to mull over in the coming months including new releases from long-quiet bands like Dark Era and Mistwalker, as well as the debut full length album from hardcore punks WasteCase.

On a much more sour note we learned of the health issues facing Last Soul Down guitarist Johnny Fisher, whom the metal scene has collectively sent their best wishes to in hopes of a speedy recovery.

Moncton hard rockers The Motorleague returned to the island for a show at The Ship Pub and were supported by the aforementioned WasteCase in their first live performance since the band’s inception earlier this year. On top of that the lineup for the third iteration of November Mayhem was announced, including big-name headliners Skull Fist and fellow mainlanders Ammo, Lycanthro and Black Moor.

As a final note we also made the announcement here at Heavy NFLD that we will now be offering poster designs for live events in Newfoundland and Labrador. If you or someone you know has a live show coming up and you need a poster designed we’ll do it for a reasonably affordable price. Hell, if you want other types of graphic design too, whether it be album art or a band logo or anything of the sort, hit us up and we’ll see what we can do! We’ll be posting a portfolio of our commissioned work soon.

Biggest Stories
Ascend the Throne Seeking New Drummer
Chain of Lynx Donate Proceeds of Album Sales to Easter Seals NL
Last Soul Down Issue Statement Regarding Health of Johnny Fisher
Monolithic Sorcerer Teasing New Material
The Motorleague Return to St. John’s
November Mayhem 2019 Lineup Revealed
We Now Offer Poster Designs

Albums / EPs Released
Dark Era – Nightscapes
Halfling Rune – Fantastic Jungle
Mistwalker – N.W.O.N.F.L.D.B.H.M.
Pig’s Litter – Pig’s Litter
Synsaer – Reviving Our Roots
WasteCase – An Act of Defiance

Singles Released
Artach – “When the Forest Ends”
Dark Era – “Nightscapes”
Jaded Truth – “Wide Asleep”
Mistwalker – “Difference” [Dark Era Cover]
Most Likely Forever – “Facta Non Verba”
WasteCase – “The Bruise on Your Brow”

Upcoming / Announced Releases
Disposition – Sophomore LP
Last Soul Down – Sophomore LP
Mantra – Lucid
Oxygen Chapel – Obsidian Realm Compilation Album
Oxygen Chapel – 2019 Demo
Oxygen Chapel – 2020 LP
Synsaer – Sophomore EP
The Skeats – Third LP

After an extended hiatus of several months we’re back with the 17th episode of the Heavy NFLD Official Podcast. Following last month’s episode in which we were invited onto Montreal college radio station CJLO’s Grade A Explosives show, we’ve gone back to the basics with a special Halloween themed episode! In this extra spooky special we take a journey through ten haunted songs that deal with themes of serial killers, horror films, true crime events or are even tributes to Halloween themselves. You can check out Heavy NFLD Official Podcast on Bandcamp as well as on YouTube.

Albums Archived
Caustic Youth – Caustic Youth [Demo]
Crisis Averted – Crisis Averted [LP]
Grey Fawn – The Rut [LP]
Halfling Rune – Fantastic Jungle [EP]
Jaded Truth – “Ms. Frankenstein” [Single]
Jaded Truth – “Osiris” [Single]
Jaded Truth – “Dumpster Diver” [Single]
Jigger – “All Consumed” [Single]
Mistwalker – N.W.O.N.F.L.D.B.H.M. [EP]
The Ridiculice – Last Out [Demo]
The Skeats – “A Certain Point of View” [Single]
Wars of Winter – Wars of Winter Demo [Demo]

Live Sets
Gossamer – Live @ Brasserie Beaubien (Montreal, QC) – September 27th, 2019

~ Akhenaten

Synsaer Releases Debut Demo ‘Reviving Our Roots’, Working on Followup EP

October 17, 2019 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

Synsaer is a brand new atmospheric black metal / blackgaze one man band that has sprung out of Newfoundland and Labrador, joining the ranks of other one man projects such as Solitarian, Decima Morta, Architecture and Three Merlins in the new wave of one man black metal projects that seems to be sweeping the province.

It is unknown as of yet who is behind this project or from which region of the province they are from. All that is known is from what the project has stated through their Bandcamp page description, in which they have announced an EP that will follow this debut offering.

One man melodic black metal band with elements of blackgaze and Melodic Death Metal. Not really one specific category I would classify this project as, I draw influence from a few styles. All instrumental. EP in the making, stay tuned if you enjoy!

The debut demo, entitled Reviving Our Roots, was released on October 13th exclusively through Bandcamp and can be streamed through our embed down below.

~ Akhenaten

HeavyNFLD

Your source for all things heavy and all things Newfoundland.

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The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 26th, 2024

April 2021 in Review

Synsaer Releases New Single “Bleak Winter Woods”

The New Wave of Newfoundland Black Metal

October 2019 in Review

Synsaer Releases Debut Demo ‘Reviving Our Roots’, Working on Followup EP