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

The Scrolls of Akhenaten: March 15th, 2024

March 15, 2024March 14, 2024 / Akhenaten / 1 Comment

*“Ever thus from the sands of time, I return, with pestilence and famine bequeathed to all.”*

Ages ago I used to do a segment on this blog called The Scrolls of Akhenaten in which I would recommend a series of albums or EPs from different genres of heavy and extreme music that aren’t from Newfoundland and Labrador. I did this simply in an effort to spread awareness of other music that I really like and to hopefully put some people on to artists they’ve never heard of. This concept was also inspired by one of our former contributors, Jonathan Simms, aka Abraxas the Reclaimer, who did a similar segment under the title of The Abraxas Decree.

All that said, I’ve decided to bring this segment back in an effort to continue spreading the good word about awesome music and also to diversify the kind of content that our readers have become used to on this blog. I would like to try to do this segment on a weekly basis, ever Friday, but for now we’re starting off with just one. The way it’s going to work is that each entry in this column will be from a different genre of heavy music, including: black metal, death metal, doom metal, prog, punk, thrash metal, traditional heavy metal, and one non-metal release as a palette cleanser.

Ergo, welcome to the resurrection of The Scrolls of Akhenaten! I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Black

Some of you may already be aware of Skumstrike due to the band’s association with Profane Order and Spectral Wound, both of whom share an association with Newfoundland through their shared band member Illusory. Skumstrike is the primary project of L.A. who formed the band with Serpent Corpse drummer Z.S. Based purely on the cover art and logo alone you should already have an idea of what the music on this thing sounds like. It is unrepentant, unrelenting blackened speed metal the likes of which I haven’t truly heard before. That said if you’ve ever perused the wares of underground labels like Hells Headbangers or the band’s current home at Caligari Records then you know that what they provide is quality. This album is liable to rip your head clean off your shoulders with wretched vocals, savage riffage, and an unforgiving percussive assault from behind the kit. Raw!

Death

Speaking of Serpent Corpse, why don’t we bring them up for the death metal segment this week? These guys have fast grown into one of Montreal’s premiere old school death metal revivalist acts. While the city may primarily be known for the more technical variety of extreme metal, Serpent Corpse are at the forefront of the movement to revive the sounds of classic 80’s death metal spearheaded by bands like Obituary and Morbid Angel, and they do a damned good job of it too! There’s no bullshit to be found here. This whole album is just riff after riff after riff on top of groovy drums from Skumstrike’s own Z.S. While I would question a band’s decision to name one of their own original songs “Electric Eye” when one of the most famous metal songs ever written shares that title, it doesn’t get in the way of the quality meat n’ potatoes brutality that goes on beyond the album cover.

Doom

I was first introduced to this band by a partner of mine who is a fan of one of the folk projects that the group’s violinist and vocalist Laura C. Bates worked on. Taking one look through Bates’ page on Metal Archives and its clear that she’s got some serious chops, having worked with other names in the metal world that may be familiar to you such as Blood Ceremony, Witchrot, and Thantifaxath. In listening to this band however we’re gifted a much more somber, brooding, and atmospheric helping of melancholy doom that feels heavily inspired by nature and fantasy. If anyone is old enough to remember when the Saskatchewan band Black Tremor made the trek to St. John’s for a show at CBTG’s back in 2016, well, this band sounds like them but way more intense and with more of a focus on vocals. Völur may not be the first band to incorporate violin in their doom, but they do it damn well.

Prog

This kind of record really isn’t for everybody. It’s mixture of progressive rock elements with aspects of pop music, alternative rock, funk, and avant-garde music could certainly be off-putting to people whose taste leans more towards the heavy and extreme. That said if you’re willing to give this record a shot you could be pleasantly surprised. I know I was. Perhaps it’s the theater kid in me that loves the ostentatious presentation and the theatrical grandeur this record provides but god damn do I ever love it. When it comes to the genre of “nu prog”, which is crowned by artists like Coheed and Cambria, a lot of it can be hit or miss with me. Closure in Moscow manage to be one of the best groups in the genre simply for their musical acumen and their ability to craft absurdly catchy tunes through an experimental haze and willingness to genre-bend. Let yourself love the poppy hooks that its full of.

Punk

The Montreal hardcore scene, much like that of Newfoundland’s, has exploded in the post-pandemic world. There have been so many new bands that have emerged in the scene lately that it’s been hard to keep track sometimes. That said, with the cornucopia of new groups that pop up, some of them are bound to rise to the top. Enter Glowing Orb. These guys are easily one of the most ferocious and aggressive punk bands in Montreal, at least when it comes to their music and their live shows. If you ever get a chance to see them live, do it. You will not regret it. As for their recorded material, they’ve got a demo and a split, and then this most recent release, Subterranean Prison, which, in my opinion, contains their best tracks yet. Listen to the song “Line Goes Up” and tell me you don’t want to scream along with that chorus in the live setting. Heavy, relentless, and full of piss n’ vinegar.

Thrash

Have you ever heard of pizza thrash? If you have there are probably a few bands that come to mind with the name. Municipal Waste and Iron Reagan are up there. D.R.I. perhaps. Well, allow me to introduce you to the pinnacle of this so-called sub-genre. The creme de la creme, folks. Pizza Death. This band sings exclusively about pizza, death, and death by pizza. It doesn’t get any more laser-focused than this. Normally I’d roll my eyes at such a concept, but if I’m being honest, this album absolutely fucking rips. The band has released more music since this one but this is the album that I always come back to. It’s a glorious mishmash of crossover, thrash metal, hardcore punk, and fastcore that intersperses absolutely nuclear riffs, unrelenting drums, and vicious vocals with a sprinkling of samples of various characters from pop culture talking about pizza. It’s as hilarious as it is utterly gnarly. It makes me want to shred a half-pipe while holding a pizza box in one hand and a PBR in the other.

Trad

Do you ever long for the glory days of heavy metal? Back when the music was real? Like the 70’s? Nah, like the early 70’s? Well, yearn no further my fellow appreciator of the old school sounds. Your search ends here. New York’s Tower are perhaps the most impeccable example of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal that I have been seeking. Other groups like Leather Heart will always have my, well… my heart, but Tower does this style with an unmatched pizazz that I have yet to encounter in my endless sifting through this sub-genre and movement. Whether it’s vocalist Sarabeth Lindon’s incredibly powerful and expressive voice, or the glorious riffs, or the creative, energetic, and commanding drumming, this album has everything that an old head could ever ask for. To match that, I saw this band live back in 2023 at Foufounes Electriques in Montreal and they ruled that stage like true professionals. I can’t speak highly enough of this album and this band.

Non-Metal

Wovenhand – *Ten Stones*
**September 11th, 2008**
**Alternative Country / Goth Rock**
**Glitterhouse Records**
**Denver, Colorado, USA**
**Standout Song:** “The Beautiful Axe”

I have been a long time fan of Wovenhand, the band led by singer-songwriter David Eugene Edwards. The group’s atypical approach to the country genre that they have often found themselves lumped in with immediately caught my ears the first time I decided to check them out, with their record Consider the Birds. However, throughout their discography, it was this album, Ten Stones, that really solidified itself as my personal favourite. Combining elements of country music and Americana folk with the darkness of goth rock and the Southern Gothic aesthetic makes this album a must-listen for fans of any of the musical genres or aesthetics I just listed off. It is gorgeous, emotionally gripping, and darkly unsettling. No doubt this record appeals to metalheads in part because it is heavy, but without an overt reliance on distorted electric guitars. Rather it feels heavy in the same way a pregnant rain cloud feels heavy. There’s a certain atmosphere here, a darkness that cannot be described.

~ Akhenaten

Sarcophagon Announces Debut Album for RPM 2020

February 11, 2020February 9, 2020 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

Glovertown-based blackened heavy metal project Mistwalker, headed by sole member Greg Ravengrave, announced on February 9th his participation in this year’s Record Production Month, though not under the name of Mistwalker. Instead the musician has elected to use a different moniker, beginning a new side-project under the name of Sarcophagon.

The project is described as OSDM in the vein of older acts like Obituary and newer groups such as Gatecreeper or Creeping Death. The project’s debut album, self-titled as Sarcophagon, had the above album art posted to Mistwalker’s official Twitter feed along with the announcement, and is slated for release at the end of the month when RPM 2020 draws to a close.

~ Akhenaten

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Your source for all things heavy and all things Newfoundland.

Obituary

The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 26th, 2024

The Scrolls of Akhenaten: March 15th, 2024

Sarcophagon Announces Debut Album for RPM 2020