Written by Thomas Riley Lanyon
A weekly column unearthing the best from the depths of black/death/doom and beyond.
Black Fucking Cancer
Black Fucking Cancer
Osmose Productions/Graceless Recordings
Release Date: June 24th, 2016
Hailing from hell and/or the San Francisco Bay Area, Black Fucking Cancer sound exactly like you might expect them to. Stitching together chaotic black metal, death n’ roll, and the occasional moment of mind numbing drone, BFC’s sound is a rotten tapestry that is every bit as violent, confrontational, and uncompromising as their name. Containing seven disease-ridden tracks and clocking in at an hour, Black Fucking Cancer, is a hellish thrill ride through all that is unholy.
Focus tracks: Sigil of Burning Flesh, Acid Ocean, Communion of the Blood Unholy
FFO: Katharsis, Emperor, Black Witchery
https://soundcloud.com/decibelmagazine/black-fucking-cancer-a-sigil-of-burning-flesh
Chthe’ilist
Le Dernier Crépuscule
Profound Lore Records
Release Date: January 29th, 2016
Chthe’ilist first crept from Quebec’s vibrant, festering underground back in 2012, and brought with them the astoundingly unpronounceable, Amechth’ntaas’m’rriachth; a well received four track demo that generated much anticipation for a full length follow up. We finally got that follow-up at the very beginning of this year in the form of Le Dernier Crépuscule, an imaginative expedition into H.P. Lovecraft’s bizarre universe of celestial horror, brought to aural life through the use of atmospheric death metal. The arrangements are cerebral and obscure. The guitar work is labyrinthine and complex. The rhythm section is an ever-changing foundation of inventiveness, most notable being The Voices from Beneath the Well and Vecoiitn’aphnaat’smaala. Amongst all this is the otherworldly vocals of frontman Philippe Tougas, whose wet, reptilian grunts coat everything in yet another layer of sepulchral dread. Submit and let Chthe’ilist carry you into the void.
Focus tracks: Voidspawn, The Voices from Beneath the Well, Vecoiitn’aphnaat’smaala
FFO: Demilich, Blood Incantation, Cruciamentum
https://soundcloud.com/profoundlorerecords/chtheilist-voidspawn
Mizmor
Yodh
Gilead Media
Release Date: August 12th, 2016
Occasionally, the cover artwork of an album is a window into the world within. For Yodh, the latest album from one man, blackened doom entity, Mizmor, this is very much the case. The artwork is a monochrome piece by Polish, dystopian surrealist painter Zdzisław Beksiński, whose harrowing image is a perfect visualisation of Yodh’s sounds and themes. Mizmor’s sole member, A.L.N., has meticulously crafted a haunting hour of wholly doomed, blackened misery, comprised of five long form songs that explore the relationship humanity has with pain, suffering, and adversity. 2016 is still months away from its end; however, I have no doubt that Yodh will remain as one the year’s most memorable records.
Focus tracks: i. Woe Regains My Substance, iii. The Serpent Eats its Tail, v. Bask in the Lingering
FFO: Anicon, Predatory Light, Usnea
http://mizmor.bandcamp.com/track/i-woe-regains-my-substance
Next week on It Came From Below… I’ll be selecting three albums from the catalogue of Throatruiner Records, a French label who specialise is some wonderfully nasty noise.
