Hopefully everyone’s in the mood to get heavy today, because that’s all that got released this week! While last week had a lot of stoner metal and even a touch of radio-friendly electronica madness courtesy of Nine Inch Nails, this week is all about blasting and grooves from the grave.
This edition of Thank Satan It’s Friday touches on Wolves In The Throne Room‘s return to black metal, Belphegor clearly trying to summon the end times, and Myrkur‘s blackened new ballad “Shadows Of Silence.”
To the aural destruction!
Myrkur – “Shadows Of Silence”
Myrkur, the one-woman black metal project of Danish singer/songwriter Amalie Bruun, is only getting better at her craft. Myrkur‘s new song “Shadows Of Silence” is her first song in English, and not quite comparable to the rest of her material. “Shadows Of Silence” is what essentially amounts to a blackened ballad that falls somewhere between being gorgeous and foreboding, instead of her usual choir-laden black metal blasts.
“Shadows Of Silence” will not be on Myrkur’s new album Mareridt, which you can pre-order here before its September 15 release date, but will be a part of Decibel’s flexidisc series as a standalone single.
Wolves In The Throne Room – “Born From The Serpent’s Eye”
After following up 2011’s black metal masterpiece Celestial Lineage with a synthesizer-driver instrumental album Celestite, Wolves In The Throne Room is returning once more to its black metal sound.
The band debuted the lead single “Born From The Serpent’s Eye” off Thrice Woven with its first-ever music video, and it’s everything you’d want from the band at ths point, topped off with a little folky majesty.
Don’t get too excited about the fact that the song is far and away one of the shortest songs Wolves In The Throne Room has ever put out either – this isn’t the whole thing. You’re just gonna have to wait for your pre-order of Thrice Woven (out September 22) to come in to hear the whole song.
Paganizer – “Prey To Death”
Paganizer vocalist, guitarist, and mastermind Rogga Johansson is and has been in more bands combined than some people ever hear of in their lifetime. Paganizer has been around since 1998 and seems to be making bigger waves than normal in 2017 with its coming album Land Of Weeping Souls, which is its first in four years. So maybe that has a lot to do with it, but the quality of music probably helps quite a bit
If you’re into the guttural vocals of Bloodbath and the crusty guitar tones of Entombed and Dismember, then I’m willing to bet you’ll love Paganizer.
Pre-order Land Of Weeping Souls before its August 1 release date here.
Belphegor – “Baphomet”
There’s one thing Belphegor brings to the table with “Baphomet,” and it’s complete and total aural destruction. Despite the constantly churning double bass drums and blasting from Simon Schilling, the rest of the band is focused on monolithic, sludgy riffs that slowly usher you into guttural nothingness with unwavering and abysmally black hands.
That, and any band who can pull off the classic Morbid Angel pick scrape in a crushing, low-tuned riff gets a pass from me. Belphegor will release Totenkult on September 15, and you can pre-order a copy here.
Cripper – “Pressure”
Cripper has been doing what it does for 12 years now, and unwaveringly so. Aside from going through bassists like they’re paper towels, the band has had a consistent lineup since 2005 and has retained a heavy, straightforward death metal approach to things.
“Pressure” is no different. It’s neither a flashy track that dazzles with shred and drum acrobatics, nor does it rely on breakdowns and tonal shifts to get its point across. Cripper is gonna beat you into the ground relentlessly with a fairly simple song structure and catch riffs until you’re done moving.
Cripper will release Follow Me: Kill! on September 15, and you can pre-order that here.
