“Based in Birmingham, UK, Cattle Hammer was formed by vocalist/guitarist Duncan Wilkins in 2023. He’s joined by I Cartwright on drums, J Wyles on guitar, and D Von Donovan on bass. Together, they mix a caustic brew of drone, doom, and sludge, but each track on Dark Thoughts with Lights Out has its own identity.” Hammers for beef.
“If I’ve learned anything from Dark Buddha Rising, it’s that drone metal goes hand-in-hand with spiritual awakening. The blinding light of transcendence and the shadows of the occult are parts of the same jagged landscape of existence, and the abyss rules beneath, embodying both creation and destruction. Dark Buddha Rising exemplified this in its Buddhism-influenced aesthetic tied to hypnotic and ritualist drone, pulsing percussion, and a flurry of vocal attacks to conjure and invoke a dark trance. With their ongoing hiatus, Entheomorphosis takes up the mantle.” Drone for the deities.
Our man in the Netherlands attended Roadburn and sent dispatches from the front. Then he went missing…
Carcharodon and Cherd roll out their Top Ten(ish) of 2024 for all the metaverse to gawk at. Pay first!
Doom et Al and Dear Hollow take the stage to share their carefully considered Top Ten(ish) of 2024. Throw flowers.
“Well, goodness. It’s been a while since I last sat my ass down to write a review. Now, there were Important Reasons for some of this (and other, less AMG-related, reasons for the rest). Unlike me, Aaron Turner is not someone you could accuse of having a shabby work ethic. Best known as the frontman of post-metal legends Isis, Turner has numerous current and past bands, as well as having founded Hydra Head Records and more. He has fronted atmospheric sludge trio Sumac for a decade now and, somewhat remarkably, the band’s line-up has stayed consistent for that period too.” Busy, itchy, sludgy.
Holdeneye and Cherd of Doom made these long-winded lists and now they’re your problem. No trade backsies!
TheKenWord and Carcharodon join the fray with tastes ranging from good, bad, and unfathomable.
“Imagine, for a second, what could and would happen if musicians with backgrounds in free jazz, free improvisation, and modern composition became metalheads. What sort of music would they then make? Perhaps they would attempt a take on death metal, deconstructing the genre’s elements, perverting them, and piecing them back together into maddening soundscapes. A fantasy befitting of phase-shifted thinking and playing mechanisms. With their debut Putrid Tendency, Catatonic Effigy give flesh to this feverish reverie.” Choose the sound of the Destructor.
“If you’ve been loitering in the Hall since the Great Muppet Invasion first began, you’ve probably noticed how great I am at promo selection rarely I wander too terribly far from my tried and trve metal wheelhouses. I’ve been burned by the bin before, I’m bitter and basically all but unable to believe that things could be better beyond the blackmosphere, but the burden ov objectivity and that big bastardly bully of a boss-monkey Steel have beckoned me to bid bye-bye to my beloved blackness and embrace being the bin’s bitch.” Monkey bin-ess.
