Hazy Days, Clear Tunes

  Following the underground buzz of their debut demo Skin the Living in 1995, Jungle Rot returned in 1997 with their first official full-length studio album, Slaughter the Weak. In an era where death metal was either mutating into hyper-technical wizardry or dissolving into lifeless production gimmicks, Jungle Rot did the opposite: they went back to the roots. Back to groove. Back to primal, militaristic death metal that doesn’t ask you to analyze—it dares you to survive. Tracklist: Left for Dead Gore Bag Infectious Demigorgon Consumed in Darkness Murder One Butchering Death World of Hate Deadly Force Right from Left for Dead, it’s clear what Jungle Rot are about: tight mid-tempo riffing, no-frills production, and a stomp that feels like boots crushing skulls. Dave Matrise’s vocals are raw but discernible, and the lyrics embrace themes of war, death, and mutilation without veering into cartoonish gore. Gore Bag and Infectious follow in lockstep—offering ...

Let Us Prey was released in 2002, and it stands as a strange, murky monolith in the Electric Wizard discography. Rather than attempting to outdo the sheer weight of Dopethrone, the band took a sharp left turn into occult psychedelia, avant-doom, and experimental horror soundscapes. It would also be the last album to feature the classic lineup of Jus Oborn, Tim Bagshaw, and Mark Greening—a trio that had already reshaped doom metal into something raw, ritualistic, and utterly feral. This album doesn’t follow traditional songcraft. Instead, it feels like a séance—half composed of riffs and half of vapor. While it still features mammoth, fuzzed-out guitar and filthy doom passages, the record places equal emphasis on atmosphere: ambient interludes, synth-laden nightmares, and narcotic pacing that makes it feel more like a cursed transmission than a collection of songs. Tracklist: A Chosen Few We, the Undead Master Of Alchemy The Outsider Night Of The Shape Priestess Of Mars Mother ...

Haunted is the debut album by American death metal band Six Feet Under, released on September 26, 1995, via Metal Blade Records. Formed as a side project by vocalist Chris Barnes (formerly of Cannibal Corpse) and guitarist Allen West (of Obituary), the band also includes bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall. The album showcases a groove-laden death metal sound, distinct from the more technical styles prevalent in the genre at the time.  Tracklist: The Enemy Inside – 4:17 Silent Violence – 3:33 Lycanthropy – 4:41 Still Alive – 4:04 Beneath a Black Sky – 2:50 Human Target – 3:30 Remains of You – 3:22 Suffering in Ecstasy – 2:44 Tomorrow's Victim – 3:34 Torn to the Bone – 2:46 Haunted – 3:10  Haunted received positive reviews for its heavy, groove-oriented approach and Barnes' distinctive vocal style. The album is noted for its straightforward, headbanging-friendly compositions and has been praised as a solid entry in the death metal genre...

By the time Incantation released Primordial Domination, the band had long solidified their legacy in the death metal underground. They were the keepers of the fire — still dragging their sound through the mud and smoke when many of their peers had moved on or cleaned up. And yet, Primordial Domination doesn’t just rehash their early rot. It’s a refinement of their unholy craft. Stripped of excess and delivered with punishing clarity, this album is one of Incantation’s most underrated works — not because it lacks intensity, but because it hides its power in plain sight. Tracklist: Primordial Domination The Fallen Priest Dissolute Rule / Begin Apocalypse Hailed Babylon Lead to Desolation Doctrines of Reproach The Stench of Crucifixion Extirpated Dominus Conquered God Album Overview: The opening title track Primordial Domination wastes no time establishing tone. A slow, hammering riff leads into Incantation’s signature brand of smoggy violence. McEntee’s vo...

After the apocalyptic chaos of Diabolical Conquest, Incantation entered a period of transition. Daniel Corchado had left the band, and John McEntee — founder and guitarist — took on vocal duties himself. The result was The Infernal Storm, an album that pushed the band’s music into even darker, uglier territory. It’s not just death metal. It’s a total collapse into murk, madness, and oblivion. While it doesn’t receive the same widespread acclaim as their early classics, The Infernal Storm is one of the most suffocating and underrated statements of pure death metal terror. Tracklist: Anoint the Chosen Extinguishing Salvation Impending Diabolical Conquest The Unholy Ones Chalice of Paradise Heavenly Damnation The Fallen Sempiternal Pandemonium Lustful Demise The Ibex Moon From the very beginning of Anoint the Chosen, it’s clear that Incantation had no interest in refinement. The track opens with an avalanche of sound — guitars buzzing like flies over rottin...

  Neuromechanica, released in 2018, is an audacious, brain-scrambling assault that obliterates the barriers between brutal death metal, grindcore, noise, and experimental jazz. Hailing from Russia, ByoNoiseGenerator carved out a corner of extreme music that feels completely alien even to seasoned fans of technical death metal or cybergrind. Rather than relying on traditional structures or grooves, Neuromechanica plunges the listener into an overwhelming freefall of hyper-complex rhythms, abrasive textures, and moments of surreal, mechanical beauty. This album is not just "fast" or "technical" in the usual metal sense — it's almost inhuman. It feels like the soundtrack to a malfunctioning industrial facility, where every machine spirals into oblivion, yet somehow operates on a terrifying internal logic. Neuromechanica is dense, chaotic, yet meticulously constructed, making it both suffocating and fascinating. Tracklist: 9.8m/sec² Endorphine Nose Dive АШ-82 L...

Released in 1994, Mortal Throne of Nazarene stands as one of the most harrowing and blasphemous monuments in death metal history. Incantation had already laid down a marker with their debut Onward to Golgotha, but Mortal Throne of Nazarene took that foundation and dragged it deeper into the abyss. Where other bands sought technical precision or clean production, Incantation sank into filth, choosing to amplify the suffocating atmosphere of rot, heresy, and impending doom. This is not an album that tries to be friendly to the listener. It is a hostile, cavernous force that feels almost designed to repel the uninitiated. It sounds like the walls of a forgotten crypt closing in on you, the air growing thinner with every crawling riff and demonic growl. Tracklist: Demonic Incarnate Emaciated Holy Figure Iconoclasm of Catholicism Essence of Blasphemous Abomination The Ibex Moon Blissful Bloodshower Abolishment of Immaculacy Nocturnal Kingdom of Demonic Enlightenment ...

By the time IX Equilibrium was unleashed in 1999, Emperor had already shattered the traditional expectations of black metal with their earlier masterpieces. Where In the Nightside Eclipse built towering, frozen castles of melody and Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk pushed symphonic black metal to its baroque, overwhelming zenith, IX Equilibrium turned inward. It became less about icy majesty and more about feverish, chaotic complexity — a hallucinatory labyrinth where rage and refinement collide head-on. This is an album that abandons any pretense of being easily digestible. Every track feels like being swept into a whirlwind of shifting time signatures, relentless riff mutations, and a vocal delivery that borders on operatic hysteria. It is Emperor's most violent album, but paradoxically, it is also their most intricate and methodically composed. Tracklist: Curse You All Men! Decrystallizing Reason An Elegy of Icaros The Source of Icon E Sworn Nonus Aequilibrium T...

Konkurs—the Swedish word for bankruptcy—is a fitting title for one of depressive black metal’s most emotionally desolate and urbanized masterpieces. Released in 2008, Konkurs marks Lifelover’s most coherent descent into emotional collapse, drug-addled spirals, and the grey monotony of modern life. It’s not the forest-dwelling isolation of classic DSBM, but something more real, more suffocating: the bleakness of apartment blocks, shattered routines, insomnia, and urban decay. The album serves as a grim document of mental illness, addiction, and depersonalization. While earlier works like Pulver felt more spontaneous and chaotic, Konkurs is tight, cold, and oddly polished in its despair. Its melodies stick like cigarette smoke, and its lyrics sting with brutal clarity. Tracklist: Shallow Mental Central Dialog Brand Cancertid Konvulsion Twitch Narcotic Devotion Alltid - Aldrig Stängt P.G.A Semester Original Bitter Reflektion Mitt Annexia Spiken I Kist...

The third full-length album by Mütiilation, Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn), is a resurrection drenched in self-destruction. After years of silence, betrayal, and rot, Meyhna'ch emerged from the shadows once more with a release that stood not as a triumphant return, but as a scornful curse. This album sounds like it clawed its way out of a coffin buried beneath Parisian gutters, dragging with it the sickness and sadness of Les Légions Noires. It is ugly. It is off-putting. And for those who understand it, it is indispensable. Tracklist: The Eggs of Melancholy New False Prophet The Hanged Priest Inferi Ira Ductus Black Millenium No Mercy for Humans Feeling the Funeral Breath The Ugliness Inside Black as Lead and Death From the very first moments of The Eggs of Melancholy, there’s a sense of dislocation—a swaying rhythm, cracked production, and Meyhna’ch’s unmistakable tortured vocals drenched in reverb and spiritual sickness. Mütiilation was never about pre...

There is black metal that screams and claws, and then there is black metal that chants and suffocates. Dödens Evangelium, released in 2005 by the Swedish band Ondskapt, belongs entirely to the latter. This is not a record made for casual consumption or aggressive headbanging. It is a black mass rendered in sonic form—a slow, rotting, spiritual descent that demands full surrender. The album takes its time, unfolds in slow ceremonial spirals, and evokes a holy desecration that few albums can match. Tracklist: Djävulens Ande Feeding the Flames Revelations of Another Time Lord of All Unclean Spirits Akilkarsa I Kristi Skugga Fienden Hungrar Interlude The Fires of Hell Blessed by Demoniac Wrath Beast of Death Witch The journey begins with Djävulens Ande, which immediately makes it clear that atmosphere will be the primary weapon. The track doesn’t rush into tremolo or blast beats. It opens like an invocation—ritualistic, bleak, and crawling. The vocals ...

  Released in 2014, A Skeletal Domain marked Cannibal Corpse’s thirteenth studio album, and with it, a subtle but significant evolution in their sound. The band parted ways with long-time producer Erik Rutan and instead worked with Mark Lewis at Audio Hammer Studios, resulting in a cleaner but still utterly pummeling sonic profile. Thematically, the band continued to dwell in the abattoir of death metal’s most grotesque imaginations—but this time, there’s a sharpness to both their composition and execution that makes the record stand out. Tracklist: High Velocity Impact Spatter Sadistic Embodiment Kill or Become A Skeletal Domain Headlong into Carnage The Murderer’s Pact Funeral Cremation Icepick Lobotomy Vector of Cruelty Bloodstained Cement Asphyxiate to Resuscitate Hollowed Bodies The opening track, High Velocity Impact Spatter, kicks things off with surgical aggression. Paul Mazurkiewicz’s drumming is relentless, and the riffs immediately show...

  Dipsomania, released in 2015 by Georgian DSBM act Psychonaut 4, is a devastating, personal descent into the pit of addiction and self-annihilation. It's a record that doesn’t just flirt with despair—it inhabits it completely. Where their debut Have a Nice Trip hinted at inner collapse with theatrical melancholy, Dipsomania feels rawer, more direct, and painfully autobiographical. It sheds any notion of glamorized suffering and instead presents depression and addiction as they are: ugly, cyclical, and often terminal. Tracklist: Intro Beware the Silence Personal Forest Don't Leave the Room Pain Dealer Alcoholism Suicide Is Legal We Will Never Find the Cure How Much for the Hope? Moldy Eyes of a Homeless Dog Personal Forest (S.D. Ramirez Version) The opener sets the mood with eerie ambiance before collapsing into "Beware the Silence," which wraps existential dread in slow, piercing tremolo riffs and torn-throat screams. This isn...

In Search of Sunrise is the inaugural installment in the iconic trance compilation series mixed by Dutch DJ and producer Tiësto. Released on November 22, 1999, through Black Hole Recordings, this album marked a significant moment in the evolution of trance music, blending progressive and melodic elements into a seamless auditory journey. Tracklist: York – "The Reachers of Civilisation" – 5:31 Libra Presents Taylor – "Anomaly: Calling Your Name" (Ferry Corsten Remix) – 4:04 Billie Ray Martin – "Honey" (Chicane Club Mix) – 6:42 Marc Vision – "Time Gate" (Original Mix) – 3:20 BT – "Mercury & Solace" (BT 12" Mastermix) – 6:49 Cabala – "Dark Blue" – 5:48 Gypsy – "I Trance You" (Pappa & Gilbey Mix) – 5:06 Yahel & DJ Miss T – "Going Up" – 4:03 Technique – "Sun Is Shining" (Mash Up Matt Remix) – 5:00 Allure – "No More Tears" – 6:42 Kamaya Painte...

Koloss (2012) is Meshuggah's seventh studio album, a monolithic and earthbound record that favors crushing groove and atmosphere over speed or showmanship. Where earlier albums spiraled into mechanical frenzy, Koloss feels like tectonic plates shifting in slow motion—massive, deliberate, and overwhelming. Tracklist: I Am Colossus The Demon’s Name Is Surveillance Do Not Look Down Behind the Sun The Hurt That Finds You First Marrow Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion Swarm Demiurge The Last Vigil The album opens with "I Am Colossus," a slow, sludgy behemoth that sets the tone: this is Meshuggah tapping into pure weight. It’s not about disorienting you with rapid-fire time signatures—though they’re still there—it’s about crushing you. And they do, track after track. "The Demon’s Name Is Surveillance" flips the energy, a faster, thrash-inflected ripper that shows the band hasn’t lost its speed, but chooses when to use it ...

The Violent Sleep of Reason (2016) marks Meshuggah’s eighth studio album, a record that both consolidates their legacy and subverts modern metal’s production norms. Breaking from the hyper-layered studio habits of their past, the band opted to record live in the studio—each member playing together rather than tracking parts separately. The result is Meshuggah at their most primal and immediate: a mechanical beast rendered in flesh and sweat. Tracklist: Clockworks Born in Dissonance MonstroCity By the Ton Violent Sleep of Reason Ivory Tower Stifled Nostrum Our Rage Won’t Die Into Decay Opening with "Clockworks," the album immediately throws you into a whirlwind of rhythm, complexity, and brutal force. Tomas Haake’s drumming is as surgical as ever, slicing through Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström’s jarring riffs with unsettling precision. But despite its chaos, there’s an organic feel beneath the polyrhythmic math. That’s the genius of th...

Raskol (stylized in Cyrillic as РАСКОЛ) is a 2020 EP released by Bartłomiej Krysiuk’s version of Batushka, now continuing under the name Patriarkh. Arriving in the wake of the infamous split with Krzysztof Drabikowski, Raskol marks a pivotal artistic statement—rooted in both personal and theological schism. The title itself references the 17th-century divide within the Russian Orthodox Church, called the Raskol, a historical backdrop that cleverly mirrors the very public rupture in the band’s own legacy. The EP immerses the listener in dark ritualism, a cloistered mood of exile, betrayal, and spiritual yearning. The tracklist for Raskol is: Irmos I Irmos II Irmos III Irmos IV Irmos V Each piece follows the liturgical naming convention of “Irmos,” which are hymns sung in the Orthodox Church as part of canon sequences. In this context, they serve as metaphysical rungs on a ladder descending toward inner fracture—ritualistic, echoing, and solemn. The EP weaves chanting and...

  Released independently on May 26, 2019, Panihida is the second full-length album by Krzysztof Drabikowski's Batushka, and widely regarded as the true spiritual and artistic successor to the groundbreaking 2015 debut Litourgiya. The title Panihida refers to the Eastern Orthodox memorial service for the dead—an apt metaphor for an album drenched in themes of mourning, spiritual reverence, and inner ritual. Composed, recorded, and produced entirely by Drabikowski himself during a highly public legal dispute over the band name, Panihida reaffirms his original vision: raw, immersive, and spiritually suffocating black metal rooted in sacred liturgy. Tracklist: Piesn 1 Piesn 2 Piesn 3 Piesn 4 Piesn 5 Piesn 6 Piesn 7 Piesn 8 (“Piesn” translates to “Hymn” or “Song” in Polish.) Panihida unfolds like a single continuous prayer. Each track is named simply and sequentially, stripping away any commercial pretense and emphasizing the liturgical, funereal structure. The ...

Released on July 12, 2019, through Metal Blade Records, Hospodi is the second full-length album released under the Batushka name—but it comes from the camp led by vocalist Bartłomiej Krysiuk, following a legal and artistic split from the band’s original founder and composer, Krzysztof Drabikowski. While the band’s debut Litourgiya was a game-changing blend of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music and atmospheric black metal, Hospodi attempts to continue that sound with a more polished, accessible, and groove-driven direction. The album draws conceptually from the Orthodox Christian funeral rite, each track named after canonical hours of prayer, lending a ritualistic framework to the music. Tracklist: Wozglas Dziewiatyj Czas Wieczernia Powieczerje Polunosznica Utrenia Pierwyj Czas Tretij Czas Szestoj Czas Liturgiya Hospodi immediately establishes its sacred tone with “Wozglas,” a brief but commanding opening built on bells and choral ambiance. It sets the ...

  Released in December 2015, Litourgiya is the debut album by Polish black metal band Batushka. The title translates to "Liturgy" in Church Slavonic, and that’s exactly what the album unfolds like—a dark, reverent mass. With its fusion of Orthodox Christian liturgical elements and atmospheric black metal, Litourgiya became an instant cult classic. It stood out in a saturated genre for its unique thematic ambition, spiritual weight, and sonic intensity. The album is sung entirely in Church Slavonic, using real Orthodox liturgical texts, which adds a haunting authenticity. Tracklist: Yekteniya I – Ogłoszenie Yekteniya II – Blagosloveniye Yekteniya III – Premudrost’ Yekteniya IV – Milost’ Yekteniya V – Svyatyy Vkhod Yekteniya VI – Upovanie Yekteniya VII – Istina Yekteniya VIII – Spasenie Each track is titled "Yekteniya," which refers to a kind of responsive prayer in Orthodox services, giving the album a feeling of unity and ritualistic stru...

​Prelapsarian is the sixth full-length album by New York-based avant-garde metal band Krallice, released digitally on December 21, 2016, via Gilead Media. The album comprises four tracks, totaling approximately 35 minutes, and was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Colin Marston at Menegroth the Thousand Caves in Queens, NY. Track Listing: Transformation Chronicles Hate Power Conflagration Lotus Throne  The album showcases Krallice's signature intricate guitar work, complex rhythms, and dynamic vocal styles. Notably, "Hate Power" stands out as a concise yet intense track, diverging from their typically longer compositions. Thematically, Prelapsarian reflects a sense of urgency and post-election anxiety, contrasting the cosmic themes of their earlier release Hyperion. Critics have praised Prelapsarian for its technical prowess and emotional depth. The album balances aggressive and ambient elements, offering a dynamic listening experience. Tracks like "C...

Immutable is Meshuggah’s ninth studio album, released on April 1, 2022, and it’s a monster in every sense—lengthy (67 minutes), heavy, and deeply textured. It continues their evolution while subtly nodding to their past. Here's a breakdown of what makes Immutable tick. Broken Cog   The Abysmal Eye   Light the Shortening Fuse   Phantoms   Ligature Marks   God He Sees in Mirrors   They Move Below   Kaleidoscope   Black Cathedral I Am That Thirst The Faultless Armies of the Preposterous   Past Tense Tone: Crushing, mechanical, but also more atmospheric than previous albums. Themes: The name Immutable (meaning “unchanging”) reflects ideas about human nature—our resistance to change, societal loops, internal chaos, etc. Mood: Cold, calculated, but not sterile. There's a lot of nuance in the groove, a kind of spiraling intensity. Broken Cog – A slow, eerie opener. Jens Kidman whispers instead of screams, setting a ...