Greeting, Decibel readers!
Excited to share some lesser-known and newer bands with you this week. I suppose France’s Celeste is the best-known on here, having been around the longest. At the same time, however, they play a mix of styles that doesn’t quite match up to anyone else out there. I also like that, even with the amount of nostalgia involved in the acts below, you’re beginning to see some divergence from patterns into some potentially new directions. Pay attention to what Dark Meditation does in the future, in particular.
Enjoy!
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AngelBlast – Throne of Ashes
A new two-song EP from the energetic black metal warriors in AngelBlast. The band’s fast-paced and aggressive sound will be familiar territory for fans of the deathy-blasting variation of the sound that became prominent in the late-90s, particularly in Sweden.
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Celeste – Assassine(s)
French black metal that leans in a dissonant direction but pulls forward into a haze of hardcore and post-rock. An album for long walks that terminate at the mosh pit.
Stream: Apple Music
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Dark Meditation – Polluted Temples
As the wave of new-old-school metal bands washes over us, several cool bands have washed up on our sonic shores. Dark Meditation has a vintage metal feel, but adds some death rock twists and desert rock turns to give the band it’s banner to ride into town — after they dry off, of course.
Stream: Apple Music
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Ravenous Death – Visions From The Netherworld
It’s death metal. It’s good. If you like Drawn and Quartered and anything put out by Dark Descent records, you’ll enjoy Ravenous Death‘s crushing tour of Hades.
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Vicious Knights – Alteration Through Possession
There’s something special and irresistible about early extreme metal, that bleeding edge where it’s not quite thrash anymore but not exactly death metal yet. Vicious Knights brings us back to that liminal space somewhere around 1985 and digs up the unhinged beats and righteous riffs that we crave. Crank this one nice and loud, friends.
