The Cancer Kids - The Possible Dream (2006)

Genre: Powerviolence / Thrashcore
Country: United States

Another band that has came and went as fast as the wind blows Western Mass' The Cancer Kids play blistering fast hardcore with thrash influences.  Aside from a single track 7 inch and a split seven inch this was their only other output, however this one full length is brimming with anger and seemingly teeters on the edge of going off the rails completely at some points.  But just when you think everything is going to unravel in a burst of cathartic madness they pull things back into shape in the form of a groove or breakdown before punching you in the face with another blast fueled burst.  Fast, angry and utterly addictive, well worth your time.

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Le seul élément - Gin Pleos (2012)

Genre: Post Rock/Ambient
Country: France

Piano-based post rock that incorporates elements from sludge, ambient, noise and drone. It has that bleak feeling that gives off a hopeless and maybe even a post-apocalyptic atmosphere by combining a sense of melody with dissonance. It's just a thirty minute EP so it's definitely worth a listen.

Free Download on Bandcamp

Thergothon - Fhtagn-nagh Yog-Sothoth (1991)

Genre: Funeral Doom
Country: Finland

While genre legends Thergothon gained underground notoriety with their 1994 full length release Stream From The Heavens, it is this, their 1991 demo that takes the crown jewel in the bands miniscule discography.  Containing early versions of two songs from the full length (Elemental, Yet The Watchers Guard) as well as the song Evoken and outro The Twilight Fade, this demo creates one of the darkest and heaviest atmospheres ever.  With a guitar tone that leads to an overall superior sound when compared to the full length this is one demo that has truly stood the test of time and will no doubt be coveted for years to come by collectors.

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Einna - Les Angoisses d'Arcadie EP (2008)

Genre: Screamo/Post Metal
Country: France

I'm somewhat iffy on the genres, but that doesn't stop this from feeling massive as fuck. Einna creates towering post-metal atmospheres, some of the best drumming you'll ever hear in any genre, and screamo-like guitar playing. France does in fact produce some of the best screamo out there.

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Cloakroom - Infinity (2013)

Genre: Shoegaze/Emo
Country: United States

Emo-tinged shoegaze with an overload of fuzz creating an incredibly heavy and dirty wall of sound somewhat reminiscent to doom/stoner metal bands with beautiful and melancholic passages thrown into the mix. Clocking in almost thirty minutes, Infinity is definitely not worth missing out on.

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Sutratma - Sutratma (2012)

Genre: Funeral Doom
Country: United States


California's Sutratma have came forth to spread the morbid word that we are nothing but insects and shall be crushed by the weight of the world in which we dwell.  Well they may not have in reality, but that's the feeling this full length from one of California's best kept secrets gives off.  Invoking the sound of genre legends Thergothon this 5 piece do their best to make you feel like the world is ending in the slowest and most agonizing fashion possible, perfect listening for the dark and cold winter nights.

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Whorelord - Demo 2011 (2011)

Genre: Black Metal / Death Metal / Grind
Country: United States



A violent mix of black, death and grind equate to just over 11 minutes of violence that you can't help but love.  Sadly these guys are another one demo wonder band who came and left leaving only this one blast of anarchy behind, well worth your time and addictive as hell.   This is the sound of someone being beaten in a darkened alleyway and being left a shivering mess in their own bodily fluids. Enjoy the violence.

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Warthog - Exterminate Me (2013)

Genre: Hardcore
Country: United States

Scathing hardcore released last year. Frenzied guitar, ritualistically heavy drums and and furious vocals all drenched in a cacophony of wondrous feedback. These guys just got signed to Iron Lung records, so you know they are good.

Exterminate Me? Exterminate Yourself

49 Morphines - Partial Eclipse (2008)

Genre: Screamo/Post-Rock
Country: South Korea

This is basically the South Korean equivalent to Japan's widely known screamo/post-rock hybrid Envy. They aren't as good as Envy obviously but they definitely do their style of screamo justice while focusing a little more on their post rock influences. Not much to say other than if you like Envy, you'll enjoy this.

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Facebreaker - Dead, Rotten & Hungry (2008)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden

Nothing much to say about this other than it's good catchy gore splattered death metal, at the end of the day who the hell doesn't like music about zombies.

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Cult of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान

Genre: Black Metal/Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: Czech Republic

Just look at that artwork and tell me you aren't for kvlt trip to the cosmos. Everything is done fucking well - the production, the cool synths, the vocals, everything else. Plus the lyrics are in Hindi. This is a band worth supporting.

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Québec - Together We Have Grown, Together We Shall Bloom (2007)

Genre: Screamo/Post-Rock
Country: Australia

If you ever wanted to hear screamo with a saxophone for some odd reason, this is the album to hear it. It may seem like a gimmick, but these guys definitely make it work. On the few tracks that it's on, the saxophone adds more beauty and melancholy to the instrumental/post rock portions and maybe even make it a little jazzy. The saxophone shouldn't be the selling point though; these boys craft some of the best screamo songs you'll hear through spectacular songwriting through post rock climaxes and jazzy math rock breaks and melodies. If anything off this is worth checking, it would be the last song off this. If you dug that, check it the rest out!

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Skógr - Skógr Demo (2013)

Genre: Black Metal
Country: United States

A band that has seemingly gone unheard since their arrival towards the latter stages of 2013, this their solitary demo goes a long way to showing that a black and great  future surely lies ahead for this US duo.  A great cold guitar tone punctuated by the tortured rasps of vocalist Thorfinn Balor reminds me of early Norway (in a good way) while the occasional breaks and forays into acoustic melodies hint at further enticing possibilities from this project.  This really is great stuff and with a propper full length release having recently been put out (which is also awesome) and with a second already in the works, this is one demo that you don't want to sleep on as it's only limited to 30 copies although there is talk of a repress possibly in the future.

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Entrapment - The Obscurity Within... (2012)

Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: Netherlands

Seemingly forgotten among the slew of releases of the last couple of years is this osdm gem from Holland's very own Entrapment.  The acid test for this will always be, "do you like Entombed/Nihilist?" if you do then you can't go far wrong checking this out. This is just great osdm that pays homage to the great Swedish death metal scene and reeks of skeletal remains and purifying corpses.  Nothing else to say other than check this out.  Zombifying soultearing death metal!

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Kinoko Teikoku - Uzu Ni Naru (2012)

Genre: Indie Rock
Country: Japan

Kinoko Teikoku play indie rock that is often mixed with post rock and shoegaze elements that really gives you a floating and dreamy feeling, especially the first two tracks. The vocals trade backs and the harmonies between the main vocalist (who is a fantastic singer) and her bandmates are downright angelic and the instruments play a suitable backdrop for the vocals with twinkly guitars and soaring chord progressions played in moods varying between happy and melancholic. Check this out if you want some of the best indie rock Japan has to offer.

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Unruh - Setting Fire to Sinking Ships (1999)

Unruh - Setting Fire to Sinking Ships
Country - USA

Genre: Metalcore? Grindcore? Death metal? Hardcore punk? Crust? Mixed bag, really. But one thing that is for sure: this album is harsh. Like burning in a whirlwind of flame while molten shards of volcanic rock slowly strip away your skin. Brutal shit, and not in that lame groove-core fashion. It's fast, furious, tight as hell, and has one of the best drummers I've ever heard. Check it out, you won't regret it.

Unfortunately, the album is notoriously hard to find through simple linkage, so I can't provide a straight download link. However if you have access to what.cd or soulseek or other such clients it should be pretty easy to acquire. The full things on YouTube, too. So there's that.

La Bella - Recomposition (2012)

Genre: Screamo
Country: United States

La Bella is one of the more interesting bands I've come across. On Recompositions, La Bella deliver seven tracks of jazzy and Latin influenced screamo worth raving about. Their influences integrate naturally with their brand of screamo in the sense that their influences don't stick out and feel out of place which leads to interesting chord progressions, riffs, and thumping bass lines. Each instrument has a chance to stand out whether when they play at a breakneck pace or when they decide to slow it down showing off their songwriting skills. Definitely worth a listen.

Name-Your-Price on Bandcamp

Vlad Tepes - Celtic Poetry (1994)

Genre: Raw Black Metal
Country: France

One of many essential demos put out by this french duo which contains four of the songs that would go on to feature on the legendary split release with Belketre - March To The Black Holocaust.  However this incarnation of these songs proves to be even rawer and more aggressive than found on the split release which is obviously a good thing indeed.  Through the mountains of distortion and feedback ring through some of the best riffs black metal has to offer coupled with some great songwriting skills, a gem of the french underground and of black metal in general.  Fucking essential.

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Kiss it Goodbye - She Loves Me, She Loves me Not (1997)

Genre: metalcore/noisecore/mathcore
Country: USA

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not is not the pansy emocore whinefest you'd expect from a band with a name like Kiss it Goodbye. Rather, it is a dizzying array of dissonance, distortion and frustration. And it's no surprise considering the fact that many of the members played in legendary game-changer acts like Deadguy and Rorschach. But I'll get to those later. For now, let's just talk about how absolutely pissed off this release is. Utilizing a wide range of influences from the obvious Converge and Botch (for the sheer aggression) to post-hardcore/noise rock acts such as Fugazi and The Jesus Lizard (for the sludgy, noisy atmospheric pieces), Kiss It Goodbye managed to create a sound that is both fresh and dynamic yet cohesive and organic.

While one moment it will feel like a series of punches to the face, the next you'll slowly start sinking into a deep pit of magma - that is, until borderline psychotic-sounding frontman Tim Singer (Deadguy) pulls you out of the pit for a moment's release before laying the sucker punches on you while screaming his lungs into submission and pulling his bleeding heart straight out of his chest and splattering it across your face. Yeah, it's pretty intense. Some superb musicianship, too. Oh, and they toured with Obituary.

So fear not, metalheads; this is no pussy-core. This is real, and it doesn't like you. I mean, just listen to the song Sick Day. Fuck. Passionately pissed. Just like it should be.

Get fucked up!

Arnaut Pavle - Arnaut Pavle EP

Genre: Raw Black Metal
Country: Finland

You like early Darkthrone sounding a bit better than Darkthrone with sick punk influence? That should be more than enough of me getting your panties wet, go cop this.

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Forgotten Spell / Nosvrolok - Split (2013)

Genre: Raw Black Metal
Country: Germany / United States

Amazing split release between Germany's Forgotten Spell and US duo Nosvrolok.  Forgotten Spell weigh in on their side with a sole 23 minute raw and blazing black metal masterclass, while Nosvrolok treat us to 2 tracks of utter darkness and go a long way to prove why many consider them to be one of the most criminally underrated USBM bands around.  For anyone who claims that black metal in the modern day is dead, i urge you to check out this release.  Raw, brilliant and as black as the depths of a closed tomb.

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They Came At Dawn - CDr Demo (2011)

Genre: Blackened Crust / Hardcore
Country: United States

Black metal influenced crust / hardcore featuring members of Ash Borer and Unholy Crucifix.  Not much is known about this now defunct project, this their only release comprised of 3 tracks of intense hate fueled  violent crust was a glimpse of what might have been.  The Ash Borer riffing style is apparent pretty much from the start as the first of the three untitled tracks bursts into life with a tornado of riffs and incomprehensible screams.  Pretty much as soon as it has started it seemingly ends (much like the project) leaving you wanting more, violent and addictive this release deserves to be heard by more people.  There has been rumblings of a posthumous release in the form of a 6 track EP through psychic violence records, but that has yet to materialize.  So for now we are left with these 3 solitary tracks of blackened punk fury and many unanswered questions about what might have been.

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The Black Twilight Circle - Tliltic Tlapoyauak (2013)

Genre: Black Metal/ Death Metal/ Doom
Country: United States

Shrieking into full view this year came California's infamous Black Twilight Circle, having remained quiet for some time with talk even of the label having ended all together they returned with this.  They bring to us a label compilation not too dissimilar to the original Worship Black Twilight compilation, only this time they have expanded their roster as well as honing their skills if you will.  One song is contributed from every band on the label along with a few new faces that carry as much blackened menace as the already established BTC bands.  A full 16 songs grace this comp with the more established BTC bands turning in some amazing performances delivering their best work so far (Arizmenda, Axeman, The Haunting Presence), while the new bands go a long way to showing why the labels future is in safe hands (Kampilan, Acualli).  This new label compilation affirms their place at the top of the US black metal underground and leaves no doubt about what should be a great future for the label.  Put simply if you have any interest in black metal you owe it to yourself to hear this, the original tape was sold on tour but a further physical release is planned at some point through The Ajna Offensive on double LP and double CD.

Tape 1  Tape 2

One of the best black metal releases of last year without doubt.