Well, this one is especially late, even by our famously sub-par standards. It’s not yet the halfway point of 2024 and we’re already 3 months in arrears, just like we are with our court-ordered payments to permanently disabled staff members and a host of traumatized readers. We will do our best to catch up with some of these things before the summer ends, but time is the fire in which we burn and we’re wearing gasoline-soaked linens and TNT tophats. Anywho, here are the belated goodies!
There was little doubt which record was taking the top slot for March. Hamferð are big players in the doom-death sweepstakes and when Men Guðs hond er sterk hit the scene with a concept about a real-life whaling accident in 1915, only Moby Dick could drag AMG Himself away from this thing. Led by the stunning vocals of Jón Aldará, Hamferð swings for the fences with massive doom set pieces that crush you with mass and emotion. Smart infusions of folk and use of native Faroian language lend extra atmosphere and ground the music in the concept’s time period. The material is impressively nuanced for something so heavy and the songsmithing is consistently compelling. The album is steeped in melancholy and takes the listener on a voyage of terror and ultimately, redemption. As AMG extolled, “Hamferð’s strengths are abundant and Men Guðs hond er sterk leverages each of them to land a coup de maître.” A whale of a tale!
Runner(s) Up:
Aborted // Vault of Horrors – The Belgian deathgrind institution known as Aborted just keep on grinding at the death mill with 12th album Vault of Horrors. And damn do they sound like a band reenergized and ready to murder a new generation of listeners. Chaotic, vicious, and unrelenting, Vault comes after you and your whole family with rabid aggression and monstrous death grooves. It’s a nonstop artillery pasting of nasty riffs and pounding war drums and at no time do they brake for the elderly or cute animals. Only some vague symphonic bits offer melody and atmosphere to break up the boot party. This is the album to blast if you need to let off serious steam. As our man Grier summed up, “this new record might be their best since 2016’s Retrogore—providing just enough diversity in the tracklist to keep me coming back again and again.” Get in this Vault.
Misotheist // Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh – Somehow finding a sweet spot between accessibility and horrific dissonance, Norway’s Misotheist crafts dark and mysterious black metal with ugly hooks. It’s fast and furious fare but with enough melodic tricks and treats to keep things interesting, and the result is, gritty, dramatic, and oddly engaging. It’s the rare album that can be relentlessly extreme but still seems so listenable, but Misotheist nail that delicate balancing act. As Doom et Al remarked, “Complex, interesting, furious… if you’re a fan of black metal, you don’t want to miss out on this one.” Miso heavy!
The post Record(s) o’ the Month – March 2024 appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
