Mere weeks remain before the big holiday events befall us. Of course, I’m speaking about the AMG Listurnalia, but yeah, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s are coming too. Before these festive occasions distract us, we must churn out several belated Record(s) o’ the Month features because running them in 2025 would be really tacky. And so we come to the now distant month of October and the fruits it bore us. Eat well, but save room for figgy pudding!
Finnish atmo-disso-death act1 Devenial Verdict greatly impressed parts of the AMG staff back in 2022 with their Ash Blind debut. It had a rich sound that created sweeping vistas with grim but epic atmospheres. Coming into 2024, their follow-up was eagerly anticipated and great expectations were cultivated. Blessing of Despair—released October 4th from Transcending Obscurity Records [buy it on Bandcamp!]—could easily have been a letdown but it equaled and possibly exceeded its predecessor. Moody, ominous, relentlessly dark, but with moments of real beauty, Blessing is extremely well crafted. It’s also a very diverse record with peaks and valleys of extremity and emotion.2 The quiet, introspective moments aren’t all that far removed from Opeth, but when the hammer comes down, it hits hard. As Thus Spoke ably summed up, “Being consistently this strong is no mean feat. Anticipation rewarded with this catharsis of forward-thinking, stellar atmospheric death metal is a blessing.” Bless us all, every one.
Runner(s) Up:
Blood Incantation // Absolute Elsewhere [October 4th, 2024 | Century Media Records | Bandcamp] — Blood Incantation’s brand of progressive death metal has long divided death metal fans. Their latest oddball opus may not have done much to unify opinions, but Absolute Elsewhere is a fascinating collection of odds and sods nonetheless. While Blood Incantation toyed with synth soundscapes in the past, they go all in here, smashing familiar death metal tropes headlong into Pink Floydian progressive rock, electronica, synth wave, and ambient noodling. This blend takes time to absorb and process, and those looking for a caveman beatdown will be sorely disappointed. Often funky and sometimes clunky, it doesn’t always work, but in the end, Absolute Elsewhere is a big statement on the boundaries of progressive death metal. Our man Saunders put it all in perspective this way: “A true headphones album to get lost in, Absolute Elsewhere feels like a death metal love letter to prog nerds.” In a nutshell: NERDS!
Iotunn // Kinship [October 25th, 2024 | Metal Blade | Bandcamp] — This here blog has a long and shameful obsession with Jón Aldará and his various projects.3 We lavish praise on all of them and generally embarrass ourselves in the process. With a new outing by his Iotunn entity upon us, why should we regain our dignity now? Their proggy melodeath formula remains strong and Kinship shows off Aldará’s considerable vocal talents as expected. Long songs deliver bombastic fare with exhilarating highs and lows, taking the listener across the star-ways to witness strange sights. Balancing heaviness and beauty, Iotunn cleverly tinkers with moods while offering surprising twists and turns. A well-impressed GardensTale expressed that Kinship “combines a deeply compelling sense of melody with fluid, progressive songwriting and an overwhelming sense of grandeur that nonetheless evades pretentiousness.” We wish we knew how to quit you, Aldará.
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