The New York death metal scene is spawning a golden generation. Acts like Artificial Brain and Pyrrhon are leading the charge, but there is an abundance of great acts lurking under the surface. Four years after their debut EP, Sireless, Aeviterne arrive with their debut full-length, The Ailing Facade and they achieve something extraordinary. They inject post-punk and industrial elements seamlessly into their technical death metal core, contorting the genre through a post-metallic lens that calls upon the Neurosis and Godflesh lineage. Drop whatever you are doing and go listen to “Dream In Lies.”

Progress and evolution. Zen Zsigo has taken Cremation Lily through numerous adventures over the past years. Noise soundscapes, post-dance applications, disfigured IDM, and ambient implosions. Still, Dreams Drenched In Static feels different, as it binds together the organic and the mechanical, the material and the transcendental. It is this defining moment for the project where all paths have collided, and the resulting amalgamation finds the perfect balance. Introspective and yet open, spiritual but also earthly, harsh but beautiful. A very fine moment for Cremation Lily. 

The sardonic twist. In 2019, the ever-morphing Blut Aus Nord released Hallucinogen, which can be described as one of their more mellow and melodic works. In 2022, they follow it with one of their meaner and harsher offerings to date in Disharmonium. The psychedelic domain of Hallucinogen is thus inverted into a terrifying nightmare of Lovecraftian grandeur. Every guitar note drips venom, every drum hit a nail piercing the mind. Almost 30 years in and Blut Aus Nord show no intention of compromising.

The drone machines of Tristan Shore have been wreaking havoc for almost twenty years now. In the past, Shore’s industrial machinations arrived with brutal intensity. Harsh elements of noise and doom metal combined to disgusting effect. Now Shore turns this nightmarish scenery to reveal a post-apocalyptic dreamscape with Krüller. The harsh cocoon of Women And Children and Beastlands falls away and a post-metallic sensibility is revealed. Krüller still packs a punch, but it feels like a moment of change and maturity for Author & Punisher. 

This post-metal intersection with sludge and noise rock sure proves to be persistent. The latest introduction to its ranks is Pyrithe’s debut, a telling sign that this sound still has a lot to offer. Brutal to no end, filled with experimental notions and ambient passages, Monuments to Impermanence is a work that hits hard. Despairing screams and feedback roar, the movements become erratic. From drone spaces to hardcore ferocity, through boundless noise rock motifs and free rocking pathways. An excellent introduction that promises even more.