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Relentless total war on metal journalism.
Episodes
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Terminus proudly returns from the prior week's collection of difficult black metal records with a new batch of, uh, difficult black metal records. Don't click the X, these ones are different! We're on a tear covering heady, structurally convoluted records these days, but perhaps today's works bring us a little closer to the Terminus center. First off, a well-aged appetizer: the return of the (to us) legendary Avsky, whose brand of caustic, arrogant black metal has lost no power in the dozen years since their last release.
First to bat is Theriomorph, a Finnish project that resembles little else in that well-trod geographic style, eschewing big, consonant riffs in favor of angular Orthodox concepts and some truly weird percussion ideas. This one is designed from the top down, with each track leading neatly into the next, creating an affecting occult atmosphere laced with ferocious speed and ugly, haunting harmonic depth. Good time music this is not, but the seasoned listener will find much to enjoy.
Koldkrypt takes another tact but similarly emphasizes structure: long, elaborate processions of melodic riffing take sharp turns into brutal key changes, slipping cleanly (but not easily) between the ecstatic and the misanthropic. Channeling the energy of French tradition, Gothenburg melodeath, and numerous other fields, this is a record with tremendous range but a nonetheless fully coalesced sound. Did you get your Seigneur Voland in my At the Gates, or did I get my At the Gates in your Seigneur Voland?
0:00:00 - Intro/Avsky - Sjukdom och död (Independent)
0:31:40 - Theriomorph - Diabolical Bloodswords (Terratur Possessions)
1:14:45 - Interlude - Vordr - “Fertile Human Waste” fr. I (Nykta Records, 2004)
1:18:38 - Koldkrypt - Holocauste Global (Hessian Firm)
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Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
We're a little late with this one, but for a good reason: there's a new bonus episode out! If you want to hear us talk about Cranium and Immortal for a while, all it takes is your credit card number (give it to us now.) But before you do that, check out this episode which features a pair of challenging black(?) metal records for the weird and dedicated. First up, however- the return of Sepulchral Curse, whose new EP shows the band experimenting with different angles on their Finndeath sound, perhaps indicating some intriguing things about the next full length.
Our first main review is another returning act: Gjendød of Norway whose 2020 record Angrep ended up being a year-end favorite of both hosts. Their newest record takes a radically different form, blending Nordic folkblack with an avant-garde rhythmic edge, resulting in a sound melodically familiar but structurally alienating. Simple yet harmonically rich riffing glides by in a distinctly airy manner, but the meat of the music lies among the rocks and roots of the bass and drums. A substantial departure from their last record, but it sticks the landing nonetheless.
Further down the rabbit hole is yet ANOTHER returning character in Doldrum, whose demo we covered in 2020. If that peek into the process didn't convince you, the full-length surely will: this is a weird one. From distant black metal roots and perhaps more immediate prog, post-hardcore, and jazz tendencies comes a gnarly and atmospheric work most reminiscent of extreme metal's mid-life-crisis experimental streak of the early and mid-00s. Somehow, though, the melange works, with precise musicianship and relentless atmospheric focus giving life to what will undoubtedly be one of the most unique metal records of the year.
0:00:00 - Intro/Sepulchral Curse - The Deathbed Sessions (Personal Records / Lycanthropic Chants / Transylvanian Recordings)
0:20:24 - Gjendod - I Utakt Med Verden (Hellthrasher Productions)
1:10:41 - Interlude - Trelldom - “Slave til en kommende natt” fr. Til et annet… (Hammerheart Records, 1999)
1:16:26 - Doldrum - The Knocking, or the Story of the Sound That Preceded Their Disappearance (Katafalque)
2:09:28 - Outro - Ewigkeit - “The Nightmare Institution” fr. Conspiritus (Earache Records, 2005)
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Tuesday May 31, 2022
Tuesday May 31, 2022
Much to the shock and chagrin on our audience, the stars have aligned here on Terminus to provide an episode of nearly exclusively death metal! Melodies? NO. Keyboards? NO. Satan? KIND OF BUT IT'S COMPLICATED. Before we get into the gruesome and guttural though, we have a small concession for the skinnier and more artistic listeners: that of the debut demo by Grave Chalice, an industrialized black metal project featuring Warg of Heretical Sect which takes a foundation of Grand Declaration of War and enhances it with modern technique- definitely a project to look out for.
Ominous carrion winds blow in from the east announcing the arrival of Aparthiva Raktadhara's debut record. Notorious members of the Kolkata Inner Order, the band has taken a surprising move on this release by in large part leaving their warnoise roots for colder, more alienating death metal pastures. The root riffing style of Morbid Angel's most difficult moments is expanded upon with brutal death drum technique and utterly deranged song structures making for something that feels equally at home in 1992 as it does in 2046. No more spoilers- this is one of the best records of the year.
On the flipside is the triumphant return of Holocausto Canibal, long-running Portuguese grindgore purveyors whose long absence (at least in terms of full-lengths) has done nothing to soften their bite. Continuing in the footsteps of artists like Haemorrhage, HC provide (human) meat and potatoes goresoaked deathgrind with a crusty hardcore edge that may be more relevant now than ever before. Gravity blasts good, lyrics about space bad- there's a reason this style has existed for almost 30 years.
0:00:00 - Intro/Grave Chalice - Demo MMXXII (Mercurial Gate)
0:17:54 - Aparthiva Raktadhara - Adyapeeth Maranasamhita (আদ্যাপীঠ মরণসংহিতা) (Iron Bonehead)
1:07:21 - Prosanctus Inferi - “Apex Jaws in Madrigal Posture” fr. Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night (NWN, 2013)
1:10:55 - Holocausto Canibal - Crueza Ferina (Selfmadegod)
1:43:21 - Outro - Mortuary Punishment - “The Streets” into “Streets of Death II” fr. Pride.Power.Punishment (Independent, 2018)
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Monday May 23, 2022
Monday May 23, 2022
We did it, folks- we've circumnavigated extreme metal itself. On the 94th installment of the only podcast that matters we return to a band featured in our very first episode. Please do not go back and listen- those were dark days- but aside from this exception, we have an episode of... primitive death metal? Today's intro review comes courtesy of Oregon-based deathrashers Phenom whose second full-length brings to mind the barbaric and primordial sounds of Master mixed with streaks of Brazilian and Teutonic thrash. Definitely a weird one, but also excellent- recommended for all sorts of extreme metal fiends regardless of genre preference.
What better way to follow up that opening barrage with the return of legendary cheeseheads Jungle Rot? TDMG brought this on the show not expecting too many surprises, but quickly realized something highly unusual was afoot here. Jungle Rot's style shines through (as always) but with a tremendous helping of thrash and hardcore. Could this be the world's heaviest crossover record? But what's with the convoluted, nested riffing structures? And what the hell is going on with all the solos? A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
And finally we get back to the point of origin- the newest Horn album, bringing us all the way back to Terminus Episode 1. The world's greatest (and perhaps only) purveyor of Alpine Black Folk, Horn's new record provokes some excellent discussion- the different "modes" found within single projects and the power of iterative melodic refinement. This is an expansive record, ranging from oi-infused folkblack rippers to elegiac doom works, so there's something for everyone- but where does the strongest material lie?
0:00:00 - Intro/Phenom - Ov History and Death (Death is Imminent Records)
0:26:29 - Jungle Rot - A Call to Arms (Unique Leader Records)
1:11:18 - Interlude - Murder Squad - “Bloodfreak” fr. Unsane, Insane and Mentally Deranged (Pavement Music, 2001)
1:14:15 - Horn - Verzet (Independent)
1:54:54 - Outro - Liederjan - “Schitter Tod,” fr. Volksmusik Aus Der Heilen Welt (Polydor, 1979) and “Die Weber,” fr. Mädchen, Meister, Mönche (Polydor, 1978).
The first of these is a version of “Es ist ein Schnitter, a 17c German folk song that inspires Horn. See the Bardo Methodology interview:
http://www.bardomethodology.com/articles/2018/01/11/horn-interview/
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Monday May 16, 2022
Monday May 16, 2022
The stars have aligned and the entrails have been read to provide a rare treat in the Terminus catalog- a themed episode! Out of either sheer happenstance or perhaps a dark conspiracy, several big hitters of the Portuguese black metal scene have all released new records, and what would Terminus be if we didn't cover them? The intro mini-review this time is of the new EP by grumbling dungeon-dwellers Mons Veneris, whose Abruptum-influenced tones fuse with the chunky Portuguese style to make music for blackout drunk vampires. The result of the mixture is predictably excellent (and kind of hilarious too.)
First course: Corpus Christii, a longtime favorite of The Death Metal Guy, who return with a new full-length after a half decade absence. This is a fascinating deep cut sort of record by and for those with intense black metal fixations, playing off the listener's expectations of the style and constantly taking the road less traveled. Structurally fascinating but also inherently exciting from riff to riff, this is definitely an album that becomes more and more interesting with subsequent listens. Play along at home: crank it up, crack open a beer, and take diligent notes about the devil.
Wrapping things up is the third full-length by Candelabrum which provides another rare Terminus treat: a knock-down, drag-out argument between your two hosts whose opinions on this record diverge wildly. Candelabrum makes thin, ghostly, minimal music which slowly sculpts atmosphere out of reverb and negative space- but is it too thin to be meaningful? One host says yes, the other says no, and what follows is a (hopefully) illuminating discussion on the merits of minimalism, trends in nowadays black metal, and the role of production in experimental work. TDMG will talk more about it next time- after the fitting for his new glass eye.
0:00:00 - Intro/Mons Veneris - Torches of Entrancement (Signal Rex)
0:27:50 - Corpus Christii - The Bitter End of Old (Immortal Frost Productions)
1:18:15 - Interlude - Ofermod - “Calling of Setnacht: Twofold Triunity” fr. Thaumiel (Spinefarm Records, 2012)
1:24:46 - Candelabrum - Nocturnal Trance (Hells Headbangers)
2:09:48 - Outro - Be Persecuted - “The Last Right” fr. End Leaving (No Colours Records, 2009)
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Monday May 09, 2022
Monday May 09, 2022
We're a little late on this one- had to go to some crucial chakra alignment workshops- but we're back with a lean and mean episode featuring two records from completely opposite sides of our musical map. The split here is about as TBMG and TDMG as you can get- choose your side wisely, mortals.
First up is the triumphant return of Tenhornedbeast, a personal favorite of TBMG whose dark ambient/drone/post-industrial-what-have-you merges murky, distorted synth tones with negative space and distant, crushing percussion. Hey now, this isn't a metal record at all! There's plenty to discuss, though- what's the difference between good and bad music made in this style, minimalism vs. maximalism in ambient composition, and the difference between meditative and deliberately challenging tones. Listen to this one on headphones in the dark.
TDMG's side brings us back into the comfort of extreme metal with the new Corpsessed record. At this point long-running purveyors of traditional, punishing Finnish death metal, Corpsessed make remarkably well-rounded and deceptively clever music with a surprising amount of restraint and elegance. Refusing to perceive any difference between high-minded noodling and caveman mosh music, this is a record which truly encompasses what made old school death metal great and which indicates the flame is still alive.
0:00:00 - Intro/Tenhornedbeast - The Lamp of No Light (Cold Springs)
0:47:08 - Interlude - Endvra - “The Battle Song of Endvra” fr. Great God Pan (Elfenblut, 1997) (Seems out of print but easily available on the used market)
0:49:09 - Corpsessed - Succumb to Rot (Dark Descent)
1:30:38 - Outro - Rippikoulu - “Kadonneet jumalat” fr. Musta seremonia (Independent, 1993) (Re-released several times over the years, remastered version available on Bandcamp)
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Saturday Apr 30, 2022
Saturday Apr 30, 2022
IT'S HAPPENING! OH MY GOD IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING! Yeah, yeah, of course we were gonna cover it. But beyond the most obvious part of this show is a pair of excellent, highly melodic records which are equally worthy of your time. Case in point: the sophomore record of Thos Ælla, whose debut we covered on the show last year. The new record shows a supercharged version of the project, merging traditional melodic black/death with explosive power metal flourishes and guitar pyrotechnics. Talk about expansion on the ideal- this puts the project firmly on the map for all our listeners.
AND HERE IT IS. 17 years in the making, Kohanic Charmers has arrived to announce the return of hooligan black metal legends Grand Belial's Key. For those feeling trepidation over the job history gap, fear not: this is a powerful entry in the band's discography. Leaning toward the direct and compact disdain of Judeobeast Assassination, the new record combines a surprisingly understated delivery with mature, inventive songwriting. The quiet period of the last decade and a half has only sharpened their legendary musicality and scorn. Absolutely mandatory.
Finally, a powerful taboo is broken: we're covering a reissue! This time it's from Algaion, a fairly obscure Swedish project from the latter years of the second wave who make minimal yet elaborately melodic black metal that sounds like it could be released TODAY. This is part review and part history lesson as your hosts try to wrap their brains around the idea that this was recorded in the waning days of '94. All that being said, this is brilliant and provides an entirely new perspective on where the modern sounds today may have began.
0:00:00 - Intro/Thos Ælla - Sempiternal Mobocracies (I, Voidhanger Records)
0:19:22 - Grand Belial’s Key - Kohanic Charmers (Weltenfeind)
1:04:56 - Interlude - Toil - “Obscure Chasms” fr. Obscure Chasms (Grievantee Productions, 2007) (Long out of print but seemingly still available from underground shops)
1:08:00 - Algaion - Oimai Algeiou (reissue on Regain Records)
1:47:18 - Outro - Octinomos - “The Ground Shall Sorrow Be” fr. Octinomos (Infortunium Records, 1995) (Seems to be out of print- also search for On the Demiurge, essentially the same record.)
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Saturday Apr 23, 2022
Saturday Apr 23, 2022
Are you tired of Terminus selling out? Reviewing records people have actually heard of, praising songs with melodies and good production? We're back to take it to the demo days with three forceful squirts of deliberately maddening and inscrutable noise. Well, maybe just 2- in a bizarre role reversal, it's The Death Metal Guy who has provided the record closest to actual music today, and it comes from a goregrind band! Before we get there, though, there's the matter of Ahulabrum, 00s Blogspot legends returning with a blast of blackened noise centering on Bigfoot (as you do). Your hosts have a Squatching good time with this one, reminiscing on the good old days of CDr rawblack and wild experimentation.
But maybe that thread isn't left there- Ärid's remarkably savage new record continues the theme with music more coherent but no less vicious for it. Pulling on strains of second wave primitivism, rotting old USBM, and even some brushes with war metal, this is a record that manages to fully absorb the listener despite its rough grit sandpaper presentation. Keep an eye on this one- it's a record that might end up on more than one year end list come December.
But before we disappear forever into some bloodcaked tomb under the desert floor, TDMG brings us back to (relative) sanity with the new Pharmacist record which pushes the band toward the mid-era work of Carcass. Goresplattered surgical riffs meet a powerful sense of groove and masterfully executed technical work for a record that could be an ideal paradigm of how "mainstream extreme metal" could sound. You gotta grow your hair LONG for this one.
0:00:00 - Intro/Ahulabrum - Strange Lights Portend Their Presence (Nebular Carcoma)
0:23:00 - Ärid (US) - From Anthropophagic Waste Breeds a Writhing Mutagenesis (Death Hymns)
1:10:39 - Interlude - Deathchurch - “Vomit Upon the Burning Heaven” and “Black Cum Suffocation” fr. Unsilent Hate Anthem (Klaxon Records/Nuclear War Now, 2007)
1:15:58 - Pharmacist - Flourishing Extremities on Unspoiled Mental Grounds (Bizarre Leprous Productions)
1:57:32 - Outro - Haemorrhage - “Obnoxious (Surgeon of the Dead)” fr. Morgue Sweet Home (Morbid Records, 2002)
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Friday Apr 15, 2022
Friday Apr 15, 2022
Spring has sprung! Flowers are chirping and birds are blooming and your intrepid hosts are back from the Spring Fling in full force. What better way to celebrate the rebirth of nature than with tales of cryptic occultism and destructive bronze age warfare? But before we get to that, let's revisit something almost nice and appropriate for the season. Luminous Veil's record from last year was the source of some debate on the show, and we're checking in with the cheeseheads on their newest EP, which shows a rawer, more explosive side to the band. A surprise, but not an unwelcome one.
Following is the debut of Chilean death/war metallers Concilivm, who play a strikingly traditional strain of somewhat melodic death metal within a more modern black/death aesthetic wrapper. Lots of structural talk here: how should death metal songs be shaped? What's the ideal balance of chromaticism to melody in music like this? Is there such a thing as Too Much Bolt Thrower? After much debate our impressions are positive, but this is a great segment for the true musical autists among us (so every listener I guess.)
Wrapping things up is a record from a friend, namely Nick of Hessian Firm who supplies a striking vocal performance to the debut record of epic doomdeath juggernauts Evocator. That genre tag might be a bit misleading, though- there's elements of atmospheric black metal, brushes of prog, and an intense funeral doom atmosphere that creates a style distinct and unmistakeable. This is challenging music, more based on movement than riff, but those who take on the task of unraveling the dense neoclassical structures will find themselves greatly rewarded
0:00:00 - Intro/Luminous Veil - Halcyon Tyrannous (Wilt-Shine)
0:21:05 - Concilivm - A Monument in Darkness (Iron Bonehead)
1:01:47 - Dismember - “Misanthropic” fr. Death Metal (Nuclear Blast, 1997) (Dismember is seemingly embroiled in some sort of rights dispute right now, but used copies of this can be found everywhere)
1:04:46 - Evocator - Ancient Cataclysm (Independent)
1:51:39 - Outro - Colosseum - “Weathered” fr. Chapter 1: Delirium (Firedoom Music, 2007) (Out of print and quite expensive now, but available on streaming services)
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Friday Apr 01, 2022
Friday Apr 01, 2022
Today's Terminus is recorded remoter-than-usual with TBMG broadcasting from Parts Unknown. What mysteries could this new setting reveal? Well, mostly traffic and pet sounds (but not the cool Beach boys kind.) Still, it's a fun episode with three records that encompass a wide swath of sounds and styles.
First up is the return of Father Befouled, a TDMG favorite whose style of Incantation and Profanatica-inspired brackish OSB/DM takes a turn for the somber and doomy on their newest full length. Father Befouled is well known as one of the initial volley of the wave of Incantation-inspired death metal bands that breed like rabbits these days, but in lieu of merely repeating themselves, this record explores the most sprawling doomdeath aspects of the band's sound.
TBMG's loins turn mottled and turgid at the reappearance of Nattfursth from Sorhin via his new(ish) project Lifvsleda, which defies expectations by taking a route much more melancholy and melodic than Sorhin itself. A deeply cross-pollinated blend of DSBM, black'n'roll, and oldschool Scandinavian second wave, this is a record for the most devout trenchcoat-wearing misanthropes among us- but don't be fooled, there's huge riffs too. Who else, though, is in this band? No public statement has been made, but we have a theory...
Finally, we have a Patron pick in the form of the self-titled Gates of Dawn debut which inspires wild comparisons and debate from your hosts. With one foot in the Instagram tapeblack scene and the other in noble, traditional Slavic symphblack, this is a project with no dearth of talent, but one which also finds itself at a crossroads: which way, black metal man? In the warrens of limited-run tape drops or in the glorious orcslaying fields of Black Metal Proper? We hope he picks the path less travelled- there's certainly enough reason to.
0:00:00 - Intro/Father Befouled - Crowned in Veneficum (Everlasting Spew Records)
0:39:40 - Interlude - Imprecation - “The Throne is Lost” fr. Promo 94 (Independent, 1994)
0:44:04 - Lifvsleda - Sepulkral Dedikation (NoEvDia)
1:29:36 - Interlude - Sorhin - “Tills döden er alla tar” fr. I det glimrande mörkrets djup (Near Dark Productions, 1997) (A digital version was at one point available but no more. Perhaps a rights issue? Still widely available on the used market.)
1:34:21 - Gates of Dawn - Gates of Dawn (Death Hymns)
2:22:46 - Outro - Coil - “The First Five Minutes After Death” fr. Horse Rotorvator (Force & Form, 1986)
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