Are you guys getting tired of me gushing about Caligari Records yet? Well if you are, too bad! The Florida-based label continues to put out some of the finest underground metal you’re likely to come across while leaving no genre stone un-turned. The label’s latest batch of releases speaks to the impressive diversity of the roster.
IG readers should already be familiar with Santa Cruz’s Gloam; I covered their excellent Vanquished EP for this here blog last year and also wrote about their 2012 demo in the second issue of Backlit zine. On their debut full length Hex of Nine Heads, the band continues to craft sprawling, heavily atmospheric black metal, but it’s evident that they’ve worked hard to sharpen and evolve their sound. The album exhibits a tighter, more dynamic approach to songwriting, which in turn makes for an even more mesmerizing listen than their previous recordings.
Indeed, Hex of Nine Heads is full of twists and turns that keep things compelling in spite of the album’s lengthy run-time. There seems to be an increased emphasis on technicality and progression that was heavily hinted at on their previous releases, but has come fully into bloom here. This, when coupled with a more melodic approach to the guitar, makes for some of the most memorable and interesting material Gloam have yet released, opening up a whole world of previously untapped potential for the young band.
Having been excited about Gloam since coming across their very first release, it’s extremely pleasing to witness the band evolving into such a devastating beast on Hex of Nine Heads; easily one of my favorite USBM releases of the year so far. The cassette is limited to 175 copies, so get on it quick.
Next up is Hadit, an Italian duo that’s only been active since 2013, but have already begun to forge a fairly singular black/death hybrid sound with their debut EP Introspective Contemplation of the Microcosmus. Hadit are plenty atmospheric, but this ain’t no murky-ass caverncore crapola; the band deploys a slew of catchy, discernable riffs throughout the EP’s twenty-five minutes and are aided and abetted by a pleasantly clear production scheme, never letting said atmosphere get in the way of killer songs.
Speaking of songs, if you’re anything like me and are into bands who write songs that you can actually tell apart, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Hadit in 2015. This might be what ultimately makes Introspective Contemplation of the Microcosmus such a strong release. Each of the EP’s tracks has its own individual character and you never feel like you’re just listening to one long song or variations of the same song over and over.
All of this is to say that Hadit simply “gets” extreme metal in a way that so few contemporary bands do, and in this respect they remind me of the mighty Inquisition, not so much in sound or the fact that they’re a duo, but in their old school values and the emphasis they place on crafting quality material above all else. In an era when so many bands are content to hide behind shitty recording quality, churning out album after album of half-assed non-songs, Hadit cram more kickass riffs into less than half an hour than these lesser bands will come up with over the course of an entire career.
Last but certainly not least are Taphos Nomos, who take the prize for unleashing the hands-down heaviest of this trio of releases with their debut EP, West of Everything Lies Death. The Pittsburgh-based quintet whip up some groovy, rumbling death metal over the course of three tracks and twenty-four minutes, making for a brief but debilitating listen.
Taphos Nomos bring more than just death metal to the table however, mixing in elements of black metal, punk, doom and even gothic rock to create what is probably the most dynamic of the three Caligari releases reviewed here, in addition to being the heaviest. Much like the aforementioned Gloam, Taphos Nomos incorporate lots of twists and turns into their songwriting, and with the shortest track here clocking in at almost six minutes, the band does much to keep things from ever getting stale, whether they’re pummeling the listener’s ears with sludge-soaked grooves or warping minds with serpentine, Incantation-esque passages.
According to Metal Archives, Taphos Nomos have only been around since 2014, but you’d never know it given the depth of songwriting displayed on West of Everything Lies Death. These guys obviously have a ton of potential and it will be interesting to see what directions they’ll stretch their already quite diverse sound in when the inevitable full length rolls around. Sadly, this excellent tape is already sold out from the label, but it appears that Sol y Nieve and few other reliable distros still have copies floating around.
THKD 