Profound Death

2015 has been a damn fine year for death metal so far, and it appears that Profound Lore is looking to up the ante with their most recent salvo of releases.  Indeed, the label has in its hot little hands a pair of debut full-lengths from two up-and-coming bands who’s respective takes on death metal couldn’t be more different if they tried, yet both strive for excellence in their own way.

Pissgrave – s/t (Graceless Recordings, 2014)

Being filthy ain’t easy.  Most metal bands that attempt it usually just end up sounding incompetent and under-produced, or worse yet like they’re trying way too hard.  For Philadelphia’s Pissgrave, being filthy is as effortless as falling out of bed.  Their debut demo, which has been committed to tape by the mighty Graceless Recordings, is positively oozing with it; this is no mere affectation, this is who they are.

Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus – Synkkä Tuuli (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, 2013) and Väinämöinen (Infernal Kommando Records, 2013)

Try as I might to seek out and cover as much worthy US black metal as humanly possible at THKD (and Backlit), it’s inevitable that some bands slip though the cracks.  I’m just one man and as such it’s physically impossible for me to listen to everything that gets released over the course of a year.  Fortunately, a few bands have the stones to be proactive and put their music in front of my face rather than wait around for me to stumble upon them. One such band is Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus, who put out two stellar releases last year in the form of Synkkä Tuuli and Väinämöinen.

Esoterica – Aseity (Forever Plagued Records, 2013)

Getting a package in the mail from Forever Plagued Records is always a pleasant surprise.  Over the past few years, they’ve quietly become a force to be reckoned with, releasing albums by some of the finest bands the US black metal underground has to offer, such as Demoncy, Darkest Grove and Incursus.  Their latest offering is Aseity, the debut album from Philadelphia, PA’s Esoterica, a recording that not only continues Forever Plagued’s hot streak of killer USBM releases, but also raises the bar.

Darkest Grove – Coming of 2012 (Forever Plagued Records, 2012)

The year 2012 has come and gone, and sadly, our planet was not ripped apart at the seams by the apocalypse. This unfortunate turn of events doesn’t stop Darkest Grove’s Coming of 2012 from being one of the most impressive and potent US black metal offerings I’ve come upon in recent times. While the musical stylings of Darkest Grove mastermind Devoid Being may be rooted in the most ancient of black metal traditions, it is the excellence of execution on display here that sets the album apart from the glut of USBM bands that have crawled out of the woodwork in recent times.