Unholy Exhumation is a bi-weekly column where we highlight bands buried deep in the underground scene and we believe need to be dug out for those looking for more than just the conventional A-list bands because quality can be found everywhere.
The more you look into the mainstream, the more you realize the trend on its relevance and how some bands suddenly become the center of attention, even when there’s not much to focus on. In an industry driven by numbers and affinity, those who oppose to follow the current of the masses remain true to their beliefs originated since ancient times: Music is an artistic form of expression, a self-satisfactory experience that others can appreciate if the mindset is the same one. As we will see, some bands have known this idea for years and other new comers, understand the true meaning of it and just focus on doing their own, resulting on exceptional music.
5. Non Opus Dei
Here’s one of the thousand bands who’ve been around for long enough to not be included in columns like this one, but here we are. Non Opus Dei hails from Poland, one of the countries with the best underground black metal scene in Europe and play a rather unconventional style for the genre, flashing some progressive passages blended with some blackened death riffing. Their sound have been molded perfectly for almost 20 years since they started and with 7 full-length albums under their belt, it’s unnerving to see how little to no attention they get.
Their latest offering, DIABEŁ is a few weeks away to be released and considering the sound of the track below, It would be a good idea to keep a close eye on them and definitely get it once it comes out. For $6? definitely a steal.
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4. Skinslip
Which genre would you say is the angriest one? traditional hardcore? grindcore? death metal? They can be but intrinsically, sludge has been the gateway music for pissed off people. The boys in Skinslip are new in the L.A. scene but their rage seems older than time and that clearly transfers into their songwriting. Slow and long-lasting riffs rip apart the idea of any meaning to life and switches it with a hulking burden of misery from their bassy verses. The vocals are painful and real which is what makes it outstanding among many bands trying to venture in a genre reigned by milestone groups like Primitive Man or Black Sheep Wall.
In due time, this trio will get around and bring their live chaos to your city and become a great representative of misery but meanwhile, check out their debut album and listen for yourself.
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3. Young & Dead
If you think on Chicago, you think about pizza and probably their famous and delicious deep dish. Thankfully, that’s not the only crusty and delicious thing coming from IL, as we also have fat and heavy bands like Young & Dead. A band who doesn’t mess around, Young & Dead play some crusty hardcore influenced by old school death metal like Entombed and the way they do it is perfect and straight to the point. While not bringing anything new to the table, these quartet just grabs what they have and make the best product available, and that should be recognized.
There’s not much to say about these dudes that can’t be expressed by simply pressing play below, but if you’re looking for a quick grub of HxC death metal in the same vein as Ringworm or Mammoth Grinder, this is the right meal for you. A better $5 meal than what you’d get in McDonald’s.
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2. Crucifyre
Great stuff come out of Sweden, aside from their gorgeous women and delicious Aquavit, but the obvious thing we know and that’s metal. Black, death, thrash, you name it, they have it and even bands who don’t feel like just grabbing one style and decide to play them all, like Crucifyre. They describe themselves as black metal, they sound like death metal and sometimes, they shift things around and some thrash comes along, but what really matters is that they are a great extreme metal outfit. The band led by General Surgery’s singer Erik Sahlström released their latest album Black Magic Fire last year but once you start playing it, you’ll keep coming back every chance you get, looking for the vast pool of inspirations that fueled its creation.
There’s a lot of effort put into their music and that energy transcends a single genre, catering the needs of those looking for good music in general.
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1152241122 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
1. Mare Cognitum
If you’re a musician, it’s safe to assume you started out with a single instrument and that ended up being your main medium to play music. Later on, you learn other instruments which you learn to manage fairly well and decide to record you’re own music as a solo-project. The thing here is that Mare Cognitum may have gone through a different process which I’m assuming involved brain surgery to wire his abilities to excel on everything he composes.
This California project is the brainchild of Jacob Buczarski, a man with enough talent to create linear, intricate black metal on his own, without any focus on a single instrument but spreading the same effort through everything he plays. His latest album, Phobos Monolith, was on my top-ten albums from last year due to it’s complexity and superb songwriting and that was not a one-time-wonder as his entire discography contains the same majesty as the highly regarded 2014 LP.
If you want to go through a sonic, cosmic journey in the shape of atmospheric black metal, this one is perfect for you.
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