🌶️ To The Teeth: It's weirdo black day, with Krallice, Alcest, Wist and Hail Spirit Noir
Plus: Hyperdontia, Kvaen, Sumac, Pijn, God Dethroned, Fulci and a lot of Stab Wounds
Welcome to the To The Teeth newsletter! Your weekly update of new heavy music. You can listen to (most) everything in the playlist on Spotify. If you like what you read, go to Patreon (receive a patch!) & Bandcamp (buy a patch!). Peppers are hot 🌶️!
I actually had most of last week’s newsletter done, but the time to actually finish it and send it out escaped me. So here’s two weeks in one.
New Albums
🌶️ Krallice
Avantgarde black, USA (independent)
FFO: Dodecahedron, Thantifaxath, Liturgy
Well this is early. Release date is next week but when it’s out, it’s out. New Krallice is always a reason for celebration. Cerebration, too. Their complex, avantgarde black metal has been a benchmark for the subgenre for ages and although this is album number 14, there’s no slowing down. They’re still in their synthy phase though, and that’s not for everyone. But although it’s way to early to have digested it all, this is for me.
🌶️ Wist
Prog black, UK (independent)
FFO: Erraunt, Ved Buens Ende, Fleurety
Never heard of this band? Same. This is amazing weirdo black metal though, with fantastic synthy leads, layered vocals, tasty acoustic passages and more twists and turns than an Olympic bobsleigh track. They’re promising an Ixiol vinyl release. Can’t wait.
🌶️ Alcest
Post-black/shoegaze, France (Nuclear Blast)
FFO: Agalloch, Lantlôs, Deafheaven
The original pretty black metal band. Alcest paved the way for a lot of bands, and Alcest is really alcesting on this one, smearing layer on layer with us all in between.
🌶️ Hail Spirit Noir (prog/pysch black, Greece)
Prog/psych black, Greece (Agonia Records)
FFO: Dødheimsgard, Oranssi Pazuzu, Arcturus
More weirdo black! This is the sixth album from Greece’s top weirdo black outfit Hail Spirit Noir, and the first one to really click with me. They seem to be leaning into Dødheimsgard a bit more than before (although you could also argue that Dødheimsgard was leaning over to Hail Spirit Noir on their last album) and I’m getting The Sham Mirrors-vibes as well. I particularly love the second half, from 'The Road to Awe’ into ‘Ludwig in Orbit’, and beyond. Beautiful.
🌶️ Hyperdontia
Death, Denmark/Turkey (Me Saco Un Ojo Records)
FFO: Incantation, Burial Invocation, Phrenelith
This ship is sailing to riff island, and I’m on board.
There’s more: Sumac (atmospheric sludge, USA/Canada - w/ members of ISIS, Russian Circles), Kvaen (black/viking, Sweden), Solar Temple (atmospheric/psych black, The Netherlands - w/ members of Fluisteraars, Turia), 200 Stab Wounds (death, USA), Sabbat (black/thrash, Japan), Pijn (experimental post, UK), Portrait (heavy, Sweden), Horseburner (stoner, USA), Cailleach Bheur (epic/avant black, UK), Sear Bliss (atmoblack, Hungary), White Stones (prog death, Spain - w/ members of Opeth, Foscor), Myrdal (black, Germany), Les Chants Du Hasard (avantgarde black, France), an ep from Lucifericon (death from The Netherlands), Limbonic Art (symphonic black, Norway), Wraith (blackened speed/trhash, USA), and a re-recording of classic Sepultura album Schizophrenia by the brothers Cavalera (thrash/groove, USA/Brazil). The rest is in the playlist!
Nine new songs
🌶️ Poison Ruïn (punk/dungeon synth, USA)
🌶️ God Dethroned (blackened death, The Netherlands)
🌶️ Wormwitch (melodic black, Canada)
🌶️ Pneuma Hagion (black/death, USA)
🌶️ Gel (hardcore, USA)
🌶️ Anciients (prog black, Canada)
🌶️ Fulci (death, Italy)
🌶️ Ereb Altor (viking black, Sweden)
🌶️ Grendel’s Sÿster (heavy/folk, Germany)
The rest is in the playlist!
Not-so-heavy & next week
Not-so-heavy album of last & this week: Emiliana Torrini (folkpop, Iceland) & Mabe Fratti (experimental, Guatemala/Netherlands)
I’m looking forward to next week because of:
What is your favourite? What did I miss? Let me know!