The best tracks to top off your playlist this week, hand-selected by Gimme Metal's own Brian Turner.
Beast Mode – "The Forge"
2021’s Pound of Flesh was a surprisingly great addition to the southern USA metal underground canon, and the guys are back with their newest full length Seventh Solstice featuring some of the work they had in the can from an EP that never happened after the first LP. This track landed in November, but remains large and looming in the advent of their February 17 release, certainly to be a nice benchmark of American blackened thrash.
Majesties – "In Yearning, Alive"
Culled from members of Obsequiae and Inexorum, Majesties imagine some creative and forward-thinking death metal on their latest 20 Buck Spin release Vast Reaches Unclaimed (out March 3). The Swedes reach for their history well, reinterpreting its foundation into excellent new angles, twin guitar leads frothing the cup over, deeply melancholy keyboards surrounding the unholy descent. Be sure to check in with Gimme and their forthcoming guest DJ special! Monday, March 13 at 12pm PT/3pm ET!
Ulthar – "Saccades"
Over two albums, Ulthar’s take on black metal has fused technical elements and sheer surrealism into a frightening blur. Their two Gimme specials were more abstract rituals than straightforward radio shows (and they’ve got a new one coming Friday, February 24 3pm ET!) and they’ve now upped themselves with the release of not one but two records recorded during the pandemic: Anthronomicon and Helionomicon on 20 Buck Spin. This track, from the latter, is a spindly tangled mass of echoey chaos, weird off-kilter time signatures and broken-trajectory solos, waves of sickness slamming ashore one by one. Gimme’s been a huge fan of these guys since the get-go, and it’s awesome to see their ever-expanding vision in motion.
Frozen Dawn – "Wanderer Of Times"
Launching an attack of strident drums and fluttering guitar note fury, Spain’s Frozen Dawn have been doing what they do best for around fifteen years: melodic black/death elements crashing headfirst into a driving, soul-sucking pile of sound that pancakes layers upon layers on top of itself. With The Decline of the Enlightened Gods out on Transcending Obscurity this month, this track smears a frozen wand across its landscape, a crescendo of rising clutter and clouds everywhere, charging leads creating a haphazard light to guide through the fog.
Old Forest – "Faust Recants"
On Sutwyke (out March 31) Old Forest (aka Kobold, Beleth and Grond) continue their folk-steeped pathway of classic 90’s black metal moves with emphasis on melodicism. Armed with a nice promo video extracting the great 1920s Faust film, Old Forest dig a fuzz-filled trench of woe flanked by ethereal keys and virtuoso leads caked in a humid air of mid-fi ferociousness.
