Extra Credit: Arsis

The folks at Scion A/V have done it again.  We've already received free EPs from Revocation, Witch Mountain, and Corrosion of Conformity, and now we're offered a new EP from Arsis titled Lepers Caress. 

The six-song EP starts with the instrumental "Haunted, Fragile, and Frozen" and then blasts into "Six Coffins Wide."  From this point forward, you'll be hit with a good dose of technical and melodic death metal.  The aforementioned second track and "Carve My Cross" are early favorites.

Lepers Caress is available as a free download here as long as you're willing to give up your email address.  You can also stream the EP here if you want to give it a listen before downloading it.

Class of 2012: Neurosis - Honor Found In Decay

It's been quite a year for bands already in their second or even third decade.  Bands like Saint Vitus, Converge, and Testament released records earlier this year that prove the relevance of their new music.  And now we can add Neurosis to that list.

Honor Found In Decay is Neurosis' tenth album, released five years after 2007's Given to the Rising.  It features 7 songs in just over an hour's time and definitely requires several listens to fully digest.

"We All Rage in Gold" starts the album off in fine fashion.  If you like this song, then you should enjoy what's about to come.  For the first minute of next track "At the Well," you may wonder if DC Berman of the Silver Jews is singing (he's not).  On this standout second song, you'll hear noticeably strong drumming (the same applies to "All is Found...In Time") and what sounds like bagpipes from 4:20-4:55.  But what takes this track to the next level occurs from 7:00 to the end - it's my favorite part of the record.

Extra Credit: Solbrud

Solbrud is an atmospheric black metal band from Copenhagen.  This Danish four-piece's self-titled debut gives us 4 songs in about 46 minutes.
Opening track "Bortgang" definitely has that mid-tempo, atmospheric feel to it.  It's followed by "Øde Lagt," which gets off to a much faster start after just a bit of ambiance.  At just over 7:30, "Dødemandsbjerget" almost feels short.  Closing track "Skyggeriget" begins acoustically and then blackens considerably.
Solbrud is available at bandcamp for the "name your price" option, so you can either get it for free or donate what you can to show your support.

Class of 2012: Nihill - Verdonkermaan

Verdonkermaan is the third and final installment of Nihill's extreme metal trilogy that began with 2007's Krach and continued with 2009's Grond.  Many would view this as a difficult listen, and that's probably the reaction that this Dutch band aimed for when they started this project.

Verdonkermaan starts with "Vurr: the deathwind of resurrection," a noisy and rather punishing track.  The vocal delivery is top-notch, primarily of the black metal sort with a hint of a death growl at times.

Next comes "Spiral: the tail eater," considerably slower and hypnotic for its first 2 minutes.  This song and the next ("Oerbron: returning to the primal matter") are the album's high points.  "Oerbron" is more like the first track but takes an interesting turn from about 3:30 to 7:00.  During this section of the song, you'll hear howling and growling over avant-garde noise that very nearly becomes Sonic Youth-y.

Final Exam 2012: Decibel's Top 40 Albums

It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but it looks like the end-of-the-year lists are already starting.

Decibel Magazine's list is the first major one that I've seen so far.  While I don't agree with everything on the list, they've managed to include some very good records.  I'll be posting my own top albums list later next month, so stayed tuned.

In the meantime, check out Decibel's top albums of 2012:

Class of 2012: Sylosis - Monolith

Sylosis is a British modern thrash band with hints of prog undertones.  For Monolith, the band looked to Greek mythology (Orpheus and Eurydice) for inspiration. 

Monolith starts thrashy with "Out From Below."  Just when you feel like the song can go no further and is about to end (at about 4:00), it keeps going and reaches an outstanding moment at 5:25 as it slows to eventually finish.

Clean vocals are kept to a minimum, but on the next three tracks ("Fear the World," "What Dwells Within," and "Behind the Sun"), Sylosis momentarily become a different band with the inclusion of brief points of clean vocals.  During these few seconds at a time, the songs have a very modern metal feel to them.

Class of 2012: Graveyard - Lights Out

Sweden's Graveyard plays classic-sounding, bluesy, psychedelic rock.  Last year's Hisingen Blues didn't receive the attention that it deserved (I know that it did in some circles, but...).  With Lights Out, however, Graveyard seems poised to get bigger and bigger.

Lights Out gives us 9 songs in just under 36 minutes.  Consequently, this record doesn't overstay its welcome.  Opening track "An Industry of Murder" reminds us of Graveyard's sound and at the same time lets us know that not much has changed since Hisingen Blues.  (This is a good thing.)

The slow-burning "Slow Motion Countdown" feels somewhat average until the two-minute mark when its sweeping chorus takes over.  This song turns out to be one of the record's highlights.