THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH should be self-explanatory, an ordered ranking of twenty albums that’d resonated most throughout this month. If you’re new to the site, the tendency is heavy and/or surreal music. Choices are selected based on temporal immersion, personal connection, impressive style, point of view, aesthetics and with consideration for the lasting value of each selection. All choices are ultimately personal and come without consideration for populism, nepotism, cronyism, or any outside factors including perceived “relevance”. Writing about music is a passion I afford as much time as is manageable and I am grateful to have so much to choose from. Thank you.

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I. This month on MystificationZine.com included 26 longform album reviews, 20+ video reviews/features, 25+ short album reviews. As much as I try to cover there is a vast, vast number of overlooked releases that are yet worth seeking out. Set yourself upon the world and discover more within bouts of self-directed pursuit.

II. This sample of ten best releases is merely my own selection, make sure you do not miss records from: Aethyrick, Demon Head, Vafurlogi, Hellavenger, Trelldom, Castle, Sanctuarium, Invocation, Untervoid, Midnight Force, Dreamless Veil, The Flight of Sleipnir, Keitzer, Eraser, Mork, Endonomos, Odium Humani Generis, Wolfbrigade, Blitzkrieg, ΤƐΛMA, 40 Watt Sun, Deceitome, Asphalt Grieving & many more.

III. In 2024 written reviews will now have a video component which will post at the bottom of each review or feature at the end of each week (Thursday or Friday) If you enjoy these please consider following on YouTube. We are hovering just above 1050 subscribers and I am extremely grateful for folks who’ve stuck around and given feedback over the last couple of years.

IV. As always I’d like to express my gratitude for the bands, labels and PR firms who choose to work with me. Thank you.

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#10
ARTIST:	ALUK TODOLO
TITLE:	Lux
RECORD LABEL(S):	Norma Evangelium Diaboli, The Ajna Offensive

While I figured an instrumental “occult rock” band might not gel with a lot of folks at face value this band’s work has long been celebrated for their unique performances and the psychoactive experience offered by each release. Their previous two records had made a fan of me and here ‘Lux‘ feels like they’ve taken time in developing something intentionally different but not outside of their greater spiritual realm. If nothing else see the band life if you get the chance as the album experience and the live show are very well connected.

“In gaining access to the point where light and dark hover in one another’s ecstatic thresholds Paris, France-based trio ALUK TODOLO necessarily accept motorik possession in performing aerobic feats, impossible to interrupt gyral wandering which naturally falls into place here on their fifth full-length album. Prepared as simmering, on-the-edge performance meant to burst into tracers and haloes in mind ‘Lux‘ is athletic in its step and intoxicating in effect as its trance unfolds, a live performance well-tested before being put to tape. In a personal singular space this work takes on a separate meditative function, a granular exploration of body-high level energies capable of raising the heart rate and crossing the eyes into the participants fractionated portion of their own delirious osmotic access.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#9
ARTIST:	ADORIOR
TITLE:	Bleed on my Teeth
RECORD LABEL(S):	Dark Descent, Sepulchral Voice

The appeal of ‘Bleed on my Teeth‘ from my point of view boils down to the black-thrashing riffcraft that dominates its interest outright. That said there is a set of big personalities directing the flow here otherwise and the more time I’d spent with Adorior‘s long-awaited latest the sooner it’d stood out as superior to most everything in its category of late.

“London, England-based blackened death-thrashing heavy metal quintet ADORIOR cloud the mind with wrathful psychic poison as they strike down upon the weakening pulse of humanity with an long-awaited third full-length album. Circled by a blood-soaked pentagram made of horn-gored limbs and infectious ichor ‘Bleed on my Teeth‘ hails to the infinitum of evil thrash metal impetus of extreme metal, once again accelerating to the speed of black and death metal at its most earnest yet brutal beginnings. The riff count is high, they’re cutting necks throughout, their perverse blasphemic personae is still in full effect and I think overall there is a solid argument to made here that these folks still have the right maniac mindset for this gig. They’ve basically left nothing to chance here in that regard as this record delivers everything that is uniquely theirs and for that reason their work remains perfectly representative of the ‘old school’ extremist ways.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#8
ARTIST:	HORNA
TITLE:	Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle
RECORD LABEL(S):	W.T.C. Productions

This month I’d found several bands that’ve been at it for years, decades even, that’ve managed to keep their discography nimble enough to remain entertaining and I think Finnish staple Horna probably did the best job of this in terms of approaching a conceptual release with compelling enough theme and making something decidedly different than the last with similar tools in hand. Otherwise a fine black metal album imbued with dark romanticist tonality with expectedly brilliant guitar and vocal directives.

“Lappeenranta / Tampere, Finland-based quintet HORNA’ve gone to the ends of the Earth in sourcing meaning and meaninglessness from various realms of death worship, pathos and primally stirred darkness over the last thirty years. With their eleventh full-length album the realm of the night, the drape of Nyx and the goddess-hand to be found in the mournful nightside are primary muse for the revelation to be gleaned from this quasi-concept album. ‘Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle‘ is in effect a corridor of melodious dread in bustling resound, a sojourn through mystic revelry and ancient inspiration which develops in depiction of classic romanticist poetry a beckoning call to the night as prime conduit to the realities of life and their muse upon death.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#7
ARTIST:	SATAN
TITLE:	Songs in Crimson
RECORD LABEL(S):	Metal Blade Records

The boring conversations had amongst plebs pertaining to production values and ‘Songs in Crimson‘ just shows that young pedants are still finding interest in traditional heavy metal and that is great. For those of use who’ve been around for years and years this is yet another record where Satan do their thing, putting a different spin on things while taking a small bit of that Tanith energy in a few of its more involved pockets. While the previous album was more to my own preference in terms of their overall range I appreciated the catchier, quick to the point push of most of these songs. Of course this is one of my favorite metal bands of all time, so keep that bias in mind when gauging your own interest.

“Newcastle upon Tyne, England-borne heavy metal quintet SATAN once again hold humanity to a higher standard than we deserve, hopeful as they are brilliantly stated in the ever-horizon of total disorder and apocalyptic fire. For their seventh full-length album, ‘Songs in Crimson‘, and fifth in a legendary streak beyond reformation nearly fifteen years ago there is both comfort to be found in their consistency of personage and great inspiration to take from their taste for forward motion as they sacrifice nothing in trying something a bit different each time around.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#6
ARTIST:	PYRRHON
TITLE:	Exhaust
RECORD LABEL(S):	Willowtip Records

Though I’d been pretty happy with every release from Pyrrhon since their breakthrough moment in 2014 I’d not expected their work to continue to escalate its vision beyond technical death metal for ten years and three more above-par albums beyond. ‘Exhaust’ is exciting, boundary breaching, and overall a vital record for my own taste this year. As is the case with anything both avant-garde and sub-genre blending it’ll take more time to make greater sense of their achievement here but so far I would say I’d give slightly higher marks than I had during the review process, having had a bit more time to digest and sit with it.

“Four years and at least one psilocybin-laced team building exercise later New York-based experimental death metal quartet PYRRHON reflect on the instinct of survival and the necessary denial involved in coping with the myriad traumas associated with civilizations collapse as their fifth full-length album comes crashing down upon us in a gasping heap. ‘Exhaust‘ envisions all batteries sapped, resources dried and burning at the tank level as the last fumes of a crumbling empire’s populace remain desperate to view their lives with feigned normalcy. The frustration and collapsing forms of noise rock, mathcore and technical death metal abstraction the band’ve long developed can now be found wilding out a bit further from solid ground upon return. Their oeuvre expands and contracts into brilliant points of focus and dissociation here thanks to an intensified union, feeling freshened in its mania without losing what they’ve built from a decade and a half’s worth of hashing it out.“

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#5
ARTIST:	PHAËTHON
TITLE:	Wielder of the Steel
RECORD LABEL(S):	Gates of Hell Records

I am always on the search for a memorable ‘epic’ heavy metal record with exceptional guitar work, personalized production values, and songs worth repeating so ‘Wielder of the Steel‘ naturally caught and held my interest throughout the month. Phaëthon are certainly a ‘keep the faith’ sort of heavy metal band outright but I’d been more impressed with the leaps and bounds made beyond their first EP and again, the songcraft which now reaches an above-average personage and presentation within this specific niche (see also: Midnight Force).

“London, England-based heavy metal quartet PHAËTHON begin to unroll their thesis on human narratives outside of reality (be it propaganda, folkore or religious mythos) and the fatal impact they may have on the direction humanity takes. The follies of men are translated into the too-human flaws of the gods here on this brilliantly comprised debut full-length album, ‘Wielder of the Steel‘. Over the course of its eight songs their portents of doom stretch beyond Greek tragic plays unto the Kalevala and beyond, conveying sparks of great power wielded by fellowes who bear at least one fatal weakness of character, overconfidence. As these general lyrical themes call to the ear their high standard for the epic heavy metal niche reveals its superior craft, bristling with energy and ear-gripping per eventful speed metal-kissed movements and slow-rousing chorales.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#4
ARTIST:	COFFIN ROT
TITLE:	Dreams of the Disturbed
RECORD LABEL(S):	Maggot Stomp

Though I’d enjoyed this second LP from Coffin Rot right off the bat I wasn’t expecting ‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘ to have this level of staying power and this really does come down to their carrying on with the prime action of ‘old school’ death metal with respect for the good shit, the riffs, and their own uncompromised vision of it. They’ve got some of that bounding topple that many newer USDM bands do but they’re not repeating themselves nearly as often as most bands in this style do today. Every song counts, every riff counts, and the amount of care put into this record really shows when pitted against the riffless, groove-addicted nothing statements so many ‘old school’ adjacent heads are putting out elsewhere this year. For my own taste this one hit well above expectations and continues to impress.

“Shambling out of the gruesome crypts they’d haunted for the last half-decade Portland, Oregon-based death metal quintet COFFIN ROT emerge from their latest cycle of incubation as a more ruthless, efficiently mayhemic monstrosity. Though their sophomore full-length album is sleekened in terms of its overall sound design ‘Dreams of the Disturbed‘ arrives unperturbed by any/all distractions as they continue to polish the rough edges of late 80’s/early 90’s pure death metal style, still wholly directed by their vision of classics-era standards. Though their ongoing obsession with nostalgic idealization is reason enough to check this one out, these folks have managed to excel in areas most bands don’t as they find points of insertion for brutal and technical interruptus while delivering a memorable if not economically stated ride through.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#3
ARTIST:	SPITE
TITLE:	The Third Temple
RECORD LABEL(S):	Invictus Productions

This second full-length album from SPITE once again takes Salpsan‘s inimitable grasp of the thrashing late 80’s ’til ’91 black metal riff as the main event but this time he’s shaped his best riffs into over an hour of music which extends the themes of the first album framed by mind-jamming, dramatic and sinister heavy metal. While I could still mention bands like Funereal Presence in the same sentence as this band thanks to guiding lead guitar melodies and ancient evil in mind I’d felt like ‘The Third Temple‘ reinforced his own personality via this band and the fact that the ball is never dropped over the course of ~68 minutes is remarkable.

“A brutish, charcoal black quintessence splattering from the marbled mouths of newly erected unholy shrines this sophomore full-length album from Brooklyn, New York-based black metal act SPITE finds the artist entrenched in narrative bookending, fleshing further the tribulations of our anti-messiah’s reign within an elaborate hourlong heresy. Snapping fast and with the hard-cut edge of evil thrashing heavy metal ‘The Third Temple‘ leads with sinister guitar work as the primary gnashing force of its experience, reaching for an ambitious twelve-part barrage obsessively detailing unsacred pure black metal events riff-after-riff. For the ‘old school’ but not flatly retrofied mind there is more fire than alienation in this work, a level of charismatic focus that accosts and darkens from its pulpit rather than dissociates. “

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#2
ARTIST:	INGURGITATING OBLIVION
TITLE:	Ontology of Nought
RECORD LABEL(S):	Willowtip Records

If you’d felt like the previous album from Ingurgitating Oblivion had taken abstract/avant-garde death metal to the edge then consider this the spill into the unknown, a disassembly of natural forms into deconstructed movements in long-form suites. The categorical forms of avant-garde death are banished here and that means it will indeed prove challenging but at the same time it feels like no other band could pull off an extension of themselves which is so eclectic, bruised and disassociated but thoroughly big-brained, skilled and thrilled-out in every implement. I am only more impressed and mentally scalded with each listen.

“Berlin, Germany-based avant-garde death metal duo INGURGITATING OBLIVION peer beyond the bleak edge and craft from thin air this imposing double album, their fourth overall. Ringing with sinking dread-bound dissonance and molten atonal ante-gravitas ‘Ontology of Nought‘ is both a derangement of technical death metal and an oasis for progressive-isms unwilling to take turns any longer as they clash, roar, and swell within a terrifyingly luminous form of expression. Five enormous pools of immersive quicksilvered death bleed out atop a skeleton of jazz fusion’d prog-metallic gloria within as their work abstracts to a third exponent, right to the squirming edge of the avant-garde in the true sense of the word. The only glue available for their handiwork is the emptiness that refuses to contain their unbridled creation, a mainline characterization of void and the whimpering haul of futility siphoned inward via time and death.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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#1	Album of the Month
ARTIST:	SIDEREAN
TITLE:	Spilling the Astral Chalice
RECORD LABEL(S):	Edged Circle Productions

As I begin to prepare for the end of the year list details and consider 2024 as a whole I have to admit there have been several genuine disappointments across the board throughout, particularly over the course of the summer, but I’d no real doubts about Siderean and largely because I feel like their musical foundation is sturdy yet willing to experiment and their point of view/attitudes match up quite well. As one of the more original yet still entrenched in the underground feeling death metal bands around anymore ‘Spilling the Astral Chalice‘ represents these folks brilliantly as they balance an avant-garde edge, thrashing heaviness, and transcendental prog-tinged float. Plus, yes, to stand out year over year a band must bring some pleasure within repetition of their works and I think this is kind of the added bonus to their overall stylized ingenuity.

“Accosting the emptiness of its surroundings by way of horrifying spiral vortices set to drain upon regaining sight this gorer of worlds embodied by Ljubljana, Slovenia-based progressive death metal quintet SIDEREAN is both wrathful abominant and sophisticate traveler alike. Abrasive and malevolent in its jagged exterior yet beauteous in the abstract forms its hellish architecture jets out this sophomore full-length album, ‘Spilling the Astral Chalice‘, cracking open a second volume in six chapters wherein their grand psychotic journey continues to challenge beyond the norm.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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