THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH should be self-explanatory, an ordered ranking of ten 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 we were lucky enough to have the bar raised immediately beyond January in terms of quality releases, a likely consequence of a stacked March slate otherwise per the usual Q1 deadlines. The one album I’d spent virtually zero time with was surprisingly Worm‘s major label debut, apart from fine curation the music had no real legs for my own taste. I imagine it will be a popular choice otherwise and should be worth checking out. Otherwise albums from Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne! and Dwellnought should not be ignored, each offering their own atmospheric bevvy.

II. Consider following on YouTube for weekly videos.

III. 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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The horrors which Italian black metal band Prison of Mirrors bring to this latest album evolve into darker echoes of their previous LP as two longform pieces suffocate and terrorize the willing ear. Though the album art and the suggested style/production team all had me intrigued enough to get in the door it was the immersive value of this record that I’d clung to, enjoying its apocalyptic peristaltic ebb into the abyss from the first listen.

“An encroaching horde devoted to their own distortion of long-forgotten ancient summons calls down a spell of incendiary desecration as Salerno, Italy-based black metal trio PRISON OF MIRRORS dictate the conflagration of the firmament through this latest EP release. Beyond grotesquely textured sound design and sharpened general curation of ‘De Sepulchris Occultis et Igne Profanationis‘ these folks impress via the continuity of its ~half hour ride, an increasingly dissonant and nuanced venture which feeds the ear down into its abyss via a stretch of surrealistic black metal action. While their work and overall vision might be familiar enough to the die-hard niche pertaining to this style of black metal the hollow descent illustrated within those bounds nonetheless proves itself a harrowing vacuum for the despairing mind.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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At this point everyone seems to know who (The True) Mayhem are despite having spent little time examining their full discography, so, the main reason I picked this album up was to set ‘Liturgy of Death‘ within the full context of their recorded works. As it turns out this record does its own job of contextualizing the band’s connection to the past while also continuing on in line with their previous album. It isn’t as exciting as that might sound in process but it -is- a great album, arguably even better than their last two releases in terms of the level of polish applied.

“Inciting compulsory physical supplication through erratic recitations in service to death’s worship Oslo, Norway-based black metal quintet MAYHEM generate offerings of obscene truth, a liberating ritual of communal desacralization per this characteristic seventh full-length album. Any band that’d been as germinal, initially controversial, and long-standing as these fellowes will inevitably be seen as caricature decades on but ‘Liturgy of Death‘ instead suggests the benefits of a stability of authorship are real as they continue to develop their own modern iteration. The end result is familiar in the best sense, approachable work easily recognizable as the band’s current evolutionary voice, though fans of their middle-era’s challenging/caustic muse may not find any grand leap beyond more recent work(s).“

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Though I think it is fair to compare everything that this Slovenian black/death metal band does to various popular Swedish black metal acts that does not diminish the rotten thrill of their work. This second album moves away from the thrashing death metal of their debut LP and instead brings a raw, high energy form of bestial death which curiously infuses some heavy rock inspired movements into certain pieces. To my ear it recalls something like earlier Degial meets Tribulation in the early 2010’s.

“Ferrying black-fired invocations beyond the threshold of the underworld in order to illuminate the unknown Ljubljana, Slovenia-based blackened death metal quartet ENSANGUINATE summon the dark wills of a triumvirate of occult feminine idols to suit their expanding collective capability and consciousness on this admirably crafted sophomore full-length album. Developed beyond the strictures of a mad-thrashing past and with some obsession with Swedish black/death metal burning in mind ‘Death Saturnalia (With Temples Below)‘ is the third-stage realization of their ambitions which naturally includes chaotic blackened death, melodic black metal as well as nodes of occult rock. Though their greater revelation might appear familiar in some of its methodology and aesthetic sense these folks’ve created something brilliantly energetic and fearsome from their alchemic ambitions, another full-bodied leap unto their already impressive evolutionary sojourn.“

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Hating Life is an ‘old school’ death metal project from members of Ataraxy (Spain) who’d sat down and decided to crank some Swedish style death metal heavily inspired by early Grave. They hit that mark well enough via a rugged underground sound, doomed touch and pro-level handle upon this style, way above average. This EP conjures an exceptional first breath,an authentic enough result which reminds me of the mid-to-late 2000’s underground purity of classicist death metal. I’d like to see what they could do with a full-length.

“Tortured-apart cadaver chunks writhe across the graveyard scene at hand, brought back to life from the dark soil and given slow disassembly by the possessed perturbance of Zaragoza, Spain-based ‘old school’ death metal duo HATING LIFE who’ve mangled the rotted ’til re-animated into wreaths of horror in realizing this debut EP. ‘Revenge From Beyond‘ adheres to the fundaments of morbid classicist death in its unearth as the band’s key point of purpose manifests as a clutch and a yank at the roots of late 80’s/early 90’s style. Their pursuit of this ideal is no different than generational resurgence(s) past on paper but in practicum they’ve managed inordinately haunted atmosphere amidst dark underground authenticity, making for a choice debut appearance.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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High quality canon-conscious funeral death/doom metal only becomes increasingly rare each year beyond 2015 but in that space of time Ennui‘s work only proves more ambitious, or, in this case lucid for this fifth LP. I’d been such a fan of their 2018 record that I’d made sure to give ‘Qroba‘ plenty of time to sink in and what I found was surprisingly level-headed, focused on its mournful resonance and the steadiness of its float. That isn’t to say that these folks have chilled out, you will find imposing death/doom metal presence throughout, but rather that this album is soaking in its own deep-set existential dilemma to the point of exceptional characterization.

“Settling as glowing dust upon a plane stilled by abjection Tbilisi, Georgia-based funeral doom metal quintet ENNUI muse upon existential resignation from a stoic point of view within this lushly atmospheric fifth full-length album. Igniting a candlelit path through realms of slow-sauntering fade ‘Qroba‘ washes over the listener with its own dread-filled humidity, less a head-hanging march and moreso a drenching of the senses into sombre, slow-melting meditation on impermanence and loss of vitality. Sonically rich beyond belief and yet leaning away from the band’s death/doom metal faceted languish to some notable degree this work is both riveting and suffocatingly contiguous in its slow-circling drainage, a growling beast generating a beauteous hourlong death-scene in five acts.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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For the sake of being relevant to the Morbus Chron/Sweven universe this Stockholm, Sweden-based death metal quartet caught my ear with their second EP a few years ago but I wasn’t privvy to this new album ’til the day it’d released. Their work is surprisingly laid back, resembling something like ‘The Formulas of Death‘ with interest in dark metal, progressive rock, post-rock and even some atmospheric black metal swept passages. It doesn’t actually read so directly eclectic when you’re riding the steady waves of a song like “Dearth” but the more time spent with ‘Endarkenment, Being, Death‘ the more those deeper layers were revealed. Fans of the last two Chapel of Disease records should especially appreciate this one.

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Fossilization have always been a solid band with consideration for atmospheric death on the Incantation-esque spectrum but with this second LP they’re doing more with their sound, writing faster and hairier songs beyond the dynamic reach of their first record. The stylistic rub of their work now expands beyond delirious doomed meander unto cataclysmic severity, hammering harder and bending deeper into crooked dissonance without losing sight of the riff. Any fan of Immolation, Krypts and Dead Congregation should appreciate this one.

“Vexella regis prodeunt inferni — Denied all promise of deification and demoralized by corrupted divinity unto an abysmal state of bound servility São Paulo, Brazil-based atmospheric death metal duo FOSSILIZATION muse upon the cataclysmic and the conqueror to arise on this immense sophomore full-length album. ‘Advent of Wounds‘ offers an intensified set of extremes ‘ready established in previous work, an experience which tests the limits established as the band engage their cruel hand more readily while falling deeper into doom for effect. Though their approach may appear familiar at face value they’ve managed a superior second album, one which is strengthened by finer production values and lent a heightened sense of extremity which provides deeper than expected layers of intrigue, richer shades of darkness to return for.“

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Coscradh were a freakish anomaly when I’d first encountered them back in 2022 and I don’t think they’ve normalized in the years since. Album number two is far more lucid, presented upon an earthen but still crag-ridden plateau which is ideal for their unique brand of mythic devilry. ‘Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld‘ never feels dryly forecast per its ever-wriggling, wrathfully hoarked movement, a level of inclemency which remains a thrill with each passing listen. Bestial black/death metal rarely finds this point of balance where the material is just clear enough in statement to read but mind-boggling enough in statement that the mind’s path is wracked by their presence.

“Tapping into transcendental notions of their proposed ancestral vein in order to summon a second diabolically surreal experience Dublin, Ireland-based death/black metal quartet COSCRADH reappear in brightened fidelity and increasingly succinct accost on this sophomore full-length album. Harried as it is surreal ‘Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld‘ amounts to a conjuration of malign force which once again escapes the feral limitations of bestial death metal through higher standards of authorship, reaching for unheard-of nox rather than the status quo. Though they’ve had to slough off some of their rusted mania for the sake of precision riffcraft and general clarity of performance here the end result is beyond worthy.“

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The devotional asceticism displayed within ‘De Pinte‘ will prove excruciating, a tax upon the unindoctrinated psyche within its blood-choked confessional bouts in service to the adversary. Misotheist‘s music is otherwise expertly melodramatic, bleak beyond the range of similarly atmospheric efforts in this style ’til it comes time to produce an assault. This third LP from the band doesn’t reach the riff count of their debut right away, largely breaching within its twenty plus minute title track, but it’d won me over fast via its realistic sound design and supreme compositional loom.

“Answering the bray of the tormented beast for a fourth cinematic swell Trondheim, Norway-based black metal quintet MISOTHEIST cross furor with melancholia in passage of this remarkable, yet entirely characteristic fourth full-length album. Marked by atmospheric protest but aggrandized by sharply cut, often densely seated rhythmic ideation ‘De Pinte‘ serves a clear arc of reactivity ’til inner-shot stoicism throughout its four pieces. Fans who’re already familiar with their work will find an album entirely suitable per ‘ready-set high expectations while the uninitiated will find a strongly representative experience which sports the wrathful profundity these fellowes have become infamous for.“

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As it turns out the skull-shocking boon of Cryptic Shift‘s debut album back in 2020’d only just scratched the surface as to what these England borne fellowes were capable of. ‘Old school’ conscious progressive death/thrash metal typically stands in waters which bear the stink of their heroes too loudly but on ‘Overspace & Supertime‘ -they- are the waters themselves, a freely-formed pastiche which flows around said influences collecting detritus to flavor their own expression. Otherwise their handle upon early 90’s progressive death, post-millennial technical thrash, and jazz fusion/prog-rock tainted vision is a wild trip, a vacuum-fed portal which yields its own compelling science fictive lore.

“An ominous meeting of an illuminant sorceress and an intrepid explorer under orange and teal-shaded mammatus-cloaked skies deigns to transcend dimensional barriers as Leeds, England-based progressive death/thrash metal quartet CRYPTIC SHIFT return from the beyond with a mammoth sophomore full-length album. A giga-codex molded from thrash-obsessed technician hands and classicist prog-death imbued skulls ‘Overspace & Supertime‘ pushes beyond the normative collage typically made of these elements and instead crams every moment with wickedly fluid yet confrontational narrative device which meets the moment with absurd kinetic capabilities alight. For the ailing ‘old school’ death, tech-thrash, and fusion-pressed progressive metal trained ear there is a whole-ass novel’s worth of interest here, a celestially summoned nuke upon a number of wilting zeitgeist which is yet double the size/scope of (but not unrelated to) the bands already impressive debut.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

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