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.

---

I. This month on MystificationZine.com looked like a typical September release schedule with many of the biggest, best and heaviest records somehow releasing in October. Tons of death/doom metal, strong atmospheric metal releases in general, and some legit AOTY contenders all hit at once, bottlenecking the end of the month. Don’t skip out on records from Worm Altar, Mother of Graves, Thronehammer, Morbid Stench, Night Hag, Hekatoxen and many others.

II. Consider following on YouTube. Videos for the best of September and October should be up soon.

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.

---

Bandung, Indonesia-based quintet Haul have taken a long strange trip from blackened neocrust/hardcore punk influenced musing in the 2010’s toward their current state of inventive psych-conjured black/death metal today as their second full-length ‘Magna Kalahar‘ reflects total transformation. Their 2023 released EP ‘Adamar‘ telegraphed some of this change but here a full kaleidoscopic bloom occurs where crust-spawned aggression, deathrock’s cold possession, and the theatric throttle n’ slap of records like ‘Venture‘ from Stench all come to collectively define this uniquely wrought record. The total effect is brilliantly alien, and increasingly so as the tracklist continues where they foam into impressive vocal contortions on Side B (re: “Menjilat Sangrawi”, “Sabda Mala Prosa”) which lend a feeling of progression through thier storm.

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

On the first listen of this latest Deconsekrated record I think I’d hit the second song (“Terrifying Manifestation of Malevolence”) or nearby and it’d immediately clocked in mind as a serious ass death metal record, a murderous stab beyond their feral but only just barely-formed prior effort. What was vacuous, billowing and prone to drift in the past is now a brutal scramble between their doubled riff count and better formed take on Immolation-esque meander. Pick up all four of the records Nuclear Winter released this month, all of them will send your skull smoking, but this is the one that’d held the blade closest and threatened death the loudest on my part.

“The tunneling gnaw of the desecrator below terrifies throughout this sophomore full-length album from Temuco, Chile-based death metal quartet DECONSEKRATED who go on chewing through the carrion of the downward-ascendant and biting loose the sinew that binds the point of release beyond death. Amping their structural hand while sustaining a boiling, distempered pace throughout the band achieve an exceptional refinement-by-integration on ‘The Inexorable Transcendence of Death‘, merging both atmospheric and thrashing death metal elements found on their debut unto one unholy form herein. The result is an imposing, oftentimes inventive trample through dark death metal sounds which achieves a brilliantly morbid stature and an engrossing experience overall.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

Despite frequent comparisons to other acts in this speed-metallic, first wave black throttled and thrashing style Spirit Possession carry their own ulterior psychogenic quality, conjuring bizarrely immersive fixation from relatively simple movements achieved by pure finesse. ‘Cathedral Speech‘ doesn’t rewrite their thread, only collects their best attributes and trucks along the maze carved with it, hitting a fine point of definition which is inclusive of their history thus far. For my taste this is record is the one to deliver the black streak of lightning their other releases promised.

“Spent for the sake of menacing blasphemy and shot from the coven’s maze-turned maelstrom mouth, a spiraling coup of whirling black magickry abounds on this third full-length album from Portland, Oregon-based black metal duo SPIRIT POSSESSION. Dagger-winds and snarling incant reclaim their jet-black throne as ‘Cathedral Speech‘ intensifies its depiction of invaze and descent into possession with a ramping barrel through. Without altering the total personage developed within their first two major releases these folks’ve created a more precision cut extension of their moderne first wave black titration, a set of ambitiously strung and electrically charged pieces which progressively immerse in reveal.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

There were a number of exceptional split albums released this month including Noroth/Mortual, Invocation/Embrace of Thorns but the only one I’d gotten around to fully reviewing, the one that I had the most to say about was this one from Nekus and Bloodsoaked Necrovoid. The latter is one of the better bands in their lane, a bestial death/doom reap, and the former surprises here on with a huge ~19 minute song (“Dakhma”) and kinda steal the show overall with it. Would recommend grabbing all three splits mentioned either way.

“Giving rest to auld daemonic husks with altar-burning rites of severed possession the pitch black sepulchral hypnose shared between Marburg, Germany-based blackened death/doom quartet NEKUS and Zarazoga, Spain-based death/doom metal trio BLOODSOAKED NECROVOID reaches a point of explosive furor in the span of this above-average split album. ‘Funerary Rites of Ancient Doom‘ offers an exceptional pairing between these two bands outright, fine curation in all counts, but does so with each band bringing substantive works to their halves. There are too few split records I could so readily endorse on both sides these days but here there’d been no getting around the carbonized surrealism which radiates throughout these complimentary yet distinct works.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

This second Dungeon Serpent album realizes and then surpasses the ambitions of their well-received homebrewed debut, taking a full step into signature. While the darker tinted ears of the underground might’ve wanted another all-rally riff album ‘Lamentations of the Shadowkingdoms‘ is a more ambitious undertaking where melancholic drapery enhance their scene setting, create melodrama while pretty thoroughly avoiding any sense of Swedish melodeath tropes… at least beyond a few contrapunal Dawn-level duel rhythmic wrangling, some of the best parts of the album. Taking their time, struggling through creation seems to have driven them towards this high standard and from my point of view the thought of where they go from here is a thrill in itself.

“A half-decade long sojourn spent encircled by vortices of decrepit, enfeebling shapes yields new characterization to the second coming of Vancouver, British Columbia-based melodic death metal duo DUNGEON SERPENT as the band’s exceptionally cast sophomore full-length album realizes both past and present ambitions within. Filling the unassuming listener’s skull with both melodious and brutal rhythmus ‘Lamentations Of The Shadowkingdoms‘ might appear to be total refinement of the sound and modus they’d introduced several years ago but the album comes with its own symphony apart, the composer’s own spin upon the sub-genre. Informed by the over-to-top, somewhat maudlin flourish of the old ways just as much as percussive brutality when called for this second pass at their ambitions is wildly successful as their whole conception crests upon its own.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

Summing the contents of Lugubrious Garment‘s cracked skull in a few sentences would prove daunting from every angle taken as the deathgrinding bestially socked black-thrashing death metal within repositions with every breath taken. I think I’d gone in expecting a bestial grind record with a shit load of riffs but here Gramaglia has this Vigna-esque hand hanging over ‘In the Wide Vale of Uncreated Night‘ which excites but also just blurs the senses into stupor with repeated listening. The effect is incredible and defies any reasonable comparison on the chunk through. As with all of the author’s works it pays to give this one some time to worm in mind due to the wild level of detail expressed.

“Be it divine or diabolic intervention no salvation lies beyond the day of judgment ahead wherein destruction and dementia define the eternal night illustrated within Milan, Italy-based blackened death-grind project LUGUBRIOUS GARMENT‘s debut full-length album, greeting those left behind with total spiritual collapse and strangling miasma to follow. Impossible to contain within its thousand-tendril’d reach ‘In the Wide Vale of Uncreated Night‘ sprawls in feverish voice and madly detailed craft throughout its ~forty minute deathgrind-walloped black death bombard. Though this work is anchored by elements of black metal, death metal and grindcore it yet defies exact definition on approach where the bestial, the progressive and the groove-heavy all feed into the legion of ecstatic despair it embodies.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

The original conception of Temple Nightside could be summed as something like black metal atmosphere given to occult death metal’s possessed hand, a fusion which continues to evolve with each pass. ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ is a continuation of the bands previous album in some sense, a riff driven black/death assault, but I think this one’d disturbed the mind and emptied the spirit per its guitar work in particular. Slower, caustic doomed death metal pieces beside maniac-blasted and riff driven songs made for an experience that’d hit like a portal to a fresh dimension for the band. A rare record in the sense that has gotten even more listening sessions beyond the review process.

“Blackest shadows remain where death’s spells endure as carbonized remnants dust the moss-greyed tombs long haunted by Australia-based blackened death metal quartet TEMPLE NIGHTSIDE on this fifth sojourn through obliterated scenery and curse-fuming dissent. Reinforced by time’s degradation and steeled in their greater purpose the band’s efforts on ‘Cenotaph Severance‘ send unholiest echoes throughout their mausoleum, louder and increasingly dire waves of black atmospheric haunt enforced by ancient death’s pummeling insistence. Though it is a natural evolutionary step in succession of their last the band’s vigor and complexity of authorship have scaled in the years between, revealing an even more daunting malevolent force upon reappearance.“

>> FULL STREAM <<

---

The bigger picture provided by all three Dream Unending releases in succession offers a cascade from dark to light, captivity to freedom, internalization to externalization and such… as their sort of underground atmospheric death/doom metal sound borne from a unique set of influences becomes a hydra of many voices and broadly expressive potential. With ‘Certain Uncertainties‘ taking that esoteric death/doom metal soul and pairing it with virtuosic, jazz-adjacent progressive rock hands and beyond makes for a surreal, rambling experience. Of course I am most intrigued by the doom metal rhythms deployed but seeing Vella‘s voice (via his guitar talent) come into its own here is likely to be the lasting mark of this record overall and a serious push beyond the already impressive ‘Song of Salvation‘. Another record that simply needs more time even beyond analysis.

“Be it directed inward, poured outward, or launched toward the star-pocked unknown whatever conversation is offered by United States/Canada-based atmospheric doom/progressive metal duo DREAM UNENDING steadily reveals itself as everflowing despite the years between. As the band’s discography begins to ebb together, pooling in collective expression and rising toward is own unearthly connectivity in broadening descent what it carries down the mountain amounts to less a glom of detritus and moreso a becoming, a transformation which increasingly trades extremity for spiritual-emotional symposium. An oddly infectious form of communal solace emerges on their third pass as ‘Certain Uncertainties‘ mills over personal quandary as often as it stares glassy-eyed at the wonderment available to silent observance. The patient-eared will find a third staged form of surrealistic extremity from these masters of atmospheric soul-craft but the space between thunderous movements digs deeper, further from foreboding nihil as possible.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

Swedish mob Mutation went so hard on their debut full-length album they might’ve smashed and stumbled their way upon an Album of the Year contender in ‘Esoteric Order of Debauchery‘. Channeling their possession through the corpse of circa 1987 underground death metal in the United States (and abroad to some degree) their work here is brash, wrathful and truly embraces the original spirit of extreme metal before black and death metal were treated as known tribal quantities. Devotees of Vorum, Degial and ‘God Died on His Knees‘ will be left kneeling in bloodied tribute after just one spin.

“Summoning ancient death into their tomb of morbid stench and feasting upon the screams of wailing souls ’til rabid possession sets in Stockholm, Sweden-based death metal quintet MUTATION wield the uncanny maniac accost of the auld underground on this cruelly concieved debut full-length album. Achieving their blackened mass with unbound, unusually rabid action in hand the band’s grasp of mid-to-late 80’s thrashing death metal on ‘Esoteric Order of Debauchery‘ stuns more with each adrenaline-shot pass. Though they’ve sophisticated beyond their demo tape from a few years back here unto a proper full-length experience their work here offers believable answer to the many might’ve been acts that never made it out of the late 80’s underground with this style.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---

There are plenty of bands who release solid death/thrash metal, 80’s death metal, or classic thrash informed records every year and get the sound right but few that achieve anything more than revival of old, dead greats with piecemeal songcraft. To be fair I’d figured that would be what Deathwards would manage after their throat-cutting set of demos back in the late 2010’s but here on their debut LP they’ve crafted their own personage from the auld standards. ‘Realms of Sin‘ brings the relentless muscle of late 80’s daemonic thrash and incredible sound design to match their high-rate craft but they go somewhere with those tools, carving out their own odd-colored path in the periphery of classic South American thrash and all that that is to say that they bring riff after riff on this album, a mastery of the dark arts we only see once or twice a year if we’re lucky.

“Cast down, careening deep within nine levels of medieval spiritual damnation for seeming eternity Rancagua, Chile-based death/thrash metal quartet DEATHWARDS return from the adversarial domain transformed, readied to enlighten doomed mankind of their myriad corruptions on this diabolically achieved debut full-length album. Calling upon the abyss for its classic thrash-era death metal esotericism ‘Realms of Sin‘ is both derivation of and dementia incurred from an ongoing obsession with the increasingly rare forms of late 80’s thrashing extremism. What they achieve herein amounts to a feat of uncanny mastery which stretches beyond arcane forms and plainest fandom without escaping the unholy void that’d birthed their inclinations.“

>> FULL REVIEW <<

---