50 Albums From 2014 That You Need To Hear (Pt. 1 of 5)

Well, here we are halfway through 2014 and here I am once again expounding my metalness upon the masses. It's been a solid , if not spectacular year for new music. Obviously being a list of 50, not everything is going to blow your socks off but that isn't my aim. Precious few of these will maintain my attention throughout the year but all are worth a lesson by any metalhead looking for a diamond in the rough.

 [DEATH] ACID WITCH/NUNSLAUGHTER - SPOOKY (SPLIT EP)

This is what I want out of Acid Witch. Massive Death/Doom riffs and pronounced, spooky keyboards. The vocals are also better here. Not sure if there's a new vocalists or he's just mixed better but I hope the new Acid Witch LP sounds like this. As far as Nunslaughter goes, I've never given them much of a shot but that changed after hearing this EP. I'll go a little more in depth about Nunslaughter at a later date but needless to say I loved it.

 [HARDCORE/BLACK/CRUST] YOUNG AND IN THE WAY - WHEN LIFE COMES TO DEATH

Young and In The Way are a band I've had an eye on for a couple years and I feel like they came into their own on this one. The hybridization of Hardcore, Black Metal and Crust has become something of an underground trend but YITH are the best of the bunch. If you want raw and aggressive, this is the album for you.

[SLUDGE] EYEHATEGOD - EYEHATEGOD

Eyehategod's classic albums are about as grimy as it gets. You feel like you need a shower after listening. They're like an episode of Intervention set to southern sludge metal. While every bit as filthy as past albums, something seems a bit more mature. I guess that will happen when you don't put out an album in 14 years. In this case maturity does not mean boring as this is right up there with their best work.

[BLACK] FUNEREAL PRESENCE - THE ARCHER TAKES AIM

A Negative Plane side project has much to live up to. While Funereal Presence keeps that Negative Plane vibe with the keyboards and riff style, this is still much more straight forward Black Metal. It does throw some curve balls at you though and they all fit perfectly. The songs are a bit long winded with 3 of the 4 going 10 minutes plus but this is still my favorite Black Metal album this year. A little trimming and this could have been a classic.

[DEATH] INNSMOUTH - CONSUMED BY ELDER SIGN

Think Bolthrower doing songs based on Lovecraft rather than war. Need I say more?

Stay tuned Monday for Part 2...

Support Local Music

You never quite know what's lurking around your area. I've come upon quite a few RI/Mass bands lately who are right up my alley. I always thought the scene here was populated by more mainstream metal fare than anything but apparently there's a whole under the underground scene that I wasn't completely aware of and today I'll do a little profile of two of my favorites.

Hailing from Rhode Island, ETERNAL KHAN is a band I ignored for a bit without hearing the music. I heard the name, I saw the album cover and for some reason it screamed DEATHCORE to me, which I'm generally not a fan of. Earlier this year, another metal scribe whom I'm generally on the same page with gave them the thumbs up so I decided to give them a shot. Upon first listen I knew I had stumbled upon a gem. In 2012 my #1 album was FAUSTCOVEN Hellfire and Funeral Bells which combines Black Metal elements with the slow dirge of Doom to brilliant results. On their new EP A Primitive History ETERNAL KHAN, while certainly their own entity, blend the same elements together for similar results.



ETERNAL KHAN has quickly become my favorite local band. I'm looking forward to what they can do on a full length and hoping they create enough noise to get picked up by a decent label like Nuclear War Now! and get some decent distribution.

You can grab their CD at the great Armageddon Shop or listen to the EP and buy it direct from the band at their Bandcamp page.

At the other end of the spectrum is SANGUS LEGIONARIS also from Rhode Island. A Black/Thrash/Crust outfit who has been stealing the show from known bands for a little while now. Their 1st demo Vengeful Brutality is just a raw, uncompromising mix of some of my favorite things. Instead of me fishing for a proper description, it's much better to let the music do the talking.



You can also check out more of SANGUS by purchasing the cassette from Armageddon Shop or at the above Bandcamp.