This blog specializes in heavy metal music and how it relates to Washington DC and the surrounding area. Featuring info on upcoming metal concerts in Washington DC, Baltimore and Virginia, as well as info on local bands, area concert venues, reviews of live gigs, and lots of give aways.
Looking for some brand spankin’ new local (and local-ish) metal releases for Bandcamp Friday (which is today)? Is it already after Bandcamp Friday but you still want to hear some new local metal? If you answered yes to either of these then keep on reading:
Sulfuric Hatred – s/t
Liam McMahon, lead guitarist of local thrashers Ninth Realm, and Alexander Jones, the vocalist of Undeath, team up on this intense black/death release that came out in December.
Nazar – First Curses 2024 Demo
This demo is the first release from a new local thrash metal band that includes members of Ilsa, Genocide Pact and Goetia.
Soul Erosion – Demo 2024
This SoCal death metal band just released their debut demo which includes Tommy Wall on bass, who you’ll know from Undeath and a bunch of local bands like Tomb Warden, Brainpan, Low Flesh and others.
At the Plates – Omnivore
NoVA based At the Plates released their second full length of culinary themed melo-death served up fresh with a side of punny song titles.
Hell in the Harbor Fest really was a hell of a way to spend Memorial Day Weekend. The entire block of Market Street in front of the Baltimore Soundstage was blocked off and fenced in for the festival. The single outdoor stage located on the northbound lane of Market Street faced North with East Pratt Street to its back which lead to lots of pedestrians hanging around gawking and the bands performing there. The event was sold out and it got pretty crowded in the street near the stage when the more popular bands were playing there, especially since some of the food and drink vendors were located very close to the outdoor stage. That said, it def had the feel of that era of Maryland Deathfest with the single stage outside of Sonar back in the day. Everything went off pretty well it seemed, only one band canceled out of the entire line up and there was even a surprise set by Jivebomb atop a shipping container located inside the fenced in area of the fest. Big props to Adam Savage for putting this all together and to Mike O’Brien at Baltimore Soundstage for letting me cover it (and give away tickets to one lucky DCHM fan!). Below I’m posting just some of my favorite photos and videos that I shot at Hell in the Harbor Fest but you can see all of my photos from the festival on Flickr here and all of the videos I shot at the fest and other shows on my YouTube page here. And if that’s not enough for you be sure to check out other coverage of the fest by people like Melissa Suarez Photography, Hillarie Jason Photography, Return to the Pit / Aaron Pepelis, and Misery Cartel Photos.
Friday the 26th of May was the pre-show for the fest at Baltimore Soundstage. Nothing took place outdoors that night and I only shot a bit of the set of the headliner, the Swedish doom metal band Candlemass. Below is my video of their final two songs, “Solitude” and “Demon’s Gate,” but I also shot footage of their song “The Bells of Acheron” which you can see here.
The first full day of Hell in the Harbor Fest was on Saturday the 27th and the weather was sunny and warm. The first band I caught was the Ohio based death metal band Sanguisugabogg on the outdoor stage. They
Georgia based sludge band Black Tusk put on a super high energy set on the Baltimore Soundstage’s stage. It’s been a while since I have seen them live but their live show has really improved in that time, I was definitely impressed. They also played a new song, titled Brush Fire, which I shot video footage of that you can see below.
Next I saw Maryland’s own Dying Fetus perform their style of slam death metal on the outdoor stage.
The main headliner of day one was the most famous death metal band in the world, Cannibal Corpse! This was my first time catching them live since Erik Rutan joined the band and I’ve got to say they seemed even tighter with him in the line up. In the video I shot below lead vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher challenged the audience to best him at head banging (I don’t think anyone beat him tbh).
Eventually I found my way over to Angel’s Rock Bar inside the Power Plant area to catch Tombs play. They were solid but they had the stage lights turned down low and a ton of fog so the conditions we’re pretty poor to try to shoot anything in.
Sunday the 28th of May was the final day of Hell in the Harbor Fest but had what I considered the best line up of the weekend. The first band I caught was the chainmail wearing blackened speed metal band Demiser from South Carolina inside Baltimore Soundstage. I shot the below video of them including an epic stage dive by DCHM contributor Vivek at the 4:11 mark.
After Demiser I went outside to catch Misery Index on the outdoor stage. They’re always a fun band that is mostly local (founding member Jason Netherton now lives in Sweden) and they always do a good job of song selection for their live shows. Their drummer, Adam Jarvis, had an intense day as he also played with Pig Destroyer, the next band to play on the same stage that day.
I saw Michigan based grind band Cloud Rat perform next inside Baltimore Soundstage, but their set was really short (even by grindcore standards) due to technical issues causing them to start about when their allotted time was supposed to end. Luckily I’ve seen them before but next up I headed outside to catch local grindcore legends Pig Destroyer on the outdoor stage. By this point there were a lot of normies hanging around the outside of the festival watching what was going on not just on the street but even in the nearby stores such as the second story of the Marshall’s. Pig Destroyer vocalist even gave a shout out to all the onlookers on the street and in the IHOP and Marshall’s. The crowd surfers were starting to show up during their set and there’s something very Baltimore about witnessing the Chicken Man crowd surf in front of a Popeye’s. It was a fun set as always
The next band I caught was the Toronto based black metal band Spectral Wound. I had never seen them before and they put on a spooky show with lots of fog. The band came ready to play and their set was tight and very high energy as well. I shot a video of them playing their incredible song “Frigid and Spellbound” followed by a new song that I don’t know the title of, check it out below!
I really wanted to catch all of Spectral Wound’s grim and frostbitten set but I left about four songs in because one of my all time favorite bands to see live was on the outdoor stage at the same time, the legendary Napalm Death! I don’t know how they continue to do it but one of the oldest bands on the bill still puts on one of the best live shows of any metal band in the world. Always intense and fun, Napalm Death blasting out into the Inner Harbor of Baltimore was just awesome. The crowd surfers went wild during their set, the most I saw for any band the entire fest. I shot video of the last nine minutes of their set, which includes their cover of the Dead Kennedys classic Nazi Punks Fuck Off! which you can see below.
By the time Napalm Death ended their set Richmond’s Inter Arma was already on stage inside the Baltimore Soundstage. Another band that I love to see live, this was the first time I’d seen them with a theremin player on stage.
When Inter Arma’s set ended I had just seen several killer sets back to back to back and it was time for a bit of relaxing (read: tailgating) during High on Fire’s set. It’s not that I don’t like Matt Pike’s thrashy sludge band but I have seen them a ton of times in the past. I made it back in time to catch Undeath‘s wild set inside Baltimore Soundstage. The stage divers were going nuts during their brutal set and played a new song, titled “Brandish the Blade” (see it here). The Chicken Man was up to his normal antics and managed to get up on stage with a flag during “Enhancing the Dead” that I captured on video that you can see below.
I headed over to Angel’s Rock Bar for Philadelphia’s Sonja. I had caught them at a house show in Takoma Park back in December but that show suffered a bunch of technical issues so the sound was not idea. That’s fairly typical for house shows but their performance at Angel’s definitely seemed like more of a real show this time.
After Sonja played it was time for New York City’s Tower to close out Angel’s Rock Bar. I wasn’t familiar with Tower but they played an energetic style of traditional metal lead by frontwoman Sarabeth Linden. They were one of those bands that you can just tell is having a blast performing together, really fun to watch. Unfortunately they blew an amp head and while they were figuring that out I headed over to catch the end of Hulder‘s set at Baltimore Soundstage. Luckily I had seen Hulder in NYC back in February with Blackbraid because they cut their set short by about 15 minutes. Kind of a weird way to end the fest but as the lights came on I started doing my goodbyes to people I’d seen there. In all Hell in the Harbor Fest was executed really well. Aside from a few issues about crowding near the outdoor stage, there really wasn’t much to complain about (ok drink prices were pretty high too). I got to see some great performances by great bands, some that I’d seen before and some that I hadn’t, and of course the best part was getting to see a good chunk of the people I typically run into at Maryland Deathfest despite no MDF this year.
I recently interviewed Andrew Lee, the mastermind behind the death metal band Ripped to Shreds, which aired on the Metal Embassy Radio Show. I also posted the interview portion of the radio show as a podcast so if you missed it you can listen to the interview that way. We talked about the new Ripped to Shreds album 劇變 (Jubian), working with the Japanese band Pharmacist, his solo project Heavy Metal Shrapnel, plus other subjects like what it’s like being an Asian American involved the heavy metal world of the West.
Metal Embassy Podcast episode 14: Andrew Lee of Ripped To Shreds
It’s the end of the year so it’s time for my end of year album lists! I’m posting several lists, each for a different subgenre/category, and ordered by release date instead of ranking them. 2020 has been a unique year with unique challenges, to say the least, and I fully expect that to be reflected in my lists. This death metal list is my third of these lists and you can find my black metal list here and my stoner and doom list here.
Black Curse – Endless Wound
Released on 2 April 2020 by Sepulchral Voice Records
I guess you could call Black Curse a Denver based “super group” since the band members are from bands like Blood Incantation, Khemmis, Primitive Man and Spectral Voice, but honestly they don’t sound like any of those bands. This blackened death is brutality combined with some great songwriting that keeps it from getting monotonous and boring.
Funeral Leech – Death Meditation
Released 17 April 2020 by Carbonized Records
This debut full length from New York City based Funeral Leech takes that creeping cavernous death metal sound of bands like Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold and many others but slows it way down creating a death/doom sound with a big emphasis on the doom. Perfect music to listen to while relaxing after a long day of digging graves.
Ripped to Shreds – 亂 (Luan)
Released 17 April 2020 by Pulverised Records
Ripped to Shreds is based out of both California and Taiwan as band leader Andrew Lee has different line ups in each location. They play a death metal that has a strong Bay Area thrash element to it that keeps things both fun and brutal as Lee shreds away.
Ulcerate – Stare into Death and Be Still
Released on 24 April 2020 by Debemur Morti Productions
The new Ulcerate has appeared on many year end lists and while I debated adding the newest Cytotoxin album as the tech-death entry on this year’s list, I simply couldn’t ignore just how killer this new direction for Ulcerate is. They have streamlined their sound to keep the heaviness intact while still giving (arguably the best drummer in metal) Jamie Saint Merat plenty of room to show off. Despite being an hour long Stare into Death and Be Still somehow manages to always end too soon.
Dehumanaut – Dust in the Giant’s Hand
Self-released on 21 May 2020
This is probably the most fun album on this list. Guitarist Katy Montgomerie has packed this album full of catchy riffs that are held together by an underlying groove that never comes across cheesy. I really can’t wait to see what this three piece from England does next after this killer debut.
Battlemaster – Ghastly, Graven & Grimoireless
Released on 26 June 2020 by Forcefield Records
Richmond’s Battlemaster is obsessed with the most brutal parts of combat in Dungeons & Dragons and their first release in five years is no different. The riffs are as catchy as ever but what is different is the production on this album is a lot better than their previous. This is a perfect album to play your favorite RPG to.
Undeath – Lesions of a Different Kind
Released 23 October 2020 by Prosthetic Records
Undeath from Rochester, New York, released one hell of a slamming death metal album here. Undeath’s debut full length blends elements of modern cavernous death metal with old school NYDM style grooves and perfectly balances those sounds.
Of Feather and Bone – Sulfuric Disintegration
Released 13 November 2020 by Profound Lore Records
This is the most brutal release on this list! High energy, intense and almost relentless pummeling best describe this third release by this Denver band. They’ve stepped up their game on Sulfuric Disintegration so if you’re into death metal (and why else would you be reading this post if you aren’t?) then don’t sleep on this one!
Glorious Depravity – Ageless Violence
Released 27 November 2020 by Translation Loss Records
Based out of Brooklyn and featuring members of bands like Mutilation Rites, Woe and Pyrrhon, you knew Glorious Depravity was going to get some attention. Ageless Violence lives up to expectations and I’d dare say even exceeds them. The album is packed with sick riffs and some of the most mental lyrics on this entire list.
Undergang – Aldrig i livet
Released 4 December 2020 by Dark Descent Records
Danish death metal band Undergang returns with another filthy album of down tuned riffs and those infectious rhythms they have made a name for themselves doing. There’s nothing too unusual about this release compared to their earlier albums, but they’re perfecting that death metal from the sewer sound more and more with each release.
I made a list of my favorite black metal albums of 2019 (here) and a doom/stoner list (here) but right now I’m focused on the brutal, gory and morbid world of death metal in 2019! The albums are not ranked so they’re in order of release date. They’re not meant to be “the best albums of the year” but they are my personal favorites of the year, the ones I kept coming back to listen to again and again.
Musmahhu – Reign of the Odious
Released January 11, 2019 by Iron Bonehead Productions
Musmahhu is a Swedish death metal band but don’t think they’re some throwback using an HM-2 pedal to no end. Musmahhu uses many elements of black metal but they aren’t a typical blackened death metal band like Behemoth either. Their aggression is so high that despite the black metal elements this is still firmly a death metal album. Fans of Deicide and Belphegor will like the evil sounding death metal on Reign of the Odious.
Equipoise – Demiurgus
Released March 8, 2019 by The Artisan Era
Pittsburgh based Equipoise is the proggy/tech death entry on this list. The band been called a “super group” for including members of bands like Hate Eternal and Beyond Creation but pedigree aside this is some pretty solid tech death. Songs are composed in a way that is complex yet fairly easy to follow, making this release more palatable than similar bands with great technical skill but no ability to compose a proper song. The flamenco elements are unexpected but somehow work as well!
Venom Prison – Samsara
Released March 15, 2019 by Prosthetic Records
The Welsh band Venom Prison has been making waves in the world of death metal, a genre often focused on gory depictions of violence toward women, by taking a feminist approach to it without losing the anger. Vocalist Larissa Stupar’s lyrics in the song “Implementing the Metaphysics of Morals” are perfect example, full of spite for infamous rapist Brock Turner and his light sentence, showing again that the rage of death metal can be used for more than just slasher film style shock.
Nucleus – Entity
Released April 13, 2019 by Unspeakable Axe Records
Nucleus is a death metal band from Chicago that takes the sci-fi vibe from thrash bands like Vektor and Voivod and severely ups the brutality. This isn’t death/thrash, this is straight up death metal but with that eerie vibe of being lost in the outer reaches of space. Nucleus has good amount of technical skill and dynamic songwriting to keep it interesting throughout Entity.
Immortal Bird – Thrive On Neglect
Released July 5, 2019 by 20 Buck Spin
The second band on this list from Chicago, and second with a female vocalist, Immortal Bird released their best album yet this year in Thrive On Neglect. There’s a lot of aggression coupled with an underlying tension throughout the album while the band also blends elements of genres far outside of death metal. They aren’t following any trends, they’re just making unique, solid death metal songs with so much variation you will keep discovering new details upon repeat listens.
Tomb Mold – Planetary Clairvoyance
Released July 19, 2019 by 20 Buck Spin
This is the third Tomb Mold full length in 3 years and you may be getting tired of seeing the Toronto based cavernous death metal band appearing on year end lists but their incredible streak of releasing top notch material shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. This time around it’s basically Tomb Mold In Space and while the sci-fi theme has definitely become a major trend in death metal lately, these songs are still full of all that raw aggression, nasty guitar tone and memorable riffage Tomb Mold is known for.
Sanguisugabogg – Pornographic Seizures
Released July 26, 2019 by Maggot Stomp
Maggot Stomp has certainly become a trendy record label in the world of ugly, underground death metal and this 4 song demo that is only about 11 minutes long was their best release of 2019. There’s not a lot of build up on a release this short, it’s very straight to the point and full of some of the most ignorant caveman death metal riffs you’ve ever heard, combined with a psychedelic haze you’d expect of a band more like Electric Wizard. This release is fun as hell to listen to and even more fun to mosh to.
01101111011101100110111001101001 – SDSS J0333+0651
Released August 9, 2019 by Amputated Vein Records
01101111011101100110111001101001, also known as Ovni, (which is Spanish for UFO and what their name means when converted from binary code to ASCII) is obsessed with two things, aliens and brutal slam riffs. The album SDSS J0333+0651 is named for a distant galaxy cluster and the songs are all technical name designations for various stars, galaxies and other objects in outer space. The Argentinian band is known to dress up as aliens on stage too. The songs are sick and the album is only 23 minutes long, short enough that your interest doesn’t wane before it closes with a quote from Stephen Hawking.
Cerebral Rot – Odious Descent Into Decay
Released August 16, 2019 by 20 Buck Spin
Slimy, festering and rancid are all good descriptions of this surprise instant classic by Seattle based Cerebral Rot. This is death metal from the sewer in its purist form but what makes it special is just how many hooks they crammed into this release. The riffs are catchy and distinct from each other, yet keeping that beautifully repulsive sound constant throughout. This album is as fun as a splash fight in a septic tank!
Mortiferum – Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
Released October 11, 2019 by Profound Lore Records
Fans of that creeping death/doom pioneered by Incantation are going to absolutely love this debut album by Olympia, Washington, based Mortiferum. They have faster blasting segments that are contrasted perfectly with the almost funeral doom slow segments that will leave you feeling completely crushed under their weight. There’s a lot of bands attempting this style of death metal these days but nobody did it better in 2019 than Mortiferum.
Unfathomable Ruination – Enraged & Unbound
Released November 22, 2019 by Willowtip Records
The London, England based Unfathomable Ruination put out one hell of an album this year in Enraged & Unbound. Relentless pacing and brutal intensity lay the foundation that the abrasive time changes and killer riffs that are built on. Fans of Psycroptic, Origin and old school Cryptopsy are going to love peeling the layers back with repeated listens of this album.
Blood Incantation – Hidden History of the Human Race
Released November 22, 2019 by Dark Descent Records
This was certainly the most hyped death metal release this year, it was even given Decibel magazine’s top spot on their list of 2019’s best albums. I’m not sure I’d go that far but it really is a great album, though I think I like their debut a bit better still. Regardless, the Denver based band has put out another album weaving crushingly heavy riffs with complex songwriting and this is in no way a sophomore slump release. Plus we got some cute Baby Yoda memes from that album cover art.
Band: Construct of Lethe Album: Exiler Release Date: 20 June 2018 Record Label: Everlasting Spew Records Buy on CD ($10) or digital ($5) from: Bandcamp
Finally getting this Construct of Lethe review up on the site that we’ve had sitting on the back burner for a bit. Vivek wrote this piece about one of the most brutal death metal bands to have ties to our area. As usual you can stream songs at the end of the post, and there’s even some studio footage of the drums being recorded for one of the songs too!
Construct of Lethe is a death metal band based in Woodbridge, Virginia. According to their Bandcamp page, this band is Tony Petrocelly’s band to combine and release music from his previous bands, which are Xaoc, Dead Syndicate, and Betheldeign. Since then, the band has taken its own path. Exiler is Construct of Lethe’s second album after Corpsegod (January 2016) and their only EP The Grand Machination (October 2016). Exiler is a powerhouse that does not let up and has a barrage of twists and turns to keep the listener engaged. Before I discuss the album, let’s talk about who Construct of Lethe are.
Construct of Lethe are composed of the members Tony Petrocelly, David Schmidt, and Patrick Bonvin. Tony Petrocelly handles the rhythm guitar and bass duties, Patrick Bonvin handles the lead guitar work, and the lineup is completed with David Schmidt on vocals. Construct of Lethe recruited Kévin Paradis, of the French death metal band Benighted, to be the session drummer on Exiler. Petrocelly handled all of the recording, mixing, and mastering of the album.
On Exiler, Construct of Lethe showcase punishing and suffocating death metal, while showing off technical prowess as well. Lyrically, it’s a well-developed anti-Christian rant, filled with plenty of Deicide and black metal influenced anti-christian lyrics. Throughout the album, the listener is treated to death metal that is relentless. There is also a slight technical prowess and melody that underlie much of the aggressive death metal attack. This is topped off with Schmidt’s excellent vocal delivery. His voice elevates the music. It’s very much in the vein of Immolation and Morbid Angel.
In “Rot of Augury”, the opening and main riff is mid paced while having a punch to it. It paints an image of an army marching across the battlefield and has a similar vibe to something like Morbid Angel on Gateways to Annihilation. Around the two minute four second mark, “Rot of Augury” uses plenty of blast beats to transition into a more intense second riff. This transition works because of how it grabs and holds on to the listener and keeps the them hooked for the rest of the song. It also has a very good use of pinch harmonics to show off a dissonant riff. This speedy and dissonant riff is great because of how rough yet technical the riff is. The use of pinch harmonics in this riff are very engaging too, they are a cool little flash which keeps the listener attentive to the song. This moves into another fast and chromatic riff that is used as a segue into the lead. It sounds great as a transition into the lead. The lead has a slight melody which makes it good to hear. After this lead, the track goes into the breakdown, which serves as another transition into another lead. The use of a lead to finish the breakdown is smart, it continues the breakdown without giving the feeling of it dragging on. Once after the solo is finished, the song concludes with the main riff.
On the album’s third track, “The Clot,” the Immolation influence begins to peak. This track in particular is where Construct of Lethe show off their technical abilities at their best. From the intro alone, we are treated to a song that has all the anger, brutality, and greatness of something that came out of New York in the 90s. The main riff is a very blasting and harmonic riff, it sounds as if there is a nonstop jackhammer pounding away. It’s fast and right up in your face and has a very powerful kick to it. “The Clot” incorporates a slightly melodic riff as a way to contrast the machine gun-like roaring riff that was done before. The second lead on this track is supported by the intro riff which enhances the lead. It makes it very abstract and surreal. Lyrically, in contrast, this is where the Morbid Angel influence peaks. Especially the Gateways to Annihilation and Formulas Fatal to the Flesh Morbid Angel too. One example of this, “His wings are numbered hexakosioi hexekonta hex.” Another example of this:
“I undertake katabasis to descend to the Hetoimasia
Affliction amongst deities
Crawl from the desert with phulakterion bound to the limb
Regurgitate the schema: listen, hear, do unholiness Sanctify to me!”
Both of these examples show how creative and well developed these blasphemous lyrics are. It’s clear Construct of Lethe know their anti-Christian language and they have no problem spouting such lyrics, even if the listener has no clue what they mean. I looked up the meanings behind some of these and “hexakosioi hexekonta hex” is ancient Greek for 666. It takes the language used by orthodox Greek Christianity for blasphemy. It’s well thought out and delivered.
The vocals provided David Schmidt are excellent and have many demonic elements to them. It’s the perfect death metal vocal style for Exiler. Throughout the album, the vocals provided by David Schmidt, have a traditional, yet very gruff edge to them. There is also a strong “traditional” demonic sound to them. It makes the delivery of the blasphemous lyrics evil and it sounds like they are coming from hell. One example is the track “A Testimony of Ruin.” This is a slower track which helps to showcase the strength of his vocals. Schmidt’s vocals are guttural and have a strong bellow to them. Schmidt is able to inject a lot of energy into each word because of the slowness of the song, it makes the delivery of the lyrics a lot more harsh because the anger in his voice is channeled in full. On “Soubirous,” Schmidt’s vocals are at their most sinister. The listener hears how much of a vile and raspy growl Schmidt can produce which shows off his range as a result. This is occurring on the fastest track on the album. Schmidt’s vocals enhance the music of the track and makes the music even more evil. The vocals on “Soubirous” act as another instrument and really pack an unholy jab to the listener. While on this track we see the heights of David Schmidt’s vocals, on the track “Fugue State,” is where weaknesses are present. Mainly in the clean and spoken word parts of the track. I can understand why the sections where the spoken word vocals are used. That said, Schmidt’s normal voice for these lyrics makes them more comedic than sinister. His normal voice is funny to listen to after hearing all of the growling before. It has a cheesy feel to them and makes the lyrics seem amateur. I laughed at line “I come to the realization that I have in my hand, the head of Jesus fucking Christ.” I laughed even harder at the backing vocal of “Christ.” The clean, spoken word vocals occur for most of the song and bring the song down as a whole. However, this only occurs on “Fugue State” and do not appear on the rest of the album. It’s a hiccup at worst. For the most part, Schmidt’s vocals compliment the riffs and the music enhances Schmidt’s vocals. It is the symbiotic relationship between these two elements that shines very bright in Exiler.
Exiler is one of the best local releases I have heard in a while. It is a showcase in traditional and dissonant death metal, with a touch of technical prowess and hints of melody. Construct of Lethe take these musical elements and combine them with a sinister and bellowing vocal style that puts the tracks into overdrive. Combining all of this with sophisticated and blasphemous lyrical content make this record an ideal example of how death metal is done right. This is a great continuation of what was started on Corpsegod.
DCHeavyMetal.com 