Mariusz Lewandowski: A Journey Into the Abyss
It's been a while since I was motivated to create a list. Coupled with my current penchant for black metal, Mariusz Lewandowski's art was the spark I needed to dig into a few unfamiliar bands and contribute something to this place. I enjoyed learning more about Mariusz and discovering some new bands along the way. It's a testament to Mariusz's artwork that he only just began the cover-design aspect of his business in 2017 with Bell Witch's MIRROR REAPER. Below you'll find some articles that will help you gather more insight into his work:
https://killyourstereo.com/news/1106754/mariusz-lewandowski-the-man-behind-the-art/
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/mariusz-lewandowski-feature |
1 | | Abigail Williams Walk Beyond The Dark
Not much I need to say for this. It's one of my top bm albums for 2019.
https://blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/walk-beyond-the-dark |
2 | | Rogga Johansson Entrance to the Otherwhere
This can be tagged with a variety of metal styles for good reason. It straddles the line between various styles of metal very well. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
https://roggadeathmetal.bandcamp.com/album/entrance-to-the-otherwhere-death-metal |
3 | | Bell Witch Mirror Reaper
Not often does an album come packaged as a one-track behemoth. I feel like you have to be in a specific mind-state to follow this album all the way through but when you are and you do it hits quite hard.
https://bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/mirror-reaper |
4 | | Astral Altar A∴A∴
There are some good riffs in here, but nothing fantastical. Short and sweet is the key here.
https://astralaltar.bandcamp.com/album/a-a |
5 | | Xenobiotic Mordrake
A solid dm/tech-death metal release from a solid band.
http://bit.ly/mordrakebandcamp |
6 | | False Portent
This is a doom/bm combo done well. I enjoyed this very much.
https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/portent |
7 | | Atlantean Kodex The Course of Empire
Despite my lack of interest in power metal these days, this is actually quite interesting and ranks higher relative to this list as a result.
https://atlanteankodex-vanrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-course-of-empire |
8 | | Fuming Mouth The Grand Descent
This is a pretty straight forward hc offering and very samey throughout. Not the most ambitious album but the band is competent enough to warrant a listen.
https://bbbrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-grand-descent |
9 | | Eremit Carrier of Weight
With only 3 tracks this kinda dips in the middle, but 1 and 3 are really strong tracks so that makes this a pretty good listen.
https://eremitdoom.bandcamp.com/album/carrier-of-weight-atmospheric-sludge-doom-metal |
10 | | Sepulcher Panoptic Horror
This is interesting enough to be good and with just enough variety to keep me engaged.
https://edgedcircleproductions.bandcamp.com/album/panoptic-horror |
11 | | Cardiac Rupture The Creator's Hand
This was interesting to listen to. It was definitely outside of my comfort zone as far as metal goes, but it was intriguing enough to keep me engaged. The audio samples that were sprinkled in were my favorite part about this. Overall, it was not as bad as I first expected due to this being quite distant to the metal I usually enjoy.
https://chugcore.bandcamp.com/album/the-creators-hand |
12 | | Psycroptic As The Kingdom Drowns
This has some cool moments and then kinda dips off in some songs. It's somewhere between a 2.5 and 3 for me, but I lean more towards a 3 because it's a grower for sure.
https://psycroptic.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-kingdom-drowns |
13 | | Elder Druid Golgotha
This is kind of average with a few bright spots sprinkled in. If you're absolutely itching for another doom/dm combo this wouldn't hurt.
https://elderdruidband.bandcamp.com/album/golgotha |
14 | | Mizmor Cairn
This isn't terrible. The dm/doom pairing is slightly interesting at times, but ultimately I didn't feel like there was enough here to entice me to come back for multiple listens.
https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/cairn |
15 | | Shrine of the Serpent Entropic Disillusion
Pretty average bm/doom combo going on here. Very samey throughout the whole album. Nothing really pulled me into this, unfortunately.
https://shrineoftheserpent.bandcamp.com/album/entropic-disillusion |
16 | | Tómarúm Wounds Ever Expanding
A little too much going on here for me to really enjoy.
https://tomarum.bandcamp.com/album/wounds-ever-expanding |
17 | | Atramentus Stygian
TBD |
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