Horse Latitudes - Black Soil (2013)

   After the wider success of drone metal, plenty of bands tried themselves in the new style. Though it's kinda debatable if it was able to show anything new, but it was a new aspect of musical minimalism for sure. In more fortunate occasions, new bands didn't came with another noise based rehearsal sound check experiment, but embedded drone sound into their selected style, that was most commonly doom metal. Usually those bands survived longer who also changed their style step by step, trying further possibilities, and these experiments often led to something impressive (like in case of Conan or Dead Rooster for instance). And Horse Latitudes were no exception either, they gave a new, immeasurably dark tone to doom metal.

   On their first two albums they have been committed to the classic features of doom by occult topics, high singing, and extending their songs to funeral doom length and intensity - or to be more specific, by the lack of intensity. The classic sound of doom metal was completed with drone features, represented by the distorted sound of bass, therefore bass lines had highlighted role. On "Black Soil" the band went further both in influences and obscureness. Growling vocals appeared on the side of clear singing, the bass sounded way more ominous and threatening than before. The song structures were advantageous to highlight the dark and heavy switches that are eventually occuring on the album. Intensity also showed up occasionally like never before. Sometimes by middle tempo with heaviness that could be comparable to death metal, and even by high tempo, that recalled the sound of black metal. In total both the darker tone and the wider diversity in themes turned out to be pretty effective, and on the side of higher enjoyability, this mixed form led to something extremely obscure, depressing and sick, that couldn't be heard often on similar level. "Black Soil" is strongly recommended for the fans of doom metal and funeral doom!

Redwood Hill - Descender (2013)

   Post-black metal had intense uprising from the mid '00s and for several occasions it was able to break into the mainstream by bands like Alcest or Agalloch. This reinterpretation of black metal might also count as a way of "hipsterization", but from another perspective it offered much more than other directions (atmospheric black, depressive black ect). Instead of just focusing on one specific feature of the genre (like on atmospheric sound for instance), and using it up as not just one of the main determining features, but basically the only one determining feature, various other influences have been involved from progressive metal to drone metal. The possibilities were pretty wide, thanks to the combinability or flexibility of post black, that came from its essential minimalism. And by Redwood Hill it was approved that even sludge metal was possible to involve. 

   Since the expression of an obscure perspective is a definite intention of both post-black metal and sludge, but from different approaches, the combination turned out to be pretty effective. The demoralizing, desperate hopelessness, and the unfriendlier, noisy sound of sludge are in present in diluted form thanks to the softer, melancholic approach of post-black. And meanwhile they giving the whole thing a heavier and less melody focused touch than usual. Post black couldn't sound so hopeless by itself, and its aesthetical intentions were reduced. If it's about melancholy, in this form it's deeper than ever, and therefore not as good for meditation as it used to be. Also less compatible for the usual target audience. This could happen if something truly broken gets revealed instead commercial gloom and self-pity. It was a back and forth advantageous influence for both involved subgenres, and the results are more diverse than how they could ever be by themselves. "Descender" is a unified, well-composed underrated masterpiece. Also it could become a potential favorite for wider audiences. 

Serpent Omega - Serpent Omega (2013)

   Somehow it's always interesting if mythological or folklore related topics could be heard from stoner/doom bands, though it's not really far from their pretty common spiritual or esoteric concepts. It's enough to think about Yob for instance. And also it's not quite new, if we think about Conan. Maybe the reason that could make the whole thing kinda surprising each time is how well stoner/doom features could fit for a concept that is more usual to encounter in folk metal. 

   Fortunately Serpent Omega completely lacks any folk metal music influences musically, therefore it has depths and it's possible to take the whole thing more seriously. By the advantageous features of stoner/doom, the band's narrative could hit heavy and hard if it's needed, or if a song desires to have ancient or misty feeling, it could get psychedelic assistance. If it's about mood range, the songs could be uplifting but still heavy, or obscure, and even extremely down pulling, comparable to more extreme subgenres. Powerful female vocal style is assisting to the music, that is mostly shouting, occasionally could reach clear singing, but only for short periods. Most possibly the female vocal is the the main reason why it's not possible to step over the concept like in most other cases, simply cause it's the most suitable narrative for the selected topic. Also the concept in this form could show way more diverse range than in its usual musical environment. There are no folk songs grabbed out from their traditional children or village grandma choir versions, no reindeers dancing around campfires, and basically no dance or danceable parts to find in any form at all. If this is the price to pay to give myths enough wide range, it's definitely worth it. In total Serpent Omega combined a more traditional form of metal (a bit sludgy stoner/doom) with a concept that counts as a  modern tendency to have in metal, but from another perspective outside metal, this concept could be the definition of the term "traditional".  Already on their debut, Serpent Omega definitely found the best way to express their message, but their style was still in some kind of experimenting or uncompleted state. Despite there are plenty of very enjoyable moments on the album, some songs collapsing into monotonous tiredness. It's a stunning debut though, recommended for the fans of stoner/doom. 

Repuked - Up from the Sewers (2013)

   Autopsy fans have been quite pleased from the late '00s, since plenty of new bands showed up who tried to recall the notoriously sick feeling Autopsy was infamous of in the early '90s. And most bands did it successfully. One of them was Repuked. 

   The band's full-length debut "Pervertopia" was sick and enjoyable from various aspects, but in total the album probably intended to recreate the obscure intensity of 'Severed Survival". While on their returning record "Up from the Sewers" they focused more on diversity. The slow, ominous melodies had bigger role (similar to "Mental Funeral"), but there's no lack of primitive themes, and even more primitive ones than usual. Like simple punk influenced themes to be more specific. As the album goes on, the return of the various features the band operated with becoming frequent and predictable the same time, and even though their music basically counts as primitive, this is a sign of paying more attention on the song structures and their complexity than how it could be expected by first listening. By giving it the right hands, the "recipe" that was left behind by Autopsy is pretty effective and offers more possibilities than how it first sounds like. The fact that many bands understood and did it right, is kind of an ultimate compliment for their icon. On the side of diversity "Up from the Sewers" was also more experimental than "Pervertopia". Like if the band had a list of things they just wanted to try, just because why not. This had slightly disadvantageous effect on the unity of the album, but the mix of features the band operated with gave enough wide range to not let the whole thing slip too far. Strongly recommended for the fans of Autopsy!

Obliteration - Black Death Horizon (2013)

   Until the third full-length Obliteration record it's got clear that the band didn't intend to create too homogenous discography. There are some exciting changes to discover on each album, and those are of course committed inside the borders of old school death metal. By "Black Death Horizon" the band kept showing that those borders aren't so strict as they're believed so.

   Similar to "Nekropsalms", the third album also gives a nice rotting taste of old Autopsy, and this very familiar, slow and endlessly sick feeling hits hard already at the beginning. However, "Black Death Horizon" isn't so complex like the previous album was. And the same time to express overwhelming sickness isn't in the main focus anymore. The song compositions are still great, and to operate with partly taken themes and to insert them into another perspective definitely needs skills. Maybe this method might sound familiar by thinking about bands like Skeletal Remains or Gruesome, but in fact those are bands who are perfect examples of how to not do the whole thing. Taking exact themes from another band and putting them together randomly over and over again like if it was some AI mix, is kinda far from writing own themes strongly influenced by another band, and pasting them into a new perspective each time. Despite the less complex song structures, on "Black Death Horizon" the band's own way of self-expression also had higher importance. Therefore it might be easier to go into, but to describe the exact motivations in details by grabbing the essence of the album isn't an easy task. This means the complexity also wasn't gone completely, and similar to "Nekropsalms", "Black Death Horizon" is also an album worth to listen to many-many times. Another masterpiece by Obliteration.

Infant Death - War (2013)

   Infant Death's debut could sound pretty nostalgic for those who are missing the feeling of '80s metal the most. It's kinda subjective and up to the listener to decide if "War" counts as a thrash/black or thrash/death metal album, and this is exactly the reason why was it a quite successful intention to recall the '80s.

   Since extreme metal subgenres haven't been fully developed back then, and basically most extreme music were just called collectively as thrash metal, it's pretty accurate to stay on the borders. On the side of the quite evident Slayer influences, Infant Death of course had more exaggerated tendencies, and it was not only needed for effective nostalgia. Ordinary thrash bands hardly could seem so extreme now like they have been for '80s audiences back then, and this is also the reason why those few thrash bands that have been able (or allowed) to break into the nowadays mainstream metal scene are basically playing thrash/death. Infant Death also took up the long lost "the faster the heavier" competition concept, and their speed and tempo is comparable to Sadus. The combination of their mixed style and aggressive tone reminds to South American bands like old Sepultura and Sarcófago. For old school fan audiences "War" might become a potential favorite. 

Bonesaw - The Illicit Revue (2013)

   For the most obsessed fans of Autopsy there have been plenty of bands to fulfill their never ending (and reasonable) hunger, while Autopsy had a long inactive period. Anatomia, Funeral, Mausoleum, just to mention a few. One of these bands was Bonesaw. 
   But in the list of evident Autopsy rip-off bands, maybe Bonesaw was the most genuine one, thanks to the previously mentioned imaginary sound and style-related obligations of their origin, the United Kingdom. Fortunately the sound isn't so dull as usual like in case of British metal bands in general, but also not the same what could be expected from a strongly Autopsy influenced band. It's somehow in the middle way between the two, and it turned out to be way more advantageous in this form, than just having any of the two. Also, it might be possible to compare it to the sound of the "Acts of the Unspeakable", but fortunately it's far from being that bad. The production was great, the themes haven't been put under a thick layer to lose their intensity, and their rawness was put into focus. It was kind of a different way to hear Autopsy styled riffs, and it just worked perfectly. The band also didn't follow the well known old sample in themes and atmosphere so specifically as usual, therefore it was possible look at them as a band being more ambitious than just recalling 'early 90s nostalgia by their number one favorite death metal band. In the form of some punk references, this feeling gets confirmed again if the listener had any doubts previously. Similar tiny, but in total determining differences were also responsible  for the themes and the song compositions being great, and for "The Illicit Revue" offering more than just early '90s death metal nostalgia.