Five For Friday: August 30, 2024

Greetings, Decibel readers!

I’m about to head out for a fantastic late holiday in northern New England, but before I let myself feel totally checked out (enjoying a strong drink on an Adirondack chair), let’s make sure you’re all set for heavy music this weekend!

It’s an especially ferocious week, so buckle up.

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Avmakt – Satanic Inversion of​.​.​.​. 

Pure second-wave worship from the country that made the sound famous. Upon first listen, Avmakt clearly owes a lot to peak-era Darkthrone, especially Under a Funeral Moon and some of the later albums from the 90s. But there are stylistic touches that offer some nuances as well, with certain guitar parts that you wouldn’t expect and other elements that place Avmakt more in its own niche.

Stream: Apple Music

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Concrete Winds – Concrete Winds

This is what violence sounds like. Concrete Winds is blackened-death metal funneled through the grindcore machine to produce some truly terrifying sounds.

Stream: Apple Music

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Nails – Every Bridge Burning

One of the defining bands of 2010s extreme music returns with their classic Entombed-influenced sound, as always grounded in hardcore and powerviolence. It’s lean, it’s mean, it’s Nails. We will never be one of them, but we can still enjoy listening to what they do.

Stream: Apple Music

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Phenocryst – Cremation Pyre

Dark and devastating metal that combines the muscular riffage and rhythms of Bolt Thrower with the ominous aura of Incantation. It’s a brilliant combination, and the band executes it in an efficient way that delivers all the deadly goods again and again.

Stream: Apple Music

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Pneuma Hagion – From Beyond

Oh hell yes. This was made with purpose and devotion … to being as heavy and brutal as possible while still evoking a sense of mystery and foreboding. If you like the sound of Nile and Hate Eternal but want it with a side of Gorguts and Demilich, go scarf down this feast of furies right away.

Stream: Apple Music