FROM THE SWAMPS

Thorr's Hammer was a project of future Burning Witch/Goatsnake/Sunn O))) members Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson in collaboration with Runhild Gammelsaeter, a Norweigan foreign exchange student, in 1994-1995. They released one demo and one EP, and upon hearing their music it is crystal clear as to why O'Malley and Anderson have enjoyed so much success in the doom scene. Dommedagsnatt  was their only EP, and it is very unique in comparison to other doom bands, especially at the time. The instrumentation sounds very much like that of Burning Witch, with droning, heavy guitars and sluggish tempos, but what makes this EP special is the vocals. It is difficult to believe that Gammelsaeter, a woman, produced the sounds that are recorded on this record--some of the gnarliest, lowest death growls I have ever heard. Along with these, there are some sections of pure, contemplative clean vocals that are a nice complement. Give it a shot, and if you like the vocals, be s

Blasphemy is a Canadian black/death metal (or "war metal") band that has influenced countless bands in their aesthetic and sound. In case you are unaware of the genre, black/death metal or war metal is a hybrid subgenre of black metal that incorporates elements of death metal, mostly surfacing in the subgenre's technical veracity and vocal style (see Revenge  and Pissgrave ). It sounds like I am splitting hairs here, but blackened death metal is an entirely different subgenre, that incorporates the vocals and melody of black metal into an otherwise death  metal band (see  Behemoth  and  Angelcorpse ). Anyway, the subgenre distinction is not what is important. What is important is the new precedent for aggression that Blasphemy set in pioneering this subgenre. Fallen Angel of Doom  is the band's first album, and the fact that it came so early in the history of black metal's formation is astonishing to me. One of the most special things about this album a

Demilich is a Finnish technical death metal band that has achieved legendary status within the genre. The grooves they achieve, the complexity of their musicianship, the "belch" vocals (the lowest death growls possibly ever recorded)...are unparalleled. The only thing that comes remotely close is  Gorguts , maybe . The only problem is, the band has only released one album and a handful of demos, and is not really a band anymore. They play some shows sometimes, so you can catch them if you're lucky...but that's about it. Lucky for you, I am posting that one album today! So go ahead and take it, and let the headbanging commence... Track Listing: 1. When the Sun Drank the Weight of Water 2. The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed) 3. Inherited Bowel Levitation - Reduced Without Any Effort 4. The Echo (Replacement) 5. The Putrefying Road in the Nineteenth Extremity (...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...)

Altar of Plagues was an Irish post-black metal band that unfortunately disbanded in 2015. Their influence on the genre is incommensurable, and this album stands as testament. Mammal  is an album not unlike others AoP has put out (excluding Teethed Glory and Injury ). It continues the unique precedent set by White Tomb  and Sol , by mixing atmospheric, dark ambient elements, sparse samples of Celtic folk music, and of course a biting and technical  Deathspell Omega  brand of modern black metal. Revel in the destruction of humanity, by humanity. Genuflect to the gods of technocracy. Progress for the sake of progress. Track Listing: 1. Neptune is Dead 2. Feather and Bone 3. When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean 4. All Life Converges to Some Center Mammal

Corrupted is a Japanese sludge/doom band that incorporates dark ambient, acoustic, and spoken word elements into their music. Their typical sound is similar to that of  Grief  or  Whitehorse , with extremely downtuned guitars, guttural growls, and glacier-paced tempos. The band has many interesting idiosyncracies that I find tasteful, and not overly gimmicky: most of their album titles, song titles, and lyrics are in Spanish, with the occasional inclusion of Japanese or English; they refuse to do interviews or take promotional photos of any kind, the only photos of the band that exist source from fans who took them at live shows; they adhere to an aesthetic and methodology similar to bands in the powerviolence genre, by releasing many split 7" records and choosing bleak, black-and-white photos of landscapes or atrocities for their album covers; and they have written a good amount of songs for their studio albums that exceed 40 minutes. Compared to most doom bands, their

Bong is a stoner metal/drone band from the U.K. that takes cues directly from Sleep's Dopesmoker . If you enjoy  Dopesmoker  and other forms of drone doom such as Sunn O)), Earth, and Boris, I would highly recommend Bong, especially this album (it has a cover of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun!). However, If you are looking for something with a lot of activity, variety of riffs, tempo changes, short song-lengths, etc. this album and artist is not for you. One kind of has to listen to this album with a different approach than your average metal. Track Listing: 1. Stone Mountain 2. Bethmoora 3. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun Bethmoora

My name is Catfish, and welcome to my swamp. Here you may find dark music of all kinds--take what you like--but remember to support the artists/bands mentioned as best as you can. We all have our methods.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Today, the album I am sharing is Trowo Phurnag Ceremony by Phurpa. Phurpa is a Russian group of musicians led by Alexey Tegin who perform ritual music of the Bon religion, a local Tibetan precursor to Buddhism that preceded the introduction of Tantric Buddhism to Central Asia.                                                                                                                                                                 Phurpa's music mainly consists of extremely low, and virtually tempo-less overtone chanting,