The Nine Circles Audio Thing

Hey, for once we’re not suuuuper late with this thing OR having to double up on picks in the same episode. Anyway, for our Album of the Month pick for August it was nearly an overwhelming victory for Ontological Mysterium ( Season of Mist ) from one of death metal’s brightest stars, Horrendous . And even still, some of us were there in spirit while Colin, Angela, Ian, Vince, Dan M, and Hera discus...

With Ontological Mysterium ( Season of Mist ) being the fifth full length from Horrendous , it goes without saying that this band is on one hell of a trajectory. And, with said fifth album they’ve outdone themselves and released the best of not only their career, but most likely in all of 2023. Bold? Yes. True? Also yes. This is death metal for the ages. With both Damian Herring (guitars, vocals)...

It’s slowly becoming the norm that our world gets away from us and we’re packing two months worth of album picks, aka podcasts, into one episode.  If you like avant-garde, weird, folky black metal, you are in luck since our picks were Alföld ( Season of Mist ) from Thy Catafalque and Agriculture ( The Flenser ) from Agriculture and no, nothing to do with farming at all. Buke and the 9C staff have...

Sometimes the world gets away from you and you have to pack two months of podcast into one episode.  So whether your mood swings to the raucous sound of LO! and their new album The Gleaners or the more trepidatious approach of The Ocean and their latest Holocene (both coincidentally on Pelagic  Records ) Buke and the 9C staff have you covered with what is sure to be a conversation composed of many...

No one, and I mean no one in the extreme metal game has given us a better glimpse of what our impending apocalypse is going to look/feel/sound like than Cattle Decapitation . For the past nine albums the band have blazed a nasty deathgrind path and put the exclamation mark on it all with their last crowning achievement Death Atlas . So, where to go from there? How about deeper exploration of the t...

It has been said that Richmond, Virginia turns out some incredible metal. Enforced are one of those bands that prove it with their brand of crossover thrash that nudges the gates of death and speed metal. With two incredible albums under their belts, their third, War Remains ( Century Media Records ), turns those on their head and curb stomps them...for real, it's that good. We could go on and on...

There's no doubt as to whether or not Enslaved are household names at this point in their career, and have been for quite some time. With the release of Heimdal ( Nuclear Blast ) our back office halls went nuts so it was the obvious choice for the March Album of the Month pick. Well... maybe not obvious as in landslide but close. The rest of that story will surface during this discussion as Buke o...

Thirty years is a long time, but this year marks exactly that for San Francisco’s Acid King . And, they’re still the lords of doom and the almighty riff even this far in. Zoroaster and Busse Woods stand as deeply seminal albums as well as stone cold classics. Beyond Vision ( Blues Funeral Recordings ) is an excellent continuation of their legacy but also marks a chance to really hear its members s...

California's VoidCeremony are readying their second full length Threads Of Unknowing ( 20 Buck Spin ) and if you dabbled with their debut, then you already know we're all going to be in for a hectic black and death metal ride. With this band, it's far more than just those two genres, the way they cross the chasm with their music is akin to the old style of jazz improv which to some says prog but t...

It’s Album of the Month time again and for this edition, Ulthar ’s third AND fourth full lengths, Anthronomicon and Helionomicon ( 20 Buck Spin ) won the most votes. For those keeping score of these sorts of things, the votes weren’t unanimous but really close. Buke once again captains the episode along with Ian, Dan M, Colin, Hera, and Vince. The conversation pretty much dives head first into the...

Metal fans know the difference when categorizing a band as tech death versus technical death metal. But, for those unaware, the former implies a bunch of noodling and wankery just because it can be done while the latter implies an actual gift for the technical side of death metal. And that’s precisely where you can find France’s Gorod as they’ve been cranking out extremely “technical death metal”...

Enslaved is a name known far and wide by fans of metal and well beyond. The band are celebrating over 30 years which is in and of itself amazing, even more amazing is that they are more vital now than they’ve ever been. Over the years their sound has evolved but they’ve always kept their black metal roots intact and fully alive. Heimdal ( Nuclear Blast Records ) sees the band push their progressiv...

It’s Album of the Month time again and for this edition, Ahab ’s fifth full length, The Coral Tombs ( Napalm Records ) was nearly a unanimous pick among the staff. Buke once again captains the episode along with Ian, Angela, Colin, and Vince. The conversation opens with a lengthy back and forth on beer then dives head first into the album, how it compares to past efforts, and deep thoughts surroun...

If anyone would‘ve hinted at Obsequiae and Inexorum combining forces in a new band, Majesties brand of 90s loving meloswedeath would not have been the first assumption. Yet, here we are on the eve of Vast Reaches Unclaimed ( 20 Buck Spin ) and it’s an absolute beast of an album full of everything fans loved about that timeframe in melodic death metal. It’s almost as if these guys wrote the next ch...

One thing is for sure, Memoriam don‘t need us to rekindle their storied history in this band or their members long and legendary careers. Basically, if you don’t know them by now you are on purpose avoiding it…they are just that much a part of death metal. For their fifth album, Rise To Power ( Reaper Entertainment ), it’s all about diversity and varying up the songs just a bit. And no, that doesn...

It's that time of year once again! Chris and Dan (K, that is -- we've got more than one Dan now!) are back for another lengthy conversation about their favorite non-metal releases of 2022.  With no shortage of terrific records to choose from, the guys highlight everything from Australian pub punk, to Australian dream pop, to Australian prog/jazz/uh... kind of everything? (Australia, as you'll see,...

List season has been in full swing on our site, as well as across the metal writing sphere, and we still have more fun to be had there. And yes, we love list season in case you were wondering. For this episode our maestro of the mic, Buke, pulls together Hera, Ian, Vincent, Angela, and two new members who have jumped in with both feet: Colin and Dan M., to discuss some of their favorites from 2022...

Album of the Month time again and for November the winner was Dream Unending ’s second full length Song of Salvation ( 20 Buck Spin ). The usual gang of suspects, along with some new blood, join in along with our main man on the mic Buke leading the charge. The gang spends time covering how this album compares to their last and why this one somersaults over their last effort. Elsewhere, the gang s...

Supergroups in extreme metal take on a whole other meaning when it's comprised of Dave Witte, Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns, and Phil Hall. Those names are synonymous with some of the best offerings extreme metal has to offer. And now with Morbikon , this supergroup crosses the threshold of 90s era Scandinavian black metal and melodic death metal on their debut Ov Mournful Twilight ( Tankcrimes ). To s...

Norway’s In The Woods… have had a much storied trajectory over the spectrum of time since forming in the early 90s. Early on they were black metal to the bone but as many bands have done, they morphed into a progressive rock band with a black metal heart. And it has paid off in spades. One listen to Diversum ( Soulseller Records ) and it’s clear they have a hard grasp on what it means to age with...

Death, gore, zombies, chainsaws, horrors of all sorts; these are all topics Exhumed have covered over their  thirty plus years of existence and across a multitude of releases. The latest of which, To The Dead ( Relapse Records ), finds these deathgrind masters as blood soaked as ever. You'd think that in that many years there might be misstep or something just out of place, but this isn't the case...

Album of the Month time again and for October the winner was Goatwhore ’s eighth album Angels Hung From The Arches Of Heaven ( Metal Blade Records ). The usual gang of suspects join in along with our main man on the mic Buke leading the charge. The gang spends time covering how bad ass this album is as well as the band’s past and their road to the present. Elsewhere, the gang spends a good portion...

Denmark's Orm have been active since 2015 and with their last two albums the band have shown a deep understanding of epic and melodic black metal that at times veers close to atmospheric and at other times close to the vicious and raw side. It's a beautiful amalgamation and even more so on their latest, Intet • Altet ( Indisciplinarian ), where they opt for longer compositions and more time to exp...

Some 40 years and change has seen a lot in the Voivod camp. A handful of genres crossed, a deep discography, and tons of rabid fans that soak up anything and everything they can get their hands on. The Voivod of today makes some of the best sci-fi metal you’re likely to ever hear and on their newest EP, Ultraman ( Century Media Records ), they offer a stunning tribute to the TV series theme of the...

Texas is known for a lot of things, and metal is one of those things. San Antonio in particular is home to none other than melodic black / death metallers Scars Of The Flesh who are about to release their third full length In Darkness Alone ( pick it up here ). Debut Harvest Of Souls was a barnburner and follow up Reaching Into The Void was a projectile of incendiary violence that far eclipsed the...