Relapse Reco

Windhand: Windhand (Reissue) [CD]

Pig Destroyer: Phantom Limb [CD]

Primitive Man: Caustic [CD]

PRIMITIVE MAN return with their most crushing album to date, Observance. After twelve years at the forefront of underground music, PRIMITIVE MAN takes merciless aim at the plentiful ills that besiege the world around them, and in the process of doing so do not spare themselves from their flagellating tongue-lashings. Despite leaning into their more experimental side, PRIMITIVE MAN maintain a tight grip on the heavy sound that has defined them for years. Observance is still a challenging record, demanding the listener’s attention at every turn. The sound of Observance is imbued with a new element for the band - sadness. Yet McCarthy describes this as the most positive PRIMITIVE MAN record to date; even as they pick over the carcass of disillusionment they still seek a way out, a path towards the light.

Primal Code: Opaque Fixation [CD]

MALTHUSIAN sign to Relapse Records and unearth their deathly opus, The Summoning Bell. On their highly anticipated new album, MALTHUSIAN's fetid hallmarks are ever present: truly unforgiving, unrelenting Death Metal. Swirling chords and ominous cymbal swells give way to the band's opener "Red, Waiting". What follows is a flurry of murk and madness - blast beats pummel against churns of distortion. The sonic atmosphere cultivated by MALTHUSIAN's palpable fury is suffocating; each riff carefully crafted to push and pull on the momentum behind their music. The Summoning Bell is undeniably a pitch-black take on the genre. The Summoning Bell is a lighting of the pyre - each of the album's tracks explore themes of true nothingness, condemnations of superstition, and a profound descent into darkness and time. The end result is a record that seemingly reconciles with a dimming - internal and external, a true end  to everything.

Yob: Elaborations of Carbon (Reissue) [CD]