Mavradoxa – Sojourners (2016)

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal / Post Black Metal

Country Of Origin: USA (Rochester, NY)

Track List:
1. Tempest of Dreams
2. Mist of the Tides
3. Enshrouded in Dawn
4. My Bones Become the Roots
5. Cenotaph

Bandcamp Streaming/Download

Mavradoxa recently released their first full-length album entitled “Sojourners.” The aptly titled album will definitely let you reside inside it for a while. It takes you away to a new place while it’s playing. Mavradoxa is from Rochester, New York, a city surrounded by woods and water, so it comes as no surprise that the music gives you that exact feeling. Dense forests and frozen Lake Ontario come to mind through vivid atmospheres painted by the guitars. The guitar work on this album is very interesting for a black metal album. Instead of your traditional tremolo riffs and blast beats, Mavradoxa opts for mid-tempo plodding guitar riffs that seem to fit somewhere between Agalloch and Alcest. In fact, Mavradoxa uses tremolo so infrequently that it really highlights those melodies when they do finally break out. Those melodic tremolo riffs wind their way into your head and stick there long after the album is done. In general the band sounds extremely in sync. Many times the guitar work is so tied to the drumming that it offers additional freedom for the bass to wander and bring in very memorable bass lines instead of being drowned out like so many black metal bands chose to do or being forced to accompany the drumming the entire album. If you’re looking to get sucked into a black metal forest Mavradoxa’s “Sojourners” is an album you need to check out. This is definitely a band to watch out for if their first album is this immersive, powerful, and polished.

Glen and Precipice by Deafest

On February 23rd 2016, Deafest released "Glen and Precipice" their fourth full-length album. As some of you may or may not know, Deafest, a black metal group from Colorado, United States; is all about nature, and the landscapes that portray true beauty. This new release starts off strong with the pure raw Deafest sound we've all come to know and love, while carrying a new kind of clarity that previous releases may not have been so prevalent with. If you take the time to listen through Deafest's entire discography you'll hear the transformations just as you've seen nature change, and the earth change with each passing day. Chase of Deafest is very much an active member in The Black Metal Alliance, as well as The Dark Skies Above Us, which I can say I've had the honor and the privilege of working alongside him with TDSAU's Resistance Anti-NSBM Compilation Volume IV, as well as the BMA's Crushing Intolerance Volume III. Truly a great musician, but most importantly a great person. Now to return from my digression; "Glen and Precipice" is an astound work of art, that I hold very close to my heart, there are so many emotions captured within the riffs of this short masterpiece. I very much truly mean masterpiece as well; this album will take you on an emotional journey through the valleys, "Hollers" over mountain tops soaring high into the bright sunlight to leave you back down in the valley in the furthest reaches from the warmth of the sun. Where your heart will ache and mourn for our beautiful earth, as you sit back and watch humanity destroy the one thing they have left; then when the chords and the atmosphere lifts your spirits again, you'll sit high above the mountain tops at one with nature. A new found respect for our home. Some of you may be familiar with Deafest, and know that they do not charge for their electronic releases. You can grab yourself a copy of "Glen and Precipice" here with the convenient "Name your own price" tool: https://deafest.bandcamp.com/album/glen-and-precipice

Thanks again for reading:
Død Avsky

Fungal - Evergreen Refuge: Knee Deep in Spores

Recently released by Evergreen Refuge, "Fungal" is an absolutely astounding piece of musical expression; light, whimsical, dark, and extraordinarily beautiful. This masterful work strikes down to the core of ones being, grabbing your heart by the tiny threads of muscle it beats with and rips the tears straight from your eyes. Many of you will feel this work as it was meant to be felt, not just listening, but living within the chords, swimming in its aura. Let nature speak to you, don't just listen to it's words; listen to it's emotion. Listen to its tale of humanity's destruction of the earth, listen to its heartbreak as we destroy the only habitat we have. Witness the miracle that Fungi and other molds perform every day as they break down civilization's wastes, and landscapes; watch mother nature take back what's rightfully hers. Evergreen Refuge has really spoken volumes in this piece. In all their volumes a deep-rooted message exists, when asked what this message is Dylan Rupe of Evergreen Refuge replied, The vision of Evergreen Refuge is to connect myself and the listener to the wildness from which civilization has strayed us away from. It is a deep journey into the heart--into the the evolution--of the human animal. Evergreen Refuge seeks not so much to portray as it seeks to beg the listeners to dig deeper within themselves and within the wildness around them. I cannot tell the listeners what to feel or think, especially being entirely instrumental. I hope, however, that the music is a conduit for a deeper being... hope, that the fungal organisms of this planet would be able to break down the remains of a fallen civilization once the earth rids itself of humanity. When many people look to the stars and see the vastness of the universe, the myths of anthropocentrism and the self-importance of humans and human society begin to dwindle. My hope is that "Fungal" offers some perspective by looking below rather than above, to achieve these same ideas. When thinking about the amount of fungal beings on the earth, their resilience, and their ability to decompose, civilization begins to feel, to me, very fragile."
Truly inspiring words from a great musician, If I don't say so myself. This amazing piece of work can be found using the 'Name your own price' tool on their bandcamp; or for $12 USD you can order the physical copy of Evergreen Refuge - Fungal. https://evergreenrefuge.bandcamp.com/album/fungal

Thanks for reading - Død Avsky