Mandatory - Exiled In Pain (2008)

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Germany

Mandatory is a death metal band from Euskirchen, Germany that has been around for ten years. Their 2008 compilation, Exiled In Pain, is composed of songs recorded from their numerous demos and EP's going back to 2002. 18 tracks of potent death metal with a cover of "Slaughter of the Innocent" by legendary grind band, Repulsion, and a cover of "Cross Me Fool" by Canadian thrash metal band, Razor. Really oozing vocals on this, which at times reminds me of Martin Van Drunen.

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Torture Chain - Humbling Isolation Terror (2008)

Genre: Black Metal
Country: United States

All of Torture Chain's material has been excellent, but none more than their first demo Humbling Isolation Terror. Black metal for people who like black metal; a no-frills, 3-track piece of hate.

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The Witch King's Call

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Poland

I am proud to announce that I have joined Crysis here on Ghosts of Saturn. To celebrate, here is my first post, a nasty bit of 2011 Polish death metal with an excess of excellent riffs and other death metal requirements.

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Peste Noire - L'Ordure à l'état Pur (2011)

Genre: Black Metal
Country: France

Oh look the new Peste Noire release. How about that.

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Runemagick - Enter The Realm Of Death (1999)

Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Country: Sweden

For such an excellent band, Runemagick don't get as much love as I'd expect them to. Incredibly heavy doom-laden death metal with tons of rolling riffs and excellent vocals. Their debut LP The Supreme Force Of Eternity stands alongside this as two death metal albums that are more or less required listening.

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Autopsy - Macabre Eternal (2011)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: United States

Haven't given this a full listen yet so I can't say whether it's as good as everyone's hoping this to be, but here's a link because I know a lot of people have been waiting for this.

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Various Artists - Der Wanderer Über Dem Nebelmeer (2010)

Genre: Neofolk/Black Metal
Country: Various

This compilation is old news by now, but I'm still going to post it because of the quality of some of the compositions here. It's not the big names like October Falls or Agalloch who shine, but the little ones who few have heard from. It's an excellent blend of neofolk and black metal that, in part, is along the lines of Whom The Moon A Nightsong Sings. Even though the quality of this isn't quite as concentrated, it remains a very worthwhile compilation.

Disc 1
Disc 2

Shining - VII: Född Förlorare (2011)

Genre: Black Metal
Country: Sweden

Shining have been a very consistent band over their career, and I was eagerly anticipating the inevitable leak of their latest record VII: Född Förlorare (meaning Born Loser... kind of dumb, I know, but bear with me) simply because of the fact that I knew it would be quality black metal in a year that has been... well.... pretty hard on the scene. As I was expecting, the album is great, so you really should waste no time giving this a spin.

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Hell - I (2009)

Genre: Sludge/Drone Doom Metal
Country: United States

Saw this album posted on Slays For Days a couple days ago and couldn't help but re-blog this one. Quality sludge that's dark, dissonant and evil. Highly recommended.

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