The 2015 Arsies: January 15, 2015

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January 15, 2015

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Time for some hot death-metal-on-death-metal action! And at 82 minutes total for both albums, it's going to be a quick contest... but not necessarily an easy choice.
Let's start with UK's Ancient Ascendant. From its very first moments, the band's second album Echoes And Cinder embodies the twin guidance principles of swanky licks and cheesy vocals. But it melds those two aesthetic choices together into truly effective metal moments, including the feral closing track Caged In Tunnels Of Time. To be sure, this is the whitest of white metal, but it all makes sense in its own context, and it all culminates with one of the guiltiest pleasures of 2014 (and we're talking about a year that includes Steel Panther, so that's saying something).
Not to be outdone, Miasmal take a slightly more grindcorish approach to their metal on Cursed Redeemer. Faster (and about 8 minutes shorter) than Echoes And Cinder, this album feels like the bastard son of Converge, Nirvana, Malevolent Creation, and Entombed. And like Ancient Ascendant's work, Miasmal also revel in not taking the high road. The biggest and most important difference is that the Miasmal experience is a more gutteral one, and the result is all the more compelling. Also, to be perfectly honest, they had me at Whisky Train. Their fight against Hark in three weeks will be interesting, to say the least.
Tomorrow, JaPaBo starts us off with the epic tale of Revocation versus Exmortus!

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