Joe Bonamassa has released ‘Tattoo’d Lady (Live)‘, one of the latest singles from his upcoming live album and concert film ‘The Spirit Of Rory Live From Cork‘, due out June 19th via J&R Adventures. Recorded during a series of sold-out performances in Cork, Ireland, the track offers another glimpse into Bonamassa’s deeply personal tribute to […]
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It’s almost the weekend, baby! Time to kick back, relax, and listen to some new metal tunes. We’ve got those below, so all you gotta do is go to wherever you get your music these days and snap up these albums and more.
The Ghost Of A Future Dead (Century Media)
Big and epic in size and sound, this new album from At The Gates is sadly the final one to feature the late Tomas Linberg. It’s the end of an era that sadly came too soon, but what better way to honor his memory than to play this one loud and often.
The End Is Not The End (Spinefarm)
Atreyu are back with album number ten, ditching the EP rollout gimmick from last time and going full “album album” again. It’s pretty much the polished, melodic metalcore they’ve made a career out of—big hooks, clean/harsh tradeoffs, all that. But when they do decide to lean into the heavy parts, they sound genuinely pissed off.
Evolution (Exciter Records)
This heavy metal supergroup featuring Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner, Uriah Heep bassist Dave Rimmer, and Accept drummer Christopher Williams is back with a new one. Boasting such a rich heavy metal pedigree, this one really is the sum of its parts. Definitely bang-your-head-worthy, if you ask me.
An Unnameable Desire (Plini)
It’s been a couple years since Plini put out a studio album, so this is a pretty welcome return to form for the progressive guitar master. There are some pretty great people contributing to this effort, so if you like intricate guitar work and incredible musicianship, this is your jam.
The Cloud Of Unknowing (Nuclear Blast)
Talk about an end to an era. This is the farewell EP from Brazilian metal giants, Sepultura. Just four songs in length, this release marks the band’s official end — at least in the studio. Their farewell tour still has a way to go so you have some time to catch ’em live, but as far as recorded material, this is the end of a roughly 30-year career. It’s just sad the Cavaleras couldn’t have joined up one last time to say goodbye to a metal institution.
Other Shit That Comes Out Today:
Atreyu, The End Is Not The End (Spinefarm)
Devil’s Cut, Roadkill (MNRK Heavy)
Einar Solberg, Vox Occulta (InsideOutMusic)
Foo Fighters, Your Favorite Toy (Roswell Records)
John Corabi, New Day (Frontiers Music Srl)
Mortuary, Great Black Earth (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions)
Nuclear Messiah, Black Flame (Cleopatra Records)
Roman Candle, Unadulterated (Sumerian Records)
Terror, Still Suffer (Flatspot Records)
The Amity Affliction, House Of Cards (Pure Noise Records)
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Hindsight is 10/10 revisits albums that have not received the acclaim they deserve.
I first met Tanner Anderson when he was bartending at the now-closed taproom of Hammerheart Brewing Company, a brewery owned and operated by Panopticon’s Austin Lunn to this day. Tanner served me my first Hammerheart beer (the first of way too many). We hit it off by discussing underground shit that doesn’t suck and why bands need to focus on having some fucking riffs, decided “Okay, this person is cool,” and the rest is history. I still miss our Thursday hangs. Put simply, I love the guy; he’s been an incredible friend, a day one Morke supporter, and even had three guest spots on my last record for fuck’s sake. The guy’s a real rocker through and through.
All this to say that my connection to Obsequiae is stronger than the average person’s; therefore, this retrospective will be simultaneously rife with bias and ironclad with accuracy.
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On August 4th, 2011, Minnesotan melodic metal masters Obsequiae unveiled their debut full-length album, Suspended in the Brume of Eos, which was originally given a limited (and now very fucking expensive) CD and digital release on Bindrune Recordings with subsequent reissues via 20 Buck Spin. It’s a unique album in its own right, but far more so given the landscape of its release. Progressive metal was all the rage, the thrash revival and the techdeath boom were still going strong, and atmospheric black metal was in the infancy of a renaissance. By all accounts, Suspended in the Brume of Eos is an outlier of its time and could even be considered an outright anomaly; the only things I can think of from that period that come close to it sonically are the Thulcandra and Dämmerfarben records that came out that same year, and even then, they’re still easy to differentiate from Suspended.
A close friend of mine once described Suspended as a game-changer, and I’m inclined to believe them; nothing else sounded like it, or Obsequiae in general, until over a decade later, but its influence and impact were immediately apparent. Sadly, it’s often overshadowed by both the absolutely legendary Aria of Vernal Tombs and the comparably resplendent The Palms of Sorrowed Kings, two of the best albums to be overshadowed by, not to mention they stand as directly tangible evidence of the project only getting better with time. Nonetheless, this has resulted in Suspended not receiving anywhere near the flowers it’s truly owed.
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On the off chance you’re reading this with no prior knowledge of what Obsequiae is about, the project was started by Tanner Anderson and Jonathon Roll in 2007 after Tanner laid its precursor, Autumnal Winds, to rest in 2005 (you’ll want to put a pin in that). The essence of Obsequiae’s sound is difficult to pin down because of the sheer breadth of influences constructing its DNA.
Obsequiae has cultivated a style that is best described as a blackened approach to melodic death metal and Hellenic metal from the 1990s – think bands like Dark Tranquillity, Fall of the Leafe, Rotting Christ, Varathron, etc. – but recontextualized with a “medieval” sensibility rooted in organum as it relates to the riffing and song structure, interspersed with several interludes throughout each album that are centuries-old medieval compositions performed through the lens of the present day. The end result seems pretty distant from its roots on first listen, but when you put Suspended and Dark Tranquillity’s Skydancer side by side, things will start to make much more sense. To quote a dear friend, “It sometimes feels as though the silk was woven without a hand.”
While Obsequiae’s self-titled 2009 demo provided a good inclination of what was to come, Suspended surely exceeded the expectations of those who were around to see it at the time, and its opening tells you all you need to know–rushing waters and a looming synth swell for a good 15 seconds before Tanner’s unmistakable melodic sorcery enters in full force with “Altars of Moss,” one of my favorite Obsequiae tracks across their entire discography. It’s an incredible display of dizzying riff wizardry whose difficulty is masterfully deceptive; any guitarist worth their salt would have a hell of a time untangling its verdant vines of harmony. I once asked Tanner how he even managed to come up with the riffs on this song in the first place, and he responded with “I was trying to create mazes for my fingers.”
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It’s most effective to describe Suspended by contrasting it with Aria and Palms. Whereas Aria’s production style is the sonic equivalent of a breeze blowing over a shimmering stream lit by sunbeams that pierce the oaken canopy of the forest at dawnbreak, and Palms is the aural encapsulation of a glistening blade raised to the sky on horseback in celebration of triumphant victory, Suspended conversely elicits the feeling of resting upon a bed of moss on a quiet and perfectly warm summer’s evening at the blue hour, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to bask in the resplendence of the cosmos at nightfall. In short, Suspended has somehow managed to be a metal record that gives you that “warm and fuzzy” feeling. It’s delightful.
Every track on Suspended is worthy of praise, but I’d like to shine a spotlight on “Atonement”, a song I love so much that I learned the entire thing by ear and covered it myself for the Great Lakes Dungeon Siege 2025 compilation from WereGnome Records. Despite being the shortest full-band song in Obsequiae’s discography at just under two and a half minutes, “Atonement” is a perfect distillation of what makes Suspended so compelling. It primarily emphasizes the importance of a riff in a metal composition, with each one being a certified earworm and presenting a convincing case for being the best riff in the song.
“Atonement” clearly takes great inspiration from the earliest Ceremonial Oath, Eucharist, and Dark Tranquillity material, effortlessly weaving two seemingly disparate melodies into a harmonic mosaic. Tanner’s vocal phrasing and delivery on “Atonement” is some of the most powerful across Suspended as well, being firmly elevated by both his riffs and Jonathon’s drumming creating space in the mix for the vocals to sit.
Beyond “Atonement” and a brief respite courtesy of the “Estas Redit” interlude, “Arrows” and “The Starlit Shore” serve as the apex of the record’s energy reserves, the latter in particular being an absolute barn-burner and arguably the main event. It’s also worth noting that there are three guest guitar solos from musician Gary Vu on “In the White Fields”, “Atonement”, and “Arrows” that add an extra layer of flair. “Cabin Lights” is the album’s final chapter and, notably, the only full-band instrumental in Obsequiae’s discography. It’s an ideal epilogue to the closing tones of the final interlude track “Boreas”, and is subsequently a perfect closer to an immaculate record.
Even though the lyrics for Suspended are not publicly available, I can tell you that they articulate a deep affinity for nature and mysticism rooted in ancient occult practices, while gracefully portraying moments of introspection, the human experience, and vivid images of war and retribution. The lyrics on Aria and Palms are thematically similar, but they lean fully into the archaic occultism and naturistic practices and forego the harsher themes on Suspended. Tanner also approaches the prose of Aria and Palms from a perspective rooted more in storytelling and depicting moments in time as they happen, rather than Suspended’s trend of evaluating one’s feelings surrounding a broader idea or situation.
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On the subject of the interludes, Suspended plants the seeds of what would become the lauded medieval harp interludes on Aria and Palms, only instead of period pieces performed by Vicente La Camera Mariño on said harp, the four interludes on this record – “Sidhe,” “Wildes Heer,” “Estas Redit,” and “Boreas” – are period pieces rearranged and performed by Jonathon on classical guitar. In retrospect, this was the perfect approach to the beginnings of this now-essential element of the Obsequiae soundscape, because while the harp’s voice is more pronounced and even reminiscent of birdsong at times, the classical guitar’s deep and resonant body results in a far warmer and more enveloping sound reflective of the metal songs on the record. The classical guitar is also mixed more reservedly than the ethereal reverb-soaked floatiness of the medieval harp, in the interest of preserving the depth of every note being played.
Suspended sports a star-studded tracklist with not a single moment on the record feeling wasted, overbearing, or overstaying its welcome. Every riff serves a purpose, every melody adds a chapter to the song’s story, and every drum pattern and bass line effortlessly support the serpentining guitars and venomous vocals. The pacing, from front to back, was clearly labored over with care and consideration to achieve the most natural flow between each track, and this pays dividends when you take a step back and look at the record as a single artistic statement. Suspended in the Brume of Eos is a thing of beauty, really.
There is one element of Suspended that is wholly unique in the Obsequiae cinematic universe, in that it is actually possible to hear early versions of what would end up on both this record and the 2009 demo. Remember when I mentioned Autumnal Winds? That project was the genesis of what would become Obsequiae. Although the vast majority of the Autumnal Winds catalogue is nearly impossible to find unless you personally know someone who has any of these releases and can send them to you (Thanks, Marty!), there is one release that is publicly available that we can dissect: 2004’s Venerari Sacra Mysteria.
This demo is a fascinating snapshot of where Tanner’s songwriting brain was 20-plus years ago, and nearly everything on Venerari was done solely by him, save for some “singing” on the title track done by Tom Heikes from Minnesota’s Azrael. Autumnal Winds did have several additional members throughout its duration, and I’m told they played one single live show at one point. They even had shirts made! I would hand a blank check to anyone who has footage or audio of that show.
Venerari firmly holds the roots of Obsequiae’s future output. With that said, it’s not entirely fair to say that Autumnal Winds “became” Obsequiae; according to Tanner, Autumnal Winds was more of a vehicle for him and his friends to experiment with ideas and cut their teeth songwriting as teenagers into their early 20s, whereas Obsequiae was created with far more focus and intended to achieve a specific sonic goal. Given the astounding consistency of Obsequiae’s discography up to this point, this makes total sense.
You may have figured out that Venerari is where the three tracks on Obsequiae’s 2009 demo originally came from. These are the most direct connections, but there is also “Entombment by Moss,” which has the majority of the riffs that would become Suspended’s title track. I’ve also gracefully heard some unreleased or otherwise unavailable Autumnal Winds demo material over the years through Tanner directly, and those songs strongly reinforce that he takes his time to pick the best possible riffs for Obsequiae. To drive that point home, the first iteration of “Altars of Moss” – containing riffs that were maintained note-for-note into the song’s final form on Suspended – goes as far back as 1997. Wild.
Even though the origins of Aria and Palms are shrouded in mystery, having this window into the creation of Suspended gives it a new perspective entirely, and over the years, has helped me appreciate and understand both Tanner’s creative process and why Obsequiae is going on seven years without a new full-length record as of the time of writing this. Coincidentally, that’s also the amount of time between Venerari and Suspended.
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It’s also worth mentioning that, despite this being an unavoidably Tanner-centric article, Obsequiae would not have become what it is today without the help of a swath of exceptional musicians and collaborators at his side, including the likes of Eoghan McCloskey (Aduanten, Vex), Andrew Della Cagna and Aaron Carey (Nechochwen), Carl Skildum and Matthew Kirkwold (Majesties, Inexorum), Brendan Hayter (Obsidian Tongue, Thrawsunblat), Jake Rogers (Gallowbraid, Caladan Brood, Visigoth), and the aforementioned Vicente Mariño and Jonathon Roll, among many others. You’ve heard the old saying “it takes a village”, but in this instance, “it takes a kingdom” feels far more appropriate.
Suspended in the Brume of Eos is a landmark record in the metal pantheon that signaled the beginnings of a band well on its way to becoming undeniably legendary, and it should be hoisted as high as its successors Aria and Palms. Even beyond just this album, Obsequiae have achieved the near-impossible and cultivated, without hyperbole, a flawless discography.
To be clear, that flawlessness extends beyond the demo and three full-lengths; aside from the absolutely phenomenal Live at Fire in the Mountains 2022 performance, Tanner also recorded a cover of Rotting Christ’s “Wolfera the Jackal” for Azermedoth Records’ Rotting Christ tribute compilation in 2013 that may even surpass the original, he showcased his proficiency with multiple medieval instruments (hurdy gurdy, hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery, etc.) on the song “Erthe Toc of Erthe” for Evening of Light’s LVX: Ten Years of Light and Darkness compilation in 2016, and contributed the fucking unbelievable “Against All Feudal Lords” for Bindrune Recordings’ Overgrow to Overthrow anti-racism compilation in 2020. Apparently, this guy has never written a bad song in his life. Must be nice.
In all seriousness, Suspended is an undisputed hall of fame-worthy release that deserves a myriad of accolades that have yet to be bestowed upon it – in due time, surely. Even in sidestepping the sentimental and emotional value that I hold with this record, I still objectively look at it and its successors as nothing short of scripture, just as I do with Dark Tranquillity’s Skydancer and Fall of the Leafe’s Evanescent, Everfading (you’ll never guess who got me hooked on those); they are monoliths of creative forward-thinking songwriting and ambitious melodic expression that flung the doors of my amateur musician’s brain wide open into a radiant field of endless possibility and “Fuck it, let’s try it” attitude that I was sorely missing. If I hadn’t discovered Aria of Vernal Tombs in college when it came out, Morke may not have existed in the first place, or at the very least would be significantly different and markedly less adventurous. I owe a lot to Obsequiae.
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Suspended in the Brume of Eos is available via 20 Buck Spin.
Romain Gavras. You should really know the name. If you don’t, you have a treat ahead of you. Romain Gavras is the son of the hugely celebrated political thriller director Costa-Gavras, and he has a pretty amazing cinematic legacy of his own. Gavras directed the hallucinatory French crime movies Our Day Will Come and The…
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A month ago we learned about Covers I, the self-explanatory new EP from ambient composer Vines. She shared a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Silver Springs” with Helado Negro upon announcing the project, and now she’s offered up a cover of Wheatus’ immortal “Teenage Dirtbag” featuring Wheatus guy (and Stereogum comments section OG) Brendan Brown. Lots…
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The post ORPHAN DONOR: Pennsylvania Mathcore/Grind Crew To Release Ailments EP May 11th On Zegema Beach Records; âShow Me The Wayâ Now Streaming appeared first on INFRARED MAGAZINE.
Four decades in, the Afghan Whigs have still got it. The darkly soulful rock greats are heading out on a 40th anniversary tour with Mercury Rev this weekend, and they recently promoted it with their first song in four years, “House Of I.” This week they’ve got another new track, “Duvateen.” According to a press…
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It’s sorta unbelievable that Lucy Dacus dropped her fourth studio album Forever Is A Feeling last March. That does not feel right. Either way, since its release, Dacus has been pretty busy releasing the companion album to Forever Is A Feeling, performing at Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral inauguration, appearing as a Jeopardy answer a couple months…
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