Free Metals: An Autumn For Crippled Children - portugal EP

The Netherlands' An Autumn For Crippled Children play an interesting mix of Joy Division meets black metal on the two songs that make up the portugal  EP. Listen to first track "portugal," and it will be your instant favorite. Take away the harsh vocals, and you wouldn't even realize that this is metal. "seasons change spirits" is not as immediate as the title track, but by the end of the song, you're going to want to listen again.

Free Metals: Ellorsith - 1959

In the winter of 1959, nine skiers mysteriously died in the mountains of Russia in what has become known as the Dyatlov Pass incident. Theories abound as to what really happened in those mountains. Was it an avalanche? Paranormal activity? Who knows? Using this tragedy for inspiration, Scotland's Ellorsith mixes death metal with occasional hints of black metal on this five-track EP.

Free Metals: départe - demo [MMXIV]

Post metal with slabs of blackened death make for an interesting debut demo from Australia's départe. On the two tracks that make up demo [MMXIV], this Aussie quintet seamlessly manages to bring a sense of order to the chaos that they stir up over the course of these eighteen minutes.

Free Metals: Eos - L'Avalé

From what I can gather, Eos is a duo out of Quebec, and that's about all I know. L'Avalé, on the other hand, is much easier to discuss, serving up 33 minutes of raw and atmospheric black metal over the course of its three tracks.

L'Avalé's most multifarious moments reveal themselves rather seamlessly as the fifteen minutes of opening track "Dystopie" play out.

Free Metals: Keeper - MMXIV

On MMXIV, California's Keeper offer up some of the heaviest, bone-crushing doom that you will hear all year. Within the first couple minutes of "Hours. Pt 1," you'll easily know whether or not this is for you. And if you like what you hear, prepare to be bludgeoned into submission for the next forty minutes or so. At times, this reminds me of Indian's Guiltless, a record from a few years back that stayed in heavy rotation for quite a while.

Free Metals: Serpents Lair - Demo MMXIV

Danish black metal band Serpents Lair released Demo MMXIV  a few months back, and if these guys keep making music like this, our future could be very dark, indeed.

Despite having only two tracks and clocking in at about 15 minutes, Demo MMXIV  is well worth your time, and if you've got time to kill, put it on repeat.

Free Metals: Old Graves - Like Straining Boughs

Old Graves is a one-man atmospheric black metal project from Abbotsford, British Columbia. If you think that maybe Alcest and
Lantlôs have gone a bit too soft lately, then Like Straining Boughs should be right up your alley.

The intro to "The Short Way Home" features an instrument not too commonly heard in black metal - the acoustic guitar. It's also used on other parts of the record, adding an extra layer of depth and emotion.

Free Metals: Skáphe - Skáphe

Very little seems to be known about Skáphe. The band's American, and that's about all I can find. Not sure about where Skáphe is from, how many members, etc. This self-titled release is available through Fallen Empire Records, but Skáphe doesn't appear to have any sort of social media site of its own. Skáphe plays low-fi, sometimes doomy, black metal that the record label calls "asphyxiating," and I have to agree.

Free Metals: Nolti Nan Gana Nan Nolta - Death by the Venomhammer

Nolti Nan Gana Nan Nolta hails from Edinburgh, Scotland, and plays a mixture of thrash and black metal. The band calls it black thrash and so will we. On the Death by the Venomhammer EP, the trio delivers 4 songs in just over 20 minutes, and my only complaint is that it's not longer.

Free Metals: Conjuro Nuclear - Conjuro Nuclear

Imagine if M83 had grown up in Norway during the second wave of black metal. When I first heard Barcelona's Conjuro Nuclear, Joy Division came to mind, but the more I listened, the more I was reminded of a black metal M83.

Conjuro Nuclear whets your appetite for its sound with opener "Conjuro Nuclear," and for the next half hour, these eleven songs will strangely feel both old and new at the same time.

Free Metals: Wolf Blood - Wolf Blood

Just when I thought I'd heard all the bands with "wolf" in their names, along comes Wolf Blood out of Duluth, Minnesota. I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical and almost passed, but it's a good thing that I didn't - Wolf Blood is for real.

This self-titled cassette begins with "Witch," and you can tell what's in store for you pretty quickly. Wolf Blood play stoner metal with a healthy dose of sludge and maybe a hint of grunge thrown in at times.

Free Metals: Locktender - Rodin

Locktender's Rodin consists of four songs, and each one focuses on a different sculpture by Auguste Rodin. When I first came across this record and its concept, I was intrigued (mostly because of how much my wife and I enjoyed the Musée Rodin on our honeymoon) but unsure of how a band could pull off such an idea. This, however, is not Locktender's first attempt at such a feat. Apparently, this is what Locktender does - they write songs about artists and their works (Franz Kafka, William Blake, Herman Melville, Earl Nightingale, Raphael Gleitsmann).