Uada is driving, balls to the wall melodic black metal from Portland, Oregon. Remove the black metal trappings, like shrieking vocals blast beats and Uada compose traditional heavy metal anthems. Each song is super infectious with waves of guitar melodies with an occasional blackened nod to Dissection and Mgla. The 1990s kvlt black metal spirit lives within Uada, and its furiously fun and hummable.

https://uada.bandcamp.com/album/devoid-of-light

"Landless" is a beautiful, angular, grandiose Neurosis-ian soundscape that is indefinably heavy and enchanting. Nobody sounds like Eight Bells with their dreamlike, enchanted vocals, lush echoing guitars, and crushing doom moments.

https://eightbells.bandcamp.com/album/landless

It is so hard not to be biased about Neurosis, since they are my favorite all time band and they have never failed to deliver a stellar album. My displaced enthusiasm for their "Honor Found in Decay" album in 2012, which was my top album of the year, clearly shows my bias. Comparing that album to "Fires Within Fires" makes it seem like they might have been working through some deeper song ideas that "Fires Within Fires" resolves and surpasses. Especially on the song "Reach" where Neurosis are at their most emotionally fragile and alternately bombastically heavy. Nobody can touch Neurosis for their weighty, emotional and passionate vision that taps into sonic elemental archetypes.

https://neurosis.bandcamp.com/album/fires-within-fires

Khemmis play soaring classic heavy metal filtered through Orange amps and with a smidgen of sludgy, doom mentality. The gargantuan riffs are blended perfectly with uplifting, heroic vocals.

http://listen.20buckspin.com/album/hunted-2

Diviniation is a spectacular atmospheric post-black and gray metal album with swirling, tremolo riffing and catchy as hell melodies. Even though "Divination" is an aggressive, ferocious album, there is a soothing and calmly quality that runs throughout the album.

https://vukari.bandcamp.com/album/divination

VRTRA play entrancing brutal doom that overwhelms with a giant wall of guitar fuzz, mixed with an urban atmospheric feel. Comparisons to mid period Mind Rot could easily be made because they both have that evil, nasty disorientating swagger.

https://vrtrachasm.bandcamp.com/releases

Nostalgic classic rock groove-laden jams mixed with modern day alternative pop sensibilities summarizes the Black Mountain sound. Think Low, Royal Trux, and the White Stripes mixed with Pat Benatar and Fleetwood Mac. All of the songs on "IV" sound very familiar and cozy but are so well crafted they compel obsessive repeated listenings.

https://blackmountain.bandcamp.com/album/iv

Altarage serve up waves upon waves of chaotic, cavernous death metal. Menacing darkened melodies ooze out of the swirling abyss that has the intricate songs twisting and turning upon themselves. The insane level of musicianship and technicality keeps "Nihil" from turning into a giant ball of morass. Along with Portal, Altarage are the leaders in the new arms race for ultra brutal cavernous death metal.

https://altarage.bandcamp.com/album/nihl

Who would imagine that the combination of black metal, slave spirituals and trip hop could sound so cohesive, relevant, and just be a fun listen. It will be likely that Zeal and Ardor will be a one hit wonder and no black metal slave spiritual genre will form based on this album, but that doesn't take away from the incredible timeless album that Zeal and Ardor have divined.

https://zealandardor.bandcamp.com/

Oh how I love the dissonant black metal, and Zhrine effortlessly craft this with a disorientating mixture of chaotic Icelandic black metal tinged with Gorguts dissonant overtones.

https://zhrine.bandcamp.com/album/unortheta

Mizmor channel some serious cosmic and elemental energies in crafting some of the most harrowingly raw, emotionally visceral music that is imposing with its monolithic blackened dirges. The colossal songs are usually constructed upon some ritualistic, slow, torturous sludge riffs that will eventually build in intensity until they turn into a black metal tremolo frenzy, and then come crumbling down into acoustic calm passages that writhe and churn. The incredible production perfectly captures the the snarling goosebump inducing riffs along with some of the most unhinged and hysterical vocals since Rainer Landfermann fronted Bethlehem. "Yodh" is an emotionally devastating black void where all time ceases to exist and everything is small and insignificant compared the moment and essence of the music.

https://mizmor.bandcamp.com/album/yodh