Hey look at that, third time's a charm. Finally got a show off the ground with minimal tech issues. Next week I'll get some background music for my voice breaks so you don't have to hear the wretched screams of San Francisco drunks and the creep of awful local live bands as backdrop.

This week I featured some tracks off my favorite albums so far this year. Probably my favorite up and coming band is Gerzolth out of Russia. Their stuff is reminiscent of that late 90s Russian and maybe a bit of the Polish sound. All those atmospheric and stoically pagan bands coming out around that time; these guys are young but have clearly taken influence where it matters while still developing a unique sound.

bez|kres out of Poland is another highlight, being the (likely) reincarnation of Kły after 4 years of dormancy. Now leaning fully into the post punk sound they had flirted with initially, bez|kres has them at their most minimalist but still knowing when to burst out into some triumphant riff or vocal switch up. When I think of where black metal is 'going', bands like them give me hope.

Some other recent favorites include Rites of Tara out of Canada, who play some very deliberately paced and riff-centric folk metal, Sepulkhral Baptism playing extremely solid war metal, and Dominion - an OSDM throwback that doesn't suck.

Did some throwbacks to some cool 90s goregrind and some one-off favorites of late 90s / mid 2000s black metal. Take a look, take a listen.

Setlist:

Dominion
Gerzolth
Rites of Tara
Cryptopsy
Ancient Rites
Radigost
Sepulkhral Baptism
MGLA
Cedamus
Hirpus
Drive Like Jehu
Squash Bowels
Catasexual Urge Motivation
Odium
Diabolical Masquerade
bez|kres
Simple Existenz
Baptism
Swans