The Nine Circles Audio Thing

A micro-genre/movement/what have you that I've been doing my hardest to champion this year at Nine Circles is "castle metal"; melodic black metal rooted in the sound and aesthetic of Obsequiae while incorporating a multitude of other influences. There is an ever-growing roster of bands that have taken up the banner in similar yet distinct ways, and three released full-length albums this year: Morke with To Carry On, Veytik with Carmina Aerea in Aetate Ferrea, and Weald + Woe with Far From the Light of Heaven.

The incredible musicians behind these three acts were kind enough to sit down with me to have an extended discussion on their main influences, lyrical and thematic inspirations, albums of year, and more. Don your chain mail, sharpen your sword, pour a chalice of your desired beverage, and enjoy!

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Discovering and giving exposure to brand new artists is one of the greatest privileges when it comes to writing about music. And when a fantastic musician you're already familiar with announces something completely new, it's hard not to set your expectations high. With Weft and debut LP The Splintered Oar (Bindrune Recordings) I can say with confidence that these expectations were not only met, but surpassed. Best known to the metal world as the live and session violinist for the almighty Panopticon, Charlie Anderson's debut album with his first solo project is a tremendous amalgamation of black, prog, and death metal with some beautiful folk passages to top it all off in a fresh and unique fashion.

In anticipation of The Splintered Oar's release next month Charlie was generous enough to chat with me about his influences and the musical journey to get here, the incredible musicians he worked with on this album, and more. Grab a cozy beverage, sit down, and enjoy!

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Joining together the righteous forces of Obsequiae and Inexorum for some Gothenburg-style melodeath throwback, it's been nearly two and a half years since the release of Majesties' debut album Vast Reaches Unclaimed (20 Buck Spin) and it's still a favorite amongst some of us here at Nine Circles. A follow-up may not (yet) be upon us, but myself and a couple others had the utmost privilege of catching their incredible live debut at this year's Fire in the Mountains festival on the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. I had asked the core trio of Tanner, Carl Skildum, and Matt Kirkwold if they were down for an interview at some point during the festival; naturally it's hard to arrange such a meeting with no cell service and schedules all over the place (not to mention not wanting to miss a ton of killer bands), but Tanner and I were able to set aside some time to record on the shore of Two Medicine Lake right near the festival grounds. We discussed how the show went, nerded out about classic melodic extreme metal (a lot), and more. Check back in the not-too-distant future as more from Majesties is on the horizon!

HUGE thanks to Tanner for the time and audio assist!

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Another year down -- okay, another year and a couple of weeks, give or take -- and that means another whole buttload of new music released in genres other than our beloved metal. Just sit with that for a second and ponder. There was punk! There was indie! There was shoegaze! And that's just in the rock sub-categories. What about jazz? Hip-hop? Electronic?

"Whoa. I need to sit down for a minute," you're thinking to yourself. No you don't, you big dummy! Dan and Chris have you covered!

Well, okay, they couldn't -- and, to be fair, don't -- even pretend to have you fully covered on all the myriad 2024 things that weren't metal. But bless their hearts, they do try on this, their... fifth or sixth annual end-of-year NON-metal podcast. It's a wide-ranging, two-plus-hour convo about all the best stuff they listened to from outside the heavy realm. Wanna catch up with 'em? Grab a (+/-) alcoholic beverage of your choice and get listening!

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Once again the gang comes forth with candidates, this time under the watchful gaze of Ian.  But although strong arguments were put forth for the raw black metal conceptual piece by Ungfell, the morose progressive post-doom of Crippled Black Phoenix, and whatever insane caterwauling The Body did in the month of American Thanksgiving and apocalyptic elections, the rose could only be gifted to one. And that one was Hera with her pick of Thy Catafalque and their progressive world stew that is the unwieldy titled XII: A Gy​ö​ny​ö​rü Álmok Ezut​á​n J​ö​nnek, which I’m sure is fantastic since I pre-ordered the vinyl but in all honestly haven’t had time to listen to it yet.

But that’s okay because the crew talked about it and a lot more, so unwrap your audio gift and check out what else the group was listening to in November!

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The Nine Circles Audio Thing is back with our Album of the Month for October!

Once again the gang comes forth with candidates, this time under the watchful gaze of Angela.  But although strong arguments were put forth for the avant-black metal of Doedsmaghird, the exploratory and modern melodic black metal of Gaerea, and the ripping, quite possibly AOTY contender Blood Incantation the rose could only be gifted to one. And that one was Chris with his pick of Chat Pile and their sledgehammer classic in the making Cool World, which ups the ambition and stands as the voice for the rage and raw pain of a global space far greater than their native Oaklahoma.  

Dig into the feast and also check out what else the group was listening to in October!

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The Nine Circles Audio Thing is back with our Album of the Month for September!

Once again the gang comes forth with candidates, this time under the baleful glare of Hera.  But although strong arguments were put forth for the Brazilian prog of Papangu, the icy cold black metal of Marrow of Man, the might return of melodic death metal giants The Black Dahlia Murder, and the woeful fragile beauty of 40 Watt Sun the rose could only be gifted to one. And that one was Angela with her pick of Alunah and their fantastic new album Fever Dream, which isn't afraid to mix some Skynrd and flute in with their specific brand of stoner doom.

This one runs long (sorry, too much going on for a proper edit!), so dig into the feast and also check out what else the group was listening to in September!

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A month to the day the Nine Circles Audio Thing is back with our Album of the Month for August!

The staff approached, their pitiful, mewling offerings raised with trembling hands in full view of the gnarled stonework to vie for the attentions and affections of the new Judge.  But despite Hera's impassioned plea for the acidic sludge post metal of Norna, Angela's sadly tossed asides poetics to the virtue of black metal chameleons Zeal & Ardor, Colin's progressive medieval circus ride that is the latest from Sur Austru and Ian's gleeful presentation of the blackened speed thrash attack of Demiser the Demiser's Demiser the rose could only be gifted to one. And that one was Chris, who revelled in the hyper-glitchy grind punk noise rock of Melt-Banana, back with their first album in 11 years 3+5, a blizzard of wonder that races by in only 24 minutes.

The gang gets in deep, with lots of talk about vocal tics and tremors, the increasingly silly labelling and confining our notions of what constitutes "heavy" or "extreme", and whether we can all kill Hera if we make her listen to enough thrash metal.  There's also a lot of talk about what else we listened to in August, including a way too long conversation about how positively limp and punched in the long awaited(?) Time II from Wintersun is...you've been warned!

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It may be a week or so later than we intended but – as promised – the Nine Circles Audio Thing is back with our Album of the Month for July!

Candidates were offered up on the gnarled stonework that is the 9C dais, and despite strong arguments by Ian for the storming dissonant fretwork of Occulta Veritas, Colin’s impassioned please for the frigid and beautiful Finnish black metal of Autumnfall, and Dan’s out in the wilds remote pitch for the all guns blazing power metal of Orden Ogan, only one could wear the mantle of Album of the Month. As this month’s presiding Host and Arbiter of Metal Justice (and therefore the only one without a candidate to proffer), Chris got on one knee and handed the rose to Vince and his pitch for the ever evolving and mutating gothic black metal post-punk emo warmth of Vuur & Zijde and their debut full length Boezem (Prophecy Productions).

Lots of ground covered, as the gang gets into the difference between blending genres together as opposed to letting them sit haphazardly side by side, the love of a good warm muffled thump in your production, as well as the merits of forging new ground vs. flawless execution of a tried and true formula. We talk about the similarities between black and power metal, and three of us even geek out royally (sorry, Colin!) over 70s era Genesis…and that’s before we get into what else we’ve been listening to in the month of July!

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It's been a hot minute, but the gang returns along with a new intro to celebrate the return of the Nine Circles Audio Thing!  We're going to get back into the Album of the Month starting with July, but for now Chris returns to the mic for the first time in forever to gather the crew and talk about a few select highlights from the first six months of the year.  Colin, Vince, Ian, Hera and...holy shit, DAN?! Yup, it's a full crew at the ready and madness is had, whether it's risking Swiftian armies or generally squealing with delight over some very, very good metal this year.

Variety abounds as the crew gets into it, talking about Dödsrit, Inherits the Void, Ulcerate, Chapel of Disease, Job For A Cowboy, Alcest, Pallbearer, Hamferð, AWS, Thot, Ryujin, Aborted, Hammer King, Lascaille's Shroud, Farsot, and Lord Dying.

No spoilers for the anticipated albums, and only a short tease about the new AOTM format moving forward, but it's a blast to be back so grab your favorite beverage, put on those headphones and dig in.  See you next month!

9C LINKS: Website | Facebook | Twitter (X) | Instagram | Bluesky