REAPER'S DIGEST: Welcome to Hell

First off, some thanks are in order. Thanks to all of you, Salvo's first month has been a success! From the inaugural piece on Arkansas bruisers Terminal Nation to a chat with Japanese death doom legends Coffins and a truly wacky virtual sit-down with Fenriz about his new joints with Darkthrone and Coffin Storm, you're been reading, clicking, sharing, and subscribing, and I am so grateful to each and every one of you. Thanks to your support, Salvo is going to continue to deliver quality metal journalism straight to your inboxes—and there's much more to come.

April was a good month for metal in general. My Dying Bride, Locrian, Bongripper, Full of Hell, and Party Cannon released new records. We got a toothsome debut from the fantastical Castle Rat (who recorded said record right here in Philly, in one of our many attractive haunted churches!). My Georgia boys in Black Tusk also just dropped a sweaty little number, The Way Forward, which really brings their grimy swamp punk roots to the fore.

Death doom gods Winter released a live LP from an NYC show in 2012 that I am pretty sure I was at, and we got new records from Deicide and Darkthrone, too. (Do either of the latter live up to their mid-90s glory days? Well... do any of us? They've both got some sweet riffs, at least). I've had a soft spot for Týr's proggy Faroese epics since my late-teenage folk metal days (leave me alone, it was a different time) and you can also listen to their new album, Battle Ballads, here if you like Viking ships and tasteful keyboards.

I did want to tell you about a new album I am very excited about that may not have hit your radar yet: Folk Songs, the debut from Zelenaya. They're an absolutely magical new doom band out of NYC that swirls together sludgy, lumbering riffs and deathly tones with positively bewitching Eastern European polyphonic folk singing that draws on the mystical traditions of Ukraine, Serbia, Poland, and Georgia. It is very cool, very spooky, and is one of the more original new band concepts I've come across in a good while. Just trust me on this one.

In fun multimedia news, the Bay Area's self-proclaimed "ecstatic black metal" troupe Agriculture announced a new EP, Living Is Easy, via The Flenser and dropped a gory new music video for the title track featuring their tourmates Chat Pile. It's very cute (and very bloody). Speaking of videos, as our pals at ToiletOvHell noted, Frozen Soul ripped out a crushing cover of White Zombie's "Creature of the Wheel" and trust me, you'll want to watch the accompanying music video.

On a bummer note, Ozzy Osbourne said some disappointing anti-union garbage on his kid's weird podcast and managed to piss off both metalheads, labor activists, and me, your girl who occupies the very center of that very specific Venn diagram. Remember, a boss is a boss is a boss, even if he did sing on "War Pigs".

COMING UP: I've got some extremely cool features lined up for May, starting with a chat with Unearthy Rites vocalist Sisli, who told me all about their environmental activism in the High Arctic (!) and the Finnish death metalpunks' pummeling Prosthetic Records debut, Ecdysis.

After that, I'll be publishing a delightful conversation with Inter Arma drummer T.J. Childers about the band's phenomenal new album, New Heaven, old time rock'n'roll, and his best George Jones memorabilia. (I'm going to start experimenting with subscriber-only posts, so that one'll be partially paywalled–subscribe now to make sure you don't miss a word!).

There might be a slight disruption in publishing the third week of May because I'm getting my hands tattooed, but you'll definitely be getting an interview with either NAScore pioneers Restrictor Plate, black metal vampyre Lust Hag, or anti-imperialist slam provocateurs Torture—if you have a strong preference, email me, but otherwise it'll just have to be a surprise! I'm discovering that that's one of the many benefits of doing Salvo as a solo project—the editorial calendar is ruled by my own messy personal schedule and nothing else. Chaos reigns!

So: How am I doing so far? Is there anything you'd like to see more of? Less of? Drop me a line and let me know.

Love ya, mean it.

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