Now Hear This: Daniel P. Carter On The Best New Hardcore, Post-Metal And Dark Ambient

So this year has been something of an unending kick to the cojones that has required an entirely new approach to things. Staying sane throughout all of it has been a number one priority-slash-struggle for me as I’m sure it is with most people. It seems that a lot of the artists I’ve interviewed recently have found that the way to stabilise mental health has been by staying in contact with friends and being as creative as possible, something that I’ve endeavoured to do as well.

Aside from my Radio 1 Rock Show and making music, I like to paint. Either for album art or for my own personal work, its something I’ve really gone into this year. While in my studio I listen to a lot of spacey, dark post-metal and whatnot like Neurosis, Om and Horseback, as I find it the perfect soundtrack to making art. So, with that in mind, here are a few things that I’ll be jamming while painting over the coming month…

Wowod are from St. Petersburg, Russia and walk the path carved by bands such as Neurosis and Cult Of Luna, but definitely have their own vibe to what they do. Hypnotic and crushing organic bombast, tempered with washes of synths and melodic vocal passages on tracks Proshchenie and Top, offer some light amongst the overpowering blasting shade across the upcoming album Yarost/Proshchenie, which is due out at the start of next year on Church Road Records.

The recent Offermose album Stiltedens Tårn is the post-black metal soundtrack to an imaginary '80s Italian horror flick you’ve been waiting for. The Danish artist describes his work as "Dark repetitive spells summoning long forgotten apparitions from the ever-flowing mist of eternity", which I think sums it up. There's John Carpenter-esque looped arpeggios rolling over waves of synths, while rasping black metal vocals claw from underneath the mix, making it sound like Horseback meets Tangerine Dream. It's super dark and meditative, yet weirdly uplifting, as a lot of this stuff can be.

Next up is the debut EP from visual artist and tattooer Scott Move called Interlude Request. It's four tracks of dark ambience and blackened beats that call to mind everything from Perdition City-era Ulver to the remixed Lost Themes work of John Carpenter. Creeping modular synth lines and old-school hip-hop influenced beats create eerie hellscapes and stoned atmospheres that are perfect soundtracks for night drives or long sessions in front of a painting. The whole EP is mixed and mastered by Justin K Broadrick of Godflesh and Jesu, who also provides a remix of the title-track. It's available for ‘pay what you like’ on his Bandcamp.

At this point you might be thinking, 'Yeah this is all cool, but amongst all this overbearing darkness, I’d also like something that reaffirms my love for old-school hardcore' (and lets be honest, who wouldn’t?). Check out Mil-Spec from Toronto, who deal in pressingly-urgent hardcore with a touch of metallic crossover and some late-'90s emo that feels like everyone is straining on the leash to get near the mic and scream along. Vocalist Andrew Peden’s delivery is more of the emotional, implored variety, rather than a tough guy vibe, which makes it feel way more impassioned and real to me. The album World House just came out, and it's great.

Finally, I want to shout out clipping., whose fantastic new album Visions Of Bodies Being Burned has just come out on Sub Pop. It's grating industrial-inflected horrorcore hip-hop that has moments that made me think of Geto Boys, Coil and Dälek all within the same tune. It’s a heavy and beautifully dark trip of a record, artful and sinister, over the top and jarringly brittle in equal measure, that make it well worth a listen. Guest spots include Ho99o9 and Sickness amongst others, so I feel it will definitely appeal to a bunch of you.

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