Profound Lore Records is a temple of pure necrotic evil, and here are its idols.

Heavy metal has historically been an extremely competitive genre of music for musicians, new and old. A Mozart/Salieri rivalry between metal bands has always existed, this very culture of one upmanship is parent to all of the subgenres we associate with metal. Competition drives the musicians and so the music is constantly driving, becoming more dynamic, so much so that we have come to a point where metal is almost unrecognizable. There is no finishing line for heavy metal, no bust of perfection, only evolution and mutation. Mutation being the key word here.

A few months ago, I published an article about the harrowing Australian death metal scene and how far from traditional metal, even traditional music, it has deviated from. The very heart has been ripped from the chest of 'groove metal' and greedily ingested by a shapeless, horrible, nameless beast. Is this still death metal? If it is still death metal, is this death metal at its most primitive or modern? What exactly are we listening to when we hear Impetuous Ritual or Grave Miasma? I can't be alone in thinking that there is something very special about these bands. Maybe I'm acting the stuck-up hipster, trying to excavate meaning from something meaningless, but metal bands are mutating, and I believe that Profound Lore Records is the dank sewer in which they dwell.

Abyssal - A Malthusian Epoch

Hailing from the UK, Abyssal haven't long evacuated the womb, but have already offered up two slabs of unspeakable evil since 2012. It's only a matter of time before these horrible fuckers muster up something just as hideous as their previous release, Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius (2013).

Impetuous Ritual - Ritual Of The Crypt

I've been worshiping at the altar of Impetuous Ritual (and Portal, and Grave Upheaval, and...) for a long time now and should probably have given this spot to a different band, but I truly believe that Impetuous Ritual are the future of death metal. Unfortunately, I couldn't provide a link to their latest release, you'll just have to stomach through that yourself.

Mitochondrion - Parasignosis

Mitochondrion come from a long line of supreme Canadian evil dating all the way back to the seemingly ageless Blasphemy. There is nothing conventional about Mitochondrion, nothing for the listener to cling to. It's the likes of Mitochondrion and Portal that are truly testing the limits of metal and the avant garde.

Grave Miasma - Seven Coils

Coming to life as Goat Molestör in 2002, Grave Miasma have been peddling occult cruelty for over a decade now and have only climbed further down the throat of the archfiend, never letting-up in their vicious sonic assault. Their latest offering Odori Sepulcrorum (2013) will put a smile on your demon's face.

A.M.S.G. - Black Rites Of Black Shadows

Ad Majorem Satanae Gloriam could only be Canadian, simply put. Canada and Australia practically seethe with venom and hatred, that's how you can tell their metal bands from our metal bands. A.M.S.G. are not trying to reinvent the wheel, but their strain of highly poisonous black metal easily thrusts them among the ranks of artists like Black Witchery and Cultes des Ghoules. These Antichrist warriors are definitely to be kept an eye on.