Water Borders - Harbored Mantras (2011)

Programmed, quasi-tribal drums, wobbly bass lines, echoing atmospheres, whirring electronics, haunted, goth-y vocals, and overall deeply druggy vibes.

Track listing:
1. Tread on Them
2. What Wiwant
3. Waldenpond.com
4. Bad Ethos
5. Even in the Dark
6. Feasting on Mongeese
7. Seedbank
8. Miners
9. Antechamber

Earthworm vomit

Procession - Destroyers of the Faith (2010)

Chilean traditional doom metal. Aside from crisper, fuller production, there's very little to set this apart from what Candlemass was doing 30 years ago, so your opinion of this will likely depend on your feelings regarding Candlemass, and whether or not you overvalue the idea of being "original."

Track listing:
1. Hyperion
2. Destroyers of the Faith
3. The Road to the Gravegarden
4. Chants of the Nameless
5. Tomb of Doom
6. White Coffin

A ceremony of sorrow over death's womb

Brighter Death Now - The Slaughterhouse (1993)

A masterpiece of deeply unsettling industrial/dark ambient. Thunderous percussion, ghostly atmospherics, and ritualistic incantations. Nerd note: The Slaughterhouse is a 1993 reissue, with two additional tracks, of the 1989 cassette Slaughterhouse Invitation.

Track listing:
1. Dead Bones
2. Cadaver
3. Death Party
4. The Last Call
5. Grave
6. Death Consumers
7. Grave-Cracker
8. Slaughterhouse

Death appeal

Orenda - The Funeral (2007)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Orenda - Back in the Grave (2006)

More mesmerizing, droning black metal from Orenda. The drumming is more varied here than on Back in the Grave, but relentless tremolo picking and the repetitive nature of the compositions ensure that the overall hypnotizing, numbing effect remains the same.

Track listing:
1. A Dead Colours
2. The Funeral
3. Revival
4. The Plague

A snake was screaming in me

Michael Hoenig - The Blob OST (1988)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Michael Hoenig - Departure from the Northern Wasteland (1978)

Here's German composer Michael Hoenig's synthtastic score for the 1988 remake of The Blob. Spookier than a werewolf Bar Mitzvah.

Track listing:
1. Main Title
2. Brian Jumps Bridge
3. Arrival
4. The Axe
5. They'll Fix You Up
6. Taylor Was a Good Kid
7. Sleeping Pill
8. Dinner Chat
9. Blob Grabs George
10. Killing the Jam
11. Elkins Grove
12. Killing Projectionist
13. Blob in Theatre
14. Standoff
15. Command Post
16. Close the Manhole
17. Escape to Town Hall
18. Snowfall

Boys becoming men, men becoming wolves

Ptarkh - Alamah (2009)

Russian dark ambient/industrial. Dark, richly layered synth and keyboard landscapes, reverb-drenched drones, harsh, glitchy electronics, samples, and distant, alien voices.

Track listing:
1. Dreml'
2. Shalava
3. Paralaser
4. Tanechka
5. Stank
6. Razval
7. Avtandil

He has his father's eyes

Alcatraz - Vampire State Building (1971)

Jammy, psychedelic German jazz rock. The music is just a little spooky, but look that cover. Are you as spooked as I am right now??

Track listing:
1. Simple Headphone Mind
2. Your Chance of a Lifetime
3. Where the Wild Things Are
4. Vampire State Building
5. Piss Off
6. Change Will Come

So startled

If you like this, try:

Out of Focus - Four Letter Monday Afternoon (1972)

Mortician - Hacked Up for Barbecue (1996)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Mortician - Domain of Death (2001)

Brutal, grind-y, groove-y, drum machined-fueled death metal. Hacked Up for Barbecue is Mortician's first and still best full-length, and features one of the all-time great overly long album-opening horror movie samples.

Track listing:
1. Bloodcraving
2. Embalmed Alive
3. Cremated
4. Three on a Meathook
5. Brutally Mutilated
6. Deranged Insanity
7. Cannibal Feat
8. Blown to Pieces
9. Fog of Death
10. Brutal Disfigurement
11. Apocalyptic Devastation
12. Inquisition
13. Hacked Up for Barbecue
14. Abolition
15. Necrocannibal
16. Ripped in Half
17. Morbid Butchery
18. Decapitated
19. Drilling for Brains
20. Eaten Alive by Maggots
21. Witches' Coven
22. Worms
23. Annihilation
24. Mortician

"What do you want?"
"Your blood... all over me."

Obtest - Tūkstantmetis (1997)

Lithuanian Pagan black metal with folk undertones. Driving, melodic riffs emanate from warm, fuzzed-out guitars, hoarse vocals, and a drum machine. Tūkstantmetis is the only record of Obtest's that I have heard, and I get the sense that their sound has changed rather significantly over the years, so I definitely can't vouch for their other stuff, but this one's solid gold.

Track listing:
1. Karo dvasia
2. Iš nualinto krašto (kai nieko nebelieka...)
3. Vilkalokiai
4. Tolstant krantams
5. 997
6. Mėnulio karūnos kautynės
7. Sakmė apie ugninę širdį
8. Amžiams...

The sea of snakes and souls

Akhlys - Supplication (2009)

To me, much of the subgenre of dark ambient can be divided into two distinct camps. On one side you have the Lustmords: ominous figures making mysterious, difficult, but unquestionably unsettling sounds that often have very little to do with "music." On the other side are the Incarcerated Burzums: black metal dudes dinking around on cheap keyboards. [Shortly after writing this, I became familiar with the term "dungeon synth."]

Then there's projects like Akhlys, the brainchild of Naas Alcameth (a member of Nightbringer, Bestia Arcana, and Excommunion) whose debut full-length Supplication, a single 38-minute long composition, could be claimed by either camp. The sound is massive and cavernous, with darkly lush, droning synth chords, clanging bells, thunderous percussion that might just be the pounding of a Babadook-like nightdemon, and evil vocals scattered throughout. Turn off the lights, turn it up, scare the neighbors.

BTW, Akhlys' newest record, The Dreaming I, is gonna be a strong contender for my black metal album of the year, so do yourself a favor and get it, son. Here it is on bandcamp.

Consummation

Obtained Enslavement - Centuries of Sorrow (1994)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Obtained Enslavement - Witchcraft (1997)

Pure old school Norwegian black metal. The band's first LP, Centuries of Sorrow contains few symphonic elements when compared to Witchcraft -- an organ here, some canned strings there -- instead taking a rawer approach centered on blown-out guitars and ghostly, reverb-drenched vocals.

Track listing:
1. Desecration of My Soul
2. As I Slowly Fade
3. Dark Holiness
4. Symbolic
5. Unblessed
6. Haze of Knowledge
7. Centuries of Sorrow
8. Pure
9. ... Sorrow

I am the face of the sky

More like this:

Setherial - Nord... (1996)

Svartsyn - ... His Majesty (2000)

Dave Phillips - ? (2010)

Related:
Fear of God - Fear of God (1988)

An uncomfortable collage of musique concrete, dark ambient, minimal drone, and harsh noise. Ten untitled tracks.

"Everyone strives to reach the Law," says the man, "so how does it happen that for all these many years no one but myself has ever begged for admittance?" The doorkeeper recognizes that the man has reached his end, and, to let his failing senses catch the words, roars in his ear: "No one else could ever be admitted here, since this gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it."

Xerión - Nocturnal Misantropia (2007)

Traditional, melodic Spanish black metal with full, lush production that lends slower sections a sense of grandeur while retaining a rawness that's crucial to the tremolo/blast sections (which account for much of the record).

Track listing:
1. Akelarre
2. Nocturnal Misantropia
3. Ate A Morte...
4. Na Traza Esotérica Do Ar Invisible
5. Aqueles Que Nos Deixan Atrás
6. No Pazo Derruido Da Existencia
7. No Val Do Silencio

Grove spirits

If you like this, try:

Nehëmah - Light of a Dead Star (2002)

Ulvegr - Artogaia (2012)

The Tear Garden - Tired Eyes Slowly Burning (1987)

Related:
The Legendary Pink Dots - Chemical Playschool 1 & 2 (1981)
The Legendary Pink Dots - The Maria Dimension (1991)

It's Halloween month, kids!!! Over the next few weeks, expect posts about albums that rate at at least an 8.5/10 on the Spook-O-Meter.™

To kick things off, how 'bout an experimental, psych/electro-industrial project (supergroup?) centered on the duo of Edward Ka-Spel and cEvin Key. Tired Eyes Slowly Burning features contributions from several members of Skinny Puppy and LPD, including the instantly recognizable vocals of OhGr on the heartbreaking, mindmelting centerpiece, "You and Me and Rainbows". Don't get me wrong: this is not for everyone. It's for a very specific type of nerd -- the type of nerd that reads OPIUM HUM, perhaps?

Track listing:
1. Deja Vu
2. Room with a View
3. Coma
4. Valium
5. You and Me and Rainbows
6. OO EE OO

She had to keep things clean

Celestial Bloodshed - Cursed, Scarred and Forever Possessed (2008)

Sorrowful Norwegian black metal. Their first album, Cursed, Scarred and Forever Possessed hits that perfectly malignant area that separates depressive and traditional black metal.

Track listing:
1. Intro
2. Cursed, Scarred and Forever Possessed
3. Sign of the Zodiac
4. Truth Is Truth, Beyond the God
5. All Praise to Thee
6. Gospel of Hate
7. The Demon of Old

Utter disgust for God and his creation

More like this:

AN - Revelation I: World Minus Population (2005)

Endless Blizzard - Remember Your Death (2008)