Alraune + Belus + Geryon + Ancient Ocean

Alraune doesn't do much to augment the standard black-metal playbook, but this Nashville quartet's ferocious intensity and otherworldly riffage—as heard on new debut LP The Process of Self-Immolation—make it a valuable addition to its crowded subgenre. A trio of locals sets the stage: black-metal-meets-doom types Belus, two-man death-metal unit Geryon and dronesmith John Bohannon (alias Ancient Ocean).