Kommandant

Through ex-members, this creepy Chicago quintet are separated by two degrees from bands like Usurper (hey, forgot about them) and Nachtmystium; plus, Kommandant's first demo was called Iron Hands on Scandinavia, which is either hilarious or terrifying. So, I'm definitely intrigued from the get-go, and the blackened death sounds do the trick. A touch of war metal helps keep things interesting (snare rolls and chanting always make the blasting seem that much freakier), with the end result sounding like an Immortal demo playing on your walkman while Mayhem's Grand Declaration of War comes through crystal-clear on iTunes in the other room (and your older brother won't stop cranking Slayer in the garage, and a bit of that is creeping in through the dusty heat vents). Even though it feels like propaganda for a vague, unknown cause that will be forgotten once full-time jobs become a necessity, Kommandant's tunes stand out in today's death/black scene. Let's hope the follow-up disc beefs up the thin production a bit to make this band even scarier.