Abyssal, Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius (Iron Bonehead) Anonymous UK trio Abyssal swooped in out of nowhere in 2011, and the aftershocks of their arrival are still rippling outward. The latest incarnation of their excellently murky sophomore full-length, Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius, is this vinyl reissue by Iron Bonehead, which comes snapping at the heels of a CD version by Profound Lore (which was itself a reissue of a self-released effort). Why all the fuss over what could be a bunch of nobodies? Just listen to the first moments of “The Tongue of the Demagogue,” which roar out of the ominous intro “Forbode” like an atomic blast. This is chaotic, malevolent death metal, its seasick chord changes smothered under clouds of distortion and black-metal malaise; to add to its charm, the stomach-pump vocals sound like somebody having his intestines pulled out through his teeth. Like-minded hellspawn Portal and Antediluvian may have started the fire, but Abyssal just rolled up with a drum of jet fuel. —Kim Kelly

Haptic, Abeyance (Entr’acte) Internet-enabled work-­sharing has evolved to the point where it’s easy for musicians scattered all over the country to make a record together that sounds like they were all in the same room. But when a member of Chicago-based experimental trio Haptic moved to the west coast, they did the opposite. Not only did each musician work on Abeyance in isolation, they all took as their raw material manifestations of separation and distance. The 40:56 piece consists mostly of environmental recordings—empty rooms in which the members of Haptic live and other rooms that they’ve vacated, a relative playing piano from a floor away—and borderline subliminal electronic tones. The result is a layering of hisses and hums that expresses quite concretely the emptiness that ensues from loss, yet paradoxically fills space with a barely heard but strongly felt presence. It not only works as ambient music; it’s music made from ambience. —Bill Meyer

Polwechsel, Traces of Wood (Hatology) During its two-decade existence this Austrian ensemble has frequently changed personnel—only cellist Michael Moser and bassist Werner Dafeldecker remain from the original quartet—but it’s never abandoned its focus, exploring the fine line between controlled, abstract improvisation and minimalist composition. Polwechsel is widely credited with launching the style of reductionist music—whether composed or improvised—that took hold in urban centers such as Berlin and London in the 90s. On Traces of Wood, the group’s first album in four years, Moser and Dafeldecker are joined only by percussionists Burkhard Beins and Martin Brandlmayr (the leader of art-rock band Radian), and both of them generate as much bowed and rubbed frictive sound as the string players. Each member composed one of the record’s four lengthy pieces, which situate gratifying turbulence and noise between Zenlike meditative passages, and even the most serene moments are distinguished by often viscerally articulated gradations of color. It’s the group’s most charged music in more than a decade. —Peter Margasak

Leo Welch, Sabougla Voices (Big Legal Mess) Making his recorded debut at the ripe old age of 81, Mississippi gospel-blues shouter Leo Welch finally shares his music with the wider world after a lengthy career as a logger. Though he leads a gospel band called Rising Voices when he performs around Calhoun County, for this session label owner Bruce Watson put together a scrappy ensemble of five Mississippi roots-music pros, augmented by Welch’s own Sabougla Voices chorus, Martha and Laverne Conley. Almost all the songs are based on traditional material—Welch wrote just one, “His Holy Name”—and if you’ve listened to much of the blues, these potent, spirited performances will sound familiar. The band, which includes onetime Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, plays with old-­fashioned looseness, working only to elevate Welch’s sorrowful, sanctified wail. —Peter Margasak