As spring starts to set in, let’s see what’s poking out of the snow in the world of metal.
AngelMaker – Sanctum
Genre: Deathcore
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Full disclosure: I’m not the biggest deathcore fan. I think there are a few too many tropes involved, and not ones that I actively enjoy. So when this album started off with “Slaughter”, which to me sound’s like a computer’s idea of modern death metal mixed with a deathcore vocalist’s generic practice track, I was ready to pass early judgment. However, things do improve. They manage to sneak in some melodic and grimly epic moments, without ever being in risk of leaving the subgenre. There are still a bit too many brutal-for-the-sake-of-brutality-moments on here for me, but they have enough here to stand out.
Arkaik – Labyrinth of Hungry Ghosts
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
As to be expected, these guys are in a bit of a hurry. But in a way that sounds excitedly erratic rather than the result of a red bull overdose. Also, for the most part, the frantic solos fit in with the overall melodies and atmosphere, rather than just being filler shred fests for the sake of variation and shoving their technical prowess in your face. It may be a little too clean for some death metal fans, but to me it’s an excellent display of super tight musical performances, while still having them serve the higher purpose of distinctive songwriting. “To Summon Amoria” and “The Orphion Descent” are two of my favoriutes.
Bastard – Rotten Blood
Genre: Thrash/black n’ roll
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
There’s more than enough Motörhead in here to make me excited about the spirit of Lemmy living on as inspiration to newer bands. Like with Motörhead, this feels pretty uncompromising in its expression, which doesn’t make for the most varied listening experience. But there’s tons of energy in here, and everything just sounds right. “Whipstrike” and “Spellbound” are a couple of my favorites.
Dead Lord – Dystopia
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Looking for some playful hard rock for a sunny day, kind of like The Hellacopters but with the retro dial cranked all the way up? Look no further.
Dog Fashion Disco – Cult Classic
Genre: Alternative/avantgarde metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
To me this sounds like Rivers of Nihil decided to suddenly veer off down the silly path. This is a fun listen that asks for more than just your peripheral attention. Musically it doesn’t quite interest me enough for a top shelf score, but it’s still definitely a release to take note of.
Drug Church – Hygiene
Genre: Hardcore/indie rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A good mix of the coarse, straighforward approach of hardcore and more emotional, freeform ways of good indie rock. There’s a lot of familiar sounds in here, and a few moments where the genre collision takes us into slightly experimental territory.
E-L-R – Vexier
Genre: Ambient doom/folk metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Beautiful, longing melodies, sometimes mournful sometimes epic. For me it’s a bit too dragged out, but if you don’t find the occasional blast beats too disturbing, this is a good album to lose track of time over.
Ghost – Impera
Genre: Hard rock/doom metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Ghost was always “uplifting” for a doomy, occult hard rock band, and that’s part of what makes them special – singing about devil worship like it’s a joyous thing. On IMPERA, we can safely remove the quotation marks from the uplifting. This is an energetic album which sounds like it takes a lot of influences from 80s pop, and also prog rock a bit. It’s pretty accessible, but if you don’t mind Ghost trying new things and would be happy for a heavier album than Prequelle (and a bit less morbid) then I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this. “Twenties” would be my choice for the strongest song on here.
Haunted Shores – Void
Genre: Progressive/technical death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is an instrumental album, which is a new one for me in this genre. Normally the lack of vocals leaves the music too directionless for me to really get into it, but this somehow still manages to keep me interested all the way through. It constantly shifts and tries new things, without sounding erratic or incoherent. That feat alone is deserving of a recommendation, but I also really enjoy the overall tone and groove. It’s heavy yet playful, epic, dark and has great momentum for being a progressive album. Check out “Hellfire” and “Immaterial”.
Idol of Fear – Trespasser
Genre: Black/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
An album that seems to revel in its misery. It’s mostly mid-tempo and slightly understated, leaning ever so slightly into Tribulation-territory. I can see this absolutely nailing someone’s taste in dark music, but not mine.
Konvent – Call Down The Sun
Genre: Doom/blackened death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
If you’re all about the mood and looking for something really dark, but don’t want the absolute slow crawl and weirdness of atmospheric black metal, then this is for you. These guys have found their own little micro brand of death doom. Unfortunately it’s too monotonous for this guy.
Messa – Close
Genre: Doom metal/experimental
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Lots of gloomy stuff in a row here, but this one’s a bit different. Much of it falls pretty comfortably within doom, but they play with lots of other elements as well. There’s a good deal of traditional instruments in what feels like different kinds of folk music styles, some heavier, angry bits and some very soulful, melodic parts that can comfortably lean on the beautiful vocals. Try “Dark Horse” and “Serving Him” for two fairly contrasting examples of the sound on here.
New Horizon – Gate Of The Gods
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some grandiose, riffy power metal that manages to keep the cheesy to a tolerable level. It’s in no way inventive, but quite entertaining, with enough strong instrumental performances to keep a non-subgenre fan interested for more than a few seconds.
Oddland – Vermilion
Genre: Progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
I wouldn’t call this unimaginative, but I still feel like I’ve heard it before, and for me the slow and more intense parts are way too divergent. This requires a different kind of patience than the one I’m equipped with.
Purple Dawn – Peace & Doom Session Vol. II
Genre: Doom/stoner
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Kind of exactly what I expected when I first put it on, and with no real surprises along the way. Some nice, fuzzy riffs and psychedelic groove. Well crafted without a huge amount of character.
Rust N’ Rage – One For The Road
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5
I turned this one off after about 20 seconds of sampling. Very bland, sing-along stuff. Slight plus for a mild sea shanty kind of vibe.
Shaman’s Harvest – Rebelator
Genre: Hard rock/alternative metal
Subjective rating: 0.5/5
Objective rating: 1.5/5
If you think you’re not gonna immediately lose me with unironic use of autotuned vocals, think again.
Syk – Pyramiden
Genre: Progressive metal/djent
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 4/5
To me this falls somewhere in between Meshuggah and Björk, which is bound to be a prime love/hate territory. It’s artistically solid, but not for me – too dissonant and with no clear direction. Try if you wish Jinjer would take a more experimental route and drop the harsh vocals.
Vanir – Sagas
Genre: Folk/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This ticks too many of my boxes for what I’m looking for in metal not to drop a recommendation. It’s fun and melodic while still retaining enough death/black metal grit to pack a punch. I would describe it as a good mix of Amon Amarth and Mors Principium Est, so don’t expect to much originality. This is fist pumping drinking metal for those who don’t need power metal or Irish punk rock in their lives. “Eindriði” is a good example of what you’re getting here.
The Violent – The Violent
Genre: Rock/alternative
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2/5
A throwback to mid-2000s “hard” rock with a bit of “edge”. That edge is sanded down and polished enough that it’s hardly even a feature at this point, though.
Wolves At The Gate – Eulogies
Genre: Metalcore
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some classic, yet modern-sounding metalcore that doesn’t get too sappy in the clean parts for me to write it off completely, but a lot of the songs on here are still kind of sing-along-y. The heavy bits are good, there’s just not enough of them on here.
As always, if you think I’m completely off on an observation, unfairly dissed your favorite band or need to give an album another shot, do feel free to express yourself in the comments below.
The Metal Dispatch 