Not the most bountiful week, but with some tasty highlights indeed, ranging from the atmospheric and dark to the all-out furious. Come sate your appetite.
Above And Below – Suffer Decay Alone
Genre: Industrial metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is some creepy-sounding digital madness with your typical static industrial riffing at its core. Not bad if you want to get into the mind of a machine overlord.
Adamantis – The Daemon’s Strain (EP)
Genre: Power/heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
It’s rare that I get into a power metal album, so this was a refreshing change. This one has some grit to it, and the vocals, like the rest of the production, never really go over the top, which in this case ensures a satisfyingly un-theatrical overall tone.
American Anymen – Cities Changing Names
Genre: Industrial metal/punk
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
As per the norm for punk, I get the sense that this is more about the message than the music. There are some good, crunchy industrial riffs rhythms to bob your head to, but ultimately it’s all fairly straightforward and a bit repetitive.
Berator – Elysian Inferno (EP)
Genre: Black/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
As this one fired up I was so ready for it to explode into being a thundering beast of a thing. But while it has every bit of the fury I was hoping for they’ve decided to go for a low-fi black metal sound that robs it of a lot of punch. If that doesn’t bother you, you should absolutely check it out, cause it has some absolutely stellar playing and relentless aggression.
Bloody Heels – Rotten Romance
Genre: Heavy/glam metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Some fairly slick heavy metal with catchy groove riffs, and the next ballad-y moment never far away.
Deathwhite – Grey Everlasting
Genre: Atmospheric/gothic metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Here we have some bleak, doomy goth metal without any of the major tropes you’d normally associate with that subgenre. This is slow and meditative, only occasionally broken up by heavier, aggressive sections. Because the rhythms are so lulling, they do dampen the progression, so large sections can unfortunately feel fairly forgettable.
Downset – Maintain
Genre: Rap metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
This is kind of exactly what you’d expect if you’d never listened to rap metal before. Not being an expert on rap, I would still classify this as pretty unremarkable seen from both camps. It has enough attitude to get some heads nodding.
Dragged Under – Upright Animals
Genre: Hardcore/pop punk
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This does get overly anthemic, and a bit too soft for my taste, but still present some very strong melodies and excellent melding of musical talent.
The Eating Cave – Ingurgitate
Genre: Technical deathcore/death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Some monstrous deathcore with lots of technical beeps and bops. The riffs are meaty and furious and the drums pounding, while the tech flourishes feel a bit forced and show-off-y. Still, if you’re hungry for deathcore and don’t mind the death metal influence, you should jump on this.
Emberthrone – Godless Wonder
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is tech death blackened enough to instill a bit of hopelessness into the tone. They do the technical side right, not just adding a cacophony of beepy solo tangents but actually allowing slight variations in riffs and rhythms play out fully and transforming the songs as they go along.
Future Palace – Run
Genre: Hardcore/alternative/melodic metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
While this has some infectious youthful energy to it, it remains a fairly run-of-the-mill mix of hardcore and more anthemic, pop-oriented modern metal.
Gräce – Hope
Genre: Heavy/pop metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is some spacey heavy metal pretty much straight out of Eurovision. The tone and melodies are very light and soft, but still well composed. So if you’re looking for a bit of light hearted, romantic stuff, you could do a lot worse.
Heart Attack – Negative Sun
Genre: Thrash/groove metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
Time to rip. This is a straight up thrash banger that expands upon the core subgenre sound with complexity and fury from the more aggressive end of groove metal, not unlike Decapitated and Misery Index. There’s just a pinch of black metal darkness in there also, most notably in the parts when they break out of the groove and go all out with death screams, nicely contrasting their warmer melodic parts. For me the weakest moments are when they embrace the more punky side of thrash, as the more simplistic attitude doesn’t match up with the advanced instrumentation all that well. It’s still a nice flavor for the overall mix though, and so not at all a big complaint. Check out “Wings of Judgement” and “Twisted Sacrifice”.
Inanimate Existence – The Masquerade
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This goes beyond tech death, and could be said to exist in at least two realms simultaneously, as it explores atmospheric, slightly whimsical and strange soundscapes parallel to absolutely ripping through complex riff patterns and belting out guttural roars. It’s got a progressive tendency of tempo shifts and solo guitar tangents, so you have to be in the kind of mindset to let it take you wherever it wants. You do that and you will be rewarded – this is not for a casual listen. For me the duality of their sound is a bit hit and miss – it’s awesome when it works and a bit jarring when it doesn’t.
Kardashev – Liminal Rite
Genre: Atmospheric deathcore/black metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 5/5
Ready yourself for a breathtaking journey through the dark. Monstrous presences and haunted depths will pass you by as you traverse the blackness of a vast, unfathomable emptiness. This is a dark record that manages the monumental task of balancing extreme, brutal aggression with black nihilism and silky soft melancholy. As long as you don’t expect an all-out in any particular direction, you should be able to appreciate the hell out of this one. Treat yourself to “Silvered Shadows” and “Compost Grave-Song”.
Kreator – Hate Über Alles
Genre: Thrash metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
These titans of thrash are back , and they’re bringing the melody on this one. And the riffs, of course the riffs, but that’s a given. There seems to be a real effort involved in trying to create memorable tunes, and for the most part this is beneficial. This album is packed full of strong melody lines that function well as hooks as well as providing clear pathways of progression though the songs. But they also have a tendency of wanting to slow everything down for the choruses so that the vocal lines here can land as clearly as possible, which can be a serious momentum killer. You get numerous demonstrations of just how fast and furious this band can be on here, and compared to these parts everything else seems to be stuck in 3rd gear, like they’re just cruising along at a pace where the theme of the song can be effectively flaunted, allowing the listener to easily learn the lyrics so that they can be chanted live. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy on here, like the title track and “Pride Comes Before the Fall”.
Moodring – Stargazer
Genre: Alternative/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Some moody alternative stuff here that moves very much at its own pace. It manages to be heavy without really feeling heavy, and vice versa. The rhythms are nice and loose and they have a great, muted tone. Large portions of the songs do end up sounding pretty similar though, as the tone is maybe overly consistent throughout.
Motionless In White – Scoring The End Of The World
Genre: Metalcore/electronic/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde thing that might work very well for the younger end of the fan spectrum. It’s a set of songs written to be accessible from the bottom up. Some of them end up as very conventional sing-alongs, while others morph into monstrous bangers with roars and massive distortion.
Pre-Human Vaults – Allegiance Divine (EP)
Genre: Death/thrash metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
Imagine a blend of modern death- and thrash metal, and that’s pretty much all it takes to imagine this. It’s angry and brutal in a straightforward kind of way, with few surprises on the way.
Secrets – The Collapse
Genre: Metal/deathcore
Subjective rating: 2.5.5
Objective rating: 3/5
This is a band operating with a massive contrast in the harshness of their output – from thundering deathcore breakdowns to ultra soft, fragile and sugar sweet sections, often all in one song. To me the two sides are too far apart, but others will probably disagree.
Seventh Wonder – The Testament
Genre: Power/progressive metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some undeniable instrumental skill aside, this is bright power metal with very simple lyrics and more boyband tendencies than I’d like to look into.
Silent Drive – Fairhaven
Genre: Hardcore/alternative/hard rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A band that seems a little uncertain which path they’re most comfortable following. They have some decent hardcore aggression going on, then slips into alt-rock with melodies that remain fairly disharmonic, even when they’re not supposed to, I suspect.
Soreption – Jord
Genre: Technical death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This thing is brimming with energy, and releases it in bursts of instrumental assaults. The tone and overall approach to the subgenre is not really characteristic enough for it to stand out, but if you’re jst looking for a fix this will certainly do the job.
Venus 5 – Venus 5
Genre: Hard rock/power metal
Subjective rating: 1.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A rather simple recipe of big sounding heavy metal and hard rock with soaring choruses and chugging riffs trying their best not to distract too much from the sing-along lyrics.
Vulnificus – Invocation (EP)
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3/5
An absolute mulch of undiscernible riffs and gurgling pushed miles back in the mix, leaving the snare drum the only well-defined sound on here. It sounds disturbingly dark and insane, and very deliberate.
Wind Rose – Warfront
Genre: Power metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
An altogether fun, entertaining and mildly epic listen. These guys absolutely know what they’re all about, and that is loud, theatrical, anthemic, fantasy-themed power metal. And it has enough of a punk-rock-y rough edge that it doesn’t feel overly polished. A bit simple, sure, but enjoyable.
Yatra – Born Into Chaos
Genre: Death/sludge metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Ready for a delicious mix of old school death metal and dirty, dirty sludge? It stakes out a course and then just goes rampaging ahead, not looking back for even a second. The rhythm shifts between galloping, groove and grinding, and the balance between them has been tastefully managed. The tone is evil, slightly muted and coarse, which suits it near perfectly. The tempo is on the doomy side, and can at times become a tad monotonous, but it does allow you to gorge on the sonic meat of this animal at a more leisurely pace. Dig into “Death Cantation” and “Reign of Terror”.
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 section below.
The Metal Dispatch 