This week feels important somehow. The extreme side of metal stirs as from each of its twisted corners emerge a beast championing the hallmarks of its realm. Let’s see who ends up the victor.
Altaria – Wisdom
Genre: Heavy/power metal
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
A very mellow power metal album with a classic heavy metal sound. The rhythms are simplistic and restrained, the melodies are classic sing-along and the vocals likewise. Definitely some of the tamest tuff I’ve heard in a little while.
Ardours – Anatomy Of A Moment
Genre: Gothic rock/metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
This one is all about the beautiful, mildly sad harmonies. The vocals are great and the mood throughout the album a mix between early 2000s goth and more modern electronic rock.
Begrime Exemious – Rotting In The Aftermath
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some necrotic crypt-death coming your way. It’s mostly made up of very familiar elements put in a fairly predictable order, added a bit of groove and kicked the vocals far back in the mix. It’s dry and slightly blackened, just like my toaster makes ’em. It’s not bad at all, but don’t expect any surprises.
Beth Blade And The Beautiful Disasters – Mythos, Confession, Tragedies And Love
Genre: Hard rock
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
They’re trying out a bunch of styles on this one. Building on the hard rock core there’s a bit of doom, country, folk, punk and alternative. Not all at once, luckily, but they dabble in all. It makes for a slightly confusing and inconsistent listen. Pair that with a lack of energy, and you’ve got a sound that’s really going nowhere.
Blackwater Drowning – Sonder//Satori
Genre: Melodic death metal/metalcore
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Daniel Cordova wrote for Metal Injection that this sounds like a combo of Black Dahlia Murder and The Agonist, and it’s too spot on for me not to steal it. The riffs have that chug-melody to it and there’s a mix of heavy, chaotic parts and classic metalcore downtempo chorus sections. Everything sound a little bit thin, but also pretty well defined. What’s lacking a bit is a sense of adventurousness. It never really takes off to the sky or around a corner. But there’s clearly a lot of talent to build on.
Blind Channel – Lifestyles Of The Sick & Dangerous
Genre: Hardcore/melodic metal/pop
Subjective rating: 1/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
This is pure sheep in wolf’s clothing. Packed to the breaking point with pop harmonies and riddled with copy-paste vocal lines. I’m calling for euthanizing.
Cleanbreak – Coming Home
Genre: Heavy metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A project that sounds like it grew out of hard rock into high-flying heavy metal. This is melodic and soaring without being bombastic. They make the instrumental output work well for their purpose, so it sounds good, just lacks a little in ambition.
Crossing Rubicon – Perfect Storm
Genre: Melodic hard rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 2.5/5
An emotional, ballad-d hard rock album that channels a few too many of the excesses of 80s pop metal for my liking.
Dead Tired – Satan Will Follow You Home
Genre: Hardcore/black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Here we have a successful marriage between hardcore harshness and bitter black metal. The two circle and cross each other, some times simply bleeding off a veneer of influence, sometimes coming together to form some dirty black ‘n roll that brings to mind the less artsy side of Satyricon. Some times it slows all the way into doom territory, some times they even manage to work in a bit of atmosphere. Some times they turn the attitude all the way up and turn into a kind of blackened hardcore reminiscent of Kvelertak. Had they also worked in a stronger, dark melodic theme this could have been something truly special, though it’s still absolutely worth your time as it is. Check out “Predatory Loans” and “Tyrants Palace”.
End It – Unpleasant Living
Genre: Hardcore/punk
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A super quick, riffy, gang-vocals-touting and hard punching EP that’s over before you know i–
Greylotus – Dawnfall
Genre: Technical/progressive death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 4/5
The sonic equivalent of an excessively spiky, swirling and tangled mess of a thorn bush that also has beautiful flowers on it. This is an energetic tech death album where symphonic-quality melody is allowed to permeate all the way through, every now and then blooming into exquisite guitar solos. This is also an album that loves to run off on progressive tangents. This helps to further prove the substantial talent of the musicians behind it, but does also create holes in the progression. You might find that there’s not much of a clear path through the album, encouraging you to live in the moment, as it were, and just take one musical turn at a time.
HolyRoller – Swimming Witches
Genre: Stoner/psychedelic/hard rock
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Mid-tempo grooves, slightly spacey melodies and a nice, full mix. This is cruise-along hard rock with a chilled out, but still knowing attitude. It’s all pretty familiar if you know the type, but they do know how to write strong, characterful songs.
Kanine – Karnage
Genre: Deathcore/brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
A slamming, gurgling chug fest from start to finish, this is one for you who just want to bang your head loose off your spinal column. It does utilize all the most tried and tested tricks in the book of stupidly heavy, and so doesn’t exactly sound fresh. And the problem with all brutal all the time is that there’s no contrast. But it sounds good, and if you just want damn heavy, you got it.
Left To Suffer – And Dying Forever (EP)
Genre: Deathcore/nu metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3/5
A mostly monomelodic, staccato-rhythmic kind of thing reminiscent of the angrier parts of hardcore. But they also switch it up with more hip-hop-influenced beats and effects, and also slightly softer metalcore harmonies. It seems almost designed to make a small indoor venue crowd erupt into frenzied stomping at precise intervals.
The Machinist – All Is Not Well
Genre: Metalcore/groove/melodic death metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This sounds more like seasoned veterans playing around with their carefully honed core sound than a young band looking to establish theirs. Which is impressive considering this only their second full-length. And it means you get all of that youthful aggression but also the mature wisdom not to stray too far in their experimentation. Their style is metalcore flexing into hardcore and deathcore, mixed with modern, groove-laden melodeath. It is more comfortable with dissonance than melody, which robs them of a little character, but they partly make up for it with strong lyrical content. Give “Monsters” and “Lysergic Lullaby” a try.
Opponent – Sentinel
Genre: Melodic groove/industrial metal
Subjective rating: 3.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Here we have some heavily riff-driven groove leaning into melodeath, but with a good bit of its melodic potential leeched by an influence of nihilistic industrial metal. Which makes it fast, aggressive, technical and fairly catchy, but also kind of soulless. Also, the production has left it sounding rather sharp and a bit tinny, further robbing in of warmth and richness.
Organectomy – Nail Below Nail
Genre: Brutal death metal
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This one, like most of its ilk, is all about that sledgehammer rhythm, supported by a liberal use of kick drum and pummeling riffs. The vocals are surprisingly near-understandable, and the dissonance of the squealy melodies just the right pitch to take on that disturbing-evil vibe, so the whole thing doesn’t come off as overly gimmicky. There is, however, a kind of robotic feel to the structure, and I find myself sitting rather passive through the whole thing.
Pestilent Hex – The Ashen Abhorrence
Genre: Symphonic black metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4/5
This is pitch black metal symph-ed up in that tasteful, dark magic kind of way that only really the Finnish know how to do. And it’s not like they’ve gone nuts with the production or too technical with the instruments – most of this is that primal, mid-tempo march zazzed up with some blast beats and tremolo. The melodic backdrop is lofty in the way that a towering forest canopy envelops you in a world of dark, natural wonder. They sneak in a bit of that pagan folk vibe as well, without it clashing with the pained venom of the snarly black metal core. Give it a go with “Chapter II: Nature of the Spirit” and “Chapter VI: Banishment”.
Seep – Hymns To The Gore
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 2.5/5
Objective rating: 3/5
Some putrid, abattoir-dwelling death metal for you. The sound is primitive both in musical execution and production, which works for the vintage gore-horror theme. There is hardly any variation to speak of across the whole album, but if you just want a hit of morbidity, it’s here for you.
Set The Sun – In Absentia
Genre: Melodic metal/alternative rock
Subjective rating: 2/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
This is electronica-infused, slightly atmospheric, accessible alt rock bolstered by some djent-y riffs. It’s better than what I make it sound like, but it also exist beyond my horizon of musical interest.
Sweet Freedom – According to Jörgen Schelander
Genre: Progressive/psychedelic hard rock
Subjective rating: 3/5
Objective rating: 3.5/5
Melodic, old-school style hard rock that, at least stylistically, has one foot on progressive turf. The melodies are strong and lively, and the whole album radiates a mature kind of optimism.
Telekinetic Yeti – Primordial
Genre: Doom/psychedelic metal
Subjective rating: 4/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Here’s one that sucks you in like a vortex with no end. Once you’re caught there’s little point resisting so you might as well lean back and enjoy the ride. There are a few twists and turns along the way as the tempo momentarily shifts, but at some point you return to that steady, slow swirl. Metaphors aside, they strike a good balance between threatening fuzz dissonance and howling, squealy guitar melody to create a semi-surreal, dark kind of sound that sees you almost surprised every time there’s any significant change to the progression. Which doesn’t mean they don’t change it up every now and then, but the strong tonal consistence ensures that the immersion is top notch. If you like otherworldly doom with some crunch and groove, this is all for you. Try “Primordial” and “Beast”.
Vomit Forth – Seething Malevolence
Genre: Death metal
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 4.5/5
Now for something that sounds like it’s straight out of the nine circles of hell. Or rather, it feels like we as the listeners are transported there to be treated to the full filthy, deranged, torturous experience. You can even imagine the jagged riffs as the chomping and gnashing of some unspeakable horror’s teeth. They also employ sound effects, instrumental or otherwise, to fill the soundscape with snarls, groans, chittering, lamentation and other unpleasantries you might expect to find echoing around the caverns of the underworld. And somehow they don’t even come close to overdoing it. It’s disturbing and brutal, but still very much purposeful and even rather catchy at times. Take a dive into the inferno with “Eucharist Intact” and “Seething Malevolence”.
Wormrot – Hiss
Genre: Grindcore
Subjective rating: 4.5/5
Objective rating: 5/5
You know you’re in for it when even the “interludes” are fucking furious. This is by far the best utilization of the typical traits of grindcore that I’ve heard all year, even as the album transcends the subgenre at any point it so pleases. I’m not going to bother listing all the other influences on display, but know that there’s more than enough to richly flavor the duration of the experience without breaking with the sonic theme. This is not your typical concept album where you embark on one continuous journey. Rather it’s like running down a corridor lined with open doors, catching glimpses of the very extremes that humanity has to offer as you pass them by. The variation on display here seems a near impossibility with the overpowering core of the sound being unbridled ire from start to finish, but somehow they pull it off. Two tracks won’t nearly give you the flavor of the whole record, but start with “Behind Closed Doors” and “Voiceless Choir”.
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 